The Giving Spirit

I am sending a Christmas package to a soldier this year. I am having fun figuring out what to put in there. I have collected some good stuff so far and will get the rest this afternoon (as well as the box). The U.S. postal service has a special flat rate box for military packages that is 12" x 12" x 5" and costs $11.95 to ship. If you are interested in sending a Christmas gift box to a soldier, check out Gnightgirl's post here. She can supply you with a soldier's name and address. If you want to do this and can't act very fast, be sure to request a soldier that has an APO/FPO AE ZIP that starts with other than 093, as these zips must be mailed to by December 4th. All other zips can be mailed to by December 11th. I hope some of you can do this because I've really enjoyed researching ideas on the net and coming up with my own ideas. When I get everything together, I'll take pictures and do a post about that. I LOVE Christmas!

Whut?

My In-Laws decided we should all go around the table and say what we were thankful for and I was feeling nervous about it and when I'm nervous I get goofy (just like Chandler from "Friends"!) and everyone was saying "...family and friends..." and stuff and when it was my turn I said, "I'm thankful to live in a country where the transfer of power is done peaceably." It's an actual true sentiment, but all night since I've been home when I think about that, I crack up laughing. Hey, I'm goofy. It's what I do.

Howze I Beez

That picture from Topsail Island really fits my mood of late. I was trying to analyze it (my mood of late) and the best I could figure was that it was from the change in the weather. I'm not exactly sure that's what it is though. I tend to get very introspective when I go through my really feel good spells. Because, it would be nice to have them on demand in the future when I need them. The reality is that my cozy happy mood is probably some randomly generated chemical thing that I can never duplicate. Whatever it is, I'm enjoying it.
~
On the other hand, I am not enjoying the blogging community like I used to. Oh I still love reading the usual suspects - even though SOME OF YOU (yes, YOU!) do not post very often, but some of the blogs I used to read started to get on my nerves for one reason or another. There are only a handful of blogs I really enjoy. I'm not one of those bloggers that goes around leaving comments all over the place so that I'll get lots of comments. Maybe that's the way this game is supposed to be played, but I guess I didn't get a rule book.
~
I've always said that my main purpose for blogging was to keep a journal (I never kept a written one) and man has it really come in handy. It's so easy to look up dates of stuff and more importantly, when our computer died, I had all these pics on my blog that did not die with the computer.
~
I also get a big kick out of how many people I may have helped with little projects. According to my feedjit, I get hits every day on how to make hat stands and footstools. Man, the English are really interested in footstools! I also get lots of hits about the danger of touch control lamps and how to make a photo ribbon board. I don't get feedback from those people, but I hope I helped a lot of them. A part of me likes to think that people are making photo boards, rewiring their lamps, making hat stands and footstools just from what they read here. Hey! It's possible.
~
Anyway, I am really enjoying the cooler weather and not sweating. I'm already in the mood for Christmas and looking forward to everything about the rest of this year including my 9th wedding anniversary in one week. Wow! 9 years! That's big for me. And for the 3 or 4 Americans that read my blog - Happy Thanksgiving!

When It's Okay To Break A Promise

Dad in the N.C. National Guard

~

When I was a baby, Dad joined the North Carolina National Guard. I was too little to really miss him when he was in basic training although when I was a little older, I do remember him going away from time to time. He always brought back fun stuff like smoke bombs and cool food kits that had neat little tins of food and bubble gum. He also brought back all sorts of stories that he shared with us over the years as we became age appropriate.
~
One of the stories I will always remember was this one: After about two weeks of basic training, Dad noticed one of his fellow soldiers looking a little "green around the gills" as they say. Dad pulled him aside and asked him if he was okay. The man said, "I'll tell you something if you swear to never tell a soul." Dad vowed to keep the man's secret. The man then told Dad that he had not had a bowel movement since he had arrived because he could not bring himself to use the bathroom in front of other people. Dad wrestled with his conscience for just a very short while and then reported this to their drill sergeant. The man with the secret was taken immediately to the infirmary and Dad was told that he had saved the man's life.
~
I think that story is important because there are times when you have to break a promise or break your silence. Someone's life may depend on it.

