Oof.

So, yeah. Holiday World. We went yesterday with another family, and had such a great time. If you've never been, you should really try to go at least once. It's worth the trip. We're lucky enough to live an hour away, so it was a day trip for us. Tickets are fairly reasonable, and discount coupons are more ubiquitous than AOL discs.

This place is the cleanest, friendliest amusement park, I swear. And not in that glossy, hey-I've-wandered-onto-the-set-of-a-promotional-video way of DisneyWorld. (Although that's awesome too.) It's just a friendly, homey place. Pat Koch, the...um...matriarch? Maven? Co-founder of Holiday World, is still around. She hangs around at the front gates, greeting arriving guests here and there. She also patrols the park, doing what's needed: picking up trash, scrubbing toilets, whatever. Most of the staff is high school kids and college students, and they've got the best additudes towards the guests. Even at the end of the day, about an hour before the park closed. I was taking in one last coaster ride, and the employee at the exit was clearly exhausted. She mustered up genuine smiles and "have a great evening"'s for departing guests. Poor kid. I just wanted to fetch her a chair and a cool drink.

Highlights of our day:

*Elizabeth's best friend Katie as my thrill ride buddy. Of the nine of us that compose the two families, we're the only ones willing to ride pretty much anything in the park. We hit the two roller coasters in the park (The Raven and The Legend) five times. Katie's dad likes thrill rides too, but can't handle the spinning rides, so I did those with her too.

*The chocolate-coated turtle cheesecake on a stick at Kringle's Kafe. My gosh, heaven on a stick.

*Catherine closing down the ball pit in the kiddie ride area by peeing in it. [dies of embarassment] She'd done so well all day. Katie and I were riding the Legend one last time, and everyone else was waiting for us in the kiddie section. Kev said Catherine was playing in the ball pit, and hollered to Kev that she had to go potty. She started his way so he could take her to the restroom, but she just didn't make it. The employees immediatly closed off the attraction so they could get it all cleaned up.

*Alexander nearly losing his swim trunks in the wave pool. He didn't realize it, but they'd slipped down on one side, exposing one cheek. I was running after him, yelling "WAIT!!", leaving a trail of people behind me who were dying laughing. It did look pretty funny.

*The professionalism of park staff on several occasions. In the water park, Alexander did that thing where you turn your head for a second and he was just GONE. Susan and I have developed the habit of doing headcounts pretty often when we've got all the kids together. Just a quick 1-2-3-4-5 to make sure we've got everyone. I was doing that. Alexander was "1". I turned around to do 4 and 5. Turned back, he was nowhere to be found. We scouted around yelling for him for a few minutes, no luck. Susan kept an eye on the other four while the dads started looking for him. I dashed to the nearby "lost parent" stand, and the girl there was on the ball big time. She whipped out a notebook, fired a few questions at me, and got on her radio to deploy the "lost kid" troops. In the end, Kev tracked him down a few moments later, we did the hug-spank-hug thing and moved on with our day. (He'd snuck off to the kiddie pool and was having the time of his life. Stinker.)
At other points, someone fainted while in line for a ride. Staff had obviously rehearsed/dealt with this a few times, because everyone knew exactly what to do.

*That first foray into the water at the water park after the excruciating heat all day. Ahhhhh...

*Our evening picnic at the end of the day. Everyone was tired, mildly sunburned, and waterlogged. We collapsed at a bunch of picnic tables, broke out the coolers, and started passing food around. Chips, sandwiches, fruit, yum. Just sitting down, taking our time, and enjoying that the weather had cooled off was heavenly.

Man, that was fun. Now I need to rest up from our relaxing day. ;-)

Oof.

Check It Out!

Check it out!

I made a shop on Cafepress!
Buy "I Blog" products and support this site!

I'll have more products up as I have time to design more.

(I was going for the link-button look that many bloggers use - does it work?)

Check It Out!

The sound and the...

...distinct lack of fury. I was hanging out in the living room listening to the window-rattling thunder earlier, and watching the lightning. Sounded like a monster storm was due to arrive any second. I looked out the window at the sun blazing down, and checked weather.com. Clear as a bell. Eventually we got a little rain, but barely enough to completely wet the pavement. Weird.

(Clearly, I need to get out more, since I deemed this interesting enough to post about.)

In other news, have you checked out Kev's Cafe Press store? He's so cool:

http://www.cafepress.com/dispatch911

The sound and the...

Blog Party: Favorite Films

Film Geeks is hosting a blog party: "What are your Favorite Films?"

Sheesh... that means I have to pick.
Too hard! Too hard!

Star Wars, of course (the original, Episode IV).
The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars Episode V)
Hudson Hawk.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Highlander.
Uh... Star Trek 2, 4, and 6.
The Princess Bride.
Star Wars the saga (as a whole).
The Hunt For Red October.
Tranformers: The Movie.
The Muppet Movie.
The Dark Crystal.
Labyrinth.
2010.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

There are many many more movies I really really like, but I wouldn't call them favorites.
Some of those include, but absolutely aren't limited to:
Spiderman 1 and 2.
Batman (Tim Burton's. Haven't seen Batman Begins yet).
Independence Day.
X-men 1 and 2.
The Jackal (thanks to MCF for reminding me about that one).
The Philadelphia Story.
The Incredibles.
Toy Story 1 and 2.
Disney's Peter Pan.
The Lion King.
Disney's Aladdin.

Ugh... My brain hurts!
This is too hard.

Blog Party: Favorite Films

Cranky rant.

There are times I just DON'T like Kev's job. See, when he first took the job, he went for a supervisor's position. Ultimately, the pay would be lower. Dispatchers make killer money, as they get paid time and a half, and in some cases, double time, for working odd hours. Kev chose the supervisor's position for the family - it offered more family friendly hours. No phones ringing in the middle of the night saying "Dude, be here in an hour, okay?", stuff like that.

Of course, as time went by, I came to realize that the supervisor's position didn't eliminate the suck hours, it just offered him more notice for the suck hours. I recently got a page-long email from him. What was it? It was his July schedule. His hours are all over the place. Lots of 12 hour shifts, and some in which he works all night, gets off at 7AM, and has to be back 8 hours later. Our family outing on July 4th is cancelled, church is out of the question some weekends, as his schedule neatly prevents him from attending the Saturday night service AND the Sunday morning services, and he narrowly missed having to work on Alexander's 5th birthday.

So the suck hours continue. The "advantage" to being a dispatcher is that of slightly more notice, as I said, and the "advantage" that I like even more. Since he's a supervisor, he's classified as salaried. Although he does get paid hourly. So when he works a 12 hour shift, they don't have to pay him overtime. He makes his regular hourly wage, while the dispatcher at the next console, who is classified as "hourly" and working the same shift as Kev, is making time and a half. I'd like to see them pull that stunt with a dispatcher. A union rep would be pounding on the door with a phalanx of lawyers and a cat-o-nine-tails before the first hour was up.

Sigh. It's frustrating to me, because I feel like Kev gets the short end of the stick here, and that makes me crazy. (Of course, I'm biased. I think he deserves an insane amount of money, 12 weeks of paid vacation a month, and a company Ferrari. He's just that awesome.) Okay, rant over, and I feel slightly better.

