Break From Routine
Topic: This and That
This was taken a week ago. It looks to me as if he's conducting a symphony in his head! (Either that, or getting a psychic impression. *grin*) What do you all think? :) (If you've got a good quote to go with the picture, feel free to post it in the comments section.)
Today got off to an early start. I had an appointment at MHS. Larry had to be at work early, so in order to get the car and make my appointment, Ryan and I had to be up early. Sometimes Ryan wakes up early. Of course this was not one of those mornings. However, as soon as he realized we were going somewhere, he seemed to perk up. Ryan and I dropped Larry off, then went to the cafeteria on post and got some breakfast. It seemed like Ryan really enjoyed the change in routine.
The other day I heard, "Hey Jude" on the radio. I LOVE that song! It's definitely a classic. I love it when I hear a great song I hadn't thought about in a while. My friend Ginger is making a list of fave songs. I can't wait to see it! I would like to make my own list, but it would be soooo long. I'm sure I would leave things out, only to think of them later. So for now I will just say my short list of classic rock songs that I think are, er, classic is (in no special order): Kashmir and Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin, Dream On by Aerosmith, Paint It Black and Satisfaction by the Stones (Angie gets an honorable mention, though it's a ballad), Layla by Eric Clapton. I'm sure there are tons more, but that's just off the top of my head. Please feel free to chip in and comment on your personal favorites!

Weather, Running, Nostalgia
Topic: This and That
Happy 10th birthday, Misty! (Misty is our cat.) Even the cat gets a shout out on my blog. *grin*
I keep forgetting to mention something I saw Thursday. Larry drove Ryan and I home since the weather was bad and Larry didn't want us to have to wait for the bus. Just after leaving post, I saw a really amazing rainbow. Because of the landscape, it looked like the rainbow was rising up out of the ground to hover just above it. It was bright and beautiful and I'd never seen one quite like it.
Yesterday was busy, but I felt like I didn't really accomplish that much. I wanted to take Ryan to the play group at MHS. Larry kindly came back from work to pick us up. I dropped Larry off at work, then drove over to the play group. No one was there. I realized that for I-don't-know-what reason, I thought the group met from 11am to 1pm. It actually met from 10am to noon. Oops. Apparently two people showed up, were there until 11am, then left. I missed them by about ten minutes. Oh well. I decided to go ahead and go to the commissary and bx. I went back home and had just long enough to feed Ryan something, and try to convince him to nap (which he didn't) before turning right around to pick up Larry from work.
Later on in the early evening, Larry watched Ryan while I went for a run. I love to take Ryan with me, but going solo felt very freeing. I definitely run faster without a stroller to push!
It was really lovely out. It was still cool and a bit windy, but when running downwind and into the sun, it was pleasantly warm. With the arrival of spring, the area is coming to life and people are starting to be outside more. The trees are still mostly bare, but are starting to bud. Some are even blossoming in a pretty, delicate pink. There are daffodils everywhere.
I ran by a group of teenagers goofing around on the grass. They were chasing each other and wrestling around. It made me laugh and took me back. To be innocent and naive again. *wry sigh* We used to use football in the winter and swimming in the summer as an excuse to basically be all over one another. It was very innocent. (A very close friend's mom referred to our high school group of friends as, "the Nerd Herd." It doesn't get much more innocent than that!) I would never want to go back (I can't even fathom reliving over half my life), but I do miss the innocence of those times. We didn't realize it then, but we really were carefree.
Today was back to the more normal routine of taking Ryan for a jog in the late morning, then going into town later after cleaning up and eating lunch. The weather was its schizophrenic self. We had rain, sun, and rain in the middle of sun. I always like that. The novelty never wears off.
PS - I think it's ironic that on a blog spell checker, the word "blog" is not recognized!

Slide
Topic: Ryan
Ryan is 19 months old today!
Larry thought we ought to take some pictures of Ryan on his slide. Here are a few more:
     
Slide
Enjoy!

Why Marathons Should Be Illegal
Topic: Featured Link
Larry found this link that I would like to share with everyone. It's an ESPN Page 2 article about why marathons should be illegal. This is especially funny since Larry is training for the Edinburgh marathon coming up in June. Marathons Should Be Illegal
Enjoy!

