Family Night

We had a such a great unplanned family night last night! Bill and I were listening to music on the computer, drinking wine, Miss M and Mr. J were playing punch out on the Wii (lol) and Mr. C. was using my laptop at the dining room table. If you've seen how small the front part of my house is, you can almost reach out and poke people from the living room to the dining room, lol, so though we weren't all doing the same thing, we were all together in one space. For a family with a teen and two tweens, that is a rare thing to happen naturally anymore.

Mr. B is off today. He let me sleep late and did breakfast! Looks like it's going to be a pretty good day! Now if the sky only clears up....

Where the Hell is Tanner.... Purse Edition

Where the Hell is Tanner?

She appears to be robbing of my spare change.

Or maybe she's just looking for a mint?

(Pagan) Parenting: Take a Walk Out in Nature

Photo by Achinthamb via Wikimedia Commons

You might have noticed that the word "Pagan" in the title of this post is in parenthesis. The reason I did this, is because even though this post is pagan centered, with a few changes, it can be used by parents of any faith, as longs as they have a love of nature and a wish to spend some time with their child.

I think sometimes, as Pagans, we forget about going outside.  I think sometimes we are, in a term, nature snobs. We forget that our tiny yard is "outside". Our neighborhood is "outside". We don't need to wait until we have time to run the kids over to the park, or to the woods, or to the beach to enjoy nature.

With a little conversation, you can show your kids the beauty of nature on a simple walk around the block.

A few things to do, look for and talk about outside:

• Get outside with a camera. Take pictures of trees, bushes, flowers, nests, wildlife or any animal tracks you might see. Grab a spiral notebook or sketch book to create a nature journal and add the photos.  Try to take pictures of the same or similar types of items during each season, so you can see how they change. Make sure to get the kids in at least one, so you can do the same with them! Share a story or two about a God and/or Goddess and the seasons, such as the story of Persephone and Demeter.
• Get outside with few crayons or colored pencils and a few sheets of white paper. Stop and have everyone make a sketch something that you find beautiful. Add them to your journal. Take rubbings of leaves or bark and add those, too. Try to identify what types of plants you took rubbings of.
• Get outside and take an empty bag. Use it to gather nature items to use for crafts: fallen sticks can become magical wands, pine cones can be used to roll in peanut butter and seeds for a bird feeder, acorns can be made into luck amulets, flowers can be dried and used for all sorts of crafts. Find things to use to create a fairy house. Teach your children about asking permission to take from a plant, and how to leave an offering after you do (a few miracle grow spikes will fit in your pocket for the occasion!).
• Take another empty bag to gather garbage from around your neighborhood. While you do so, talk about how important it is to take care of the earth.
• Get outside with your sense of hearing. Find a safe place where you can sit for a moment. Have everyone close their eyes, and listen. Then name all the things that you heard. List them in your journal.
• Get outside with a magnifying glass. Look at tiny bugs up close and personal. Explain why they might be important to the world. Are they pollinators? Do they eat aphids? If you aren't sure, look it up when you get home and see if you can find out! Talk about how even when you are small, you can make a big difference.
• Get outside and look up! Search for interesting clouds, and take turns saying what you think they look like.  Make sketches of them for the nature journal.
• Get outside and look for poop. No, really. Kids love poop. I swear. If you find a pile, try to guess what animal (or what neighborhood dog) made it. Then have a discussion about why it's so important to pick it up after your own animal if it poops outside (one mention of poopy runoff getting into the water supply will usually guarantee compliance with that rule!).
• Get outside and find fairy rings!
• Get outside and find rocks. Get a book from the library and see if you can figure out what kind they are. Create a craft with them - make a set of runes or make a pet rock!
• Get outside and bird watch. See how many you can name.  Grab a book from the library on birds of your state to help out.
• Get outside and make a crown of flowers! Be sure to get permission before picking.
• Get outside and identify bees and butterflies. Talk about how they are both in the decline, and how we can help them. Maybe start a garden to do so!
• Get outside and learn about herbs! There are many herbs and weeds that can be found growing wild. Get a book about herbs from the library, and see if you can find any growing in your neighborhood. Talk about what they are used for.
• Get outside and meet your neighbors! You never know who you might meet walking around the neighborhood!  Compliment the neighbor who's out watering their garden on her beautiful tomatoes. Tell someone how cute their dog is. (And, of course, have a talk with your children about how it's only safe to do this when they are with you.)

