Animals vs people

Well, you know I have to say something about this. You've heard about the Cincinnati Zoo, shooting the gorilla? In case you haven't, a 4 yr old boy managed to wriggle through all the fencing/barricades, at the gorilla enclosure and fall in, about 10 feet. A male gorilla grabbed him and dragged him around the enclosure. The zoo's emergency team, shot and killed the gorilla. They did this to save the little boys life. I have a love for animals. It's tragic that a critically endangered animal was killed. It would have been more tragic if a 4 year old boy had been killed. All this uproar is so ridiculous. Yes, the little boys parents should have been watching him more closely, but if you're a parent, you KNOW, a child only needs about 2 seconds to get into trouble. Yes, the zoo needs to take another look at the safety, but if this is the first time something like this has happened in 38 years, I wouldn't bust their chops over it. More children die from bicycle accidents. Good grief. What's happened to our sensibility??
Geesh! 

Vacations rock!

A couple weeks ago, my fella and I went out to Utah to visit family. We spent a few days in southern Utah and a few days in Salt Lake City.

I am NOT a fan of the desert. But southern Utah has some beautiful vistas. 

I guess it's all that red rock :-) But in another month when it's 110 in the shade, it won't matter. Boooo. 
This is what I'm familiar with, as far as the desert goes;

This is yuca tree. You know why they call it that? Because it's yucky.

While we were there though, we had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and after a long Midwestern winter, it was sure nice to be outside in the sunshine where there is no humidity!

In Salt lake City, we got to have a day to ourselves, so we went up to the mountains;

It's been a LONG time since we've been in the mountains. Wow. It was AWESOME. I remember when we lived in SLC, I used to think, Utah is why the phrase "God's country" was coined. I still believe that is true. Sure, the beach is great but give me the mountains any day!!

See this little girl;

This is Buttons. We found her after the highway traffic came to a standstill because she was roaming around! So, I jumped out of the car and called to her. She came right to me!!! Thankfully, she had a tag with her mommy's phone number on it and we were able to drive her home. Her owner was a sweet little old lady who didn't realize she had gotten out of the yard. She was very happy we brought her home!

We even had a chance to drive around the old neighborhood, which is even older now, and stop by THE BEST SHAKE PLACE EVER!!! they've been around since the 60's and STILL, it's cram packed every Friday and Saturday night. Of course, we bought shakes :-) 

And NO trip back west would be complete without...

There's just something so right about a place that only does one thing, and does it well :-) Ahhhhhhh

Salt Lake City was my favorite place, of all the places I've lived. It's a tough community to live in though, if you're not a Mormon. 

the death of a tree

Of all the trees we've had to have removed, I was most sad about the GIANT Ash tree in our backyard.When we bought our home, it was a beautiful tree and provided a lot of shade over our house. Then a couple years later, when we had to have someone come out to quote taking down a couple trees, he told me that our Ash tree had been attacked by the infamous Emerald Ash Borer Beetle; 

It's hard to believe that this little sucker can kill a 60 foot tree! Well, it looked ok to me so I ignored him. During the next couple years, less of it grew back in the Spring and I was sad. So, last year we had it cut off. Not down to the ground though, because CHA CHING! So now we have 30 foot stump in our back yard. Anyway, I've been watching it die for the last year. It grew a lot of weird fungus/mushrooms at the bottom of the trunk;

That was after the bark started to split. Then, over the weekend, a big piece of the bark came off and I could see all the little beetle holes;

So far, it's estimated that Indiana has lost 6 million Ash trees!!! Little bastards.

I want a Sycamore tree! They're so cool looking! Maybe you've seen them;

My guy frowns when I say I want more trees. He would hate a Sycamore too - it sheds these funny things;

I won't tell him :-) There's a chance he would be ok with another new tree though...we found this tiny little spruce sprig last summer in our yard. We left it. It's still alive and it's bigger this year! He even stuck a marker in the ground next to it, so we wouldn't accidentally step on it!

