30 Random Things

I was tagged on Facebook for this. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these. Since I still don’t know exactly how Facebook works, I said I would do this as a blog. So here it is. Since you’ve already done this, Gladys, (and indeed, you are the one who tagged me!) won’t SOMEONE else please return the favor and post something on your own blog, Facebook/Myspace page or email it to me?? Huh? Is that too much to ask for?? (picture a small teardrop and a quivering lip…)

1. I love a steak and baked potato dinner. And I like that steak to be medium well.
2. I have always loved coffee, from a very early age. I can remember being 3-4 years old and sneaking coffee from my parent’s or grandparent’s coffee cups when they weren’t looking.
3. I could not care less what kind of car I drive. Cars don’t interest me in the slightest. I just want to go from point A to point B in comfort and safety. A good stereo is just bonus. Although I have to admit I think Metropolitans are adorable and would love to have a “toy car” as I call them.
4. I was born with a deep and abiding love for cats. Love them ALL. If I didn’t have good common sense and a good sense of responsibility, I could see myself becoming one of those “crazy cat ladies”.
5. I am starting to become uncomfortable with the changes that come with getting older. Right now it’s the wrinkled skin on my arms that catches me by surprise at times.
6. I don’t care how much grey hair I have, I am never going to color my hair again.
7. I love all colors, but am very partial to blue. However, I wouldn’t want everything to be blue. I need the other colors to show just how beautiful blue really is.
8. I can’t sleep if I’m cold. In the summer, I might have trouble sleeping if it’s too warm, but having a fan on is all I need. If I don’t have a fan, I just take off my pj’s. But I CANNOT sleep if I’m cold.
9. I fear and despise spiders. Don’t care for bugs in general. Spiders are just plain evil.
10. I hate needles, but am not phobic about it. I donate blood on a regular basis, but can’t watch them stick the needle in.
11. I hate pain and don’t deal well with it. I used to be very stoic, but over the years it’s just worn me down and I cry a lot more now.
12. I am a Christian. I don’t force my faith on people, but will gladly give my testimony. I am not ashamed to say that I love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
13. I love nature. All of God’s handiwork is awesome. Trees, mountains, flowers, desert. Standing amidst the beauty of this world can move me to tears.
14. My children hold my heart in their possession, and have since the day they were born. No one else on this earth has such complete power over me.
15. I am a voracious reader of almost any genre. Sci-fi and Mystery are at the top of the list. Getting lost in a good book is my favorite means of escape.
16. I have always felt “outside” of the rest of the world, from a very early age. I have always felt acutely self-aware and uniquely alone. I never felt that I had true peers, until I was an adult.
17. I can’t sing worth a damn. And I love to sing. You’ve been warned….
18. I love music. I especially love listening to the piano. I can play fairly well, but haven’t the discipline to be good. That takes practice. I hate practicing.
19. I love, admire and respect my husband. He is my earthly Rock. He is my Touchstone. He truly is my “other half”. I am not complete without him. Sharing the same faith has gotten us through everything, and always will.
20. I love the chaos of having Sarah and Lia visit. Seeing the toys strewn all over the place gives me much joy. Picking them all up again, notsomuch. But it’s all good.
21. I have a younger brother who I love deeply. Also his wife and daughter. I love spending time with them. Visits are NEVER long enough!
22. As bizarre as this state is, I LOVE California! I love its natural beauty. And as they say, “the land of fruits and nuts”.
23. I was born in Missouri and am glad I don’t live there! I hate humidity and I would hate dealing with a lot of snow and cold.
24. I am very nearsighted. I’ve worn glasses since I was 7.
25. I’ve always wanted to be a wife and mother. Thus, I feel I have succeeded in my life.
26. I used to be so phobically shy I could hardly speak to my own family members. It wasn’t until my mid 20’s that I was able to speak (although very uncomfortably) in social settings. Now you can’t shut me up.
27. I love fried Spam.
28. I am afraid of deep water. Anything over 4’ makes me uncomfortable. I will NOT go swimming in the ocean or a lake.
29. I’m deeply afraid of heights, but I’m not afraid to fly.
30. I wish I could speak German. It was my mother’s first language, and I regret that she didn’t pass it on.

November Book Report

November Book Report

The four books I read last month were an interesting mix: biography, horror, comedy sci/fi and one downright depressing book.

“Scarlett O’Hara’s Younger Sister” by Evelyn Keyes told how the young dancer made her way into Hollywood. Her roll as the younger sister in Gone With the Wind wasn’t a big part, but it opened doors. The book was written in the 70’s when Ms. Keyes was well in her 50’s and was pretty frank. It was interesting to read about the Hollywood of the “golden age” and after with 2010 knowledge. Very well written.

“Son of Rosemary” by Ira Levin sucked me in right from the beginning. I had read Rosemary’s Baby a few years after the movie came out. I never saw the movie, but found the book pretty disturbing. I was curious enough to know “the rest of the story” however, to read the sequel. Once again, Levin is a great writer, and this book grabbed me from the start. I found the ending a bit disappointing. All I will say is: Don’t Trust Satan! He Lies!

“The Ice Storm” by Rick Moody was the downright depressing book. I never saw the movie, although I thought enough of the main actors to put it on my “like to see someday” list. I have now removed that movie from my list. The book takes place in New England in the 70’s with the adults being unhappy and having extramarital affairs and the kids being unhappy and experimenting with drugs and sex. No one really communicates from the heart and no one is happy at the end. Bah.

Who’s Afraid of Beowulf? by Tom Holt was a hoot and a half. I loved it and will keep it in my library. The other 3 books immediately went into the Salvation Army bag after I was finished with them.

This would make a great movie. Hildy is a young archeologist who discovers a buried Viking longship in the Scottish countryside and accidentally awakens King Hrolf Earthstar and his crew after their spell-induced sleep of 1200 years. Now she has to help them find and overthrow the evil Sorcerer King who has remained awake all those years and is intent on world domination through 20^th century technology. Absolutely marvelous book.

October Book Report

I was sitting here, enjoying my elevenses (pumpkin spice latte and raisin bread toast with cream cheese) and thought I would do my October book report. Only 3 books, but a couple of those were real doozies. All were enjoyable.

“Wicked Appetite” by Janet Evanovich

“Naked Heat” by ‘Richard Castle’

“Peg Leg Pete” by Mel Ellis

Evanovich’s newest series introduces a new lead character, Lizzie, but includes the already familiar Diesel and Carl the Monkey. Just like the Stephanie Plum books, this one is a real hoot. Maybe even a hoot and a half (high praise from me!). The setting is Boston and has a touch of supernatural added. This book dealt with one of the Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony. Can’t wait for the next book in the series. Sure hope it’s Lust…

The TV show Castle is one of my favorites. I love Nathan Fillion and he is just great in this show. He plays a mystery writer attached to the NY police department. Some very bright person decided to come out with a book supposedly written by Richard Castle, (Fillion’s character) and based on the characters in the TV show. This was last year. The book, “Heat Wave” was such a hit that they decided to follow it with a sequel. It helps if you’re a fan of the show and know the characters and can see the similarities between the people in the show and the people in the book. The books can be enjoyed on their own, though. I loved them both.

