It should be so easy to take a few minutes a day to blog....

I'll tell you a secret  -  I've been seriously Jonesing for a smart phone - for several reasons - the biggest draw of which is that I could add my credit card processing to it and not have to worry about cc slips, compliance factors and a whole lot of other nonsense.  My husband has been nudging me to get one for a while ... and has put on the pressure this month with little thoughts of what the thing can do....

Yeah, I KNOW.

But....

and this relates to my blog here....

Secretly, I want one so that when I take some funky pictures of my family doing goofy stuff, or found a cool book that I want to show everyone....well, it would be more possible with a smart phone than what I've got now.  AND.... I could do it when I'm sitting around (or walking around) the track during soccer practice.

That's been the big problem lately (well, one of them). My time is SO chunked up lately between what I need to do, what the boys need to do, what Scouts need me to do.... the ever expanding list of church things that they want me to do (Ha - just got the December/January lector schedule and between my husband and I we're on at 6 out of 8 weeks for some type of participation.... this after just joining in November.....sigh.)

Then there's the division of the computer time.

Currently, one son is home from school on vacation.  As of Friday night, Both boys will be home (and my husband, but he doesn't try to monopolize my computer, he has his own) fighting to see how much time they can wheedle out of MY work computer.  DURING CHRISTMAS!!! My peak season (supposedly). AND, I have tax stuff to do -- which I was hoping to have done before this.... not so lucky yet.

So the fighting will get worse. And, as I really don't work well with noise and distraction, more errors, less time and more giving in (on my part) will likely ensue.

Thus, a smart phone might also help alleviate a bit of this tension as well (of course, another BRAND NEW, HIGH SPEED computer with a full desk and extra sound cards, etc. would help as well....but that's just not going to happen).

 I was going to try and post a picture of what Son Number Two and I did last night, in the rain... for just under three hours.... I find that a smart phone would have gotten a MUCH better picture, so that's yet ANOTHER reason to buy the darned thing.

Here's the least blurry picture of the pack...

what you CAN'T see from this picture is that every one of the boys (and the coach who's being held back)

are COMPLETELY muddy.

Son Number Two, of course, being the muddiest, as he LOVES mud 

and finds ways to roll in it to his satisfaction.

Practice for winter soccer doesn't stop because of rain. And it was raining last night. Not a downpour, mind you, but a steady rain that was more than a drizzle.  We were there for three hours. By the time we were done, the field was so slippery that trying to do a big kick on the ball meant going over on your backside into the mud no matter how good your cleats were.  I  get to do my exercise / walking while either son is at practice, so I end up just as mucky, wet and bedraggled as they do (though not nearly as muddy as Son Number two, for the obvious reason that I don't ROLL in the mud willingly).

The nice thing about last night was that it was warm-ish.  If the wind had been up or if it had been 10 degrees colder than the 54 degrees that it was, well.... we would have been a lot more uncomfortable and gone home sooner. 

As for the book hunting this weekend, I've found a few fun ones that I'm itching to add to the database as soon as I get a chance...

here are some pictures to whet your appetite:

 William Pene du Bois wrote and illustrated this book about a famous

1960's model.

 Looks rather ordinary doesn't it?

Well.... turns out it's better than a reading copy.

More to come on this one.

 

 Illustrated by William Blake - the poems of Mr. Grey.  Great Illustrations. 

 There was lots of Christmas stuff at the place I went. This is just ONE of the things I picked up.  I need to get them all in the database SOON!

This one was an unexpected bonus.  The reason it looks a little yellowish is that there is a glassine dust jacket over the illustrated dust jacket.  The dust jacket is in near perfect condition which adds to the ooomph of the book, but to have the glassine (and in near perfect condition too) makes this one rather more intriguing.  More on this one later as well.






That's all I have for now.

If I end up splurging on the smart phone (and it's not the cost of the phone itself that's the splurge, but the monthly FEES that is holding me back)  I'll be sure to let you know.  You might know the minute I start blogging more frequently.... or with better pictures.