A year and three days ago, I got engaged to most wonderful man. We're now married and constantly receive reassurance that we're disgusting newlyweds. Anyway, we celebrated by spending a day in Amish country. As you can well imagine, I had to resist urges to be too obvious that I wasn't inspecting with the intent to buy. I like to see how people who know what they're doing make objets d'art or warmth as the case may be.

Some of the highpoints of the weekend were an apple dumpling sundae, fudge, a dessert buffet, kissing the husband, a nice long walk, and holding the nicest had in the state of Delaware. We also visited a little place called the Outhouse. It even smelled like an outhouse which makes me hope they used a synthetic spray to cause that odor and not a natural source. Somehow we got out of that receptacle of complete kitschiness without purchasing anything. I guess we have better taste than some of the pictures I've found hidden in our house would suggest. The previous owners left us some "treasures". I understand why they left them behind, but I can't understand why they bought them in the first place. Maybe a yard sale could give me some insight into that.

We also had some friends over for dinner on the fourth. Apparently, I am the only person around here that likes side dishes. Needless to say, I am still working my way through leftovers. I wouldn't mind so much if they were all cheesecake...

Today finds me back in my normal rut. This is the one where I try to decide what my priorities are for the week. Between reading, writing, watching, and crafting, I have the hardest decisions to make. It may be possible to have too many interests, but I am not willing to admit defeat quite yet...

The last dream I remember having last night just reminded me again that honesty is a beautiful attribute, and I have been punished in the past for wanting to see it in others. I recall a landlord who received my new lease agreement, held onto it, and then decided to tear it up without letting me know until a month before the old lease ended. About three weeks later, he called to tell me I could go ahead and renew my lease. Two lucky facts preceded this offer: 1) The new owner had already informed me that he had rented out the apartment. 2) I had found a new place to live. I have also had roommates who expected me to pay half the bills when they used two to three times as much electric water and whatnot as me and people who told me to go ahead and move into a place then charged me a full month's rent for a week when they had verbally agreed to let me move in early without such a stipulation. It's amazing how often people cheat others and expect to be rewarded for it.

These days, I have a charming roommate who gives me free kisses in the morning and inspires me to be a better person. He also gives me reasons to bake pizza and doesn't seem to mind my obsession with mailing items to other people. He may just be happy that I am trying to redistribute some of the items I have been collecting over the past ten years.

As I was reading Qwilleran's thoughts on journalism, I realized I could have given a little more insight into my trip this weekend. The first thing I would advise is to make a careful list of places you would like to stop. Then you can plot a course of action to best see as many sites as possible without having to backtrack or potentially cross busy traffic. Never underestimate the drawing power of any tourist site especially during a holiday weekend. Expect to be rubbing elbows with perfect strangers, including ones who may or may not have decided to bathe thoroughly today.

Also expect some disappointment with your accomodations. If at all possible, ask them for a room away from the pool. If the pool is open until 9pm, you will feel like a part of the party until closing time. This can be fine if you are in a party mood, but if you are in a relax and snuggle mood, this might be counterproductive. Also expect that a historic inn will have been remodeled by this time in the twenty-first century, so it will look like almost any other hotel room you might stay in. This does promise your own private bathroom, however, which I can't complain about. I feel no shame in admitting that sharing a bathroom with complete strangers would freak me out. I didn't enjoy it with the girls I kind of knew in the dorms.

In other news, I may like the Friendly's burger with jalopeno's and nacho cheese on it too much for my own good. It's like eating a burger and a jalopeno popper at the same time. Yum. Top that off with the ice cream of your choice and they should pay me to advertise...or my friends could just lure me out to Friendly's for a dinner date. Of course, that would require some of them to venture out this way for a visit.

I have found that criticism can be hard from both sides: giving and receiving. Some people should not give criticism or ask for it. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject because I love giving criticism. For the safety of the world, I reserve it for myself most of the time. Thoughts:

If you aren't willing to accept criticism, you shouldn't ask for it. It is a waste of another person's time to critique something for you so you can make yourself feel awesome about the one thing they were nice enough to compliment and ignore what could actually be helpful to you.

Expect to hear some bad feedback. If it was perfect, you wouldn't need the criticism, would you?

No matter how much you love hearing the sound of your own voice, keep in mind that most people will start tuning you out when you go off topic or keep hammering the same nail with a different hammer though it is already in the wall.

If you wish to offer criticism, you should be objective. Even if something doesn't fit your cookie cutter idea of perfection (or because of it), it still has value to others. Trust me. I've asked those others and cautioned them to be unbiased.

If people keep giving you the same advice, maybe you should look into it.

Don't get so caught up in your idea of how things should be that you can't see the validity of another person's way of doing something.

Offer the other person some input on how you would improve those items you have complaints about. It may help them to see where you are coming from instead of feeling attacked.

