Opining Online

So far, I’ve broken down and bought my second copy of From Dawn to Decadence. Dearest brother, I believe my first copy is buried somewhere in your pile of books or you left it in the patio “cabinet” that Dad took, contents and all, and burned like he’d been threatening to for years. Who to blame? You or Dad? hmm… it’s not like I would have loaned the book to Dad is it?

Again, dear brother, did the same thing happen with The True Believer?

The last I remember seeing of The Scotch-Irish: A Social History and How the Scots Invented the Modern World is when a daughter or two and a son-in-law or two were looking them over. I’ve since searched both daughter’s bookcases and not found my books. I’m at a loss here. I can’t help but wonder if they left them in their uncle’s care.

How is it that Born Fighting, a book I’m not as likely to re-read is still safely on my shelf?

Now I’m not really complaining too much here. My daughters and my brother have provided me with lots of reading material. It’s just that I can’t understand why books I refer to often disappear. Maybe there’s a bookmouse in my house.

Grandparents, since they aren’t usually with their little angels 24/7 get to enjoy all the moods. In response to Grandchildren Are Angels, I’m posting these happy and sweet photos of my granddaughter, because while they don’t make me laugh as much as the other one, they portray her as she is 99 and 44/100% of the time and they make me smile, sometimes bring a tear to my eye.

She’s got big brown eyes and knows how to use them. She can be silly. She works hard, plays hard and loves to read her books. Sometimes she has bad hair days, which could be genetic.

Next month I get have her all to myself, all by myself for three days. I reserve the right to change any and/or all my opinions.

In August we’re visiting our other three grandchildren (the youngest will be born just before we get there) and for the first time I’ll have all of them together. Be prepared to be inundated with cute photos.

My Plan!

Not “MY” plan, my friend Sarah’s plan. I’m not that ambitious or diligent.

It’s noisy. I hate it. All of it. Well, not old movies. Maybe not Emeril. But pretty much everything else, I hate.

I hate commercials. When did advertisers decide that Loud, Annoying, Obnoxious brain-cell-penetrating music was a good sales tool?

Even the music isn’t as annoying as continuous talk, which is why I equally hate the droning of C-Span.

What I really hate is that I’m not watching TV, I’m not even in the same room with it, yet it permeates the entire house, it’s always on… even if my DH has gone outside to play.

If I could only get him interested in Jericho or Trading Spaces… but no, it’s cable news and C-Span he likes. Oh, and shows that feature snakes.

Otherwise, I love him dearly.

What I didn’t expect from my trip to Arizona was Green. Compared to Louisiana, Phoenix is green this time of year. Green grass (if it’s watered) and, of course, all colors of green cactus (including blue-green). And sun…

The day I got back to Louisiana was overcast, all the deciduous trees were nothing but grey limbs… it was dreary.

But… the brightest thing about Arizona was my granddaughter. Here she is finishing off her first birthday cake. Ain’t she cute?

No, her Nonna is not biased at all. I’m not sure she actually ate any of the cake, but she had a grand time squishing it and rubbing it into her hair. It was a lot of fun seeing her play will all her pals from Gymboree and the local Mom’s group.

Other highlights of the trip were The Temper Tantrum - Nonna spent almost an hour laughing at the sweet angel as she threw a big one, then finally sighed loudly and decided to play with her toys and books. She has earned her nickname “Stinkerbelle” honestly.

Then there was the raw tuna. My favorite son-in-law (don’t confuse him with my other favorite sons-in-law) will eat almost anything. I got him a sushi kit for Christmas, but this was a sort of raw tuna salad. His mom and dad loved it. I tried it. I didn’t love it. It didn’t really taste bad, but raw tuna is very, very chewy. Very.

At the last minute, I decided to fly rather than drive. I had a nightmare about my car (10 years old, 150,000+ miles) breaking down between Pecos and Van Horn, where I know my cell phone does not work… and then there’s that long stretch between Van Horn and El Paso, where I can’t remember if my cell phone works, or not.

The bad part about that is that I did not get to try the traditional Chile Relleno at Dos Compadres in Midland, or Odessa. That means that, so far, the best Chile Relleno I’ve ever eaten is at Papa Poblanos in DeQueen AR. That’s right… Arkansas. I was born and raised in SW Colorado and NW New Mexico, but Papa Poblanos, well… it’s one hell of a Chile Relleno.