Dear children: I know it’s tragic when the wi-fi isn’t working or even worse, is too slow, but let me tell you a story of catastrophic proportions from early adulthood about…8-tracks and cassettes.The ribbons would get stuck in the players of our cars while we were listening to our favorite songs.  I can still see those shiny ribbons blowing across the highway after ‘someone’ got so upset that they would jerk the cassette or 8-track out of the player. Frustration just overwhelmed our common sense and people (not me, of course) were known to chunk the whole thing out the car window in frustration, all while speeding down the road. Why, you ask? Because we didn’t have money to ‘download’ new music. We had to physically get into our cars and drive to the ‘record’ store to pick out new music. It was not dull or uninspiring at all because believe it or not, we actually had fun talking and having conversations with each other at the music store, on the way to the music store and after we got home from the music store.  Real conversations, not texting. Love, mom

“What to do with your one life? The same thing you would do if you have two lives, and this were the second.” Robert Brault

Big Little Lies: the conclusion and final show of Season 2 was a little bit disappointing. Nicole Kidman said she “would love” a third season, but only if everyone was involved…but will this series really return? Honestly, when Renata (Laura Dern) smashed a bunch of her husband’s toy and train collections with one of his own prized baseball bats, her performance was unbelievable.

Former Cy-Fair assistant 8^th grade principal at Anthony Middle School, Chris Maple, was placed on administrative leave pending a complete investigation and will not be returning for the 2019-2020 school year, after nude photos of him were allegedly circulating among students. Administrative leave? Hmmm. I would think nude photos call for ‘hit the road jack and don’t come back.’  Further research shows that he was convicted in 2008 for indecent exposure.

A glow-in-the-dark ‘pocket shark’ has been discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. The recent identification of the 5-1/2-inch shark has researchers from Tulane University in New Orleans and across the world talking. Researchers believe the petite shark emits luminous fluid from two tiny pockets, one located on each side near the gills, allowing them to glow in the dark.

Anne-Elisabeth and I watched Bohemian Rhapsody this week.It’s the story of the formation of Queen and the events leading up to their famous 1985 performance at Live Aid. It’s not only a collection of great music, Rami Malek is a fantastic actor,along with the rest of the cast. This week Queen’s 1975 Bohemian Rhapsody music video became the oldest music video to reach a billion views on YouTube. I’m not surprised. What’s not to like about one of the greatest songs EVER…

Are you having thoughts (while you still can) about how to save your brain? Here are some reminders: 1.) Drink more water. The brain is 80% water so even mild dehydration affects function. 2.) Practice mindfulness. Get a meditation app for your phone. 3.)  Exercise. Short bursts of activity produce BDNF, which is called Miracle-Gro for the brain. Regular exercise releases irisin, a fat-crushing hormone. 4.) Feed your brain. Eat plant foods, healthy fats, Omega-3’s and less processed foods. To reduce inflammation, eat within a 12-hour window. ‘When’ you eat is as important as ‘what’ you eat.  5.) Get more sleep. 7-8 hours each night. Sleep apnea is strongly linked to dementia. Melatonin 30 minutes before bed helps me. Seek help. 6.) Blood Pressure. Systolic pressure under 120.Pop test later. 😊

RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor director Sylvester Stallone is 73. Former football player, actor Fred Dryer is 73. He nearly won the role of Sam Malone on Cheers (1982), but lost it to Ted Danson when the writers decided they’d rather have the owner of the bar be a baseball player instead of a football player.Actress Shelley Hack is 72. Tiffany Welles in Charlie’s Angels.Actor Geoffrey Rush is 68. He is one of 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting:  Academy Award, Primetime Emmy Award, and Tony Award.

Music executiveTommy Mottola is 71. Actress Allyce Beasley is 68. She is best-known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series Moonlighting. Actress Nancy Olson is 91.Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard.  Actor, singer, Protestant minister and former professional football player Rosey Grier is 87. Actor Matthew Fox is 53. Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama series Lost.

Hip-Hop musician “taboo” is 44. Black Eyed Peas. Actor Patrick Wayne is 80. Second son of John Wayne. (Yikes. John Wayne’s son is 80. I’m getting old.) Country singer T.G. Sheppard is 75. He was one credit away from high school graduation but ran away from home at 15 to become involved in the music industry in Memphis.

Art Neville of the Neville Brothers, a legend in the New Orleans music scene and a funk pioneer, died at 81. He was best known as the voice of the Carnival season anthem, “Mardi Gras Mambo,” which he wrote and originally recorded in the 1950’s, and is still used today.

