1. The Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
2. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
3. Technical Communication by Mike Markel
4. The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain
5. Twilight- Stephenie Meyer (again)
6. Midnight Sun- Stephenie Meyer (again)
7. Odd Thomas- Dean Koontz
8. Forever Odd- Dean Koontz
10.  Brother Odd- Dean Koontz
11. Watchmen- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
12. PS I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
13.  Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Ferro

Argh!

When I dropped the boys off at Steve's on Tuesday, I noticed a gigantic bruise on Andy's lower stomach.  When I leaned in close to get a better look, I noticed two little punctures, like some kind of bite in the middle.  It's was purple and red, maybe two inches across.  

When Steve brought them home last night, I checked out the bruise.  It was a little faded but Andy still flinched when I touched it.  Steve said it could be a hernia, so of course I had to look up hernias online and see if I could find pictures.  Definitely not a hernia.  I thought it could be a spider bite so I had to look up pictures of those too.  

Whatever, I ended up taking him in to the pediatrician today just to be safe.  

When I got there, there was a new note taped to the glass--- "Any copay not made at the visit will incur a $10 fee."  Great... I'd been hoping to get them to bill me the copay.  When the MA brought out our file, she said there was already a $20 charge on our account.  Apparently our copay went up and I didn't know it.  Grrr.

This is in addition to the $20 they made me pay to fill out Andy's kindergarten registration papers.  And it took them a week to do it! 

They charge a "premium" for evening and weekend appointments.

Does anyone else's pedi do this stuff? 

Oh, and the bruise?  Just a bruise.

meme ganked from belleatrix 

YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I want to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never really clicked, or if we already know everything about each other. I really don't. You are obviously on my flist, so let me know with whom I'm friends!

01. Your Middle Name, or explain your Chosen Name:
02. Mental Age:
03. Single or Taken:
04. Favorite Book:
05. Favorite Song or Album:
06. What do you believe is your calling in life? Your greatest passion?
07. What's your worst recurring nightmare/biggest fear?
08. Faith, has you any? And if so, what, and if not, why not?:
09. Do we know each other outside of LJ? Do we want to?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you tell me something painful if it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favorite memory of us?
14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes what are they?
17. What is your favorite food?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent:
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Gender identity?
26. Affectionate/sexual orientation?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? (If you have no idea, just say something crazy, it'll entertain me!)
28. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?

Friday I got to do a little bit of socializing with some of the people I work with on Friday.  There was this "mandatory" seminar thing with the guy who wrote one of the books we use.  Wayne got out of going because he had to watch the kids. The other female teacher in my department was away on vacation.  The crotchety old evening teacher who never has anything nice to say doesn't go to anything in the day time.  So from my department, it was my boss, two of the other instructors that I like and me.  We also had the Director of Education (my boss's boss) at our table.  Despite the touchy-feely nature of the seminar (it focused on stress management) I had a really good time.  It was nice to be able to dress down and have time to talk about other things beside students and their issues.

Wayne and I took all four kids to the Philly Zoo on Saturday.  We had tickets I bought last year with the mom's group and they were about to expire.  I was nervous about having all four in a crowded place and managing to have a good time but we did!  The kids all stayed together and we oohed and ahhed over the animals with minimal hassle and yelling.  The only problem was tired kids and a lot of sun. 

The week has been pretty crazy.  We had to bring two cars to school on Monday because I (grumble grumble grumble) said that I'd cover someone's evening classes.  One of the med teachers who is nice to me said that I was her last hope for going on vacation because no one else would cover these two evening classes.  I had vowed never to deal with night classes but I thought it would be one of those demonstrations of goodwill and pitching in to help so I said yes.  It was torture trying to entertain myself for 5 hours in the mostly empty school on Monday night. I have to do it again tonight for an hour but since I don't normally teach on Thursdays this term, I'm going in just for the class.

It's Fourth of July weeekend. I was trying to explain to Andy that the 4th is our country's birthday and that this year our country is going to be 233 years old and that every year we celebrate with barbecues and fireworks.  He seemed excited.  Andy loves a good birthday party. He wanted to know if we'd have cake.  We're going to Wayne's parents for the day.  I hope they have cake.  Maybe I'll make some patriotic cupcakes? 

