Kreative Award

My friend Katie surprised me by nominating My Boy Nelson for a Kreativ Blogger award. My first thought was Wow! That's really sweet of her, cause I've never really considered My Boy Nelson as particularly creative. Irreverent, yes. Sentimental - occasionally. Sarcastic, quite often. Funny? Well, I try. But, creative? Hmmmmm.

Nonetheless, My Boy and I are quite tickled with the award!

Here's what you're supposed to do to pass on the award...

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.


2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.


3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.


4. Name seven things about yourself that people may not know.


5. Nominate seven Kreative Bloggers.


6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.


7. Leave a comment on each.

Thanks so much Yoga Gal, I truly appreciate the shout out!

1. I don’t trust people that don’t like dogs and cats – if someone can’t accept the unconditional love of animal I really think there is something wrong with their heart. Just sayin’.


2. I love to read, but don’t like to check the books out of the library; if I end up loving the book I have a physical need to own the book, I know it’s weird, but that’s just the way I am.


3. I will not eat green beans unless they have vinegar on them.


4. I salt my grapefruit, watermelon, apples, lemons and oranges.


5. I am blonder than I pay to be (for the record, I’m a brunette) and it frequently gets me in a lot of trouble.


6. I love impromptu parties; they always turn out to be a ton of fun.


7. Halloween is my favorite holiday; it’s not as much fun now, but when all the kids in our neighborhood were younger it was one big party.

Here are the blogs that I am nominating:

1. Endless Possibilities is a blog that I enjoy - Kim is immensely talented and if you want to start talking about creative, this girl has got it going on.
2. Smitten Kitchen. I love to cook and love photography -this blog combines both and does a wonderful job of each.
3. The Macs I started following The Macs back in January when their baby girl was diagnosed with cancer. My heart broke, along with all of the other readers, when Cora passed away a mere month later. Her parents have a new baby on the way and their painful journey is something we can all learn from.
4. This DVM's Wife My love of animals got me interested in this entertaining blog with it's beautiful photographs. Their life has taken a dramatic turn recently though, Yooper the DVM, was recently diagnosed with brain cancer - his wife writes touchingly about their struggles, hopes and fears.
5. Pam the Nomad I've had the opportunity to meet Pam and hear a little bit about what she does; she works for Blood:Water Mission an organization that partners with groups and individuals to empower Africans to build healthier communities through sustainable clean blood and clean water solutions. Pam travels to Africa frequently and details her trips on Pam the Nomad; I love to travel vicariously through her blog.
6. Stuff Christians Like. Jon Acuff is hilarious, thought provoking and preacher's kid. Need I say more?
7. God's Blog This is a favorite, it's totally irreverent and laugh-out-loud funny at times. One of the most creative that I've read.

Alvin, is that you?

This adorable fellow had the distinct misfortune of meeting Oscar Saturday morning. I'm glad to tell you that he lived to tell his harrowing tale and is back among his fellow monks.

It wasn't until Sunday night that we found out just exactly how wrong this little rodent's day had gone. Seems that at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning our neighbors found a chipmunk in their laundry room, courtesy of their cat, Lucky. They trapped it under a basket and set it free in the backyard when it got light.

It appears that Oscar, the ultimate predator, discovered the hapless little guy before he had the chance to find a good hiding place, and promptly packed him into our laundry room.

Now, I know that you are probably laughing to yourself right now and thinking that I am a nut case to believe that this could be the same chipmunk, because they are a dime a dozen. But, there really aren't many around our yards - there are so many cats in our neighborhood, that the chipmunk population has almost been decimated.

Boy, I'd love to hear Alvin's side of this story...

Friendship

These three ladies are my "oldest" friends. We don't like the word old, so we'd better not catch you using it. It's just a relative term here, understand?

Our lives are intertwined like the thickest kudzu vines the South has to offer; the only way you can understand our complex familial relationships is to either a) lived in our hometown your whole life, b) graduated from high school with us or, c) spent a lazy afternoon on the beach with us, sharing a bottle of cheap wine and diagramming our family trees and multi-generational friendships in the sand.

We have been friends through sunshine and through shadows, and some of those shadows have been the deepest and darkest one could ever imagine.

Somehow though, we do always seem to find the sunshine, and it always amazes me that it's not the sunshine that makes our friendship strong, it's the dark shadows.

Time to get real...

I know I’ve confessed like, a jillion times that I read a TON of blogs. And many of them just so happen to be “mommy” blogs with lots and lots of pictures of cute babies that truly make me miss the days when my girls were little bitty.

And when I look at all those pictures, there is one thing that really, really puzzles me. And I know that I’m probably going to get in some hot water here, but, I’ve avoided this issue as long as I can. So, here it goes: What in the hell is going on with all those HUGE bows and headbands? Right about the time I think they cannot get any bigger, or any tackier…they do.


I am no fashionista and have committed a fashion faux pas or two through the years, but, bless their hearts, don’t those mamas know those things are ugly?

