Castle Hot Springs, Arizona

Some of the postcards in our collection are actually photographs turned into postcards.

These are my favorites.

They show everyday life, dress, transportation, and architecture.

This one depicts a horse party in Castle Hot Springs in Arizona.
This was mailed to the grandparents in the early 1920s.
Strange as it might seem there are places in Arizona that still look the same way today.
The desert really never changes.

Castle Hot Springs is located in Yavapai county near Prescott, AZ.
(Prescott is pronounced Pres kett by the locals)
Prescott was the territorial capital but then so were a lot of places in the territory.
The territorial legislature were a fickle bunch.

The hot springs were discovered in 1865 by troops from Fort Whipple pursuing Indians.
In 1896 a resort was built at the hot springs.
It become the playground for the territorial governors, industrialists, wealth Americans, Presidents, and actors.
In 1976 the main building was destroyed by fire.
To learn more about the Castle Hot Springs check out the University of Northern Arizona's Heritage Waters site.

I could use a nice dip in a natural hot springs right now. Sadly, it is not to be.
Have a lovely weekend
Love,
M

PS: Today is my 2 year anniversary for this here blog. Weird, I don't feel any older. Must be the something in the water.

Wordless Wednesday - The calender isn't wrong

Love,
M

This was emailed to JR. Don't know where it came from but it sure it right on.

RTT - sex addiction, Brazilian fashions, and indulgent parents

Tuesday? = check
Crazy hambone button? = check
Link to Keely? = check
Think of goofy things to post? = uh, checkish
You tell me.

Sunday Morning had a segment on sex addiction. They stated that no one knows what constitutes how much is too much sex. What is normal? What makes it an addiction? What is the proper amount of sex?

I said to JR; "If I was going to quantify how much is too much sex I'd have to say anything over twice a day." JR smiles indulgently and says; "twice a day?" Me; "Sure, twice a day just makes you an over-achiever."




I've changed my settings so that if you make a comment you shouldn't have to go through that whole word verification thing. Now, I receive at least one anonymous spam comment a day. I've yet to decide if this is a pain in the butt or not. What do you think? You all are the ones that need to go through the word verification thing. Is it a pain?

Only the truly fashionable can pull off this elephant blouse with tusks.
Complete this ensemble with a tan pencil shirt that represents the Serengeti.

You've heard of coffee table books.
But what about a coffee table dress.

The designer took the practical route by cutting the front of the dress short to aid in walking.

Going through doors facing forward may be a bit tricky though.

My first car cost 1000 times less than this and I bet I liked it just as well. Running into the only car in the parking lot didn't cause my parents a heart attack like it will Diddy when his little angel does something incredibly stupid.

Okay now, that wasn't so bad now was it?

Ya'll have a great day and watch that coffee table skirt.

Love,
M

PS: the mexican casserole? Awesome!

Casserole Basics

I've been working out at the gym after work. This means I don't roll in the door of our house until well after 6:30pm each night. It is hard to put a meal on the table, eat and get it all cleaned up before 8pm. It sure doesn't leave much time to do anything else; like read, watch a little TV or shower before it is bedtime. JR really appreciates when I shower after I work out. He's funny that way.

Anyway, I've decided that on the weekends I'm was going to start making up casseroles that I can have JR pop into the oven while I drive home. Isn't that clever? Not!

Casseroles are a no brainer as long as you remember the 4 basics. Vegetables, pasta, or meat (or in our case no meat just veggies and pasta), binder, topping, and the theme. Let's break these down a little.

1. Vegetables, pasta, meat or all of the above: this is anything that you have cooked up during the week. You know, the stuff that you have put in a container and stuffed in the refrigerator to spend some quality time turning into science projects. Before they turn green and fuzzy re-invent them into a casserole or soup.
2. Binder: this is soup, some sort of sauce, or eggs. I usually make a bechamel or cheese sauce. Sometimes I'll make creamed soup like celery or mushroom to use in casseroles, then store them in the fridge until needed. You could always use canned soup. I'm not a big fan of canned soup because of monumental amount of salt they put into them but not everyone makes their own. Eggs work well especially when mixed with sour cream or ricotta cheese. Mayonnaise works great also because it is basically just eggs.
3. Topping: Cheese, bread crumbs, corn chips, mashed potatoes all make really great toppings. Mixing cheese with any of the others just makes the topping that much better but then I love me some cheese. A little melted butter never ever goes amiss.
   
