Words, Words, Words

I'm studying for the GRE - mind-numbing business - and some of the words in the Vocabulary Box are just amusing. Here are some of my favorites (See if you know or can guess the meaning before you read the definition):

Cosset - (kah suht) - to pamper; treat with great care.

We would love to cosset you at Enrichment night!

Now, if I said that we'd probably have an empty house because everyone would be scared of what's on the program.

Diaphanous - (die aaf uh nuhs) - allowing light to show through; delicate

"My your curtains are so diaphanous!”

Secretly I've used this word for years.

Panegyric - (paan uh jeer ihk) - elaborate praise; formal hymn of praise

The director’s panegyric for the donor who kept his charity going was heart-warming.

I'm not really sure what this sounds like, but it doesn't sound nice.

Legerdemain - (lehj uhr duh mayn) - trickery

The little boy thought his legerdemain was working on his mother, but she in fact knew about every stolen cookie.

What she really wondered was who the heck taught him to say legerdemain...

Contumacious - (kahn tuh may shuhs) - rebellious

The J is a contumacious teenager.

And if he thinks I used big words before, now he’ll really be confused.

And my favorite:

Pulchritude - (puhl kruh tood) - beauty

The mortals gazed in admiration at Venus, stunned by her incredible pulchritude.

Seriously?? Such an ugly word for a thing of beauty? I think this one should be tucked away in the vocab box and left there forever.

Ok, it's back to my 494 other vocab words for me! You're jealous, I know. I'll send them to you when I'm done if you'd like.

School Breakfasts

School is back in which means we're back to the eternal question - what is quick and filling for a teenage boy for breakfast? "Quick" is a key here for me, but if you ask him, "filling" is the key. I made breakfast burritos, waffles, and french toast and froze them so he can just take out what he wants to eat in the morning and warm it up and that works pretty well but really, that'll only last so long... We do make egg mcmuffins frequently but he's fairly sick of those. (I can't blame him, it's about all he ate last year.)

Do you have any great breakfast ideas?? It really has to be A) something that I can freeze beforehand because I'm not getting up in the 4s to make breakfast or B) really fast if it's made the morning of. I'd love any and all ideas. :D

Travel Treasures

It seems like I've traveled a fair amount this summer - no worries, I haven't made it to any exotic locations, just a lot of back and forth... So, I thought I'd share some of my favorite travel gadgets and thingamajigs.

A couple years ago I read this tip in Real Simple magazine and I loved it! Since we live in such a wired world and we have cords for everything they suggested getting a make up bag that is dedicated to cords. That way everything is in one place and no one is freaking out because they can't charge their iPod and phone (if you don't have teenagers yet, just wait... If you do, you know what I'm talking about...) This bag works so well. And it also holds my little book light, which I love and consider essential for travel.

This next one has revolutionized car travel for us! These are SeaBands. They're basically sweatbands you wear on your wrists. The little white ball you see rests on a pressure point (it's turned inside out in the picture) so that you don't get car sickness. And it works! These have made many car rides much happier! Next time I fly I'm going to wear them and see if it takes away that queasy feeling I get on take off and landing. The J and I both have them and so do several of my nieces and nephews and we all swear by them. If you or your kids get motion sickness you've gotta try these out. They're available at your local pharmacy.

This little gem is for hot curling/flat irons. Seriously, that's always the last thing you pack and you're just waiting for it to cool down enough to put in your suitcase without igniting your clothes and that always seems to take forever... This little bag, made by Baggallini, is available at the Container Store. You just put the hot iron in there, close it up, pop it in your suitcase and you're off. So simple and so nice!

Lastly, I found these toothbrush holders at Bed, Bath and Beyond and I love them! Look! It stands up so your toothbrush isn't lying perilously on the edge of the toothbrush holder while you just hope it doesn't end up on the sink or counter of the hotel (or where ever you are). The other option with traditional holders, of course, is to simply put the toothbrush back in the holder and close it up but then it never dries out. Yuck. With this holder you stand it up, the toothbrush stays off the counter and dries out. So much cleaner and less worrisome. I love it.

I love to travel. Mostly I just dream about fabulous places that I'd like to visit some day but when I do travel these are a few of the things that make life a little easier and the trip more pleasant.

Day in Historic Denver

I'm up to my ears in planning (and pulling off) this event with the Molly Brown House Museum and Historic Denver so I figured I might as well get the word out about it! :) Day in Historic Denver 8/7/10 (Saturday) 2-9pm 9th Street Historic Park, Auraria Campus Day in Historic Denver will take you into Molly Brown's Denver. There will be costumed storytellers, historic games and crafts [That's my gig], food, music, tours, Titanic expo, and lots of fun! [Ever wonder how I'd look in a floofy Victorian dress with *big* leg-o-mutton sleeves? Come see me and you can rest your mind on that account!] Admission is free. Food and some activities require a ticket purchase. There is also a vintage baseball game that morning that will be lots of fun. The Colorado Vintage Base Ball Association & Historic Denver Inc.'s Karle Seydel Memorial Baseball Game will be played from 10am - 1:30pm at the Tivoli field, also located on Auraria's downtown campus. Admission is free. The first 1,000 attendees will receive a vintage style baseball card. [These guys wear 19th century uniforms and play by 19th century rules which can be pretty fun and lively to watch.] Hope to see some of you there! :)

Mia

Can you guess how old my niece is? (I love this picture!)

What're You Reading?

What are you reading this summer? Or what are your favorite books? I'm trying to find a book that I'll love but nothing is pulling me in or holding my interest at all. I'm still at the "fluff" stage after school, meaning I can't, and don't want to, read anything I have to think about just yet. Maybe I should just read Count of Monte Cristo again... hee hee. Really though, I just want a fun, engaging story and I seem to be hitting brick walls. What are some of your favorites?

Summertime

I was looking at the flowers

this morning (yeah!!) and enjoying the comfortable temperature and at the same time realizing that it will clearly be a hot day. Then I did a little weeding in the garden where produce is really starting to grow and I was excited that summer is finally here. After years of mostly hating summer the last four summers have been so much more fun and enjoyable. Here are a few things I love about summer:

Visiting family and meeting my newest niece! Little Ava is so tiny and cute. She made Cameron seem so big which really made Mia seem huge.

Playing with the locals. We're on a mission to try new parks this summer and find a great place for family photos in July. This was at Lair O' the Bear park.

Fresh herbs in the garden - I have parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary, chives, and cilantro. Yum - well, except for the cilantro, that's not so yum... hee hee

Fresh fruit to eat and make yummy things with. Avery and I made this galette that was so yummy. (Unless you ask Avery, she wasn't so thrilled about it.)

Here's to a great summer filled with family, friends, fresh, delicious food, and lots of adventure!