Questions...

If you had a half hour before slightly unexpected company was to show, would you rather your house was spotless or yourself stunning?

Why isn't marathon housecleaning a recognized Olympic Sport?

Why do I work up a greater sweat cleaning the house than I do actually working out?

And why are there only a handful of friends that understand that when you ask, "Just be sure to give me a call far enough ahead so that I can be ready." Thank God for that particular friend today who called two and a half hours ahead to ask if I wanted to go shopping with her.

Gotta hop in the shower now. AND wrestly with my gosh-awful hair. Wish me luck. Buh-bye!

I have a love/hate relationship with...

my hair. I know. I know. I know it sounds silly to refer to my hair as having anthropomorphic properties, but it's true. My hair has a freakin' mind of its own.

It doesn't matter what hair cut, the shampoos, conditioners, or styling products that I pamper it with. I've done everything from pampering and babying it by using little to no styling product to torturing the heck out of it with blow dryers, curling irons, perms, highlights, temporary colors. You name it and I've probably tried it at some time in my 30 odd (yes, they were pretty odd indeed) years.

There are only four times when my hair ever looks good: (1) At the hairdresser, (2) For no more than three minutes after I fix it, (3) When I have nowhere to go and no desire to try going out anyway (4) Immediately after my hair overhears me making an appointment with my stylist -and for every day until I go to the stylist.

What's particularly interesting about instance (4) is that if I should cancel my appointment because my hair has been looking just too perfect to cut/perm/lighten/whatever it will immediately begin to taunt me again. An odd flippy little curl here. Hair curling under where it should be curling up. Too flat. Too fluffy. Frizzy as heck. Flips to the right when it should flip to the left. Hangs straight down when it's meant to wave gently down over my eyebrow. Parts itself down the middle, eventhough I ALWAYS part it on the side. Too straight. Too curly. Too wavy. Won't wave. Escapes every hair fastener known to woman kind -though I have considered Super Glue or Gorilla Glue on occasion. Just hangs there heavily. I think you get the picture.

So here I am again. At war with my hair. Just had it trimmed a couple of weeks ago. It's already acting up. But what can I do? I can't go cutting off my hair to spite my ....hair. It's a love/hate relationship. It really is.

Our Very First Monday Mayberry Moment

And as the weekend went on I was getting a little anxious about this weekly feature. Would I always have something entertaining to exemplify the Mayberry (dare I say it) Culture? Well, little did I know late Sunday afternoon...


Let me set the scene: It's a humid Sunday afternoon and we're out doing yard work. We know we'll have to go in soon because thunder has begun to rumble in the distance, though there's no sign of lightning yet. Small son is swinging his broom around like a samurai every time Daddy's not looking and Mom is just constantly pushing her hair off her face while she weeds.

The neighbors across the street leave. The nice elderly ones, with the disabled husband who thinks my hubby is just wonderful ever since the time he helped them load a dresser onto their pickup without being asked. The same neighbors who have told me that no one should ever be at their house when they're not home. Not even their children because a couple of them are overly covetous of some of their parent's antiques and light fingered too, apparently.

Ten minutes later, a beat up multi colored (not the sort of crap you see in my neighborhood) pickup truck pulls up and drives through their gates into their yard. Hubby looks at me. I look at him. We both know no one is supposed to be there. But there is one son who IS allowed there. He's the GOOD SON. We couldn't see who was driving. We don't know what he looks like. We only know that the bad son has a beard. I take a walk down to the end of the block and turn around and head back to our house trying to surreptitiously look over/through the fence. I'm too short. I can't see anything but the top of a baseball bat and a guy digging through a tool box in the bed of the ratty pickup.

I go back to the house and call the sheriff. I explain very carefully all of the info that Miz Jeannie (everybody down here is Miz this or Mr. that) had passed on. I explained that I couldn't be certain that it wasn't the good son, but I'd just like a deputy to come out and have a look. Dispatch kept me on the phone the whole time in case the "perpetrators" left.

In mere minutes Betty Fife shows up. She passes right by the house and turns around at the cul de sac and heads back up our way. I'm pointing at the white house, she still almost stops at my house. She gets out with A RIFLE. She approaches the "suspect" at GUN POINT.

