Puzzella and two-toned hair

Meet Puzzella. She is supposed to be on the front porch but has a mind of her own and is still sleeping on the kitchen counter.

I fell in love with this little dragon while on a recent visit to my old hometown to meet up with an old friend. A recent post tells all about it. Soon her little butt will be sent to the front porch.

I thought I should  post an update on my hair. I have decided that I will not color it to see what my real color is and it is a sloooooooow process. I am in the two-toned stage but I think with my next hair cut the color will be more even. Actually it is many shades and to me looks dreadful but not much I can do and must bide time while it grows out.

BTW..for those that don't know it..this REALLY was taken today. Don't let those Christmas lights fool ya. and NO..it is not an April fool's prank. I really do leave them up all year. At least we take the tree down.  Our "ambiance" lighting. Saves time at the holiday time too. Both G and I are in perfect agreement with them. At least we have one thing we agree on.

I can play now

I am soooo proud of myself. Now I can go out and play in the garden. At least for a few hours until time to make dinner.

I did get taxes nearly done. I got the federal all ready for the mail. I got the state done but still need to transfer to final copy. But that is an easy part.

I really made myself toe the line this morning and didn't even get my usual computer time in. I buckled down and got to work. WHEW!!!

I can't go play until.......

As much as I want to get outside to start on my herb garden...I have to MAKE myself do the taxes or get a good head start on them. I did get a little raking done yesterday but I have to be careful as some things are not up yet and I don't remember where they all are. 

As you can see...this small garden is the place where I stick a lot of things for winter. Like pots, cages and trellises. I do have 16 other garden beds that are begging for attention too. GRR...did I mention I , along with the rest of the world, hate doing taxes?

I have told myself that the good weather will only get better for the rest of the week and it is very early yet anyway...sooooooooo...get my tush in gear and get the taxes done!!! 


Off to chain myself to the dining room table.

Sandwiches or Sandwishes?

I am not too sure that I would like this sandwich although I do LOVE sandwiches. My mind cannot wrap around sugar and meat together. The peanut butter on hamburger is another ewwwwww factor. Check out this site for other donut "creations"

Donut Sandwiches 

Kaleidoscope and taxes

Oh no...another day went by and I still didn't even start the taxes. I feel the time crunch sneaking up on me.

I have stained glass class this morning which I have to attend as I am getting help setting the mirrors for my newest kaleidoscope. I spent yesterday sizing and soldering the end piece on with the eye hole lens and fussing around with practice soldering.

Today is another day and maybe I can really, actually, start the darn taxes this afternoon. I am itching to get outside though. The patio garden really needs raking as herbs might want to poke their heads out.

Grrrr......sometimes I have to kick myself in the butt...today might well be that day. Maybe I should handcuff myself to the dining room table.

Procrastinating

YUCK. I still have not gotten our taxes done. I keep putting them off. I am not generally a procrastinator but with taxes I am. Once I put my mind to it..they get done fairly quickly but it is getting my tush in gear that is the hard part. The government is gonna get our money one way or the other anyway..why make us jump thru all these hoops to take it from us.

Get ready....serious or silly fun

Nasty sandwich huh? Not really. Just a small practical joke you can play on someone for April 1. This is only a sandwich BAG! Click on the site below for other nasty pranks and things. Some are down right mean though.

100 April fool's pranks

Pat aka Jodi

Hmmm..I had forgotten that many people in my life do not know that in high school I was also known as Jodi. That came about when my friends found out my middle name:Josephine. They decided it was cute and wanted to call me Josey. I said..."No way!" Someone changed it to Jodi and I liked that.... so that was that.

It was a problem at times cuz someone would call my house asking for Jodi instead of Pat and my parents would tell them no one was there by that name and hung up. I don't think they ever got used to it.


There are still a few old friends that still think of me by that name. I will answer to both. I have no idea why after I married I didn't stick with that name. Maybe I had an identity crisis. Who knows?

Found again

After 25 years or more, an old friend and I found each other again. I must admit it was mostly my fault for not keeping in touch. I had thought she had moved but never took the time to find out. Her and 3 other gals and I were very close thru high school. I blogged about one finding me on classmates last October and she finally gave me Wanda's number. I called a few times but got no answer and finally just left a cryptic message and after her curiosity got the better of her..she returned it. We had to wait a couple days to meet ...again..but this is the first pic. I had to change to black and white cuz the original was so dark and crappy. I was too excited to properly set the cameras.

 Here is a better one taken a few hours later. You can still see us smiling and oh so happy. I swear..it was like the clock was turned back and we were both 16 all over again.

She took me to see her parents around the corner. 

 

It seemed that they had not changed much and sitting there, which was across the street from where I grew up,  seemed like I should skedaddle home for lunch. We talked non-stop for nearly 5 hours and vowed to never again let the years pass by without keeping in contact. 

I was glad I finally got off my butt and stopped saying..."Oh..tomorrow I will call".

