Feeding My Addiction

Read all you like for a fixed price per month.  I haven't tried all of the new platforms yet, but I am giving Kindle Unlimited a go.  So far, so good.  We picked Colin Cotterill's book, THE CORONER'S LUNCH, for our next book club read at StoryBucks (details here if you are curious) and voila!  THE CORONER'S LUNCH was available on Kindle Unlimited.  So now I've read the second one in the series too.  Also included in the Unlimited plan.

Color me happy.  I read like most people breathe and to have access to so many books for the price of one book every month, well, nirvana.  Obviously, I won't be finding everything I want to read in the Kindle Unlimited library but I can discover a lot of new authors and perhaps read up on some older novels that I missed along the way.

Meanwhile, my high school Girlie will be reading Aristotle.  Her schoolbooks arrived for the coming year (she attends Stanford University's online high school) and for her Sophomore year, she'll be reading from THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ARISTOTLE.  I don't know why, but it makes me laugh.  The sucker is 1,250 pages of tiny print.  She has no idea what's waiting for her when she gets back from her summer session at Stanford University.  Of course, she'll probably love it.  That's the difference between her and me.  I would only read Aristotle if there was a Scandinavian crime angle in it somewhere.

Redux

The wheel of life has pointed to writing again.  I've even got a new website devoted to writing:  StoryBucks.com.  I used to write a lot about my daughter, Girlie, but then she got old enough to care.  She's still old enough to care, but she's a teenager and well, she's going to find reasons to be mad at me anyway.

So I'm back, and I'm going to have a little fun looking up old and new friends in the blogging universe.  Happy Thursday everyone.

Bush Calls a Bailout Meeting

Don't Wanna Iguana

So tropical storm Fay disappointed my nine-year-old. Not nearly enough drama. She wanted the power to go out. Ha, ha, ha.... That's the sound of me laughing at the idea of her going five minutes without air conditioning. Luckily for all in south Florida, Fay dumped lots of much needed rain and has done little damage. It's still blustering out there but as I looked out my kitchen window, I saw my new nemesis out for a bite in the rain. Iguana Joe. Joe lives near me and must eat A LOT because Joe has made our pool deck his personal restroom and judging from the olympic size poops, he has a voracious appetite. Apparently they favor mango and hybiscus. And guess what? Small dogs favor iguana poop. Yup. When Marty isn't rolling in it, he's eating it. And Bella likes a nibble too. So every morning it's a race to see whether me and my hose can beat the dogs to Joe's Diner. Yech. But I admit, seeing those foreign looking iguanas reminds me that I'm in the tropics and I love it, poop and all.

Hi Fay

Here in South Florida, we're waiting to see if Fay is gonna say "howdy". She's visiting Cuba first to spread a little good will I guess and then she's expected to head to the Keys. After that it's not clear if she'll rake the western side of Florida or what but it seems clear that some nasty weather could hit our town in any event. So we are preparing. I went to the store last night and bought pudding snacks. Hubby recorded olympic events and Girlie set up her "Hurricane Fortress." A Hurricane Fortress is an indoor tent stocked with a sleeping bag, pillows, a lemonade pouch and her stuffed snake. Clearly Girlie is the only one of us who takes this storm seriously and is therefore the best prepared. Should Fay take a turn in our direction, I imagine you'll find us all huddled in the Hurricane Fortress sharing lemonade and getting lectured by Girlie. For hours, and hours, and hours... My guess is that she'll only stop when I threaten not to share my pudding snacks. Fay? I need you to steer far to the west please. Thanks.

Welcome back, Banana!

I'm doing the happy dance today because I have reconnected with a bloggie buddy that I haven't "seen" in a couple of years. You too should toodle over and say howdy to the Liberal Banana. Go ahead, I'll wait here. La, la, la,.... Back? Great. In today's news, I am a hero. Girlie came in to the living room where I was napping, I mean, thinking really hard on the couch, and told me that for sure, her video game was irrevocably, completely, stuck and ruined. I know very little about this game but after a demonstration by Girlie, I was able to suggest that she blow the wind thingy the other direction and LIKE MAGIC, she wasn't stuck anymore. I'm taking that to the bank, folks. My nine year old is in awe of me, normally the useless second choice for video game consultation. Today, in my house, Michael Phelps has got nothin' on me.