Fred and I Are Annoyed

College basketball season started last week and I am thrilled and have seen my team play twice, but this post is not about that. During Tuesday's game, one of the announcers said something like, "Coach Deaks told Fred and I last week that....." What? Dude, You are an announcer on TV! Why? Why would you say that? I don't understand why people have such a hard time discerning the difference between "Fred and I" and "Fred and me." Even if you do not understand the concept of subjects and objects in a sentence just remove "Fred and" from the sentence and see how it sounds. "Coach Deaks told I last week?" No he DIDN'T. And if you were thinking of saying "Fred and me talked to Coach Deaks" and you remove "Fred and" you are left with "Me talked to coach Deaks." Uhm, nope. Not unless you are two years old. Or a baby cartoon character or something. Me say NO!
~
I'm not a prickly stickler about everything grammar. If I were watching a movie and an old cowboy said, "Me and Clem's going to go look at that old barn." Well, I would have no problem with that. I'm also very lenient with bloggers if they write as if they were speaking casually. If someone is a casual "speaking" blogger and writes "Me and Fred had a blast Friday night!" I'm okay with that. But that TV announcer, he should be held to a higher standard.
~
Speaking of the internet, it's getting worse and worse. After years of cringing through all the "your"/"you're" mishaps, yesterday I saw a comment somewhere with "there" used TWICE in the same sentence instead of the correct "They're." It read something like "There always doing that on reality shows and there getting away with it." Little tiny sparks in my brain exploded all over the place. Why?!!? Why can't people get these simple things right?
~
I guess I need to stop thinking about it, but seriously, the sports announcer? I hope his producer or agent or mom or someone told him not to do that again.

Dog Memory

I was behind this dog at a stoplight the other day. I took several pictures and was wondering what he was looking at so intently. Then I realized he was looking at that field that usually has cows. I didn't see any cows that day but couldn't help but wonder if the dog also remembered there were usually cows there and maybe he was wondering where they were. Would a dog remember something like that? He looks pretty smart.

More Man Shoes + The Weekend = Post

A year and a half ago I got tired of tight pinchy women's shoes and bought man shoes. On Wednesday I went shopping for new tennis shoes and after trying on a few pairs, I kept thinking, "What happened to the old days when new tennis shoes felt like a foot massage?" Then I was reminiscing about my teen years when I only bought guy tennis shoes and how comfy they were. Then I got my butt up and crossed the store to the men's section. I tried on these Nike Air Monarchs:
They were delicious to my feet! I didn't actually get to wear them until Saturday night and AHHHHH! It really felt like a foot massage. The cold front finally came through today so I should get to wear them more often now (I've been wearing my brown Man Sandals since I got back from New Orleans).
~
Speaking of weather, it has been so nice out since I got back that I have been sitting outside almost every single day and that worked out for the best because on Saturday I did a yard sale with my in-laws at their house. It was warm and sunny and we sat outside in the sun for 6 hours. I think I would have gotten a sunburn if I had not been getting sun all this time. When I ran down to Carole's house afterwards with all my sun and windblown hair, I looked like I had spent the day at the beach.
~
The yard sale was not very productive, although I did sell the big Christmas tree. On the drive home we decided that although we did not sell much, it had been a really good day. We never spend that much time with "the folks." My Sweetie's sister, husband and my littlest nephew (the one I babysat in 2007) stopped by and I got a great picture of Little AJ with his freshly won soccer trophy:

I also got a bag full of Little AJ's baby clothes for Carole's new grandson, some Christmas latch hook rug sets and a jig saw from my in-laws. They wouldn't let me buy anything. I've always wanted a jig saw. Now I want to cut something.
~
A little after we got home and unloaded all the stuff we didn't sell, we went to dinner at Razzoo's. It was great to hear Cajun music again! A few months ago I started taking a picture to send to Lo every time I left shrimp on a plate, so of course I got one there:

It's a running joke, because she NEVER leaves a shrimp. On her plate or anyone else's. That girl can eat some shrimp.
~
Today I had a nice lazy day. We watched the new "The Prisoner" on AMC and I like it. We own the original series. Now I think I'm going to take a long warm cozy shower and then come back and read some blogs.

Home Invasion

I just discovered this little guy in our library window. I wonder if he is big enough to eat the wasps that show up in the house this time of year?

My Mammogram P.S.A.

