the teddy bears' picnic

It's been a while since I've had anything fun to talk about (book wise) on the blog lately. Most of the books I'm currently listing for my database are books that have stuck around in boxes for a while (from two months to five years depending on the box....) so to me they are old hat.  Not that they are bad books, on the contrary. But for some reason or other, I would pull them out of a box to list, look at them and just not be interested in them.... so back into the box they went. 

The thing is, I'm currently trying to whittle down the backlog of boxes ... and at the same time conserve funds for the possibility of exciting new books that might come along and need real cash to pay for them.

It hasn't happened lately, but at least I can keep my hopes up.

The other day, while I was scanning the shelves of the one place I went to this week (because of the backlog of books, and because my schedule currently is CRAZY... I've pared down the time I allow myself to spend haunting my usual book finding spots.  At some point, if I DON'T get to go out book hunting, I'll probably burst into a thousand quivering bits).  So ANYWAY.... I went.  I found .... not much.  Some books on Fly fishing - which isn't my personal interest - but books that are good enough to fish out of the pile of dreck before they were totally destroyed.  If I get a chance this week, they'll go up as a group item to someone who DOES like fly fishing.   I was sad and disappointed that I'd wasted gas and time at this place.... but.... on the way out, I looked down (it's always down, or sideways, or some other way than right in front of your nose, isn't it?) and there was this one book sticking out of a pile of Children's paperback junk that caught my eye.

And....

It was The Teddy Bear's Picnic.

This is a wonderful book for several reasons.  One, it's the whole idea of the Teddy Bears' Picnic.
And then, the book comes with a 33 1/3rd record at the back (this one is in nice condition too) with the SONG  The Teddy Bears' Picnic  -- there is a great write-up of the original Teddy Bear inventor and the whole bear / picnic thing here,    has two versions of the song - first by Bing Crosby, the second by The Bearcats.

This copy, which was published by the Green Tiger Press (under their Star and Elephant logo) includes illustrations by Alexandra Day ( and there's another story there...   Alexandra Day is the pseudonym of Sandra Louise Woodward Darling, who with her husband Harold established Green Tiger Press in 1970. This particular book -- The Teddy Bears' Picnic was Darling's first published book illustration as Alexandra Day (she went on to conceive and illustrate the Good Dog Carl books).


It's a cool book with wonderful illustrations and a catchy tune to play with it.  All you need is a bunch of finger sandwiches, a young person to take to the park with you and a record player...

Next on the list for database....

Not much to say, but here's a few of the items I'm adding as I can this week.

 mystery stuff

 World War I

 Edwin Hoyt is best known for his books about
World War II and Sea stuff.... this is different. Totally different
It's about stamps.

 A pamphlet about The Ford Theatre

And a wonderful ethnic / 1950's cookbook put out by the
Slovenian's Women's Union of America. LOTS of desert stuff!

New Day!!!

New Hair cut, new hair color.  I'm stoked.

Now if only I could get a picture of it for my blog.....

Maybe this weekend when the relations come for a visit.

Check back next week and see if it's up.

I've had this sitting on my desk, waiting to be blogged about for three days....

No, I'm not starting my Christmas / Holiday  selling spree early this year....

This particular book just happened to be on the input pile on my desk this last week and I'm a big fan of Sandra Boynton's books.

I have another older title by her right now as well....

Both of these books feature her fun / funny animal characters and her quirky, but easy to enjoy sense of humor.

Sandra Boynton started creating and selling gift cards (by her own admission as a break from waitressing) between years at college in the early 1970's. Originally sold haphazardly to individual stores, etc. Sandra soon took the greeting cards to a trade show in New York and took up with Recycled Paper Greetings....  after that, her illustrations and her penchant for new /gnu spelling became the fad of the 1980's.

If you'd like more info about Sandra and her work, here's her blog address:  here


Over the years, I've had a number of her books for children -- all of them have made me stop and read them... sometimes more than once.


No matter what mood I'm in, when I see her illustrations and read her books, I always end up happy.

Maybe you do to.

Enjoy.

