No. 22: Surprise a friend in another city for lunch.

Last week I was going to do No. 22 : Surprise a friend in another city for lunch.

This sounds like an easy and fun one on the list.
But apparently it's not.

A birthday lunch was planned last Friday for this lovely woman.

Dawn with her big boy, Mack.

Not only is she an amazing person but also a  fabulous mama to four beautiful girls AND the surrogate mama to my horse, Picasso. She also runs the barn where Picasso lives and has taught me and both of my girls how to ride and -even better- how to jump. The only way I can bear to be apart from my baby is by knowing that he is well taken care of and loved on. And Dawn is the woman that does that for me.

"You taking a picture of me, mom?" 

A birthday luncheon was planned for last Friday-a tradition for about six of us at the barn. We gather for each other's birthdays and marvel at how glamorous we all look out of breeches and in make-up. 

The girls and I flew down to Texas on Thursday. I had done my best to keep our itinerary quiet so I  could be a surprise guest at Friday's lunch. Dawn didn't know I was coming.  I was really looking forward to seeing my friends. And having a yummy lunch. 

But Mother Nature intervened. Sort of.

Actually I think it was the news/weather media that intervened. 

When we left Denver on Thursday it was snowing.

I've learned that when there is cold or snow in Colorado, it usually gets cool and wet in Texas a day or two later. 

And that's what happened. The Houston area had a forecast of -what!??? -snow for Friday. 

It never snows in Houston. But real snow was forecast along with ice and sleet. The news weathermen had a heyday. The city told everyone to stay home. Schools were cancelled. Businesses were closed. I had a doctor appointment that was cancelled because the office didn't even open on Friday. 

And even our lunch got cancelled. A couple of people had further drives than the rest of us and some of the bridges were a bit icy. 

But you know what? In our area, there was no snow.  Or sleet. Or really much ice. It stayed in the thirties all day. Boy's car had some ice on it from being out overnight. But I drove all around and the streets were safe and dry and almost completely empty.
The "snow storm" was a non event. 

My Facebook page pretty much documented the day best.  All wonderful photos with captions are from Facebook and I can't give credit where credit is due. Sorry.

So No. 22 is still on the list undone.
I'll have to try again.
Maybe next time the weather will cooperate.


Meanwhile, this morning it was snowing.
My girlies wanted to know where their snow day was.

Yup. I sent them on out the door.

How?

  How in the world ….


     did we get from this:

 

    Bunny in her Cozy Coupe at one year.

     To this:

 

   Bunny with her drivers license at 16 years and one day.

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

My how time flies.

Happy, happy 16th birthday baby Bunny. 

                                             

   Sixteen candles on a pitiful cake. 

We were traveling over the weekend, posts are behind, snow followed us from Colorado to Texas, a crazy quick trip. Bear with me while I catch up this week. 

It's a Sign

Give me a Sign!

In Big City, Texas we live in what is called a "Master Planned Community".   That means it is a lovely place to live and raise children but there isn't a lot of personality allowed architecturally.   Signs and buildings and landscaping are all heavily regulated.   That is great for property values but does not allow for much creativity. 

But where I get to live in Colorado has creativity galore.

I love creativity. 

And I love a sense of humor.


So it really tickles me that the city of Salida has not sent someone out to "fix" these stop signs.  I know the stickers have been up for at least a couple of years…and I think longer than that. Not that I am condoning vandalism, but hey! if you are going to vandalize city property you might as well do it in a way that brings a smile to people's faces.

See?

Why, this one could even qualify as a PSA.

Stop Burning Dinosaurs. 

Food for thought as I am idling in my car at the stop sign.

I love this one. 

Definitely a cultural reference.

From 1990!

See: MC Hammer: U Can't Touch This

(Music video kindly included below)

                           

U Can't Touch This. 

Love those pants.

(And if you can't see this- for some reason I have not perfected "embedding"-

please click here.)

Another PSA.

There are at least two of the "Stop Gossiping" signs in town. One near the High School.  That was probably wise. 

And this one says;

Stop Laughing at Danzig.

Another cultural reference.

Ok, I confess. I had to look this one up. It didn't ring any bells with me. Danzig? Who is that?

He's a horror punk rock/ heavy metal guy-Glenn Danzig of The Misfits- and apparently excels at making a fool of himself.

Here are a couple of links to explain: here and here 

I know Boy has a t-shirt with The Misfits logo on it:

I've sent this logo through the wash more than once.

So here's to creativity and a sense of humor.  

And if you feel like being creative, here's a link to some similar stickers.  Use at your own risk.

