Photography Rule One

When taking photographs,

be mindful of the background

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Just an Observation

You all sick of winter too?

Spring took a TIME OUT

Spring took a TIME OUT !!

What I have woken up to the last 3 mornings.....But it melts off every afternoon

MUST be spring break....sigh~~

Out sick~~Again.....

Sorry kids...

I am stepping away during this relapse....

Hugs~~

Easter Sunday events~~

I headed to Portland Sunday morning for my best friends Birthday bash...

Easter isn't a big deal in my family well not since the days of egg hunts and sugar highs.. And Janie's day was a couple of weeks ago but she and her sisters knew I had my hands full with my Mom's party so we opted for this Sunday. She turned 60 so she said she would STILL feel celebrated at 60 and 2 weeks... she IS a trooper!

I made the birthday pie as none of her sib's actually bake and she likes strawberries mucho mucho so I chose a Devonshire strawberry cream tart. The plus side is I can't eat strawberries so I got to save on calories!

But I made up for it during dinner I'm afraid~~ sigh.

In the fridge chilling while we all head out for an Italian place in the Hawthorne district.
A very small intimate place...LOVED THE NAME!
So small we took up half the dining room!
The bar was limited but we SOMEHOW [lol]
found a way thru the wine list!
I have to say the antipasti plate wasn't very pretty but

DAMNED it was YUMMY! [and free due to an online coupon] I thought this was a nice touch....

water served in an old wine bottle...

Carol, Janie and Sharon all had the Tuscan steak

Tia and I had the Butternut squash

and Gorgonzola cheese ravioli
It was to DIE for
Just a very funny sign that caught my atten. Carol even went around the block so I could get a pic of it...I'm STILL giggling~~
When I got home today the kids had been to the house and left this adorable hippy chick Easter bunny... named Ether!
Now I feel bad I didn't hide eggs for them...

NEXT YEAR!

Peep Show and the Mattman!

Ultimate Peepshow!

4 MattM~End of Lent Carnivore Cocktail

This part of the post is for my friend and meat deprived MattM...May you inhale the pork-belly libation as if it were a Grand Slam from Denny’s.Let the sinning begin!

Lightly mist martini glass with vermouth, and rim the edge with bacon grease. In a cocktail shaker, mix 3oz vodka, one dash Tabasco, and one dash olive juice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Skim excess bacon grease from surface of cocktail. Garnish with one slice of crisp bacon.

Happy Easter all!

Good Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Easter.

Bad Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Xmas.

Cool Fuzzies~~~

Spring is now officially here!!

Fuzzy wuzzy spotted in the yard!

Ticketed !!

I am jazzed.....

After weeks of nightly searches

I finally found a deal on tickets to Toronto!!!

Thank you Hotwire~~

And....

I get to spend the night in a 4 star hotel for $55 a night...

Well for one night~ arrival...

One night~ departure....

Thank you Priceline!

Damned if I am not relieved THAT search is over.

Now I can play with my pics again!

Now I just need to find a new book to bide my time at the Denver- Chicago-San Fran layovers!

SURPRISE !!!

The surprise party for my Mom's

70th birthday went off PERFECTLY!!

I will post more pics and info later but for now

I will share the most beautiful moment..

well for me anyhow.

The look on her face just moments after she walked in and realized the gathering was for her ...

and NOT a concert at my brothers church....

the crowd parts~~

And she sees my grand daughters

[whom she hasn't seen in a year and a half]

And they run up and hug their Great Grandma...

There was a lot of crying .. the good kind

My little bubble head~~~

It was my Mom's birthday but

I feel like I got the presents...

the best gift....

the presents of my wee ones

and my family and friends!

Headin' North

Hola senors and chicas!

It is my Mom's 70th Birthday

Saturday and I am heading north in the morning

for the big shin-dig.

My sister and brother and I have been working on a surprise party for her for months now and it is finally time to pull it off!

So Saturday at 6 PM she will arrive at my brother's church for a "concert" that my brother's jazz band is putting on. When she walks in to find almost 100 of her closest friends and all of her family... less one of my kids... and we scream SURPRISE I think she will need her heart meds.

My grand daughters should also be there..

I am so excited that my son was able to pull it off. My Mom hasn't seen the wee ones in a year and a half and this will be one of the best gifts of all!

{For me too!}

This evening I started making the desserts and have 2 large pumpkin rolls done. Tomorrow I drive to my brothers to make a cheesecake with fruits toppings, an espresso-mocha cheesecake, lemon tarts, bread pudding and rum sauce, and 2 desserts for our diabetic friends- lemon cake with blueberries and Tiramisu.

My sis ordered a snickers filled chocolate something or nuther-cake...

So we had something to put candles on and

wheel it out on fire! lol

[sorry Mom]

I will be a busy girlie and gone until Sunday.

You all have fabulous weekends and wish me luck as I read one of my poems for my Mom...

in front of all those PEOPLE.

T. O. Y.

Yes- sometimes the smallest moments

in my day make me

think of Him~~~{TOY- Thought Of You}

Guess what showed up!?!?!

Guess what showed up!?!?!

SPRING!

I don't care what the calender says~~~

Oregon has begun to bloom!

Enjoy....

And my absolute FAVORITE smell....

Daphne...

Not really a flower per say.. A flowering bush. Not the prettiest bush_But the scent drives me wild.

Smells of lemony, sweet yumminess..You can smell the aroma

from yards away.

