I Feel Safest of All

It has been so very hot and humid around here for the past few weeks. Nothing to be done but to stay indoors, in the pool, or maybe take a cruise in your super fancy car. That's right! For this week's Choose and Defend Wednesday you are getting your very own super fancy car! For the sake of Choose and Defend, let's say that any maintainance will be handled for you...don't let the little things bother you. Just Choose what sort of car you are most drawn to and tell us why. The 'why' is essential...essential I tell you! The 'why' is the defense of your choice and you gots to have a defense in Choose and Defend, naturally.

What'll it be Mac?

Brand New Car

OR

Fully Restored Classic Car

Choose and Defend. Then let's drive off into the sunset, shall we? Thanks for playing!

This Musical Message is For No Sex, No Drugs, No Wine, No Women...

Lawn Chair to Guilded Throne

Hola amigos! This week's Saturday Scavenger Shots word was chosen by the divine Ms. Tara @ Eclectic Spaghetti    This week's word was a challenge! The word is VEXED.  I had to give it some thought and here is what I came up with.

DR was checking on our couches in the thrift store yesterday.  He texted me to tell me he'd bought this little table. He loved it and the price was phenomenal. I'm going to just admit it...I was a little VEXED. I didn't know we needed another little table or where we would put another little table. And I've had to work quite hard to eliminate clutter from my life. So call me a bitch...I was VEXED.

In the end, I was VEXED for no reason, because it worked out great! We stuck it in this corner where we keep some toys and books piled up for my grands.  It is a completely hollow storage area! We just stuck that clutter inside and it looks so nice!

So, next time, I will try not to be VEXED about a piece of furniture...or much else for that matter. Often, things work out just fine in the end.

Hope you all have no reasons to feel VEXED this weekend! Thanks for coming by...now we'll just see who Tara tags for next week!

This Was Not a Test, This Was All For Real

You came back! Thank you :) You're just in time for another scintillating Choose and Defend Wednesday. We all have our wishes for things that would make life easier for us. Today, I am going to give you a choice of two...which would be most valuable to you (Choose) and why? (Defend)

Would you rather...

Be able to eat anything and as much as you want with no health consequences

OR

Be completely refreshed after three hours of sleep

 

And a-one, and a-two, now-a you know what to do!  Chew-chew-chooooose and Duh-duh-defeeend!  Sorry....just trying to amp up the excitment in here a smidge:)

 

Thanks for stopping by and playing my little game. You're the best! Yes, you! kbai.

Brain Burnout

Hey all. Just felt the need for a quick brain download. Get the odds and ends out of there.

- Handsome Lad started back to school last Wednesday, which seems really early to me. But I think he'll get out this year on May 30. The whole school year has just shifted back a few weeks. Not sure why.

Anyway, here he is at our First Day of School Sergio's Fiesta with the Most Interesting Man in the World. Note the classy teen pose.

- Girlie Girl is on her fourth week of Massage Therapy certification training. Only 8 months to go. So far she is fine with it, although I guess this first month has been very basic sorts of training, just to make sure everyone enrolled can read and write English and work a computer :) She is looking forward to beginning to learn anatomy and physiology and various massage techniques.

- I'm tired. I stay up too late because I want to hang out with DR. We are on completely different schedules, as he is a real night owl. Even on my days off, we are sort of out of sync with our daily patterns. I guess that is just how it is sometimes and I will certainly adjust at some point.

- This week seems so long before me. The way I scheduled my vacation meant I worked two days one week...two days the week I went back...and this week these five days are looking very long! haha! I'm fully a slacker :)

- It is a quiet time at work. I always look forward to August for that reason. It is post-Summer Reading Program and pre-Back to School (in this district). I appreciate the breather...yet time does get a bit sluggish. So you see, really I cannot be won over by any set of circumstances!

- DR and I are wanting to buy another couch for the livingroom. The one we have is sort of broken down...but we'd keep it against the other wall and get something newer for our main seating usage. We are daringly waiting for a couple of couches that we like to go down even further at this thrift store.  Will someone pull the trigger before us? It is a risk we're willing to take! The two couches we have our eyes on are very different from one another, but each has good points, so we are just waiting to see what happens...

- A bunch of us went up to my dad and stepmom's for swimming and lunch this past weekend. It is a bit of a drive to Malibu, but what are you going to do? They always have nice food and drinks and we all just sit around talking. It is relaxing as long as politics don't come up :) My dad has always been a bit of an odd bird and you know how these things seem to become more pronounced as people age. I feel like he and I have always had a complicated relationship. But he is my dad, so I try to let things go when I can.

