Change My World For The Better!

That really is snow coming down and snow on the bench, robins in the background.

So this crazy lottery craze, it's up to $640 million now, is really affecting people.  Did you hear the story about
Chris Singleton of the Washington Wizards NBA team that earns $1,485,000 to play basketball just went out and bought $10,000 of lottery tickets?   Okay something is wrong with this picture.  The guy makes over a million dollars and he hopes to win the lottery.  He claims that if he does win he will change the world for the better.  Yeah, right.  I think your salary could do for the better right now Chris, it's a damn good start anyways.  Chris is slated to make $1,596,360 in 2013.  Let's hope there is a winner tonight so we can all get back to our boring, humdrum, poor and broke lives--and forget about becoming a millionaire, excluding Chris of course.

Sitting here in my poor and broke house with my boring life, I hear thunder outside.  I look out the windows and I see snow coming down.  It is thundering and snowing simultaneously.  There were robins galore in my backyard just minutes ago happily pulling worms out of the ground, they are now looking just as mystified as I am.  The robins are not sure whether they should stay and eat or fly quickly back to the safety of their nest.
Strange weather we are having.  Last week it was 83 degrees, today it is 38 degrees.  Last week the air conditioner was turned on to cool the house, today the heat is on to warm the house.  The weather is famous here in the Midwest, you just never know what the weather will do in the next five minutes.  Hey Chris Singleton!  How about a trip to Hawaii for this girl and her family?  I hear Hawaii has a consistent temperature of 80 degrees.  An all expense paid trip to Hawaii for this family would be changing THEIR WORLD for the better!

That is snow coming down on the robins in my backyard!

 

Lottery Craze Creating Crazy People

I am sure by now everyone has heard about the largest jackpot ever- 500 million dollars pre-tax -in the Mega Millions Lottery.  This jackpot is $110 million more than the previous record set in March 2007.  There are reports of people standing in line for three hours to buy a ticket.  Is everyone buying a ticket?  No, but many people will.  I watched 'The Wendy Williams' show yesterday and she said she has never bought a lottery ticket in her life.  The audience was shocked.  I don't blame her, I am not big on lottery tickets either.  I never win if I do buy a ticket, actually I never win anything.  I played the slots in Las Vegas--won nothing.  I have played the slots in local casinos-won nothing.  I am not a winner.  Coco, my oldest daughter is, she should have been named Lucky.  She has won $$ from lotteries, she wins contests, she even won a composter before it was popular to compost.  My youngest daughter Belle won a bicycle--that was exciting for her.  Lola not so lucky either.  Lola and I both don't buy lottery tickets.  On the other hand, Mr. B. LOVES lottery tickets.  His philosophy that he enjoys sharing with non-believers is, "Someone has to win."  I agree, someone will win, someone we don't know will win.  I hate to burst his bubble because I have watched him buy lottery tickets for twelve years now and the most he has ever won was $300.00.  I don't claim this as a win when I am sure the money invested does not equal the win.  However, it is something he enjoys and that's okay with me seeing as he is a non-smoker, non-drinker, and non-foodie.  So what's wrong with a few lottery tickets?  Lottery fever has hit and speaking of crazy lottery people, I was at the gas station last night to get a couple of colas.  The curbs by the door to my left were taken up by people parking their cars there to run inside.  The gas pumps to my right were both being used.  There was a narrow lane way through the middle of it all which I needed to drive through to get to a parking spot.
  Mr. B. said, "Just drive through the narrow lane but stop by the doorway and let me out and then drive around to the back of the store."  "Okay"  I pulled up between the parked cars, he swung open the door and jumped out.  Just as Mr. B. was getting out of the car a pickup truck came flying in the drive from the opposite direction, she parked it right in front of my car then got out.  What??  This was not a parking lane, this was the only lane way that was open for cars to drive in and out of the gas station and she just blocked me in.  I yelled out my car window to Mr. B. as he was walking in, "That was a really good idea!"  He turned around and looked at the parked truck and the crazy woman walking quickly behind him and yelled back, "Yeah, I know!"  Now I can't move my car unless I back up four car lengths and swing it around to get out of the non parking lane.  I backed up and got myself into a parking spot just as I saw the belligerent truck driver get back into her truck with her brown bag.  Mr. B. came out shortly after and told me the woman was in a big hurry.  She bought her beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets.  Yep, nothing was going to get in her way.  We were guessing all the way home which one was more important to her; the beer, cigarettes, or lottery.  Mr. B. said the beer because she could drown her sorrows when she lost the lottery or celebrate when she wins the lottery.  Beer is like that; it's a multifunctional drink, depending on the situation at hand.  I said the truck, because without the truck she couldn't get any of the above.

