Shopping with Chantal

Picture of the Day for 1/31/2013. I usually spend some time after family lunch on Thursdays bumming around the mall with my niece Chantal. Here she is trying on a Halloween headband. 

Substitute Kitty

1/30/2013. Readers are aware that my sister Robynne's cat Jingles was my favorite animal on the planet. "Was" being the operative word as he had to be put down a few months ago. That left Robynne's household with one remaining cat- Paris. It was almost like being left with no cat at all as Paris, up until Jingles' demise, exhibited absolutely no personality whatsoever. You can tell she's a little bit lonely now that she's lost her feline companion as she'll actually let you pet her. 

I spent quite awhile rubbing her tummy today which had her in ecstasy. She kept stretching her paws back and forth along my arm as I was petting her. It was cute. 

Snow Shoveling Attire

Picture of the Day for 1/30/2013. For someone who had sworn off shoveling snow for the rest of her life, I sure have been doing it non-stop for the past few days. Here I am in my snow shoveling attire.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies on the Planet

Picture of the Day for 1/29/2013. I make the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet. Actually, make that the universe. Now, you might think I'm a braggart or overstating things, but it's simply a matter of fact.

In case you're still in doubt, here's a testimonial. I gave a neighbor some belated Christmas treats tonight since he had been out of commission during the holiday season. I figured I'd wait to give him the cookies until he could enjoy them. I received the following text shortly thereafter.

Happy #@*&%! Birthday!

Picture of the Day for 1/28/2013. My family held a belated birthday celebration for me last Friday. I usually postpone the festivities for a month since it's hard to find time to celebrate during December. My sister Paula gave me this card and I have to say I was thrilled. Mostly because it's not something you would expect to see from my devout missionary sister. Paula told me her husband David told her she shouldn't give me this card, but she ignored him. I'm delighted she did!

Stuck in the Snow

Picture of the Day for 1/27/2013. I know my blog entries have seemed a little weather-centric lately. That's because it won't stop snowing! A storm hit this afternoon and within a very short time dumped a huge amount of snow. 

I was over at my sister Paula's house tonight for dinner and to watch Downton Abbey. My niece Renee was parked behind me and when she tried to back out her car from the driveway when it was time to leave, she became royally stuck. Fortunately, two neighbors came over to help dig her out. I'm good at gunning cars so I was given the job of gunning her car free of the snow once enough of it had been cleared away. I've learned through hard experience that you don't saunter down a snow-filled driveway or else you'll never break free. When I back out of my driveway, it looks like I'm in a car chase scene from a movie.

Don't Eat the #@*&%! Candy!

Picture of the Day for 1/26/2013. My nieces and I saw the movie Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters* at the request of my niece Renee who is in love with Jeremy Renner who plays Hansel in the film. 

The movie is meant to be tongue-in-check and anachronistic, but we couldn't help but mock the fact that Hansel developed the "sugar sickness" (diabetes) from all the sweets he consumed at a cottage made of candy where he was imprisoned as a child by an evil witch. The adult Hansel is forced to inject himself with insulin every day or risk keeling over dead. Note: this is highly inconvenient when you're in the middle of a life or death battle with a witch- just saying. 

The climax of the movie takes place at this very same candy cottage where he warns everyone, "Whatever you do, don't eat the #@*$%! candy." This delighted my niece Lisa who said that going forward this will be her new life motto. She did a great job re-enacting the overly dramatic injection scenes from the movie.

*Let me assure you that you NEVER need to see this movie. Ever. 

Effort and Manual Labor. Ugh.

Picture of the Day for 1/25/2013. So- you know how I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry that I avoid effort and manual labor whenever possible? Well, I think the Effort and Manual Labor (EML) gods heard me and decided I was due for a lesson. I finally came to the sad realization that the snow on my front steps was not going to magically melt away anytime soon. As I had company coming over in the evening, it behooved me to clear a path for my guests. It took more than an hour to clear away the very heavy snow and chip away at the iced-over areas. I got a huge dose of EML in the process. Ugh.

Icy Conditions

Picture of the Day for 1/24/2013. My windshield was covered in a very thick layer of ice this morning. It took about 15 minutes for the defroster to do its job. Of course I don't have an ice scraper since that would require effort and manual labor on my part to use it. I avoid effort and manual labor whenever possible. 

It's routine for car windows to frost over here during the winter months in Salt Lake City, but I've never seen anything like this before. It was icy all over the valley and driving was a little treacherous. Very weird.

The Great Breakfast Escape

Picture of the Day for 1/23/2013. For breakfast this morning, I toasted an English muffin and slathered my favorite green onion/cheddar cheese/cream cheese mixture on it. I was salivating at the thought of consuming this delicious concoction when the English muffin decided it was better to take a swan dive off the counter rather than be consumed by me. This is a second day in a row I had a "well dang" moment. (Yesterday's "well dang" moment was documented in my blog entry about being trapped in the garage.)

Not to be deterred, I repeated the process and fixed myself a second toasted English muffin with cream cheese. This second muffin seemed more resigned to its fate and did not put up a struggle. Breakfast was successfully consumed.

Trapped!

Picture of the Day for 1/22/2013. I headed out the door for an 8:30 am dentist appointment this morning to find that my garage door opener was broken. "No problem," I thought, "I'll just switch the lever so I can open my garage door manually." I was overly optimistic. The door would not budge and I wasn't going anywhere. At that point you can only go, "well, dang" and call a garage door repairman.