- A couple of weeks ago I won a little contest one of my twitter friends was hosting. I am now the proud owner of one of my favorite one season wonders on DVD -

If you've never watched Andy Richter Controls the Universe, find a way to do so immediately. It is so funny. Many thanks to @MyVoganPoetry.

- And...I guess that is about all I have at the moment! Sighs of relief all around. Please check back tomorrow when I will attempt to think of a more engaging Choose and Defend Wednesday for you. Suggestions welcomed :)

This Musical Message is For the Green of Summer

I Could Really Use a Wish Right Now

"You want some Saturday Scavenger Shots? I got your Saturday Scavenger Shots right here" she said, gesturing crudely and leering. Or maybe she didn't. Maybe she just told you that the word for this week is STAR. And that the person who choose this word is Jasen the Alien @ Swamp Gas & Moonlit Reflections. That seems much more likely, doesn't it? Yeah.

It was easy to find a STAR or two around the library. Our theme for this summer's reading program was "Dream Big - Read!", so naturally night sights came into play.  Let's take a look at some STAR power.

Books are always the STAR of the show around here...

We had some STAR designers in the bookmark contest.

Of course there were many STAR readers!

It wouldn't be any fun without a STAR craft, now would it?

Now that I have filled your eyes with STARs I will let you be on your way. Hope you enjoyed my Saturday Scavenger Shots. Who, who, who will Jasen choose next? Stay tuned.

There'll Be Trains of Trust

Due to circumstances beyond my control (such as it being the last day of my vacation!) I was unable to drag myself online to create my fabulous Choose and Defend Wednesday post. Today, here I am back on the job...so why not a fabulous Choose and Defend Thursday post? Why not, indeed!

Summer is a traditional picnic time. Lately, it has been so hot that I'd definitely recommend something near water...or something quite late in the day. But a picnic is almost always a very nice idea. What is your favorite picnic type of fare and why? As always, you just get the two choices, but you may certainly include details about your ideal picnic in comments!

Would you like...

Bread / Cheese / Fruit

OR

Fried Chicken / Macaroni Salad / Hand-cranked Ice cream

Are you hungry yet? I am. But that's not so unusual :)  Thanks for stopping in for a special Choose and Defend Wednesday, Thursday Edition. Now, get to it!

I Could Get Used to This

I tend to have trouble adjusting to time off at first. It is weird. I feel bored at first, like I made a mistake taking time off.  A few days in though and I never want to go back! I hit that point by Saturday...after today, only two days left and then I'm right back into the grind. Still I will enjoy it while I can.

Yesterday was the big birthday party for the two youngest grands. Their birthdays are both in August and they are only a year apart, so their parents have celebrated the two at once for the past few years with a park party.  It was hot this year (shocking in August, I know) but we found a shady spot and the kids had a great time.

DR is lighting the candles for Little Prince, who is turning 4, and Love Bug, who is turning 5. Big sis Miss Personality has her back to the camera :)

In other good news, my poison oak or ivy or whatever rash is nearly healed up. Such a relief. Here I'll show you...

I realize it is still not a terribly attractive sight, but it is really just a sort of pinkish patch now...no more blisters or itching or pain. Yay for healing!

 

 Now, I guess I will go have a little swim. Staying cool is still the name of the game!!!

This Musical Message is For Picture of You in Your Birthday Suit

They Failed As They Were Smite to the Ground

Saturday Scavenger Shots. I showed up...did you? If you are reading this then I guess you did at some point! Thank you :) 

I got to choose the word this week and since I came around to it in the second half of the week I wanted to go with something that I hoped everyone would either already have in their folders or could very easily find in the world. So...METAL.

There are countless things that I could have chosen to photograph for METAL.  I decided to focus on my current obsession...trying not to die from the heat. While I am happy to be on vacation from work, it is more of a challenge for me to stay cool. The library is notoriously cold, as I have often complained. But around this time of year I get to appreciate the coolness that I don't have to engineer or pay for.

Anyway, here are a couple of METAL things that we rely on here at the casa to quell the sweats.

Here is the inexpensive box fan we got for the living room. Most of its parts are plastic, as is all of the tower fan we have in our bedroom.  But this has a METAL frame. Sometimes you are okay with the air being moved around...even if it is still hot air.  Open the door, turn this METAL sucker up and you might be alright.  Maybe.

This is for when we get desperate and throw caution to the cooling winds. This is an old timey air conditioner that is mounted in the living room. I am not sure, but I believe this METAL monstrosity may be a good 40 years old. I've watched some of the other apartments get new units as theirs have broken down. This one just keeps on keeping on. Unattractive, yet it works pretty well. Some days I want to kiss the grotty METAL box and thank it for saving my life and saving everyone from having to witness me at my sweaty worst.

