Have a merry one

I saved Santa a trip: I was naughty.

I'm not ready!

Hoo boy. It's almost Christmas and I'm not ready. Just finally hung a wreath today.

I do love Christmas lights and such, but I'm sooooo lazy!

I "adopt" a needy family each Christmas and I have at least finished that shopping. It's actually easier to shop for people you don't know.

Friends and I took a bus trip to Longwood Gardens last Friday. That place is beautiful all year, but at Christmas it is a really special treat.


They decorate to the max. But it's tasteful just the same.



I wish you could see it.


Everything you see here is a live plant, except for those fake birds.

In case I don't "talk" to you all before Christmas, I'll wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS now.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!

December---Yea!

December is a great month. I love the Christmas decorations.

Rabbit Rabbit! I hope you remember to say rabbit rabbit today so you'll have better luck in December.

Another Sale, another Thanksgiving

Most every day when my husband or I bring in the mail, we say to the other, "Penney's is having a sale!!!!"

Each day's mail brings a flyer from J.C. Penny's.
That store is always having a sale. Is there a day when there is no sale on at Penney's?
That J.C.


This wonderful item was originally $34.99 -- Now it's only $19.99! Things are always ONLY. In my opinion, it's not only $19.99, it's $19.99 plus tax. There's no "only" in a price.

One of their recent mailings had this great Marshmallow Blaster which uses air pressure to blast marshmallows up to 40'! Think of it! Forty feet! BUT, the marshmallows are not included. Bummer.

Is there someone you know and hate love who has small kids? Get'em this blaster. It'd be wonderful to have marshmallows all over the house, wouldn't it? They'd draw ants and stuff. Good times.

I don't mean to pick on Penney's. I think I get a bunch of flyers from them because I shop there a lot. I'm pretty cheap.

Now instead of political ads on TV, we have toy ads for Christmas. I think I like the toys better, but I'm not positive. Toy ads are pretty obnoxious.

Have a great Thanksgiving Day everyone!

Sighting

There was a snowflake sighting this morning. I counted three of them myself.

So the grocery store will be extra busy today. Everyone will be stocking up on milk, bread and TP. Those shoppers. Heck. Shoulda gone yesterday.

Didcha hear?

It's Doug's birthday.

Go party at his place. He'll clean up. No problem.

How Sweet it is!!!!

YES! I am so happy. I know that they will start pickin' on him tomorrow, but just let me be happy today!

At the same time, I'm plenty pissed at California and Florida for voting against giving gay people the same civil rights as they themselves have.

But I was born and reared in the deep south. I drank out of water fountains that said, "Whites only." And it was against the law to be gay. AGAINST THE LAW! Gay men were put in jail for being gay! (I never heard of lesbians being jailed, but that's because if there's no dick involved, it's not sex, right?)

So I do not lose hope. I will not lose hope.

Today I am happy.

November at last

You know the drill: On the first of each month you have to say "Rabbit rabbit" as soon as you realize that it's the first. That's for good luck.

The good luck I wish you all is that the election will be over. I have my own wish about who will be elected of course, but at this point I want it to be over. Done. Finished. No more political ads.

Good luck in November y'all.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween.

Happy Birthday AP3

Happy 40th birthday to my baby girl, AP3.

Here she is when we were 39 and a half years younger.



She's the cute one.

Happy Birthday sweetie!

Sign of the times

My Obama yard sign is stolen nightly. That's okay. I go daily and get a new one. No problem. I contribute to his campaign fund each time, so maybe it's for the best.

It's a bit scary, however, to think that thieves visit my yard at night. They come onto my property, and steal from me. Sad. If you pray, perhaps you could pray for them.

Another sign of the time, a happier sign, is how beautiful it is here in the autumn.



Since I visit the Obama headquarters on my side of the river so often, I'll be working there today. Things work out, no?

It's that time of year

It's that time of year when you start getting free calendars from your hair stylist, your congressperson, the mechanic, and so on.

But of course, you can buy a calendar to support a cause.

Julieanne Smolinski writes that "Men on a Mission, a calendar of shirtless Mormon missionaries, was created last year by Chad Hardy, a former missionary and Brigham Young University grad. Chad claims the calendars, the sale of which go to assorted charities, are meant to de-mythologize Mormon sexuality and promote understanding between religions (because nipples are the universal language)." That Julieanne. I think I like her. (Poor ol' Chad was excommunicated.)


