So that was Christmas...

another year gone.

We are wrapping up a surprisingly cold Christmas visit here in Arizona and getting ready to pack and stuff to head back to Kansas. It's a good time to leave - I've reached the point that I definitely don't want to say goodbye, but I'm happy to think that in mere days I'll be back to my routine and life.

We had a great Christmas here. Not amazing - there were too many people absent to be an amazing Christmas - and we missed you all. I have to say Erikka and Mike and their families were notable absences. But we had a great visit with the people I did get to see. I hadn't seen Grandpa Ron since The Wedding. So that tells you how overdue this trip was. While I get to see Grandma Rae a little more often, I love seeing them both. I brought my 'accidentally' purchased Wii with me and Grandma not only loved playing it - she beat a lot of us. by the end of this week, she's a pro in bowling and could knock down 12 boxing bags when she worked the bag. I think Nintendo made a sale, and it's really good exercise for her (70 year old woman). It was really fun watching her play!



Not only did we play Wii - Mom, Cari and I put a roof on the new deck of the house. Jeff added in his help and it seems strong and indestructable. It was hard work - but satisfying work. Pass-me-a-beer-look-at-the-fine-work-we-did-today kinda work. If you could hear me, I would do a patented Tim Allen grunt here.



The roof is pretty low - it's a 1-story house - but it still did play a little bit on my fear of heights climbing the ladder up to the work. But once you are up there - the view is so amazing. I mean awe-inspiring amazing. It's a part of the country that you don't necessarily think 'Ah! Rural Arizona - gorgeous!' But it is. And we've decided the next step for the roof is one of those built-in attic ladders and a banister - make it an observation tower. I can't think of a better place to watch a sunset - or in the summer - the stars. Put on a hammock up there, and it'd probably be a hell of a place for a mid-day nap or pretending to be so primitive and camp it. I'm ready to go back to my life. And I'm far too social to make this place a permanent stop, but I see the appeal. Judys - this is probably equivalent to the peace you can find on the Trail. I hope anyway - I like the idea of experiencing the peace without having to poop in the woods. :)

I'm not really dreading the drive back - mainly because we are going in the motor home and dad will be driving. So i will be able to walk around, play around on my laptop or read a book or.... NAP! So how can I dread that??

Anyway, in an ideal world, all of you, dear readers, would've been with me this Christmas, physically. You were all in my thoughts.

Love and in case I don't talk to you on New Year's - Happy New Year's and don't forget this Old Acquaintance.

Oh and because this is far too sappy - and I don't want to inflict tears (Dan Judy) here is this.

Merry Christmas to all!

And to all... Good Night.

I'm heading to AZ for Christmas tomorrow morning early! We are hoping to make it to the west side of Albuquerque by tomrorow night so Friday, we have an easier day of driving. I probably won't blog again this year. Maybe, but probably not.

Anyway - I miss you all and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

See you on the flip-flop!

Bad day to be a squirrel

So Monday the lines were insane (or so I heard, I didn't actually go) at CountryMart - because they were predicting an ice storm Monday night and most of Tuesday.

Sure enough - Monday night, I got little to no sleep as I listen to the trees coming down around me. The carnage was massive. And when I woke up Tuesday, I was told to not clean up yet - 3 or 4 people had started too early and were hurt when more limbs fell. That was enough incentive for me, as I am quite lazy, and I went back to bed. That afternoon, I was bored out of my mind ... and cold. We'd had no power since Monday night and the temperature in the house at that point was about 50 degrees. (I think anyway, it may have been colder, but that's as far as the thermometer gauge goes on my thermostat.) That afternoon I went outside and worked cleaning up a safe tree with Big Red (Jeff and Leon). It wasn't tons of fun or anything, but it was way warmer and more exciting than just hanging around in my cold house. So Tuesday night bowling was cancelled and the power came back on around 5 or so. I turned on that heater and hoped for the best. We still didn't have cable, but heat! About 30 minutes later - it was out again. So Tuesday night we hunkered down (GO DAWGS!) for a sleepover. Jeff has a generator, so we gassed it up and plugged it in for heat and a movie, Jeff and the kids took my bed and Leon took the guest room and I settled in on the couch! It was the fullest the house has been all year! I have to admit it was a little stressful going from completely alone to living in a clown car, but it was fun...and nice to play hostess. Anyway, we stayed warm all night and Wednesday morning we still had no power. At this point I'm getting nervous, because I didn't go to CountryMart and stand in the insane lines. We're running out of pop tarts, bread, etc! Also, the generator runs on gas! I had filled up the 5 gas tanks the campground has, but we're now down to one. I worked all day on the campground. Pushing the insane carnage of trees into a pile - Jeff took the skid loader, which helped a ton! And Leon, Zach and I used the dump truck which was pretty quick too. Luckily that afternoon we got power back and although it was touch and go, and on and off, it was on most of the night and most of today. We've survived. Kathy and Greg Barton, some frequent campers and friends of Mom's and Dad's came by. They have been here for years and Kathy said this storm belongs in her top three worst.
Today we finished most of the cleanup, although the entrance is still blocked, because cables have fallen on them and I've been told not to touch. We probably won't be allowed to burn, but the city might pick up the pile. We've been told they will pick up what's on the curb - starting Monday - I called the fire department today to ask for an exception - burning would be way easier, but they're not having it. I told them that the campground was hit pretty hard and pushing it to the curb was going to be possible, but would be painful for the crews that had to pick it up... and they said they see. I don't know...
Here are tons of pictures - I used the kids as reference for scale as much as possible. They are pretty average sized kids. :)
Ice Storm 2007

Zach drove the dump truck a lot of the day - especially once Jeff and Leon left to work on other people's mess. Most of the afternoon it was just Zach and me. He's 12 but wants to be 16... so I let him practice slowly around the campground - and then he had a little fun.

Zach in the dump truck

Pooor Potsy!

Potsy went to the vet this week... and *ahem* came back a changed man. Some might say a better man.

Also got the first bit of snow and ice yesterday! Ah... so nice not to have to drive to work in that shtuff.

Delicious dinner

Last night I made a delicious dinner - It was pan-fried chicken breast (but you could use pork - the other white meat). It wasn't really fried, but breaded and cooked in a skillet with a little bit of vegetable oil. The magic of the dinner was the sauce:
Marscapone cheese (which is not sold in Abilene, so I used a combination of cream cheese, whipping cream and sour cream)
Capers
A little Mayo
Lemon Zest
Pepper

Delicious (but not good for you!)

I'm a geek with a hammer

So last night a friend of mine gave me an old printer/fax that had broken to take apart. It kept saying there was a jam when one couldn't be found - so he bought a new printer (since this was a dinosaur anyway) and let me dismantle this one.

At first my goal was to take it apart in a way that could fix it - but I quickly gave that up. It was impossible to get this thing apart. So in came the hammer.


Please note the drink, Pomeranian, hammer and shoes for the size (and explanation) of this mess.

This is the pile of things salvaged:


I see possibilities for the metal cylinder and the magnet and the fax keyboard for sure... the most fun for the keyboard. The rest of the stuff, I don't know... but it seemed like it could be useful. Oh - and that tiny stack of paper - there's your paper-jam.

Just your standard Monday night :)

Happy December!

Yesterday Abilene had its Christmas parade and it was surprisingly warm - very windy and gray, but 61 degrees, so I went for it. I took Brooke and we walked downtown.

Areas of improvement:

Could've been a longer parade. The 4th of July parade is easily a 2 hour route. The Christmas parade was probably 20 minutes - tops. I do understand though. I mean, what if it would've been 20 degrees outside - I would've been out there only long enough for a 5 minute parade.
Also - needs more Christmas music. While waiting for them to light the lights and tree (which flipped a breaker, so that was a little anti-climactic) they played only one song - and only one time, so there was plenty of time to eavesdrop on all the conversations around us. It was a good song, but still...there are hundreds to choose from!
And the kids should be told to focus on both sides of the parade route with their candy throwing. Brooke and I were on the wrong side...soo.... no candy for us. And one float threw popped pop-corn. Not in a bag. I saw a little little kid pick a piece up off the road and eat it. A little dirt don't hurt, but that's extreme.

