I Don't Trust People That Don't Like Summer

Dear Person I THOUGHT I Knew For Twenty Years,

You don't like the summer? You aren't a fan of hot weather? You have to run the ac all day, every day because your body temperature runs warm? You don't like shorts or flip flops? And, you think adult slushies aren't season specific?

Are you freakin' kidding me?! Summer is the best! It's my favorite time of the year! I wait all winter long, very impatiently, for the warm weather to arrive. When it does, I give the pollen time to come in and go away and then it is game on baby!!

When late spring/summer arrives, I can pull out all of my cute sandals and flip flops and get my toes all painted. I use melons and peaches and pinks. I once dated a guy that told me he liked a particular color that did not agree with my summer toe nail polish pallet. I quickly dumped him. TRUE STORY (but I didn't dump him for that reason but it should have been a warning).

I can pull on sundresses and wear shorts and capris. I don't wear sundresses for just anybody. Sundresses are reserved for summer activities. I'll wear capris every day of the week but sundresses are special.

It's baseball season so I can go to as many games as I want. I love my Br@vos! I went opening day and had a blast. I'll go back several times this summer. It's not just the game either. It's a total experience. There are games for the kiddies (and the young at heart). There are the crazies in the crowd. There's the kisscam. There's the fact that you can bring your own food now and just buy ice cream and beer there. Score!!

Summer means I can sit by the pool and read a sassy book or dangle my feet in the water (cause I'm only getting wet up to my neck. My hair is not going to get wet - oh hells no!). A book is better when read on a deck chair with an umbrella over you.

The Princess and I make ice cream. Good Lord we make tons of ice cream. I had to purchase a second barrel for my ice cream maker to keep up with production! My favorite home made flavor? Vanilla, of course.

And the summer drinks. Adult slushies - pina coladas, daiquiris, margaritas, etc. They really are seasonal drinks. Well, ok, they taste better seasonally. I'll drink a margarita on the rocks during the rest of the year but summer....

Dear PITIKFTY, this friendship doesn't appear to be working for a miriad of reasons. But, this, my dear ex-friend took the cake (and home made vanilla ice cream). I think you and I should only be friends from late October through late March.

It's not me, it's you.

BOOK REVIEW - Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk

Robyn Okrant decided to spend a year committing herself to Oprah's suggestions. She wanted to know if by doing so, she would really be living her best life.

I admit, I went to W@lly W0rld the day that the book came out. I was pretty stoked about reading it. I had followed Robyn's blog since October 2009 when I first learned of it.

Was it worth it? Did I learn anything? Well, I learned a valuable lesson, just in the purchase. The S@ms CIub really is cheaper than anywhere else when it comes to books and magazines!

I learned many other things too. I learned that Robyn Okrant is hysterical! I learned that some of 0pr@h.c0m's recipes can be a bit time consuming but usually pretty good. And I learned what she learned, she probably was already living her best life. She was living HER VISION of what her best life should be.

Not to say that she didn't pick up helpful tips (and I did too) but the best tip was probably that there really are people that are already living their best life. They may need a tweak here and there but they are ok already.

Can Robyn write? You bet! I love the way she chose to show us the dollars that she spent and the ongoing lessons that she learned (and the funny quotes from friends and fellow bloggers). I was concerned that she would either lurve, lurve, lurve on 0pr@h or ridicule everything that she said. She did neither. She gave a very fair and mostly unbiased report of everything. I liked that about the book.

If you are wondering if you should pickup a copy of the book, yep. It's a good read. I don't pay full price for hardly anything so my suggestion would be to go to The S@ms CIub or @mazon for the best price. You could try the library but, when I tried reserving the book, I was number 217 in line. They only have 12 copies! If you factor that everyone can keep the book a total of 9 weeks (with double checkout) then I'd be waiting (32 plus 7, carry the 4, divide by 9) a long freakin' time.

Good job Robyn! Now you can try to go back to your former life, but you know, with a little bit more moh-lah!!

Books, books and more books

The Princess sure knows how to keep her mommie on her toes.

This morning I was driving her to school and she was telling me that her library book needed to be renewed. I told her that she was born into a family of readers and she should be able to read a "chapter book" in three weeks; that she should not have to renew it. I could read a book a week when I put my mind to it. She should be able to read one in three weeks.

"In fact for 2010 you are going to read 2 books a month,"I told her.

"Yes ma'am, you will have read 24 books by the end of December 2010."

She was very quiet in the backseat and I could see that her head was down. I took this as a sign of mommie victory. I smiled and continued the drive.

"Mommie?" she asked.

"Yes?" I answered.

"We're a reading family?"

"Yes we are."

"So I have to read 24 books in a year?"

"Yes."

"Did you know 24 X 2 = 48?"

"Yes." (The kid was throwing me off with math).

"So maybe you can read 48 books in a year."

"Huh?" I asked, stunned. What was she saying?

"If I read 24 books before you read 48 books, you take me to dinner and if you read 48 books before I read 24 books, I'll take you to dinner."

I looked in the rear view mirror. The smile on her face filled the back seat. She had challenged me to a duel! I know I said that I could read a book a week. That didn't mean that I wanted to. But what choice did I have now? I couldn't walk away from a 48 book challenge!

"Fine. That's a bet."

Apparently I'll be reading a lot in 2010. I have a bet to win.

I think The Princess stole my mommie manual and tricked me.