Help Me! I'm Melting!

I'm melting. I'm convinced of it. Soon I will be a puddle resembling the demise of the Wicked Witch of the West ala the Wizard of Oz.
It's hot. Damn hot. Records were broken today in Wisconsin. Hot.
A 8:27pm it is still 97 degrees...this is after the sun is setting. Ugh.
Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter yet.
Historical tidbit o'the day...beautiful old houses built near the turn of the century do not come equipped with central air.
Send water.

My Selfish 13

13 Thing I Really Want Right Now
1. To go swimming (anywhere, a lake, a pool, a pond… to mysteriously appear in my backyard)
2. A chocolate malt…with extra malt powder
3. To go on a family vacation without having to worry about expenses
4. To have our house painting finished already
5. To have the cash to go buy all the baby things I want…right now!
6. To know the baby is healthy, and if it’s a he or a she
7. Reprise from the heat & humidity
8. New clothes…I’m hating everything I own
9. To have the energy to do something creative (i.e. paint, write, etc.)
10. A giant sundae with lots of hot chocolate & cherries (hold the whipped cream, thanks!)
11. A gardener to add more flowers to my yard.
12. To have someone go buy lots of summer veggies for me, and then make dinner.

13. Sleep.

Books for the Soul

Who are your favourite literary characters?
I'm putting together my annual Halloween party (consider yourself invited) and I've decided that this year's theme is going to be:
COME AS YOUR FAVOURITE LITERARY CHARACTER ... DEAD!
Did Bridget Jones O.D. on diet pills? Was Frodo crushed beneath a careless Ent? Who would you come to my party as? And how would they have died?

(Me? I'll probably be Elizabeth Bennett...but I haven't figured out how she died yet. Ideas?)

Weekend Update

So I've been busy and tired all week, which is why I've been entirely behind in posting. Sorry.

Our trip was delightful...though ungodly hot! I was a good girl though, and didn't push myself, stopping to rest & drinking lots of water & juice.
Saturday we drove across the state, decided the best option for staying somewhat cool was to head across the border into Iowa (desperate measures indeed!) to Spook Cave. It's this cave set into a bluff which you can only tour via boat. It was a little cheesy (you take the original boats from the 1950s...and believe me, nothing else about the place has been updated since then either!) but interesting nonetheless. I don't know, there's just something about taking an "all-American summer roadtrip vacation" that simply requires stopping at cheesy tourist spots along the way! We headed back into WI, did some sightseeing around town, and swimming at the hotel. I was able to share a favourite movie with the hubby "Dream for an Insomniac"too.

Sunday we spent the day at the War of 1812 reenactment, which was very interesting since it is the actual battle site. We ran into some friends we had no idea did that sort of reenactment, so that was a pleasant surprise. Hubby was able to purchase some new Regency breeches, so he was thrilled. We toured Villa Louis, the Victorian mansion on the site, which was beautiful and accurately restored. I always find it funny on a historical tour when someone else asks a question the docent can't answer, but I can. I really am a history geek...sigh. Then we headed out for a couple of hours canoeing on the Mississippi River...great fun! And beautiful too! I haven't done that since college, and was so excited!

Monday we drive down to Galena, IL, one of our favourite places. It's simply a beautiful town, set in a valley with countless old homes built by steamboat captains, Ulysses S. Grant, and others. We stayed at the Steamboat House, the B&B we stayed on our last trip...and it was still worth it. Lots of shopping & sightseeing the next day, as well, before heading back toward home Tuesday afternoon. We opted to take the backroads across the countrysides of southern Wisconsin, and it was a beautiful drive, that allowed us to stop at various historical markers and cheesy americana along the way. (I have to say the Dickeyville Grotto was hilarious, and the priest who built it had waaay too much time on his hands.) All in all, it was a fun, relaxing trip.

Angel Baby

My friends' preemie passed away on Thursday.
Please keep them in your prayers.

Vacation Time!

Tomorrow morning hubby & I leave on our first "official" summer vacation! I'm sooo excited, I can't contain myself! I know most people wouldn't be as giddy as I am, but you have to understand that for the past 14 years I have spent every weekend of every summer wearing 30-50lbs of fabric dressed in Elizabethan garb, performing a one to three renaissance faires. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it, but it means that in all those years I have never taken a summer vacation anywhere. This summer I get to take two! So yeah, I'm excited!

Hubby & I are heading to the western part of Wisconsin to explore the greater Mississippi river region of Prairie du Chien (meadow of dog??), canoeing, sightseeing underground caves, historical buildings, and watching the War of 1812 reenactment. (Yeah, we can't entirely separate from that whole costumes event summer.) Then we'll be heading down to Galena, IL which is a beautiful historical town where we'll stay at one of our favourite B&Bs.

Have a great weekend yourself!

Save a Prayer

I need to ask everyone to please keep a prayer for some friends of mine. He is one of my hubby's oldest friends, and he & is wife have been expecting their first baby. Well, Saturday Houston Brian was born into the world...at only 23 weeks gestation. This means that the little baby is just over 1 lb., will have to remain in the neonatal ICU until is original due date (November sometime). Right now he's stable, but we have no idea what sort of complications are yet to arise. It was an emergency delivery to save both he & the mother. Please keep a prayer for them in your heart...they need it right now.