Cranky rant.

Sunday Brunch for June 26, 2005 His and Hers Edition!

Today's Sunday Brunch
His and Hers Edition!

"This thing called love, I just can't handle it-This thing called love,
I must get round to it-I ain't ready...Crazy little thing called love!"
-Freddie Mercury

1) Are you currently married or involved with a significant other? Give specifics and length of time that you have been with that person.

Kev answers: I've been married to Rubi for 11 years. We celebrated our 11th anniversary in May of this year.

Rubi answers: Same as Kev!

2) Where did you meet your significant other?
Kev: I first met Rubi at the high school radio station where I went to high school. She was taking the radio class her senior year in high school, which I had done the year before. I was now a freshman in college and was there to speak to the class about a career in radio and to run the board for a college basketball game that afternoon.
Rubi stayed after school for a bit and I swear she was flirting with me! I was in the control room on the air deejaying a show before the game started and she was out in the classroom bouncing around and throwing a koosh-ball at the window of the DJ booth. All-in-all being about as cute as can be!
Later, I mentioned to my best friend at the time something about Rubi flirting with me. He told me I should ask her out, but that he had noticed a rather large engagement ring on her finger.
I ran into her again probably a few months later at Wal-Mart and gave her my card and told her if she was interested in working at the college radio station to give me a call (when I had absolutely no authority to do so, but I the program director and I were friends, so I figured I could pull some strings).
A few months after that, the college radio station needed some weekend people, and I remembered Rubi mentioning she wanted to be in radio and would be attending USI. I called up the high school radio station teacher and got her telephone number and called her and offered her a job.
She wasn't attending USI at the time, but said she start taking classes again if it meant she could work at the radio station. I also found out she was no longer engaged.
And the rest, as they say, is history.

Rubi: My version of the same story. Yup, that was an engagement ring on my finger. Eep, I was 17. WHAT was I thinking? I sure dodged a bullet not marrying that guy. Whew. Anyway, Kev and his friend were both cuties, and I loved their sense of humor. And I was quite the little flirt in my teens. So yeah, a little harmless flirting, and I thank God every day I did! So like Kev said, we bumped into one another at Wal Mart. Kev just arriving, and me heading for the checkout with my basket of...um...feminine hygiene products. I nearly died. Gah, how humiliating for a teenage girl. When he called later, I was actually enrolled at USI, preparing to start my freshman year. So off to the radio station I went. Kev and I had so much in common: rampant geekiness, an off sense of humor, and a communications major, that we continued to hit it off beautifully. The rest is history!

3) What is your anniversary or special day of ANY kind and what did you do on that day with your significant other?

Kev: May 14, 1997. That's when we got married.

Rubi: That would be May 14th, 1994. May 1997 is when our first child was born. But that's a common mistake that we both make. Elizabeth was born May 13th, and our anniversary is the 14th, so we always have to think for a moment to get the right date for the right event. (In a separate story, Elizabeth was 13 minutes away from being a May 14th baby. Kev kept telling me to hurry it up so her birthday wouldn't interfere with our anniversary. Like I was dragging it out because I was enjoying labor so much.)

Kev: Oops.

4) What is the nicest thing that a person that you are or have been involved with has done for you?

Kev: She married me, and continues to love me day after day!

Rubi: Stuck by me for these 11 years. Through sickness and health, through poor and poorer (snerk), through good times and bad. And even better, gave me three amazing children to share our lives with.

5) Do you have a special song or movie or place with your significant other? Describe.

Kev: I guess a special place would be where we got married: The Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana. We went back to New Harmony for our 5th anniversary. Lately, we haven't had time to make a trip back there.

Rubi: Like Kev said, the Roofless Church. We have GOT to get back there one of these days. It's a lousy half hour drive, I'm not sure what our problem is.

Sunday Brunch for June 26, 2005 His and Hers Edition!

Mini Book Review - Beneath The Ice

I finished reading Alton Gansky's Beneath the Ice last night.

It's a Christian action/adventure/suspense novel. The blurb is below.
I enjoyed reading it. Kind of like a Clive Cussler novel, but without the womanizing and drinking.
The thing beneath the ice wasn't quite what I expected, but it worked.
I expected something antediluvian, but that's not what we got. Which was both disappointing and refreshing. Many of the Christian novels I've read with this type of plot-line usually come up with something pre-flood, which is really why I enjoy them. But this book didn't go there, it went a different direction and, for the most part, worked for me.

If you want a Christian action/adventure/suspense/thriller - try this one. I'm going to pick up the first Perry Sachs novel soon. It sounds good. I'll put that blurb after the one for Beneath the Ice.

Beneath the Ice, Perry Sachs Series #2

By Alton Gansky / Barbour Publishing

Shrouded in darkness three miles beneath the Antarctic ice lies a mysterious object. Famed engineer Perry Sachs and his crew are determined to bring that secret to light, even though it means an impossibly difficult excavation. If they succeed, they'll change the way people see the world---and their faith---forever. A smart suspense thriller! 352 pages, softcover from Barbour.

A Treasure Deep, Perry Sachs Series #1

By Alton Gansky / Barbour Publishing

Treasure-unbelievable, historic, and dangerous-awaits Perry Sachs. The famous engineer knows the treasure is buried just outside Tejon, California. And he knows that whoever buried the booty years before rigged it with enough booby traps to send would-be fortune hunters into early retirement-or the grave. But Perry is no mere fortune hunter. He and his team of workers from Sachs Engineering tackle the task with vision and faith. The greatest challenge is not simply outwitting the traps that keep the treasure out of reach-it's surviving the increasingly desperate attempts of a modern-day murderer. Someone with power, money, and mysterious incentive doesn't want Perry to succeed. The treasure is there, but much more is at stake: Something that will change the world-and could cost Perry his life.

Mini Book Review - Beneath The Ice

Annoying things.

Hot. Did I mention hot before? Because...yeah. Ugh. It's currently 84 degrees in our poorly-to-not at all-insulated home. And I'm dying to bake cookies. Really, really want to bake. But turning the oven on would ramp the temperature in here up about ten degrees before I could even take my hand off the knob. So, no cookies.

Also? That song is stuck in my head. That old "Nobody" song. You know..."Your nobody called today, she hung up blah blahdy blah..." Why is that in my head? Where did it come from? Why won't it go away?

Annoying things.

Okay, it's official.

I'm the biggest twit ever. The fam went to the balloon glow out near the airport last night. This morning, a friend's hubby asked me how it was. (We were waiting for our dd's soccer game to start.) I grumped: "Lame. The hot air balloons just SAT there on the ground. They never even took off." He looked at me oddly and then explained that that's what a balloon glow IS. They just sit on the ground, and periodically turn on the flame to make them...well...glow. [shrug] I'm such a doofus.