Correction of an Ooops!

Two posts ago I said that I hated Jane Eyre..... my bad.

I MEANT to write Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.  My memory failed me on this and when I looked up the plot, I got it wrong again.

So, Ooops!

October Newsletter went out today....

And here it is....

I figured it wouldn't hurt to post it to the blog today seeing as I'm not getting much of anything else done until it's all finished being delivered.

The process for sending out my email newsletter is a bit byzantine... when I put the newsletter together my regular email program (Mozilla Thunderbird) was not able to handle mass mailing without showing all the email addresses (a BIG no-no) and it wouldn't LET me mail out more than a certain number in a given period of time (anti-spam guarding).  So I had to go fishing for a program that would.

I know there are on-line options for mass mailing but they all cost on a monthly basis.  I wasn't ready, nor do I have that large of a mailing list, so I checked around with the techie / book crowd and ended up with The Bat.  It's a very nice email program and does generally all the things I need it to do for mass mailing once a month. Took a bit of figuring but not too much.

The thing is, when I put this together, it / my ISP would only allow me to send 25 emails at a time.  SO I broke the list down into groups of 25.  I have at least 75 sub-groups now.  And, since I haven't had the time or the inclination to check for something more workable, I continue to add new names to the list in groups of 25.  (Now that I'm thinking about it though, I might just check and see if the new Thunderbird has this capability. Would save me extra work as Thunderbird is my daily used email program.).

It takes only seconds to click all the options to send the emails, but x75 times, it takes at least an hour (more like an hour and a half as my attention span skips to other interesting surfing things while I'm waiting for it to do it's thing each time I send off a group.

So when I do put out a newsletter, it takes a good chunk of the time I have for that day.   I generally only send the newsletter once a month (I'm sure I mentioned that I don't like to be too pushy with my newsletters, but I would like to send them out twice a month if I could- just because I think twice a month would keep my customers interest up, but not make them cranky and sign off the list).

So -- after all that, here's the newsletter.  And please feel free to use the discount to order something from the website (there's a link to my website off to the right side of this blog).  Send the newsletter to a friend or colleague.  


Enjoy.

Here it is:

Hi:

   October has arrived - fall has arrived...even in California. This
   week we have overcast skies and weather hovering around the
   mid-70's (which for us is actually a bit cool for this time of
   year). Along with the cool weather comes the changing colors of the
   leaves, the beginning of the fall and winter tasks (including
   raking and my favorite...cleaning out gutters). It also brings
   Halloween and the holidays to follow in its wake. This year I
   actually have to come up with a costume for myself because our Cub Scout Pack
   is having a costume contest and den leaders (including me) have to
   dress up as well. Scary thought.

   In other news, the Nobel Prize for Literature was announced this
   morning -- the winner is Peruvian Author Mario Vargas Llosa -- he's
   been a writer for more than forty years, has been a political
   activist and even made a presidential bid in 1990. At least two of
   his books have been made into major motion pictures in the United
   States.

   In honor of his accomplishments, my featured book this month is the
   first book he published in English : The Time of the Hero.

    Llosa, Mario Vargas: THE TIME OF THE HERO 1966. Grove Press. New York. Hardcover.
    1st American Edition/ 1st Edition. F / NF. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition
    and has a Near Fine dust jacket.   The book and its contents are in clean, bright condition.
    The text pages are clean and bright.    Top edge of text block has a bit of very beginning
    ground-in dirt and foxing.  The spine ends and corners of the dust jacket have a bit  of
    very light bumping.   The bottom spine end of the dust jacket has a very faint waterspot
    (mostly visible from the reverse of the dust jacket).  The white dust jacket is clean and
    bright. This is the first novel by Llosa (following a collection of short stories). This
    Grove Press edition is the First English Language edition of the book which was originally
    published as La cuidad y los perros. Translated by Lysander Kemp.
    $75.00



   And since you've read this far, you deserve a reward.  Receive a
   30% discount off your total purchase -- just use coupon code :
   OCT10 during checkout to receive your discount.