It may be advisable to bring a ball gag to a critique session for that person who never lets anyone get a word in edgewise (even when it is that person's turn to speak). Sometimes you may be the one who has need of this helpful restraint.

Keep in mind that one of the joys in life is trying to understand it from someone else's perspective. Cookies wouldn't be nearly as wonderful if you never shared them with a friend...

All of the holidays I like in July aren't celebrated by everyone, particularly in the United States. I didn't realize it was Bastille Day until I started to jot down a few of my thoughts on the day. Of course, I had to identify the day which I now have. Now I am wishing I had noticed earlier. I could have made myself crepes for breakfast. Maybe next year. Maybe tomorrow.

I attempted to make up for my neglect of my French powers this morning. Since I didn't make crepes yesterday, I devoted a little time to working on some records for Family Search that originated in France in 1850. These tend to be more difficult because they predate bureaucratic red tape and standard forms. Also, the handwriting looked a little different back in those days. Sometimes, I even find that what I though was one letter is actually another as I read through the next record. It is very rewarding, of course. It helps me to remember that I really didn't make enough effort to learn les nombres as I should have.

This only reminds me of how many little projects I am neglecting. You'd think with my days free that I'd accomplish a little more than I do. I think I need to have a discussion with my muses about that. Maybe I should bake them some cookies first.

I have been getting out and meeting people this week. Luckily for me, the ladies from church are great people. I'm enjoying getting to know them though I wonder whether I have anything useful to offer them. As long as they like cookies, I figure I do. If it can't be achieved with cookies, a smile, and a little love, it probably isn't worth my effort, right?

Now that I have made myself feel guilty, I might just go work on some other projects. Wish me luck!

After posting my intention to bake a cake, I received many recipe suggestions. I spent some quality time evaluating and decided to daringly bake one up this morning. I haven't tasted it yet, but I have high hopes for its tastiness. A lot of tasty ingredients went into it which included chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. How could I go wrong with that combination?

I somehow managed to injure my shoulder so I've spent far too much time today stretching it this way and that way. I am not sure any of the stretching, rubbing or prodding has helped, but I can't be accused of not trying to make it better. My spine has also been trying to be a pathetic whiner, but chocolate can help me ignore anything.

Anyway, tomorrow is my Slurpee birthday. In other words, I'll be turning 711 years old tomorrow. I expect to receive at least one Cherry Coke Slurpee for my birthday. I guess I should let my husband know. He'll buy me anything I really want. It would be impossible to get a better present than his love though, so I am sure my fans won't try too hard to compete (all .5 of them).

"May we learn what we should learn, do what we should do, and be what we should be."
"We urge all Latter-day Saints to be prudent in their planning, to be conservative in their living, and to avoid excessive or unnecessary debt."
"Let us make our homes sanctuaries of righteousness, places of prayer, and abodes of love that we might merit the blessings that can come only from our Heavenly Father. We need His guidance in our daily lives."
"The worth of souls is indeed great in the sight of God. Ours is the precious privilege, armed with this knowledge, to make a difference in the lives of others."
"Now, some of you may be shy by nature or consider yourselves inadequate to respond affirmatively to a calling. Remember that this work is not yours and mine alone. It is the Lord's work, and when we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to the Lord's help. Remember that the Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it." ~Thomas S. Monson

My husband proves time and time again that he is a patient, caring, giving and wonderful man. Yesterday, he joined me for the enjoyment of my birthday present. He does give the best gifts: from kisses to tickets to the Lilith Fair.

After a short jaunt up I-95, we found ourselves in the detestable state of New Jersey. I tried to ignore that fact as we stepped out into the parking lot and wound our way through the small groups gathered for picnic lunches and beer pong in the parking lot. We managed to make it through unscathed. As we arrived only shortly after the gates opened, the crowds haven't converged quite yet. We walked around, scoping out possible places to buy $4.50 bottles of water, $8 hamburgers, or $2 cups of cheese. This was when I began making observations that may have been a little too snarky, but what else would the world expect of me? For the sake of people who care about poetry done right (music), I will start with observations on the music and then make commentary on the crowd.

Joy Ike had already started her set when we arrived. Her music probably would have had more affect on me if I wasn't still reeling from the prices of food.

My husband was kind enough to hold my hand as we traveled to the second stage where Zee Avi was performing. (This was problem wisdom on his part. After all, I am prone to getting lost. Anyway, back to Zee Avi.) I was impressed with her sense of humor. I always appreciate when people bring their personality into their performance. I am not sure I could do it. I am pretty sure I have stage fright. Anyway, some of her music was kind of jazzy which I like. One of them brought her good sense of humor into her music since it was about the thirty-one days in June. Take a moment to do the math.

