Merry New-Mas everyone!

Did I hear that we're comparing Christmas Slippers? I got some too, they're fuzzy but not pink. In fact they're REAL fuzzy, the kind that Warren Miller used to make fun of on his ski films! One of them is already missing its dingle ball thanks to our Soda-Pup. Did I tell you about her? She's approximately 4 month old cross between a Springer Spaniel and the devil. Right now she's lying behind me chewing a rawhide "flip-chip", but I can just see her glancing up periodically with that look that says I-may-be-cute-now-but-just-wait-a-few-more-minutes. And she loves her daddy. Whew boy, what a daddy's girl. And hereby lies the real cuteness, seeing this bear of a man, six feet four and bullet-proof, lying on the floor turned into a writhing laughing puppy chewtoy, wearing a brown and white ball of fur around his neck like a boa.

Life is good! Hope your 2004 is winding up with lots of good memories, too!

And now for something completely different...

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said someone may steal from it at night; so they created a night watchman, GS-4 position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning position and hired two (2) people, one person to write the instructions, GS-12 and one person to do time studies, GS-11. Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?"

So they created a Q.C. position and hired two (2) people, one GS-9 to do the studies and one GS-11 to write the reports. Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" so they created the following positions, a time keeper, GS-09, and a payroll officer, GS-11, and hired two (2) people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all these people?" So they created an administrative position and hired three (3) people, an Admin. Officer GM-13, Assistant Admin. Officer GS-12, and a Legal Secretary GS-08.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $280,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost,"

So they laid off the night watchman.

Flat on my back happy!

Yes, I'm still painfully happy. Intensely, agonizingly, severly, insufferably happy!
I know I'm being a little pithy, but, ain't Love grand? Now, I think I'll go put a heating pad on my back, I'm also kind of off my feet. Yeow. (what did you think I meant?!)

Where has the time gone?!

Hello world! Isn't it a particularly bee-YOU-tee-ful day?

I hope all is well in blog world… say, have you all SEEN Magz' story? Oh my Gawd it's great!! She's done such a good job and unleashed SUCH a talent!! Congratulations on the win and the brave new world, Sis!!

(what do you mean that is so one-week-ago?)

I've also noticed that Thanksgiving came and went in a whirlwind and Christmas is crashing down on us. Where has the time gone? OOOooh! Yeah, I remember: I'M IN LOVE! Had I mentioned that? Oh, I guess I did. Well, WAY back then it was nothing compared to now, now I've got it BAD! No, I've got it GOOD. Oooooh, it's real good. It's of epic proportions. It's the stuff of legends. It's ..it's…..real good. Ahhh. Well, if I could think of ANYTHING else, I'd write volumes on it, but I'm a little distracted. Pardon me for now, I'm going to go daydream about the future for a little while.

NEWS FLASH

As promised, here's my report from the front lines of my life:

I’M IN LOVE!

Unmistakably, undeniably, certainly, patently, definitely and whole heartedly.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell the world thank you for being there for my entertainment, but as of this writing I would like to officially take myself off the market of availability, reservation, composure, and sanity.

Thank you for your attention, I now return you to your regularly scheduled lives.

Giving Thanks!

An early Thanksgiving wish to all: Hope yours is warm, happy, and full of love and family or friends.

That's how mine will go, I will be with friends this holiday, I made them promise it wouldn't be a sympathy invite knowing I wasn't hosting a family "do" of my own. Instead, we will join up at their vacation house in Parker AZ to celebrate by the Colorado River!

And in thinking about what this holiday is about, I have these things to be thankful for this year:

My outlook is cheerful and optimistic
I'm content with my lifestyle and my "things"
My fitness level is optimum
My strength of attitude and body allows me to approach almost anything
My work keeps me self supportive
To entertain myself I have travel, adventure, and romance
My family has been instrumental to me this year, especially sis, in coping with moms being gone
My step daughter is now happily married and moving forward
I have friends who support and include me
I also have lots of friends with horses
And friends with boats!

2004? WOW! What a ride!

TMI? Or not enough...

So, after having asked EVERYONE I know about wasps, we called a pest guy to come out and give his advice and an estimate this morning. Well, as we stood under the 50 foot palm, having poked at the fronds with an extension pole, looking straight up in the air we saw nothing. Not a buzz. Not a swoop. Not even one wasp. So what's up with that? Why is it that your car will stop making "that" noise when you go to the garage, and the wasps disappear, making me look like an idiot?

In fairness to the explanation, I have come to understand that wasps go to bed in the early evening, and don't reappear until late morning or afternoon when it gets a little warmer. And so thereby lies the operative word, warmer, which it is NOT. It's been freakin' COLD here, and the bad part is that I had to work in it all day yesterday. Rain too. And it had snowed the nite before. SNOWED!

So now I'm still in a quandary, do I call a tree trimmer and make sure that the appointment is early in the day, and pretend that I don't know anything about wasps?

Home Sweet Home

My yard is a shambles. After having neglected it for way more than my 9 days of travel, it went from crispy brown to knee high green. It's almost as if you can watch the weeds as they grow. My beloved Plumaria in Pots are taking a certain amount of satisfaction in joining the melee, getting in on the action by extending their inevitable leaf dropping by going all kind of sickly yellow first. Oh, how I wish I had a digital camera to show you I'm not making it up. To make the mess worse, after a deluge of rain, we had our famous Santa Ana winds blow in from the opposing direction, hot and dry. This brought a combination of mud, ruts and heavy soggy leaf piles, to instant dry, static electricity and more leaf fall. Thankfully the tumbleweeds were out of the equation, but other neighborhood debris filled the part. So now, on top of an acre of thick green weeds, there are leaves everywhere, little seed pod things coming from the awful palm tree out front, a plastic child's swimming pool, and me armed with a 6.75 horsepower mower, a 2 gallon gas can, and a pair of gloves. Oh, and lest we forget to mention the best part, while getting swooped by wasps while I mowed, I followed their flight and found that they were joining a party up inside the dead fronds of the palm tree. A BIG party. WAY up in the palm tree. So I've got a little project on my hands, kind of chicken-and-eggish about who to call first, the tree trimmer or the pest control because neither wants to come without the other.

I had the windows open to air out the house, and from inside I thought I saw the house plant peeking over the ledge, giggling.

O, to be back in Hawaii.

Did you miss me?

Hello BlogWorld! I’m home again!
And in the immortal words of someone so wise, "Wow! What a Ride!"