In the 5 or so years that I have been part of the blogging community, I have never had anything good to say about mammograms and have left comments all over the place about how horrible my experience was. And while that first mammogram in 2001 was truly a horrible experience, I wish to issue a personal retraction of those statements. Last Thursday, because of a dream I had this summer, I had my second mammogram and it was nothing. My only injury was to the left side of my neck caused by my nervous tension. Apparently my first mammogram was done by someone who was either a sadist or a poorly trained technician because the lady that performed this recent mammogram was very nice and gentle and did not cause me any pain whatsoever. I wholeheartedly regret if any of my previous statements have caused someone to not get a mammogram and I encourage all women to get their regular mammograms. Okay. I feel better now. All over. And my mammogram was clear.

Terrible Food Pun Tuesday

After reading Big Brother's blog the other day, I was infected with pun fever. And then last night I made cheesey mashed potatoes. I called them "The Muenster Mash."

Finally With The Haircut

Last February, I did a post about my dream haircut, which was this:
Of course I couldn't get it because my hair always has to be long enough to wear up in the summer or I will burst into flames and die of heatstroke. And then I couldn't get my hair cut before Halloween because I had to have hair to attach my "pigtails" to. And I even had some good hair days right at the end. This picture was taken last Sunday, the 1st of November:

But I already had my appointment set for less than 48 hours after my return from New Orleans. And I was SO glad, because my hair was so thick and heavy and almost impossible to comb out after a shower. But on Wednesday, I finally got my dream haircut:

AND I LOVE IT.

Halloween On Bourbon Street WITH.....

Our Doppelgangers: The other Dorothy was wearing red converse tennis shoes with sequin bows. My poor aching feet in their gorgeous ruby slippers were very jealous.

A Witch: Although I love my "scared" pose, this picture makes me look 8 months pregnant.

A Male Scarecrow: This dude was so mellow and passive, we probably could have taken him somewhere and made him wash dishes.

A Female Scarecrow: I thought she looked kinda creepy.

A Man Dorothy: This guy was hilarious. I don't think he ever said anything, he just kept laughing. Maybe he didn't speak English.

Riff Raff and Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show: I screeched with joy when I saw them and they seemed really happy that I knew who they were. I told her I was Magenta 30 years ago exactly.

And we got to be witnesses at a bizarroid Zombie Wedding. It was an accident.

I really loved this one of us because the fountain in the background looks like the wand has magic sprinkles around it. I hope you liked the pics. They were awesome fun to make.

Halloween on Bourbon Street

Lo's Mom sent me a Toto basket which was really sweet, but I did not take him out on the street with me. We had a great time! My feet are so sore from walking non-stop over 3 days that I sat on the couch all day at home on Tuesday and it was wonderful.

I also discovered what it must be like to be a Big Movie Star/Celebrity because about 500 people took photos of us. One time people were lined up with cameras and it was hard to know where to look. It was crazy fun. People also threw us lots of beads, but I kept mine in the pocket of my shorts (under the dress). I wore a few at first, but decided it was a little unDorothy-like.

~

(I'll have more stories later, but I haven't even downloaded my photos yet. These are from Lo's camera.)

Also, the weather was even better than predicted, so that was a double bonus. And I had lots of delicious cajun food. I certainly want to do this again next year, but I wll have to pick a costume with comfortable shoes. I think I'll be the flying monkey.

Cool. Perfect Seat.

Everything looks great for my trip although it will be chillier than expected. I've been to New Orleans three times for Thanksgiving weekend and wore shorts, so Halloween being a month earlier, I expected warmer weather, But I'm cool with it. (Hee hee. Cool.) Here's the Canadian version for my fine Canadian friends:

I also checked my seating and was so tickled to see that I had my very favorite location:

How perfect is that? Since you've all wished me well already, if you want to leave a comment you can just say, "Bon Voyage, you knucklehead!" or say nothing at all ; )

Halloween. Party. Shoes.

