“Needless to say, we don’t do snow well here in Texas.”

“Here’s a pic of me taken a few weeks ago (like 2 weeks ago). I turn the big 5-0 on Saturday! Hugs to you.” (Lesli loves making my microwave popcorn – every day!)

One luxury I enjoy is really soft sheets. They’re not always the most expensive, in fact the highest thread count is not always the softest sheet. I used to get Wamsutta Elite Sateen but they don’t make them any more. These were like sleeping on a cloud of fluffy whipped cream. Luckily, I had bought three sets before they stopped making them and figured they would  last for years. Imagine my horror when a few weeks ago, we discovered a tear in the bottom sheet.  This was not a tiny tear – it was two feet long!  This can’t be – it’s my Elite Sateen! But the sheets were old so I accepted that it was wear & tear and sewed it back together. The next time, the same sheet came up ripped again, this time in shreds. I decided that you can’t sew a sheet back together and threw it away. (actually, I cut it up into cleaning rags).

So, on to the next set of Wamsutta’s.  After two nights on the bed, this bottom sheet was torn too – multiple times. Two sheets in shreds?!  An investigation was in order. First of all, both the tears happened on HIS side of the bed so without placing blame, I asked Denis how he thinks this could have happened.  He reminded me the sheets were old and his skin is rougher and these things happen. Then I slowly glanced down at his bare feet. The nail on his big toe was so long, if he sat on the roof and stuck out his foot, that toe could shade the entire patio on a sunny day!

“You could slice a ham with that toe nail,” I said. “That’s what happened to the sheets!”  He refused to believe his toe nail was responsible, but I know different. If the last Wamsutta Elite gets destroyed, I’m buying him an industrial nail file, or maybe an electric sander.

Me, my husband (of 30 years) Mellie and grandson Ryan on Ryan’s 6^th birthday

My granddaughter, Olivia, 18 months old (she has 4 older brothers!!!)

This was my lil Yorkie— Zie    RIP 12/2009

My 1979 MG Convertible that I restored myself…. 42,000 original miles

It’s been a long week and I needed something relaxing to do so I decided to make pie.  What was I thinking? I could have chosen something easier like creating an algorhythm for computational approximations of seismic reflection and velocity analysis but noooooo…I chose to make a lemon meringue pie. So last night after dinner, I started by assembling all the equipment needed:

-Pie pan – check!

-Food processor for the crust – check!

-Zester for the lemons – check!

-Juicer for the lemons – check!

-Sauce pan for the filling – check!

-Kitchenaid for the meringue – check!

-Whisk attachment for the meringue – check!

-Rolling pin, pie weights, bowls, measuring cups & spoons – check!

First, I had to make the crust and let it cool completely. It took over two hours to cool. Then I cooked the filling, topped it with meringue, and baked the whole thing again. By now, three hours had gone by. I removed it from the oven and of course, it had to cool completely before eating. I kept busy by washing the massive amount of dishes left behind, waiting for the pie to cool. I was dying for a slice but it was still hot. I took a bath… still hot. Did my nails… still hot. I tested some batteries, organized spices, sharpened some pencils… still hot. Finally I was exhausted and went to bed, feeling cheated, with no midnight snack. Denis was still up at 2 am and put it in the fridge. I only agreed to let him put it away if he promised not to eat any. (my kitchen, my rules) So today, we finally got to taste my lemon meringue pie. It was super good – the tart lemon filling balanced with the cool meringue – awesome!

*Note to lemon meringue pie-makers:

–Don’t make it at night.

–Don’t cut it until it’s completely cooled or you’ll be calling it a lemon meringue molten cake.

–Do it.  There’s nothing like homemade pie… except good sex. No, I think the pie is better. Okay, pie, then sex.

“You’ll hate the way you look, I guarantee it.” That’s the way I should have started this makeover show. These were young club kids who got to express themselves in their own creative & fun ways, and to be honest, I thought some of them did look better “before.” See what you think. http://www.jennyjones.com/bt_video_highlights.shtml

And oh, hey… Denis and I went to Vegas after all and the roads were clear. We only went to take care of my stepmom’s affairs and only stayed overnight. It was a long, hard day and we were mentally exhausted.  Just before we headed back, I said, “Com’on, let’s play a dollar in the slots! We can’t come to Vegas and not play anything!” So before we checked out, we stopped at a poker machine and got out our dollar. There were about six different games to choose (I think) and we were so brain-dead, we both just stared at the screen and couldn’t figure out how to play any of them. Defeated, we sauntered away with our dollar.

What happened to real slot machines, anyway? I want to pull the arm. I want to put in real money. Clang, clang, clang! Alas, like many other things from the past, they’ve  been improved and replaced. They’ll wind up in a museum one day along with pay phones, typewriters, and a picture of me on Star Search.

“It’s a dog’s life.”

“Kya’s ready for football.”

“Teka Love”

“Mikey”

“Sue at Universal Studios”

This isn’t suposed to happen here! We pay good money to live in southern California and there is NO SNOW ALLOWED! If this happens again, I just won’t pay my taxes! First it rained for about two weeks and now this. I don’t have snow boots. I don’t think they sell snow boots here. Denis and I were planning to drive to Las Vegas tomorrow and highway 15 is closed. No one here knows how to drive in the snow and cars were sliding every which way, so they closed the road. I guess Vegas will have to wait.

On second thought, I think I will pay my taxes. Our jails are overcrowded and Wesley Snipes already has the corner room.

“My baby Snickers is almost 12 years old.”

Cheryl says, “He is just sooooo cute and awesome!!

“Here I am as Sesame Street Katy Perry with one of the Chilean miners.”