These mortuary guys donate two bucks from each sale to breast cancer. Makes me sorry that I had my Mama cremated. These hunks coulda dug her grave. Sob.

The Naked Fishermen have a calendar too. Some sorta "save the fish" thingie I guess. Yeah. Save the fish from drowning. You do that by removing them from the water. Like that.


And of course, you have the ever-popular naked chef stuff:

Personally, I'd want to know if a net was used before I tasted that....food.

Now this one is just disturbing. DISTURBING.

The bare naked clowns give their money to Multiple Sclerosis, which is a wonderful cause. Their calendar features clowns "in a myriad of positions designed to delight...." And answers questions such as "Who’s bendy like a gummy bear?"

Scary. Interesting. But mostly scary.

These men took it off their old bodies to raise money for their local schools.

They're a big group.


This is probably their centerfold. Be still my heart.

But I've decided to buy a naked firemen calendar. Mmmmmmm.... firemen are so hot.

Uh huh

Awrightie then. I'll just sit quietly for a while.

Maybe.

Bull

Well tonight is yet another debate. I made up my mind long ago who I was voting for: Barack Obama.

But let's face it, so many people vote not on the issues, but on the perceived personality of their favorite, that anything the "other side" says is just so much bull. Which reminds me....



Hauling bull. Politicians take it on the road don't they?



Sling it all over.


Who the heck is gonna clean it up when it's all over?

I hate all those political signs that get left everywhere after the election. Don't you?

October Rabbit Rabbit

I bet you wish you'd put your money in a piggy bank right about now. I know I do.



Better yet a Rabbit Bank:




Right now I don't even know what to wish for in the bailout situation. A miracle maybe?


When they're done picking our pockets, we can all yell RABBIT RABBIT and hope for the best.

Bean Soup

My good friend Leah has wanted for years to go to the Bean Soup Festival in McClure. That Leah. Seems that years and years ago, a mutual friend, Bob S., told her that the soup at this festival is the best bean soup he ever tasted. Please note that his initials are BS.

Good ol' Bob is now in an Alzheimer's unit in a nursing home, but never mind. Back in the day, he was a well-respected school principal. Better respected by Leah and my husband Niks than by me. I always figured that a man who had been married three times had some issues with taste, if you know what I mean.

Anyway this festival is to hell and gone and out in the middle of nowhere. I still can't explain where the heck it is. On the way there, we saw this:


Can you read what it says? It reads, "Deer Hide Drop Bin." You know you are in the deep country when there are deer hide drop bins.

Anyhoo, you also know that if a tiny town has had a Bean Soup Festival for 118 years that bean soup is going to be the very best bean soup in the entire known world. I mean, it's not a SOUP festival, it's a BEAN soup festival. They know how to make bean soup.

One might think that, in fact, they make more than one type of bean soup. Like that. But no. They make ONE bean soup. So, must be absolutely perfect bean soup.

You guys. Such fools. Like Leah, Niks and me.

The bean soup at the McClure Bean Soup festival is the absolute WORST bean soup any of us had ever eaten. Or not eaten as in the case of Leah and me. Niks will eat anything apparently. The three of us searched diligently and never found one bean in the three bowls of soup that we had between us. No ham either.

At the pulled-pork sandwich stand where Leah and I went to buy something, anything, to get the taste of the bean soup out of our mouths, the women there told us that yes, indeed, the bean soup is the worst in the world, year after year. The cooks don't use many beans and they cook them until they disappear. They don't use any ham or ham stock or a ham bone. They use hamburg meat and suet. SUET! I'm going to be sick!

They have a queen at this little festival. We saw her in person. She's young, so she still has a few teeth. Leah and I thought we might count the total teeth at the festival to amuse ourselves, but finally decided we might as well count heads. 'Bout the same thing. The runner-up to the queen was prettier than the queen, so I guess the contest was fixed. But it is hard to pick the best between three young ladies. Some might call the runner-up, "next to last." I'm glad they don't do that.

Here's a picture of Niks and me to prove that we were there! At the BEAN SOUP FESTIVAL. We can check that off our bucket list.

September again.

I used a photo taken by Jane Burton. Jane Burton dedicated her life to rescuing and photographing animals. You may view her collection of wonderful photographs here:

www.warrenphotographic.co.uk

You know the deal. Ya hafta say Rabbit Rabbit on the first day of the month. Then you'll have better luck.

