ohbladioblahblog

I love thunderstorms. I was so exciting after we moved here and we got our first summer storm. I followed it via radar on the weather channel. It rolled up from the southeast and hit with a vengeance. It was so cool!

I later found out that this kind of storm is not the norm in Florida. Florida summer storms do follow a pattern but one where the cells will pop up quickly and disintegrate just as fast. If you watch the radar maps, you may think you are going to get some rain and still be bone dry 2 hours later. My sister was done one time and we watched the storm for over an hour but we got no rain. Lots of lightning and thunder, cool, wicked lightning.

After Gail died, Duffy started getting scared during storms. When his hearing was going, he would freak out with the camera flash because he thought it was lightning. Duffy died in 2006.

In 2007, Ryan started being scared of thunderstorms. Up until then, he and Andy never even acknowledged the storms. Last year, he would hide under a blanket usually on my lap. He started going to bed early so he could sleep though them, and he does sleep through them.

This year isn’t quite so bad but he still doesn’t like them. He is so worried that the power will go out and will now only use my laptop since it has a battery. (I have told him that if the power goes out, so does the internet.)

Andy seems to get a little excited during storms. But I think it is anticipation for a flooded backyard in which he can play in the water.

I wish I could just enjoy the power of the storms but I stay quiet and do my best to ignore them so Ryan doesn’t pick up on any vibes.

I watched What’s Eating Gilbert Grape last night. I can’t believe it took me 15 years to finally watch it. I have always been a Johhny Depp fan going back to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092312/. (Though I found Richard Grieco was cuter.)

I really like WEGG. True of every Lasse Hallström movie I have seen, they are sweet and funny and sad. It was hard not to like Gilbert even when he made fun of his morbidly obese mother. Though he tried to spare her feelings when the floor was collapsing under her weight. I could understand when he got so angry with Arnie that he hit him. It’s not easy raising disabled kids. And Gilbert wasn’t Arnie’s dad but his brother. Amazing that he took most everything in stride including having to earn a living in a dying small town grocery store. He didn’t seem too excited when he had to make deliveries the the Carvers especially when Betty nearly attacked him when he got in the door.

The scene where Bonnie, the mother, finally leaves her house after 7 years to get Arnie out of jail could have been better. Do people really stop and stare and a fat woman? I have never seen anyone being so obvious before. But maybe that is how the family felt with those eyes upon them.

It was fitting that they burned that crumbling house down at the end. Did no one see the flames? Where they that far out of town? Then next we jump to almost a year later and they acted like it was the next day. What did they do for that year? Avoid jail for burning their dead mother?

Sometimes it’s best to enjoy the film and not think too much about it.

I am a brand snob, mostly. It’s not that I have to have the latest and greatest but I believe good quality is important. I’d rather pay more once than cheaper several times because the item falls apart. One thing I know is good quality is Swiss Army stuff. So when I saw the Sigg bottles, I was drawn to their design. Unfortunately, so was everyone else and they are near impossible to find.

I checked out an old favorite, Thermos. They may not be trendy and hip but neither am I. However, they are good design, good quality. And they are mostly thermoses not just beverage containers. I got one for myself and I love that my tea is cold even though is 190 degrees outside. I got one for Ryan and he uses his everyday. And his milk stays cold so I don’t have worry about him getting sick. I would have liked if Andy took to his. Unfortunately, the first day he chewed the straw. The second time he used it, he removed what was left. It still works but doesn’t stay at leak proof as before.

The designs may not be as cool but since I have to hand wash these, maybe I can add some rubons and decorate it myself.

Overheard at the grocery store,

Latin is easy. It’s just like spanish.

Latin is, like, the originator of all languages.

sigh.

Two of my nieces are getting married this year. Both weddings are in Michigan in August.

I used to cringe at August weddings. Why would anyone want to get married in such a hot month? But being a Floridian, August in Michigan actually sounds nice. But we won’t be going. It’s just too darn expensive. Money is really tight right now, I will be lucky to afford decent gifts.

Today is also Liz’s, my sister-in-law, birthday. Happy Birthday Liz!