Hawaii is beautiful as ever, although this time I saw why it stays so green, it's the rain, and this wasn't the it-rains-every-day kind of argument that you hear from every tourist, but a stalled out weather pattern over the islands that had no trade winds to keep it moving. So when it rained it rained buckets, and for days and nites at time. But it would break periodically and when it did we basked in Tropical sun on the beach or moseyed through botanical gardens, flea markets, the Arizona memorial, the E.R. at Kailua Hospital, or snorkeled at Hanauma Bay.

So a lot got accomplished in a relatively short amount of time but mostly it was an opportunity to visit with family, my aunt and uncle who have lived there since about 1968 and my way cool cousins and their now growing families.

And as always, I have returned with a renewed wish to make my life, my home and my yard a Tropical Paradise. Sheesh. Here we go again. I saw new Plumaria colors I'd never seen before, and Hibisci the size of trees! I saw all manner of palms, flowering vines, and things that looked like giant house plants that grew wild. And, ever my bane, I pictured every one of them carried across 2600 miles of ocean and transplanted into my dry crispy yard. I was awakened from this dream by the Agricultural inspection check at the airport. They did however allow us to wear our tuberose leis home.

Besides pictures and stories I didn't bring much home with me. No aloha shirts or thong bikinis. No chocolate covered macadamia nuts. No snow globes with the snowman melted and floating. And no coffee cups. I did manage to bring home a pretty significant head cold though. Don't you just love recirculated air on the plane?

It's good to be home!

Now, let's talk about what's been going on here….

Have you all been reading sis' story?! It's HOT! Wow that girl can write! I'm waiting rather impatiently for what comes next about an explanation for the weird behavior of the animals, but got just as sidetracked with the naughtiness as I think the author did!! Who's the stranger? Whew! Funnily enough I recognize some of the characters, I don't recognize the green eyed mystery man. Or do I…?

And the best part is knowing that the author doesn't know where it's going next, either!! Hahah! It's like a ride that we're ALL on! Blindfolded!

Bravo sis! More! More!

Essential Tools

Sometimes we just need to remember what The Rules of Life really are:
You need only two tools: WD-40 and duct tape.
If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40.
If it moves and shouldn't, use the duct tape.

Happy Halloween! 

beFrank's latest assignment reminded me of a favorite memory: Sid and I had matching SuperMan outfits for Halloween! I can still see Sid riding with me on the passenger side of the car, front feet on the hand rest to lift his entire head out the window, his cape blowing in the breeze!

The picture is a young Alex in a Halloween wig and Sid the Super Dog in front of the old Fullerton house. It still makes me laugh!

Mountains and molehills

Have I mentioned that, while it's true that I live on a LARGE piece of land, my actual abode is rather, er, humble, I think what realtors would describe as cozy. So as not to overwhelm what space I have available, I buy small containers of household products. This of course is impractical and expensive because you run out very quickly, and ounce for ounce the small stuff is made out of liquid gold. So I finally figured out that I CAN shop at Costco, the wholesale circus warehouse and store the excesses out in my garage. It is the trip back and forth outside to replace what I quickly use up that makes me understand how fast I go through these small containers. Anyway, this morning I found myself refilling my small dishwash detergent container with the super-duper-gallon-sized one. And ounce for ounce, I didn't blanch at all about the amount I mopped up and threw away. I also now understand that this isn't a particularly good product to clean up with a damp sponge. But here were a few of my uneasy thoughts while doing so: are two brands compatible with each other, can you "mix" them if the first one wasn't 100 percent gone before adding the other? And, can you safely dispense brand B out of a container that quite plainly advertises brand A without express written consent? What about if there is still trace amounts of brand A mixed in, does the product behave similarly after having been mixed, or has it been altered to a more mellowed result by keeping some of the original but adding to it, like a good Sourdough starter, or a fine port wine?

I do know that the smell of excess dishwash detergent brings back memories of backyard barbeques, when dad would concoct home-made soap bubbles with dish soap, glycerine and unbent wire hangers for us kids. Come to think of it, he used to carefully alter and age the soap then, too, for the perfect consistency and coloration and mellowness. Like a fine port wine!

The Wild West

I think the only good thing that can be said about Tumbleweeds is that they're easy to pull up. By natural design, they have a shallow root system that allows them to pluck themselves when they're ready to roll and deliver their bundle of bazillions of little tumbleweed spawn. That, and when they're young and tender, they're actually kind of soft, so it doesn't hurt to pull them. Unless you've waited one day too long, when they miraculously become dry, stickery and horrid.

I have learned a lot by living on a large piece of undeveloped land, number one is that "undeveloped" is actually another word for "dusty", and number two, there is nothing poetic or sentimental about tumbleweeds.

The Little Kid in me says:

there's hope yet! There's life beyond medicine! There's .... LEAVES!

Poor pitiful Pearl

What is it about a sore throat that makes you feel like a little kid? And that stupid chronic little *coff* *coff* that doesn't really do anything, bring anything up, or scratch the itch, but is always right there, especially when you take a deep breath? Both of these things after days of it, make me feel like crawling up into somebody's lap, curling up in a fetal postion, and saying in a puny little voice "i don't feel good". Yuck. Ptew. Blechk. Make it go away. Please.


and for you aficionados out there, yes I KNOW cough is spelled wrong up there. I just can't even muster the strength to spell it out, much less have a real one. Now don't bug me. I'm feeling a little punchy. I don't feel good.

Next big adventure!

I was beginning to plan out my next adventure, thinking Africa might be nice. Looked into it, found that the small day trips into the veldt were often hung up due to circumstances beyond their control:

think I'll wait this one out

The wedding was a complete success! Absolutely beautiful down to the last detail, and more significantly, not a dry eye in the house, from the moment she stepped down the aisle to the speeches and toasts by family new and old and the "remember when" slide show done to the theme of a What a Wonderful World. Her dad spoke of the joy in raising her, and her new father in law spoke of his joy in "finally" having a daughter in a house of all boys, and how when she steps into a room it is immediately filled with sunshine. We all knew what he meant! The preacher likened the marriage to be somewhat like Columbus' voyage (the reference because it was commemorated on this holiday weekend): he knew who he was taking along on this expedition, and he thought he knew where he was going. And her dad was the epitome of decorum and pride as he walked her down the aisle, lifted her veil and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then placed her hand into the hand of this neat new guy. And then he sat down and wept quietly. Her mom's tears were a little more apparent, and no person or people could have been more proud and happy! My favorite part were my last 5 minutes there, when Alex and I had some alone time while she found a few minutes to eat a few bites of her now-cold dinner, and we talked about stuff. Just stuff. But it was just she and I and it was good.