Sunday Funny~~~

{Thank You Garrison Keillor for this

giggle on the radio Yesterday!}

How many Zen Masters does it take to change a lightbulb?

None...

Change comes from within

Wiped Clean

OK... so maybe I haven't gotten

all my cleaning done but~~~

I remembered EVERYTHING on my shopping slate..

I got to wipe it clean!

From memory!

Not too bad for an old broad~~~

Giggle Of the Day...

My immediate supervisor was making rounds and handing out info for the day when my case mate Mark asked him..

"Lance? I need the phone number for the stamps by mail program for one of my customers"

To which Lance replied...

"1-800 LICKME"

My Lil' Helpers

So here's the problem

I am afraid I tend to hold on to "things"

Yes I will admit it here and now...

I

Cheese

Am a HOARDER

I say it loud but not so proud

So today I promised myself to finish cleaning the office and my

room after the disastrous birth certificate search.

So I turn on the TV

for background noise and low and behold I land on some dumb show about organizing your living space....

BLAH BLAH BLAH

They have a freaking team to help...

I have...

me

oh and 4 furfaces that THINK they help.

Screw Clean House....

I like Ren and Stimpy!!!

Shredddddddddddd

Giggleeeeeeeeeeeee

Shreddddddddddddd

sip coffee.. giggle

spit coffee.. giggle

Now I have a pile to burn....

and I have an urge to take a shower~~~~

Karma burns Calories

My day was exciting and also sweet.

But~~

I kick myself in the ass... I forgot my camera.

So as SF told me.. paint it with words~~~

I

Cheese the Meister

Saved a pup today!

Ok Ok I am patting myself a little too much on the back but I have to admit it made my week.

My route, although in town, is rather rural in nature. One of the streets I deliver to is very long and a tad bit busy. As I turned the corner and started the deliveries, I saw a dog, a Schnauzer, in the road about 5 houses up. He was wandering down the middle of the road and causing havoc with the traffic flow. I couldn't believe no one was stopping. As I got nearer I pulled over and tried to coax the pup to me. He wasn't having any part of it and was totally ignoring me..

ME the goddess!

Well I walked out into the road and saw he had a collar so as soon as I knew he wouldn't bite me I looked at the tag and YEAH it had a phone #.

I softly asked him to follow and as he came to the side of the road he ran into not only a tree but a mailbox post. At this point I kind of figured out he was blind.. and more than likely deaf. His name was Zak and he didn't seem to mind that I set him in the front truck seat of my postal vehicle as I called his parents.

I got his Dad on the phone and told him who I was and where I was and he freaked out. He was about 120 miles away at the coast doing a job.

He took my # and called his house.. called me back and said his sons would be right there.

As I gave some pets and sugar to this lovey pitiful smelly OLD dog~

I fell a little in love.

Just as I was considering kidnapping this lil' beast a small maroon pick-up came squealing around the corner and 2 teens about 15-16 piled out.. green hair on one of the tykes.. first words were..

"WE ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!" lol

I knew at that point they were the brothers to this lost little man. Seems they had left the gate open and Zak decided to have an adventure about 3 whole blocks from home. I kissed the poor pup good-bye and they took him out of my vehicle and toted him back home. I have to say I grinned to myself for a long time.

Later in the day I have 3 large parcels to deliver to Kent...

Now Kent is having a birthday today....

he is this many

{I am holding up 4 fingers}

Kent meets me at the box almost daily with his keys in hand and usually a little story about his day or his trusty dog Nigel [who is one of my FAV route furfaces. Kent has been such a large light in my day that it made me feel SO good to light up his day today. He was very excited to get mail let alone 3 boxes... and as he told me one was from Grandma Rose.. she lives by the other ocean ya know!

Well after he came down off his parcel high he brought me a coconut cupcake! SF told me that I need not worry about the calories... Good karma deletes them.

WOW

I need to go save more dogs... I am making truffles later this week!

Why I Love Sundays~~~

Sundays are so wonderful...

especially if you have had a hard time sleeping the night before. I woke with a start last night oh... about 3AM.

One of those wicked weird dreams that you wake from convinced it was real.

I needed something last night from the store and so I had put on my coat and walked to Bi-Mart. Now first off Bi-Mart is about 30 miles from my house so that was a nightmare all in itself!

I got almost all the way there when I realized I only had my debit card in my coat pocket and not my Club card.. SHIT... Now I have to backtrack to 7-11 because nothing else is open. As I walked down the dark eerily quiet street in my dream I was playing gymnast and teetering along a high brick wall by the baseball fields. I had the feeling someone was watching [probably waiting for me to pull the famous cheesy klutz act] and then the dream turned to me having to pee like a racehorse and not being able to find relief anywhere I stopped to void.

Too much info??

Well you clicked my link sweet pea!

When I woke up and cleared the cobwebs I realized I REALLY had to pee.So I stayed up awhile and surfed a little and headed back to bed.

I slept till 8!

EIGHT in CAPITOL letters!

I missed supper last night and so I was starving when I woke... starving.. honest...

See my ribs?

There was this avocado sitting on my counter ripening and SCREAMING my name so~~~~~
The best thing about Sundays??

Having a real breakfast once a week!

NOT oatmeal!

And I was blessed with a call from SF while I enjoyed my meal....

It doesn't get better than that... well unless he had been here to share the meal..I miss you baby