A Good Day!

Yesterday was a good day!

1. I took my boys to go visit their friends for the week, they'll come back Friday. Their leaving isn't what makes it good, I just enjoyed the 2 hour drive with them, they're really funny and I am happy they get to go hang out with good friends, they need that.

2. I went to the library for a presentation by a friend of mine on How to Illustrate A Children's Book. It was awesome and inspiring and reminded me that I truly desire to achieve that in my lifetime. Tim Raglin is the author/illustrator of several books, including one of my faves... Uncle Mugsy and the Terrible Twins of Christmas. His illustrations are phenomenal. You can check him out at timraglin.com. He rocks!

3. I got to go hang out with my friend Jackie, who is also rather inspiring and is always working on some amazing art project. She is the one with the fantastic blocks. I love them and she has designed a new set. We had a great time chatting, oh and she's the one who made the supremely, divine chocolate cake....yum, yum!

4. I came home and got to hang out with my daughter and chat with her about various happenings in our day and wedding plans for the future. It was lovely to spend time with her, these days it's a rare treat. I thoroughly enjoy her company and miss the days of her reading to me, while I knit some random item. Each moment with her is cherished.

5. And lastly, Marie called me. We haven't had time to chat lately, so it was a wonderful surprise to see her number pop up on my caller i.d. yay! As always, she makes me laugh and encourages me in everything. Friends are a true blessing. What would we do without them??

Hope you have a truly inspired and lovely day!

Carrots with a cherry on top!!

Bicycle, bicycle....I want to ride my bicycle.

Do you love riding your bike? I haven't gotten out on mine in awhile, but my son encouraged me the other day and we pulled them out, dusted them off, pumped up the semi-flatish tires and off we went. Bike riding is a kick....in the bootee. My bum was sore for a few days, I'm pretty sure there is a bruise on both cheeks. Bicycle seats (I believe) are made for small bums, not fat bottom girls that make the rockin' world go round....like me!! I considered buying a couple of rolls of Charmin and wrapping them around the bicycle seat or at the very least stuffing wads of it in my pants, (this always works in the commercials) but I've yet to try it out. At any rate, if you want to work on your buns and thighs, I highly recommend riding your bike, at least every other day. My legs were so wobbly after only ten minutes, I knew it must be working, the exercise thing, that is!

And now a story!!

About 4 or 5 years ago, my kids and I liked to get out and ride our bikes down the nearby dirt road. I love these kinds of adventures. I say adventure, because seriously, me + wheels = adventure. In all of my memories of bicycle riding, I don't think I've ever been 100% confident in my riding, or stopping. I attribute this to the fact that I'm rather short and my feet don't always easily reach the ground when I sit down. Anyway, back to my story.....

so, we were out one day for a leisurely stroll down the country lane, when we realized a car was coming. Being the good mom that I am, I quickly motioned for everyone to move to the side of the road and wait for the car to pass (my kids were younger then). Of course, I pulled over too, but somehow in my anxiousness and the sudden awareness that a car was coming and we were on the spot, my bike and I (completely out of the blue) fell over. The pressure of knowing I was being watched was a bit too much for me, I guess. But to make matters worse and even more humiliating, the person backed up (which means they saw me fall over) to ask me if I was okay.

Of course, when she rolls down the window I see that she's a cute young lady, which seemed to make it even more humiliating, although a hunky young guy would've taken the cake. I had no real reason for falling over, so I sat there stunned and not knowing what to say, probably with a "duh" kind of look on my face. She must've realized I was alright, because she left. I wonder how many people she told that day. We live in a smallish town and there aren't that many extremely short redheads, that I know of.

Anyway, I survived that bit of humiliation and I still get out and ride my bicycle. I know it burns

a lot of calories, which means that extremely rich, yummy, homemade chocolate cake I ate today could be burned off tomorrow morning. Goodness knows, I don't need to carry that around in my saddle bags. So, my goal is to ride my bike more often...hopefully every other day and become more expertly at it, or a little less clumsy anyway. If you have a bike and it isn't 400 degrees outside, I encourage you to jump on and go for a bit of a ride. Seize the Day!!!

Carrots on Wheels

Cat Tales

This is Foo Foo Kitty. He is our indoor/outdoor cat, sometimes he can't make up his mind where he wants to be. We raised him from a wee kitty, even bottle fed him every few hours. We love him to pieces, even though he is fairly odd. My daughter and I have a theory about him. We're pretty certain, he was meandering through the woods one day (in human form) and happened upon a grumpy witch, who then cursed him and turned him into a cat, until by some off chance we can come up with the right words to say to turn him back. We believe he does the odd things he does, because he is desperately trying to communicate with us and give us some sort of sign.

He does a lot of non-catlike things and many human type things. He's klutzy, misses furniture entirely when jumping for it, he plays the piano, loves to go swimming......in fact, he loves water.

