BEING PATRIOTIC

This is my house, being patriotic.A close up.Pika, wanting to be patriotic, too.

I'm a good cat. Please admire me.

The bell by the front door.

Not my house. They have the "Don't Tread on Me," flag.

A neighbor of the above house.Down the street and around the corner. Down another street and around another corner.

This has no patriotic value but it's one of my neighbor's little pocket gardens and I wanted you to see it.

It's almost the fourth of July. Have a good one, where ever you are.

DINNER WITH THE CHARACTERS

The other night Mrs. Bird and The Scottish Dreamer wandered by and sat on the lawn swings and we had a rip roaring, laughing time. The Scottish Dreamer said we should go to dinner and hang out. So we did, but the Scottish Dreamer who now weighs 103 pounds, did not feel well, so Mrs. Bird, my friend who the angels help write her personal histroy so beautifully, and I went anyway, because we don't want to miss a good time, even though we did miss the Scottish Dreamer.

This is a terrible photo of Mrs. Bird but I know people want to see her. She'd die on the spot if she saw this but she's not an Internet girl and so she won't see this.

Mrs. Bird--outside of Mimi's--said, "Oh, look, here's some lavender. If you ever need to make lavender bags just come here."

I said, "you can't do that, Mrs. Bird--but I used her real name--that lavender belongs to Mimi's"

"Oh, I do it all the time," she said. And since you never know if she did or didn't we just laughed and went inside for dinner.

She told hilarious stories, I can't recall the one I could tell--the other one is, well, a little racy. I'll tell it another day because tonight, I'm tired. And because House is almost over and now I have to rewind and see why the alien hand was acting out, because I missed it. I did see the part about the squawking man, so I won't have to rewind everything. And House is finally going in for treatment. And the hunky Dr. Chase got married. And that was the season's finale.

Lisa, who blogs here--but not very often--and here--more often with a bunch of other sassy women--, says I should order all the House DVD's from Netflix and get this whole show figured out. Do you KNOW what would happen if I ordered House from Netflix? I already order 99% of our choices and 95% of them are weird, foreign films, grade B movies or Chic Flicks and Phil is not amused. Well, maybe he is a little bit amused as he holds his head in his hands, smiles faintly and says, "Not another one." And then he laughs, in a feeble sort of way.

And that is why I watch House late at night, after he is in bed.

There's an explanation for everything.

Well, maybe not for Mrs. Bird. Some things just cannot be explained.

Ooh, and I think I just heard someone at the front door and it's 1:10 a.m. and now I'm spooked so I'm taking the baseball bat and going to bed. Quietly. In the dark. If I never blog again you'll know why. Send flowers.

IS IT NONSTOP NUDE OR PINK PASSION?

I have a new favorite brand of fingernail polish. (Yes, this is going to be a boring post. Click off and go do something interesting, and then report back. I may want to do it too.) I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love it because it stays on and really doesn't chip--"Sally Hansen NO CHIP 10 Day Nail Color." I hate it because it takes forever to dry and so I smudge it. Also, one coat is not enough but if you put the second coat on too early it NEVER dries and you mess all the fingernails up. Also, for some reason, an hour after I put a coat on, bubbles appear. It's freaky. Then, I have to start over.

So, I put on one coat tonight and will do the other one in the morning. And then, since I have places to go and things to do, I'll probably have to start over because of the smudging thing.

And I only have two bottles of the stuff. One color I love and the other I don't love so much, or at all. And, of course, I don't remember which is which. So, I going with Nonstop Nude and hope I'm right. (It's on the right. Not that you care, but still.)

And I can already see I have a problem. Two nails have too much polish on the tips--so they probably won't dry properly and one nail doesn't have enough anywhere. But I can't add more or....

Oh, who the heck cares?

Go to bed, friends. Or go eat breakfast. Or clean something. Or do some office work. Or go to the movies. Or get a B12 shot. Or something. I vote for the B12 shot. That's what I'm going to do in the morning.

But right now I'm going to bed after watching "House" so I can see that there is a room for every cantankerous fool in the world and so there is probably room for me.

AN UNEVENTFUL DAY

Made a quick trip to Salt Lake to see our darling daughter and we ate a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger on the way out of town. I thought I could get away with that for dinner. Not so. Phil ate soup, a chicken sandwich and two ears of corn--one of them was mine.* I ate almonds.

We sat outside with three church talks, thinking we would have an intellectual Family Home Evening. We had hardly settled when four neighbors came over and were in the middle of Mrs. Bird's funny story about her chiropractor when who should happen by but The Scottish Dreamer. We sat and visited and laughed until the darkness descended, as did the mosquito's.