Heroics

Today, I rescued a baby possum. Or I didn't. It's hard to say. I heard Girlie's mutt barking his head off at something in the back yard and naturally I ignored it because he's barked that head off every day since we rescued him from the humane society. After a few minutes I went out back and we had our usual exchange: "Marty, knock it off." "Bark." "Marty, come on buddy, let's go in the house." "Bark." "MARTY!!!" "Bark." "Baby want a treat?" And in the house he ran only as I glanced back to where he'd been standing, I saw a furry something in the grass by the hedge. At first I thought that it was the headless stuffed ostrich that is the favorite of my Italian Greyhound, Bella. But it was actually a very small baby possum. Hmmmmm. I got a shoe box and an old towel and scooped it into the box. I gave it a couple of drops of water and it looked at me with grumpiness and fear. It had a twig firmly gripped in its tiny hands. I called the police, animal services, Pesky Critters, the veterinarian, and a wildlife rehabilitation company. They all were either unable to assist, charged a fortune, weren't available, or uninterested. Hmmmmm. At the rehabilitation company's website, I found that like most idiots, I had assumed that the baby had been abandoned. If possible, they should be left alone because mommy will come looking for them. So I took it back to its spot, turned the box on its side and kept my dogs out of the yard. A couple of hours later, it was gone. Poof! Thin air. No sign of foul play, no cats ever come in our yard (dogs, remember?), and I haven't seen any blue herons or other birds of prey around here. Furthermore, it was fairly protected and hidden by the box and the hedge. So Girlie and I have chosen to believe that Possum Mommy came to the rescue and all is well with the world. If you think differently, I don't want to know about it. (Hands over ears) la, la, la, la , la....

African Herd

Another new piece.

Dr. Who?

The most agonizing decision when you move to a new city is where to send your child to jail. I mean, school. Then, after you've picked a few candidates, you have to apply and wait for a decision (unless you are lucky enough to live where the public schools rock -- we don't). We were sooooo lucky to find a great Montessori school that loved us and Girlie right back. Then I had to find a veterinarian. Not for Girlie, she's next, but for my pooches who have to be boarded when we go on vacation and need a good vet and a good boarding place for that matter. Since we are going on vacation before Girlie goes back to school, that took precedence over finding a pediatrician. Now that's done too. Yay. So then I went trolling for pediatricians in our area. I found one who is a woman doctor and mother of three young girls. Sounds perfect but more importantly, Girlie saw her picture and immediately thought that she looked nice. So we went. The nurse was probably six feet tall, African American and very friendly but Girlie could only see that she did not match the picture on the website. "Who are you?" Girlie demanded, fearful that a switcheroo had occurred. The nurse explained and Girlie relaxed. Then the doctor came in. Now, have you ever been guilty of never updating your ten year old business head shot? I have and I think perhaps our doctor had too. She is a very attractive (more importantly competent) doctor who did not at all resemble her picture. Girlie cried. And cried. And then she wept. It took several minutes to calm her down. She was nervous to begin with and I guess she just thought that this stranger doctor couldn't possibly be as nice as the doctor in the picture. Who knows. Luckily, said doctor is indeed the mother of three young girls and she handled Girlie like a pro. Now Girlie is happy, I have the medical forms for school in hand AND IT'S ONLY JULY!!! I have never been so on top of my game. We may even get a dentist visit in soon.

Dance Fever

Today, for the first time in months, my daughter put on socks. Not for wearing with shoes, however. She only wears Crocs (ugh) in the summer months. She informed me that after a day and a half of playing Dance Dance Revolution (Mario version), she needed to cushion her feet. She's been stomping away non-stop in the back bedroom (now known officially as Girlie's playroom) and like the rest of the house, it has hardwood floors so her tootsies are sore. We've had the game for awhile and I've watched as Girlie and her cousins and friends feverishly "dance" in time with the music. But it's really just stomping. Have you noticed? Kids stomp on the dance mat as if they were crushing giant cockroaches (so she is actually developing a good skill for Miami). No doubt it's great exercise. Hubby and I have had more than one late night dance-off and I've come down late at night and found Hubby sans shirt dancing up a sweat with the blinds open and everything. Sorry neighbors. It hasn't happened in our new neighborhood yet but it's only a matter of time. They've got the fever, my family. Watch out cockroaches.

News and Updates and Fresh Promises

So I'm going to blame moving to Miami for my departure of late from blogging. Now we have been here a month and I'm thinking it's time to get back on the bandwagon. In the meantime: I have been in a wedding as a 45 year old bridesmaid (my daughter co-starred as a flower girl). I have had an art show in Miami. I found an art representative in Miami. My art is hanging at a gallery in Miami (thanks to the show and the representative). I've made new art (see one sample above). My last book, Letters From A Dead Armadillo got a 5 star review on Amazon from Midwest Review of Books. And of course I moved. We didn't sell our old house in Tampa. Instead we rented it to a lovely military couple and their kids for the next three years. Best highlight from the wedding? The lead singer for the Temptations and his latest group performed Motown hits and all the dance moves that go along with it a la The Temptations. It was truly a huge wedding with no detail ignored. One for the record books, my friends.

