Drivin' 55

  Work like you don't need the money. Dance like no one is watching. And love like you've never been hurt. -Mark Twain   My lovely sister and my wonderful brother in law! Befitting of one of my favorite authors quotes.

Can you say obscene? This is one, I'll mention it again...1 potato, The plate was too small for this guy. Did I eat the entire thing? Hell no! Where might they serve such a monster? Gibson’s in Chicago…. Bring a shovel! And oh, my memory of the dirty martini was out of this world.

  …and it was here at this point that I wanted desperately to turn around… for my fear just about crippled me… but my resolve was stronger… and I was sittin’ on top of the world.

Years ago, when counted cross stitching was the thing to do, I worked on this sampler to commemorate my marriage and family.  Long before green was the in thing, I selected this beautiful sage green for the matte to frame my handiwork.  For about the past 18 years, this has hung in my bedroom in a place of honor.  I still rather love it to this day.  Part of me hopes that long after I am gone, one of my children will love it as well. 

Let the birthday week begin with this montage of pictures our our little guy. The 28th marks his official one year.

Last Wednesday, I promised that I would keep my salon appointment. And just to prove it, I took a few of these self photos of the results. I promise I did nothing to my eyebrows.  Hey, I did a great job tweezing Wednesday morning. Maybe they are a little too thin.  What do you think? So, life is complete. My hair is highlighted. Now where is the job interview…damn…I’m ready!

A cross to bear…a phrase recently noted in the comments section of my blog.  A cross to bear…those four words brought me back to a moment in time when I was a little blond headed girl in second grade at St. Gerald’s school.  The nun called out my name and asked me to stay behind as the rest of my class went out to recess. Immediately, I was worried.  Did she find the crumpled “F” paper in my desk that I refused to take home to my parents?  Did she see me chewing gum in class again?  Was it possible that she found the box of Valentine’s candy in my desk?  I was certain.  I was in trouble. As my classmates gleefully ran outside for recess, I lingered behind.  Sister Mary Marcella Maria (this was her name, I swear) said to me, “My child, come here.”  This was not the tone I expected, rather quite the opposite.  “Debbie, your mother came to see me today.  She told me that your parents are getting divorced.”  In the mind of...

One year ago today, I was on baby watch. I left my husband in St Paul and flew home to be with my daughter. There was a terrible thunderstorm. The brothers were on flood watch as the water rose up to the bottom of the sliding glass doors. Charlie took a break from storm watching and took a much needed nap. Boyd asked why I was taking his picture. I told him I was getting in practice for his human baby brother that was about to enter this world. He was not impressed.

Sometimes, life is a puzzle. Sometimes, my rubber stamps are a puzzle. Sometimes, everything does not fit back into the same box. As you see, I have one lonely stamp without a home. Let’s try this again. Nope that is worse! If first you don’t succeed, dump then all out and start again. But wait, I may have a solution. look on the back of the box! Eureka!  Notice how people don’t say Eureka anymore? Now I can rest.  Everyone is back in their rightful home. A good night’s sleep will be had by all!

  Look up the word despicable in Webster’s dictionary and you will find a new definition. The National Enquirer’s name should be placed in print. As the story broke on May 15th, Brooke Shield’s stated that her mother, who is suffering from dementia, was taken out of her nursing home by the National Enquirer. In their lame attempt to conceive some type of hot story or magazine selling headline, they kidnapped a woman. Brooke, all I have to say is YOU GO GIRL! Sue the bastards that did this to your mother. It would be my hope that these individual never work on this earth again.

Quite Sunday morning.  Sipping fresh coffee.  The house is quiet.  My Dad’s clock is chiming in the background.  It makes me wonder how I would have been different if my parent’s did not divorce when I was 8.  What influences would he have brought into my life had he been strong enough to fend off the influences of the other woman and been the Dad that my sister and I needed. Although I try to be the person that can forgive someone at all costs in order to have a peaceful soul, it is difficult not to harbor contentment.  With that said, I try every day to practice this measure.  I really do. Problems are like a grain of sand, there are many.  We can either focus on the minutia in life or look at the big picture.  We are not alone.  We have others to lean on.  It’s ok to lean sometimes.  It really is. 