Zip, zop, people scattered except for the Scottish Dreamer and me. The skeeters soon left us alone--after I rolled a couple into cigars off my face and the others decided hunger was better than death.

The Scottish Dreamer and I had a good talk. What a lovely girl she is. I sent her home with books to read on health and she said, "Can I eat that last eclair first?" (If you haven't done it already you must read this post.) I told her yes, as I certainly have not been the shining example of health or sugar-avoidance. When I looked at the clock it was 11:00. Are we gabbers or what?

Sitting here at the computer, doing nothing of importance, I felt around on what should be my smooth chin and I felt a whisker stray eyebrow. When did that pop up? I tweezed yesterday. So I tweezed and it was black and long and then, right there, as I was watching, another one popped up. I tell you, it is the honest truth. Which leads me to the conclusion that there really is a bad hormone running around and it has attitude.

*It wasn't really my corn. I got a phone call from a worried sister in our ward so I covered the mouthpiece on the phone and whispered, "eat my corn," which was really his corn to begin with because I ignored his stomach needs watered the garden--the parts the BUGS HAVEN'T EATEN--while he prowled the kitchen. So, I ate almonds. And not the good salty, roasted ones either. The plain ole' good-for-you kind, that are no fun at all. You should feel sorry for me, having to eat those healthy almonds instead of the kind I really love.

SORRY GILMORE GIRL

I've been working on a post on my "Starlight" blog on and off today and now it's late and I have nothing to say. (And I didn't get that post finished either.) Obviously, I NEVER have nothing to say but I'm too tired to say it and download photos, etc.

So, I will just download one photo and say to Gilmore Girl, "I'm sorry I forgot to bring the Dr. Suesses to you." (She calls them Dr. Suess flowers--says they look like something out of his imagination.) My neighbor, Genny knows that Gilmore Girl loves these flowers and she brought them for her.

Gilmore Girl had a sadness last week and they would have cheered her up a bit. But just a bit. It was a big sadness. For a woman, the biggest.

So, sorry. Here's a photo. Can you smell them? Actually, I don't think they smell, so take your nosie poker off the monitor.

That'llbeall.

SHOPPING AT COSTCO or A CART FULL OF WOE

The kids were here Monday evening through early Wednesday evening. Barely 48 hours. They went to Costco with Phil. Twice. I did not go. I am the lone voice of reason. This shopping trip is typical. It was in May.

Actually, there is one other voice or reason. She was outnumbered. She wanted soy milk. That was all. Just some soy milk.

"We can go now. Mission accomplished."

"But lookit! Peanut butter."
"And, lookit. Chips!"
"We do not need chips," said the voice of reason.

"But, they are Kettle Chips. I'm pretty sure that means they are special."
Look at the cart. Does it look like the voice of reason is winning?
"Oh, no. What has he found now?"

She speeds ahead. She must stop disaster.
It was too late. Disaster was piled high. Do you see one fruit or vegetable there? Me neither.

And that is how ALL trips to Costco end. You would be better off just walking by the door and throwing twenty dollar bills at them. At least you wouldn't have a bunch of junk...do you see the Oreos? And the chips? Chips of all kinds? Some chips are even masquerading as veggies. Veggie chips. Right.

The score: Costco one hundred and fifty-five. The voice of reason zero.

PS I hate to admit this but I am not actually the voice of reason. The Sun Chips were my purchase and probably other junk food too.

WOULDN'T THIS BE FUN, TO OWN THIS?

Now, I ask you, wouldn't this be fun to own? Maybe for just a week or two. It would be a parking nightmare though; maybe you wouldn't be parking it anywhere with lines, like a shopping mall. More likely by corals and fields, with horses and cowboy boots, caked with horse doo doo.

But, it did have such a nice feel, there for a minute, didn't it?

But the horse doo doo? Even with only a single "doo," well, that changes things, doesn't it?

So maybe never mind.

SHOPPING WITH THE DIVAS

Today I went shopping with the Divas.One of the divas loved these shoes. Too bad the mother said no.And no again.Another of the divas loved these shoes and since she's the mother she said yes. She said, "I bought this for you for Christmas." Oh joy. Luckily it will go with my fur lamps.

Then the divas found the sunglasses.

It didn't matter to them that they weren't real sunglasses.Or even on right side up.

"You can have that outfit but you must save it for school."

"SCHOOL? It's only June twenty-fifth!" It was a fun day with the Divas. Call me anytime, girls. I'll meet you for more adventures.

And...in case you are hungry, this salad is on my cookbook blog, here. It doesn't look great, but it is. I promise.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

They came to retrieve their dogs. The vacation was fun, they said, but they missed the puppies.

