Fun Stuff

I Want A One Of These

kindle, amazon kindle, buy me one! — Purty Please

My family who loves me knows that I don’t DO Valentine’s Day, nor do I often ask for gifts. And when these first came out, I didn’t think I would like them. But, since I got my Droid X in November, I have been thinking more and more that THIS would be a good thing for me to have.

Because I live in an RV, and love to read, and books are so heavy, and heavy is not good for RV, AND because I when I am working there is a lot of slow time, and this would fit so great in a backpack, I thing it is more that I NEED one of these. It is not a WANT but a NECESSITY! So, because it is something I NEED, I will just this once accept a gift for Valentine’s Day if anyone would like to send me one. Purty Please. With a cherry on top? Oh, and you don’t necessarily have to be family to get me one of these. hahahahaha!

And NO, this is not an AD. It is a Plea. No, not a plea–I am BEGGING. Oh, and don’t forget there is Mother’s Day, and my birthday, and Tuesday, all very good reasons to get me something.

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Happy New Year, Armadillo

Karen · 17 Comments

armadillo, wildlife, wild animals, payne lake — What the heck is that thing?

You can believe it or not, but this is the first time I have ever seen an armadillo. Well, except for the squashed ones on the side of the road. But this thing was was in my yard yesterday, just poking around.

It was amazingly not afraid of me much, so I could get pretty close to it. But, thank goodness for the zoom on my camera, because I really didn’t want to get too close.

Happy New Year, Armadillo!

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I Got Some New Software

Karen · 4 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, Amazon had PaintShop Photo Pro X3 on sale for the ridiculously low price of $25 and free shipping. I have wanted this for a long time, so I went for it. I finally got around to loading it on my computer today and play around with it. I am loving it, so far. I took this photo:

Fleabane, grand canyon, wildflowers — Fleabane at the entrance station at the North Rim

and turned it into my header up there at the top of my blog. It was relatively easy to do, and I think I like it better than the old one of just green leaves. Plus, that other photo was a free clip art image, and this one is one I took myself. I feel so proud!

p.s. I think those flowers are fleabane–they were growing at the entrance station at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where I worked this summer. They are only about 4 or 5 inches tall at most, so I had to get down on the ground and use the macro setting on my camera to get this shot. I have an Olympus 600 SP-UZ600. So, what do you think of the new decor?

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That’s My Boy!

Karen · 4 Comments

2004 06 imperial beach ca seth 01 — Seth in 2004

I don’t write about my son very often, but that does not mean that I don’t love him just as much as I love my girls. It’s just that he doesn’t talk much, and writes less frequently than he calls. He is married to Sarah, and he is the father of Michael, Sarah, Owen and Miss Amelia. He gave Ameila my middle name when she arrived on my birthday, and that made me cry. Happy cry, of course.

2003 08 05 seth in military uniform — Seth in uniform

He has been in the Air Force for going on 17 years now, another thing that makes me really proud of him. He has been stationed in Texas, Guam, England, and now at Andrews AFB. We don’t get to see each other very much at all–the last time I saw him was in March.

Because our family is so spread out, I asked each of my children to make a wish list on Amazon. Seth’s wish list has cracked me up, but it has also given me much pleasure, because I can see from what he has on there that he remembers things I did for him when he was a little guy.

For instance, on his very first Christmas, I gave him a Curious George monkey and one of those stuffed gorillas with a plastic banana in its hand. And look at this stuff from his wish list:

That’s Not My Monkey (Usborne Touchy-Feely Books)

Super Stretch Screaming Flingshot Flying Monkey

Tub Tattoos: Monkeys

When he was a few years older, we lived in a house that was under the landing pattern for a small local airport. The planes flew so low over our house that you could read the letters on their tires. One day my son asked me where they were going, so we got in the car and drove over to a hill across the road from the airport and watched them land. That became a weekly activity. My son has been in love with airplanes ever since. The evidence is right here:

E-Sky 4CH USB Flight Simulator Training Kit For RC Airplanes and R/C Helicopters

Revell B17G Flying Fortress 1:48 Scale

Revell Corsair F4U-4 1:48 Scale

When he was 13, he loved to watch The Frugal Gourmet on TV. And whenever I bought a new cookbook, I would often find him in the kitchen trying out new recipes. Evidently he still loves to cook:

Farberware Classic Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set

Tovolo Red Melamine Colander

Trudeau Melamine Mixing Bowls, Set of 3

He has always had a warped sense of humor: who else would put these things on their wish list?

Liquid Ass 1 Ounce Bottle Spray Mist

Pull My Finger Fart Finger Pen

Fart Whistle

But the one thing on his wish list that makes my heart go pitter patter? This:

Love Your Mother. Bumper Sticker

p.s. yes, there are affiliate links to Amazon. But I still love this wish list.