Mel Ellis was a sports/nature writer, but wrote other books as well. “Peg Leg Pete” was the story of an injured mallard duck that his daughters adopted. This was NOT a Disneyesque, cute little animal story. Yes, Pete recovered from his injuries and eventually went back into the wild, but Ellis was very graphic in his description of the injuries and what had to be done to help the duck. Ellis loved animals and nature, but acknowledge that nature is wild and a lot of times capricious. Not all animals are cuddly. Some cuddly animals eat other cuddly animals. Not all of them survive the winter. That’s the way it works. To get along in and with nature you have to recognize this. I really appreciated the down-to-earth approach in this book.

intangible Grail

OK--here's my other "quest" I mentioned in the last blog...

At one point in time I had so many bookmarks on the computer that I tried to transfer all of them to word and print them out, leaving only the ones I used all the time on the computer. There was one site that I had visited a couple of times that had the first two chapters of a self-published sci-fi book. Then you’d have to buy the book. At that time I really had no discretionary funds to get that book. Some time later, I went back and tried to find that bookmark. It wasn’t on the computer and it wasn’t on any of the lists I’d printed out over the years. I went through every single one of those printed bookmarks, by the way. It was such an intriguing book, and I’ve always wondered how it all turned out. I’ve tried every trick I know of to tease Google into letting me find it, to no avail. I’ve looked at so many sites that have online books, self-published books, sci-fi books, what have you. So I will give you the basic plot line and see if any bells ring.

A man does some kind of software work. He has a girlfriend he loves. He’s fairly happy. He’s hit by a bus and killed. He wakes up in a hospital-like room. He remembers “seeing” his parents and girlfriend at his funeral. He’s naked under the sheets, and when he removes them, he sees he has no true sexual features on his body. A woman comes into the room and greets him as if she knows him. She is also naked, with no true female sexual features. His memory is somewhat spotty, but he slowly realizes that he is “home”. His entire “life” as a software guy with a family and such, was only a game. As in computer game. A HUGE computer game. People from time to time would enter this game and the only way you could tell if a person was “real” or part of the program was by the color of their eyes. I don’t remember what color was real and was color meant a program person. I also don’t remember why the man was terminated from his game and made to return. He seems to be in Heaven. God is really the computer that runs everything there. I do remember one scene where the man and his companion are going somewhere, and their mode of transportation is sitting on the grass, and the grass moves them along. I really wish I could find the site and get that book! Of course, this was all many years ago. The guy who wrote the book may not be on the Net anymore. The book may not have sold and he quit writing. Or he may have sold a bazillion of them and become famous and I have NO IDEA WHAT HIS NAME IS!

So there ya go, Gladys. A pretty little puzzle, no?

Two More Grails

Quite some time ago, I wrote about my quest for a soup plate that I could use when making milk toast. (score!)
In early summer I wrote about the glass 10” pie plates. (score x 4!)
A couple of months ago I discovered 2 more “Grails” could be checked off my list:
Lobby Broom and a bottle brush long enough to clean Marv’s Stanley thermos.

That bottle brush had been on my Grail list for many years. Marv uses that thermos every day to take iced tea for his lunch. For a long time I used an old baby bottle brush that had a nipple brush on the end, making it ALMOST long enough to scrub the inside of the thermos. The nipple brush finally broke off, and that was that. A long bottle brush was not to be found. Every once in a while I’d pour boiling water in the thermos to try and get the grunge out. I finally found a kitchen brush that was OK, except the handle was too thick. I had Marv grind it down so it would fit in the thermos, and then discovered that the bristles were too wide as well. So I took my kitchen shears and gave the thing a haircut. It was still a bit wide and not quite long enough, but it was all I had. I struggled with that thing for more years than I care to count. I would look online occasionally to see what I could find, but there just wasn’t anything for a tall thermos. THEN—oh joy! I found it! The Sigg Cleaning Brush! And I was able to locate a store that had them: Target! (score again!)

The Lobby Broom was a minor Grail that only made the list recently. When we cleaned out Marv’s mom’s apartment, we found what is basically a whisk broom with a long handle. It’s ideal for getting into small spaces, and you don’t have to bend over. Lia also enjoyed using it as a hobby horse. It was pretty old, and the straws were starting to come out. I started looking in stores and couldn’t find a new one. I went online and at first all I could find were children’s toy brooms that were indeed only for play. Then I discovered that what I was looking for wasn’t a toy, it had a real name: Lobby Broom. Home Depot has ‘em! (score once more!)

That pretty much took care of my Grail list. At least for tangible things. There is one more thing that I’ve been looking for online that I just cannot find. A certain book. I will write about it in my next blog.

September Book Report

I know this is really late, but at least it's here...
"The Hogfather" by Terry Pratchett
"Pollyanna" by Elanor H. Porter
"Tickled Pink" by Rita Rudner
"Gilbert Stuart" by Ruth Langland Holberg
"No Time Like Tomorrow" by Ted White

"The Hogfather" was another fun romp in Discworld, this time with a Christmas-like theme. I'd read the book before, years ago and had finally gotten the movie they made of it on Netflix. Tons of fun. Then I read the book again. Can't say enough good things about Pratchett. You owe it to yourself to read these gems.

I've never seen the Disney movie of Pollyanna. I picked up the paperback of this children's book some time ago, and came across it recently. Very good read. I highly recommend it. Yes, it's a bit on the sugary side, but who cares? We need a bit more sugar in this bitter world right now. Pollyanna's "glad game" would be good for all of us to play.

I love Rita Rudner's style of humor. I've always enjoyed her on the talk shows and was happy to check out her literary endeavor. Good book! Lots of humor mixed in with serious stuff. I'd love to read more.

"Gilbert Stuart" was another young adult book I'd gotten at a library sale. As I was reading about the man who painted the portraits of several presidents, I was also checking into Wikipedia about some of the peripheral characters in Stuarts life and saw a lot of the portraits mentioned in the biography. I love early American history and this had some good peeks into that time period.

The Ted White book was a young adult sci-fi novel about a young man who is accidentally dragged into the far future. This book could've been a lot longer with lots more details about this future. I found it fascinating and wanted more. I found the ending a bit of a let-down, but admit it was the best ending for the characters concerned.

So--5 books for September. I think October is going to be a bit skimpy. Only read 2 books so far and might only get one more done before the end of the month. As we head into holiday season, I doubt I'll get a whole lot of reading done.