Meanwhile, I'm having major second thoughts and a minor panic that maybe this guy is just her son and is going to be pissed that I sent Betty Fife and her one bullet after him. I'm envisioning being retaliated against by this guy sometime at 3:30 in the morning when hubby has already left. Now another deputy pulls up in an unmarked blazer. Now another. Now another. Now there are four deputies (Gomer, Goober, Floyd, Barney) and Betty Fife has still got them in the rifle site. Sometimes I'm not nearly INVISIBLE enough.

One deputy comes across to me and says these guys are not her sons and that they claim they're supposed to be there because Miz Jean and Mr. Jim are selling them their pickup. I know nothing about this. The deputy says this guy is known trouble around town (F'in' great -just who I need to come back and retaliate) but I'm not to worry because they're telling him he'd better not come near me and cause any trouble (oh good! Give him ideas he might not have already thought of). Deputy Floyd wants to know if I know where Miz Jean might have gone. I tell him, they basically never go anywhere but Walmart or the VFW. They send a Deputy to go find Miz Jean and ask if these guys are supposed to be there.

Two hours later (or so it seemed) Miz Jean comes home. The first thing she says to me is, "Ya know. I tol' Jim Ah Shoulda tolt youuuuu that them bowyz was gonna be comin' up in heah." Then she says, "But you done right. I tole youuuuu to call the shairf if'n anybody shows up here when I ain't home." Then she proceeds to apologize to those boys (as did I) by saying, "I'm sorry y'all but she looks out for me. Ya know she's from New Jersey and they's a whole lot more crime up there than here." I guess she thinks New Jersey is the crime capital of the country. Little does she know I lived across the street from a feed farm and a green house and down the corner from a horse farm.

I present to you, the first Monday Mayberry Moment and certify that it is absolutely correct and as wildly hilarious as it seems. I still can't believe Betty Fife approached with Rifle drawn.

"God forbid a bus runs you over and you wasted your final morning washing dishes you'd never again use."

I read the above line (titling my post) in "Hearse of a Different Color" by Tim Cockey (btw good book so far). And all I could think was, "What are you crazy? The last time someone sees your house it will be a mess."

And eventhough I have occasionally left a sink full of dishes to do something more fun or interesting, I've never been comfortable with it. I just keep worrying that someone will pop in and see the house a wreck. Or I'll pull into the driveway only to find I've an uninvited guest sitting there waiting for me -my dirty dishes looming in the kitchen. I don't even like to have the clean dishes sitting in the dishwasher when I have company.

Am I neurotic? It's not as if I'm obsessive compulsive about housekeeping (let's face it, I spend way too much time blogging and reading blogs). I just can't help worrying about what others think. Even when the house is clean and my company has arrived, I'm suddenly noticing dust on the textured ceiling or that I should have bleached the dining room curtains -things that when I point them out to my husband he just says, "What? I don't see it." Does everybody notice these things in someone else's house? In your own house? I don't think I notice these things in anyone else's house. Only my own. And it makes me crazy.

Only in America (maybe -my European guests will have to let me know in the comments, won't they?)

* Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
* Only in America......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
* Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
* Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
* Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
* Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.
* Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

EVER WONDER .....
* Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
* Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
* Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
* Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
* Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
* Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
* Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
* Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
* Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
* You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
* Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
* Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
* If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
* If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Monday will begin my first weekly feature -Mayberry Moments which should include some particular examples of just what Mayberry 2004 is like. Pop in for the first installment.

Dialogue overheard at a fast food drive through...

"Excuse me sir, could I bum a cigarette off ya?" by a fat greasy looking employee to the guy in front of me in line at the drive through. Yeah, I'd be willin' to be that guy came here to loan you a cigarette buddy. Phffff.

What a couple of schmos we are..or I am

So today we went back to take our walk again. To the same park. We found a different trail. A nice paved one (unlike Wednesday's trail to hell and back). With little benches to stop and rest and put on a band-aid if you get a blister. If you get far enough along the path, you come into the next little excuse for a town and there's a general store within view of the path where you could go get a bottle of water if you were foolish enough to start out without one. There are other people on the path to make you feel you're not alone in the wilderness -actually I think their purpose in being there was excercise, not to help us feel more secure, but heck it made me feel better to see other people.

