There's sprinkle, there's shower, there's storm

And then there's

deluge
noun
1. A great flood.
2. A heavy downpour.
"deluge." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 22 Jul. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/deluge

And those occur frequently here in Carolina during the summer, but never for very long.

Really?

"You almost have to have a calling from the Lord to do this type of work."
- Steven Turnage, whose job it is to dress up in a chicken costume to promote a fast food restaurant, as quoted in this article on the Washington Post website

pish
interjection
Used to express disdain.
"pish." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 21 Jul. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/pish

Take that!

I'm reading the AP Wire on the Washington Post website, which I do at least once a day, when this catches my eye.

Customer Subdues Robber with Applesauce
The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 18, 2006; 11:35 PM

PHILADELPHIA -- A customer at a city grocery tackled an armed robber and beat him with a can of applesauce when he refused to drop his gun, police said.

And honestly, the first thing that goes through my head is, "I've never seen applesauce in a can. In a glass jar, sure, and in individual plastic cups, certainly, but a can? A can of applesauce?"

distract
verb
1. To cause to turn away from the original focus of attention or interest; divert.
2. To pull in conflicting emotional directions; unsettle.
[Middle English distracten, from Latin distrahere, distract-, to pull away : dis-, apart + trahere, to draw.]
"distract." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 19 Jul. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/distract

the truth comes out

Anyone else who's the youngest child knows what I'm talking about. We're not baby-people naturally.
I was the baby, therefore was not exposed to babies and until I had one, I wanted them to all stay 20 feet away from me at all times.

But being a woman, I would catch flack from other women because I had never changed a diaper, and didn't (want to) know how to work babies. Many peers of mine acted like they

wrote the book on

Knows nearly everything about, This expression is always put in the past tense. [Colloquial; second half of 1900s]

babies and I was a big idiot.

But now their supposed expertise has been shattered in the face of an actual baby. One that they don't just teach at gymboree for an hour.
My baby (and her idiosyncracies) has rocked their world. They don't know what to do with her at all.


I must have not been born with that competitive-woman-sewing-circle-I-know-kids-more-than-you-do gene

Too hot to even bark

Today's high temperature was predicted to get up near 100, with heat index at 110. Tomorrow is supposed to be roughly the same. I'm not sure why they're called the dog days, when my dogs don't even want to be outside on days like today.


dog days
idiom
Hot, sultry summer weather; also, a period of stagnation. The term alludes to the period between early July and early September, when Sirius, the so-called Dog Star, rises and sets with the sun. The ancient Romans called this phenomenon dies caniculares, which was translated as "dog days" in the first half of the 1500s.
"dog days." The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. Answers.com 17 Jul. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/dog-days

Oh. That's why.