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Another Road Trip

Karen · 7 Comments

It seems like we just got here to Alabama, but it was time to jump in the truck and leave again. This time, we went to Georgia to visit some of our family. We drove about 100 miles through the Alabama countryside before we got to I-20:

PB190035 — Across the road from our campsite at Payne Lake

PB200038 — along Hwy 25 in central Alabama

PB200036 — Between Calera and Pell City, Alabama

We saw this chemical lime plant in Calera, Alabama–everything in the area was covered with a thick layer of white dust. I wouldn’t want to live nearby to that:

We made it up to I-20 for the next 100 miles. The fall colors were still hanging on to the trees up there:

PB200045 — Somewhere in Alabama on I-20 headed east

We crossed the Georgia state line:

Then into the Eastern Time Zone:

and finally to our hometown:

I grew up in Douglasville–my family moved there when I was 13. I lived there until we sold our house in August of 2000. The town is nothing like it was back when I was a kid–there are so many people, so many cars, new businesses and a mall. You can’t get out of people’s way in the stores or on the road. If we didn’t have friends and family there we wouldn’t go there at all.

The first night in town, we met up with my daughter Emily, son-in-law Thomas, and grandson, Spencer at Longhorn Steakhouse. Mmmm, we used to go there about once a month. After dinner we went to the mall to walk around and look at stuff. I bought a couple of sweatshirts that I wound up taking back the next day. Emily got some bar stools for her new house that she also wound up taking back.

On Sunday, we went over to Emily’s new house:

PB210073 — A real tire swing for Spencer

PB210072 — Spencer with one of the kittens

They bought this house a few months ago–it has three bedrooms, 2 baths, a huge kitchen and dining room, front porch across the entire front of it, on six acres, with a barn, for $110,000. They got a great deal on it. Spencer loves the big yard and tire swing.

From Emily’s house, we met our daughter, Becky, at her beauty shop and got our hair cut. Then, FabGrandpa and Becky went to a movie, and Emily and I went to my mother’s house. Then, we all met up at Red Lobster for dinner–there was me and FabGrandpa, Emily, Thomas, Spencer, Becky, and our nephew Daniel and his family–Alicia, Brodie, and baby Katherin. We were so glad to see Daniel–we haven’t seen him since before Brodie was born and he is 3 now. Spencer and Brodie got along so well, and the baby was passed around and loved on by all of us!

PB210082 — FabGrandpa lovin up on Katherin

Seems like all we did was eat eat eat, but that is not really true. We drove, ate, visited, slept, and did it all over again for four days. On Monday, we drove up to Cleveland, Georgia to visit FabGrandpa’s Mom and Dad. They live a hundred miles from Douglasville. We had a very nice visit with them–didn’t get any photos there though. We spent the night at the Days Inn in town, then went back for a second short visit before heading back to Douglasville for one last night there.

And it always surprises me that even though I lived there for so many years, went to high school there, and was the service unit director for the Girl Scouts there, I NEVER run into anyone I know anymore. Except–FabGrandpa and I went to dinner on the last night there at our favorite barbecue restaurant. It was very crowded, so we squeezed into a booth. When I sat down, the man sitting at the next table reached over and put his hand on my thigh. I was mortified and couldn’t speak for a moment!! It turned out that he was one of our friends we used to hang out with when we lived in Douglasville, and haven’t seen in 10 years.

Wednesday morning, we finally loaded up all our stuff and headed west, back to Payne Lake in Alabama. It was a whirlwind trip, four days and nights of rush rush rush–I am glad it is over and we are back home to sleep in our own beds. And the only traffic we see is this, right outside our door:

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FabGrandma Visits Chicago Now!

Karen · Leave a Comment

Patricia Biesen, who writes over at Chicago Now! invited me to give her some advice for her fortieth birthday. Go take a look at what I had to say On Growing Older…

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Free To Eat Pie

Karen · 4 Comments

There are two camp host spots here at Payne Lake–you know FabGrandpa and I are occupying one of them. Rob and Belinda are on the other one.

To honor the veterans in our lives, Belinda and I decided to have pie and coffee with them. FabGrandpa and Rob are both veterans of the Navy, having served their time during the Viet Nam conflict. They don’t talk about it much, but we wanted to let them know how proud of them we are.

Belinda and Rob picked the apples when they were in Virginia visiting relatives. I bought the gluten free pie crust mix in Arizona. They are from Wyoming, we are from Georgia. And we sat under the trees in the campground at Payne Lake in Alabama, eating our pie and drinking coffee after lunch. We each ate two pieces, just because we could. We are free to eat pie when ever and where ever we want because of people like our husbands who fought for our freedom.

What were you free to do today?

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OH, Check It Out!

Karen · 1 Comment

I am the featured blogger on Modern Nana this week! How cool is that?

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