New Orleans

Once or twice a year, hubby has to go on a business trip.  I love it when I get to be the "plus 1."  This time we got to go to New Orleans for 3 (full) days.  I've been before, on business myself, but I wasn't able to do any sightseeing then, unless you count touring the Convention Center from one end to the other...

This time I got to be a tourist for the entire trip!  Rather than try to caption each photo, let me just tell you what we did and then just post some pictures.

We flew down on a Wednesday night, and flew home early Sunday morning (and I mean early - our return flight was at 6:24am!).  On Thursday morning we walked Bourbon Street and Canal Street, looking for a local place to have breakfast before J's 10:30 meeting.  They were cleaning Bourbon Street, hosing the streets down.  We saw the Harley store (closed), some girly bars (also closed), and J met some drunk people at 8:30am.  They came up to us (I'm a firm believer in not meeting anyone's eyes and then you can just keep moving, but hubby is much more polite than I am to strangers) with beers in brown paper bags, either "already" drunk or "still" drunk.  The man fist-pumped J and wished God's blessings on us both...  At least they were nice, religious drunks...

He went to his first meeting and I went to the pool.  I got some nice color while we were away (color I improved upon this past weekend!).   He went to another meeting or two after registration, then we walked Canal Street again.  At around 3pm we were STARVING, so we popped into Serio's.  I asked the girl what was good and she said they beat Bobby Flay in a throwdown in 2007 so I tried their winning muffaletta - mm, good!!!  Then as a group we went to dinner at the Palace Cafe.  I had their Barbecued Shrimp starter and the Shrimp Tchefuncte for an entree.  It's shrimp in a Creole meuniére sauce with green onions, roasted mushrooms and popcorn rice. I'm not a drinker but when I'm not buying I usually order a mojito - it didn't disappoint.  I also had a Sailor Coffee with my Bananas Foster dessert:  Malibu Rum, Amaretto Disaronno, Kahlua, Community Coffee and whipped cream.  Yes, it was as good as it sounds!

On Friday, we took the St. Charles Trolley to the Garden District and walked around, looking at all the beautiful New Orleans homes.  We got back on the Trolley and rode to the end, past Tulane and Loyola, both of which were graduating that day.  I was amazed that they were literally right next to each other, on the same block, even!!!  Later we walked over to the Mississippi River, and the Riverwalk Mall.  The river I had seen before, and again, my impression was that it was not as big as I thought it would be.  For some reason I've spent the last 50+ years thinking it would be too big to see across, and maybe it is in spots, but there, where we were, nope, you could see clear across to the other side, and if you squinted hard, you could even read the signs on the buildings across the way...  We took one of our obligatory self-portraits at arm's length; this one didn't come out very well, but at least we have one from N'Awlins, y'all...  We ate at the Commerce Restaurant for lunch:  I had a delicious shrimp po'boy and J had a T-Chicken po'boy - a delicious piece of chicken breast with swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions and a wonderful gravy of some kind.  [I left my visor there, dang it!]  We had all agreed to go to dinner together again that night.  I sort of wish we hadn't (hindsight is, after all, 50-50).  Two of our party were not too steady on their feet, completely unrelated to imbibing extreme quantities of alcohol: one fell and broke her ankle and the other is simply older and not too able to walk long distances.  G was in her own lightweight wheelchair and M rented one of those electric/battery scooters from the hotel.  They  had to take the freight elevator up to the second floor for dinner at Olivier's.  Let's just say that I don't think it was an accident that the A/C system tried to freeze us out the door all dinner.  M's husband didn't like where she parked her scooter so he hopped on and decided to reposition it.  He did.  But not until after he knocked into our table, knocked over a chair, backed into another table and knocked over the flower arrangement, then after M yelled at him to "Just park the damn thing," he happened to bump into that same table again, and the waitress at that point ran over and just removed the flower arrangement from the table entirely.  It wasn't on our table, fair readers, it was on a table 6' away from ours...  The food was good:  I had some off-the-menu special appetizer with eggplant and some other seafood something or another, and their EXCELLENT crab ravioli for an entree.  My only complaint?  I wanted more!  I had some pecan pie for dessert - yea, it's better in New Orleans.

We walked down Decatur Street, to the St. Louis Cathedral.  Apparently there are a lot of street vendors there during the day but at night, after 11pm, when we got there, it's just a quiet, dark pedestrian walkway.  You can see the cathedral all lit up, but it's locked at night.  Some of the other +1s went to Mass there for Ascension Thursday but never bothered to invite G or me along...  That's alright, she's my friend; they're just traveling acquaintances.  THEN we walked along some dark, creepy side street until we got to Bourbon Street and hubby got his wish:  he got to SEE Bourbon Street in all its (not) glory.  We walk hand in hand most times, and he's learned over the years that when I squeeze his hand, there's usually something I want him to see and he's gotten pretty good at picking those things out without verbal explanation or pointing on my part.  But this time, he didn't see anything I pointed out:  he missed the girl with no pants, he missed the young man trying to pick up the other young man, he missed the two men dressed as women (and they were quite pretty, I must say!)...  When we got out of the crowd and I asked him what he thought of those three sights, he was amazed he had missed them but confessed he was a bit obsessed with watching where he put his feet so he didn't step into pee or vomit...  Okay, I forgive him for not paying attention to me...  And he admitted, too, that now that he's "been there, done that," he never has to experience Bourbon Street again.

