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Showing posts from August, 2010

The Other Guys

For our last 23rd date , the husband and I decided to go see a movie.  For once, our local theater was showing several that we wanted to see: Inception , Deception , Nanny McPhee Returns , and The Other Guys . Ah, choices. We decided to go with something light, silly, and fun. So, off we went to see the The Other Guys .  All we knew was that it was a farce about cop movies. But we were assured (well maybe the husband was more than me) that anything with Will Ferrell ought to be decently hilarious. We weren't wrong. There were several scenes that had us laughing out loud and long. I ask you, have you ever seen a movie with cops driving a red Prius in a car chase? Ferrell and Wahlberg play two NYPD detectives, who mostly do paperwork. Ferrell's character, Allen Gamble, is happy about it, while Wahlberg's character, Terry Hoitz is furiously not. They are made fun of by the other detectives for not having done any heavy-shooting, car chasing detective work. Terry wants to know

Framed

Framed is this week's theme at PhotoHunt. I love the sound of bells. These bells are part of the newer Catholic church in town. They look like they are for show only, but I could be wrong. I hope so.

The Mama's Garden of Joy!

For this Wordless Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday , I give you a look at the Mama's garden. This is how the mama's garden looked in April of this year. The mama's garden as of last week. Can you see her at work? The mama gave her first gourd of the season  to her friend. The mama chops the banana plants back every winter. By summer they are in full bloom again. The Mama's sunflowers had to be over 12 feet tall, three times taller than her. Today, we celebrate the mama's first day of starting another trip around the sun. Joy!

Cozy Mystery Challenge #4 Review

Chapter and Hearse by Lorna Barrett is the fourth title of the Booktown Mystery series. It's the first one I've read. I doubt I'll read any of the others. The protagonist, Tricia Miles, is the owner of a mystery bookstore in a small (fictional?) town in New Hampshire. That alone ought to be enough for me to enjoy the series. It's not.  I don't care too much for Tricia. She doesn't have much confidence in herself, though she was much better about her worth by the end of the book. After all, her husband dumped her because he went off to Colorado to find himself. A reporter guy likes her, almost stalkingly. The police guy who likes her put their relationship on hold because he decided to care for his ex-wife who is being treated for cancer. To add to that, her older sister is a type A author, bookseller, and cook. So, Tricia does have a lot to get herself out from under. I'm just not curious to see how her life progresses in future books. The plot? The booksto

Whatever Will Be, Will Be

"Que sera, sera. . ." The husband looked up from the Sunday comics. "Whatever will be, will be. . ." He looked down the hallway. The mama had already wandered out of sight. "That's the first time I heard her sing," said the husband. "She's getting ready to sing tonight at the novena," I said, just as surprised as him. "I don't think they'll be singing that song," he said. "No," I said, "But they should." Unfortunately, the mama didn't have the chance to sing. Her ride never came to take her to the second night of the novena of mourning for her friend. That's a Catholic Church ritual of praying that soothes the souls of the departed's loved ones. My definition. Fortunately, the mama didn't seem to mind that she had been forgotten. She was probably relieved. She did not have to deal with the question that people seem compelled to ask her. How old are you? It's not a question anyone

Saturday Mumbling

I'm feeling lazy today. No, that's not true. If I really was lazy, I wouldn't even be writing this. Ha! More precise is this: I'm struggling with words today. If cartoon bubbles could surround my brain cells right now, they would say "puff, puff, puff, fizzzzzzle." This morning a whole lot of sparrows were eating out of the feeders in the front yard today. My brain cells feel like how the sparrows looked as they scattered to the bushes, the fence, and the rooftops when a sharp noise spooked them. Seriously. I sound like a loony tune right now, I know. By writing about it, I'm a loony tune with a spotlight on it. Hmmm, which reminds me of the Bugs Bunny cartoons on Saturday mornings. Do you remember how Bugs and Daffy Duck began the show by singing "This is It!" Don't recall it? Don't know it? Well, then, have a look-see and enjoy. As for me, I'm heading out to the farm stand for some fresh apples.  Maybe by the time I've come bac

Another Wordless and Outdoor Wednesday

Clippity clop, clippity clop. Earlier this summer, the husband and I watched the  Horse Show and Rodeo parade that takes place in our town every year. While waiting for the parade to start, I aimed my camera at the sky. Snappity snap. This was my favorite shot. If you'd like to see photos of the parade, clickity click here to be taken to my Take 25 to Hollister blog. For more Wordless Wednesday photos by other grand bloggers, click here for a list of links.  For photos by other bloggers participating in Outdoor Wednesday , click here .

A New "Old" Milestone

I believe the husband and I reached another milestone yesterday. We went to the grand opening of Vertigo Cafe in the next town over. We decided to drink our free coffee and eat our croissants on the patio. The husband went out with the coffee to grab the last free table, while I waited for the food. When I came out, he was standing next to the table. "There's only one chair," he said at the same time that I noticed why he had been standing. "We can sit on the bench," he said. That was okay by me. I was in need of coffee and food to break my evening fast. Everything was registering very slow with me. "Take my chair," said a voice behind me. I looked over at a young family. Two small children were perched on chairs. Dad was standing behind his son, and Mom was standing beside her chair. "No, thank you," we said. "We can sit on the bench." "You have a plate," the young mom said. "Besides, we are about to leave." Th

PhotoHunt: Orange

This week, the PhotoHunt theme is orange. To see other photos, click here to tnchick's (our host) site. What Came First: The Color or The Fruit?

