Venus-Jupiter Conjunction

Picture of the Day for 6/30/2015. In tonight's evening sky there was a Venus-Jupiter conjunction. That means the two brightest planets in our solar system appeared in the sky less than 1/2 a degree apart which is their closest conjunction until August 2016. I just happened to read about this right at the perfect time to go outside and see it. Of course I did a nerdy space-loving dance of joy at the sight.

Don't Spill on the New Shirt

Picture of the Day for 6/29/2015. I bought this shirt in Florida last month and I have spilled food on it every single time I've worn it despite my conscious efforts to keep it new and pristine-looking. This shirt has bad food stain karma. I swear it would be more efficient to just get it over with and apply a food stain before I leave the house.

Creepy Selfie

Picture of the Day for 6/28/2015. I'm not sure what happened here...

Bonnie in High School

Picture of the Day for 6/27/2015. My voice teacher Bonnie had her high school yearbook out on her coffee table today so of course I had to look her up. Very cute! Bonnie and I grew up in the same neighborhood and I remember when I was little girl thinking that she was sooooooo very cool. She was single (at the time) with long blonde hair and off doing cool single stuff. Bonnie is still one of my favorite people on the planet.

Love at First Sight

Picture of the Day for 6/26/2015. My friend Mary helps take care of some horses (Arabians and miniatures- quite the combination) and happened to be the only person around when this miniature horse was born. They both took one look at each other and fell instantly in love. 

Hormones and Spitting

Picture of the Day for 6/25/2015. I visited a hormone specialist a couple of days ago. Here are the reasons why. NOTE: I'm totally wandering into TMI territory now. Read at your own risk!!!

-I'm a woman of a certain age. A certain age that just happens to correspond with the national average for women going through menopause in this country.

-I'm not really sure if I'm going through menopause yet and I'd like to know the status of my hormones. 

-How does one not know if they are going through menopause you might ask. The lady part that would give me the most obvious sign was removed a few years ago. 

-BUT, not all my lady parts were removed and I was left with some functioning lady parts. I just don't know if those have shut down yet, hence, my visit to the doctor. 

-In order to test my hormone levels, I'm taking a saliva test which has required me to spit into this vial for the past half hour. I'm sooooo very sick of spitting. I'll mail this off today and then meet with my specialist in a couple of weeks for the results.

Everyone Should Have a Pat Nixon T-shirt

Picture of the Day for 6/24/2015. I just counted up the number of t-shirts I bought at tourist locations over the past couple of weeks. Five. This is unheard of. For me at least. I haven't ever really been big on touristy t-shirts, but I like to wear them when I go to the gym. 

Even if I didn't have an excuse to wear them, I still would have bought the one celebrating Pat Nixon's centennial anniversary of her birth because I think everyone should have a Pat Nixon centennial anniversary t-shirt. It just tickled me for some reason. And on a less flippant note, I really liked learning more about her at the Richard Nixon presidential library. I wouldn't mind reading a biography about her.

Yellowstone Work Crew 1992

Picture of the Day for 6/24/2015. I came across this picture (posted on friend's Facebook page) of me and the gift shop crew I worked with at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone location in 1992. Working in Yellowstone from 1990-1992 was one of the absolute best times of my entire life. No television. No internet. No distractions from the outside world. Almost no money- just enough to support my hiking habit in the most beautiful place on the planet (not that I'm biased).

Crooked Picture

Picture of the Day for 6/22/2015. There's a spot on the wall next to my piano where I've got a cool portrait I purchased off of eBay hanging. It seemed appropriate to hang a portrait there since that's where a portrait of my mother (painted by a prominent Texas artist during the time my mother was a young woman) used to hang. I can't get this picture to hang straight for any reason. I don't seem to recall this was a problem with my mother's portrait when my parents were alive. Hmm.

Hamburger Chair

Picture of the Day for 6/21/2015. It's Father's Day and our family met at Red Robin (famous for their hamburgers) for dinner. When I arrived, my niece Renee got up from her seat in the waiting area and said, "Here, you take the burger chair." There are some phrases you never expect to hear in your lifetime and that was one of them!

Sun Pass

Picture of the Day for 6/20/2015. Another sign I'm slowly inching my way to becoming a Florida resident. I purchased a Sun Pass which allows you to travel on Florida's ever present toll roads (the Florida Turnpike in particular) without having to stop at all the toll booths. It's especially annoying near the Orlando airport where they seem to be spaced every couple of miles.

Serious Storm Clouds

Picture of the Day for 6/19/2015. Boy, you should have seen the lighting that flashed across the sky after I took this picture. It was beautiful and threatening all at the same time.

Controlled Fire by a Tree Farm?

Picture of the Day for 618/2015. I noticed a controlled burn off of I-95. I know these controlled fires are often necessary, but next to a tree farm????

