Monday Miscellany, Take 2

OK, now let’s be miscellaneous.

·         Whew! That was a BUSY day at work! I guess I do more than I think I do during the course of a week, since I spent most of today doing last week’s work. And no, smarty pants, I didn’t finish it all today. I’ll probably finish the rest of it in the morning.

·         I have over 100 unread blogs on my reader. This is two days worth. I think I see what may be using up all of my time – since not playing games hasn’t seemed to decrease the amount of time I spend on my computer. There’ll be some skimming going on tonight…

·         I’ve been laughing all day because my affirmation for the day is “I let serenity flow into my life.” First of all, I was sitting up in bed looking at it last night & dropped it on the floor – and almost fell out of bed trying to pick it up. Then this morning my car had issues. It finally started, but then when I got to work my desk was piled up with stuff to do. Definitely not a serene start to my day. But every time I thought of my affirmation I laughed because it was so funny - & I think that laughter definitely leads to serenity. Eventually. Heh.

·         Last week Dr. M was talking to his boss on the phone about his fall schedule & what classes he will teach. Then I heard him start talking about Zoroastrianism. That’s my hubby – historian and expert on religions of the world. And who talks about that with their boss?

·         I picked Kansas to win the NCAA tournament. As I recall, I picked Kansas last year too & they got knocked out in the second round. Let’s see if this year can be just as exciting!

·         I leave you with this photo, taken somewhere in West Virginia. What more could anyone want?

Oscar Mayer Bologna commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmPRHJd3uHI

Monday Miscellaney

Monday Miscellaney has been postponed due to the fact that there is work on my desk after I've been gone for a week. Imagine!

Project 365 - Week Eleven

We had so many pictures this week that I just gave up & only picked a few for each day. If you’d like to see more (especially of the sheep) go to Dr. M’s blog – he has three recent posts with a lot of great pictures.

Sunday, March 6^th      

Robin in the back yard (not this Robin – I’ll mention her later).

Dr. M & I went on a ramble after church. And look what we found! I’m only putting one sheep picture here because Dr. M used a number of them on his blog.

We saw this sinister individual sitting on a fence post.

Later in the day we had a customer at the bird bath. Despite the bit of snow we’d had overnight the bird bath is at last free of ice – whoopee!

Monday, March 7^th  

I won a prize from Robin at Be Still and Know (told ya I’d be talking about her). Look at all these goodies! She gave me a choice of Jelly Belly flavors & I picked Toasted Marshmallow & Juicy Pear – yum! Thanks Robin!

Monday night I worked on this poem. I don’t usually do these in pen anymore, but that night Dr. M was watching an interesting documentary & I couldn’t concentrate (usually I can ignore the documentaries – heh). So I printed out what I had, went into the back office & then went to town. This doesn’t even show the final version – I worked some more on it on the computer before I was finished.

Tuesday, March 8^th

Even though this is spring break Dr. M had to go to school for a meeting. He decided to check on this guy on his way home.

Wednesday, March 9^th

We drove to NC today. This is what it looked like most of the way down.

But look what greeted us when we walked in the door – flowers from Daddy & Amy’s yard.

Thursday, March 10^th      

I went to lunch with my cousin KJ. Yes, we went to Atlanta Bread again & yes I got the same salad. I think this might be a tradition now.

It was rainy off & on all day. During a brief off period I went out to take pictures of some of the flowers in the yard.

Dr. M went out that evening to get this shot of the moon – lovely!

Friday, March 11^th

Birds from Daddy & Amy’s yard – who is this brown-headed one?

And flowers from the yard.

I went with Dr. M to see his mom in the nursing home (she’s doing pretty well these days & still loves to see him come in the room). On the way there we saw burros & sheep. There were lambs!

I took this picture of a plum tree in his father’s yard. We had a good visit there with his brother & his dad.

Saturday, March 12^th

Today I went in search of the crocuses I had ordered from Daddy. Success!

Dr. M went roaming the yard and took a picture of this guy landing on the feeder.

