Back-to-School-Time Starts Monday...

When I climbed out of bed this morning at about 8:00, after lingering for a half-hour luxuriating in the knowledge that I didn't have to bounce out of bed, and, while dreading the inescapable fact that tomorrow is the first day of school and the alarm will rudely force me into consciousness at 5 or 5:30 AM, I sighed, and, briefly, wished I could turn back the clock to June.

Briefly is the operative word. The good things about the start of the new school year probably outweigh the negatives. I just need to get mind and body clock back into school mode.

Speaking of beds, I found this fun blogthing.

What Your Bed Says About You

Outward appearances are very important to you. You do your best to look good and have an attractive home. You are an organized and disciplined person. You do the right thing because you want to, not because people expect you to. You are very high maintenance. You like everything a certain way, and you're grumpy if things aren't the way you like them. In relationships, you tend to be quite dominant. You enjoy taking charge. You tend to be a down to earth, practical person. You think in terms of what is actual. You are a bit of a homebody, but you can also make yourself at home anywhere.

What Does Your Bed Say About You?

Let the Parties Begin!

There ya go.... your tax dollars at work, folks! We kick off in Denver next week, then on to the mega Republican bashes.

Yep, we, the taxpayers, are shelling out $17million bucks to each Party for these 4-day campaign ads.

The economy is suffering, we taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet, but the favored and monied will be partying and playing, to a large extent, on our dimes, for the next several weeks!

There are just some years when these extravaganza seem excessive and leave a bad taste in the mouth. In this, seemingly, endless election season I don't think we really need our tax dollars being spent on this in an effort to 'get to know' our candidates.

Unless you live under a rock, there is no American who doesn't know who the candidates are, and, basically, what their talking points are.

Our tax dollars could be better spent.

What Font Are You?

Ok, here ya go. Ever wonder what font you'd be?

You Are Arial Black

You are bold, over the top, and quite loud. You'll stand up and stand up to get your point across. Subtlety isn't really your thing. You sometimes come off as crass and abrasive. You're not as passionate as people might think. You just enjoy overwhelming other people!

What Font Are You?

Anticipation....

Three days and counting until a copy of Breaking Dawn arrives on my doorstep!! Can't wait! This is the fourth in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series , a totally addicting combination of romance and excitement in a world populated by humans, vampires and werewolves.

Beautifully written for, primarily, a teen and young adult audience, the characters are so fully developed and engaging that readers of any age are drawn in and haunted by the rich story that spans three, soon to be, four books. A movie was bound to follow; it hits the theaters in time for holiday viewing.

Incidentally, I just finished Meyer's first adult novel The Host , a science fiction romance and thriller that, once again, sucks the reader in with haunting and well-developed characters.

I love books by authors that can draw characters so real, rich and believable ( human or non-human) that I care about them and care what happens to them. I have a love/hate relationship with books that flow into others of a series. I put one down and pick up the next one. Stephenie Meyers is a master at capturing the reader and drawing, no, sucking them from book to book.

My niece got me hooked on these books and I hooked my daughter. It's been several months since I finished the three books that precede Breaking Dawn.

I can't wait for Sat!!!!!!

The Grandfry Are Growing!

Well, it's not easy to capture a good photo of the grandfry, but here we are. Three survive and thrive among the big guys! They're getting braver and venture into the open tank to dart for food or just to see if the playground bullies are going to chase them back behind the filter.

Looking more like the parent, although I have no idea which Molly is Mama! Mini-me times three and cute as can be!!

I know, I'm really pathetic! :)

More grandkids!!!

OK, let me clarify that. Last week my silver Molly (fish) died. I do get attached to these damned things! Of all the fish I have it's only the Mollies that I cozy up to. They have personalities. Often bullies and never boring, these feisty fishies!

Anyway, my Molly died; I flushed, mourned then went to Pet Smart and purchased two more. They are supposed to be schooling fish like the Tetras, but mine usually bully and fight to the death until only one is left standing.

I always ask for the same sex when buying more than one of a kind. I came home with two new Silver Mollies. One seemed less active than the other. The more aggressive Molly chased the other one round and round the tank, terrorizing it all day and even after I doused the light at night.

When changing the water last weekend I was shocked to find tiny little fishies darting around the water. It's hard to tell what kind of fry or babies they are; but, since the Mollies are the only live bearers in my tank, I'm assuming I have two females and one of them was pregnant.

Fish eat their babies so some of my new grandfish were gobbled up and snacked on, I'm sure, before I even discovered they existed. I'm down to two or three survivors who are growing each day. They look just about too big to snack on.

Yes, I'm attached to the fry.

I read something interesting and a bit unsettling. It seems that Mollies can keep having babies for up to SIX months after being impregnated ONCE!! No male is needed in the tank for a female to keep on popping those babies out for a few more months. In fact, she could have even more the next time!

This is not good news! And, with my luck the Alpha Molly is pregnant, too....

I have a twenty gallon tank. Can't handle but a few of these grandfish. Pet Smart may be getting some of them back (I'll give them back for free!) if they survive. Bad grandma that I am, I'm only trying to protect the little grandfry that are now almost too big for snack time. If more come along they're on their own. Survival of the fittest.

No photos yet, folks. Too small ( hiding behind the filter and heater) and only darting out to grab some food. Once they get a bit bigger and dare to swim among the big boys I'll try to get a few shots to share.

OK, I admit I'm obsessing a bit over these two or three new additions to the family. But they are pretty cute!

Musical Rooms

It's been a busy week. I got a wild hair, early on, and asked the boys if they wanted to switch rooms. Connor has been bitching for a year about wanting a bed like Sam's, a double bed. His room was the smallest in the house and a twin bed works best. Sam's room was larger and had the double bed. Since Sam is a munchkin and sleeps in his mom's bed most of the time (he's going through MAJOR separation anxiety issues and would crawl back into the womb if he could figure out how to do it!) his bed is largely unused except for company.

Both boys green-lighted the proposed project, so, over the next several days, I played musical rooms. I moved and lugged furniture, toys and clothes from one room to the other. I moved electronics, books and changed out wall art. I did this with little help from either boy, although Sam was somewhat helpful.

Part of this move was also geared to making a 'new' room exciting for Sam. There was the hope that we could more easily entice him back into his room and out of his mother's. Thus far, that offshoot of the project has been a bust at bedtime.

The musical-room project is a success. Connor's delighted with the larger bed and room. Sam's enjoying his new space during the daylight hours. He's been wanting digital cable and that had been in Connor's room. Since Connor has most of the electronics and doesn't watch that much TV, he let Sam have keep the cable box in his new room. As long as Connor has Cartoon Network he's a happy camper. Sam watches Animal Planet, National Geographic, Discovery and other such Cable channels on a regular basis.

It was a relaxed 4th. Trish worked and I got Dickey's BBQ for us. Yesterday, I kicked into cleaning-out mode again and tackled the pantry and fridge. Major overhaul! I have to confess that, when the mood strikes, I love cleaning and cleaning out. I've always had a thing for moving furniture around. I used to do it when I was 9 months pregnant!!

All in all it's been a very productive week! Trish went camping with friends after work yesterday. She'll be home at some point this afternoon. Next week is her new store's grand opening. Busy, busy! The boys have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon so I'll be off to Children's in Dallas with them around noon.