A father of six died at a North Carolina beach after a wave hit him with such force it slammed his head into the sand, breaking his neck. He was playing on the beach with three of his kids who tried to save him. He was 37. Be careful.

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Burger King has a new crispy taco. Based on what I read, Jack in the Box is not worried, and Taco Bell is still the winner in fast-food tacos.

A great way to start saving the Earth is to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic. On average, Americans toss 185-pounds of plastic per person each year. If that number feels high, actions like not taking a plastic lid when you grab a cup of coffee each morning and always carrying a reusable water bottle go a long way as a great start. Look at packaging when you shop. Buy in bulk or from bulk bins. Changing our habits can be challenging, but when it comes to saving the ocean and the planet, we need to do what it takes. Start today.

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”Diane Ackerman

The 14^th annual Chappell Hill Lavender & Wine Festival will be Saturday, August 10^th. Chappell Hill is not that far. The lavender farm will have craft vendors, music, demonstrations, lavender cuisine, petting animals and plants for sale, then you head over to Windy Winery for grape stomping, live music and wine tastings.Speaking of grape stomping, on the evening of Sunday July 28^th, Haak Vineyards in Santa Fe is having live music by The Slags, the finest food trucks in SE Texas, vendors and artists’ booths for shopping and a grape stomp. So, grab the kids and make some memories. www.haakwine.com for tickets and info.

Volkswagen is halting production of the current, third-generation Beetle this month. The car’s original design, a rounded silhouette with seating for four or five, a nearly vertical windshield and air-cooled engine in the rear, can be traced back to engineer Ferdinand Porsche, who was hired to fullfill Adolf Hitler’s project for a people’s car – a cheap, simple car that could be mass-produced for his country’s new road network. Beetle production began in 1938 and is considered to be one of the most important cars of the 20^th century.

The Cleveland Clinic has reported that they delivered the first baby in North America with a womb transplant from a dead donor. Uterine transplants have enabled several women to give birth but normally with wombs donated from a living donor.

Part of my daughter’s birthday gifts were tickets to the Houston Symphony to see “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,”the film-with-live-orchestra series. They show the movie on a 40-ft screen while the symphony plays below. Music always plays such a major role in movies, but it’s especially important in the Harry Potter films, setting the tone for drama, action and now with the fifth movie, romance. They’re doing The Little Mermaid the end of August.

“El Chapo”– one of the most notorious outlaws in the past 100 years, has been sentenced to life in prison. As he was taken away to a holding cell, he blew a kiss to his wife (who was implicated in a handful of his crimes.) Sweet.

The deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo is now considered an international health emergency according to the World Health Organization. This is the 5th such declaration in history. Previous emergencies were the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the 2016 Zika, the 2009 Swine flu pandemic and 2014 polio surge.

Well, it’s been twenty years since I lay awake in my bed listening to beautiful squeaking and grunting noises coming from the bassinet that belonged to my newborn daughter. She was my bonus baby because I went in to see Dr. Giannone for an upper respiratory infection and found out I was pregnant. I was not expecting that. She was born in July and I turned 44 in August of that year. She was and continues to be everything that I could ever have dreamed about. Smart, witty, hard worker, but most of all, she is nice and all things good. When she was growing up, each birthday she was allowed to invite as many people as she was years old. I had read something saying that this was a good rule. I liked it, so it stuck. So, twenty people were invited to dinner; her close friends from high school and new friends from college. They were told to “dress to impress” – which meant no gym shorts for the boys. Since ‘our house’ always had the ‘breakfast after-parties,’ I have known most of these kids since they were in 4^th grade. It was so much fun to see them a bit more mature along with the self-assuredness that comes from having been away for a year…they laughed and talked, played the piano and a popular game while I served different food courses throughout the evening. I had homemade sangria without the liquor, which I’m sure was a great disappointment, but everyone was gracious and thanked me. Kids helped me in the kitchen. Some friends had traveled a distance and spent the night, so I used the leftovers and cooked breakfast for them the next morning.  I have told you before, and will continue to tell you, that I am one lucky mom. A mom that now happens to have a twenty-year old daughter. Word of Caution: Time flies. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do and say today. Happy Birthday, Anne-Elisabeth. Thank you for being my kid and for sharing your incredible life with me. I love you to the moon and back a hundred-million-trillion times and I’m so unbelievably proud to be YOUR mom.

Thanks for taking the time to read us this week. Lisa