I'm going to think of this as 'Good'

So the other day as I was walking through the school parking lot on my way to the football game, I noticed a woman standing by the opened trunk of her car getting her camera equipment together. HER camera was sporting a honkin' big lens, and since size does seem to matter just as much with camera lenses as among other objects, I paused to pay her an admiring compliment. She was struggling to unscrew a piece off of a tripod without success. She looked at me and said "You look strong; can you get this off?"

Thoughts raced through my head in a millisecond: "Does she equate "Big" with "Strong"? What exactly makes me look strong? Hey, I think that's a good thing." Okay, I would have rather heard, "Hey, you look about 35 and well-conditioned ~ can you get this off for me?"

Alas, I was not able to get the two parts unscrewed.

Today's AttaGirl: I did not sample one stinkin' donut :)

Yoga Kitty Calendar.

I would have bought this calendar if it wasn't such a dinky size. 

I need b i g boxes in my days.

Gonuts 4 Donuts

It's Official; our restaurant is now open for breakfast. Feast yer eyes on what I'm around every day now...

Stacks of Buttermilk Pancakes

Fresh Donuts from our Donut Robot II

Assorted flavored butters

I will have to pack my gym clothes and hit the gym on the way home to work off the donuts I ate today and will surely eat in the days to follow. Not an EggBeater in sight! Oh well, this is the last push to make money for our dotage. If I must suffer through a donut or four, I will gladly eat 'em for the team. Har! and Heh!

We only had a sprinkling of customers for the first day, as we didn't advertise it heavy. I was so afraid we were going to get jammed and all sorts of problems would surface immediately. By having a "soft opening", we can iron out stuff when it happens at a less frenzied speed. When we are confident we have this breakfast thingie down, we will start a bit of advertising.

Breakfast really has become The Most Important Meal of the Day for us now:)

Busy & lovin' it...

Golf. A good walk spoiled.

For the first time in many weeks I have been busy doing productive and tangible things. It was darn enjoyable.

Today I revised & sent menus out to be printed, designed a banner & sent it to be printed, directed a wooden sign to be made, met at son's school regarding volunteering, yelled myself hoarse at a football game, cropped, retouched and emailed out yesterday's golf shots and posted to this blog, for cryin' out loud (albeit a short post).

So much more satisfying than housework, although that sometimes holds its own satisfaction.

And now I am going to bed and pick up where I left off reading "Anne of Green Gables". I've read it before and it is just a happy, fun book ~ perfect for pleasant dreams.

And Miz, Munchberry, the name you were looking for is...
N u t e l l a . Shhhh, don't say it our loud.
(see reply to your last comment)

Free Fall

Yesterday I stopped in our restaurant to go over our new breakfast menu with the chef and my husband. I found them gathered around three different breakfast creations; one of them being a plump, fresh-baked croissant with homemade raspberry jam sandwiched 'tween its warm flaky goodness. "TRY this!", my husband gushed, and rolled his eyes up into his head ~ he's neither a gusher or an eye-roller.

What could I say? It was delicious. It also started a downward spiral of continual eating for the rest of the day. As I opened my mouth to take that first bite of the croissant, the hour+ I had just spent at the gym flashed before my eyes. So annoyed at myself.

Fall down seven, get up eight.

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And here's how I fill my hours; making flash cards for my teen's latin & english classes. I also attempted to make flash cards of The Elements in the Periodic Table. I drove myself nuts trying to figure out how to print double-sided documents with the correct Element Symbols matching up with the correct names. It can't be done by the likes of me. My brain just can't connect the dots when I try to figure out logic puzzles.

Son has a golf match today so I'll be traipsing over the course (well-doused with bug spray), hiding behind bushes and trees to get that perfect camera angle. I get a kick out of knowing that the boys are holding The Pose when they know they are being photographed. Even the adult coaches were very aware of the camera and held their poses too. Hee!

I got out the crock pot for one of the first chilly days and made a beef stew ~ good! Love that appliance.

Off to the gym to try and find my mojo ~ a good day to you all :)

Water Glasses & Big Asses

Tonight, my husband is going to his 35 year high school reunion. Holy Smokes are we old!

Reunions are so not us, but we have a friend who relishes them and comes from the other end of the country for every major roll-over of the class odometer. My husband puts on his one suit, which he has had for 20 years, and off they go.