And this one is guarding his arts & crafts home.

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.

The Poetry Bus is on the Rampage!

The fabulous Watercats are driving the bus this week! Not only are they fabulous musicians, they have given us a fabulous prompt - and frankly I can't wait to see what they do with it. Here are the details:

1: PROTEST
2: IN A FOUR LINE POEM
3: WITH A RHYME THAT HAS A RHYTHM SUCH AS THUS;
     dum dum dunm dum dum dee dum
     dum de dum de dum dee dum
     dum de dum de dum dee dee
     dum de dum de dum de dee.
(or something).
My part of the process there-after is to turn (try to turn) alll.. (or as many as possible) of ye're verses in to PROTEST song... (this may or may not happen as quickly as I would hope).

So, here's my effort - as suggested by my father, this is a rant about the bail-out of the banking industry here in the US & the bonuses that some of the executives received as a result. It's actually kind of hard to do a four line rant - but here is mine:

There’s thieves and robbers in the land
Slick suits take money from my hand
“The bank can’t die it just can’t die”
Well, yes it can don’t buy that lie!

Now, make your way over to the Watercats site to check out the other rants!

Thankful Thursday

Another week has come & gone & it's time to be thankful! If you want to join us just list your thanksgivings in the comments or link up below. What am I thankful for?

·  Light rye bread. I know, weird, but I got some last week to use for sandwiches and it's so good. Mmm.

·  A week off from work! I spent the early part of the week hanging out at home, cleaning and binging on computer games. Heh. If you'd like to read about my Tuesday, go here. It was pretty much the same experience.

·  Visiting with family in NC. I'm writing this post early, but by the time it posts I should be at my dad's house rooting around to see what Amy last baked. 

·  Pancakes at church on Tuesday night. It was a fundraiser for the youth & they were so cute in their chef hats & aprons. Plus, pancakes!

·  The fact that it was finally warm enough to sweep out half of the garage. I think that Dr. M has been going off road based on the amount of dirt in there!

·  My hair has calmed down QUITE a bit. I can't decide if I'm disappointed or relieved. 

·  The season of Lent. This year, as I did last year, I'm going to stop playing computer games. This is to free up time to do something edifying, like read a book, or move my body AWAY from the computer for a change. I'll let you know how it's going next week. I'm not giving up any food because that usually backfires with a Cadbury Creme Egg binge.

All right – it’s your turn. What are you thankful about this week?

In My Mind's Eye

In My Mind's Eye

In my mind’s eye one final time

I taste the garlic and the lime

I watch the hands prepare the feast

And feel again that kitchen peace

I know again that you are fine

I close my eyes against their shine

Behind my lids I cross the line

The fine thin line with no surcease

In my mind’s eye

I hear you humming and the chime

I feel your heart in synch with mine

I beat back the grasp of the beast

With the intimacy of grease

You haven’t left and so we dine

In my mind’s eye

This is a Magpie Tale and a One Shot Wednesday poem. Please head over to those sites to read some other tales!

Monday Miscellany

Here are some things:

·         I’m still shamelessly promoting the blog post Dr. M did for my birthday. It has all the whimsy I couldn’t manage for my poetry bus poem (I think perhaps I take my pancakes too seriously). Anyway, click here to check out the post.

·         The primrose (mentioned in Saturday’s post) is still alive and well. I just thought I would do a status update on my Monday Miscellaneous posts for those who are interested. Of course, we’ve only had it for 4 days, so it’s early yet.

·         Today’s affirmation (also mentioned on Saturday) was “I am a good person,” and I actually rolled my eyes when I read it. It might take a while for me to get this affirmation business down.

·         I should probably not mention this, but our Christmas tree is still up. I had said I wanted to leave it up until the time changed and it hasn’t changed yet. It changes next week so I’ll get right on taking that tree down then. Maybe. It’s not in the way. Although probably the ornaments need to be dusted.

·         I’m thinking of spending my birthday money on a new pair of comfortable shoes. Someone has recommended Sketchers. What do you guys think – any other good ideas?

