Painting, Canada Day, Recipe Round-Up

You know you've waited too long between trips to Canada when you paint your living room the same colour as Habitant split pea soup.

My family may never again let me roam free in the paint aisle at Loews. Child #1 and Child #2 described said paint colour (Grecian Olive on the can) with detailed descriptive potty language. Which doesn't bear repeating for the cultured readers of this blog.

However.....I LOVE IT!! I REALLY REALLY LOVE IT!

Things I have learned while painting:

1. Child #4 is a very good painter and will actually paint to the Beatles, if her Hannah Montana CD goes missing.

2. I can sing all the words to Penny Lane which I haven't listened to in a million years, but can't remember a few items the sec my feet cross the threshold to the grocery store.

3. I can paint equally poorly with both my right and left hand.

4. I paint the way I write--slowly and with lots of revisions.

5. DH (Darling Husband) is not open to gentle constructive criticism about his painting.

6. Children will not accept painting as an equivalent and alternate activity to surfing or going to the movies. Even when sternly reminded they will be watching TV in the freshly painted living room and showering in freshly painted bathroom. And that they are an integral part of the family and must contribute. And blah, blah, blah...

7. Other bloggers are currently painting, including Welcome to the Patti-O and More Than Just a Mom. Which means I'm in good company.

Canada Day! And if you live in California, it's the first day of our two-hands-free law. So, no chatting on the cell while driving, unless you've got blue tooth.

Now, about our Recipe Round-Up on Wednesday, July 2...

If you want to join the party, just post a recipe for a side dish or a salad or a dessert. On your blog. On Wednesday. Link back to me. Leave a comment on my blog letting me know your post is up, and I'll link to you. Oh, you can always let me know what your recipe is and I'll put that next to your link.

Then, we'll all visit each other's blogs and get loads of yummy ideas for July 4 or whenever and get loads of blog hits. And just, in general, be happy, sharing, well-fed bloggers.

I'm off for a cup of tea in my beautiful pea-soup living room.

Bon appetit!

p.s. I'll post photos when the rooms are put back together.

My Town Monday: Taste of Uptown

In the spring (usually in April), you can buy a ticket (around $30) for a Taste of Uptown.

From noon till 4 PM, you'll happily wander around Hillcrest, San Diego and nosh on samples from 40 or 50 restaurants. From Greek to Japanese to Thai to American to Biff's chocolate chip cookies to a wine bar and more, it's a delicious experience. It really is. Unlike the Surf Diva camp I wrote about last Monday, I've actually participated in this event.

You can walk from eatery to eatery. Hillcrest has short blocks. This year, for the first time, there was a sidewalk sale during A Taste of Uptown.


Or you can take a shuttle.

Tickets pretty much always sell out. Here's where you get them.

Short post this Monday. If you could see my living room, you'd understand. We've spent the weekend painting. And, wow, what a mess. Plus, I can see a few spots I'm going to have to touch up tomorrow.



Thanks Travis Erwin for organizing My Town Monday. Check his bog to see links to the other My Town Monday participants.

Friday's Forgotten Books

The Chrysalids by John Wydham was originally published in 1955. In the US, it was released as Re-Birth.

The Chrysalids is a post nuclear war sci fi that takes place in Labrador or Newfoundland and, at the end, in New Zealand. It's the story of a backward fundamentalist society with very strict laws concerning the fate of those with mutations. Deviant animals are killed. Human abominations are sterilized and banished to the Fringes.

David Strorm, a ten-year-old boy who communicates telepathically, has a zealot father who follows to a "t" the laws of the rural society. David must keep secret, especially from his father, his mutation and the identities of his friends with telepathy. David's cousin, Rosalind, also shares this gift. And then there is David's little sister, Petra, who has stronger telepathic powers than any of the group. Along his travels, David meets another mutant, Sophie, a girl with six toes. I won't tell you what happens to Sophie, but it isn't pretty.

Some critics consider the ending too contrived (deux ex machina), but I have to admit that when I read The Chrysalids as a ninth grader, I loved the entire book. So much so that I actually re-read it a few times. Last year, I ordered it used from amazon (for one cent which seemed so insulting to a book I so enjoyed) for my eighth grader. I have to be honest; I was a little nervous when we started out reading it together. What if The Chrysalids didn't stand the test of time? Which meant I'd destroy a childhood memory.

BUT, I loved it all over again. And so did he.

Thank you to Patti Abbott who allowed me to join in on Friday's Forgotten Books. Please check Patti's blog for other participants. I'm looking forward to next Friday (July 4) when we'll be posting about forgotten young-adult books.

For other reviews of this book, you can visit Classic Sci Fi Reviews and The Chrysalids Book Review and Wikipedia.

