Klutz and good food

I've had a really good day, even if I did fall on my ass this morning. We went to church this morning and stayed and visited with friends afterward. When we finally headed home I gave everyone a show and fell right off my shoes! Ouchie! I twisted my ankle and fell hard. That I could handle but I really didn't like the wet rump I ended up with or the show I gave the kids who happened to be outside at the time. Those kids were pretty sweet though and asked if I was ok as Jim hauled me back up and helped me to the car.
So, sore ankle and knee and me had to get ready for the kids coming out for a homemade pizza party. Jim was a big help but when it comes to the cooking, he is kind of a fish out of water. We have a deal. I cook and he cleans up. He definitely has the worst end of the deal - I'm a messy cook. Fortunately I had done a lot of the prep work yesterday, cooking the hamburger, italian sausage, & sausage yesterday and chopping the green onions, green pepper, and black olives yesterday too. I make my pizza dough from scratch - you know the kind that uses yeast - it is more work but it is SO worth it!
The kids and their families showed up around 1:30 and we visited and snacked for awhile. A couple of hours later I rolled out the dough. That is when the fun began. The kids "built" the pizza. Imagine a 3 year old, 2 five year olds, a 9 year old, and a 10 year old putting the toppings on pizza. Oh, yea and a screaming one year old in the background. At this point I was almost (but not quite) glad that Julie and her 4 kids didn't make it. I'm not too sure what we would have done with 4 more kids throwing toppings around. It was wild!
We chowed down on the best pizza in the whole world and then topped it off with hot brownies topped with vanilla icecream. YUM!
And now I am sitting with my bum foot propped up. The swelling isn't nearly as bad as I expected. What a wonderful day!

What a Night

Ever have one of those nights where you dream? And the dreams are bizarre? And they wake you up? And you think you will remember them in the morning? And then morning comes and you can't really remember them?

Well, I had one of those nights last night.

I dreamed strange dreams all night long, and yet this morning I can only remember one of them. It was such a silly dream, though, as dreams usually are.

My friend Patti was leaving after a visit. Jim was up by the barn. I was doing laps around the circle drive. As Patti got into her car, I saw something off in the woods. I exclaimed like a little girl, "Oh look! A moonster!" The monster looked a little like this, only he was orange (and no he wasn't an OCHA lol).

Anyway, Jim came running out of the barn and screamed, get in a tree, get in a tree, hurry!!!!! He'll kill you! Then more and more of the monsters came running out of the woods. Patti, crouches down next to her car (why she didn't get in is beyond me, but it was a dream ya know...) I ran from tree to tree and realized that after the severe trimming of the lower branches that we did recently, there was no way to pull myself up into a tree. So I climbed onto a stump that was about 3 inches tall and crouched down (yea, that will save me...) And the dream ended...

Ok, now get out of here - you expected something good and this is all I have :p

Encouraged

Chicagolady gave me an "Encouraged" award. Thank you lady! I hope every person whose blog I read (you know who you are...) will grab this award. If I read your blog, then it means your words encourage me that this world is a good place to live in. I wouldn't be reading your blog if it didn't.

Here is the award. If you are reading this, please take it - you deserve it!

Whoa - You Had Me Declared What?

Last week I stopped by the Post Office and my neighbor from down the road was there. He was finishing up some business. I bought my stamps and then gave him a hug and asked how he is doing. He is 83 and had been in the hospital recently with pneumonia. He lost his wife to cancer a number of years ago, so we talk to him whenever we can. His response to how he is doing was "I'm doing great now - do you have time for a cup of coffee?" Well this is not like him at all to ask me to sit down and visit with him, so I figured he must need a friendly ear. I was on the tightest of tight schedules... so I smiled at him and said "sure" (so what if the schedule is screwed up).

So we sit down with our coffee and he starts talking:

Don: I didn't want to say anything but now that I have my life back, I want to let you know...

Me: What is it Don? Let me know what?

Don: Well you remember when I was in the hospital with pneumonia? I talked to you when I got out? I was embarrassed to say anything...

Me: What are you talking about Don... embarrassed about what?

