Mid-July odds & ends

• It feels like it's been awhile since I last posted. I guess it has been over a week. (a) I've been busy, especially at work :p  & (b) I really haven't felt inspired. Summertime laziness, I guess.
• Plus, it was damned hot & humid here earlier this week -- even though I spend most of the day in air conditioned comfort, I find it still saps my energy.  Everyone at our office was complaining about how tired they felt. 
• I am also sadly behind in my blog reading & commenting. I can't remember the last time my Google Reader was below 1,000 posts, let alone clear. Gulp. (I do read non-ALI blogs -- including a few political ones that publish dozens of posts daily & contribute to these inflated numbers.)  My apologies.
• What can I say about last night's gun rampage in Colorado that hasn't already been said?  :( 
• I got chills when I read that one of the victims had narrowly escaped being shot at the Toronto Eaton Centre last month, and had blogged about the experience.  (I blogged about the Eaton Centre shooting here.)  
• Hearing about the gunman's booby-trapped apartment & massive quantities of ammunition and explosives reminded me of the huge cache of weapons, ammunition and explosive devices that was discovered in a home in a quiet neighbourhood in a town north of the city last week. Neighbours had to be evacuated and kept away from their homes for days while police went through the house. They had to be evacuated again this morning when the cops found yet more dangerous stuff cached away. What on earth is wrong with people these days???
• There was another shooting locally on Monday night at a block party that left two people dead and 23 wounded. It happened just a few blocks away from where FIL lives.  This stuff is getting a little too close to home for comfort. :( 
• Last weekend, 17 people were struck by lightning at an event in another suburban community near ours. None of their injuries were life-threatening, thankfully, but I know several people who were supposed to be there or who live nearby and could have been there. I haven't heard from all of them, and I am hoping they were all safe.
• Dh & I were actually not far away at the time, taking in a Sunday afternoon matinee of Woody Allen's new movie, "To Rome With Love." It's not his best -- last year's "Midnight in Paris" was much better -- but I don't think it's his worst either -- it was mildly entertaining. The scenery, as you might expect, is fabulous!
• Dh's & my favourite line of the movie comes near the end.  Jesse Eisenberg comments "I guess with age comes wisdom."  To which Alec Baldwin emphatically replies, "With age comes exhaustion."  Now I call THAT wisdom, lol. ; )
• We recently ran into a former support group client, who endured infertility, multiple losses and a failed adoption before deciding, like us, to remain childless/free. It was a long and difficult road -- but she told us life is good these days. I am so glad!!
• Today is my dad's 73rd birthday. (Happy birthday, Dad!)  I called him on Skype and got to see The Princess (there with her parents for dinner & cake) as a bonus. My sister was there too & warned me to start lifting weights -- the Princess is not quite 11 months old and weighs almost 26 pounds!!