All-Entertainment Edition

1. We've had a bad week here. Insomnia has plagued the whole household, which turns Marshall and I into zombies, Miranda into a sniveling wreck and Alex just gets more hyper and easily irritated. So, instead of rehashing all the things that went wrong, I've decided to focus on something more positive: other fun ways to spend (waste) your time.

John Carter (of Mars) was an excellent movie--so much fun! We enjoyed it, so you should go see it too!

2. My cousin Theresa, with whom I had a lovely visit on Saturday in North Jersey, recommended a new book series for me, Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull. I read book one over the weekend, picked up book 2 from the library on Tuesday and finished that Wednesday night and now book three (also from the library) is on the table waiting for me to read it tonight. Mull isn't as good as Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson is my hero), but I am really enjoying the series.

3. Patricia Briggs' new book, Fair Game, arrived from Amazon last Friday. I didn't stay up all night reading it, just until midnight. I finished it on Sunday. I don't like her Alpha & Omega series as much as the stories about Mercy Thompson, but they are still worth reading.

4. While my mother and I were away on Saturday, visiting with family in North Jersey, Marshall took the children to play with their cousins, who introduced us to the world of Phineas and Ferb. Miranda is now good and obsessed, and Alex and I aren't far behind.

5. On Tuesday, my mother graciously took charge of Miranda so my mother-in-law and I could spend the day at the Philadelphia Art Museum. We spent a long portion of our time visiting the Van Gogh Up Close exhibit, which is excellent! If you live in the area, you must visit! I liked it so much, I changed the decor in my kitchen.

For many years, I have been displaying the works of one of my favorite watercolor artist, Steve Hanks.

Here's a close up of the frames on the right:

And here's the left. You'll forgive me if I don't take the time to look up the actual names of the paintings.

Well, here is the same wall and frames with a Van Gogh make-over.

Clockwise, starting on the right: Crown Imperial (Frititllaria) in a Copper Vase, 1887; Road Menders at Saint-Remy, 1889; Iris, 1889.

On the top, my favorite from the exhibit, Almond Blossom, 1890. And then Sunflowers, 1887.

You, too, can do this with stationary reproductions of the paintings and a few cheap frames. My thanks to my husband and my mother for the artistic arrangement.

6. Marshall is planning to spend the weekend putting in the rest of the laminate in the front room and the hallway. Prepare yourself for impressive pictures in next week's blog.

7. My favorite Steve Hanks painting, Finding Yourself in the World, is still one I would like to hang in my house. Here it is:

Ones that I presently own are Coastline and Reflecting (which hangs in my powder room, so as to not make any casual visitor uncomfortable).

And here's Jen.