a few views of

Chickasaw Recreation Area. This place was so relaxing. I don't like loud noises but I like a constant low noise. This place had that. It was quiet, but not. Just the sound from the springs could have put me to sleep. Mom and I agreed it'd be a great place for taking a nap. It's so pretty here. I recommend this place to everyone.

our reason for

taking the Oklahoma road trip was to visit Turner Falls. This is Turner Falls.
This is a castle at Turner Falls.
This is Eric looking over the falls with a popsicle doing his best Eddie Murphy impression. "You ain't got no ice cream, ain't got no ice cream..."
These pictures were made from an overlook. We actually didn't spend much time at Turner Falls. We first went to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Eric and his friend loved it there. By the time we made it to Turner Falls and saw not only how crowded it was but how inconvenient it was to park the rv, we went back to Chickasaw. I'll share more pics tomorrow. I have so many.

on our way

to Oklahoma the scenery suddenly turned to this
Billboards were scattered down the highway for fried pies. We stopped for a couple but when Mom pointed out they were cheaper by the dozen, I had to get a dozen. They were okay and I'm pretty sure there are equally good or better fried pies somewhere out there... but that didn't stop me from eating.
One of the funny things that happened came from a passing truck. Being in the rv puts us way up close to those big trucks. It was funny when traffic was slowing down and all of a sudden Troy Aikman's big head was staring us down. We had to laugh.

before we even

reached the visitor center in Oklahoma, we had already passed one casino. I thought that was pretty cool. Here's a picture of the rv at the visitor center with all the Oklahoma flags.
More to come.

doodlebugs

are everywhere these days.
... just an observation

i don't watch the show

Mad Men, but I know it exists. I know the setting is a different generation. I also know I jump at the opportunity anytime I'm allowed to create a character of myself. Here's the Mad Men version of me:
You can't really tell because of the background I've chosen but that's a donut in my hand. I think it's time for me to have breakfast.

since dad had

eye surgery today, I post this. I always considered my eyes to be green but they don't really look it. I guess I need to change my drivers license to read "greenish, grayish, hazelish with yellow dots". Eyes look pretty freaky close up.
Speaking of freaky body parts...
What's up with Madonna's arms? That looks disgusting.

out with the old

in with the older. Well, maybe not totally. I decided to add another object to my bag-o-stuff. This is a chair I got from Dodo about 10 years ago. She said it was one of Dad's chairs from when he was a kid. At the time I thought it needed a good coat of paint with a crackle finish.
So I covered the red and went on with my crackle finish kit from Lowes.
So anyway, the other day I thought how that chair might be the perfect subject of a few pictures. The only problem? It needs to be a bold color and not white crackle. What's a good bold color? Red. I didn't want it to be perfect so I left the crackle as it was and went to town with a can of red spray paint. So here it is.
I have a few ideas and can't wait to post and share. Maybe it'll get done this week. Sounds fun.

I'll still carry the shoe around. Really now, how easy would it be to carry this chair with me everywhere? Well, I guess it would be easy but just a little awkward.

imagine this

you're going on about your business, doing simple tasks such as dusting and sweeping. You reach to sweep under a table, a table you have moved and swept under many times. Your broom comes out only to bring with it a clown's nose. It's almost creepy if I think about it too much.
USELESS FACT: I never liked clowns. They scared me as much as Santa Claus. One time I went to the circus with Hope and her family. The clowns came out and started doing their thing. I started bawling. The stupid clown thought coming over to me and playing with me would make it better. I threw my head into Hope's mother's lap and started screaming. The genius finally figured out he was the one making me cry and left me alone.

i'm jealous

Yahoo headlines read, "Golfer Phil Mickelson hopes to cash in off the course with a bid to buy 105 Waffle House restaurants."

today is all about

Strat. He has a favorite spot on the couch. (Yes, that's why there's a sheet over the cushion.) Strat isn't a tiny cat. I measured his stomach the other day. It was 21 1/2 inches. Anyway, I took the pictures because I like how Strat is always hanging off the cushion. Here he is partially laying on his side. I like how that back leg always hangs off.
Isn't it cute?
When he rests on his stomach, he always hangs his front legs over the edge. What I like about this is how he always crosses his legs. Isn't that cute?
This next shot is a little of both. Later in the day it was one front paw, one back paw and a big yawn. Oh yeah, he's not the most energetic cat around.

this is from

the flower bed. I pulled weeds before all the rain came. Now I need to get back out there.


I sure wish Eric was here to help. It's almost time for everything to be trimmed again. ugh.

I've been wanting to

try something. I'll give you a couple of hints. Here's the first one:
Here's the second:
Do you know what it is yet?

A tortilla press. I want to make corn tortillas.
I don't think it will be happening today. I hear that air conditioner running in my head again so I took 2 Mucinex a minute ago. I'm expecting it to make me sick at my stomach. The doctor said to take Dramamine for any dizziness but I think I'll take it if I start feeling sick. Maybe I can sleep straight through it.