·         I have this next week off! I’m spending a couple of days doing things around the house (like not taking down the Christmas tree) & then we’re heading to NC for a few days. I think I mentioned that on my Thankful Thursday post last week. Can you tell I’m excited?

·         I colored my hair. It was supposed to be a good bit lighter than my usual brown, with even lighter highlights. Um, no. Everything is mostly redder. Additionally, pardon my French, but I really suck & doing my own highlights. But, as usual, I don’t really care. I’m looking out from the frame of my hair, not at it most of the day. Heh. At least it amuses Dr. M, and that’s a good thing.

OK, that’s enough stuff. Have a great week!

2011 Project 365 – Week Ten

We don’t have quite as many nature shots this week, but I’m pretty sure we’ll make up for it next week. Stay tuned!

Sunday, February 27^th      

This is a reenactment. I stood in the grocery store & looked like this for perhaps 30 seconds.

And then I reached out and put this in my shopping cart. Oh happy day! Sun Drop is a favorite drink from NC and I am just ecstatic that they’ve started selling it up here. Now if we can just get Cheerwine & livermush my life will be complete. On the other hand, these are things that make my hometown unique – what happens if they’re available everywhere? Does that mean that nowhere is special anymore? Hmm. For now I’ll just be excited for my new drink & try to remember that it has twice as much caffeine as my usual tipple (Kroger Big K Diet Citrus Drop).

Monday, February 28^th  

I took this on my way home from work. I kept squinting at the clouds because they seemed out of focus, but I finally decided that it wasn’t my eyes – they were just fuzzy clouds.

My friend Jayne sent me a list of affirmations after she read this post. I printed them out & cut them into little cards. I’m going to try to focus on one a day. Today’s is I am made in God’s image.

Tuesday, March 1^st

Oh man my favorite Easter food. Really – you can keep the ham and the scalloped potatoes, give me a Cadbury Crème Egg. Sigh.

I can’t believe I’m sharing this. It’s the State of the Bug picture this week. Do you know what I’m doing? Lisa does :) I’ll post the answer in the comments on Monday.

Wednesday, March 2^nd

Although we’ve had warmer temps there are still patches of ice on some of the ponds. For some reason, the swan in this picture makes me think of Nessie.

Dr. M caught this picture of a light-colored red-tailed hawk on his way home from school.

LOVE the blue sky in this picture. Although Dr. M felt a bit like he was being strafed while he took it.

Thursday, March 3^rd      

It was my birthday! The ladies at work gave me this precious (and delicious) cake, a card and a primrose plant. Thank goodness Dr. M has a green thumb – hopefully we can get it to thrive in our home. Dr. M did a great post for my birthday - you should definitely check it out. He's a nut :)

Dr. M took this picture of doves in our back yard. I hadn’t really noticed before how pretty they are.

Friday, March 4^th

Dr. M took some pictures that show that spring really is on its way. But first, here is a picture from January.

And here is the same place yesterday. Love the gushing water.

Flowers! I’m so excited! Maybe we’ll have flowers in our yard soon. But they’re calling for snow flurries on Sunday, so maybe not too soon.

Saturday, March 5^th

Today is a rainy day. Yesterday was rainy too – some areas around us are having flooding issues.

Dr. M took this picture of our “Geranium Farm” – it’s the plant we’ve raised from a can (a Christmas gift one year). I think it’s just a little bit out of control. It will probably get quite a pruning when we take it outside again.

Here are its humble beginnings – this picture is from April 2007.

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.

Poetry Bus - Drinking at the Wheel

The most excellent Peter Goulding is driving the bus this week. He’s apparently my brother in self-deprecation, so I like him especially. Of course, unlike me, he is actually a very good writer. Just kidding! About the “unlike me” part, I mean, not about his writing. No yelling!