Now, as far as the reception goes, picture the movie "Big Fat Greek Wedding" and substitute only "Armenian"! Oh my, I think I'll wait for pictures to be available, and see if I can piece together some of the stories! Let's just say they'll start with the seating arrangements, where I was seated next to "Uncle Nick", and work through the dinner, the dancing and the laughing! What a fun party! What a great time! What a beautiful couple!

Congratulations Alex and Garo!

The engagement pic of the happy couple! 

"only 1 day 9 hours 22 minutes 39 seconds till our wedding.."

I've just been to the wedding website of stepdaughter Alex, she has one of those running time boards that's been counting down till the big day. There was something very real about seeing this short time left. I wrote her a few days ago when I realized there were only a few days left and tried to put into words how proud I was of her and how excited and happy I am for her. She is a beautiful, smart, kind, funny, orderly, strong, intelligent and just plain fun person to know and love. I think in my letter to her I said "woooo! It's gonna be a great party!" It probably might have said a little more, but I don't know that I've ever been able to tell her how much she means to me, how proud I am to call her "family" and as any parent, how much I look forward to living vicariously through her as she makes new choices and follows new roads because of the inherent trust I have in her judgement and her enthusiasm.

These thoughts were mirrored as closely by another person, my mom, and my deepest lament is that she can't be here to celebrate this day with us. Still, it's going to be one of the biggest days in a lot of our lives, I know mom will be right there with me (as she was when she helped me find a perfect dress, and sent her sister to help me find the perfect shoes, too!) Now, if I can only appeal to her to help me overcome this head cold that I feel coming on….or is that just stress and nerves?! I wonder how Alex is feeling right about now?

Happy Wedding, Alex! I love you!

"only 1 day, 9 hours, 7 minutes, 6 seconds till our wedding"

Rewarding accomplishment

1. Make a list

2. Check it twice

3. Cross out items as they are accomplished

Isn't that the order it's supposed to go? I find I make the lists, and upon checking it, I always add more to it... but then… what do I have, a list with a bunch of chores written on it. I never seem to get to the crossing out part. Or, if I do accomplish things, I don't go back to get the satisfaction of seeing the list get smaller. And worse, I know where to go back to get old lists that are stacked up, and check those to see which ones I still need to attend to. So I've pretty much defeated the purpose of "the list", and one would think that after a certain amount of trying the same thing over and expecting different results, I might learn that I am not a good lister and stop making the dang things.

4. Look up in thesaurus an acceptable alternative for "lister".

Well, pardon me while I take my leave this morning, I have lots of things to do.

5. Blog

Working out my thoughts

Amazing, isn't it? How quickly a body disintegrates with neglect?

Take working out for instance. You can run and run and run, then take just a few measly days off and … whammo. Back to square one. Sheesh. There's no rest for the weary. I'm finding there's no rest for the lazy, either, in a kind of funny oxymoronic way.

"I got it on EBay"

Tucson to Tucumcari

Tehachipi to Tonapah

Been there, done that with Auntie!

Made it to Mariposa in twice the amount of time it should have for all the side excursions, James Dog her poodle ever present and diligent between us on the seat. Mariposa is an old gold mining town, but the value of the town is found in the people, not the glittery stuff. Joined Kareoke nite on arriving in town, a nite in Tehachipi on our way out of town, a Margarita party at Claire's for her good friends, and the rest of the time spent on the lookout for cowboys, finding instead good ole boys! Another successful outing for the books!

Now, on to business at hand, a major wedding in 8 days, and NOTHING to wear!! Aaaauuuuuggghhh! Panic time!

Letter home

Dear Family,

Having a good time, wish you all were here!

Auntie Claire sends her best to all and wishes to express her delight in our success of travel through both desert and beach, overniting in Palm Springs, shopping on El Paseo (oooh la la), following maps and noses thru apple orchards, trout fishing ponds and furniture stores a la Hawaii only to have run out of places to drink Margaritas on outdoor patios. That was when we had to come home to regroup.

After some discussion and a day and a half of work, we've decided we're not done yet (hmmm, "round 2"?) and we will commence to more travel up the beautiful Hwy 99 to Yosemite, gold country and cowboys. Wish us luck! (luck in our travels! What did you THINK I meant?!)

Will write again soon! Send money!

An Angel every now and again to remind us

I just read a letter to the editor in the local paper that was simply "thank you to the stranger who found my purse in the Walmart parking lot and returned it intact to the store". It restored this person's faith in humanity.

I had cause to say the same thing last week when, due to a scheduling error, had too many students show up for a class and one very nice woman offered her space to the other man, saying that she would be less inconvenienced than he. She did it in a very genuine and cheerful way and I was reminded, I think we all were, of how touching simple consideration is.

I want to know about other "faith in humanity" stories! Got any?

My Do

I think I know why plumbers charge so much. Because sink drains are DISGUSTING. Oh, and the fixtures that keep them together are small, hard to reach, and in the dark.

I am happy to report that every now and again I tackle such a project, and every now and again they turn out pretty successfully, as long as I chant quietly under my breath: righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. And when the project requires a tool, I go to my trusty tool kit that is in a baby-blue plastic case, each one of the tools that belong in it have blue plastic handles. Sheesh. Even I surprise myself with what a girl I am sometimes.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go fix a nail.

Wheaties anyone?

I'm not so sure I like this game, golf… but it has potential.

On recommendation from my sis, I had been instructed to "grip it and rip it" tonite. So I did. Off the tee. From the fairway for a 45 yard shot. On a 40 foot putt. On a 5 foot putt. Everywhere, grip it and rip it. Mind you, this course I've been playing is more of a pitch-and-putt, with our average yardage from Red Tees at about 90 yards, the longest (par 4!) being 185! Very short, good practice for a short game. Grip it and Rip it. Well, I knew I was over-hitting when after the snickering from my teammates died down, one of them asked: "hey Allison, do you lift weights?" Thinking he was going to compliment me on my strong, solid contact with the ball, I replied, "well, No…". He says, "Good! Don't start." Grip it and Rip it. Sheesh. Grip it and rip it my jass.

I'm not so sure I like this game.

Gentlemen, start your engines

Ahhh. Good friends, good food, a good nite's sleep and getting my nails done after the fact almost makes up for a hard weekend of work. Almost.

