Double take?

They say everybody's got a "double" in this world. A lookalike, a "twin". I don't know if I believe that about all of us, but I do believe it about some. I've posted these top two pictures before. This first one is, of course, Harry Potter. Well, actually, it's the actor, Daniel Radcliffe, who portrays Harry Potter in the movies (if you want to get technical about it). This second one is of Kaleb, taken last summer just after he stumbled out of bed. We used to tell him that if he had black hair, he'd look just like HP. (Oh, okay, so fine...maybe my love of J.K. Rowling's awesome character has colored my perception a bit. Maybe.)
I tried year after year to get him to dress up in a set of Hogwarts robes for Halloween, but he just wouldn't go for it. (sigh) I mean, geez, it's not like I planned on carving a lightning bolt scar in his forehead! You'd think the kid could have done this one little 'ol thing for his poor, sweet mama, eh? Hmph! Guess not, 'cause he wouldn't and he didn't.
This next picture is of my BFF Susan. (She's cussing me at this very minute because I've posted this picture). Hey Susan! Cuss all you want. You can't reach me from Florida! lol And, hopefully, you'll be calm by the time you can reach me. *grin* Anywho, I've always thought Susan looked like Princess Di in this picture.

Yeah, okay, so you have to ignore the cake in her mouth...but other than having her mouth full - what do you think?
Okay, I've got to run now. I mean, I've really got to run. I can hear Susan thundering after me as I type this. Not because I've compared her to Princess Diana, but because I posted her picture on my blog. Susan's worse than I am about having her picture taken. Uhhhhh, Susan....deep breaths, hon, deep breaths. At least your tan looked great in the pic, right? Well, it did in the original anyway. And if you'd been sweeter and just let me take a decent picture, I wouldn't have taken one with your face stuffed with birthday cake. Speaking of cake, remember this day? I think it was Desiree's birthday maybe? Back in '97? See? We've been friends for a long time now. Put that gun away! You're not going to shoot me for posting this. Help me! Help me! Somebody call 911...I think I see her pulling up in my driveway. (Wow! Who knew a person could cover 750 miles in under 10 minutes????)

P.S. Love 'ya, Susan! Remember, good friends are hard to come by so tossing me aside for posting one, little teenie weenie picture would be just plain foolish!

Hail Hath No Fury Like a Thunderstorm in Spring

Check out these pictures from a storm we had here a couple of weeks ago. Boy that wind was blowin'! I thought the Bradford Pear tree might snap in half...but no such luck (I'm not a fan of the ever popular Bradford Pear, I'm afraid). The very next time I see that blasted Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel acting all excited and disturbed over a piddly little Tropical Storm down south, I'm sending him these pictures.
I've been through a few Tropical Storms. This little thunder/hail storm put them to shame. (Now a hurricane? That's a whole other matter....)
Here's Randey holding a little piece of hail from that storm.
Luckily, our vehicles didn't receive any damage. Kaleb's on the other hand, was beat up pretty badly. (I kept meaning to take pictures, but I forgot!) He was at work during the storm. It's amazing how much damage was done to his car while ours escaped scot-free - and they were parked only 4 miles apart! That hefty little insurance check he received help ease his pain just a bit, though....he is his father's child, after all.

Heckle and Jeckle

or maybe I should just call them Goober and Gomer. I was going through some pictures the other day and came across this: This was taken at Christmas 2006. Jacob and Kaleb were being their usual serious, studious selves when they spotted a giant spider. Well, geez, what could they do but jump into each other's arms, screaming like little girls?

Okay, so yeah, they were really just goofing off and doing everything in their power to act like fruitbaskets. The fact that I can't get them to pose nicely for longer than 2 seconds has long been a source of angst for me. Kinda cute though, aren't they? My boys...my very own set of Irish twins (they are exactly 11 months and 9 days apart in age). This will probably be one of my favorite Christmas pictures in the years to come. Oh heck, who am I kidding? It already is!

Reading Does a Mind Good

I love to read. It relaxes me, it thrills me, it takes me to places I'd never get to visit otherwise and it also takes me to places I hope I never have the misfortune to visit. I used to think I wanted to be a writer. I've since come to realize that I'm a much better reader, though. 'Course, I don't read near as much "important" stuff, like Lynne does. Shoot no. I like murder and mayham mostly. (This probably explains why Lynne makes much more intelligent conversation than I do!) My BFF Susan and I had a great thing going when we lived near each other in Florida. I would "collect" certain authors and she would "collect" certain others. We got to read twice as many books for half the price! But then we (as in me and my family) moved. (sigh) John Sandford was one of her authors. Now he's one of mine, too. How about ya'll? Have you read any of his books? If not, DO IT! They are sooooo entertaining. I can't get enough of them. (I already know that Jeanne is a big fan of Sandford. She and I actually read a lot of the same authors.) J.K. Rowling is another big favorite of mine. I love the Harry Potter books. Each and every one of them. I'm amazed whenever I hear that someone hasn't read them. They are truly, truly, truly extraordinary works of fiction. I've heard that some people (and actually know of someone personally) who won't read them, nor will they let their children read them, because they feel the books are un-Christian-like due to the subject of "magic". I don't get that thinking (and I'm not knocking anyone's beliefs here. I really don't get it). These same people think Superman movies and X-Men movies and Spiderman movies are a-okay. News flash folks...flying men, fellas with 10 inch adamantium (whatever in the heck that is) claws protruding from their hands, mind-reading mutants and radioactive arachnid bitten teenage boys aren't actually "real" either. They're all "magic" in their own way. That's just my opinion. If anyone could explain what makes Harry Potter specifically an affront to God, I'd love to hear it. After all, it's basically an epic story of good vs. evil, with good triumphing. Kinda like the whole Star Wars thing to me. (Don't even get me started on Star Wars. Suffice it to say, I own every SW novel that's been published. Gooooood reading, yessir!)
Moving on....Dick Francis is another one of my absolute favorite authors. I tried many times to get Susan to read him, but no go. Every single one of his books that I've read has left me spellbound to the very last page (no pun regarding the previous comments on "magic" intended!). Except for Field of Thirteen, which is a collection of his short stories. Oddly enough, that book didn't really do it for me. I haven't even managed to finish it yet and I first cracked the spine on it at least 2 months ago. His novels, however, are excellent.

