“Knowledge is always accompanied with accessories of emotion and purpose” Alfred North Whitehead

Now that I live on the “west coast…” or near the west coast anyway, I can read post secret before I go to bed on Saturday night. But it seems so sad because I don’t get to read the secrets with Bey.

I just returned from my vacation with my SD. Some notable things happened on the trip. First I discovered a passionate love for a town in northern Arizona called Jerome. It was once a mining town that became a ghost town in the 50’s. The kids LOVED ghost hunting at our hotel and took 2 ghost tours. I am a skeptic and don’t believe in ghosts, but the kids had so much fun…who am I to be a kill joy?

Another notable occurrence is SD bragged to me that she got to use the word “sought” the other day. This obviously needs a little bit of back story. I am a vocabulary nut. Scoring nearly perfect on my SAT verbal section, GMAT, and GRE, I have an infatuation with words. In fact, I can tell you the two words I missed on my SAT…in case you are curious…which I know you are…aplomb and hoi polloi. (Don’t worry I know what they mean NOW). Anyway, not only do I love words, but as I grow tired or frustrated I tend to use larger and more complex words. For example, if I am in an argument with Bey instead of saying, “You hurt my feelings”, I might say “The belittling of my banal requirements must cease and desist post haste.” Nevertheless SD hates when I use words that she doesn’t know. I typically do not define them for her, but have her look them up herself so that she can remember them. She told me that she had the opportunity to use sought, and was very proud.

I need to remind any of my gentle readers that do not know this, but I am her stepmom. So on occasion I get the crumbs. I sometimes wonder what impact if any at all do I have on this child’s life? It is always so gratifying when something like this occurs. Case in point, it is because of my constant badgering that she is such a bibliophile. Perhaps in a few more years she can score PERFECT on her SAT’s! If they ask “sought”, “aplomb”, or “hoi polloi”. She will get a perfect score NO PROBLEM!

I got some AMAZING calla lilies from the man for my anniversary. He has never gotten them for me before and they are my most favorite flower. He is so thoughtful he also sent a small floral bouquet to my aunt. I one time told him that if one woman in a house gets flowers everyone should get flowers. Isn’t he amazing? He listens, he is loving, he is warm…who could be better?

I still have pictures of the trip that I will be uploading tomorrow. I dropped SD off with her mom today, and I get her back on Tuesday. It is always so weird when she is not around after having been around for so long…like I am missing an appendage. :)