Sunflowers and Books

First off…I must say a BIG Thank you to my blogging friends who popped by to say, “Happy Birthday”, the other day. At this age, we normally let it slip by unrecognized, but it was a nice day starting with the SBBC gift from Natasha, a visit from my Sister and your birthday greetings.  Thank you for adding to the day. 
Meanwhile, hold on to your hats, ladies. I did some stitching. 
   
This is Dessins DHC (France) Sunflower’s Heart. It has an Art Deco feel to it, don’t you think? I picked such a happy color of Silk’nColors “Sunflower Yellow” and a charcoaly/blusey fabric to stitch this. I needed a small project to breathe life back into my love of the craft. Hopefully this will be the elixir.
I’ve been reading lately too. It’s a Summer thing for me. I always have at least one Summer read and this Summer is no different. My *TBR pile by the bed has grown exponentially (Thanks to my sister’s Costco card) and to give you a little insight of how vast my reading interest is, this is what’s in the current pile:
Current Read- At The Center of The Storm-George Tenet (former CIA Director’s account of life in Washington)
Loving Frank-just finished…another account of Frank Lloyd Wright whom I’m a big fan of his architecture…but it’s a safe bet he probably wasn’t up for any Ethics awards during his life.
Ahab’s Wife-It’s a New Bedford Thing
Widow of the South-I still have difficulty grappling with how torn our country was and the bloodshed that went on amongst these “Sons of Liberty”.
Fannie Flag’s Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven (this is one of those laugh out loud books-even at 1AM)
The Bureau and the Mole-Spy Robert Hanssen-ruthless!
John Adams- David McCullough’s spin on Adam’s life in the pursuit of Liberty through letters to his wife Abigail-it’s been in my pile forever but I keep going back to it.
Water for Elephants-Sara Gruen-I need at least one Chick Lit to balance this out.
Bombproofing Your Horse…seriously…it’s a Horse thing.
…and a rather large pile of more. Like Cross Stitching, reading has been the other constant of hobbies that can take up a rather sizable portion of my life. And like Cross Stitching, I go in fits and starts but there always seems to be some sort of comfort of getting lost in a book or a cross stitch project that grabs a hold of you. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in an airport or airplane without one or the other.

*TBR-To Be Read-it’s a bookworm thing

Yippy-Skippy!

I’m really late for work but Hey! It’s my birthday(39…again!) and I checked the mail box as I was pulling out of my driveway and look what was waiting for me:

A birthday box from Natasha who [how fortunate and lucky am I?] had my name in the SBBC. How cute is all this?! Thank you sooo much for making my day so special Natasha. In spite of packing to move and elbow issues…she managed to find time and energy to put this together. You guys have to see the cute little tin she stitched up for me…the purple one…wonky picture, I know…blah…blah…blah…you know my camera issues. I’ll get better snaps later. Oh my, I’m so late…like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland…so I’ll get back to you later and show(and tell) all the cute little details. 
Thanks Natasha! You made my day!!!!

Oh My!!! Where did this come from????

Sooo….I’ve been on a Health Food kick lately. I’m not an over the top foodie. Actually, if I were to log everything I put in my mouth in a week’s time, it may not be the healthiest but it’s not exactly material for Fast Food Nation either. I don’t really like processed food or sweets very much. I’m Fast Food challenged, but in my true conflicted mind, a Sonic is opening on the way home from the Barn and I’m looking forward to the rare impulse of stopping off for a shake. For the most part though, put me through a drive-through at McDonald’s and I can’t figure out 3/4’s of what they are asking me. The last time I went through a Popeye’s line for their “naked” chicken strips, I was told to pull around and park and the Manager came out. Seriously. It didn’t get ugly or anything like that…I just couldn’t figure out what she was saying. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t born in some country South or extremely East of here and well…I just wanted the chicken. I guess the voice emanating from the box was asking what sauce I wanted, but to me it sounded like…
Drive-through Talking Menu Voice: “Cada..dah…dah…dah”?
Me: “I’m sorry” ?
Voice: “Cuu-da…Duh-da..dada dahhh”?
Me: “Um. Yes”?
Apparently, not a yes or no question.
Two rounds of this and then a new man voice speaking pretty clear American: “Mam…drive around and park your car please”.
Sigh.
 I mean, don’t get me wrong, I fully support equal opportunity, but where’s mine when all I want is the naked chicken and now I have to drive around and wait while everyone else behind me is now driving down the road eating theirs?? See…the problem is that it’s second nature to go though the hoops for someone who eats at these places all the time. For people like me who venture into the Fast Food Fun House, the food itself and the challenge of ordering is always a grim reminder why I eat there about once a year.
I digress. What got me going on this healthy eating thing is that I’m losing the mid-life, post surgical menopause, fleshy weight battle. It sucks. [Okay, the surgery thing- I really need to find a new argument judging that not only did I bounce back immediately following it and shaved off 15 pounds and was walking 5 miles every other day, but it was 4 years ago. Four]
Tick…tick…tick…goes up the numbers on the scale. I’m on the high end of my normal weight, which is not so normal for how I look. It makes me look older and this fleshy thing going on…legs and arms and belly…Ugh! I woke up one morning and apparently some God of Fat somewhere decided it was time for me to pay my due after all those years of aerobics, 100-mile bike rides and running 10ks…like 10 years ago. I have this fleshy thing going on the top of my legs and to be quite frank (not that you asked), it’s not pretty.

So I’ve started a new page on my blog because, Da-gum it…I’ve won this battle before…I’m going to win it again. [So much for a blogging break]
Wow! Is organic food expensive!
So the work-out clothes are on…sneakers are on and I’m out the door. Stay tuned.

Ciphers and KFC

Hey there! Happy 4th of July!
Rain is in our forecast this weekend, hopefully we’ll see some fireworks between showers. I’m stopping by here while I take some time away from my mildly obsessive-compulsive fixation on a mid-term I’ve been working on. Can you believe it? OCD on a mid-term. I should only be so lucky to have the same issue with exercising. I managed to totally whittle away three, no more like 4 hours last night on a test of ciphers and network security (what fun!). At 10pm, I realized that A) I had not eaten dinner and B) I looked like my eyes were two big round spinning saucers and at 5 this morning I woke up thinking about the “key” in an extra credit that has me over a barrel. I started working on this Mid-term yesterday at 2. So pathetic is my life when I take two courses. So to fend off the insanity, I’m off to the barn. But not without leaving some humor to share.
Please Dear Lord Baby Jesus(this clip from Talladega Nights cracks me up everytime)…pass the KFC and let me pass this test!
Happy Birthday to US!!

photo courtesy of Cafepress.com

Still on Vacation

This is the view I have had for 3 days…the back of Johnny’s head. The brown one-you’d never know he’s registered as a black horse. Yes…the rider in front of me was a little “off center” (to my horse buddies) and we covered many miles of trails, water, and more trails…totally blew off everything to make this weekend work. We SO needed it.
**poof** (That’s me going back under the radar or trying to…I miss you guys already!)