The Good Husband of Zebra Drive

It's another beautiful day outside. Mia and I spent time blowing bubbles. She saw the first butterfly of spring and chased it until it was out of sight. Now we're watching Backyardigans inside with all of the windows flung open to let in the wind. Jess is helping his dad plant trees on their property. Poor guy, I have a list of chores for him too, plus he has homework.

I have a couple of interesting links for you to check out today. The local paper, the Green Bay Press-Gazette put an article in yesterday about proms. They asked a month ago or so about prom stories, and the one I submitted was accepted. So read my prom memory here. There's a hilarious essay in this week's TIME magazine about the last prejudice in mixed marriages: interfacial dating. Considering I married a hunk, I found it hilarious. And for a bit of info on the ongoing debate on stem cell research, here's a bit that's being ignored by MSM but is important.

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith is the latest entry in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series about Botswanan Precious Ramotswe. I recently read three murder mysteries back to back, and reading Smith is like the sorbet served between courses at a large meal. It cleanses the palate and allows the reader to enjoy its lightness, but not being too filling to enjoy another read. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is undergoing some changes as Mma Makutsi decides to establish her role (or non-role) and Mr. J.L.B. Maketoni dips his foot into the water of investigation. Smith shakes things up while managing to keep things yet the same. After eight entries in this series, he has yet to become stale or trite. The simplicity of Mma Ramotswe's life is sweet to read and full of wisdom. Mma herself recognizes that in life there are large things like war, starvation, and disease that we can do very little about, but it's the small things like showing each other mercy and kindness that can make a difference. The mysteries in this series are slight, it's the larger human truths that are exposed that make this series well worth reading.

Years ago, when I wrote reviews for Sequential Tart, I made a great friend named Barb Lien who later married Park Cooper. They were true friends to me at a really rough time in my life, but we lost touch over five years ago. Yesterday for no good reason, I googled her and discovered that the two of them have founded their comics company and just had a graphic novel published by Marvel Comics called Half Dead. I'm so proud of them! It's great to find them fulfilling their dreams. Gives me hope for my own.

Thought for the day: You know you're the mother of a four-year-old, when you open the fridge to find a stuffed fish inside, and you know why it's there, and you leave it inside.