On Saturday we rode the Canal Street Trolley to the other end and visited St. Patrick's Cemetery #1 and #2.  By the time we got there and walked around the cemeteries, it was too late to visit the Katrina Memorial located in the Catholic Charities cemetery.  But we said a quick prayer outside the gates.  The last time I was in New Orleans I saw buildings with the large Xs on them, indicating they'd been searched for survivors post-Katrina.  It was disturbing, to say the least.  We couldn't see any of those same buildings en route from the airport because for both arrival and departure, it was too dark.

We managed to eat beignets at Cafe du Monde while we were in town (mmm!) but I didn't like their coffee the last time, so we just got a juice.  We walked along the river, watched a freight train go by (lost count of the number of cars), went into Harrah's where I lost $20, then won $33, and went home only $7 poorer than when I walked in the place.  I'm a slots-lover; I wish I could play on a machine just for the sake of playing, not to try and win any money.  I'd even be willing to pay a flat $5 fee to sit at the machine for a few hours, "winning" or "losing" nothing...  (Yea, J thinks I'm nuts, too!)

We walked and walked and walked, post-casino and post-beignets, and finally wound up eating at The Pearl for an early dinner (early being around 6pm, which is normal for us, but early compared to 7pm and 8pm the other two nights we were there!).  I thought The Pearl was a more expensive restaurant and it's famous for its oysters...  Anyone reading this remember that hubby is NOT a seafood fan?  But he was adamant, for some unknown-to-me reason, that we eat in this place.  Perhaps because after walking literally miles looking for an open restaurant that was not expensive and not on Bourbon Street, we would have eaten almost anything, almost anywhere.  I was ready to go into the nearest Subway but he would have none of that!  It turns out we had a decent meal at The Pearl:  I had another shrimp po'boy (not as good as the one at the Commerce Restaurant, but had I had this one first, I'd have been perfectly satisfied with it!) and hubby had some chicken/sausage jambalaya.  While we were sitting there, the only other two customers left, and a pair of women came in to share a couple of appetizers.  Oh, and a woman and her mom came in and asked the bartender if they could buy two limes.  [cricket sounds]  Yes, limes.  I expressed my disbelief with an almost audible "Did they ask to buy two limes?" and J said, quietly, "Yes, they did."  (Glad to hear my ears were still working just fine.)  I admitted then, and I admit now, that I would never have thought to walk into a restaurant, a sit-down restaurant, even if it did have a bar area, and ask to buy limes.  And I guess it was an odd thing even for that bartender because he had to ask the owner, who came out, looked at the woman and her mom, and charged them $3.00 for two limes.  Which bowled me right over and eventually even hubby was surprised.  He had no idea that the last time I bought a lime it cost me $.25...

We went back to the hotel room and packed almost everything we had brought, I called for a 3am wake-up call, and then we relaxed on the bed and watched some TV.  He thought it was funny that I slept in my travel clothes (yoga pants, a loose blue/white striped top, and my LA Lakers sweat jacket - nope, not a Lakers fan; it was free and it's REALLY comfy!).  We were able to fall asleep around 11pm-ish and surprisingly, I was not dead to the world when they called to wake us up.  I managed to bring home everything I brought with me (except for my visor, dang it!), and except for a blood blister on my right pinkie finger where I caught it in my suitcase that morning (4am for a cab is early!!!), it was a rather uneventful trip - no injuries, no missed planes, no wild cab rides, nothing that might make for a more exciting but less happy trip!!

And now, without further ado, here are the photos...

Bookstores: Where You Find What You Weren't Looking For

I haven't posted a quote from Shelf Awareness in a very long time:  here you go, one from today's issue, Thursday, May 31, 2012, Volume 2, Issue 1750

"As I've often said, you can shop online and find whatever you're looking for, but bookstores are where you find what you weren't looking for."

--Princeton economics professor, New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in a q&a with Wired, in which he talks at length about his love for science fiction.

I agree with BO this one time...

Anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a fan of our current President.  But in the interests of historical accuracy, I must say that I am happy he has come out in favor of gay marriage.  I actually AGREE with him on this issue.

I know not all of you will agree with me or BO, and I'm not posting this to spark any discussion or controversy, but I've thought long and hard about this issue and thought I might just put my thoughts into words here on my blog.