In other news, Elizabeth had her first game today in her summer league. I'm crazy about her coach. Practices under him are organized, productive, and encouraging. After today's game, I'm less jazzed about the league. We were told to be there at 7 sharp this morning, for team pics. So we were. The game was at 8. At about 8:30, between the first and second quarters of her game, Elizabeth's team finally got their pics taken. So not only did we arrive an hour before the game for no reason, I paid $16 for a picture of ten red faced, sweat-soaked girls. Huh. I was going to just not buy the picture, but Elizabeth started to cry and I'm an incurable pushover.

To add to the fun, the opposing team's coach was screaming his head off at his team, and there was very little positive encouragement coming from him. That's a pet peeve of mine. The kids are supposed to be having fun. Cool it with the drill sergeant garbage, eh? Also, one of Elizabeth's teammates seems to be a sour, overly competitive little stinker. One of the kids messed up a play, and this kid jumped all over her, finally making her cry. She did that a few other times to her own teammates. After the game, one mom went over and said something about it to the coach, for which I was profoundly grateful.

Aaaand, the icing on the cake. Elizabeth took a soccer ball to the face. She was about six feet in front of a kid on the opposing team, who has a pretty powerful kick for a little girl. Poor kid didn't even have time to flinch. That sucker practically knocked her off her feet. Thank goodness, it caught the side of her face, and not her nose. Of course, I had that "mommy moment" of envisioning a broken, bleeding nose anyway. Ugh. The game stopped, everyone crowded around her (yes, including me), while she sat on the ground crying. One wonderful mother arrived shortly behind me bearing an ice pack - I was way impressed with her foresight. So we got that on her face, she announced she wanted to stay with me for a while, and I consoled her with potato chips and PowerAde. (The red kind, natch.) When she finally stood up, the parents on the sidelines applauded. She did kind of enjoy that, but she was crying too hard to care much. The mother of the kid who kicked the ball came up to me and apologized, for goodness' sake. I kept telling her that it was an accident, and nobody was angry, but I think she felt bad anyway. I guess I'd feel rotten in her shoes too, but I wish she hadn't.
We had the "get back on the horse" pep talk, and I finally convinced her to get back in the game. Then the game ended. D'oh! Oh well.

I sent her to take a nap a little while ago - she was exhausted, and noticed that the side of her face is bruising nicely. Ugh.

Okay, it's official.

Guh.

It's hot. Hot hot hot. Did I mention hot? Also? Ohhhh, the humidity. We're under an ozone alert.

So the Bayer family packed up a metric ton of bottled, half-frozen water and headed to the riverfront to sit in the sun, to watch the Blue Angels air show. Hot. Guh.

We were lucky enough to get right on the riverfront, where the breeze coming off the river made things bearable. The show was awesome. Catherine, whom I was most worried about, didn't freak over the noise at all - she loved it.
At one point, two of the FA-18's "snuck up" on the crowd, screaming in from behind and buzzing us. The noise was deafening, and Alexander wigged. Catherine, who was in my lap, turned around to me and shouted, "That was COOL!!" [shrug] All right. Loud noises, not an issue then.

Afterwards, the walk back to the van was icky. I swear we passed through the Mojave at one point. I insisted on coming home for a shower - my clothes were soaked. Once we arrived we decided to stick around for a while to cool down. In about an hour we're heading out again for more fun. Hot. Guh.

(But I'm still looking forward to it!)

Guh.

I took the MIT Weblog survey today.
Found the link at What In Tarnation?!?

You should too. Because they say so.

Domestic victories, sticker shock, civic pride, and parental oopsies.

Or, the short version of the title: Misc.

Catherine went #2 on the potty yesterday all on her own. No encouragement, suggestion, etc. I was at Elizabeth's soccer practice and Kev called me on the cell to let me know. Apparently, Alexander, the self-appointed potty monitor, came running into the living room bellowing that Catherine was going. This has been SUCH a struggle, we've been seriously wondering if she was going to have to postpone preschool for another year. So, yay! Keep it up, kiddo.

Other domestic-ish victory. I went to a scrapbooking yard sale last night, and picked up a 6-drawer Iris cart, about the height of my 8yo dd, for $5. Score!! For another $3, I snagged a bunch of brand new rubber stamps, including a Hero Arts stamp I've had my eye on at the store for a while. The rest were some very pretty florals. Whoo! [raise the roof chair dance]

Sticker shock. Our family trip to Holiday World is next week, and I'm flipping out over ticket prices. It's going to cost our family about $125 just to get in the gates, and that's including the discount coupons we picked up. [chokes] Too late to back out now, the kids would be HACKED, but I'm dying here.

Civic pride. I heard on the news this morning that Freedom Festival admission buttons have sold out, and they've had to switch to wristbands. This from a festival that has struggled badly in the past few years. Thanks, Blue Angels, for coming back!!

Parental oops? Kev picked up a gift for Catherine for going on the potty, and didn't look at it very closely. It was a "pretend" makeup and jewelry kit. Except the makeup part wasn't pretend. Lime green nail polish, lime green lipstick and lip gloss. Kev's little girls are NOT allowed to wear makeup or nail polish until they're 14. So he's trapped trying to explain to Catherine why he's taking away half of the gift he bought her.

Aaaand, I'll leave him to it and go to work.

Domestic victories, sticker shock, civic pride, and parental oopsies.

Gah!

Blogger ate 3/4 of my template!
Now the front page of my blog is gone!

EDIT 17:30 - After scraping around, I was able to reconstruct my layout almost exactly the way I had it. There are a couple of things just slightly different that I can't remember how I did it before... but at least you can actually see this instead of just my snazzy Decepticon background and the blogger toolbar at the top of the screen.

Gah!

Rubi's Scrapbook Pages

Saw this idea on one of Rubi's scrapbookin' buddies blogs:

Here's a link to Rubi's gallery on Lifetime Moments, a scrapbooking website.

You can see many of her scrapbook pages
- sorry: "layouts" (major airquotes) displayed there, plus assorted other pics and images.

Rubi's Scrapbook Pages

dotMoms

Interested in parents blogging about parenting?
Check out dotMoms.

Found that on Times list of the 50 Coolest websites, which has some other neat websites on it too.

dotMoms

What I Would Have Liked To Say

I took a 9-1-1 call today from a mom:
Me: "9-1-1"
Her: "What can I do about my 16 year old acting out of control and punching holes in the wall?"

Okay, at this point, my responsibility is to tell her if she is having a problem I can send her a police officer to try to help. It's not my job to tell people how to raise their children.

However, I had to physically stop myself from answering
"Be a parent and raise your child yourself. Turn him over your knee if you have to. But don't rely on someone else, namely the police, to raise your child - or you'll probably find yourself soon enough wondering what visiting hours are at the jail."

Instead, I paused, took a breath to prevent myself from answering as above, and replied:
"Well, ma'am. If you need help I can send you a police officer."

We get these kind of calls frequently. Irritates me to no end...

On the other hand, I don't mind the kind of calls where a 5 year old has stolen candy from a store and a mom wants an officer to come talk her child - that's more like PR, the Officer Friendly aspect of their job, in my opinion. And most of the time on those kind of calls, the mom or dad has already talked to the child about how it's wrong to steal, and are just using the police officer to reinforce that - basically to scare the kid.

