Flabby Neck

Picture of the Day for 3/31/2011. I have a lot of loose skin on my neck. I've been told that it's not noticeable, but I think the people who are telling me this are merely being kind. It's very noticeable to me and I don't like it. I bought a book of facial exercises designed to help rejuvenate faces and necks that, due to any combination of age, weight loss, or gravity, "appear" to be melting. Hopefully, this will help.

Update: After I hit the "publish" button on this blog entry, the following ad showed up on the screen. I guess nothing gets past Google. I should probably be more disturbed by the fact that my blogging topics are being monitored, but it actually made me laugh. Sagging jowls sound far worse that the flabby neck I was describing.

I'd Rather Be Happy Than Dignified

Picture of the Day for 3/29/2011. I love the sentiment on this card, "I would always rather be happy than dignified." I was pleased to see that one of my all-time favorite English authors, Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), is responsible for this quote. I'm not surprised. I suspect deep under the veneer of civility and proprietary required for women in their milieu, the Bronte sisters had a wild streak a mile wide. I totally relate.

In fact, the following passage from Margaret Maron's novel "The Bootlegger's Daughter" could very well be describing me:

Mother was what everyone called a "good woman" (as distinct from "a good ol' gal") even though I realized right before she died that a narrow streak of wildness lay just beneath her surface serenity. Most of the time she kept it repressed, but when it got out of hand...well, that little streak of wildness was what took her off to Goldsboro during World War ll and what later made her want to marry a widowed bootlegger with a houseful of motherless boys after the war.

Nine times out of ten, a good woman does exactly what her family and society expect of her.

That tenth time? Better stand back out of her way.

She'll burn down her world just for the hell of it, or risk everything she's worked a lifetime for on pure-out whimsy.

Ain't Nothing a Sugar Cookie Can't Cure

Picture of the Day for 3/29/2011. My colleague, Richard, and his wife Michelle (with whom I am also friends) had lunch at the restaurant right next door to my office building. Afterward, Michelle dropped by the office with a frosted sugar cookie she had bought for me. Bless her heart, I ADORE sugar cookies (as my blog entry title implies). Yum!

Crushing Defeat

Picture of the Day for 3/28/2011. I participated in a cake bake-off today at work. You may be wondering what that has to do with me wearing a bunny outfit as pictured above. Hold on- all will be revealed in a moment.

My entry in the bake-off was a family favorite- a chocolate chip cake with chocolate frosting. I really thought I was a shoo-in against my two competitors who baked a coconut cake and a spice cake. I mean- who doesn't like chocolate above all other food? I know I don't. My confidence was so great that I participated in a LOT of smack talk that went a lot like this- "I will crush the competition. They will sob in defeat." I guess I was setting myself up for a major comeuppance from the universe because not only did I NOT win the competition, none of the five judges gave me a single vote! The coconut cake won by a landslide. Who would have guessed?

Before the competition, the participants in the bake-off agreed to a pre-determined penalty for the loser. It involved dressing up as the Easter Bunny and delivering candy to the entire office dressed up in this get-up. I was asked to hop around the office, but I drew the line at that. When one has a well-endowed bosom, hopping is not an option since I could put someone's eye out.

Don't Criticize the Cook

Picture of the Day for 3/27/2011. I had Sunday dinner at my sister Paula's house. She made a Barefoot Contessa basil chicken hash which was not quite to my brother-in-law David's taste. He was imprudent enough to voice this opinion to Paula who retaliated by limiting David's dessert portion to the few crumbs you see pictured here.

Craft Day at Jenny's

Picture of the Day for 3/26/2011. My friend Jenny is the craftiest person I know. I don't mean the "sneaky" and "scheming" type of crafty, but the "build an airplane out of a few scraps of cloth and a few lengths of string" type of crafty. For Christmas, she frequently gives her friends the raw materials for a craft project with the expectation that we'll gather together to complete the project in a group setting. In other words, it's a good excuse for a party. This year, she gave us wood letters representing the initials of our last names. Of course, "M" is an all-purpose initial for me since all three of my names begin with that letter.

Today was both "craft day" and "celebrate Suzanne's 50th birthday" at Jenny's. Multi-tasking at its best. Jenny fixed brunch and then we spent the better part of the day working on our projects. I'm quite pleased with how my "M" turned out. That's because I actually had little to do with the finished product. Aside from picking out the color and the fleur-de-lys pattern on the front of the letter, Jenny did most of the work.