Sometimes I wonder how much my opinions are influenced by the metropolitan area in which I live, what I'm exposed to each and every day.  Certainly living in the NYC area, even though I was raised in and still live in a suburban neighborhood, certainly that must make me a bit more aware, perhaps, of different lifestyles, different people, different traditions. 

But I was raised in a conservative, faith-filled home, a home filled with love and respect.  It's what I grew up wanting for my own:  a husband, children, a family.  My parents were old-fashioned and traditional.  My mom still is.  I wish my dad were still alive so I could talk with him about all of these issues.  I have a funny feeling he would be much more open-minded than many might expect.  I had a very traditional upbringing in many ways, and in others, my parents were way ahead of their time:  for instance, it was never even an option that we would not go to college.  We were raised to respect our elders.  (Any since we're being honest here, I am now officially one of those elders I had to respect when I was a kid!)

What I wish for each and every one of my children, my nieces and nephews, my friends and their children, is that they find a person they love, who loves them right back at the same time, who makes them happy, who values their love.  I hope they find their own version of MY husband.  And if that person happens to be of the same sex, so what?  I want my children, my family, my friends, to be HAPPY. 

I don't understand why anyone thinks they have the right to prevent someone from finding that love.  It's rare in this world, and if you find it, grab it with both arms and hold on tight.  It's so worth it. 

We fought long and hard in this country to eliminate slavery, to give women the right to vote.  It's been and will continue to be a long hard road to reach that point when gay marriage is, in general, okay with the rest of the world.  I'm hoping that day comes sooner rather than later.

Separation of church and state?  Did I imagine those words?  Sure, that means that despite what the "law" says, the church doesn't have to agree (and the reverse is true as well).  We see plenty of those issues floating around (are any of you Roman Catholics on birth control?).  Why then can I not get married in my church without a marriage license from my city government?  My sister got married by the mayor.  She was no less married than I am, except in the eyes of her church.  Then why did I need a marriage license?  Marriage?  Civil union?  To me, they are one and the same.  There are a lot of people who aren't strong and faithful believers.  But they get married, they buy that marriage license and perhaps a mayor performs the ceremony, or a justice of the peace.  There are many faithful getting married, and instead of just getting married one weekend by their priest or minister, they have to take a day off from work and apply for a marriage licence.  I know I'm ranting about this, but this just makes no sense to me.  Why is my sister's marriage a marriage, MY marriage is a marriage, but if her husband had been a woman, that would not be "allowed" by some people our there.  It would not be a marriage.

Oh yeah???  It would be civil.  It would be a union.  It would be a marriage. 

I don't believe we can define marriage as only between a man and a woman.  I just can't wrap my head around that.  And I don't have some earth-shattering sentence with which to wrap up this post, so...

I will vote to "allow" gay marriage, on any state or federal ballot.  I can't be responsible for yanking that chance for happiness out of the grasp of anyone.

OMG - What a bathroom!

I was reading Pioneer Woman's S.O.S. post today and someone referenced this bathroom -
Wowza!!!

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/04/a-bathroom-situated-atop-a-15-story-elevator-shaft/

RIP Maurice Sendak

I'm not a fan, but even I can't deny what an impact this man and his work has had on children's literature.

Rest in peace, Mr. Sendak.  You were a great talent and brought lots of reading joy to so many.

On my soapbox...

... but I promise it will be for only a moment or two...

I follow several blogs.  I found the wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell when she was linked to somewhere else.  And I started to read her.  So wise for someone so young...  But recently I've been trying to cut back on the blogs I follow and I thought perhaps her blog might be one I drop.  I didn't drop it yet, though, and today, I'm SO glad I didn't. 

Saturday's blog post, in my humble opinion, is one of her best.  It's about a subject near and dear to my heart:  self-esteem in young women/people.  Please take a few minutes to listen to Jean Kilbourne speak about how the media helps ruin the self-esteem of young women, how it affects our perceptions of ourselves, our lives, our potential...

http://or-so-i-feel.blogspot.com/2012/04/women-in-advertising.html


I'm 51, and at 51, I'm beautiful.  Not drop dead gorgeous, no one is going to plaster me up on the side of a building in a bikini, but I am a beautiful woman. 

I am thin, but my husband loves me.  Me.  The me I AM, not the me I'd be if I lost 20 pounds. 

The kids in school, those little second-graders I read to every other week?  They love it when I come in, not because I'm pretty or wearing the latest and trendiest clothes, but because I'm there for them, to read to them, to pay attention to them, to listen to them, and that's a gift they don't all get from a lot of people.

I am smart, not as smart as I was when I was younger and really using the brain God gave me to think and learn, but I am a pretty smart person.

I do a good job at work, always have, always will, and I take pride in the fact that I will always be able to get a good recommendation because I always do my best.

