A Few Spring Things

Happy Opening Day! Like the parties on Christmas Eve have increased over the years, there were 3 Opening Day Eve parties. I watched bits of the first one, because my aide was in and yesterday was salon-day (hair-wash and pamper,) and all of the last two. Opening Day is today, not because I’m a Reds fan, but because the oldest professional team in baseball has always played at home on Opening Day. Baseball resuming in Cincinnati has always marked the beginning of the new season.

I still want to one day get to Cincinnati for Opening Day, parade and everything. I’ve been to OD for the Tigers as both a paying fan, intern and paid staff. No matter in what capacity, there is nothing that compares to the electric feeling in the air on Opening Day. As huge as it is in Tiger-town, you can feel the city-wide buzz is even more powerful in Cincinnati watching it on TV. I’d hope that the Joey Votto jersey and wheelchair could get me to the front of the parade line, or at least a free drink. **smiles**

When Melinda, my aide a few days a week, was here on Saturday it was snowing. It was enough snow that at times it looked pretty heavy and it did stick to the ground. It was April 2, so where did that prank come from? Its been a rough spring for me with no actual usable wheelchair, I’ve been a house-body, so I pretty much missed the crocuses this year except for one photo David took when they first came up and a glimpse of the end of them and beginning of the daffodil buds when I went to the doctor’s office a couple weeks ago. Melinda came right back in after she left and brought me one of the narcissus blooms. It didn’t get knocked off, she picked it. “So you get to enjoy at least one of them.” It made my day.

The snow we got on Saturday was melted away pretty quickly yesterday morning. Even though it was still a cold day, it started out sunny. We have nothing to complain about. I read on Edna's blog  that they woke up to a lot more snow from overnight in New England yesterday. She had some nice snow pictures and in spite of the snow, she offered a very bright and warm quick page freebie. By golly, it’s spring! I followed her lead and rebelled against the chill with this:

Credits: 2016 quick page 15 by Miss Edna, Open Windows by Mandy King and Connie Prince

I added a bit of my slightly sarcastic sense of humor, I remembered the ads from my childhood that “it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” It seems she pranks us enough. I don’t need no stinkin’ real butter…

Funny memories… Marco was being nosey about my toothbrushing stuff and it brought to mind an old lesson about why they don’t sell cat-toothbrushes.

Nani and Ritchie ages 17 & 1

When I was 17, I had a cat, Ritchie. Ritchie was all black except for a few white hairs on his chest and he was incredibly affectionate, although dumb as a box of rocks. On one given day, 17-year-old Nani was dumber than that box of rocks. I was playing with Ritchie, nuzzling his face, and he had incredible fish-breath! I figured it was a good idea to brush his teeth. I got an old toothbrush and put a little toothpaste on it. I never got to brush his teeth. As soon as the toothpaste hit his tongue he freaked. He ran through the house with the foam that the tooth paste instantly created trailing behind him leaving a frothy white map to exactly where he was. Where he it eventually ended up was his water bowl and I don't think I’ve ever seen a cat drink so much water!

Leave cat dental procedures to the professionals!

Yah, I’m A Lil’ Twisted

I bought something this week that came wrapped in a big plastic bag. The bag was on the floor this morning and I picked it up. I took a look at the label printed over and over down the middle of it.

It made me giggle. No, it gave me a giggle fit. Im not giggling about warning people of suffocation from a plastic bag. It’s the drawings. A baby crawling around “goo ga-goo ga-goo” with a loose square bag on its head, a dog just standing there “woof wa-woof wa-woof” with a loose square bag on its head and a human clutching the bag around his throat with a face like the painting The Scream. The baby and dog have a fighting chance against the plastic bag because they aren’t clutching it tight around their throats.

Last weekend gave us a fun Saturday night celebrating Rina and Tori turning 21. After a nice dinner that Rina enjoyed with a bottle of hard cider and Tori complemented with a glass of wine, we all met at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. To be honest, I would have rather gone over the state border to the casino in Cincinnati; Ohio casinos are non-smoking. The girls are worth it but it took 4 days of antihistamines for me to recover from the evening. I had some nice one-on-one time with each of the girls while playing video poker. I made my $20 donation to the casino. Rina didn't think she would like gambling, but her stepmom, family friend and aunt did a decent job of showing her how to play a little, enjoy the evening and not lose any more than you planned as your entertainment budget. I think she found her game when friend, Michelle, took her slot machine hopping.

Even though all three of our house teams; Tigers, Reds and Red Sox, finished in last place this year, it’s still October. I prefer it when all three of our teams play in October. All three in dead last is just…it’s just wrong in Naniland! But since we’re playing baseball through the looking glass this year, I’m solidly in the cheering pocket of the Cubs! It’s been 107 years since they won a World Series. It’s time. Red Sox fans, You’ve been there. You know how it feels. For the Cubs fans, let’s put rings in the North Side in Chicago this year.

Okay, and Austin Jackson is a Cub now, so he who was my Tiger is now MY Cub. I have a personal fan interest.

GO CUBBIES!

War On What Now?

