Rebecca ****** Age 8

Something wonderful has happened at our house.

My 8 year old step-daughter has finally embraced my love of reading. And I have Beverly Cleary to thank.

Just to give you a little background, when I "got" Rebecca, she didn't even know her ABC's. She knew the song, but when I mixed up the letter flashcards so they were out of order, she had no clue what the letters were. It was worrisome and she has seemed to be trying to catch up ever since. First grade it was a fight to get her to read. And despite Dave and I often working 12 hours day, we came home every night and worked with her. It was very frustrating because it was always a fight. She just didn't like to read, it was very difficult for her and it was just very trying. We felt like our efforts were not paying off. We talked about getting her a reading tutor or sending her to Sylvan, but it is so expensive. And we held off.

Then she got into second grade and got a wonderful teacher who was so encouraging to her. It was still somewhat of a fight to get her to read but she was definitely making progress. By the end of the school year she was reading on her own. It was glorious.

So last night I took both kids to Borders and told them they could each pick out a book. While Sam wandered off to pick out a "boy" book, I wandered into the children's book section with Rebecca. There I found all the wonderful books I read as a little girl and young adult. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, SuperFudge, The Phantom Tollbooth, Anne of Green Gables, The Boxcar Children, and the Ramona Quimby series. And with my encouragement, Rebecca picked out "Ramona Quimby, Age 8".

And she started reading it in the car. It was bliss. She didn't even want to stop to eat. She just wanted to read. We got home and she took that book to bed with her and when I went upstairs to tuck her in, she was asleep with the book on her chest (the first time that has ever happened). And when I took the book off her chest she stirred and murmured, "I'm so tired, but I wanted to finish the chapter." and then rolled over and went back to sleep.

And I stood there in awe of what we have finally accomplished. This is my little girl. She may not have come from me, but she's mine and I'm so proud of how far we both have come.

Adventures of Guinness and Jerry

Yesterday I came home from a meeting to work at home for the afternoon and Guinness's water dish was bone dry. I was a little ticked about that because it seems that I am the only one who ever makes sure he has water.

Then I heard a crinkling noise behind the couch and found Jerry back there licking a bag. Guess what the bag was? It was empty, inside out and licked clean bag of hot and spicy pork rinds that Dave had left sitting on the sofa table.

So that explains why his water dish was bone dry.

Little monster dog.

Movies Not to See Unless You Enjoy Feeling Suicidal

I Am Legend (My alternate title - I Love Dogs (that is why I hated this movie))

PS I Love You (My alternate title - Why, why, why, would you put yourself through this? And PS - I hate this movie)

There Will be Blood (My title - There will be boredom)

Beaches (My title - Beach-bawling)

Steel Magnolias (My title - Where can I find a beauty shop like this? )

Terms of Endearment (My title - Seriously, people think watching this is enjoyment?)

Hmmmm.....

I stopped to rent a couple of movies Friday night and I was on the phone with Dave while I was picking them out so he could give his opinion. Since I was a combination of tired/distracted, I grabbed the movie boxes instead of the movies and took them to the register and also into the Twilight Zone.

I was short on cash so I asked the cashier if I could charge it (normally I wouldn't charge 6 bucks, but I hadn't been to the bank). She said that was fine and rang it up without scanning my membership card. Then she asked me for $16. I was totally confused as to what was going on and then realized she was charging me for the movies, although in retrospect, $16 for two blu-ray disc's would be a steal. Except the movies weren't in the cases. I looked at her blankly and said, "I'm renting them." and she said, "These are blu-ray disc's" "Yes" I replied and she said, "Do you have a blu-ray player?" "Yes" So I pointed out to her what I had and done and she headed back to the rack to get the movies. I was really embarrassed and could feel my face getting red. So I said, "I'm sorry. It has been a really long week." To which she replied, "Yeah, I've been having stomach problems all week."

Huh?

Are you kidding me?

I saw in the headlines today, the entertainment headlines that is, that Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong are now an item.

Seriously. Didn't she just break up with Owen Wilson. Again?

Am I alone when I say that I am exasperated with Hollywood stars jumping around from bed to bed to bed like the popular crowd in high school? And I am supposed to accept this as mainstream? Do I want my children to think it is normal and okay to meet, marry, make babies (not always in that order) with someone only to call it quits two years into it and move on to the next person, make some babies with them and so on?

It makes me so crazy. So I'm inventing a new variation on an old game. Ever heard of "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" which is based on "Six Degrees of Separation"? It is the idea that people are separated from everyone else by only six people. Well, my game is called "Six Degrees of Sex-peration." Can you link the Hollywood stars to other Hollywood stars in six stars or less? I'll start:

Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts (an easy one-I'll admit)

Jennifer Aniston slept with Tate Donovan
Tate Donovan slept with Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock slept with Benjamin Bratt
Benjamin Bratt slept with Julia Roberts
Bam! They've all slept with each other one way or another.