Pictured above is me, Jenny's daughter Isabella (who someday will be just as crafty as her mother), and Suzanne.

Guests on My Doorstep

Picture of the Day for 3/25/2011. I was greeted by a couple of feathered visitors when I arrived home this evening. Cute.

Stressed-Out Cat

Picture of the Day for 3/24/2011. I was shopping in one of my favorite clothing boutiques where there is a resident cat. She's been declawed, but she's still feisty nonetheless. A woman was shopping there with a gaggle of teenage daughters and one small young girl. The store owner repeatedly told the little girl, in the hearing of this girl's mother, that she shouldn't chase the cat since it would upset the cat and it would retaliate by biting her. So, I bet you can guess what happened. The little girl wouldn't stop tormenting the cat so it bit her in self-defense. The mother had the gall to get a bit of an attitude with the store owner over this incident. Can you tell I couldn't tolerate these people? They were loud and obnoxious and careless. And the worst crime is one of the teenage daughters bought one of the necklaces I've had my eye on for a couple of weeks and was planning to purchase. Intolerable! (Not that I need any more jewelry, but still...)

The stressed-out cat found a little hiding spot in a hatbox. I felt like joining her there to escape all the noise and commotion.

Pink Shoes

Picture of the Day for 3/23/2011. It's been about a month since I've used my blog to taunt someone* with my latest shoe purchase. Today it's time to circle back to my niece Chantal since she's all about the color pink. Oh look Chantal, here are my lovely new pink shoes. I just KNEW you'd be disappointed if you didn't know about them.

*Speaking of that "someone" (Sharla), your friends wish you would contact us and let us know if you're OK.

Trendy Eyeglasses

Picture of the Day for 3/22/2011. I'm the proud owner of a new pair of eyeglasses. Not just any old eyewear for me. These are very trendy due to the Vera Bradley design on the case and the interior of the earpieces. I had to laugh when I was presented with the case today. A year ago I would have been absolutely horrified by the color, but now that I've reconciled with the color pink, I actually like the case.

Thank Goodness for Clip-Art (and Hawaii 5-0)

Picture of the Day for 3/21/2011. My niece Renee held a Hawaii 5-0 party tonight to celebrate the beauty of the men starring in the re-make of this TV series. Renee went all out- she had tropical decorations, plates, and cups. We were greeted at her door with flower leis. The menu included pork, macaroni salad, and pineapple cream pie. After dinner we watched a prior episode of the show that Renee had downloaded from iTunes and then we watched the new episode that aired tonight.

You are getting a picture of my bosom covered with clip-art coconuts since my attempt to take a group picture of the attendees wearing their flower leis was greeted with hostility and rebellion.

So, here's the deal with the coconuts. In her invitation to the party, Renee indicated the person with the best coconut bra/grass skirt outfit would win a prize. Thanks goodness for clip-art which allowed me to assemble a costume at the last minute. Of course my brilliant creativity guaranteed I would crush the competition. The fact that there was no actual competition helped as well (I was the only one who showed up in costume.) I suspect Renee didn't actually think anyone would dress up so she grabbed one of the decorations as my award along with presenting me with a bag of coconut M&Ms. I'll take my prize (pictured below) and display it in my office next to my prize-winning Valentine's Day rocket (also pieced together with clip-art).

There is Hope (But Not Much)

Picture of the Day for 3/20/2011. I'm starting to feel curmudgeonly about the cold winter weather that continues to persist clear into the third week of March. I felt a slight glimmer of hope today when I saw these budding tulips in my neighbor's yard, but that moment passed quickly. I suspect the tulips' bravery at poking their heads above ground will be cruelly punished by a freezing late-season snowstorm.

Impromptu Party

Picture of the Day for 3/19/2011. Sadly, my niece Renee had to postpone her Hawaii 5-O party scheduled for this evening. (Renee holds frequent parties in honor of her latest TV show or movie star obsessions. I think they're just an excuse to have a party. I love them.) To allay the extreme disappointment felt by some of her guests, she held an impromptu interim party where we watched The Hangover. It's a naughty movie, but very funny. At the end of the evening, I realized I only had about five minutes left to take my picture of the day. Kellie (who I consider to be a niece) and my niece Lisa graciously agreed to be photographed.

My Mother Had a Southern Accent

Picture of the Day for 3/18/2011. My sister Paula made a CD of a tape our family had recorded for her in 1975 while she was living in California. My parents, my sister Robynne, and I all took turns talking on the tape. I burst into tears when I listened to the CD since this was the first time in my entire life I could hear my mother's southern accent. It annoyed me to no end that I knew she had one, but I was unable to discern it when she was alive. She just sounded like my mother.