Don: Well Doug (his son-in-law) picked me up at the hospital and took me home. Next day I went to the Post Office to get my mail and my box was locked. I couldn't get in it at all. So I asked the postmast what was going on. He was very embarrassed and showed me papers that showed Doug had power of attorney. He had me declared incompetent while I was in the hospital

Me: He what!!!!!!!!!! (This man is the sharpest 83 year old I have ever known.)

Don: Yep. I couldn't write a check, use a credit card, get my mail... he had total control of me.

Me: How is that possible?

Don: Well it seems in the great State of Missouri that a person can be declared incompetent if someone says so and one Dr. backs it up.

Me: Oh man... What did you do and why didn't you tell us?

Don: I hired the best lawyer I could find. I was embarrassed. i didn't want anyone to know until I got it sorted out.

Me: And?

Don: There is one rich lawyer out there now and I have my life back. I still have a lot to do today. I want to check my lock box at the bank and see if he took anything from it. I have to get my credit cards reinstated. And I have to get my life insurance policy changed. The name of Doug will be removed as beneficiary of my $100,000 life insurance policy today. I'd better not die between here and the insurance company... I've already changed my will.

Me: Wow, you would think you could trust family.

Don: Well, I want you to know he isn't family. He is Arlene's (his late wife)daughter's husband. He is nothing to me.

Me: Why did he do that? Do you know?

Don: He thinks I was spending his inheritance frivolously. I bought a CAT (big machinery) for $20K, a wood splitter, and a tractor recently. All of which I've never gotten to use because it is at his house. And I'm buying CD's for college courses that are not accredited. I'm learning about Anthropology right now - do you want the CD's when I'm dong (errrrr not really lol). He thought that was a waste of money. And my lady friend's daughter was in an abusive relationship and I paid the $1200 fee for a lawyer.

Me: It's your money...

Don: Damn right it is. And he won't see a dime now!

Me: Did he use your credit cards?

Don: I hope so. I have no problem turning his name into a number.

Me: I'm glad you have a lady friend.

Don: Well we are just friends. (then he kinda glanced down....) This thing wouldn't work even if we weren't just friends... I sure wish I was 30 years younger. But if that was the case, I'd be running after you....

Me: LOL I'd probably let you catch me.

Don: I just wanted to let you know what has been going on. Tell the Mr. he is a lucky man. I may be crazy, but I'm not senile.

So I hugged him and headed out, thinking just how crazy life can get at times. I called him today to invited him to join us for Thanksgiving. He replied that I was the 4th person to call and holidays were family and he wouldn't come. I begged and he wouldn't... He's quite a guy. I want to be like him when I'm 80.

If this doesn't make you laugh....

I received this in an email today and I found myself laughing out loud as I watched it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Message of the day

Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.

Question of the day - Maxine Style

Maxine is standing next to a stove with a spoon, stirring something. She asks, "When making Thanksgiving Dinner, do your giblets end up in your gravy?" The says "Or do you wear a bra when you cook?"

Have a wonderful week everyone!

I received this award today from Ladystyx. Thank you dear. Blogging is such fun. It is such a release. And then to think that people actually like to read what I write, well that is overwhelming!



"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

The award translates as, "This blog invests and believes, the proximity" [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proximity]

Every blog I read deserves this award. Please dear friends take it and pass it on. It is such a pretty award.

Dolce Vita Ristorante

We were invited to a "small get together" tonight. OK, I like free food and good conversation, so we said alright!
What we didn't know was this "small get together" was 100 or so people and the food was catered by the owner of a renowned Boston Italian Restaurant - Dolce Vita Ristorante www.dolcevitaristorante.com .I kid you not! The Graceffa family were visiting Jim's boss and decided to treat his family and friends. There were 14 of them in all - some from Boston and some from Michigan. The owner of Doce Vita Ristorante, Franco, MC'd the event. They had an 82 year old accordian player and singer, Antonio. He was walking around and singing to all the ladies. I put my hand over my heart (be still my heart). He was so cute - in an 80+ year old way... They were talking about the fact that he was in a movie many years ago. The movie was call The Stiff or something like that and it was about a funeral home. I've searched the web and haven't found anything about it. I take my camera everywhere. I keep it in my car. So, where was my camera tonight? In my car. What did we drive? Jim's truck (sigh). Oh well.
We had a really good time and the food was soooo good! We had salad, Italian sausage, pasta and the most wonderful meatballs I have ever tasted. I didn't know very many people there because they were mostly people Jim work with, but it was a great opportunity to meet some interesting people. (burp) Oh, excuse me! lol did I mention that the food was great?

