Thank you unruly tree roots...

The other day as we were walking I noticed a hUgE upheaval of the sidewalk.  It kinda was looking like maybe how a mountain is formed - 2 separate plates (pieces of the sidewalk in this case) pushing against each other, butting against each other  and forcing the middle to go up..

...and then I noticed ..tree roots.  Probably the same kind of tree roots that cost my daughter $17,000 in repairs to the sewer line..had  done this damage.

And I thought..no one actually saw this happen...no one noticed.  It had happened gradually.  Millimeter by millimeter..while we walked past for all those months and probably years.

My weight gain / loss has been like those tree toots..very gradual.  I didn't really notice..at the time it was happening.

Just one donut. One more slice of pizza.

But I found some photos of myself. Reality check big- time.  Big, big time.

I never noticed the little bit by little bit coming on..

and conversely, I haven't noticed it coming off bit by bit..but it has.

However, lately I have noticed a bite here and a bite there..and, while not gaining per se...I'm not loosing like I should be either.

So, I need to remember those roots..and what damage they have done...little by little.  And I won't let that happen to me.

Not when I have photographic proof..of the gains and of the losses.

And when I start to overindulge {versus an occasional treat}, I will look at these photos and say..

Seriously??

-me

Nutin' says lovin' like somethin' from the Coven..

Happy Friday at work!!

-me

It's beginning to look a lot like.."Oh crap..Daddy's putting sweaters on us...

..and that can't be good..."

OK - so this was last evening..

..and this is now...

Merry Christmas..uh Happy Almost Halloween!

Have a safe, warm and fun-filled day, Okay?!

-me

"Rainy days and Mondays..um.."Snowy days and Mondays always get me down..

Yep.  Woke up to snow.  On the ground.  On a Monday.  Oh joy.

{ the snow was on the ground. I wasn't....Yeah, I didn't wake up IN snow..TO snow....just to be clear..}

I don't know about you..but I love to LOOK at snow. Look at it. Just look..look look look look...

Walk in it? No.

Get the pups dressed so they can walk in it? Not so much...

Spinning in a one-ton-box-of-metal-at-65-MPH with other people who really hate driving in snow...

OK - that one could be kinda fun...but ..

But it is what it is..and right now it's Utah in October. Or October in Utah..whatever..

Not really all that bad..

It's just that I was thinking yesterday how fun it was to crunch all those yellow and red leaves..and see them whirling and dancing  in the wind..

Now they all look like dresses the morning after the prom..disheveled and wrinkly..and a little sad.

The snow has left for today..but I think it may be a wet and snowy season this year. 

Bring on the hot cider and warm blankets..I'm ready.

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it,

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth

seeking the successive autumns."

- George Eliot

-me

"This whole 'beauty-thing' is totally exhausting.."

..Yeppers..today was beauty-shop day for the pups..

..and they are always exhausted and sleep the rest of the day.

Braxton seems to really really seems to enjoy being such a "looker"...

So, after years of taking them to  big box  groomers, I think I have mentioned we found a wonderful woman who has been doing this out of the same location for 25 years..and she's LESS expensive than the big box place.

It's nice to go in each time and there she is..not some new face ....

Anyway, I hope your day is surrounded by beauty..

..and peace..

and warm, loving hearts, just like our are :-)

-me

Do you remember...

... seeing A Fish Called Wanda back in the late 80’s?

One thing I remember is when Otto (played by Kevin Klein) speaks Italian to Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and she...melts..

Although..when he is “regular” Otto..not so much:

Otto: Don't call me stupid.

Wanda: Oh, right! To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! I've known sheep that could outwit you. I've worn dresses with higher IQs. But you think you're an intellectual, don't you, ape?

Otto West: Apes don't read philosophy.

Wanda: Yes they do, Otto. They just don't understand it. Now let me correct you on a couple of things, OK? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not "Every man for himself." And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up.
Hahaha..anyway..back to Italian.

I work in close proximity to one of our scientists who is Italian.  The real thing..like from Italy and all..

And he has an very Italian accent.  After all, he’s ..uh...Italian.