Are we ready to go yet, huh? Huh? Huh?Good-bye dogs. Be good boys.

I'm going to take a little nap on the way home.

This is the hard part, seeing them drive away. And not because of the dogs, either. Well, maybe a little bit because of the dogs, but mostly because of the kids.

And they forgot to take their pineapple. I think they should drive back down and get it.

And go to J-Dawg again.

And Costco--after all twice in two days is hardly enough.

And then they should move here.

"UP," THE MOVIE, AND ALSO A PLACE TO LOOK FOR COMFORT

These little people took me

to the movie "UP" last week. They were delightful.

The movie was delightful, too.

It was funny and a bit sad too.
It had high adventure.
And the cone of shame.

The movie was about friendship and

loyalty but it was about loss, too.

Today was a day of loss for us. A sad day. A day for contemplation and faith in Heavenly Father and believing him when he makes promises.

If you are having a sad day/month/year/life, remember that God loves you and is watching over you. He is sad at your sadness but He knows that everything will be all right, even when it's not. I find it hard to believe some days, like today, but deep in my heart I know it is true.

God loves you. He loves me and my family. He wants us all to be happy. Even when we are sad. Like today.

FUNNY THINGS I SAW TODAY

One of the first things a young boy wants to learn to do--once he learns he is "a man"--is to learn to spit. Have you ever seen a youngster trying to spit? There is no way I could describe it, spit dribbling off the chin, and all. But soon, too soon. they have mastered the skill and, it seems, it never departs.

As evidenced by the retired gentleman I watched today. He shuffled to the mail box. It took a while. Just before he got there--I was now thinking of him as a dear old soul--he spit. So much for the dear old soul, bit. Wow, could that old feller spit.

We drove to Salt Lake today and on the freeway we passed a plumbing van. I was bored and so read all the things written on the back. Just as it got interesting and I was reaching for my camera he took an exit. Here's what it said: "Courteous, Clean, No surprises. We wear belts. Cash back if you see a crack."

This is on my cookbook blog tonight. It was very tasty. Everyone at dinner pronounced it good. And if you are into food storage, most of the ingredients are things you can have in your pantry/basement/bomb shelter or under the bed. Where is your food storage kept?

Mexican Casserole.

PS I couldn't do without tweezers. I explained in the Mexican Casserole post. It is one of the four things I hate about growing old:

1. A turkey gobbler neck

2. Eye Boogers (Do you remember that comic strip in Bloom County where they called Eye Boogers "the great social equalizer?" One of the characters--was it Opus?--said, "even the Pope has them."

3. Dirty eye glasses

4. And chin hairs.

But I should have added #5. Bat wings. Every woman over the age of forty knows what I mean. If you know a remedy please let me know. I could probably sail a good distance.

WHY NO FATHER'S DAY GIFT?

Our ward always presents the mother's with a flower for Mother's Day. It's usually a geranium. One year it was a basil plant. After Sacrament Meeting the Young Men and Young Women bring the flowers in to all the women age 18 and older. My geranium is planted in a pot out front and is blooming nicely.

Here it is:

And here are some of it's buddies:

(These photos were taken in the dark of night and they are terrible but I never seem to plan ahead.)

When Father's Day rolled around this year there was nothing for the fathers in our ward. Years ago I volunteered to make caramels for all the men. I did that for several years. Once I made all of them in one week and was nearly dead by Sunday--the bishop kept saying, "No, Lynne, I can't let you do that." By the time he finally agreed he didn't realize that he put me in a terrible time crunch. The next year I started earlier and the following two years we had ten of the women in the ward help wrap. Those were the easiest years ever.

I think the men enjoy being recognized but the last two years, when I have volunteered to make caramels, I didn't hear back so I assumed there was some other plan. Next year I'm not going to ask. I'm just gong to do it by myself. How's that for feisty? I think the men need to be recognized for their great contribution as father's. Don't you think? I know the women will help me cut and wrap. After all, I think their husbands share.

And then a funny side note. One of these fathers, sitting behind me in Sunday School fell asleep four times during class. He snored! I had to use all my self control to keep from snickering. A little caramel would have kept him awake, I'm sure of it. Not that he would have eaten any during church, but still.

We had a family dinner planned here but it was Phil's first day with the new BYU ward and he was there about eight hours. Plus the weather has been nothing but rain for weeks. So we postponed. We will have a family dinner here in a couple of weeks. The two of us ate dinner and then both of us crashed and slept before Phil had to go back for family prayer so it was a quiet Father's Day for Phil, but a good one. I am very grateful that he is the father of my children and I love him very much. I know the children do too.

Happy late Father's Day to one and all.