  

   Don't forget to check out our list of recently added titles at the
   end of this email.

  
    
     Thanks so much!

  
     Stephanie Howlett-West
        

RECENTLY ADDED TITLES:

 1.) Adams, Douglas and John Lloyd: THE DEEPER MEANING OF LIFF : A Dictionary of Things there aren't any words for yet. 1980. Harmony Books. New York. Hardcover. 1st American Edition/ 1st Printing. Near Fine / Fine. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. Illus. by: Bert Kitchen. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Near Fine condition and has a Fine dust jacket.  $25.00

 2.) Archer, Jeffrey: FIRST AMONG EQUALS 1984. Hodder and Stoughton. London, England. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Fine. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. Illus. by: Charles Griffin. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition and has a Fine dust jacket. $35.00

 3.) Bergquist, N. O.: THE MOON PUZZLE : A Classical Theory Revived Correlating the Origin of the Moon with Many Problems in Natural Science. 1954. Grafisk Forlag. Copenhagen, Denmark. Hardcover. 1st English Language Edition/ 1st Printing. Near Fine / Very Good. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Near Fine condition and has a Very Good dust jacket.   "the Swedish engineer, N. O. Bergquist, advances a sensational theory based upon the studies of many years and founded upon such good arguments that it is very difficult to reject it. Mr. Bergquist's theory is both entertaining and plausible. He tells of an enormous planetoid, which many millions of years ago grazed the surfaceof the Earth in the same direction as the rotation of the Earth. The tremendous cataclysm that resulted caused among other things the ejecting into space of a large mass of the Earth, leaving a gigantic scar which is now filled with water and called the Pacific."  Record: #24240 $25.00

 4.) Brown, Michael: SANTA MOUSE 1996. Barnes & Noble. New York. Hardcover. Reprint/ 4th Printing. Near Fine / No Dust Jacket. Illus Type: Color Illustrations. Illus. by: Elfrieda De Witt. DESCRIPTION: Children's Book. This book is in Near Fine condition.  $12.50

 5.) Bryher (pseudonym of Annie Winifred Ellerman): THE FOURTEENTH OF OCTOBER 1952. Pantheon Books. New York. Hardcover. 1st US Edition/ 1st Printing. Very Good+ / Very Good+. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Very Good+ condition and has a Very Good+ dust jacket.   "Like a Saxon companion piece to the Bayeux Tapestries, the pages of Bryher's novel discloses the warm and colorful story of Saxon resistance to the Norman invasion of Britain."  $30.00

 6.) Burgess, Thornton W.: THE ADVENTURES OF SAMMY JAY 1943. Grosset & Dunlap. New york. Hardcover. Reprint/ Very Good+ / Very Good. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. Illus. by: Harrison Cady. Burgess Bedtime Story Books. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Very Good+ to Near Fine condition and has a Very Good dust jacket.   $20.00

 7.) Ciardi, John: THE MONSTER DEN : Or Look What Happened at My House - And to It. 1966. J. B. Lippincott Company. New York. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Very Good+. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. Illus. by: Edward Gorey. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition and has a Very Good+ dust jacket. $50.00

 8.) Cullum, Albert: BLACKBOARD, BLACKBOARD ON THE WALL, WHO IS THE FAIREST ONE OF ALL?  1978. Harlin Quist. New York. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Near Fine. Illus Type: Color Illustrations. Illus. by: Albert Cullum. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition and has a Near Fine dust jacket.  $35.00

 9.) Dening, Greg: MR. BLIGH'S BAD LANGUAGE : Passion, Power and Theatre on the Bounty. 1992. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, England. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Near Fine. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition and has a Near Fine dust jacket.   "Captain Bligh and the voyage of the Bounty are the starting point fo thisnew study of the famous mutiny in history, literature and film. By juxaposing an account of the mutiny with an analysis of its evolving place in history and culture, Mr. Bligh's Bad Language offers a new interpretation of the mutiny in the context of its historical and cultural representations."  $25.00

