Cravings

I love Diet Coke.

Can I just get that out there?

I don't love what it does to my body.

I don't love its ingredients.

But the taste?

I could live on the stuff.

But.

I quit drinking it.

I haven't had a Diet Coke (or any soda)

since mid-August.

(And no sugar or artificial sweetener since then either.)

(I do use Stevia - which is derived from a plant.)

(I do not consider it an artificial sweetener.)

(Your mileage may vary.)

Anyhow.

This is not a post about sweeteners.

If you want to talk sweeteners,

go to Facebook.

(grin)

This is a post about cravings.

I have conquered them.

I have a BIG bucket of chocolate candy

on the desk in front of me when I'm teaching.

(Snickers, KitKat, Milky Way.. the GOOD stuff)

I sometimes have to move it across the room

cuz I can't really stand the smell anymore.

I can smell french fries and not turn into a puddle.

(That one took a LONG time.)

I can SEE or SMELL Diet Coke in a McDonald's cup

and feel nothing.



A co-worker's desk this morning.
* Germaphobe much?  LOL

 But this????

Different co-workers' desk.
Thankfully she was relocated to another office today.
I can now walk by her office and not avert my eyes.

I don't care what's actually in it.

I see it.

Oh. My. Stinking. Heck.

Give me a Diet Coke.

NOW!

(It only lasts a moment, but sheesh!)

(Jim says its the ice - Sonic has the best ice.)

(But he's wrong.)

(I always drink everything without ice.)

(He might be right about the ice - I wouldn't know.)

(See above)

Meanwhile.

It is still raining.

It has now been raining for 3 days.

I am over it.

Enjoy your weekend!

(And praise be, the game doesn't start until AFTER class on Sunday!)

(I couldn't care less, but at least I don't have to battle my

students for their attention...)

Brrrr

SNOW IN FLORIDA!!!

That was the headline on lots of newspapers

and weather broadcasts.

Yes,

There was snow in Florida.

Just not in MY part of Florida.

But it was still cold.

And rainy.

Which in my opinion is the worst. 

Naturally, Green decided to have babies.

I haven't disturbed them,

so I don't know how many.

This morning one of the 2 week olds

was sitting on top of the new babies.

"Look what Mom got me! 

TOYS!"

I put a big pile of fresh hay in the west corner

for the 2 weekers to snuggle up in.

And I turned on the heat lamp in the middle

for the newest babies and to warm up the air.

So naturally the 2 weekers were all the way

over on the EAST side huddled looking frozen.

LOL

Silly rabbits.

Guess they aren't as cold as I am.

(LOVE their fur coats though... I want one!)

Don't tell PETA!

Movies

We don't often go to a theater to see a movie.

But last night we did.

All 5 of us.

We went to see Lone Survivor.

If you haven't seen it yet, it is NOT

the "feel good movie of the year".

But that aside, it is AMAZING.

It is based on the true story of Marcus Luttrell.

He is a Navy Seal.

I've listened to him tell his story on the radio for several years.

He wrote a book about his experience.

(which I loved)

And then they made it into a movie.

Marcus says this is as close to the real story

as they could come within the constraints of a movie.

(In one interview he said the movie looks a lot like his nightmares)

Things that happen pretty quickly on the screen

actually took HOURS and even DAYS in reality.

But even squishing it down, it's INTENSE.

The language is rough.

Marcus himself is a Texan gentleman.

He said "I NEVER cuss in front of a lady.

But my Mom wasn't on that mountain."

We all "enjoyed" the movie

and I now have a waiting list of people who either

want to borrow my copy of his book,

or want me to read it to them.

I HIGHLY recommend both the movie and the book.

True patriots in action.

And heros.

Amazing. Bigger than life. Heros.

(BTW - he gets to play a speaking part in the movie...)

Three Generations

I'm REALLY busy at work.

So here's what I have for you today.

Are these not the cutest bunnies?

This is Bob (Dad).

And then we have Jr.

And the 3 Juvies in the back.

Jr. was out wandering around on Saturday morning.

Just BARELY peeking out its little eyes.

Checking out EVERYBODY.

Looking for breakfast.

Are YOU my Mommy?

Mom?
Is that YOU?

(Nope, its Orange.  Also known as DUD.)

Cute, eh?

And now...

Back to work.

Happy Monday everybody!

More Things That Make Me Smile

I'm a pretty happy person.

It is a choice I made years ago.

Regardless of what is going on around me,

I'm going to be happy.

Yah, once in awhile I have a down day.

Who doesn't?

But for the most part,

I choose to be happy.

It's easier.

(Being sad, whiney, grouchy is HARD WORK!)

(ha ha ha ha ha ha)

(Yup, my life motto is based on my lazy quotient.)

Anyhow.

Here are some MORE things that have been making me smile lately.

Years ago, our neighbor, Bill, painted his little house yellow.