In the very first chapter of George Orwell’s 1984 it speaks of the ongoing war. In fact it’s one of the ways the people are controlled. They are always at war. Who with changes and allies become enemies, enemies become allies and more troops are sent to the front lines. It distresses me how familiar that sounds and I checked references to make sure I wasn’t confusing today’s news with the book. Alas, that scenario matches both.

But I’m not writing today to lament how Orwell’s fiction from the mid-20th Century, which should have been a warning to governments, seems to be used as a manual. I’m writing to talk about war, my personal issue with a war that I’ve been troubled by for a good 20 years or more; The War on Thanksgiving.

I’m not talking about the stores that are open on the holiday or the insanity of the start of holiday shopping season which was dubbed “Black Friday” by Philadelphia police in the early 60’s because the mad shopping day made it an awful work day. It’s relatively recent that advertisers have turned the name around to make it more positive and a sales tool. It's still means an awful work day to hourly workers. Like the Winston, the main character in Orwell’s book, I think there’s always been a war on Thanksgiving. I remember a time when that must not have been true because there was a year when it was shocking that someplace had put out Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, but that was so long ago.

You see, Thanksgiving was always the big family holiday to me, even more so as I got older. First off Thanksgiving was the meal my parents hosted. My aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents from both sides of the family came to our house for the feast. I remember the traditional turkey with our family stuffing, the pickle and olive plates and pumpkin pie dessert to celebrate the American holiday plus the breaded chicken and pork chops from Mom’s side of the family, a first course of cappelletti soup and espresso with dessert from Pop’s side. As adults with the cousin tier starting to marry off the dinner tradition changed, the numbers of people and the times they were at dinner changed,

Thanksgiving dinner became Grandma’s dinner after she and Papa retired and moved “up north.” Then Thanksgiving Dinner became a trip “over the freeway and through the woods by the lake.” That’s when the war really started for me. Grandma asked me to bring paper plates and napkins for the dessert table. I realized it was getting harder and harder to find paper Thanksgiving supplies. In the late 1990s I became obsessed with a quest for a paper turkey centerpiece. You know, the full unfurling turkey tail in tissue paper on a cardboard turkey frame? I remembered seeing them in tons of places with the Thanksgiving party supplies when I was a kid. I tried CVS, K-Mart, even a couple of Hallmark shops. It was two weeks before Thanksgiving and there was no turkeys anywhere, just Christmas decorations. I finally found my paper turkey at a party supplies store in a little display nestled into aisles and aisles of Christmas stuff.

 

Tissue turkey tail opened

 I guess I get it; Christmas is a bigger money holiday than Thanksgiving. But Thanksgiving has always been the most special holiday to me because there are no church obligations, no presents, no imaginary symbols to protect the children from hearing truths about for another year, Thanksgiving is just a holiday for time with the family, it’s food and togetherness, being thankful for having enough of the things that really matter and nothing else. It’s a true American holiday too. Seriously, Christmas is a federal holiday because the majority Christians way back all took Christmas off or just didn’t work. Christmas is a federal holiday to keep it from being a federal disaster day. Thanksgiving is a real American holiday, perhaps the most important one because it doesn’t celebrate our nation’s independence, it recognizes the abundance that independence affords us; it recognizes peace over destruction of people.

 

Maybe that’s what happened to Thanksgiving. We’re at war with everything. War on drugs, war on women, war on poverty, war on Wall Street and of course the war on Christmas which claimed a commercial war on Thanksgiving long ago. The war on Thanksgiving is not a new retail thing. Stores are just opening on Thanksgiving now because were letting Commercial Christmas win the war on Thanksgiving it has always been fighting. We’ve abused the word war so much that it means nothing anyway. The things we're "at war" as meaningful as what you do when you "keep calm." Thanksgiving, thanks for our people, for abundance, recognizes that we gain more from peace within our shores than we do from war. We do need to figure out how to make “war” a mean word again but all I’m asking for right now is a paper turkey and peppermint mocha to wait a few weeks so there’s a little more pumpkin spice coffee to have with pie.

For three more weeks, Happy Thanksgiving!

Funny Friday

Cluster made with Be Awesome by Aprilisa Designs

Friday Fragments

** Remember the shout out I gave to the mini muffins Wednesday? I have a correction to make. I’m not correcting the review of the muffins, it a grammar thing, specifically, a spelling thing. The brand is Entenmann’s. When I say it, when most people say it that I’ve heard, that second “n” is sorta swallowed. Kinda like the second “a” in caramel when a Midwesterner says it. Big difference there is that I know there are three a letters in caramel. I didn’t know there were four n letters in Entenmann’s until David pointed it out. Rather than go back and fix every mention of the company in Wednesday’s blog, I chose the lazy way out and I’m posting the correction.


** While we’re talking about the Entenmann’s Little Bites, David was reading the box yesterday at breakfast. He pointed out the words next to the animal on the scooter with the mini muffins on its head.

Um…

After reading that it was a serving suggestion, my sweet husband’s inner little boy woke up. He kept asking if he could open one of the pouches to see if they could be served on a cat’s head. He did try to balance a peach on Kaline’s hip “to practice.” Poor peach.

He switched his attention to trying to figure out if the critter on the scooter is a dog or a cow.

What do you think? Dog or cow?

