Another Day of Lunch-cation

I don't know what this is but I found it in front of parking space outside of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. I thought it looked interesting. I just wish I knew what it was for. I've been past this church hundreds of times and I have never noticed it before Monday.
This is part of the banister that leads up to the front door of the church.

The front of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. I couldn't get a very good picture of the front because there is construction on the other side of the road and the sidewalk is blocked. Dexter Avenue is not a street you want to stand in the middle of to take a picture.

Blogger isn't cooperating tonight so I should have more pictures to add tomorrow.

Lunchcation

I know lunch-cation is not a word, but if others can use the word stay-cation I can use lunch-cation. I walked around downtown today at lunch with my camera becoming a tourist in my own town. It is different seeing things as a tourist instead of just a down town working. I got a few looks, but I just ignored them and continued to take pictures. Some days we (Bo and I ride together to work) ride in on the interstate, Bo drops me off, I head to my office, and forget that history took place a few blocks away. Here is todays short tour of Montgomery...

This is the Capital. I would have taken a picture of the front of the building but they are doing something to the columns. It is actually a really pretty building. I love the green lawn around it.

This is the Alabama Archives and History Building. It has a really cool map of Alabama out front. I hope to show you that later in the week. I don't think I have been in this building since the 4th grade, but I do remeber thinking it was really cool. Maybe I should go visit one day at lunch.

This is the First White House of the Confederacy. It is really odd to see this house in among state buildings, and other businesses. It just seems so out of place.

This is a detail from the fence around the First White House of the Confederacy. The iron work is amazing.

Tomorrow I plan to show you Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, and some of its detail.

Friday Night Baking

Blueberry Maple Breakfast Bake

Tomato Bacon Pie

Blueberry Buckle

Christmas in July

I just finished the book The Christmas Cookie Killer by Livia J. Washburn (pictured below):

This is what the back of the book said (thanks books-a-million for sharing this info):

Christmas comes to Weatherford, Texas, in this delicious new entry in the national bestselling series. Yuletide is here and retired teacher cum amateur sleuth Phyllis Newsom looks forward to finishing up this unlucky year. But she won't be hanging up her apron just yet because this year as Christmas bake-off is going to be cutthroat. Phyllis would like to think she's entering the Christmas cookie contest for the fun of it but that's not exactly true. She can't imagine anyone beating her snowflake-shaped lime sugar cookies. Then, during her annual Christmas cookie exchange, Phyllis heads over to the elderly Mrs. Simmons' home and finds her dead, in a pile of lime sugar cookies. But with a number of names on Santa's naughty list, this case may be a hard cookie to crumble.

I don't usually read mysteries especially murder mysteries, but a local grocery store chain was closing all its stores and this books cover keep on calling to me. I know your not suppose to judge a book by its cover, but this cover was just so cute I couldn't resist. I just love this cover art. When the book went to 50%/60% off I bought it. I thought it would at least be a good deal for the recipes that were included, which I really like the idea of them being there. The food talked about in this book all seemed like it would be very good. This book was an easy read, but somewhat predictable. I thought that I have figured it out right away, but I was one person off which I liked. In the end I would recommend this book and I'm glad I read it in the summer when it is so hot that I like to think about snow, Christmas hams, warm fires, sweaters, and cookies. This book would be worth purchasing at full price, but I'm really glad that I got it at a discount.

Tomato

My favorite picture that I have taken with my new camera. Bo's tomato are growing great.

New Toys

Yes, that's right I said new toys! Bo and I splurged after a long time of saving and researching. We came home from Best Buy with a Canon Rebel XSi D-SLR and a Fuji Fine Pix Waterproof camera. You should have seen how the salesman at Best Buy was so thrilled to be making such a big sale, to bad they don't work on commission.

I can't wait to use both of these cameras. The Waterproof one will work out great when we go to the beach and on our cruise later this year. The XSi will just be fun, and Bo and I both want to sign up for photography classes at the local college this fall.

The Glass Castle Review

Wow!! I LOVED this book!

Synopsis (from the Books-a-Million web site):In The Glass Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing to the horrific. Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover.

Again, I will say I just LOVED this book. I started it Sunday and finished yesterday. I couldn't put it down. Some people on the Internet have said some facts may not be exactly true or that Jeannette Walls couldn't have remember from the time she was three. Who are we to judge? I don't remember a lot of things from when I was little, but I sometimes remember the traumatic or from pictures or stories that my family has told me. Doesn't mean they didn't happen. I also think a lot of this book was written as she saw it from the eyes of a child, and I take this book as Ms. Walls story of her childhood. Ms. Walls has written a page turner of a book that I didn't want to put down, and I was sad when I finished it. I had grown to know the Walls children. This a perfect version of pulling yourself up by your boot straps story. At any time they could have given up or become overcome with obstacles, but she didn't.

I would definately recommend this book, and I'm so glad that my Mother-in-law recommended it to me. Now, on to my next book.

Summer Reading

I haven't really felt like sewing a stitch or painting a stroke, but I have wanted to turn a page. I LOVE to read, especially in the summer. This weekend I finished the book Quaker Summer.

The back of the book said: Every year I think there must be more to life, and every year, despite a new car or a trip to a new land, new milestones and triumphs in my son's life, or a redone deck, a pool, a spa, or entertainment system, I take stock and think once again, I was made for more than this. But I love my stuff.

This book is a Women of Faith Novel of the Year so I was expecting so much out of it. There were moments while reading this book that I was confused and I had to re-read sections to figure out what was going on. I have always have had a good rate of reading comprehension, so this was just agrivating. Sometimes details in the book weren't explained completely. Like the part about a Kangaroo. Where did it come from? And the ending left me wanting more.

There were parts of book I did like. Like that Heather was questioning the "stuff" that she has filled her life with and what more she could do if she was free from it. The concept of the book was good and the questions it asked were thought provoking.

In the end I just expected more than this book gave me. It will not be a book I will re-read. I will either pass it on to a friend or donate it to the library.

Fun 4th of July Weekend

I had a packed weekend. It started on Thursday night when I meet up with some of my friends from high school. We had a really small class so this was right around half of the girls in my class. We had a blast. Sometimes you just need to see people who have know you most of your life, especially when life is a little serious.

On Friday we Bo and I spent with my parents and grandmother. We enjoyed our day. This watermellon has to be one the best ones I've had all summer.

The 4th we spent with Bo family and finshed the holiday off with fireworks.

New Ceiling Fan

I know the designers on every design show on TV would rip it out of the ceiling, but I am leaving it up. I mean for Pete's sake we live in Alabama and its hot here. Bo hates putting up ceiling fans and he really procrastinated on putting this up. Now I can actually feel the air moving in the dining room and hall way. Hopefully, it will help with the power bill too.