An interesting addition: Abilene is the home of a Fashion Museum. I would say THE fashion museum, but I doubt that's true. Anyway, last night before the parade started they had live models in the window modeling the clothes- presumably local high school girls. It was very Return to Oz meets America's Next Top Model. In otherwords: Tres, tres creepee.

Anyway - at least it got me out of the house to enjoy a little Christmas music. :) Here is a modern picture of Santa.



Speaking of pictures - I took a few of Molly, including videos, this Thanksgiving, but don't want to overwhelm you with her cuteness here. So here is a link to the pictures:

Molly's pics

And the video, if you are interested (he knows if you've been drinking):



I only wish we had video of when she showed us how a piggy eats.

Leaving on a jetplane....eventually...

OR! MobileBlogging

OR! All Readers Owe me 20 Cents. I accept Money Orders and Paypal.

OR! How to waste 7 hours at the airport. Subtitle: It helps if you dont (the apostrophe key doesnt work on this keyboard) mind looking like an idiot.

So wraps up the end of Thanksgiving vacation. I only have 8 minutes left on this machine, so I have to type fast. Please excuse my errors!

We had a really great week here in Atlanta...a little disappointing because I only got to see one Judy, and no Zimmermans, but all in all good. Thanksgiving dinner was great although some sentiments and stories were shared that probably should have been contained. They will not be repeated here.

Today we arrived at the airport a full 7 hours before my flight and 9 before mom and dads hoping to ride Standby. Mom and Dad succeeded and I have been wonderingj for the past 7 hours. (6 minuyt4s!)

I have been to the bookstore to read for a little while but then I felt guilty.(the dash button also doesnt work here) So I left there. Ive spent the past few hours containing my boredom so well, that I decided this was a good reward. A the bookstore there was a girl whose entire chin dissappeared when she read. She wasnt particularly heavy, and I realized I have no idea what I look like when I read. Short of someone taking a picture of me in the act, I may never.

Why are clothes gettting tighter> (Question marks dont work... Im started a letter writing campaign to get my $4 back). I have seen far too many teenage girls in clothes that are far too tight. Please bare in mind that these are the rambling thoughts of a woman that would never purposely wear somehting that tight. I think that some people try to hard to be sexy. And to advertise their sexiness. The girl that wears the belt buckle that reads Sexy. Or the way overweight woman that wear the shirt that reads I brought sexy back. Someone should explain the art of subltety to them.

My time here is nearly up love you and miss you all. Im hoping another visit with many of you in a month.

until then... Im Audi5000.
C

100 years ago this week

Ok - so it must've been a slow(!) news week:

Nov 8 1907
These are extremely quiet days for the police. Four days have elapsed without an arrest being made or any other difficulty of any consequence reported. The city jail was cleared of prisoners last Saturday and there has been no one in since then.

Nov 9 1907
There are a good many farmers in the city this afternoon and the merchants are all doing a good business.

Nov 11 1907
A little man not more than five feet six inches tall, wearing a blue flannel shirt, a duck coat, cotton pants and high-top boots, was the object of considerable interest in Salina yesterday. The man was Frans Emanuel Kivekas and he was on his way to San Francisco by foot, and when he reaches there by Jan 1, as he expects to do, he will have completed a journey around the world on foot, and will as the result of a bet receive $5000 and a 160-acre farm.

Now when I first started reading the story from the 11th I thought perhaps Huey, Dewey or Louie had come to Salina. But the story is much more interesting than that! I wonder if he made it? Or if it was all for nothing and he died penniless and alone. If he did make it, he was rich. I have no idea what you compare $5000 in 1907 to in 2007, but if anyone does know... share! A google search for Frans Kivekas returns a lot of foreign pages :(

25 years ago last week

In the Salina paper each Monday, they recap news stories from previous years. This is one from last Monday's paper, but it was funny.

Nov 1, 1982 (25 years ago)
Halloween paranoia struck early Sunday when two Salina residents arrived at the police station yesterday afternoon with what they thought were suspicious food items. Police said one woman came to the station complaining about the salted peanuts she just bought. She told authorities the peanuts tasted funny, but upon inspection, lawmen quickly determined the woman mistakenly had purchased an unsalted variety. Later, another Salina woman dropped by to show police a mini-candy bar that appeared to have been opened. Again, police solved the case by concluding the candy wrapper had not been sealed properly at the factory.

Now someday (hopefully) I will be an old old woman. I hope I am entertaining. These two women are (probably were) hilarious.

In today's news (really yesterday's)... I bowled a 184 last night. Maybe I am an athlete!

Card-carrying bowler.

Yesterday, my official USBC League Bowling card came. That's right, I'm pretty official. Between my deputy badge and this card, my jurisdiction and power is awe-inspiring.

Anyway, the point is with the card comes a letter - thanking you for joining the mandatory USBC. Ironic. The letter ends with this sentence and my laughter:

As a member, you are more than a bowler. You are a leader, a caretaker and an athlete.

Someone should tell them that I'm barely a bowler! I mean, it's like they will give these cards to anyone who will pay the mandatory $15!

Lions, tires and cars, oh, MY!

SO this is NOT a blog about me. A friend of mine from Denver was lucky enough to go to Africa last month and went on a safari of sorts. And last night I came up with this title and it had to be used. He was about 10 or 15 feet away from these lions!

Goodnight, Moon.

Goodnight, Halloween.

Well, another Halloween has gone... boo. Not 'boo' like scary boo... but 'boo' like "Boo, Hiss".

Anyway... last night I rode along with some hooligans (dressed as the grim reaper and a box of popcorn) as they tricked or treated. And judging by the bags, they mostly treated. But some tricks did occur.

I can't say too much about the tricks to avoid incriminating anyone... but a gang TP'd some houses last night. From what I understand - the was no beef between the gang members and the alleged victims and in fact it was a tradition. Also taken from insightful interviews with the gang members, it's quite a rush to get chased. :) One photo of the alleged damage allegedly below.



Oh! And I just gave myself a pretty darn good french braid - that tells you how long my hair is getting!

Well - not much to update

This is going to be one boring blog...trust me... stop reading now. You are better off just playing a game of solitaire. Maybe tomorrow I will have something to say.

Go.


Ok - now that we got rid of the fair weather fans we can get down to business. Unfortunately this really is pretty boring. There's very little going on here. I went bowling - a makeup night - on Friday. I bowled really good for me - a 109,128,153. I think a 153 may be my best game ever.

That's about it.

Sorry.

Pimpin' Pumpkin Carvin'

I carved a pumpkin today .. and did a hella good job if I do say so myself! I took a picture unlit and a picture lit up and it's creepy, no? It's a skull!




Also see below for a picture of my truck hauling a trailer with a Jeep on it. My car is officially a badass.

Day 4: The last full day

SO this blog I actually wrote in paragraph form.. so it will be much easier to understand I hope, Dr. Bishop.

This morning I am awake at my usual time - around 7:30. LJ is still sound asleep. I'm on the balcony listening to the waves and trying to decide how long I can wait before I wake her up or just let her sleep and go have breakfast alone. (Little known fact: I used to wake LJ up on the weekends when we were roomies in college. For some reason she is still my friend.)

The waves are humongous again this morning and there is a valet guy whistling really loudly in the courtyard. It's incredibly peaceful. The sun is definitely already warming the joint up and I'm thinking maybe we can go para sailing? I dunno though - it looks like you have to go all the way back to El Otra Cabo for para sailing... maybe more souvenirs? I'm going to try to convince LJ...