The best part of waking up...

…is Slim•Fast in my cup!

I HATE waking up! I am NOT a morning person. I am NEVER at my best first thing in the morning. I know that breakfast is supposed to be the most important start to the day, but unless someone serves me directly, I am not in the mood to be preparing ANYthing first thing, not even cold cereal. I used to only have my favorite International Coffee Orange Cappuccino for breakfast, but found that by 10-10:30 I was starving and would need a snack. Of course, that would usually be a high-calorie snack, and I would still eat a substantial lunch. When I started getting serious about losing some weight, I went back to having Slim•Fast in the morning. I had tried it years before, when they still made the Chocolate Royale lactose-free. When they stopped making that flavor without lactose, I had to give it up. Since I was able to have dairy again, I was pleased that they still made Chocolate Royale. I put it in my fat-free milk and had that for breakfast, but I was then a bit too full for a whole cup of coffee. And I NEED my coffee in the morning. That’s usually the only caffeine coffee I have during the day. I don’t know when I had the bright idea of adding a little extra water to the Slim•Fast mix and then putting in my orange cappuccino powder and heating it up, but after that, mornings got a whole lot better. I’d still be stumbling into the kitchen sometimes with my eyes partly closed and putting everything together by feel, but sitting with a nice insulated container of hot Slim•Fast coffee and letting the morning sort of ooze into me makes the insult of morning a bit easier to take.

August book report

One good thing that came of having the computer go south for awhile was that I did get caught up a bit with my reading. I knew I was spending a lot of time on the computer, but was a little dismayed at the amount of reading I got done because I wasn't on the computer so much. So here's the list:

3 books by Janet Evanovich--"Plum Spooky", "Finger Lickin' Fifteen", and "Sizzling Sixteen".
1 Grace Chapel Inn book--"Mystery at the Inn" by Carolyne Aarsen

I love, love, LOVE Janet Evanovich! Her Stephanie Plum books are the biggest joy in the world to read. A friend at church introduced them to me and I in turn got Sarah hooked on them. They involve the misadventures of a clutzy Jersey girl who is a bounty hunter. The humor is wonderful and both Sarah and I wait impatiently each year for the new Plum book to come out.

And as always, the Grace Chapel Inn books are a treat for the soul.

Now that the computer is of use again (for however long it holds out), my reading has slowed down. I've decided to curtail my use though, and get more done around the house and certainly read more! I'm almost finished with another Terry Pratchett book...

My Little Lost Lamb

When I was pregnant with Sarah (lo, these 30 years ago) Marv got me a Nativity Scene for Christmas. I’d always wanted one, and don’t know why I never asked my parents for one when I was a kid. It was a wonderful set, and I loved it and love setting it up every year. I have very specific ideas as to how it should be set up. I try to make the scene look as realistic as possible. I don’t have everyone spread out in a panorama, with the Christ Child smack in the middle. I have Mary hovering right next to the manger, with Joseph right behind her. I have the Wise Men hovering around in a circle, the kneeling one right beside the manger opposite Mary. The one shepherd with the lamb on his shoulders is sorta on the periphery, as would suit his class. The rest of the animals would be spread around, with the 2 sheep by the shepherd. There was one little lamb that was posed like he was running, and I would have him positioned as if he was indeed running off away from the group. Over the years I added some cats, because let’s face it, you can’t tell me there weren’t rodents around an animal place, and where there are rodents, there WILL be cats! One cat lays on a straw mat at the back of the barn, one cat is peeking out from the hay loft, and one curious little cat is right there at the foot of the manger, looking in at the Baby.
I don’t know when it was that I noticed the runaway lamb was missing. I don’t remember missing it when I packed up the set after Christmas, but I do remember missing it when setting it up the following year. I carefully searched through the papers in the box, but no lamb. The years went by and I figured somewhere along the line he’d fallen off the table where I’d set the Nativity up, maybe in the wastebasket.
A month ago, when we started getting ready to do the home improvements, Marv removed the huge board-and-brick bookcase in the living room. That thing hadn’t been moved since it was put up years and years ago. We found several books that had fallen behind the shelves….AND WE FOUND THE LAMB! He’d gotten knocked off the table and had ended up behind the bookcase. What a wonderful find that was! I was a little surprised at how much of a lift that gave to my heart. He’s now in the china cabinet, waiting for December. I might have the other sheep block his path in the future…

July book report

I finally finished a book! Mark it on the calendar, Gladys! Now I have only the one unfinished book from May (the one I keep misplacing), one that a friend lent me, and 3 Stephanie Plum books to go…August is going to be a busy month…

The book I managed to finish was “Feet of Clay” by Terry Pratchett. Some years ago I decided to start going through his Discworld books again from the beginning. I would read one, then some other book, then another Discworld, etc. Feet of Clay is #19. This series is just the absolute best for some fun times. Pratchett is a joy to read. I really urge anyone who enjoys humorous Sci-Fi to look into these books. There’s not a whole lot I can say about this book if you’re not familiar with the people, circumstances, etc. of the Discworld. The books can stand on their own and can be enjoyed in any order, I just find them to be more fun if read in order.

This book involves Golems who decide to revolt against the order of things, a nasty plot against the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork (the main city), a new Dwarf recruit in the City Watch, and the usual folks who make living on a flat world flying through space on the back of 4 enormous elephants who are on the back of an even bigger tortoise such fun…

Impossibly Good!!

I don’t know when Bisquick came out with the recipe for Impossible Pie, but I immediately embraced it. What an easy dish to make! Of course, back then, I had to bake them in a real oven. But that was OK, because the results were so great. And I could make two pies at once. I usually made the quiche-like recipes with leftover meat and veggies. I’ve made dessert ones and they’re good, too. Once I was able to make them in the microwave, I would make them more often, since it wouldn’t involve heating up the house. I could only make one at a time though. And by then I only had one 10” glass pie plate left. Smaller ones wouldn’t hold the entire mixture.

So began my quest for another 10” pie plate, WITHOUT RIDGES OR FLUTING. I quickly became aware that these plates were no longer made by Pyrex, ....Corning...., etc. I would look every time I went to Walmart or some such store, and never find what I wanted. I finally went online, and that’s when I found out that you can’t get them anymore. So I started haunting Salvation Army and other thrift stores. Nothing. Lots of small plates, but no 10” ones. Another good thrift store opened up here not long ago and they seemed to have a lot of glassware and so I would make it a practice to check in with them every once in a while. Nada.

