Mariannes Motifs

Summer Reading List for Rising Kindergartener

I am putting together a list of children's books my mom can order for my son Benjamin who is getting ready to start kindergarten in August.  He can read simple books himself so I am on the lookout for interesting reading level 1 / "easy words to read" stories that he can read to me or with me, and also books that he can look through and enjoy as he is learning better and better reading skills.

Cat Traps
By Molly Coxe

Red Eyed Tree Frog
Jan Crowley

Dirt on My Shirt
Jeff Foxworthy

 

Richard Scarry's Best First Book Ever
Richard Scarry

Ted and Friends (Easy Words to Read)
by Phil Roxbee Cox

Ted In A Red Bed
Jenny Tyler

Not To Be Read List

Lisa Roe, from Online Publicist has a great guest post on the Trish's Diary Blog about books you have never read and are just never going to read.  Here's my list.  Unashamedly.

1.  The Life of Pi.

2.  The Lovely Bones.

3.  Moby Dick.

4.  Angela's Ashes.

5.  A New Earth: Awakening to your Life's Purpose.

However, just to be fair, I am also going to list 5 Books that I have read and am glad I have read and recommend to anyone even though they were long.

1.  Middlemarch by George Eliot

2.  The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen Carter

3.  David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

4.  Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

5.  All the Harry Potter Books by J.K. Rowling

Monday Chit Chat

I stayed up a little late last night watching "When We Left The Earth" on Discovery HD.  If you have a Plasma or LCD TV this is a great show to watch.  I blogged about on the Sci Fi Jungle blog - link below - if you want more information.

When We Left Earth - set your HD Tivos!

I finally got my pinky and knees x-rayed during my lunch hour today.  The radiologist said nothing looked broken at first look but of course the doctor would give me the actual diagnosis.

Ove the weekend I finished the Loom Knit Shrug I knit along with the Ravelry Loom along group.  It came out pretty cute - I am really happy with it.  Too bad its 101 degrees out today and way to freakin' hot to wear a fuzzy shrug even if it does have short sleeves.  I will post a picture as soon as I have a chance.  I have to have once taken of me wearing it.

Offensive Homemade Cards - Dirty Shanks Blog

I just ran across the funniest web site - Dirty Shanks it's kind of like what would happen if you crossed Martha Stewart with Kathy Griffin.  She has made these beautiful home-made cards but they are all totally rude!  LOL. I love it.

Father's Day is Coming

My affiliate store AmericaRX sells cologne gift sets, electronic goodies, and the ever popular razors and hair trimmers.  Don't forget to get Dad something nice for Father's Day.

Friday Funnies

 

Today's daily dose of funny comes from RD Laughs Main which is a nice place to check out some good clean funny stuff on the net.  Ewe Tube - LOL.  That just cracks me up.  This is from the Reader's Digest Laughs section - which is pretty cool.  You can sign up for their RSS feed or get sign up for a weekly email with a "dose of funny" each week.

Today's one of those days when I could use a laugh or two - my pinky finger still hurts (which in itself is kind of a funny thing to hurt) and I haven't even had a chance to go get my x-rays taken yet.

Work has been a bear - I've got a server acting up and busy busy busy every day.  The kids have water park at school every day of the week except one (collectively) and than means a heck of a lot of laundry to keep up wtih.  Those darn beach towels and pool shoes!

Humor helps deal with all of the stresses and crazyness of the day to day grind.  If you can laugh it off then you can keep your sanity.  Or maybe just be insane and happy with it.

Well, I am off to my 3 monthly gastroenterologist appointment.  Wish me luck!  I talked to my Mom last night and she is feeling better after her shoulder surgery so thanks for the positive thoughts.

Global climate change threatens suburban neighborhoods

Guest Post by Michael W. Axelrod

Note From Marianne - In case there was any doubt about it, today's guest post proves beyond a doubt that my brother Mike is a complete goober.  That, my friends is what we here in the Souther Region of the US call a silly person.