I also enjoy a little Julie Garwood (although I only read her murder mysteries). And I love Tess Gerritson's books. She almost always tells a good story without causing me a lot of eye-rolling. lol
Michael Connelly - another of my favorites! I remember one time, I bought his book Angel's Flight, got home and found I already owned it. So I offered it to Susan. Nope. She had it, too. I offered it to my mother. Uh-huh. She already owned it. So fine. I took it back to the store. A few months later, I bought the same dang book again! How dense can you be? After that, Susan and I both started keeping track of our books using Excel so we wouldn't buy anymore "repeats". (I guess the fact that I bought the book so many times is a bit of an indicator that it wasn't one of his best, eh? I say that because apparently the plot didn't exactly leave a lasting impression, hence my repeated purchases of it. But by and large, most of his books are very interesting and memorable!)
Ooooh, Harlan Coben. He is one of "my" authors and now he's one of Susan's, too. A former boss introduced me to him (Coben's books, that is, not Mr. Coben personally). Every one of his books has been a great read, too. I don't have his latest one, though. I'll need to rectify that soon. He's one of the few authors I'm willing to pay full price for. lol Great reads!
And so is Janet Evanovich. I'm telling you right here, right now. If you haven't read her "number" series, get after it. These are THE most entertaining books! I don't really care for her other ones (they read too much like a Harlequin Romance for my taste), but the ones featuring Stephanie Plum, Joe Morelli and Ranger are fantastic. As a matter of fact, her latest one, Fearless Fourteen, is due out June 17th. I can't wait!
I also enjoy Dan Brown. Talk about controversial, though. Makes those little old Harry Potter books look like child's play (hey - that was kind of funny! Get it? The HP children's books/child's play? Oh well. Nevermind). Dan Brown, of course, wrote The DaVinci Code. I thoroughly enjoyed that book. It was exciting and fast paced and just an altogether good read. Even better than that one, though, was Angels and Demons. It was actually set before DaVinci Code and I hear they're going to do a movie on this one, too. Hope they do better than that last one. What a disappointment. I'm even a fan of Tom Hanks, but I sure didn't love that movie.

Stuart Woods - he's another good author. I find myself reading more and more of him. I think Susan probably "collected" him first, though. In fact, I'm sure she did. Glad she introduced me to his books, though. They're pretty entertaining - haven't found one that I haven't liked.
And how could I not list Robert B. Parker. I sometimes think he must be the most prolific writer in the world. It's like he puts out a book a month. lol I usually love his stuff, too, but lately, I'd like to smack him around a little bit due to the way he goes on and on and on with some of his characters and the "great loves of their lives". Bobby, baby, we get that Spenser and Susan are the lovebirds to beat all lovebirds. Their spirits are intertwined forever, yadda, yadda, yadda and we understand that Sunny and Richie have this strange, yet deep and abiding love for one another that will never disappear no matter how many other people they sleep with and/or marry. And listen, Jesse and Jen - yeah...okay, Jen's a worthless tramp and Jesse loves her better than anything even when she's sleeping with some guy she met her second day at work. WE GET ALL THAT. MOVE ALONG. PLEASE. Whew! That felt good to get out. Maybe Bob reads blogs and will take a helpful hint from one of his adoring fans, eh?
Oh one more...Lee Child. Sophie, one of my fine blogging friends from the U.K., reads Lee Child, too. His Jack Reacher character kind of does it for me. Don't know why. I should probably talk to a therapist about that....
Here's a fact of life and you can take this to the bank...no matter how many books you may read in your lifetime, there's always going to be more out there just waiting on you to dive in to them. Here's some of my "to be read" pile. I try to never let it get lower than 4 or 5 books. I start to panic when my supply gets too low. How about you guys?
What authors do you love? What sort of books do you read? And is your house as dusty as mine? Check out underneath that table! lol Maybe I oughta put my books down and pick up that Swiffer, eh? Nah....that ain't gonna happen. Reading. It keeps me breathing!