That I don't mind at all.

Don't think I wont be threatening my kids with the fact that Rubi's dad is a police officer:
"You did what?! What do you think your grandpa will think when he finds out? He is a cop!"
or
"You do know I work with police officers every day, right? I can have them bring a taser here if you keep it up."

Well, at least that's what I'd like to say.

What I Would Have Liked To Say

ROTFLOL

I usually don't comment on mainstream pop-culture things here that often...
But that Tom Cruise and the water-gun microphone thing?
Too funny!!!

ROTFLOL

Manic Monday

Father's Day was great.
Slept in.
Skipped breakfast.
Went to my parents' house for cake and ice cream and visited for a bit.
Then went to Rubi's parents' house for a cook-out. Had cheeseburgers, chips, corn-on-the-cob, cherry-cheesecake. Then we hung out and visited for awhile. Watched the kids be kids outside. Run around like, well, kids. Their favorite thing at my in-law's house is their new outside water pond thingy with a pump that makes the water flow out of a fake hand-crank water pump. My kids just sit around that thing splashing, and stirring the water with sticks, and sticking toys under the water. We spend all this money on toys, and they play with a glorified bucket of water... sheesh.

Listening to the radio now, the DJs keep calling it a manic Monday, because in the Evansville Metro area there are like 5-6 BIG traffic accidents blocking traffic on all the major arteries through the area. We maybe have one big accident at a time, and only rarely does it cause a major road to be closed - maybe three or four times a year do we have to really close down a highway or local street.

And on my list of things to get done before I have to go to work. I have to add a second coat of paint to the ceiling in our bedroom, run to the store, to the dry-cleaners... I may not get morning nap in!!

Whatever will I do if I don't get my morning nap in??

(that's sarcasm - I'll live without my morning nap)

Behold: the power of caffeine!

Oh - now the DJs on the radio are calling it "Traffic Armageddon" and just had a report of 300 bicyclists on another major street holding up traffic... and then the radio guy said "It's like a Mel Brooks movie!"

Glad I'm not at work!!

I should probably go take the Batman mask off of Alexander start the round of morning baths.

Manic Monday

Today

Good day so far.
Slept in till about 8:15.
Got up.
Skipped breakfast (unless you count an allergy pill and vitamin as breakfast).
Mowed the lawn.
Twice. (It was really high).

After the yard work; I got cleaned up, got the little kids cleaned up and Rubi, the kids, and I went running errands. We left about 11:30.

We had to get our dads something for Father's Day, and Rubi had to pick up some adhesive for her scrapbooking. We got home a little after 1 p.m. and Rubi left immediately to go to her 9-hour scrapbooking party. A bunch of girls get together in a church basement and scrapbook, eat, and chat from 1 p.m to 10 p.m. once a month. Rubi loves it! And I'm glad she gets to get out of the house away from me and the kids for awhile apart from going to work. She can use the break.

After she left, I took a brief nap and hung out for a bit snuggling with the kids while they watched PBS Kids. Then Rubi called and asked me to bring her something at her scrapbook party. One of the girls there had ordered Girl Scout cookies way back when, but Rubi and her had never hooked up since then. She was finally at the scrapbook party again and wanted her cookies. The kids and I ran those out to her, and then stopped at Super-duper Wally-World to pick up Father's Day cards for our dads, and cards for our dads from the kids ("Happy Father's Day Grandpa!" cards). I also got some tortilla chips to have tonight with the nacho cheese dip I had sitting here staring me in the face and nothing to dip in it.
And an RC cola.

We stopped on the way home and grabbed Taco Bell take out. Elizabeth nibbled on a soft shell taco ("it has salad on it!"). Alexander ate three tacos over the course of about 2 hours. Catherine ate almost all of her taco - well at least the insides. She nibbled on the shell.

My cable modem was acting all wonky so I had to let the computer be for a bit while I unplugged everything from the cable modem and came back a few minutes and plugged it all back in.
It started working (obviously).

Then Elizabeth took a bath and the kids changed into PJs and watched some more PBS Kids.
They've just finished signing and decorating the Father's Day cards for their Granddads, and I'm getting ready to put them to bed. Yes, my two younger kids actually go to bed this early. Of course - they all get up ridiculously early - When the sun comes up or about 5:30 a.m. whichever comes first.

Tonight, after all the kids are in bed, I'll watch some sci-fi TV and have some chips and dip. I drank the RC with the Taco Bell.

I'm trying to think of a way to go see Star Wars Episode III tomorrow so I can get one of those free posters of Darth Vader reaching out with the caption "Who's your Daddy?"

Happy Father's Day Eve to all fathers! Tomorrow's agenda for my family includes going to my parent's house for cake and ice cream, and Rubi's parent's house for a cook-out.
Not necessarily in that order.

And maybe the aforementioned Star Wars movie for a free poster (but I doubt it).

Today

Things

Found this one at Tales From The Dorkside.

TEN Words you love to say:
I love you Rubi. I love my kids. Feed me.

NINE Guiltiest pleasures:
Cable internet, cable TV, buying books, buying comic books, eating out, screening calls with caller ID, using the internet at work, staying up late to finish a book, eating the same thing for breakfast that I give my kids.

EIGHT Favorite items to wear (clothes or otherwise):
Any jeans, any clean t-shirts, my charcoal gray sweat pants (to sleep in), my Star Wars Weekends 2004 baseball cap, my black Dickie work socks, my wedding ring, my Gerber multi-tool on my belt.

SEVEN Sexiest celebrities:
Only seven?!? In no particular order: Natalie Portman, Carrie Underwood, Jessica Alba, Teryl Rothery, Dina Meyer, Alyson Hannigan, Keira Knightley.

SIX Most irritating celebrities:
Only six? Adam Sandler, Will Ferrel, Ben Stiller, Tom Green, Bill Clinton, Ashton Kutcher.

FIVE Favorite things about summertime:
Less traffic around schools.
More time with my kids.
Fun stuff to do even though it's ridiculously hot outside.
Evansville's Freedom Festival, air conditioning.
Shade.

FOUR Books you've read most recently:
Map of Bones by James Rollins
The World of Elda Terra by P.R. Moredun
Searching for the Ark of the Covenant by Randall Price
Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

THREE Words you've been meaning to look up (and their meanings, if you're ambitious):
I can't remember the last time I looked up the meaning of a word. Not that I'm just that smart, it's more that I'm too lazy to do so.

TWO Funniest gifts you've been given:
A Spatula. My best friend from my radio days gave me a spatula one Christmas. We had recently watched Weird Al's "UHF" in which there is a parody commercial for Spatula City! and one line in the spot says "...and they make great Christmas presents." When he gave it to me, I had no idea what it was about - he had to explain it. I carried that spatula around with me, and it came in handy occasionally. Spatula's make great windshield ice scrapers.

ONE thing you both fear and find wildly intriguing:
Women

Things

International Webloggers Day 2005

June 14, 2005 is International Webloggers Day!

