David Sedaris in PARIS: Me Talk Pretty One Day

Just finished the book. It was a fun, easy-to-read book.

Each of the short essays could be read as a stand-alone story. So, at night, I would pull the book off my headboard and read one little essay. They are all funny. So, I would go to sleep with a smile on my face and sleep more restful than if I didn't pick through the pages.

There was a lot of talk about Paris, and it made me think of the time we took our oldest son, Jake, there for his present for his graduation from college.

Some people might think the humor in Me Talk Pretty One Day is a little twisted and maybe it is, but that doesn't change the fact that I laughed out loud at some of the stories. And, of course, some stories are funnier than others but none were bad.

I especially liked the fact that David Sedaris made fun of himself more than other people.

It was also fun to read about American tourists in Paris. I've been to Paris twice, and the one thing I noticed when we were there, is how very tall my husband and son seemed. At 6'4" and 6'5", they looked like they were being filmed for a Land of the Giants episode. I stepped back behind them so I could watch the people's faces as they walked through the crowded areas. I was snickering into my sleeve but then I noticed I was taller than most people too and I'm only 5'7".

We enjoyed the people in Paris and found them to be very friendly. Of course, we tried, hopelessly, to speak in French. And we attempted to order everything in French. My husband is very good with languages-having been born and raised in a country where it's mandatory to know more than one or two languages. So, that helped. But, sometimes it seemed like a comedy of errors. The French people tried to understand what we were attempting to say and, for the most part, they did a good job but once we even walked into an English language school looking for directions-and I had trouble understanding them-and they were supposed to be speaking English.

Here are a few pictures from our last trip to Paris. My oldest son graduated from the University of Oregon and deserved some sort of present ;-) Of course, he would have preferred to have gone by himself or with a friend - but hey, we were paying so it was a good excuse for us to go too.

My son, Jake, graduated with a degree in Multi-Media Design and he said he really wanted to see the Louvre - so we did.

Hope you enjoy the photos too.

OK - Here it Goes Again

I wish this is what my workouts looked like.

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY

ANSWER: Sardine and spinach sundaes. YUMMY for your TUMMY ;)

Bonus Question - answer: Pickle Juice.

NOW, for Earth-Friendly Friday. This is info (which I got from my work via Beverly Michaelis-Kongslie) to help clean up out there in cyber space.

Living green means not wasting wattage by having a slow running computer.

Is Your Computer Performance Lagging?

Over time, computers can become sluggish due to unnecessary applications as well as fragmented files. Take time to clean up your computer periodically to improve its speed and efficiency by following these steps: . . .

•. Uninstall any applications you no longer use. Don't just delete the icon - it's only a shortcut. Use the uninstall feature that came with the software, or go to the Control Panel in Windows and. choose Add or Remove Programs. Once the program list is populated; select the unnecessary program and click Remove. For help with this step, try the PCDecrapifier: www.pcdecrapifier.com. This program is free for personal use.

• Delete any downloaded or temporary files you don't need. These may reside in C:\Temp or C:\Windows\Temp, or C:\Documents and Settings\(your user name]\Local Settings\ Temp. Be careful NOT to delete any downloaded programs you still use. These can be found at C:\Windows\Download~d Installations or C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files. If you aren't sure whether a file should be deleted, leave it. Your computer will still benefit from the other steps described in this article.

• Run Disk Clean-up and Disk Defragmenter from your built-in System Took (In Windows XP, click on Start, All Programs>Accessories>System Tools.) If you want a more aggressive clean up tool, consider the freeware application Cleaner available at www.ccleaner.com.

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY

Okay, this one should be EZ-smeezy for all you parents out there.

Take a guess.

QUESTION: What is the favorite food of Sesame Street's Oscar the Grouch? And, if you can get that one, then try to guess his favorite drink too.

(Come back tomorrow to see the answer.)

ANSWER TO WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Answer: To talk to oneself. If you want to read more about it, check it out here.

Word for Wednesday

Word: Soliloquy.

Take a guess - what do you think it means?

COME BACK at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific time) to see if you were right.

EZ Cooking Craft for Kids

Butterflies, Dragonflies and cupcakes? What could be better?

Almost nothing.

Here's an EZ cooking craft for kids. Just make a batch of cupcakes, and one small bread loaf pan cake. Place them on a flat platter, baking sheet or even wax paper. Arrange the loaf/cake as the head, the cupcakes as the body, and use licorice whips to form the wings. Pour a caramel glaze into the wings, (which you can make with brown sugar and butter, melted slowly in a cast iron pan), then use rolo candies for eyes and you have a dragonfly. When you've eaten the loaf, just downsize the cake into a butterfly.

I used to make all sorts of things like this for the kids, when they were little. And they and their friends just ate it up ;)