What really happens at book club

After this...


And this....

Comes this....


Seriously, our book club discussed "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" tonight -- for about 15 minutes -- and then ate, drank, gossiped and laughed our way through the rest of the night.

Suzanne and Robin, listening to one of the many cogent thoughts of the night....

Jaime and Lori, very bookish in black....

Denise and Cory, ready to make astute comments...

Carrie and Molly, wishing they had read the book...

Bonnie and Brenda, teachers with attitude.

Tara and Kathryn, showing how much they liked the book.

One of the most striking things about this night is that I went through most of my good wine glasses tonight. Usually, about one-third to half of the gals opt for water or soft drinks, but tonight, everyone was in a mood to imbibe. Way to go, girls. We went through about five bottles of wine. Not bad for a school night.
Oh, and the book discussion was good, too

Good genes?

Twenty-three years from now, will I look as good as my mom? She's 72, but I think she looks much younger. After having seven children, I think she is nothing short of phenomenal, not only in her looks but also in her agility of body and mind. This photo of my mom was taken earlier this month with granddaughter Elizabeth and grandson Joe. (My dad, it's sad to say, died 12 years ago at the too-young age of 64.)

Grandson Will at the far left and great-granddaughter Harper at far right join the lineup.

Flight night

Here are just a few images from the opening night of the Wichita Flight Festival Friday night. The weather, tho slightly wet, was actually almost perfect for an open-air party. One of the highlights was an evening aerial show, above.
Dale and I, preparing to make our getaway. It was, after all, nearly 10 p.m.

The Commodores, of "Brick House" fame, take the stage. More tomorrow.

Why I like Sophie

I like Sophie for many reasons but one of the biggest is her affection for Dale, and for dogs. Here she is close to both on Saturday night. Sophie, my friend Marty's daughter, doesn't just tolerate or enjoy Barney. She likes to hold him close, rub his tummy and look into his face. She's a true dog person.

OMG I finally got this freakin' photo exported. There goes an hour of my life I'll never get back.
Ok, seriously, this is the time and place where I thank Nick Jungman for setting up my wireless system for my new Mac. I'm standing in the kitchen writing this as I wait for my zucchini bread to get done.
And thanks to Denise for helping me work through the kinks on getting this photo to show up. She talked me through it while on the road to Wichita from KC, despite having to calm Lexi in the back seat.
It took Nick about 90 minutes to get me set up and give me a quick orientation. But I still feel lost. Hopefully, it will get better.

Water wars

For a variety of reasons (environmental, economics, etc.),
I've sworn off bottled water. But I bought some yesterday to offer to my friend, Marty, and her 8-year-old twins, Jack and Sophie, who came to dinner. (They like their water as pristine as possible.) This led to a challenge from Dale at dinner. He predicted neither one of us could tell the difference between bottled water and water from our tap. With Jack and Sophie eagerly watching, Marty and I both sipped from glasses into which Dale had poured water. We took turns, and had to turn our backs so as not to be influenced by each other's choices. And Dale made us take the challenge three times each, to rule out lucky guesses. The upshot: both Marty and I correctly identified the bottled (and better-tasting) water every time.

That hasn't changed my mind about shunning bottled water. I can live with the taste of tap water, so I will, as my small contribution to saving our planet. But at least at home I've settled the longstanding debate with Dale over which tastes better.

Thanks for your help, Marty!

By the way, here are a couple of snaps from our dinner, which consisted of turkey burgers, hot dogs, grilled onions and bell peppers, potato salad, guacamole and Klondike ice cream bars!

Dale, with Sophie in the back.

Jack and Marty.

Mac attack

Our new MacBook came today. Dale and I were in the market for a laptop and Nick Jungman convinced us to give a Mac a try. Our desktop is a PC, so this should be interesting to see how we adjust. I ordered this baby on Thursday afternoon and it came via FexEx Saturday morning. Now that's service. Nick has promised to give us a service call tomorrow to help set it up, along with the wireless router we also bought. I never thought I'd see the day when we needed two computers in the house, but I guess it's kind of like TVs. One is not enough.

Cadillac man

Dale could have just about any car he wanted -- BMW, SUV, FIT -- but for him, style and comfort mean riding in a Caddie. This week he got a new (used) one. He traded in his '97 silver Seville for a 2002 silver Deville. (The Deville is sportier and thus a bit smaller, in case you didn't know.) Here he is about to christen his new baby with a bottle of red wine. Congratulations, Dale!

One and only sister-in-law

This is my only sister-in-law. Her name is Anne, and she's married to my youngest brother, Richard. OK, the kids (Elizabeth and Will) don't look too happy here (they missed their naps on this day), but Anne is the best mother in the world. She is a physician's assistant by profession, but quit her very high-paying job about two years ago to be a mom. She is an avid gardener, a fanatical reader and a great cook. Here she is with daugher, Elizabeth:

Meet Ginger

My mom recently took in this darling little Pomeranian. The back story is sad. My mom had dated Jim, who was Ginger's owner, for about five years. He died suddenly and unexpectedly last spring, and Mom took Ginger to live with her. Ginger seriously loves my mother, and they are happy together. This dog is beautiful and sweet. At the bottom, she is playing with her new toy.