However, I don't think that stress-filled, adrenaline fueled panic is any way to motivate what promises to be a long hot day 100 miles away. Ah, but the best laid plans of mice and men… it all started at about 4:35am last Saturday when I was so carefully planned, fastidiously packed, and ready to trek to Ventura to work. The one thing I didn't plan on was "click….. click…………. cah…lick " from my starter. Let's see, no second vehicle (the bike's under the weather, too), no current phone number to call the instructor I am to work with, no jumper cables (and no neighbors awake at this ungodly hour anyway even if I had cables) and approximately 105 miles in between me and where I need to be. Thank goodness for triple-A who came to my rescue and heard the quaver in my voice so he put a "rush" on the call, and sure enough, not ten minutes later came my knight on a white flatbed steed. Unfortunately I don't think driver thought that "rush" extended to the job itself, and wanted to discuss the predicament and the weather we were likely to be having. Suffice it to say, I may have driven a little faster than usual to make up this time, and while I was a few minutes later than planned, all turned out well.

So the sushi tasted oh so welcome on Sunday nite and the saki helped the mood as well! The friends were their ever gracious selves, and I'll blog more about what I'm coming to think about the Ventura area and the offers and ideas being bandied about....

I played a makeup game last nite and....

.



...I love golf again.

Sometimes hot, sometimes cool, but ALWAYS fun!

Home Sweet Home!

I'm home safe and sound but I think I've skidded in broadside, totally used up, thoroughly worn out!

What a Ride!!!

Oh my, where to start, where to start…

Well, Magz is doing a GREAT job of keeping you updated with the adventure, and her pictures are really helping fill out the stories, I took a few of my own (the old fashioned way, on a disposable camera!) so wait a few days, I may have some more to add.

I'm too dang pooped to write much tonite, but I will leave you with a few 'snapshots' that are running through my mind as I come in tonite:

The Heat. Sometimes oppressive. Sometimes rather comfortable. But always there.

Icy cold water to jump into.

Whoopie-doo roads and CB radios ("Have yourself a big ole safe day"...)

A summer shower waited out under a barn awning

Saguaro cactuses and mesquite trees with thorns.

Reverie and camaraderie

Music, private guitar performances on the tailgate and dancing in the dust

Dogs and ice-chest water bowls

Long days, beautiful sunsets, and oh so starry nites



And a sister to make it all possible! Thanks Sis! I love you!

Love the Louvre

For a first attempt at a photo on my blog, I would have pictured something a little more cerebral, perhaps something sophisticated, a splash of culture. But no........

it's sis' and I's vision of things to come, come to life as a doodle! A two-dimensional rendition of what promises to be a three dimensional weekend!!! Laughlin awaits! Look out world, here we come!

o cabana boy....

testing, one two ..five. three, sir!... three

For the Record

I would like to make public my announcement that my sister has won, yet again.

I have agreed to a date to play. And play hard! And extend the time and play to follow us back to her house for MORE!

This occasion will begin Wed. Sept. 1. And who knows when it will be over. Stay tuned for updates and/or pictures to follow.

Taking an old familiar road

I just bought Seals and Crofts greatest hits CD, and have been taking a nostalgic trip back in time. And found that I am also firmly entrenched in this one. As you may or may not remember, Seals and Crofts was circa 1975 or some such, I'm sure some of their stuff dates way before that, but it was one of the first cassette tapes I bought for myself at 16 years old. I remember the boss at my very first job (Poor Ed's Deli, remember it Magz?) he let me play it in the shop. It went on to live in the glove compartment of my first car, an Opel Manta, I remember playing it on my way to school, and I remember playing it on my way to extra-curricular school events, one such was a biology club camp-out at Joshua Tree National Monument. Listening to these old words and tunes that I knew so well back then takes me back so thoroughly, I can see faces, I can recall conversations, I can feel the same excitement, anxiety, and anticipations that used to fill so much of my thoughts. O! The rawness of youth, when everything seemed fresh and new because it WAS! When we went places and met people and tried things, we were doing it for the first time! It WAS an adventure, everything we did!

So I'm sitting in a one of those white plastic lawn chairs in front of my house last nite, watching the last of the evening light turn into a sunset and then dusk. I've just finished a barbeque'd dinner, I have the new CD playing inside, the music and a stream of yellow light coming through an open window behind me. It's a quintessential Southern Cal nite, warm and still. And on comes "Summer Breeze". As I listen and smile at the memories, I begin to hear some of the words and I'm taken aback. I feel like I'm living within the song. What I've always pictured when hear that song is what I'm feeling and seeing now. "See the curtains hanging in the window, in the evening on a Friday nite. Little light is shining thru the window, lets me know everything's alright." "see the paper laying on the sidewalk, a little music from the house next door"…Summer Breeze… blowin' thru the jasmine in my mind….I feel like I have truly come home. I have achieved something that I created in my mind a long long time ago. It one more time validates a tenet that I've always held: that you formulate your own path and future through mental visualizations, be it conscious or unconscious.

So let me leave you with this thought: the next song after Summer Breeze is: We May Never Pass this Way Again. While one part of me just wants to listen to it over and over again for the harmonies (I'm a sucker for multi-voiced harmonies! Don't ever get me started on the Eagles' Seven Bridges Road! Or Loggins and Messina!) I am stricken with the thought that we WILL never pass this way again. What we have is fleeting and dynamic, so we'd best enjoy every moment while we can, while it's happening, live in the now. Believe it or not, my blog friends, I thought of you! I thought of this neat time for all of us to have found each other, found solace in our similarities and friendships, found interest and challenge in our differing experiences. We are in our time right now. And it will never be like this again. We are kids again, on a biology club expedition, comforted with our togetherness but uncertain in the future. There is excitement, anxiety and anticipation! Anything could happen or nothing could, I hope whatever you have in mind does! I know it does for me!

Piecing it all back together again

As I lean forward toward my monitor to read (damn the nearsightedness, but I'll rant about that another time), resting chin on fist while poring through morning blogs, I catch the light fragrance of onions. So I change hands. It's there, too. The memory of last nite's dinner, with its degree of success and failure, returns. As I have regaled before, some evenings I come home very tired, last nite was no exception, in fact it was exceptional how tired I really was. Absolutely paralyzed with fatigue, so after having sat down for a few minutes, I went and took a nap for half an hour or so. I forced myself awake because I knew it was either that or wake up at 1 or 2am all disoriented and disheveled. So I forced myself awake and up, determined to make a sensible meal. I have the makings for a nice Caesar salad with chicken, so I begin to put it together, but remember, I am rather discombobulated with fatigue, so my coordination is a little off, and I wish I could have had a video tape of how pathetic I must have looked doing all this. I remember musing over thoughts of the lettuce, taking hearts of Romaine, perfectly trimmed and beautifully packaged whole and cutting them up into small pieces. I remember painfully grating the parmesan cheese. And the onions. O! The onions. When I didn't have a sweet red onion to add, I took the next best thing: a large yellow onion and sliced up few pieces. Evidently there's a big difference to the end result of a salad when one uses what they have versus what it calls for. And I most certainly don't remember having that day-after onion smell on my hands after having used a red onion. Anyway, truth be told, it made for a quite nice presentation and a pretty tasty salad, and that allayed my guilt far enough to warrant having what I really wanted, dessert afterwards!