Manic Monday

Just a quick note today about the weekend & life in general.
"Pirates 2" was hilarious! Some good creep factor happening with amazing effects, and some swordfighting bound to remind you of "Princess Bride" (in a good way, not a rip off way), and well lots of Johnny Depp to look at is always a good thing. Kiera Knightley should always wear a corset (and never do another Jane Austen film, but that's another issue all together). And just a note for all of you who do see it...Davey Jones is played by the same guy who was the old rocker in "Love Actually"...now just picture Davey Jones singing "Love is all around us..." (hahaha!)

The rest of the weekend I worked, slept, have a lovely romantic lunch with the hubby at a place on the lakefront, and spent time with the in-laws. (His mom & sister just returned from Europe, and this is the first we've seen them since the baby news.) It was nice, though I expected a barrage of questions, but didn't get any. Hmm, who knew? They did buy a cute baby toy in Prague though.

Right now I'm livin' for the weekend! (I know, its only Monday.) We're taking our first vacation of the summer...yeah!

Yo Ho Ho Me Mateys!

I got 'em!!! Tickets to see "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" tonight with friends!! soooo excited! I mean...Johnny Depp, need I say more? (Swash, swash, buckle, buckle...Arrrrrrgh!)
And as if that weren't enough high seas adventures, the Bristol Renaissance Faire opens tomorrow...this year's theme...Pirates! They have built an awesome new ship and pirates will be landing on the shores of Bristol for some crazy fun! (I hope that anyone who gets a chance to come out this year will. ) Ok, i'm off to work for a day of Pirating adventures!

Preggo 13

13 Things I'm Quickly (re)learning about Pregnancy

1. Tired, tired, tired. All the time, tired.

2. Potty breaks...waaaay too often

3. Queasy, ick tummy.

4. Crazy messed up psycho dreams.

5. Boobs...ache...alot.

6 No cocktails. No wine. No festive summer drinkies.

7. No rollercoasters. (I love rollercoasters.) (sigh)

8. I no longer have a clue about baby products. (How is it strollers are so different now?)

9. No coca-cola. Coke=caffine. (sob)

10. Baby clothes are just so dang cute.

11. Have I mentioned sheer exhaustion?

12. My husband is the best, even if he is overly protective already.

13. You can milk it for all its worth. (No, not me!)(blink, blink)

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My Bunny

I miss my daughter dreadfully today. I know, I've complained about her preteen arguing, and her stubborness a fair amount of times. But I love her more than anything/anyone on the planet, and while she spends the summer with her father, in another state...I miss her more than words can express. I know I'm going to have another child in 9 months, but she will always be my baby...my Bunny, as I've always called her. This is how I always think of her...my little girl with the long, long hair. My overdramatic, highly intelligent bookworm. Always loving to laugh. And I sit her today realizing just how much she's growing up, turning into a young lady. That in only 4 years she'll be driving. And in only 6 leaving for college. And today, all I want is my little Bunny to sit on my lap, read a book with me, and smother her with kisses. Why didn't anyone tell me the hardest part of motherhood was watching them grow up?

Thanks to the Rest o'the World

Today Americans celebrate the 4th of July...America's Independence Day. I know there are going to be blogs everywhere extoling the virtues of the United States, so I wanted to do something a little bit different. I want to recognize that many of the symbols we associate with our "freedom", actually come via other countries. Or the facts we know may be just a little bit squewed. I'm not trying to incite a riot or upset any patriots...I just want to look at things from a slightly different point of view.

First, let's begin with the day itself. Why do we celebrate today? I think most people will answer "Because its the day the Declaration of Independence was signed!" Wrong! It was the day it was adopted by the 2nd Congress. It was read on the 9th, when it was approved by the 13 colonies, officially created on the 19th, but it didn't actually get signed until August 2nd!

Betsy Ross created the original American flag, right? Wrong! The flag that was created to represent the new country was created before the Revolutionary War by Rebecca Young. It was the flag General Washington raised on New Year's Day 1776. It was also our official flag on July 4, 1776. Now, did Betsy Ross actually make our flag? Well, she was a flagmaker, and made flags for almost 50 years, which is where her notoriety comes from. The "Stars & Stripes" flag (originally with 13 stripes & 13 stars) however, was created by Mary Pickersgill in 1813. It was the flag that was flying over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 that was seen "by the dawn's early light" by Francis Scott Key.

Speaking of Mr. Key, the author of our American anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner", he was witness to the 25 hour retaliation attack of the British against the Americans at the fort during the War of 1812. Indeed, the in morning when the British ceased fire, the flag was still flying. He felt inspired and wrote the poem "The Battle of Fort McHenry". It was soon published in many places, and someone came up with the idea to sing it. However, the music ironically, is a popular English drinking song "To Anacreon in Heaven". It wasn't officially made our national anthem until 1931.

That same night's non-stop cannon & gunfire by the Brits is also the reason we celebrate with fireworks.

And let's not forgot that the quintessential figure of freedom, the Statue of Liberty, was a gift from the French in October 1886.

So today let's not be so ego-centric as to believe that we wouldn't have our freedoms of liberty, or the symbols of that, without the rest of the world.