We walked 30 minutes in one direction and then turned back. I had promised to get home by 9:00 a.m. for Pokemon and Yugi-oh cartoons. And 8 year old legs start aching after about 5000 steps. Total steps for todays walk: 7123 and I haven't even run my errands (library, church bulletin board, pick up a video for tonight) or done my housework (more laundry and more dusting -what else is new?) yet. I just can't remember how many extra steps per day they say you should take. I've decided to try walking every Mon, Wed, Fri for at least an hour and work out at home on Tues, Thurs, and Sat. On the seventh day she rests.

Tonight we're having leftover pizza. I don't know what I was thinking ordering two extra large pies for the three of us. I must have been remembering when hubby's cousin and brother lived in the apartment downstairs up North and we'd always invite them up when we ordered pizza. So we have one extra pie plus to extra slices left over from Wednesday night. I'll heat it in the oven on my pizza stone -I hate microwaved pizza. I'm also going to make some homemade rice pudding for hubby just to spoil him because I know I'm a pain in the ass sometimes, even if he never complains.

Okay, off to get dressed for errands (and put makeup on so I don't scare anybody). Have a good day.

Oh my achin' legs

So, yesterday the kid and I went to the nearby shady well treed park to take a walk for excercise and to get some nice nature pics -we love that. We started out on a trail marked TRAIL 1. We walked and walked and walked and walked and sweated and sweated and sweated and sweated and got extremely thirsty.

Let me explain, where we come from in NJ, there's a trail around the reservoir which winds around back on itself. That trail is somewhere between 5 and 8 miles. The path is well beaten and even has a little gravel beaten in. And you always know how to get back. It's very well marked and has benches every mile or so. You often see other groups of people walking. At the half way mark there's even a porta potty, or if you continue another mile there's a regular bathroom by the boat ramps. We expected this trail to be the same.

Also, because we hadn't walked in quite some time, and we're still not used to this oppressive heat, we had decided to walk for only an hour. HAH! HAH, I say. These freakin' trails were not well marked, they even occasionally branched off and you weren't sure which way to go. Suddenly we come upon a sign for TRAIL 4, but no sign anywhere of how to continue on TRAIL 1. We were foolishly still expecting TRAIL 1 to wind back on itself. We were also hesitant to back track because there was a 1/4 mile stretch where the path was overgrown with grass and on either side was swamp. I'm sure I heard a gator growl back in those trees. Hot or not, we ran through that section. There were no benches and with the Florida innumerable insects that can injure/kill/maim you (slight exaggeration) we weren't about to cop a squat on the grass or any of the termite infested stumps and logs.

We were finally so desperate (after encountering the next trail sign which was TRAIL 7) that we did turn around and go trudging back. At that point we'd already walked for more than an hour. At the end of the hike, when we finally returned gratefully to the air conditioned comfort of the minivan, we had walked 18,069 steps. I think that equals all the excercise for the week -okay maybe not, but I do ache that bad. Got a blister on the back of my heel. I was convinced forest rangers would one day find our half gator eaten corpses.

We're going again tomorrow.

Yesterday, for obvious reasons, I didn't cook dinner. I drove to the BIG TOWN 20 minutes away and picked up Papa John's Pizza. We went to the prayer meeting with hubby last night and came home and went to bed early.

Today I'm cooking Kielbasa and Sauerkraut Soup. My own special recipe. FYI, Amanda, it does not contain cooked tomatoes or spinach.

Later people.

Tomato Tortellini Soup

This is what I made for dinner last night. I made everything in just one pot. It will serve six to eight. I made fresh yeast rolls to go with it. We were stuffed on one bowl each and two small yeast rolls.

1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Large Tomato diced finely, most seeds removed
1 1/2 c. Coarsely grated carrot
1 c. frozen spinach defrosted, drained and chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. Chili Powder (I use that in almost everything)
1 tsp. Thyme
1 tsp. Dry Basil or 6 fresh leaves chopped finely
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp salt
2 cups Chicken Broth
2 cups water
4 cups tomato sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch plus 2 tbsp cold water blended thoroughly.
2 packages fresh tortellini or tortelloni -I used one chicken and one four chees


Heat olive oil into bottom of dutch oven. Add tomato, garlic, spices, and salt. Cook over medium heat until tomatoes soften then toss in carrots. Saute mixture for 10 minutes. (Meanwhile you can boil and drain your tortellini and set aside to cool) Add spinach and simmer over medium heat for ten minutes. Add Chicken Broth. Increase heat to medium high. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and water. Stir to blend. Over medium high heat bring mixture to a boil stirring constantly. Add cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until returned to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for at least ten minutes. Add tortellini and cook until heated through.