 There you go! Now I will continue trying to stay cool. Hope you are all having success with that on your end. Thanks for joining in on some METAL mania.  AlienCG, may I tag you for next week?

From the Vacation Trenches

Enjoying my "me" time here. Just wanted to drop a quick note to point out the new Saturday Scavenger Shots word is METAL.  Since it is so late in the week, I wanted to put up something easy for anyone to capture!

Also, this made me laugh...I chopped about 5 inches or so off my hair yesterday. So far no one has noticed. Not my boyfriend, my mom, my daughter, or my youngest son. I guess it really doesn't look very different. There is just less of it. So now I will just wait and see :)

Me trying to take a picture of my somewhat shorter hair. Eeeeeeeee! Not as gross as poison oakiness, but still...haha!

Now...let the vacation resume! xx

Going For the Gold, Natually

As promised, I have an Olympian Choose and Defend Wednesday for you.  I will admit that I am not much of a sports fan. Honestly, without DR's interest, it is possible that I wouldn't see a moment of this 30th Summer Olympics. But as we watch, I do find myself getting drawn in to the skills being demonstrated, the beauty of people who have worked hard to excel, the little human dramas on display. And certainly, the Olympics are always a chance to view sports that aren't necessarily televised or widely watched under other circumstances.

This leads me to this week's question. If you could become an Olympic athlete which of these two scenarios would you prefer?

Best Athlete in an Obscure Sport

OR


Worst Team Member in a Popular Sport

As always, the photos are just illustrative. I have no idea who the best and worst of anything actually are. But think about the implications of each choice...then Choose and Defend!

Odds and Ends

I'm so excited because after today I will be on vacation! Not the traveling kind. Just taking some time off from work. August is a good time for vacations here, because we take the month off from doing programing and the library is relatively quiet. I traditionally try to take some time off right before my kids go back to school. Nowadays, that is really just Handsome Lad, who will be a Sophomore this year! So, anyway, I take a week off to do all the last minute school prep, take my last chances to sleep in a bit, and just relax. So 8/8-8/15 you are MINE.

I have not been super posty on here lately, so I don't guess my vacation time will interfer with blogging. Oh, that it would. haha! I do wonder....are you around Silly Rabbit? Would you like to tag someone for Saturday? I will be watching for that and for a new word :)

Please check back here tomorrow for my Choose and Defend Wednesday. It has an Olympic theme!

Before you go, please enjoy this look at my disgusting poison ivy or oak or something rash. I want you to suffer as I have. Not really...but misery do love company :-D

Eeeeewwww! I'm gross. 

This Musical Message is For This is Where I Long to Be

The Squalor of Rentals Aside

Hear ye, hear ye! The time has come to speak of all things ABUNDANT! It is time for some Saturday Scavenger Shots representing a fun word choosen by one Silly Rabbit @ Down Silly Rabbit's Hole

What do have around me that is ABUNDANT? Well....lots of things, naturally :)

First of all, I want to take a moment to wish a Happy Birthday to my oldest son, Audie Kick Back Dude!

Today I have a 27 year old son. What? That can't be right. Yet it is :)  His good qualities are ABUNDANT. To look at it selfishly, his birth made me a mom. My joys, ever since, have been ABUNDANT!  Happy Birthday!!!

Let's see...ABUNDANT...what else?

Here is DR surveying an ABUNDANT display of cheeses. So much cheesy goodness. Just one of our common interests.

What is the most ABUNDANT thing surrounding me?

Love, of course! I give it, I get it, it is ABUNDANT.

I hope your August is a month of ABUNDANT joys.  Can't wait to see some other ABUNDANT posts and can't wait to see who Silly Rabbit tags for next week! 

Keep on Swingin'

Yesterday evening my friend Ceku and I attended our fourth Chris Isaak and the Silvertones concert. Well, she's seen them more than four times...but it was the fourth summer in a row that we've gone to a Chris Isaak concert together.

The venue was excellent. We went to the Grove in Anaheim and it was set up dinner theater style. They did, in fact, serve dinner up until a half hour before the show started at 8 pm. The food was quite lovely. I am a poor person who doesn't go to fancy eateries, so it seemed expensive to me, but it really wasn't at all out of line or anything.  I ended up getting this beautiful little platter of soft cheeses, proscuitto, those little dried breads, and an apple. It came with a sampler of Firestone beers including a Pale Ale, Double Barreled, and Port. Plus, a nice heavy Firestone glass to keep.  Perfect.

