Major Distraction

I have a good excuse for not blogging very much lately.  I've been distracted.
  

What?  No.  He's just here to entertain you. 

I'm not distracted by him.

Not at all.  

What was I writing about?

My DH and I have decided to build a new house.  This was no easy decision for us, as we've waffled for years (literally!) about moving, buying, building, upsizing, downsizing, having ourselves committed, etc.

A lot in a revitalized neighborhood we've been admiring opened up and we took that as a sign to get off our undecided asses and go for it.  Now we are working with the builder and architect to design the house of our dreams. 

Guess what?  The house of my dreams is more like a mansion. A sprawling, eclectic, funky, expensive mansion. So it's back to the drawing board.

I've become just a teensy bit obsessive about the planning, as I've discovered I really enjoy playing around with room design and such.  Unfortunately, I know nothing about architecture or its rules. 

Long story short, I'll likely become even scarcer in the internet world as we plow through this process and proceed into the actual construction and design and all the decision-making therein.

Wish me luck.

I Like That!

Every now and then while I'm reading I'll come across a sentence or a few lines that make me stop and re-read and just savor the taste of the words in my head. It might be the beauty the words draw, or the humor in them, or a poetry of sorts.

Here are some I've enjoyed.

"Spring had come to London in a flurry of flowers and rain and the air smelled faintly of something other than exhaust fumes and the exhaled breath of too many people." - Bound Together, Jane Davitt

"His head pounded, he’d been dog bit, and he’d lost a fight with the gayest man he’d ever seen in his life." - Edward Unconditionally, Lynn Lorenz

"Jonty’s little nose rose above the newspaper, making him look even more like a small inquisitive mammal than usual."  - Lessons in Power, Charlie Cochrane

Any you'd like to share?

PSA: Tying your shoes

I think it's everyone's responsibility to help others become enlightened, even in small ways.  Thus, today's public service announcement:



You're welcome.

Vocabulary

I ran across a post that has improved my vocabulary, assuming I'll remember the ones I didn't already know.  Take the little quiz below the butt to see if your vocab needs improvement.   For instance, callipygian is a lovely word:

Having well-shaped buttocks 

Here are words for everyday things.  See how many you know (without research!).

1. Tittle
2. Lunule
3. Crepuscular Rays
4. Ferrule
5. Gynecomastia
6. Muntin
7. Morton's Toe
8. Arms Akimbo
9. Desire Path
10. Semantic Satiation
11. Skeuomorph
12. Brannock Device
13. Paresthesia
14. Phosphenes
15. Armscye
16. Wamble
17. Feat
18. Peen
19. Rectal Tenesmus
20. Dysania
21. Mondegreen
22. Petrichor
23. Philtrum
24. Perlicue
25. Aglet

Now, go check -  how much of a word nerd are you?

A Slice of Hawaii

I haven't been round about lately, and it appears that I haven't been missed, so all's well that ends well!

Had a great trip to Hawaii.  It was a trip mostly for relaxing and that was very successful, so yay us!

 This is the beach we walked on every day.  I love the little boy dancing in the water!

 Pololu Valley Lookout, at the Kohala Forest Preserve.  This looks like paradise to me.  Or that place the dinosaurs went to live in The Land Before Time.

My life feels a bit like this these days.  Lots going on in the RL, more later!