We went PARA SAILING!! I was so nervous but it was amazing. My legs were literally shaking while I sat on the back half of the boat while they strapped me in. I want to do that every day for the rest of my life. The two capitans of the boat were so nice! When I was at the top of the rope, I did pray a little bit, and I'm not a huge pray-er. It was just like, ok I know this is risky, I'm sorry, please don't kill me :) There were 5 people on the boat 2 brothers (or lovers?), LJ and me and 1 other random guy. The 2 brovers were very friendly and we talked to them a good bit - they were from the cruise ship that was docked in Cabo. When we got off the boat, we hit some bars again and ran into them at Cabo Wabo :) that was funny. We went back to the Giggling Marlin, where we had the world's best Queso dip and more margas. Once we got back to the taxi, we were the only people there on time for the taxi driver, so we had the whole van and the driver to ourselves. What did we do for that 30 minutes? Played a little game I like to call "Como se dice..." For example:

Setting: Mexican Taxivan
Players:
LJ, a drunk, awkward girl
Cassie, a second drunk, awkward girl
Alfonso, friendly Mexican Taxi driver

LJ: Como se dice.... swimming?
Alfonso: Nadar.
Cassie: Como se dice...murder?
Alfonso: Muerto.

Etc..etc...

Back at the resort we were delighted to see Gerardo... and delighted him by yelling "Gerardo!" We needed him to help us by calling Andres for the taxi ride to the airport tomorrow... awwww.. the trip is over.

And now Today's news:

Well, I don't actually have much.

I painted the sign over at the Eisenhower center this week - it looks good. Probably a total of 8 or 9 hours on top of an extension ladder. I am really doing great things to get over my fear of heights. Jeff stopped and took a before and after picture, so I will try to get that posted by the end of the weekend.

I bowled lousy, but made my average all 3 games this week, so maybe I am getting more consistent? We'll see.

Tomorrow Jeff, the kids and I are heading down to Fort Scott KS to enter into a 4-wheeling competition. I'm the spotter. I'm nervous but I think we'll do ok!! I'll definitely have some stories on Sunday!

Day 3: The Other Cabo

El Otra Cabo.

So yes - after an evening of Girls Gone Mild, Grandma (you will just have to trust me) - we woke up refreshed and by 9:30 were on the shuttle to go to Cabo San Lucas for a day of shopping and site seeing. It's about a 20 minute drive from Cabo San Jose to Cabo San Lucas and we rode in a very pleasant conversion van. It was probably about the only 20 minutes of peace we were going to get all day, although we didn't realize it yet.

It's amazing how different the place looks in the daylight. There is one place that is almost certainly the last bar we visited on the Night Crawl, but the tables are moved and the outside seating is now a place to park 2 or 3 cars. So I can't be certain but I think... maybe...

The second we are out of the shuttle, we are pretty much overwhelmed again by people talking to us, trying to convince us to do this excursion or that excursion. Some of them are pushy enough to say that the offer will expire in 30 minutes. What's the problem you ask? Almost all of the offers seem to come with the 90 minute timeshare presentation. So annoying! One of the guys commented on my tan and asked what I did in the US. I lied - not on purpose, but it just seemed easier. Apparently in the US, I mow lawns and clean pools. It's true to a degree - I mow a lawn and I clean a pool.

Anyways, we do some shopping and then decide to take a water taxi to the Arch. The sea was angry that day my friends. The awkwardness of just getting a water taxi was almost enough to send both of us back to the hotel for more mildness, but we hung in there and got one. The ocean was too choppy for him to stop at the beaches, but he did give us bread and let us feed the fish, which he said were piranhas. He was a funny man who taught us that the pelicans are called Mexican Turkeys. And everytime we would go through some rough waters LJ and I would scream and he would say "No problem, girls. No problem!" Anyway as rough as it was our pictures from that excursion came out pretty well anyways.

After the taxi we decided drinks and stuff! Back to Cabo Wabo for some souvenirs and a marga. Then on to the Giggling Marlin. A couple of 'forced' jello-shots and then we talked to the waiter about how to go upside down. He said "$10 - 3 kamikazee shots". Well we really didn't want to do any Kamikazee shots so I guess we looked at each other and waffled long enough that he said... "$10 - 4 shots". Well that's just a good value. So upside down we went and our shots we did take. Those pictures are soo funny. Everyone in the bar was looking at us. It was a delight!

Not long after that, it was back to the Resort...once again a little tipsy. We hung out by the pool until about dinner time, then upstairs to change. Somewhere in that exchange, we took a nap. A bad nap! I woke up starving and nauseas. Once again, a panicked dinner buffet, then asleep by 9:30! :)

It's the circle of life, I guess...

Some of the things in this post will have accompanying photos...others most certainly will not. A few weeks ago a mama cat had a litter on the campground. Yesterday, I noticed they moved into our carport and are mostly living under mom's truck. there are 3 of them - two that are black and white and 1 that is black, white and Potsy-colored. While there is some debate as to whether Potsy would've been man-enough to father these kittens, a study of timelines and debate as to whether he has even got the instinct to do so, I like to pretend that he's the dad of just that one. Sometimes that happens with slutty humans, why not slutty cats?





Aren't they adorable?

Well, this morning the office opened really early - 8:00 am to be exact and as I'm walking to help a camper park, I notice something under the truck. Something disgusting. It is the carcass of a squirrel. And the truck hasn't moved, so there's really only one culprit. You know on one hand - kudos to the mom for teaching and providing for her babies, but next time, could they pick a squirrel that they can actually eat? I mean someone's got to clean this up. Gross.

Unfortunately I must clean it up. That doesn't stop me from wanting to pet these kitties although they probably have rabies now.

UPDATE: So I've just cleaned it up... well not 'just'. I cleaned it up, then washed my hands vigorously and got my gag reflex under control and then came to give you the update. I'm now trying to decide if this will make me a vegetarian or more of a meat-eater. Gross.

Survey!

Now you will know more about me!

1.How old will you be in 3 birthdays?
30... if I live that long!

2. Do you think you'll be married by then?
no!

3. What do you look forward to most in the next 2 months?
Hmm... 4-wheeling? Maybe a trip somewhere?

4. Who was the last person you called?
Jeff

5. Have you ever played a team sport?
Yeah - Volleyball in the 5th grade... Softball when I worked at Abacus.

6. Who was the last person to text you?
Leon

7. Who was the last person you hugged?
Kate

8. What were you doing at midnight last night?
sleeping soundly!

9. What happened at 11:00 a.m. today?
hmm... nothing much. It's been really slow today!

10. How many states have you visited?
I would bet like 15 or 20 ?

11. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?
Georgia, probably.

12. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Bare feet. I hate shoes and socks and know that winter's practically here, I have no choice. UGH!

13. when was the last time you cried?
Last night I watched a sad movie...

14. What was the last thing you drank?
Cranberry Juice

15. Favorite ice cream?
Cinnamon buns!!! Thanks DAD!

16. What is your favorite number?
24

17. Whats your favorite color?
probably sage green or burgundy. I like muted colors.

18. What Jelly do you put on your PBJ?
my dad puts grape. So I put grape.

19. Do you like coffee?
Every once in a while.

20. How many glasses of water a day do you drink on average?
Maybe 4?

21. What do you drink in the morning?
Juice

22. Would you rather kiss someone with or without a tongue ring?
Hmm...I don't think I've ever kissed anyone with a tongue ring. Too little data to make a conclusion.

23. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
Driver's side.

24. Do you know how to play poker?
I can play. I've won - I've even beat my dad.

25. Whats so good about Fridays?
In this job nothing really. Except the signal that I can use my cell phone for free tomorrow.

26. Any plans for this week?
Going 4-wheeling this weekend!

27. Do you eat out or at home more often?
Home.

28. How big is your TV?
It's fine. I've never really needed a huge tv.

29. Ever stolen a street sign?
No. But I've stolen a danger cone. In Charleston South Carolina. Straight off the street.

30. Do you keep a piggy bank?
Nope.

31. What kind of camera do you have?
Kodak. Digital. Easy.

32. Have you ever been in an ambulance?
Yup.

33. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
Hmm... I prefer looking at and listening to an ocean and swimming in a pool.

34. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?
window

35. Do you know how to drive a stick shift?
I can if I have to.

36. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
Anything fun. Stamps or something crafty.

37. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?
no
CORRECTION: I LIED - I HAVE A BELLYBUTTON RING THAT I DO WEAR ALL THE TIME.