Dear Kenny,
I don't really know how to tell you this, but our socks don't match. I think I realized it when I quoted Forrest Gump in a clown suit and I saw you bite off the elephant in the corner. I'm sure you're masochistic enough to understand the middle east is planning revenge on you. I'm returning your Hannah Montana underwear to you, but I'll keep your left ear as a memory. You should also know that I will not tell the authorities that you stole the whale from the backyard and I’m off to lead a new life as a lemon.

With tears of sadness,
Juli
xxx


( How you do it! )

There are four children here.

One is sitting nicely on the couch watching a DVRed episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.

One is in timeout in his room, screaming.

One is reluctantly cleaning something up after complaining about it loudly.

One is counting.  I don't know why.

The amount of screaming in the house is unbearable- both from kids and from the adults.

If they would only listen and do what we ask.

Why, oh why, must it be a rainy day?
 

I have been staring at the computer screen for too long tonight and yet, I can't stop myself from wasting hours playing stupid games on Facebook.  It's a freaking curse.

I made myself a couple of mini Cuban sandwiches for dinner around 9 and I'm hungry again now.  There's a tiny bit of leftover coconut flan from the party I could polish off.  I'd feel guilty for 15 minutes but it's so good and unless i eat it, it will go in the trash.

The boys got home pretty early tonight.  I was so excited to see them.  That effectively ended my housework and chores for the evening.  I sat on the couch and watched Special Agent Oso with Joey.  It's their new favorite show and it's based on James Bond movies.  Each 15 minute sub-episode has a title that's a parody of a 007 movie.  

Three Wheels are not Enough

Dr.  On

Carousel Royale

It cracks me up.  And when all the kids are here and they're watching the show, they sing along with the show.  I really need to have my video camera handy tomorrow to record it for posterity.

In that line of thinking.  I also need to record Andy reading/performing Where the Wild Things Are at bedtime.   It's precious.
 

Miss my boys and can't wait until they get home tonight.

Stayed up too late last night and as a result I rolled out of bed at 11 am today. 

Bunch of stuff I need to accomplish:

1. Grading school work.  I am behind.  Need to log my grades in the online system I use to calculate the weighted stuff.

2. Put the plants that were started in my aerogarden into their appropriate outdoor containers.

3.  Laundry. Always laundry.  DOING

4. Pull winter clothes from Andy & Joey's dressers.  See what wardrobe adjustments need to be made for warmer weather.

5.  Water change and algae scrape of the fish tanks. DONE

6.  Water houseplants. DONE

7.  Change and wash all the sheets in  the house. DONE (but still have to re-make all the beds) 

By Dennis McLellan
May 21, 2009

( Click for more )</div> In 1947, Disney turned the job over to Macdonald, the studio's sound-effects wizard. Allwine was hired for the job in late 1976 while working in sound effects under Macdonald and continued to supply Mickey's voice until his death.

Allwine made his debut voicing the world's most famous mouse on "The New Mickey Mouse Club" (1977-78) and went on to supply Mickey's voice for Disney movies, TV specials, theme parks, records, toys and video games.

Among his credits as the voice of Disney's top animated star: “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” (1983), “The Prince and the Pauper” (1990) and "Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers" (2004) and TV series "Mickey MouseWorks," "House of Mouse" and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse."

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert A. Iger described a "profound sense of loss and sadness throughout our company" over the death of the man who gave voice to Disney's most beloved character.

"Wayne's great talent, deep compassion, kindness and gentle way, all of which shone brightly through his alter ego, will be greatly missed," Iger said in a statement.

Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew, director emeritus of the Walt Disney Co., said in a statement: "Wayne not only gave voice to the character of Mickey but gave him a heart and soul as well."

Allwine, who launched his Disney Studios career in the mail room a few months before Disney died in 1966, had been working in sound effects under Macdonald for more than seven years when he was sent to an open audition for Mickey's voice after an actor failed to show up.

The Glendale native had watched "The Mickey Mouse Club" on TV as a youngster in the 1950s and simply conjured up Mickey's voice from memory.

