If you give a gerbil a kid, he's probably going to want to live with him forever...

My friend's son called us this morning and asked if he could have our mouse. I told him absolutely! It seems he is obsessed with the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." After speaking to his mom, I learned he had told her he wished he had a mouse and she told him she knew where he could borrow one. This "mouse" is really a gerbil and his name is Rascal....but today he went to a new house where he will be called Cookie. I think they think they are borrowing him.....but I am pretty sure it's forever....cause everyone knows if you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk.......and before you know it, you're in love with the mouse and "borrowing" him is just not enough. So today, one lucky little gerbil got to go live with a really great kid.


One lucky little gerbil....




And a drawing for me from that really great kid....



In case I miss Rascal, I have a picture of him to look at courtesy of Cooper.

Continued Conversation With Will....

(See post below for the first conversation about Will's summer plans after which he went and picked up some job applications at a few places, then returned a filled out one to Hollister's....skip a few days to yesterday)

Me: Will, when do you think you will hear back from Hollister's?

Will: I already did. They texted me that I got the job.

Me: That's great! When were you going to tell me?

Will: It's not that big of a deal.

Me: It's your first real job...it IS a big deal! (I am in extra happy hyper mode...picture huge grin and lots of enthusiam.)

Will: No, it's not. I don't really care...it's just a job. (He is in extra downer mode...picture slumped shoulders and dull look.)


So because he is acting like a huge, big fat, spoiled rotten teenager, I have decided to find a picture of him when he was at the peak of cuteness and post it on the world-wide web.



This is Will. The tall, lanky guy who wanders in and out of the kitchen often but never speaks.....unless he needs some cash......not sure who that is anymore.

My conversation with Will

(As Will is walking through the entryway towards the kitchen....I am in the den)

Me..."Will, come sit with me and talk for a minute."

(He comes in and sits down.)

Him..."What?"

Me..."Do you have any plans for the summer?"

Him..."yea..."

Me..."What are they?"

Him..."They're personal."

Me..."Really? Well, tell me about them."

Him..."I don't really like talking to you."

Me..."Really?"

(Kick up my volume a notch or two.)

Me..."Well, I'm your mom... so I will tell you that you aren't going to sleep all summer. And Daddy wants you to get a job. And if you don't get a job you are going to be working for us."

Him...GLARE

Me..."Do you hear me?"

Him..."Yea."

Me..."Well, what are your plans?"

Him...GLARE

And you don't even want to know the rest. But it's official. He's a full-fledged teenager. And I am old and was NEVER young.

Books...

I hosted my book club group a couple of weeks ago and this is the quote I put on my chalkboard door. I know the first time I read The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I was there....in the cabin, by the banks of the river and certainly crossing the prairie in that covered wagon. That was the first time I fell in love with books. I joined my book club about 7 years ago. I love getting to talk about a book with others....and then having all of the tangent conversations that follow.

In our book club, the host chooses 3 books that are of interest to her and then we vote on which one we will pick and read before we meet again in 6 weeks. I chose Oprah's latest selection, The New Earth/Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle as one of my selections. I had read an excerpt in Oprah's magazine and it struck me as interesting. It is a self-help book and that's not something we have ever chosen in our club before. Two of the women voted against the book.....one doesn't like Oprah and the other said she didn't need any help (heehee) but the others voted for it because it looked the "thinnest" and we are heading into a busy month of May.

Whoa......I know if my fellow book clubbies are reading it right now they are realizing how deceiving thin can be. It is the thickest/densest thin book I have ever tried to read. I am skipping around the chapters some to see if any of it grabs me and I have found some interesting passages. But I have to admit, it is not a little light bedtime reading. I have to read every paragraph about 3 times to comprehend it. The book is about separating the voices in your head (ego) from your spiritual self. Staying in the moment/in the now.....and enjoying the moment you are in. Our body doesn't have a soul, rather our soul has a body. The voices that constantly race through your head (I'm fat, I'm tired, ....your past, your worries) are stealing the present moment from you....and you can't get this moment back. Of course, it goes way deeper than this...but this is what I am getting from it so far. I look forward to the next book club to see if anyone else got something from this book....and if the 2 that didn't vote for it ended up reading it.

On a much shallower note, I am posting a picture of my backyard at its peak...because when the heat gets here to stay, this will all be wilted.




And a message from Maggie to Jordan and Cameron....I miss you. Send pictures so I can sniff them.