I was just fixin' to turn 13 when we made the tape. I sound so young and sweet and innocent. Sadly, that ship has soooo sailed...

Sound Sleeper

Picture of the Day for 3/17/2011. My sisters (shown above) and I went to visit my dad this afternoon. We worked on hanging a large/heavy picture on the wall of my dad's new room. This was a very noisy process, especially when Paula was hammering nails into the wall.

My dad was especially sleepy today and oblivious to all the noise and commotion. I kept poking at my dad in an attempt to keep him awake, but to no avail. We probably could have paraded a marching band through his room without disturbing him.

Big Love

Picture of the Day for 3/16/2011. No, my blog title is not referring to the TV show Big Love (despite the fact that I'm descended from polygamists and I'm completely obsessed with TLC's show Sister Wives). In this instance, Big Love refers to the love affair between me and my sister's cat Jingles. He's absolutely crazy about me. And who could blame him? ;-)

Big Hair

Picture of the Day for 3/15/2011. OK- I realize I spend an inordinate amount of time discussing my hair on this blog. I've been rather obsessed with my hair since I lost so much of it after my surgery last July. I guess I shouldn't have worried. As you can tell, it's coming back with a vengeance. I was laughing at how big and wild my hair looked tonight (which is why I snapped a picture of it), but I'm glad to see it.

I Love Randy Wayne White - Part 3

Picture of the Day for 3/14/2011. Yep, I'm still smitten with the author Randy Wayne White. The picture of the two of us at one of his book signings is now my computer wallpaper at work.

New Piano Music

Picture of the Day for 3/13/2011. I just purchased some new piano music. No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. It's the music from Battlestar Galactica. I don't want anyone giving me crap about this. I love the composer, Bear McCreary. He has an impressive musical pedigree and he writes lovely, haunting music. That's part of the appeal for me- I love melancholy music. The more melancholy, the better. For some perverse reason, it cheers me up immeasurably.

End of an Era

Picture of the Day for 3/12/2011. Well, it's an end of an era. My dad keeps falling (not good) and the staff of the assisted facility where he lives suggested we move him to different wing where he can receive more supervision and hands-on care. An excellent suggestion although he now has just a small room which necessitated significant downsizing. We spent the day packing up his apartment and divvying up the contents between us three girls. Selfishly, I'm kind of glad we were able to tackle this task now as opposed to when my father passes away. It was nice to get this done without having to deal with the additional stress of planning a funeral.



Although my mother passed away nearly two years ago, we had kept all of her clothes and possessions in the apartment. Packing up her clothes today and donating them to charity was probably the most bittersweet part of the experience. I also felt kind of bad about a Christmas decoration that she had loved (it looks rather ratty here in this picture, but she kept it well-maintained when she was alive). I have fond memories of her hanging this tree on the fireplace screen each year, but not fond enough to want to keep it. We ended up tossing it in the trash. I hope her attention was diverted in heaven while this crime was being committed against her Christmas decoration. Sorry mother!

I'm Not Permitted to Do That

Picture of the Day for 3/11/2011. This error message popped up on my Facebook page. I'm not sure what "that" is and why I'm not permitted to do it, but now that restrictions have been arbitrarily imposed on me, I'm obsessed with doing "that" and damn the consequences.

Hayley Learns to Braid Hair

Picture of the Day for 3/10/2011. A few days ago at a family party, my great-niece Hayley was trying to braid my hair. She had the general idea of how it should be done, but her technique was less than successful and produced erratic results. I gave her some pointers which she embraced to the point she is now a successful and somewhat obsessive hair-braider. She's pictured here (randomly wearing a St. Patrick's Day hat- what's up with that?) holding my hair which she has just braided.

Space Ice Cream

Picture of the Day for 3/9/2011. At work, I participate on a project that has team members from all across the country- North Carolina, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Arizona. They have been great to work with. When my mother passed away in 2009, they sent me a big care package. When I had my surgery last year, they sent me another care package. The surgery care package included "space" ice cream. After I returned to work from medical leave, my colleagues kept asking me if I had tried the ice cream yet. I kept telling them "not yet" for several months because I was afraid that I would become addicted to the ice cream once I sampled it. That's exactly what ended up happening. Before my trip to see the space shuttle launch last month, I announced to my team that thanks to them, I would be forced to buy some more ice cream at the Kennedy Space Center gift shop. That got a big laugh.