Sure, I wish my hair was thicker and longer and fuller, but you do the best with what you've got.

I finally learned how to apply eyeliner on a YouTube video about 5 months ago.  Yes, at 50.  (And I must have been doing it SO wrong for so many years - the day I put it on the new way, several people commented that my makeup looked nice that day!)  Just an example that you can learn at any time.

I am violently opposed to the Twilight saga, not because I'm anti-vampire, or anti-young love, or any nonsense like that.  And I admit I've only read the first one and not seen any of the movies.  But any book that has the heroine feel that she's not pretty enough or smart enough or sparkly enough for the hero?  That book is NOT winding up on my shelf'o'favorites!  Those books are targeted to tweens, according to what I've heard, an age when the LAST thing they need to read about is LOW self-esteem.  They should be taught, in school, in books, in movies and TV shows, that they ARE worthy, they ARE beautiful, they ARE good enough, that there are people who love them AS THEY ARE, not as they might be if they were 10, 20 or 100 pounds thinner, if their hair was highlighted, if they wore thongs that show instead of granny panties that don't.

Thanks, Meg Fee from the wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell, thanks for introducing me to that video clip of Ms. Kilbourne.  I'll be doing all I can to support this cause, any way I can.

WeStopHate.org

Take a few moments and visit this young girl's YouTube channel or her website (links are at the bottom of this post).

Emily-Anne Rigal created this movement after she suffered from bullying in one school, moved to another and found both friends and her self-esteem.  She believes that self-esteem is the key to dealing with bullying, and I agree.

As long as you believe you are worthy, you can survive bullying.  And you are.  Each and every one of you is a valuable - and valued - human being, with lots to offer, with lots to love.

I'm making a donation and getting a wristband or two - Emily, my check is in the mail!

Why don't YOU, dear reader, do something to help stop bullying?

http://www.youtube.com/user/WeStopHate
http://westophate.org/

Chauffer or Housekeeper?

Yea, I spent some money on lottery tickets when the MegaMillions prize was $640MILLION!  We play at work, four of us, and even when it's PowerBall and nowhere near $640MILLION, we toss around ideas about what we'd do if we won...

One woman said we can't just quit, that we have to come in and quit all together.  No, we don't, but we will, until we each get our share, THEN, ladies and germs, I'M SO OUTTA HERE!  The other three of us are ready to quit now, but can't, but since she's the one that walks to get the tickets...

I don't want to win $640MILLION.  I just want to take home about $5million, $2million, enough to share with my sisters and my mom, and my kids, with the rest there to ensure hubby and I don't have to eat catfood during our retirement.  Enough so that if our friends call and say, "Hey, last minute cruise tickets, $500 each for 7 days to Bermuda, wanna go?" we can say, "Hell, yea, count us in!" without worrying if we'll be able to pay the taxes on the house next quarter.

The other day someone asked me if I'd rather have a chauffer or a housekeeper.

H.O.U.S.E.K.E.E.P.E.R.

ALL THE WAY!!!

I like to drive.  I wouldn't want someone to drive me around.  I wouldn't even get a new car until I needed one; I love my 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe!

But I hate housework.  I hate laundry.  I hate scrubbing the tub.  In fact, the other day, when I was working from home and when I do, I still got up before 6am to shower and dress.  I went to Starbucks and bought myself a caramel macchiato and a slice of banana walnut bread.  Then I went home and went to work.  I went to the doctor in the middle of the day (the reason I was working from home) and came home after lunch.  I made myself a sandwich, ate while I checked emails, then went upstairs to use the potty.  In the afternoon we get a lot of sun in the main bathroom, and I noticed I'd forgotten to pull the shower curtain closed.  I walked over there to close it and happened to look down.

How can a tub/shower get so darned dirty when you're using soap and water in it twice a day?!?!?  So down on my hands and knees I go, scrubbing soap scum and me scum off the tub, cursing the whole time:  "Sure, $17 in lottery tickets isn't enough to win!  The first thing I'd do is get a housekeeper!  I hate scrubbing the tub; I'd rather clean the toilet!  This sucks!"  Interspersed with words I say out loud but won't type on my blog because they're not nice words...

Oh, by the way, don't ask me to choose between a housekeeper and a chef, 'cause then I'd have to win more money so I could have both, because the closest I am to a cook is my maiden name.

Cook.

Good luck if you're playing, and YAY!!! if you win!!!  (Are we related?!?  Or bestest friends?!?)

Who knew???

Not me.  I didn't know that Tuesday April 10 was National Siblings Day.  Now that I know...

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to my two (and a half!) wonderful siblings.

P

The older of my 2 younger sisters is about 5 years younger than me but about 25 years more active!   She hikes, she walks, she does yoga and other exercises at home.  She's also still wearing the same size she was wearing years ago, 8/10, or medium - which is officially 1/2 as large as my 14/16, or large/extra large. 