Sweet sixteen

This weekend was spent in Great Bend celebrating my niece Aspen's 16th birthday. (Next to her is my nephew, Will, who is 4.) Notice the cash in Aspen's hand. It's the birthday gift of choice for most of her aunts and uncles. We have no idea what a 16-year-old wants these days, so we just throw up our hands and give her cash to buy what she wants.
Aspen was a preemie when she was born. A serious preemie. She was born at about 28 weeks, and weighed about 2 pounds. They transported her mom to Wesley from Great Bend, and I remember being in the waiting room with my brother, Stephen, when she was born. The doctor came out and said something like, "Did they tell you what sex she WAS?" And both of us froze at the word WAS, thinking she hadn't made it. But she had. She spent the first two months of her life in an incubator at Wesley before going home. I think her name, Aspen, is very unusual, and I really like it. And her middle name is Echo. Aspen Echo.
Aspen loves babies. Here she is holding her youngest cousin, and my youngest nephew, Joe, who is about 6 months old.

Sisters

Group hug, sort of, among my sisters, Linda, on the left, who is 45, and Lisa, on the right, who is 47. I am the oldest. : (

Brothers

I have four brothers. The two oldest are identical twins, Chris and Craig. Because they are twins, they were born somewhat small, and grew up that way. When they were freshmen in high school, their older classmates used to stuff them in lockers and close the doors. My brothers laugh about it today. I'm sure not so much then. Here is Chris, with my mom. He works outdoors, in case you couldn't tell...

And here is Craig, born 5 minutes afer Chris. He also works mostly outdoors. Both reside in Great Bend, where we grew up:

My brother Stephen is the third-oldest. He's Aspen's father. He's one year older than me.

And my youngest brother, Richard, is the baby of the family. He has three kids; here he is with his youngest, 6-month-old Joe:

More family photos from the weekend party later. Know ya can't wait...

More cuteness

People have been doggin' me for not updating my blog regularly. So, I'll post these photos of my youngest niece and nephew: Elizabeth, who's now 6, and Will, who's now 3. Actually, they also have a baby brother, Joe, who's about 6 months. (I have a photo of him, but after all, he's just a baby. He looks like all other babies.)
My nieces and nephews range in age from 25 years to 6 months, which is pretty amazing, I think. These two belong to my youngest brother, who is about 43, and the baby of seven siblings. I will be seeing all of them when I go to Great Bend this weekend for my niece Aspen's 16th birthday.

Cute, cute, cute

I love my nephew Dylan, even though he can be a MAJOR challenge to my youngest sister, Linda. Both came to visit this weekend. Dylan and I went to see "The Simpsons Movie" while his mom shopped. We almost always have a good time together, except when I start lecturing him about being nicer to his mom. He's a good kid, with tons of potential, so I'm hoping he can find his way through all the roadblocks and misdirection our culture creates for kids today. Gosh, I'm old.

Here's his mother, Linda, who is about 17 pounds lighter than she was about three months ago. I hate her. And adorable mutt, Comet, is in both photos.

Pool party

This pool has given Dale and his grandkids endless hours of fun. A few snaps from Friday night:

Dale and Josie, with Jaden nearby and Luke under water.

Below, Jaden jumps.

Josie takes the plunge, above.

Luke and Dale.

A summer dinner

During the week, I rarely eat at night because I usually have such large lunches during the work day. But Dale and I could not resist the idea of a light summer meal of grilled zucchini from our garden, brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. We ate it on the patio with a glass of red wine. Dale also diced a fresh pasilla chile from his garden and sprinkled it over the zucchini. It nicely complemented it.

Crappy summer TV

Sorry for the crude language, but I'm disappointed in two new summer shows I had hoped would be good, based on the actresses starring in them. Has anyone else tuned in "Saving Grace," with Holly Hunter, and "Damages," with Glenn Close. If so, tell me what you think.
I couldn't get into "Saving Grace" cuz it's too reminiscent of shows like "7th Heaven," which have just a little too much faith-based schlock in them. And "Damages" lost me in the first episode when the show actually featured a pet dog being killed. No thanks. The character played by Glenn Close ordered the dog's death, so I can't imagine caring too much about her character now. Which kind of ruins the show for me, since it's pretty much all about her. Now I'm just waiting for fall and the return of "The Office."

Veggie tales

One of the best things about summer is the garden harvest. This represents pretty much everything Dale is growing this year -- tomatoes, cukes, bell and chile peppers and zucchini. We also tried peas and beans but had minimal success. I made this recipe Sunday, and although it sounds like cold-weather food, it was actually quite fresh-tasting:

Southwestern Picadillo

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped bell pepper (any color)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne

3 cups chopped tomatoes with juices

1 cup beef broth

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

1/4 cup capers

Saute the onions, peppers and garlic in oil. Add beef with cumin and cayenne and saute until beef is browned, breaking up clumps. Add tomatoes, broth, corn and capers and simmer 30 minutes. Serve with flour tortillas. (Some people serve this over rice or hot noodles.)

Too much of a good thing

Does Dale really expect me to touch that thing? I'm sorry, but a girl has to draw the line somewhere when it comes to handling certain produce.

This freakishly large cuke is about three times the size of a normal, well-behaved one. I'm not sure it will find its way into any of my cucumber salad recipes.