Tuesday I was feeling less tired but off. Peter and I went to see “This is the End.” Bloody brilliant. If you don’t have an aversion to drug and potty humor then I suggest you see it. Yes, there is a scope to it that needs to be seen on a large screen. We went out to lunch. I had a salad but still felt off. Got home and took a nap. Woke up with a fever of 101 and lost my lunch, breakfast and part of last nights dinner, I think, to the porcelain throne. That was a miserable afternoon and evening.

About 4 AM this morning the fever broke and this morning I am feeling drained but much better than I have in a couple of days. So with any luck I am over this and none of my family members will pick it up.

So this morning I got all the cat boxes clean before the day starts to heat up and now onto the next thing.

I have been re-watching Sherlock starting with Season 1. It is interesting to go back and see how they seeded what happened at the end of Season 2 back in the first season.

The cats are in a huge catpile today on the couch. No fighting. They are nose to tail in the sunshine. Happy content cats.

And that was an exciting game 6 for the NBA finals. So now we get a game 7 and the question is can the Spurs get over the shock of what they almost had in their hands.

I am grateful for short illnesses.

Next week, I think, I am going to be taking her into the city with me to shop the fabric shops for a couple of projects I want to do. We have most of the day already planned. She is looking forward to some Mommy/Daughter time.

She, like me, has a million of ideas of things she would like to do. Most of what is stopping her is lack of practical knowledge to do these things. So among her other activities we are going to work on her sewing skills and her drafting skills.

I have also decided that she is going to learn cursive this summer and work on her handwriting (At this point I know my mother is probably laughing really hard now considering my lack of penmanship and that I went back to print as soon as I could). I think it is important for her to learn that. And now science is backing me up on this What learning Cursive does for your brain. I am also going to introduce her to calligraphy, which I think she will like. That and we are going to continue on multiplication and division. Can’t let the math brain stay dormant.

She is also practicing her flute. She is taking lessons this summer and will continue her practice of the instrument. She is getting serious about her flute playing because she can see how far she has come in nine short months.

I am grateful that my daughter wants to learn skills from me.

Pippin was incredible. The use of the circus motif just added to the play rather than distracted from it. Andrea Martin stole the first act with her rendition of “No Time At All”. Terrance Mann is, well, Terrance Mann. I have a new version of an old meme I have seen Terrance Mann right a unicycle, your argument is irrelevant. Patina Miller did a splendid job of Leading Player. The Fosse choreography was used vey well and I bet Mr. Fosse would have loved working with the performers to see how far they could push it since he would have had acrobats and contortionists to work with that could also dance. Matthew James Thomas was an excellent Pippin and was very giving of the stage to others. It is one of those productions that will still be talked about 10 years down the road. It is the Pippin that all other Pippins to come will be measured against. And for those who know the show, they used the alternate ending very well.

Cinderella was Caroline’s favorite of the two musicals. She enjoyed Pippin a lot but Cinderella was more her speed. It was done the way that a classic Broadway musical would have been done if Rogers and Hammerstein had taken it to Broadway at the time of the first TV version. The cast was solid. Laura Osnes has a lovely voice and that wistful expression one must have to play Ella. Victoria Clark did a wonderful job as the Fairy Godmother. We saw the Broadway debut of Andy Jones in the role of Topher (the Prince) and both Peter and I think we saw the start of a long Broadway career. This kid was really good and he has that presence that cannot be taught but is innate in an actor.

We spent the night in the city because it seemed a little silly to drive back home and then get up very early and drive out to Citi Field. We had a nice breakfast at Ellen Stardust Diner. Ariel joined us afterwards and we trekked out to Citi Field to meet up with Gwen and her fiancé. The seats we got were under the overhang just enough that we were never in direct sunlight which was nice since the breeze kept us cool and we didn’t have to worry about sunburn. And the Mets won. Bottom of the ninth and a homer had to do it but it was worth the disappointment of all the other innings because they won. Afterwards they had run the bases for the kids, which Caroline did and almost took Mr. Met’s hand off with a serious high five. We were glad we were driving east going home because the west side of the LI was a disaster from Queens to the Suffolk line.

