30 July 2008

spoiled, much?


on our last flight to new york, i finally let jack buy a membership to the airline's president's club. let me tell you this boy has wanted for so long to be able to go behind those closed doors. he flies so much that now he's almost always upgraded (for free) to the first class cabin and he's getting totally spoiled. i'm not really into those sorts of things, but i have to say i'm glad we did it. our second flight was delayed until 11:30 pm (from 4 pm!) and we got to go into this locked family room all to ourselves with comfy seats and two tvs with dvd players, plus all the complimentary drinks and crackers and cheese and apples and granola bars and chips we wanted. the boys spread out their toys and watched movies and i watched some top design and shear genius and read magazines.

this is only the second really big (5 different planes, two hotels, 6 days) vacation trip taken with the step-kids. it's different than traveling alone. much less selfish and luxorius. my favorite part of hotel rooms is usually the bathtub - since i adore taking baths and our apartment here only has a shower! - but there were mostly showers this trip.

it's fun to see them experience new and different things, but disappointing to see them not really appreciate it.

21 July 2008

this is texas

this, the river, is fun:


this is driving, how i spend almost every other weekend, driving.


big skies, true, and here is my tower of vultures, they are always there.


it is a long drive.

and here is the city, mostly grimy, and very hot.


i like it, mostly, it feels closer to home, but not quite.

09 July 2008

books

it's just a normal day, but i feel lonely and scared and sad.

**********

here's the top 100 books from the big read. i've read 26 out of the 100 (i'm counting on the road which i only half read because i didn't like it).

some of my favorites on the list:
tess of the d'urbervilles
alice's adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass

and, ya'll, my all-time favorite: if nobody speaks of remarkable things. i can't believe how much i loe this book.

i can read this from cover to cover, then start from the beginning again. or i can just pick it up and read my favorite pages again and again. read the first 3 pages - you'll be hooked.

dangerous angels
is second.

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