Go Pink for October!!

Coverpop: Pink for October
Originally uploaded by krazydad / jbum

This is a photo of all the websites that went pink for October last year. I did it. You can do it too!

Let's all GO PINK for October!

Friday is my 6 year "cancer-versary!" Yay me!

Great recipe...for fun!

• Start with two wacky neighbors. In this case, we used Emily & Hayley.
  

• If you can't find a plain blue wall, simply make your own. Ours is tinted a morning sky blue.
  

• Add some paint (your choice of colors). 
  

• Add a Taylor.
  

• Mix in some Allison.
  

• Watch a mural come to life.
  

We did this all in one afternoon. One more blitz painting day and we should be good to go.

Gnomes and snakes and bugs, oh my!

Stay tuned for more pics!

Wordless Wednesday - Who lives here?

Don't forget to smile today.

I had an appointment early this morning (well, early for me). My little dog, Lucy, insisted on coming with me. As always, I tell her to wait in the car. This is "in the car" to her.

It's always funny to see people notice Lucy sitting regally on the car, and then they smile. I watched several people drive by and do just that.
 
Don't forget to appreciate the little things that make you smile today.

Remember T.G.&Y.???

I stumbled upon this huge pile of papers in a warehouse I was showing a few days ago. Since I am always looking for blog fodder, I couldn't resist. I grabbed the Living Section and stuck it under my arm. Both the people who were with me were looking at me like I was nuts. 

I was delighted to find the date on the paper to be 1977. A very nice vintage, indeed. And, oddly enough, also on my hubby's birthday. I will tell you that he was born in 1959, and I was 11 in 1977, but none of that matters to this particular blog. 

Who doesn't remember T.G.&Y.? I got my first real album there. My grandfather took me to the T.G.&Y. in Durango, CO and told me I could have anything I wanted. To his dismay, I picked a Beatles album. I seem to remember he said something about boys with girls haircuts. But, that is also not part of this blog. 

I love that T.G.&Y. was way ahead of the game. They offered "excitement by the yard". Sounds like a bad email campaign for adding length to your, well, you know what I'm talking about. OOPS. Distracted again.

Wow. Doubleknit polyester. The textures and weaves in many colors inspire nimble fingers. Hard to resist. 

I know all about the seersucker coordinates. My Mom used to make lovely mix 'n match outfits and dress my little brother, TJ, & I in them. (Photos here!)


Exactly what is a conversational print? 

"Say, Betty, I love the big daisies on that outfit of yours. You look like just like my garden." 

"Why thanks, Sylvia. It is rich feeling, smooth fabric. Here. Touch it."  
It is the policy of T.G. & Y. to see that you are happy with your purchases. And they took MasterCharge or your BankAmericard.

So, the real question is this: Anybody remembers what T.G.&Y. stands for? Or did you make up something like TJ & I did? 

Wordless Wednesday: WHERE IS IT?

Click to play: WHERE IS IT?

Do I look fun, or what?

I must have been mad because I was not 21 yet, and I lost my fake ID.
Or maybe because the only color combination in my closet was a red jumpsuit and a teal jacket.
But probably I was upset because I'm obviously not a real blonde.

Do I look like I'm fun, or what?

A simple cup of coffee is all I want.

I'm staying at my sis-in-law's house in Montecito for a day or two of R&R. It was all R&R with the swimming pool, the gym, the steam shower, the feather beds. That is, until (cue music - dunh dunh duh) I just wanted a cup of coffee this morning.
Meet the Jura Capresso Impressa Z5

What the hell am I supposed to do with this? . Well, I can tell you, I'm not impressa at all. There are more knobs on this damn thing than my double oven at home (you can't even see the top of the machine). And four spouts, one with a cord hanging off it. It's WAY bigger than a bread box. Just a simple cup of coffee is all I'd like.
Filtered water? CHECK.
Coffee beans? CHECK.
Plugged in? CHECK.

I searched drawers for the owner's manual. Surely it came with one of those. This is, after all, the same sister-in-law who had the dub-dub-dub-dot incident. No luck, but I did find a menu for a tasty Thai restaurant on Milpas in Santa Barbara. And an odd drawing of something that claims to be Pee-Wee Herman, and, while cute, looks nothing like Pee-Wee. My kingdom for a scanner so I could show you what I mean.

I even called Mad back in Ohio to see how to operate this foreign machine. She had a dentist appointment this am and hasn't gotten back to me, so I am obviously on my own.

Oh wait! It's doing...something. Flashing the red digital readout for the correct time. Well, I already know what time it is. It's time for me to have a cup of coffee!!!!! I finally got the lights to respond to me by pushing buttons, and it claimed that it was ready. I put my coffee underneath three of the spouts (I want a BIG cup of coffee). All of a sudden, the light changed from coffee ready to rinsing. And then it spit out about 2 Tablespoons of some curiously greenish hot water into my awaiting cup. I don't know what it is, but I sure ain't drinking it. Not even with sugar in it.

Obviously, I threw it in the sink, rinsed out my cup (what was making it green?) and placed my cup back where it was. The light came on (for the inside of my cup, perhaps because it is afraid of the dark?) The machine started to make noise. I pushed the button that denotes a big cup of coffee.