The good thing about this recipe is that you can make the broth/base early in the day and then just warm it up and throw your tortellini into the pot about 20 minutes before you want to eat. You could probably even make the base a day or two ahead and add the tortellini the day you want to eat it.

I sprinkle fresh grated parmesan just when I serve it. If I had some fresh basil around I would garnish with a leaf. Buon Appetito!

I feel better

I feel better now so I'll be takin' the kid to the park. We need to walk. Ah excercise. And get out of the house -after days of sitting home like invalids.

I also have wallpaper to strip from the walls. Don't know if that'll get done today or not. Somehow I doubt it. It'll probably be set aside in favor of laundry.

What can I make for dinner tonight? I'd like to do something new and creative with boneless skinless chicken, but I'm really feeling burnt out on chicken. Last night I made an awesome tomato tortellini soup -we'll have the leftovers tomorrow night.

Maybe I'll post the recipe later? Or maybe I'll go take a nap. LOL

Not so Good Morning

Last week it was the attack of the yellow jackets. Fathers' Day it was a virus for Daddy. Yesterday I developed a toothache in the afternoon. I took some aspirin. It didn't help. I used some Orajel. It didn't help. I didn't feel up to eating. I took more aspirin. It still ached. I ate 1/4 cup of the lovely pasta and vegetable saute that I put together for dinner. At bedtime I took some leftover painkiller from my last trip to the dentist. My stomach started bothering me. Felt acidy and bloaty. Threw up all night. Didn't get to sleep until around 3 or 3:30 this morning. Hubby called to check on me at 7:20. My tummy still feels sick.

I feel like such a whiner. All of my posts for the last week are lamentations. I'm going to lose all of my readers. ALONG WITH MY LUNCH. BLECH!

In other news, snails are destroying my zinnias and the more bee/wasp/yellow jacket/hornet nests I destroy the more I seem to encounter.

UPDATE (can't you just hear that annoying music they play when they have an important news bulletin?) I'm feeling much better now. I took a nap. I ate some dry toast. A little while ago I tried a half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on toast (Thank you Amanda). I am healthy and rosy cheeked now. I wish I could say the same about my extended family.

Poor Daddy

My poor hubby got hit hard by a virus just in time for Fathers' Day. Achy all over, fever, stomach upset, etc. This from the man who never gets more than a minor cold. All my plans for spoiling him were sort of pushed to the wayside. Sure I was attentive, but it was that no-fun-at-all worried kind of attentiveness.

We still gave him his gifts, but the special dinner wasn't eaten and we didn't take any special trip like I'd been thinking to do. He went to work this morning and I hope he's feeling better. Yesterday around 7:00 p.m. he had started feeling better, but his fever was back again by 11:00 p.m., though not nearly as high as it had been. I packed a bunch of medicine into his lunch box in case of a relapse. I'd better call and see if he needs anything -he'd pass out at work before he'd ever admit he was too sick to keep working.

Later.

Yellow Jacket Hell -The Madness Continues

So yesterday, (damn that itches) after posting to let y'all know (just let me scratch...)what's going on, I took off for (freakin' A I can't stop itching) the big town 20 miles away. In my search for a Dunkin' Donuts (wonder what I could use to effectively scratch these damn stings without actually tearing my skin from my body), I found a whole other side to that town - A pet store where they carry (has anyone ever lost their mind from itching?) Kitty's special food for cats with sensitive stomach, A Dunkin' Donuts, at least five REAL restaurants -and I'm not talking Mickey D's or BK or KFC, etc., (Benadryl cream take me away) a couple of department stores.

I also began itching ALOT -in case you haven't noticed. What really sucks is that these bites still freakin' hurt. A couple are still swollen. Benadryl does help, but only if I take the full dosage -which knocks me out. I'm a MOM. I'm not allowed to be knocked out. Bad enough I slept 'til almost 10:00 this morning because of the last dose of benadryl.