Call for 4th of July Side Dishes

We have been invited to a Fourth of July party. By a family who lives on top of a very big hill. From which vantage point, you can see three different fireworks displays. Also, there's a pool and a hot tub. And a margarita maker the size of my vacuum cleaner. Several other nice families have been invited. So, no question about it, we're going.

We have to bring a side dish.

And I feel like trying something new.

It occurred to me that probably lots of us make side dishes. And lots of us will be going to Fourth of July parties. And we could all share our recipes.

So....how about next Wednesday, July 2, you post a side dish or salad or dessert recipe. Leave me a comment once your recipe post is up or email me ahead of time at barrie.summy@gmail.com and I'll put a link to it in my main post. Sound fun and yummy? We will so be the hits of our various parties!

And now about yesterday's lunch with my new friend. It was DELIGHTFUL. I had blackened salmon on a plate of greens and strawberries, drizzled with French dressing. We chatted and chatted for two hours. Which, you might have already guessed, isn't all that long for me. But we both had errands to run and kids to pick up. We had such a good time and found out that we have tons in common, including spouses. Yes, we each have one. And we just might invite them along next time.

friendship for moms

I don't know about the rest of you mothers, but I usually end up becoming friends with other mothers I meet through my kids. And because I have four kids who are involved in a variety of activities (swim, water polo, dance, Brownies, and more), I meet a lot of mothers. We're thrown together over and over. And through all this proximity and that fact that they're nice people and we have kid stuff in common, friendships are forged.

Making friends this way works out pretty well.

But, in a different life, a life where I was roaming free and meeting people through my own activities, the friendship thing would unfold in other ways.

Well, about a year ago, I met a woman. In the interests of honesty, I have to admit I met her through Child #2 and his sports. However, our paths didn't cross over and over. We saw each other from time to time when our teams played at the same pool, for example.

About six months ago, we were in the bleachers at an out-of-town pool and sat together. At some point, we realized that if we lived closer and were a little less busy, we'd be great friends. And, we decided, then and there, that we would meet up this summer.

Guess what?

TODAY WE'RE GOING TO LUNCH TOGETHER!

Just the two of us. No kids. No spouses. No teams. I can't wait.

Message from the Class of 2k8

What's happening over at the Class of 2k8's blog (this involves book giveaways!!):

Ever wonder who does the reviews at ALAN Online , Teens Read Too, YA (& Kids) Books Central, The Edge of the Forest , Fuse # 8, Reviewer X, Off to Turn Another Page, Book Chic, Slayground, Reader Rabbit and many other places?

They're usually the ones who interview us, but for one week we turn the tables on several YA & MG book reviewers and ask them the hard questions! We even tackle bad reviews. You don't want to miss one answer!

Please check out the Class of 2k8's blog for the Book Reviewer Hot Seat!

And if that isn't enough, we're giving away Class of 2K8 books--Two-A-Day! So please visit our blog be sure to leave comments after each interview and you could win! (Deadline to enter is midnight June 29th, winners will be announced on Monday June 30th)

Here's the link to the class of 2k8's blog.

And feel free to pass the word. :)

My Town Monday: Surf Diva Surf School

Surf Diva Surf School has been running surfing camps for women (12 years and older) out of La Jolla beach for over 10 years now.

It looks so fun!

There are all sorts of delightful options: 2-day weekend clinic (about $165/person), 5-day class surf clinic (about $391/person), week-long boarding school (about $1490/person). There are classes for every level of surfer. And, if San Diego isn't exotic enough for you, Surf Diva offers clinics in Costa Rica. There was so much clamouring that Surf Diva now offers clincs for boys and co-ed.

You may be wondering why I haven't done Surf Diva.

Can I swim? Yes.

Am I worried about wearing a swimsuit in public? No more than your average female. :)

Do I live too far from La Jolla? No. I'm about 18 miles from that particular beach.

Here's the deal, folks...My eyesight is SO bad that I can't even see my FEET clearly. Which means I can barely find the shore, never mind a surfboard that ditched me in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Although I just read on the Surf Diva website that you can wear swim goggles when surfing.

Hmmm.....I do have prescription swim goggles. I gather they're not overly fashionable; my children tell me I look like a human fly with them on. The upside, though, is that I can see my feet. And find my towel on the beach.

An aside: did you know that prescription swim goggles are relatively inexpensive? Mine were about $20. The trick is to buy goggles slightly weaker (like a 1/2 diopter weaker) than your glasses because of the magnifying property of water. If your right and left eyes have really different prescriptions, buy two pair of goggles and have the swim shop switch the lenses around (or you might even be able to do the switcheroo yourself).

Here's the link for the end of the Surf Diva Surf School.

Ack. I just noticed the time. It's late. And I have to get up very early to take my kids to swim practice.

Thanks Travis Erwin for organizing My Town Monday. He has a very fun post up on Travis ErwinCyd Charisse who comes from the same town as Travis. Also, Linda McLaughlin wrote an interesting post last week on the history of surfing.