We are now planning a trip to Tennessee to see another of our little troupe. Sadly, we lost one of us 4 Musketeers a few years ago.

There is an old saying that your life flashes before your eyes when you are at death's door but there is another time it does..when you see an old buddy that gave you many, many happy memories in your youth. And we will spend untold hours reliving our lives in words to each other. A time I look forward too.

Wanda, I am so glad we have this opportunity to move once again forward in our friendship. It seems like we CAN pick up right where we left off.

Pat, aka Jodi

Inventive haircuts

I think this collection of haircuts are the cutest I have ever seen.

Well..except for one that I think is outright disgusting.

In case you wonder which one I am referring to..it is the one with the tattoo and underarm hair. Now that is one that  I would think he would one day regret and is just not for public viewing.

Awesome Haircuts

New fave apple

 

My new favorite apple = Jonagold

Old favorite = Braeburn

Still always love = Red delicious

Incredibly old

 I can hardly believe how old this tree is. It boggles my mind. And there is one tree that is about 80,000 years old. That is hard to even imagine that anything can still be alive that started growing when humans were still cavemen.

This giant cypress lives in Abarkooh, Iran. The evergreen took root between 4,000 and 4,500 years ago, around the time that Stonehenge was being completed. It may be the oldest living thing in Asia, and is a national monument in Iran. The Zorastrian Sarv stands about 82 feet high and has a girth of 37.8 feet.

Click on link to see more thousands of year old trees.

Oldest Trees

Gluten free success

Oh my...I LOVED the gluten free fair yesterday. I found tons of yummy things. It was the biggest one they ever had. Finally they are making stuff that tastes good. I  still hate paying the high prices but at least there is a choice for some tasty stuff. I had some great chicken nuggets, soups, granola, potato patties (4 varieties), cakes, banana bread, cupcakes and tons of cookies. There was so many things  to try that I had to take only a small bite of many and bring the rest home. OH..I did taste a most delicious gf pizza by a restaurant that is totally gluten free. It is not too far from here (about 40 min) but gosh...pretty expensive. The pizza was just a cheese one and available to bake yourself. Yes..I loved it but at $12 for a small dinner plate sized bake yourself pizza...too pricey. I did buy a gf lasagna and it was a one serving pack and it better be good...no...more than good...outrageously good cuz it was over $10. From this I can deduce the restaurant must be pricey. The store had tons of dips and soups and meats and cheeses that I think are naturally GF but still nice to know things I can eat without worry. Way too many things to taste though.

We do have an Italian place very close to us where you can get anything on the menu made into a gf one. The owners wife if Celiac so he understands. But that place is expensive. We just dont normally go to a place where the meals are in the $20 range. We went there once and with coffee, dinner and a dessert, it was well over $60. A friend took me there for lunch one day AND we had a buy one get one coupon. We only had a main entree and tea and the bill was still $20 plus tip. Food good? Yes..but I have no idea how people can afford going to places like that much. Someone has to for them to stay in business. I guess we just don't value ambiance that much huh?

There is another celiac specialty bakery that is opening a store about 10 miles from us and they have a tasting next weekend.  Hillers that I go to for gf stuff carries their stuff frozen and I have bought it many times. I never bought their bread though as I usually bake my own but want to try it. When a small loaf is about $7, one gets leery to buy it especially after having tasted so many nasty ones. I still have not found a fully baked loaf that is good. Which is why I bake my own. I have found a few buns, bagels and english muffins that are good though. But again..the price gets to me. Most are in the $1.50 range..that is PER bun or bagel. Like my favorite bagel is sold in a pack of 5 for $7.99. I still cringe when buying them. But they are good.


I guess that might be a good thing as one is not  supposed to be eating much of  that crap anyway. If my doc had her way....I would be a vegetarian mostly with meat as a condiment..lol.

Remote relatives

I just stumbled on this little handy chart. I always wondered about remote relatives and what you call them.  Click to enlarge. Right click to save.

Gluten free fair

I am going to a gluten free fair today at a nearby grocery store. For those not sure what this is...it is NOT where they give away free gluten. It is for getting samples of gluten-free foods.

For those that don't know yet...I am gluten intolerant which means I cannot eat anything with gluten in it which means no wheat, rye or barley. I have been this way for several years now and it is still hard. I get very sick when I consume it and avoid it like the plague.

Fortunately for the past year or so there has been a ton of new products and some even taste good.  The only problem is that people has use this to make a quick buck and the products are very expensive. I don't mind too much as long as they taste good. But when you spend $5 for a 4oz package of crackers...they are just not gourmet and most times they are not even eatable. I cannot even begin to count how many things  I had to throw away cuz they tasted awful.

That is why this tasting is so important to me. I get finally to try a few things without playing Russian roulette.  By now almost everyone knows someone who has this problem and is pretty aware of it. It is getting to be recognized more and more. I am pretty sure I have had this all my life and a darn shame it was not found earlier. But...water under the bridge as they say. I know now and am much healthier.

