I use Google Analytics to track the metrics for my site. I have always been interested in statistics and numbers so Google Analytics definitely delivers on that. One of the metrics that I find interesting is where in the world my blog readers live/work. Here are the top ten places I get my visits from, in order from most to least:

1. United States
2. India
3. France
4. Canada
5. China
6. United Kingdom
7. Japan
8. Guam
9. Bulgaria
10. Greenland

Now the last two really have me scratching my head: Bulgaria and Greenland. Apparently they are interested in what I have to say!

I have always been an extremely light sleeper. Any noise, any movement, I wake up. It is ridiculous.

Last night was a typical night with many wake-ups. I don't use an alarm clock or even have a clock in my bedroom except for my cell phone so I have no idea what times I woke up.

I fall asleep pretty easily. Soon though, a thunder and lightning storm moves in and the thunder wakes me. I drift back to sleep.

A huge boom of thunder caused the dogs to become alarmed and they jumped up on the bed. I wake up briefly then go back to sleep.

Another boom of thunder causes our dog Max to become more scared and he decided to burrow under my pillow to hide, thereby waking me again. I finally get back to sleep.

Toot has an ear ache so I lay down in her bed with her. I fall back asleep.

I dream about my old friend Scott from high school. He isn't really my friend any longer since he married and his wife doesn't allow him to be friends with very many of his old friends. I wake up. The dream has upset me. I go back to sleep.

One of the dogs develops an itch and scratches it. His tags on his collar jingle and wake me. I remove the dogs' collars so they don't jingle. I fall back asleep.

We have some brief, hard rain that hits the windows. I wake up. I readjust my pillows. I go back to sleep.

I dream about a botanical garden that I visited in Daytona Beach in 1998. I wake up. I look at my cell phone to see if it is time to get up. It is 5 am. I lay there and doze back to sleep. I dream about San Francisco. My cell phone alarm goes off at 6 am. I get up.

I just finished reading The Vincent in the Barn: Great Stories of Motorcycle Archaeology by Tom Cotter. I also read one of his previous books, The Hemi in the Barn and loved it. This book is no different. The Vincent in the Barn is a collection of tales and stories about finding and restoring great old classic motorcycles. Now, I am more of a car nut myself although I do love to look at, read about, and visit motorcycles. But I am must admit right now that I have never driven one by myself. I am a wee bit scared of motorcycles. There is nothing between you and the pavement at 60 miles an hour if you have an accident.

This book takes you all over the world in search of elusive and rare motorcyles. From Russia to Saigon to Italy (where some of the finest motorcycles have been made.) This is a book about barn finds: following tips and clues to old sheds and barns around the world that contain hidden treasure in the form of motorcycles.

A book like this would not be complete without pictures. The pages are filled with pictures of motorcycles in all states of repair and dereliction. The stories include interesting details like descriptions of previous owners, prices paid originally, values of the motorcycles now, and even conversations between motorcycle enthusiasts and the people who are looking to part with the old cycles in their barns.

Motorcycle archaeology is quite an art and a science. The people who know, and I mean really know, the history and details of motorcycles are amazing. You can read about their knowledge and excitement about motorcycles between the pages of this well-written and illustrated book.

Just reading the stories in this book made me want to go right out and buy myself a cool old motorcycle. To put on display in my living room, of course. I wouldn't ever ride it!

And Tom Cotter: you can keep the stories coming.

For your own copy of The Vincent in the Barn click here.

FCC compliance: this book was provided to me by the publisher, Motorbooks.com, for the purpose of review.

Late yesterday afternoon Toot and I went to Brazoria to a birthday party for a friend from church's daughter. It rained cats and dogs on us as we drove there. Thunder and lightning was crazy. But soon after we got there the rain stopped for a bit. We feasted on Dominos pizza and Rotel dip.

Then we worked on the big project of making tie-dyed t-shirts. I have never made tie-dyed anything but it turned out to be remarkably easy and amazingly messy. Toot, of course, loved it. She loves anything arty and messy. Here is her finished shirt:

Pretty good, huh? But wait, there's more. These are her hands. Because she "forgot" to put on plastic gloves. Now, the next day, her hands still look this way. I suppose I will have to make some sort of attempt today to get the dye off her hands. Meanwhile, I am making my S'Mores Cupcakes to take to a Girl Scout party we are attending this afternoon.

