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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Hallelujah!

Watch this inspiring video as these unsuspecting diners were entertained by this fabulous choir at a mall recently.






Wouldn't you love to have witnessed this in person? Or better yet, be a part of it? I teared up watching this and got goose bumps on my arms. It made my heart sing! Just look at all the smiling faces as they listened to these beautiful voices sing about the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Young and old, from all walks of life, singing, listening and praising God. Makes me think maybe peace is achievable.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Have you seen the latest TSA bumper stickers?




I'm flying home for Christmas. I just can't wait for the experience!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sunday Bridges - John Coffee Memorial Bridge


This is the John Coffee Memorial Bridge which spans the Tennessee River on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  The bridge is named for General John Coffee, who fought in the Creek War of 1813-14.


For more bridges, visit Louis La Vaches.


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving on "Whiskey Row"

By now your bellies have been filled a few times. You've munched on turkey sandwiches, finished up the pumpkin pies, and swear you can't eat another thing......until tomorrow!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I came from a large family, so holidays are quite special for me. And although I love wintering in Arizona, I sure do miss my family around this time.

Thankfully I have a large group of friends who are my second family, and we all gathered together for the holiday.

Carol and Sandy, who are crazy, wonderful cousins, had an open invitation for Thanksgiving for anyone who wanted to attend the party.

About 40 people wanted to attend.

Everyone was assigned something to bring. Carol and Sandy each made a turkey, and Don, someone who didn't attend (they had other plans) but voluntarily made a deep-fried turkey and donated it to the "cause".

Appetizers


We have some very talented people in the group. They set up an impromptu band and played and sang before and after dinner.








Here are the set up tables, just waiting for the hungry people to feast on their holiday meal.


All the hungry people, where do they all come from?



More hungry people





There's ALWAYS room for dessert!



Then it was time to work all of that food off.

Some chose to dance alone.




Others chose to dance with a group.





And still others grabbed a partner and polkaed down the street. Here are Carol and Sandy kicking up their heels.


Kathy and Don couldn't sit still when that polka music started to play!



And then most people wanted to just sit and soak in the sunshine, good music, and friendship.







Someone had fun with the grapefruits hanging from Sandy's tree.


One gentleman from the next street came over and kidded that he couldn't get any sleep because the music was too loud, so he "might as well come over and try to sleep here!"



And then someone DOUBLE DARED me to lie down next to "Sleepless in Mesa" Man.

I couldn't very well turn that down now, could I?



So, yes, a good time was had by all on Whiskey Row.


Named "Whiskey Row" by the "Mayor" of Twelfth Street - Willard, who passed away last summer. May he rest in peace. I'm sure he was with us in spirit!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!











Whether you are spending Thanksgiving with your family, friends, or lucky enough to combine them, take time to count your blessings beginning with those who surround you.



I want to thank all of you who follow my blog, who comment, and even those who are silent but peek in to see what's happening! I appreciate each and every one of you!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Red Hats and Pat don't match

I am lucky to be blessed with a great group of women friends here in Mesa. They range in age from 54-80. The "core" group that I mostly do things with are from 54-69. Many of them are members of the Red Hat Society.

Do you know what that is?

It's women who go out together to eat, to the theater, etc., wearing purple and red, showing off that they are a proud member of the Red Hat Club, and proud of their age. They are supposed to be dealing with their age with a sense of humor by dressing up with these two clashing colors and saying to the world, "Look, I'm middle-aged. Now deal with it!"

I'm not dissing the Red Hat Society and their beliefs, but I'm not interested in joining their group for the following reasons:

a) Yeah, okay, so I'm middle-aged. It's better than being dead, mind you, but I don't have to shout from the roof tops that I'm over the hill!

b) I don't have to wear red and purple to call attention to myself. I can raise my own "freaky flag", thank you very much!

The other day my friends were talking about starting our own charter of the Red Hat Society.

"I'll never join," I said.

With various cries of, "Why not?" and "You're old enough!" I had to defend my decision to my friends.

One said, "Well, then you'll miss all the fun!"

Why can't we just all go out and forget about wearing any of that funky crap?

Someone suggested changing the colors to black and white.

Why wear anything?

Well, let me rephrase that.

Why do we have to wear something alike to link us all together? Isn't our friendship enough?

My husband, Jim, knows how much the Red Hat Society bugs me. In fact, any time we are out and about and we see a group of women dressed up in purple/red, he'll nudge me and say, "Look, hon, that could be you!"

I just want to slap him!

Okay, so maybe it's true that old people are testy about their age.

I don't WANT to join no stinking club! GOT IT?

