halt stop forget relax

I think I'll begin with what I've been reading since July 2nd. 1.  Inside of a Dog: What dogs see, smell and know   by Alexandra Horowitz     In case you didn't know it, a dog is an amazing creature. Of course, some are more amazing than others ... take my new Romeo, for instance. He's a bright one, he is, with a strong will and a keen nose, and lots of kisses to give. 2.  Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress   by Sijie Dai     This was set during the Cultural Revolution after all books were banned and burned. When two young men suspected that a man in their 'reeducation'  village (the father of the seamstress) had a secret cache of books, they were all about trying to get a chance to read them. 3.  The Map of True Places   by Barry Brunonia       "A novel of tragedy, secrets, identity, and love, in which a psychotherapist finds the strands of her own life in the death of a...

Friday was my birthday. I turned 54. There was no celebration to go with it. As a matter of fact DH sort of spaced out on it. Late in the day he told me he was going to go buy me something, then just spaced it out. I told him that what he could do was to make me a large pot of chai, which he did. So I am a happy girl with enough chai concentrate (he makes it that way) to last through the heat wave! I also got a small gift from a friend at the yard sale Saturday - a tote bag that has a Louisa May Alcott quote on it, "She is too fond of books and it has addled her brain," plus a little book called The Sisterhood of Wonderful Wacky Women . Saturday, I spent the entire afternoon at our yard sale. We ended up making a little over $1000 to give to charity. It was one of our better sales; last year we made under $700. It is really interesting to take note of the people who frequent these sales. There are the kind who love to haggle you down, even if the price is already dirt cheap ...