To celebrate, webloggers blog about blogging!
(blog-bloggity-blog-blog)

1) Why did you start blogging, how long have you been doing so, and why have you continued?
Well, to be honest, I started blogging to jump on the bandwagon. I first heard about blogging and blogger back in 2003 and created 2 or 3 different blogger accounts at different times on different whims, but never used them. Until late last year; I was trying to come up with a convenient (read: free) way to update my family website on the free space provided my ISP without completely recreating everything in frontpage for each edit and then ftp-ing it to the webspace. But I couldn't run any kind of CMS or database on that webspace... enter blogger. I've continued because it's kinda fun, kinda therapeutic, I've got Rubi involved, and I like to interact with other bloggers. And who doesn't like a little (or a lot of) shameless self-promotion!

2) Do you think webloggers have a lot of power? If so, what, and how can it be harnessed?
Sure bloggers have a lot of power: power to waste time! (ha-ha!) Communities of like-minded bloggers can spread the word on their point of view, and so can invididual bloggers. I've seen conservative blogs mentioned in liberal blogs, and vice-versa. I've seen secular blogs mentioned in faith-based blogs, and vice-versa. Blogging encourages discourse, conversation, and sometimes thinking. Harnessing the power of bloggers would create the ultimate weapon in the universe, and I suggest we use it... Actually, I'm not sure how to harness the power of bloggers; blogrolling is one way, blog directories another. I'm sure there are better ways, but I haven't seen them and I'm not smart enough to create one.

3) Why do you think weblogging has become so popular?
It's free (if you go with one of the free set-ups), it's ridiculously easy (with the basic services), and as I mentioned before, it's fun and therapeutic. Plus, who doesn't like some shameless self-promotion (or promotion of my adorable kids)!

International Webloggers Day 2005

Girls, Girls, Girls!

Better late than never, eh? Okay, off we go.

Definitely Sara Pezzini. Not comic Pez, but TV Pez. Sara falls in my formidable female category for several reasons. Gotta disagree with my darling's assesment of her as a cop with a rock on her wrist. Sara rose to every occasion extraordinarily. She took hit after hit after hit, had her life turned upside down by the Witchblade, and did what she had to anyway. In spite of fear, anger, pain, and loss of so many dear to her, (beautifully portrayed by Yancy Butler, by the way), she did what she had to to fulfill the calling given to her. She made mistakes along the way, yes, but never gave up or lost herself. A true hero.

Lilah Morgan. Femme Fatale. Extraordinarily sexy, charming, evil, and juuust human enough to make you adore her. Her additude was: "This is me, warts and all. Love me." And we did. The vulnerability that was always just under the surface made her even better. She knew what she wanted, she knew what she had to do to get it, and she did it unhesitatingly, shoving aside any and all doubts.

Darla. Formidable Female. Watching the evolution of Darla's character over the years made her one of Joss' best characters. Finding out that Darla was a nice girl with a bad lot in life as a human added wonderful dimension to the character, because you knew that that girl was still lurking in there somewhere. That girl peeked through here and there from the very beginning. When she said "Loving someone who used to love you.", the pain was there, behind the mockery and confidence. Watching that girl emerge over time: when W and H brought her back as a terminally ill human, when she was unwillingly returned to her vampire self, during her pregnancy, and appearing to a conflicted teenage Connor, made her one of the greatest Whedonverse ladies.

Aaaand the Buffster. Of course. If you know my Buffy obsession, you knew she was going to be here. But honestly, I debated putting her in as a formidable female. But you know, I really think she deserves it. Buffy was flawed. She screwed up, she got overwhelmed, she was nearly broken at times. But she never failed to shoulder her burden and keep on. I know many people didn't like her in the later seasons. Heck, I wasn't too fond of her at times. But I could usually see where she was coming from. Take the travesty that was season six. She was in a horrible emotional place - mired in the most destructive relationship ever, working a rotten job to keep a roof over her head, suddenly a twenty year old mother to a teenager, watching her best friend spiral out of control, and every moment of her existence sheer physical torture. (She said it herself: this is hell.) Any one of those things would have been terribly difficult alone. But top those with the wrenching loss of the peace and rest she had earned, combined with the burden of being the one girl in all the world, and you've got a recipe for bridge-jumping. But she toiled on, dealing as best she was able. Like I said, she didn't always get it right. But she didn't quit. Formidable. And heroic. She deserves a place on the list.

Girls, Girls, Girls!

Good Girls and Bad Girls

MCF is hosting another Blog Party!
This one is for favorite Femme Fatales and Formidable Females, or make a list of your favorite Heroines and Villainesseseseees.

Okay this is a tough one.

Heroines:
I didn't really read comics when I was younger, and only occasionally pick up a graphic novel now. I'm familiar with some of the female super heroes and villianesses, or at least I've heard their names. The only comics I read when I was younger were Transformers and GI Joe.
And while Scarlett could kick Cobra butt, I wouldn't put her in my list of favorites. Any of the other female Joes I'm familiar with couldn't hold a candle to Scarlett.

I remember watching Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman on TV when I was a kid. And Wonder Woman in the Super Friends. So that obviously leaves both of them off my list. I was reintroduced to Wonder Woman twice recently with Justice League on the Cartoon Network and in reading the graphic novel and novel versions of DCs Kingdom Come (which rocked). And I liked her better in those. But still.

I watched Birds of Prey on the WB. `Nuf said.

I watched the X-men cartoon when I was younger, and the recent movies, and I've picked up a couple of graphic novels recently. None of the female characters there make my list. Although Kitty Pride bears more investigation after reading the trade of Uncanny X-Men penned by Joss Whedon.

Leaving comics, and entering TV... while the genius of Sam Carter has saved the world/worlds/galaxy/galaxies occasionally, I don't think I'd put her on my list of favorite heroines.

I'm a Buffy fan, but don't think I would call her one of my favorite heroines, maybe pre-season 4 Buffy. After that, she wasn't really a hero anymore, at least not on a regular basis.

Princess Leia: nope. Cool, but no.

Padme: no. Well, maybe in TPM, but not after that.

Sara Pezzini in Witchblade? Maybe. But not on a consistent basis.

Okay... leaving TV, now to novels:
Honor Harrington from David Weber's Honorverse novels qualifies. She'll be on the list.

Mara Jade Skywalker from the Star Wars EU? Cool character, but not list-worthy.


Hmmm... that's three or four I guess. In no particular order.
-Honor Harrington from David Weber's novels. She overcame significant odds in Her Majesty's Royal Space Navy and on her adopted homeworld Grayson to get to her current position as an Admiral, and the first Lady Steadholder on her adopted homeworld. She's saved many worlds from tyranny, and basically helped win a war - only to have it flare up again a short time later. And she's got a cool familiar.
-Buffy pre-season 4. When she was really a heroine, and did heroic things frequently.
-Sara Pezzini from Witchblade. In-general a heroine, but basically just a cop with a supernatural rock on her wrist.
-Scarlett from GI Joe. She and Snake Eyes need to finally get together and be done with it.

I'm sure there are some obvious ones I've missed. And I haven't even touched real-life, history, mythology, etc.