** This was dinner Wednesday:

It was the fruit of my first Bzz Campaign. I got to try Johnsonville Fully Cooked Dinner Sausage for free. Cool or what? I wanted to try the Kielbasa, but David has a more conservative palate, so we went with regular smoked sausage for a first time. It was an easy campaign to join for me because Mom used to make some great meals with already cooked Kielbasa when we were kids.

Of course, my parents were on a tight budget when we were little, so meals often contained affordable price tags and Mom’s creativity. Johnsonville is not just a brand name I trust, but full retail for the sausage is well within competitive pricing for a family budget too. These sausages come in two individually wrapped pieces, great for a couple who only uses one sausage for a meal.

I did this one the quick and simple way; I cut the sausage into coin-shaped slices and pan-fried them with a teaspoon of olive oil. Then I served them over prepared garlic shells with some broccoli. A very quick meal after one of David’s later shifts and also a quick meal trick after soccer practice or gardening after work.

I’ll stop shilling now with one last bit: Follow this link for a printable $1.00 off coupon to try one of the 5 great flavors of Johnsonville Fully Cooked Dinner Sausage. YUM!


** Be sure to check out the bulletin board up top for new entries in Kaline's blog and my MS blog.  The MS blog has a new entry from this morning.  I'd love to hear your feedback if you have some!

This week’s statements:
1. One of my best and worst traits is that I ______
2. If I could escape for a day, I’d _____
3. The best part of ___ is _____
4. When I was young I thought _______.

My Answers:

1. One of my best and worst traits is that I am very analytical. Sometimes it means I pick up important details. Other times it means I can’t make up my mind.

2. If I could escape for a day, I’d go to an out of town baseball game in a park AND state I haven’t been to yet.

3. The best part of chocolate is that it’s chocolate.

4. When I was young I thought all guys should have long hair. Now I don’t find long hair attractive at all.

What's That In The Hodge Podge, A Head??

Where are the other 174 heads??

I’ve received a few comments here, email and even on Facebook to the original post of my “funny sign.” That it doesn't make sense. Okay, why Nani, and David, were in stitches after seeing this sign.

Years ago there was a skit on The Benny Hill Show. A hired-for-her-looks actress was doing an initial reading for a movie. The line was “What’s that in the road ahead?” She read it as “What’s that in the road.” Stopped an turned to the camera, “a head?”

The skit went on with the actress and director debating whether or not she read the line correctly. The English language can be so much fun. When David and I travel we see the “Stop ahead” signs often and when we do, one of us exclaims “STOP!” The other says “A head!” and we both scream in mock horror. When we saw that sign, David yelled “STOP”, I announced “A head!” and he said “and 350 feet!” We both screamed, asked where the rest of the heads were and broke into giggle fits. A head and 350 feet leaves 348 feet without heads.

I hope that the next time any of you see a stop ahead sign, you get a good chuckle now! :)


Let’s just get on with THIS week’s Hodge Podge with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond!

1. April 15th is the deadline for Americans to file their state and federal income tax returns. What's a job you do on a regular basis that could be described as 'taxing'?

Filling the weekly pill sorter.


2. I'm participating in the April A-Z blog challenge, and the Hodgepodge happens to fall on Day O this week. In keeping with that theme...olives, onions, oysters, okra...of the foods mentioned, what's your favorite O food?

We went to the grocery store Monday and I got both green and Kalamata olives.


3. What is something memorable you experienced as a child that your own children (or future children/nieces/nephews) will not get to experience?

Man walking on the moon for the first time. It’s one of my earliest memories. When, as an adult, I told my mom I remembered it, she didn’t believe me at first until I told her where I was and recalled being told to stand farther away from the TV because I was right in front of it and touching the screen. Mom was shocked because I remembered correctly. We were at a baby shower. The adults were downstairs at the party and the kids were up in the den playing. When the landing was on TV, some of the adults came up to watch it and I was touching the screen and scolded to move away. The giant leap for mankind was 9 days before my third birthday. The event really was that huge in my very young mind.

I do remember that I touched the screen because I wanted to touch the moon.

Future generations may experience something that huge when man walks on Mars the first time, but it still won’t be the first steps on something that’s not earth.


4. Term limits for our elected officials...your thoughts?

I don’t know that it really makes a difference; politicians are there for their party, not for America or Americans. I think maybe Shakespeare was a little off on the group for one famous quote. Lawyers are fine as long as they don’t run for office.


5. On April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere made his famous 'midnight ride'...when did you last make a midnight ride? Perhaps the fate of a nation wasn't hanging in the balance, but tell us where you were headed anyway.


My last midnight ride was last summer when David, Mike and I went to Spencer, NC for the Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit Festival at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. We rode through the night and car-camped by the tracks when we got there. No wars were started as a result, but it was cool two days and seeing ALL the Heritage Units was totally worth it.


6. What would freak you out more...a mouse running across your floor or a big fat hairy spider?

Why do blog memes have to always ask THAT choice? I have a better question: What would freak you out more… a mouse running across your floor or a huge cockroach on your kitchen counter?

Ceiling check: clear


7. I love it when people ask me before helping me. It’s not as bad now that I use the wheelchair when I’m out, but when I was using the walker and still driving people trying to be helpful would almost knock me down. If someone with a walker is opening a door and slowly going through it, don’t ever grab the door to open it for them! Ask if you can help first. They may be using the door to balance when they only have one hand on the walker and grabbing the door from them may send them and the walker flying down.