Spring urge

  I was stopped at a traffic light yesterday. I was a passenger and we were next to a really pretty truck. I looked at the truck and then at the guy driving and he smiled back at me. I thought to myself that wow..he could see in our whole car way up there. For one moment...an urge came over me. I had the strangest urge to flash him and show a boob. Never in my life had I ever done that and never would..but it just made me smile to think of doing it. Could he have read my mind?  Must of been an attack of "Spring Fever" huh?

Snopes vs Wikipedia

I got an email this morning that had to deal with Wikipedia and Snopes. Both are written by ordinary people. The only difference I can see is that one...Snopes is by a couple of people with their opinions and that Wikipedia is written by anyone and everyone and their opinions. 

Yes..Wiki is editable by anyone and anyone can put their two cents in. I think a handful of people might police the writings but mostly it is words.....written words and any words are subject to interpretation and biased opinions.

Which brings to mind "statistics" which again is only words and subject to interpretation and very biases to as what they want to find.

My point? Words can be made to say whatever one wants and twisted to whatever view  you want. I personally don't think that anything written is ever the full truth. I have long since known that even history books which are supposed to tell us true history is in fact NOT true at all but only  biased opinions written for a select group of people slanted to what they want  to hear. Our own government has been caught lying to us many times.

I myself have had several dealing with the media..aka - newspapers. In those instances I was interviewed and most of the details that got printed were WRONG! The events were minor and it was not important that the details were right but gosh darn it..why bother interviewing when you cant get a few simple facts straight. I mean one was so mundane as to why I started carving and was in an article on my club and it's show. GEEZZZZZ.

But that leads me to wonder how much MAJOR stuff that it written is true or plain wrong.

And back to Snopes and Wikipedia. I use Wiki for general information which I find useful. Snopes...well...I have found it to be helpful in trying to get people to realize that not all we read and pass on...is truthful and while they might not have researched everything...at least they try to get people to think about that basic fact. Myths and Legends get embellished and we may never get to the bottom of their origin or why they even got started.

People love fairy tales and gossip. In the end..I really don't care weather a guy was found in a bathtub with note saying his kidneys were stolen was true or not. I don't care if a computer virus is true or not. I just know that I should read and expose myself to MANY opinions and not take any of them seriously. 

What works for one person does not work for another anyway. There is a fine line between computer problems and plain operating system problems.  And it is like cars or the human body....difficult to diagnose.

I know...I am rambling all over with this topic but I have lots of my own opinions on it too.

But my point is that words are words are words and you cannot believe them all. That is what advertisers get money for..to make you believe them all.

Life is tough and not fair...deal with it.  Keep an open mind and keep reading.....that way you can form better opinions for yourself.

Green Beer...YUCK!

I do not like green beer...

I do not like beer period!

I might have an Irish name but that is as
close to Irish as my heritage gets me.
Now if they made cheap green margaritas,,,,
I might be enticed to a bar.
Happy St. Pat's Day yall.

Government insanity

With so many ads on tv and in magazines and newspapers, I am sure that very few people DON'T know about the census this year. I got a letter a few days ago from the government telling me that soon to follow would be the census letter and be sure to fill it out. I think that letter was a total waste of money. Geezz..they could of just put it in big letters on the outside of the census saying...CENSUS.... FILL OUT!!! Saving all that postage on a pre-letter was nuts and could of bought a lot of something else like oh say...toilet paper for the poor instead of more paper for the landfill.

Costco Mocha lattes

I was able to get out of Costco today without buying of of those delicious drinks.. frozen mocha latte with chocolate....yummy but about a zillion calories. Not often can I resist.

Jazzy toes

   I can't look at this picture and not think of my BFF who loves pedicures and manicures. This would look snazzy on her feet in sandals.

Also this makes me smile when I remember a time when we took a bunch of pics together when digital cameras were new.

Me..never had one,,,,probably never will.

Potty training

This is the first time I have heard this. Babies are born potty trained. Gee...I read this article cuz it interested me and I feel a small ring of truth to it.

Born potty trained 

It brings to mind all those native tribes and their naked babies.

But more so it brings to mind something of a few years ago. A friend of mine went with their daughter to pick up an adopted baby in China. She described the outfit that the baby had on when they picked her up and that was all that came with the baby btw. It was cold so a snowsuit and very bundled baby but..the whole butt area was not there....exposed..open. They did not use diapers. Now I wonder if they used this method of learning nature call times. Sorta like the mom being trained and not the baby. But I must admit that it is natural for animals to not pee or pooh in their sleep place. And we did not have diapers for that long so something must of been used. Makes one wonder.

Ugly wall cords?

While scrounging around in my "Stuff" file, I came across this. I thought it a great idea.  Seems they could of done something creative with the floor though; or is that dirt?
AYUP...I do have a file named "stuff". 
It is where I put odd stuff I find on the web. 

