Prom Season

So, my mom just forwarded me a picture of my cousin's oldest kid before at prom. He looks absolutely adorable. And I can say that because I'm pretty certain that he does not read my blog. First of all, I cannot believe that I have a cousin who has a kid that's a senior in High School! WTF?? True, my cousins on that side of the family are WAAAAAAYYYY older than me... :-) But, still..... I remember when THEY were the cool older cousins in HS. Now they're parents of HS kids. UGH. Makes me feel super duper old.

But here's what made me feel REALLY old. I emailed my mom back with the usual blah blah blah about how adorable they were..."Is that his girlfriend?"....etc.... Then I tacked on this statement: "Back in my day, the prom dresses weren't so revealing". Seriously? Did I just say that? It's true. But me saying that makes me old.

So sad.

Note: The above picture is NOT of my cousin's date. I did a google search for prom dresses and this is the type of dress I found. Really? Below...now THIS is more like it.... Better, yes? Would YOU want your daughter in the dress above?

Summer Reading List

I went to Barnes & Noble this afternoon in search of a book club selection for May. I've decided that I miss my reading friends and want some excuse to have them over again in a month to drink wine and talk.... I also went to Target where I happened to find a few more good reads. I found sooooo many great books. I bought a few. Okay - more than a few. More like 8. But I have my summer reads all selected. Here's what I'll be reading this summer:

1) Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. This is the third of her New Moon series. I've read it before (several times), but the movie comes out on June 30th, and I want to be fully prepared. If I remember, this one was my favorite. I'm still a Jacob fan.

2) The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I hadn't heard anything about this one, but it looks pretty good. It's the story of a man who, while recovering from a car crash in a hospital burn unit, meets a woman. Said woman claims they were lovers in medieval Germany. Interesting, no?

3) My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster. Okay - if you haven't read anything by Jen Lancaster, get off your ass and go buy one (or all four) of her books. My favorite of all of them was Pretty in Plaid, which was her I love Target.

4) The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. This one may be my book club pick for May. It's about a girl who is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives totally alone with clothes and a book - a book of fairy tales. The dock master and his wife raise her and, on her 21st birthday, they tell her the truth about where she came from. So off she goes to trace her real identity. It sounds really good, and it has a reader's guide in the back of the book. I'm a sucker for books with reader's guides in them.

5) Little Bee by Chris Cleave. This is the other contender for May's book club selection. I've heard about this book, but for some reason never checked it out before today. I think it's new to paperback, which is what caught my eye. Anywho, the back of the book says, "This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again - the story starts there...." Hmmmmm......I'm intrigued! The book's a bestseller and has won a bunch of awards. True, a bunch of awards does not always equal a great book. But the author's from the UK. And you know how I love all things British.....

6) Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn. Historical fiction is my favorite genre. It's about first-century Rome, the Emperor Domitian, gladiators, etc.... I probably picked it up because I've been watching that series "Spartacus" on Starz lately. Interestingly, the author wrote her first story at age seven after seeing the movie "Spartacus" with that famous guy....I can't remember his name.... She said that she always wanted to write a book about a gladiator and this novel is the end result of that first "book" she wrote as a kid. Cute story, huh? That alone was enough to make me buy the book!

7)The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British by Sarah Lyall. This book has mixed reviews on GoodReads.com, but it looked good to me. I bought it last year and, although I've started it, I keep putting it down and forgetting about it! I know....you're probably thinking, "Well, it can't be THAT good then". But, really, it is! It's about a woman who moves from NYC to London in the early 90s. I'm going to finish it....soon.....

8) The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan. This is the 3rd book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I really enjoyed the first two. I've been waiting a few weeks to buy it in hopes of scoring one at Half Price Books. My mom (who I have reading them too) said that they told her that since the movie came out, there haven't been any of the Percy Jackson books handed in. Bummer. So I broke down and bought #3 today.

9) The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. This is book #1 of Riordan's new series, The Kane Chronicles, which is about Ancient Egypt.

There are definitely more books I'm interested in....but this will get me started. Now if only I had a beach and a smokin' hot island man to serve me pina coladas all day, I'd be set!

Senior Spring Break 2010

Well I'm up and at 'em early this morning to dog sit for the parentals. They left bright and early this morning for Alabama to visit my mom's BFF. Another couple will be joining them. It disrupts Lucy's schedule (that's the dog)too much to have her boarded, and my backyard isn't fenced, so it really is easier for me just to go stay there. Not really sure that it's all that easier on me, but it IS a heck of a lot closer to work for me. Besides, my parents do so much for me, it's only right that I pay them back.

But here's the funny part... Last night, just as my mom and I were wrapping up a phone conversation, my mom stopped to yell at Curtie for wanting to bring a bottle of Jack Daniels with them. Seriously? It's like they're HS kids packing for spring break. I'd just rather not know what they're up to down south.....

Wednesday Afternoon Update: The parentals are not in Northern Alabama. I just realized that the majority of my conversations with my mother end with her saying, "I need to go and yell at your father about (just about any topic can be insterted here)".