Before this lottery craze gets worse I have a suggestion.  Wouldn't it be nice when the lottery reaches such outrageous amounts that there is more than one winning number?  The winnings would be divided up so instead of one person winning it all, the jackpot would be spread out so 300 people could become millionaires....The odds of winning this jackpot are estimated at nearly one in 176 million.  Hard times are here and with that amount of money we need more winners.  Good luck on Friday, March 30th and no more fighting in the lottery lines!

Ah-h-h to live the good life.  Cosmo looks like he already won the jackpot.

My Father's Birthday

My dad turned 86 years young yesterday.  Mr. B. and I took him to lunch then went to his house to celebrate with the rest of the family with cake and ice cream.  His wife (my stepmother) had a cake made up just for him.
If you ask my dad what his secrets to longevity are, he will reply, "I don't know.  I have no idea why I am still alive."  He is serious with this reply.  Very serious.   

As a younger man, he smoked cigarettes which turned into pipe smoking then into cigar smoking; he drank hard liquor, seven and seven was his favorite drink along with his all time favorite-- beer; he served in the Navy during World War II; doesn't have any special diet secrets--loves ice cream and pretzels-not together of course, and never followed an exercise regiment.  He was and still is a master electrician.  I just found this out!  I always knew he was an electrician of course, but I did not know there were different classifications for electricians.   Master electricians are the elite of a highly skilled trade and recognized as the highest standard in studying and training.  Becoming a master electrician involves a lot of studying, but most important is on-the-job training and years of experience.  He maintains his license as an electrician, but he is retired from the field.  He does not work any longer as his body moves slower than it used to, but his mind is still very active.  He loves learning;  keeping current on the electrical front and following his favorite TV program, '60 Minutes.'  His current hobby is putting puzzles together-he likes the 500 pieces or more type.  When he finishes the puzzle he then glues the back and hangs them on his garage walls.  He works on the puzzles daily while listening to the bygone big band era hits on his favorite radio station. 

Many of his traits have become mine.  I love education- I love learning; my love of lights--I think has something to do with my electrician father; I love the big band sound--The Glen Miller Band being one of my favorites; and my love for comedians Jackie Gleason, The Rat Pack, Phyllis Diller and Lucille Ball.  My dad and I shared laughs while watching these stars perform on our small screen black and white television in the 1960's.  Oh, and who could forget Rowan and Martin's 'Laugh In'--another one of my dad's favorite comedy shows which also became one of mine from the latter part of the sixties and early seventies.
 Yes, when my dad says he has no idea why he is still around, I have to remind him that he is someone I look up to.  He is an inspiration for me, he gives me a goal I hope to attain someday.                                   

Happy 86th Birthday DAD!!!!

Deer, Toenails, and Blossoms

There has been unbelievable weather here in the Midwest.  For the last few days, the temperature has been in the 80's.   A beautiful 83 degrees Fahrenheit and I'm heading outside to sit on my deck and enjoy the sights and sounds of the day.  I am going to take a break from painting and cleaning the yellow brick house, and enjoy the weather.  This is STILL March!  I just can't waste a day like this, so outside I go.