Harry Potter IQ Test Courtesy of The Leaky Cauldron
Topic: Silliness
Sunday while everyone else was napping, I took this Harry Potter IQ test on The Leaky Cauldron website. I did pretty poorly! :) I've only read the books once though, and it was all fill in the blank. It was four pages long. The first page was easy. The other pages got progressively more difficult until the last page was positively obscure. I would challenge JKR herself to get those correct without looking in her notes. *grin*

"But does it have cruise control???"
Now Playing: Blue purring, laundry drying, wind outside
Topic: This and That
I hope everyone had a good Easter. The weather held out and we did get to bbq. Larry had picked up a steak and some chicken a day or two before. For some reason, he got a hankering for hot dogs, so on the way home from Embsay, we stopped at MHS and got some hot dogs and buns at the shopette. The hot dogs turned out well and really hit the spot! I have to laugh because I read my friend Andra's blog this morning, and she too wound up having hot dogs for Easter dinner! A new tradition perhaps??? *grin* Ryan quite liked his. He ate an entire hot dog and bun (separately). (Granted it wasn't a big hot dog, but still...) Ryan also got a good dose of chocolate. Even though I took him for a walk after he ate it, around bedtime he was still rarin' to go.
After dinner and before bed, we gave Ryan his Easter basket. He had fun spreading Easter grass all over everywhere!
This photo was taken with my cell phone Saturday night. Larry and Ryan and I went to Toys'R'Us in Leeds. Ryan had never been in a toy store before. He loved running around looking at everything. He especially liked this car. (There are probably some people out there who can do wonders with a cell phone camera. I am not one of them. I didn't realize until after I'd taken this that you can adjust brightness, and also zoom. Oh well. You'd think a child of the 80's who could put together an Apple II+ at the time would be a little more tech savvy at this point. Apparently not!) Larry and Ryan and I had a great time. We bought Ryan a plastic slide for the backyard. Ryan LOVES to slide.
Larry later commented to me that he was relieved that Ryan ran straight through all the girly stuff in the store and headed straight towards the boy stuff. Men! :)
There's a Borders in the shopping area we were in. It's open until 10pm. There's a Starbucks inside. We wandered in around 9:30pm only to find Starbucks closed. :( They have to close an hour early so they are ready to leave when Borders is ready to close. Oh well. Ryan lived without his hot chocolate and Larry and I didn't need the caffeine anyway!
Today I took Ryan for a jog. About halfway through, I needed a break and Ryan wanted to run around, so I let him out of the jogging stroller to play a bit. Later on, we walked to the shopping center. I got Ryan his kid's cocoa. The people at Starbucks are really nice, especially to Ryan!
Since I now usually don't have the car, I enjoy walking to the shopping center just to get out of the house and have somewhere to walk to. It's always fun to people watch.
They observe Easter Monday here, so some of the shops are closed.

Easter
Topic: Holidays
Happy Easter everyone!
(I would like to wish my close friend Karen a happy belated birthday!)
Today Larry and Ryan and I went to Embsay for a "Day Out With Thomas." (Click here to see the Embsay website.) Embsay Station There is a steam railway that runs between Bolton and Embsay. Both places are less than half an hour from our house. It's been a really nice day today, weather wise, thank goodness! We thought it would be nice to get out and do something, since Ryan is still a bit young to hunt for Easter eggs.
The Day Out With Thomas (as in, Thomas the Tank Engine) was fun. At both Embsay and Bolton stations there were things to do for kids of all ages. There were gift shops and very crowded refreshment areas. At Bolton there was a small carnival, with a bouncy castle, a carousel, a little train, swings, and a person making balloon animals. At Embsay there was an attraction where you could "meet Thomas," the Fat Controller made an appearance, and there was an ice cream stand that Larry and Ryan and I stopped by on the way out. The price of admission also included a "gift" for the children. There was a tent set up with a surprisingly wide variety of toys to choose from. Ryan took a shine to a red steam engine, so we took that.
When we first arrived, the parking lot was full. We got creative and found somewhere to park. We didn't realize at first that we had actually found a pretty close spot. It wasn't too long of a walk, which was good since we'd forgotten to bring the stroller. It turned out that the stroller would have probably been more trouble than help anyway. The first thing we did after we got our tickets was to board the train going to Bolton. I couldn't help but think of Hogwart's Express. To my great delight, someone behind us said, "This is like Harry Potter!" I chimed in, "I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking that!" Too bad we didn't get to sit with them! *grin*
The train ride to Bolton was only about 15 minutes. Ryan was great and seemed to enjoy the ride. It was through rolling green countryside, with lots of sheep and lamb.
Once in Bolton, we enjoyed the carnival. We put Ryan on the swings and went for the mini train ride. After that, we took the train back to Embsay, got Ryan's gift, some ice cream, then headed home.
All in all, it was a very nice little excursion. We were surprised how many people were there. It seems the British people here like to get out on Easter.
As I write this, Ryan and Larry are napping. So far, so good the weather is holding out. Larry bought a bbq yesterday, so we're planning on bbqing for Easter dinner. When the guys wake up, I'm going to present Ryan with his Easter basket (courtesy of both his Grandma Mary Ann and Nana Joyce).
Hope everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable Easter!
Please check out out pictures from today! Day Out With Thomas