You don't have to wait for a special time to take the kids out and teach them to honor nature. Try to make a date at least once a week to walk around outside your neighborhood!

Cool Offsite Giveaway!

Diane, over at Good Mourning Glory! is working with Crazy Dog T-shirts to give away a shirt of the winner's choosing!

Tons of ways to get extra entries (but you probably won't want to go to all that work, right? Cause, you know, that would dramatically decrease my chances of winning....)

Stink Management and a Giveaway!

So you know how I got a new washer awhile back, when my ancient one finally died a sudden and leaky death?

And you know how I went on vacation (yeah, yeah, I said I wouldn't post about it again, but this is going somewhere, I swear!)?

What I might have neglected to tell you about is... well, the load of wet towels that I left in my washer when I left. For a week. Yes, the big, bad domestic witch left wet towels in her washer for days on end. In the summer.

So you can imagine what the whole mess smelled like when I got home? Not only were the towels musty and gross, sure enough, my shiny new washer was musty and stinky.

. I will tell you right off, I wanted that smell gone. I'm not a big bleach user, or I would have just dumped some bleach in and been done with it. So I went looking for the answer to getting rid of the mildewy grossness that was the smell in my washer - something natural, something that isn't sinking into the groundwater and damaging the environment.

So what's a girl to do? Well, apparently, you get this:

Smelly Washer. An all natural cleaner, citrus based cleaner made just for removing smells from the washing machine. When I got this bottle, I thought it was a one time use thing. Nope. All it takes is one tiny capful to get the stink out of your washer. And then you wash your towels in it, to get the musty smell out of them, too! Even if you used this stuff every couple of weeks, one bottle is going to last for about a year. Now that is some bang for your buck!

And that little capful? Works like a charm!!

If you want to see how it works, you can take a look at this video (I was going to embed it, but I couldn't find the embed code, lol!)

And, as always, if I find something I like online, I have to find a way to share it with the folks who read my blog. So I talked to the a nice guy named Jeff over at Smelly Washer about his washing machine cleaner, and he told me a few interesting things.

First off, that he'd let me give a bottle away! Hurray! So one of you can own your own bottle of this product! Details will follow on how to win.

The other thing Jeff told me is that Smelly Washer is running a contest right now, too. With a prize that I could never even hope to offer! And it's just for bloggers! What you need to do is get a bottle of the product and create a video about it. The blogger who creates the best video receives a free all inclusive trip to Las Vegas! You can find more details here: http://www.smellywasher.com/contest.

How cool would it be to win that? As an added bonus, Jeff gave me a promotional code, so that my readers can get 10% off the cost of the product if they buy between now and August 31. So if you want to try it because your washer smells like you went on vacation for a week in the summer and left towels in it, or just want to try and win the vacation, enter the code "silvermoonwitch" into the promotional code thingy when you order.

Annnnd, for full disclosure, the blogger who gets the most people over to buy this product before the end of August can win $250. And since those winnings would be based on the work of readers, if I happen to win that money, I will offer $50 back in the form of a gift card giveaway!

But, for now, on to the Smelly Washer giveaway!

For a chance to win a full sized bottle, the first thing you must do is hop on over to the Smelly Washer blog, then come back here, and tell me what the name of the most interesting informational article is. Make sure to leave an email address if I can't reach you through a blog.

Earn extra entries by:

• Be a follower of my blog (1 extra entry)
• Post on Twitter or Facebook (1 extra entry, please leave your account address with your post)
• Blog about this giveaway (3 extra entries, leave me your blog address)

The winner will be chosen by an online random number generator on August 5!

Lazy Days and Blog Excitement!

I have to say that this is one of the most wonderful (quickly knocks wood), laid back summers that we have ever spent. Not a lot going on. Just enjoying sleeping late, staying up late, bumming around. No major issues, no extended school year, no activities, just hanging out and being a family.

Usually, as much as I love my kids, at this point in the summer, by the time Mr. B. made it home from work I'd be looking to get off on my own and have some down time. You know, before I started needing to drink excessively, lol. But the kids seem to actually be getting along this year better than ever. They are all finally able to entertain themselves without telling me how bored they are every 10 seconds. They can all fix themselves something to eat without me being in the room.