Eeeeeeeeuuuuuuuwwww!

I thought (and probably said outloud)

"I would NEVER live in a yellow house!"

And then Rod and I bought that house.

And lived in it.

Yellow.

For nearly 10 years.

Over the Christmas break Rod had 10 days off.

He and Kyle worked really hard.

And the little yellow house is no more.



We now have a BEAUTIFUL little

soft brown house, with white trim.

I LOVE it!

It also has cute doors!

The boys asked if Rod and I posed for the "old people".
Ha ha ha.

And FINALLY a cute wall on our patio.

Nancy made the chili peppers

about 900 years ago.

She made a set for me and a set for Soni.

Somehow I ended up with Sondra's.

NO IDEA...

(I sort of remember bringing them home from her place in San Antonio.

Told ya' - 900 years ago!)

But I LOVE them!

They have been hanging on the posts for

several years,

but when I look up at the house from the barn

it looks like someone is sitting on my patio.

(they look like the back of somebody's head)

and it freaks me out every. single. time!

Rod bought me the neat welcome sign

this year for Christmas.

I love it!

Yesterday I got these alien things from the neighbors.

Ideas???

Who would guess it's cauliflower???

Its this bright green and all spikey looking

but tastes just like classic cauliflower.

I almost hate to cook it.

But I'm going to.

Tonight.

Cuz I LOVE eating steamed cauliflower.

Especially with cheese melted all over it.

The baby bunnies are getting big.

And darling.

(There are 4 of them)

But it's COLD out.

Yes, it's Florida.

But it's still COLD out.

(38 every morning for the past 3 days!!!)

So they are snuggled up in their nest.

(which means no pictures)

We need to build a new nest box TONIGHT.

Green Mama is due to have babies sometime this weekend.

My girls have names, but I can't keep them straight.

When they "kindle" I draw a Sharpie stripe on her head

to try and keep them straight.

Red is (I'm almost postive) the Mom of these 4.

Green is the Mom of the 3 who have been moved to the "grow out" hutch.

Green is due again this weekend.

Orange might be a dud.

Maybe she doesn't like the color orange?

My crockpot is Blue.

Wonder if she'll like THAT color.

(grin)

Have a toasty weekend!

RIP Ozzy

Ozzy

The brother of Fuzzy

Two of the bestest dogs in the world.

And together again in Heaven.

Last week Ozzy might have had a stroke.

Or a small piece of bone broke off in his middle ear

and caused all sorts of mayhem.

Either way,

every time he moved is head

it induced vertigo or "spinners".

His head would crank almost 180 degrees back

and he would do an aligator roll over and over.

We took him to our vet on Friday.

He stayed through Monday.

They were hopeful he would improve.

But he didn't.

He hadn't eaten anything since Wed.

(He was getting nutrients in his iv.)

So on Monday, we decided to put him to sleep.

Technically he was Jim's dog.

But he was Rod's Little Buddy.

And everyone's "woods walking partner"

even sometimes uninvited!

(He was a master at getting out of the yard,

but unlike Bison, he ALWAYS came back)

Awesome Dog.

He will be missed.

Things That Make Me Smile

There are LOTS of things that make me smile.

I’ve been thinking about those things lately.

And doing LOTS of smiling…

My guys happily "banding" the juvie birds.

(They got out into general population on Monday.)

Did we count them as we banded?

Nope.

But I "think" there are 47.

Kyle sitting INSIDE the coop (on a poop-free cinder block)

catching chickens to hand out for banding.

New girls and old girls happily eating together.

Of course there was "some" pecking going on,

but for the most part, they did really well!

Of course, at bed time they didn't know what to do,

so Rod and I carried them 2 by 2 into the

"big girl's coop" and put them on the roost.

(Had to do it again Tuesday night...)



That's a LOT of chickens!

(About 120+)

The Silkies are MUCH happier - but have adopted

the shovel as "their" spot.

MAMA!!!!

Somehow, somewhere, sometime, we managed

to lose a black silkie.

There were 4.

Now there are 3.

They are straight run, so I won't know for awhile

who are boys and who are girls.

(The pennies are all girls...)

We seeded our pastures just before Christmas.

And they are BEAUTIFUL!

Shrek Green!

BABY BUNNIES!

(There's only one there, but another 5 in the other corner)

Rod thinks two Moms kindled on Monday.

We have 6 in the nest box

and 3 in the corner of the hutch.

None of the 3 survived.

It might have been Lucy's first batch.

Or she's a dud and has never had babies.

I'm thinking maybe next month I'll split them all up again

so we can see who is who and what is what.

It's poor business practice to feed breeders who are not breeding.

But for now (knock wood) looks like we MIGHT

have a new batch growing.

And, of course, what's NOT to love about

juvie bunnies!

The one on the left is Grey Ghost.

She (I HOPE it's a she) is going to stay as breeding stock.