Allwine later said, however, that doing the famed falsetto of the perennially optimistic Mickey was easy for him.

"Actually, I was accustomed to doing vocal stuff," he told United Press International in 1997. "My father was a barbershop quartet singer. He was a high tenor with an odd voice and could go from lower range to upper range without cracking his voice. I inherited that."

Allwine always remembered what Macdonald told him after Allwine took over the voice of Disney's top animated star: "Just remember, kid, you're only filling in for the boss."

Allwine later acknowledged that in an interview for a “Walt Disney Treasures” box DVD set.

"It's really not about me; it's about Mickey, and Mickey is Walt's," he said. "So what I do is I get to take this wonderful American icon and keep it alive until the next Mickey comes along, and it will one day. And that's also one of the heartbreaks of the character, of doing the job, because, you know, I'm three; there's going to be a four."

It was, he said, "a great honor to represent what Walt loved so dearly and what Jimmy kept alive so well."

Allwine was born in Glendale on Feb. 7, 1947. While a student at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, he acted in school plays and formed his own music group, the International Singers, which performed in clubs and at colleges throughout the state.

He later formed other bands and had a stint with Davie Allan & the Arrows, for which he played rhythm guitar on the hit "Blues' Theme."

Among Allwine's credits as a sound effects editor are "The Black Hole," "Something Wicked This Way Comes," "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Black Cauldron," "Splash," "Three Men and a Baby" and "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier."

In 1986, he shared an Emmy Award for outstanding sound editing for a series for Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories."

As a married couple, Allwine and Taylor received similar reactions whenever people discovered that they were the voices of Mickey and Minnie.

"Everybody goes, 'Oh, that's so sweet,' " Taylor said. "When we got married, we kind of kept it quiet because everybody was saying, 'Oh, Mickey and Minnie got married.' It wasn't Mickey and Minnie; it was Wayne and Russi. We wanted to keep it about us and not about the characters."

In addition to his wife, Allwine is survived by his children from previous marriages, Erin, Alison, Peter, Christopher and Joshua; and a grandson, Isaac.

Funeral arrangements are pending.</div>

Last Saturday, Wayne and I took the whole posse of kids to Opening Day at Sesame Place.  It was rainy and miserable but we had a good time.  While in one of the gift shops I noticed a tiny corner with scrapbooking supplies.  OOH!  They had a Sesame Street themed album and a bunch of stickers and papers.  I wanted it.  We go to Sesame Place a LOT.  Still, I told Wayne I'd get it another day and walked out of the store.  Later on, Wayne disappeared for a long time to take Lexi to get some cotton candy before the parade.  He returned holding a suspicious, flat, squarish bag.  Happy Mothers' Day for me!

On Wednesday, while Wayne and I were painting the living room, I saw the UPS truck stop in front of the house and pull out a big, green Proflowers box.  I glared at Wayne because I told him no flowers for Mothers' Day.  He shrugged as the UPS man walked up the driveway.  I was so confused.

Inside the box was like 100 small, multicolored lilies.  The bouquet was so big, i had to break it into two vases to really show off the blooms.  the card said:


Steve ordered flowers for me from the boys.  I was very touched. 

Yesterday, before Lexi and Nahan left to go back to their mom's house, all the kids came out with a card, they'd signed themselves, a bouquet of daisies and a digital photo keychain for me.

This morning, I slept in until 9:30 and woke up to a bacon and egg breakfast on the table, waiting for me. 

This Mothers' Day, I am feeling very loved and very spoiled.

Right now, Joey and Wayne are napping.  Andy is playing games at Sprout.com and I'm about to go outside and get the newspaper.  Later on, I think we may go play mini-golf or head to a park so the boys can run around and I can look at them and get all weepy over how much I adore them.

Forty years from now people will look back on the gay rights movement and wonder what the hell was wrong with some people that they beat on their bibles citing Leviticus as God's ordinance that homosexuality is an abomination when in the same chapter so many other things are labeled as equally abominable.  Like eating shellfish, shaving, planting two crops in one field and combining fibers in woven cloth. 

It will be just like the way we look at segregation in the south and the civil rights movement of the 60s.  What the hell was wrong with people that because of the color of another person's skin, they had to sit in the back of the bus or use a different water fountain.

