Chubby

I had to share this photo of my great nephew. His mom had over 80 photos taken and this one just jumped out at me. It gave me a shiver when I looked at it. Such a face!

Oooh, the icing

The icing that gave me heartburn. I don't care for the cake. In fact, I leave most of the cake and just eat the icing. Just like a little kid. Keeping in the fashion of the rainbow theme, my local bakery came up with the air brushed rainbow colors. I loved it. I did not notice the rainbow bunting around the sides until later when the box was opened up. Even when I snapped this photo, I had not noticed it, yet.

I had put things off too long while preparing for the event and with other members of the family arriving fifteen minutes before the event (they were bringing half the food and the decorations) our shower started 30 minutes late. 

My family is known for over-doing it. Well, most of us are known for that. Our general mind set is "the more the better". I am the youngest (closing in quickly on 52) and I don't suppose we are going to change any time soon. 

There was a lot of food. We had 15 women at the shower. There were four out of the five sisters in my family in attendance. I was a bit frazzled at first but calmed down enough to enjoy the event. We also tend to run notoriously late for events. We have exceptional organization skills, but we tend to over extend ourselves and that leaves room for a meltdown during the last phases of arranging an event because we simply run out of time because we try to do too much. This one was no exception. Two sisters travelled with extended family members and that led to late arrivals and needing to leave earlier than they wanted to. They usually do tend to stay and help clean up but sometimes the party you are with needs to be back home or somewhere else so they have to book it out of there.

Myself, I needed folks to leave so that I could relax for about ten minutes and then clean up. Relax again and clean up. There is a certain amount of chaos when people are helping you clean up. The shower was held at a building I am very familiar with and I knew what needed to be done and where things needed to go. Do not get me wrong. They did a tremendous amount of work helping me to clean up. The hardest part (for me) is lifting and taking everything out to the cars. I was fortunate in the fact that we could park just feet away from a door to the room where the event was held.

I do try to remember the pain (lower back and feet and head) so that I can better prepare for the next event and if I try really hard I am certain I will remember some that I have hosted that came off without a hitch and ran smoothly with a lot less stress. One more caveat that my family tends to have problems with. Asking for help. Is caveat the correct word, here? Eh, possibly.

To sum it all up, I realize and acknowledge the fact that I have all the above issues, but it is in my nature and after watching my sisters all of my life have come to find out - it is a family tradition. I doubt that I can change my ways even if I wanted to. So, Advil it is today as I set out to my niece's house to help her set up her computer. Besides...I get to spend more time with my older sister, her husband, my grand nephew and this beautiful niece that I do not get to see nearly often enough. It's all good.

roygbiv

This is not my photo. I did take some of this arrangement but I am so blessed tired I can only type a short post here and will take the pictures off my camera later. My feet  hurt so bad right now. I was even wearing my SAS sandals all day.

I overdid it. I am paying the piper, now. My sink is still full of dirty dishes. I managed to get all the perishables in the refrigerator (some veggies remain in a cooler outside - it is cool enough). 

I thought that the lady at the place where I get balloons did a fantastic job with the rainbow arc (arch?). On each end she taped them to the floor and made a tissue paper puff to cover the tape. I was VERY happy with the results.

I love that icing on the cake but the heartburn I get after eating it is excruciating! I am going to try and find some medicine that will work, take the dogs out and go to bed!

Pre-windows

Many, many moons ago - I used a program called Wordperfect. This was before the days of Windows and MS Office. That enormous package may have been around but my establishment used Wordperfect and Lotus. Remember Lotus 1-2-3? Anyway, I think it was Wordperfect that used the Blue Morpho butterfly I have pictured above. I fell in love with it way back then.

The conservatory at Key West was polluted with them. I like blue and I am sure this may be one of the most favorite of the butterfly species. In the conservatory at Niagara Falls and Columbus it was difficult for me to get a photo with their wingspan open. When this butterfly lands it folds up its' wings and they are brown on the underside.

Until I found this one. Sitting on a blue bench. It sat there for a long time and I think I took about 20 pictures of it. I had to be called away from this presentation of blue on blue. My grand niece had a butterfly on her head and my sister wanted a picture. I obliged.

Now, looking and posting the picture I am thinking to myself, 'Maybe it was dead.'

I kind of liked having the sailboats in the sunset. After the sun set we realized there were many houses on the island in the right of the photo. We even noticed more islands that we did not see before because of the glaring sun.