The momma deer and her baby beside the fence

There are deer in my backyard, buds blooming on the trees, all kinds of birds singing, and the grass is turning greener everyday.  It's a good day to go outside, put some nail polish on my toe nails and get ready for flip flop season.  Hurray!!

D D D DAY!

That's not Noxzema on his face, that's drywall dust.

D D D DAY stands for:  Dirty, Dusty, Drywall Day.  Yep, it was time, it had to be done.  The drywall mud, paste, whatever you call it, had to be sanded down.  And what a mess it made.  The drywall dust went everywhere:  walls, windows, chairs, televisions, flowers, appliances, floors; well, you get the idea.  By the way, drywall dust does not vacuum off hardwood floors.  The floors had to be washed, by hand, to get rid of the dust.  Everything that could be covered, was covered.  We ran out of paint tarps and started using newspaper to cover, but it didn't matter.  That drywall dust is an insidious, dirty little monster; it gets everywhere.  Two days of cleaning and the unimaginable happens.  I started painting the kitchen walls, and I discover behind the stove and refrigerator, portions of the wall with large bumps on it.  Mr. B. forgot to sand down these areas.  At this time, I am so fed up with drywall dust, I did what most tired house cleaners would do.  I took the shortcut, I painted over these areas before Mr. B. got home, then moved the appliances back into place. 


Well, he came home from work and was standing in the kitchen admiring my newly painted kitchen walls when he decided to look closely at the stove area.  
"Oh, I forgot to sand the drywall in this area, I'll have to do it now."
"Do you HAVE to?"  "Who is going to see this portion of the wall with the stove in front covering it up?"
"Well, YOU WILL every time you pull the stove out to clean behind it."
"I promise I won't pull the stove out to clean behind it."  
Another round of drywall dust began.  I went outside and pouted.  You know what this means.  Another day of cleaning, and another day of repainting the area that was just sanded off. 

Look! It's a Robin!

Spring is official on the 20th of March.  Today is March 15th, still officially winter here in the Midwest.   Well, supposed to be.  It is an unbelievable 71 degrees Fahrenheit outside today.  Hot and sunny.  Everywhere you look, you will see bicycles, motorcycles, lots of people out walking or playing sports, raking their lawns, washing their cars, giving their dogs haircuts, and lots of robins.  Yes, robins; the quintessential early bird.  I saw my first robin today.  Here in the Midwest we mark the first sign of spring with the sighting of the robin.  You have to look closely at the picture,  you will see the robin in front of the green bush.  Notice all the tired, bare trees from winter in the background.  Unfortunately, I could not get too close to the robin and I didn't have a telephoto lens.  You will have to believe me.  I saw one, then two, then so many robins in this park I couldn't count them all.  So it's official--Spring is here before the calendar says so. 

I also marked this beautiful, warm day with a specialty Rosco haircut.  This blooming boomer learned how to shave dogs from watching my talented sister-in-law shave Cosmo.  She is the expert.  I have been paying way too many $$ for shaving my poodles and one morkie so I bought some clippers and away we went.  Rosco was not happy.  Lola and I called it quits when he started to squirm too much and we let him go.  Rosco's early departure from the grooming table explains his goatee and spike on top of his head.  Oh well, I'll be an expert soon.  Afterall, I have three dogs to practice on.

Fuzzy, furry Rosco--before.  (That's a Cosmo foot in the background)

Happy, content Rosco before the haircut; relaxing, looking out the window

Rosco-- After

Sorry Rosco, I'm practicing!           Like his goatee??

The Kitchen is Coming! The Kitchen is Coming!

After several hours spent working in the kitchen this past weekend, the island is done and all cabinets are in place.  We had to take one upper cabinet back down because it was off center.  It was off by almost a 1/2."  Depending on where you stood in the kitchen, it was either noticeable or not.  It bothered Mr. B. to the point of  removing it and starting all over again.  Our fantastic brother-in-law, M.J. was great at balancing the cabinet on his shoulder until Mr. B. could get it fastened to the wall.  The granite counter template man came over yesterday to measure, and the new counter tops should be here by April 2012.  I am writing 2012 because I don't want this project to stretch into 2013, it's already been 6 months.       