I find myself falling neatly into that neat little trend recently in the news about my generation largely moving toward atheism.  When I look at the fundamentalist Christian churches, it makes me sick to my stomach to think about what these people cherry-pick to support or oppose in the name of Christ; a man who hung around with lepers and prostitutes.

So Miss California is enjoying her 15 minutes, I'm sure, but in the end she's just a bigoted punchline who looks more and more ridiculous with each passing hypocritical moment.

Today was opening day at Sesame Place and we were there, rain and all, with all four kids.  It is seriously difficult to do anything with all four kids.  If it weren't for the sit-and-stand stroller, we couldn't have done it.

Nathan is a runner.  I must have said it ten or more times today, "We need one of those baby leash things for him."

Joey was in and out of the back seat. 

Andy is dealing with allergies and sinus stuff and was just not himself today.  He wouldn't go on any rides.  He wanted to go into the water but it was just too cold.  

Lexi wanted to hang out with my sister and niece all day.

The kids, minus Andy, rode the Vapor Trail roller coaster, Elmo's Flying Fish (fish shaped flying cars, spins around in a circle), this bouncy thing called Blast Off and the carousel.  We also saw the Elmo's World show and the parade.  Doesn't seem like all that much but we were there all day. 

We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot.  In the afternoon there was ice cream and right before the parade: cotton candy.  

Going through pictures now.  I look horrible in all of them.  I had a lazy, sloppy pony tail leaving the house and the rain didn't help matters much.  I need some sun on my face. Argh.

Spent all day yesterday at my mom's group's charity crop knowing there was gorgeous weather outside and that Wayne had the boys at a playground.  I imagined that today we would go out in the yard and start sprucing it up for spring, killing and pulling weeds, mowing, enjoying the sunshine, throwing a frisbee or football around.

Not so much.  I started doing laundry right after breakfast and hanging it outside in the sun.  The boys followed me out, presumably to play, and instead went on a whining, screaming rampage about every single thing I said or did.  So after arguing and cajoling and laying in their darkened rooms for an hour, they both finally went to sleep and I've been sitting here at the computer reading Huffington Post.

Maybe when they wake up (and I hear Joey now) I can have my happy fantasy? 

Every day I put a little note in Andy's lunchbox.  Often it's a reminder to listen to his teachers.  Sometimes it's a goofy poem.  I always tell him I love him and that I'm proud of him.

Tonight I was sitting on the couch and Andy came in from the kitchen and said, "Mommy, I have a dinner note for you," and he handed me this.



I am going to save it forever.

I really need to start eating in the morning before I leave the house.  I am so hungry.

My class just ordered three pizzas and unfortunately since I don't often carry cash, I can't go in. 

Wonder what I should make for dinner tonight.

Tuesday morning.  Sitting in the empty classroom where I spend my mornings.  I'm hungry.  It's gray and raining outside.  

Working has pulled me a little further from the group of friends I was working to build in Reading because I'm no longer able to go to daytime playdates and stuff and I really really hate the phone.  Even though I'm usually home by 3, it still seems like the evenings are too short and I want to spend time around the boys when I can.  Thursday night is the monthly mom's night out.  I posted my week's schedule here on LJ yesterday.  I'm busy this week.  Still, I want to go if I can figure out a reasonable custody exchange setup. 

Last night I did a little laundry but mostly started getting my stuff together for next Saturday's crop.  I have some really old pictures to finish up, Joey's first year, my new college album and my Spain album to finish.  I want to feel more caught up.  I may finish up some pages tonight and do some organizing before the book party on Friday night.  

I'm behind on my reading for the year but I just finished re-reading Watchmen.

My coffee is cold and I am still hungry.  I need to go put on my makeup for the day.  Class starts in an hour and fifteen minutes.

Monday: Laundry.  The monster is raging again!

Tuesday, Wednesday : Cleaning.  See Friday and Saturday.

Thursday:  Kid shuffle.  Lots of driving.  

Friday: Scrapbook Viewing Get Together for the scrapbooking group I coordinate on Meetup.  Rather than getting together to work on scrapbooks, we're going to bring competed work and do the whole "ooh and ah" thing.  Means a lot of housework for me because I'm hosting but that's fine.  Will also need something to drink and some hors d'oeurves.