Digging Out

Picture of the Day for 3/8/2011. OK- I thought it was bad enough that I had to dig my car out from what seemed like a foot of snow this morning. Then, I discovered a snowplow had deposited this tree limb at the foot of my driveway. Really? Dragging it out of the path of my car was hard enough since it was deceptively heavy, but now I'm kind of stuck with this tree limb. It's not like I can push it out onto the street or leave it as a surprise on a neighbor's doorstep. Dang, dang, dang. As my southern mother would say, I didn't take this tree limb "to raise." I guess I'll have to figure something out.

Wild Birthday Celebration

Picture of the Day for 3/7/2011. Tonight we celebrated my sister Paula's 60th birthday and my great niece Sadie's 5th birthday. As you can see, Sadie got a lot of loot. Paula received the following sympathy card (in addition to her fair share of loot).


Before the festivities started, my niece Chantal caught me using my iPhone to send an email to a friend. She told me to quit flirting with the recipient of the email. Sadie added the caveat that there should be no farting either. Sage advice. Farting and flirting definitely don't go together.

As Sadie was opening her gifts, her weapon-loving 8-year-old brother, Ethan, tried to guess the content of each gift before it was opened. The following were some of his guesses:
-A gun
-A bomb
-A machine gun
Ethan struck out completely as Sadie's presents were comprised mostly of Disney Princess, Strawberry Shortcake, and My Little Pony.

All of the noise and commotion caused my 23-year-old niece Corinne to melt down and curl into a ball underneath the fireplace hearth.

Chantal did not help matters by joining Corinne under the hearth.


The evening ended with me not being able to make it up into my garage due to the snow that had accumulated on my driveway. It's March and I'm sick of the cold weather!

Chocolate Addiction

Picture of the Day for 3/6/2011. Hmm...I just MIGHT have a teeny tiny chocolate addiction. I was roaming around my house restlessly all day today, rather distressed that my home had inexplicably turned into a chocolate-free zone. How could I have let this happen? Luckily, I remembered a bag of mint chocolate chips in my pantry. Crisis averted. Phew.

Bad Decor

Picture of the Day for 3/5/2011. I checked on my condo (which I still own despite the fact I moved nearly two years ago) for the first time in about three months and discovered there are new tenants on the first floor of my building who have inexplicably placed this cut-out of a small boy next to their front door. I'm so happy I don't live there to be greeted on a daily basis by this boy's bare behind.

It Was Bound to Happen

Picture of the Day for 3/4/2011. Oh wait, there isn't a picture of the day since I freaking forgot to take one! It's ironic that I was so busy updating my "picture of the day" blog and organizing my vacation photos that I overlooked the fact I needed a photo for 3/4/2011. This is the first time in 15 months that I've failed to take a picture of the day. I'm quite distressed about this, but I'm trying to be philosophical. I guess it was bound to happen. Sigh.

GI Joe Loves Diet Coke

Picture of the Day for 3/3/2011. GI Joe made an appearance at our family lunch today. I'm not sure if his stance looks like he's defending the Diet Coke or if he is deriving his strength from the Diet Coke. Given my unholy addiction to this beverage, both scenarios seem entirely plausible to me.

Bathtub Woes

Picture of the Day for 3/2/2011. Well, if I needed proof that I've returned to my everyday life after my excessively fun trip to Florida and spending time in trendy West Palm Beach, this is it. My bathtub drain isn't working. It will be a couple of days before I have time to wait for a plumber to show up at my house to fix it. In the meantime, I'm emptying the bathtub by hand after each shower. It takes about 20 scoops with a small plastic bucket after a short shower and 30 scoops if I've washed my hair. I've never really had a proper appreciation for drains until now.

I Love Randy Wayne White - Part 2

Picture of the Day for 3/1/2011. I'm not done talking about Randy Wayne White since I'm still smitten with him. During yesterday's book signing, we had a nice chat about his belief that everyone has a book in them. I love his inscription to me first of all because he calls me Lovely Michelle and second because he urged me to start writing now! OK- I will!

I Love Randy Wayne White - Part 1

Picture of the Day for 2/28/2011. One of my favorite mystery authors is Randy Wayne White. He's currently on tour doing book signings for his latest novel. I was lucky enough to get to see him at his stop in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He spent some time telling stories and answering questions from the audience before settling in to sign books. He's very charming and to my delight, he seemed to be rather enamored with me. I was certainly smitten!

