A New Toy

I love getting new toys. Really, I'm just like a little kid when it comes to gadgets. Did I want jewelry or flowers for Mother's Day? No. I wanted a little pocket video recorder. So, here's the one that I picked out for myself:

I really like it...although I haven't gotten a bunch of time to play with it. Chloe's last day of school is tomorrow, and they're having a little concert. I plan on recording the concert, and posting it here. Here are a couple of sample videos I did. These are NOT in high def, just in regular VGA mode. I'll play with the high def more later.





This thing is great! It uses 2 AA rechargable batteries (which came with it...it actually came with four) and fits right in the palm of my hand. Great for throwing in my purse. It takes still pictures, too. I'm going to have fun playing with this...and I'll be able to share some more video of the kids with my folks. Right now we have a camcorder that records on those mini dvd's, and it's a pain in the arse to share them with my folks.

So, I got a new toy to play with, and today I'm going to get some new hair! Well, not NEW hair, but a new cut and color. If you live around Pittsburgh, I absolutely LOVE how Jess does my hair. Jess owns Hot Heads Hair Design, which is right next to Downey's House in Robinson Township. She's super sweet, a whiz with color, and she took a big risk opening a place of her own. she's great!

So maybe I'll post a pic of me and my new hair. I hope everybody has a great day! The weather is fantastic here. Maybe I'll slap some fake tan on myself soon, so I don't scare everybody when I wear shorts!

Coming Out of Hiding

Well, my entire life was consumed.

Consumed by, of all things, eight wonderful novels. As I've mentioned, I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse Novels. Well, for the past week, it's about ALL I've been doing. If you're looking for a good bunch of books, these are a great read!

I have to say, I am totally in awe of people who can write stories like this. The author, Charlaine Harris, has other books, too. And I'm sure I will eventually get around to reading them. I can't imagine being able to sit down and weave the stores, characters, settings, and everything else. And this woman is either an extremely talented, creative and dedicated writer OR she's something supernatural. I am amazed at how she has explored the supernatural, and made up the rules as she went along. Kudos to her!!!

If you don't know, I'm not really casual about anything. When I start reading something and enjoy it, I jump right in, both feet first. I was walking to the bus stop while reading. I stayed up until 2:00 am many nights so I could finish the book I was on. When something gets my brain going, it takes me over. Needless to say, other areas of my life have suffered. The house is a mess, the kids are ready to kill each other, and I haven't blogged (sorry) or tended to any of my other online ventures. As I finished book number eight last night, I had a whole mix of emotions. I was sad I was finished reading about Sookie. I was amazed that I got through these eight books while still feeding, clothing and tending to the kids and the restaurant. I was glad that I was going to go back to 'normal' life. Then it happened.

I went to the Charlaine Harris' website. Yeah, there's another one coming out next month. I pre-ordered Dead and Gone today. No big deal. What's one more book, right? Um, WRONG! If you look under the bibliography on her website, you'll see that there are quite a few books with short stories about Sookie (these stories sort of fill in the gaps). Yeah. Now I have to read those, too. I ordered one from Amazon. There is the great possibility that I will read the collection of short stories, find another author that is fantastic, and discover another five thousand books I want to read.

Oh well. The kids know how to get cereal for themselves.

If you remember, the whole reason I started reading this series was that it's the inspiration for True Blood on HBO. I really enjoyed the first season of the series, and from what I understand, the second season is supposed to start this June. However, the series and the books are completely different. Well, not completely. Many of the characters are the same. But things happen differently. I'm not going to give out any spoilers here, but let's just say I'm curious about what direction Alan Ball is going for the second season. I'll probably enjoy the series. I may quite possibly enjoy it even more, because I'll be so into the differences.

Anyway, for now, it's back to my little spot here in Collier Township, PA and out of Bon Temps, Louisiana. And I'll write more.

Promise.

My plan is to go on over to my friend Barb's site, Barb's Bookshelf, and post something on the forums over there. Many of the members there use CafePress, Zazzle,, and other POD's (that's Print-On-Demand for those who don't know). They're uber awesome, and make up a large portion of who I like to call my 'online friends.'

And they're frickin' funny!

OK, I'm gonna catch up on some of that housework. The girls are at the neighbor's house, running through a sprinkler. Yup, it's April and it's 86 degrees right now. But I'm not complaining.

Have a gerat weekend!

Becca's Picture view of Christmas Eve

Here are some un-edited pictures taken by Becca and her cousins last night. They are taken with the Kid Tough camera from Fisher Price. She absolutely LOVES the camera. Of course, the quality is not exactly stellar, but I think this camera is a great starter camera! She already dropped it down the basement stairs, and it held up great! The only complaint that I have about this camera is that it SMOKES through batteries. It takes 4 AAA batteries, and they lasted for about 130 pictures (which is about 1 hour, in our case). I think that I'll invest in some rechargeable ones.

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