Now villainesses:
Again, not real familiar with the comic book villainesses.

Drusilla from Buffy and Angel is definitely on the list. She's just fun! She's a few fries short of a happy meal, sees visions, and is really just wrong on so many levels.

Demona from Gargoyles. Betrayed her clan. Was cursed to live until her arch-nemesis died (so if she killed him, she'd die), joined up with the bad guy that brought her clan back to life... and was voiced by Marina Sirtis.

Diana from V. She was just evil.
Hmmmm.... There seems to be a theme there.

Harley Quinn from Batman:TAS is another fun one. I don't really remember her origins... but she called the Joker her "schnookums" or something like that, had a great laugh. (I'm not familiar with her in anything other Batman:TAS and Birds of Prey TV)

Takhisis, Queen of Darkness from Dragonlance. Oooh, evil dragon with 6 heads. And in the War of Souls series, she sneaks back to Krynn and tries to take over without letting the other gods know she's found Krynn again (which had been "missing". Long story, don't ask).

Kitiara Uth Matar, Dragon Highlord from Dragonlance War of the Lance- tragic villainess. Abandoned by her mother at a young age. Raised her younger twin brothers pretty much herself - Even though one went bad. Was in love with a Hero of the Lance.


That's my list. I've checked it twice. Now you know which females I think are ... yeah, I'm not going to finish that rhyme.

Good Girls and Bad Girls

Ow. My brain.

Elizabeth's first soccer practice was Saturday. Sort of. We showed up at nine as directed. It was sprinkling just a teensy bit. Long story short, only three kids on her team showed up and the coach cancelled practice.
If this league didn't have such a fabulous reputation, I'd consider pulling Elizabeth out and asking for a refund. Not just because of the cancelled practice. There was just a LOT of flailing around on the part of the coaches, and none of them seemed to have a clue as to what was going on. Her coach, a young girl named Kara, called me last Thursday night. That was the first I'd heard from anyone on the league, and registration deadline was back in April. The coach told me that she'd only gotten the team roster five minutes before she called me. When we arrived, she seemed very uncertain of her job and unsure of herself. She was supposed to have two assistant coaches, who didn't show. The league director was also supposed to be there to give the kids their uniforms, and he didn't show either. The coach was able to tell us that their team name was Flash, and the color was lime green. So Elizabeth did an informal practice with another girl on her team for about a half hour (While the coach sat around chatting with another parent!), then we went home. She was so disappointed.

Icing on the cake? I got a call a few hours ago from a man saying he was Elizabeth's coach for the league team "Typhoons", and that their first practice would be this Tuesday. Um, what? I explained to him about Kara, and he was a little taken aback. He then went on to say that his current roster was the third one he'd been given, so maybe there was some confusion. Oy! He said he'd get everything figured out and give me a call tomorrow. At this point, I was getting annoyed with the whole league. I mean, we paid a late fee because we missed the April deadline. Here it is mid-June, and they still don't have their act together.

I wound up quizzing him on the team roster. Found that Elizabeth's best friend was on that team, so I told him that I wanted her to stay on a team with Katie. (This was partially selfish on my part. I knew Elizabeth and Katie would be thrilled to be on a team together, but I now have a built in soccer-mom-buddy in Katie's mom Susan, my closest friend.)

I'm thinking about emailing the league director and letting him know that I'm not happy with the situation so far, but I probably won't. I don't know what it will accomplish aside from labeling me as the annoying soccer mom. Feh. I just wish they'd figure out which end was up, because Elizabeth's surplus energy is making her crazy, and she's getting irritatable because she wants to play some soccer already.

Ow. My brain.

Sunday Brunch for June 12, 2005

Today's Sunday Brunch
"Computer games don't affect kids, I mean if Pac Man affected us as
kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and
listening to repetitive music." -Marcus Brigstocke

1) What is your favorite board game? Sceneit? and Scrabble.

2) What type of games are your favorite? (ie, board, card, participatory, dice, word games) Uno is my favorite. King's Court a close second, because it's practically the same game. I like the husband/wife team games where one of you gives clues to something and the other shouts out the answers.

3) How many games do you own, and if possible, list them. I see seven games sitting on my shelf. Sceneit?, Uno, King's Court, Trivial Pursuit 20th anniversary edition, Deluxe Scrabble, Sorry, and Scrabble Junior.

4) Do you enjoy computer or video games? Which one is your favorite? You know, if I had the time to learn how to play them, and get used to the controls and stuff, I might. But no, I really don't play computer games these days. As for my favorite: Yar's Revenge on the Atari 2600.

5) Describe a great childhood memory of an outside game. I was always one of the last to get picked, or left out entirely. I have no fond childhood memories of outside games. Now as I got older, I'd play Frisbee or Comet Ball with my best friend on the parking lot of our college. We used one of those frisbees that is just a couple of rings connected and no center. It would fly forever. We'd have to yell to hear each other we were so far away. Comet Ball is this thing my mom got from some company by sending in proof-of-purchase points or something; it's a baseball with a long cloth tail attached that is segmented into three different colors. You held the Comet Ball by the tail and threw it to the person you were playing with. You had to catch it by the tail. Each color was a different score. I think you go more points the closer to the baseball you caught it. If you grabbed the baseball, you lost. I think.

Sunday Brunch for June 12, 2005

Tales from the mom side.

Random mommy thoughts:

And away we go. The Bayer family summer activity schedule is officially up and running as of tomorrow, which is Elizabeth's first soccer practice for her summer league. I'm hoping she'll become a bit more well rounded over the summer. In the past, she's shown a tendency to get a bit snitty when a coach suggests she play offense. "But I play defense.", she'll huff at the offender. Yeesh.

Summer activities, as chosen by the kiddos, include local stuff like putt putt, Burdette Park, the playground, a picnic, yadda yadda. We're also taking two day trips with another family, to Holiday World and Saint Louis. (Fudgery, here I come. Oh my GOSH, I miss their fudge.)

Snerk. Some guy just walked by outside pushing his Harley. Makes me think of that commercial: "Daddy just haaaad to ride his motorcycle." Love it. Good luck, dude.

This has been preying on my mind for a while, so maybe there's a blog reader that has been needing to hear it: You're a good mom. You're a great mom. Don't compare yourself to the other mommies - we're all the same, just trying to do the best we can for our kids. And our kids are all different: they don't all operate by a cookie cutter formula, so there's no gold standard. Okay? You love your kids, you want good things for them, and you try. That makes you a good mom.

Hmm. Wonder who that was for. Moving on, I just finished devouring the wonderfullest new book. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. I stumbled across it in the new fiction section of the library, and it's a gem. I can already tell it'll be an old friend. Years from now, I'll be re-reading it periodically to revisit Henry, Clare, Alba, and the people in their lives. It's part 30-year love story, part tragedy, and a sprinkling of sci-fi. Go. Find it. Read it.