Holy cow, my kids are all maturing and on their way to being self sufficient! Who knew, when they were sticking their fingers under the bathroom door, because they couldn't bear to be away from me for long enough for me to pee, that they would someday spend hours at a time completely ignoring me? It's like a Christmas miracle!

In other news, I'd like to ask you all to send good thoughts, prayers, positive vibes to MckMama over at My Charming Kids. Her little one, Stellan, is in the hospital and not doing well. She's also doing updates when she can from her Twitter page. She could use all the prayers she can get.

In blog news, I'll be working today to set up a list of all the wonderful people that have volunteered to sponsor a giveaway for the 31 Days of Halloween. I don't want to give away those who will participate by guest blogging or are taking part in the Haunted Walk just yet - I'd like to be able to feature them when the time comes. However I would like to give the people donating items a little free PR for their donations, so their names/shops will go up and stay up until the end of October. Seems like a fair trade for the donation :O)

And that means that you can check out their stuff and see how cool it is! And if you happen to stumble across something that you just can't live without (I've done that about 5 thousand-eleventy-jillion and a half times in the last 3 days), and make a purchase, please let the seller know that you've come to them via this blog. And no, lol, I'm not getting a cut! But I figure if the donors know that people are actually coming from here, well, next year when I hit them up again for the Halloween event, they'll be happy to participate again, keeping me in supply of things to give away to you! Works for everybody!

And a big thank you to everyone who's been posting and emailing lately, to introduce themselves, send me their favorite links, and really getting involved in the blog. I love this blog, and the ability it gives me to have a little something of my very own. It's just wonderful to know that other people are able to enjoy it as well! Thanks a million!

Pagan Parenting: What's Your Favorite Website?

I was working on clearing the old, outdated links out of my Pagan Parenting section (and adding to it) the other day. I was Googling away, trying to find some appropriate and interesting sites to list in my links. What I found made me a little sad.

The first few sites that popped up were sadly outdated. Many other were just no longer there. Where have all the pagan parenting pages gone?

(On a happy, but really strange note, if you Google Image search for "pagan parenting" a picture of my blog is the first image listed!)

So that brings me to a question today, for all the pagan parents reading: What is your favorite site to find info on pagan parenting?

(Mrs. B. Note: Made this post a couple of days in advance, and forgot to update the date of the post! Oops!)

Where the Hell is Tanner...Sink Edition

The question here really isn't "Where the hell is Tanner".  

It's more like.... "How the hell did she get the water on??"

Lammas is Coming!

Though I'm already talking about Samhain, before we get there, we need to stop off and visit Lammas.  I won't go into a bunch of details about what Lammas (or Lughnasadh) is - if you are here, you probably have a pretty good grasp on it, and if not there's just tons of info on the web about it.

What I'd like to do is give you an some ideas on some simple ways to celebrate this season of the first harvest.  Most of these can be done alone, with friends, or family.  I'd love hear your ideas as well!

Lammas Activities:

1. Bake bread.
2. Take the kids for a tour of a bakery (call ahead, of course, and make arrangements).
3. "Sacrifice" your bad habits or negative emotions by throwing a symbol of them into the sabbat fire (or your BBQ grill - it works!)
4. Bless your growing gardens.
5. Harvest foods from your garden (or visit a farmer's market for a fresh, local harvest).
6. Bless your gardening tools.
7.  If your garden is abundant, share the harvest with friends, or with a food bank.
8. Visit a "pick your own" farm.  Blueberries are ripe this time of year, and are a traditional Lammas food!  Plus, the kids will love berry picking.
9. Do some prosperity magic.
10. Start magical or medicinal oils or vinegars with fresh herbs.
11. Make a corn dolly.
12. Start brewing a batch of beer or mead.
13. Help the kids make "bread" out of play dough and let dry (or oven bake, depending on dough directions). Display on your altar.
14. Buy or make bubbles.  Whisper your a bad habit or negative emotion you'd like to reid yourself of before you blow each bubble.  Watch your habits drift away.
15. Get out and play games!  If you have a group of people, get your "Red Rover, Red Rover" on!
16. Make a harvest collage.  Includes seeds, pictures of bread and corn. Create a prayer or chant to write on the page.
17. Make a seed or corn necklace.
18. Educate yourself on honeybees, their declining numbers, and why they are so very important to future harvests.
19.  Find a historical farm that you can tour.  Explain to your kids where food really comes from! 
20. Throw bread out to the birds (or find a place to feed the ducks or pigeons) and share your harvest with the animals that share our earth.
21. Harvest some herbs and create smudge sticks

Halloween is Closer Than You Think!