I'd like to behave like a child (or some men) and just lay around and whine all day about how miserable I am. If I do that the house won't get cleaned and nobody would bother to warm up the chicken and dumplings I defrosted from Monday's leftovers. They'd eat donuts and scrambled eggs. They'd leave the clean dishes in the dishwasher and the wet clothes in the washer -yeah I already started cleaning the house. Nobody would rinse out the coffee pot and set it up for tomorrow morning. Our clothes for church would remain wrinkled on the hangers. And I'd be miserable looking at the mess. See ya later I've got a house to clean.

BTW -HAPPY FATHERS' DAY to those to whom it may apply! Spoil Dad tomorrow -whether he deserves it or not. =D

I'm on the Warpath

I used to be a nice, be considerate of nature, we're all God's creatures kind of gal. NOT ANYMORE.

At least not as that applies to bees, wasps, yellow jackets, etc. Yesterday, I was out watering my azaleas and was attacked by a swarm of bees that were nesting IN THE GROUND nearby. They apparently do not like water. They stung me and stung me repeatedly and would not get off of me. AND IT HURT.

I ran screaming and shaking out my shirt QUITE CARTOONLIKE, though it wasn't funny at the time, into my house. I still had bees attached to me. I screamed hysterically to my son to find the wasp spray under the sink. I was crying and sobbing and couldn't catch my breath. I'd already been stung seven times. I was ripping my clothes off because several were still attached and still stinging me. When I finally thought I was safe I sent my son to get the first aid kit.

I began rummaging through the kit for bee sting treatment packs. I found we were woefully low on beesting packs -guess no one expects you to get multiple stings on a single occasion. I began crying again because it hurt and burned so incredibly badly and everything was swelling up hugely. Then it happened -one more bee was apparently inside the sleeve of my shirt and he stung me. I went crazy wrenching that shirt off of me and searching for more bees. He flew to the ceiling and hover around the light fixtures. I sprayed the crap out of him.

Today I'm going downtown to Wally World and stocking up with an arsenal of bee and wasp killer and traps and everything else. Every bee is going to get it. To hell with pollenating my plants. I'll do it myself. I want their blood -do bees have blood?

Finally an e-mail "myth" that has a little truth to it

A friend sent me an e-mail that advises against purchasing toothpaste from Dollar Stores. I checked it out on Snopes.com and it seems it is true, but to really be fully informed you should read the article thoroughly. Apparently only toothpaste from certain countries of origin are a problem. Do yourself a favor and click on the Snopes.com link, DOLLAR STORE TOOTHPASTE MAY BE POISON

Is it bedtime yet?

I'm getting too old for this. I stayed up 'til 3:00 in the morning reading a book and watching my cat. I've been twice as worried about my 16 year old cat ever since Scooterdeb's kitty died the other day. Her cat was 17.

Last night when I went in the bathroom, next to kitty I found an odd little drop of liquid that looked like it had a bloody tint. I wasn't sure if it came from kitty. I didn't see any other signs that it came from her, but I couldn't imagine where else it came from. Kitty seemed like she was breathing kind of funny, although I could be imagining things. So I sat with her for the longest time petting her.

The next thing I knew it was 1:30 in the morning and I was wide awake. I decided to read and ended up finishing the novel at 2:30 a.m. I clicked on the TV and watched some old rerun of something or other until I dozed off around 3:00 a.m. I'm so tired and feel so lazy. I missed Mass this morning. I'm Catholic so now I'm feeling very guilty -and I have a responsibility to take care of the church bulletin board on Thursdays after Mass, now I'll have to get up early tomorrow and do it.

And the day has only just begun...

Surprise Surprise I actually DO use my brain (once in a while anyway).

Check Your BRAIN USAGE PROFILE

I originally found this test over at Amanda's site. I can't remember where she found it, but if you click the link at the top it'll take you to Mind Media which hosts the test.

