Parallel Parking

State of Confusion

Is it any wonder I'm confused at times? ;)  Check out these menus posted outside the dining room here at the care center.

Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?

Huh? March? Okay.

Country Thunder

No, I didn't go to Country Thunder...those kinds of crowds aren't for me. I just thought it was cute to come up on this car as I was heading to the valley.


The back window reads, Just Married, Country Thunder Here We Come. And they've traveled a long way to get here, too!

As for Country Thunder, Quentin and Philip did attend on opening night. I know they would have liked to have been there the entire weekend. :)

Okay, Now This is Just Funny

The latest Colgate toothpaste commercials have Brooke Shields offering up a testimonial. That's okay, she has a beautiful smile. Her dentists name though - that's just too funny. In the commercials Brooke introduces her as "Joyce" but the little title overlay says "Dr. Joyce Fang" ...Fang?!?!

Dreamy New Ride

Mike has waited so long to be able to get his dream ride - a Harley with plenty of chrome and character. This little jewel also has a matching trailer; just perfect for longer trips. I don't know any specifics on this little beauty - Mike may know all the details. He is like a child on Christmas morning when day-dreaming about his new ride and then the dream always ends, he wakes up and comes back to real life.

We just happened to see this beautiful bike at the Maverick station in Show Low and had to catch a couple shots of it ... recalling those dreams.

The Cad & The Ram

The front end of their Cadillac didn't fare too well when it tried to sneak past our Dodge Ram in a Walmart parking lot.

A friend, Donna, needed to take her dog over to the vet in Show Low because the little guy was lethargic and not doing well. Donna doesn't drive so she had called me and asked if I could take her and Ciera over to have him checked out. A vet had told them they needed to get Gatorade (who would have thunk?) to give him by dropper-full. We went to Wal-Mart to get Gatorade and a generic dropper from the pharmacy. Donna waited in the truck because it would have been too difficult and long for her to navigate one end of the store to the other. Donna recently had her lower leg amputated. :(

Ciera and I went in to get the products, Donna waited in the truck. When we returned, Donna was upset and told me someone had just hit the truck then drove off. She said it was a white Cadillac. I figured the car would have been long gone and I didn't see any obvious damage to the truck so after climbing in, we just headed out of the parking space to leave.

As I traveled down the aisle, toward the store because it was easier to head that direction getting out of the parking spot, there it was. The cad driving the Cad had parked it in the handicap space at the end of the aisle and their front bumper wasn't looking very good. They had hit into the trailer hitch on the back of the truck and judging by how far in on that bumper the damage occured, they must have been right on top of our truck's bumper. Wow, they were close.

I snapped a picture just for fun!

Nothing Grandma

Okay, so TJei is getting so, so cute with some of her antics. Earlier today she had been upstairs and when I called her down, it was apparent she had something in her hand hiding it behind her back. I asked what she had in her hand and she pulled the empty hand out to show me, "Nothing, Grandma."

I asked what was in the other hand, still behind her back. She put the empty hand behind her back and after a second or so, she brought the other hand forward to show me, "Nothing, Grandma."

She and I did this a couple times before I told her to show me both hands at the same time. She put both hands behind her back and got this serious look of thought across her face. I could see the little wheels spinning as she worked on figuring out how to show me both hands at the same time. After a couple seconds, her little legs did this bow-legged bend as she slipped the key (from the bathroom counter upstairs) into the back of her pants so she could pull both hands forward, "Nothing, Grandma."

Never a Dull Moment

Do you notice anything odd in this picture of TJei standing in the corner along the fence? Of course, she's as adorable as always. :-)





This is how Grandpa found her when she called out, "Grandpa, Grandpa, a little help here." When she climbed over the fence, her coat had snagged on the fence wire and she was just barely on tip-toes standing in the corner of the fence!






Care to guess what this picture depicts?


TJei had gotten up to the sink and dunked her head in the dishwater. She came out with water dripping everywhere. When I told her to look at the mess she had made, she obliged and "looked" right up to the top of her head!

Names in Songs

Many songs have been composed with names of people in the lyrics. I think Stormy by Santana is one of my favorites. Other than Itsy-Bitsy Spider, that is!

STORMY
You are the sunshine,
baby, whenever you smile
But I call you Stormy today
All of a sudden that ol'
rain is fallin' down
And my world is cloudy and gray
You've gone away

Old Stormy Stormy
Old Stormy Stormy
Old Stormy Stormy
Old Stormy Stormy

Yesterday's love was alive,
the warm summer breeze
But like the weather you changed
Now things are dreary,
baby, windy and cold
And I stand alone in the rain
Callin' out your name

Stormy Stormy
Stormy Stormy
Come back to me Stormy
Stormy Stormy

Bring back that sunny day

GUITAR SOLO

Yesterday's love was alive,
the warm summer breeze
But like the weather you changed
Now things are dreary,
baby, windy and cold
And I stand alone in the rain
Callin' out your name

Whoa! Stormy

Stormy, come back to me Stormy
Stormy, come back to me Stormy

Come on home! Stormy

Bring back that sunny day

UPDATE: Okay, this post, on it's own might seem weird right on the heels of the Empty Nest melancholy. I assure you, I am not off in some deep dark corner of the world. I was working on a church project and the name "Jordan Storm" (first and middle name of a youngster in our Ward) caught my attention - made me think of the song melody so I then went looking for the lyrics. I think Jordan Storm is a cute, cute name. I think there are many interesting songs with names used in them - Suzy Q and Peggy Sue are a couple right off the top. What songs come to mind when you think about names in songs?

I'll Have Cottage Cheese

The other day when I went to the store I purchased a jar of sauerkraut and have been munching on it over the past couple days. With Mike still out of town until last night, snacking has worked just fine for meals. Everyone knows getting kids to try new foods is mostly a matter of presentation so I talked sauekraut up good this morning when I pulled the jar from the fridge.

I told TJei how much Grandma likes sauerkraut. I told her I sometimes eat it cold, right from the jar, and I sometimes heat it up and eat it with a bit of ketchup. I told her about my grandpa making sauerkraut in a crock on his tiny back stoop. I gave her all the yums and oh boys I could muster. Then, when I opened the jar, I put it on pretty heavy, "it smells so good - want to smell the sauerkraut, TJei?" And of course, she did.

"Eww. No thanks, Grandma. I'll have cottage cheese" was her reply! Smarty pants.