The 31 Days of Halloween is an annual month-long event in October celebrating Halloween and Samhain.  The event includes daily giveaways (and has included jewelry, books, artwork,  photography, hats, clothing, tarot readings, aprons, gift certificates and more!), guest bloggers, and a daily "Haunted Blog Tour" featuring 31 different blogs showing off their Halloween spirit!

To participate in any of the above, just start watching this blog about mid-August for details on signing up!  I am thrilled to be able to feature bloggers and help build a sense of community in the Pagan AND non-Pagan blogosphere!

To enter giveaways, all you need to do is follow the rules of each giveaway and leave comments!  Here are a few rules that apply to each giveaway:

Please carefully read the rules for each giveaway.  Some are marked open only to those in the US or the US and Canada.  Unless otherwise stated, they are open to everyone worldwide!

There are a few other simple rules to follow to enter, and these rules apply to EVERY giveaway:

• You MUST do the required entry to be eligible.  This is usually as simple as visiting the sponsor's blog or shop.

• You must either have a public profile or leave your email address with each entry.  I must be able to contact you if you win, or an alternate winner will be chosen

• Entries must be on separate comments.  Any entries that are put on the same comment will be counted as one entry.  I use an online random number generator to pick the winner, based on the number of comments to each thread.

• Entries that contain links (excluding links to your email) will be considered sp@m and deleted.

• Entries must be in English

Please also note that I never have physical ownership of any of the donated items.  I will pass on shipping information to the donor, and it is up to them to get the item to the winner.  I am not responsible for any unsent, lost or broken items.  If you do not receive your item after a reasonable amount of time has passed, please contact the donor with a friendly inquiry.  Things do get lost in the mail, and I'm sure that they will want to know if that's the case.    This has happened in the past, and most donors are happy to track it down through their shipping source and possibly replace the item if it can't be found.

Most importantly, have fun!

Here are a few participation buttons that you can feel free to use as you like!  Those who participate in guest blogs and/or the Haunted Blog Tour will receive a special blog button each year. 

<a href="http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j312/davesboa/blackbuffified-1.png" /></a>

<a href="http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j312/davesboa/largercopy31days.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j312/davesboa/orangepeanut.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j312/davesboa/pumpkiny.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j312/davesboa/maroonwithHarryPotterFont.jpg" /></a>

A Hello and a Request!

I recently received one of the nicest emails from a reader (Hello Gena!!), who doesn't blog, but reads this blog from work. I was really touched that she took the time to write, especially as I am not some world famous blogging author, just a pagan mom who needs a little "me" time.

Also, after yesterday's post about Vixen, I had several "lurker" type readers contact me about helping. How cool that they'd come out of their lurkerdom to do that?

Both those things started me thinking about those people out there who read the blog, but don't post. I'd love to know more about who's really reading my blog.

So here is my request today: if you are reading this, and haven't ever posted, post today and let me know who you are, where you're from, and what your favorite part of the blog is. If you don't/can't post, shoot me an email at mrsbbradley (at) gmail (DOT) com (take that, spam bots!).


Also, if you are a blogger who follows my blog, but I've never commented on your blog, leave me a message with a link to your blog!


And if you haven't turned on the ability to "follow" on your blog, good heavens, turn that sucker on! I read blogs through my Blogger Dashboard, and if I can't follow your blog, sometimes I loose track of you (I can only keep so many things organized. If I try to keep track of everyone's blogs without the "follow" feature, I'd probably misplace a kid).


If you turn your follow feature on, let me know, and I will come follow you!


And to just add a little interest to the pot, if you post (or email) to this post today, I will throw in another entry to this week's giveaway for you!


So get posting!

Care to help another blogger?