Her hair is curly from the root to the tip, and as you know, the grass is always greener:  I want her curly hair and she's always telling me I wouldn't want it if I had it! 

She is a scientist, probably one of the two smartest people I know in this world, and probably the ONLY one I can say went to school straight through to her PhD and got a job in her field and stayed in her field to this day! 

One of my favorite childhood memories of her was the day my parents brought her home from the hospital.  It's such a vivid memory.  My mom has a metal serving cart that happened to be outside the side door that day, with a yellow cotton skirt covering the lower shelves.  I was in the kitchen and could see them carry her in the side door.  It was a beautiful June day, warm and so very sunny, and my baby sister had curly red hair!!!  (It's not red anymore, but it sure was the day she came home, especially in that sunlight!) 

She has had a grand total of 5 cats and 3 dogs over the years (and there are still 2 dogs and 2 cats in her family today!).  [Correct me if I missed a cat here or there, P!]  She has the biggest heart I know and actually rescued her most recent cat from the jaws of a dog, at great potential risk to her own self! 

She has traveled quite a bit, both in Central America and in Europe.  She spent a semester in Cambridge University.  That's right, in England.  (Told you she was smart!) 

She cooks really healthy food for herself (yet another way we have nothing in common) and at the complete, far opposite side of the food spectrum, actually LIKES tofu.  (Don't even TRY the ole "it takes on the taste of whatever you cook it with" 'cause I've tried it and I DON'T like it!) 

She has a memory like an elephant, never forgets a thing!  She is the best of all of us at remembering to send cards for holidays and birthdays, but I feel so much better that this year, she had to email my hubby for his birthday - time got away from her and she forgot to send a card.  She's human!!!  Yay!!! 

I'm so very proud of her and I love her so very much.

C

C is my baby sister and will always be my "baby" sister.  In fact, whenever anyone asks me how old she is, I have to do the math.  It's IMPOSSIBLE that my baby sister could be "that old."  (Don't take that the wrong way, C!)

When I think of my earliest memories of her, they include not really seeing her when she came home from the hospital because she was a preemie and they had to keep her away from her germy older sisters until she was strong enough.  So we had long, heavy, floor to ceiling drapes covering the doorways to keep us (and our germs) away from her. 

And another one of those vivid, Polaroid moments is her platinum blonde, pageboy haircut.  She had Marilyn Monroe blonde hair!!!  She doesn't have that hair color anymore either, but she had beautiful silky, thick medium brown hair.  The grass is always greener, remember? 

She is smart as a whip, too, but has the added bonus of being an artist, too.  She has created some beautiful canvases, and there are two that especially stand out:  one of our childhood dog, and another of Jesus.  She was offered a gallery show but that never happened.  I really wish she'd take up her brushes again:  [HEY, C - I'm trying all sorts of art journaling myself.  Why not come up to the lake one day with me and E and we can art together!!!] 

She had my nephew in 1990 and my niece in 1992 and they are the two best gifts I've ever gotten.  I love them so much, and they just wouldn't be the gorgeous, smart 20-somethings they are today without their mom. 

She did some freelance work for my company many years ago and then came on board as an in-house employee.  Those were my favorite work years, actually spending time with her every day.  I never felt closer to her.  I look back at those days so fondly, wishing we were STILL working together. 

She went through a painful divorce and I hope I was there for her like I wanted to be.  She is in a relationship now and if she's happy, I'm happy!  I like T and they bought a beautiful home a couple of years ago - I'm happy for her. 

I'm so very proud of her and I love her so very much.

R

R is actually my cousin but we grew up so close that I try to find cousin/brother cards for him for each holiday.  Not surprisingly there aren't a lot of cards with a sentiment that reads, "Thanks for being the best cousin/almost-brother on earth!"  He is fodder for a lot of stories, though, as evidenced here...

His mom and my mom were sisters (2 of 3, just like me and mine!) and my Cioci E and my Babci came over almost every night during the week to have tea with mom, and R would always tag along.  I remember so clearly having to go to bed at 8:30/9:00pm but HE could watch Family on TV, or Starsky and Hutch.  That wasn't right - he was YOUNGER than me!  Why was HE allowed???

My strongest visual memory of him?  Platinum blonde surfer hair, and a week or two at his Seaside Heights beach house every summer.  (Loved his outside shower!)  There was the day he decided we should cross the street and swing on the swing on his neighbor's front lawn.  We heard our moms calling us for lunch (soup, I believe) and ran across the street.  We got caught.  Our punishment for crossing the street alone at 6 years old?  Kneeling on dried beans in the corner behind the front door and getting spanked with my aunt's black patent leather belt.  I don't think I crossed the street alone again until I was 16!

Then there's my 8th grade birthday, when we were waiting for him and my aunt and my grandmother to come over for birthday cake, and they never showed up 'cause he had to go and break his leg playing basketball.  His timing sucked. 

