ok, so mm has 2 full days off, and she may just go to lexington to sift through the goodwills for cayle clothes......she is growing so fast.....and $1.75 is a better price to pay for jeans than $25, especially since she grows out of them so quickly........plus.......if in lex i will have to stop by jbeth, my favorite store.......i like the goodwill on boston road the best..........

ok, so while i did not watch the mtv awards, i have read about madonna's antics at the event........i want to go on record as saying that madonna has made a lot of money on scant talent........she is still in the game in her 40's, i will give her that, but what she does whilst in the game is questionable at best.......i saw her on will and grace last night, as karen's erstwhile roommate....and she was pitiable.........and looking her age......which means she should quit the overexposure world while she is ahead.........and kissing chrisitina a. and britney spears? please...............speaking of talent-free............i suppose that brassy behavior will always draw attention away from whatever true talent there lurks on mtv...........

what i have done this week is watch lotr-the two towers over, and over, and over..........mostly with cayle, who has announced an infatuation with orlando bloom/legalos..........she speaks of him hourly.....a crush......oh my...........i cannot wait for the return of the king...........is it too early to camp out at the theatre?????????

ok, so i was told that the viaduct would be open this morning, and it was not..........not one worker or vehicle on it.......just clean pavement.....but still closed.........

ok, so mm is noshing on celeriac salad.......celeriac being a minor root vegetable that is marvelous when marinated in vinegar, salt and sugar..............this version also has mayo, but that is an exception to the usual rule.......mm really wants to talk about mitch mcconnell.....who was featured by the d.a.messenger yesterday in an article that mentioned cayle c-w and mitch in the same paragraph.........she came home and asked........'just what don't we like about him, mom?' well.....we don't like the fact that he is a fat-cat republican who has worked his way up the corporate-donation ladder..............and who once snubbed me at a fund raiser....i was a lowly caterer and he was mitch mcconnell............anyway.....cayle was thrilled to have her name mentioned in the paper, and i was embarrassed to havbe the c-w name (such as it is) mentioned in the same breath..........i am still recovering from the lotr marathon veiwing of the two towers yesterday........ecw and i stayed up til the bitter end......even though we had seen it together before...............i cannot wait until the return of the king.........i may have to camp out at the theatre..................of course, we will have to buy the extended cut dvd, out in november..........

ok, so i dreamed last night that i was explaining to someone about blogging, but i wasn't willing to share my blog address because i did not like her and did not want her to actually read my blog.......strange how someone can be unlikeable, even in a dream.......somewhere along the dream story line i was using deaf sign language to tell someone peeking in the window to leave........since i do not know many signs, i must have been making up my own signs for this purpose.......earlier int he week i dreamed that i won the lottery...i could plainly see myself checking out the winning numbers........though i do not remember those numbers.....drat..........my class started yesterday...there are 47 in the class......a huge group........many ex-atr people going back to school...........most in group are over 30.........the class time is earlier this semester.......which allowed me to go to scw's cross-country meet....he did well in the heat...3rd in varsity run, behind a blistering run by a boy from berea, and someone from model in richmond.......boyle did not come to this meet, as 'there is not enough competition' for their boys at danville meets...........i suffered through the elementary and middle school runs first....chatting with other mothers........one mother filled me in on what her daughter told her about the 'party for juniors and seniors' on saturday night.........assuring me that her daughter had not been drinking.......of course.........i fear it will be a long 2 years until graduation, if the parties where people 'do not drink' have already started..........

ok, so i liked the letters to to the editor in today's paper......very anti-bush.........