Time I shared some of it huh?

Could not resist these inspirational posters

No explanation needed.

BTW..I am safe from kidnappers. See? me not so stupid.

53 Billion

$53.5 Billion. That is what the wealthiest man in the world is worth. #2 man is worth only $53 billion. My mind cannot even wrap around that figure. Just how many millions is that? How many millions in a billion? 10,000? I am not good with those numbers cuz anything past 6 figures is foreign to me. I can get to a million but am lost after that. All I know is that no one could possible spend that much money and instead of buying another football team...maybe they could raise the wages of teachers.

Heck..take a billion of that..it wont be missed and will probably be earned back in interest in a few weeks, and rebuild Haiti. Or take a couple million an drill water wells for 3rd-4th world countries. With their economy,,,I think it would drill a lot of them. have American farmers actually GROW food instead of paying them not to...buy that food and send to starving countries. The to few billionaires could feed the world easily with interest alone. I mean just how many rooms of a 20,000 square foot mansion can one use?

And now that I am on this bandwagon, just why  is what they do worth so much more than what others do? I mean, yeah..they had the wisdom to invest wisely, work long hours but they have the money to do that.. Money begets money. Heck..they can afford to take chances and we have no idea how many companies they bought but they failed cuz they could afford to take the chance.And then it took only one to make up for all the losses. 

Better yet, loan a few million to a few people, then they earn a million and then they can loan to others and they get a million and so on and so on...then we all share the wealth. See..pretty easy huh? AND..we ALL win!!

Note to self

No more cucumbers and radishes washed down with Diet squirt at bedtime.
Makes me get up to pee too much. But the cuke salad was so yummy...just not at bedtime.

Cancelled prom

I just read an article on Yahoo this morning about a canceled prom in Jackson, Mississippi. It was canceled because a lesbian wanted to take her "date" to the prom in a tuxedo. Being in the  Bible belt, the school board wanted to not make others uncomfortable so they didn't want to step on the gals rights soooo..they just canceled the prom.

HOORAY for them for sticking to their guns and not blowing the issue up further.

I do not believe the girls rights were violated at all although I am sure they will try to make it that way.  Communities of people do have the right to make rules of what they want or don't want. Communities can say if they want movie theaters, malls or adult bookstores in their city. That is NOT violating anyone's rights in my book. This is not about my opinion towards lesbians and gays. Nope..it is about a communities rights to govern their own community.

Heck...we have speed limits and driving rules too and I am sure some will say that violates their right to drive however they want. WRONG! Civilization needs limits and guidelines as to how any group of people live and interact with another. Come on people...we are not living in the wild west where everyone can have a gun.

If you don't like laws and rules..MOVE! I am sure there is a deserted island out there where you can make your own country and own rules.

Just in case you want to read the article....but if this is a very old post it might not be there.

Prom in Mississippi

Nifty Site

Here is another of my go-to blogs that I like. I don't hit these daily but once a week or so is fun. Sometimes I forget them for a few weeks even. This site has interesting stuff now and then. This morning it was 284 ways to use Spam.

Both Gary and I love that stuff but I rarely by it cuz of the salt. But the low sodium one is just not the same. I might try the turkey one I saw though. But still...Spam is spam and nothing is like the good ole tasty original.  I think it is the national Hawaiian dish..lol.

Now That's Nifty

Bike E

Here is the bike that has been in the garage for a few years.

OH..I just checked the info on the pic and it is from 1999, so lots of years. Gary took it in for a new chain and replacing some gears that have rusted. I rode it for a while but tipped it over in mud and hurt my knee really bad and ended up walking it home for over a mile.  I never rode it again.

Hair 1999

Hey Twinsy, I bet this is the way you loved my hair the best. I was browsing some pics and wanted to post one of you and I back then but I know how you hate pics of yourself and I would never post one without you permission....even if I did think it a great one.
Of course I was much thinner than too. I just might try it like this for this summer. Time will tell.

Where but I should ask why

I was watching my favorite show again last night..a new episode too.."House" and once again I heard an expression I am beginning to hate. It is way overused and sounds idiotic.

It is "my bad" and used when someone does something wrong. Not long ago I heard it  as "me bad" but now it has evolved again into "my bad" and it is beginning to irritate me to no end.

Oh..and finally a graphic that stayed small. I guess I will try playing with resizing tiny...this one is pretty small pixel wise. Still bigger than I wanted which would be about 1/4 the size it is.

How do these expressions get started and why? Just to be different and annoy adults?

Things I cant do on this blog

When I started this blog, it was all I wanted...just a little text and a pic now and then.

But I wanted to spice it up a bit and use an animation now and then, of which I have collected many over the years. I read allt he help files and it mentioned nothing and then found some blogger forum and sigh..... blogger will not let anyone use animations. We are limited to jpgs or pngs...in other words..plane ole pictures. Well...then.....