But do ask; given a moment to put two hands on the walker and rebalance, it’s a lot easier to get through an open door! (This is all true for someone with a cane too!)


8. Insert your own random thought here.

I gave some serious thought to doing the A-Z challenge this year but there are SO MANY blogs participating! I try to visit at least 7 other blogs from the memes I* do and some days that’s a challenge. I could never visit enough to call it a respectable percentage of over 1000! Maybe I’ll try it next year without linking up.

I want to thank everyone who read yesterday’s post, 52 topix, Week 13 – Age. So far I’m enjoying my Project 52 challenge this year! Week 15 started yesterday and in the next day or so I’ll be doing the layout for last week. I post the essay part some time soon.

The Hodge Podge That Made Nani Cry

After the Spring Break hiatus, Joyce at From This Side of the Pond is back with Wednesday Hodge Podge questions!

1. Share one fun thing you did last week, while the Hodgepodge was on 'spring break'.

David and I went to Indiana Friday to photograph some trains. I just wanted to get out of the house for a day. The colors weren’t the pretty spring greens get, but the trip was nice and the company great as it always is!


2. April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close? Share a favorite story featuring one or all of your siblings. If you don't have siblings, did you ever wish you did?

I consider John, Scott and Kelly the brothers and sister I found later in my life and they are as much my immediate family as David is; relatives I wasn’t born into, but loved into later.

But actual blood relative siblings, I have one. Dave is my baby brother, 14 months younger. We were close when we were kids, but I don’t think as close as adults.

Picture from my wedding reception, July 2009

When we were kids, the next door neighbor kid was a tyrant. He and Dave were 4, I was 5. He had a whip that he smacked the tires on Dave tricycle with! It made Dave cry and “nobody make my baby brother cry but me” so I punched him in the stomach and made him cry. He never made Dave cry again. I guess I do still try to make sure no one’s whipping his tires.


3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'? Why or why not? How much of an effort do you make to 'buy American'? If you're not American, insert your own country in the blank.

I don’t think it’s really so much an issue anymore. In a global economy so little is actually made in one place and I’m sorry to say we’ve become a county that comes up with ideas and sends them someplace else to be made with cheaper labor. It would be great to say “Buy American,” but what exactly is buying American? Is it buying American ideas assembled in Mexico? Is it buying from the small business selling items made in China? A local restaurant with recipes from Italy and cheese from Canada or handcrafted items made with fabric from India? I believe in supporting local businesses when I can and when it doesn’t break my budget, but I don’t think “Buy American” means what it once did.


4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?

I have a great collection of religious and spiritual books from many different beliefs. I think seeing what they all have in common and the many ways they are different has had a greater spiritual influence on me than any one book.


5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Do you find rainy days calming or depressing? When were you last caught in a rainstorm? What's blooming in your neck of the woods today?

We had a thunder shower this morning and some momentary big fat loud rain drops. Aside from being more physically challenged with the change in barometric pressure, I find rain and thunder showers to be exciting and even a little sexy. Tornado sirens, however, are a little unnerving and sometimes scary.

Right now we have the last of the crocuses and beginning of the narcissus/daffodils. There are some trees just beginning to bud.


6. What's your favorite yellow food?

I like a banana every morning and various kinds of mustards are my favorite condiments.


7. April is National Poetry Month...what's a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special?

Okay, I’m going to go out on a soul-bearing emotional limb here. I am not a fan of poetry; I write funny poems. My Mom wrote serious poems and I have a folder full of them. Still the poems with special meaning to me are the two serious one I wrote after she died. This is the one that I cried like crazy while writing and it still makes me tear up ten years later.

Always

It happened one warm July morning,
There was chaos and peace,
There was fear and anticipation,
You and I began.

I was your miracle. You were my everything.

You taught and I learned.
Then I taught and you learned.
We both grew
and that bond of love strengthened.

I was your work in progress. You were my foundation.

You held so many doors open.
I sampled it all and dared to fly.
You stayed far enough away to give independence
yet close enough to catch me every time I fell.

I was your adventurer. You were my safety net.

You led me back onto the better path.
You showed me ways to channel my anger.
When few had that option, I could tell you the truth.
I ran to you, not from you.

I was your major project. You were my guidance counselor.

I moved on earning awards and degrees.
I showed you first.
You beamed but expected no less.
You boasted to anyone who’d listen and challenged me to do more.

I was your pride. You were my strength.

The roles reversed and I encouraged you to push a little more.
You never took advantage, though you knew you could.
The bond of respect and trust was unbreakable.
The love was unconditional.

I was always your precious child. You were my mother.



8. Insert your own random thought here.

Poetry, shmoetry. I told you it still makes me cry. I don’t know if it gives anybody else the mental pictures or emotional impression it does me and maybe that’s why I really don’t get poetry; it’s personal. As much as I love Shakespeare I'm not into his sonnets. But, anyway, thanks for indulging me.

To make sure you leave on a happy note. My blubbering is not because she’s gone. They are happy tears because she was so much to my world for 37 years.