Tooth and Nuts

Picture of the Day for 2/27/2011. I was a huge fan of the TV show "Whose Line is it Anyway?" so I was excited to see that Wayne Brady, one of the actors on this show, was performing live in West Palm Beach while I was there. I jumped at the chance to attend the show which was structured like an episode of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" It was very funny. My favorite sketches were about an English pub called the "Tooth and Nuts" and a trip to Jamaica. It would take too long to describe these sketches so I am mentioning them not for my readers, but for my own benefit so I don't forget.

I ended up sitting next to a pastor (and his wife) of an evangelical Christian church in New Jersey. I think religion is an endlessly fascinating topic so I had a great time talking to them. I believe they found it equally intriguing to talk to a Mormon from Salt Lake City.

"We Delievery"

Picture of the Day for 2/26/2011. I spent the day exploring Delray Beach, Florida which is approximately 15 miles south of West Palm Beach. Delray Beach is a trendy little town, as evidenced by the woman I saw pushing her dog in a pink princess doggie stroller. Sheesh. Sadly, I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to take a picture of it.

As I was exploring my dining options, I came across a French restaurant that I eventually ended up trying. I had to laugh at the menu posted on the street outside the restaurant that proudly declared "We Delivery." I suspect they meant to say "We Deliver." Although grammar wasn't their strong suit, cooking was. It was divine.


Even more divine was the cupcake shop I discovered. I eventually ended up coming back two more times during my stay in Florida. Yay, for cupcakes buried under a mound of frosting and white chocolate shavings. Yum.

Sunrise Over the Florida Turnpike

Picture of the Day for 2/25/2011. Despite having gotten to bed at about 2:00 a.m., I was on the road a few hours later by 5:00 in the morning. I was not so much heading toward my destination of West Palm Beach, FL as I was fleeing my rather seedy hotel, the Orlando Metropolitan Resort. Trust me, it was not a resort.

I took the Florida turnpike which bisects the middle of the state. I love this road since it has a "middle of nowhere" vibe which allows you to enjoy the Florida landscape. The sun rising over the horizon was spectacular- a big orange/yellow ball. Wish my camera captured what I was actually seeing.

STS-133 Launch

Picture of the Day for 2/24/2011.

YAY! After months of plotting and planning, I was finally able to see a space shuttle launch. The mission that went up today was STS-133.

I arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at approximately 8:00 in the morning, armed only with a parking pass, but no ticket to actually see the launch. Fortunately, I was able to get onto the grounds of the KSC using my annual pass (yes, I have an annual pass- if that makes me a nerd, so be it). I would have been perfectly content to watch the launch from the visitor center complex, but I managed to scam a bus ticket to the causeway directly across from the launch pad. This is the best place that a non-VIP like myself can view a launch, start to finish. If I had remained at the visitor center complex, I would not have been able to see the shuttle until it cleared the trees. The causeway tickets had been sold out for months so it was a miracle I was able to get one. I was on one of the very last buses out.

Buses and cars lined the causeway for miles.


NASA piped in the communication feed so the crowd could hear the countdown. It turned out to be pretty dramatic as there was one critical monitoring system that wasn't functioning. The countdown was put on hold for several minutes so the issue could be resolved. It was literally down to the last possible moment the launch could be delayed without being scrubbed for the day before the problem was solved and the launch was given the go-ahead. Phew. It was a real nail-biter.

Below are my pictures of the 4:53 p.m. launch. They aren't great photos since one would need a telephoto lens and a certain level of expertise that I don't have. But hey, at least the event is documented. And this is what it basically looked like from my vantage point since I didn't really use the zoom feature on my camera because it tends to blur the images.









It was an interesting experience watching a launch live- satisfying and thrilling, but very different from what you see on TV or video clips. It wasn't as loud as I expected and it went by very quickly. I was alternating between snapping pictures and taking in the view and didn't feel like I did justice to either activity. I'm already planning on attending the next shuttle launch in April so I can just take in the experience without the distraction of taking photos.

I had heard traffic getting out of the KSC was a nightmare, but didn't really catch the vision until I attempted to leave. Below is a picture of the bus returning us to the KSC. You can already see the cars lining up to exit the parking lot. I waited two hours after the launch before leaving and it still took me two hours just to drive a few miles north to Titusville where I wanted to eat at one of my favorite restaurants. I left Titusville at about 11:00 p.m. and traffic was still bad. I limped into Orlando at about 1:00 a.m.