Eye Candy

Guess who this stunning creature is? What lucky piece of eye candy swept her off her feet and married her?

Tune in tomorrow my viewers for the answer to this question. There may be a never before seen picture of someone who is very important to the Momshell.....
and the beginnning of their fairy tale
love story.
Pssst.....one hint.....he really is eye candy.
But don't take my word for it.
See for yourself.

I feel like such a bum today...

I must make a little confession......Today I was a BUM....I know that is probably not the politically correct term for sitting around doing nothing but hey cut me some slack....my brain is numb from my lack of productivity. That's what we called them in the 60's...bums, hobos (that's a term that has not been used much lately) people who are sitting around doing nothing. This is Halloween circa 1964 and I was a bum that year. I even had a plastic cigar that when squeezed had a worm pop out of the end.
I didn't start out the day wanting to be a bum.
I had big plans.
I was going to clean out my pantry
and scrapbook my son's mission
and clean the downstairs bathroom
and read the scriptures (of course)
and make visiting teaching phone calls.
Right now at 7:00pm I am 0 for 5.
I could make a lot of excuses right now..like seasonal allergies.....long phone calls......sitting by the computer waiting for my sons email from Guatemala (he was transfered today)
but really
truthfully
it was kinda a hobo day
today.
I know that you must have been VERY busy.
You probably got a LOT done.
I would apologize right here
right now...
but it would be a lie.
I am not sorry.
And I don't want to be a bum AND a liar.

I looked out my window and what did I see....

Popcorn popping on my.......well it's not an apricot tree but I challenge anyone to come up with a tree that looks like popcorn more than this does.

I mean REALLY....aren't you getting hungry for a fresh buttery salty bowl of popcorn?

Or perhaps you would just like to be in a place where spring has officially sprung. Here is the start of hopefully a green lush delicious herb garden; sweet basil, boxwood basil, rosemary, flat leaf parsley, curly parsley, cilantro, mmm I can already taste the pesto sauce on pasta.

This is my fig tree that has to be my all time favorite tree of all. Problem is the figs get ginourmous and burst before they ripen.....anyone have a green thumb and can tell me why? Even if the birds get all of those figs I don't care. You don't have to be fruitful when you are this gorgeous.
To all my family, friends, and fellow lurkers, I apologize if spring hasn't come to your little patch of earth yet but just sit back and enjoy these pictures.....you can just smell the rosemary can't you?

Favorites Friday Two-fer!

This is your lucky day!! I am going to tell you two of my favorite things. Think of it like a buy one get one free only it technically is a buy none get two free kind of deal. 1. My first favorite thing is FAMILY ROAD TRIPS!! I love them. Not only do I have some of my fondest childhood memories wrapped up in road trip family vacations but a TON of my favorite mother memories are contained in the road trip time capsule as well. There is nothing like the hum of the engine, the laughter from the joking, the yelling and the fighting, the sweetness of the candy bag, the beauty of the passing landscape and even the sheer monotony! What other venue allows you to really just sit and think, since you have nothing else to do? Some of best imaginative thoughts were birthed while passing field after field of corn, wheat, cotton, rice or milo. (I have NO idea what milo is but I am told that I have passed by a whole field of it.) I have traveled through 45 of the 50 states and I can proudly say that I really know what they look and smell like (unfortunate for some places). I did not just fly over...I experienced them with all of my senses and I will tell you what......the United States of America is truly a place of grandeur! and as promised #2 is my favorite national monument EVER (and I have seen plenty of them for comparison.)
MOUNT RUSHMORE!!!
I think it should be a requirement of every US citizen to visit this breathtaking monument. It is where I have felt the most stirrings of patriotism ever. It literally gave me goosebumps, both as an 8 year old child and as an adult when I took my children there. And as an added delight Crazy Horse monument is only a few miles away. Truly a must see as well.

Three things to bid a fond farewell

My new color of polish...my peanut calls my toes Easter Eggs. I think I might have gotten a little too excited about Spring.

My azalea bushes in my front yard. For 14 years they have given me a stunning week of pinkish purple loveliness but they have really gotten rangy and scraggily and I cannot stand to look at them the other 51 weeks of the year. This week is their last hurrah.

