Here is a picture of the finished product.
deadwood
The season finale of Deadwood was last night. It’s a show that takes place during the gold rush in the old west. Not normally my kind of show, but I really like it–it’s probably because of all of the cussing. And sometimes they do it in such a unique manner that you really have to be paying attention. I like that. Unfortunately, I can’t print any of the gems here because this is a family blog, but it’s definitely a show worth checking out. And, Al Swearingen is my favorite character since Tony Soprano.
I did learn one thing last night. In the days before television, apparently people sat in their living rooms–just as we do now–and stared at the drapes instead of the TV. Interesting.
Normally I am sad when the season ends for one of my beloved HBO shows, but another favorite, Six Feet Under, is starting up in a week along with Entourage and a new one called The Comeback (starring Lisa Kudrow). So, it looks like I’ll have something good to watch all summer. Thank you, HBO.
rehoboth beach, delaware
We took a vacation this past week (left on Sunday and came home Thursday) and went to Rehoboth Beach. The weather was crappy, but like Jake said, “Going to the beach is fun even when it is cold.” Truer words have never been spoken. I like the beach, but don’t like swimming in the ocean (or pools for that matter) and Brian doesn’t even like the beach, so I guess the weather is irrelevant when we go there. Jake had a blast playing in the ankle-deep water (that’s about the deepest you could go without having to worry about hypothermia). It was calling for rain all week, but it held off until Wednesday, thankfully.
This was our first time to Rehoboth. We stayed at a place called the Brighton Suites Hotel. It was pretty nice. I really like staying in suites. Having an extra room (and an extra TV) is ideal whenever you have a rugrat running around.
I think we’re all caught up on our sleep (two naps a day definitely helps that cause). I don’t understand how I go to bed early and get up early when I’m on vacation, yet there’s no way I can do that when I have to go to work. Maybe it’s because there isn’t anything to do in the hotel late at night but sleep.
Besides the weather, the other bummer was that Brian lost his keys in the Atlantic Ocean. That really sucks, but I guess things could always be worse–at least I had my set of keys with us.
They have a bunch of shopping outlets down here. I’m not normally a shopper (that is, I don’t physically like going shopping, but I do like to buy stuff on the internet), but I thought it would be fun to check them out. We bought a bunch of school clothes for Jacob and some other odds and ends, so it worked out pretty well.
We also went to a local brewpub and eatery, Dogfish Head twice (it was that good). They not only make beer there (which was pretty darned good according to Brian), but spirits as well. I had some of their vodka and it was so good that I couldn’t finish my second drink because I spilled it all over the table. Highly recommended.
Anyway, that’s our vacation for this year. Now it’s time to start planning for next year…
Hopefully, you can view the pictures here.
the thomas berryman number
This was the third installment in my James Patterson marathon. The book was another early effort from Patterson. It took me forever to read this one. Normally I read his books in about 5 days. This one was more like 5 weeks. It’s the first of his books to not hold my interest. I found myself only reading it when I took Jake to karate. Finally, before our vacation (which I will be writing about soon), I had to sit down and finish the story so I could take something more interesting to read on our trip.
The storyline sounds interesting enough–it was a story about a guy who was a contract killer and was hired to kill a black Senator from the south. It took place in the 60s/70s. It kind of reminded me of a combination of the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and JFK. It was told from the perspective of an investigative journalist who was writing a story about the assassination (definitely not Patterson’s usual “formula”). That all sounds good, but it was a real chore to read it. Just not my kind of story, I guess.
party time
This afternoon, Judy invited us to a party at her place. It was the first cookout of the year. We had a great time and boy am I stuffed! That’s what eating for two hours straight will get you, I guess. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay long because we have some things to attend to this evening, but I was glad we could make it.
On the way home, I wanted to stop at the Toyota garage and look at the Corollas. Why is it that they put the cool cars next to the boring ones? Look, there’s nothing wrong with a Corolla, but it’s not exactly the most exciting car in the world. I happen to be a person who is into cars. Your standard sedan just doesn’t do it for me. I know I should be happy that I can afford to buy a new car even if it is boring, but I’m not. Enter: Scion. Toyota has a new brand of cars out called Scion. They had some sporty little models parked right by the Corollas (much to my chagrin). However, a quick perusal of the invoice showed that they are in my price range. I suppose a two-door sports coupe doesn’t exactly fill the “family car” roll very well. But damnit, I should get to buy a car I like. I don’t know anything about these Scions, so I guess I have some research to do and then possibly a decision to make before next weekend.
Sports car vs. sedan. Maybe I’m having my mid-life crisis early.