The Great Juggling Stambush

Picture of the Day for 2/28/2014. Part of the fun of exhibiting at speech therapy conferences is getting to know your neighbors in the booths next to you. Our neighbor to the left of us at the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association's 2014 conference was Scott Stambush who owns a therapy staffing company. He's a nice guy and also a pretty decent juggler. During some downtime, he tried to teach me how to juggle. He was a great teacher, but it was not a success. Probably because I did not have a "can do" attitude. When the going got tough, I bailed out. 

 

Shrimp and Grits

Picture of the Day for 2/27/2014. At the suggestion of our hotel clerk, my sister Robynne and I ate at Boudreux's, a Cajun restaurant in Houston. 


At the suggestion of a patron standing in line next to us, we ordered fried grits with Gouda cheese and shrimp covered in an Etouffee sauce. It was life-changing. We ended up eating there three nights in a row (I'm writing this blog entry a week later). 


There was an infestation of birds in this particular location of Houston. You could hear them at the freeway exit and the trees and power lines were covered with them. I made the mistake of parking my car underneath one of these trees by the restaurant. Bad mistake. My car was covered in car poop by the time we got done eating. It was totally worth it for this shrimp and grits dish. 

Mission Control Is Deserted

Picture of the Day for 2/26/2014. My sister Robynne and I took a tram tour of the Johnson Space Center. Our first stop was at historic mission control. The tour guide there was pointing out the television screen in the corner of the room that shows the current mission control room where the International Space Station (ISS) missions are monitored. According to the guide, the camera is focused on the two most important people in the room- the flight director and the capcom (the only person who speaks directly to the astronauts on the station). When the tour guide pointed this out to us, there were actually two people on the screen. After the tour guide was done with his spiel, he asked if there were any questions. One woman pointed up to the screen (pictured below) and asked what happened when the two most crucial people disappeared. That made everyone laugh. The tour guide assured us all that these two people have mobile headsets and that mission control had not been abandoned.


After our group was back on the tram and headed to the next destination, the tour guide called the tram operators to assure us the flight director and capcom had returned to their seats and all was well with mission control. That made us laugh too.

Challenger 7 Memorial Park

Picture of the Day for 2/25/2014. My sister Robynne and I are in Houston to exhibit at a state-wide speech therapy conference later this week. We flew in a little bit early so we could do some sightseeing. Some space-related sightseeing of course as Houston is home to the Johnson Space Center. I had happened to see the Challenger 7 Memorial Park on a map so I wanted to check it out. The memorial portion of the park wasn't quite as memorial-ish as I expected, but it was a beautiful park. We spent a relaxing hour there just before sunset. 

The trees are filled with Spanish moss. 


The park is filled with swinging benches. I'm thinking all parks should come equipped with these.


We sat overlooking the water. 


A white heron flew in and kept us company for awhile.

Envelope Challenged

Picture of the Day for 2/24/2014. This is one of my more banal blog entries, but the topic is something that has preyed upon my mind lately. I have certain challenges when it comes to opening up envelopes. As you can see, I mangle the poor things. I don't mean to. This frustrates me. Opening up an envelope kind of falls into the category of a "basic motor skill." A "basic motor skill" I don't have. Oh well, I'll have to be content with the fact I have other talents and skills. 

Clever Invitation

Picture of the Day for 2/23/2014. I received this very clever invitation to my friend Jenny's husband's 50th birthday party. He's a Napoleon history buff so the invitation is in the shape of Napoleon's famous tricorn hat. I look at the attention to detail Jenny put into creating this invitation and I feel so uncreative. And boring.

Sadly, I will be missing this party because I'm not actually boring* and neither is my life. I'll be in Houston exhibiting at a state-wide speech therapy conference. And dragging my sister Robynne to the Johnson Space Center of course!

*Odd maybe. Definitely quirky. Definitely not boring.

Young Viking

Picture of the Day for 2/22/2014. I know I keep posting pictures of Sean, the baby who accompanies his mother to her voice lesson which is just right after mine on Saturday mornings. He's just so dang cute and when I saw this Viking hat, I knew right then I had my picture for the day. 