I'm not condoning anything.

We are walking...

Walking, walking, walking.

Carlos and I took a walk.


I stayed on the road and went pretty slow. There is still a lot of ice on the road and I don't want to slip again.

Carlos was off leash.  

I've been curious as to where he goes when he's off his leash.

I worry that he goes up and harasses the alpacas up the street.   Or maybe chases the horses that are down the hill a bit. Or does he poke around people's houses?

My genius friend, Cherrilla, said "Isn't it a pity you can't put a camera on him?"

Genius friend with all 

the good ideas. 

Aha!!

I can put a camera on him.

We have a little sport camera that is 1" x 2".

Teeny tiny camera that attaches to 

Carlos's harness.

And now we have….."Carlos Cam".

Here are pics from my walk:

 Down my road..

 Looking into the neighbor's yard…

 Have to stop and admire the Twin Sisters…

 Up the hill a bit…

 Take a right onto the next road…

 Good dog Carlos waiting for mom to catch up…

the camera is attached to his harness.

And this is where I turned around.

There's a road under all this snow that we used to walk.

And here is a (partial) video of Carlos's walk:




                            

If for some reason you can't see this video, click here.

(Sorry. That's 3 minutes of your life you'll never get back.)

Apparently he's a pretty good dog.

He pokes around the empty houses and mostly stops and looks up the trees and into the brush piles.

Even though he doesn't have any terrier or hunting dog in him (see his DNA test results here) he sure acts like one when it comes to squirrels. Or birds.

Last week he treed a squirrel, then stood patiently waiting for twenty minutes. That squirrel never came down.
I had to lure Carlos away with an offer of breakfast.
Food in the bowl trumps food in a tree any day for that dog.

Thanks for joining us on our walk.

Now go out and take one of your own.

The Vitamin D from the sun is good for you,
the exercise is good for you
and nature is good for you.

Just don't slip on the ice.
That is not good for you.

Follow Up Friday: If Only...

Follow Up Friday:

If I had only known…….


Last weekend when I said "Yes", maybe I should have said "No".


Because the Hummer left town with….

painted on its windows.


And for those of you that don't like to puzzle your phrases together:

Why yes! I do have gray hair. 

I guess these are the things that are best seen after the fact.   

The girlies went to the big city and came home safely. It wasn't until a few days later that I saw the writing on the wall car.

Happy weekend. 

I hope it's a party.

New Year, New Look

Fresh Start for the New Year

Well, I said I was doing the January Cure from Apartment Therapy to inspire me to clean house and get things done.

And after I got bored with accomplished a few cleaning projects I started looking around.

Hmmm.  The blog could use a new look.

Some days it seemed hard to read to me.   Maybe a little cluttered. 

So I'm playing around with templates.  Probably could use some professional help, but nah!, I think I will just experiment on my own.  So if the look changes from day to day, don't be surprised. 

And if you have some input that you want to share, let me know.

Do you like it better this way? 

The old way? 

Suggestions? 

No. 30: Spend a day saying "yes"

No.30: Say "Yes"


O my goodness.

I feel like all I ever do is say "no".


Those girlies have been so spoiled that they just don't know the meaning of the word. Or they don't believe it applies to them.

Bunny wants a Camaro for her first car.
Or a Porsche.
Or maybe a BMW.
No.  Maybe yes to something 4 wheel drive.

*

Bunny's dream car. No. 

She needs to start with something 

that moves a little slower. 

Belle wants to go to Community College in Miami next year. She's never been to Miami, knows no one in Miami and basically chose the school campus in relation to its proximity to the nearest Chick Fil A or Chili's.  But the main reason she wants to go is the beach.

*

Why, yes. Let's pick a college based on this.

No. I'm not paying out of state tuition at a Community College. If you want to go out of state, make it worth my while.  And get a scholarship.



Carlos wants to run around unsupervised outside and chase deer.
No.  That's against the law in Colorado and not very nice.

Deer outside the window. 

No wonder Carlos wanted to go out.

I've been thinking about No. 30 and how I would never be able to accomplish it.

So this morning, when Belle and Bunny walked down the stairs and announced "We are going to the Springs for Chick Fil A and nothing you say will change our minds",  I said "Okay, have fun."

Yay!

They were more than a little surprised. Normally I don't encourage driving 2 hours through the mountains for fast food. And then 2 hours back.
But we live in a small town and in order to keep everyone sane I think it helps to get to the "big city" every once in a while. And it just felt so good to say "Yes".

Worth four hours of driving?

Some days, yes. 

