I just won $2.00 playing free Bingo online! :-) I play at Uproar.com because I like to enter the sweepstakes and Bingo is a quick way to earn points. And every once in awhile you win a couple of bucks too. I think I inherited my Mom's "cheapstake" gambling gene. :-) I have won a whole $6.00 on that site, but I have won two B&N gift certificates and those were cool. I bought books with them - of course! I just ordered two Christine Feehan titles. I had picked up her Oceans Of Fire when Hemingway Bookstore went out of business in Red Hook. I bought it because of the cover - a woman diving next to the dolphin. It proved to be a supernatural romance, part of the Drake Sisters series. Abby has the power to cause people to tell the truth, even when they don't want to. People tend to avoid her because she isn't in control of this power. Just ask her long time enemy Silvia, who blurted out who she was having an affair with because of Abby's power. Abby is running from the Russian agent she fell in love with and who betrayed her. The bond between the sisters, and their high profile careers (model, pop singer, author etc.) makes this a book with teen appeal, but the steamy sex scenes make it one I would not recommend to teens. But it certainly is a great beach read for anyone who loves a combination of a little magic and romance.

Also use mypoints.com to order books through Barnes and Noble online because I earn points with them that I can get gift certificates with. Just ordered the DVD concerts of UB40 in Holland and Taj Mahal in St. Lucia. We had our usual 1/2 a burger and fries lunch at Shipwreck yesterday and we caught the end of the UB40 one and the beginning of the Taj Mahal DVD. I was in a grumpy mood and when I hear UB40's Red, Red Wine I had to sing along and felt better. Music is such a great mood enhancer. We have several concert DVDs that we like to watch. Steve and I have quite different taste in music and I want to find somewhere else to be when he watches Peter Gabriel ones, but since he loves his music I grin and bear it.

I know there is a movie out there with Vin Diesel as a male nanny, but I haven't seen it. I have read Christian Burch's The Manny Files. It is hilarious. The best humorous upper elementary/middle school level novel I have read in ages. The narrator is Keats Dalinger, the 8-9 year old younger brother of Lulu, who is the tween writing the Manny Files, which Keats fears will be the reason his parents fire the manny. The Dalinger family is more than a bit eccentric. Mirabelle, called Belly, is a preschooler who loves to be naked and get into everything she can. Indian is in between Keats and Lulu and seems to be the mediator in the family and has great fashion sense. Her choice of "costumes" are delightful, right down to the sari and turbans. All of the characters in this book are well rounded and delightful. I would have loved to have these parents growing up - much more interesting than the "normal" parents. Poor Lulu - what tween wouldn't be embarrassed by a male nanny who meets you at the bus stop dressed in a sombrerro? The manny is the delight of everyone in the family except Lulu who has quite a thick file on him, that Keats keeps trying to get rid of - even by knocking it out of the boat during their summer vacation, but no such luck. Lulu finally compiles what she thinks is enough evidence to get rid of the manny and calls a family meeting. Keats surprises himself by standing up for the Manny and the compromise makes everyone happy, including Uncle Max who is always with the manny these days. This one would make a great read aloud in class. The older students will pick up on the relationship growing between the manny and Uncle Max, but many, like Keats won't realize that they are gay as it is done so delicately.

Last comment for the day - we watched the sailboats in the Rolex regatta go by yesterday. They were beautiful! Only the captain of the winning team gets a Rolex though! :-( Teams come from all over the world to compete in this race.