Ever wonder why at one time you could drink milk and eat ice cream and then your body rebels against it? Will I feel differently after I get my hair highlighted Saturday? One week from today, my sister comes for a visit?  Can you spell trouble?  Can you hear my evil laugh?   A dear friend of over 20 years and I no longer talk.  After said apologies, it wasn’t good enough and now it’s over. A new friend of mine has cancer.  It sucks, but she is so strong.  I admire her. Was anyone disappointed in the season finale of Bones? With summer TV upon us, I am guessing I will get loads of reading done. Should I attempt to kayak the Chattahoochee?  Did I mention I have never kayaked before? I am going to teach my grandson to say “yes ma’am” and “no, sir”…when he begins to talk, of course! I no longer like Suave shampoo and conditioner.  Any suggestions as to what I should use now? How long does it take for you ...

Here I am.  Blogging.  Or attempting to blog.  Blog for myself.  That was great advice I received yesterday.  So many wonderful comments to yesterday’s post.  I’ve come to understand that some days, you just don’t feel 100%.  Some days, you feel like crap and want to crawl into a cave.  Hibernating sounds like fun to me…but I digress. So thank you all that left words of encouragement on my blog.  Where else, but in our blogs, can we get free therapy?  So thanks to all of you….THANK YOU! Today is Respite Thursday.  Respite Thursday has been hit by budget cuts.  Our 22 hours a month will be reduced to 8 hours a month.  Yes, budget cuts hit all of us in one way or another.  We have nothing else to do but make the most of it.  Today, we will have lunch, window shop a little, take lots of pictures and breathe the fresh air.  Bottom line is we get to remove ourselves from the situation for a few hours of the d...

What's missing? Why can't I seem to blog about the minutia of these days past? What is it that's missing? Am I just blogged out? Honestly, I am Farmed out as well. Is it the computer that I want to distance myself from? Is it time for me to go to my cave for a while and just linger in solitude? Am I building another wall completely around myself? Again? Or is it the on again off again migraines that have landed and simply made my brain mush?

…first push up…it was a grand experience!

OK, I will come clean.  I have been terribly distracted for the last few weeks and I have my dear daughter to blame.  Darling daughter sent me a link on Face book for Farm Town, a virtual online game in which you become a farmer and tend to your fields.  As a farmer, you are required to plant seeds, water, build fences, harvest your crops and try to get hired by your fellow farmers to earn more money.  At first, I pooh poohed the idea of harvesting my potatoes.  After much whining from my daughter, I proceeded to check it out. Big mistake!  I mean BIG MISTAKE! Now, I have never been a geeky game nerd.  Nintendo or Atari just were not my thing.  Simply put, I cannot detail the charismatic traits of this game.  In two short weeks, I have gone from a level one farmer to level 25.  In short, I am on a mad pace to reach the final level, 36.  As I tell my husband, there are worse addictions, I suppose.  Check it...

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Doesn’t she look beautiful?  I love you, Mom. To all of your Mother’s, whether here or there, Happy Mother’s Day! Happy Mother’s Day to YOU!

All I can say is thank goodness for ginger ale and tea. They are the best defense for a tummy ache. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Hostas make me happy. Every spring they come bak to greet us. Hostas require very little care, but is shown love, they thrive 10 times over. Do you love hostas?