4. Theme: You are best to stick with a theme when making casseroles. Think in terms of Italian or Mexican or pizza or nachos. What is your favorite meal? Can you make it into a casserole? If you can't send it to me because I can make casseroles out of anything.
5. Directions: either combined or layer numbers 1 & 2 into a greased baking dish. Top with number 3. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until all the ingredients are heating through and the topping is golden brown if using bread crumbs or bubbly if using cheese. If you are going to store this for a few days you can either bake it for half the time or just cover and stick in the freezer.
   

Let me give you an example of using a leftover to make a casserole.

Taco: I made some fresh black bean and corn salsa yesterday. Today I'll turn it into a taco style casserole by combining it with some cooked rice, meatless crumbles and a cheddar cheese sauce as the binder. Then I'll top it with tortilla chips.

Here's my favorite white sauce recipe. It is really simple to make. If you are going to use it for a casserole start it first. Let it cool while you put the rest of the casserole together.

White Sauce

1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup milk or veggie stock
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

All cream sauces (this includes gravy) start the same way. That is they start out with a 1 to 1 flour and fat blend (a roux). It doesn't have to be butter; though it adds some yummy flavor to the party. Melt the butter on medium heat, add flour and stir until smooth. Cook stirring for a little while, maybe 2 or 3 minutes. You are trying to cook that flour pasty taste out of it. Continue to stir flour mixture while you slowly pour in the milk. Let the mixture come to a boil. This is what makes it thicken. Turn down the heat. Add seasonings. Want to make cheese sauce? Add 1/2 cup of cheese. Cheddar, Gruyere, and Parmesan are all good choices because they melt well.

Trying to make things a little lighter and healthier? Use olive oil as the fat and skim milk or fat-free broth.

Here is the start to tonight's dinner.
Topped with tortilla chips and baked this will be great.

Hope this helps using up all those leftovers.

Love,
M

Irish Castles, family history and pretty postcards

JR's granddaddy James came to America from County Meath, Ireland in the 1880s. On the Google map below the county is the orange point. There is a town just about there called Navan. He wasn't really from Navan but dang close.



In 1897 he left the United States for the Yukon where he became a partner in a gold mine. I've written about his time up there in past posts. In 1911 he left the Yukon with a bit of money in his pocket. He traveled to Seattle, by ship, then across the United States to New York, probably by train, took another ship to Ireland, and, I suppose, another train to his ancestral home. A farm near Navan.

He left Ireland a very poor Catholic and returned a very rich one. In Ireland he took care of a bit of unfinished business such as, roughing up his hated older brother and finding a good Irish Catholic wife. Business done he and his soon-to-be-bride left Ireland for the United States, never to return. I get the feeling he burned a couple of bridges along the way.

Over the next 10 to 15 years they received postcards from family (the wife's side because obviously that bridge burning thing combined with stubborn Irishman thing didn't allow for postcard swapping on Granddaddy's family for several years).

Click the photo to go to their website.

This is Slane Castle (purple point on the map) circa 1910ish. It is still owned by the same family that moved in in 1701. There is some sort of to-do about King George IV and one of the ladies of the castle back in the 1820s. From reading between the lines of the history section their website one get the impression that this to-do was of a lurid nature. (maybe not and I just have a sick mind) They host huge concerts, cater weddings and events and pretty much whore it out. You can't really blame them. It's a lovely spot, the taxes must be outrageous, and the money in wedding planning at a 300+ year old castle has got to be good.

The Hill of Slane, where St. Patrick lit a paschal fire (huh? according to Wikipedia paschal fire = holy fire. Who knew?). He was summoned to Tara and then Ireland converted to Christianity. Got to love those conversion stories. Full of high drama.

This is one of my favorite postcards.

Ross Castle (yellow point on the map) is in County Kerry. Built in the 1400s it was until recently in private hands. It is said to be the last castle to surrender to Oliver Cromwell and his band of thugs. Killarney is a national park now and Ross castle is part of it.