I had an extra three week days to recover from the vacation and I have to say, I think I needed each and every one. I must have slept through Sunday and most of Monday. It was also so cold when we returned I could not move very far away from my electric heater. Of course, having the heater on may have contributed to my sleepiness.

Sigh. I guess I am ready to go back to work today. I tried to keep up with the e-mail messages. I still am not certain if I am supposed to report to a school this morning or go directly to my office. I will go over some of the early messages to see. I recall reading a message or two "...when Peruby returns from vacation....", so I will re-read.

I shopped for the food supplies for the wedding shower yesterday. I am making calico beans, taco dip, cheese tray and the punch. Non alcoholic. I am going to try a recipe that uses cranberry juice, pineapple juice, ginger ale, sugar and almond extract. I have never purchased almond extract before. Ouch!

The cake is ordered. I have to print off a pretty picture of a rainbow and run it over to the bakery today. I was out of yellow ink at home. The bakery will take any photo you print and create the edible picture and decorate around it. I may keep it simple and have this one:  simple. I really like this one:  bars   and this one:   butterfly.

A nice lady helped me decide on what to do for favors. I will assemble and take pictures. I have a party out of town Friday night so I do not have much time! Yikes!

Cruise

I have one brother who prefers to vacation via cruise ship. I have not been on one, yet. I have had a couple of opportunities to go, but have not, yet. We wanted to get as many family members as possible, but nobody ever has the money to go at the same time as a deposit is required many months in advance.

This cruise ship was in the harbor when my nephew and I slipped down to Mallory Square to capture photos of the infamous sunset. As we waited for the sun to set a young lady ran up to the huge ship and the crowd cheered. Seems as though the entire cruise ship was waiting for her. From a distance I could see that she had long flowing blond hair. Had on a black short outfit and was drinking a fountain drink. I wondered what had held her up for an hour. That was how long between the ship sending out it's long wail to call passengers and the actual time she arrived. They had to completely re-open the doors and put the walkway down especially for her.

It was the folks on land that cheered. Not the passengers on the ship.

But, oh what a sunset. My nephew was upset at all the sailboats and other vessels that blocked the view, but I rather thought their silhouette against the backdrop of the setting sun added more character to my pictures. By the time the sun set my camera battery was depleted (as we had been out walking for seven hours straight by then) and I had to use my cell phone. I was so worried I was going to drop it in the water. I had used up all the camera battery power at the Butterfly conservatory. My group of family kept laughing at me because I kept mistakenly saying the Butter conservatory. I came back with the obligatory coffee cup (my souvenir of choice). And a tote. Of course a tote to carry all the other souvenirs I purchased for other folks.

I washed all my totes when I came home. I really need to spread them out and get a picture of all of them. The cats love them so I have to hide them so they do not sleep on them and get their cat hair all over them. Most of my totes are black. The one I purchased in Key West is a clam shell white.

Do you have a certain item that you pick up each time you vacation? My brother-in-law collects shot glasses, so I picked up one for him. He does not even drink. LOL! I picked up tee-shirts for all the grand nephews. A couple of magnets for sisters. A hat for my brother. I also grabbed a new key ring for myself. We ate at the Hard Rock cafe but their souvenir selection was quite lacking.

Am back..

On reflection, I would have added one single strand of white pearls. Regardless, I think my niece and her husband look stunning. 

I am back but very, very tired. I am catching up on washing clothes, housework, e-mail, reading facebook, checking bill status on-line and sleep.

Returned to a very cold and rainy Ohio. What a shock to the system. I got a little burn on one side of my neck that affected my purse holding but all in all, I came back unscathed. I cannot say the same for other members of my party. Lotion sunscreen. Throw the spray sunscreen away!

Cayo Hueso

On our way tomorrow morning. See you when I get back. I don't know if I will post anything while I am away. I don't have any pre-posts set up (yet).  I hope they are finished hammering and grinding on that house across the street by the time I return. Ugh!

Sunscreen? - check

Cooling burn lotion? - check

sunglasses?  - check

Migraine medication? - check

hat?....hat?....Uh, oh. I am going to need a hat.

I knew it

When I bought my house about nine years ago, I just knew somebody would build a house in that tiny lot directly across the street from me. I just knew it. One week after construction started one neighbor on the right put their house up for sale.

Printing directions to a wedding shower this morning. The invitations and cards are all done. I just need to put a little map inside the envelope and where the bride is registered. I will be home on a Sunday and the shower is the following Saturday. I work only Thursday and Friday of that week, so I should have time to plan a few games and tie up the loose ends. Right? Right!

