{Not} Living Vicariously

Wednesday Words #3

"Forever is composed of nows." -- Emily Dickinson

Recent Reading Material

I've had some interesting books cross my desk recently - thought I'd share two with you.

How much of a science fiction geek are you? Do you know what a redshirt is? Written by John Scalzi, this humorous take on the Star Trek cliche of those in a red shirt dying on a mission will have devotees who don't take their show too seriously thoroughly enjoying his latest. Ensign Andrew Dahl joins the flagship "Intrepid" of the Universal Union or the Dub U. He quickly notices that old hands disappear when bridge crew need support members for away missions. He and his friends also notice that not only does someone always die on one of these missions, it is never one of the senior officers. Additionally, they recognize that Lieutenant Kerensky (an astrogator) is always being injured or catching a serious disease while on these missions – yet is always healed in just enough time to lead another charge. Not only do they wonder why the astrogator is being put in these situations, but they also find a hidden crewmember who tells them to "stay out of the narrative." Finally, Dahl and team figure out what the starship really is and a way to save it. The three codas at the end add some seriousness to the fun. We thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

Disaster preparedness is becoming a hot topic. Look around and you will see advertisements in many places about purchasing readymade kits to feed one or a family for a year. And, if a readymade kit doesn’t meet your needs, there are many places with checklists of what you need to survive. However, as Lisa Bedford realized, most of those are written by men and have a male viewpoint. So, she decided to step up and speak up. She launched a blog, thesurvivalmom.com, in 2009 and her book has now been published. Easy to read on a variety of topics, she covers skills one should know, water and food as well as storage, even how to keep kids prepared without scaring them about possible disasters. Not only that, she keeps the reader from being overwhelmed at all the potential “scary stuff” and focuses on an upbeat, positive, you can do this approach which does wonders for creating enthusiasm. You might find yourself stocking up on toilet paper and water as well.

  

Standard disclaimer: I get to see advance copies of books through my job, however this review was unsolicited and unpaid for . . . opinions are completely my own.

 

Massachusetts Vignettes

Oh Massachusetts, so much more than just Boston. Which is a good thing as we didn't see much of Boston and shall need to go back someday to do it justice. However, we did manage to do the Sam Adams Brewery tour and geocache our way through Boston Commons, having my picture taken with "make way for ducklings" . . .

see some very fun froggies . . .

and cruise past the Tadpole Playground!

Other than that, the rest of our trip through MA was food related and best viewed via Two Happy Bellies here.

I hope you enjoyed these quick glimpses of our New England vacation.

Maine Vignettes

Ah Maine. Probably my favorite new spot on the trip. I'd really like to go back and spend more time here someday. We spent most of it in Ogunquit which was a coastal town reminiscent of "home" in California. Lots of touristy shops, fun places to eat, a lovely beach, and the weather was perfect - not too hot, not too cold. It also had one of the best geocaches we've found in quite some time.

The coast . . .

Aaron and I on the beach . . .

the souvenir Aaron just had to buy (I took the photo as the shop was closed, but when we were leaving town we drove by and it was open so he went shopping!) . . .

Ryan also picked up a fun sign - something about being "as happy as a bird with a french fry" which made me giggle!

And last, one more view of the beach. I've made it to the beach now, but haven't been able to bring Lindy along so still working on that goal . . .

Yes, I definitely want to go back to Maine!

Vermont Vignettes

Ah, Vermont. Home of friend Katrina . . . and a place I found so very beautiful when I visited her many years ago. I was really looking forward to going back and it is as lovely as I remember. All of our pictures though are from Queechee, and somehow all the ones of K and I must have ended up on her camera because I can't find any on all three of ours.

The falls . . .

My boys having fun . . .

A sign about the gorge (relevant for geocaching purposes) . . .

on the bridge above the gorge . . .

and looking behind them to the gorge itself (gulp!)

After all that fun, it was off to Maine . . .

 

Connecticut/New Hampshire Vignettes

Day two of our vacation was spent in Connecticut, before heading back to RI for Waterfire that night. While we did a lot of geocaching and exploring, we didn't take many pictures. The thrill of the hunt and all that . . . however here are two (at some geocache location):

and

I always say I'm going to take more photos and then I get distracted. Such is life . . .

We did get a nice one of the water behind us though:

However poor New Hampshire (day three). Again, we didn't take many photos I can find of our time there. I do believe my wounded ankle (which is still bruised!) occurred while in NH. I think the below took place at the capitol of NH. If I'm wrong, I'm sure Ryan will correct me!

Other than that, we have no visible proof of the hours we spent traversing the state.

Rhode Island Vignettes

We had a lot of fun on our New England trip last month, and I'm only just now making it through all the pictures we took. Yes, I've been busy since we got back. For all the food adventures, check us out over at Two Happy Bellies starting here. However some snippets of fun from the state of Rhode Island included hitting the "beach" immediately:

After lunch, we then wandered around and found some geocaches by a lighthouse:

My boys hit the oyster bar (ick!):

The next night was Waterfire so we had fun wandering around looking at the prep:

And then seeing them actually lit:

Plus hanging out with friends:

I definitely give a thumbs up to Rhode Island.

Wednesday Words #2

This definitely describes our house: "Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house." -- Henry Ward Beecher

Rental cars should come with First aid kits

 

So what do you think of my battle wounds? We were geocaching at a rest stop and I stepped wrong on a log which shifted and caused my foot to slip. It sure was a beautiful bruise and scrape. Unfortunately, there were no first aid supplies with us so all I could do was wash it off with warm water. I think first aid kits would be a great addition to rental cars . . .

I should also mention the blood bruise on the bottom of my foot which made walking the next few days rather painful. Ouch! I learned a lesson definitely.

Market Basket

For my birthday, my parents gave me some money to spend on something frivolous. I'm not so good with frivolous these days however I have been wanting a basket to carry at the farmer's market. What do you think of my choice?

Purchased from the fair trade gift site Serrv, this basket made by women in Ghana is absolutely beautiful. While it looks black in these pictures, out in the sun you can tell it is indigo dye and such a work of art.

I definitely make a statement now while shopping ;-)