Dunmoe Castle is located near Navan (orange point on the map). Cromwell tried his tricks here as well but didn't get anywhere. There is a battlefield near the castle but that is a post for next Friday. Dunmoe is a ruin now. There was a fire in the 18th century that destroyed it. It is the closest castle to the family farm and from all reports they look in about the same condition.

Granddaddy's biggest beef with his brother, beyond over achieving sibling rivalry, was the way he took care of the farm. Maybe, Granddaddy had a point. The farm on the old sod is a ruin while Granddaddy's farm in Montana is still going today and the Ireland farm was less than a 10th of the size of the Montana farm. Do you think he should have hit him harder?

Anyhoo, I hoped you enjoyed the postcards. Check out the link to see how these castles look today.

Love,
M

I was totally freaked out!

Can you see why I was freaked out?
My average per day visits = 58
I'm always happy when I get over 70 visits in one day.
I feel loved when I hit 70.
I feel validated.
I feel at the top of my game.


Then I opened up my sitemeter last night to find.....

What the.....?
314?
Where did all those hits come from?
392 page views?
I'm just not that interesting.
Seriously, I'm not.
They are only staying for a minute.

This graph looks like my program on the elliptical.
It's a killer program.
30 minutes of up and down like that makes my old lady heart race.
Oh sorry, back to my freak out session.

Turns out I am now on Stumbleupon.
So if someone is stumbling food/cooking
they may come up with the Pioneer Woman Cooks,
Bakerella, AllRecipes or
Me.
ME!
How odd is that?

Does that define me as a food blogger?
Do I want to be defined?
I guess if I have to be defined.
I'd want it to be about food/cooking
It could be worse.
I could be defined by my totally misspent youth.

Love,
M

RTT - conversations

Random Tuesday thoughts. Not a lot rattling in my head these days. Here goes anyway.


My parents got a WII for Christmas. They have been playing golf and working out I guess. Whatever they are doing with this thing they love it.

Mom: Kevin got us a WII for Christmas.

Me: He always gets you the cool presents. So my donation of a bee hive looks pretty cheap now. I need to talk to Kev. Did you get the WII Fit?

Mom: I guess so. We play a lot of golf at night.

Me: Sure you do mom.

Mom: Huh?

Me: Mom, do you know how to turn it on?

Mom: No honey but Bill does.






JR was watching the games this weekend. He made mention of the buyers of advertising's need to be the official supplier of name product here.

JR: The NFL has the official bank, the official car, the official whatever, they should have the official condom.

Me: Hahahahaha...that would be good.

JR: They could print the team logos on the condoms.

Me: they could say: "If you're going to score wear the St. Louis Rams condom. They could use the points". Or something like that.

Then JR said something totally sick about the back field and motion and the conversation went downhill.




Phone conversation with my mother.

Me: Hi. I'm returning your call. Sorry I didn't call earlier but I was stuck in a meeting.

Mom: Hi. Who is this?

Me: Mommmmmmm.......it's Michele

Mom: Oh, my middle child. You guys are so easy to forget.

Me: Is it any wonder I have issues.

Mom: No darling it's not.


Head over to Keely's place. Grab the button and play the game.


Love,
M

Go Meatless Monday! Some easy strategies for going meatless one day a week.

As you all know I have been a huge fan of the Meatless Monday gang. Not because I want all of you to turn to the dark side (as JR calls it.). Sure, it would be nice. If everyone went meatless then it would be easier for me to eat while traveling. (you know it is all about me.) But don't get me started on that one. Traveling + vegetarian = starving.

I promise not to go all PETA on you. I hate those guys. They give vegetarians a bad name. I believe in living by example not bludgeoning people over the head with my beliefs. (wow, that sounds kind of philosophical and deep. Me? Deep? Yeah, right.)

I'll list the reasons why I have been such a huge activist for Meatless Monday.

1. It is healthier. Eating less meat cuts a ton of fat and calories from your diet. (When I say ton I don't mean the actual weight but that may be the case depending on how much meat you eat. Just call it a vague measure of weight.) It may reduce your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. I can personally say that eating a meatless diet has reduced my migraine headaches. Yes, you can get plenty of iron and protein on a low meat diet. Notice I didn't say meatless. I don't expect it of JR and the Boys why should I expect you to change your whole life.