If my husband is so interested in the Red Hat Society, why doesn't HE join?

Wait. It's only for women.

It just dawned on me. I could try an experiment and go to bed with nothing on but a red hat and purple boa and see how turned on he gets!

But I digress.

So the other day I was riding around our resort park going to patio sales (our version of garage sales), and when I returned I found this monstrosity sitting on one of my chairs outside of my trailer.





One of my friends (RACHEL!) thought this would be perfect for me, especially with that big "H" on the front that matches the initial of my last name.

Wasn't that sooo sweet of her?

You DO know sarcasm when you read it, right?

Long story short, the hat was passed around and is now back to it's rightful owner (RACHEL)!

She let me borrow it for this picture. It is the one and only time you will see me wear this.




By the way, if I should die before y'all, don't you dare stick a red hat on my head, for you will surely witness a person turning over in her grave! AND I will come back and haunt you!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

It's Official - I'm OLD!

I had a rude awakening last night.

I found out that I was OLD!

It all started because I saw this young, ahem, cute, singer on "Saturday Night Live", back in October. His name is Bruno Mars.



I saw his pure, raw, talent and want to learn more about him so I GOOGLED him, found that he had a website and clicked the link. I watched a few more videos of this young, Elvis-looking singer, with his smooth voice, and saw the link that said "Tour Dates" and thought, "Hmmm..." and clicked.

You know where this is going, right?

Low and behold, Bruno Mars was coming to Scottsdale, AZ, a mere hop, skip and jump away from where we stay in Mesa for the winter. My finger posed over the "buy tickets" button for a few seconds.

Should I or shouldn't I?

I called Jim over to the computer and told him about this band I wanted to see and asked if he wanted to go. His reply? "I don't care."

That's all I need to to hear!

Bang! I quickly bought two tickets in a blink of an eye.

As the date for the concert drew nearer, I did a little research on the Martini Ranch, the place where the concert was being held. This is what I found out.

Standing room only. Uh-oh.

There were some minimal seats available, come early. (THIS WAS A LIE!)

Doors open at 7:00 pm, concert starts at 8:00 pm.

NO FOOD IS SERVED.

We decided to leave a little after 5:00 pm because we weren't familiar with the area, and with our large truck, parking is always questionable. Our thought was to find parking, then hopefully find a restaurant within walking distance of the concert building.

It was 5:40 when we drove past the Martini Ranch, and THERE WAS ALREADY A LINE! Say what?

I knew we were in trouble.

The good news is, there was public parking a couple blocks down that still had open spaces so we were able to park Big Blue with no problem.

There happened to be two restaurants across the street that we could grab something to eat. Do we chance it and watch the line grow even longer?

Or do we stand in line with our stomachs growling with the off chance we get a seat?

We opted to stand in line.

At 5:45 pm.

For a concert that's supposed to start at 8:00 pm.

That we will probably be standing for the whole time.

Am I sounding old yet?

I wore shoes with one inch heels. Are you laughing? Yeah, you read that right. ONE INCH HEELS. And my back could hardly take it. I actually stuffed some flat sandals in my small purse so I could switch shoes if need be.

I needed to.

Within 10 minutes of waiting in line.

I cajoled the people in line around me saying, "Okay, here's the game plan. All you young people rush to the stage, and leave the chairs for us old people!"

They started letting the people in around 6:15. The two bouncers were checking everyone's ID. Jim didn't even bother taking his out. I hopefully foolishly took mine out.

The guy was kind enough not to fall over laughing when he saw me holding out my driver's license. He said, "That's okay. I trust you."

Did I hear him snort, or was that my imagination?

Then he attached a wrist band to each of us and told us to go in. The young woman scanned our tickets and suddenly we were in the place.

And...it was so small.

We stood there a minute trying to figure it out. A long bar, running almost the length of the room was just about filled with patrons. The room wasn't too wide. To our left were four steps leading up to another small room with four booths, with reserved signs on them, and room for standing, then four steps down to a larger room with a stage.

This is where we stood, because there were no seats to be found.

Lovely.

I looked at my watch.

It was 6:30 pm.

Jim's face was a thundercloud. That's all he needed was a black shirt that said, "Security", and he'd a made a perfect BOUNCER.

He stood behind me with his arms crossed and leaned on a post.

Finally at about 7 pm a DJ came out a played some music to get the crowd going. While it's true that I'd never heard the music before, I enjoyed it and tried to ignore the pain shooting up my back and down my shoulders from  holding my purse.

Then a Rapper came out. I don't know what his name was; I asked the two young guys standing next to me. They had no idea who this guy was either.

I'm not a fan of rap but he wasn't bad.