The dinner theater seating was also fun because it was very easy and natural to visit with your tablemates.  We sat with two very nice men, who may or may not have been a couple. They were so friendly and nice.  Right before the show a couple of other groups arrived at the table. There was an older couple, who were very friendly and were just getting into Chris Isaak, as well at a trio of friends who seemed to attend a lot of concerts.

An example of my mad concert pichur taking skillzzz.

The show was amazing. I've never been disappointed. These guys tour fairly continually, are great showmen and outstanding musicians. I mean, to me Chris Isaak has one of the most beautiful voices going. His band, the Silvertones, consists of guitarist Hershel Yatovitz, bassist Roly Salley, and drummer Kenny Dale Johnson, along with keyboardist Scotty Plunkett, and Rafael Padilla (King of the Congas). The set was a mix of their catalog, with a focus on their most current album, which features their versions of classic Sun Records recordings. As we'd hoped, Chris Isaak did his thing where during one song he comes way, way out into the audience. Ceku, the ticketmaster, always tries to get us aisle seats with a guess to where he might come up. This time he was really close! That was pretty thrilling :)  They put on a nice long show...close to a full 2 hours. Ah, heaven.

After the show, we got some coffee samples and walked to the car. Ceku didn't want us in the car with rogue beverages. She does have a very fancy car! We decided to kill some time by walking toward where we could see the tour bus parked. We thought maybe we would be able to see some of the band members heading out. So, we stood at this little fence with a few other people and stared. Then we thought we saw Hershel.."Is that Hershel? I think it is! Oh my gawd!" He came along pulling his little rolling suitcase toward the bus. Some of the people along the fence started calling to him and we were so surprised when he came over! He hugged these two women standing next to us..."Nice to see you guys again. Oh yes, we'll be there tomorrow too, front row!" Who are these people??? Well, obviously people with plenty of time, money, and a love for good music. He didn't really stop to talk to us, but we still said hi as he trundled past us :) Next thing we know we see Kenny coming along with his little rolling suitcase! He was trailed by Chris himself, who apparently is not required to tote his own rolley bag :)  Kenny came right over to the fence and said, "Oh, I guess I'll start over here at the front..." So we watched as he made his way along the fence, stopping to talk to people. Again, special love for the lucky groupies next to us. He did stop to talk to Ceku and I, asking us where we'd come from and mentioning that he was going home Friday. I said it seemed like they didn't get home often and he said he hadn't been there since June 27. He was really lovely and cordial....and out of the corner of our eyes, we were watching to see it our true love, Chris, would talk to everyone or only the specials. Kenny moved on down the line and suddenly there was Chris Isaak right in front of us. I shook his hand and gazed at his pretty eyes and his boxer's nose. His attention moved right to my lovely friend Ceku. She a beautiful woman AND she had this picture of her dog Zadie on her phone! She began talking about her dog and asking about his old dog, who is apparently called Rodney. They hit it off over their mutual love of dogs! I stood there all duh...the Ceku asked me to take their picture and thrust her iPhone at me. Big mistake.

 Hand me those touch screen things and I get all Clem Kaddiddlehoppered out...what's this here thing do? Oh noes, my fingers done sent this onta that wrong screen!

 I tried and somehow I was on video and couldn't get back to photographs...finally Ceku grabbed the phone and took the photo herself. It was a bit blurry, but there is only so long you can hold up a superstar for a photo, hear me?  We thanked Chris again, told him we loved the show and off he went. It would have been a perfect moment if I wouldn't have been so clumsy :)

Back to the car all breathless. We were so excited. I could tell Ceku was a bit pissed about the lost photo opportunity...all I could do was apologize. Today I sent her a link to a way you can extract a still from a video. The video is actually funny. You can see them with their faces together and my dumb voice going "Did I get it?" I think you hear Chris saying something like, "She's texting this to your mom." So it wasn't a total loss.

All in all, it was a great evening with a very unexpected ending. I can't wait until our next Chris Isaak and the Silvertones event.

Vacation Destination

Choose and Defend! It is time to Choose and Defend! That is what we do on Wednesday and today is no exception.  I have some time off coming up soon. Although I won't be able to take an actual traveling vacation, I am happy to have some time off. If I could travel though...oh, the places I'd go! haha! Just fund me and I'm off :-D

So, let's take an imaginary vacation and decide where to go.  I did a little search to find some top vacation destinations and narrowed it down, as always, to two choices.  Where would you Choose to go on your vacation? Why? Even if one of these wouldn't be your first choice, please play along. In comments, you can always expand on your defense to include your number one pick.

Paris, France

OR

Rome, Italy

What is your vacation destination? Choose and Defend!