2. It is better for the environment. By eating less meat you can reduce your carbon footprint. So is using cloth napkins but that is another post for another time.

• The United Nations estimates that the meat industry generates nearly 1/5 of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions.*
  
• Watering needs of livestock is huge compared to those of vegetable needs. It takes 8 times more water to raise a single pound of beef then to grow the same amount of tofu. (I know tofu ewwwwww.....but have you looked at some of the pre-packaged food you eat? Yep, it has soy in it. Deal with it).
• Reduces dependence on fossil fuel. 38. That is how many more calories of fuel energy goes into producing a calorie of beef compared to a calorie of plant-based protein.

3. It's cheaper. I really should have made this number 2. I'm much more cheap than I am environmentally friendly. A pound of dried beans costs .99 cent per pound at my local store. One pound of dried beans is about 2 cups dry. A typical recipe calls for 1 cup dry. That's .50 cents a meal. A 14.5 ounces can will set you back about .80 cents but I've been known to load up when they go on sale for .55 cent. I doubt if you can get meat for .50 cents a meal.

You know all the good things about cutting meat from your diet but how do you do that with dedicated meat eaters. They can be a surly bunch if you just make a straight on declaration. Separate a man from his meat and he may go all CATTLE on your ass.

Here are a couple of strategies:

1. Cut the amount of meat that you use at every meal. When a recipe calls for a pound of meat use a half a pound. If you feel the need to bulk up your meal replace with a can of beans. This is the way we started out. Why did I chose this route? I'm cheap and it was easy. Does that make me cheap and easy?

2. Cut out meat from one meal a day every day. Start small. No one will notice that they don't have any meat with their breakfast or lunch. Then cut out a couple of dinners a week. Then cut out meat for one full day. You see the progression. Pretty soon, before you know it you're feeding your family a couple of meatless days or more a week and your grocery bill has dropped.

3. Make your meatless choices so good your family would rather eat them then a meat version. JR had no meat yesterday and he didn't miss it. Why? Because our meals were so good. Granted we don't eat like this everyday but on weekends I go all out.
Here is our Sunday menu:

• Breakfast: soft herb, sun-dried tomatoes, and cheese scrambled eggs over toasted whole grain baguette (from the night before. Point for me for using leftovers),
• Lunch: smoked avocado and bean salad on a bed of shredded cabbage,
  
• Dinner: roasted garlic and onion, feta, and sun-dried tomato pizza on rosemary Parmesan crust.

See why he doesn't mind going meatless? Don't you want to come to my house for the weekend?

4. Be trendy. Ghent, Belgium, the Baltimore Schools, Michael Pollan, and the Huffington Post along with many others are talking about and going meatless one day a week. Okay, this is a totally bogus reason to go meatless I just wanted you to think I was one of the cool kids. I'm needy like that.

If you want to eat less meat I hope these tips come in handy. If you need help please don't hesitate to email me. I'll help out wherever and however I can.


Okay, this cheap, easy, and lazy environmental minimalist is out of here. Have a great Martin Luther King day.

Love,
M

Kiddie Pool Garden What Survived the Big Freeze of 2010

Remember back in September JR and I got all ecological and economical and any other "e" word you can think of? The boy was about to go off to college and we were going to tighten our belts. Very optimistic.

Remember when I posted about feeding your family for less? Where I talked about buying less processed foods, eating less meat, and growing your own. In that post I attached some very lovely links on Kiddie Pool Container Gardening. Very informative.

Remember this post? Where you all got to see JR's pasty white Irish gams. Very attractive.

Where I showed you how we had put in 3 kiddie pool gardens. It was a how-to post. Very educational.

Remember when I taunted you with updates on how my garden was growing. It was taunting with love. We're going to call that encouragement. Very motivational.

Then we had big freeze. Three nights under 30 degrees. (no hate comments about how 30 degrees isn't that cold. I'm in Houston, TX we don't get that cold. Like ever.) Very cold.

I despaired that my garden would be no more. I worried that I would go out there to see brown slumping plants. That my coveted herbs would be piles of rotting leaves and twigs. Very anxious.

I walked out to the garden yesterday to access the damage. Look what I found......

Broccoli

And more......

broccoli

And more.....


