Girls Gone Wilder

Last night was the kick off to ladies night at the local course. It is always a fun filled night, with plenty of libation to see us through, should the golfing go bad.

The happy little group was Suzy, Jill, Janyce and moi. I am always amazed at how much fun, laughter and beer we take in. If good belly laughter increases your lifespan we should live well over one hundred ( hunert, as they say around here) years but then again the intake of beer may knock off a few days or so, at least a few days!

Janyce was note worthy with her longest drive. We always like to have a champion in the group, as it seems to justify the noise we make.

We also have a new real brick (no huffing and puffing this one down) men's and women's toilets, but for the moment it doesn't have a roof - still under construction. What better photo op than three chipper girls peeking over the top. Ron likes to fly over on girls night to give us a wave. He could easily have a full plane of riders once word gets out of that no roof business.

Why I Never Get Anything Done

A quick laugh needed? Check out my favorite sites: INDEXED. Last night I was surfing around on the New York Times website and found Indexed. Click on any of the archived and you're bound to find something to hoot about.

At least I know why I never get anything done, which is more than I can say for some.

Beads for Life

Mother's Day was a mere two weeks ago, at my pace I still have the cards out and feel it was just hours ago. So to publish this on Memorial Weekend is rather speedy for me, lighten up it is still May!

I did have a wonderful day, worked like a dog but that's they way it it. We gathered here for supper and I brought my mother down from the nursing home. She managed to stay almost 2 hours. Like most residents, they like to go, but just gotta get back! Mom seems to think if she isn't there when they give a pill, or help her to bed, etc. she'll luck out. "Too bad Evie, ya shoulda been here." That is called institutionalization. We try to avoid it but it happens. Elderly, especially from that era and laced with some dementia, are respectful of the process and grateful for the help. Mom doesn't want to assume anything - she needs to be there, and doesn't want to miss her "turn." We should all be so accommodating.

Anyway, my kids were so kind and thoughtful. I received a book, gloves for the garden, Barnes & Nobel gift card, plants. Collin gave me a six pack of petunias, they were red & white striped. He told his mom we needed to get those for grandma Lizzie because they look like candy canes. I have them out in a big pot on the deck so we can watch them grow more candy canes.

Lainey,in Seattle, sent me an interesting necklace and bracelet, henceforth the photo. They came from an organization called Beads for Life. The necklace is created from colored paper, rolled tightly and I think, varnished. If you double click on the photo, and after noticing all the creases in my face, you can see the paper rolls. The bracelet is the same.

Beads for Life (www.beadsforlife.org)is a nonprofit organization that sells the beads to provide an income for impoverished women in Uganda, most living with HIV/AIDS or displaced from civil wars. The beads have a hang tag that says, "eradicating poverty one bead at a time." Check out the website just to get a better understanding of what these women do. Amazing, and rather unsettling for those of us who have so much and think we need more.

So both Lainey and Collin made some good choices for Grandma. Happy Mother's Day to all!!

Skinny Soup

The folks that reside here are terribly picky at eating. Some even think that a food item, if open/cooked and refrigerated, can only be eaten within 24 hours, or sooner. Some have even gone so far as to say, "I don't do leftovers!" I should hope to live long enough to see when they have to choose between clothes or food. Their paychecks won't go far enough to cover both, what with the way they think they should dress and dine. Ha Ha Ha, rude awakening awaits!!

Just a little tidbit I wanted to share.

Now to return to the soup. This is not a unique recipe; I am sure there are variations floating around everywhere. But I make this for me alone, as no one else will eat it, except on its day of arrival. It is low, low in calories or about 4 points in the land of W.W.

Saute onions and celery in E.V.O.O. (Rachael Ray vernacular for Extra Virgin Olive Oil) Quantity to your liking. Add chopped carrots.

Add 8 cups water
2 packages of beefy onions soup (Lipton's packets)
1 can mild Ro-tel
1 can kidney beans, drained
chopped cabbage

I make it thick like stew. If you don't like tangy, just add a can of stew tomatoes instead of Ro-tel.

Simmer until the vegetable are done. EVOO meets the two teaspoons of good oil each day criteria, beans - suppose have a least 3 times or more a week for fiber and the Ro-tel is spicy which is suppose to rev up your metabolism.

Of course, this can be jazzed up with whatever else suits your fancy.
Enjoy!

Flip From a Forever Friend

Yesterday I came home from work to find a package laying in the front hall, actually two - the other one was for the neighbor. Ron had told me Best Buy or UPS, I wasn't listening too closely, was going to deliver a package tomorrow. "What did you buy?" soon followed as he knows I can be a purchasing giant in zero to ten seconds. Nothing to my recollection. Geez, maybe someone from Best Buy read my blog regarding the Geek ER and they wanted to thank me for the free advertising; maybe I was being rewarded for my two big (to me) purchases in less than 30 days. You know, one of those "we're glad you chose Best Buy" kind of things.

I gingerly opened the package, with Lacy hovering and asking a couple thousand unrelated questions needing answers RIGHT NOW, sure there would be an answer tucked in amongst the plastic air pillows. A cute little box (remember I am a box lover and saver) with Flip Video written on the outside. Hmmmm, nothing on the packing slip but my name, address and other unfamiliar numbers. No XXXXXXX1234 denoting a credit card number. (To date I have not had a kid use my credit card for an online purchase, unbeknown to me - but never say never!) And of course, no Thank You for choosing Best Buy. I even went on line to check my credit cards to see if there were any purchases. Maybe I had a blackout one day. Zip - no purchases.