And for a smile, I put this on my Facebook page last week with this caption:

Where are the other 174 heads???

Ohio Tourism Report

Cluster made with various scanned and commercial use items from my stash

Happy Groundhog Day! Today is the day we determine how many people will flock to the state of Ohio in March for the weather. Remember last year when Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter and Buckeye Chuck predicted and early spring, about mid-March, and I predicted the Spring Break crowd just might be swarming into Ohio? Yeah, okay, it was a very warm winter and all but the Walleye didn’t break any attendance records filled with bikini-clad coeds. I don’t know what they did with the extra beer I’m sure they ordered.

This year Phil and Chuck agree that spring will come in mid-March instead of having to wait six weeks! Unfortunately, with the big Groundhog and Chuck agreeing, I don't think we'll see the boost in tourism dollars we didn't see last year.  Not to mention that our very local Holland HuckeyToo did see his shadow and expects 6 more weeks of winter in the Toledo area. I don’t know how he saw his shadow because I don’t see any sun. But, while everyone else gets to start enjoying spring early, in mid-March, we’re not expecting spring in Toledo for 6 weeks, not until March sixtee… Oh.

Anyway this is what we look like this morning:

The groundhog that lives in our backyard didn’t even wake up. I wonder what THAT means.

I hope everyone has a great day and enjoys the silliness that is Groundhog Day!

I'll Be Brief

It's time for Tell Me Tuesday!

Are ya wondering what the prompt is?  Will Nani write an even longer "term paper" with this week's prompt?  Or, will I write the little bit shorter one I thought I might someday.  Well, this week's question was NOT 'What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"  I keep hoping.

But here's this week's prompt:

I need to practice_____________more often. 

Hold getting that refill!

I need to practice brevity more often.

Done!

Be sure to check out the variations on this theme at The Coloradolady, Meet Me Tuesdays.

Photoblog Wednesday

Thanksgiving, 2009

Photo Credit DSP

You are what you eat, right? I gotta remember where I put that hat away last year...

Plasma…. Cat Plasma!

Do you remember that old cartoon? Okay, a lot of people don’t. The guy and his dog get run over and the ambulance guy asks for “plasma” and looking at the dog “dog plasma.” Then he confuses the two and the man and dog take on each other’s tendencies, to the chagrin of the wife and French poodle at home who finally say “we’re leaving,” get run over and the same attendant makes the same mistake and they all live happily ever after.

Here it is: Crazy Mixed Up Pup

That didn’t happen to Carla and me at all, but two doctors visits in one day and, well, I like that cartoon!


Okay, you might look at the time stamp and wonder what I’m doing blogging at barely Wednesday in the morning. I grumble and ask that too! I couldn’t sleep, well, not true. I wanted desperately to sleep, but this arm, grrr…

I had an 8 AM doctor’s appointment today… yesterday, um, Tuesday. My arm is still hurting a week later. Actually, it’s reached the healing point of muscular exhaustion. It’s like the nerves are re-meeting or something and I get spasms between my shoulder and elbow ranging in intensity from annoying to scare the cats. I just had one of those scare the cats ones in bed before I got up and decided to blog. Carla was under the covers next to me and David was asleep already. If I had screeched like I wanted to, I’d have awoken him in a panic for sure!

So the outcome of the doctor’s visit is that my physical therapy is being updated. No pool for a few weeks because with the arm pain, I can’t get the walker in or out of the car. I have to have the walker after I get out of the pool! Now my arm is being added to my PT roster and the bad knee is being added back on too. Seems the wonderful insurance company regards the initial therapy on my knee as no longer valid since it was a year ago and I have to do it gain. The doc’s not happy about the way they do it either, but he doesn’t want me to empty my savings account to get the MRI without their blessing. I have to agree. Empty savings account means school is done, and school is NOT done yet!

Insurance pays for 30 therapy sessions per calendar year. This is actually the perfect time for this. I considered the math. 30 sessions at 3 a week is 2 and a half months a year. If we do it their way and attend a month of therapy before they’ll let me get an MRI, if I need surgery, which it won’t surprise me if they say I do, it only leaves a month and a half of recovery therapy. I really do prefer my doctor making my medical decisions because my doctor has a CLUE. The insurance company just has a budget.


I ended up running to the Vet’s office this afternoon with a carrier of meowing Jell-O! When Carla got up from her nap this afternoon she was sneezing, repetitively and frequently sneezing. Remembering her respiratory infection last year, I was concerned. When I talked to David on the phone, he mentioned that she was sneezing like that in the morning when I was at the doctor’s office too. I called the Vet and they had nothing until Thursday, unless I could get her in in a half hour. They had one spot open. I was pleased that I could get her in that quick. Carla wasn’t so pleased.

Her doctor thinks it is either a cold or the very beginning of an infection. See? Waiting until Thursday wouldn’t have been good. She got a shot of antibiotic and we went home. She’s still sneezing, but already not as much.


Okay, I think the Vicodin is kicking in now, so I’m gonna try to get some sleep!

Random, Huh?

I don't like the conglomerate of gibberish letters many places want you to type in to prove you're a real person, but this one was personal! In order to leave a blog comment I was given"sharedsp." DSP is my husband and I am NOT sharing! :P

But I did want to share the chuckle!