Downside? I've read that, and filled all up on the fluff that is Janet Evanovich and Sophie Kinsella, and am flat out of new books to read. Marion Zimmer Bradley disappointed me with Lady Of Avalon. I was expecting something as good as Mists of Avalon, and just didn't enjoy it. My taste in books rarely is the same as Kev's, so finding something among his haul from the library is a rarity. There's a Frank Peretti on the kitchen bar that looks likely, maybe I'll give it a try. Otherwise, I predict another library trip sometime tomorrow.

Because heaven forbid I get off my hiney and do the laundry.

Tales from the mom side.

Enough with the Memes Kev!

Found another neat meme. This one from MommyBrain.

Favorite Scripture
Favorite Childhood book
Favorite Teen Book
Favorite Book Read this Year
Favorite Subject to Learn About
Favorite Subject to Teach
Favorite Piece of Clothing
Favorite Television Show
Favorite Movie
Favorite Album

Here are mine:

Favorite Scripture:
Philippians 4: 6-7. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I truly feel like I have a peace that passes understanding. People have told me that I have a peace about me. Not that I'm aloof, or don't seem to care what happens, but that I know that there's more to life, and God is in control and knows what He's doing.
Now... if I can just make myself live that more often.

Favorite Childhood Book:

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. I remember my mom reading this book (among others) to me when I was young. Now I take pleasure in reading it to my kids.

Favorite Teen Book:
I never really read any "teen" books. I went straight from "Hardy Boys" to SF from the bookstore. Although, lately, I've read a couple of books being marketed towards teens, and the one I liked best so far is "The world of Eldaterra: The Dragon Conspiracy" by P.R. Moredun

Favorite Book Read this Year:
So far, probably The Assignment by Mark Andrew Olson.

Favorite Subject to Learn About:
Everything!
I like to learn, as long as I'm doing it at my pace, when I want, where I want, and what I'm interested in at that time. Computers, archeology, history, conspiracies, astronomy, music, homeland security.
Okay... there's one thing I'm not really interested in learning about: politics. That's not to say I don't want to learn about how my country works, I'm all for that - I'm just not interested in learning about the red tape that prevents the county from working.

Favorite Subject to Teach:
I abhor teaching.
I'm not good at it. I have no patience. I think you should be able to watch me do it once, and maybe have me explain it while I'm doing it, and you should then have enough knowledge to do it yourself, and if you mess up, you've still got enough common sense to figure out why you messed up and not to do it again. That's how I learn: I watch someone do something, maybe they explain it, then I do it myself and figure out if it worked or not; and if not, why it didn't work.
This is probably why my youngest daughter who is three is still in diapers.

Favorite Piece of Clothing:
I don't really have one specific piece of clothing that is my favorite. My favorite type of outfit is jeans and a t-shirt. Doesn't matter which jeans or which t-shirt though.

Favorite Television Show:
Stargate SG-1. I hope the upcoming 9th season can live up to the previous seasons, since Macgyver is leaving the show. I think they'll do just fine though.

Favorite Movie:
Since I have to pick one: Star Wars (the original, Episode IV A New Hope).
I have many runners-up.

Favorite Album:
One I burn myself, but that's cheating. So I'll pick Queen: A Kind of Magic. It's got some rockin' Queen songs, stuff from Highlander, and my favorite song ever: One Vision.

Enough with the Memes Kev!

Book Review: The World of Eldaterra

I signed up awhile back on the HarperCollins First Look website. And as a result, so far they've sent me three books to review. Cool!

The first book they sent me was

Dragonsblood, which was excellent.

The second book they sent me was

The Saint of Dragons which was a good book!

The third book they sent me, just last week, is called "The world of Eldaterra: The Dragon Conspiracy" by P.R. Moredun (which isn't even available to buy yet!).

Here's the review I posted on their website.

The World Of Eldaterra is an excellent read! I eagerly await the next book in the series! Set in 1910 with flashbacks to 1895, the book brings readers to the British Empire, then through illusive fortune-telling gates into the world of Eldaterra.

The story is exciting and intriguing. There's action, magic, fantasy races likes dwarves and olorcs and freaky spider-things, swords, guns, battleships, and dragons. And a fight between a battleship and a crazed female dragon that is extremely well played! My only complaint is that the dragons are one of the antagonists. I like dragons and I want good dragons! That said though, the dragons here are deliciously evil.

And you can't go wrong with a talking bear and a talking wolf-hound as companions to the hero.

Throw in the British Intelligence Service, some marauding Germans, a conclave of good wizards, a hot elf chick, an elf-spy working in the British government, a sad yet heroic death, and a hint of future conflict with Nazis - among many other things - and you've got a can't-put-it-down all-nighter. I got my copy about two o'clock in the afternoon and had it finished by nine the same evening.

Another thing I liked is how the author doesn't bash the reader over the head with evolutionary anvils; instead, mentioning Creation (yes, capitalized), and how the world was created about 15,000 years ago; all creatures were created with certain gifts, and man had dominion over them. That is very refreshing in main-stream fiction. It's nice to see this kind of book coming out of a mass-market publishing house, and not a faith-based publishing house.

Though this book is being marketed towards the teen-aged reader, any fan of fantasy, action/adventure, or science fiction should enjoy it.

Book Review: The World of Eldaterra

Book Meme

Recent Books Read:
Some recent books I've read (within the past month):
The World of Eldaterra: The Dragon Conspiracy by P.R. Moredun (complete review coming soon)
Mercury by Ben Bova, (Mini-review: ok)
Ex Machina by Christopher L. Bennet (Mini-review: ok)
Paradox by John Meaney (Mini-review: ok)
The Assignment by Mark Andrew Olson (Mini-review: Good, almost excellent)
Artifact by F. Paul Wilson, Kevin J. Anderson, Matthew J. Costello, and Janet Berliner (mini-review: not bad, not good either, stupid ending)
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (min-review: ok)

Total Books Owned, Ever:
Too many to count. Rubi and I have two bookshelves overflowing with books now. We've probably gotten rid of three times that many in the 11 years we've been married. Ideally, we'd have a huge house with one large room (library, in air-quotes) of wall-to-wall book-shelves crammed with books.
Oh, and a couple of easy chairs to sit in while reading - or a sofa to snuggle together on while reading.

Last Book I Bought:
Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, the day it came out (weeks before the movie came out). Started and finished it the same day, before ever seeing the movie.

Last Book I Read, or Am Currently Reading:
Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Book 1, Prodigal Son, by Dean Koontz and Kevin J Anderson (so far, not great).

Three Books That Mean A Lot To Me, or Three Favorite Books (in no particular order):
1: Foundation and Earth, by Isaac Asimov. My brother gave me a trade paperback copy of the book and it introduced me to the Asimov Universe.

2: The Dragonlance War of the Lance Trilogy, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Excellent fantasy universe. Probably the first real fantasy I read with any interest. Excellent characters, settings, action, humor, emotions, etc. And dragons. Dragons rock!

3: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Trilogy, by Douglas Adams. All 3, uh... 5 (6?) books in the trilogy (major air-quotes there) are just... excellent. Nuf said.

Speaking of books, check out the "Support this blog" section at the end of the right-hand column. I signed up as an affiliate of Barnes & Noble.com. And for Christian books, you can use the
Christianbook.com search box.