38. Do you speak any other language?
nah - I speak a little of a few languages, but nothing significant.

39. Can you roll your tongue?
Yes!

40.Who is the funniest person you know?
Probably Mike. He's hilarious.

41. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
I sleep with real animals only.

42. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
I believe it's called Ringtone 6. It's a great one!

43. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
yup a few that my mom saved.

44. What is the color of your bedroom wall?
white

45. Do you shut off the water when you brush your teeth?
yep - although now that I've read State of Fear, I'm not sure it's as crucial as you might think. I don't know - I'll keep turning it off - it can't hurt.

47. Do you currently hate someone?
nah - I'm indifferent about a lot of people though.

48. Why do you take myspace surveys?
I don't that often. But when I do it's usually because I'm bored.

49. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Jeff

50. What are you listening to?
Mr. Sandman...

Day 2: Recovery

I suppose it is time for a new entry... always make sure to leave people wanting more - that is the cardinal rule for entertainers such as myself.

So after the applause from the lobby we realize we are hungry. So a quick stop to the breakfast buffet and then to sleep. We slept until about noon, and then spent the whole rest of the day at the swim up bar. One of God's greatest inventions.

We noticed a very tall skinny couple on the plane with us from Phoenix and then they happened to be at the same resort. We tried to keep our eyes on them and know their general whereabouts at all times (which now sounds weird). I'm sure that they were doing the same for us. Our nickname for them was the Skinny Marrieds. I can only imagine what their nickname for us was...

At the pool they would have various games trying to encourage us to do more than just float and drink I guess, but it's going to take more than Sports Trivia to encourage me to put down even the weakest Miami Vice! (Which is a drink! A very pretty mix between a Pina Colada and a Daiquiri.) What did get our attention you ask? A man in a typical dominatrix/wrestling mask and girls bikini bottoms. He ran into the pool area at what seemed a random time to us, and proceeded to slap himself on the buttocks. The assocks. The hamhocks. You get the idea. One can only hope that he is drunk and this is not his normal behavior. :)

This evening we had the most amazing delicious dinner. YUM! But we have to wait for it, because the restaurants are catering to the time share people first and so we head to the ocean for more pictures. The ocean kicked my ass!

So we had to go back to the room to change before dinner, but it was worth it. It's not every day the Pacific kicks your ass, and you see a man in girls bikinis AND you get a delicious dinner!

After dinner we spent the rest of the evening vegging in the room - Girls Gone Mild.

Day 1: Part 2

So where were we... oh, yes. After dinner we got ready for our party night. We had prepaid for a Night Crawl excursion. Basically Andres picks us up at 9 and drives us to the other Cabo, Cabo San Lucas, where the bars are and we party until he picks us up. Great times ensue. He picks us up and warns us about druggies trying to sell us drugs. Luckily, LJ and I don't need any encouragement to avoid drugs at our age. If we had been tempted, his warning would've worked. By this time we are both tired and a little overwhelmed and thinking that we would call it an early night, ask him to pick us up at midnight. He drops us off at the world famous Cabo Wabo. Which is also the name of a good tequila. So we start here with a couple of the strongest Margaritas ever. We are surveying the crowd and are a bit surprised at the number of older people. Cougars are everywhere. I mean not like 80 year olds, but 50 and 60 year olds definitely. We are starting to think that we've made a good decision to leave early when a group of good looking guys across the bar catch our eye. This is where the title "We are not the Queens of Subtlety" occurs. Through body language, or age deduction, we end up hanging out with these boys. They are throwing a bachelor party for the cutest boy in the bunch. :) Oh, well. Silliness and dancing occurs, including visits to a bar called The Zoo, where the host is a gorilla, and Squid Roe which is just craziness. We missed our 'curfew' and had to grab a taxi home. Here is a bit of worry. We have $34 on us. We have been told the trip to Cabo san Jose from Cabo San Lucas will be about $35. We whisper and decide that if we need more money, one of will run to the room (Laura) and the other will sit and wait with the cabbie (Cassie). Luckily when we get there, the total is $32... talk about luck! When we walk in to the lobby, the bellboys and concierges are amused that we stayed out so late and yell to us "How was the party, girls?" All we can do is smile. :) On to day 2!

***BACK TO NOW***
Pictures are uploaded! Try not to figure out what happens on days 2-4 by looking at them :)
Cabo Pictures

Day 1: Atlanta to Phoenix to CABO!

This morning's flight to our layover in Phoenix was ridiculously early. We were awake at 4:30. (Later we will figure out that that is 1:30 Cabo time. I think anyway - we never really did get the time changes completely figured.) So we taxied to the airport and loaded the plane uneventfully. We were seated together, so so-far, so-good on meeting Mama Judy's stick together requirement. After we took off, we were told some disturbing news by the flight attendants: "Atlanta forgot (What??! To tighten a bolt?) to fill the plane (With what??! Jet fuel??!) with water. (oh.) So there is bottled water on the sinks in the 'lavs' to use for hand washing." Knowing that we are in a water-crisis the girl next to me still requests a bottle of water for her beverage and this really irks the flight attendant. She peacefully falls asleep. Only to be miraculously not awoken by the 'in air emergency' occurring one row in front of us in 1st class. Apparently there is a medical emergency, Drs. on board assist and all seems well when we deplane. I do not know how she slept through it though. We get to Phoenix, which is the most boring airport ever, and here's where the 'stick together' starts to fall apart. LJ loads in zone 6, me in zone 7. The airline people never called my zone! I'm not even exaggerating! I was the last person to load and nearly didn't make it to Cabo. While that would've made for an exciting blog, it would've been fairly disappointing. Anyway - 2 hours later - we land in Cabo. If you never been to a Mexican airport, it's fairly overwhelming. You are literally deluged with men trying to corral you to a time-share salesman who is trying to get you to agree to stuff you should never agree to. Legal stuff, but still! The most important word to learn in Spanish prior to going to Mexico is not Bano (bathroom), it's... NO! Anyway we finally get to our pre-booked ride from the airport to the resort, a really nice guy named Andres. At the resort we meet our concierge - Gerardo. Say it. It's awesome, trill your Rs. Once we make it to the room, we live up to our "Two awkward girls" title. We can't figure out the phone to book a sunset tour cruise. So we go to the activities director - I think Edwardo - who calls Andres and tries to get us booked. He talks in Spanish and then laughs and hangs up. Edwardo turns to us and says "It's too late; you missed it. Relax. Go have a beer." Ah, yes, I think we'll do just that. Time for a slightly panicked Mexican buffet for dinner.

Awkward Cassie: What's this? (pointing)
Accomplished chef stuck working in a resort buffet for stupid Americans: (indecipherable spanish).
Awkward Cassie: Oh. No thanks.

*****Tired fingers, more later****

Update: The coke: My dad, in a rage induced by jealousy, presumably over the celebrity the half-drunk Coke had realized in this blog, grabbed the coke from my hands and poured it on the floor. Bad dad! Or... I chugged it to avoid airport persecution.

Day 1: Wichita to Atlanta

Ok, since I’m going to be away from the computer, I’m gonna blog here (my journal) and then transfer to the computer once I’m home:

I’m waiting in the Wichita Airport right now. If I don’t chug this Coke, will they make me throw it away/ I can’t remember when drinks have to be thrown away. The # system is really messed up hee- I parked between the ‘10’ sign and the ‘15‘sign in spot #767. Near the ‘7’ sign? The spaces are numbered in the 1500s. Seems strange – Dad: I’m too lazy to start a letter-writing campaign to fix this problem. Will you?

My headphones around my neck either make me look cool or really dorky. They are big like DJ headphones. Disc Jockey, not Dan Judy. Anyway, I’m too old to know which, but I’m leaning towards cool. Like I could break-dance at any moment.

This airport has only 12 gates. It’s tiny. I wonder if the people who see me writing in this think I am writing a letter, a novel or a really long grocery list. When I’m flying to or from Atlanta, I always look for any of the six people I know who live in Atlanta. Today if any of them walk off the plane in Wichita, it’s going to be fairly upsetting. Ok I better focus on this coke so I don’t waste it.