Or a pet.

She is ADORABLE.

And sweet.

And docile.

And although you can't tell in this picture,

light grey.

SUPER CUTE!

Doesn't Kyle make a great roof rooster?

(He doesn't love getting his picture taken, so turned just as I snapped.)

Naturally, a big ol' bucket of eggs

(with one pretty blue one)

has to make you smile!

(32 eggs in there...)

Good girls!

CJ broke his feed bucket.

Rod did surgery last night.

All better!

(And speaking of all better - CJ's eye is looking much better....)

He was carrying it open with no weeping yesterday.

Of course, it was overcast, so that might be why,

but whatever.  I'll take it!

A happy farm makes a happy farmer.

(with mad picture taking skills...  LOL)

Oh.

And one other thing.

I can't get a picture of it.

Because it's on the side of the highway.

At night.

In the dark.

But on my way down to teach each weekend,

there's this sign that makes me giggle.

USED

COWS

FOR

SALE.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

Oh how I wish there was also a phone number!

We WANT a used cow!

Have a wonderful day!

SMILE!

It makes everyone and everything beautiful!

Ok, That's Just WEIRD!

Ok, that’s just WEIRD!

I’ve never been good at figuring out the words to songs.

Half the time I have no idea what they are saying.

And the words I plug in make NO SENSE.

But in the big scheme, I’m ok with it.

Like, since 1977.

But several times this week

I have been listening to the radio while working.

(which I do daily – listen to the radio – not work.)

(ok, I work daily too…)

Anyhow.

Several times this week while listening to the radio

the garbled words have been crystal clear.

Enough that my subconscious came forward and said

“Oh THAT is what they are saying!”

And then it is promptly forgotten.

But then it happened again.

And again.

It just happened again for, like, the 4^th or 5^th time

this week.

Not earth shattering.

I can’t even remember the specific songs/words.

But still.

It registered as WEIRD!

And now you know.

(In case there was any question…)

Yup.

I’m nuts.



Books, Books and More Books

Yesterday was a busy day.

I thought, with it being the first “official”

day of the new year,

it would be kind of quiet.

Nope.

Had lots of money to post.

Which makes the day go by faster.

Love that…

And then after work I took a big

box of books over to Staples

to have them spiral bound.

First, I had them cut and bind

my Trim Healthy Mama book.

It’s something like 600 pages.

The first half is all the science (and fascinating)

and the second half is all recipes.

The science is something you want to keep

and re-read now and again as a reference.

But not something you need every day.

The recipes, of course, I refer to ALL the time.

So, I had them divide the book into the two parts.

I think I’m going to love that!

THEN…

(speaking of love…)

I laminated the cover (I bought a personal laminator)

and had them bind the book Rozann printed for me

for Christmas.

She printed some of the “highlights” from my blog!

What a GREAT idea!

I love having an “online journal” but

worried about how to store it off line so I don’t lose it.

This is BRILLIANT!

And then to the “less fun” “all work” portion.

My teacher’s manual changed radically this year.

So I broke it down into sessions,

laminated a cover for each session

and had those bound.

As well as the instructor and student versions

of the in-class workbook.

I was standing at the counter for nearly 2 hours

while the poor Staples guys did it all for me.

And, of course, I left my Kindle at home.

Sheesh.

But it’s all done now and what a relief!

It’s going to be so handy!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sondra called while I was cooking dinner.

Yes, I know, it was HER birthday.

I should have been the one to call HER.

We’re weird like that.

She and Greg were on their way to a Jazz game.

(“So impressed Utah LOVES Jazz!”)

(ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)

I was making dinner.

Egg Roll In A Bowl.

Delicious.

Easy.

Delicious.

On Plan!

Made enough for us to take it for lunch today.

YUM!



Happy Birthday Sondra!

Today is my big sister’s birthday.

I say Big Sister,

because I don’t want to say

OLD sister.

But she isn’t BIG either.

She is daughter #1.

She was the daughter Mom and Dad

cut their teeth on.

She was the first daughter to

go to school

Go on a date.

Get a driver’s license.

Get married.

Have a baby.

We are all grateful to her

for paving the way.

She has always been my shining light.

I’ve always looked up to her.

She introduced me to

Tolkein

I still read the trilogy every year.

And think of her every time.

She was reading The Two Towers.

The part with Golum.

We were laying on her bed, downstairs

And she forced me to come listen to her read out loud to me.

Then she got tired and asked me to read to her.

I read for awhile and then realized she was

SOUND ASLEEP!

But it was too late.

I was hooked.

SNEAKY!

(And I thank her!)

She has WAY better taste than I do.

I hope to someday have half her sense of style.

But I doubt it will ever happen.

She was also the first to have grandchildren.

She is an awesome Grandma!

She is an awesome Sister!

She is an awesome Friend!

And I love her.

Happy Birthday Soni!!!