(The Best of) Monday Mug Shot

Originally posted on Blogger, 4/14/08

Indianapolis Speedway
Indianapolis, Indiana

The story that goes with this mug is not an over-involved one. Mom and I were in Indianapolis on our way to St. Louis in 1996. Scotty is a huge racing fan and was absolutely appalled at my reaction to having been to the Indianapolis Speedway, where I got this mug.

When we get back, I showed Scotty the mug.

“You went to the Indianapolis Speedway??”

“yes,” I said and Mom nodded.

“So was it cool?”

“I wasn’t impressed. You’ve seen one Speedway, you’ve seen them all. It wasn’t so special. I don’t know what the big deal is about the Indianapolis Speedway.”

Scotty’s eyes got big and his jaw dropped. “How can you mean that? It’s the INDIANAPOLIS SPEEDWAY!”

“It just wasn’t a big deal, Scotty. I wouldn’t even urge you to go.”

Mom agreed that it wasn’t anything special. “”Just like any other Speedway in the country.”

Scotty was speechless. His lil’sis isn’t a race fan, but she is a sports fan, after all.

I told him we stayed at the hotel right across the street from the Speedway and we saw no racing going on, maybe a car or two driving 29 MPH, but nothing even worth the blink of an officer's eye.

All that he seemed to get out of that part of the explanation was that we stayed in a hotel right across the street. Still amazed he inquired about the size of the Speedway. I told him is wasn’t special, just the average Speedway size.

Scotty was becoming dumbfounded and frustrated with me.

I finally, looked at him and smiled, “They don’t even have any special flavors of cappuccino, just the regular stuff they all have.”

“Huh??”

“But they did have the chocolate creme filled, which is the only Krispy Kreme doughnut I like. I prefer Dunkin’ Donuts.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Speedway in Indianapolis.”

His eyes flashed with the loving glow of the stopping clue bus dropping a passenger off. “You got the mug at the gas station.”

And that’s the story of the Indianapolis Speedway mug!

Nani Soda

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Jones Soda. All opinions are 100% mine.


I wish ‘d heard abut this sooner because it would have been so awesome for our party! You know how highly I recommend Jones Soda especially their fantastic Jones Zilch sugar free, now there is myJones custom soda! That’s right, your choice of image can join all those fun photos on Jones Soda!

I checked out the flavors. Currently, the sugar free black cherry is in the list of available for customizing flavors, but I would have ordered a six pack each of the four holiday flavors, Evergreen Apple, Holiday Bliss, Snow Drift Cream Soda and Reindeer Root Beer for UNO and that picture on top is the one I’d choose for half the bottles, definitely the Reindeer Root Beer and one of the others with an equally holiday fun photo of David on the other two, and believe me, I do have equally fun photos of my hubby!

Now, it’s too late to do the holiday favors for UNO this year, Custom Jones Sodas need 10-14 days for production plus shipping, but imagine the possibilities. Wedding photos on the bottles for a 25th anniversary party, Childhood images for a graduation or birthday party, school time photos for a reunion, there are just too many things to count for which custom Jones Soda bottles would make a perfect addition to the party!

I think for now, I need to really consider one of those Jones Zilch samplers, but I definitely bookmarked the myJones page and really, you should too!

Drink Your Tofurky and Gravy

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Jones Soda. All opinions are 100% mine.

Isn’t my Thanksgiving hat awesome? I am SO wearing it to Thanksgiving dinner. It’s just so, so…so Nani!

It was part of my Thanksgiving Postie Pack from IZEA, the parent company of the sites where I find my sponsored post opportunities. The gift is from them and Jones Soda. The other part of the gift was a sample of Tofurky and Gravy Jones Soda .

When I first got the email telling me about the Postie gift coming, I thought they were kidding about the soda flavor, but I really wanted the hat!! But the soda is the real deal too.

So, I tried it. It really wasn’t what I expected at all. I thought it would be a mostly sweet beverage, but it’s really not so sweet and there is mostly a seltzer water taste with a mild yet dominant flavor of something with gravy! I’ve never tried tofurky, so maybe that was the rest of the flavor. It’s interesting, but I don’t know if I’d buy it for me. My brother would drink it and honestly, my Dad might like it. He isn’t a fan of sweet sodas but he wants flavor with his fizz, not just club soda.

For me, I love Jones Soda Zilch, Black Cherry. Yep, zilch as in no calories and sweetened with MY favorite no headaches lo-cal sweetener, Splenda! I saw on the Jones site that they have pomegranate now too and they offer a sampler of the black cherry, pomegranate and vanilla cream soda Jones ZILCH. (Hey David, if you’re reading…)

So, if you have a family member who loves tofurky or someone who goes for the less sweet tasting or more eclectic flavor of soda, try the Jones Tofurky and Gravy soda! If you prefer to drink on the safer side of the soda adventure, Jones has a huge line of great flavors in pure cane sugar, natural flavors and sucralose-sweetened to give you something for every taste to complement your Thanksgiving turkey, or tofurky, this year!

Photoblog Wednesday

Hideous hats? No way! FASHIONABLE!

Oh the irony!