I kept glancing back at Jim. At this point I thought I saw steam coming out of his ears, but I could be wrong.

The crowd kept getting thicker as the hour got nearer to when Bruno was coming on stage. Two young ladies had somehow finagled themselves in front of the two guys I had spoken to and were soon encroaching into my territory, which I had staked out SINCE 6:30!!

I turned to the guys and said, "Who's bright idea was it to let these girls in front of you? It may be good for you," I said, wiggling my eyebrows, "but bad for me!"

They both pointed at each other and laughed. Then the one guy said, "What do you mean?!" He was shorter than me and stood up on his tiptoes to try and see over the one tall blond.

The Rapper finished his set. I was trying not to feel claustrophobic in the crowd. I was afraid to look back at Jim, but I thought I'd better face the music, so to speak.

"How are you doing?" I asked sweetly.

Jim said, "I'm listening to one song, and if I don't like him, I'm waiting in the truck!"

Oookay. Not a happy camper, are we?

Granted. The music was loud (but not too loud), it was crowded (but not too crowded) and my back was killing me. But, dammit I paid for the ticket, I'm going to at least stay for the concert!

Of course, the concert didn't start on time. Does any one EVER start on time?

At 8:15 the band came out and the crowd went crazy.

They played a loud, fast song, and it did Jim in.

"I'm waiting in the truck!" He yelled in my ear.

Me? I stayed for just about the whole concert. It was great. And yeah, I was probably the oldest one in the crowd, but it didn't matter at that moment because we were all there for the same reason. Because we were awed by this singer's talent, and I'm sure, many of the girls were swooning by some of his dance moves. (I know I was!)

After the concert, Jim and I walked to a nearby Japanese restaurant. While waiting to be seated, a young group of people came in.

I sat there with my tired old body, my aching back, shoulders and feet and looked at what must truly be the "In Crowd". The girls were young and beautiful. And they had bodies to die for. They had flat stomachs, tiny waists, nice boobs, long hair, low necklines and high hemlines, and 3-4 inch heels of the latest fashion.

And that's when it hit me.

Who was I trying to kid?

I am freakin' old.

Okay, so I went to a concert of a 25-year-old singer. Whip-dee-do-dah. I had to take four, count 'em, FOUR ibuprofen just to make sure I could get out of bed this morning.

My feet are still hurting me.

I still feel like I was rode hard and put away wet.

The problem is, when I come down to Mesa for the winter, we stay in a 55 + community. I am the youngest in our group. Well, I was till Lenore started hanging with us. (She's a year younger than me.) So I started feeling full of myself, a little whippersnapper.

Then I ventured out of our community.

Hah! A rude awakening indeed!

A side note: While sitting in the restaurant, I noticed that we still had our wrist bands on from the concert. We needed scissors to cut them off. Jim had his pocket knife with him and he offered to slice the band. I said, "No, I'm wearing this as a badge of honor." Later I heard a guy at the next table say to his group as they were leaving something about "That couple.....awesome" and I just KNEW it had something to do with our concert wrist bands!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Things in a row - L thru W

Back by popular demand! Pictures of "THINGS IN A ROW"!

First up - lamp posts





Who doesn't love a marching band? Look at all those legs in a row!

How about some metal tulips? You may not be able to smell them, but you can admire their beauty!


These little beauties are mini steak and cheese sliders. Don't they look cute all in a row on the plate? And YES, they tasted as good as they looked!



How about some motorcycles? True, this is nothing like STURGIS, SD, perhaps, but they still caught my eye, sitting there in a row, all inviting, just begging to be ridden!



Raise your hand if you remember these old milk bottles!



How about rows and rows of blossoming peach trees against a blue Arizona sky?



Looks like a table to seat an army? Close - it was my niece's outdoor wedding. We were just praying for those clouds to disappear!





Baa, baa black white sheep, have you any wool? Sorry, looks like they just got shaved!


Stadium Seats at the Chicago Cubs Spring Facility - Hohokam Field, Mesa, AZ.


Stairway to heaven? Sometimes on a hike, I just can't seem to lift my leg up one more rung in a row!



I wonder what gossip is traveling down these telephone wires?


Look at all those ties hanging from the rafters! This is taken at Pinnacle Peak Restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ, where the waiters cut your tie off if you should dare wear one in the restaurant!



I bet these trucks will be busy this next month!



Wind turbines doing what they do best.



Red, or do you prefer white?


Hope you enjoyed this installment of "Things in a Row". I might start a meme for "Thursday's Things in a Row" if I think enough people would be interested. You game?



Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Christmas Gifts - Part Three


Guess what? There are only 47 shopping days left till Christmas!