Asked to help me review the wonderful hot tub covers offered by Spascenes - this is what he came up with. By the way - these spa covers are really cool - instead of the regular big gray "blah" cover you get a panoramic picture on the back of the cover that is so cool to look at.

 

Global climate change threatens suburban neighborhoods

Distracted and confused real estate agents have been discovered wandering suburban neighborhoods around 3 in the afternoon each day. "Where have they gone?", "Where have they gone?" One mumbling agent was heard to say. The CDC has reportedly stated; "Keep clear of all real estate agents until further notice.  We don't know how many there are and they seem potentially dangerous."

Scientific reports surfacing around the globe suggest the real cause may be an enormously sluggish air mass high in the stratosphere forming above the Cayman Islands. Reportedly a circle of stagnant warm air, it seems to effecting the brainwaves of more simple minded folks, such as real estate agents and wall street securities dealers.  Others attribute the warm air mass to clearing of large office spaces and the burning of thousands of paper securities and junk bonds.

Current research suggests the region of air is both growing and sinking at the same time. Scientists have nicknamed this area as "the tub zone", for it's round tub like shape in the atmosphere.  One such theory suggests the entire planets atmosphere could be dramatically altered in the near future as this warming trend continues. Dr. Zane Shockly at the MIT Center for global climate change has been reported as saying; "Damn that thing's big" and "It wont be long now until that hot tub covers all of North America."

Wednesday Update

My mom is having surgery on her shoulder today - please send Jeanette some positive thoughts.

I went to the doctor because I tripped over the dog and hurt my pinky finger. I also complained of achy knees.  She gave me a shot of toradol anti-inflammatory which I think has made me loopy. Great!  I am going to have to take care of the kids tonight as Jin has school.

They also told me to go get x-rays of my pinky and also my knees.  I am going tomorrow because I ran out of time on my lunch hour.  The Friday I go to the Gastro dr.

I feel like escaping from relality and going to go live in a cat condo.

Kidzui.com kid safe Internet browser - now free

According to this CNET review of Kidzui what you get is a special web browser that will only allow your kids to access approved content.  There is a free sign up and the enhanced service will cost after that.

The company will offer parents a free membership, or a premium membership of $4.95 per month or $49.95 per year.  The premium membership allows extras such as personalizations.

 To me as a parent this sounds like it would be worth it to pay and especially worth it for free!  Right now my kids are too young to get into stuff that is inappropriate but in the next couple of years they will be at that tender age where they can get to stuff but might not know enough to close the page if it is inappropriate.

For more information see Kidzui.com

Tuesday Moan and Groan

I'm in a funk.  I'm in a rut so deep I am putting up posters.  Shall I list a litany of complaints:

1.  My pinky finger hurts.  I tripped over my pug dog and that is just a plain old embarrassing way to hurt yourself.

2.  Yes, I still have Crohn's disease.  Ouch.  Its making my knees hurt today.

3.  It is too hot out. What is this, Georgia or something?  Get out of here!

4.  Work is...well... its a lot of  work, darn it.  ;-)

On a less complain-y note, I bought a bunch of cheap yarn at Walmart and I am planning a feather and fan stitch afghan on my new Infinity Loom.  I got the loom from a fellow ravelry user and got a super deal on it, and the yarn was $1.50 a ball.  Its going to be a very black and purple looking boucle looking thing.  We shall see.  I envision it looking like ostrich feathers.

I am almost done with the loom knit shrug I have been working on and also have a mock cable dishcloth on my dishcloth rake.  I have been asked to share the mock cable dishcloth with the Ravelry looming dishcloths group for their next loom along.  I am scared to do that since this is the first thing I have ever designed and really with knitting how can you claim to have invented something when these stitches are as old as time?  Nothing is really new!  I am afraid my piece is too derivative - all I did was take the stitch, convert it to the loom, do some math to make it the size of a cloth, and put a border around it.  Is that really "designing?"