Saturday, January 09, 2010

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!

What are we doing? Not much! We are supposed to have three days of this abnormally cold weather (that’s their story and they’re sticking to it). Highs are barely into the 40s! Forecast was for 25 degrees Friday night and 27 degrees tonight then 31 degrees on Monday night. The original light for generating warmth in the bay burned out and we have not been able to find a replacement so Phil put a trouble light in with the water pump to keep it from freezing. He also half filled our water tank (so we can flush), bought bottled water and unhooked our water hose then insulated the city water hookup hoping to protect it as well. To put it mildly, this weather really sucks and has been trying our patience for weeks now. Honestly, if I did not have my heart set on Washington DC in the spring (Cherry blossom time) I would try to convince Phil to start moving west towards Arizona … now. We will survive of course (we are from Washington after all), but I am such a wimp when it comes to being cold, I admit—I hate it! Okay, so much for that rant … on to more agreeable reading.

Definition of last week’s word: oxymoron: [òksee máw ròn] Plural: Ox-y-mo-ra
Noun 1. Expression with contradictory words: a phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are used together for special effect, e.g. “wise fool” or “legal murder.”
WORD OF THE WEEK: This one has special meaning for me … Peripatetic

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Gonna Be a Bear

In this life I'm a woman. In my next life, I’d like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that. Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid, I could deal with that. When you are a girl bear, you birth you're children (who are the size of walnuts) while you’re sleeping, and wake to partially grown, cute cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that. If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that. If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat. Yep, gonna be a bear

MOVIE REVIEW: It’s Complicated
We loved this movie. It made us laugh out loud and who can argue with that? To those who will say it is frivolous and insults the talent of Meryl Streep, I say this … who cares? It was a romantic comedy for heaven’s sake … hardly War and Peace! Don’t you suppose she sometimes like to lighten up as well? IMHO, Alec Baldwin is a greasy, middleaged womanizer so he fit his part in this movie to a T but of course, he was just being himself (Gee, can you tell I don’t like him?). Steve Martin did a nice job of playing Mr. Nice Guy and added his own touch of slap stick humor but played it down for the most part. I have not ever smoked marijuana but have to admit, (whether realistic or not) the silly scenes pertaining to it were hilarious. Meryl Streep is just the most believable, versatile and entertaining acress regardless of what role she chooses to do. The characters were a bit out of focus (successful restaurant owners usually work 12-14 hour days—she was there once I think in the whole movie), her extraordinary garden (large and lush) outside her home would require two full time gardeners to tend to it and her impressive home certainly didn’t need remodeling in my opinion but it WAS just a movie and we enjoyed the scenery.
Recommendation: Go see it in the theater … the food scenes are scrumptious!

BOOK REVIEW: Every once in awhile I want something easy, fast moving and predictable to read. In that regard, in 2009, I picked up a book by an author well-known for her happy endings. It was Sandra Brown’s Smoke Screen (published 2008). The book jacket synopsis sounded interesting and as it turned out, I really enjoyed it. My next Brown read, Ricochet (published in 2006) was both entertaining and puzzling and I could not figure out the fast paced mystery until the end. That said, after just finishing my third Sandra Brown novel, The Devil’s Own (published in 1987) this quick read was okay but it points out how far the author has come since starting out as a fledgling writer. The story line in this book is barely believeable and the sex scenes were a bit explicit for my taste but I am happy to report, since then her skills as a writer have greatly improved. Mrs. Brown published her first novel in 1981 and since then has written over sixty books. With over fifty million copies of her books in print, since 1990 she has been consistently on the New York Times bestseller list.
Rating: Smoke Screen …7; Ricochet … 8; The Devil’s Own … 5

Receipt Scanner Saga: Stay tuned … honest! I’m working on it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time,

5 comments:

  1. Being a bear would have its ups, I suppose, but also its downs. In the six months of being awake, all they do is hunt for food, and they eat raw fish, grubs torn from rotting stumps, and stuff like that.

    Oxymorons: "a little big," "government intelligence," etc.

    Peripatetic? Yes, that's us, although right now it's in the past and the future.

    Glorious sunrise this Sunday morning at 7:15. Maybe I'll post a couple of pictures later.

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  2. I hate the cold too and I'm also from Washington. BUT I've felt colder temperatures and more snow in TN.! Caroline was skipping ice off her swimming pool covered it ice yesterday :) They are carrying water to the horses. We are tired of it but Florida is really being hurt by it!

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  3. Hi Joy and Phil, Thanks for stopping by my blog~ WOW - Florida is not supposed to be THAT cold! I'm sure we'll see the results at the supermarket on the oranges. So much for global warming down there? On the west coast we're having a mild winter with not enough precip! I'm sure much of the state will pay for that in water rationing later in the year. Fortunately for us, we're on a well that's sunk in an aquifer that comes straight off the mountains. The beach was lovely yesterday... 60+F.

    I've wanted to go see that movie, but hubby insists we're going to see Avatar first. LOL

    Stay warm you two~ xx Vicki

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  4. Hard to believe it might be warm somewhere! It is bitter here with pipes bursting and I am without water again while the last break is being repaired! Stay warm!!!

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  5. About the same here in Washington BUT we are prepared for it and its a usual winter occurance here. Now its supposed to warm a little and rain. ICKY. Would rather have it cold and icy than rain on top of the snow. Have enjoyed Nikki this weekend. Will hate seeing her go this afternoon.

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