Tarjay, How I Love Thee

Mookie love love loves to run around yelling "nekked baby!" With, or without, her diaper on. And, frankly, I think it's incredibly adorable, too. :o) Who wouldn't?!

And have you seen the ad for the Huggies Jean diapers? Something about "your poop never looked this good."  Seriously? As cute as Mookie is, running around in only a diaper, I'm just not going there. Tempting, but no.

Now, I don't know designer from dud. Fad from flop. I didn't know what Liberty of London was until it seemed like the entire Target store was covered with tiny granny flowers. Expensive granny flowers!

BUT...imagine my pleasure when I discovered this:

 FASHION DESIGNER DIAPERS!!

Sweet!

Cynthia Rowley is collaborating with Target to create a special collection of 11 different designs of Pampers diapers. Sold only at Tarjay beginning in July. Which is today. 

And again, I say. Sweet!!

 

Hmmm...It looks like I'm running low on diapers...be back soon!

In Appreciation of Cows

(because we are all about the cows here, be they galloping or waddling or cooing or whatever)

Friday, July 11 is officially "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-Fil-A.

Mookie and I discovered this the other day (when we were getting our book about shapes). If you dress up like a cow, you get free food! How cool is that? You should go! Really! On the Cow Appreciation site, they even have hints for how to dress like a cow from head to hoof. GO! Eat Mor Chikin!

Welp, unbeknownst to us, on the very day we learned about Cow Appreciation Day, Uncle Rob was sending Mookie a little cow outfit!

SO...here's the Mooing Mookie, all dressed up for her free chicken! (which, she'll have to enjoy via the Mama Latte transfer method...)

And the sneezing Mookie...


...everywhere a moo moo...

(I just love this one!)

*Disclaimer: I have not received any free chicken for posting this advertisement*

Norwich In A Day

As you might have seen over at Mike's place, we got together last Saturday and ventured up north to a county not yet seen. We went to Norwich in Norfolk, Nelson's County.

We didn't plan much, just knew there was a river, a market, a castle and a cathedral...typical to quite a few cities in England. We went first to the castle, and were thoroughly unimpressed. There were gatekeepers that wanted us to pay money to see bricks that are 1000 years old (bo-ring!), so we decided to walk on.

Walk on we did, and we eventually found the cathedral - and a few goofy statues along the way! Mike's blog has more statue-pics that he took, but here's one that I took of Dave. We don't know what the actual statue was, maybe woman and child? It's so nouveau-artiste that we didn't know!

When we got into the Cathedral, we found the Queen's Jubilee Maze in the Cloisters. Mike and Dave set out to conquer the middle of the maze (and scoffed at me for waltzing right through to get good pictures!). Here are two, one of Dave on his journey with a good shot of the maze, and one of the conquerors.

After the cathedral, we wandered into the town centre, and found the very colorful market stalls. Much to our surprise, there was a treat for Mike. There was a band of Morris Dancers! A former employee of mine had introduced me to Morris Dancing a couple of years ago, so it wasn't new to me, but I'm not even sure if Mike had ever even heard of them! If you ever get the chance to see Morris Dancers, you should! The tradition goes back to the 15th Century, and even though it looks corny to us for people to whack sticks and fling handkerchiefs around while their shins jingle with bells, it's still a folk-dancing tradition that deserves our respect. I took a couple of videos, but, sadly, I can't seem to convince Blogger to post the video. Big. :( Sad. :( Face. :(

Good TV!

It's Wednesday here, and it's a big day in TVLand!

Of course, at 8:00 was Friday Night Lights, which is Dave's favorite show (it helps that I like it, too!).
Then at 9:00 was Ugly Betty (the one where they go to Mexico), and on Channel 4, Big Brother started, and they are introducing the new housemates. Right now, there are 11 women. I don't follow Big Brother. There is way too much vulgarity, and obscenity, and anger, and just plain annoying behavior for my taste.

But, at 10:15 on Channel 4 is the Season Finale of Desperate Housewives! Yay!!

We're always behind on American TV here in the UK...which might explain why were are just now starting Grey's Anatomy! Yay me!

So, tomorrow night is ER and Grey's Anatomy, then Friday night it's NCIS.

I watch too much TV! But, for what it's worth, it makes me feel connected to home! :o)

Happy Season Finales!

Sans camera -- so sorry!