Oh! That state of the spider. I’ve been asked if she is doing ok – and whether she is growing or shrinking anymore lately. The answer is no. My dad, apparently jealous of the spider’s celebrity here in my blog killed her in a rage. Not just her, but also destroyed her egg sac. He’s a bold-faced killa.

NOW back to NOW.

Update: the spider is actually still alive. My mom – being the nurturing type brought her back to her web safely. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done for her tiny, tiny babies. Bad dad.

I'm baaaack!!!

And so much to blog about... and some that will always remain secret. But, back to what I CAN tell you. I'm in Atlanta right now - we got back to LJ's home last night at the rediculous time of 2:45 am. I will be leaving in a few hours for the airport to jet back to Wichita and then back to the realest of real worlds. Luckily I have a few more hours here to help with that transition. In the mean time...

Potential Blog titles... Pick your favorite. All of these are pretty indicative of the time spent in CABO!
2 Awkward Girls Go to Cabo
Oh My God, I Love Salt!
I Hate Boys, I Love Men!
I'll Kill You, You'll Be Dead.
Bet You've Never Seen This Before - A Purse-strap Tanline.
Wicked Fun! Unlimited!
No Problem! No Problem!
I Hate Myself Right Now.
That Seems Like a Bad Idea.
Am I Stupider Today?
We Are Not The Queens of Subtlety.
2 Awkward Girls Survive Cabo.
We're Staying at the Other Cabo. El Otra Cabo.
Como Se Dice...
You Missed It. Relax. Go Have a Beer.
Girls Gone Mild.

This month is flying by!

And I haven't blogged near as much lately - I bet it's driving some of you crazy!

Well I just got back from a great 2 days in Denver with my friends - such a speedy trip ! It would've been nice to see more of you Coloradans and get to hang out a little longer, but I'm trying to shove as much as possible into these 2 weeks that my parents are here. I got back to Abilene last night and today I am flying to Atlanta for about a day and a half, and then on to CABO!! So the blog will continue to be un-updated. But I am taking my journal - that's right, I have this and a journal that until I die will be kept mostly secret. Anyway, I am going to blog the old fashioned way (I guess that would just be called logging) for the next week or so and then when I get back you will get a bunch of new entries!

Love you all! See you on the flipflop!

Ok, ok :)

Really long without a blog! I would bet some of you think I'm being tortuous on purpose, but in fact, it just wasn't on my list of 'things to do.'

My friend Rob came in to visit and I've literally had a list of things to get done that started on about the 31st and I'm just now wrapping up. Why is the list so extensive? Because not only did I have company last week, this week Ma and Pa come in and I don't want them to look around and go... uh? What have you been doing? :) Add to the fact that a day after they get into town - Monday - I'm heading to CO for 2 days, then to GA for a day before Jet-setting to Mexico for 5 days, and I want to get as much as I can done so that I don't even need to think about thinking about it all :)

That's right Mexico, baby!! Laura and I are flying to a much needed vacation in all-inclusive-ville, Mexico. It actually is in Cabo, but who really cares since all drinks and meals are included!

I'll leave you with this note - there is a giant spider here. I have watched her grow and shrink on various days - presumably bigger on the days she has eaten (I once watched her as she wrapped a grasshopper 1.5 inches long.) and smaller on the days she is digesting. She the changes is size below - I put a dollar bill behind her for scale. Then, I promptly gave that dirty spider bill to some unsuspecting customer.




Small day. The blob next to her? Oh, that's just dinner.



Big day!

Gorgeous Saturday!

I hope it's as beautiful where you are as it is here. I've decided to be more specific should someone ask "what is your favorite season?" I used to just say summer, but really the answer is the first month of summer and the last month of summer. Perfect temperatures, blue skies. Excellent, excellent, excellent.

Well lately I've been taking Beppo for walks. The reason for this is many-fold (manifold?) but really it's because she has so much energy it's been driving me nuts! So Leon loaned me this barbaric looking collar. I would've been taking her for walks before but the pulling is insane. Anyway, this collar is NOT a choke collar, but just pokes her when she pulls. It can't hurt too bad because she doesn't yelp (plus it's loose enough to put two fingers under it when she's not pulling). But as much as it doesn't seem like it can be terrible, she is a different dog when she's wearing it. I can actually walk her. So that's good news - the only problem, I'm realizing what a scaredy-cat my dog is. It's embarrassing.
Things Beppo is scared of:
guardrails
flags
stationary, non-running motorcycles
paperboys
gas stations

She is so scared of the unmanned, unmoving motorcycle that she actually cowers, tail between the legs, the whole bit. I'm going to have to start walking her when the rest of the town is asleep to avoid shame.

Love to all - enjoy your loooong weekend!

Update?

Hey to all - long time no blog. Unfortunately, that's because there really hasn't been much going on.

On Sunday morning Jeff and I went to a boulder patch in someone's pasture - they had enormous sandstone boulders which Jeff uses fairly often in his landscape design. The pasture is owned by one of his customers who gave him the go ahead to poach the rocks. They were definitely huge rocks and beautiful. It was pretty cool - I would scout out the good boulders, and he would pick it up with the skid loader and put it on the trailer. All told, I would guess we had at least 1 ton of rock. Then I was told to drive DOWN the hill with the rocks in the trailer and on the truck and meet Jeff at the bottom where we would reload the skid loader. Well...I have never driven anything with a trailer on the back of it and certainly nothing with a trailer with a ton of rocks on it. Apparently I was going pretty fast considering my load!!! Luckily nothing broke, and I've learned my lesson: Take your foot off the brake only occasionally. And don't be afraid to brake hard! So that was an adventure. Anyway - we really did get some beautiful rocks out of it and I got one small-ish one to give to mom and dad for their rock project.




Last night was the start of winter bowling league on Tuesday nights for me. This is an official sanctioned event. In that, there were dues. I technically could compete with the greats now. Well... in theory. My scores last night were inconsistent: 140, 78(!), 135. A decent average to improve upon. :)

Potsy is coming into his own as a fighter. I'm trying to get him really acclimated to being an outside cat, but he is such a whiner when he wants back in! Unfortunately, when he's inside, he 'fights' with Beppo. And Beppo (as a good doggie!) doesn't hurt him. So he's learning that fighting with a dog 5 times his size is perfectly safe. I don't know if that's a good lesson to learn as an outside cat. You can't really tell in this video, but Potsy has pieces of Beppo in his mouth at least an inch of skin and fur. It's really very brave.



Anyway - that's really all that's going on here - gearing up for some company next weekend when Rob comes into town and then a week after that I get a vacation!! Mom and Dad are back from Hawaii and are coming to relieve me from my post. I'm hoping a trip to a beach somewhere takes shape!! With mojitos or margaritas on the beach! but really - any sort of vacation will be much much enjoyed!

the geniousity of my 10-year old neighbor

This is great - but should be read aloud - so shut your office door or tell your cube-mates that you might sound crazy for a minute.

I'm pretty close to my neighbor and in fact, his kids come over to hang out quite a bit. His 10-year old daughter, Brooke, came over and was writing a note. Here is a snippet of conversation while I helped her with said note.

Brooke: Ok, how do you spell "nyonce"?
Cassie: "Nyonce"??
Brooke: Yeah.
Cassie: Use it in a sentence.
Brooke: "Sorry for the inconvenyonce."

Great moments!

the geniuosity of Mike Lewis on his 29th Birthday

I can't make this stuff up- and too funny not to share on my brother's birthday:

Mike: I'm jewish now.
cassie: really?
Mike: Actually, I have my doctorate now.
cassie: 11 small presetns
cassie: you are a liar
Mike: and I'm an ordained minister.
Mike: no, seriously.
Mike: I am offiicially, Dr. Bishop
cassie: explain
Mike: Michael Caulin Lewis, D.D.
cassie: Dr. Bishopstein?
Mike: no, I'm a Doctor of Divinity. and My Bishop title is endorsed by the monastery of the Universal Life Church of Modesto, California.
cassie: and you;re Jewish?
Mike: I was joking about being Jewish. That's just bishop humor.