He was a sleepwalker.  We were at the beach and he woke up out of a sound sleep, picked up a baseball bat and headed for the back door.  He peeked out the door, saw all was well, went back to his room, put down the bat and hopped back into bed to sleep the rest of the night away. 

And my scar...  Dad left for work and told us not to go into the garage.  R had to go into the garage.  So I followed him in, kicked him out, and slammed the door, staying on the inside.  He stood outside the door, mugging for the cameras (!), and I got mad and punched him in the face.  Through the glass window.  I can still remember him running into the house, crying that a couple measly pieces of glass hit him in the face and "Krys punched me through the window!"  (You little crybaby, you!)  I was dripping blood behind him and wound up with 6 stitches and a scar on my right hand, but all you'll ever hear from him is that the nurses had to use tape to pull the glass out of his forehead and it hurt...  Waa, waa, waa.  He got a lollipop, and me, the girl with stitches, didn't. 

He dated a girl named P who I REALLY didn't like; she was a drinker and turned him into a drinker, too.  My favorite memory was the day he told me they broke up and I said, "Good, now I can tell you I never liked her." 

He married M and they've given me another smart, beautiful/handsome niece and nephew.  Love you guys, too!

Happy Siblings Day to my sisters and my "cousin/brother"!!  I love you all!!!

Twas the week before Easter...

Hubby's school was closed the week BEFORE Easter.  Guess the Board saved themselves having to give the teachers an extra day off by not having to give them Good Friday PLUS a holiday week...

Anyway, I took off the Monday and the Thursday and Friday of last week.  Thought I'd post a few photos from the week and insert the stories (you know there are stories!!!)...

I have no story about Shemar Moore other than to say he is probably the best looking man on television, in my humble opinion...  Now remember, Clint doesn't have a regular show these days...

My sister's dog Duncan is on the right, with the blue leash.  She just got his mom, Beanie, last weekend.  The breeder gave her up because she had a bad last litter and hemmorhaged badly and isn't show quality anymore.  Sounds a bit harsh, but sister is happy to have another doggie around the house!

On Holy Saturday, Mom and Little Sister C and I met at church, St. Valentine's in Bloomfield.  They had a Food Blessing, a lovely tradition we've been participating in all my life.  You bring your food for Easter dinner, or a representation of what you'll be eating, and you get it blessed by the priest.  We brought eggs, ham, kielbase, butter, salt/pepper, wine, candy for the baby's basket, holy water, etc.  It's nice to see newer, younger members of the church come with their baskets, decorated with doilies and napkins and flowers and herbs, not just the older Polish ladies who are left...

We've both been noticing our memories aren't what they used to be so we stopped in The Vitamin Shoppe to see what they had to say.  They suggested after Jack finishes his current bottle of Focus Factor, that he try some Acetyl-L-Carnitine (?), 500mg.  So that's the plan...

I spent Holy Thursday coloring my eggs.  I read the instructions and paid attention to them.  Left the eggs in the food coloring for the full 5 minutes, and was pleased with the colors this year.  Instead of weak, blah colors, they were deeper and who knew?  5 minutes dying time and the colors are better than if you pull them out in 2 or 3 minutes.

I went to get my hair cut AND I got new glasses, all in the same week.  Purple glasses, with green fading to yellow on the temple bar corners.  Love purple!

This is my new favorite shampoo/conditioner duo, Yucca Root Shampooing Cream and Conditioning Cream, by Nick Chavez.  It really makes my highlighted hair healthy and shiny and full.

Here's my new haircut...  I really liked the highlighting she did, and that was weeks ago.  She got real close; I have almost no roots showing!!!  (Pardon the double chin - NOT the most flattering pose!!!)

Here are some forsythia bushes on the road leading to our lake house.  I love this road in early spring, with these bushes flowering, and in fall, when the leaves on the trees have turned brilliant red and orange and yellow, but haven't fallen to the ground yet...

Here's my new Tom Bihn bag.  Expensive, yes.  But apparently it will last forever!  I like the idea of forever :-D

It Gets Better at Brigham Young University

I can't pretend to "understand" being gay because I'm not. 
I can't understand it any more than my gay friends can understand being heterosexual.
My worries and fears about friends or family who are or might be gay have nothing to do with "you shouldn't be" or "how can you be."
My worries and fears about friends or family who are or might be gay are solely and completely based on the bias and prejudice they will face in their lives.  It's not "okay" yet, people still "notice."  I love my family and friends, and I don't want them to feel unloved, not good enough, not accepted, not by anyone.
Until people don't "notice," they can look at you, point in your direction, they can notice. 
Or they can think they can.
I pray for each and every one of you, even those of you I don't know personally:  be yourselves and be strong.
Please take 9 minutes to watch this video.
It.Will.Get.Better.