21 today

A few weeks back I posted a picture of a nest. An EMPTY next. Some time later I wrote that there were a couple of things I had happen in my life that I was not quite ready to talk about. I told you about the Boxer. Now about my little girl. She moved to Florida one month ago.

This photo is about two years old. She dyed her hair dark brown since then. I will see her in seven days. My nephew and I are driving. We will pick her up near Orlando and drive on to Key West. This is by no means my "dream" vacation. I do not like the heat. I am not a big "ocean" person. I like it, sure - but, if I had my choice - I would see the ocean from Nova Scotia or Maine. Better yet, a fresh water lake. Sigh.

Regardless, my daughter moved away and then I gave my Boxer away all within about a week of each other. I am still reeling from the shock. I am not near ready for ten days in Florida. Not NEAR ready.

We will have the latest iPad (4G) so I may post some photos as I get a chance. My nephew purchased a new Sony  (do not have the details with me) - but he was showing me the sensor sizes chart. Interchangeable lens, it has 1080p video, etc... He is having a blast with it. He is going to take some great shots. Me? I will have my two Canons with me (one heavy and bulky and one point-and-shoot) and my daughter will have her waterproof Olympus. I am going to check to see how deep it can function because we plan to snorkel.

I have a niece getting married in Key West on the 18th. The heat may be unbearable for me, but the company is outstanding. I am certain the view will be great as well.

Creepy

A few weeks back I met some family for dinner and across the street was an antique store. It was nice to look at but I do not (nor need) anything from an antique store.

 

Come to find out, somebody was watching us from the third floor window. Ominous.

Death by chocolate

On the tenth of March I was at a birthday party for a two year old. In some areas or families it is traditional to give a baby their own cake on their first birthday. This little one got an entire chocolate cake with vanilla pudding just under the surface of all that chocolate icing on his second birthday. You can see a little of the pudding peeking out at the bottom left. What he ate was at the bottom right. He was not impressed. He ate a little. Then pushed it aside. 

Towards me. Very close to me. He soon went into another room to open gifts. All eyes were on him. I myself, was very interested in the cake. Let's just say by the time all the gifts were opened a big dent had been created on the other side of that cake. Mmmmm.

Communication

My dog, Cheech (a.k.a. Chester/Cheesecake/Chesterfield/Cheesy/Chimichanga and Sugarfoot) does a bark/howl sound when he is in a playful mood. You cannot see his one sugar-coated foot in this photo.

Somebody got me a good one. I thought it was an actual photo. Even though the whole time I was wondering, how the heck do they get on the swings?    http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/12/04/01/. Good one!

Colors

I was never a fan of Mike and Ike candy. My brother would have it around when I lived at his house and you know - if it is just sitting there you are going to take one or two. Well, they grew on me. I think it is the sticking to my teeth part that I do not like. Same thing with gummy bears. I never liked them until one group of friends would give a bag to each other every birthday and open them at the party and I would eat one or two.

I was so disappointed with my candy the other day. The candy in the photograph. Stale. No good. I am going to throw the entire box away. It was only 99¢, so it is no great loss. I guess I will stick to sweet candy. At least I can still eat chocolate even if it does go stale.

For a Windows-based machine, to get the cent sign, hold your Alt key down and using your keypad, press 0162. Let go of all keys and there you have it. For Mac (as I understand it) you can use the Option or shift keys - there is a keyboard viewer and character map also. I understand it is much easier and user friendly on a mac.

To play, you can open up Notepad and try a bunch of numbers while holding down the Alt key. Or just "google" ASCII and ANSI Character chart. They work on facebook, too. Have fun. §

No fooling

Oh, you know. I was going to post a photo of the biggest dog I could find on the Internets and tell all of you I fell for it again. Adopted another dog, after I just got rid of the boxer, blah, blah, blah. But then I thought that perhaps I did that joke before in the seven or eight years I have been posting. Yawn.

Some of you may have fallen for it.

Then I realized that I have a chance to introduce to you, a video I watched (was forced to watch by my sister) yesterday. The only thing about my sister making me watch a video is she does not know when to stop. You will watch one, and then she says "You have to see this one" and so on and so forth. Tedious.

But this video was very heartening. If you have not already seen it and you love dogs, you also will be touched by this video. It is quite popular.

Here is a link (current today) to the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnYRhanK3XA

If the link does not work, go to youtube.com and search for "fiona rescue blind dog". The real video is about 3:41 in time. 

I researched the name "Fi0na". I am not certain if they knew the meaning of the name when they chose it for her. The name is considered to be a Latinised form of the Gaelic word fionn, meaning "white", "fair".