Raynauds

I have this disease called Raynauds.

I had it for many years, undiagnosed. Then one day I was sitting on the exam table with my feet dangling in the cold examination room of my podiatrist. My toes turned an ugly white (like they were always prone to do) and the rest of my feet were red. The podiatrist walked in, took one look at my feet, said "Oh My" and left the room. He returned with his entire staff to see my feet! Apparently it is rare for them to see this disease in action. Patients describe the ailment and the disease is diagnosed based on the description. So he wanted everyone to see what Raynauds actually looked like in real life. He then took my feet in his hands and warmed them through the purple, tingling, stage and then continued with working on the problem that brought me to his office originally. There are some medications that relieve the symptoms, but, unfortunately, none have worked for me.

Here is the Mayoclinic's description of Raynauds:

"Raynaud's disease is a condition that causes some areas of your body — such
as your fingers, toes, tip of your nose and your ears — to feel numb and cool in
response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud's disease, arteries that
supply blood to your skin narrow, limiting blood circulation to affected areas. "

Raynaud's disease is more than simply having cold hands and cold feet, and it's not the same as frostbite. Signs and symptoms of Raynaud's depend on the frequency, duration and severity of the blood vessel spasms that underlie the disorder. Signs and symptoms include:

Sequence of color changes in your skin in response to cold or stress
Numb, prickly feeling or stinging pain upon warming or relief of stress."

Simply put, if I get cold, my fingers and toes get numb and I can't feel a thing. It is such a nuisance! Why am I blogging about this now? Well the cold weather is here and I have had nonstop Raynauds. It is difficult to type (try to imagine not being able to feel the keys when you hit them because your fingers are numb). It is difficult to eat, especially in restaurants. Restaurants are a year round problem. They typically keep the temperature low and if the temperatures drop to around 60, I am doomed. It is almost impossible to hold a spoon or fork or worse cut meat when fingers are numb. I have a pair of wool gloves that stay in my purse year round. I may look wacky when I pull them out in the middle of summer, but they usually do the trick. And walking? Well it becomes a nightmare. When the toes are numb, it is like walking on a brick of ice or something. It is very difficult to describe. I don't even try to wear dress shoes in the winter. They don't provide nearly enough protection. Socks and lace up shoes usually do the trick. I stay away from the insulated boots, though. They make me TOO hot.

This is a picture I got from the Mayoclinic to give you an idea of what the disease looks like - no, it is not my hands but it could be.

Just because

I don't really have anything to post, but I feel like writing, so here I am :)

In reality it am avoiding the unavoidable. I have an embroidery job going that should be a piece of cake. It is a very simple design on a hat. It just happens to be my company logo placed on the hats of a bowling team I sponsor (hubby's team, of course). Anyway, I popped out to The Loft after church this morning thinking I'd stitch those hats out in short order. So I set it up, hit the start button, the machine starts chugging to the right thread, the needle goes down to stitch and THUNK. Ut oh. OK, so maybe I have the brim of the hat in a bind against the machine, which would put the needle in a bind and cause it to break. So I check that out. Man, it sure looks good. So I try again - THUNK. Crap! Two needles down and the machine is not liking the abuse at all. So I change the thread placement to another area of the machine, realign the hat, hold my breath, hit start and THUNK. Double crap!

So now I have redone the design a bit and made it smaller. I dread loading it on the machine and hearing thunk again. But I'm a positive thinking person and once I quit procrastinating and get my butt back up to The Loft and try again it is going to stitch out like a dream. Really it is.... and if it doesn't, Marmie will probably hear my scream in the UK and Ausie will hear me Down Under!