My favorite camera in the whole world may have shuddered it's last shutter. It is making coughing raspy last breath senior citizen sounds and only turns on occasionally. It is not the fanciest or most expensive camera but it has captured the moments I will treasure forever. It has been the sixth member of the family at every special occasion, road trip, award ceremony and just the ordinary humdrum days of living. Thanks old friend..you have served us well....and thanks for the memories.

Bag O' Candy: A Tribute

Wanna know when I started buying candy....in bulk.
See that nondescript white bag that my little brother is holding?
Each summer when we went on our road trips
to see every monument, national park, museum,
cave, historical marker, picnic area in the United States
our preparation consisted of one important mission...
We each got a ten dollar bill
Which we took to our local drug store to purchase
A huge bag o' vacation candy.
See my brother's bag.
That is at least half eaten.
We had already traveled over 1000 miles to the
Grand Canyon that year.
In that bag lie the life blood of the trip.
Our sole entertainment other than annoying our siblings
by extending a fingertip over the lines that were our personal space battlegrounds
or asking our parents when we would get there.
I still cannot see a wax bottle of colored sugar water
or candy dots on a strip or
jolly ranchers
without getting a little misty.
I think I will call my siblings and make sure they are staying on their own side
or my parents to ask them
When are we going to get there and
Thanks for the memories.
P.S. The faces have been altered to protect the fashion challenged guilty. Let's face it if that was a picture of you wouldn't you want me to do the same? Go Go dancer look like she is in a particularly bad phase.

Favorite Fridays

Every really super cool blog has a theme. I wanna be really super cool too. I wanna theme that no one else has thought of. TOo late for that. I got on the blogger train waaay to late in the game. So I don't care if 5 million other blogs are doing this one........I am doing Favorite Fridays. I am going to tell you one of my favorite things every friday. I can vaguely make out my mothers voice in my head saying, "If five million other bloggers jumped off a bridge would you?" YES!
Act like you care please. Act like the only reason that Friday is your favorite day of the week is that you will find out something new about me. Act like I am really super cool.
Todays favorite is (in no particular order)
My children when they are happy.
This is Raar and her husband Ninja.
This is my child blissfully happy.
Thank you Ninja.
Thank you God.

Questions??

Have you ever been here?
Is that big yellow sign saying something?
Should I have paid to go in?
Is is really the tourist trap my mother warned me about?
Will I have regrets?
Are there more questions in life than there are answers?
Am I having a mid life crisis?

SPAM SPAM SPAM!

Do you remember when SPAM was exclusively something that you ate (or
not depending on your adventuresome tastes) and not something in your
inbox? I have put filters in place that do a pretty good job of keeping out
the unwanted spam. I had to make a list of key words that would trigger
the filter to put it in to the spam folder. It was kinda a game for awhile
seeing if I could get into the little minds of these spammers and stay one step
ahead of their tricks. Let me just put it this way...I can spell a certain part
of the male anatomy 10 different ways now so that I do not recieve the
offers to enlarge that part of the body. Nevermind that I do not have one.
And really do they think that I would ever forward that to anyone I loved?
Anyway I have kept those and the offers for mood altering drugs or great
mortgage rates at bay.
I check my spam folder from time to time to make sure that there is no
important email that inadvertently got missplaced and to delete what is
truly spam.
I must confess though...
Those spammers are SMART!
The ones that just make me want to open are the simplest.
They just say HI in the subject line.
Or it says re: your last email.
I struggle not to click open.
I mean I'm a friendly person and I want to say hi back.
Did I write them an email?
What if it is some long lost friend who really does want to communicate?
What if they have something important to say to me?

****CLICK****

Dang it! They got me.

P.S. If you have never tried SPAM....try it. Slice it really thin and fry it like
bacon. It is suprisingly delish. very salty...which I love. And it's great for
food storage. Just don't tell anyone that it is SPAM. They never know.
And of course I am talking about the food and not the mail
Of course you knew......
You are smart like that.

I need this NOW!