We have decided to move to my hometown in Mississippi. We are putting our house on the market to sell at the end of this month. It is going to be crazy around here for a little while as we throw ourselves into this big move. And of course there will be some things that I will desperately (or not) miss about living away from the 4th largest city in the US (besides all my friends here):

• I will go from living in a metro area of 5.7 million people to a county with only 19,000 people total. The town I will be living in has a population of 3,000.
• The closest Starbucks is an hour away in Jackson, Tennessee.
• The closest Whole Foods is a 90 minute drive to Memphis, Tennessee.
• The town has 2 red lights so I probably won't have to concern myself with grid-lock traffic anymore!
• Since we are moving away from the Texas coast, we won't have to flee from hurricanes any longer. Oh yeah! I just realized we won't have to pay for costly windstorm insurance either. Woo hoo!
• No more quick runs to the beach only a few miles away. In my new home I will be 7 hours from the nearest beach.
• The closest Target store is 45 minutes away in Florence, Alabama.
• But I guess the biggest thing I am worried about is food. Because I love to cook and try all sorts of recipes from Bon Appetit and Epicurious. It is going to be fairly hard to find the plethora of ingredients that we take for granted here in the Houston area. But I'll figure it all out. Eventually.

I just finished reading Moon Pies and Movie Stars by Amy Wallen. It is a tale strung between Texas and California and involves Winnebagos, Trans Ams, and lots of bowling accouterments. The principal character, Ruby Kincaid owns a bowling alley in Devine, Texas and is raising her grandchildren after her daughter runs away.

Oh, and one of the best parts is the dogged determination of Ruby's sister Loralva to get on the game show The Price Is Right. Loralva memorizes the Sears catalog for prices while charming every male they meet between Texas and California. She gets on the game show and does a stunning job at winning.

I like that this book was not merely about one character but has many interesting characters fleshed out in its chapters. And the references to all things 70's were spot on. And finally, Ms. Wallen includes the actual names of the cars! You see, most books just have generic cars. But in Moon Pies and Movie Stars we actually know that Ruby drives an El Camino, Loralva gets a real Smokey and the Bandit (one of the best movies ever!) Trans Am, and the motel owner drives a Gran Torino. Those are the kinds of details I like in a book! I am a bit of a car nut so I like to know what everyone drives.

It would be great if Ms. Wallen comes out with a sequel to this book. I would like to see where the characters end up.

Here are links to articles/blog posts I have found interesting over the past couple of weeks:

Une femme d'un certain age  shares with us the beginning of her landscaping project that will transform her yard. This should be fun to watch as it unfolds like an HGTV special.

Une Vie Chic sets some goals for the year. I like this. I am a list person and a goal-setting person. It is how I get through life. And I like to see what other people are setting as their goals.

METSCAN is a wonderful new blog written by a woman in Finland who lives in the countryside and rides her horses. She shows pictures of her 100 year old house and shares her clothing choices and aesthetics.

Did you miss the National Cornbread Festival? Don't worry. Jen at Fiddle Dee Dee will give you the inside scoop on the cornbread cook-off held in South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

And finally, because we love travel so much, we continue to follow the Trans World Expedition as it makes its way up the eastern coast of Africa.

The house my parents used to own in West Columbia, Texas had a huge area on the side fence and arbor covered with Confederate jasmine. The smell was amazing and I kept intending to plant this jasmine at my house. I finally got around to it last year and this year it has tripled in size and is covered with blooms. I am training the vine to grow up over my fence. I still have not determined how it came by the name Confederate jasmine. Anyone out there who knows, please tell me! It is also called star jasmine.

I wrote about my pool issues on Monday. Today, the pool repair guy showed up to fix the "geyser" leak. But first, he went to the house across the street and fixed their leak. Which he was not supposed to do. He got the addresses mixed up. So they got their leak fixed for free since they didn't call a repair man. What are the chances that they would have a pipe leaking on their pool equipment also? Apparently a pretty good chance because it happened.

Now I'll be moving on to getting the green algae out of the pool so I can see the things that were lost down in the deep end. Please wish me luck on this.

Awhile back I wrote about Toot's elaborate and large eraser collection. This is her latest addition to the collection:

These are indeed erasers! A roll of toilet paper, a toilet, a plunger, and even a pile of poop. She ordered these from Amazon. You can get your own set of totally awesome toilet-inspired erasers also.