7 Quick Takes

1. I haven't seen Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince yet. In order to pull off the surprise on Saturday, we sent dh & the older two kids off to the theatre so younger dd and I could get the party ready. Maybe I'll escape to Hogwarts this weekend...

2. Ds has been in WV all week on a youth service/missions trip. I sent him off with a baggie full of ibuprofen and his anti-bacterial mouth rinse since he had his 4 wisdom teeth removed just 6 days before leaving town...

3. At the beach a few weeks ago I read about half of a Wendell Berry collection of essays "The Art of the Commonplace." Almost hate to admit it here since I think Berry is somewhat de rigueur at the moment and I wouldn't want to be guilty of being hip & up-to-the-minute. At any rate it was interesting reading. Would it be hopelessly arrogant for me to say that he's writing a lot of things I've already thought -- and in some cases actually said to dh? Probably.

4. Also at the beach we watched the documentary Man on Wire. I'll just say that 1) it is not for children (we learned this the hard way -- take the PG-13 rating seriously, I think an R rating might be more warranted!) and b) I'm not entirely sure I am glad I watched this, in fact I found it kind of disturbing... suffice to say Phillipe Petit is a truly unique individual. I thought he was scary. To do what he did... well the ego involved is just beyond my comprehension.

5. On a lighter note, Maybelle kitty is doing quite well. She's had several of her shots and seems to be worm-free and flea-free at this point, which is good. We are letting her roam at will in the house but she still needs to be watched... you know "curiosity killed the cat" and all that.

Samwise the corgi dog is doing amazingly well adjusting to this little blur of fur. She is rather fond of stalking him and then suddenly pouncing, usually on his back end. It's a riot to watch her realize (rather late in the process) that she isn't really all that excited about attacking his bottom and bouncing off in another direction. He mostly just stands or sits there with an attitude of "if I ignore her maybe she'll go away".

6. Preparations are beginning in earnest for Z's entrance into university (and our temporary removal to SB) in a few weeks. We are excited to leave our home in the care of a family of four -- dad, mom, and newborn twins! It just makes me happy to think of our house being occupied by babies again... :-)

7. After a several weeks (months?) halt to my scrapbooking activities (I was crafting some, but mostly cards) I've started up again, hoping to get a whole bunch of pages made in the next few weeks. I'll try to share... tho' the whole scanning/uploading process is not my favorite way to spend my precious summertime hours...