It’s Started

Yes, as I write, Levi Leipheimer just took over the 1st place in the opening stage of the Tour de France!  Twenty-three days (2 rest days in there) of my men in spandex.  Lance went out early and did a very creditable finish, but was knocked out of 1st place.  But as long as Levi or Lance win the whole thing, I don’t care.

Off to be glued to the TV.  Time trial races will last for several hours as all 100 plus guys go 1 at a time.

Uni-clothes

When did clothes merge?  Did I miss something somewhere? 

“Back in my day…..” smacking toothless lips together…. “you had church clothes, school clothes and play clothes.”

Yep.  I see those nodding heads of people over a certain age.  You know what I’m talking about.  You remember what happened when you wanted to wear that new church dress out to play in and show off to your friends.  That was when you were snatched bald and told to go change clothes.

Church clothes were the dressy clothes.  These were the ones you wore to church on Sunday morning.  And if you had to go to someone’s house right after church, you couldn’t play because you “were in church clothes!”

School clothes were the new ones you got in August to start school in.  You got replenished at Christmas.  You could wear school clothes to Sunday evening services and to Wednesday night potlucks.  You wore them to friend’s birthday parties.  But the minute you came home from school you had to change out of school clothes into…….

Play clothes.  These were the ‘old’ school clothes your mom didn’t mind if you got them dirty.  You never worn play clothes to church, even during vacation bible school.

However, at some point they have all merged.  You can no longer tell someone what to wear to an event by going ‘church’, ‘school’, ‘play’.  And nowhere was more evident than at graduation last week.

There were people who were in their church clothes.  Complete with hats.  Those 2 piece, polyester suits for women and a 2 piece suit for men.  Full makeup, hair done, jewelry on.  This was an ‘event’.

Then there were those, like myself, who wore school clothes.  I was in a skirt and knit top and strappy sandals.  Men wore slacks and dress shirt.

And then there were those who stopped their yard work and showed up for the graduation ceremony.  Denim shorts, Capri's, t-shirts and flip flops.  Even Texter dressed up for her sister’s graduation.  Granted it looked more like disco Friday night, but she did dress up.

I do like the fact in some ways the lines have been blurred between how you dress for certain things.  I can go to church in the summer without putting on hose, for example.  But there was a certain mental ease when you could label what you needed to wear with one word and everyone knew what you were talking about.

So, I’m sitting here in my play clothes, washing my school clothes and wondering what I would do if I needed church clothes.

My Dirty Little Secret…..

Yes, I am a WOWhead.  I like love World of Warcraft.  It is my release.  I can come home and kill things and get gold and achievements and fly…and I Love WOW!

So, even though I am a devoted sweet tea drinker (I’m Southern for Pete's sake!) when Mt. Dew came out with these……

 

I caved. 

Normally, if the girls have soda in the house, it’s basically generic.   So Texter really bounced up and down and even carried it home from the store for me.

For those of you not in the “know”, the Orc on the left, the red can, is Horde on WOW.  And the drink is Dew with a citrus cherry taste.

The one on the right, in blue, is a Night Elf (me!) for the Alliance side.  It’s a wild berry taste.

OD looked at them longingly.  She plays WOW.  She would like a drink.  They both have Red Dye 40 in them!  (She did cave and take a little sip.)

Personally, I took a sip of each and went back to my tea.  I dropped a sprig of lemon balm in it.  Plenty of sugar please.  But I did hold onto 2 empty cans.  Figure I can cut the figures out and do something with them.

 

I Want to be a Starbucks Coffee

Yeah, I’m one of those ‘Starbucks’ people.  I have to get my mocha frap with whipped cream or my caramel macchiato (if it’s cold out).  They are my ‘treat’ to myself.  Usually Texter and I can share a frap, so 2 treats for the price of one.   And they are in my local grocery store I walk to.  Double trouble.  I can usually resist because I have my “list” and exact change to pay for it, but sometimes you just need a pick-me-up.

 

Was in there the other day and was waiting for my frap for the walk back home (in the 90 degree heat and humidity) and looked at a display of their coffee beans.  Then and there I decided I wanted to be Starbucks coffee!

Which do I want to be?

Familiar and Friendly (Latin American coffees)  Sounds….nice.  The girl next door.  Comfort.  How can you go wrong with this?

Extraordinary and Enticing (Africa/Arabia coffees) What woman would NOT want to be considered extraordinary?  Or enticing?  This is the stuff of movie stars, the secret part of a lot of us. (Ask me about my theory on Playboy bunnies some time.)

This one appeals to me, as, at least the first part, I have never considered myself….Adventurous and Assertive (Asia/Pacific coffees).  Two piece business suits, stiletto heels, and white water rafting on the side. Some people I know would not have a problem with saying I’m assertive, but the adventurous….probably not.

My favorite, and I don’t consider myself either to much of a degree, is Interesting and Complex (multi-region coffees).  This is the weird cat lady and all-the-men-love-her rolled into one.  She’s not the most beautiful, but she’s the one everyone wants to know…or say they know.  Can’t put her into a pigeon hole.

Sturdy and Powerful (dark roast blends) is for all the matriarchs out there.  I’m not matriarchal material.  Too much responsibility and I do good just to try and take care of myself. This is Gaia.  The Mother Goddess.

How can you not want to be known by any of these?  Today I will be…..

Technology Driven

For want of a cord….

I have cords for everything - cell phone rechargers, MP3 players, cameras. Each and every one takes a completely different style cord. Nothing is interchangeable. You can’t cross utilize. So when you lose one, you’re…well…screwed.

OD’s camera is a prime example. My computer – the main computer – does not have a slot to accept the memory card used in her camera. We have ‘misplaced’ the USB cord to connect the camera to the computer to download. Since my camera does not do video (and is older and heavier – wait – that’s me!) and I have done several events on her camera, I have had to order a new cord.

This is operating under the principle once the new one arrives I’ll find the old one which I have been looking for for months. Then I can download all the pictures and videos I’ve taken on her camera over the past month.

I could actually download it all onto the laptop. My problem is transferring the videos. The pictures I can move over, but the videos – nope. But you know what creatures of habit we are. It has to be on MY COMPUTER!

So I ordered and waited for Nikon to send me a new cord. To go with all the other cords . To go into the drawer of cords. And it arrived. I downloaded and now there are videos out there to watch of her scene from “Ugly” and parts of the graduation ceremony. All is right in the world. We have achieved cordage.

Tomato Jungle

This is what my 2 cherry tomatoes look like now on my balcony. They are over 6 feet tall and going strong.

Now if they will start ripening the tomatoes!

Bugs

My roll as mother includes killing bugs.  This is the latest bug to have made it to the landing.  I think they are coming here to die.  But at 5am this is not what I want to get called out to take care of.

This one was about 3 inches long.  There have been a couple of smaller ones about.  And they just sat there. I ‘flicked’ them out into space.  Noel wants to eat them.  Got to love bugs at 5am.