Yesterday I had one of those "Dang -- where's my camera?!?!" moments! I'm sorry I didn't.
I was in the Guildford town centre, and out of the corner of my ear, I thought I heard a tambourine. While we do often have buskers in Guildford in the town centre on a Saturday, one doesn't often hear tambourines!
I scanned the crowd and saw a group of people, each wearing between some and too-much orange...not that it matters, it's just what I noticed first. Then I noticed that the tambourine sound was matched with singing/chanting. Then I noticed a man wearing an orange shirt running to catch up with the Orange Julius crowd. That was it for my attention span (not much more than a fish!), and I went into a store to look at pretty dresses (mmm...pretty dresses...polka dots, cinched waistlines, yummy fabric...mmm).
About an hour later, on another street of our town centre, I heard the tambourines again, and this time I focused my attention so I could really see what they were doing. I also tried to listen to what they were saying...and I figured it out! (You probably already have. You're smart like that!) I (and half the town of Guildford) were in the presence of Hare Krishnas! Real, live Hare Krishas! But what about the guy rushing to catch up, as though he was late? Do Hare Krishnas believe in govenment-imposed regulations like "being on time"?? Can one really be late for Krishna Koncert?
This time I got a much better look, and wished upon wishing that I'd had my camera! I saw various instruments, men and women, jeans and skirts, some wearing shoes (tennis shoes, no less!) and some not (And it was cold! 50*F at most! No shoes?!). The funniest part, though, was seeing one man wearing what I am sure is a tablecloth that I'd seen on sale at Marks & Spencers during the January Sale! Oh, and he was wearing it instead of jeans...I'm sure glad it wasn't a windy day in Guildford!
I know George Harrison sang about them in My Sweet Lord in the early '70s, and I know I've seen them fully-oranged-out in airports, but I've never really seen them mingling with civilians like this, and I've certainly never seen them wearing civilian clothes...or civilian table coverings...

T.M.I.

...seriously...
They call this "news"????
One hour and 5 minutes ago (GMT) (Or "Zulu Time" for JAG fans and military folk) it was announced by Clarence House (a place, not a person) that Camilla Parker-Bowles-Windsor (a.k.a. Mrs Prince Charles) is now scheduled to have a hysterectomy.
Is it me, or is that just a smidge too much information? I know that this country (and others) have an unhealthy fascination with all things Royal, but her uterus? Why do I need to know that a 59-year-old woman is scheduled for a hysterectomy? Is this good news? Bad news? Because if it's none-of-the-above, then why is it "news"??

Oh, and I'm loving Wikipedia...which just informed me that she is no longer referred to as Camilla Parker-Bowles (although that's what they call her on the news...), her real name is now Camilla Rosemary Mountbatten-Windsor...and, wow, if you look that up, you'll see a whole spider-web of complicated name-assigning! This royal-family/monarchy thing is confusing to me! I'm glad we have presidents and governors and stuff! That's so much more straightforward than royalty is!

It's a Super Casino

Today at 11:00 (GMT), a big announcement was made in London. The Casino Advisory Panel voted that Manchester should be the new home of the "Las Vegas style Super Casino", which is to be home to 1,250 unlimited-jackpot gaming machines.
The funny thing is that Manchester was not the bookmakers' favorite! Manchester was the 16-1 outsider! Hee hee...there were bets on what city would become the new home of gambling in Britian!
Wow.
This is a pretty good BBC article on it. And this morning the all-talk radio shows (and the "all-music" radio shows, as well!) were filled with callers and texters expressing their dismay about this decision.
The CAP also approved several smaller casinos to be built around England. They say that there won't be any more "super casinos" in Britain until they can conduct a "proper evaluation over time" of the social and economic impacts that the 17 casinos will make on their towns and cities.
They also said that these casinos will not be like Las Vegas because these casinos will be subject to new controls, the strictest in the world.
Many people in England feel very strongly against the casinos, and not just the Church (here's a BBC article from 2002 about one bishop's casino investigations...) (btw--they don't know how to spell Mississippi here! Can you find it in the article?) :o)
The argument, of course, is that casinos bring regeneration to the area. "Thousands of jobs", and millions of ££pounds££.
There is already gambling everywhere here. There are "fruit machines" (aka slot machines) in pubs and some restaurants (with no safeguard for anyone under a particular age to not partake). There are, of course, scratch cards and lottos here. There are myriad "bookmaker shops" in pretty much every village and town and city waiting to take your bet on horses, or cars, or football...or which city will win the bid for the big casino!

A New Career?

I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up! I think I am, well honestly, overqualified for this. I've been practicing for years! I want to be a member, an official member, a card-carrying, badge-wearing, citation-writing member of the Fashion Police.

I think I would want to be part of the unit that has a quota, and get's paid a bonus for every citation written after meeting that quota! Tha'd be sweet!

And you know there's that one guy that said "Book 'em, Danno!" as his tag-line. And there's the other guy that says "Everyone's. A. Suspect." Well, I think my tag-line will be "Just because you can, honey, doesn't mean you should."

Anyone want to join with me? :o) There's a lot of potential business here in Guildford!

I've tried...