Everyone out there knows what kind of economy is out there.  Things are rough for everyone, everywhere, and no one is throwing money around recklessly.

(And yes, I went to the Virgin Islands recently, but that was money smuggled out of the remortgaging of our house, since the rates were down so far.  So hush!)

All kidding aside, there is a blogger out there that could really, really use our help.  You've heard me talk about her before - she is our very own Vixen, from Welcome to The House of Heavy Sighs (formerly "Vixen's Den"), and from my favorite little Etsy shop, Apron Frenzy.

Here is a little something from her latest blog entry:

As many of you know, I lost my job of 10 years this past January. Apparently the economy sucks pretty bad, because I have been unable to get a new job. I had unemployment, which isn’t much, but it was something.

Since I ruptured my disc and had surgery, I no longer can collect unemployment. I have applied for short term disability, but it will take three weeks. In the meanwhile, I have $4 to my name and the plain truth is: I am hungry. Regular readers know I have qualified for a share of cost MediCal program that required I pay the first $1016 of my expenses for the surgery I just underwent. In order to get coverage for my pain and other medications, I had to start payment on that immediately.

Being temporarily unable to make aprons, it is with a heavy heart that I am posting a donation button on my right side bar. If you can help, God Bless and Thank You. If you can’t, the same still applies, God Bless you and Thank you.

So here I am to ask you, that if you can, donate something to Vixen and her family.  There are over 200 followers on this blog.  If everyone just even gave $1, that would be a pretty decent bit of money to help out.  I know, not everyone can do it - I totally get that.  No worries if you can't.  But if you can, please do.  Buy an apron and give it to your awesome mother-in-law.  Give a buck or two.  Don't let the economy bring down this wonderful woman and her family.

And, just to sweaten the pot, if you do give something - anything! - or buy an apron, let me know, either in comments or via my contact page, and I will give you 5 extra entries to every giveaway I hold for the next 90 days, including the one currently going on.

So visit Apron Frenzy, or visit Vixen's blog (where the donation button is set up).  Build some good karma, get a great apron, bring in the kids and show them what it is to help people in your community - even when the community is this big, beautiful blogosphere.

And if you can't give in money, please give in good thoughts, positive vibes, or prayers.  I know she'd appreciate them all.

(Slightly updated to try to get control of those dreaded (and slightly amusing!) typos.)

Thought I'd share...

I thought I'd share this great picture of my mother-in-law. In it, she's wearing the 4th of July/ohpleaseohpleasedon'tchangeyourmindaboutwatchingmykidwhileI'monvacation apron that I gave her.

Not only was I blessed with awesome parents, I even hit the jack-pot on in-laws.  How lucky can a girl get?

(Oh, and I bought the apron from Apron Frenzy, my favorite apron place.)

Where the Hell is.... Tiger?

Because Tanner seems to be slacking in getting into trouble these days, Tiger decided that she would try to fill her shoes.  And my coffee filters.

Mrs. B. Cooks... Pizza Fritters

The other day I was watching "Chopped" on Food Network and one of the contestants made a fritter using pizza dough.  He didn't get all of his fritters plated for the judges (this is a 30 minute cooking version of Idol, lol), so they were not discussed other than to say that they were good.

I was fascinated by the idea of deep frying pizza dough, though!  So I purchased pepperonis from the grocery store and a slab of pre-made dough from my local pizzeria, and tried my hand at creating a tasty pizza fritter.  This is what I came up with:

Basically what I did was just chop up the pepperonis into a small dice, then roll them, along with some parmesan and some Italian spices, into the pizza dough.  Then I broke off small chunks, rolled them into balls, and deep fried them in canola oil heated to 350 degrees.  While they were still hot, I sprinkled them with more parmesan, and served them with pizza sauce.

They were a big hit with the family.  Mr. B. said that they tasted like "gourmet pizza rolls", lol!   I think these would be great for a party or one of the kid's sleepovers.  Easy to make, don't take too long, and, better than store bought pizza rolls if you are watching out for all those pesky additives, preservatives and added sodium.  And I'm sure you could bake these with good results to cut down on the calorie/fat issue as well.