On their way home they called to see if they could charge dinner on the credit card. I said "Yes" even though I have read them the riot act about charging meals on that credit card. And then they kindly offered to bring me dinner, too.   Hey! I was paying, might as well put my order in.

Even Carlos got "yes" today.

He wanted to go for a walk. We did.
Through the snow. That's a workout. It was such a beautiful  day and we had a blast outdoors.

 Some of us can walk (bound) through 

the snow faster than others.

Notice I've got a ski pole in hand.

No intention of falling again.

And I got a "yes", too.

I had to go to the dump - it was Saturday- and on the way back I passed the little cemetery.   I've stopped there before but only walked around the perimeter because it has been so chilly.

And even though there were things I needed to do at home, I gave myself permission to wander the cemetery for a bit. I love looking at all the headstones and seeing the dates. It's an old cemetery and I must say, I can't imagine losing babies and children like the people in the late 1800s, early 1900s did.

Just 9 years old. 

Another child. 

The cemetery was full of children.

Life was hard back in 1800 Colorado.

But I gave myself a "yes" to linger for a bit in the lovely warm sun.

I'm sure it helps that the phone hasn't rung and there hasn't been anyone home much today, but I feel like I am going to make it through the whole day saying "yes".

Hope I didn't just jinx myself.  Those girls have gone back out on the town.


Yes.



(And a little update- those girls came home early. No jinx. It was a good "yes" day.)

Flowers in the Clean House

Flowers in the Clean House:


Nothing to do with my 60x60 challenge but a lot to do with a bit of a challenge to myself.

Since it is January, first month of the NEW year and a time for fresh starts, I am loosely following Apartment Therapy's January Cure. I like the idea of starting off the new year with a clean house.
Fresh house, fresh start.  Nice concept.

I say loosely because I got a late start and the first couple of weeks in January I could barely function, much less clean house like I was killing snakes.   Which is how I like to clean house when I'm inspired- with gusto.

But this past weekend's challenge was to really clean the kitchen.  I didn't get to the insides of the cabinets. Or the inside of the fridge. Or the inside of the oven.
Seriously? I know this is for apartment kitchens but my kitchen is about the size of an apartment kitchen and I worked hard for hours on Saturday and only got the surfaces done.

Anyway, Sunday morning was a treat to walk into a sparkly kitchen. Made Saturday's work worthwhile.

And my favorite part of the January Cure is that every weekend you are supposed to get flowers for your  house.
In a perfect world there would be fresh cut flowers in my house every week. In Colorado I seem to do better about having flowers than in Texas. Possibly because Texas tends to stay greener, maybe because the Texas house is bigger so it takes more than one bunch of flowers to make an impact.
I don't know.

Anyway, today is also Small but Charming's Flowers in the House day where bloggers can link their flower pics with other bloggers.
And there are flowers in my house!
So, I am linking away.

If you have a minute,  check out the other bloggers and their flower arrangements.
If you feel like starting fresh, download the January Cure calendar.
If you want to make my day, leave me a comment marveling at my tiny, funky but sparkling kitchen.


(And thanks to my friend Libby for turning me on to the January Cure.
And thanks to Lisa at Privilege- one of my favorite blogs to read- for turning me on to Flowers in the House.)

Happy 22 years to my Boy

Happy 22nd Birthday to Boy.

I have to say, Boy would hate it if he knew I was posting about him on here.
So please don't tell him.

Fortunately he isn't too big on social media so maybe he won't see.

I confess we haven't been seeing eye to eye too much recently but he is my first born, my only boy and I love him like only mommies can.

Not on Santa's knee but close enough.

This photo from Christmas is a favorite because he has a great smile on his face and I love that the kid will still "see Santa" even if he is almost 22 years old.  Besides, he's a bit more cleaned up than usual.  That always makes a mom smile.

I'm glad I had him.
He's talented and creative. ( Like his mama!)
And stubborn and individualistic. (Unfortunately also like his mama.)

Happy day.

O my Gosh! It's 2014 AND….No. 38: Learn Everything There is to Know about the 18th Amendment

O my Gosh! It's 2014
and
No. 38: Learn Everything There is to Know about the 18th Amendment


I'm sure this is not a surprise to most of you, but it is 2014.
A new year.
I expected to be slightly more prepared.
But I'm not.

The last week of 2013 was not bad but certainly not good.
I drove 2000 miles.
I got this...

Beautifully wrapped arm courtesy 

of the nice ER doctor in Amarillo, TX.

...because I slipped on the ice and cracked my elbow.


