No one mourns the wicked

The war is over

I hate fruit flies, I sure do
I hate fruit flies and so should you
They feed on fruity things that rot
And come out of my garbage pot
Their reflexes are lightening speed
"Please hold still," I beg and plead
They breed and breed like its their job
It makes me want to moan and sob
My first trap didn't work so well
I wish that they would go to hell!
Next I tried some plastic wrap
Over a cup of apple sap
They crawl right in and can't crawl out
Looks like they've lost the exit route
I tip the cup and then they die
I surely, surely do not cry
Now that all of them are dead
I finally can go to bed.

The lake house

This past week Summer and I planned another trip to Lake White. I think I'd consider it my new favorite local retreat. Our friends live on the lake so we spent the day tubing and boating.

All the houses around Lake White are white with red roofs and the lake is surrounded by the hills of southern Ohio.

Summer and I tubing


I tried to get Summer off her tube.
It didn't work.


Steve walking on water


View of the lake from their house. Notice the pirate ship to the left.

Yes, a pirate ship/raft. It's awesome.
We towed it behind the pontoon boat & set up a projector screen on it to watch a movie at night.

They've also turned an old school bus into a scarlet and gray traveling party van, complete with futons, a refrigerator and mini-stove.

Did I mention that Lake White is the middle of Pike County so it is "hicks-ville?" Here are some amazing/hilarious things we saw around town.

A toilet being used as a flower pot. Ingenious!

Animals feeding in the front yard.

They were sold out when we stopped inside to pick some up.

The thing

I came out from the movies last night and this is what I saw on my car:

I know that I'm scared of insects, but this is one HUGE praying mantis

Pete was the only one who would get close enough to it, so he provided a size comparison.

Pete was mesmerized by it. I was not.

I also made Pete swat if off the car. Candace and I were too freaked out to go near it.

You say it best, when you say nothing at all...

I love the Olympics. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching this past week, especially swimming and watching Michael Phelps race . However, the announcers have been incredible. And by incredible I mean horrible. Here is a sample from Saturday's race after he won his eighth gold medal.

"Eight for eight. In the 112 year history of the modern Olympic games, more than 100,000 athletes have competed in summer and winter Olympic games. Only one has won eight gold medals. That is called beating the odds."
Beating the odds? Really?

"Michael Phelps and eight gold medals in a single games; never, ever done before, may never be done before. Who knows."
So you're saying it's never been done before?

"Probably doesn't matter what the conditions are. Just wind him up and he goes, although the pool and modern training techniques and the new swimsuits didn't help or didn't hurt rather when it comes to all those world records set here."

And then there is Andrea Kremer, a reporter for NBC who asks the worst questions. Brendan Hansen had not won a medal at these Olympics until the last medley relay. With Michael Phelps standing right next to her, what did Andrea ask Brendan?
"Can you put it in perspective for people what winning 8 gold medals in a single games, 16 overall in an Olympic career means?"
That is the only question she asked Brendan.

Don't get me wrong. I think Michael Phelps's is a great athlete, if not one of the greatest athletes ever. But some of the announcers and reporters need to find some new material. Or stop talking.

Mistakes

I recently heard this quote on a television show and it got me thinking:

"There are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to know that it really is a mistake is to make that mistake and go, "Yup, that was a mistake". So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake because then you'll go about your whole life not knowing whether it was a mistake or not."

I really hate when lines from a tv show strike home. However, this quote sums up many aspects of my life. A few of the more trivial events in my life that I knew might be potential mistakes (and the ones I'm willing to divulge):

• Was it a mistake last week to have 2 cookies for breakfast, a cupcake for lunch and Jeni's ice cream for a mid-afternoon snack? Absolutely. But now I know my sugar tolerance in a 6 hour span.
• Was it a mistake to go Europe twice in one summer even if it meant not divulging the trip to my coworkers and calling in sick from Dublin (great story)? Heck no, although it remains one of my proudest yet shameful moments.
• Is it a mistake to plan another international trip when I just paid off the previous trip to Spain and the student loan bills just started coming? I hope not.
• Is it a mistake to stay up past 10:30 the nights before I go to work? Yes, and yet I continue to make this mistake.

Do I learn from these mistakes? Yes, for the most part. Do I regret some of these mistakes? Of course. But I think I'd rather regret the mistake than regret not even making a potential mistake.