Peter was very happy with his Father’s Day weekend. Caroline gave him a big hug and told him that she was glad that she could celebrate Father’s Day with him and he was getting better. The implication being that the stroke could have made that day very sad for her. Rather heavy thoughts for a 10 year old.

I am grateful that we could celebrate Father’s Day with Peter.

I have an amazing sister who is a creative soul.

She is a poet who is working on a project that she created called 10,000 flowers where she is giving away art work. More details can be found here. Feel free to participate.

She creates cool word art. Ask Neil Gaiman about the word art about his dog she did and he owns.

She has a book on the creative method entitled “Catbooks and other methods” which can be found here. I love the subtitle to the piece.

She is one of a kind and I am proud to have her as a sister.

Happy Birthday Sheila! Hope the day is extra special nice to you.

I am grateful that my sister is my sister.

Now there are LED bulbs. And they are better than the CFLs but the quality of the light is different and I can’t say I like that either. The warm tones of the light are gone. There are other types of in the works but I don’t think any will replace the good old incandescent lightbulb.

It is cool enough this morning that I have the windows open to let the air through the house. It is not that humid right now but that will change as the day wears on. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain. Friday is Field Day but if it is raining, it will be cancelled this year. I am not doing a puppet show this year. First time since Caroline started school.

Ah the sounds of lawn mowers are sounding through the air. There is a village rule that there is mowing before 8:00 AM. There is another noise ordinance which states that bars have to keep it down after 11 pm (midnight on weekends). That one gets broken all the time but not by anyone here. The music drifts across the water from the towns next to us. The Karaoke Tiki Bar is the worst offender. I think it is fortunate that all we hear is the music.

I am trying to find this kind of stretch fabric in gold rather than the green one I have.

Green scaly spandex fabric

Anyone have any ideas? I haven’t explored the possibilities of the NYC fabric district yet but I don’t want to do that until I have all my ideas in place.

I do have too many ideas and now have to pare them down to something that will work for the table.

Still sorting out the puppetslam. I am really hoping that something strikes our fancy soon. Our one good idea was done so that one is not happening.

Going to the new location of our beloved Kung Fu school for our lesson today. I really like the new space. It has a good energy about it and feels warm and inviting.

Need that coffee to kick in before I start my next project.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love my husband? He does things that make my life easier because he wants to make my life easier. I know how lucky I am and how blessed I am to have such a great guy in my corner.

Caroline has 6 more days of school to go before summer vacation. We are making a list of what she wants to do with her summer. Learning to sew is pretty high on the list. Play at the pool is up there too. I want her to have a good summer. This morning I came down and she was playing with her Monster High dolls. Before breakfast she took the time to clean up after herself which I was so proud of her for doing without me having to ask. She is growing up so fast.

I was listening to NPR yesterday and they talked about how English classes seem to be dumbing it down to make sure the kids are reading. But they need to read more complicated books as they get older to continue their vocabulary skills and reading comprehension. The teachers say that they are happy the kids are just reading but that is all they are doing. They are reading but not challenged. Yes, I got frustrated in school by some of the books they had me read, but I think I am a better person for having gone all the way through Moby Ðìçk once.

Stephen King’s new book Joyland is out and can only be found as a paperback. It is a good read. I recommend it.

Peter has a new book coming out through Crazy 8 real soon now. It is called Fearless and it was written by Peter and Caroline. It is sort of a sequel to one of my favorite books of Peter’s entitled Tigerheard. JK Woodward did the cover for it and it is amazing. Once I can post it I will. This, like Tigerheart, is for both the adults and the kids.

I don’t have any ink yet but my guilty TV pleasure are the tattoo shows.

OK Coffee is kicking in and I have things to do. Have a good one folks.

I am grateful for things I can’t even express but find a way.