Friday, March 27, 2015

Friday Fragments

An unoriginal title, but it's all I've got. I know I keep saying I'll get back on track here, and believe me I want to, but I just can't seem to make that happen. In an effort to regain momentum I've signed up for the A-Z challenge again this year, Day 1 of which is next Wednesday.

Five days from now.

Ask me how many posts I've got scheduled. Ask me if I've even settled on a theme. Ask me if I'm sure I want to do this.  That last one I can answer. I think. While I don't necessarily gain new readers during the A-Z, I do seem to regain a bit of my blogging mojo, which makes the whole exercise worth it.

Course all of that is a whole five days away, so today let's frag.

It was snowing to beat the band when I left the house at 5:40 AM this morning. Yes, really! I wouldn't kid about a thing like that. It was KA-razy snow too, the kind that creates a phenomenon called snow blindness, where masses of big huge flakes are furiously coming straight at you as opposed to falling straight down. Makes driving a little tricky, but fortunately there aren't too many cars on the road at that early hour and the gym is nearby.

Yesterday we had an eerie fog that grew thicker as the evening wore on. I went to my neighbor's house for Book Club, and while we were there it started lightening. Is this spring? Apparently.

We discussed The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins, and everyone gave the book high marks. It's told in a similar vein to Gone Girl, but I thought Girl on the Train was a better story . I was not a fan of Gone Girl, although I did like the movie. I rarely say that, but in this case it's true.

Speaking of the weather (and aren't I always?)....desperate times call for desperate measures, so here's what we've resorted to-


That's hubs wearing his shades, sitting with his chair strategically placed in the tiny sliver of sunshine that hit our kitchen earlier this week. Kind of sad isn't it? You know what's funny though? The book he's reading is called In The Kingdom of Ice. Ha! How's that for irony? And no, it's not about the Garden State. It's a true story based on an exploration of the North Pole, which he said was initially slow, but since he's still reading I guess it's picked up a bit.

Do you use word verification on your blog? I don't, although I do approve comments and have no real issues with spam. For those of you who insist on using it, what's the deal these days? Sometimes I'm asked to type the word I see, but quite often now the reader is shown boxes of photos and instructed to 'check all that show pasta' or 'check all that show bread'. Feels a little bit like I'm back in grade school taking a standardized test, and I'm just going to say it's an awful lot of work to leave a comment when you have to pass a test to do so. Well, maybe not an awful lot of work, but it's not quick either.

We're cleaning out the basement. I don't think I'll elaborate because I'm going to write about that in the A-Z. It's not my theme because A) that would be boring and Z) I think I told you in paragraph one I don't actually have a theme. What I do have is a kind of-sort of-fuzzy notion of a theme, and cleaning out the basement fits. Well let's just say I'm going to make it fit.

So as I was saying...the weather...here's the bright side-


The snow has finally melted off the shrub beside our back patio enough for hubs to remove the Christmas lights. He missed that bush back in January and once the snow started falling the cords were sent into forced hibernation.  Rest assured we didn't actually turn the lights on in February or March, we just couldn't uncover them for removal.  Even if we had turned them on you wouldn't have known, because SNOW! 

The jellybeans in my kitchen counter display are disappearing. I tell myself I'll just have a couple, but I guess I've been doing that since I filled the jar on March 18th. No little girls home for Easter this year, so somebody's got to finish them off, right?

Half-Past Kissin' Time

Enjoy your weekend everyone! And if you've got some fragments to unload, hop over to Half Past Kissin' Time and add your link to the party.

21 comments:

  1. Again... on the same page. This time regarding blogging mojo or lack thereof. Eh. I kind of want to do the A-Z but I've got NO IDEA of a theme or even the resemblance of anything theme like so . . . yeah, likely won't happen. Sis Debbie says, why on earth would you do that to yourself again?! Especially when you are giving two bridal showers in early May?! I say because it would force me to blog and schedule things. Which in theory sounds great but . . .no theme! Arrgghh.
    Anyway . . . since our weather is suspiciously spring like, I'm hoping to persuade the Hubby to attack/clean the garage.... I think. Have a great weekend!

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  2. Reason #247 why I didn't like living in a cold, wintery climate: Christmas lights and decorations up until the "great thaw." It used to drive me crazy seeing all dried up greenery (brownery??) around peoples' doors and porches cuz they couldn't take to them down due to snow, ice, wind, etc etc.

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  3. I did not have a theme my first two years of A-Zing. I just wrote whatever:)
    Last year and this year I chose a theme. How many posts do I have scheduled...2 ugh.
    I liked Girl on the Train better too. I actually liked the Gone Girl movie better too.
    I am praying that under all of our snow there is a nice spring with minimal flooding.

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  4. Nooo... snow.... ughhhh!! We're supposed to get flurries tonight... & I have a photo session tomorrow. BRR!!!!!!

