I haven't totally recuperated from my "mouse-itis" yet but the right hand and arm are doing better after staying off of the computer as much as possible the last few days. It was horrible - I am addicted!

I was just outside listening to the waves striking against the reef, realizing how much quieter it is when we don't have jet skis running around in circles below us in the bay. Oh the joys of having the Marriott within easy distance and the bay being a safe place for them to play, out of the ferry traffic. I can't see the thrill of running around in circles like they do, but each to their own.

Off to the movies tonight with some of the Montessori women - chic flick. Can't remember the name of it, only that Meryl Streep is in it. I plan on dressing warm and taking a hooded sweatshirt! The last time Steve and I went to a movie here on island I could barely hear it my teeth were chattering so hard.

I picked up Valerie Hobbs' Letting Go of Bobby James, or How I Found My Self of Steam because of the title and because I loved How Far Would You Have Gotten If I Hadn't Called You Back? I read so many YA novels, for me to remember scenes from a book like I do this one from the mid 90s is saying something. So I was hoping for a good read and Hobbs didn't let me down. I found myself hearing Jody talking in a rural Texas twang and smiling at the way she said words her own way - like my self of steam instead of self esteem. Her comment about the boodwar lamp had me snort laughing. Jody is one of the most likeable female characters I have read about in quite awhile. She knows what is expected of her - to be Bobby James' little woman and put up with all of his abuse, just like her mama does with her daddy. But, when Bobby James takes off from a Florida gas station cause she is taking too long trying to figure out how to cover up the black eye he gave her, she is glad. Jody decides it is time to start her own life and before you know it she is washing dishes at Thelma's Open 24-Hour Cafe and has found a friend in slow-witted Dooley, who let her sleep in the theater, and pregnant Effaline, who helps her get her very first apartment. Jody's got a full head of steam toward her own life when Bobby James comes back from Texas and expects to move in with her, his dogs and all. But Jody isn't about to go that route again. I smile just thinking about feisty Jody and her self of steam.

Speaking of favorite authors - I love Colin McNaughton's books for little ones, especially his Preston Pig stories, such as Suddenly! and my all time favorite (based on Little Red Riding Hood) Oops! So when I saw the little dinosaur with what looks like a dog dish on his head on the cover of Potty Poo-Poo Wee-Wee I had a sneaking suspicion that isn't a dog dish on his head! It is Littlesaurus's potty chair and when Daddysaurus introduces his son to the chair and tells him what he is supposed to do in it Littlesaurus thinks that is the funniest thing he ever heard and shouts, "Potty Poo-Poo Wee-Wee!" Father responds with, "Shush. It's rude to say it so loud." Well that sets Littlesaurus off and when family members and neighbors tell Littlesaurus how rude his piles of poo are he responds with his potty chair chant and builds sandcastles with it, uses it to carry rocks, or wears it as a hat. It isn't until Grannysaurus tells him that Daddysaurus was the same way and Daddysaurus gets really upset and says he doesn't care if his son ever uses the potty that Littlesaurus decides to try it out. The last illustration of the little dinosaur sitting on the potty with his pants around his ankles, tennies on his feet and a baseball cap on backwards is a hoot! I need to get this one in the mail to my daughter who is trying to potty train my grandson.

That's it for today.