Needless to say, with a full tummy and an ice cream sandwich, I had a really nice, deep sleep, and today I will do as I please! First thing, clean up the kitchen, I left it a mess last nite!

5150 - Danger to self and others

ooooh no. NOW what have I done? I decided that this template format was too hard to read, so I picked a new layout and made the changes, against the warning that I'd lose any customization. No problem, I thought. Bought off-the-rack, I maintained. Stock product, I surmised. And after I pushed the republish button and saw what discord I created, I decided that I had made a rather rash decision. (Truth be told, I just didn't like change. As much as I'm not crazy about my too-close-together-font, at least it was MY font, the one I expect to see when I open my DawgHouse door). So I put everything back, or so I thought. Till I scrolled to the bottom and AAAAUUUGGHHH! No counter! No Guest book!!! No bravenet advertisement! Why didn't anybody warn me?!!

So, before I put another counter back, does anyone have any other good ideas? I was up to 212 or some such number (wow! people reading little ole me!) and my apologies to any people who signed in and now they've been erased. Expunged but not forgotten. So much for my prediction of a new and improved site! sheesh! Modern technology indeed.

The Title Bar of another endeavor

Welcome to my AOL version of an already existing, multi-interest, non-essential, hedonistic, rapidly growing fun thing to do.

I discovered that there are more than just Blogger blogs. AOL offers space for blogging, too, and when I discovered it, I found it had many nifty extras that I haven't found (so far) on this one, so I created a secret second identity (that's where and when I did the "DawgHouse" for the first time) and proceeded to snitch these neat things and try to paste them onto this one. Well! I can be much more sympathetic to my poor sister now, with all of her trials and tribulations on MaggiezFarm because I have seen firsthand the danger of putting something that doesn't belong into somewhere that does. You should have seen the mess I made of my space! Sweeping changes to the title don't hold a candle to cutting and pasting something above the "wrap-around" instructions! So I was able to 'undo' most of it, and will hold off on wowing you with all I've discovered until I find out how to do it right. So watch this space for new and improved stuff soon!

In the Dawg House

I wonder what mess I've just created? Allys Place was a dumb name, I used it as a place holder till I figured out what I was doing. I've now gone and changed it, very unceremoniously, i just went to my dashboard and with a few key strokes, WHAM, now I'm in the Dawg House. It seemed easy enough from this end... now let's see what the repercussions are.

But I DO like my new name! Do you?

Perhaps it would behoove my listening audience to know more about the Sid name to properly appreciate the cleverness that it has promoted for itself.

Sid, as you may or may not know, was my dog. My pal, my friend, my constant companion by my side for 15 years. When I got my first home computer in 1998, I signed up for America Online, and then (as I've done again) used a place holder for the screen name while I thought of something better. Sid, being ever present, gave me the idea , but even way back then all the combinations of Sid and Dog were already taken. Even SidDawg was unavailable, so AOL suggested SidDawg17234, and I marveled at how many other SidDawgs there must be out there. I countered with a bid for SidDawg1 and was granted permission (I still wonder why I wasn't offered this as a more legitimate second choice by AOL, but they weren't talking) so b'ding! SidDawg1 was born! Off I go to explore this strange new world of the internet, and before I know it, I've joined chat rooms, received emails and generally begin to establish my identity with my new phantom friends as 'Sid', or 'Dawg'. It's cute, it's clever, so I keep it. It's not long before BOTH of us have acquired the new moniker for a nickname. Then, as is to be expected, life happens. The years between 1998 and 2004 fly by with lots of experiences and lots of living, but evidently they go by much faster for Sid than for me as he is aging at 7 times the speed than I am. The last year of his life I swear he aged at a hundred times the speed, and near the end I could see the difference from day to day, and I couldn't do anything to slow the inevitable down, so I just tried to help make life simpler, slower, softer for him. He was healthy till the end, and always active, but progressively weaker, and when the time came that he had more bad days than good was when I had to say goodbye.

And so, here I am, learning to live without him. He's still all around my computer, on the wallpaper, on his own website, on Dogster. And, of course, ever present, as SidDawg1!

So, and here's the neat part: when my sis convinces me to brush off my keyboard and rejoin the crazies on the 'net, I have to think of a new screen name for Yahoo. Of course I try SidDawg1, and of course it's unavailable (they did suggest SidDawg44879 tho!), and so I try spelling out the 1 and what came out of my keyboard was breathtaking…..Sid Dawg Gone. I love it! It's perfect, and I wear it not with sadness, but with pride!

So from now on, when you want to come by to visit my blog, you'll be coming to SidDawg's House! And THAT… dear readers, is why I use SidDawgone!

Humming a little tune

Favorite Music. Don't you just hate when you're filling out a checklist and one of the questions is something like: what's your favorite music? I will usually put in something trite, an answer to fill in the blank, and then it falls pitifully short of what you really think about when you're thinking about music. I'm also finding that in my advancing years, I'm not as readily available to just spout out a quick answer like that. Like just recently, one of the answers to one of those checklists was : What's your favorite Disney movie? And being a dyed-in-the-wool Southern Californian born and raised, I adore Disney, Disneyland, and everything Walt. Yet, for the life of me, I couldn't even quote a single Disney film, much less remember one that I would call my favorite. When you're a kid and someone asks about a favorite, such as ice cream flavor, it's easy to blurt out one. Chocolate. I'm thinking it's easier for those simpler folk with less experience to recall things because there are less items being filed in the grey matter. Their dewey-decimal system only goes up to 3. As you age, more experiences equate to a bigger, more advanced filing center, and now you're having to cross reference and microfische just to sort through the myriad of data. And flavors. So in answer to a seemingly innocent question, please give us mature folk a little while to answer, we may just be pondering the many worthy possible explanations. Or, we might not have heard you. Oh, and guys? If we're on a first date, please don't ask an interview question like that. Unless of course, you're trying to let me know the level of date you're used to. I'll make sure your question is dismissed as quickly as you are.

Oh, and for those of you wondering? My favorite music is Country.

See? See what I live with? A sister, fueled by love, powered by guilt. And not the more subtle version of New-York-Jewish-momma-figure-it-out-if–you-dare-deep-sigh-psychological kind. My sis goes for the I'm–gonna-post–it –for-the-world–to-see kind. The ignore-it-if-you-can, but-I'll-get-other-people-to-do-it-for-me kind.