Here is the design. The colors I'm using are nature colors because it is being stitched on a camo hat. If you look closely at the logo you will notice that it is D's interlocking with each other. The reason for that is the D's in Deanna's Designs :)

Now, back to work and IT WILL WORK! (Please, please, please...)

It worked! One dozen hats later, I'm back to finish the post. Jim wouldn't pose for me, so I enlisted my buddy bear to do it for me (I'm going to just have to get a squirrel stuffie for such things lol)

Give Me Novacaine - Green Day

OK, here is one going around that I haven't done yet. I got it off of Intenseguy's Blog, who got it off Wife O Riley's blog, who got it from... well you get the picture. Anyway, Wife's and Iggy's answers were so intersting, I just had to do it. Keep in mind that I have thousands of songs (compliments of Joepte) and some of these songs I've never even heard. Of course Hubby thought I had lost my mind (again) when he came in and I was sitting here letting the computer shuffle through tunes but never listening to an entire tune. How does that man put up with me... Ok, here goes nothing!

Here are the rules:

1. Put your music on shuffle
2. For each question - press the next button to get your answer
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!!

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY? The Man I Love - Etta James (sing it Etta! and I always check with Jim first)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? Fire On High - ELO (need I say more...)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY? I'm Bad - Bo Diddly (again, need I say mmore...)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? The Long Run - Eagles (yep, I feel like I've run the long run. I was hoping I Feel Good by James Brown would pop up but no such luck)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman (just give me one good reason and that is all it takes for me to do something...)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Saddle My Pony - Taj Majal (Hi Ho Silver - Away!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Can't be Satisfied - George Thorogood (not enough blogs or friends to satisfy this little lady - keep em coming friends!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? It's Only Make Believe - Glen Campbell (that about sums life up, doesn't it...)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Love Lifted Me - Collective Soul (whoa! that one spooked me out. I couldn't have said it better!)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? Rides Again - Blue Collar Comedy Tour (it has been one big rollercoaster ride and I definitely keep getting back on...)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Tiny Dancer - Elton John (LOL this one just ain't gonna happen!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE? Nobody Knows - Paul McCartney (now that just isn't true! Everybody knows!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? The Journey - Boston (that would describe any parent - wow!)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? Anus of Uranus - Klatuu (good thing I don't plan on ever getting married again...)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? U Got It Bad - Usher (lol, ya think?)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? Enough's Enough - Alice Cooper (now that is what hubby says about all my hobby's and interests - enough's enough!)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? Nights I Can't Remember - Toby Keith (LOL apparently it is even a secret from me)

WHATS THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? Mr Roboto - Styx (now I'm going to have this song in my head the rest of the night. I hope Mr. Roboto comes clean my house...)

HOW WILL YOU DIE? Red River Valey - Sons of the Pioneer (well at least it isn't the Simpson Desert that Ausgrl blogged about...)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET? So Happy Together - The Turtles (OK, can someone tell me why I would regret that...)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? Red Red Wine - Neil Diamond (If I drink enough of it, it makes me sleep, not laugh...)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY? American Woman - Guess Who (why?)

WHAT SCARES YOU MOST? Bosa Nova Baby - Elvin Presley (be afraid, be very very afraid if I'd ever try to do the Bosa Nova!)

DOES ANYONE LOVE YOU? Ball of Confusion - Temptations (and your point is...)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME - WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? Don't Look Back - Boston (Ok, I know what you are thinking... but I SWEAR I am not cheating! This one popped up. And I certainly would not want to go back)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW? Life Is Sweet - Natalie Merchant (say no more)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS? Give Me Novacaine - Green Day (some days are just like that - the numbing effect of novacaine would be good...)

