Cast Aways

As much as I hate snakes more than anything, spiders are in running. Because, well, they are EVERYWHERE.

We had an unusual kayaking adventure yesterday. My friend Cindy and I noticed almost right away that we were paddling through spider webs. Not big ones. Just enough you could feel the string on your face or arm. And a small spider, too, course.

EEK! Feeling creepy crawly yet?

We wondered how an earth can we be running into spider webs in the middle of the river? What are they attached to?

Since it was a clear sky, we soon noticed floating bits of white web against the blue backdrop. So they were getting blown off the trees then? Or just falling from the sky?

Of course, the guys claimed they didn't see or feel a thing. Like the ladies were collecting spiders and such for our witch's brew or something. They didn't have answer for it either.

Cindy looked it up on the Inter-WEB, and found out they are "casting." Apparently, they cast their webs into the wind to travel! They are probably getting ready for winter. She said this is where the saying "Cast your troubles to the wind" comes from.

So one, I am going to choose to believe her because I don't want to Google spiders and have to stare down 8-legged monsters on my computer screen. And two, it does make logical sense that the spiders are casting away on the river. That is where we cast away our troubles, too!

I also cast away my troubles by watching Vikings victories on the couch (crossing fingers tonight) and reading a good book in bed. Please, spiders, feel free to cast away elsewhere.

Cast far, far away.

Extreme Makeovers

I am so excited to have the computer fixed that I had to share some groovy pictures we made from a cool Web site called befunky.com. When you get to the site, just click on "Cartoonizer." You can warp a picture or change it into a cool portrait. Funky stuff. Check it out!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Who says you can't find a reason to laugh on a Monday?

Dirty laundry

I've always followed the rule that I shouldn't write anything for publication that I wouldn't want my mother to read. In other words, keep it clean.

Well Mom found out what I've been doing on the Internet. She happened to stumble upon a meet-and-greet with my fans this weekend (a.k.a. family get-together).

My siblings, bless their hearts, were talking about some of my blogs and how much they enjoy them. Just as my head started swelling to enormous proportions, Mom breaks in with "You're doing what?!"

Helpful sibling #1 says, "Robyn's got a blog!"

"A what?" asks Mom.

Helpful sibling #2 says, "A blog. She's just writing about her childhood and our family secrets." (Ha. Ha. Thank you, supportive family.)

One, you can't joke like that with my mother. Two, how do you explain what a blog is to someone who still uses a rotary phone?

After getting past the fact that a blog was nothing like a tumor or any medical condition, I just explained that it was like my old newspaper column I used to do ... just little light anecdotes about life -- not airing our family's dirty laundry!

Besides, I said, the only people reading it are family or people sitting within a 10-foot radius of my desk. It's not like my commercials on Lifetime have started airing yet.

I don't think she grasped the concept. Of course, now that I know Mom thinks the World Wide Web is a sequel to Charlotte's Web, I might just write what I please.

Nah. One of my siblings would tattle!