ok, so mm has survived.....the wedding for 500 or so, the baptismal luncheon with mimi, pappy and pappy's new wife.......andrew's leaving for school........after a 3 hour nap, i started making lists for everything coming up this week........and i got myself a glass of wine.........eku starts tuesday...my class is earlier this semester....3:30 rather than 6:00, which means i am home for supper or available to help with dinner at trc if it is a centre performance night........i have 46 in the class.....a person for every chair.....they actually counted before letting in the last person.........saturday is our annual biking/running event....the pound and pedal........i try every year to keep the plants alive til labor day saturday and this event.....and fail each year.......at least the grass is not dead this year like it was last year.....the good news....i cleaned house for lunch today so i am ahead of schedule.........as i sit at the computer typing, i have a clear view of andrew's empty room...he drove off to his new apartment at uk with his car loaded in such an organized manner.......i was in awe at the transition from freshman to sophomore year in terms of his logistical thinking....he made checklists with his anticipated needs for his bedroom, kitchen, bath, etc....i already miss him........tonight at supper we will be 4, eating chinese leftovers from our carryout lunch............we spent last school year as 4, but this year it will seem a bit sad, having so enjoyed having andrew home for the summer.......stephan will only remain 2 more years.....i cannot imagine his parting..........i will put off thinking about that for another day...........

ok, so i successfully catered a wedding for 500 people (maybe there were only 450 or so actually there, but it was still a lot of people........) i am so glad that this event is over..........so glad for the help of a certain meticulous ham biscuit maker........

ok, so tomorrow after cayle's baptism at church, we will have a celebratory luncheon that includes cayle's signifcant folks.....grandma crown, mimi (her former foster mother) and pappy (her former foster father) and pappy's new wife........this will be a strained event, as mimi and pappy's new wife are obviously not best pals.........cayle is to be the center of attention, so we hope the adults all act like adults...........i am catering a wedding for 432 this evening, so the meal tomorrow will be chinese carryout........

ok, so we have upgraded from our windows 95 computer to andrew's old windows 98 computer.......not hightech, but better than we were.......we have also inherited his harddrive music collection........many of which i have never heard of.........this could be an interesting experience......

ok, so from this month's reader's digest.......pity the poor insomniac dyslexic agnostic......he stays up all night wondering if there really is a dog........

ok, so jon has gone home...........the house seems strangely quiet, even though he said little.......i will miss andrew when he goes back to school on sunday......he has been quite enjoyable this summer, and i treasure the time we have spent sipping wine and chatting, as i know that the summer will come when he doesn't come home.......on the way home, my mother and i failed to see eye to eye on the alabama 10 commandments issue..........she cannot understand why the monument cannot stay......she contends that the constitution does not say that the basis of our laws cannot be publically (?) displayed........i argued the freedom of religion point.........we are guarenteed our right NOT to be christian in america, hence, a christian symbol cannot be displayed in government buildings as it would convey the notion that we must be christian to receive justice.........my mother countered with ' the ten commandments are the basis of our law'........which is only partly true.....yes....thou shall not steal and thou shall not kill......but how about honor thy father and mother......or thou shalt not have any gods before me.........or thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife.......last i knew these issues were not legislated.........2 out of 10............so much for basis of our laws............heaven's sake...if adultery was illegal, half of congress would be disqualified...........

ok, so my family mocks my blogs.............shame..........

ok, so mm wants to thank the sweet folks who sent her a lovely piece of fan mail recently.......i sure needed a boost on that particular day......you are so kind......

ok, so ecw tells me that i am wrong about jon...that he is just quiet and so much unlike our boy that we fail to appreciate what he does have to offer..........the other 2 children appear to be enjoying his company, and even ecw said that he has enjoyed riding with him and having him help at the shop after work.......ecw compared him to a family friend, also 16, who is quite different from our boy..........quiet, shy, not an academic stand-out......but who might win the state cross-country meet this year....if we never got past quiet and shy, we would miss the rest.........ok, so mm may be wrong..............butmm is also happy to take this boy back to the airport tomorrow so we can get back to normal......we have not been normal in our house since the last day of school in may...........we will have 3 days of normal, then acw will leave to go back to school, and we must adjust all over again.........ah well.........

ok, so we went to lex last night to see the whale rider...........a simple story told in a visually bold and beautiful style.......the kind of movie that made you glad you ventured out of your little cocoon.........on the way home i was treated to the flaming lips..something about pink robots that sounded like a soundtrack for a yet-unmade anime feature film.......i enjoyed their 'sound' which struck me as a peaceful blend of pink floyd and neil young..........