I really really hate shopping and had been putting off doing my last minute Halloween shopping and going to the baby store to buy Carole's upcoming grandson a gift. I made three stops and had to park way out at two of the places so I'm counting that as my walking for today. The first stop was the fabric store and unfortunately the store next door was one of those temporary Halloween superstores, so that lot was PACKED. I was hoping that elastic came in different colors because I had decided that the easiest way to attach my hair pieces would be to tie them on with elastic. But elastic comes only in black or white, so I went with black figuring that would sort of disappear in my darkish hair. And there will be gingham ribbon on top of that.
~
I have no idea why the baby store's parking lot was so full. And times have changed. The gift I have always given mothers to be, because they were my very favorite things, hardly exist anymore. And those are the waterproof flannel pads. Those things made my life so much easier. It's funny how you think young people today have it easier but apparently not. Anyway after searching for what seemed like EVER in that store, I found what I wanted. And then the lines at checkout. And guess what people in the lines have? Yes! They have crying babies.
~
I finally got home and had maybe 14 seconds to unwind when my daughter and her friend showed up. For years my daughter and I have been carving pumpkins together except for last year. I suppose we could not coordinate our (her) schedules. Last year I just had that pile of uncarved pumpkins by the block of hay. For years I had been carving a scary cat complete with big whiskers, but this year I decided to go with goofy and simple. Mine is the pumpkin on the left. My daughter's pumpkin, in the middle, is a landscape of full moon and mountains. I told her people would think it was a one-eyed creature with one giant tooth. My daughter's friend had not carved a pumpkin in many years and really got a kick out of it. She said my pumpkin looked like a bunny. It was supposed to be a cross-eyed, buck-toothed being, but it does look sort of like Bugs Bunny. The pumpkin carving was fun and I started to unwind a bit, when my daughter started telling her friend about my costume and then I panicked because I realized I had forgotten to pick up my ruby slippers from the shoe place.
~
I really wanted Thursday to be an IN day because starting Friday, I will have four OUT days in a row. Besides I need to catch up on housework, do laundry and start packing. My Sweetie, who is the sweetiest Sweetie in the world asked me after dinner if I was okay. I told him I had forgotten my shoes and he offered to get them for me. What a relief. Now I can stay home and get a lot done. I want to get out of this rushed stressed feeling mode and back into giddy happy YAY mode. I am ready to party with my best bud in New Orleans. I will be there in 40.5 hours and I can't wait. And for everyone that keeps asking about pictures. Hello? I'm the person that even takes pictures of my meals when I go out to eat. And Lo? She is a fastidious photo chronicler of events. She is worse (better?) than I am about photo ops. Between the two of us we will probably have 100 pictures. And I am so looking forward to making them.

Combining The Two Icks

Because I spend 80 to 90 percent of my life puttering around in my house, I have wimpy feet. And conversely I always take walking vacations. Which require LOTS of walking. To preprare for my trips I try to spend some time on my treadmill. I also like to whiten my teeth before vacations. So tonight, I thought, "Hey! Why not get these two horrible things over at the same time?" It was horribly unpleasant, but now that it's over I'm glad I did it. (Sort of like having a baby or tossing your 18-year-old out of your house.) I strapped a sudoku puzzle book on the top thing of the treadmill with a velcro strap and hopped on there with my teeth whitening trays and took off. That puzzle book really helped and I walked 3/4 of a mile (that's 14 vegemites in the metric system) while trying not to drool all over the place. I didn't make it to the 30 minutes suggested by the teeth whitening product, but decided that 25 was plenty. Besides, with all the drool, I figured there could not be much whitening product left at that point. I found it amusing that although I spent the whole 25 minutes engrossed in my sudoku puzzle, I didn't write in a single number. But hey! It was a "demanding" puzzle. And speaking of demanding, I'm going to do the whole thing all over again. Ick.

About New Orleans and Stuff

I am so excited about my upcoming trip to New Orleans on Friday that I can barely think about anything else. That picture was taken in May 2003. That's the last time Lo and I went. In case you forgot, she's going to be the Glinda to my Dorothy on Saturday night. I have only two things left to buy and I will be ready. And I have to pick up my shoes from a place on Wednesday. I took them to The Shoe Hospital to have a rubber padding installed under the ball of the foot part for extra comfort. I have to admit I had a bit of anxiety leaving them there. I'm not even going to pack them in my checked luggage. I'm going to take my entire costume onto the plane in my backpack, because if there is really one time you do not want to lose something if your luggage gets lost, it's your Halloween costume for Halloween. Call me paranoid, but I'd prefer to think I am just being extra careful.

