It's a lot of reading aloud, but if you enjoy it and have time there is a series (4 books) on Laura's great grandmother in Scotland, another series (4 books) on Laura's grandmother, another series on her mother (7 books) and a final series on her daughter (8 books). They're all written in the same style as Laura's books, albeit by different authors. The Lebanon library has them all.

* not so smart person - "a brick short of a full load"

* a very remote place - "out in the boondocks" or "in the south 40" (we also said "out in the toolies" but that was usually used in reference to water i.e. lake, marsh)

* My husband's family has a Very Useful Word that I'd never heard before... neither had any of the other in-laws... but it is so useful, we all use it now! It's "mungy" and refers to something that is sticky, icky, and gross (Ewww, the spoon handle is all mungy... Your hands are mungy... etc.) It actually is listed on dictionary.com but they say it is a noun and my husband's family uses it as an adjective.