During Marv’s vacation week, we happened to be at the newer thrift store, and as usual, I looked among the glassware to no avail. Marv sat down in a nice looking office chair to try it out and quickly called me over. I looked at him and he just pointed to the bottom shelf of some decorative glassware. I rarely pay that section any heed. There they were…2 glass pie plates, no ridges, no fluting, and they were 10”! It was like finding the Holy Grail…I may even have teared up a bit. I clutched those plates to my chest like a mother with her lost child and made my way to the register. Then we went to Salvation Army and just for the heck of it, looked at the glassware. More 10” plates! There were probably 4 or 5 of them, but I only bought 2, bringing my total for the day to 4 plates. Don’t know where I’m going to put them all, but by golly, they will be at my disposal! I will still treat my original plate with the respect it deserves, but no longer live in fear of it breaking. And I can now bake 2 pies at once if I want to fire up the oven! And even if I still want to use the microwave, I can make one pie, and be eating it while the second one bakes.

Of course, you know that now I will be stumbling over 10” glass pie plates whenever I go to a thrift store...feast or famine, feast or famine...

What I Did On My Vacation

Marv’s one week of vacation was spent at home this year. Mainly working on the home improvement stuff. We went to Home Depot a LOT.
We did take a day trip to Mt. Lassen to see the snow. It’s not every year that there is still a significant amount of snow in July. As always, the drive up there is beautiful. I love that area. It was surprisingly warm outside when we got there. At that elevation, we’d hoped it would be cooler. There was quite a bit of snow, but not as much as expected, since the day we went up was the first day that the road through the park was completely clear. It was still beautiful to look at though. We had a picnic lunch and ate outisde at the visitor’s center. It does my soul good to just sit and worship the God that created so much natural beauty.
The last day of Marv’s vacation we went to Paradise to some of the antique stores. We were looking for a different coffee table and maybe another table lamp for the living room. No table, but we did score a couple of neat lamps. AND I found a kitty figure that I had to get.
Not the most exciting vacation, yes, but still enjoyable. I can enjoy anything as long as I have my Marvy around. We stayed up late watching TV, slept in somewhat, went out for pizza and fast food more than usual. Even when he was puttering around outside and I was inside at the computer or doing household chores, just knowing Marv was around was enough to make me happy.

summertime blog

Really have had the blogging blahs lately. Nothing really much to talk about. Doing some home improvements, trying to downsize all the crap we have, general chaos throughout the house. So of course, that means, MEME TIME!!!!

1. What is your current guilty pleasure/obsession?
This was originally two seperate questions, but there are two things that I'm equally obsessed with and also find them a guilty pleasure:
A new Fishdom game
Colin and Justin's Home Heist

The first is the 6th Fishdom game that Playrix has come out with and I HAD to buy it. I love that game! All of them! Spend HOURS with them! 'nuff said...

The second is a show on BBCAmerica that I stumbled across and was so taken with it within the first few seconds that I hit "record" and then started recording them all whenever they came on. Colin and Justin are a couple (both proessionally and personally) of interior decorators from Scotland who go around in Canada finding homes that have been decorated in bad taste and then turning them around. They are such campy hoots that I knew Sarah would enjoy them as well, and I was right. Whenever she visits, we get in a good dose of Justin and Colin. I usually spend my lunchtime watching at least part of an episode. When I get to the end of an episode, I hit the "keep" button so I know that's one that Sarah hasn't seen yet. I LOVE those guys! Except for some of that wallpaper they seem so in love with...

2. What item from your closet are you wearing the most lately?
Well, some time back I wrote about going through my closets and getting rid of some stuff that had seen better days. One of those things were my capri pants that I've had for years. I had figured that I had one more season out of them and then they'd go bye-bye. As it turned out, I couldn't part with them. They are so cool to wear when it's really hot. Even jean shorts are too hot sometimes, but those capris are a much lighter weight cloth. So I decided those would now be my kickin' around clothes.

3. What was the last "fun" thing you bought?
Well, shopping for Lia is ALWAYS fun, but for a totally fun thing JUST FOR ME: black bras! I've always had white bras, because that was what came in my size. At least in the discount stores, which is where I get my stuff. No Victoria's Secret for me. I refuse to pay those outrageous prices for something no one (except Marv) is going to see. And Marv doesn't care what bra I'm wearing. Finally the kind of bra I get came in rosewood as well as white, so I got a few of each kind. I looked on the company's website and found that they had black, but not in my size. One of the last times I went to Walmart, I discovered that they had finally come out with my bra size in BLACK! Wow! They had 2 in stock, so that's what I got. Of course, I have to be careful not to wear something light colored when I wear a black bra, but for some reason it gives me a lift (no pun intended) when I wear black. Now if only it came in red...

4. What are you reading right now?
Oh man, have I fallen astray in THAT department. Just so much going on with the house. That's why there was no update on books in May or June. I started a book in May, and was really enjoying it, and then "things" started happening, and I misplaced it. Couldn't find it to save my life. So I started another one. June came and went with more "things" going on and the house stuff as well. Then I found the May book! Buried under music on the piano! Of course, the logical place.... So now we're in July with 2 half-finished books.

5. What's for dinner?
Leftovers! We had hot dogs on the Weber last night, and there are 3 left for Marv, along with a bit of pork 'n' beans. I'll have what's left of the chili (for chili dogs, ya know) and some leftover fried chicken from the other night. And for dessert we have leftover watermelon. The first one we'd gotten this season and it's a good one! Kept it in the fridge for 2 days. Nothing better than ice cold watermelon!

Well, I have to admit I feel better now that I've blogged. In fact, I've changed my title. It was "eh" before.

the bigger they are, etc. etc. etc.

I managed to trip over my own feet on Saturday when we went to Food Maxx. Marv was getting me a cart and I just plain tripped and fell right on the concrete by the carts. The right side of my head hit the ground and my glasses flew off. I hit my right knee pretty hard, but was wearing capris, so no skin damage. The hardest hit was my right hand that I guess I had put out to break my fall. It was crumpled under me and I sprained it a bit. There was a young man gathering carts to put back and he was right there offering me a hand and Marv was on the other side. They got me upright and I was OK. The main thing that hurt right then was the side of my face. My glasses had smooshed into me before flying off and cut me right below the right eye. It was bleeding, so I went into the ladies room to wash up a bit. My glasses were bent all to heck, and it was very hard to see. Thankfully, the lenses are plastic, so they didn't break, just the corner of the right lens was crunched a bit. I tried to bend them back to the point of at least being able to wear them, but it sure made vision a problem. We did our shopping and went home. Marv was able to get the glasses back into shape as I sat in my recliner with ice packs on my knee, wrist and face. I was mentally going through all the blessings of the incident:

It could have been worse; I could've broken something.
I didn't have to play at the nursing home chapel service this coming week.
I wasn't having my picture taken for anything important, or going to a function where I'd want to look all "prettied up".
I'd have a great story to blog about!