I decided to use small icons here and there to spice up some postings and will blogger let me? Naw. pictues yes but no matter what size I upload..it seems to have only a couple size range sit will post any pics. The hour glass in the previous post was a small picture and it still showed up very big. In fact.it was one of my icons from my collection. I thought it would be small but got fooled...way bigger than I wished it to  be. I was aiming for the little emoticons that Yahoo email has. nope..no can do.

sigh.......

I guess unless I am willing to get another blog site, I am very limited.

But then...what can I expect for free and the very easy way to do this. I am lazy and don't wish to put in more time studying how to do more. I used to have another web page and in fact did my own html but now I am out of practice and needless to say out of date and hve forgotten most of what I used to do. I remember some basics but not sure what I can add here.

At least I can change the font...although limited, and the size and the color. Unless it interests me more,,,I will just be satisfied within the limits I get with blogger. It does get the job done and I can keep in touch with friends and post pics of my world for them to see.

Hi friends...stay tuned for more of mundane Patville.

I can feel spring coming.

Winter......move over......

              Your time is running out...

                             and SPRING

is coming!!!              I can feel it.

Smiles in a jiffy

Billions of people store photos in online albums and these are public access. Some people have time to browse thru them and cull out the interesting ones. Here is a site that posts them in their "Daily PicDump". They have other things they find like videos and unusual stuff. Great site for a quickie morning smile.

Izismile

Woodcarving demo

 

Our local Woodworker's Guild has a show and is giving our woodcarving club, Livonia WoodCarvers,  a table to promote our club. 

I volunteered to work a few hours. 

Just one of "those" days.

 Do you sometimes wake up in  

the morning feeling not quite all together?

Feeling like things are not quite right 

but you just can't put your finger on it. 

I woke up like that today.

Geo and I after lunch.

 

Geo and I had a nice lunch yesterday and I took the opportunity 

to get a few silly pics of us. Although he lives in a senior building 

with only one bedroom apartments, they are not too small.

Most pictures I take are with the camera's auto function. I set the camera 

on his entertainment center and set the timer for 10 seconds. I took a few 

tries to get a picture I liked. Don't forget to click the pic to view full size.

Lunch with George

I am going to have lunch with my brother George today.

I took this pic at this past Christmas and the lighting was not so good,

but after I changed it to a black and white picture, I love it.

George is almost always in a happy mood and has such twinkly eyes.

He is now wanting to learn more about his computer and what it can do.

As his sis and computer guru, I WILL teach this old dog new tricks..ROFL.

Pssssstt,,,gals.....he is single and available.

He might very well kill me for this post but he just hasn't found the right lifemate yet.

As if this will help much being that maybe 2-3 people even read this.

Hey,,my blog and I can ramble and dream here.

Yes....really!!

Ok..I know it does not look that different,

but I swear I did get it cut and permed.

I just happen to be wearing the same clothes as yesterday and styled it the same. I can see more gray though. But at least now it will stay curled for a day or two. I just was not in for a drastic change as I thought I might be.

 

Maybe?

Probably what my hair might be like later today.

This was taken 10 years ago. AWWWWWW...Devin was so sweet then.

Nope..not yet

Nope...not cut yet.....

         gotta wait until tomorrow...,,

                 maybe late afternoon if I get a chance..if not...

     then Wed.

No more coloring my hair

I have decided a few months ago to stop coloring my hair to see what color it will be. I have not seen the real color in oh...about 15 years. I updated my photo to show this progress. Not good looking multi-toned right now but tomorrow I will get it permed and cut and that might bring out more gray. As you can also see it is much longer than I normally wear it. I am still undecided how short to get it cut. I like this longer length but it takes much more time to dry it and it does not hold up for a long day..hence the perm.

How to fake American

From time to time I think nearly every American, especially as a child, has faked another language. Making mock Chinese sounds, British, or perhaps Swedish or German seems pretty easy for me. Many comedians and actors use false accents of other cultures too. But I always wondered how other cultures faked our American language. What do we sound like to them? While reading one of my favorite sites, Metafilter, I came across this very question and a lot of people responded to it with answers. I found it quite interesting.

How to fake American

Another blog thread along this same line was what an American accent sounded like.

What does an American accent sound like?

Rules of Grammar

Who makes up rules of grammar anyway?

I never thought about these.

11 Little known grammatical errors

Grass Ring

 

Everything is going "green" these days. 

So why not a lawn on your finger?
(More here) Growing green jewelry

..and while you are there...click "random" at the top and go to other interesting posts. Another web site to cure boredom.

Know a slinky?

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES – NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Bed Sheets

 

I changed the sheets on our bed a day or so ago and got to wondering how often everyone else changed theirs. My mom always changed them once a week. It varies as to when I do them. About that in summer as my hubby sweats a lot but sometimes I will admit I will leave them on for 10 days to 2 weeks in winter. I used to change them once a week but got to thinking "why?". Since we shower at night and it is winter,,,they do not need to be washed that often. I have known someone in the past who changed theirs about once a month. Seems a bit long for me but then I also wonder how often if ever, they got changed in pioneer days, especially in winter. Ok Laura Engels...spill it..LOL.