Aaaand, on Arbor Day, the city was giving away FREE trees!!! You know I got one :-)

It's our state tree, a Tulip tree. When it's a little bigger, I'll plant in the ground;

Right now, I'm just happy it's still alive too.

The Weirdest ads of the 70's

There were a lot more but these made me laugh right out loud!

gender bias

Gender bias and sex discrimination is so weird to me. I mean, I'm so surprised that there is still so much of that going on! Really? In 2016? I know I tend to be kind of naive about those types of things. I'm always surprised when people turn an issue into something race related when, in my opinion, it doesn't need to be. Oh, but I digress, I was talking about gender...so, I read an article this morning about mean tweets from men, directed at women. Honestly, it was shocking. You can view it here;

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-twitter-harassment-more-than-mean-20160426-snap-htmlstory.html

It's ugly, really ugly.

Now, on lighter, albeit similar train of thought, it's hard to work for a whole group of women. I hate to say that, because I AM one, but dang. A whole group of women are moody and lack focus and absolutely try too hard. There really needs to be at least one man in the mix. But in the same vein, it stinks to work for a whole group of men too. They lack empathy and don't really care about personalities, in general. For instance, today is Secretary's Day (call it what you want) and not ONE single boss, of which there are 5, even acknowledged my co-worker or myself. 

Just let me say, as a woman, I want the same pay for doing the same job; I want to be treated with respect; I want my opinion to count; I want to be protected; you know, I want the same things every human being wants. Is that so hard? 

Last, and just because I'm talking about gender bias, I want people to stop acting like the transgender "community" consists of something more than .5% of the population!!!! Good grief! I would be willing to bet, and maybe this is just my naivete showing, that using the restroom was never as big a deal as it is now! I suspect that most transgender people have used the restroom they wanted without much ado, until now. 

silly things

yesterday morning, when I opened the door of the bathroom, this is what I saw;

She was just sitting there, waiting for me to come out and play. Silly girl :-)

I never really cared that much for beets. They were always just ok for me. I wanted to like them because they're a "super" food. Like blueberries. Which I also don't care for. Anyway, one night we went to dinner at this little place called Hollyhock Hill - best fried chicken dinner in the state, look it up! They serve beets on a relish tray. OMG they were soooo good!!! A couple weeks ago I found these in Costco;

I could eat this whole jar in one sitting they're so good! I'm gonna need more. A LOT more!

Next up, what the hell are all these little holes in my yard???? There are 100's of them! At first I though they might be from cicadas, but they're not. Somebody told me that they look like yellow jackets holes?! Does that mean there are hundreds of them in my yard??? 

Last, look how pretty this is;

I cut all these veggies up, every Sunday. I fill 7 containers full and I eat one every single day for lunch.  And I've been doing that for about 8 weeks. You would think I would be sick and tired of them! I'm not though. Sometimes, if I have extra, I eat a bowl for dinner too! I crave them! Of course, it's better than craving chips, but still, every day? My fella is starting to wonder about my eating habits!

Is it just me?

I want celebrities to entertain me.  That's their job. That's what I pay them for. I DON'T want them to be my social conscious. Yes, I understand what free speech is about. But what makes them think their opinion is bigger than mine? I'm not just talking about politics either. Also, I'm a firm believer that just because you CAN, doesn't mean you should.

Remodel *update*

Whoa, he's been busy!!

Here are some before and during pictures;

Remember, you can click on the picture to see it larger.

Wow!!!

As I had anticipated, Garth Brooks was FANTASTIC!! It was better than fantastic!!! Even my man really enjoyed it. He's not a huge country music fan or a big Garth Brooks fan. But he really likes him now! How can you not love an entertainer that clearly appreciates his fans and LOVES what he does?! I mean really, he did a 7:00 show that ended a little after 9:00. Then he did another show, that started at 11:15 and didn't end until 1:35AM!  That's a lot of energy right there. Here's the review in the local paper;

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/04/08/garth-brooks-louisville-concert/82717070/

Oh yeah, and we also went to Churchill Downs, since we were in Louisville! I love an event and history, so that was pretty cool. I had no idea Churchill Downs was so big though. I guess I didn't have any expectations and I'm not horse racing fan, so it was all a surprise to me. It's a beautiful facility for sure. 