Sash and me at the hideous hat contest last weekend at SEMMantics. There is something defining about brains that can actually come up with matching hideous hats! (No pre-planning possible - we just met each other last weekend!!)

Sash won, but not at all because it's a hideous hat! He made a face for the judges that tipped the scales!

Monday Mug Shot

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Probably my best Chattanooga story is about my Dad and a glass of wine to unwind after all day driving.

Background of the story is like this: Mom, Dad and I were going on vacation together in the beginning of November, 1992. It was a few weeks after y7 brother’s (first) wedding, which was a major and stressful event for both families making it happen. Oh, it was stressful for me too! The Braves were in the playoffs and I was a bridesmaid. It told them both that if they scheduled the ceremony while the Braves game was on, I’d have my watchman on while I was standing up by the altar with them. Luckily, the game wasn’t until later, during the reception! But the whole wedding thing was stressful for the immediate family members who didn’t have one of their teams in the playoffs too. So, we ventured off on a well-earned week’s vacation, traveling to Atlanta by way of Chattanooga.

The night we got into Chattanooga was going to be November 8, Dad’s 48th birthday. As I was planning the trip, I wanted to do something special for Pop. He wasn’t as good about taking vacations as Mom and I were. It took a few weeks of quoting Stephen Covey to him and repeating the “sharpen the saw” mantra before he agreed to go.

My love of trains really does come from Dad’s romanticized view of them and I knew he’d love to stay at the Holiday Inn, Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Better than that, I got us not a room at that hotel, but a night in one of the renovated passenger car guest rooms in the train courtyard. I also ordered a balloon bouquet and a cake to be waiting in the room when we checked in.

We left very early in the morning on November 7 with a plan to go as far as Corbin, Kentucky that day. I was already excited about the next night, the surprise cake and balloons waiting for Pop and I had also out a bottle of Asti Spumante in my suitcase to put on ice as soon as we checked in to have with the cake.

It’s about 10 casual hours on the road with stops and all to get to Corbin from Northville. We checked in to the Knights Inn, where I’d stayed a few times myself, at around 4:30. After driving all day, my Dad wanted to have a glass of wine and unwind a little before we ventured out to find a restaurant for dinner. We went over to the adjacent gas station to fill up the SUV and ask where the nearest liquor store was. Dad went in to the store to pay for the gas and ask. He came out with a silly, I mean strangely silly, smile on his face. When he got back in the car, Mom asked him what was up.

He said “I can’t get a bottle of wine here,” sounding a bit perplexed. “When I asked the girl where I could get a bottle of wine in town, she said ‘Honey, you’re in a DRYYYY county!’”

I’d never thought about that. I mean I always stopped at that Knights Inn in Corbin because it was clean inexpensive and close to Cracker Barrel for breakfast in the morning. Generally, if I drive all day, I like to relax with a good cup of coffee. Dry county, hmph. I guess I never really thought about it. I knew the Jack Daniels distillery is in a dry county, which is an odd bit of irony, but, okay, so no wine tonight.

But NO!!! Pop said after he told us about the very quaintly Southern way he was told about it, that the woman in the store told him the closest places to get wine were about an hour north in Richmond or south into Knoxville, TN.

There was a little parental grumbling. Mom figured he’d be fine without a glass of wine that one night, Pop said let’s just go for a ride through the state forest area and look for someplace to have dinner. As we drove around, we kept driving by places that had soda machines in front of them. That became our joking symbol of a dry county. When we passed a small country store with a Coke AND a Pepsi machine, my Dad proclaimed it to be REALLY dry! Funny thing is, it was true. We didn’t see nearly as many soda machines outside once we got into Richmond, and yeah, you KNOW we got all the way BACK north to Richmond before we stopped for dinner! Since we were in a wet county anyway, Dad stopped at a local party store to get a bottle. In fact he got two, just in case, since I didn’t know Corbin was in a dry county, he wasn’t taking any chances with Chattanooga.

Of course, the whole time we’re on this forage back north for a bottle of wine, I had a bottle of sparkling wine in my suitcase. Driving towards Chattanooga the next day, Mom and I tormented Pop with jokes about desperately seeking wine in a dry county. I did tell him to “remind me tonight to tell you a funny story about wine.”

When we checked into the Holiday Inn Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Pop was amazed. Mom and I had been there to the shops before, but it was mt Dad’s first look at the former train station turned into opulent hotel. I had made my Dad promise to let me pay for the hotel in Chattanooga before we left. I just couldn’t have him paying the extra cost for a train car and his own cake and balloons! But he did come up to the counter with me. After marveling at the train cars and smiling with interest when I told him they were actually guest rooms, he was wide eyed and grinning when he clerk confirmed that we were staying in a car.

I said, “Happy birthday, Popsie!”

He hugged me and said that it was a just awesome present. And he hadn’t even seen the room yet!

We got to our car and climbed on board. The first thing as we entered was the bathroom door, renovated to be more spacious than the standard train car bathroom, it had Hollywood vanity lights and the Chattanooga Choo-Choo logo on everything. The soap, shampoo and lotion was in a glossy cardboard foldout of the logo in black and gold. It was pretty cushy just walking in!