Return to the Land of the Living?

I'm back - I think. No plans this weekend, which is in and of itself, actually, a plan. I want to sleep in, and clean my house, and plant some flowers, and did I mention I want to sleep in?


The past month has been insane - beginning with the trip to Indy. Then Dave and I took off for a four day weekend over Mother's Day. As I mentioned, we took our bikes to Mackinac Island. He made me ride until I thought I was going to die. The very first hill we encountered was the hill leading up to the Grand Hotel which I thought was the biggest hill I had ever been up on my bike (little did I know). Dave sailed right up it no problem and I had to get off and walk my bike. It was humiliating. I mean I know he is in better shape than me, but this was unexpected.

Then we realized.

I'm a doofus and know nothing about the gears on my bike. It turns out I was in the most difficult gear. After a crash course on up-shifting and down-shifting, I was back in business and able to stay on my bike for most of the hills. That is when the real fun started.


Dave had procured a map of the island which revealed to us treasures we had never been aware of before. Skull Cave was the first one. So we trekked up what felt like 17 miles of hills to find it.

Folks, it's a bunch of rocks on the side of a hill. No skulls, no bones, no pirates, blood, gore or anything of the sort. It's sort of close to a cemetery, but that's it.


So we moved on to the next gem, the Battlefield of 1814. My hubby is a military history enthusiast so of course when he found out there was a battlefield on the island, we had to ride our bikes up 17 more miles of hills to find it. If you recall, we visited Gettysburg last fall, which is a vast battlefield. The Battlefield of 1814 is the size of my living room and is situated right across the street from the 9th fairway of a golf course. It's lame. I'm sorry, but it's true. And it took a lot of hill to get to it.


So onward to the Crack in the Island. Before we set out on this trek, we actually sat down on a bench to discuss whether we had the energy to go to the crack. Considering that everything else which sounded so cool ended up being so lame, we were hesitant. Plus this was going to require trail riding. Of course this is why we purchased mountain bikes, but hey, let's not split hairs. I wanted to see the crack. I was picturing the San Andreas fault and I decided that I wasn't missing it.


It's a ditch. If it had a little water at the bottom of it, I would call it a creek. 0 for 3.

Did I mention the second fort? There's a reason I left it out.


The only thing we saw that I actually thought was really nifty was the Arch Rock. Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here. Jro asked is we went to it and yes, we rode our bikes up that hill too. I wanted to stay up there but it was our last day and we had to go back to town and catch our ferry. But it was so pretty. I'm sad to hear that it will be gone after Mother Nature and Father Time get done marching across it.

I'm poking a little fun at the island, but the truth it, Mackinac Island (and most of N. MI) is beautiful and we had a very relaxing time with each other. The worst thing that happened was I kept forgetting to bring the camera with us on our bike tours and missed out on some beautiful pics. Below is some of the few I got when I actually did remember to bring the camera.


We asked for and received a room upgrade to a lakeview. We were on the third floor and this was our view.

Gorgeous water on our leisurely bike ride on the bike path around the island. We stopped a couple times just to sit by the water. It was chilly, but still gorgeous.

Did I mention it was chilly? I was wishing I would have brought a warmer (and more fashionable hat). But when you are freezing, it is very easy to not care if you look lame. Or like a fly, in my case.

Okay, so that is my little recap on Mother's Day weekend. I have another riveting story regarding a gas station bathroom I encountered during my road trip last weekend with Mandy(you have to call her Miranda). But I have been up since 4:45 this morning and I am going to bed. You are all just going to have to wait for that juicy story. And I do mean juicy.

Insanitytown

Okay, okay. So I'm not dead. But I will be if I don't get a post up and up here soon.

I'm sorry- time eludes me.

We've been out of town and then returned to catch up on work work, house work and home work (the kids) and I am leaving again Saturday to drive Mandy(you have to call her Miranda)home to New Jersey and then get on a plane and fly back to Detroit, BY MYSELF. This act requires Valium.

I promise to post some nice pretty pictures from Mackinac Island and to tell you all about the excitement of Skull Cave (If you have never experienced it), and the Battlefield that is on Mackinac Island from the War of 1812, and last but not least, the crack in the island. It's all very interesting, but you have to be patient with me.

I keep telling myself this is a phase and things will slow down soon, but I'm starting not to believe that. This is my life and my Sousa quote is breathing down my neck. Do I need to post it here again? I am woman, hear me roar.

note to self - don't blog late at night when you are well into you "little blue friend"