Bunny got the flu and then I did, too.  (I'll spare you any pictures of that.)
All I can say is, if you start to feel the tiniest bit wheezy, chilly, achey, or fever-y,  then scurry off to the nearest doctor and get some Tamiflu.  That stuff is a miracle drug.

There was Christmas and New Years in there but it all was a bit of a Fever/Ibuprofen/Hydrocodone induced blur. Everything was done that needed to be done; nothing was spectacular or amazing.

I kind of hate that I ended the year on such a blah note and then started the new year in the same tune.

So things are about to change.

Elbow is much better. Another two or three weeks, a few stabs at physical therapy and I should be good as new.   Thank goodness.

And I confess to thinking "Well, I've been lazy so which challenge on my List can I knock out quick and easy?"

No. 38 seemed like the perfect one:
38. Learn all anyone needs to know about the 18th amendment -this amendment was chosen at random while brainstorming with some friends.

*

Liquor down the drain…

I

I had checked previously and discovered that the 18th amendment enacted Prohibition.
Easy-peasy.
The religious right declared war on alcohol and managed to get an amendment to the constitution.
Not much there.
Here it is in its entirety.

AMENDMENT XVIII

Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.

Section 1.
After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2.
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Then I started doing a little reading.

In order to get to Prohibition, the government needed a way to raise the income that would be lost when liquor taxes were no longer available.
So we got Income Taxes.   (O yay.)

AMENDMENT XVI

Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.

Note: Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

And while plenty of men were for banning alcohol, not all of them were.
The sober ones managed to figure out that if women, who were frequently abandoned at home with the screaming children while the men-folk went off to drink, had the right to vote, then there were a lot more voters on their side.

*

So women got the right to vote. First in some states and then nationally.

AMENDMENT XIX

Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

There was collusion, racism, bribery.
Good Lord! Let's make a movie about all this.

I even learned where the term "Growler" came from.  I've seen it on the menu at the local micro-breweries but never really knew what it referred to.  Now I do.

And the cast of characters:
Carry Nation
P.T. Barnum
Adolphus Busch
and many, many more.
Names we have all heard of.


So I have some reading to do before I can truly say I know everything there is to know about Amendment #18 and it's close relative Amendment #21.
Hard to thoroughly research one without the other.

Here's what's on my bedside table at the moment:

OK. These are actually on my bed. 

But they get to the table at night.

Such an interesting time in history.  

Prohibition wasn't just a force in the United States but also all over Europe. 

And Prohibition was a HUGE failure. 

(Perhaps our government with its "war on drugs" should sit up and take note.)

Which is how we got to Amendment #21.

AMENDMENT XXI

Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.

Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Stay tuned. I am not done with this topic.

Follow Up Friday

Follow Up Friday: What went on while we were away.


I love having a game camera here at the cabin.

We get to see the wildlife that roams around at night. Or during the day. We see when it snowed, even when we aren't here.
It doubles as a security camera- documenting everyone that comes down the drive.

And while we were gone this past week, it caught some of our furry friends up to no good.

If you remember, I decorated with greenery around here for Christmas.  This is Kaiser, our carved bear that sits on the front porch, greeting people.
He got a bouquet of greenery for the holidays.

Isn't he cute? 

Because it can be very windy around here, I tied Kaiser's greens straight to his body. I didn't want them falling off. 

See Kaiser on the front corner of the porch?

Dusted with snow, but definitely holding his bouquet.

So imagine my confusion when I returned and found the greenery on the ground.  

Did we have THAT much wind? 

Then I checked the game camera. 

Not that  much wind, just some hungry visitors.

 Notice the deer up on the front porch. 

She's not dropping off a Christmas present.

So tasty, she was still there when the sun came up.

And the deer weren't the only ones that showed up.

There is a little fox that lives at the bottom of our driveway. Occasionally I will see it when I come in late at night.  

The girlies, who tend to come in later than I do much more often,  say they see the little fox frequently.

While we (and probably most importantly, Carlos) were gone, it made the run up and down the drive a few times. 

 Early in the evening, going out for a stroll.

Almost morning, better get back to the den.

According to the black tipped tail this is probably a gray fox.  Isn't he (she) cute? 

And while I don't have proof of any wrong-doing, the wreath that was hung on the gate also looks a little sparse. As in, the entire bottom of it is gone. 

Before we left.

After we returned. 
The bottom left portion is definitely a little more bare.

Those bad deer?   Probably so.
But, like I said, no proof.

I hope everyone's 2014 is off to a wonderful start. 

I have been extremely lazy in the name of "getting plenty of rest and enabling my right arm to heal".

So far so good. 

Back to the grind next week.