Award Winning Artist...

So I won my first prize in an art show over the weekend. Best of Show/Second Place. I'd be a big fat liar if I said that I wasn't excited. Yay me! In other news: our house is on the market as of last week. That means I have to keep it clean. (Sound of laughter.) So far, so good. It has never looked prettier. But I can't wait until we move out of it and I don't have to be so obsessive about cleaning up after my nine-year-old. We've had three showings and some possible interest so I'm not as discouraged as I thought I'd be in the current housing market. Wish us luck.

Westminster

www.wendyboucher.com Here it is. I found the cord and uploaded my latest artwork completed this week. It's called Westminster (rather than Big Ben, right?)

I'm so sorry Mr. Bergdorf

I spent a Hen Weekend in New York City this past weekend. Okay, the bride is British so that's what it's called instead of a bachelorette weekend. We, the bridesmaids, took her to Tony and Tina's Wedding for a what-not-to-do list on Friday night and then lamely went back to the hotel and to bed by 11. Really. That's what happens when your bridesmaids are 45ish like me. On Saturday, the more cultured of the maids went to see a standing-room-only production of La Boheme. That left me and the bride alone for most of the day. Heh, heh. We spent most of that time at Bergdorf Goodman trying on impossibly expensive dresses by Etro and other designers. So fun. I had just devoured the latest In Style magazine and saw all the same dresses on display at the store. We dined on the 7th floor overlooking Central Park and each had a glass and a half of wine. That's it. Why we suddenly thought everything at Bergdorf was hilarious I'll never know but we laughed our way from the hair salon to the flu shore (what it will always be called now that the Bride mixed up "Shoe Floor"). Yes, you had to be there. Saturday night is a fog. Yay, not so old after all. On Sunday we went on the Sex and the City tour where the highlight was a cupcake from an amazing bakery in the West Village. And then home. Sigh. Already planning my return trip.

Join me and many other artists this Saturday at the Tampa Artist Emporium from 5 to 9 for a big art mixer (i.e., wine will be served) celebrating the new artists at the gallery AND the grand unveiling of the charity wall. This month's charity artists represent the MacDonald Training Center and you have to see it to believe it. The artists are fantastic and several pieces of theirs have already sold! I will be there and I'm bringing my latest piece for a preview. It's called "Westminster" and if I could find my camera/computer cord, I'd post a picture of it for you. But you'll just have to come on down to the gallery in person. It's in Hyde Park Village across from B.T.'s Restaurant (right on the main drag). See you there!

The Best Day Ever

The best day ever was of course my birthday spent at the beach with Hubby and Girlie on Sunday. This picture is from last year because we never got around to shooting photos this time. The best "you had to be there" moment was when Girlie discovered that it only takes tossing one french fry into the air to attract about a thousand seagulls. This scared her a little but she still wanted to feed them. So she threw another fry in the air and then took off down the beach in a semi-panic while tossing french fry bits over her shoulder. There was a city block long flock of birds chasing after her and everybody was laughing so hard (and there were a lot of people because it's spring break and the beaches are packed). I haven't laughed so hard in ages. That was the best present. And in case you're curious, I'm 45. Exactly half way, if the palm reader at a party a few years ago knew her stuff.

Island (Fest) Girl

Davis Islands, a neighborhood in Tampa, has a yearly Islands Fest celebration and this year they are having an art show too. I am going to have a display at the show so if you are in Tampa the last Saturday in April, come by and say howdy.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Shoppers?

You've got to be kidding me. Two garage sale junkies knocked at my door today to see what I would be selling at Saturday's garage sale. Dogs freaked, I complained about leaving my computer, Girlie (well, she didn't notice) but this is exactly the kind of thing I hate about garage sales. NEVER AGAIN. Now, with my rant over, feel free to come by my house on Saturday and relieve me of some junk.

Something Exciting

I swore to myself that I would respect Girlie's privacy and not blog about her but let's face it, she's more interesting than me and has so much more to offer my blog. The latest: she wrote a letter to her Nana (my mom) and it started with a paragraph about how excited she is to move to Miami and after that she wrote that there was something else exciting! In a year or two, she's going to start puberty! Then, without further explanation, she returned to the subject of Miami. My mom is going to crack up when she gets that letter. By the way, Girlie is nine. Let's hope that it's more than a year or two (please, please, please...).

Myspace

I have recently updated my Myspace page with a nice photobucket slideshow. Check it out at: www.myspace.com/wendyboucher.