ok, so i walked out of trc at 9:30 because we had served every shred of food we had on hand......and other people were available to clean up.......only to find my house deserted.......they had gone to see the legend of daniel boone in harrodsburg...even acw.....presumably because his freshman year roommmate plays d.boone.......i am home alone..........drinking white wine........and reading blogs.........i did read some of the hasidic rebel, only because the address was in the pulldown menu........curious............i also enjoyed the l.o.'s rendition of the joan armitrading concert......i listened to ann deck's tribute to joan on wuky this week.......joan has her ph.d. in music from a british university.....impressive.......i will never have a ph.d. in nutrition because i lack both time and incentive........

i do want to say in this public forum that my name SHOULD have been spelled with a 'c', because cathy crown would have been so much more symetrical and balanced...........alas, i was assigned kathlyn crown for no good reason other than my parents liked how it sounded......the only other kathlyn's i know of are warren beatty's mother and oldest daughter.........

ok, so i was awake half the night thinking about all that i had to do today........which is not a big deal, but i could not convince myself of the simplicity of the cooking tasks at 3:15 am........i tried thinking about preferred themes....like where i would like my paris apartment to be located when i win the lottery, but my mind kept coming back to cooking.....i might have been better off getting up, driving to town, fixing everything on my mind, then going home and back to bed........

ok, so i am so old today........laydown-on-the-floor-and-sleep old............nobody knows the oldness i have seen.........

ok, so my brother is going to send acw a printer/scanner he will pay for by cashing in the gift certificates he recieved when he bought his 45 inch plasma tv........i may have the dimensions wrong, but his tv sounds quite big and quite flat...fortunately i have no room in my house for such a tv, so i cannot be envious.......it is nice of him to ask acw what he needed in the way of electronics.......of course, when he called last night he was also in his recruiting mode...at least this time he spoke to both boys about careers in public service that involve intelligence.......of course, i think both my boys are brilliant, not merely intelligent...........

ok, so....my significant travel companion was lukewarm when i mentioned going to paris over winter break........maybe it was the paying for his own ticket part, but he was unenthusiastic nevertheless.........i am in sore need of something to look forward to.......bad sentence grammatically but the sentiment is heartfelt......we will be closed til january 19, or so.......except for new years eve.........i look forward to the time off.............

i took cayle and our neighbor lena swimming after work today.......lena is quite brave...she would jump off of both the dock and the rocks around the dock....fearlessly.....i was impressed.....a very hermione thing to do.......

ok, so we have one week before on goes back to belgium.......it should go quickly........also coming soon is acw's departure to his first (shared) apartment at uk........a uk-owned apartment, but still a living arrangement that will allow him to cook for himself and enjoy a bit more privacy........i have spent the past few days writing simple recipes on cards......and gathering together essentials like baking/microwave dishes, drainers, utensils, coffee cups, etc........he still lacks a few pots and pans....so grandma will help out when they go shopping on friday...........he is sharing this apartment, but he is better off having many of his own things in case others come emptyhanded.....which is likely given the boys in question.....he appears pleased to be making this step........

ok, so i dreamed that members of a fundementalist church were eating at trc, and decided to have an anti-gay revival of sorts in the middle of dinner.......they started preaching loudly about evil gay hippies, and speaking in tongues, and i finally had to ask them to leave because they were disturbing the other diners........how strange to dream about this.......

ok, so school starts today, and our daughter is already out of control with sassiness.......she came downstairs without brushing her hair, or washing her face, and insisted that since i was taking her to school rather than daddy, these actions were unnecessary.........well, now.........it will be a long 5th grade year........

ok, so mm spent sunday making 'back-to-school' casseroles for her friends that teach school.......these days only one of 6 actually has my child in class, but it makes me happy to support women who give so selflessly in the classroom, and it allows me an excuse to make a visit......i never make time for visits, and it is shameful that i see so little of people i like and enjoy.....i also made a few 'not-going-back-to-school' casseroles, for friends who have retired or seceded from the school system........ironically, one of the people on my back to school list is talking about retiring, because the school system in general, and administrators in particular are so difficult...she recalled my reasons for leaving the hospital, and they were quite similar to her current situation.......how sad that experienced people are seen as expensive and pressure is put on them to leave so that inexperienced/less expensive people can be hired.......how sad.......