The guy who came out discovered the big coil/spring that raised the door up/down had broken away so violently that the track had broken away from the wooden beam to which it was attached. That's why I couldn't even open the door manually. He fixed the track/beam so at least we could pry the door open to allow me to get my car out of the garage. I'm no longer trapped, but I am waiting to see if a replacement coil/spring can be found. It's a very old opening system and the garage door is even older so that might be wishful thinking.

The Lethargy Continues

Picture of the Day for 1/21/2013. This is a companion piece to yesterday's lethargic blog entry. Nearly a month has passed since Christmas and I have yet to put away my Christmas decorations. Meh. No rush.

Just Too Tired...

Picture of the Day for 1/20/2013. I went to bed at 2:00 a.m. When I walked into my bedroom expecting to crawl into a comfortable bed, I was reminded that my sheets were still downstairs in the dryer so I just wrapped myself up in a blanket on top of my mattress. I was just too tired to deal with it.

Once I got myself all wrapped up in my blanket, I noticed I had neglected to turn off the light over my vanity. This would have required getting up out of bed to flip the light switch. I was just too tired to deal with it.

I joke all the time about how I'm descended from hardy pioneer stock who braved the rigors of the frontier to make their way out west. I should be ashamed of the fact that I didn't inherit much of their drive and determination, but I'm just too tired to deal with that unpleasant emotion. 

Plague, Inc.

Picture of the Day for 1/19/2013. My niece Chantal introduced me to a new electronic game (at least it's new to me) called Plague, Inc. The goal is to unleash a deadly bacteria or virus and do all in your power to make it spread across the whole planet before a cure is found. It sounds horrifying, but it's strangely addictive. I managed to eradicate all of humanity on my second try.

Pete Conrad Autograph

Picture of the Day for 1/18/2013. I just obtained this photo of the Great Salt Lake signed by Pete Conrad, commander of Apollo 12 and Skylab 2. This picture was taken from space by the Skylab crew. 

Conrad passed away in 1999 so I was delighted to find this at an affordable price since my goal is to collect at least one autograph from as many of the Apollo astronauts as possible.

Real Estate Investment Group Meeting

Picture of the Day for 1/17/2013. My brother-in-law Will and I joined WAREIA- the Wasatch Area Real Estate Investors Association. 

We attended our first monthly meeting tonight. It was very interesting, but I know for my readers that seeing a picture of a guy speaking at the front of a meeting room is about as stimulating as watching paint dry. So, for your viewing pleasure I've included a picture of a really pretty light fixture that caught my attention as we were leaving the meeting.

"Suggestive" Christmas Ornament Follow-Up

Picture of the Day for 1/16/2013. Warning- this is a rather naughty blog entry. I'll try to mitigate the naughtiness by being somewhat oblique, but continue reading at your own risk. 

So, a couple of years ago my brother-in-law Will inadvertently made some phallic-shaped Christmas tree ornaments. Even after all this time we still enjoy giving him good-natured crap about it. It's a family story that will live on for decades to come. This year, Will bought me a "companion piece" for the ornaments. He forgot to give it to me during the holidays so I ended up receiving this just tonight. I believe the picture below says it all!

Good Plants

Picture of the Day for 1/15/2013. I arrived home from Florida tonight and was very glad to see that I had not missed the holiday cactus blooms that were just beginning to unfurl when I left a week ago. The cactus blooms only once a year around the holidays (hence the "holiday cactus" moniker) and I was sad to think I might miss seeing the pretty red flowers. 

This is as good a time as any to admit I talk to the three plants situated behind my kitchen sink. I tell them what very good plants they are and how proud I am of their growth and how they brighten up the kitchen. It seems to have a positive effect on them. The African violet plant was near death a year ago and perked up considerably when I started praising it. 

Pelicans at Sebastian Inlet State Park

Picture of the Day for 1/14/2013. It's been a Florida state park-centric trip this past week. Today I visited the Sebastian Inlet state park. This area is known for good surfing and high number of shark attacks. Eek. Not a good combination. 

I was charmed by all the pelicans that hang out in the area. Maybe I wouldn't be so enamored if I lived in Florida, but since I don't see these birds in my neck of the woods, I was definitely charmed.

Hobe Mountain Tower

Picture of the Day for 1/13/2013. I'm totally cheating and using pictures I took yesterday during my visit to the Jonathan Dickinson state park. Today was so low-key that I didn't really have a good subject for my picture of the day and I wasn't done talking about the park anyway.

Within the boundaries of the park is Hobe Mountain which at 86 feet in elevation makes it the highest natural point in Florida south of Lake Okeechobee. I didn't let my "I live in the Rocky Mountains so I know a REAL mountain when I see one" pride get in the way of observing the lovely view of the park and the Atlantic ocean from the observation deck at the top of the mountain.

Loxahatchee River Tour

Picture of the Day for 1/12/2013. Visited the 11,000 acre Jonathan Dickinson state park so I could take a boat tour of the Loxahatchee river. The river and surrounding scenery were stunning.

I wanted to take this tour in particular since it takes you to Trapper Nelson's camp location. I'm reading a book about Nelson who was a fascinating fellow. He started homesteading deep in the back country along the banks of the Loxahatchee in the 1930s. His camp and zoo (populated with animals be had captured himself) eventually ended up being quite the tourist attraction. He was found dead at his camp in 1968 of mysterious circumstances at the age of 59.

Strong Opinions

Picture of the Day for 1/11/2013. Someone clearly has VERY strong opinions about the Jupiter, Florida police force.

Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

Picture of the Day for 1/10/2013. Spent a pleasant afternoon at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, Florida.