We walked into the main part of the room where there was an elevated area where the master bed was and a really sweet daybed, where I’d be for the night. On the table next to the TV and chairs was the cake box and a mug with candy in it and balloons tied to the handle.

“Talk about making you feel welcome! Balloons?”

I smiled, “Pop, look at what the mylar one says!”

The mylar balloon was a Happy Birthday balloon with Popsie in stickers at the base.

“Oh! This is you too??”

Then I opened the cake box, it too said “Happy Birthday Popsie.”

I got another big hug and a kiss. Then I smiled at him. “Remember that funny story I was going to tell you?”

I went to my suitcase and unzipped it. I pulled out the bottle of Asti. “We need to put some ice in the ice bucket for this!”

His eyes were wide. He asked me how long that bottle of wine had been in my suitcase and I told him since we left home.

“You mean we drove all the way back to Richmond and you had a bottle of wine the whole time?”

He asked Mom if she knew I had the wine. She confirmed that indeed she did.

We had a good laugh and after we came back from dinner, we shared a bottle of wine, a great cake and more laughs and birthday revelry on the start of a great trip.

A Little Pre-Easter This and That

I love THIS!!


But seriously, who eats the tail first?? The rest of the bunny will fall!


You gonna see THAT?




A new old Star Trek. How Captain Kirk became Captain Kirk, meeting Bones, Spock’s decision to leave Vulcan. I think it looks interesting. Going to talk to the Mr. about it. :)





I can’t believe THIS!

I made Middle Eastern dinner for both of us, David too! I made chicken shwarma on hummus, which I figured was the only way he’d try hummus. He said he liked it as a sauce for chicken! He like the seasoned rice too but he wasn’t crazy about he green beans with tomato sauce. I make a modified eggplant preparation with zucchini that I’ll try next. Or maybe he'll try one of the great Lebanese restaurants we have in Toledo!!



I’m glad THAT

There’s no snow in the forecast this weekend! Regular Easter...but I think I’ll kinda miss Frosty Cottontail!

Everyone who is celebrating it this weekend,
Have a Happy Easter!
But do eat the ears on your bunny first!

“That Was Random!”

A random shot of a couple of my favorite teens!

“That was random,” was the response to anything off topic or out of left field this past weekend with my nieces. I guess their Aunt has always been “random!” :D So, in tribute to my Sweeties spending a couple games nights and a movie day with us on Friday, here are ten random thoughts, especially for Tori and Rina!

1. I need something from the store that I put on the dry erase board, but now I can’t read what I wrote!

2. Rain beating hard at night is mysterious and powerful...and kinda sexy!

3. Entertaining kids gets more expensive as they get older, but they appreciate it more.

4. You should ALWAYS have a pair of backup glasses!! :(

5. Don’t talk trash unless you have a big enough bag to carry it out!

6. If you’re going over your calorie count for a day, make sure it’s for GREAT-tasting food! (Like La Scola Italian Grill in Toledo!)

7. The ears really are the best part of a chocolate bunny.

8. Almost every exit on the I-696 in Michigan between the mixing bowl and I-75 represents a significant place to me.

9. Kaline weighs ten times as much as she did when we found her not even four years ago. Makes me feel skinny. ;)

10. I have a health plan for my wedding ring, which means I take it in every 6 months for a checkup to make sure the stone is healthy. I wonder if they’ll shine the gold when I go in?


For some fun blog silliness, I invite everyone who reads this to post ten of their current random thoughts!

Cute and Fascinating Too!

In my next life, I want to come back as a dolphin! If you’ve clicked the “Dolphin Bubbles” link in the right column, you know why! The videos of the Dolphins playing with bubbles art Sea World is just addictively cute!

The Sea World site has a new video up now with people from Sea World talking about the dolphin games. This is a relatively new phenomena in the dolphin tank. It started with one or two dolphins making a bubble ring with their blow holes and playing with it. They chase them, swim though them, bite them. It’s totally cute to watch. Like I said, addictively cute, and I mean that! This woman who gets irritated when Tori and Rina want to watch a rerun again a week later, clicks play again a few times when I watch!



If you visit the site now, you’ll see that informational video, telling about how they discovered the dolphins doing this and that more are doing it now. They aren’t sure if they are learning it from watching each other or if they are teaching each other, but they have noticed that at times they can get possessive about their bubbles when someone else wants to play. I think it’s totally fascinating to watch them make the bubbles and play with them and to listen to the theories and accounts of how it all began. It's a great site and wonderful video to watch with the kids!

After the interview video, you can choose other videos including the Dolphin Bubbles video that was originally up. Guess which one I clicked?

“Hello, my name is Nani and I’m a Dolphin Bubbles addict.”

Dolphins At Play

This site is too sweet!

Click the image, don’t be afraid! It takes you the to Sea World Dolphin page. You can read about the dolphins, but what got me is the Dolphin Bubbles video. Click the video to start and and it’s an underwater video of Dolphins at the Orlando Sea World playing with water bubbles. They are so cute and it’s just addicting to watch them!

They swim at the bubble rings and catch them or swim through them, which makes more rings. It’s just TOO CUTE!

Clicking is free, so is reading, but most important, so is watching the video of the dolphins!!

Get the kids in the room before you click! They’ll love it!