ok, so the wedding on chrisman lane was troubling, despite it's beauty, simplicity and great food that i didn't have to prepare..........the vows that are made by people who have made before to others sound somewhat hollow.........i am not sure if the truth would be any better.....'i will love, honor and cherish you all the days of my life, or until such time that my interest fades away and i either give up or resolve myself to a life of married loneliness'.............my feelings are also colored by the lack of followthrough i have seen on the groom's part when it comes to his verbal commitment to continue to nurture my daughter after the adoption......my spouse has great hopes that the new wife....who is quite wonderful, by the way...........will help this person to organize his life in such a way that he will get back into spending time with her......cayle sees him as a father-figure......i see him as a father-figure who rarely shows up........

ok, so today i must dip 300 strawberries in chocolate, fill 300 philo (sp?) cups with chicken salad, and stuff 300 ham biscuits.....and make 3 vegetable baskets...........and fix lunch, of course......thankfully the restaurant will be closed tonight, as the wedding will take up all available seats........our main concern......the bride rented a champagne fountain, but may not have ordered enough champagne to fill it up.......or provide each of her 150 guests with a small glass........i am not worrying about this though, as i will be at another wedding, in a field on chrisman lane, in a tent........where their will be no alcohol, as the groom's sister would not attend if alcohol was served.......it is the second wedding for the groom and the third for the bride.......i am perplexed by the second and third marriage thing......my parents, and both sets of grandparents, and at least one set of greatgrandparents were married 50+ years.....the legacy? you slog it out through better or worse, just like you promised......and do your best to make the experience as nice as possible for your spouse.........

ok, so mm is going to throw her hat into the california recall election......she might get 2-3 votes.....maybe more than gary coleman.......

ok, so my life seems quite boring when reviewed from blog to blog.......

ok, so i have old song lyrics trapped in my brain......from some tapes we listened to whilst driving to and from memphis.....dan fogelbe(u?)rg from the late 70's........some from the captured angel album......i do not recall memorizing the lyrics at the time.....and these lyrics do not seem to have any real connection to my life now....but they pop-up now from time to time like one of those pesky internet ads......too bad one cannot double click one's brain cells.........or scroll down to a better tune.........

ok, so mm got a really good night's sleep, and the world always looks better after a pleasant rest.........

ok, so mm is back from a trip that lasted less than 48 hours from the getting up on sunday morning to the going to bed on tuesday morning....i am exhausted in the 'feeling like i have been beat up/old' kind of tired........my feet hurt, my eyes are swollen from pollen or mold, and my head is pounding......but i did have a good time.......turns out the highlight of the trip to d.c. was the side trip to dedaleus book warehouse that is on rt. 32 between bwi and my in-laws house.......i bought 3 books at $4.98 each and could have purchased more but i knew that i had no room for them in either my purse or small satchel........all three books are travel essays/we bought this house in france/ireland/sicily and this is how we labored to fix it up and get along with/be accepted by our neighbors.......you know the year in provence formula.........but this is my fanatasy...to buy a house in europe and fix it up.........the mall in dc was dreadfully hot,,,with intermittent showers.....steam rose from the sidewalks after each rain......lots of security....besides the book warehouse, my trip highlights include....the terrace outside the botanic gardens that was done up in a martha stewart kind of 'this is how you can do pot/containers at your house with heirloom vegetables and flowers......it was a stunning array of clever ideas........julia child's kitchen at the smithsonian (american history), whistler's peacock room from the frick.........the big naked guy from the hirschorn........not the naked part...just the realness of the piece of art......the birdcage guy sculpture by rene magritte at the hirschorn........the gem exhibit at natural history...........and last, but not least, visiting my in-laws extensive gardens, especialy sitting by the fountain in the older fish/lily pond reading the paper, drinking coffee, and watching the lilies open........in my nightgown and robe......there is nothing more deilcious than that level of leisure......did jpon have a good time......hard to tell, as he said maybe 20 words in 2 days, despite courageous efforts on the part of my in-laws to get him to say more than yes or no........my sister-in-law whispered when we left that she will pray for us.........

