Forgot One (or two)

I forgot to mention a couple of smiles...

First, the girls.

They are laying all sorts of eggs these days.

One poor darling is laying a MONSTER egg.

(We put it on the kitchen scale - 3.6 ounces!)

And then Bunny laid an "oops" egg.

There's nothing inside but white.

Of course, we get the regular girls eggs

(2.3 ounces)

And then a "starter" egg

(2.0 ounces)

And Bunny's Oops.

(I forgot to weigh it)

Quite the range!

And yesterday, as I was driving to work, I

was running late, missed my turn,

and wasn't really happy.

And then I looked left.

Love me a pretty sunrise!

Put that smile right back on my face.

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

This morning it was FOGGY!

Like pea soup foggy.

Like the sort of morning I put off leaving the house.

But now that my job doesn't do flex hours anymore

that wasn't an option.

Back when the earth was still cooling

(Rozann was still in high school)

I was living on a farm outside of town with my

best friend (and now famous horse show judge) Trisch.

Rozann came out to spend the night.

We were running late getting her into town for school.

And it was FOGGY.

I tried to pass a slow poke.

In the fog.

And it didn't go well.

We are lucky we didn't get dead.

And ever since, I've been a huge pansy

when fog is involved.

This morning I saw the fog.

Realized I could only see about 10 feet in front of my truck.

And I have to make a left turn at the end of my road.

Yesterday morning at about the same time,

I literally sat there for 2 whole minutes

waiting for a break in the traffic.

You can see left about half a mile and then there's a turn.

You can see right about half a mile and then there's a turn.

This morning I said a quick prayer for safety

and headed to the intersection.

There was literally NO traffic as far as the eye could see

in either direction.

No sooner had I made the turn,

the road was again full of morning folks

heading off to work and school.

Little blessings like that are what make life worth living.

And they make me SMILE.

Smile Some More!

I spend a lot of time smiling.

It's good!

(And gives me an excuse to have wrinkles...)

Smile One:

I woke up Sunday morning in my hotel room.

I always turn on the news first thing.

It gives me some background noise.

And the weather.

The weatherman said to wear a sweater - it's chilly out.

It was 68.

At 6:30 in the morning.

But the day before it was 72.

So, yah, it was "chilly".

All things considered.

Smile Two:

Traveling to and from my school in south Florida

makes me have to drive 122 miles on the highway.

A good portion of which is under construction.

It's AWFUL.

The lanes are all over the place.

There are Jersey Barriers (they scare me).

There are signs that say "Narrow Bridge"

and I drive a big, wide truck.

That scares me too.

And to add to the fun, there's a lip

as you enter and exit the narrow bridge.

You almost get air!

(Which scares me...)

So the smile?

My darling husband drove that highway almost nightly

but in a big, fat, wide, truck full of fuel.

And he never had a problem.

He didn't fall off the road.

Or run into a barrier.

Or fly off into space.

And that makes me SMILE.

He was so blessed while he drove trucks

here and yon for 3 years.

And for that I am so grateful.

And I SMILE.

Smile Three:

After teaching 8+ hours of insurance law (snore)

and then proctoring an exam

and then grading those exams

and then driving another 122 miles on

fabulous highways (see above)

I smile when I see the sign that announces

my exit is only 1 mile ahead.

And of course, Smile Four:

The little girls are starting to come on line

and are beginning to lay eggs!

YEA!

Smile everybody!

It gives you GOOD wrinkles!

On The Road Again

Rod's little Honda got broken.

(I lost my Master Mechanic's designation...)

(When they start talking engine stuff my eyes glaze over.)

Anyhow.

Rod's little Honda got broken.

So Rod and I have been truck-pooling to work for awhile.

It's kinda fun!

He works close to my work.

He works 9 - 5.

I work 7:30 to 4.

But my supervisor graciously let me change to 8:30 - 5.

So he drops me off at my office and then goes on

to the airport.

And then he picks me up when he gets done.

Since it's a Honda, the parts had to be ordered.

And then they had to basically take the entire car apart.

And then fix the thing that was broken.

And then put the entire car together again.

(The same general part broke on Kyle's Ford truck.)

(It took like 15 minutes to fix.)

So Rod and Kyle have been working on this.

Last weekend they worked on it and worked on it.

But it wasn't fixed.

(And the parts weren't all here yet.)

This weekend the parts were finally here.

They spent the entire day on Monday working on this.

And then Rod was sick on Tuesday and they

worked on it some more.

BUT.

IT IS FIXED!!!

YEA!

It's wonderful to live in a house full of mechanically inclined people.

It took them a TON of time.

But probably saved us a GAZILLION dollars.

Teach your children to work on stuff people!

It is such a blessing!



Still Smiling

So this weekend I was teaching down south.

And it was SUNNY!

And HOT!

I was in HEAVEN!

And that made me smile.

But that's not what I'm writing about today.

Saturday, during lunch I went across

the street to Burger King.

In the parking lot was a Dad with his little boy.

They were chatting with a Police Officer.

And the boy was looking up at the two men

with this GIANT grin on his face.

Hero Worship.

Times TWO!

It was awesome!

And made me smile every time I thought about it.

Then on Sunday,

during lunch,

I went across the street to Burger King.

(Seeing a pattern here?)

(in case you are wondering, I have a chicken topped

salad with water when I eat there...)

(I never liked their french fries anyway - so no temptation there.)

Anyhow.

When I sat down, at the next table

there was a Gymnastics Team.

And their two Team Moms.

The team were decked out in all their finery.

Cute turquois outfits.

Makeup.

Hair slicked into ponytails with glitter.

The girls were all special needs.

It made me smile to see them having so much fun.

And then various patrons stopped by on their

way out and asked about their competition

and congratulated them on their great day.

(They won their division and are going to

some sort of championship competition next week.)

SMILE.

It was a good weekend!

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...)