~

On that last trip in 2003, we visited some of the gorgeous New Orleans cemeteries. Since Sunday will be El Día de los Muertos, I figured we would do that again. That is if we are not too dead ourselves, after Saturday night.

~~

Happy Birthday to Carole! (I hope you had a great Birthday weekend anyway.) Carole's 50th birthday was on Saturday and she had wonderful plans. Her son and DIL flew down from Princeton and they were going to have a great weekend with them as well as her daughter and SIL who live nearby. Unfortunately, Carole's daughter, who is due to have a baby around Thanksgiving was stricken with severely high blood pressure and had to be hospitalized on Friday for the duration of her pregnancy.

Carole loves whimsical things and I gave her those two Halloween figurines. Let's all hope her daughter and new (and first!) grandbaby are going to be fine.

~~

I hope I have time to post again this week. My husband visited the LucasArts headquarters in San Francisco last week on a business trip and brought back some cool pictures. I want to post some of them this week. Here's a Yoda fountain:
I want a Yoda fountain! So anyway, I'm all busy getting ready for my trip and trying to remember to do my normal stuff until Friday. I'm so excited!!!

What Is This Kitchen Gadget?

Recently I made a little bin thing for a kitchen drawer for my measuring spoons, because they crazily migrate to the back of the drawer every day, and I found this odd little gadget:
At first, I thought it was some special gadget for breaking up sauce muck. (Sauce muck is that thick ring of stuff you get around the top of bottles of barbecue sauce and A-1 sauce and that sort of thing.) But upon closer inspection, I found that it was actually a two part deal. The part I thought was the sauce muck scraper was actually a sort of pull handle:

So then I was really perplexed. Once I pulled the muck scraper out, I realized I had been looking at it upside down. Because now it looked sort of like a cork. But it was inside that other thing. So I wondered: Is this an overly complicated wine cork with a spout? And if so, WHY? Wine bottles pour just fine on their own, so why would I need a metal spout thing? Then I thought maybe it was for olive oil. But my olive oil bottles pour just fine own their own, just like wine bottles. I couldn't think of anything else that might need a cork with a metal spout.

~

And then I moved on to wondering where it came from and why I had no memory of it. Is it something I brought over from Mom's house last summer? Was it something that came in a gift set from one of my husband's vendors? Did it miraculously appear, placed by that sprite of household oddities? My Sweetie thought maybe it was something you jab (at the spouty end) into a large citrus fruit and then turn it around for pouring. First of all, that would not work very well, and even if it did, why would you need to cork it afterward?

~

So does anyone know what this is? I thought maybe someone could answer that question because I'm pretty sure no one could tell me how it ended up in my drawer. If I never find out, that's okay too, because I can always use it as a sauce muck scraper.

I Am Solar Powered

Although I was not born Texan, and I actually make fun of the Texas obsession with weather, I have to admit that I am surprised that I have not mentioned the weather yet this month. I think that's because it was depressing the hell out of me. October has always been my very favorite month since I've lived in Texas. It means the end of the heat from hell that bakes you slowly inside your own skin. October means beautiful mild bright sunny robin's eggs blue sky days. But this October has been hideously different. It has rained and/or been thickly overcast Every Single Day. Until this past Friday.
~
And I'm not joking about being solar powered. My whole personality changed when I first moved to Texas and I realized years later that it was the sunshine. When My Sweetie was laid off in 2002 and was considering a job in Seattle he said, "We couldn't live there, there's not enough sun for you." And maybe that's why my Vancouver trip was so depressing. I really need sunshine.
~
I woke up on Friday to a very bright day. It actually hurt my eyes after weeks of drab. I spent the entire day outside except to eat lunch and post my little poem. I cleaned the deck, the spa, the patio. I put away the pots that no longer had flowers and rearranged some of the random pots (pictured above) in a new little grouping. And just sat. Sat and absorbed the sun. On Saturday, I took my little radio outside and sat in the sun. All afternoon. Just sat and soaked up the sun. Today (Sunday) I moved the table from the patio onto the deck and sat there and did sudoku puzzles, listened to the radio and drank beer. All afternoon. Monday is supposed to be 74° and fully sunny all day, so guess what? I'm going to do it again. You should see my tan.

A Poem For Today

Skimming the spa,
Soaking up some rays,
Spiffing up the deck;
What a glorious day!