Can we have a moment of respectful awe here? I have a suit from twenty years ago and I could maybe get into the skirt ~ if I wanted to wear it as a turban.

I am not going & am spared the ordeal of standing around with the other spouses. Instead, today I am doing a Major Clean on the house. Our friend is spending the night tonight & all the animals are shedding. I cannot send the man home with furred socks. Friend said "please don't go to any trouble" so I am whooping it up. I just watched a video on How to Make a Cruise Ship Animal, am buying a Godiva chocolate to put on his pillow, and I finally get to use this:

I found this at an antique store and have been storing it for years ~ just for this occasion:) It's a small water container with a glass upended over the mouth to put bedside ~ cool, eh? Recently, I have seen the much more practical disposable fancy bottled water w/glass but I've just gotta use this at least once, damn it! Then I'll put it away for my son puzzle over what the heck it is when he's cleaning out all my junk in years to come.

My Mind is in the Gutter

Well, on the house rain gutters anyway*. We've had over ten inches of rain in September whereas the norm is closer to three. Our son's "cave" in the cellar got wet, and anyone whose basement has flooded knows what a pain and expense that can be.

So, after I put away the box fans & Lysol cans, I called a gutter man.

He works for a building company we have dealt with before and I know it won't turn into one of these fiascos. The company is headquartered right on the flower-planted edge of Amish country, and most who work there are either Mennonite or Go-to-church-on-Sunday-AND-Wednesday Night kinda folks. They've put on roofs for us, consulted with us on design work, and have proved themselves not to be dolts. Rare as hen's teeth, in my experience.

The estimator who came to my door looked to be about my son's age; it was all I could do not to reach out and grab a lovely pinch of that fair rosy cheek and give it a tweak. His last name is "Stoltfus", which in USA terms is equivalent to "Doe". (I've never ever met a Doe though, have you?) Driving around the back roads, we see a whole lot of Stoltfus's on mailboxes. How does the postman know which Stoltfus is which?

Soon, I'll be able to take my mind OUT of the gutter and back onto more meaningful things, like; will I ever fit into my ancient pre-pregnancy jeans or should I just throw them out now & be done with it?

• I have been making it to the gym regularly, which cancels out that glass or two of healthy red wine (wink, wink;) I've started having occasionally.
• I got a flu shot for the first time ever.
• I am still a non-smoker after a month.
• I take my vitamins every morning.
• My fingernails are finally all one length.
Okay, that last point has nothing to do with getting healthy.

Here's our dog, Shadow, doing his Hell Hound impression:

He's just winding down from a "Speak!" command.

* Actually, my mind is often that gutter too. My husband likes that about me. It's why the Hag is (mostly) Happy:)

I copied this post from my old blog because I can.
Gnat-turally Thin


I figured out a new way to battle flab ~ gnats!


Yes, gnats, my friend, can finally make your arms toned and beauticious.


Our son is on the varsity golf team (co-captain, may I brag?) and I volunteered to take photos of the team's matches.


As I trailed the team up and down the hills & vales, I realized I probably could have skipped the hour on the tready this morning. I also realized that the shirt I was wearing was the exact color of our opponents teams shirts, plus, it was extremely muggy & hot. 


A part of my brain also registered the fact that I was the only female for miles around. Men; old, young and and every age in between, abounded. Okay, it's creepy to say that when one of them is your son, but there it is. Fins to the left, fins to the right ~ single ladies, this is a hint ~ take yourself to a golf course.


A sheen of sweat started popping out on my forehead as I clicked away at the boys. Then the gnats discovered me. 


Gnats, great clouds of 'em, were intent on landing anywhere they could on my head. No head orifice was safe. One gnat managed to get through my windmilling arms to land in my eye, which immediately began to sting & water profusely, trashing any make-up that had survived the sweat. Five gnats flew into my left ear and only three came out of my right ear. Gnats set up a carnival in my hair, gnats explored any exposed skin they could find, despite my flailing arms and flapping hands. HOW did the boys stand it? Duh. Bug spray. I must not forget bug spray for the next golf match.


My arms got one heck of a workout though :)

Thar's me boy! 

Far enough away to preserve any humiliation of being pictured on Mom's blog.