Okay moving on. He gave us a choice of three prompts. One was to write a poem about pancakes (in honor of Shrove Tuesday) in the voice of your favorite poet, & I was going to write like Dr. Seuss, but it’s Friday and apparently there’s no rhyming in my head on Friday. Another prompt was to write a poem in the style of a French rondeau, but again with the rhyming. Maybe later. 

So, I’m left with the third option, which was to write about Stupid Things Done When Drunk. Now, on the surface, since I don’t drink, you might think this one would be impossible for me. But I do recall one instance about 22 years ago. If you’ll notice, the first lines might indicate that I was planning to rhyme this thing, but in the spirit of being foggy in the head that notion just devolved into the effort below.

Fuzzy Navel*

I never was a drinker –

in fact I never am.

Could I hold my liquor?

Your guess is as good as mine.

I thought to tie one on

about a score ago

with a drink made from fruit –

that should be easy enough.

Two hours later

(making that awful

awful pucker face)

I took my last tiny sip

from my one drink,

imagined that my

lips tingled

and worried about

driving myself home.

Wander on over to Peter’s place to read some other great poems. But beware, once you’re finished you might have a powerful hankering for some pancakes.

*A fuzzy navel is a mixed drink made from peach schnapps and orange juice. Generally an equal amount of each component is used to concoct it, although quantities may vary. It can also be made with lemonade or a splash of vodka depending on the drinker's taste. By adding 1 or 1½ oz of vodka to the fuzzy navel you have what is called a hairy navel, the more "hair" referring to the increased strength of alcohol in the drink. From Wikipedia

Thankful Thursday

It’s my first Thankful Thursday as host. I kind of just grabbed the thing out of Greg’s hands as he was headed out the door. I hope that’s ok with everyone! If you want to participate you can list your thanksgivings in the comments, or you can post them on your blog & enter the link to your post in Mr. Linky below.

What am I thankful for?

·       Gorgeous blue skies and days that warm up to the 50s.

·      Girl Scout Cookies. Specifically Tag-a-longs (chocolate & peanut butter goodness). Oh, did you want one? Too late!

·         That the tattered flag outside my window (which I wrote about here) was replaced this week! I totally think they replaced it because they saw me taking a picture of it which made them actually look at it for a change. I’m snapping my suspenders in self-importance. Or I would be if I were wearing suspenders. It’s not the 80s again is it? Because I wore suspenders in the 80s…

·         I’m so very thankful for all the comments on this post. Every one meant a lot.

·         This Thursday is my birthday! I’m speeding out of the mid-40s & heading straight for the late -40s. Dr. M & I are being very laid back about it. I had flowers & candy & a very sweet card on Valentine’s Day so there’s no need for any more frippery. Although perhaps Mexican food could be part of our weekend plans. Hint hint.

·         Sunday was Absalom Jones Sunday at my church. He was the first African-American priest ordained into the Episcopal Church in the United States. Dr. M gave the homily, talking about the Underground Railroad in Ohio. He did a great job. The choir sang a special, Soon Ah Will be Done, and I had a small alto part in a trio for one part of the song (the weepin’ and a wailin’ part). I think we did pretty well for our size and level of musical ability (and the fact that we don’t have any tenors or basses). And while I’m thrilled that the day was a success, I’m mostly glad that we’re done now!

·         I have next week off from work! It’s Dr. M’s spring break. We’re spending part of it here in Ohio & part in NC. I plan to see crocuses (or is it crocusii?) at my dad’s house – so you get right on that Daddy!

All right – it’s your turn. What are you thankful about this week?

Death by Sweet Tea

The words you said

over lemons and sweet tea

have cut out my heart.

Casually, you take

the fruit in your hand,

unmindful of the blood,

“Well, bless your heart…”

If possible, you are more

sugared than the tea

(if possible).

Heart-free, I consider:

I never was much of

a southern lady.

This is a Magpie Tale. Please head over there to read other tales. I am also linking it to One Shot Wednesday. You should read the poems at that site too!

P.S. I had mentioned to a few people yesterday that I was planning on doing something funny with the prompt, just to be obstinate. I'm fairly certain that the above effort is NOT funny. Sorry!