I figured the next day I'd probably be feeling a few more aches and pains, but I was surprisingly FINE...except for a nasty cold I'd picked up somewhere! Can't imagine where THAT came from...even my wrist was good enough that I could've played for the chapel service if I'd had to. So there ya go. I had Marv take a pic of my shiner and put it in the Misc Pix folder on Myspace. Take a gander...

hamburger lips

Sarah got her braces adjusted the other day and was telling me how much her mouth hurt. Not only because of the adjustment, but because of the way her cheek was scoured by one of the brackets. Boy, did that bring back memories! My orthodontist was just a few blocks away from where I went to Junior High, so I had special permission to leave campus when I had an appointment. My parents both worked, and while my mom could've made arrangements, it was just easier for me to walk there. The appointments were made for after lunch, so I'd be able to brush my teeth before going, and there would only be 2 classes left. About 2 hours after the adjustment I would be in great pain and usually didn't sleep well that night.
Around Christmas, I was goofing around on my mom's bed while she did something in her room. I lost my balance and fell, mouth first, across the footboard of the bed. Talk about pain! And blood! Now you know where I got the title for this blog...
The ONLY good thing about this incident is that it took place during Christmas vacation (NOT "Winter Break" thankyouverymuch), so I didn't have to go to school with grossly swollen lips. But it was very hard to really enjoy any kind of Christmas goodies when it was so painful to try and chew without moving my lips. I can still feel it...

fabulous day!

Gladys, today was wonderful! It didn't start that way, but it sure ended up that way. I had an appointment in Chico and my friend was going with me and we were going to have lunch at Starbucks. I was making the sandwiches and my friend called and said something came up and she wouldn't be able to go. So I went to my appointment in Chico alone in the dreary rain. I had a CD that Paul had made for me years ago, with some old tunes that I really loved. I ended up singing the whole way to Chico. By the time I arrived at my appointment, it had stopped raining and was windy and cool but it felt great. After my appointment, I went to Starbucks by myself. I sat outside at one of the little tables with my sandwich, my peppermint mocha and a chocolate croissant and watched the traffic. Then I did some shopping. I had a blast! I love shopping at the Walmart in Chico, as it has a much larger selection of everything than the store in Oroville. I got me some new jammies! Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse! And what was even better--since I've lost so much weight I was able to get them in a smaller size and not pay the extra $2 they charge for the larger sizes! WOOT!! I ended up on a whim at the 99¢ Store and got a BUNCH of fun stuff for Lia. I also scored 3 (count 'em! 3!) different scents of dusting powder WITH PUFF. I had been on a mission for some time trying to find any store that still carried that item. Everybody has bath powder in a bottle, but no one had it in the flat round container with a puff. At least not at a price I was willing to pay. I was so stoked! Then I drove home singing all the way. The only thing that would've made the whole excursion better would've been if Mary had been with me. Or you, Gladys--you would have been a welcome companion! Maybe next time? ☺

Alfie

I watched the movie "Alfie" the other day. The 1966, Michael Caine version. I was too young to see it in the theater at the time, but really loved the song as sung by Dionne Warwick. I was really surprised that the US release featured Cher singing the title song. I don't remember ever hearing her sing it back in the day. It was always Dionne Warwick.
When I got the movie on DVD, I was expecting a fun, frothy romp from the swinging '60's. I've always loved Michael Caine and was looking forward to seeing him as a lovable scamp, always after the ladies.
I was very disappointed. What I saw was a sad, sordid little movie about an absolutely soulless cad. Alfie went through women like Kleenex with no looking back. He did seem to care for them in his own limited way, but it was VERY limited, and only extended to his own pleasure and convenience. He did "take care of" the married woman he got pregnant, and even cried when viewing his aborted child, but it was too little, too late.
He seemed genuinely bewildered at the end of the movie. He truly didn't know "what it was all about" and I doubt he ever would.
I found it rather bleak. I could imagine Alfie as a middle-aged roué, burned out by life and abandoned by the women he'd carelessly used, sitting in his cramped little apartment and still wondering what it was all about.
I still love Michael Caine, though.

April book report

Amidst all the chaos of the last few weeks, I only finished 2 books. Here they are:

"The Way We Were" by Arthur Laurents
I was mildly interested in the movie, but never saw it. I liked the theme song, though. I don't remember where I found the paperback of the book the movie was based on, but thought it might be interesting. I really struggled to get through this one. I found it depressing. I thought both main characters were jerks in their relationship to each other. Counseling might've helped...
The only good thing was being able to picture the whole thing with Redford and Streisand in mind, so it was kinda like watching the movie. Have no idea how closely the movie followed the book. Don't care.

"I See By My Outfit" by Peter S. Beagle
This one was a delight. I've always loved the fantasy novels of Beagle, and found this book at some sale. It's an account of his trip from New York to San Francisco with his friend, artist Phil Sigunick. It took place in the 60's when both were in their early 20's. They each had motor scooters that had their own little quirks.
The book was a neat little window into a time long gone and an America that no longer exists.

I love men's shoes!

I have big feet. There, I've said it. Not only are they big, they're wide and fairly flat after going barefoot or in sandals most of my life. Once the weather starts getting a little warm, I can't stand to have shoes enclosing my feet. It's hard to find cute shoes in my size that are comfortable. I can't wear pointy toed shoes, or even most closed shoes other than tennis shoes. And I can't wear heels. They kill me. If I have to wear dress shoes, they have to be open-toed with a heel no more than 1½ inches high. I've seen some nice shoes in magazines with closed, square toes, and Aravon makes nice, low-heeled, square toed shoe--but YOW! they're expensive. For something casual that's nicer than a tennis shoe, I shop in the men's department at Walmart. That's where I get my tennis shoes too, by the way. Many years ago, I got my dad a nice pair of velcro strap tennis shoes, because he was no longer able to handle laces. I really liked the style and got myself a pair as well. And we both wore the same size! And I have to admit, it was kinda nice to get a pair of shoes in size 8 (mens) instead of 10 (womens). I later found a real nice pair of casual black slip-on shoes in the mens department that I could get away with for casual dress for church. So that's where I started shopping. I would still wear open-toed women's shoes for wearing with dresses and such, but I just loved the comfort of the men's shoes for everyday and dressy casual. Recently I needed to look for a new pair of casual shoes. So there I was, in the men's shoe aisle at Walmart, in my socks and trying on shoes. I saw a nice, elderly gentleman with a turban and fluffy beard start down the other end of the aisle where I was. He was slowly looking at the shoes and darting glances at me. I had found what I thought was the perfect pair of shoes in brown and was looking to see if they also had them in my size in black, when the man arrived to where I was. He politely said "Am I in the wrong place, or are you?" I explained the reason I was looking at men's shoes and showed him the brown ones I had already picked out and said I found men's shoes more comfortable than women's. He seemed to think that was reasonable and went on with his own shoe search. I found the black shoes I was looking for and bought both pair. THEY ARE GREAT!! I just love them and wear them all the time. In fact, I've worn the brown shoes so much, they're starting to get a bit scuffed, and I've been thinking of going back and getting another brown pair. Although it won't be much more than another month and I will be in sandals until nearly October.