Cozy Mystery Challenge Book #3 Review

Today, I offer you, dear readers, a review of my third entry for the Cozy Mystery Challenge . Four more to go. Actually, I finished Corpse Suzette by G. A. McKevett about three weeks ago. The book has been sitting patiently on my table to be written about for over a week. How time flies! Corpse Suzett e is the 11th book of the Savannah Reid series. Savannah is a 40-ish ex-police officer who turned private eye many years ago. She is based in the fictional town of San Carmelita, which I think could be anywhere on the California central coast.  Originally from Georgia, Savannah loves cooking and eating yummy rich food (think Paula Deen) and is happy about her zaftig size. She has no problem getting around as she sleuths the traditional way. In contrast, Savannah's assistant is a slim, hyper health nut named Tammy, who is also a computer whiz. Savannah's other sidekick is Sgt. Dirk Coulter, her ex-cop-partner who still serves on the local force. Because no one wants to work with

Wordless and Outside Wednesday

I like it when the husband drives. I hang out the car window, like a happy puppy, clicking away at the scenery. As we were driving home the other evening, the fog was starting to roll over the hills. Click! Today, I'm sharing my photos at Wordless Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday . Head over to those sites to check out links to photo works by other bloggers.

A Sitting Up Challenge

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-Ow! Owwww!" "What were you doing?" asked the husband with alarm. No, not a clock. Though, I did ask him to time me for a minute. He saw me get down on the floor, but didn't notice what I was doing. He kept tippity tapping away on his computer, after he said, "Go" and then 60 seconds later, "Stop." I did 48 stomach crunches.  I was soooo impressed with myself since I hadn't done sit-ups in several months. But I didn't think the crunches would cramp me up when I sat down in front of the computer. "Owwwwww." "You silly woman," said the husband. See. That's the kind of sympathy I get after 13 years of marriage. Why was I doing the crunches? It was a test to find out where to start my 200 sit-ups training program . Yep, another challenge. And, yep, you heard me right. 200 sit-ups. The goal is to be able to do 200 sit-ups, one after the other, in 6 weeks or more. You only need to crunch up to a 35-degree

They Grow Up Fast

Our child is growing. Til today, she felt shy to go to social events. Now look. Two days. Two parties by herself. Before we know it, our 80ish mama will be dating. --- This is a 160 Character Challenge, hosted by the Monkey Man . Give it a try. What can you write in 160 characters or less? You must count spaces, too.

Saturday Blog Hopping

I'm having fun checking out different blog hops and linky parties around the blogosphere. Today, I've hooked up with two new groups of bloggers.  One is PhotoHunt hosted by tnchick.com. This is my contribution to the pack of photo hunters. PhotoHunt has a weekly theme. "Colorful" is this week's theme. I took this photo at a local diner because of the colors. The second blog hop is called "Saturday Sharing," hosted by Say Anything...Cuz Censorship Sux. There, you link up your favorite post of the week.  Take a look, why don't ya, and maybe link your post, too.

Another Rambling Friday

Two rambling Fridays in a row. I don't think I'm dedicating Fridays to non sequitur rambles. At least, not yet, dear friendly readers. I'm afraid to make anything be set in stone about this blog, because once I do that I'm sure to sabotage myself. It's like when I pronounce that I shall lose so many pounds by such a date or start walking the Pacific Crest by such an age. Then, I don't. You would've thought at my age I had outgrown the fear of success. Yes, I said it. Fear of success. Not failure. I'm fine with the knowledge that I might attempt something and fail. I just try again, if it (whatever that is) is something I really want or need to conquer. But, then, you may ask, will I continue to fail short because I won't want to succeed? Good question. Maybe because I'm in the middle of doing it (whatever that is), I'm not spinning my wheels thinking about what may happen if I succeed. Hence,  I make my designated finish line. Wanting and/or

Wordless and Watery Wednesday

Hanging out at two linky parties today— Wordless Wednesday and Watery Wednesday . Click on the links to check out photos of other bloggers.

Being Heavy Handed

Burp. Excuse me. It's past midnight. Dinner was over at six this evening. I am still full. Tonight's dinner was extra rich. I didn't realize it was. Until now. We invited friends over for dinner, and  I wanted to serve something that would be easy to put together and eat because we were going to a meeting afterwards. So, I made fried sirloin beef wontons and shrimp and grits. The grits were cooked with gouda and cheddar cheeses. The shrimps, with a bit of onion and chives, were sauteed in olive oil, and at the last second (freshly cooked) bacon bits were stirred into the mixture.  Fried meat bits. Shrimp. Bacon. Cheeses. Tooo, tooo heavy. I was just not thinking, was I? The shrimp and grits dish was delicious. I followed (kinda) the Smokey Shrimp and Grits recipe at the Whistlestop Cafe Cooking blog. The cook adds creamed spinach to the dish. I didn't. Just as well. Did I mention that we had semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies for dessert? And, that I drank a bottle of F