Your Brain Usage Profile:

Auditory : 40%
Visual : 60%
Left : 47%
Right : 52%


HRLADY, you exhibit an even balance between left- and right- hemisphere dominance and a slight preference for visual over auditory processing. With a score this balanced, it is likely that you would have slightly different results each time you complete this self-assessment quiz. You are a well-rounded person, distinctly individualistic and artistic, an active and multidimensional learner. At the same time, you are logical and disciplined, can operate well within an organization, and are sensitive towards others without losing objectivity. You are organized and goal-directed. Although a "thinking" individual, you "take in" entire situations readily and can act on intuition. You sometimes tend to vacillate in your learning styles. Learning might take you longer than someone of equal intellect, but you will tend to be more thorough and retain the material longer than those other individuals. You will alternate between logic and impulse. This vacillation will not normally be intentional or deliberate, so you may experience anxiety in situations where you are not certain which aspect of yourself will be called on. With a slight preference for visual processing, you tend to be encompassing in your perceptions, process along multidimensional paths and be active in your attacking of situations or learning. Overall, you should feel content with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself -- and of others -- while maintaining an "openness" which tempers that tendency. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity may not be in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, obvious and the more functional .

When I first thought about taking the test I thought, "I doubt I'll learn anything new here, but surprisingly it did make me realize some things about myself. Why not give it a shot yourself. Let me know how ya do.

NJ has about 15 different kinds of bugs...

FREAKIN' FLORIDA has about 715.

AND THEY'RE ALL OUT TO RUIN MY GARDEN AND/OR EAT ME ALIVE!!!!!!!

Search Me!?!?!?

JOLLY T.I. TIRE CHANGER (Google)

I couldn't begin to tell you what that is. A local tire shop???

A Favor for a Friend and a whole bunch of elderly people

I received the following plea for help via my long time friend Julie who is working with some elderly in Winter Garden, Florida. Read everything within and then please click on the link and vote according to what will most help these Seniors.

> > For those who don't know, since I graduated from college a few months
>ago,
> > I have been working with a group of senior citizens in Winter Garden,
> > Florida, who live in a mobile home park called Trailer City, that is
>owned
> > by the City of Winter Garden, FL (the municipality). There are 159
>mobile
> > homes there (1950's to new models, most all are more than 20 years old
>but
> > good condition), and 209 people living therein. The City Manager and
> > Mayor have made it their personal mission to close down this park in
>eight
> > years or less, which is just about the time the younger residents will
> > really start enjoying retirement if they don't have to take their
>mobiles
> > and go. [I have lived in/around Winter Garden the entire 21 years I've
> > been in FL.] Park residents have been pulled through a knot hole by the
> > City so far, and there is no end in sight to the mistreatment. Of
>course
> > they don't have money to pay lawyers (so far, but fundraising has
>begun).
> >
> > Their park is located on the southern shore of Lake Apopka, Florida's
> > fourth largest lake (read: Big real estate bucks). The City staff
>swears
> > they want to use the land for "public park," but Newton Park next door
>is
> > already extremely under-utilized. Ginn Development Co. recently sold
> > 1-acre lots in their 1900-acre Bella Collina development, ten miles up
>the
> > road; prices for 1 acre were from $300K to over $1 million. Needless to
> > say, senior citizens, disabled, and low-income individuals are virtually
> > powerless to fight off city government and big money developers;
>however,
> > with my newly-earned red cape from Rollins College, I am fighting to
>save
> > the little guy to the best of my newfound ability.
> >
> > So why am I bothering you? :-) You knew I'd get around to it. I'm
>only
> > asking this: Click the link below, the home page for the West Orange
> > Times (Winter Garden's newspaper). Scroll all the way to the bottom,
>and
> > TAKE THE POLL. I ask that you PLEASE SUPPORT TRAILER CITY by voting,
> > "Take no action and leave Trailer City alone." (You can only vote once
> > per PC). Then send this on to every single solitary person in your
>work,
> > home, school, church, scout, community, and family email groups and ask
> > them ALL to do exactly the same thing I've asked you. I don't know how
> > long the poll is up, but I do know the Winter Garden City staff has told
> > every employee to, "Go to every PC in this building and vote to close
> > Trailer City!" Can you imagine, more beating up their own
>residents?????
> > So much for voting on behalf of their constituents.
> >
> > More than 3,500 people have signed petitions in favor of leaving Trailer
> > City alone, but the actions of a few rogue Commissioners (four plus the
> > Mayor, and at least one Commissioner is firmly behind us) are making
>life
> > tough for these folks. Please help us to at least win this battle in
>the
> > Court of Public Opinion.
> >
> > Thank you all VERY MUCH, and remember, scroll to the bottom of the main page to view the poll and VOTE TO TAKE NO ACTION AND LEAVE
> > TRAILER CITY ALONE!
> >
> > VOTE NO ACTION
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Julie Abbott, Founder
> > Friends of Trailer City
> > friendsoftrailercity@yahoo.com

A Favor for a Friend and a whole bunch of elderly people

I received the following plea for help via my long time friend Julie who is working with some elderly in Winter Garden, Florida. Read everything within and then please click on the link and vote according to what will most help these Seniors.