 10.) Druon, Maurice (translated from the French by Humphrey Hare): THE LILY AND THE LION 1961. Charles Scribner's Sons. New York. Hardcover. 1st American Edition/ 1st Printing. Near Fine / Very Good+. The Accursed Kings. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Near Fine condition and has a Very Good+ dust jacket"In England the young Edward III has come to the throne and establishes his personal power by arresting and executing at Tyburn Roger Mortimer, who was once Regent of the Kingdom and the Queen Mother's lover. In France Philippe VI, the first monarch of the House of Valois, has become king and immediately finds himself involved in the ruthless feud between Robert of Artois and the Countess Mahaut."  $75.00

 11.) Eccles, Audrey: OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY IN TUDOR AND STUART ENGLAND 1982. Kent State University Press. Kent, OH. Hardcover. 1st American Edition/ 1st Printing. Very Good+ / Very Good+. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Very Good+ condition and has a Very Good+ dust jacket.   "Between sixteenth and eighteenth centuries midwiferly passed from a female mystery, employing traditional medicines and superstitions, to a scientifically-based clinical skill, with both gains and losses to the patient. Some of the psychological satisfaction of the old ways was sacrificed for improved saftey in difficult cases."  $30.00

 12.) Francis, Dick: SLAY-RIDE 1973. Michael Joseph. London, England. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Very Good+ / Very Good+. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Very Good+ condition and has a Very Good+ to Near Fine - dust jacket.   $40.00

 13.) Hillerman, Tony: THE GREAT TAOS BANK ROBBERY  : And Other Indian Country Affairs. 1973. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque, NM. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st state. Fine / Very Good. DESCRIPTION: First Edition, First State with all requisite points. The book is in Fine condition and has a Very Good dust jacket.   $100.00

 14.) Horgan, Paul: GREAT RIVER: THE RIO GRANDE : In North American History : Two Volume Set including: Volume One: Indians and Spain, and, Volume Two: Mexico and The United States. 1954. Rinehart & Company, Inc.. New york. Hardcover. 1st Trade Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / No Dust Jacket. Illus Type: Maps. DESCRIPTION: This is a two volume set with a paper covered cardboard slipcase. The books are in Fine condition. The slipcase is in Very Good condition.   $50.00

 15.) Hunter, Edward: BRAINWASHING : The Story of Men Who Defied It. 1956. Farrar, Straus and Cudahy. New york. Hardcover. Trade Edition/ Fine / Very Good. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition and has a Very Good dust jacket.   "Brainwashing is modern witchcraft. This book is an exhaustive and popularly written story of how brainwashing came about and of how it can be beaten. For the first time, details are given of Pavlov's true role and the Reds' use of his work. A leading american psychiatrist, Dr. Leon Freedom, explains the danger of national neuroses, how whole populations are rendered mentally unbalanced by the Reds."  $25.00

 16.) King, Stephen: MISERY 1987. Viking Press. New york. Hardcover. 1st Trade Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Fine. Illus Type: Cover Art. Illus. by: Neil Stuart  . DESCRIPTION:  This book is in Fine condition and has a Fine dust jacket.   $50.00

 17.) King, Stephen: PET SEMATARY 1983. Doubleday & Company. New York. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Near Fine / Very Good. Illus Type: Cover Art. Illus. by: Linda Fennimore. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Near Fine condition and has a Very Good dust jacket.  $75.00

 18.) Llosa, Mario Vargas: WHO KILLED PALOMINO MOLERO? 1987. Farrar Straus and Giroux. New York. Hardcover. 1st American Edition/ 1st Printing. Near Fine / Fine. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Near Fine condition and has a Fine dust jacket.  $30.00

 19.) Nye, Bill: BILL NYE'S COMIC HISTORY OF THE U.S. 1906. Thompson & Thomas. Chicago, IL. Hardcover. Early printing/ Very Good+ / No Dust Jacket. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. Illus. by: F. Opper. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Very Good+ condition.  $20.00

 20.) Rice, Anne: THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED 1988. Alfred A. Knopf. New York. Hardcover. 1st Trade Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Fine. The Vampire Chronicles. DESCRIPTION:  This book is in Fine condition and has a Fine dust jacket.   $85.00

