Reading material found in or around my bed, in the bathroom or by the computer:
Something Extra (Complimentary recipe supplement from Raley’s Supermarket)
WeightWatchers Meeting Guides: May-August 2007
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze Orman (no comments please: there is still a lot of good stuff I can get out of it and I highly recommend it to anyone, esp if you fit the first criterium)
Great Basin College: Fall 2007 Class Schedule
Family Circle magazine, August Editition (I think I already have Sept too around here someplace; I get this magazine without paying for it; a rather long, boring story I will tell you some other time.)
Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type by Paul D. Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger
The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan (my next novel, having finished Harry Potter last week. What WAS that mewling thing on the floor?)
The Lazy Person’s Guide to Investing by Paul B. Farrell, J.D., PH.D. ( Wow, by the amount of initials after his name, this guy must know something. The ‘lazy’ descriptive definitely fits me. What I lack is the determination to dig in and digest useful information out of this book.)
Ortho’s All About Garden Pools and Fountains ( Hopefully, useful ideas to finish up my waterfall and pond when the boys come out.)
Discover What You’re Best At by Linda Gale (I have renewed this one and Do What You Are from the Great Basin College Career Center about 6 times now. Wish I could learn it by osmosis by placing it under my pillow and sleeping on it.)
Amistad: a kids book about a slave-ship rebellion. I was encouraged to read the novel, but the library does not have in stock and I had to request. This picture book gives me an idea what it was all about and was very interesting. I encourage everyone to research this bit of, for a change, bright history.
In addition, listening to a book on tape:The Beekeeper’s Daughter by Laurie King about an older Sherlock Holmes falling in love and book on CD The Magic Skin by Honore de Balzac (that enigmatic scribe from the new Author’s Card Game whose books we have so much trouble pronouncing. So far, it is wordy and not that interesting, but I’ll keep at it and let you know.)
Now, why can’t I get anything done?
UltraMom
Hello Ultrafans and family. This is UltraGirl and this is my first post.
I just wanted to share a short summary of our recent trip with you.
UltraBob and I went for a drive last week to Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture. UltraBob had being wanting to go for a long drive since we got our new car with a navigation system. You might remember Nagano as the place where the 1998 Winter Olympics were held, and Karuizawa is in the Northern part of Nagano, a famous summer resort area in Japan.
After loading a cooler box with sandwiches I made for lunch, some bottles of ginger-ale, sweet summer peaches, and snacks, we were ready for about a 5 hour drive.
It was a weekday so driving was smooth. We first arrived at a ranch and walked around a bit, and went off to Onioshidashi where you can walk around natural pathways made of streams of lava stone.
The air is cooler, with less people, and lots of nature around and the sandwiches were tasty. We also checked out a water fall called Shiraito.
We stayed at a little highland hotel called Magenta. The owner of the hotel is a great cook, and served us a wonderful French course dinner in which he used lots of local Nagano vegetables. His original dinner was completed with very good espresso coffee, but the main dish, amazingly tender beef steak, made UltraBob want to move there. The hotel has three little Onsen baths which you can reserve for your own use. One of the baths has a balcony surrounded by trees and flowers, and it was really nice to stand there feeling the breeze after a hot bath.
We had a relaxing, quiet, wonderful time there.
Hello boys and girls. So you want to be a grownup? First, you need to learn some grownup words and concepts. The grownup word for today is “wait.”
But I know all about that, you say. I have to wait for everything! Wait for my milk and cookies; wait for my favorite TV program; wait for Mom to take me to the swimming pool. When I am a grownup, I will do what I want when I want…NO MORE WAITING!
Oh, little Grasshopper, you are still such a child. Listen and learn.
Today we are going to cover some of the more common aspects of grownup waiting, all of which were experienced by UltraMom and Dad is a single day. There are, of course, many more, but this sampling should send you scurrying back to the playroom to wait for cartoon time.
The Department of Motor Vehicles. At the Elko county DMV there are lines for vehicle registration and for driver’s license transfer or renewal. Plan on a minimum 30 minute wait per line. In addition, when you have purchased your vehicle (ie UltraDad’s new, used pickup) in another state, you must first obtain a lengthy and confusing vehicle inspection, where you will be asked numerous questions on your particular brand of Ford F-150 of which you, and your vehicle documentation, have no idea. I asked UltraDad if he wanted me to stand in the registration line while he and the inspector (general) tried to ascertain the load capacity and existence of the pickup. “No,” he said naively, “those lines seem to move pretty quickly.” He was forced to admit, as we watched two people stand at two separate windows for 20 minutes each, that he was wrong. A man was occupying a third window, but doggedly ignored the resentful gazes of the every-lengthening line, his nose buried in paperwork. We were saved from complete mind-numbing boredom by a Boston-Terrier mix held on leash by the couple ahead of us. The dog was happily gnawing on a large stuffed toy, and according to his owners, took his toy everywhere, which made him content in any situation. I was jealous.
Our pickup registration finished, UltraDad next stood in the Driver’s License line with the intent of changing his Commercial Driver’s License to a regular one. He decided, after a 25 minute wait, and a chat with the ‘expert’ at hand, to keep his CDL for now. Apparently it is easier to keep than to obtain. Only catch? This would require him to get a Physical Examination at one of only two Doctor’s offices in town.
Your Car Dealership Repair Shop. Our next stop was at the Ford dealership for the purpose of getting a spare key made for the pickup and to obtain the secret access code. To me this sounded like it should be a relatively quick and inexpensive process. Not so. Apparently, one must run an Internet scan with the VIN number to get the code, and the spare key must be made from some rare earth metal. This required a 1 1/2 hour wait, in which I read 5-6 chapters of my new Harry Potter book and took two complete naps. UltraDad, who had forgotten his book, was not so fortunate. The bill? $89.00.
Restaurants. This waiting is not nearly as bad as the other kind, because you will be getting instant gratification at the end; food. And, oftentimes, you have a drink, buttered rolls, or chips and salsa to make your wait more tolerable.
Doctors Offices. To me, this is one of the very worst types of waiting situations. You know the wait will be long, but if you are late, you are sent to the back of the wait line. You sometimes have the added anxiety of a worrying physical ailment and of trying to remember all the questions you must be sure to ask. At this particular office, where UltraDad must obtain his Physical, appointments are not necessary. This two hour wait enabled UltraMom to read some more of her book and catch up on some personal phone calls.
If you are now thinking “That UltraMom is something of a whiner. It sounds like UltraDad had it far worse, and I don’t hear him complaining,” you are right. UltraMom is not particularly good at this grownup thing. Now, where are my milk and cookies?