> > For those who don't know, since I graduated from college a few months
>ago,
> > I have been working with a group of senior citizens in Winter Garden,
> > Florida, who live in a mobile home park called Trailer City, that is
>owned
> > by the City of Winter Garden, FL (the municipality). There are 159
>mobile
> > homes there (1950's to new models, most all are more than 20 years old
>but
> > good condition), and 209 people living therein. The City Manager and
> > Mayor have made it their personal mission to close down this park in
>eight
> > years or less, which is just about the time the younger residents will
> > really start enjoying retirement if they don't have to take their
>mobiles
> > and go. [I have lived in/around Winter Garden the entire 21 years I've
> > been in FL.] Park residents have been pulled through a knot hole by the
> > City so far, and there is no end in sight to the mistreatment. Of
>course
> > they don't have money to pay lawyers (so far, but fundraising has
>begun).
> >
> > Their park is located on the southern shore of Lake Apopka, Florida's
> > fourth largest lake (read: Big real estate bucks). The City staff
>swears
> > they want to use the land for "public park," but Newton Park next door
>is
> > already extremely under-utilized. Ginn Development Co. recently sold
> > 1-acre lots in their 1900-acre Bella Collina development, ten miles up
>the
> > road; prices for 1 acre were from $300K to over $1 million. Needless to
> > say, senior citizens, disabled, and low-income individuals are virtually
> > powerless to fight off city government and big money developers;
>however,
> > with my newly-earned red cape from Rollins College, I am fighting to
>save
> > the little guy to the best of my newfound ability.
> >
> > So why am I bothering you? :-) You knew I'd get around to it. I'm
>only
> > asking this: Click the link below, the home page for the West Orange
> > Times (Winter Garden's newspaper). Scroll all the way to the bottom,
>and
> > TAKE THE POLL. I ask that you PLEASE SUPPORT TRAILER CITY by voting,
> > "Take no action and leave Trailer City alone." (You can only vote once
> > per PC). Then send this on to every single solitary person in your
>work,
> > home, school, church, scout, community, and family email groups and ask
> > them ALL to do exactly the same thing I've asked you. I don't know how
> > long the poll is up, but I do know the Winter Garden City staff has told
> > every employee to, "Go to every PC in this building and vote to close
> > Trailer City!" Can you imagine, more beating up their own
>residents?????
> > So much for voting on behalf of their constituents.
> >
> > More than 3,500 people have signed petitions in favor of leaving Trailer
> > City alone, but the actions of a few rogue Commissioners (four plus the
> > Mayor, and at least one Commissioner is firmly behind us) are making
>life
> > tough for these folks. Please help us to at least win this battle in
>the
> > Court of Public Opinion.
> >
> > Thank you all VERY MUCH, and remember, scroll to the bottom of the main page to view the poll and VOTE TO TAKE NO ACTION AND LEAVE
> > TRAILER CITY ALONE!
> >
> > VOTE NO ACTION
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Julie Abbott, Founder
> > Friends of Trailer City
> > friendsoftrailercity@yahoo.com

Yesterday was just a little too domestic for blogging

Got up EARLY and went to Mass yesterday morning. Was mortified when my cell phone, which I was sure was not turned on, rang in the middle of the blessing of the sacraments. Apologized to everyone immediately after Mass. I would still like to crawl into a hole and stay there. I ALWAYS make sure my phone is off and I'm the Smary Pants who gives everyone a dirty look if anyone else's phone rings or they talk during the service. Guess God sent me a dose of humility -anybody can make a mistake once. Rest assured it won't happen to me again.

After church we came home, changed clothes, did a couple of little things and then headed off to the Big Town 20 minutes away and did some shopping. As we were leaving the store the torrential afternoon thunderstorm began and I was completely soaked through before all of the groceries were in the car -still the rain felt really good, even if sitting in soaking wet pants and blouse all the way home was YUCKY.