 21.) Smith, Wilbur: GOLDEN FOX 1990. Random House. New York. Hardcover. 1st American Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Fine. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition and has a Fine dust jacket. $35.00

 22.) Stiles, Maxwell: FOOTBALL'S FINEST HOUR : The Shrine East-West Game 1925-1950. 1950. Nashunal Publishing Company. Los Angeles, CA. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Near Fine / Very Good-. Illus Type: B&W Photographs. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Near Fine condition and has a Very Good- dust jacket. This book covers this history of the Shriner's East-West Football games from their inception in 1925 through 1950.  The games feature an all-star cast of collegiate football stars from the East vs the West and has been played continuously since 1925.  This book is filled with tid-bits of information regarding the games, the players and also includes numerous pictures of the game and players.    $25.00

 23.) Torme, Mel: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW WITH JUDY GARLAND ON THE DAWN PATROL 1970. William Morrow & Company. New york. Hardcover. 1st Edition/ 1st Printing. Fine / Near Fine. Illus Type: B&W Photographs. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Fine condition and has a Near Fine dust jacket.   $20.00

 24.) Warner, Sylvia Townsend: THE MUSEUM OF CHEATS : Stories. 1947. Viking Press. New york. Hardcover. 1st American Edition/ 1st Printing. Very Good+ / Very Good. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Very Good+ condition and has a Very Good dust jacket.  $35.00

 25.) Webster, E. M.: THE MOON MAN : A Biography of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay. 1984. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA. Hardcover. 1st American Edition/ 1st Printing. Very Good+ / Very Good+. Illus Type: B&W Illustrations. DESCRIPTION: This book is in Very Good+ condition and has a Very Good+ dust jacket.   "This story of an outstandingly strange and interesting man is a triumph of modern biography. Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay, born in Russia in 1846, was one of the most extraordinay of all of the nineteenth-century savant-adventurers. A brilliant student of Ernst Haeckel, he embraced the natural sciences at a time when the genius of Darwin was revolutionizing Western cosmology. In his short lifetime he made the whole world his laboratory: sponges in the Red Sea, and the ancestry of sharks; head measurements in New Guinea; Negrito races in Malay jungles; marine life in Sydney Harbour - all these and a hundred other topics and places engaged his curiosity."  $35.00

A thought.... and book readers.

So ....

not so much stuff about books sticking up on my blog lately -- partly that's because I've had NO TIME -- partly because I don't have any interesting books (or at least, interesting enough to me at the moment books ) to post about.

On the other hand, I READ some very interesting blogs (book-wise and otherwise nearly every day).

Chris Lowenstein of Bookhunter's Holiday has a nifty article about some comic dust jackets that she recently picked up: see here.

And just yesterday, Robin McKinley has two posts which caught my fancy.  The first was about being pigeon-holed into a particular genre / sub-genre as an author and how that can have interesting repercussions that go on for years: here,

but she also made one of those throw-away statements that just struck me -- since it was about something I have done over the years off and on.

In the above post (regarding being stuck in a certain type of fiction come h#ll or high water), she makes an off-the-cuff statement at the bottom in her footnotes. Here:  "and I’m an evil cow with a bad attitude, and I throw more books across the room than I don’t."


For several years when I was very impressionable, I went to catholic school (capitalize catholic?  not sure... it's not a proper name).  We were told very severely NOT to deface books, mark books, break the spine of books, damage books in any way shape or form.  In  my mind, that pretty much included throwing them indiscriminately.


Later though, teachers ENCOURAGED students to write in their books (of course, these were the books that the student didn't have to turn back in at the end of the year).  I didn't do it. I couldn't. The training had sunk in. I did find myself becoming more liberal about the damage / defacement options -- and had found that I would NOT be struck by lightning if for some reason a book was accidentally injured. (this really is leading somewhere...just slowly).