Which SciFi Character Are You?
Topic: Silliness

This is a fun quiz I took back in December. Funny thing is, I took it again last night and got the same result. I would have thought maybe taking it a few months later, I might put different answers (especially since I don't remember what I put before). So I guess that means I really am Princess Leia! *grin*

Trash Can Lids, the Knight Bus, and Weird Reading Habits
Topic: This and That
I had a kind of surreal moment this afternoon. Ever since we moved in to this house, we've been missing a lid from one of our trash cans. Sometime last week, I asked our land lady about getting a replacement. She said she'd bring one by.
Today the doorbell rang. It was our land lord. He was dressed in a nice suit, and was holding a new trash can lid. He smiled and asked if I'd like a new rubbish bin lid. There was a slight beat where we both just smiled and enjoyed the slight absurdity of the moment. I laughed and said yes, and that I'd been wondering if we were going to get a new one. He laughed and said it had been in the back of the car for a while. It's funny because our trash cans are plastic and the lid is metal. It fits though, so I'm happy.
Earlier today, Ryan and I had a mini-adventure. I needed to get on post and decided to take the MHS shuttle bus. I'm not really one for buses. Never have been. Not sure why. With the schedule and map of stops in my hot little hands, I took Ryan and set off to catch the bus. It was extremely windy today. Actually, it's been windy here a lot lately. Don't like it. We found the stop just fine, but got there a bit early. The bus was fifteen minutes late. I was just about to give up and go home, when it pulled up. (While waiting, I had almost boarded the wrong bus, and made a call to the contact number on the bus schedule just to be sure the buses were running.) During the first part of the ride, I was pretty sure I'd accidentally gotten on the Knight Bus from the movie, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." All that was missing was the shrunken head. There were seat belts in the bus, and they were definitely necessary! (I suppose I can't complain. The bus ride is free.) Thankfully, things calmed down after a few minutes, and I was actually able to enjoy the scenery while Ryan took a cat nap in my arms.
Please read the following sentence (a reader quote from a magazine): "Our kids love peeking under stones to find wiggly worms and splashing in puddles." You know what the first thing I thought was? That's a poorly constructed sentence and would sound much better if it were written, "Our kids love splashing in puddles and peeking under stones to find wiggly worms." Anyone else do that? I do realize that I send plenty of grammatically questionable sentences out there into cyber space on a fairly regularly basis. However, I just can't help but constantly edit things as I read them. (I'm also aware the occasional typo sneaks in here now and then. I do proof read this blog, but it's a blog, not a submission to a literary agency.) Anyhow, no one is perfect (especially moi), but I just can't stand to see a badly written sentence.

Weirdness in the Windowsill and a Horrible Shade of Pink
Topic: This and That
(This is a picture from the birthday party we went to last month. We could call it, "Pizza Is Good.")
A day or two ago I added the background photo to the control panel. Hope everyone likes it. I think it livens things up a bit. Let me know what you think.
So the other day I open up the curtains in the master bedroom to let some sun in, and I am given a bit of a start to see some creepy insect pod molded over part of the window sill. It looked old and dry. It was kind of white on the outside. I grabbed a pen and poked it. Part of it crumbled and it was dark brown and sort of mossy textured on the inside. Thoroughly gross. It gave me the willies! I have no idea what it was. When I showed it to Larry later, he echoed my earlier thought, "Where's Gil Grissom when you need him?" *grin* It would have been interesting to know what exactly made the creepy pod. Today I vacuumed it up. It wouldn't all come off though. eeeewwwww. Guess I will have to clean off the rest somehow. *gag*
Yesterday was a nice day. In the morning I took Ryan out for a jog. After getting cleaned up, we went for a walk to the shopping area. Ryan and I shared a pasty for lunch, and a doughnut for dessert, then washed it down with Starbucks. Yum! We stopped by ASDA on the way back to get a couple of things, then I let Ryan walk the last stretch home. It was almost warm out in the sun. However, any time the wind blew, or there was shadow, it was still quite chilly.
Later on I went to the monthly spouse's coffee. (Larry watched Ryan.) The coffee was fun. The lady hosting it does nails professionally, so she led us all through self-given manicures. I picked out a color that was called, "Magenta." It looked that way in the light we were in. I got home to realize it was more along the lines of, "Obnoxiously Pink." Oh well. I can pull it off. I think. If not, that's why God invented nail polish remover. Ryan seems to like it, so it can stay for a while.
Today it's been rainy a lot. The sun came out in time for Ryan's nap. Oh well. That's better than no sun at all.