Did I mention that I love broccoli?
No?
Well, I do.
And JR does too.
It's a good thing because we are eating broccoli for the rest of the weekend.
(Ya may not want to plan a trip here this weekend if you know what I mean. wink)

How did the herbs come out? I was really surprised to see that the parsley and cilantro are doing remarkably well. I was actually going to buy some this weekend and now I don't have to; score a point for my grocery bill. The oregano, lavender, rosemary, and sage are all holding their own. The only thing I lost was the basil but that was to be expected. It's a very tender plant. It's loss is already being felt. I love fresh basil. I'm not going to go out to buy it though. I'm going to go through basil withdrawal for a few weeks then replant. Then another 4 weeks of anticipation while it grows. Then I'll be back to my twice a day basil monkey-on-my-back until the next time it freezes around here. Which from all the local accounts is like every 5 years.

How did ya'll make it through the freeze?Kath and Linda, I've seen some of your pictures of snow and ice. Does anyone else have pictures? If so leave the link or email me a few and we'll do a regional Big Freeze of 2010 post. Because really, who doesn't want to relive that one?

Love,
M

Helping Haiti

My youngest has always been empathic towards others. Especially those in need. Since he is unable to pack his bags and head to Haiti, he would if he could, he's thought of an idea that hopefully will help out.

I'll let him tell you what his plan is Running For Relief

I'll be donating to Doctor without Borders. Mmmmmm...how many miles do I want to see him run? imagine evil grin.

Love,
M

I've got my peignoir........

This is my wordless Wednesday contribution for today. Want to see others? Click here.


Love,
M

PS. See how I didn't discuss her apparel, the fact that I have a table just like that one, and the JR wears slippers just like the ones on the floor (I kid. His are newer).

RTT - Where I prove that I am poor, lazy and a klutz. Wow ! That makes me feel great.

Yay! It's Tuesday. The day to pull together all those disjointed thoughts. I seem to have plenty these days. Anyhoo, if you want to read more crazy talk head over the Keely's place. She'll fix you right up.



We made the top 50. Librarian is the 46th best job according to the Wall Street Journal. Of course, We'd be number 1 if our salary wasn't laughable. Laughable as "I got a Master's degree for this" laughable. But Hey, we're number 46, we're number 46. Go Librarian!



Here is your chance to vote on Barbie's next profession. Your choices are Environmentalist, Surgeon, Architect, News Anchor, and Computer Engineer. Let's all remember that Barbie is 50 years old. So News Anchor is just not in the cards for her. Sure the B*tch looks great but at 50 she has got to be menopausal. Starting a new career at 50 is hard enough but one where you have to look good while your male 50 year old co-anchor can look like he's just rolled in from an all night bender while snacking on a chili dog is stretching it a bit much. Barbie WILL snap and it won't be pretty. I'm sure the her co-anchor Ken fatty-pants will be dismembered, slowly. Anyone want to speculate on what a Barbie computer engineer would look like?


I finally de-Christmasized my house on Saturday. I know I should have done it last weekend but I was lazy. I preferred to paint, read, drink, sleep, do laundry, wash the dog, pretty much anything then take down the garland and tree. Truly that is all I had up garland and a tree. I didn't go all crazy with the Christmas decorations. Which pretty much shows you how incredibly lazy I've been in 2010. I'm off to a banner year of laziness. Yay me!


Let's keep with the theme of Michele's weirdness. Remember the Natchez incident? Where I prove what a klutz I am. Well, I've one up'd that one. While playing racquetball on Thursday I went for the ball (placed, I might add, right in the corner) and ended up giving myself a black eye, bruised nose, scraped knee and jammed knuckle. I obviously have no sense of my surroundings or any self-preservation. No more dangerous sports for me. This edict includes: racquetball, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, and most importantly walking the dogs.

That's it for me. Head over yonder to Keely's to rustle up a heaping bowl of randomness from others.

Love,
M

Lentil Soup - Meatless Monday

Brrrrrr.....it's cold out there. Not like 12 degrees cold. More like 22 degrees at night and my furnace was not made to withstand that kind of cold, cold.

What's better than hot soup on a cold winter's day? Nothing. Except maybe a fire in the fireplace, a good book in hand, and a hot toddy gently steaming on a side table. But, other than that soup is it right up there. Okay, so it is not even close but it's what I've got to work with here.

