irrelevant (and sometimes questionable) ramblings

Today’s To-Do List contains “Gut the Offspring’s bedroom”. (And by proxy this means “sort out all toys and junk to sell at next yard sale”, “sort out all toys and junk to be donated away” and “sort out all garbage and recyclables”.)

Can you tell I’m just ecstatic about this?

On top of it all, the Offspring went into hysterics when I tried to drop her off at camp today. She seemed excited to go over breakfast, but when we got there, it was a different story. So I ended up doing the old “bait and switch”, leaving her distracted and sneaking out the door.

I know she’s fine, and the camp hasn’t called me, but it doesn’t help when the last thing you see is your child’s crying face. *sigh* I also know she needs a little bit of “toughening up”…but that’s hard. (I’m sure all parents out there will agree with me!)

Of course, this does not make me feel any better, nor any less like a Very Bad Mom. Such is life, I suppose.

I hope you all have a better day than me!

I’ve stolen this because it looked like a lot of fun, and because I LOVE Scattergories. Please play along in comments!

SCATTERGORIES

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following…They must be real places, names, things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you has the same 1st initial. You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Kris

Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Killers, The

4 letter word: Kiss

Vehicle: Kompressor

TV Show: Knight Rider (W00T! Don’t Hassel the Hoff!)

City: Kitchener (Ontario)

Boy Name: Kenneth

Girl Name: Katherine

Alcoholic drink: Kiss Me Slow

Occupation: King!

Flower: Kalanchoe

Something you wear: Kenneth Cole

Celebrity: King, Stephen

Something found in a kitchen: Knife

Reason for Being Late: Killed

Cartoon Character: Kyle, Selena (aka Catwoman)

Something you shout: Kiss my ass!

Play! Play! Play! You must!

I suppose I was under the influence of a brief mind-control drug, or some sort of paranormal brain meld, but I showed the Mater how to use the “symptom checker” on WebMD.com.

Oops.

Think I can get her to forget all about it?

*sigh*

In other questionable news, I bought the Offspring Shrek toothpaste. (Okay, it’s not toothpaste made of Shrek goo or anything gross like that — it’s toothpaste with a picture of the guy on the tube.)

But ironically enough, the toothpaste is blue. Shouldn’t they have coloured it GREEN??

I went out to my garden to snip some leaf lettuce for a salad to go with dinner, and I kid you not — in the span of about 15 seconds, I got three mosquito bites.

I am so not an outdoors girl… *sigh*

This post came to me as I was considering what we should have for supper tonight. I found myself daydreaming about how nice a juicy barbecued chicken breast would be…and then I admitted that it was a lousy pipe dream.

Why?

Because I can’t barbecue to save my life.

Grilling has always been the forte of someone else in my life–be it the Pater, or an ex-boyfriend, or even the hex-hubby. I never bothered even learning to do it, because there was always someone else to do the work. This doesn’t mean I never tried, but my handful of attempts always turned out…well…they were edible, but just barely.

Of course, this is now coming back to bite me in the ass when there’s no one around to grill me up some chicken, or ribs, or a nice steak or pork chop… *sigh*

I guess this means I really do have to learn one of these days, huh?

What about you? What is it that you just can’t do? Confess!

I just queried a book idea to Harlequin Blaze.

I think I’m going to be sick now.

You all might want to stand back.

(Will keep you posted on how this unfolds. My new mantra is: Please don’t think it sucks. LOL!)

I shouldn’t complain, seeing as how we were freezing only a couple of weeks ago, but man, it’s hot outside. It’s 30C out there, and I don’t even want to turn the oven or stove on to make anything for supper.

My conscience, waistline and pocketbook are all vetoing the idea of dashing out to pick up something, too. (Though they may be overruled if nothing suitable appears in the next few minutes…)

Anyway. Our luverly gazebo is now up once again, and all interior furniture has been washed, so the new outdoor “room” is ready for use. Tra-la!

(I know. I’ve got nothin’. Must be my empty stomach’s fault…)

Fine, then. I’m off to go see what I can rustle up in the kitchen, but in the meantime, head on over to Donna Alward’s blog, where I’m guest-blogging!

Ciao!

(Or Potterised, if you’re from the other side of the pond…)

Warning: This is a spoiler-free zone!

Whew.

Okay, now I’ve both seen Order of the Phoenix and read Deathly Hallows.

I really did enjoy both — the movie had some great moments in it, and some amazing casting (Imelda Staunton nailed the role of Dolores Umbridge, IMnsHO), and the book ended the series terrifically.

But one thing that struck me tonight leaving the theater was this — I’m a firm believer that J.K. Rowling is a genius. There are SO many threads and plot elements and props throughout this series of seven books that even after multiple readings of the first few titles I still have trouble keeping them all straight.

And this woman figured out the whole story right from the start.

Maybe this is a writer thing, but I feel like I have trouble plotting one novella, let alone multiple 600-700-page books!

So for that reason, I heartily bow at Rowling’s feet. To be able to come up with a story like this one is seriously impressive.

It also didn’t hurt that the actors in the movie are aging rather nicely, I might add. (Yeah, I know. It’s my cradle-robbing tendencies showing again.) James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) are definitely getting better looking the older they get, and not to mention Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy). Nice.

Hm. I just checked IMDB.com and the release date of Half-Blood Prince isn’t until November 21, 2008. Ah, well. The day will arrive before we know it.

Anyhoo. I’m off for the night. Have a great one, gang!

I’ve had the last Potter book in my possession for approximately eight hours now (and no, for various reasons I have not been able to crack it open yet).

Never in my life have I wanted so badly to turn to the last few pages of a book and see how it ends.

But I have remained strong, my friends. I shall endure. I will read the book chronologically from beginning to end, so help me God.

(Despite all this, I hope you’ll keep your fingers crossed for me, though, through my moments of temptation and weakness…)

I’ll keep you posted on my dance with this devil…

Good morning!

I’m sure (or at least, I’m hoping) that you’ll all be pleased to know that I seem to finally feel back to whatever passes for normal for your hostess with the mostess.

As soon as I organize my thoughts I’ll blog a bit about the Old Country. And update you on the current and future WIPs (got a few things in the works, at the moment).
In the meantime, though, I’m off today to pick up a copy of Harry Potter. (W00T!) The Mater had pre-ordered the book, but she’s busy today, so she’s left me the receipt and claim check to go pick it up. As a result, I’m also busy avoiding any and all media until I read the damned thing. I’ve waited too long to have the end spoiled for me. I only wish there was a foolproof way to sequester myself somehow…

The weather is also finally warming up, so it looks like we’ll get our pool and gazebo up finally, too. (Better late than never, right?) It’s about time summer got here!

Anyway. We must get our collective rears in gear and get something accomplished today. Have a good weekend, all, and I’ll be back later!