The youngest and I discovered tonight at dinner that Tony Shaloub is in Lend Me a Tenor on Broadway only through August 15th.

That means we have to go this weekend.

Back Tuesday or so. Hope you continue to enjoy your summer.

I spent some time lallygagging in the pool this morning. A frog joined me.

He stared at me, and I stared at him. I told him he better not. He gave me one final defiant look and leaped in anyway.

We actually spent some time swimming together, Frog and I did. Then he tired and crawled up on the top step of the ladder. That’s when the fun began. When I went to scoop him out, he jumped back into the pool. I chased him for a while, and finally catapulted him out using our favorite critter tool – a kitty litter scooper.

Not to worry. It was just a little flying experience, but he seemed to get the message. He looked at me for a bit and the hopped off on his way.

Believe it or not, that’s the most exciting thing that’s happened to me today. The second most exciting is going to be putting the wash to the dryer.

Yep, it’s that dull around here. But I kind of think it’s a good thing.

For some reason that was the song in my head as I woke up this morning.

Naturally, the next song will have to be Warren Zevon’s Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School.

Now you would think the logical jump would be Jeannie Needs a Shooter, but for some reason that’s not the way my brain works.

I kind of remember having a strange pair in my head yesterday morning, too, but darn if I can remember them now.

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The spouse introduced me to music years ago, and it’s continued to be one of the things we enjoy exploring together. Oh, sure, we took to Bruce Springsteen in our day, but there was also Warren Zevon and Graham Parker and Patty Smith.

Two of three kids around here lean towards music. (The middle child is more fond of words, but that will have to be another story.) The oldest just finished drumming for a disc he and some friends put together in Madison last weekend. It’s been a year-long project. The youngest is a walking encyclopedia of music. Make that a freakish walking encyclopedia of music. It’s like have a breathing version of Shazam on hand.

She’s also been the one to introduce us to Modest Mouse and Vampire Weekend and Passion Pit and about 100 others. She spends her mad money going to $15 shows at Turner Ballroom.

I’ll admit it’s fun to watch her jaw drop every once in a while when I know the words to a song one of her favorite bands plays as a cover. I’ll miss that kid. Maybe she’ll send home a music fix now and then.

Take a minute to sing along to one of your favorite songs today. Life is short, remember?

Oh WOW!

I wish I was this clever. Here’s where I found it on Mashable.

I’ve complained to you before about the odd coding popping up in the RSS feed boxes to the right for the other blogs. I really liked the tool that Better RSS provided, but I still longed for apostrophes that looked like apostrophes.

The update they just sent out fixed the problem. I was such a happy girl I just made a donation to the Wisconsin code author. Look!

I know not everyone loves my geeky side, but I have to admit, it’s a wonderful rush to have everything work together. The technical side of blogging has always proved a worthy challenge. That’s got to be good for my brain.

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Remember, if you mouse over the title in the box, you’ll get a box with the first couple of lines of that post.

Boarding an airplane is a crap shoot. On some airlines a back row seat – generally considered a rougher ride – gives you an option to board after the road warriors and before the rest of the crowd. Other airlines stagger this boarding to every 5th or 7th row in hopes of minimizing time you have to step over other customers and get to your seat.

Also, boarding first gives you a better shot at finding a place to store that luggage you don’t want to pay to check. The spouse, who indeed has earned his own road warrior badge, is frustrated that sometimes even his elite status lands him in lines that fill a small plane by half or more.

The bottom line is that early boarding matters if you are carrying on your luggage. Since you won’t check it, American Airlines is selling you the right to get it one the plane. Expect others to follow in an attempt to maximize revenue.

For ten bucks each way, Group 1 all yours. I wonder if they sell a fixed number? I’ll say for me, and this would be traveling sans spouse, I doubt it. Pre-boarding the elites chews up all the good stuff and it’s anything goes after that anyway.

Wow, did yesterday get away from me. I can’t say it was all bad. I spent a lot of time in the car getting necessary errands accomplished. It’s nice to have several things checked off the list. Today’s calendar includes a weight lifting session this morning followed by a quick round of picking up some of the things I dropped off for repair yesterday.

I dreamed last night that I should be attacking the eating plan with a little more passion. How sad is it to have journaling food choices and calorie counting slip into your slumber? We are coming upon that most glorious of fresh food seasons, though. I bet somewhere out there is beautiful zucchini waiting for me. I have a handful of my own cherry tomatoes ripened and ready to pick. Some lettuce needs to come in, too.

Last night the youngest and I cooked together. She took some pictures and we’ll see if I get anything written up. Basically, I was looking for a taste similar to what I was served in Florence last year. The final product was little penne pasta noodles with a cream and cheese sauce including diced pears and walnuts and topped with more slivers of parmesan and romano. The whole thing was a complete winner, but probably prompted my body to dream as stated above.

After dinner we watched the movie White Nights from 1985. I’m on a summer mission to acquaint her with all the dance movies I’ve watched over the years. (There is a lot of Gene Kelly in our future.) This one, in addition to the ever-dreamy Mikhail Baryshnikov introduced Isabella Rossellini. For me, Gregory Hines steals the show. (Ok, Baryshnikov’s 11 pirouettes are very impressive, but I love tap.)

Here’s a Tuesday morning flashback for you.

Well someone in this household had too much fun yesterday afternoon and is now dragging through the morning. I am not as young as I used to be, that’s for sure.

This weekend was the celebration of the 28th anniversary of marriage. We had a decent evening with dinner at the University Club. It’s always rewarding to carve out a couple of hours to talk. Sunday some friends came over for lunch and we bobbed around out back for what stretched out to be four hours! I can’t say I’ve done that for a long, long time.

This morning I am heading to the charming center of Waukesha to look up some stuff. Said stuff should wrap up the final loose end in that thing I can’t talk about. I mentioned to a girlfriend I may need to start keeping a journal and just publish that when I’m done with the thing I can’t talk about.

You know, everyone needs a hobby. I just like it better when mine isn’t decided for me.

That’s what we had for dinner tonight, so I thought I’d share. (Actually, someone in this household actually told me I had to share. Go figure?) It’s a great cold dinner on a warm summer evening.

Start with a box of Near East Taboule. I found mine at Sendik’s.

This isn’t mandatory, but the spice mix in the box is really handy. Add hot water and let it sit in the fridge according to the directions.

Then add a little lemon juice and olive oil to taste. (You know me by now. I’m an olive oil snob. The better your oil, the better your dinner.) To that add diced cucumber, tomato, and feta cheese. I usually put a few kalamata olives on the side.

Ta da! You’re done. Enjoy.

The two-glasses-of-wine-typos-should-be-ignored edition.

Tomorrow will be one week without Richie. It still feels weird. I miss the wonderful companion that dog was, but I admit, he’d had a long, rough stretch. I hope the guilt will pass soon.

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One of my dirty – well actually it’s probably a clean – little secrets is that I’ve employed a company to do the icky work around the house the last couple of years. That is, until this summer. The youngest took up the job a few weeks ago. She gets a reliable paycheck without having to take orders at Panera, and I get the satisfaction of knowing she can really clean a toilet.

Boy can she. I feel so much better now. She does a fabulous job.

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The air conditioner is my favorite summer addition. I finally chose Quality Heating and Sheet Metal (Thank you, Pat.) Two-stage heater. Single-stage air. Decent price. Good salesman. (Let me know if you want his name.) I received the rebate check a couple of days ago.

Yes, I’m getting soft in my old age. I’ve decided I like air conditioning.

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There’s a whole lot of stuff I can’t talk about right now, but I want you to know, I’m doing very well. Very well indeed.

–Cindy