Advice on guardian angels

 

Never live faster than your guardian angel can fly.

(This was on my calendar this month, I thought it quite nice.)

My Bucket List

Bucket List
(These are in no particular order.)

Pet a tiger/lion and/or play with cubs
Ride an elephant
Spend 2 weeks at Disney Safari resort
Have all 3 of my kid in the same room at the same time
Whale watch
See a Cirque du Sol Lei show
Walk on the Grand Canyon Skywalk
Go to Hawaii
A very long (several hours a least) sleigh ride (in snow)(private not a group)
Ride in a dog sled and maybe run one.
See a drag queen show
Spend time at a luxury resort with private lagoon pools.
Get a tattoo (ring on hand or bracelet on wrist
Have a whole day, one on one, with a person who teaches Japanese vegetable carving
Get up front and personal with a kangaroo and hold a baby one and I have pics to prove it.
Travel the entire length of the Mississippi River...on a houseboat with an experienced captain/guide.
Charter a boat and go deep sea fishing and catch something HUGE even if I have to let it go.
Ride a gondola...in Venice.
See every museum at the Smithsonian Museum complex.

Grand Ultimate wish- to spend 10 days with all 3 of my kids, grandkids, brother and hubby at Safari resort Disney with full VIP privileges.

Other than one that I have no control over, all are reasonable and attainable, sorta. It is just that some would require that we win the lottery...ROFL.

I will post an update if I add something or do something.

How about sharing your bucket list?

More snow

Another 6" or so of snow. The senior center where I have stained glass class was closed as it closes when the schools close.  This is the snowiest winter in a long time. I guess I should not complain as other states are getting hit harder. My girls live in Virginia and they are having the worst snow season EVER.

They got more than Michigan and are having the same nasty cold. No one there is used to it. Awww...

Another minute or hour

Here is another of my favorite sites. At this site people write questions and anyone can answer them. At the upper right, there is a search box and you can find questions related to your interests.

I have found so much great information on here. For instance, I read one question where a guy wanted to know of movies that were not main stream but often overlooked and too good to miss. People wrote in with over 70 answers and I copied down a lot of movie ideas. 

If you like a certain genre of books, there are many questions asking for more books of the same type. Like one person liked legal thrills of John Grisham and wanted to know other authors of the same type of books. I particularly liked that questions as I love that author.

You can type anything in to the search box and come up with tons of posts related to it. There are also great subject links on the right to browse.

Or you can just browse the muliple questions posted every day and read the answers. Some are quite informational. Many people want to visit a certain city and ask for things to do, places to eat. 

The number of questions are quite endless in variety. Like one of this morning of a guy asking if he should be upset that his girlfriend used his kitchen metal strainer to  rinse the  gravel in the aquarium. A lot of  people posted an opinion to that. BTW..I think he was nuts...just sanitize it and get on with life..lol. Many though thought he was in the right to be totally pissed off. Go figure.

Whatever your interests...this site will keep you busy...way too busy at times.

Metafilter

Evgeni Plushenko vs Evan Lysacek

I think the amount of articles about the Olympics are more abundant this year. Or maybe I am just more interested.

I expressed my opinion on the speech with Evan Lysacek and how I admired him for it being gracious after Plushenko cut him down. (Saying he should not have won without doing a quad.) This morning I watched a couple of videos of Plushenko skating which I am sure were NOT at the Olympics especially after reading the strict dress codes. I also read some comments people left and was  struck with a ring of truth with this one.

" Evan didn't win because he's that much better then Plushenko. Evan won because he played by the rules."

I think that might be really true. There is no doubt Plushenko is a great skater but rules are rules even for those at the top. No doubt both are world class winners.

Plushenko and Tom Jones routine

Plushenko 2003

What Olympic ice skaters can wear

I had no idea that the dress code for Olympic competition ice skaters was so strict. After reading this article, I understand the rules much better.

What Olympic skaters can wear

A minute or an hour

Here is one of my favorite sites I go to when I have a minute or two to spare. Actually I go there nearly every day. It is updated daily and sometimes several times with links of varied interests.Some days there are so many good links I get lost there and find other sites that hook me.  (Click link below)

Interesting Pile

Proud of the USA Olympians

The Americans  at the Olympics are doing so well. I was quite impressed with the events last night and stayed up far too late watching them. Skill was definitely needed on the downhill ski event. I love hearing the commentator for that one. The guys only had one hour to scope out the slope and never got to run it in practice runs. This made it much more difficult and showed up their skills mentally as well as physically.