One blogger mom I read was lamenting the fact that her 8-month old wouldn’t leave her “beautiful” bow in her hair! Help.Me. Oh how I wanted to comment and tell her it was because the other little babies were making fun of her Sweet Cheeks; that she’s embarrassed and humiliated! Those baby girls will NEVER live those pictures down...forget about throwing those snaps up for the wedding collage.

Now, one or two of these blogger lives in Texas and we all know how those gals feel about big hair, apparently it translates to baby headbands too. But, I am here to tell you, those women have never heard the adage LESS is MORE.

Putting fashion aside for a moment, let’s just imagine for a bit how those big old bands of elastic must feel squeezing your brand new bald head – squishing your developing brain - got to think it must throb. Migraine anybody?

Those headbands scare me …come to think of it, THOSE babies look scared!

Ladies, it is TIME to put down the headbands and slowly back away.

*NO BABIES WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF THIS BLOG

Fremont Street Experience

Somehow, this interesting Las Vegas side trip slipped my mind the other day. After a wonderful dinner at Delmonico Steakhouse, our group grabbed a couple of taxis and traveled across town to this less-than-savory section of old Vegas and proceeded to have a very fine time.

According to Wikipedia, "The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The FSE occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as "Glitter Gulch," and portions of some other adjacent streets.

The attraction is a barrel vault canopy, 90 ft (27 m) high at the peak and four blocks, or approximately 1,500 ft (460 m), in length."

Fremont Street offered up a plethora of people to watch - they danced with abandon to the live band, crowds gathered around the amazing saxophone player to buy his CD. Kids of all ages moved in and out of the crowd, some with their parents, many teenagers, toddlers in PJ's. There was even a wedding party or three. Pole-dancers could be seen inside the casinos, dealers at the gaming tables here wore small suggestive bustiers. Homeless people and drug users mingled and were ignored by the police, not like I had observed on the Strip earlier in the day. This place had a unique vibe of it's own.

The Street Experience's claim to fame is the Canopy that stretches four blocks; which is in fact one of the world's largest LED screen and hourly they present a Lights and Sounds show. We arrived in time for the very tail-end of one show and stayed for the next hour's show.

We caught "American Pie" by Don McLean, which looked back at the summer of 1969. Honestly, I'm not sure that I picked up on everything that the creators wanted me to - there was so much coming at me at once.

But, I will tell you what was really cool. I happen to love "American Pie", like most everyone, and am of a certain age that I can actually remember when it was popular, albeit I was a quite small. Anyway, there is a point at the very end of the song when Don McLean repeats the chorus for the last time: "Bye, bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levy...".

And suddenly, it was a bit hushed and quiet under that huge canopy. And that was when I realized that several thousand people were all singing along with Don McLean and I was singing with them.

My Street Experience was more about that moment than any lights or sound.

I like to drive fast.

It's a given. It's well known. I acknowledge it. I own it.

I have...a need for speed. And the tickets to show for it.

Kentucky. Tennessee. Alabama. And the Sunshine State.

And it's pretty much a given that each AND every time that I get behind the wheel of a vehicle that I most likely break the law and disobey the speed limit.

So, this morning on the "Today" show I see where 72-year old Great-Grandma Kathryn Winkfein received a $40,000 settlement because she was tasered during a traffic stop for driving 60 miles per hour in a 45 per hour zone.

Now, I'm sure most everyone reading will have a different position on poor Great-Grandma Kathryn.



But, here's mine.

It does not make me mad (usually) to be stopped for speeding; and I try not to make excuses for my speeding. I refuse to cry or sling snot to get out of a ticket, I will not invent an emergency to circumvent one either.

So, Grandma Kathryn's hissy fit is aggravating to me. Just sign the damn thing. Guess I could takes some notes from her and start resisting arrest and start daring the long arm of the law to taser me!

$40,000 settlements here and there would add up over time...

So. Guess what?

I was absolutely, positively convinced that nary a beaver was left in my Walmarts pond. I thought for sure and for certain that they'd absconded their hairy little selves a shopping cart and had moved on up the highway to the new Super Target.

But, I was wrong. The Walmarts Beaver is still lurking about, mocking me from the banks of the pond, ever elusive.

On my shopping mission today I noticed that the buck toothed creatures have taken down the last tree standing - a pretty little willow.

I pulled over to take this picture with my Blackberry and I scanned the surface of the dark pond; I just know those beavers were out there, just under the surface...watching me with their beady little eyes.

Back in Action

I'm not lost, sick or wounded, but am back from my first trip to Sin City. Talk about sensory overload. Whoa.

I actually love big cities - San Francisco, Boston and Chicago come to mind, I enjoy exploring the markets, museums, restaurants and historic areas. I love to sit back and watch all of the unusual people that inhabit cities; the mix is vastly different than my small rural town. But, this was one big city that does really feel very much like a "city" and one that I didn't particularly enjoy.

Vegas reminded me of a cruise ship, gone wild - and I suppose that's because the cruise industry has borrowed from Vegas' themes through the years...the lights, the sounds, the casinos and the shows. Parts of the hotel even smelled like a cruise ship.

However, I'm glad that I went, glad that I can say that I've been there and done that.

But, I didn't get the T-shirt.