Remember too, that it's the time of year when you have to think about fashion. Don't wear white shoes now. You can't wear black patent-leather shoes after Labor Day either. Match your accessories. Don't be caught with animals that don't complement each other.

I know that you believe I carefully follow all fashion rules. Right?.

Rabbit rabbit! Good luck in September.

So it's not your birthday...

Well, then,

A Very Merry Unbirthday to YOU!! and YOU! and YOU too!

Hey, guess what??? It's not my birthday either! Wow. Talk about a coincidence. Pretty amazing, huh? We could all sulk and cry about it together. If you're looking for a little sympathy, you've come to the right place. We can whine and mope as a crowd. We could be bitter.

WAIT!!! We're all old enough. We're glad we're not having a birthday, right? You guys. Birthdays are crap. Not that I want to stop having them of course. But still.

Have a happy unofficial-end-of-the-summer weekend, y'all. *Party 'til you're purple. Like that.

*(I don't really recommend that. Use sunblock.)

Happy Birthday DDD

3D will be 49 on August 29th. Dang! That girl is old. I'm way too cute to have a kid that age.

Here she is when she graduated from college. Now her own twins are checking out colleges and trying to decide where to go. I hope she teaches them to iron their graduation gown. Like I didn't.

Where did the time go? Seems like yesterday that she learned to walk and talk. She never did learn to stop talking. That girl.

Happy Birthday DDD!!! And many more....

It's not my daughter's birthday anymore

My daughter Actonbell says I have to "take down" the post below because it's not her birthday now. That girl. So pushy. Not so much. Generally.

I've been doing a lot of stuff, but I don't feel like writing it out, so I'll just post some funny pictures instead.


This game is probably called Chicken. I've heard about people playing Chicken, but didn't realize that it involved actual chickens. Who knew?

I've got nothing against cops...but then it's always fun to laugh at them. You know it's true.


Is this funny? I think it is. She has a secret admirer. Was that the idea?



This is my husband Niks. He's inside the State Capitol Building in Salem, Oregon. It's a Sunday. The Capitol Building is not open on Sundays. But I found a door that wasn't locked. Of course, I had to try a lot of doors before I found one out-of-the-way door that was unlocked, but it was unlocked. I did not break into the building. Notice the look of terror on his face? He was sooooo afraid that we would be arrested! That Niks. Now that's chicken.

Happy Birthday to my middle child

Happy Birthday to Actonbell! The girl does love a beer, so lift a glass to her today. That Acton.

Holy moly!

Jeez! It's August already!


Amazing.

I've got a headache

One day, long, long ago.......

there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or bitch.

But it was a long time ago.......


and it was just that one day.

Summertime

Well, it's just about the dead middle of summer. Personally I like spring and fall and winter better than summer, but I do like summer anyway.

So many festivals! My friend Leah just called me and asked me if I want to go to the McClure Bean Soup Festival. That Leah.




Of course I said yes. It's not until September. I have time to buy some Beano©. Besides September is a very nice month here.

Notice that it's not just a soup festival. It's a BEAN soup festival. I'm amazed and intrigued.

Meanwhile I've been to Roots Farmers' Market (Here you say Ruts Market.) with somebody (whoever you are you are very important to me....) and to the Saturday Market with daughter Actonbell, and to the Green Dragon Market with walking buddy Irene. I'm having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.



I'm eating all too well.

What the heck are YOU up to?

Carbon copy

Our today's forecast is "a near carbon copy" of yesterday.

Half of you aren't even old enough to have ever used carbon paper, so do you even know what a carbon copy is???? You whipper-snappers.

But I've sure used carbon paper and made many a carbon copy in my day.



You know, I don't think that I'm old enough to how the origin of "whipper-snapper." Maybe Old Hoss will know. *Bueller? Anybody?

Now I have to wonder if anyone who reads this is too young to remember Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Several are too old to know about it. Just sayin'.

Happy Birthday America

Happy Birthday to us all. As much as I complain, there's no place like home.

I'm not over there now, I'm here.

As Terry correctly pointed out, I'm not over at Doug's now. That Terry.

So now I've gotta throw something up here to avoid confusion. Like I care. About confusing you I mean.

Oh! I can still confuse you without lying. Heh heh.

I'll just do my Rabbit Rabbit post a day early. Take that.


This here rabbit was bunnyed on the fourth of July. You could title a movie that way. Bunnied on the 4th of July. Or maybe Born on the 4th of July. Nobody's done that yet, have they?