In high school we were not only encouraged to read (as if I wasn't already reading through classes that I should not have) but required to read a "CLASSIC" of our choice.  I honestly don't remember which year it was, but probably junior year.  I have NO idea why I picked Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell), but it might have been due to the fact that I was a regular viewer of the Carol Burnett Show and at some point, fell on the floor laughing at her famous Tara skit featuring the curtains (and curtain rod -- designed by the fabulous Bob Mackie).

So I read it.  I read the WHOLE book (as it was a requirement and had to do a report on it).

I found several things.  I loathe (yes, more than one notch above general dislike or hate) I loathe the character of Scarlett O'Hara.  Rhett Butler was a self-absorbed nincompoop. Frank whatshisname, her on-again-off-again beau / crutch should have walked away forever. Instead, he was as co-dependent in his behavior as Scarlett was.  ( I know I'm putting myself in hot water here because some of these characters are, for people, icons of classic writing,etc.  Well, not for me. Sue me.).

The end of that book made me so mad I did something I had never done to a book before.  I threw it across the room with a resounding thump, then watched it slide down and lay in a forlorn puddle on the floor.  Big book. RESOUNDING thump.

I hated that book.  To this day, "I'll think about it tomorrow"  is just as likely to have steam coming out my ears now as it was then.

I KNOW that I was young and I am SURE I missed some, if not most of the sub-text going on in the book, but I am not about to try to re-read it now just to make sure.

That was the first book I threw across a room in protest, but it certainly wasn't my last.

In self-defense, I'm not really a thrower. I try not to get myself into such a state that throwing is the only option left, but that book really did it to me.

The other book that made just as deep and abidingly bad impression was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  (Gasp! ).  If I hadn't been in a crowded, swaying van on the byways of  Belgium, with no lunch in me and no prospect of food forthcoming (and if you know me, not having enough food is a sure way to set me off to begin with), I would have thrown that book as well.  That book gave me a headache.
( I was 19 at the time, and again I probably missed contexts, etc. but I was a SciFi reader from way back... I appreciated characters who DID something about dismal situations -- better yet, I had already read Robin McKinley who featured young women / girls in situations that were dire and still managed to not be doormats.)

So the question of the day for readers......

What book did you throw across the room?

I need a day of rest...

So it's Sunday.  The traditional day of rest.

(that all depends on your background of course....but in modern day America it is usually the day where guys kick back on the sofa and watch the perennial sporting event ... which ever one floats your boat.... while the gals get to clean the kitchen in a futile effort to NOT watch whatever sporting event is on).

Me, I was hoping for a day to get some down time. 

I could:
Stare at a wall  (hopefully, one of the few clean walls in the house.... Number Two Son's finger grime apparently has gone farther afield than I previously imagined).

Read the rest of the book that needs to be finished by TOMORROW.

Eat / drink something soothing (take your pick -- whichever was less work)

Maybe play a game with the boys at some point.

But NO....

again, no day of rest.

Started off the morning with church .... and my newest add-on to the schedule.  When the priest asked for some new lay readers / lectors, I stuck up my hand, and put myself on the list.  I've done this before. No sweat, just get to church a bit  early to read the lesson through so I can practice my biblical name tongue twisters.

But.... turns out, I somehow signed up for Lay Eucharistic Minister which is a WHOLE lot more than reading something out loud.

Today was my first gig.  I got through it with some help from the other people up front (more than just the priest up there nowadays) and hopefully it will sink in soon, but man, it was a bit more than I was expecting.

A quick change and Number Two Son and I pulled out the Cub Scout popcorn during coffee hour to sell some for his pack.

And then, this afternoon we have more scout stuff.

And more tomorrow.

And when I got home, I looked around, realized we have TWO WEEKS until my Venerable Mother-in-Law (yeah, I'm starting to run out of stuff from the Charlie Chan books to use for nicknames.... Honoured Husband, Venerable Mother, Number One Son, etc.....  I'll have to move on to something else soon...)

Getting back to Mother-In-Law .... she's coming in two weeks time for the annual fall get-together. Which means my house becomes command central.  Which, in turn, means that I have to have a CLEAN house.