Sailfish Marina

Picture of the Day for 6/17/2015. Met a friend for lunch at the Sailfish Marina Resort in West Palm Beach. It was fun hanging out in such a posh location for a couple of hours. Although there was a shifty-looking pirate hanging out by the entrance as you can see by my selfie with him below. The guy behind me looks decidedly blase about the pirate.

 

Snorkeling

Picture of the Day for 6/16/2015. Took a snorkeling lesson today. I see from this picture that wearing a snorkeling mask isn't a good look for me. And that's what it's all about- looking good, not my actual snorkeling skills which I was chagrined to find weren't great. I've been snorkeling before and I'm a strong swimmer, but I'm definitely out of practice. I'll have to see if there's a place in Salt Lake where I can take a class.

Alligators and Dolphins

Picture of the Day for 6/15/2015. Still roaming the Florida Keys today. There are so many of them that I couldn't tell you exactly where I was at any given time. Went on a short little nature hike to this beautiful lake.

I was startled to see these alligators when I looked over the railing on the deck (which you can see in the picture above) overlooking the lake. Eek. The camera doesn't do the perspective justice. They were closer than they appear and the one on the right was massive. Eek.

Much more appealing were the dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center. It was fun watching them frolic and paint. Apparently, the dolphins get so excited when they get to paint a picture.  

 

Florida Keys

Picture of the Day for 6/14/2015. Driving along the 7-mile bridge that connects the Middle Keys to the Lower Keys. It's so very beautiful. And I am so very happy.

Everglades Seasoning

Picture of the Day for 6/13/2015. Another reason to love Florida - Everglades Seasoning. I introduced my family to it and now my niece Chantal is totally obsessed with it. She instructed me before my trip that I was to bring back not one, but two bottles of the stuff for her. You can get Everglades Seasoning at any grocery store down here so I dutifully picked up the two bottles. I texted Chantal a picture of the bottles and said that I MIGHT give them to her upon my return. Or I MIGHT not. I love tormenting my nieces. It gives me so much pleasure. 

Birds of the Southeast Atlantic Coast Poster

Picture of the Day for 6/12/2015. I'm in Florida! My favorite place on the planet. I saw this poster at a little nature preserve and I think I'm going to have to buy it (if I can find it for sale on the internet). I'm just a little obsessed with the birds down here. They are so beautiful. 

Oh, and by the way, here are pictures of the nature preserve. 

Blue Crab or Red Lobster?

Picture of the Day for 6/11/2015. My niece Rachel wanted a blue crab beach bag with red handles I had purchased, but when I went back to the store, they only had a red lobster beach bag with blue handles. I didn't care which one I ended up with so I sent pictures to Rachel, who is living in New York, and let her decide. So how did people ever shop before smart phones? 

Successfully Growing a Tomato

Picture of the Day for 6/10/2015. The cherry tomato plant I nearly killed off a couple of weeks ago has recovered sufficiently to the point there's an actual tomato growing! I did this. Me. Someone who has never planted/harvested a food item in her entire life! (OK- the plant had something to do with this along with the laws of nature and sunshine and water. I get that. But at least I didn't kill the plant!)

Weight Watchers Cereal

Picture of the Day for 6/9/2015. Weight Watchers has chocolate cereal! I'm on Weight Watchers. I can have this! Of course, on Weight Watchers you can have anything you want- as long as you track the food's point values and stay within a total point limit per day. It's just nice to have the point value per serving listed on the box rather than having to guess or Google the information.

Pride Jello

Picture of the Day for 6/8/2015. Someone in my office brought in gay pride Jello. My first thought upon seeing this was wondering just how long it took to assemble all these layers.

I'll Know It When I See It

Picture of the Day for 6/7/2015. Years and years and years ago, my mother gave me a cute little set of pink floral cups and saucers. She loved pretty china and I've inherited that love from her. The dishes have been gathering dust on the top shelf of a kitchen cabinet so I thought it would be nice to get a decorative box to store them in. I had been searching for awhile, but nothing really struck my fancy. I figured I would know the right box when I saw it. Sure enough, I burst out laughing when I saw the box I eventually purchased. It has 1921 on the lid- that's the year she was born. It has a pretty floral design and it totally looks like something she would like.

Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace

Picture of the Day for 6/6/2015. I had a few hours to kill before catching my flight home this evening so I decided to check out the Richard Nixon presidential library and birthplace in Yorba Linda, California. Loved it. I love history and seeing the personal artifacts from major historical figures (excluding Taylor Swift as I made very clear in my blog entry from yesterday).

 

 

The library is on the land owned by Nixon's father when he attempted to be a citrus farmer. The small cottage was where Nixon was born and pretty much all of the contents are original to the house. Nixon became vice president of the United States in the 1950s as a relatively young man in his 40s. The family had the foresight to save everything from the house in anticipation that Nixon's birthplace would be of historical significance someday. 

 

Nixon was the president during the moon landing and I love the telegraph he sent to the Apollo 11 crew members. "It is now your moment and from the depths of your minds and hearts and spirits will come the triumph all men will share."