Saturday: Lexi's Birthday Tea Party.  I'm psyched for this because I want to make it very schamncy and girly.  She plays tea party with her grandmother but it's with a plastic toy tea set and fake food.  I am planning finger sandwiches and scones and punch.  Should be a good time.  I can plan more this week and really finish off the plans.

Sunday: RELAX!  But, but, but, I need to start prepping page kits for my mom's group's big crop on the 25th.  I don't want to haul all my stuff with me so I like to match papers to pictures and cut the titles on my Cricut and bag them up in 2-gallon size ziplocks.  (Perfect size for 12x12 papers!)

The time the boys were away seemed to fly.  Instead of going out because we were kidless, Wayne and I spent the week at home, being lazy and goofing off online.  Down time well spent, if you ask me. 

The re-accreditation process at school was really stressful, everyone was in a panic, trying to get (and keep) everything in order.  The whole thing is a dog and pony show.  I was in knots worrying about whether or not one of my classes would be observed and it turned out the committee did very little observation and instead spent most of their time here at the school holed up in the conference room pouring over paperwork.

On Friday, Wayne and I finally got out to see Watchmen.  We'd be anticipating it for months and then never got out to see it because of sitter issues and having other commitments.  We had to drive out to the south side of Lancaster to one of two theaters in the greater area that was still showing it.  TOTALLY worth it.  Probably one of the best adaptations from a comic book/graphic novel that I have ever seen.  It stuck pretty closely to the original text.  Well, except for the ending.  I think the movie ending was better.  Of course, I am now most of the way through a re-read of the book.  We went to a local strip-mall pizzaria after the movie and shared a pie.  It felt very high school date-ish and we had a good time.  

Saturday went to pick up Lexi and Nathan in the morning and then later, Steve dropped the boys off.  We ate dinner and the kids all played outside for a little while before coming in to dye eggs for the holiday.  The egg dyeing was not the disaster I thought it would be.  :)   All, tired out, the kids went to bed easily and early.  I made their baskets up and set them in the living room.

Sunday we drove out to Jersey for Easter with my family.  Easter was a big deal to my maternal grandfather and we follow his traditions for it still- very Eastern European- so I like spending Easter with my mom and the rest of my family.  The year it meant driving out to Jersey early in the morning-- we left around 8:30--and got there around 11:30.  We stayed until 4:30 when we had to leave to bring Lexi and Nathan to their mother.  We met her around 8 and then drove an hour back to our house.  It was a ridiculous amount of driving but still worth it.  The kids received like 5 baskets of candy.  They were all jacked up on sugar.  

OH!  Yesterday was also Lexi's birthday, so we gave her the American Girl doll she picked out.  She loves it.  I just hope she takes care of it.

The team is here.  Lurking about the building. 

I dressed up today.  I'm wearing my name tag ID thing.  I spent the whole morning writing my lesson plan, preparing my presentation, coming up with interesting stuff to say and to have a hand-in, gradable assignment for the class.

Five minutes into talking about document coherence I got an email from my boss saying that my class had been selected to go down to a big lecture hall and fill out a survey.  Totally disruptive.  Lost my train of thought.  Lost their attention.

Oh well.

Tomorrow is my 3-hour Office class and we're starting PowerPoint.  That should be fun.

THURSDAY:
Boring faculty meeting at work about the school's accreditation visit that starts tomorrow.  I would very much like to have the woman who gave the presentation in my Microsoft Office class to teach her to to properly use PowerPoint.  Massive driving picking up and dropping off kids.  Met Steve at Chick-fil-a to exchange boys.  Nathan ran out into the parking lot and scared Wayne senseless.  Went to Target to get the kids' Easter outfits and the Twilight DVD.  :) 

FRIDAY:
Cleaning.  Home. Nothing too crazy.

SATURDAY: 
Woke up and straightened up the house.  Wayne's ex picked up his kids, late as usual.  Showered, dressed and made up to go pick up the boys at Steve's place and met his girlfriend, Tammy, who is very nice.  I think things will be okay there.  Took the boys out to NJ to hang with my parentals.  Had Spanish BBQ and my favorite cake, a belated birthday thing.  Drove home.