Book Meme

Swiss Army Knife with an attitude

You scored as R2-D2: 67%

Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

---
Gotta love that little astromech! No wonder he's my favorite character from the series!

Swiss Army Knife with an attitude

Sunday Brunch for June 5, 2005

Today's Sunday Brunch

"Summer afternoon - Summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language." -Henry James

From SundayBrunch.org: "Summer is here in Texas with a vengeance...and it's here to stay until late September. We always joke here that we have two seasons here, winter and summer, with a few days of spring and fall thrown in for good measure. "

1) What are your plans for the summer? Are you planning on taking any
trips or vacations? Going to Holiday World for a day. Maybe a couple of other day trips; St. Louis, Indy... we'll see. Basically sticking around home, going to the parks, staying in the air conditioning and reading. Oh, and working bizarre hours at work because other supervisors are taking vacations and sick leave.

2) What is your favorite summer activity? Staying in the air conditioning and avoiding the sweltering heat and humidity.

3) Do you sunburn easily or tan well? BURN quite easily. my complexion is very pale. Okay, I'm white as plasterboard!

4) Do you enjoy the warmth and heat and rejoice in it, or shrivel away
from it and stay indoors all summer long? Again: Bring on the AC! In Southern Indiana where we live, our summers are usually in the 90's and the humidity hovers around 99%. Walking out the front door is liking walking into a hot, damp curtain of air. You step outside and instanly begin to sweat. Gimme 72 degrees year round and no humidity!

5) What is your least favorite thing about summer? Uhmm... The heat, the bugs, the crazy drunks, the heat, working bizarre shifts at work because of vacations, the AC bill, yard work... did I mention the heat?

Sunday Brunch for June 5, 2005

Short Book Review: Storm Front

Storm Front: Book one of the Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
I don't usually enjoy first-person narratives. I'm not sure why, I just can't get into them.
But every so often I'll pick one up and it won't immediately make me want to put it down.
I didn't put this one down. It was good. Not great: good. Apparently lots of other people liked it alot though, since it's spawned several sequels.
It's about a modern-day wizard/PI working in Chicago assisting the PD there with otherworldy crimes. He's an ordinary Joe except for the wizard part.
Good book. Not great. Get it from your local library.

Short Book Review: Storm Front

Three Things.

The Mysterious Cloak Figured has passed on to us a mission to complete the following meme. Rubi and I will both provide answers.

Three screen names that you have had:
Kev: kevbayer911, 10X517, hoosierdaddyofthree.
Rubi: mommyof213s, mopsmom, mommyof3

Three things you like about yourself:
Kev: My sense of humor, my eye color, my nerdiness.
Rubi: {left intentionally blank}
Kev answers for her: Great hair, beautiful smile, sparkling eyes, great legs, her sense of humor, oh wait... just three?

Three things you don't like about yourself:
Kev:My procrastination habit, my lack of financial skills, my weight.
Rubi: My weight, my complexion, my not-so-pearly-whites. (YEARS of Diet Coke stains there.)

Three parts of your heritage:
Kev: English, German, Polish.
Rubi: Yep, what he said.

Three things that scare you:
Kev:Bugs that can fight back (spiders, bees, wasps, spiders, etc), being in debt forever, not being able to sell my house.
Rubi: Fire, ringing telephones at night (Whole other story there.), flying insects.

Three of your everyday essentials:
Kev: Rubi-lovin', kid-lovin', air.
Rubi: My fam, Diet Coke, Pantene.

Three things you are wearing right now:
Kev: right sock, left sock, belt (among other more important items).
Rubi: Wedding rings, a scarf-as-a-belt thingy, capris.

Three of your favorite songs:
Kev: One Vision by Queen, Awesome God by Rich Mullins, Dare by Stan Bush.
Rubi: The Llama Song (currently stuck in my head), Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy, Catharsis of Sufferance.

Three new things you want to try in the next 12 months:
Kev:New things? Hmmm... howabout just three things: Try to lose weight, try to write more, try to pray more (remember that procrastination habit?)
Rubi: Lose weight. No, seriously. This time I mean it. Dance Dance Revolution. Installing crown molding.

Three things I want in a relationship:
Kev: love, respect, humor
Rubi: Honesty. Longevity. Love.

Two truths and a lie:
Kev: I love my wife. Genesis 1:1. Evolution.
Rubi: Love my Kev. The Bible. My self confidence.

Three things you can't do without:
Kev: Food, water, air. What? Oh! Me specifically? Rubi's hugs, pizza, naps.
Rubi: My family. My computer. Buffy DVDs.

Three places you want to go on vacation:
Kev: MCF inlcuded: Cybertron and Narnia, and while those would be cool, my idea of a vacation is sitting on my couch reading a good book. But If money were no object, I guess: An Alaskan Cruise, a Disney Cruise, and a world-tour visiting all the ancient megalithic structures (various pyramids, stonhenge, etc) and other mysterious or unexplainable places.
Rubi: Hawaii. Venice. The Bahamas.

Three things you just can't do:
Kev: Small talk, understand women, see well without my glasses.
Rubi: Lick my elbow. Stay organized. Shut up.

Three kids' names:
Kev: Mine are: Elizabeth, Alexander, and Catherine.
Rubi: Chloe. Molly. Amelia. (Girls names that I liked that made Kev gag.)

Three things you want to do before you die:
Kev: Get out of debt, live in a nicer house, grow old with Rubi.
Rubi: Hang glide. Snow Ski. Go to Europe.

Three Celeb crushes:
Kev: Hmmm... I think my "crushes" are more on characters than the celebs. But I guess I'll go with: Natalie Portman, Amanda Tapping, Alyson Hannigan.
Rubi: James Marsters. Eric Etebari. Anthony Stewart Head.

Three Things.

Editorial Cartoon link

Nod to Derek for featuring this editorial cartoon in his blog.

My first reaction to reading that was "Oh man! That's a good one!"

Editorial Cartoon link

Short Book Review: Map of Bones

I just finished reading Map of Bones (a Sigma Force novel) by James Rollins, (well, I actually finished it Sunday evening, but this is the first I've had to write about it).

It's sort of a sequel to his previous novel Sandstorm. The main character from Sandstorm is back in Map of Bones in a supporting role, making way for a new main character.

This book is enjoyable, a fast paced action/adventure novel, with a very small "supernatural" element in the form of lost ancient knowledge. However, this book isn't nearly as good as the authors first two novels, Excavation and Subterranean. Both of those books were heavy on suspense, action, and a strong dose of a perceived supernatural element. I'd recommend those over Map of Bones. However, James Rollins remains one of my current favorite authors in this genre, and all his novels are worth a read.

It seems like I've read many books lately that feature the Vatican, rogue elements within the Catholic Church, and hidden treasures/lost knowledge/supernatural elements, etc: that one book by Dan Brown, The Assignment (a Christian fiction novel I mention in another post)...
Well, those are the only two I can think of off right now, but the point is: They are all running together in my head.

Also, for more on Map of Bones, another Christian author has interviewed James Rollins for one of his podcasts.

Short Book Review: Map of Bones