emerging from the dark

OK Gladys, I'm back. Thanks for your patience. And thank you to everyone for their good wishes and prayers. I won't dwell on things I have no control of, but will try and move forward.
Easter was a bit tough as expected, but having Sarah and Lia here made a world of difference. And Marv's mom got to come to church for the first time since she moved into the nursing home. All in all it was a good day.
I finally went to the doctor and asked for some extra "help" with some of things I've been dealing with. He put me on Celexa, which is an antidepressant/antianxiety med. I think it's beginning to make a difference. I'm a lot calmer and have more control over the tears. I've gotten really tired of crying all the time. I'm able to look at things a bit more objectively. I know I should've done this a few years ago, but had been able to somewhat cope until lately.
So onward and upward. I've got three books started that I go between, depending on what mood I'm in. I hope to have them in my report at the end of the month.
Tomorrow night I go to a stamp party. Wheee!

March book/Easter

March ended really sucky, but I promised a book report each month and I do try and keep my promises...The only book I managed to get through was an old library sale book written in the 60's called "Daughters In Law" by Henry Cecil. It was supposed to be a frothy novel with lots of high jinks. It probably would've been funnier 45 years ago, but it was pretty dated. It was very British, which I usually love, but it dealt with the Brit legal system, of which I'm very ignorant. It also had some very dated views about women in the predominantly male realm of law. I really tried to finish it, but the legal stuff was tedious and the plot line was pretty bad, too. I finally skipped to the end and then put the book in the Salvation Army bag.
So now on to Easter. This Easter is going to be a bit hard for several reasons, most of which I can't deal with at the moment. So I will recount the earliest memory I have of Easter. I was probably 5 years old. I knew what Easter was all about (the real meaning) and was a little confused about the whole Easter bunny business. But I liked Easter eggs and candy and wasn't about to say no to any of that. So I got up insanely early Easter morning. I think my dad and grandmother were in the kitchen, but I didn't say anything to anyone and didn't even really go in the kitchen. I quietly got dressed in play clothes (I knew I would be putting on "church clothes" later) and took an empty egg carton that I had gotten the night before, and went out in the front yard and looked for Easter eggs. NOTHING! Since I didn't believe in the Easter bunny anyway, I wasn't terribly surprised, but was still a bit disappointed. I was also a tad embarrassed that I had "fallen" for what I thought of as a joke. So I went back inside and didn't say anything, and no one said anything to me. They may not even have been aware that I had gotten up, dressed, gone out and then come back in. Later, of course, we all got dressed, went to church and then back home there were Easter baskets for my brother and I. I got to thinking about that Easter and decided that I deserved some Easter eggs this year. With Paul gone, I'm the only one here who likes hard boiled eggs, so I only made 5. I colored them all differently using only vinegar and food coloring. I think they came out quite nicely--very earthy colors. AND I did make one really good score this year: an Easter KITTY for Lia! Seasonal cats are really hard to find, except for Halloween, of course. But I managed to get the very last bright pink Easter kitty that the local Walmart had. And it was obviously an Easter kitty, because the tummy looked like a polka dotted Easter egg.
Of course, the only truly important thing about Easter is that it took place. Christ lived, He died, He rose again. Praise God! Many blessings to all of you!

missed anniversary

With everything else that's been going on, I failed to mention that last weekend was the first anniversary of my being able to have dairy again. It's been a great year, gastronomically speaking. I've had pizza, ice cream, cheese of all sorts, and of course--MILK! No more having to read labels to see if there's lactose. It's sure made cooking a lot easier, too. I can make stuff with real milk or butter and don't have to try and make do with lactose-free products that don't always translate as well as real dairy. And I can make things I haven't had in years and used to enjoy a great deal--like Cheeseburger Macaroni Hamburger Helper! Don't laugh; that's one of my all-time favorites. I pretty much enjoy all the Ham. Help. varieties, but the cheeseburger one was always the family fav and I would make it for Marv and Paul, but couldn't have it myself. And one of the biggest pleasures with that particular variety is a soup that can be made with it. I got the recipe years and years ago on the back of the package and just love it. Marv's not a big soup lover, so he'll usually eat it on the first night and the leftovers will be split up into individual servings for me and put in the freezer to enjoy at my leisure.
So to whatever part of my body that processes lactose, I say: Happy Anniversary (fill in the blank), and many more!

pasta and a haircut

WAAAY back in September of '09, I got the best haircut of my entire life. I always go to SuperCuts because I'm cheap and I've always had pretty good service there, no matter who does the cutting. I figured that just before Thanksgiving I'd get it cut again, as that's when my hair would start not co-operating with me.
Things came up, I had dental work done and was miserable for a long time, Thanksgiving came and went, AND MY HAIR WAS BEAUTIFUL. My current profile pic on Myspace was taken at Thanksgiving and I think my hair looks pretty darn good. I'd never had a haircut last that long! I had to do a minimal amount of fussing and it was still working! I thought maybe just before Christmas would be the time to get a cut.
Of course, if you've been reading my blog (and if not, shame on you!) you know that that's the time I was dealing with a very bad back, the stuff going on with Marv's mom, Sarah and Lia coming up and Christmas itself. So no haircut, but that was OK because MY HAIR WAS STILL BEAUTIFUL! I was getting compliments on it regularly!
January came and went and February was well into it before the first hints of non co-operation started. By the end of February I knew that was it. No more Mr. Nice Hair!! My big goal this week was to get my hair cut, come heck or high H2O. Last night I decided that I would get my hair cut in the morning and then go to lunch with Paul to redeem our blood-earned pasta coupons at Round Table. I also had a coupon for a free tea tree shampoo with purchase of any hair cut. So that's what I did. I got a wonderful shampoo and a fabulous haircut.
When Paul and I went to Round Table, he was going to get the lunch buffet of salad/pizza bar along with his pasta. I went first and asked how large the pasta portion was. The gal said it was pretty big, and showed me the take-out pan they use for it. It was enormous. Paul changed his mind when he saw that and just got the pasta and drink like I did. When it was served, it also had a big garlic bread twist with it. I think the bread had sour cream in it, which I really don't care for, but the pasta was superb! I could only eat about half of it and brought the rest home for dinner. I'll probably give the bread to Marv; I only took two small bites.
So it's been a pretty good day--free shampoo (and great haircut) and free pasta! And tomorrow I get to go to a stamp luncheon! Whee!

whaddya want, blood?

