Feel Like Complaining

Last weekend on the first day of fall, your favorite blogging duo, Claire and Kden traveled across the smokey state of Washington to meet up again. We met at a mega fruit stand before heading into Ellensburg for lunch. I was kind of hesitant to travel through the smoke from several fires burning in our state but decided to go for it. It's the worst I've ever seen around here. You just can't get away from it and it felt kind of claustrophobic going through the heavier smoke around Vantage. My eyes and throat were burning but I couldn't turn back then! It may look just like a foggy day but it's all smoke baby! A few raindrops splatted my windshield but not nearly enough to clear it. It was such a nice visit. I felt more comfortable than last year. First of all, I knew who I was looking for and didn't have to guess, ha. We arrived at almost the same time so we grabbed a cup of coffee and went upstairs for awhile to look at the cool antiques. Then we ...

Do remember a few months ago when I wrote about this contest I was entering daily, Greenhorn For A Day, sponsored by Henry Weinhards????????? Well I'll be damned---I WON! I kid you not, this girl is going to Alaska in a few short weeks. I got the call on the 5th and I was shaking when I heard the message. I called back and was told that I would be sent some papers that I had to sign and return within 7 days. I also had to pick somone to go with me. First off, I would have taken my daughter if she had been 21 but I couldn't. Hubby? Didn't even consider him, I want to have fun. Sorry if that sounds mean, but it's true. He doesn't even like to ride on a ferry, what in the heck would he do on a crab boat in the Bering Sea? Plus he isn't crazy about planes and I read that after arriving in Anchorage we will be 3 hours on a prop plane to get to Dutch Harbor. He'd be crying like a little girl by the time we arrived. I'm taking Barb, a friend from school l...

I love making Gazpacho in the summer, just when all the necessary vegi's are ripe. Some call it a salad, some call it a soup. I just call it good. I don't follow the recipes I've seen online, they use bottled Italian dressing or beef stock as the liquid (both gross). I like mine more tomato-ey based, and use V8, the spicy blend. It's easy to make; take a bunch of freshly picked tomatoes and cucumbers and cut small. Then add some onion, I only use about 1/2 of one, otherwise that's all you're going to taste. Pour in about a cup or so of V8 and throw in some fresh basil and oregano and salt/pepper. Let it sit in the fridge all day and it's usually better the next day. Grab some french bread and you've got a great summertime meal. After it's dished up you can add some Tabasco or cayenne to heat it up more if you want. This recipe is even endorsed by 'The Picky One'.

By now you will have figured out that my daughter's long distance boyfriend broke up with her by the little hints I've left. It happened suddenly, three days before her birthday. The odd thing is, he told me first via text very early that morning. The texts came so fast I tried to answer but couldn't keep up. I asked him to move the conversation to FB to make it easier for me. His speech was too rehearsed and I think he had written it earlier and just copied/pasted. I was so shocked and almost went as far as to beg him not to do it. But maybe my heart knew it was the best thing to do. The differences were many; she valued good grades, he valued church and was behind in his online schooling. His mom either didn't know about my daughter or didn't want to, and I adored the boy. The biggest difference was the distance; they were almost doomed from the start. He claimed it was just too hard to keep going and lie to his mom and that my daughter deserved better than hi...

I consider myself a fairly smart person, kinda sorta; but a piece of mail we got recently sure made us feel stupid. We took a different route on the way home from vacation, one we'd never used before. Hubby's relative told us that she thought it might be a toll bridge so we were ready for it. We kept seeing signs for it but I guess it's been such a long time that we've been through any kind of a toll, we were past it before we knew it. Many years ago in town we used to have a toll bridge. One dime, that's all it took. Slow down and throw it in the cage and be on your way. So in my mind, this is what I was looking for. "We have plenty of change, I wonder how much it is?" "Well I sure don't see anything yet, how do you know where to go?" "Why are those cars going into those lanes over there?" "Why are others just going straight, and not turning out?" "Well, I'm going straight." "That was weir...

I think I irritate people; or downright piss them off. I don't really mean to, it just must be my charming personality. At the end of July it was our Grandson's 2nd birthday so we sent a card with a $50.00 check. We had already given them a cute custom made t-shirt from inkpixi when they were in town in June because I was afraid it wouldn't fit him for long. My daughter-in-law is usually pretty good about thank yous but  a month later the check hadn't been cashed and we hadn't heard from her. I was curious if the shirt had fit and if they liked it. So I sent her an email inquiring about the check and the t-shirt. I also talked about our vacation and our daughters recent break-up, trying to keep the email light. As soon as I hit 'send', I told my husband that I had sent the email and he said that when he spoke to his son a few weeks prior, the check and t-shirt were mentioned. Whooopppssss. I vaguely remember him telling me that. That's part of the ...