There were a few issues that I had that I want to work out with these before I offer up an actual recipe.  First off, they were a little dry.  Next batch I make, I'm thinking of  trying to add some shredded mozzarella cheese to the mix. I also need to adjust the seasoning, which needed a boost.  I will also be throwing in some minced garlic in the next batch to add more zing.

The thing I really liked about this idea is that you could add almost anything to the dough to make these fritters.  I've got ideas running in my head for adding shredded chicken and serving with a buffalo chicken sauce, making them with all sorts of diced veggies to serve with the pizza sauce (anything to sneak in some extra veggies, lol!), even adding chunks of cinnamon dredged apples to serve with a small scoop of ice cream!

If you are feeling adventurous and try some form of pizza dough fritter (it's easy and fun, you should totally do it!), let me know!  I'd love to see what you create!

Mrs. B. Reads...Pride & Prejudice & Zombies!

What happens when the author of How To Survive a Horror Movie and The Big Book of Porn takes on Jane Austen?  Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, which is on it's 14th week on the NY Times Best Seller List (not to mention a certain you-know-who put it on her official Summer Reading List!).

I have to admit it (and it may come as a shock to those who know how much I love to read), I've never read a Jane Austen book. Not a one.  The "classics" have, in the past, bored me to tears.  But this book... this one might actually have me taking another look at the books of Ms. Austen.

PPZ contains the original text of Pride & Prejudice, with the addition of new scenes and dialogue that tell the story of how Elizabeth Bennet's life has been turned upside down by a plague invading her village.  And yes, it's the plague that brings the dead back to flesh-eating "life"!  

In the book, Elizabeth is a trained,  butt-kicking warrior, waging war on the zombie population. Mr. Darcy is an arrogant man who is entranced by the feisty Miss Bennet.

Included in the book are illustrations in the style of the original illustrator, C.E. Brock.  I can't tell you how much these drawings amused me!

If you love Jane Austen, zombies, or unconventional books, you are going to love this one!

Aaaaand, once again, the lovely people at Irreference.com/ Quirk Books have agreed to let me do a giveaway!  Here is how you can enter to win your own amazing copy of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith!

For each entry, leave a separate comment to this post.  If you do not have a blog attached to your username (or your profile is "private", so that I cannot find your blog), you must leave an email address with each entry.

• For 1 entry (required to enter) visit Irreference.com, check out their "How To" section and let me know what your favorite is!
• For 1 entry, be a follower of this blog.
• For 1 entry, become a fan of the PPZ on Facebook.
• For 1 entry, be a follower of my blog on Facebook. 
• For 1 entry, Twitter about this giveaway (leave the URL of your Twitter page in your comment).
• For 2 extra entries, blog about the giveaway (leave the URL of the post in your comment)
• And for 5 extra entries, visit the Quirk Books Youtube channel to find out what the next Quirk Classic book will be - but don't post the answer here!  Contact me directly with the answer!

The winner will be picked on July 23, via an online random number generator.  

Good luck!

No Spoiler Alerts Here, lol!

Just got back from Harry Potter, and it was awesome!  I won't give anything away (because I have been threatened, lol!), but it is great.  There are a few things I would have done differently (but isn't that always the case?) but the movie left me dying to see the next 2!

Please don't leave any spoilers in the comments, because I know a lot of people are waiting to see it.  I did leave more opinions at the awesome Rightmeyer Rants blog, where there is a great review of the movie (and also one of my favorite places to read/discuss books, TV and movies!).

Tomorrow starts a new giveaway and a review of one of my new fave books!  Don't miss out!

Will you be seeing Harry Potter?

So tomorrow the new Harry Potter movie comes out!  I have already bought tickets for Miss M. and I to see it (the boys just aren't interested).  Will you be seeing it?  We are going to the very first showing at our local theater (12 noon), so I'm sure it will be somewhat of a mad house.

I cannot remember being this excited for a movie to come out in, well... ever!  And I'm already jonesing for the last two (which will cover the last book).  These are definitely my go to books.  I've read them first to last several times (this year), and the last book just by itself several more.

Miss M. started reading them a while back, but has only gotten through about 1/2 of the book for this movie.  I've worked to keep the ending from her, and I'm somewhat afraid of how she's going to take it.  I see tears coming.... 

And, while we will not do full out dressing up for this movie, Miss M. has her "Gryffidor" t-shirt ready and waiting, and I will wear my "Neighborhood Witch" shirt.