SUNDAY: 
Joey tripped and fell into a door jamb in the hallway, creating a large egg and a weird blood blister on the left side of his forehead.  Thinking of Natasha Richardson, I panic.  He's fine.  Spent most of the day going between cleaning stuff and vegging. Played some Guitar Hero.  I need to finish editing my NYC pictures.

TODAY:
Class starts at 11.  I need to get my lesson plan together for today and then come up with lesson plans for the rest of the week.  Need to go put on my makeup and get some more coffee.   I have two hours to get to that.  After school today I have to pack the boys up and make sure they are as clean as can be and well groomed.  Steve is picking them up tomorrow to take them to Pittsburgh to visit with his mother for the rest of the week.  I need to make and deliver dinner for my friend, Megan, who has a baby a week ago, Jaxon John.  I also need to pick up my Creative Memories order from my friend, Lisa.

Never a dull moment around here.

The process of trying to get Andy educated continues to be a massive pain in the tush. 

Last week I went to get the packet of information to get him registered at the local elementary school for kindergarten.  It's literally on the same road as my backyard, on the other side of this small town.  I Mapquested it earlier today... it's 1.95 miles away.

But that's not the school he will go to.  Get this, he has to go to a school NINE MILES away because for some reason, all the kids from this development get bussed to this other "historic" school-- a building that looks like it's at least 100 years old and is scheduled to be demolished in 2010.  Just long enough to force Andy to go there.  I am NOT happy about this.  I have issues with school buses as it is and now they're telling me I have no choice but to put him on a bus, driven by a stranger, to go 10 miles twice a day?  
( Click for map )

I don't know what to do.

Last night, we stopped at a gas station on the way home from dropping Wayne's kids off with their mother.  We pulled up to the the pump and Andy was reading the buttons.

"We get 87 regular gas," he said.

"Yes, Andy, we get regular gas and that has 87% octane," I replied.

"90 gas is Plus," he continued, "and 93 gas is Super Me."

Wayne and I looked at each other and laughed hysterically.  Super me= supreme.  I can totally see how he figured that one out.

Been deep spring cleaning the kitchen since about 10 am.  Much has been done.  Scrubbing, cleaning, degreasing.  Cabinets emptied, cleaned out, reorganized.  

It's not a big kitchen and looking around, post dinner, it seems there is still much to do in that room. The dining side of the room hasn't been touched yet and there is much junk mail/school stuff that needs to be gone through and appropriately dealt with.  Windows need washing. 

The kitchen walls are a mess.  This house was new when we moved in and the walls were painted with flat, contractor grade suck-ass paint.  Two years of living here with four kids has wreaked havoc on the walls.  They sooooo need to be painted.  The lady who owns the house (we rent) dropped off 4 gallons of paint for us to use to paint and it's white.  More white.  Have I ever mentioned how much I absolutely hate white walls?  She also didn't bother to provide things like rollers, tape, brushes, drop cloths or other painting necessities and expects us to do the work ourselves.  I have no problem with doing it.  I'll be happy to cover the crap we have now but arrrghh, white.

Sitting here, discussing this paint situation with Wayne, I think we're agreed on painting with colors (neutralish, easily covered colors) and dealing with the fallout later.  So I'll likely buy a quart of a medium hued paint and mix it into the stuff she bought us to lighten it.  

Back to the cleaning:  much to do, time is short.  I'd like to have the kitchen, living room and kids' bathroom done when the boys are dropped off tomorrow.

I've been working on the album that I mentioned in this post. 

It's Creative Memories Picfolio Milestones Album-- a slide in album.  I love it.  It's kind of a weird size but I've had so much fun working on this.  I'm using it for my old photos of summers in Spain.  They're odd sizes and I cut some of them for frames or whatever.  Here's the pics
( Cut to save friends lists )

Driving in to work this morning, I tuned the Sirius to Bruce Springsteen singing, "My Hometown."



Those lines were playing as we drove down Main Street in Newmanstown and I noted the "Public Auction" sign in a few front yards.

Scary times.