Po-Ke-No

Once a month I get together with 6 to 8 friends and play Po-Ke-No. Everyone gets a card with pictures of miscellaneous cards from a deck of cards on it. Each player takes turns calling the cards from a deck of cards. A player gets chips based on combinations of cards called or getting the Pokeno, which is 5 cards in a row (two chips for that!) Other combinations are a postage stamp (4 in the corner), first person to get center gets a chip, 4 of a kind, 4 corners, and.... well you get the idea. Anyway, I call it glorified Bingo. It takes a little more thinking than Bingo but not a lot and there is no skill (other than watching your card). We rotate from house to house each month and the hostess fixes lots of goodies. All in all it is just fun to kick back and laugh and share fun stories. Oh, did I mention that we all kick in $5 at the beginning of the game? And then the top three winners get a share of the pot. And for the first time - I WON! Number one!!! lol I came home with a whopping $15 - $5 of which was my own to start with.

One finger salute

I was running erands yesterday during the noon hour. Now first of all I'll say, what's up with that? I can pretty well schedule my day to my liking since I can work when I want and play when I want. So, stupidly, I was in Noon traffic. Traffic here is 5 or 6 cars at a red light, unlike traffic that most of you experience. But here I was at this red light turned green. And the dude in front of me was still seeing red. Well, actually he was seeing no color of lights because he was looking down at something - cell phone maybe? Nahhhhh, couldn't be... Well I waited a bit and then tooted my horn. One little toot. Beep. That's all.

Well you would've thought I had blared my horn and given his bumper a nudge or something. His head shot up and his finger shot up both at the same time. I actually burst out laughing he looked so stupid. But it made me start thinking (dangerous) about society (even more dangerous). Why is it when a person is in the wrong, for whatever reason, they want to blame someone else. I see it all the time. People are late for work - it was their family's fault and not their own fault for not scheduling their time better. People can't pay their credit card bills or mortgage payment - it is the finance company's fault for loaning them the money, not their own fault for spending money they don't have or couldn't afford to pay off. It goes on and on and on.
So back to this kid. Rather than be pissed at himself for not paying attention, he was pissed at me for pointing it out too him. I'll bet he was late for school and needed someone to blame for his lateness.

Another thought I had was with it being Veterans Day, he should have added a few fingers to that salute and made it matter. He could learn a lot from our military.

Do you have a pet peive about the irresponsibility of people?

We Honor Our Veterans

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the men and women who serve to keep America Free. God Bless America and God Bless our Veterans!

What Do You Know About Veterans Day?
Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. However, most Americans confuse this holiday with Memorial Day, reports the Department of Veterans Affairs.
What's more, some Americans don't know why we commemorate our Veterans on Nov.11. It's imperative that all Americans know the history of Veterans Day so that we can honor our former servicemembers properly.
A Brief History of Veterans Day
Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislation that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.'" As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.
In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress -- at the urging of the veterans service organizations -- amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Source

I Don't Do Rockers....

This post was inspired by three things. First inspiration was MarmiteToasty's I Don't Do Pink Blog. Go read it if you haven't already. It is hilarious and she DOES do pink!

The second inspiration was Intenseguy'sMutt Mitts Make Good Barf Bags Too Blog where he points out a "few" quirky things about him, and by Ladystyx's Quirks Blog (I couldn't get the link to work no matter what I'd do :( where she talks about counting her food. Again, very funny reads. It made me start thinking about my quirks and I just don't have any... right? Wrong! I have many and my rocking chairs might just be the biggest!
The third inspiration was the rocking chair we bought for our granddaughter's, Reagan's, first birthday. We started a tradition with our first grandchild 12 years ago that we would give a child's rocker to them on their first birthday. Well, 10 rockers and $900 later, I believe we are done buying child rockers. Well, at least if my kids are to be believed, we are. They say they are done having kids. I'm thinking good idea. Actually, you all know I LOVE my grandkids but 10 really is enough kids to keep me happy.
When I got home last night from Reagan's party, I happened to glance around my house. And I thought OMG we have a rocker fetish (Jim really is as bad as me)! We love going to auctions and if there is an old rocker there, it isn't safe from us. And strangely enough we usually get them for between $17 and $22. I think everyone sees the fire in our eyes and moves out of harms way. We're like "I HAVE to have that rocker!" I have no more room for no more rocking chairs though. I think my kids feel the same way about the child rockers. Every time a first birthday comes around they just roll their eyes as we walk in with a rocking chair. But we know down deep they love it, and anyway tradition is tradition and cannot be broken! Well, it can be... The rest of the tradition is that each grandchild got a quilt made by grandma for their first birthday. I'm only three quilts behind and darned if they aren't holding me to that tradition! Even if they don't get it until their 16th birthday, they expect to get those quilts!
Ok. For those interested, following are pictures of the one or two rockers we have in our house.