Hahahah, Sis! Bravo! My agent, my nemesis, my worthy opponent, my greatest advocate, my beloved sister.


To hear us recall our childhoods, you would think we were raised in different families, but for all of our many differences, there are still so many things I patterned myself after because she was my big sis, my model, my mentor. She worked on Grandma Gaganon's farm, I worked on Grandma Gagnon's farm. She preferred jeans over dresses, I preferred jeans over dresses. We had treks to the beach to bake in the sun with Baby Oil, even over our soft Irish skin (oof, that's gonna leave a mark). She listened to and therefore I learned an appreciation for music, both classic and obscure. My Christmas' must now include a drive to see the lights on houses, as I remember she and I doing so while singing Christmas carols. And mostly, the absolute love and connection of a sister. To know in the world there is someone who will pick up the phone before it rings, who knows you so well, that she can finish your thoughts. She embodies a love so real it is palpable, a kind most people can only imagine and the rest of us to strive towards. And if you are one of the fortunate people to have crossed her path favorably, consider yourself truly blessed, you've been given a gift like none other.

And then she will nail you down with a request for a date to go play, and if you waffle, she will badger and needle you until you give in! Hahaha! She wins. She always did.

Who's holding the wheel here?

I have never had a green thumb. In fact, I come from a lineage of plant killers. I learned at my mother's knee how to overwater, underwater, kill with kindness AND kill by neglect. I can prune down too far, thereby killing by exposure, I can fail to prune and kill by suffocation. I never learned what grows where, which plants like light and which partial shade, and which acidity is bad for which base, thereby making bad plant neighbors. When I do grow a house plant, it is purely by dumb luck. I have one such plant which has been with me for years (YEARS!) and I feel very very fondly for him. He and I get along well, he tells me he needs water by going limp and splaying himself over the pot sides (which I think is very melodramatic, but it's a little game we play) and I usually give in and encourage his performance by giving him what he wants. Spoiled. Very spoiled. This all explains why I have been so comfortable in my new home in Norco. You see, it is a very dry place. Very dusty. Very ... difficult. The lawn I keep is really just volunteer weeds, but when you mow them regularly actually look like grass. The rest of the property is undeveloped. That is my nice way of saying it's just dirt and dry, crispy weeds. I am right at home. At least I WAS, until my fateful trip to Hawaii when I came back inspired to turn my yard into a Tropical Paradise!! I have bought and am tending 4 plumarias, 3 hibiscuses, 2 banana planty looking things and a jasmine. What was I thinking? Very pretty, for sure, but... NEEDY. Sheesh! I feel like I have just been to the pound and came back with a litter of pets. In pots. As you know, I've just come back from a four day weekend away, and came back to find that the house plant evidently threw a party for everybody, and filled the hibiscus with all sorts of crazy ideas about coercion by guilt. I came home to find the orange hibiscus practicing the limbo. So now I have to pay off the plants in miracle gro in small unmarked cups, at a feeding schedule of their choosing. To appease the lot of them, I spent the afternoon mowing the faux lawn, trimming the trees, and sprinklering to make everything look nice and cool and tended. They let me know they prefer it that way, and so it shall be. I must now hasten after them, for I am their leader.

Gearing up for the weekend

Good morning world! I have not been as remiss at writing as it may appear, I have just been thwarted by the Manahoonies again. I sat down and wrote a long piece, then when I sent it to publish I was given a "Web site not responding" message, and the previous efforts of a half hour or so were GONE. Thin air. Not a trace. Nuthin'. Scott Peterson could have taken notes to how clean a get away it was. I on the other hand was pretty disheartened so I gave up and found something else to do. For a couple of days.

I am happy to report that the golf tourney last Monday was a success! My swing was more-or-less in the swing so I wasn't completely embarrassed, and our foursome came in 3rd overall. Of course, there were only three groups, so I guess you could say we didn't win. Oh, ok, we lost. But it was fun! Helped raise some money for the Palmdale High School Football program, won some neat things in the raffle, and had lots of food and met lots of nice folks.

I am now getting ready to leave for the weekend, up to Ventura to house sit for some friends, and work their motorcycle training site for them while they're out of town on a vacation to Canada. I'm still trying to figure out how it can be ME that's vacationing, and someone else stays behind and does my work for me. Time to buy another Lotto I guess.

Oh, I don't want to end this on a bad note, but I have a sad story: Some friends of mine came by last nite to report that their young, strong, range-raised BLM-rescue Mustang died yesterday of West Nile virus. It's out there, so beware. The sad thing is that they think it was complicated by the innoculation they gave it, that somehow Nugget already had the virus and was fighting it off naturally, and the shot elevated the exposure to a level he couldn't handle. So use lots of Off when you're out in the evenings, clear out your standing water, and ... I don't know what else. Hope for the best, I guess. Send your good thoughts to Larry and Jeri, they're feeling pretty low.

you know what's funny... after spending another 1/2 hour or so on that last post, I just hit the "publish" button without thinking. Fortunately it went through this time! Got one past the 'hoonies! Hahahahahah! NO I DIDN'T!! This p.s. was kicked back off!! hahahah! the Manihoonies are alive and well...!! (or maybe it was Nugget?!!)

Beating the clock

I have set my alarm and gotten up at 5 something most of this week. Now I am looking forward to Monday, which I have off, and guess what time I will set my alarm?! O-Dark-Thirty again. Cruel. But this time it is for personal reasons, a golf tourney! When I get up early because I have to, I often muse how nice it would be to reap the benefit of the cool, the prospect and potential of a full day available if I was to be up this early on a day I DIDN't have to. So I have that to look forward to, to see if my musings are warranted. While I am a little disappointed that I am giving up my leisurely morning tomorrow, the true decadence of sleeping until I can't sleep anymore, I will trade that tonite for an equally fulfilling thing: to go to bed really really early. In fact, it's not even dark out yet. Now THAT feels like a really guilty pleasure! As you may surmise, one of my most favorite things to do is sleep. I loves me my sleep. It's one of the things I do best, and one of the things that puts me at odds if I miss it, even if it's just a couple of hours short of my requisit 9 or 10. So with that, I bid thee adieu, I have a pillow with my name ALL over it! Sweet dreams to all, I will write again with news of the tourney! G'nite!

Early morning ramblings, er, RUMBLINGS!