ok, so because of mm's antiquated o.s. (this pc uses windows 95 or 98.......) her screen for blogging shows no past entries,,,,,therefore it is up to her feeble memory to recall subjects of past blogs without painstaking waits for screens to load.....forgive her if she repeats herself from time to time.......it is early. scw and the bb and i are leaving shortly for the louisville airport for our whirlwind tour of the nation's capitol.......the bb is merely an excuse.....we would have relished a quick trip to dc whether he was here or not.......the last time we visited cayle was a real jerk, so nobody really got to enjoy any exhibits.......i am looking forward to the special diamond exhibit.....i do not desire to own them, but i do like to look at them......if i were to be presented with something precious, i would prefer pearls over stones.......i feel much more connected to their feel, their underwater quality (it is the piscean in me....) and the something extra they add to dressing up or dressing down......i enjoyed especially the pearl exhibit i saw in chicago, but cayle was being difficult that day too............anyway, i hardly slept last night for fears about plane crashes, terrorists, etc. such are the risks of travel, i suppose......that fall counter to all of the pleasures that come with wanderlust......if my time is up, it might as well be on a trip.....travel is one of my life's major passions.......but i would surely prefer the return leg of the journey be my last, not the first..........

ok, so the american icon tour continues tomorrow with the mall and assorted smithsonian museums, and monuments........we have about 10-12 hours of total downtown time..........and no agenda other than to see everything.........scw and i have been to downtown dc many times.......but there is always something new to see at american history or natural history..or the national gallery........i like the indoor waterfall in the national gallery cafeteria designed by i m pei.........of course, i am worried to fly during a time of high alert...........but then, being mean, i will probably head-butt a would-be terrorist for attempting to ruin my 2 days off........i am also looking forward to seeing roseanne and nick, my in-laws........

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ok, so mmm has the belgian boy blues..........last night after dinner he actually pointed out that his laundry is ready for me to do.......i was ready for that one........i quickly explained that scw would be showing him how to do his own laundry so that he doesn't have to wait on my schedule to get it done......(my schedule being when hell freezes over.....) i alkso explained that our children trade off on table setting/clearing and doing dishes, and that he should really help scw when it is his turn to do these chores........he looked at me like i had 3 heads.........thankfully, ecw interceded and showed jon how to run both the washer and dryer.......these skills are valuable...he will thank me one day.........especially if his mamma passes on and she is no longer there to wait on him hand and foot........

ok, so mm will get to see the stinky arum plant st the national botanical gardens.......as mentioned in the lex herald lead this morning.....it is blooming for the first time in 10 years......and smells like rotten meat........i am getting concerned that my sister-in-law has not called me back to confirm that she will pick us up at the airport.(bwi).......we could not only be stranded closer to baltimore than to dc, but we could also have no place to stay......

ok, so mm wants to talk about 'doing the wash'...........she has seen the exchange student's wash basket travel ever so subtlely from the corner to near the door, to the door ......like someone is supposed to notice that it needs washing..........i have got news.......in this family...if you are able to do your own wash, you do your own wash..........andrew does his own wash, scw washes his own clothes, and cayle is learning..........i mentioned the washbasket thing this morning to family members........who do not work fulltime, and who could show the exchange student how to do the wash......but tonight, the basket is still there by the door, begging to be thrown in the wash cycle........ mean mamma is not biting........

ok, so mm was surprised to read a review of her restaurant in this morning's herald leader.....the reviewers came at supper, and were pleased with the soup, the appetizers in general...though they considered the procuito ham sliced too thick.....they did not like the canned mandarin oranges on the spinach salad, and they considered our cheesecake prosaic........now prosaic is not a word one hears often.......i interpret it as meaning basic, or boring......yeh, vanilla cheesecake is pretty basic.........it is what it is......all in all the review was decent publicity.........though they made a snide remark about our main dining room's decor.........which i consider to be quite nice, by the way...........so what about those mandarin oranges?