Don't Miss It, Don't Even Be Late

I, eternally optimist that I am, keep thinking that our schedule is going to calm down. Reality is a bit different: we haven't stopped running since camp over a month ago. The good side of all of this activity is: I've got plenty to blog about. The bad side: and no time to type an email, much less a blog post. Prince Charming is holding Fennec for me right now, so I can try to fill you in on some of our recent activities.

We visited a county fair (not our county, not even our state) for the first time. We admired the animals:The girls had fun in the "old time" houses and buildings. Here are my three girls posing in the little school house:

We ate some treats, rode a few rides, admired some award winning art, textiles (including a blue ribbon for the girls' Mem), fruit, vegetables, and so forth. The girls were not actually impressed by all the canned goods. ("Can we please get out of here," being one example of their requests) They really, really wanted to visit the little petting zoo. (All the animals we'd already seen not being quite enough somehow) So even though it was late and even though we were sticky and tired, we headed back to the petting zoo. (And I do mean back: it was in the farthest corner of the fair).

Once there we saw and fed lots of insistent goats. We saw, but did not actually pet, two huge porcupines. And I made friends with a rather pushy camel:

He followed me around and I tried to feed him and treat him nicely but, well, there's not really a lot else to tell about our relationship.

So, thanks for introducing us to Fair Life, Pop & Mem. The girls are still talking about it.

And now, my nephew is calling, (Not literally, of course, he's only 2 months old. He's talented but not quite that advanced) which means blogging time is up.

If A Man Designs a Board Game...

If your husband makes a board game by hand and sells a few copies it will be bought by a game company employee. This game company employee will love it so much, the game company will offer you a contract so they can produce the game. Everyone will be really excited.

A long time will pass and you will begin to wonder if the game company is really going to produce the game or not. The game company will want to change some of the rules, which will make you wonder if your husband should have signed a contract or not. Your husband will decide the rule changes are fine. Your husband will deliberate over the new board and game elements and be anxious to see them in person.

Then you will begin receiving emails about when the game is coming out. You will receive more emails telling you it's been pushed back. Finally you will receive an email that it is coming soon. The game company will start promoting the game. Your husband might get to go to a big game convention to promote his game.

Then your husband will start thinking about how he can best promote his game. He will call local game stores and set up times to play this game. The local business paper will write a tiny, somewhat accurate story about your husband and his game. Then the Big Paper will decide to write a story on your husband and his game. Which means: a reporter and a photographer are coming to your house. To report and photograph.

Feel free to panic. I did.

Let's just say that the interview about this game has been the most stressful part of this whole thing since Prince Charming considered the original contract. I don't think either of us is cut out for celebrity. Then again, who knows? Once I'm a published author and he has games filling the game store shelves, we may just carry around pens especially for signing autographs. You know, just in case.

(P.S. Want to buy a copy? You can find it here: Revolution!)

An Evening Poorly Spent

It just so happened last night that I was home alone. Well, the girls were all here, of course, but I was the lone adult. What do I like to do when Prince Charming is away and the children are finally asleep? Read, eat, read, write, sew, scrapbook, watch movies.

I didn't feel like scrapbooking or reading last night so I popped in a movie from the library to watch while I made a pillow (which is some consolation, I suppose. At least I have a pillow to show for my trouble).

Now to understand what follows you must know two things:
1. I love musicals. Love them. I'd be hard pressed to name a favorite and I have several that see frequent rotation on our DVD player.

2. I also like certain British actors who may or may not have starred in some of my favorite Austen films.

The musical that I watched last night (and I shall not name it, but I'm sure you can figure it out), is recent. All-star cast (oh, that the producers had chosen a few unknowns who could actually, you know, carry a tune), quirky 1970's music...it should have been great.

But it was not great. I can't recommend anyone see it because certain "plot" points (if you could accuse this movie of having a plot, which I really cannot) are offensive. Now I know that musicals are not usually known for having a great deal of character development but come on! The characters have to have some personality, or likability, or gravitas or something, right?

So, in sum: movie, it's called a "story line". Get one.

And oh, British Actors of Much More Talent Than This: honey, no. Just, no.