How cute is Mr. Potsworthy?

Very very cute!



Sorry no blog for awhile... I've been taking it easy. It's been really stinkin' hot here and so I spend most mornings mowing or cleaning the pool and the afternoons sitting very still near the AC.

The other day I drove a tractor for the first time - a big blue tractor. I really didn't like it - it was really hard to steer and hurt my ribs. So there.

It turns out I 'damaged my rib cartilage'. The time period for healing is about 8 weeks and there's really nothing they can do but manage the pain. So I've been icing and taking those pain pills... Can't complain about goood pain pills!

I created this recipe!

Cassie’s Italian Pasta Salad:

Handful of Bowtie Pasta
1 Tomato
Pesto
Parmesan cheese
Olives
Ricotta cheese

Cook the pasta. Meanwhile cut the tomato into bite-size pieces. Put the tomato and some parmesan cheese in the bottom of the bowl. Drain the pasta and put on top of the tomatoes. Add enough pesto to coat the pasta and tomatoes. Top with olives and 2 dollops of ricotta. Yum yum yum! Serves one, perfectly!

I've got some splain' to do..

So apparently I was sleepy while I last blogged - I can possibly attribute it to the strong over-the-sounter pain medicine I am taking for my aching ribs.... or just being slightly ditzy.

The new man in my life is POTSY! Turns out that thing between his legs? An inconvenient scrotum sac. Just like Al Gore. We talked about it and we are going to stick with MR. Potsworthy, although, it has lost all its ironic flair. Or maybe now it has more ironic flair. You know what this teaches me? Be careful what you name your kids. A Mr. Potsworthy became a Mr. just as soon as a Tiffani Crystal Lewis would've become a stripper.

Last night was the rodeo and it was awesome. A little stressful when the people got thrown and trampled but everyone managed to walk away. The worst (and best) part of the show was the mutton busting. Kids (they all looked under 8) were put on the backs of sheep and the sheep were encouraged to run and buck. It looked adorable and cute and terrifying all at once. Either way, I will be attending the rodeo again next year as it was a good time for all.

So now for one promised picture (I hope to have more for you eventually). This picture was drawn freehand rather than using MSPaint due to the details. Here to enjoy:

New man in my life

And so much more.

First of all I gotta say sory it's been so long since I blogged! Mom and grandma came to visit me for my brithday, and I've since just felt lazy!

But here we go with the updates:

1st of all the night before mom and grandma came in I helped to move a building. A pretty decent sized shed actually. A customer of Jeff's wanted to get rid of a shed and he needed help :) So he lifted it with his skid loader on one edge. While it was lifted, Rod and I braced in that diagonal position with wood. Then we moved the loader and brought in the dump truck. We put the bed of the truck at the same angle as the building and butted them together. Then I go in the truck and lowered the bed while Jeff pushed the building up onto the bed. It was pretty smooth so far. The top of the shed had an old windvane on top, so Jeff put me on the roof of the shed with the bucket of the loader and I pulled it down :) Like an elephant. Then we drove it to the house and used a forklift to lift the building off the dumptruck and put it in position! A pretty smooth operation over all. I wish I had pictures. Hmm... maybe I will have something for you tomorrow.

I already blogged about my birthday. I had a huge smile on my face for the cake party. There is a photo of that, I will that for you... maybe tomorrow.

Yesterday was the parade, and I was in it!! Jeff drove his Big Red truck and threw... dum da dum: BIG RED gum :) I rode in the back with the kids and got to throw candy and gum. It was pretty cool :) I guess when I think about it, I've been in a parade before - rode my bike, or with drill team, but I don't think I've ever gotten to be a candy-thrower. We were a crowd favorite.

After the parade we went to the carnival with Leon and his kids. I rode a couple of carnival rides, and what I've learned is that I'm too damn old for centifigal forces. Or centrifical? Basically I'm to old for gravity. I'm pretty sure I have a broken rib and at least 3 bruises, one is bigger than my hand. It's no fun to be 27 at a fair. :)

Tonight I am going to the Rodeo with Rod. More tomorrow...

Yesterday was my birthday, YAY ME!

I have to say, I had a pretty great birthday.

I usually dread birthdays at least a little bit - especially as I get older - not so much because of the number. I think you are as old as you act, so I'm about 6 today, just like I was yesterday. But birthdays just aren't the EVENT that they were when you were a kid.

But anyway, being a little glum in the morning, I decided to enjoy the day, no matter what. I got some really good stuff from Grandma and Ma - including an actual deputy badge. Watch out, villians, Deputy Marie is on the beat. So then I went and watched them put up a building at Jeff's house - literally a crew of 3 men built a 2 car carport in about 30 minutes. Take that Rachael Ray!

Then I went to the library - one of my favorite places and spent the afternoon in the pool. By this point, my mom had suggested that after dinner (where I had fried catfish) we go to wal-mart. I was ok with this - not elated, but it was something to do. I thought I might buy a raft.

So I was only able to eat half my catfish, so I had to stop by the house before going to Wal-mart so as to avoid stinkin' up the car. Apparently this played right in to mom and Jeff's plan. Jeff had at some point approached mom saying he was going to get a cake and ice cream and to bring me by his house after dinner. I was completely completely surprise and it literally brought tears to my eyes. Brooke wrote me a really sweet card and put a dollar inside. I can't remember the last time I got an actual bill in a card :)

Anyway - I hear 27 is the best year ever....

Love you all and thanks for a great birthday!

Dear God, please make me a bird...

You Would Be a Pet Bird

You're intelligent and witty, yet surprisingly low maintenance. You charm people easily, and they usually love you a lot more than you love them. You resent anyone who tries to own or control you. You refuse to be fenced in. Why you would make a great pet: You're very smart and entertaining Why you would make a bad pet: You're not interested in being anyone's pet! What you would love about being a bird: Flying, obviously What you would hate about being a bird: Being caged

What Kind of Pet Would You Be?

So I know 'Cute' isn't the right word...

You shouldn't use the word 'cute' when describing 4-wheeling pictures or fun, but how cute am I in this picture? Now - the Jeep crawling the rock, that is majestic or domineering or awesome or fabulous. Or any other masculine descriptive you can think of. Jeff climbed the rock then took the picture - Carlie in the back is Leon's daughter. Very cute picture I think.

Today's jerk.

Not everyday has a jerk. But today does.

This morning at about 8:45, the power went out. At this point I decided to give it a little (say 2, 3 minutes) time to come back and get dressed. Immediately after I finish dressing, I hear this knocking at the door. So, I answer it. It's a camper. Who is also a jerk. Here is what transpired:

Setting: Back door, 8:55 am
Players:
Old Jerk
Cassie, an irritated girl

Cassie: Good morning!
Old Jerk: You know the power's out.
Cassie: Yup, it looks like no one in the park has power. I would guess most of the city is out.
Old Jerk: Well, what does the electric company say?
Cassie: Uh...well, I haven't called them yet.
Old Jerk: Well, you might want to do that.
Cassie: Yeah... I will, it just went out.
Old Jerk: Like 10 minutes ago.
Cassie: Ok, well, I'll call them.
Old Jerk: You do that. (Starts walking away.) And do we get a refund for the time we don't have power?
Cassie: (Incredulously) For the past 10 minutes?
Old Jerk: Well, who knows how long it will be out?
Cassie: You're right, I will call the electric company, but no refunds, I'm sure. Thanks.
Old Jerk walks away. Cassie mumbles obscenities and gesticulates wildly from the safety of the office.

The End

A call to the Electric company informed me that the power would be out for 2 hours. Here's what I deduced: The man paid $44 for about 42 hours of parking. The tent rate (which receives no power) would have been $36. The difference is presumably the cost of our utilities - $8. His site has Water, Electric, Sewer and Cable. So that is $2 per utility for 42 hours, or $.05 per hour. So the power was out for about 1.5 hour - I do owe him a refund or $.08. I figure if he comes up for a refund, I will explain this to him and offer to round up to $.10 for his inconvenience. Jerk.