As I browsed my inbox today, I clicked on the email from Sephora to see what can’t live without products I cannot live with.   My email included about 6 items that I cannot live without, however this one was so amazing that I wanted to share with everyone. I believe in sunscreen, being a fair skinned individual with light eyes to boot.  When I shop for skin care products, I look for products with the highest SPF available.  Check this out.  This product from Peter Thomas Roth , a name I wasn’t familiar with until a few moments ago.  This product is an instant mineral transparent powder with a 30 SPF in it.  Brush on your facial sun screen!  Are you as excited as I am about this?    Instant Mineral SPF 30 What it is: A talc-free, transparent matte, SPF 30 mineral powder in a convenient brush applicator. What it is formulated to do: Works immediately to block out the sun's harmful UVA/UVB infrared rays to help...

What were you doing 28 years ago today?  Celebrating the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo? Or were you in a labor and delivery room dealing with contractions and listening to the beeping of a fetal monitor?  I was doing the ladder! My baby, my youngest, my son was born on May 5th, 1981.  He came into this world all squishy and blotchy, screaming at the top of his lungs.  With a wisp of blond hair on his tiny head, he stole my heart from the moment I saw him.   I’ve watched him grow from a little boy to become a responsible, caring young man.  He is a sports fanatic of all kinds.  Golf.  Baseball.  Football.  Basketball.  Hockey.  He devours it all.  He has a passion for cooking and could throw down his rib recipe with the best of chefs.  His Mother’s day brunch is legendary.  …and he loves his mother with all his heart… He has become a man I have grown to admire because he loves his f...

As I prepare my post for tomorrow which will be today when you all read it, I find myself without electricity.  It appears that a little rain knocked out our power.  Granted, the meteorologists were touting the “heavy line of thunder storms producing possible tornadoes” hooey, (am I using my new found word – hooey too much?)did not produce even one thunder clap from above.  yet, we sit in darkness admiring the glow of candlelight abound.  I have a huge fascination with candles.  Perhaps I lived in another time, years before Benjamin Franklin ever got the notion to fly a kite during an intense storm when candles were the only form of ambient lighting.  Candlelight has such a warm glow.  A glow that makes everyone look innocent and divine. It is true, I am known for being the candle girl, woman and now lady.  Gladly, I have never started an accidental fire due to my intense passion for mini fires in decorative votives.  Over the years, I ha...

Taurus horoscope - Week of May 4, 2009 You can't always go into detailed explanations regarding your actions, but you can tell your associates what your plans are! (who are my associates?) On Tuesday, the Sun in Taurus in your sector of self trines taciturn Saturn and you and a friend will find a way to interact more honestly and openly than you have been recently. (self trines taciturn, huh?)  On Thursday, Mercury, the planet of the mind and communication, turns retrograde for three weeks. (well, that’s a relief!)   Make sure that you don't start any new projects, move, or sign a lease until May 30, unless you absolutely have to. (got it!)  It's OK to visit a place you've already been.  (well, that is good news – I can continue to visit the bathroom!) Hooey?  Can we say hooey? …And on that note, I love to shoot the trees from this vantage point.  One of my favorite things in nature is tree canopies.  Have you ever found an old road where ...

While trying to update my blog list, I accidentally deleted my entire blog list. Can we say "How stupid are you, Deb?" Clearly, pretty stupid. I will work hard on replacing by blog list but if I don't get you on there, please leave me a comment. As a friend would say, "Gah!!!"

Eons ago, when I was a little girl in Catholic school, the month of May meant celebrating Our Blessed Mother, Mary. Being 6 or 7 years old, every little girl was chosen to lay the flowers at the feet of Mary. This was a big deal. I mean, really huge. At that time, it was the biggest event in my life. Every little girl wore their communion dress, white shoes, flowers in hair. Every parent of the little girl would provide a bouquet of beautiful spring flowers. My flowers chosen flowers were lilacs. Even though it was truly eons ago, I can remember walking delicately to the statue of Mary. I wanted to be perfect because nothing else would be acceptable. Where did this memory come from today? It has been long buried and just today brought forward to document. Happy May Day! Happy Lilacs! Oh, how I miss you lilacs.