I missed my day of wii yesterday and I only did half today. I just don't feel like doing anything.

the dr had a

simple solution
I didn't even know Mucinex had a sinus version. I thought it was all about chest congestion. That doesn't matter because I figured I had an ear infection anyway. So what's my problem? Sinus stuff. I feel it now. My head feels totally stuffy. Now that my ears are better and I can hear well, I have a sinus headache and I don't really want to hear anything. I took my Mucinex, ate my lunch and piled up on the couch with two blankets. Lucille must have thought I needed company. She eventually got off my stomach and curled up at my legs for her nap. How rude of me. I woke her up when I got up for... a Coke.
I've been holding off on Coke for a couple of weeks now. I do have a few of the small cans in the refrigerator for emergencies. I consider an emergency to be feeling under the weather. I deserved that Coke today and enjoyed every last drop. Now I'm off to rest again.

i was driving down

Washington the other day. When I looked up I saw this.
Not having any particular place to be at any particular time, I went to check it out. Along the way I saw a familar "Daniel" logo but I also noticed I wouldn't get closer to the smoke by getting on I-10. The fire was on Clinton and looked like a warehouse but the road was blocked off. So I followed everybody else and made a u-turn to get back on Lockwood. Knowing Navigation was just a few blocks away, I decided to call Cosme to see if he'd eaten yet. He had. Oh well, I found the source of the smoke but I didn't get Ninfas.

We did get a little bit of this though
Although it hasn't been raining much, it's allowed me to take a break from my morning sprinkler routine. I'll gladly welcome more. The grass is slowly getting a few more green patches.

I might or might not get out today. I need to make a doctor appointment because it's sounded like I have an air conditioner running in my head since Saturday. I'm hoping it's something a few drops will cure. I never have ear problems. Whatever, hopefully I'll get answers this week. I can't stand much more of it.

once again

i've fallen behind. I will post soon, I just know it.

I do have a picture I can post but I'm not going to. Someone is getting a copy of it and I'd rather not spoil it. I do have lots of ideas going through my head but for now there's nothing to show for it.

I have been kind of busy. Not only have I had basic stuff that's needed tending to but I also started the wii Active 30-Day-Challenge on Monday. You workout two days and then have a day of rest. Today will be my fourth day of actual "work". My calves and arms are feeling it. I'm not totally sore like the "I spent 4 straight hours on the Friday night dance floor at Numbers" sore (unfortunately), but my body knows it's been doing things that are totally out of character. Hey, maybe after a few more days or weeks of my challenge, that "I spent 4 straight hours on the Friday night dance floor at Numbers" sore won't be so brutal.

i want to get

out but I have too much to do today.

the last few

from my trip to the zoo. I guess this means I'll have to get out in this heat and find other things now.

i have plenty to do

today. I'm getting an early start to try to avoid some of the heat. Something tells me it'll still be hot. I'm also pretty sure I'll be feeling like these guys before too long.
-worn out and just wanting to cool off and rest
Hey, it doesn't sound like a bad idea now.

shrimp & grits

It was easy and good. Next time the shrimp need to be a little spicier. For heat I used roasted red pepper sauce and Morton's Hot Salt.
I had instant grits and a bag of polenta with only about 2/3 c left. I was ready to combine them if necessary but fyi, 2/3 c polenta would easily feed 3 people. I added cheese and milk... mmm. It was good. My garlic bread made it even better.

USELESS FACT: One time I was making meatloaf. You know how it needs bread crumbs? Well I was out. I grabbed some instant grits and mixed it in. I didn't tell Cosme because he hated grits. Anyway, nobody ever knew our meatloaf had grits in it. Since then he's had polenta and cream corn at the Strip House (mmm...) and enjoyed it, it makes me feel a little less guilty about the grits incident.

maybe if we joined

together for a county-wide rain dance, we'd have less of this
and more of this
When I got home last week, everything looked horrible. The new plants I bought were dead. The green grass I'd left behind was yellow. I've been up every morning at 5:30 to start the sprinklers. We finally had rain yesterday. It wasn't a lot but it was rain.

Guess I'll be up again tomorrow morning to start the sprinklers. ugh.

i thought i was going

to pass out. Okay, I admit, when it comes to anything involving heat or being athletic... well, I'm a wimp. You put those two together? Forget it, I'm useless. I went to the driving range last week with Dad and Eric. I was so hot... and that's not a reference to my swing. For anyone who doesn't agree, well there IS a difference between DFW hot and gulf coast hot. It wore me out. A bucket-and-a-half* of balls later we got in our cars to leave. The temperature read 105 degrees. Let me rephrase that. One hundred five degrees. Do you know what that makes the "feels like" temperature? Well I don't, but I know it's hot. (Trust me, I was there.) No wonder my body was freaking out on me, it was trying to tell me I was out of my mind. Don't get me wrong, I had fun... but it sure was a hot day.

*I changed basket to bucket since Mom pointed it out. Even though the bucket is a wire basket, I'll call it a bucket.

one more going

up 77.

Okay, no more corn. I promise. Well, maybe a little but only if you want to count grits. I am determined to try my hand at shrimp and grits in the next day or two. If that's a success you know I'll post a picture. Seriously though, how hard could it be? You make shrimp and you make grits... voila, shrimp and grits. Now that my stomach's growling, guess I'll go settle for a little pb&j... like such
Are you wondering why I have this picture on my computer? I'll let you know anyway. It all started when Eric was little, really little. One day he got in trouble. He knew I loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and since he was too little to make anything else, he brought me a sandwich with the hopes of putting me in a better mood. It worked. Fast forward to last month. I was angry since he was tired from hanging out with friends and not following through with mowing the yard as promised. I decided to take his phone away and do the mowing myself. Soon after, he came outside to take over and told me there was something for me inside. He left me a pb&j with a written apology. He knows it still works. It helped him get his phone back a little sooner... well, the sandwich AND finishing what he'd promised.

meanwhile, back in angleton

there's none of this going on

off 35e