I was a good girl today, Gladys. I gave blood, even though my last experience was pretty awful. Many years ago, our church had a blood drive and I gave blood for the first time. It was OK. I don't like needles, but I didn't look, so everything was fine. I got some good cookies and juice and a free t-shirt. We never had another drive at church, so I just never got around to giving blood again. Marv donated several times at other drives around town, and Paul has been a regular donar for years. I was just real ho-hum about it.
Then, this last December, there was a message on the answering machine for Paul, reminding him about the upcoming blood drive at the local sport club. The gal in the message said it was very important during the holidays for there to be a good blood supply on hand, and especially important for Paul, because he was a universal donar (type O-). When I heard the message, I thought, "Well, shoot! I'm a universal donar too! Why aren't I giving blood?!?"
I had no good answer for that, so when time came for the drive, Paul and I went together. The first thing we did on registering was pick up our free red holiday t-shirt. The place was pretty busy, but they had 8 drawing tables, so things went fairly fast. When it was my turn, the table I happened to go to only had an arm rest on the right side. Whenever I've had blood taken for a blood test, it's always been on the left--no particular reason. But I sat down and the gal got things ready for my right arm. That's when things went south. For some reason, she was having a very difficult time finding the vein, getting the needle in, getting blood to come out and just generally saying "Sorry! Sorry!" a lot. Finally another gal had to come over and help. It took forever for me to fill up the bag! Then, when the gal tried to fill the little test vials, nothing was working. She took out and then tried to reinsert the needle. No go. Meanwhile, everything was really starting to bruise in that whole area of my arm. Again, someone had to come over to try and help. They ended up taping up my right arm, moving me to another table and getting things started in the left arm so they could get those little test vials--otherwise they would have had to throw out the bag of blood I had so painstakingly just filled. After several more "Sorry! Sorry!" apologies, it was done. I was pretty calm about it all since the gal doing the blood work was having enough anxiety for both of us. After one more apology, the gal thanked me for being so nice and told me to get another t-shirt. At this time, Paul had given his blood, had his juice and cookies and was just kinda hanging out until I was done. Since I had already gotten the red shirt, I was going to get one of the older blue shirts from a previous drive, but they were out of my size, so I just got another red one. THEN I had my fill of cookies and juice! I'd earned it!! And my arm was bruised for 2 weeks!
SO-----present day. They had another drive at the sport club this afternoon and Paul and I went together again. This time the freebie was a coupon for a free individual penne pasta w/meatballs at Round Table. And things couldn't have gone more smoothly for me this time around! We were in and out of there in no time. I made sure that it was my LEFT arm they used, though....(and no HINT of a bruise this time!) So tomorrow, Paul and I will have our lunch at Round Table!

February book report

Well, Gladys, I did a little better this month: 4 books! In order, they were:
"Prayers, Paws & Providence" by Diann Hunt
"Through Gates of Splendor" by Elisabeth Elliot
"Night Song" by Susan Plunkett & Krysteen Sellen
"George" by Agnes Sligh Turnbull

The first book was another in the Grace Chapel Inn series I talked about last month. I learned a lot about seizure response dogs in this one. As always, a good read and very positive.

The Elliot book was about the martyrdom of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming and Roger Youderian in Ecuador in 1956. I went into this book knowing it was going to be a hard read. I'd read a little about Jim Elliot years ago and had seen the movie The End of the Spear a few years back at church. Hard movie to watch. I have a great deal of admiration for these young men and their mission, and for their widows as well. I've read several of Elisabeth Elliot's books and think highly of her.

"Night Song" is from another series put out by Guideposts, called Mysteries of Sparrow Island. Not as lighthearted as the Grace Chapel books, but still Christian oriented. A little more "real" in the way they deal with people. Like Grace Chapel, the 2 main characters are sisters who are in their mid to late 50's. I love these books just as much as the Grace Chapel ones.

"George" is a children's book. I'm a big fan of Agnes Sligh Turnbull, having read "The Day Must Dawn" when I was in high school. That book was written in 1942, and was one of those that I would check out from the library over and over again until I finally found a used paperback at a sale. I used to buy elementary school readers whenever I'd find them at a sale or Salvation Army. I liked using the illustrations and artwork in my collages, and sometimes used the poetry as well. I'd always skim the whole reader before taking it apart. There was an excerpt from "George" in one of them. I was intrigued by the story of a rabbit with glasses who helped a woman get rid of her migraine and then helped her children with their math homework. I found that the excerpt was from a book written in 1964, so it was long out of print when I went looking for it. I found it in the used/out of print section of Barnes & Noble online and ordered it. It's a delightful little book. I found I was reading it imagining George to have a New England accent, which made it just that much cuter. I look forward to reading it to Lia some day.

So that's my report, Gladys. I recommend these books highly. Toodles util next time!

Holy Pancakes, it's Lent!!

This past Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday AKA Mardi Gras AKA PANCAKE DAY!!
I like to acknowledge the entering of the penitential season, and used to make a special dinner on Shrove Tuesday. The last few years though, we've either been at church that evening or at Bible study. This year, we were at Bible study and I knew there would be something yummy and sweet for snack, so didn't want to have syrupy pancakes for dinner and then more sweets later. Wednesday was Ash Wednesday with supper at the church before service, so no pancakes that day. Thursday I was just plain tired and didn't feel like standing at the griddle. All I could manage was cottage cheese and scrambled eggs.
BUT TODAY--TODAY WAS THE DAY!!
♥♥♥PANCAKES♥♥♥
So now I'm FULL of pancakes and happy.

Perceptual Expectation

I can't tell you how many times I've worked on a crossword puzzle and have read a clue and started to write in the answer, only to discover that the word I know without doubt is the correct one is one letter too many/too few for the space. Or--the word fits, but throws off all the other words around it. I will then re-work it, sometimes doing all the words around the trouble spot, thereby filling it in by default. I'll look at that word and think "That doesn't have anything to do with the clue!" I will then look at the clue again and find that I've transposed a letter, left a letter out, whatever, changing the clue entirely. Or--maybe in a 2 word clue, I've read the first word and the first letter of the second and assumed a different word.
Perceptual expectation.
This has happened many, many times, and never fails to annoy me. I'll wonder how on earth I imagined a different word in the first place. I got an email today that said this in the subject line:
Get Hi-Def Drama with New Mega Impact Color from AVON
I saw who the email was from and thought this was a very strange email for her to send me. Above the advertisement inside, she'd written that "Avon has great sales this time of year, pass the info along, etc." then the most outrageous statement of all: "Great gift ideas as well."
I thought "What on earth?!?!"
Then I scrolled down a bit, saw the advertisement and said "This is all about make-up!" THEN I looked at the subject line again and realized that it said Mega Impact COLOR--NOT "COLON"
I had originally just glanced at it, thought I saw something having to do with a remedy for impacted colons (which is why I thought my friend was kinda strange) and hadn't even seen the word AVON. Then I open the email and see about Avon having great sales on the stuff and that it was a GREAT GIFT IDEA????
I have to admit I just looked at the make-up ad for a second or two and really re-thought my friendship with this woman before looking at the subject line again. Then I had the best laugh I've had in days. Actual tears in my eyes over this.
Thanks for the laugh, Nadine, even though it was my goofy perceptual expectation that caused it, and keep the emails coming! I never know what I'm going to THINK I see!