Today I had a not-so-uncommon experience here in British-land. Today what I expected to be a simple, pleasant event turned into an unbelievably frustrating, stupifying, tear-inducing experience.
I'm sorry to the Brits reading this, but God knows I try. I really do. I've tried to adapt, to blend in, to belong. I complain about the weather, I pay taxes, I give to charities, I volunteer. I know how to savor a plate of bangers and mash. I know how to put "u" in perfectly good u-free words (like colour, and savour). I've reversed my e's and r's in words like metre, litre, centre, sistre, dinnre, and brothre. I've tried. But, dangit, what gives them the right?!?!
Dave and I "joke" that the motto for "customer service" in Britain is "This job would be great if it weren't for these darn customers!" Sadly, even British people complain about British "customer service" (I really hate calling it that because what we get served doesn't much make me want to be a customer!)
10 days ago, Dave and I were in the Guildford town centre, and I decided to see if the Public Library had a book I wanted to read (since I'm not working, don't feel I should pay good money for it). So I asked if they had the book , and the seemingly competent librarian looked it up, and said "No, it's not in, but should be back by Wednesday. Would you like to reserve it?" Heh, of course! She then said "The reservation fee is 90 pence." (which is just shy of £1, or their version of 90 cents, and converts to about $1.70) (to reserve the book). So I got over my shock and gave the nice lady 90p. She said they would email me when the book came in.
Well, lo and behold, I got said email on the following Wednesday. It said I had 14 days to collect the book. So on Sunday, Dave and I were in the town centre again, and I said "Hey, let's climb the hill and get my book!" We got to the library, and it was dark. And closed. Closed! On a Sunday! Why? So, Dave and I sighed, and gave each other The Look. The Look of knowing that we are foreigners in a foreign land. Aliens in a culture that we will never understand. Or really be a part of.
So, no book. Then Wednesday of this week (2 days ago), I was going to town to see a movie (Miss Potter) with Melaine and Liz. I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to get my book! So, once again, I hiked up the hill to the library, and darn if it wasn't closed! Again! It closes at 1pm on Wednesdays. Why?!? Why?!? I had to sigh and give myself The Look in a shop window knowing that my day would come.
Yesterday I decided that I would go into town today (Friday) to get an application to volunteer at a charity shop...and get my book! Yay! Happy Day!
So, I stopped by Oxfam, got the application, and headed up the hill for a 4th time. I knew they were open. I knew they had my book. I was paying my dues as a volunteer. Today was MY day. I was sure of it!
Except, I forgot Rule #1. (Expect nothing to work out or make sense in British-land).
Today I went into the open library, and when it was my turn at the desk, I handed the different Seemingly Competent Librarian a little slip of paper with my library card number on it that the first SCL had given me and said I wanted to pick up the book I had on reserve. Well, it turns out the first gave me the wrong number. (So what. I want my book). I gave today's SCL my driver's license so she could read my name spelled out, and she asked where my library card was. I told her that it was somewhere at home. She gave me an ugly look. (I think it comes naturally to some people). Then she said that she could not give me the book I'd reserved because I didn't have my library card. I said "The woman that helped me on Saturday did not say I would need to bring my card in." (Plus I don't really know where it is). She kept harping on the fact that the first SCL had given me the wrong member number. (Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah whatever. Can I get the book, or not?) So, then she had to call over the Head SCL to help because apparently not bringing your library card to the library is beyond her level of competence.
Head SCL wobbled over and looked at the computer screen. She asked me to recount the entire story. I told her that Saturday I'd come in, the lady looked up my account, wrote down my number, took my 90p and said I'd get an email when my book came in. She looked over at the other SCL and said "Ah, Saturday Staff." then looked at me and said something like "They don't really know what they're doing." (What? Who says that?! I thought librarians were supposed to be nice, not catty!) Then she asked if I had my library card (Good Lord, NO!!!) (People in Milwaukee know I didn't bring my library card!) Then she told me that my card had expired. I asked if I would be able to renew it today so I could get my book, that I know was within arm's reach! She then asked if I had anything printed with my name and address on it. Um, no. I don't make a habit of carrying utility bills in my purse! Especially since I already HAD a stinkin' library card! They gave it to me once, why couldn't they do it again? She then said that she would keep my book on reserve until Wednesday, but that I would need to bring something back with my printed address on it. I'd had it. Enough!
I said something like: "No, you know what? I will not be back before Wednesday. I've tried 4 times to get this book. Just forget it. Forget that I ever thought this library would be willing and able to supply a person with a book, especially after it so greedily took my 90 pence to reserve that book. Keep it." (and stormed out.)
Why don't they train their Saturday staff better? Why can't they think outside the box? Why can't they try to help people?
You know what? Mean people suck.