I hear him speaking Italian to his family and now, there is another scientist visiting our company from ..where else..Italy!!

So now I hear them conversing sometimes in English..and sometimes in Italian.

Guess which I like better?  Yep,  Italian.  They could be saying “the mitochondrial DNA of this particular sample was from the outer regions of the northern hemisphere in sub-freezing conditions...yadda yadda yada..” and I wouldn't care.

It sounds... amazing..

Hmmm, anyone for some Panini, or brochetta, or ...vino??

-me..or as they say......Ciao, arrivedercci.

This is a Public Health Announcement - now go out there and practice Safe-Sneezing!

I am suffering..I know I am...just look at me..

..actually, don't.

I am suffering from.........

...oh this is hard...........

eyebrow envy....

There, I've said it.

And, I've written before about my eyebrows previously and how they not only do not look alike...they don't even look like good friends..

And that's not the worst part....it's what I've become.

I shamelessly look at young women who have beautifully shaped eyebrows..matching to a point of perfection.   Two wonderful frames for the eyes...

Even that's not soo bad..

What is bad is what this has evolved to..

Me looking at older women and judging (!) their eyebrows....are they drawn on? Are they too dark?  Do they have the look of constant amazement & surprise??

Are they made with a lipstick pencil rather than an eyebrow pencil?? {don't laugh...this actually happened to an elderly neighbor..I knocked on her door and she answered, smiling brightly, with the reddest lipstick-penciled eyebrows you ever did see..I was, uh. ..taken aback..but recovered quickly enough that she didn't sense my shock and awe...}

So, how far have I sunk??

When I met a 90-year old woman at an Expo recently, all of my associates were impressed with her energy,  her total concentration on the subject, her candid nature..her sense of self..

I, on the other had, could only stare at her...eyebrows.

"Did you see her eyebrows? She has a full set, beautifully arched, no pencil, no fill-ins..?? Did you see that??  And she's like 115 years old for Pete's sake"

My very very very young co-workers just looked at me..then sort of smiled and....backed away...slowly, so as not to incite me any further...

I have thought of having eyebrows tattooed on..yeah, for like a half a second.  I'm certain I'd sneeze during the process and end up with something akin to a giant "W" over one eye...

I can handle my thinning hair, my expanding bum, my droopy eyelids, my lack of hearing, my need for bi-focals....but I have this immense fear of having to run out of my house in the middle of the night, with no eyebrows to be seen.......

And heaven forbid I should want to take a leisurely walk in the soft spring rain....Ohnoooooo..not unless I have magic marker-strength eyebrows on..

So there you have it...my worst fears exposed.  I just hope you can sleep tonight, my pretties, realizing your time for eyebrow deficiency is marching towards you at this very moment.

(insert evil laugh.., no wait..that's jut mean..)


 -me

"i don't know nuthin' 'bout pluckin' no eyebrows, Mizz Scarlet!!"

Wow..just listen to this little guy welcoming the drivers to Canada.....

AmaZing..those Canadian beaver are very friendly..not too bright when it comes to traffic safety..but VeRy fRiendLy ...

-me

Happy Anniversary to me..and Mr. B..

I still have a hard time thinking that anyone in their right mind would want to take on a woman with a crazy ex-husband and 4 - count 'em - 4 kids

{Jeff & Rachael's wedding - with Andy, April & Brandi }

..for better or for worse

..in sickness and in health....yadda yadda yadda ...

But he did.  And I took a chance on he being the one..
 

The one who would raise my kids..

Love &  respect my family..

Love & respect his family..

Love & respect me..

And not loose himself, or the person he was when I fell in love with him along the way.

I still can't believe he chose me..

But he did.

And I love him with more conviction, more respect, more admiration..and with more gratitude..than I ever thought possible.

He is my rock..my hero..my knight in shinning armour,  my true north and my soft place to fall..

And he obviously was not in his right mind..

And I am sooo glad.

Because  I'm the best thing that's happened to him, too.

So, it's definitely a win-win.

And life doesn't get much better than that.

Happy anniversary to me...and Mr. B

-me