I suspect my blog entry title will generate a lot of interest from porn-minded individuals. I say that only because one of my first blog entries of the year was titled Very Young Hairdresser. It featured a picture of my 7-year-old niece brushing my hair. What it did NOT feature was a nubile young woman scantily clad as a naughty hairdresser. I'm so innocent when I title my entries. It's not until I check out the statistics and see where the traffic is coming from that I realize I might be giving some readers the wrong idea about what they will find on my site. 

The Couple's Candy

Picture of the Day for 2/21/2014. I've been working on proofreading my sister Robynne's latest speech therapy books. I was totally charmed by this story builder (a progressive story that starts off with a short phrase or word and ends with a long sentence that tells a little story) called The Couple's Candy from The Initial /K/ Workbook. I soooooo relate to this couple. I'm a candy fanatic and probably should go on a cauliflower and cabbage diet myself.

Mountain Man Beard

Picture of the Day for 2/20/2014. Ever since my brother-in-law David was severely injured in an automobile/pedestrian accident a couple of months ago, he's been growing out his beard. It's the first time in his life that he's grown it out. He kind of looks like a mountain man now. I've sooooo wanted to post a picture of him on this blog, but he's embarrassed. I figured I could get away with it if I didn't show his face. So, here's his impressive mountain man beard.

Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta

Picture of the Day for 2/19/2014. This is a recipe my sister shared on her Facebook page. She made it a few weeks ago and it was life-changing. It is one of the few recipes that turned out not only as good as you were hoping, but even better than expected. It was such a hit (with me) that she made again a second time tonight. I could have eaten the whole bowl all by myself (and wanted to with all my heart), but I refrained. 

Maintaining a Healthy Back

Picture of the Day for 2/18/2014. I attended a workshop held by my chiropractor on general things you can do to keep yourself and your back healthy. It was very informative. And, dinner was provided. Free dinner!

Ugliest Purse on the Planet

Picture of the Day for 2/17/2014. My local grocery store has a purse display by the customer service desk. I've noticed this purse has not sold over the past several months since it first caught my eye. There's a good reason it hasn't sold. That's because it's the UGLIEST PURSE ON THE PLANET! There's absolutely no excuse for this purse to exist.

Makeshift Sheet Music

Picture of the Day for 2/16/2014. I bought some sheet music from The Piano Guys as a download which means I have to print it out myself. Since my printer isn't working and I wanted to play the music the instant I downloaded it, I came up with this solution. Not optimal, but it worked for a first run-through.

Aviation Buff

Picture of the Day for 2/15/2014. After a two-day hiatus, I'm resuming Bob and Polly Merrill Week. Today's entry celebrates my dad's love of aviation. 

Here he is perched on the wing of a North American Aviation AT_6 at an airfield in Texas.


And here he is in the cockpit of a B-29 on Guam during World War ll. The nine bombs painted on the side of the plane indicate the plane had gone on nine bombing runs. My dad was a pilot and had been hoping to fly in the United States Army Air Corps, but ended up being drafted into the Navy where he served as a storekeeper in the supply depot. I'm not surprised my dad finagled his way onto the plane for this photo. My dad was a great finagler. 

Lisa Needs a "Smile for the Camera" Coach

Picture of the Day for 2/14/2014. My niece Lisa attended her Aunt Paula's annual Valentine's Day dinner where the "Valentine Lady" bestows gifts and candy on those in attendance. Lisa was so elated by all the Valentine treats that she asked me to take a picture of her with her loot. For some reason, Lisa couldn't manage a normal smile.

Here she looks pained.


Now she looks a little over-eager.


Well, it's not great, but at least she doesn't look creepy.


Here we go! Now she looks like her normal, cute self.

Mockery Karma

Picture of the Day for 2/13/2014. My sister Robynne accidentally wore mismatched earrings to family lunch today. Of course I had to mock her as she has a habit of doing something like this. Click on this link to a previous blog entry where I pointed out how she wore mismatched shoes at a speech therapy conference where we were exhibiting.