For those of you who turn your nose up at the mention of the lowly lentil stay tuned because this soup doesn't taste like your average lentil soup and doesn't look like your average lentil soup. This soup is down right yummy and low fat and yummy (I said that already but it bears repeating) and filling and yummy and easy.

Oh and, low fat! WooHoo! With this recipe your resolve to diet is done.

Oh and, good for the environment because it's meatless. We are so eco-friendly here at the Dogslife abode.

This recipe is a feel good recipe. Gawd.....I feel so selfless even giving it to you. (yeah right! I was a lazy ass all week and this is the only really good thing I made. Does it count as 5 decent meals because it is really, really, really, really, really good? Or that I made it twice it was so good? I didn't think so either.)


Lentil Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup carrot, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped fine
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups lentils, green or red, picked and rinsed
1 - 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup wild rice mix or brown rice

Directions

Clean and pick through the lentils to make sure there are no rocks or nasty bits. Trust me, there is nothing worse then biting into a rock.

Chop all of the vegetables into a small dice.


Place the olive oil into a large stock pot and set over medium heat. Once the oil in hot add the chopped veggies and salt.


Sweat until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender. This takes about 6 to 7 minutes.


Add the lentils, rice, tomatoes, broth, coriander, cumin, and pepper. Stir to combine. Bring soup to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency. Serve immediately.

This soup feeds up to 6 average eaters or 8 small eaters. There are only three of us so we had plenty of leftovers which became the most spectacular dip.

Leftover that are fated to become dip.

Going meatless one day a week is going city wide in Belgium. I wish I could plan a trip to Ghent on a Thursday. That would make all that traveling I do a little easier. I wish I could travel to Ghent anytime. It's Belgium! From what I hear it is all about the chocolate there. Anyway, I thought I'd pass this along.

From Vegetarian Times Ghent, Belgium, for becoming the first city in the world to officially go vegetarian one day a week. Launched this past May, every Thursday in the Flemish town is Veggie Day: cafeterias in public buildings and schools serve vegetarian-only meals, and all restaurants offer at least one option that's free of seafood or meat. (One eatery has banned meat entirely that day.) To help the city's 230,000 residents kick the bratwurst, street maps are available to guide them to the best meat-free fare in town.

Veggie Day is the brainchild of the Ghent-based Ethical Vegetarian Alternative (vegetarian.be). EVA Director and Cofounder Tobias Leenaert made it happen after garnering the support of city councilman Tom Balthazar. "It was really the first time that a government—even on the city level—is behind such a campaign," says Leenaert. In announcing Veggie Day, Balthazar noted not only its boost to animal welfare but also its potential to combat obesity and lessen Ghent's environmental footprint. The EVA estimates that if everyone in town observes Veggie Day for a single year, the CO2 savings will be equivalent to taking 18,000 cars off the road.

You all have a nice day. Try to stay warm.

Love
Shivering M

Visual Gems

Sprinkled among the class photographs in our 1949 yearbook are these terrific little drawings.

I find them interesting because they are little snapshots of social history from 1949.
Let's take this one for instances.
Is this guy calmly watching a bird strangle to death?
How does that bode well?
I'd have to say not for the bird.
Also, take a look at the little scribble of background.
Is that supposed to be mountains?
the Houston skyline?
the campus grounds?
The reason I'm so incredulous is because this is Houston.
It is very flat here.

When did conversation amount to smarmy looks?
The guy play the saxophone in the background is awesome.
White dinner jacket, black pants and bow tie are sadly lacking at dances these days.
Though I'm not positive about that since I don't go to many dances.
Any of you know whether men in white dinner jackets and women in long gloves are still the thing?

Some things never change.
My car looks a little off-kilter too though mine doesn't have candles as headlights.
Uh Oh, I'd better go check that since I'm not in charge of vehicle maintenance at our house.

I love this one.
If I was still living in the Pacific Northwest this would be perfect.
Or at least the rain would be.
Not the umbrella.
People in Seattle think you are a pussy if you use an umbrella.
I never even owned one until I move to Phoenix.
Somehow, that looks weird in type.
Oh well, the dichotomies in life.

Ed, my eyes are up here.