    I gotta get that book I keep hearing so much good about it!

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  5. I've been considering the A-Z challenge for a couple of years. It's not happening this year.....maybe next time.

    Sorry you are still experiencing snow up there, but happy to hear the last of the Christmas lights are down now! Great photo!

    As much as I miss having a basement....I'm so glad I don't have one to clean out! (Don't look in the garage, though, where there is only room for my car.)

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  6. I honestly can't believe the differences in our springs...You STILL have snow, and we have weather in the 90's already! Both a little extreme for March in my opinion. Don't think I could keep a bowl of jelly beans out for me to get into...love them. I did when my mother lived here with us as they were her favorite. Enjoy your week-end!

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  7. Once, I did a 12 days of Christmas blog challenge. It was ok. The big lesson for me was I don't enjoy time pressure especially when the work is creative. Good luck.
    I dislike word verification and thanks for not using it. There are better ways to control spammers.
    What is harder - the A-Z or the jelly beans?

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  8. I too am tired of talking about the weather...but spring seems to be winning out over winter here in MO. Jelly beans wouldn't stand a chance at my house.

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  9. My husband read A GIRL ON A TRAIN and loved it. He also loved GONE GIRL too but I didn't read either of these. I did watch the GONE GIRL movie though and liked it.

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  10. My hubby traveled north today, and said he encountered snow. There must have been a pretty wide swath of it. Enjoyed reading your fragments, and have to comment on the "standardized test" of which I can't always get to scroll so I can see the third row! I find if I hit publish enough, it gives me the option of letters again. Like you said, it isn't fast.

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  11. Jumping through those hoops to leave a comment bugs me too. Sometimes they don't even work like they should and you want to just FORGET the whole comment!
    Looking forward to your A to Z Challenge, have enjoyed your previous ones.
    Is everyone thrown off their blogging groove? Seems like it!
    Mmmm, cleaning out your basement. Not for the feint of heart!
    Have a good weekend!

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  12. I have not encountered the word verification situation that you wrote about. I agree, identifying the pasta or bread in photos is a lot of trouble for leaving a comment -- and I'm gluten-free! Ha-ha! Glad you've been able to rescue the bush lights. That was funny!

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  13. That is some very strange weather you are having. I don't like word verification. I always like pop-up comments but it now has verification with it. However if your a blogger you can usually just hit publish on the pop up without typing in the code. Glad you were able to get to the lights! Have a nice weekend.

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  14. I feel the same way about Gone Girl and Girl on the Train.
    I've never heard of that type of word verification; interesting.
    Our weather has been psycho, too. Fortunatately, today is gorgeous (and 38 degrees), so we're going to be able to finish our maple syrup cook today!

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  15. I'm quite sure you will get some decent weather one of these days. We have beautiful 70s and sunshine today in Texas...I washed the car!

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  16. I do not like the word verification either but haven't seen what you are talking about. It would likely cause me not to leave a comment.

    I'm not sure I would survive the A-Z challenge so I'll just enjoy those that do. I do real good to get a post together 3x a week.

    Sending warmer days and sunshine your way. I can't believe you still have snow. Ugh!

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  17. I preferred The Girl on the Train over Gone Girl, too ... especially considering the language in Gone Girl.

    I'm not using any kind of verification on my blog and thankfully haven't seen what you mentioned. I think if I had, I'd have to re-think commenting ... which is a shame as commenting is kind of the point of reading others' blogs, isn't it? I mean, in real life, who sits and listens to a friend without communicating back?

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  18. I haven't seen those word verifications, but I have seen the ones where you click on the box to prove you're not a robot.
    There's snow on the mountains...that makes me happy! :)

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  19. It is crazy to think that there are people having snow while we are hitting spring weather full on, even with a few days in the 80's. We wear shorts, you wear coats. Of course, when it's 110 degrees here, you probably won't be dealing with that. So, I guess it's a fair trade.

    I haven't seen the new picture verification boxes. That's a lot for just a blog comment. I agree.

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  20. Visiting from A - Z blogging challenge. As I am from a different time zone, Australia, were already half way through 1/4/2015. Nevermind I will catch up with everyone tomorrow. Lovely to browse your blog. I enjoy your writing style, it's easy to be carried along. Linda

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  21. Just stopping by on my way down the A to Z Challenge list. :-)

    Happily I don't see so many of the blogs with word verification on anymore. I do occasionally struggle to find a person's blog when they leave me a comment without a link back to their actual blog. You click on their name and then get led on a merry goose chase round the houses as you find all their Google+ comments, pictures they've uploaded, full biography but no blog link. I've given up on a couple of those.

    Hope you get some warm sunny weather soon, as I write this it's sleeting and hailing outside. So much for British summertime!

    Cait @ Click's Clan

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