Birth of a Book, from Vimeo

I am LOVING this video!!!


Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.

It's been a tough couple of weeks...

1. One of my credit cards got hacked.
2. I have spent at least 48 hours dealing with that, online, on the phone, and in person at the police station.
3. Hubby hurt his back this weekend but didn't tell me because he didn't want me to, and I quote, "yell at him."
4. For the record, I have never yelled at him.
5. Until he said that.
6. I read my middle sister's blogpost today and copied her. I went to the Tom Bihn website and bought a bag, a kiwi and black Swift.  Click on that link to see it.
7. I am not really caught up at work, but pretty darned close to it.
8. Our tickets are booked for a trip to New Orleans (yay!) - business trip for hubby and I get to be the "plus one."
9. I don't have to go to Miami for sales conference; it was cancelled.
10. I spent 2 days cleaning out my closet, getting rid of about 15 pairs of black and/or gray pants that didn't fit or were out of style.  I have room to bring down spring clothes now.
11. We went into Hoboken to have dinner with friends last night.  So much fun!
12. A friend fell and broke BOTH bones in her leg, just at the ankle, so she's been laid up for weeks.  I've been leaving work early (that translates to "on time" in my case) to visit her at least once a week.
13. Just put in for a 1/2 day this Friday, and days off next Monday, Thursday and Friday.  School is closed so this will either be quality time with my husband or I'll be looking for ways to stay out of his way if he's busy working.
14. Spending Saturday with friend E, scrapping and arting.  Yay!  She doesn't know this yet, but will be bringing her b'day presents with me.  Her b'day is 04/04 but I won't see her during the week...  She's been sick for a few days, and is still under the weather...
15. Tried Chobani Greek yogurt and liked it.
16. Tried Voskos Greek yogurt and didn't.  At least not the blueberry flavor.  There's not enough fruit in it.
17. Going to EN&T doctor tonight so he can do a cat scan on hubby's sinuses.
18. Literally a 30 second procedure in that same doctor's office two weeks ago was labeled "surgery" and they charged our insurance company $545 for it!!!  Yes, Mom, I should have become a doctor!
19. My baby sister will be visiting St. Louis on business for a week.  Wish I could go with her and see friend C again!!!
20. I bought a ticket for the MegaMillions lottery - $363 million!  What I could do with...  but that's another blogpost...

God's Grace

I got this from my sister-in-law this morning...  Rather than "pass it along," I thought I'd post it here, where the people that matter to me will read it...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wonder how many people will delete this without reading it because of the title. It is a shame but this message is very true. Hope you are all as blessed as I was by this story.

There once was a man named George Thomas, preacher in a small Texas town. One Sunday morning he came to the Church building carrying a rusty, bent, old birdcage, and set it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, the Preacher began to speak.

"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright.

I stopped the lad and asked, "What do you have there, son?"

"Just some old birds," came the reply.

"What are you going to do with them?" I asked.

"Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time."

"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?"

"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take 'em to them."

The preacher was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds, son?"

"Huh?? !!! Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They’re just plain old field birds. They don't sing. They ain't even pretty!"

"How much?" the preacher asked again.

The boy sized up the preacher as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"

The preacher reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The preacher picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free. Well, that explained the empty birdcage on the pulpit, and then the preacher began to tell this story:

"One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught a world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"

"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.

Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you are done with them?"

Jesus asked.. "Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don't want those people!!"

"How much?" He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your life."

Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.

The preacher picked up the cage and walked from the pulpit.

I pray, for everyone who sends this on, whether to his or her entire address book or just a few, that God will bless them in a special way.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

Something never before seen in my house...

A C.L.E.A.N. and decluttered closet!

I tried on every pair of black and gray pants I own, and put 1/2 of them in a pile to donate!  HALF of them!  I hung the rest of them on nice pants hangers, along with the 2 brown pairs I own and hung them on the left side of the closet.  I took out all the heavy winter sweaters and left a few lightweight and mediumweight sweaters there for the rest of winter/early spring.  I took out the jackets I won't be wearing because they're for winter, not spring, and cleaned out the sweatshirts and t-shirts and casual clothes.  I packed up what I won't be using until next winter, made a giant bag to donate, and will begin working on shoes and bring down spring clothes later in the week.

I have been feeling heavy lately, not only pound-wise but stuff-wise.  I have been saying I want to discard it all and start new, but realistically I know we can't do that.  So I've decided to just get rid of what I don't want, need, or wear, or haven't worn in 2 or 3 years or more (yes, I have clothes that old that I take out and put away each season).  I will be hanging frames, with or without pictures, because if the frames are on the wall in the hallway, I won't want them to all be empty and that will force me to choose and mat my pictures.

I have already gone through our collection of water bottles and gotten rid of NINE of them!  And I still have probably a 1/2 dozen in the cabinet!  Next on the kitchen list is mugs.  I have publisher mugs, movie mugs, coffee mugs from my mother-in-law, mugs both J and I bought when we lived alone.

