I saw Jimmy Durante in the ladies room @ work...

I did.  Really.

OK, let me go back...

My sister , Sister Kathleen Mary of the Order of the SullivanSisters 3, taught me {and apparently my daughter April}..that when one is um..pre-occupied in the rest room...

..one had no choice than to look at the floorboards..and the floors..so be sure they are clean and dusted at all times..

And, she was right.  One doesn't have much to look at while "occupied" unless you bring in reading material, and because we only have one powder room..that is NOT allowed.

And it's true at work as well. They tend to frown when you go "in" with a book...

So, while in there today, I saw Jimmy Durante.  In the tile.  In the floor. You know..that fakey-marbley-brownish-color-12X12-tile?

Yeppers.  Jimmy Durante..nose and all.  It was a profile shot.  Unmistakable.

But of course, sometimes I see things that no one else does.  In clouds.  In tree bark.  In nuts. Sand.  Pavement. Soup..remember this ROOT on a tree by our house?? Freakaziod!!

So, I wasn't all surprised to see him.  Rather delighted as he was looking the other way..from me...while I was pre-occupied.

 {ewww..}

It's funny 'cos when I went back in to look again.he was gone.  But a really big silly bear with 2 teeth was in there.

Hmmm..wonder who I'll see and where..next?

Have a good week-end.

-me

Crazy busy @ work.....

...which really cuts into my blogging time..whassup with that?? Oh yeah.....I'm now a department/division/team of one..who says there's no "I" in team? 

Anyway..just a quick look at the purse(s) I have gotten from the "M" Resort at their gift shop which allows me to fully utilize my mad shopping skills!

{ Looks like melted chocolate!  Love the big ol snap-ball-closures! ..and the rose!}

{ OK..this is really cute! Zipper flowers!}

 { Close up of flowers...}

 { eXtREmE close up of zipper flower!}

{ This photo doesn't to the bag justice..it's a real buttery-soft teal color..with "rooshing. ruching..!!}

Anyway..gotta run. "Can someone investigate that ringing sound on my desk?"

"oh..my phone?"

""OK..I guess I'll get that.."

-me

Happy Happy Hello Hello :-)

OK, so yeah, I was really out of town, but being the cautious blogger that I am, I didn't want to announce it to any of my readers who are cat buglers..

But we have dogs anyway... oh well.

Doh! I just gave away my secret code for being not home.....  "unplugged" ..

See? I did it again.

Anyway, good news is that Grandma Evelyn is home from Las Vegas...bad news is that some of our money isn't.

 {Gma Evelyn & Colette, Robert's wife}

Oh, and do you know how they say "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"??

 .no..not him..but...Hubba Hubba!!

Soooo not true.  Guess they weren't talking about the Creme Brulee...I think it's going to stay with me for a while.

But we had a great time and I got another purse.  I love me some purses and last time, I got 2 new ones at the gift shop at the "M" and this time...another!  They have some wicked good sales and I zone in on the purse rack. 

So, there we were..12th floor...

..and receiving this wonder personalized fruit plate...

Wait..what?? Oh. that.  It's obviously my "Vegas" name...

heehee..they changed our room at the last minute and apparently failed to tell the staff..

Or Ms. Sakamura...

Well, hope she likes her Vegas name..The Blakes..

heeheehee :-)

{ " funny, she doesn't look Asian.." }

-me

Hi...

Taking a little "technology" break..

...."see" you all next week :-)

-me

Pffftt....

..that's how fast beauty can go by..if you're not paying attention.

Pffftt..

However, if you get a call from the hubby who is working in the garden and he's motioning to

 "grab the camera and come out here..like..quickly!"

Well then, you can get quite a show. 

This one is facing the other way..East..but stunning in it's own right..

I don't know if you can see it, but because we live in a valley, the sunsets and sunrises are even more spectacular..the color is reflected from the other side of the valley as seen here with the red mountains..

And last but not least, here are the pups with their new summer hair-do's..

{he's really not that sad..he just doesn't want to smile after having his teeth out..}

What a profile! Beautiful!

And speaking about beautiful..

"This is my best side, no??.."

So..happy Monday night and have a grand tomorrow!

-me

Good Saturday mornin' !...or good whatever mornin'..or evening you may be reading this..or..well..

We interrupt this blog with breaking news!!

"Houston..we have lift-off!!"



...I now have ....Empty Nest Syndrome...

..just "hi"..

Wanted to give you a little update on the hummers...who we've named...

Fred & Ethel.

Yep, Fred & Ethel.  Although I loved Lucy & Ricky probably Lucy more than Ricky if I'm being honest

......I always thought Fred & Ethel were just the cutest..ever...even though he sometime was a Grumpy Gus..well, he wasn't really a Grumpy Gus..just exhibited Grumpy Gus-llike tendencies..

So, here they are...Fred & Ethel..

I know the time is coming soon when they will strike out on their own..and that makes me sad..and happy..but sad..but proud..but sad.

We'll miss them for sure.

Mr. B and me {I know, bad English..but ...".Mr. B and I" doesn't sound the same..} will miss calling each other out to see the progress..

to wonder at their size..to see Mama Gracie buzz us when we get too close..

..but maybe next year...Ethel will come back to where she knows her nest will safe.{.except for those two people, one who actually stands on lawn chairs with a camera..and the other who lovingly fills the feeders..}

And we will see the cycle again..and be fortunate enough to be a part  of God's miracles..

Thank you Gracie, and Fred & Ethel and God..and MamaSweetieBird..

-me

I *think* I may have told you before...