I have spent the last 4 days trying to nurse my husband back to health from a pretty serious infection. I was more than a little worried about him and a lot of time was spent just being at his side to make sure that he was comfortable and praying for the antibiotics to kick in. I tried to keep it quiet and peaceful for him while we waited and therefore I spent a lot of time looking at my feet. I kept thinking that one never knows when there will be adversity and it would have been easier to deal with if my house was cleaner and I had not put off that pedicure. Sounds shallow? I am sorry. Whenever I get that worried it just helps me not to have a messy home and gnarly feet. Mr. T is doing well and is out of the woods. Guess where I am going tomorrow? I want my toes to look like this again in case there is another disaster. Sometimes amidst our trials little things can help. 

Candy is Dandy!

Psst....Pssst...wanna know a secret?
I LOVE candy!!
I have a LOT of candy
in my pantry.
But wait..that's not the
real secret.
The real secret is that
I have a lot of candy
because I like to buy
candy
and look at
candy
but I don't really eat it
that much.
Weird.
When my Raar got
married in January I knew what I wanted
for her reception....
A CANDY BAR!!
no not like a Hershey bar
or a Snickers but
A bar that served candy!!
And the best part is
I got to buy a LOT of candy
and I was one
happy
camper.

I pledge allegiance to the Texas

Did you know that Texas has a pledge? Even though I have lived here for over 35 years I did not know about the pledge until my children went to elementary school. After they recite the pledge ...you know.....the one everyone in the United States knows. They say the Texas pledge and it goes like this.....(say it aloud with me)

We pledge allegiance to THEE (great emphasis added here) Texas, one and indivisible.

When I first heard that come out of my childs mouth I was puzzled. Where did that come from and why are they all practically yelling and drawing out the THEE!

I struggled with how I felt about pledging to Texas. Texans by their very nature are extremely proud of this Lone Star State. They feel almost as strongly about staying here as the Utahns feel about staying where they are......almost. Sure, I think it's a terrific state. I think I will probably end up living here forever but a pledge? And what if I do move? Do I still owe them my allegiance? I take my pledges very seriously.

I asked my daughter Raar (that will be her code name since everyone who is really cool in the blog world seems to do that)....why are you practically yelling in my ear the THEE part?

She said that her principal at the elementary school made them say it that way because before the children all thought that it was:

We pledge allegiance to the Texas.......one and indivisible.

That's actually probably a more accurate depiction of how Texans feel anyway.

Just thought the other 49 states should know.

PS My daughter Peanut took this photo of a picnic table in Muleshoe (not making that up) Texas. Isn't it gorgeous!!
PSS Does anyone know if Texas really is indivisible...I mean I am no historian or politico but can we be divided some day and should I warn the others who are pledging?

Watch Out Farah Fawcett!

Since I received some great comments on my bravery for posting my awkward gawky phase for all blogdom to see and since one kind reader mentioned the Farah Fawcett hair style period And so that I could at least prove that once I took responsibility for my own "look" (sorry mom) things did get a wee bit better. Complete of course with my side kick on the right (yes....... the go-go dancer) Here is a picture of the stage after the larval pupa stage When the cocoon opened Where I ROCKED the hairstyle of the day Had the cool shades Perfected my "come hither look" And was on top of my game so to say. Funny thing is there aren't as many pictures of this stage. Because I had learned as the world had convinced me..... to stay away from cameras. Wish I had known then what I know now. I would have taken a bazillion of them because every woman knows Its all downhill from there.

WALK is a four letter word!

I will be the first to admit. I HATE walks. It's not that I hate walking. If there is a purpose and destination (other than my health and healthiness) ((which yes ARE important!!)) then I don't mind walking.

For Example: Look over there...it's a Route 44 Diet Coke with extra extra ice a mile down that road....LET'S GO! or

You need to show your children that Disney World IS the happiest place on earth and you have only one day to do the whole park.....WHY CAN"T YOU KEEP UP WITH ME? or

There is WIFI three miles from here.....WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

Needless to say, I really don't like walking around my neighborhood. My feet and back seem to hurt the moment I step foot out of the front door. But ironically there is someone in my house who LOVES to go on walks. In fact you don't even have to say the word...she just freakishly senses that you are about to say those dreaded words.....

"Sadie?? do you wanna go on a walk?"

Here is the video proof of her excitement.