What a lousy way to start a weekend.

You people!

You will NEVER get pictures. Keep begging - it will get you nowhere.

I know I haven't blogged in quite a few days, but there's not much to say. I did Yoga on Wed. and Today. That is actually really nice. I hate it when I first wake up (the class is at 8!!), but then at the end of it, I feel really good. If ever someone was like "Pick - go pro in belly dancing or yoga!" I would pick yoga.

I bowled really good - at least at first - on Wednesday. A 166, 142 and I can't remember the last score (hmmm). I hope it was really low, though, because my average again this week was 120 and I don't know how I'm going to do it next week if my average is like 130. So let's all cross our fingers that I bombed the last game!

Today a pipe broke! And I fixed it - at least temporarily. I will get Jeff to help me with a permanent fix this weekend, but I was pretty proud that I temporarily fixed it. The camper that broke the pipe was a little insulting, in a sort of backwards way. As I'm sweating and working on this pipe he said "Well, I'm really impressed. These schools today have really dumbed it down and most people just don't have any common sense." I chortled a little and said "well, they don't teach plumbing in the average public school - everything to do with this, I learned from my mom." Like I said, slightly complimentary, but apparently before he broke the pipe, he thought I was an idiot with no common sense. Half of that is true. I won't say which half.

Love!

Belly Dancing Barbie

So this was interesting. I guess I should preface this by explaining some difficulties I've had meeting people. I tried to join the Tennis league, but that was too casual and in fact - I was the only one who showed up. I did join a bowling league - and have met a couple of people, but nothing serious, as far as new friends or anything. SO, talking to Jeff this week - I was feeling a little lonely. And he had a valid point. Aside from bowling and hanging out with him or Rod, really all I do is walk. And I like walking, but I gotta try to meet some people!

So I saw an ad in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago about 'The Dance Goddess' school of dance opening here in town. Belly dancing. I was like oh, what the hell - I'll call and see what it's about. So I called this weekend and signed up for a group class for tonight. But I was the only one there. The good news: I am a phenomenal belly dancer. Well, I don't really believe this, but the lady teacher is very nice and flattering. She did ask me to dance in 'DanceFest' and I told her I doubt it. She also asked (I am giggling as I write this for the unbelievability factor) if I was interested in going pro. I should've told her that I thought that that would interfere with my eating contest training. I told her I don't ever picture me struggling with that decision. She's very new-age, which is difficult to get used to, but a nice lady. She's going to choreograph me something cool to go with my Leo personality and my Goddess inside. I'm not kidding. Cassie, the klutziest person anyone of you knows. She did point out a costume - a gold coin bra when she was talking about me performing at DanceFest. That was laughable enough as it is! Do you think she has any idea how drunk I would have to be to wear a gold bra in public and be thinking to myself, "shimmy shake, hip thrust"? She had me wear the bra as a belt so I could hear when I was shimmying correctly. Other words of wisdom from her - I will teach you to be a fabulous dancer, but you have to promise not to work in a strip club. Again a witty comeback comes to me know: "Don't worry, I'm not working my way through Medical school." In actuality I just said I don't think that's anything we have to worry about. Anyway - I'm pretty proud I went and I'll probably go back next week, but don't expect to EVER see photos or videos of me in costume on here. Or anywhere. If pictures like that got out, I could never run for Miss New Jersey.

Today someone at the courthouse accidentally pushed the tornado siren button. And we are having stormy weather. I didn't hear it. This fact does not make me feel good about my ability to get to safety in case of an emergency.

So many toilets, so little time.

I want to be very, very happy when I am done using the restroom.

This story made me laugh.

Toilets Galore!

Cassie is a competitor:

Pictures as promised.

My initial look at the competition:


Notice the pirate!!


It's hard to eat, smile and look pretty. I find a way.



2nd place is achieved. Notice the mess near the pirate. Some are contesting the results. I am personally not contesting the results, because I think it's important to unite in this time of terror, etc. Watermelon eating contests can bring us together as a country.

recipes

I have gotten a couple of requests for recipes -

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD
Printed from COOKS.COM

2 sm. zucchini (about 1/2 lb. total) or 2 c. grated
4 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 c. oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 (8 x 4) loaf pans.

Grate zucchini. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, combine zucchini except the chocolate chips. Stir into dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick stuck in the center of the bread comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool on rack 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.

I haven't tried this choco bread (I might cook it today-I'll update if I do), but sounds pretty good! :)

Fried zucchini:

I put 'french fry' size zucchini in beaten eggs, then a flour mixture of flour, pepper, cayenne, italian seasoning and fresh parmesan cheese (I don't measure this stuff, I just put enough of everything in a pie plate to taste good and coat the number of 'fries' I'm making.) Shake off the excess flour batter, then gently put it in hot oil - about 380 deg. for a couple of minutes. While they are cooking, I nuke some Prego. Then pull the 'fries' out and drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a little bit more cheese. After they cool a little I dip them in the sauce and eat 'em! :)

Cassie eatin' watermelon!

I just competed in a watermelon contest!! I think I did pretty good too - I got second. When I first walked up I was worried that it was for kids only and that I was going to have to take 'em out (which I would have because first, and foremost, I am a competitor). If one of those little bastards would've gotten in my face and made me yell boo-YAH! I would have. Luckily I got to compete against adults. When I sat down with the adults, I mentioned, nonchalantly, that I have been training for this all my life and I skipped lunch. You know, you win a competition mentally first. This did seem to throw the competition, a Harley Davidson Pirate, until he said, "Well, I'm from out east, and in Pennsylvania I entered pie eating contests all the time. 9 inch pies." I had to walk away so he wouldn't see that he had knocked me a little out of my zone. So while a friend Tracy took pictures, since both Jeff and I assumed the other had a camera, I ate like you wouldn't believe. Unless you've seen me eat, in which case, you can probably imagine. Direct quote from Jeff "You got more balls then I give you credit for." I take this as a compliment. Anyway, I took second. Harley-Davidson-Pirate-Pie-Eating extrodinaire took first. At least I lost to a champion. This must be how it feels to get second on Survivor or Temptation Island.
Pictures were taken, and as soon as I have them, so will you, but for now, another installment of Cassie's Masterpiece Paint:

I'm a dirty girl!

Or I was, when I was working. I've showered several times since then. The unfortunate thing: my face got stuck this way. We are all sad and blue.

By the was fried Zucchini strips dipped in spaghetti sauce? Yes, it's delicious, have some.

I sprunged a leak!

Today was pretty satisfying. It started out relatively bland, with an oh-so-exciting trip to Sam's Club for bathroom paper towels. Thrilling.

But when I got home, Jeff and I worked and fixed a dryer. Pretty cool - not the perfect day yet, but still. Then I heard dreaded words. "You got a lot of standing water out here." First thought: Water? Or Sewage? Luckily, water! But there was a lot of it - after a phone call to mom, I have been assigned to dig - there is a leak somewheres, just got to find it. So after a fair amount of mocking, Jeff took a picture of me working (I guess he thought we all needed proof.) then helped me. We thought we had found the leak, but couldn't figure out why it wasn't more obvious. As much water as there was, it should have been really flowing. So we thought about it and Jeff tried to turn the spigot on - that's when I told him that I had shut the water off. So of course - that's why it wasn't flowing. So Jeff knelt down and turned the water back on. The pictoral depiction below, while obviously gorgeous, is in no way accurate. I got way more water squirted on me, and Jeff is not a midget - just kneeling. Thank you. Photos of me working will be posted eventually for the non-believers, Dan Judy.



Either way, leak repaired, life back to normal here. :)

Oh.. and zucchini!

I literally have 9 large zucchinis sitting in my kitchen thanks to the Markleys - I've got zucchini bread cooling now, I've had salads, I'm going to try a recipe for zucchini pancakes - anything else?

mustard... mayo... catch up!