Jan Book Rep part 2

Well, I surprised myself and got another book read within this month. It's "The Price of Fame" by Carolyne Aarsen. It's one of a series of books called Tales of Grace Chapel Inn, and it's put out by Guideposts. I really enjoy these books for several reasons. They're clean, upbeat, always have a good ending (as opposed to a happy ending), although there are usually struggles along the way.
The main characters are 3 sisters who have a bed-and-breakfast in a quaint New England town. The sisters are all 50+ which I REALLY like. The only slightly unreal thing about the books is that they all come from a Christian standpoint. The people in the town for the most part are all Christians and freely admit to that and even (gasp) PRAY together! I'm not mocking that....I want to live there!! I would love to be in a town where it's not politically incorrect to wear a cross or confess Christ as Savior, or want to solve differences of opinion with prayer and honest discussion.
Anyway, on to the book itself. A movie crew comes to the little town of Acorn Hill in PA. The quaintness of the town and its architecture seem ideal in lending itself to a period piece. As it turns out, the price the town must pay in compromises is more than the people want to pay. Of course the movie people are scornful of Christians and prayer, but one of the crew comes to believe that maybe the things taught to him when he was a child aren't so old-fashioned and of no use as he thought. He breaks from the rest of the Hollywood crowd and goes back to his home in Canada.
Sounds sappy, I know, but I love these gentle books with their loving humor and joys and sorrows.

January book report

You'd think with all the down time I've had lately because of my back, I'd have read more. Well, guess what? When one is on a lot of pain meds, it makes it kinda hard to concentrate on the printed word. Since there's only one more week to the month, I know I won't finish another book before the end. My report is on the one book I did finish--"Going Rogue" by Sarah Palin. Paul got me the book for my birthday, but I didn't start it until the end of December.
I loathe politics. Always have. It's a dirty, dirty world. I don't debate or argue politics. It upsets me too much. So this is all I will say: I have unbounded admiration for Sarah Palin. I didn't care much for McCain, but I was truly on fire about the possibility of Palin as Veep. This book cemented my opinions of politics and the main stream media. The way Palin's children were attacked was beneath contempt. Palin isn't perfect. No one is. But she's a darn sight better than just about anyone else you can name. I hold her in very high esteem for her adamant stance on the sanctity of life. That is the main issue I vote on. And if Palin runs for President in 2012, I will gladly vote for her.

Ow-ow-ow-ow!!

Hi Gladys--I hurt my back again, so I thought I'd veg out in front of the comp with my trusty heatpad and wait for the pain pills to kick in. This has been really hard to deal with. I hurt for several days, then get to feeling OK and overdo it and I'm back to square one again. I hate not being able to do simple things without being extremely careful or asking for help. Today I started taking down the Christmas tree. I had every intention of taking it easy, but all it took was a couple of reaches up, down, around and a few twists and I knew I was in trouble. But I kept it up for a couple of hours until I knew I just couldn't do any more. I hated to stop but I had no choice. So what else to do but another cute little meme? This was on a blog site and was listed as the most random meme the blogger had ever seen. I'm always on the look-out for something different.

And On With The Meme!!!!

What kind of soap is in your bathtub/shower right now?
There's a bar of Irish Spring for the guys and at least 3 bottles of purty-smelling stuff for me (and Sarah when she comes up)

What color or design is on your shower curtain?
The usual one is a nice cream color with bamboo design that Paul bought us when he accidentaly destroyed the other one (funny story). But what's up right now is a beautiful red and gold one that belongs to Sarah. Since her current shower has a glass door, she let me have this one for the holidays. She's always trying to bring a little class into our house...

Do you drink out of glass or plastic when you're at home?
Depends. I have both. I use both.

Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?
I ALWAYS have iced tea in the fridge, but it's in a glass "sun tea" jar instead of a pitcher. Marv takes that in his thermos to work every day.

How many pillows do you sleep with?
Because of my reflux prob, I sleep with a lot of them. Along with my old triangle wedge pillow, I had 5 extra pillows to position myself, depending on how high I had to sit up. With my new wedge (which is a lot firmer) I only need 2-3 extra pillows.

Do you sleep with any lights on at night?
Because I have to get up 3-4 times a night to visit the little girl's room, I have a night light in the hall and in the bathroom.

Standard toothbrush or electric?
Standard. I tried one of those disposable vibrating toothbrushes and really liked it, but it only lasted about a month before the thing died. And I wasn't going to pay $6 each time for something like that.

Welcome, 2010!

It's a new year, thankfully! And what better way to start it than with a MEME???

What famous person do you (or others) think you resemble?
I didn't see the resemblance, but one Halloween I answered the door wearing my hair parted in the middle with 2 white barrettes holding my hair back. No reason, that's just the way I was wearing it that day. A couple of teen boys looked at me and said, "Are you supposed to be Kathy Bates?" It wasn't until a little later that I thought of her in the movie "Misery", and that's how she wore her hair. Then I felt insulted...

What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator?
Milk, soda, butter

What superstition do you believe/practice?
None. I'm a Christian.

What color are you bed sheets?
Right now they're dark red flannel with bears on them. And paw prints.

Would you rather be a fish or a bird?
Since I HATE deep water, it would have to be a bird. Plus, I'd love to be able to fly!

Do security cameras make you nervous?
Not at all! In fact, if I see one, I always smile and wave!

Last time you went to a cemetary?
Memorial Day 2009, to take a picture of all the flags in the Vet's section where my parents are.

Favorite musician(s)/bands you've seen in concert?
I saw Davy Jones of The Monkees at the fairgrounds several years ago. Big disappointment. He opened for Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits. THAT was wonderful. Peter was a real showman and had the whole audience singing "Henry the 8th". This past year I got to "experience" Tommy Emmanual at the university in Chico. All I can say about that is "WOW!!" He has to be seen to really appreciate him and his music.

Do you talk to yourself?
Of course! No I don't! Yes I do! That's nuts! Oh yeah? Yeah! You wanna make something of it?!?

Was your mom a cheerleader?
No. She was the editor of the school newspaper.

The phone rings. Who do you want it to be?
My Twinkie Pie, of course! (aka my daughter)

What 3 words best describe yourself?
Intelligent, funny, blessed.