M.J. and Mr. B. add the finishing touches to the kitchen island

                                                                                                      Funny thing happened yesterday,  one of Mr. B.'s friends came over to the house and wanted to look at the job Mr. B. has done in the kitchen.  He asked me if we were finished painting.  I  looked at him wondering how he could not see the obvious.  The unpainted walls are shades of pink, white, and green.  He asked again, "Did you get the cabinets in white and paint them brown, or are you painting them all white?"  

Lola in front of my kona & chiffon  'unpainted' cabinets

Now I understood, I have chosen two different finishes for my cabinets, chiffon and kona are the stain colors.  This friend thought we were painting all the cabinets brown because there were three white cabinets in front of him, so he assumed we were not finished painting them yet.  "It's the new look" I told him "you split on stain colors and counter top colors, this way you get two different looks in your kitchen."
"Oh yeah, yeah.  I get it."  He answered with uncertainty in his voice.
 I don't think he really did get it.
He continued, "You should make Mr. B. finish, this is taking too long."     " He's been working on this kitchen reno way too long."
I had to agree, of course.  He quickly said he was very busy in his house renovating too.  He told me his wife would not stand for this baloney.  She would have him up all night getting this project finished.
"Really??"  My ears were tuned in now.  "She would have you work through the night to finish a project?"
"Yep."  "She wants everything a certain way."  "My wife's got taste."  "Very expensive taste."
"Oh," I answered under my breath, wondering to myself what that statement meant.
I asked Mr. B. after his so-called friend left, what exactly was he implying by stating 'my wife has taste'.   "Was he trying to say he thinks our kitchen is ugly?"  The nerve of some people.
"No, I don't think he meant that."  Mr. B. answered me.
"Well it sounded like his wife has taste and this kitchen just wouldn't be up to her standards."  "He made it sound like this kitchen was cheap and ugly."
"Well I wouldn't worry about it."  "This kitchen is going to look really good when we are finished."
"Yep" I said,  "I get it,"  I know it will.  Can't wait.  The question now is 'when will it be finished?'  Sometime in 2012, I hope.

Lights of the Night

At twilight, lighting the way on our walk with Cosmo and Sadie.

It looks like midnight because no one is around, but it's only 7:10 p.m. on a Monday night.  Quiet night.

You Left Your Kid Where????

Well I'll tell you where:   Another parent forgot their kid, meaning the parent drove all the way home leaving their child at Chuck E. Cheese.  Again.

What's going on in the hamburger restaurants these days?  Remember that popular 80's ad with cute little Clara Peller yelling, "Where's the Beef?" for Wendy's Restaurant?  Maybe we need to start "Where's the Kid?"

Second time in a week.    
                                                       Earlier this week, separated parents in Maryland went home in separate cars then saw their 3 year old daughter on the evening news.  Each one thought that the other had taken the little girl home.  They did not realize anything went wrong until they sat down, turned on the television and saw their baby girl on the news with the caption, "Where's the Parent?"    Today, a mother of 10 kids is under investigation for forgetting her five-year-old at a Chuck E. Cheese in Texas, this was after the child's own birthday party. Poor kid, he'll never forget his fifth birthday party for the rest of his life.  I wonder if the mother lost count.  Ten kids, boy I couldn't count to the number three when I was raising my kids without some kind of interruption.  There were constant interruptions, and that was before there were cell phones.  I wonder if the mother put all the birthday presents in her car before driving away--that should have been a clue; birthday presents=birthday child.  Maybe she started counting her kids and her cell phone rang.    New warning on cell phones:  Warning:  parents with children, divorced or separated parents with children, interacting in a public place with other parents and children, with food and games in sight-- stay home and order take out.