Remember that lack of weekends that I've been having?

It continues this weekend.

And next weekend.

And the weekend after that... the one where she'll be here?

Yup.  Just found out that Soccer try-outs for the winter season start on .... the day of her get-together. 

All is not lost however. The try-outs are (miraculously) going to be about three blocks from the house.  Only one boy at a time has to go... so I'll be ferrying one over, watching .... then ferrying the next over.... and THEN we'll have get-together time.

This does mean that I LEAVE MY HUSBAND IN CHARGE..... should I repeat that?  I don't really want to. Once is bad enough.

And, my family will be all over my kitchen.... without me there.

(Wailing commences)

I may not survive the next three weeks.

I really could have used a day off today.

What a Week!

Technically, it started off last week, so I suppose you could say - What a Fortnight!  if you prefer, but I like it the way it is.

It started last Thursday with not being able to get any work done at home (and when I say at home, I generally mean working on the computer at my day job.... book selling, ya know).

Then Friday, Venerable Mother said, don't forget to take your stuff to the church rummage sale.  First thing.  Do it now!

So I went to the computer and started working -- which was  my way of ignoring the situation until I had gotten some badly needed work done......

but....


And there's ALWAYS a but...

Venerable Mother called again.  You REALLY need to get down here.  Bring the books now.  So I finished my bill paying, checked the email and gave in and dragged the twelve boxes of books (you remember that ongoing project to get rid of old, not so great book stock?  Well the dregs have to go somewhere and if they weren't bad enough to pitch, then donating them is the way to go.  And by the way, these twelve bags / boxes are STILL all from the A's.) down to church.

  I thought, "I'll just drop them and RUN."

Which NEVER works. I got there at 11:00AM.  I left at 4:50 PM because I had to get Number Two Son to soccer practice.

And that's pretty much how it's gone since then  -- I keep thinking I'll sit down and do paperwork / data entry...and something else comes up that is just as important.

Saturday it was two soccer games, rummage sale help, cub scout popcorn selling, and then back to church to pack up the leftovers from the rummage sale,  box them and stash them in a LARGE van to be taken to some other place.

Sunday was an all day trip to Columbia with the scouts to the Trout fishing farm.  Did I mention that the weather spiked again during this time period and we're back up to 100's each day?

Monday.... I totally forget what happened Monday.  I've blocked it out completely (except for the requisite hour and a half stop at  Number Two Son's school for math help.)

Tuesday.... same thing.

Wednesday was my yearly physical. Yippee.  Took an hour and a half. Met a very nice nurse practitioner who was taking over for my regular doctor for a while.  Nice lady.  Still don't like the stuff women have to go through for a yearly physical and probably never will.  I survived.  'Nuf said.

Yesterday was my job interview.  So OF COURSE I stopped off at Number Two Son's school for an hour and a half to help - realized that I had STOPPED watching the clock and nearly had a heart attack racing down the highway (did I mention that the interview was a half an hour away from home?) to make it in time.
And yes, it was 98 degrees in the shade at the time.  I was DRESSED UP.... and the air conditioning in my car is non-existant.

You try showing up for a job appointment with a sweaty red face, a dress stuck to your back and your legs (bare) sticking together when you walk.  YUCK.

On the good side, I think I might have made it past the first round.

And today.... well, here's hoping that I can get some data entry done today because I'm REALLY behind.

Tomorrow I won't be able to as the soccer stuff / scout stuff starts all over again.

Have I mentioned that my house is a shambles and that cleaning has gotten cursory at best?

Yup.  That's my week.


Oh.... can't forget the new pairs of pants from Lands End that arrived the other day.  Same pants I've worn forever.  I guess I can't pretend that I'm the same size anymore -- my imagination can keep the dream alive, but my body just doesn't want to stuff itself into something too tight.  Dang.  AND I have to send them back and get replacements -- which means at least a two week turnaround.  In the meantime I have to find something to wear that is decent (the reason I finally broke down and ordered pants was because the other pairs had holes so large they were obscene) and that half-way fits.  :(