A cork gun?
Remember those?
Oh gawd, please say you do.
If you don't please don't comment on how old I am because I do remember.
They were fun.
We bought a pop gun for each of the boys when they were little.
I played with them more than the boys did.
I was only 35 at the time.
Still young enough.
Can you still get them?
I want one now.
It would totally freak out Nessa.

And this is priceless.
The University of Houston mascot is a cougar.
The wild west dude is shooting at one.
Am I the only one that loves the irony of this drawing?

There you go, a little more visual history with silly commentary. Ya'll have a lovely weekend.

Love,
M

Every Church Youth Group Should Have an Outing Like This.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. The youth group had worked hard at the church all year. Cleaned the grounds of leaves in the fall. They had helped string garlands at Christmas. They had helped hide Easter eggs and then helped the little ones find them. They had held several fund raisers so their coffers were full.

What to do with the money?

• Send more kids to camp? Yeah, look how well that turned out.

• Go on a hiking trip halfway up Mt. Rainier? (story for another time. Trust me, you'll love it. It features my mother).

• Let's go on a snow trip. There is nothing like a weekend in the mountains with a dozen or more (delinquents) teenager, some adults and car tire inner tubes.

Someone in their infinite wisdom thought that renting a closed business was a great idea. The building was just sitting there, empty, cheap to rent and large. It was perfect. Why not rent it for a long weekend.

We packed up the trucks and vans with food, clothes and inner tubes for sledding. The kids were excited, the adults were excited, the owner of the building was excited most of all. He was generating income on a business that had shut down for selling alcohol to minors (unbeknown to the adults or kids).

An hour and a half later trucks and vans disgorged a dozen teenagers, a half dozen adults and a mountain of luggage in front of a timbered building covered in snow. A large sign caught the teenager's eyes - BAR.


It was the holy grail.
It was mecca.
It was a full-fledged tavern with pool tables, a juke box, a dance floor, a music system and best of all A BAR!

The doors of the bar were unlocked and within moments, while the adults were, (yelling at the kids to help), unloading the vehicles, the teenagers had breached the unlocked liquor closet. No wimpy little cabinet this was a full-on walk-in closet. Bottles and jugs were squirreled away from adult eyes faster than one of the inner tubes would fly down the hill the next day.

Circumventing the juke box's need for coins took a little longer but was ultimately achieved. The locked cabinet with the pool cues and balls was child's play for this group of miscreants. Beer taps (this was before we had learned to tap our own kegs and we were savvy enough to know that it is a little hard to hide a keg.) were changed out to dispense soda before lunch was served.

Boys and girls rooms were assigned. What these rooms were used for in their previous life was not fully explained, let's just say they came complete with beds and dressers. Had we known there would have been a huge Ewwwww factor going. As it was we threw down our sleeping bags and called it good.

Because this was a church youth there just had to be some goody-two shoes that just had to tell the adults of the contraband. It was only by shear stealth that 6 bottles of Annie Greensprings hidden away. These were consumed after the adults went to bed.

All I can say is that morning came early for a few of the youths but with the alcohol in (our) their system they didn't feel the cold or the pain when their inner tubes hit giant snow banks.


Thank you for sharing another of my mis-spent youth stories.


Love,
M

Menopause - A Word That Means the World to Me

I've been around the world, you bet, and have gone to too much school

Hard knocks are all I seem to get, perhaps I've been a fool;

But still, some educated folks, supposed to be so swell,

Would fail if they were called upon a simple word to spell.

Now if you'd like to put me to the test,

There's one name that I can spell the best!

M = is for the mood swings that are plaguing me. Pitying JR is perfectly acceptable.

E = is for the ever growing hair on my chin.

N = is for NOT being fertile anymore. Grandma at 50? Yes. Mommy at 50, NO!

O = is for the occasional hot flashes that always seem to happen when I’m in an important meeting.

P = is for the irregular periods that surprise me at the worst possible times. Like every time I’m out of town.

A = is for increased abdominal fat. My excuse for gaining 10 pounds.

U = is for the udder-like look of my breasts these days.

S = is for sleep disturbances which is a pretty way of saying I’m up all frickin’ night every night.

E = is for the education in vaginal lubricants I’ve been given.

Put them all together they spell MENOPAUSE, a word that means a hellish world to me.