Ooooo! Lots of excitement and activity this morning:  new pavement on my street!  Yesterday I found an official note hanging from my gate that said "sorry for the inconvenience, your street will be closed _______ date", with the blank filled in 29/30.  "If you want to be able to use your car, please park on an adjacent street, as you will not be able to drive on this one till it's dry".  My first thought was "that wont be till the end of the month, I've got plenty of time" and secondly, "yeah, right.  City workers.  We wont see them till 3 weeks after their estimated start date and it will take twice as long as anticipated".   Boy was I wrong.  On both accounts!  You should see the asphalt trucks lining up!  Hundreds of them! Well, ok, dozens.  Well, ok, about 5.  But it SEEMS like a lot!  Especially when they start rolling in around 7am.  I only just got my Tahoe out in the nick of time to avoid getting house arrest for 2 days!  Which would have been bad since I have to go to work this afternoon.  I guess grocery shopping is out of the question, too, since I'd have to hike my bags half a block from parking place to home.  And that's no small feat if you knew how long our blocks are out here!  With every property at least a half acre, most are more than that, each block is lllllooooonnnnngggg! So that's my early morning story and I'm stickin' to it.  And by the way, what the heck happened to July??  Happy Ashpalt to all!

Doofus, indeed!  Hmmph.  I think I'll go out and do something particular smart today.  Let's see, are there any kingdoms needing princessing?  World turmoils needing peacing?  World leaders needing ... ass kicking?  Oh wait, that's not smart, that's just gratifying.  Well, tomato/tomahtoh, what I might consider important just might be my own self-indulgency.  Wish me luck!

Allaying the doubt

Turns out that spell check doesn't think "princessing" is a word.  What could they possibly know?  Must not have any princesses on their software team.  It also suggested that I capitalize "ass".  Maybe they don't have princesses, but they do have jokers!  Hahahah!  Well, I cracked myself up seeing that!   Have a happy day!

cruisin'

Remember my ramblings the other nite, pooped from work and ready to tell the world about it... crawling in from an all-day'er?  Well, picture another one, just like before, but this time having stopped by way of the grocery store with BarBQ Makings in hand.  Another 12 hour day, another 90 plus temp, another group of "oh-my-gawd-what-was-I thinking-it's becoming-very-apparent-I don't-belong-on-2-wheels" novice riders.  But THIS time, after all is said and done, there are a half rack of Beef Ribs sizzling on the grill (and here's the best kept secret: after brushing on regular barbeque sauce, add a brushing of Lawry's Louisianna Red Pepper with Lemon Marinade sauce!  oh my gawd!)  2 ears of corn (barbequed in the husk of course!), a potato 'baking' in the microwave, and a cool ceasar salad.  NOW we're talkin' about it being all worthwhile!  Sometimes after a satisfying day, a MOST satisfying meal is like the perfect reward for the effort.  With this kind of a full tummy and a happy countenance of a job well done, it's easy to get all swooney and think: LIFE is GOOD!  I'm happy to report that my life is uncomplicated enough to readily admit to that!  Here's to hoping you have a full tummy and a good nite's sleep, too! 

I think my wheels are spinnin'

 
I'm very pleased with the new keyboard, this giver of words, enabler of wisdom and bestower of wasted hours.  There are plenty of new buttons on it that I haven't explored.  Alas, I wont be doin' any 'splorin' this afternoon, you see, I've effectively pissed away most of a day.   I'd love to feign innocent about how this might have come about, but you might be able to guess I'm still doing it right here, right now.   My sister has helped rekindle an old infatuation I had with my computer that I thought I was long over with.  Now, with the help of a true cyber-phile and some new friends, not to mention a few new tools and an old resurrected website, I'm once again off and running through virtual reality land.  But as I set down my virtual pencil, I  am now rushing off to pick up a real one and lead a classroom of 36 eager new novice motorcyclists-to-be.  I will use my powers of persuasion and creativity to try to hold their attention for 5 hours of motoring theory, when what they want to be is outta there and sitting on a REAL bike!  So, my phantom audience, I bid you adieu, I am off to go face my opaque audience.  Hold down the fort while I am gone!  See ya 'round the funny farm.  Hasta Luigi.  Buh bye. 

Ahhhhh.  There, that's more like it.  Like slipping into a new pair of jeans, JUST the right size when you first buy them, before they're changed and customized by wear and washing.  That new jean smell.  The stretchy feeling of brand new materials.  When sis asked how was the new keyboard, my only thought at the time was "it's SPRINGY".  I don't know that I'll ever be aware of this same sensation again, because this springiness will eventurally become just what is.  It wont be one thing compared with another, it will just be it.  The one.  The thing you use.  So therefore, ask me again, how is the new keyboard?  IT's GREAT! It feels good!  It ergonomically fits my fingers like a well designed pair of really flat, hard gloves.   AND... best of all?  It has a space bar, a capital T, a backspace key, and no extra letters or numbers that appear with each keystroke!  What was up with all that, anyway?  To truely know the experience, either she or I will have to re-play the conversation for you, the one we had while the keyboard was disintegrating.  She laughed so hard she wet her pants, while I was madly trying to make sense of it all.  Since then, re-reading it, I too have had to change clothes.  A number of times.   I don't know what michievious forces were at work, but we're pretty sure that one of our parents were involved.  Or, perhaps it was the Manihouni's, the mischief making Leprichaun style Hawaiian gods.  In any case, I'm back to basics, back to sense and sensibility, a level of grammar and decency that I can live with, and back to blogging!  Happy Day to all!  Hope you find something today that makes you honest-to-goodness laugh out loud! 