Later today I noticed I was wearing my jacket inside out. Sigh. The mockery gods heard me and decided to teach me a lesson. I don't know why they felt I needed this lesson as I'm perfectly willing to make fun of myself for wardrobe mishaps! Click on this link for an example. 

My Dad, the Threatening Thug

Picture of the Day for 2/12/2014. I'm declaring this Bob and Polly Merrill Week in honor of my parents' 70th wedding anniversary. They were married on February 11, 1944. 

Devoting a week to them is not only a tribute to my beloved parents, but it's also very self-serving. I was looking for a picture from their wedding day to post on this site yesterday, but came up empty. Instead, my search revealed a lot of great pictures which I thought would be fun to post. 

I got a kick out this one. My dad looks like a threatening thug. My mother appears oblivious to the menacing presence behind her. My dad was officially The Nicest Man on the Planet so this photograph definitely is not an accurate reflection of his personality and temperament.

70th Wedding Anniversary

Picture of the Day for 2/11/2014. My parents were married seventy years ago today. They spent 65 years together before my mother passed away in 2009 and they were absolutely crazy about each other to the very end. I sure wish they were both still here so we could celebrate this milestone with them!

Moon and Clouds

Picture of the Day for 2/10/2014. The moon rising over the clouds was so beautiful this late afternoon.

Walking in the Rain

Picture of the Day for 2/9/2014. I love walking in the rain underneath my brightly-colored polka dot umbrella. It looks like I enjoy doing this while walking at a 45 degree angle, but it's just tricky trying to take a picture while holding onto an umbrella.

Positive Self-Affirmation

Picture of the Day for 2/8/2014. I went out to dinner tonight with a couple of my buddies. One of them gave the other two of us a little Valentine token. I put mine on my bathroom mirror instead of a window because I actually wanted to be able to see it. Also, I can look in the mirror every day and say "I love you." I'm just brimming with self-confidence actually, but a little positive self-talk couldn't hurt!

Intrepid Seagull

Picture of the Day for 2/7/2014. I observed this seagull trying his absolute hardest to examine the contents of this discarded chip bag. I'm sure he was hoping to find some sort of food treasure inside. 

When the bird noticed that I was watching him, he stopped and tried to look nonchalant. Nope, nothing to observe here. 


Once he realized I wasn't a threat, he resumed his efforts. 


I hope he got something out of it. 

I Concede Defeat to Paula

Picture of the Day for 2/6/2014. A couple of weeks ago my sister Robynne showed up to family lunch with an armful of upholstery fabric left over from reupholstering her dining room chairs. She presented it to our sister Paula and informed her she'd like Paula to make something for her out of this fabric for her birthday. Paula threatened to make a dowdy jumper for Robynne to wear to church. I thought that was pretty funny. It still makes me giggle.

This is what Paula actually came up with- four placemats and four napkins and two pillows. It's hard to tell from the pictures below, but they were beautifully sewn. Robynne was thrilled. I totally concede defeat to Paula. She gave Robynne a far better birthday present than I did. 

Be Careful What You Ask For...

Picture of the Day for 2/5/2014. I asked my sister Robynne what she would like for her birthday so she said to surprise her. She likes jewelry and she also likes funky/eclectic things so I bought her this ring holder that's shaped like a hand. She likes to drape her extensive necklace collection over various objects so I figured she could drape some necklaces over the hand. It's weird- I know. She might not be so quick to ask for a surprise next time around!

Medication Milestone

Picture of the Day for 2/4/2014. My chiropractor has indicated he wants me to take two Ibuprofen every four hours to help reduce the inflammation in my back. I didn't learn how to swallow a pill until I was nearly 30 and it still doesn't come naturally to me. I have to lean my head back and gargle to trick my throat into swallowing. This week I've crossed a pill threshold. I can now do what was once impossible- I swallow BOTH Ibuprofen at the same time. 


I wish my dad were around to see this. It used to frustrate him that I couldn't swallow a pill. He even went so far as to order a special cup designed to help people who have a hard time. It so didn't work, but I kept the cup because I thought it was very sweet he went to the trouble to help me out.