I loved watching skating pairs do the required dance routine. Each couple had to do the exact same tango dance in precisely the same way down to the pattern they took on the ice. I don't remember so much variation as this year. It seems every Olympic event teaches me more and more what these athletes have to endure.  I never got bored watching the same routine because it looked so different with each couple. The body language and intensity varied so much.

I  also love the interviews. Each and every athlete display integrity to be admired. I especially loved the interview with the men's figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek. Evgeni Plushenko said some pretty nasty things about him and when asked to respond to them...he was so elegant in his responses and said not one bad word back. It was an interview that showed so much of the poise and composure I had seen in most of the interviews. There were a few sore losers like Evgeni Plushenko but they were sadly just being babies and had to find blame somewhere outside of themselves and could not come to grips with the fact that their time in the limelight was over.

The one thing I admire most in all the athletes is their dedication to their chosen sport. They give over their whole lives to live and achieve their dream of the gold. I can hardly decide what to carve next..let alone know at an early age what I wanted to do when I grew up. Heck..I have not even done that yet. I will let everyone know when I decided what I want to be when I grown up. ROFL.

Blog info for new viewers

Just in case you are new to reading blogs, I thought I might share a bit of information you might not know. At least I will share the little I know. I am still learning too.

When there is a picture on most blogs, you can usually click on it to get it full size. If you right click it..you can save it to your computer.

Also on most blogs, including mine, you can leave a comment about the day's post. There is a comment button underneath each day's posting unless the owner has closed them. Recently Blogger changed their formatting. I had my blog set to receive anonymous posters in that you don't have to sign in but can post as anonymous. They had it set back to the default positon of not allowing that.

But I changed that setting and now anyone can post. When you leave a comment, you can select anonymous but include your name in the comment so I know who it is. Like signing a letter.

I know it must be confusing for new computer users. If there are any questions about my blog...feel free to email me. I hope this post helps.

Fiendish Friday

My motto: don’t get mad....get even!

I was miffed at my hubby the other day and wishing so much we had a cat again. Not that I wanted a cat, but so I could annoy him with it. Hubby has dry lips and his Chapstick is always nearby. We were going thru a rough spell during our cat days and he annoyed me a lot at times. One of the ways I would retaliate was to tell him I wiped his Chapstick on the cat’s butt.  Needless to say, he at first didn’t believe me but as the days went on and I sent a smirky look every time he picked up his Chapstick. He took to hiding it but sometimes forgot and left it out. Now and then he would get leery and poof...he would throw the thing away. I think in a few months he went thru a case of them.

Did I? Nope...never. And when I told him that months later...he never really believed me. Maybe it was the smirk I had when I said “nope, never”. hehehehe

My last post reminds me

After I left a comment on my last post, it reminded me of how I violated the advice I gave. I wonder how many others do it too. I bought some nice white tops and they fit so nicely. I do tend to buy a lot of white and in summer I wear mostly white...tops and slacks. But I have a bad habit of buying a few things, love them a lot and "save" them for special occasions. Then one day while rummaging thru my closet come across them and decide..well..I have had it for  couple of years or more, time to actually wear it and darn...I find it does not fit so well. My weight tends to fluctuate a lot and I was so pissed at myself for not wearing it before when it fit. I dutifully hung it back in the closet and luck came my way a few years after as I again found it and VOILE', it fits. I dropped a few pounds and once again I can wear it and I shall ...this time. Maybe age is teaching this old dog a few knew tricks. Or maybe I just am old enough to not care if I drop food on it and stain it. Also a good thing I tend to classic styles so they are usually ok to wear years later.

Cane pattern pens

I loved the pattern style of the cane and decided to do some pens with that same pattern. I did change  where I textured it though. I though the roughness on the outside would not be good to hold so I did the textured part on the inside. Still looks good. And is a not too bad pen to hold. A little bit bigger than normal pens, The wood is basswood and I buy the pen blanks pre-drilled. It has a two step hole at one end to accommodate a pen refill. This gives the pen longer life in that you can replace the inside and still use it for a long time. It is not as delicate as it looks. Pretty sturdy.

I included an unfinished one on the bottom. It shows step by step how the pen is carved. I should of watched more carefully how I laid it out cuz the other side does show some markings and the layout before carving. I was in too much a hurry to get the picture. I need to slow down huh?

In the blink of an eye.

The Olympics hold a special fascination for me this year. I think it is cuz humans are at the top of their game this century. I mean physically wise. Just think of it. These athletes train from the time they can barely walk for this and come as close to physical perfect in their sport as is humanly possible. Technology is giving it's all to help toward that end too. With machines and gadgets for training and special clothes to help them make every second count. In fact, they all train so hard and well that each one is as good as humanly possible. World records will always still be set but in only the tiniest increments. Most races are won by a blink of an eye...literally by one hundredth of a second.

Can you imagine losing a medal..and a gold at that, by only one hundredth of a second? to give everything you got and poof! gone cuz maybe you took a breath when you should not of. I have heard announcers say that time matters the most right from the start gate. Whew..to have to be that precise must be gruelling. They blinked at the wrong time maybe.