Suffering,
M

RTT - Whoever thought this decorating scheme was a good idea must be on some pretty good drugs.

It's Tuesday so it's random. Here's my offering for today. Click the purply button to get to other random stuff. Keely will warmly greet you. Okay, maybe not warmly since she lives in the frozen north.

I believe this is a store outside of Vicksburg. I know it is Vicksburg I just don't remember the details about this place. If I was a really good librarian I'd find all the information I could get and spew it all out to you but nothing says I'm a good librarian.


Anyway, even in my wildest decorating moments I would not do this to my place of business, house or car. Though, since it made it's way to the visitor's guide I guess the crazy motif is working for them.

Busker on Beale Street in Memphis, TN.
I just liked the look of this photo.
Thought I'd share.
Wish I'd thought to use the video mode on my camera so you could have heard it also.
I'm lame.

Our cat has taken up sleeping in our bathroom sinks.
In the bathtub and
Also, on top of the toilet lid.
Thank God I have a put the lid down policy.

Top searches. Seems fairly normal. Food, food, blog title, more food...huh? Witor's noir? 3 times. I'm just not sure how that made it to my blog. First off, witor's? If we can assume that this is a poorly spelled version of the word "writer" than how they made it to my blog is beyond me. I ain't no writer. Scribbler of silliness, maybe but writer, not so much.


Okay, that's it for me. Head on over to Keely's for plenty more random posts. Have a great day.

Love,
M

Walking the Dogs in Natchez, Mississippi

After we left New Orleans we drove to the sleepy little town of Natchez, Mississippi. (Why is it that I always do that little sing song voice in my head when I spell the Mississippi? Miss Iss I pp I)

Our hotel was right along the Mississippi river so at 8 am when we took the dogs for a walk we naturally headed to the river. It seemed like the perfect place to walk them.

There was a lovely little park.
We were the only ones there.
What more could we want?
Maybe less of a breeze off the water would have been nice.
Oh maybe 30 degrees warmer would have been even better.
Because It.Was.Cold.
And not it was cold to a Southern 40 degrees cold.
It was in the 20s cold.
It was teeth chattering cold.
We were not prepared cold.
Icy winds cold.
I'm a great big baby cold.
We decided to walk in town hoping it would be warmer or at least less windy.

This giant Christmas Tree sits smack in the middle of the two major cross streets in town.
When I took this picture we were sitting on a bench with our hands cupped around a hot cup of coffee. My butt may have been cold but my hands were warm.

I love love love the rockers on the front porch.
And the tiny little wreaths in the windows.
And the boxwood hedges.
And the double porches.
And that the house was built in 1793 and had to be quirky as all get out on the inside by now.

This is not a family home or a bed and breakfast like most of the old places in town.
You can tour this place.
We didn't.
We had the dogs in tow.
They wouldn't have appreciated the tour.
They weren't so much interested in the architecture as we were.
Mostly, they peed on all the signs.
Or at least Tripper did.
It's a guy dog thing.

It was at this gorgeous old place that I tripped.
Fell.
Sprained my wrist trying to break my fall.
Scraped my left hand, my left knee, and my left hip.
Good thing it was cold.
It stopped the swelling.
Did I mention this house was on the main street coming into town.
Oh yeah, that is the way I roll.

Beautiful fountain in the park in the middle of town.
The dogs liked the opportunity to have a drink.
JR liked holding Nessa back from jumping in.
Poodles (shakes head)
She wouldn't have liked how cold that water was.
We still had a fair piece to walk back to the hotel.
She would have had frozen paws by then.

Big old church.
As with most of the buildings it started out small and was added on to as the town and the congregation grew.

For a Monday morning the town was pretty quiet.
There were a few walkers, like us.
A few joggers, not us.
A couple of dogs to make friends with, including another Corgie.
She was beautiful. Tripper wasn't that into her though.
I guess that is what happens when you get them neutered young.
Good thing I waited to have JR done when he was over 30.

Anyway, there is a brief photo tour of Natchez, Miss Iss I pp I.
If you are ever in Miss Iss I pp I
head over to Natchez.
It is a lovely quaint little town of about 17,000 people.
With big old houses.
Tons of history.
And very uneven sidewalks.

Love,
M