He will stand in the sink while I'm trying to do dishes, sit in the shower while we're in it and he plays with his water. He has a water dish, which we try to keep filled, but that never seems to be what he wants. He prefers water straight from the tap. He knows how to push the button on the Culligan machine and he gets up on the sink for a drink. In the mornings, while my hub gets ready for work, Foo Foo keeps him company and my hub puts a bit of water in the bathroom sink for him. Last night my daughter came home and saw the cat drinking out of the toilet. She thought that was gross, so she put a bit of water in the sink and came in to say hello. Apparently, he's been paying attention....while she was out of the room, Foo Foo decided just one sink wasn't enough, so he figured out how to turn on all of the faucets....FULL BLAST!! In a matter of minutes, that adds up to a very large amount of water. When she returned to brush her teeth, the bathroom had become Niagara Falls. We have three drawers. The first one filled with water, then overflowed into the next, then the next one. There was about an inch of water on the floor. Every towel in the house had to be used to mop it all up. And the cat, nowhere to be found, he magically disappeared for the evening. I did see him once today, but I think he's feeling a bit guilty or maybe he thinks it's really funny and doesn't want me to see him laughing.

The moral to my story:

Don't let your cat see you turn on the faucet, he's smarter than you think!

Are you a Gooser??

I certainly am. I grew up in a family of goosers. Every time you walk by someone you give their little cheeks a squeeze and I don't mean the cheeks on their face. I only write about this, because this morning I noticed, that every time I passed by my teenage son, he was slightly bent over, checking out something on his brother's computer and I couldn't help myself, I did it without even thinking, it's a reflex. (and probably not one he appreciates, although he didn't even flinch)

This led me to another thought process. Tight buns!! They're highly overrated. If you have nice, tight buns, there is nothing to grab on to, no squeezability, nothing to pad you when you fall down or sit upon a knee. This is good news, for those of us who dread doing an overwhelming amount of squats, so that we can sport a nice pair of clenched cheeks, that look highly unnatural.

I mean afterall, I believe we were given a little extra padding there for a reason. Even if that reason is simply, to be goosed by those who love you and adore you, no matter how cheeky you are.

A Glimpse

Where have I been all these weeks, you might be asking. Busy, busy, busy! I hate to say it, but when I get that busy, all things fall to the wayside. Including, my exercise and watching what I eat. Oh woe is me. Tis a sad, sad thing. I've talked to Marie, who as you may know, is rather encouraging and came to the realization that it's okay and I can start blogging again, and my absence will be forgiven.
My apologies, I hate to let anyone down or disappoint, and I fear my lack of diet and exercise has added a couple of pounds to my mid-section. When I say, woe is me, I really mean WHOA!!! Especially, every time I get a glimpse of myself in the mirror. There is far more of me than I want to see. So, dearies....it's time to get back on track, or I simply won't be able to live with myself. I exercised this morning and I intend to really pay attention to all that enters my mouth, no more darn Jalapeno Cheetos, (I'm pretty sure they have 5 million calories) no more chocolate chip cookies, more water and less diet soda. I didn't post my current weight, humiliations galore...I hope you'll forgive me. How about I work hard this week, and I will for sure post my weight, next Monday. :)
As for, where have I been....my husband and a couple of friends of ours are getting ready to open a Youth Coffeehouse/Venue, everyday has been a whirlwind, mostly in paint for me. The pictures I posted are of a couple of the walls we painted. The walls are 14 feet high, so they take time and you'd think all the up and down on the ladder would've been good exercise, but a bad diet didn't help. Busyness is truly a deterrent for getting in shape. I tend to allow everything else to become more important. No more, I say. The time has come!
My apologies for my extreme absence,
Have a most pleasant day!!

Chunks of Carrots

There's No Place Like Home

Hello Dearies,
Wow, I must say, it seems as though it's been simply forever since
my last blog.
The trip was rather enjoyable, as well as, ultra relaxing. I had
a blast with all of my siblings and we spent most of our time laughing.
A good way to spend time, if you ask me. I wonder how many calories that
burns. Probably not enough to make up for all of the good food we ate. :(
Each of my siblings are great cooks, we had Mexican food one night....divine,
my brother made us the most amazing pasta another night. (He pureed all the
chunks for me, and OOOOH, it was fantastico!!) I have to give that a try.
Speaking of trying, I did manage a couple of bites of asparagus....of all
things, funny eh? It wasn't half bad. It tasted a bit like a big green
bean, or maybe it was the Jolly Green Giant, something like that.
I am tempted to buy some and give it a wee bit of attention. I hear it's
good for you, too!
I have to apologize, I don't have trip pictures to post just yet. I am in the
process of trying to figure out what in the hoobydoo I did with my cord
(you know the one that connects camera to computer). Somehow it has
grown legs and run away. Maybe it went to Oz too! I promise to post a few, a.s.a.p.
Although everything about my trip was amazing and spectacular. I am
quite excited to be back home. I missed my family, going for walks and
weirdly, just the daily routine of my life. Absence truly makes the heart
grow fonder. Seriously, there's no place like home!!
Time for my evening walk, it's getting rather dark, I may just be circling my driveway a few times. Poop! My moment of opportunity has passed me by.

Can't wait to share pictures with you.
Have a splendid evening! I've missed you, my dearies.

Click your heels together and say....
There's No Place Like Home
There's No Place Like Home
There's No Place Like Home

Ruby Red Carrots