I think also the winter Olympics are better and more exciting than the summer because non-human factors are more important. The weather plays a bigger part.  With humans being so trained, their skills are darn near equal. More and more for instance in gymnastics we are seeing athletes with near perfect scores and sometimes it comes down to a finger out of place to take points off. With winter sports, the snow conditions have such a huge impact. As I was watching the downhill skiing and snowboarding, I watched as many had trouble with the not so great conditions on the slopes. One crappy little bump can end their run on the spot. I feel so bad for those that take a tumble and their dream dies right then and their. All their skill and blam!!! lady luck smacks them. Right now my mind sees the snowboarders coming out of the chutes and one lucky guy gets the right spot on the slopes and swishes out ahead. Snow sure is fickle.

I was a bit perplexed though when I heard the athletes complaining about an hour delay for the men's speedskaters start time. I was amazed that with an even so important and the millions in equipment that they could not get the ice ready in time for the scheduled start. But I was more amazed at how that affected the skaters. The announcers was saying that they got testy when they could not start when they were supposed to as it threw off their warming up timing. I guess an extra hour put the screws to already ramped up nerves huh? With as hard as they have to train and the normal life they have to give up...I guess it is only right we allow them a bit of leeway in the mental battle they go thru.

A great thing I saw last night was that the uniforms were much nicer than yesterdays events. I actually loved all the downhill skiers apparel.

2010 Olympics

I have been watching the winter Olympics and enjoying them. Well...not the mishap with the luge though. The more I read of that , the more I am convinced it was not the fault of the track but of an inexperienced luger. I read this morning he called his dad the day before and said he was scared of it.

Is it just me, or are the Olympic uniforms getting uglier? Some years they are sooo awesome and this year...well..the ones I have seen have been downright chaotic. Right now my mind is referring to the short distance speed skaters..men's. The colors seems so strangely combined. The luge ones were not too bad.

BTW..I am rooting for Apolo Ohno who just might made Olympic history. I watched his amazing skating and then an interview with him and he is such a cutey..lol. He needs just one more medal to be the one who won the most medals in one season in the winter olympics.

I also watched some of the skating pairs. I read an article this morning on one gal that changed not only her country who she is skating for but her name. Not sure if I would pursue any dream so far as to not do it for my country though but I admire her  wanting to chase her dream no matter what. Seems she could not find a skating partner suitable in China so she went with a Russian and will skate for them. Not sure how fond her country will be of that!!!

That would be a hard call for most...the DREAM or your country.

For me....no contest...I would not ever give up my country for anything..except maybe my kids but cant see that ever happening.

A day I can't forget

   Ah...Valentine's day. A day forever etched in my heart as it is my oldest daughter's birthday.

I love this pic of her and hope she does not kill me for showing the world the person I love even after 42 years. OOPS.....I guess maybe I should not have said her age. Well..I really didn't...just that I met her 42  years ago..LOL.

Happy Birthday kiddo!!!!

Love, MOM

February carving class

Here is the project I will be teaching at the end of the month. Don't forget to click on the picture to get it full size. I finished this earlier this month and had so many requests to teach it. I don't teach as much these days but So many loved this and begged me. I guess I am human...flattery will get you everywhere especially since everyone looked so cute begging me to teach it.

This egg was the size of a hen's egg which is about 2 1/2 inches high. But I ordered goose size eggs which are 3 1/2 inches high and a larger around in ratio. Already many have said they would prefer that size, so I ordered basswood goose eggs but also a smaller size for myself. I intend to get down to one inch egg size. I do love my miniatures.

This was also an experiment in a new painting technique. For me anyway. I have never painted with oils and Although the color is a bit more intense than I was going for...not bad for a first effort. It it more like a colored stain than a paint.

I am still unsure though if the class will include painting/staining or I will leave them on their own for doing it.

I also ordered some beautiful butternut eggs which I found were available. I am looking forward to doing something with them but leaving them natural as the grain is so pretty. I will just put a clear finish on them.

Long time huh?

Howdy my loyal followers. I think I have two..or maybe only one...not sure. But here I be just checking in.

I tried Facebook for a bit and I really dont say much more there either.

I still have been carving and if anyone is interested I will post pics but unless I hear someone wants to see them....why waste the time uploading.

I will post the latest pic I have with my upside down christmas tree. This was taken in January. A little late in taking it down cuz we loved it. Both G and I liked it so much we have an even bigger one to hang for next year. We will move the dining room table under it so no one bangs into it though. W ehad seen them all over and fell in love with it but it took us a few years to finally do it. My brother was getting rid of his artificial tree cuz it was too big so I used the top part to hang.

As for me..I don't change much it seems but I do...if you look back a few years...my age is showing. YUCK!

Soooo...if you read this..let me know and I post a bit more often.


Stay warm and healthy.