I guess Louisville is ok. It's a bigger city than my hometown, more freeways, LOTS more people, but some things about were cool. I like how they seem to be really trying to keep a lot of the old buildings. There was one whole block that looked like a movie set because just the fronts of the buildings were up. I guess they were going to build new, behind the old fronts? It was hard to tell though what their night life was like, with 22 thousand people leaving and 22 thousand people coming, all at the same time! I didn't make me want to spend the day there or anything. I would however, go back down again for another show, if there was someone I wanted to see. (Nashville is still better!!)

If you're a real Garth Brooks fan, here's the set list!

Man Against Machine
Rodeo
Two of a Kind
Beaches of Cheyenne
The River
We Shall Be Free
Two Pina Coladas
Papa Loved Mama
Ain't Goin' Down
Unaswered prayers
If Tomorrow Never Comes
That Summer
The Thunder Rolls
Shameless
Callin' Baton Rouge
Friends In Low Places
The Dance
Encore (all accoustic)
Piano Man
Which One of Them
Sing Me Back Home (Merle Haggard)
Somewhere Other Than the Night
The Change
Wild Horses
Amarillo By Morning (George Strait)
Mom
Lonesome Dove
Night Moves (Bob Segar)
Encore (with the band)
Much Too Young 
Standing Outside the Fire
American Pie

My name is Cynthia and I'm an addict

It's true. And it's serious. Just ask my husband. He'll tell you. He'll tell you while he's rolling his eyes and/or scowling. 

I'm addicted to;

adult coloring books
empty jars
gel pens
OK, pens
needlework kits
graph paper
crafts/hobbies I don't know how to do!

Lord, please help me. No really. What's wrong with me???  I have at least 200 colored gel pens and last night, while I was in Costco, I bought these!!!

I almost passed them up but they were 8.99 for FORTY pens!!! I couldn't resist. BUT...they're only ballpoint pens, not gel pens. So I brought them to work. Whew. I justified my purchase. I think that's a sign that you're in trouble. When you know you're doing something wrong but can justify it anyway. Yikes!!


Then, I found this fabric on-line;

It's quilting fabric. I DON'T QUILT!!! Did that stop me??? Pshh. Nope. I think I can make my own little lap quilt. You know...someday. Sigh. Please, pray for me.

I got the music in me...

I love music. I guess you know that already though. It's barely April and already we have some great musically driven events happening! In February, we drove down to Nashville to see Yanni. It was a win win for me - I LOVE Nashville and Yanni is pretty cool :-)

This weekend, we're going to see a musical revue called, In The Mood. Big band and Swing! I love big band! This is what the ad says;

IN THE MOOD is a celebration of the music of the 1930s & 40s – the Big Band era. It was the last time that all Americans were listening and dancing to the same kind of music. With our live sensational 13 piece String of Pearls Big Band Orchestra and our fabulous IN THE MOOD Singers and Dancers, the great melodies and lyrics that are still with us today are presented in a musical revue that is jazzy, sentimental, rhythmic, nostalgic and patriotic – all happening at the same time. With music arrangements, costumes and choreography IN THE MOOD is as authentic as it gets.

It sounds like fun, doesn't it?

And next weekend, we're off to Louisville to see Garth Brooks. I'm pretty sure nothing will top that, this year! Because really, GARTH BROOKS! 

I know, our music tastes are very diverse. Except, Bill loves all classical. I only like some of it. I like Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky. You know, happier sounding music! And he really doesn't care for musicals and I LOVE musicals :-) Oh, but we both don't like rap at all. 

