May 2013 Round Up and Pinspirations

Dog image from 123RF. Rope frame by MandaBean (no longer available). Font is Kristen ITC.

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Okay, so, this is my first month posting some internet articles in lieu of talking about the fact that I didn't read a book again this month (or not much of one). As you can see, I *might* read a few articles about movies and TV, but I'm sure that comes as no surprise to my faithful readers. ;-) I do read other stuff, too! I even included some of it below. (And I would read nearly every single thing Mental Floss publishes, if I had time. No affiliation, just love them.) Some of these I tweeted (I know I did the first two), so if you follow me there, you may have seen a few of them already. Most are "new", though. Hope you enjoy!

• 6 Influential Stop-Motion Movies From Ray Harryhausen - RIP (Mental Floss)
• A New Theory About Why Egypt Stopped Building Pyramids (The Atlantic)
• 8 Movies that Changed Movies (Mental Floss)
• Solving the Equation of a Hit Film Script, With Data (New York Times)
• 4 things most native English speakers don’t know about English (Matador Network)
• 8 Symbols That We Turned Into Words (Mental Floss)
• ABC Drops DWTS Results Show (Entertainment Weekly)
• Fall 2013 TV Schedule - Day by Day (TV.com)
• 10 Facial Reconstructions of Famous Historical Figures (Mental Floss)
• The Gift of Siblings (New York Times)
• 3D Faces Printed from DNA in Discarded Objects (Twisted Sifter) (amazing! super cool, but super creepy!)
• How Do Doctors Get Paid? (Ideal Medical Practices)
• To the Parents of Small Children (Steve Wiens)

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
* TV Time: May Sweeps is over, so all of our "regular" shows have ended. Mythbusters has started back up to keep us company, and I know our "off season" shows will be back during various months this summer. For kids' TV, we have discovered Wild Kratts on PBS. Luke really loves it! We don't mind it either, thank goodness. It's so hard to find something good for him to watch, so we are grateful for this new discovery. Fall up fronts were finished/announced. Read more of my thoughts on that and the new upcoming shows here.
* New Films: Most of what we saw this month was new, we just didn't see an awful lot of films.
- Witness for the Prosecution - Very interesting. Had part of it figured out before the end, but not all of it. I do believe this was my first Marlene Dietrich film, though.
- Iron Man 3 - Different from the others, but still good. More here.
- Stand By Me - This was great to watch, more just to see all of these young gentlemen learning and growing, but still very fine actors, even at such young ages. That includes Kiefer Sutherland; I had forgotten just *how* good he was at playing a scuzy hooligan in the 80s. Very touching movie.
 -Yankee Doodle Dandy - Different from what I thought it would be, but still good. Not quite sure what I was expecting, but I loved watching James Cagney in a real song and dance film.
- Star Trek Into Darkness - Intense. Good movie. Didn't feel much like a Trek movie. More here.
- School of Rock - I had several people tell me that I would probably like this movie, even though I am not usually a Jack Black fan. It was pretty good. A little more "Jack Black-ish" than I tend to like, but still good.
* Old Favorites: Serenity, Hercules, Marvel's The Avengers

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
We saw tons of friends at Mother's Day, including some all the way from Denmark! And we saw tons of family over Memorial Day weekend. Always fun, if tiring. Also bumped into a friend I haven't seen in several months at Luke's awards day at school, so that was really nice. We're hoping to get together sometime this summer.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
I received a very nice digital photo frame for Mother's Day. We send cards to our moms and grandmoms. DH sent *the* best card to his mom. It is very much their sense of humor, made all the funnier by the fact that my husband actually designs bridges for a living!



What special or unusual purchases did I make?
We finally bought new mattresses. They were supposed to be delivered on a Monday, but they were damaged when loaded onto truck. They didn't have any more in stock, so they reordered the mattresses from the facory and cancelled the delivery. But no one bothered to call and tell us that! The poor sales guy had to field a very upset call from DH on Tuesday. We did get a refund on our delivery fee, and we did eventually get our mattresses on Friday, but it was a bit frustrating.

But my most exciting purchase for this month was definitely buying my usual brand of jeans in a size smaller! Mom also took me shopping Memorial Day weekend and bought me some new work shirts, since I don't have many short sleeved work shirts in my new size. Thanks, Mom! Here's one that everyone really liked. (Can't believe I'm posting this! LOL Crummy cell phone pic (sorry) is actually from June.)



What new foods, recipes, or restaurants did I try this month?


We decided to try another new Mexican restaurant this month. El Toro is very near to us, in the same complex as one of our favorite local Italian places, in fact. Since we had finally tried Monterrey's, we thought we should try their closest competition as well. We liked El Toro better than Monterrey's, but our hearts and our taste buds still belong to our favorite Los Lorros.

What Pinspirations did I try this month (besides any recipes above)?
I promise, I will try at least one pin for next month!

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I had a nagging cough that was finally officially diagnosed as bronchitis. (I still could not drive myself at that point, so DH had to take me. According to him, I have a distinctive cough. He could tell if it was me coughing or someone else from the waiting room at the doctor.) The antibiotics worked, but the cough itself just would not go away. My doctor finally called in some Tessalon Perles. she said they are more effective than any over the counter cough suppressant, and boy, she wasn't kidding.

In ankle news, I was discharged by the orthopedist (nothing more he needs to do as a doctor), but I do need to continue with physical therapy. Hoping to be done with all of that by the end of June. But in a new development, my left heel now makes a popping noise with every step, and I can feel something popping or grinding inside there. It is at best uncomfortable, and soemtimes, it is intensely painful! Very not happy about that, and really don't have the time to go to yet another doctor apointment right now.

What were my accomplishments this month?


Losing 25 pounds was probably the most major one, though it's been happening over the last 6 months, not just this month. I was also finally cleared by my orthopedist to start driving again. My first trip was a little scary and rather painful for my ankle, and I only drove about a mile, but I did it! I also walked about 3 blocks to lunch one day. I know that doesn't sound like much, but considering I destroyed my ankle just 8 weeks ago, walking that far "for no reason" is kind of amazing! It was a lovely spring day, just perfect for a short walk.



What were Luke's accomplishments this month?


Well, let's see. We think Luke is in the middle of a growth spurt. At IHOP for dinner, he ate: 2.5 full size (6 inch/15 cm) pancakes, 3 eggs, 5 slices of bacon, and 16 oz (.5 liter) of milk. (For comparison, I ate 2 pancakes, 2 eggs,*no* bacon (he ate his and mine), a half order of hash browns, and water.) He also had one weekend morning where he slept until nearly 9:30 AM. He's usually awake at 6-6:30 on Saturdays, maybe 7:30 at the latest. I was starting to worry! As you can see above, Luke received a trophy for completing his spring soccer session. It was his first "person trophy," which made him very happy.

But the biggest accomplishment (for all of us) is finishing second grade. Kermit flail!!!!! And he even did it on the Principal's Honor Roll (All As/Ss).


What were this month's disappointments or frustrations?
I did absolutely awful at meal planning all month. Just really fell of the wagon. Need to get back to doing that soon.

Anything else noteworthy to record?
Can't think of anything.

Monthly Round Up concept courtesy of Katie the Scrapbook Lady, tweaked by me.
Currently feeling: rounded up