We left the storm in the BIG TOWN and unloaded our groceries and had a little snack. The crashing lightning began about an hour later -guess it lingered over the big town for a while. Our storm last two hours during which I was preparing a really great new recipe -Shrimp Stuffed Buns- and straightening up the kitchen. The Shrimp Buns went over really well. I'll have to post the recipe.

I finished a pretty entertaining novel by Sarah Strohmeyer, "Bubbles Ablaze". This is the third novel in a series about Bubbles Yablonski a tube top wearing, high heel tottering hairdresser cum investigative reporter. The character is hilarious. The series seems to be quite similar to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. In fact, Janet Evanovich encouraged Strohmeyer in the development of this series. If you've enjoyed Janet Evanovich in the past, go get one Strohmeyer's Bubbles books. Good for a Giggle.

I spoke too soon.

So two days ago I told you our rainy season has finally arrived. I foretold afternoons of lovely crashing thunderstorms. I dreamt of mornings spent over a leisurely cup of coffee reading blogs and writing marvelous posts.

I spoke too soon. No rain yesterday. No rain yet today. And the atmospheric pressure induced such an unbearable sinus headache that I was actually sick to my stomach all night.

I was awake on and off almost the entire night. I hate a headache so bad that you can't even sleep through the pain. And with the vomiting, I couldn't manage to take any more medicine for fear it wouldn't stay down. I finally got a couple of hours sleep around 4:00 a.m. and when I woke up felt brave enough to risk a cup of Sleepytime tea. That seemed to relax me enough to nap a little. I slept 'til 8 and woke with my head still pounding and my son playing remote control cars on the floor next to my head -not a way to get on my good side. Having successfully held down the tea, I got up and took another sinus pill around 9. And slept another three hours. Good thing my son is capable of getting his own breakfast. Now it seems to have subsided -maybe.

Now I'm rushing around trying to get the house clean again because I can't stand walking around in a pigpen and the cleaning fairies failed to show up while I was sick. I'll see you after 4 loads of laundry, one load of dishes, a vacuum marathon, and a Swiffer party in the kitchen. 1 bathroom down, 1 to go.

Rain drops keep fallin' on my head...

Thankfully all of the rain has finally returned. That's right. The Florida rainy/thunderstorm season is back. And I'm thrilled. No more watering the gardens for and hour and a half every morning bright and early. Now I'll give more attention to weed and feed and chillin' in my Air Conditioning.

Seems like a lot of bloggers have slowed down on posts recently and I'm wondering if everyone's got Summeritis or they're just too busy. I've had a small touch of lazyitis recently -at least with regard to the ol' blog. About half of my posts last week were audio, but I really had nothing to say.

Been doing lots of creative cooking lately and gardening, but not much of anything else. I've been thinking of starting a sort of weekly feature here at the ol' blog, but haven't really been able to come up with anything. I would absolutely LOVE suggestions.

THOSE ATKINS DIETERS HAVE REALLY TAKEN THIS TOO FAR

"This Is a Stick-Up! Fry Me Some Eggs!

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - A hungry Argentine thief forced his way into a home on Friday to steal clothes and appliances -- before sitting at the dinner table to demand the captive family cook him a proper meal.

"He ordered a steak and fried eggs. Afterward, he pulled the telephone out and tied the family up," said the porter from the building in a posh neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

The thief then escaped."


06/04/04 16:14

© Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Reuters Ltd.

Make me Breakfast or I'll shoot -hmmm I oughta try that on Hubby and the Kid.

I'm MELTING!

Okay, only kidding. But I am PEELING. And I faithfully slathered on gallons of lotion everyday. This darn sunburn sucks. First it stayed all painful the entire week and now I'm peeling.



I took a close-up to share with you my shame. My ordinarily creamy white (well, okay, ghostly white) shoulders have been reduced to a repulsive mass of shedding skin. BLECH!!!

NOW you see why I don't go out in the sun -that Vampiress thing aside.

Excuse me while I vomit

I wouldn't have voted for him to begin with -not even if he paid me (it wouldn't surprise me if he tried that), but THIS Guy backing him makes his campaign just that much more of a joke.

And Bushco has our troops who were scheduled to come home staying over even longer. Gee, I thought this war was over last year, Shrub!

Inspirational Search Results?

01/06/2004 11:48:16 impure thought (Google)