Lo & behold, I finally got coffee. It filled up my cup halfway. It's a good thing that I had my "one cup" underneath both spouts, because liquid is coming out of both of them. Except it is leaving an interesting film on the top of my coffee.

As I was doing this, I was also searching for the owner's manual on-line. Care to guess how many pages it is? 35 pages. That is to make coffee. I feel like John Travolta from Pulp Fiction when Vincent Vega and Mrs. Mia Wallace are out at Jack Rabbit Slims and Mia oreders a $5 milkshake. Vincent has to try it when the waiter (Buddy Holly) brings it to the table. His statement is priceless: "I don't know if it's worth $5, but it's a pretty f-ing good milkshake".

Now the red digital light read out says "coffee ready - filter change". I wonder if I just unplug it and plug it back in if it will stop flashing red lights at me. The only problem with that is that Madelyn reads my blog, so she is going to know it was me who didn't change the filter. I couldn't even imagine how to do it, or where the filters would be.

So, as I sit here, sipping my coffee finally, I have to admit, it's pretty f-ing good.

Except I can't find the sugar. There is some of that Stevia stuff, but I'm wary. Oh wait. Remember the cheesey-cake incident? I think I should stop looking through the kitchen. Right. Now.

Madelyn just returned my call. She told me there is a back-up coffee press in one of the cabinets. She also said that the filter is changed on the monster, but she doesn't know how to make the message go away. I'm going to unplug it and see if that works.

I think my back-up coffee plan is going to be backing up to The Coffee Bean and ordering a coffee for my second cup. It's really much less stress.

Care to take a guess as to how much this machine retails for????? (no googling)


AHA! I think I know what I was doing wrong. I don't have clear glass cups. That must be the problem!

I'm off to Coffee Bean. Have a spectacular day!

Things I learned in Mexico

This past weekend, I went on a fabulous retreat with 5 other breast cancer survivors (big shout out to Patricia, Desiree, Connie, Lisa & Jane), and our fabulous hosts (thanks Budge, Lorraine, Kim & Alan!) We were northeast of Cabo San Luis on the Sea of Cortez. I feel nurtured and refreshed. It was a little bit of euphoria (this week's improg word!) I wanted to share some important things I learned.



Turns out, the sun rises here, also.

Turquoise-Blue-My-Mind toenail polish looks best with sand.

Turtles swim a lot faster than you would think.

An ATV is better than a TV.

Yoga is doable here.

Palapas is just a fun word to say.

My Turquoise-Blue-My-Mind toenails matched our fabulous lunch spot.

Lighthouses need love too.

Margarita glasses should always be stored in the freezer.

This was a great spot to read a Confederacy of Dunces.

The people who name toenail polish should name tropical storms. 

"Lowell" is a stupid name for a storm.

Things I've Learned Today

• Donuts are still great for breakfast.
  
• Amtrak has great customer service.  
• Having headphones on means that even if the drunk guy sitting across from you keeps talking to you, you can pretend you can't hear him, even if you can. 
• The cost of taxi cabs has gone up with the cost of gas.
• The cost of a taxi cab from LA's Union Station to an airport near LAX is more than twice what the Amtrak ticket was (and my coupon was for 10% off the regular train fare). 
• When you ask the guy at the front desk for change and hand him a $20, don't expect to get a $10, a $5 and 5 $1's, because 2 $10's are also change for a $20. 
• Hotel TV's always have their commercials programmed louder than the actual TV program.
• Cultural TV means that you can watch re-runs of Andy Griffith in Japanese with subtitles, Cops in Spanish, Infomercials in at least 2 different languages (one of which you can't identify), and still can't find anything to watch.
• I'm looking forward to the plane ride tomorrow so that I can start reading the book that my friend AssMunch loaned me: A Confederacy of Dunces. 
• I'm glad I remembered my passport.
• I'm really looking forward to the Cleavage Creek Cellars retreat in Mexico this weekend (my Cab Syrah release date is October 4!)
• I miss my hubby and my dogs already. 

 And now, I am done blogging until Tuesday, as I don't think I am going to get internet service where I am staying in Mexico. 

Over and out! Hasta luego! 

Wordless Wednesday & Thematic Photographic: WATER+

Sunrise

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Dub and Dubber

Let me just start out by saying how much I love my sister-in-law, Madelyn!!!!! She is smart, gorgeous, funny and tons of fun to be around. We always end up laughing so hard soda comes out our noses.  

She just recently got a mac computer also. I was visiting her and we were sitting on the couch like Beauty and the Computer Nerd (guess which one I am). We both had our laptops balanced on our laps. Our conversation went something like this: 

Computer Nerd: "Go to Safari  - there is a great website I have to show you."

Beauty: "Okay, I'm there, now what?" 

Computer Nerd: "Type in dub-dub-dub.[insert website name here]."
Beauty: "It didn't find the site."

I looked over and this is what I found in her nav bar: 

See? Now you have a reason for soda to come out your nose too. 

Please go clean your screen. 

And yes, this is the same sister-in-law who made the cheesey-cake. 

It's worth the read, if you don't remember the interview. 

I just adore you, Madelyn!