Books for Pleasure?

Wow! I had almost forgotten how wonderful it is to curl up with a book. After reading nothing but math text books for the last 5 years I've been hesitant to read anything, but once I got into the swing of it again I've been tearing through some things.

The first was a memoir written by Joe Robison. He's an adult with Asperger's Syndrome that went undiagnosed through his very disturbing childhood. It's a good story because he ends up becoming a guitar technician for KISS and ultimately leading a fairly happy and stable life.

Then I read a book by Tony Hendra, also a memoir. After getting busted at 14 with his hands down the dress of a married woman, Tony develops a lifelong friendship with a monk who guides his spiritual life, death and rebirth.

The first book brought me around to Running With Scissors. A memoir written by Joe Robison's biological brother. This one was much more disturbing than the first since Augusten couldn't escape his crazy mother the way Joe had. I just had to keep reminding myself that it was a true story because parts of it were really bizarre.

What's next? Who knows.

Some stuff off the list

My Mom and I worked on a little scrapbook of her office move and I'm counting that as my mother/daughter project. However, we're also going to be taking Spanish together starting July 1, so that could probably count too. The truth is, I really like doing stuff with my Mom (and I know she reads this, but it's not 'lip service'). I've always liked just spending time with my family. I have girlfriends that I see and talk to occasionally, but it's just not the same. I'm a "Mama's Girl", hee hee.

Also, I've been working on my children's book a little and my sister is helping me edit it. Thanks Sis!

My hand feels a little better. I tried to crochet some squares together but I really need to take it easy. After just a few minutes my finger started painin' me again so I'm not sure if I should go to the doctor or not. I just hate going, it just ruins your whole plan for the day.

Frank has finished baseball and in August he's starting football! It's something he's been asking about for the last two years and since he's finally over 50 pounds I figured he could try it. This oughta be good!

WWKIP

I hurt my hand a couple of weeks ago learning how to crochet. {stupid crochet} So I did not knit in public today for World Wide Knit in Public Day. However, by 7:00 I couldn't stand it anymore so I picked up some new yarn and tried a new afghan pattern, knitting righty instead of lefty. It worked pretty well, but was sooo sloooww.

15. Recaulk the shower

Oh-I'm so excited! I finished something off my list. Here's how to recaulk your tub.

1. Shower! I mean REALLY well! Like, shave anything you want shaved. Lather, rinse and REPEAT, because you probably won't get a thorough soaking for at least another 2 days. Wipe the whole shower dry when you're done.
2. Scrape out old caulk with a razor. You need to remove any old caulk completely or else the new caulk will never stick and get mold behind it and be completely useless The last guy that caulked our tub was a real slob and I think he was high so there was caulk e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e! I probably managed to scrape out 94% of it and anything else was on some surface that I wasn't going to caulk anyway so I can go back and clean it up later.
   
3. Wipe area clean with Denatured Alcohol (found in the Paint aisle), vacuum up any loose bits.


4. Wipe with Mildew Killer, wait a few minutes then wipe repeatedly with clean damp sponge--no soap!


5. Let dry overnight (continue to smell for one more day)
   


6. Tape off area you want to caulk. This may seem like a completely unnecessary step for some, but believe me, as soon as you cut that caulk tip it starts flowing like a river.
   


7. Cut tip, and break inner seal by shoving something down into the tube through the hole you just cut (I used a coat hanger which didn't make a big enough hole so I had to squeeze very hard to get the caulk out).


8. Insert tube of caulk into caulk gun. Squeeze a thin bead of caulk wherever you want it and smooth it (if needed) with your finger. Remove tape quickly!


9. Let dry overnight (continue to smell for one more day)