I admit that I was biased toward the next act before I had already heard her sing. I had looked her up on youtube, so I would have an opinion that wasn't pure name bias. Butterfly Boucher (pronounced like voucher. I was wrong in assuming it was French. It sounds better to me in French, but such is life.) Anyway, I admit I was pleased when my husband expressed his approval of the music. The CD we bought and had autographed didn't have quite the same sound (didn't rock as much), but we will find time to see if it sounds better with good speakers. I was also quite pleased when Sarah McLachlan came out to help her sing a few songs. That causes me to drag my husband out in the sun for a better view. Sarah's personality and enthusiasm is just as huge for a small crowd as a large one. She gets a certain look on her face when she she is saying something saucy that amuses me. She stayed through a few sets until she was dismissed (literally). Luckily, my husband and I had remembered to slather on sunscreen so no unpleasant memories will develop on our faces.

When we had acquired our autographed CD and confirmed name pronunciation, we wandered back over to the other stage to give Anjulie a listen. Her music was a little too sexual in nature for me. Of course, I couldn't help but be amused that the song she was rocking when we wandered through was talking about how a woman needs a man. Considering the assumptions most people make about denizens of the Lilith Fair, this led me to giggle a little bit. I am not sure my husband got it. I think he couldn't get past the music enough to actually listen to the lyrics. He does have a higher degree of self-preservation than me.

We slowly wandered back over to the other stage by way of the t-shirt vendors, hoping for something more to our tastes. Jill Hennessy did not disappoint. After I assured my husband that she was the actress from Law & Order, we were both satisfied as to the confusion that we knew the name but not the music. Her music, to me, is on the border of rock-n-roll and country (like Sheryl Crow).

The music then moved to the main stage. This meant we could claim our seats and be a little lazy. The performers were the opposite. Serena Ryder brought lots of energy to her set. She shook out her hair, stomped her feet, and swayed with the beat. She has a nice deep voice that carries well. That always makes you happy when you want to hear what is being sung. I should probably add her to my mental playlist...

Ms. Ryder was followed by Missy Higgins. She also brought her own energy to her music and plenty of instruments all the way from Australia. Apparently, she had not played in a while, but I couldn't tell. She seemed quite comfortable. Being unfamiliar with her music, I wouldn't really know if she made any mistakes. If she did, I was still impressed.

At last, an artist I was formerly familiar with took the stage. Sara Bareilles (who also doesn't pronounce her name as if it was French) and her piano were quite satisfying. Of course, I had to lean over and reassure my husband that I would write him a love song. I can't seem to stop writing him love songs, in fact...I digress. Would I be me if I didn't?

The Court Yard Hounds was next to entertain. Our ears were ringing a little bit by this time as they had turned up the music for the previous act. Being that I grew up where I did, I may be predisposed to liking music with banjos, so do I really need to say it? Jill Hennessy even joined them onstage for a song. She may not have been the biggest Hennessy hit of the stage, however. Her daughter wandered out to join the band for a song as well. Adorable!!!!

Of course, an evening at Lilith would not be complete without Sarah McLachlan taking the stage. As always (by which I mean the millions of times I have listened to her CDs), she was breathtaking. My husband even said that one of her songs rocked. I was amused as this was one of the few songs I didn't sing into his ear, "Stupid". It just doesn't apply to him as well as "Ice Cream" or "Loving You Is Easy". We were rewarded for patiently remaining seated after the lights went down by two extra songs. The last one even brought out a few of the other ladies who had graced the main stage for an exciting rendition of "Because the Night..."

So maybe I shall end this month with a bang. The only way to do that is to finish the snarky commentary that I never even started the other day. For some reason I am missing emacs today. Maybe I will download it for Windows when I am finished. I guess I shouldn't hold my breath on that one. I seem to have a case of the lazies. Guess what I am doing--again. Digressing? Indeed. Back on task:

A FEW TIPS FOR ATTENDING CONCERTS

1. If you are rocking the farmer's tan, this may not be the venue to show off your new bikini.

2. Other people paid to see the concert, too. Don't assume that they want you to push in front of them so they can look at the sweat running down the back of your neck.

3. Holding on tight to the hand of the person you are with may not be enough to indicate to other people that you are together.

4. If you want to sit in a seat, pay for one instead of taking an empty seat only to find out that it was paid for by someone else. This tends to result in lots of people being crammed into a small space while the actual ticket holders explain this to you.

5. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and possibly IQ. I don't think I need to say more.

6. Never ever assume the genders of the people around you. You may be surprised if you take a closer look.

7. If you go to certain concerts, you can expect a long line for one restroom but not the other. Don't be surprised if you are in the minority and members of the majority join you...

8. Bring three times as much money as you would normally pay for beverages and munchies.

9. Leave some room in your bag the freebies that will be being passed out. Eventually, you'll have to accept something in the hopes that it makes them stop offering.