So I dialed up the Best Buy 888 number, did the functionary "press one blah blah blah" thing finally getting a human voice. "Well, let's just see what we can find out." was her cheery reply. And she actually had information I could use. She gave me the initials and last name of my long time, forty seven year long time, friend. I said, "OH, Susan, really. I can't believe it" Miss Cheery was just as happy for me as I was. Wow, how unbelievably nice!

Now that I didn't have to return the Flip video machine I dared open the box. Susan was still at work so I knew I would wait to call her. This little Flip unit is so cool, everyone should have one - but of course, you would need to have a friend like Susan, too. Very easy to operate. My first video, which I was able to do almost immediately, was of me and my double chin (bad camera angle) saying slowly, "Wow this is so neat." I plugged it into my laptop, it loaded the necessary software right from the flip unit and we were up an running. In fact, the most difficult part of the whole deal was threading the wrist band into this itty bitty sunken bracket. But after numerous attempts I did succeed with the help of the factory twisty wrapped around the wrist bracelet.

About 8:00 our time I called Susan to gush forth with my thank yous. She is known to have fabulous gifts, all of which adorn numerous areas of our home. The Flip will be no exception. We are also long time Barbie comrades, both beginning the epoch around 1960. I still have my fleet (Barbie, Ken, Midge, Allen, etc.) and I am sure Susan still has hers. Around the holidays I have received many a Barbie ornament. They are in their boxes for the time being as Lacy goes wild. Now we take them out and look at them and I tell her Susan had this outfit, I had this and so on. The magic of Susan's gift giving is this: she has never married, not even once, and has no children. Read between the lines.

So now all you blog readers, a new facet has come to the post. I took it out at the store today and used it in Staples, Lacy soon was "filming" me. I wish I would have had the wherewithal to use it at Herbergers while she was having a tantrum because I wouldn't buy her the too tight shorts, (we did settle on the eights - no sevens, even though the other shoppers were looking at me like: why don't you just smack her and she'll be happy she gets to live another day) It all had to do with my parental holding pattern of being the ever so cool and self assured mother. I scoff at tantrums.

Returning to my chat with Susan, Best Buy did send me an email telling me of the forthcoming gift. I didn't open it because is only said E. (short for Elizabeth and she hasn't been E to me since the third or forth day of 1st grade) has a gift for you. I just thought it was some Eabando Mukarazi Whodookadad telling me to let him deposit his millions in my account before the Iranians seize it. Anyway, to coin her words in the gift greeting (after I dug it out of my deleted files) "the Flip video is to take your blogging to the next level." Who knows a You Tube moment could be just around the next corner!

While I Lie Sleeping

The beauty of North Dakota in May. We had rain most of yesterday, and this during the night. Four inches of wet white is great, but it is almost the same total we received all winter. Every few years we get this in May. The last time of note was May 12th on Karlie's 12th birthday. She will be sweet sixteen on Monday.

Never say Never

Just a little bit of tid...we're up to 32 snakes. Lacy (she's 10) even whacked a few one day. Ron thought he could have had a suit made from all the skins, had we saved them. Doesn't that make you want to hurl??

I Think We Got 'Em

This has been a gruesome spring in these here parts. Five measly letters and they spell SNAKE. This snake story started about three weeks ago when our grandson, Collin, came to visit. He innocently asked to jump on the "jumpoline" which is our trampoline. Collin, only three, needed booster assistance to get on board - so Grandma to the rescue. As we walked out to the tramp/jumpo there, lying underneath, was a mid sized garter snake. For one who doesn't "do" snakes (moi) he seemed like a forty foot anaconda carrying six shooters. Like Earl, he had to die.

Over the years this green turned glorified country girl has learned to kill snakes, (Not bats or lizards though) maybe not the forty foot kind, but a garter snake, yes. My preferred weapon of choice is the hoe, not one with a wimpy little pie shaped head, but one with a firm wide metal blade, heavy artillery.

So Collin and I bolted for the garage to get the hoe. We raced back to the tramp for fear he may get away. It is now I get dramatic. Up comes the hoe, well over my head, with my knees bent like a Twins batter, as I prepare for the slam. I then make this blood curdling "aaayaaa." while the hoe comes down at a blurring speed. I have made the first blow, only to follow with a few more, never quite sure if this is one of those regenerating reptiles. Who knows, they may have mutated their genetics since I was in science class. Should that be the case, my victims don't want to regrow anything by the time I am done with them.

I realize this is not good grandma behavior, but Collin is a farm kid and he should learn from a pro, who else to teach him but his beloved grandmother. He does call me grandma Lizzie.

Now the story isn't over yet. This first snake take was about 10:30 in the morning, before sundown we had killed 16 snakes all in one area, out the south door. Grandpa did most of the slaying as the day wore on. Collin would stand the back stoop and yell "get 'em Papa, get 'em Papa." We poured diesel fuel down these little holes, later some gas. Some times they would slither around almost disoriented.

We figured they must have a den underneath our ash tree. Years ago there was a huge elm tree now with only old dead root rubble underground, perfect for a snake den. Each spring we usually would knock off a few here and there, but this was of record proportion. For the next week we totaled 23 - some little, some rather large. I would come home from work at noon, eat lunch, throw some clothes in the dryer, check the mail, kill a few snakes.

Things have been quiet out the south door. Word must be out in the snake world about a loud mouthed blond with a wicked hoe. It did turn cool and their sunning was less then favorable, but not to see any in over a week and a half - I think we got 'em Papa!