She could feel the Big Hill looking down as the Crowd danced at Tib's wedding in the chocolate-colored house.

So yesterday I went back and read some of my old Betsy-Tacy and Tib books, because it was rainy and I was feeling nostalgic. Oh! I'd kind of forgotten how adorable they really are!!! I'm going to name my daughter Anastacia (despite my sister's admonition that "that's kind of ghetto") and call her Tacy, no matter what my husband thinks or what his last name is. *sniff*

I read the whole first one in like twenty minutes, which was got to be the cutest thing ever. And then when Tib comes (she was Colleen's favorite, because she was rich), and they sit on the fence and talk about God, and they start their getting-into-Heaven club? So cute!!! My favorite part is when Betsy says that they haven't really been that bad, and Tacy replies, "We're born bad!" Ah, Catholic guilt- Victorian style.

Then I read part of Betsy's Wedding, which was actually the first book in the series that I read. And it was so sweet. I know I'm gushing. But I can't help it. And the ending? It makes me want to cry. Maud Hart Lovelace said that the reason she never continued after Betsy's marriage was because she loved the last line of Betsy's wedding so much that that deserved to be the ending of the series. I personally think it was because she lost a baby right after birth and didn't want to screw around with Betsy's life, but the line is wonderful. *tear*

I'm going to read these to my children in utero. And then force them to read them when they're old enough. And drag them to Mankato to have their picture taken on the bench. They're going to be soooo pissed at me...


Yay---my iPod charger came!!! And actually works. Which I was slightly worried about, as, you know, iPods are famously tempermental. I see that little frowny-face guy in my nightmares. But it works, and I can now charge it in the car thanks to my (okay, my parent's) little AC adapter thingy which saved me another thirty bucks for the car charger.

Apple has quite the little racket going on, don't they? Now, my iPod was a gift. But I know it was expensive. You'd expect it to come with something to charge it, right? Um, sorta. It comes with a little USB cord that allows you to charge it by connecting it to the computor. Which is just lovely and works fine---if you're sitting next to a computor all the time. So. You think, wow, I need an outlet charger. Then you think, wait, if I got out of town, I need to buy a car charger so that I won't be sans tunes for hours across America's heartland. So you add that to your cart. Then you think, wait, I can't listen to headphones when I'm driving---that would be irresponsible driving, which I do not condone. So you buy the little cassette adaptor thingy. Which also works just fine as long as you're next to a cassette player. A couple days later you're sitting in your room or office or whatever, and think, hmmm, some tunes would be really nice right now. Too bad there's no way to play my iPod over speakers. So you buy (or ask for your birthday, my method of choice), the iHome base that allows you to listen to the iPod at home (hence the name). Oh, this also charges it, so the thirty bucks you spent two paragraphs ago on the outlet charger are lost. Finally, you're working out one morning and getting all sweaty trying to hold the iPod that you think, if only there were a contraption that would strap this to my arm...but wait! There is. For $29.99.

So you have now spent over two hundred dollars, plus whatever very large amount of money the original iPod cost you. Not that I'm complaining. Because I've done all that. Sheesh.

Watched America's Got Talent (which is kind of false advertising if you ask me) last night, because I was promised popcorn, and I also like to watch white people try to dance. So there was this whore in mesh shirt over a sparkly bra who could put her legs behind her head. Guess how many votes she got? And then there was this woman who stripped for her talent, which almost everyone can do if you take your clothes off slowly enough. I'm not saying anybody wants to see it, but we all have that "talent".

And then this annoying George Michael look-alike comes on the stage. I didn't see him the first time, but apparently he sang Caruso. So I'm kind of bristeling, because that's clearly Josh's song, even though anyone with a rudimentary grasp of Italian seems to put it on their CD. But I'm okay with it. Then he announces he will be singing You Raise Me Up.

Now I'm kind of pissed. That is Josh's song, and you do not take it from him, weird person. But still, I felt a little bit sorry for him, because nobody can sing it like Josh, no matter how hard they try.

So he starts he performance, and he IS TOTALLY RIPPING OFF JOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously. He stole the scruff, the touseled hair, even the mike hands. It's like he got a copy of Live at the Greek and watched it for a couple weeks. He even walked around the stage slowly like him. I was NOT amused. I'm kind of suprised he didn't get a mike stand and do the finger thing. The Grobanites would have been all over his ass. And not in the creepy way they are all over Josh's. *shivers*

But the good part is that he sucked. His voice was all high and cracky and he couldn't pull off the Josh thing- obviously, because no one can. Except Josh. I miss Josh. When the hell is his CD coming out???