Reagan in her rocking chair.

Living room rocking chair.

Other living room rocking chair.

Other living room rocking chair.

Living room glider (if it moves, then it is counted as a rocker). Yep, that means we have FOUR rocking chairs in our living room.

Rocker/recliner in our bedroom.

Rocking/recliner in our kitchen/reck room.

Rocker in the downstairs bedroom.

Rocker in the downstairs office.

Another rocker in the downstairs office.

Rocker in The Loft where I work.

Wooden rockers on the front porch.

Two more rockers on the front porch.

Metal rockers around the fire pit.

Yep, we are definitely off our rockers!

Wild Wild West

Now this is what I call fun. I got to spend my evening at a performance by the First Grade Class of West School. It is always fun to watch kids put their hearts into trying to do good. I grinned my biggest grin for a full half hour. Most of my grandkids are downright precocious. I never know what they are going to say or do. But Dakota... well he is my reserved red head (kind of an oxymoron isn't it - reserved and red head). He just wants to do good and is scared to death of making a mistake. The smile on his face when he spotted me in the audience melted my heart. And he sang his little heart out and did all of the motions to all of the songs. All of the little kidos did. And it didn't even matter that when everyone else was kicking their right foot out, he was sticking his left foot out. I'm sure a bunch of the others were too, but I couldn't take my eyes off Dakota, so I wouldn't know. And halfway through the performance his kerchief fell off. Oh my. He just stopped and looked at us and I could see the melt down coming. So we gave him the thumbs up and motioned for him to keep singing. He picked the kerchief up and twisted it in his little hands and we made a throw away motion and he tossed it to the side and grinned. Did I mention that grandkids are great?

Ahhh grandkids are great!

Dakota is on the end there. I'm pretty sure he is the only one going in the right direction lol.

This is my favorite picture. My daughter, Julie, and well, you know who. The smiles say it all. Julie deserves the mother of the year award. Three sons and one step son... I do not know how she does it!

An Officer and a Gentlelamb

I told you I'd show what goes on baa-hind the scenes in the sheepdello. Here goes mutton...

I have a bit more graphic picture I could have posted, but I think this one will do. It kind of reminds me of the joke "Do you believe in the here after? Well, then you know what I'm here after..." Ok, I know, that one is baaaaaaaad. And for anyone who is interested, Abe got lucky 17 times (well probably more than that)

What's up with this Ram?

I took this picture of our Ram, Abe, the other day. Any thoughts on why he is making such a face????

God Bless America

I turned off television, sat on the porch and shed my tears, said my prayers and went to bed.

For once in my life I hope and pray that I am wrong.

Birthday Wishes

Birthday Wishes

of the best of everything the world has to offer

to a VERY special person.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IGGY!

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU VOTE!

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

Two Different Versions! Two Different Morals!

OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference anddemands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of theshivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.' Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ants food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house,now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2008

Last minute plans = relaxation

We had no plans for this weekend, so we invited our friends over for Saturday night supper. They were like, well we are going to the Lake - why don't you just join us... Oh gosh, I don't know... Do I want to go relax on the water and not cook? Let me think about this... LOL we said YES! So I baked an awesome homemade cherry pie - I swear, it was awesome! and we headed for the Lake. Patti had a big pot of chili ready. The weather was amazingly warm during the day and at night we built a fire in the fire pit. It was so relaxing.



I took this picture of clouds on our way to the Lake. I thought for sure I'd see some kind of picture but my imagination must be dead tonight. Do you see a picture in the clouds?



The Lake of the Ozarks used to be dotted with cabins here and there. Now there are homes builts one on top of the other.




This is a classic example of haste makes waste or working dumb or... I'm not sure what. But these folks have got to be sick right now, seeing the foundation eroding right out from under their foundation!