But there's no need to panic - yet! Because Snooky Bing-a-ling, a.k.a. ME, has been doing her homework. Just look at all the goodies I have dug up for you!


Tape Measure Mat(http://www.vivaterra.com...8301.493438.3919405.page)

Wouldn't this be a great idea for the handy man or the seamstress? This awesome mat would look cute in front of the workbench OR a sewing machine!


Photo Rubik's Cube(http://www.kleargear.com/9000.html)

Now this would be an ideal gift for that person who loves to fiddle with things, and was a fan of the original "Rubik's Cube". Think how fun it would be to have the pictures all mixed up and have to sort them out!



Tuna Fish Sleeping bag(http://stores.rinka.com../Tuna-Fish-Sleeping-Bag/)

Got a camper in the family? How about a boy scout or girl scout? They'd be a HIT at their camp out with this sleeping bag! And don't worry, it DOESN'T smell!




teacup cupcakes(http://www.chiasso.com/s...emld=56039&from=whatsnew)

Isn't this just adorable? You can bake cupcakes in these teacups! For the person who has everything AND loves to bake!


candy cane shot glasses(http://www.fredflare.com..p?productid=5423&cat=103)

I just love these! Edible shot glasses! It can't get better than this! Take a shot - then take a bite! And their cheap, too! Great grab bag gifts!



shoot a brew cooler(http://www.shootabrew.com)

Now this is a LITTLE BIT extravagant, but boy would YOU be the hit of the party! Or your hubby! This cooler tosses beer cans by remote control! Seriously! Watch the short video below!





Peanut Butter & Jelly Pocket Protector (http://www.baronbob.com/...-PB&Jpocketorganizer.htm)

We all know some geeks who still use pocket protectors, right? Why not add a little humor to their life by giving them a pocket protector that looks like a SANDWICH? It fits into a pocket, can still hold pencils, pens, etc., but will get the co-workers wondering if the geek lost his/her marbles! Oh what fun!



Finger Drums(http://www.baronbob.com/fingerdrums.htm)

Know someone who is constantly rat-a-tat-tatting with their fingers on the table, their legs, wherever, constantly? They never quite fulfilled their dreams to be in a band? Well, here's the perfect gift! A set of drums - but not the expensive ones - just ones for their fingers! These are nice and portable so the "finger drummer" can take them ANYWHERE!


Smoking Mittens(http://www.baronbob.com/smokingmittens.htm)

With the "NO SMOKING" laws passed in just about every state, the poor puffers are forced to smoke their butts outside no matter what the weather. Protect your loved one's hands this winter while they're out hacking up a lung, and buy them this smoker's mitten. It's ambidextrous -  it works on either hand!






Racing Grannies(www.baronbob.com/racinggrannies.htm

Don't know what to buy your Grandma or Grandpa in the nursing home this holiday? I have the PERFECT gift! Why not get them these Racing Grannies? Just think of the fun they can stir up at the ole home! Why, they can even draw numbers on these old biddies' backs and take bets. Maybe your grandparents can bring in enough money to pay for their OWN care!


Spin-Mallow( http://www.stupid.com/fun/silly-toys.html)

This is one of my favorite gifts! I love me a nice, evenly cooked, brown marshmallow! Look at this folks! This contraption spins the marshmallow for you - that's all you have to do is hold the stick over the fire! How hard is that? No more flaming balls of fire! This would make a great gift for all the campers in your life.





schwetty balls (http://www.perpetualkid.com/schwetty-balls.aspx)

Got golfers? Or should I say, male golfers? Then they need 'em some Schwetty balls! 



This has got to be a take off of that great skit from Saturday Night Life. It's a little raunchy, but hysterical. Watch it if you dare.



snow in a can(http://www.perpetualkid...ow-instant-in-a-can.aspx)

Do you know someone who lives in a warmer climate where it doesn't snow? Would they like a white Christmas? Well, now you can give it to them! That's right! Here it is! The first ever! Snow in a Can! Ta Da! I have no idea how it works.....there some magic chemicals in a bag, pour it in the can, just add water, and then you have snow!





maybe you touched your genitals hand sanitizer(http://www.perpetualkid...tals-hand-sanitizer.aspx)

This is an excellent gift for that special co-worker who you know doesn't wash their hands after using the bathroom. You know the one, but you don't have the nerve to say anything to them? Well, here's your way out. Just give them this gift! Your welcome!











Now get busy, people! Snooky Bing-a-ling has given you a plethora of gift ideas today and here and here! So there are no excuses for not knowing what to buy the peeps on your list! (The link button was not working for some reason - that's why I had to type the whole dang thing out!)