Let's see - I did the wheat thing - and blogged appropriately, so we get to play catch up from Wednesday! And we have to explain cryptic Aunt Sandi! :)

Wednesday was bowling. My average this week before bowling was 120- and that seems just about perfect - I bowled 125,115,122. So at least the average seems fair. Unfortunately it cannot possibly make daddy proud. But the team we bowled against - one guy bowled a perfect game (in 9-pin world)! And our team beat his team - without even considering our handicap one game. So we are good as a team. But I could've told you that before.

Yesterday, I mostly recovered and enjoyed a little rain. Recovery was necessary because with a built-in DD, bowling becomes more fun than most weeknights - and then a recovery day is good.

Last night Beppo and Vixie were fascinated by something in the bushes in the yard. So fascinated in fact that they were ignoring my bribe of treats. And Beppo and Vixie usually think treats are the greatest thing EVER! So this morning when I could see, I went looking myself. And found a large rabbit with a broken neck. There really is only one explanation. Vixie is vicious. I wouldn't funk with her ladies and gents! She'd break your neck just as soon look at ya. So a quick call to the right hand guy so one person can lift Bugs and the other can hold the garbage bag open and problem solved. Except that trash was picked up yesterday. So I'm thinking that there will be a rotting carcass in my trash until Monday that cats, etc will pick through. Until....
...
...
The trash company came today and replaced our dumpster!!! Big news in these parts. Apparently Rod told them we were pricing other companies since they wouldn't replace our old crappy one. :) Knowing influential people is so crucial. So no rotting bunny and the new dumpster is bigger than the old- which helps with the next point.

Today the gypsies started coming back. Should be interesting - there are a lot more of them this time around!! Plenty of garbage will be made - now just to keep the paint and tar out of it!

Tonight will probably be mellow. Mellow is a good descriptive word to use in place of 'lame'.

Now to explain Aunt Sandi's comment "Please NO sky diving." Since last year I've been talking about going sky-diving with Jeff and I'm afraid (terrified really) that I think we're going to do it this summer. Now - obviously will we do research and do this safely - but realize that this blog was fairly boring. And if I don't do things occasionally (ride elephants, harvest wheat, skydive) all the entries will be this boring. Does anyone really want that??

Love to all!

I think I figured something out...

Ok - so this is going to sound cheesy, but I think I may have figured something out last night. I went and hauled wheat again (This time I have a picture of my semi!) and I was thinking on and on about what I'm supposed to do with my life - some people seem to have it generally figured out and I'm really jealous of them. And then I thought - maybe I'm not supposed to have my whole life path figured out right now - maybe I would be unhappy if that were the case. So I will do what makes me most happy from day to day, year to year. And today, this year, the campground is much more satisfying that any job I've had in the past!! I can stop worrying and thinking and just enjoy it until I don't anymore! It's a relief!

Farmer in the dell...

....0r how about "roll on highway..."?

Yesterday, I was a truck driver and a farmer! And a campground manager! And a Deputy! And a chef! Wow...what a day.

So the day until about 7:00 was pretty normal - I was a campground manager (and deputy, obviously. That distinction doesn't just go away.) And I baked a yummy cake - hence the chef. Then about 7, Jeff called and said he was at the grain elevator and he could pick me up if I still wanted to go cut wheat with him and the farmer. Well, yeah! So he drove to the park in Sam Zook's truck and picked me up. Riding in a semi, you feel pretty important. I'm not a girlie girl, unless you are classifying a girlie girl but the numbers of lotions she has, but I imagine that's what it feels like to be the Queen in a parade! It was really cool! In the truck, Jeff let me untarp the wheat , release the air brakes and blow the horn. You know when I have that stupid grin? Well - I grinned like that for pretty much the whole time. So when we got to the farm (which is just a couple of miles outside of town), Sam Zook's wife had brought supper :) Just like in Little House on the Prairie, but in a Toyota. She hadn't counted on me, but it was ok, because for one I was too excited to eat (I probably would've thrown up) and for two it was tuna sandwiches, yuck! After we ate, we drove a small load back in to town (where I got to talk to the people on the scale at the elevator), then back to the wheat cutting. When we got to the field where Sam was driving him combine and cutting wheat he asked if I wanted to ride with him. Uh, yah! So I rode in the combine. There are two seats, it's got a radio and an air conditioner and you sit about as high as you do in the semi. The combine blade was 25' wide and it kinda works like a electric razor for shaving dad's head. Except that it shuffles the cut stuff from 25' to a 4' opening then it goes in and separates the actual grain from everything else, then it spits the crap out in a line and another machine comes and bales it all up for bedding for cattle. All the grain is stored in a bin that is about 1/3 of what the truck can hold. So once it is full, he dumps it into another bin while driving - the two machines go parallel to one another and the auger from the combine empties it into the next bin, while driving. Did I say while driving? It's like a mid-air fueling on Air Force one! :) So then that 'middle man bin' gets driven to the semi - and augered into there. At one point the 'crap shoot' (HA!) on Sam's combine got clogged and I had to help him pull the stems and weeds out. :) So we did about 17 acres in about an hour and a half with the 25' combine. Then we were done with that section and the truck was about 2/3 full. So we (Jeff and I) had to take it to the elevator. He let me help to open the chutes on the bottom of the truck and you would not believe the dust cloud that came from dumping! You know black lung? I think we both had white lung! Then back to the farm and call it a day (on the way there, Jeff let me pull the air horn!) - it was about 10:30 before we were home and they are cutting wheat again this afternoon. I will have to pass, because my other hats have to be worn, but it was pretty exciting.

I think there is a massive disconnect (at least with me) between what I chose in college and what I really want to do day to day. I mean how am I supposed to know I don't want to be a farmer without seeing and trying it? But you have to pick and you have to pick relatively fast it seems to me looking back know. I just know I didn't like sitting in a cube. At first I thought it was cool, but probably within a couple of months I would've said I like the people I work with but not my job. I just wish there was such a thing as career camp. This is something I invented in my head last week - although something like it probably exists, because it's not that creative. There should be a camp (and at this age, I think it should be open to all ages) that lets you test careers. I definitely have an aptitude for computers - I'm not going to sell myself short and say that I don't have that skill. And I even enjoy them to a degree. But does that mean I have to spend the rest of my life with them? I don't want to be a farmer, or even a truck driver. But doing something different? And learning how the wheat was cut was really really cool. It was something I could've read, but instead got to do. I guess that's the point of all this. I want to DO stuff. I want to LEARN stuff (preferably without student loans!) I guess I have to surround myself with nice people who know way more than me and will show me. :) Anyone know a career where I can do this?
Love you all!
-Farmer, Deputy, Marketer, Manager, Chef, Student Cassie

1 more exciting thing-

I forgot to mention one exciting thing that did happen to me last week. I was deputized! A deputy came to serve papers but the guy wasn't in his trailer so he asked me to do it! I expect my badge and gun will probably be UPS'd to me this week!

Happy Friday!

Oh...and welcome to summer! That's why I'm blogging in the middle of the day - I've been mowing all morning and it's about 88 outside and too hot to keep going. So I thought I'd go inside with the ceiling fans and sit still. I'm still managing to resist A/c but may have to give in this weekend. I don't want it getting too hot for the computers. Yeah, that's the ticket...

I tried to make a cake here this week - and the cake turned out great until time to frost. The frosting was cool whip based and without the A/C on it just melted as I mixed it. Then when I poured it on the cake instead of frosting the cake, it wasn't pretty. Oh, well.

Let's see - not much has happened here since the elephant...

Bowling: 113,144,124. My average this week before these was 115, so it's going up. I'm starting to feel the pressure! At least I found "my ball" - a wonderful 8 pound silver public ball. :)

Jeff is hauling wheat for a farmer this weekend and he said he would take me along on one of the trips - that's in a semi. So I will have ridden in all sorts of machines - skid loaders, dumptrucks (I worked the dump, too!), backhoes, semis - and huge animals - elephants. :) My resume grows.

Next week I get a bunch of new stamps - very excited about that! :)