..the story of when I was really young in Arizona {like 6 or 7-ish} and it was hot. Hot hot hot hot hot.  It was, after all, Arizona..

And I wanted a pool.  Nothing fancy..just a pool..a little blow-up plastic pool to cool off in on those hot hot hot hot Arizona summer days...in ARIZONA..

{this is not me...or me..or me..Google Images..FYI}

And I was told "no"..

..insert sad face...sad sad sad sad face..:-(

So, being the resourceful little girl that I was..and knowing "guilt" is a very good motivator even then...I decided to make my own pool..

{..again..this is not me..or me...or me..Google, yes.}

I took a dresser drawer out, emptied it, took it outside and filled it with water...

And there I sat..just barely fitting..until Daddy came home from work and spotted me.

He laughed..told me to go inside and we had our usual 5:30 dinner..except I think we called it 'supper' ..anyway..

The next Friday {payday}, he brought home and set up my very own pool!

But, wait, not such a great ending..it was not a little blow-up plastic pool..but one that was square..with metal triangular seats {picture photo corners}in each of the four sides..

Metal.  Metal seats.  METAL. SEATS. IN .ARIZONA...

{photo used just to prove show you they did have metal seats..and no..none of these are me..are me? Is me? Army??..

So, why now am I telling you this again?....Other than to get your complete and total sympathy..??

While visiting one of my favorites sites, http://craftgawker.com/ I saw they also have

dwellinggawker and weddinggawker and foodgawker {!} and on the dwellinggawker (I love typing that...dwellinggawker..dwellinggawker..!!} I found an article on

"10 DIY Pools for Summer" 

and they were showing pools made from "odd" stuff...like stock tanks...

{Oh...I **love** this one!}

..and ...are you ready for this??...dumpsters!

{um...not so much..}

 Moral of this post?  If you have a kid that wants a pool...get them the right kind...or you might just find them in the dumpster...or a drawer..or with branded triangles on her thighs..insert sad face :-(  sad sad sad face...

wade on!!

-me

Do any of you remember ...rubber pants??

No, not leather pants..although I think both would turn your legs all prune-y in any sort of heat.....eekk..

No, I mean rubber pants like when we had our babies, many many many many years ago...OK..maybe not that many 'manys' for you...

Yeah..cloth diapers, diaper services, where you paid someone to pick up your week-old-smelly-sour-in the diaper-hamper diapers, and if you weren't "lucky" enough to have the service....diapers soaking in the toilet.. 

"Watch out - there's a diaper in there.."

Rubber pants..so all that ammonia and yuck could be heat-activated...and we worried and wondered why the baby had diaper rashes??

And no, I am not telling you I am wearing rubber pants...or diapers..or leather pants either.

It's just that I flashed back the other day when I was putting on a girdle..

gir·dle  (gûrdl)

n.

1.

a. A belt or sash worn around the waist.

b. Something that encircles like a belt.

c. An elasticized, flexible undergarment worn over the waist and hips, especially by women, to give the body a more slender appearance.

2. A band made around the trunk of a tree by the removal of a strip of bark.

3. The edge of a cut gem held by the setting.

4. Anatomy The pelvic or pectoral girdle.

 

OK, number 1C is probably the closest.  


No wait..they call them "Body Shapers" now..or Spanx {?}...not "gIRdlEs" silly..

 This one was like an industrial strength rubber band..some sort of weapon of mass destruction if it ever let loose..like a cheap bathing suit from the 50's..no wait! A bathing cap!!!! Tight. Sooo very tight..and strong..so very strong..

OK, so I looked at it from the package and thought  "even  Ella couldn't fit into this.."

But I was determined.

One foot in one leg hole..good..not breaking too much of a sweat....

Now my  for the other foot...wait...where is it..OK..there. no wait..I got it into the other lag hole, but my legs are no longer side-by-side..but one had been pulled behind the other by sheer force of the rubber...ah..girdle..

And I stand there, now if a full sweat..breathing hard and looking  a lot like the shape of a  wine glass..

OK.. OK..more like a brandy snifter..but you get the point.

As I try to pull the weapon up..the force to my finger tips in the death-defying material is almost nail breaking..and the pain as it is dredged up my leg..

My head was now aching..my eyes were now bulging....and the thing hadn't moved but about 1 inch up..making the area directly above the "banding" balloon up like a.....balloon ..you know, when the squeeze one end and the other swells up disproportionately??

Yeeeaah..

So, now the make-up I had just put on was sliding down my face..my hair, after being treated to "product" was now dripping a sticky substance down my neck...and I still had a whole thigh to get over...


Once in place...I finally had that flat {ish} tummy I had wanted..but I also had the flattest pancake of a bum as one would ever NOT want to see..with bulges of puffiness of pink exploding over the top of the thing (my supposed waist) and beneath the bottom of the thing..my once toned thighs..looking more like a life preserver around each semi-independent leg...

I couldn't breathe..I couldn't see..I couldn't speak..which in the end is a good thing..I would hate to have been the dispatcher at 911 for that call..

I moved slowly..my face was red..I really think my earlobes were filled with air..large and puffy as my face and eyes were..

Braxton & Lulu averted their eyes..but I heard them plain as day...

"Eyii  carumba Mamma-sita!!" {bet you didn't know they spoke Spanish, huh??}

That's it....it's coming off!  Go save yourselves, pups! Run, Forrest, run !!!!!!!!

That thing shot off like a sling-shot from hell...ricochet off the closet door and up and over the desk..

Still haven't found it.

So, if you see me with a tummy pouch and a nice giggly bum...you'll know I have learned my lesson..

-me.