I will be choosing a project a week, perhaps the junk drawer, perhaps the pantry, perhaps my lingerie drawer - no matter what, I will be spring cleaning to beat the band, until I am lighter in more ways than pounds!!!

Yay, me!!!

The man makes stools...

I saw this video on Dooce.com and, well, if what people say makes THIS guy feel good, what he DOES makes me feel insignificant...  It's only about 2 or 3 minutes long, so if you have the time to spare...

http://vimeo.com/23095780

We need to stop this madman.

http://vimeo.com/invisible/kony2012

If you have 30 minutes, watch this video.

I was seeing links to it all over FB and Twitter yesterday and I wondered what or who Kony2012 was so I watched the video today.

He is an animal.  A criminal.  A bad guy.  A REALLY bad guy.

He needs to be stopped.

This is a Wikipedia link to Joseph Kony:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kony

It will take you much less than 30 minutes to read about him.  It will take you MUCH MUCH less than 30 minutes to be horrified, and I hope, moved to act.  If you can't donate, if you can't put posters up, you can spread the word.  Make people aware.

I never thought I'd say these words, but...

Thank you, President Obama, for acting.  I hope it makes a difference.

Two fireplaces in February!!!

I had this post ready for 2 weeks but had some trouble uploading the photos from work, so it had to wait until I had some uninterrupted time at home with my laptop...  Jack was sick yesterday; he even stayed home from work.  (You KNOW he had to be feeling not-so-good!  In fact, he's taking a nap now; we're staying in today so he can get his strength back.)

After spending a few weekends doing the bedroom fireplace, it took hubby ONE.DAY to put up the stacked stone on the sitting room fireplace.

I know you're all thinking he's incredible, and he is, but we were working with an advantage:  the gas fireplaces were installed by the fireplace people when we put on the addition, so all he had to do regarding prep work was remove sheetrock, add tileboard, mix mastic, and slap those tiles up there!  The tiles were 4-5 stones high, and 24" long, so that made it a LOT easier.  Also, FYI, we bought the bedroom rock 2 years ago but just got to the project this month; they were even blocks, all rectangular.  The sitting room fireplace stone was ordered a couple of weeks ago, picked up on the Friday of our long weekend, and they've improved the design (yes, it's a different company, too):  they had interlocking ends, about 2" long on each 24" tile, so you see far fewer "seams" where we had to cut and modify to fill in spaces.

I am not the person to describe this in technical detail, so I hope that was enough of an explanation that you could figure it out!!!  Suffice it to say, I think these new fireplace surrounds add a LOT of oomph to those two rooms!!!

This is the one in our bedroom.  It's not a deep mantle; neither of them is.  I'm going to lean framed photos and/or a mirror against it, since hanging photos on a rock wall would mean damaging the rock...

This is the one on the other side, in the sitting room.  The fireplace is see-through and throws heat on both sides.  I'll put framed pictures on this side, too, most probably the focal one will be the painting we had done in Vegas by one of those street painters.  You can click on this link to see what I'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzi_BGnY0Vc  We had one done in greens and browns, trees and a lake, to remind us of our lake house...  I'll take a photo of it and post it when I can...

The most patient and docile cat ever!

I am not a cat person. Sure, my sisters and my mom have cats that I can tolerate, in fact, I even like them.
But Bosn? The star of this You Tube video?
It's official - this is my most favorite cat ever!!!

My art project for this weekend...

I follow Kayla Aimee's blog - you will too, once you fall in love with her baby Scarlette - and she recently sent out a mom's plea for projects to do with her little girl.  You see, Scarlette and her mom are quarantined for 6 months - they're 4 months into it already so there's a HUGE light at the end of the tunnel - but she needs to keep her very active baby busy!  And they don't have the distraction of wandering the mall, going to the library, going to a crop...  Scarlette was very premature, in NICU for a long time (5 months or so, KA?), and to keep her healthy, mom and baby are sort of housebound...

WELL, someone sent her this awesome project.  Put some different color paints in a ziplock bag, shut it securely, and let baby Scarlette "paint" a piece of modern baby art by squeezing and pressing...  KA thought to put a piece of cardstock in there and rescued it pre-destruction, then gave the bag'o'paint back to Scarlette.  A regular piece of modern art!

So I'm going to do the same thing this weekend, and create some Project Life inserts, some card bases, some backgrounds to use in my art journal and in my scrapbooks!  Thanks, KA, for the idea!  (And thanks, too, to whoever sent the idea to Kayla Aimee!)

http://www.kaylaaimee.com/2012/02/ziplock-bag-painting-1st-art-project/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kaylaaimee+%28kayla+aimee%3A+only+slightly+neurotic%29&utm_content=Google+Reader