Not that we are geeks for Harry Potter or anything.  Really.

One last post about vacation....

One last post about vacation, and then on with real life, lol!  I'm sure you are all sick of hearing about it by now!

I did want to answer some questions that had been posed to me: 

Where did we stay?  The Wyndham Sugar Bay in St. Thomas.  

We did the all inclusive package, and it was worth it! We didn't have to worry about carrying cash, tipping, how much we could spend on food, drinks, etc. - it was all taken care of.  Plus with the all inclusive, you get the use of the gym, snorkeling  stuff (my first time snorkeling, and I LOVED it!), any non-motor water equipment (kayaks and the like).  If you want wifi for your laptop, there is a charge for the day (or for multiple days), or there's a couple of computers that you can swipe your credit card to use in the main building.  I went ahead and paid for 4 days of computer use, because I cannot live without email, even in paradise, lol!

We did go in the "off" season, so we got a good price, and the resort was practically empty.  The pools were half empty most of time, and there was room to spread out on their private beach.  The room was good, the bed was huge, but nothing spectacular.  Of course, this isn't the type of vacation where you spend a lot of time in your room, so who cares, lol!

All of the resort staff were really, really nice and helpful.  

As far as food, there are 3 restaurants to choose from. One in the main building, that also houses a bar and a small casino.  It does a simple breakfast buffet (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries, yogurt and tons of fresh fruit) and then it turns elegant for dinner.  The food is insanely good!  The second restaurant is down by the pool, and does a buffet for lunch and dinner.  Lots of chicken and fish and local foods.  Really good food.  It's connected to another pool-side bar, where you can get wings, burgers, and pizza.  Then there is "Caribe", which features Caribbean style cuisine. Just amazing food.

And then there is the wildlife.  The first trip down to the pool, we saw an iguana just hanging out in a tree. We thought it was so amazing! Then we got to the pool, and there were about 3 of them, just hanging around, waiting for someone to put there pineapple slice decorated drink down (yes, they will snatch the fruit right off your drink!). Hello handsome!

And again, we were amazed!  Then we went for a walk on the fitness trail.  Holy crap! There were about 30 iguanas just hanging out!

See all those little dark spots?  Those are all iguanas laying out in the sun.  Down by the end of this path there are a couple of adirondack chairs.  You'd be surprised how many more iguanas come running if you sit there and pull a couple of bananas out of your purse.....

There were also tons of little lizards, land crabs and beautiful exotic birds:

(Though this one does appear to look like a chicken in this picture.)

And then there were these guys:

There were 4 of these little ducks, that would come and eat dinner with you at the pool-side restaurant.  You aren't supposed to feed them, of course, but, dang it, how could you resist that face?  They'd come up to eat with the iguanas, too.  Thankfully I had a roll or two (or four) in my bag.

Now this face, you must resist: 

The locals call them devil birds.  The just hover by you, waiting for you to feed them.  And they are perfectly nice if you do.  The problem, it appears, is when you STOP feeding them!  They get  mad and attack.  We resisted feeding those guys.

And then there were the cats.  I never did get pictures of any of them, sadly.  There resort has a feral cat colony (apparently there are many on the island).  Thankfully, these guys are pretty well taken care of.  They had food and water dishes out, and they were all obviously well fed and healthy.  We got pretty friendly with them (might have been the smuggled buffet shrimp from my bag) (let's just say that bag will never be the same again) and they would run up and let us pet them.  We gave most of them names.  I was really sad to leave them behind at the end of our trip.

I do have to say, that St. Thomas was probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen.  Almost no litter anywhere you went.  The water is unspoiled and looks so pure and is so warm.

Everything is lush, and green and still sort of wild.  It's almost hard to believe that there are still places like that left on the earth.  A couple of times, I just found a quiet place to sit and sketch and those moments were times of almost perfect peace.  Quiet, surrounded by beauty, the only real noise from the tons of birds that are everywhere.

This is definitely a place I want to go back to.  I'd love to share it with the kids and spend more time there.  I'm not sure when the next time we'll have the money on hand to do it (this vacation was brought to you by "Mortgage Refinancing!") but I really hope it won't be too long from now!