Up until I was about five or six, my dad had a big old dump truck. He'd use it to take corn and oats to the mill to be ground into grist, or cows to the auction house. I thought it was pretty cool to watch the back part of the truck tilt up to dump the corn and oats out. I wished we could dump the cows out as well, but I realized they might get injured so I never asked my dad to do that.

I was sad when my dad traded the dump truck and our awesome '59 Ford station wagon to get a new pickup truck.

Recipe, please?

Exxxxxxxcellent! Thanks!

I'm wide awake and busting ass on the housecleaning; it's visibly moved from Hazmat to Filthy to You Have Kind of a Clutter Problem, Don't You?

Dang, I am jealous. (We're in our usual state, which is somewhere between Hazmat and Filth.)

I was awake from 5 until 9. I went to bed at one. I was going to go swimming, but decided a nap with Loki was necessary instead. NOW I'll swimming.

Oh, JZ, I just started reading the book you linked to on your mom's review blog (The Philosophers' Breakfast Club). Good stuff. Tim still marvels at my uber-geekiness. (But, come on. At Easter dinner with *his* family, we discussed the Higgs-Boson particle. I *have* to read hefty books just to keep up!)

Cool, Tep! My mom is kind of terrifying in her retirement--she's slamming through 1-2 books a day and her place is pretty well wall-to-wall books on every wall, with two TBR stacks on the floor next to every chair. It's entirely possible that before she dies she will actually succeed in her ambitious plan to READ ALL THE THINGS.

One downside - now that the filth is semi-conquered, the clutter is more obvious and dismal. How does that even work?

I need to start on my cleaning- which is Hazmat. I tend to feel un motivated, because once the Hazmat is cleaned up, you notice the clutter and stained carpet, so it i snot perfect.

I did walk to the store and back and so am feeling both accomplished and hot. Upstate NY, not so much with happy medium of temperatures. I love this little store, though-- it is like a real small town store, like the one I worked at in high school, and it has really awesome produce and meat (which is pretty much all I buy. It is more expensive (except their sales are good. I can't ever buy more than I can carry, though, as it is about a mile to the bus stop.

I have just done an epic sort of my clothing. I now understand what I should wash today, what I should take out to be washed, and what won't be attempted today at all, here or elsewhere. And I wonder if I have clean sheets. I might not have clean sheets.

But at least I know what I'm wearing next week. Can't work out how to dress with the light orange skirt, though. It's very new to me. It's this. I love the cut, but I really wish I'd gotten it in the violet instead. That would have been adoration.

Maybe I'll practice on that skirt today. But first I must start washing t-shirts.

Black sleeveless top and black strappy sandals, ita.

On an earlier matter, Pix, I hope you have a fantastic time in Barcelona. I loved that city, it's one of the absolute top tourist experiences I've had. Anything Gaudi is incredible. Beyond the usual, there's this market district selling artworks that's well worth a visit too. I'll see if I can track it down.

Re Madrid, the museum that floored me was the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. It houses Guernica and some marvelous Dalis. Of the two, though, Barcelona is the one I would choose to return to.

Man, it is cold and wet here today. A good day for staying in, drinking hot tea and reading or knitting.

Very glad that I'm not foolish enough to be at Indy right now.