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Lugging my rear axel

A day-inna-life-a Ali, starts with a 5:15am alarm clock ring. Push the snooze for 9 minutes of guilt ridden napping, then have to wake up all over again. Ever notice how much more detailed and urgent that last few minutes of dreaming is? Up to make the best of bed-head (because I know what kind of stylistic damage I'm about to impart upon myself for the next 12 hours), and put on a pair of Levi 501s and a long sleeved tee-shirt. Neither of which was made to make a woman feel in any way confident. I've a mental check list which goes something like: cards-keys (tools for the day), sunglasses-sunscreen, helmet-gloves, food n' water. Then I start looking for the other things equally important, but have never become part of the mantra...cell phone, stopwatch, easy up, lawn chairs, sun hat, wallet, cooler, ice. Pick up the newspaper off the front drive, back out the driveway then stop to lock the gate behind me, then off to work by 6:05. Arrive to meet whichever instructor I will be working with this day, unlock the storage containger and pull out 12 bikes (backwards, and down a ramp), check each for gas, damage, and startablity. Then pack up the vehicle with bucket of cones, 2X4's, trash buckets, chairs, rosters, nametags, take these down to the "range" where we will be riding, and set everything up for the requisite skills exercises this day. Are we pooped yet? Oh yeah, by now it's only about 6:40, the students are starting to show up. Greet them, sign them in and assign them helmets and bikes, go through an equipment check to make sure they meet our liability requirements, and NOW we can start the day. Class time: 7:00am. They will be trained and entertained for the next 5 hours. Whew! What a day! But wait! When they're done, these ones will leave and the NEXT batch of students show up, and from 12 till 5, they TOO will be trained and entertained. When they too have fininshed,I now have to return these 12 bikes to the bin, break down the easy up and the chairs, pick up all the trash, reload all the personal belongings, and check out the paper work to indicate who showed, who failed, who will move forward. And oh yeah: Try doing all this when it's about 98 degrees outside. (Like today) So when my friends ask if I want to meet them for Taco Tuesday, and I say sorry, I just can't.... I always secretly hope that they understand. I'm pretty sure they don't. After reading through this tirade, I'm hoping that you, my blog friends, can in anyway understand how great it feels to crawl home, take a cool shower, crack open a beer and plunk down on the couch to sit for the first time today, to eat whatever is the most umcomplicated thing in my fridge, and to screen my calls and not answer most of them. And I usually plan to go to bed very early. Please don't think me unsociable, it's just that this is what I've chosen to do for a living. The teaching part is very very satisfying. It's all the work that goes along with it that makes it kind of sucky. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being tired along with me! G'nite, now

Slipping the clutch

"In ancient times, when men cursed and ranted and beat the ground with sticks, they called it voodoo. Today they call it golf."

So it's true, golf is called golf because all the other 4 letter words were taken. I am just in from my Monday nite league and tonite I SUCKED. And do you know what doesn't help? When people tell you "relax! it's just for fun!" Remind me to never tell someone that. It's all so strange and inconsistant, too, because it wasn't too long ago I walked in on AIR because I had had a breakthrough experience every golfer dreams of, happy, smiling, telling everyone I knew who I thought might give me the credit I thought I so richly deserved (in my little short lived golf heaven that is). I think I even remember saying "I love that man who invented this crazy game. Who is he?" Well, this little heaven didn't last long. Or at least not long enough. And you know what's the weirdest part of it all? Because I have a great big gigantic handicap (because truth be told, my sucky game was actually very close to my usual game) (just the attitude was different) my standing for tonite was tied for first! So what really happened was that I was given a food pellet for the wrong behavior! It IS a crazy game. If you haven't tried it, you oughta. Or not.

An American machine

Good morning world! I am happy to report that the shower was a complete success! The only other suggestive gifts had come from her girlfriends (not from parent types) (but I guess that fits because I was never very parent-y)and the one moment of "uh-oh" came when I realized sitting right next to Alex during the gift opening was her soon-to-be grandmother-in-law from Armenia (very old school traditional and straight-laced). When she asked in her broken English "what is this cooking with Aphrodisiac?" Alex coolly and without missing a beat told her it was a spice! That's my girl!!

And O what a place is the Ritz! sheesh! Remind me to play the lotto this week, for I have discovered a way of life to which I would like to become accustomed! But first, I think I have to buy a fancy new car (mine was the only Chevy in the entire valet area. And unfortunately it was sporting Norco-dust. There must be dust in old-town Pasadena but I think it's imported.

So today will be a catch up day, shopping at Costco to fill my shelves and fridge, doing a little laundry (and letting it go 'round with nothing but cool air... but that's another page) (funnily enough when the days are hot like this, clothes still come out dry!) and my new all time favorite pasttime: herding ants from one part of my kitchen to another. This morning they were clever enough to avoid where I sprayed last time and circumvented the entire pantry to get to where they were going. Giddyup! Have an eventful day yourselves!

Back on Track

This is what I really have going today.. my step-daughter Alex is getting married this fall, and today is the big Bridal Shower! Not only that, but it's being held at the Ritz-Carleton in Pasadena at a High Tea! woo woo! Fancy-schmantzy! So I have a pretty new gauzy summer dress (tea length of course!) and the perfect new shoes to match (I didn't have mom to ask tho, was I supposed to have gloves and a hat? I opted no, hope I'm not the only one without) (all of a sudden I'm feeling kind of exposed again) Anyway, moving along to the best part of the story: For a present I was really stuck. Shopped and shopped. Found a quite suitable fancy cookbook especially for "Bride and Groom" (useful or not, will be a keepsake kind of thing), but then, like it was being delivered from the hand of God (ok, ok, I'm sure Mom's hand was in it too) another cookbook leaped into my hand: "Aphrodisiac Foods -- Eat your way to Ecstasy" !! Oh my! Is that PERFECT for a newly-wed gift, or what?? It's a really nice book, too with beautiful pictures (some suggestive of people, some the foods themselves) lots of historical references, and of course, recipes and ideas. (Actually I think I'll go back and get another one for myself!) So I figured it's suggestive enough for a party but sophisticated enough to be opened at the Ritz. Thanks Mom! I'll let y'all know how it went when I get back!

Now for something completely different

Sorry! I apologise for the fault in the previous subtitles. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked, have been sacked.

I must have taken a side road by accident

Hello world! I'm feeling a little exposed now that I know I'm world wide, so bear with me (hahah! sorry for the unintentional pun) while I collect my wits about me. Is that the correct use of bear, by the way? What about if you bear down on something.. is that right too? Here, let me check. Wow! Check this out, it's evidently one of language's most useful tools! Bear: to carry, to support, to endure, to admit of (an interpretation); to behave or conduct (oneself); to bring forth or produce, to need; to give; to be patient, to have reference to (with 'upon'); to be productive; to be situated; bear down: to press down by weight, overwhelm; bear out: to corroborate; bear up: to keep ones courage; bearer, bearing, bearable, bore, borne, born. Oh yeah, and a big mean animal, too. SHEESH! Well, all... have a bear of a day!

Increasing speed prior to the upshift

Gaining a little momentum here, I've experimented around a little and finding lots of goodies (sorry Magz, haven't stumbled across how to add a permenant link yet) but what I need most is a little more instant gratification, or at least some more immediate validation of my efforts, there seems to be a lag time between posting/publishing and seeing the end result. It's during the lag time I begin to doubt that I've done something successfully and I end up either undoing it or messing up what would have been fine in the first place. Sheesh! Anyway, I'm happy to be up and running in this strange new world and looking forward to running with the big dogs (stay tuned, I have lots of ideas!) Happy Day!

Got it in gear, moving forward..!

Woo Hoo! I think I'm getting the hang of this thing! Hold on tight, I'm ready for the ride!

First time out

Testing, testing, one two three....

Am I on?