I'm looking forward to discovering what else I can find to go see!

barf

I read an article yesterday about a man who was scheduled to be put to death today, for murdering his young daughters. Good. It happened in 2001. It pissed me off that the state of Texas has been supporting him for 15 years. I mean, his trial happened right away so it wasn't like he had to wait 5 years to be found guilty. That irritates me. Today, I read this article;

http://www.wthr.com/story/31596179/texas-man-gets-reprieve-hours-before-scheduled-execution

This irritates me even more. You have to be sane to be executed?? I mean, if you kill your own children just to piss your ex off, you're really NOT sane to begin with, right? Oy


Why am I reading the news?? Geez, will I never learn!!

full disclousure

I don't like being fat. Especially since I've been thin most of my life. Actually, I hate being fat. I just can't figure out what to do about it! Apparently, I'm not very good at dieting on my own. I'm also not very good at holding myself accountable. Humph. So, I joined Nutrisystem. I started on February 1st. In 8 weeks, I've lost 15.4 pounds. HOORAY! Finally, success. I know exactly why too - because I didn't have to do anything. I only eat what they send me. I don't have to think about what to cook, how much to cook, calories, fat, blah, blah, blah. It's perfect for me! So, here are some things I discovered; I don't miss sugar. That's a big one for me. But, I am totally a carb-o-holic. Man do I miss potatoes, and chips. But, I'm not craving them now so that's a plus. Also, it's really hard not to over eat! Starting April 1st, I'm going to go it alone and see what happens. Wish me luck! I know what I have to stay away from now. Oh, and fruits and veggies are free food! THAT, I love! I can eat a lot of veggies :-)
And lots of walking. 10,000 steps a day is hard when you're an office slug. So, I walk 30/40 minutes every day at lunch. I park far away. I take the long way everywhere.
Already there are huge health benefits too. According to my fitbit, my average heart-rate the week of Feb. 1st, was 87. The week of March 1st, it was 71. This week, it's 67. Whoa. THAT'S AWESOME!

Oldies

When you think of oldies, in regard to music, which era/decade do you think of? The 50's? The 60's. When I think of oldies, I think of Motown, The Temptations, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Four Seasons.  In the 70's, my friends and I called the 50's and 60's, oldies. Maybe the 50's were, but I don't why we called the 60's, oldies. Most cable TV services have music channels. Ours has about 30 music channels. They have a channel for the 80's, 90's, 70's, and...Oldies. Does that mean that the Oldies are classified as their own genre? I was wondering about all this because just the other day, somebody said the music I (ME) grew up with, IS the oldies! Na ah. So I looked it up. Wiki says that "Oldies is a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 25 to 55 years before the present day." 
Wait. So the music I grew up with, mid 70's, became 'oldies', technically, in about the year 2000. SIXTEEN YEARS AGO???? I forget how old I am allll the time. 

weekend things

Saturday, we celebrated our 12th year with sweet Greta. I can't believe we've had her for 12 years already!! Best dog EVER! She got canned food for dinner. She thought that was so awesome, she went back and checked her bowl 3 times! Sheesh! It was pretty funny.

Also, after serious dieting for the last 6 weeks, we all went out to dinner Saturday too! We went to a place called Hollyhock Hill. If you're ever in Indy, you have to go. Everyone says it's the best fried chicken dinner in the state. It was dee-lish! And not just because we haven't had real food in so long either! But mom and Bill were sad that you only got one scoop of ice cream for dessert.  :-)  I was happy to have the mashed potatoes. I love potatoes. ALL potatoes. sigh. Back to the diet.

The remodel is going slow. But we're both still alive and not threatening divorce so, so far it is successful. 

Do you like daylight savings time? I think it's dumb. I liked it better when we didn't change our clocks. Everybody says, but now you get an extra hour of daylight. No, you don't. It's the same, silly. We should just do away with that.

I made this super cool Cubs logo, over the weekend. One of my co-workers is going to go work for the Governor. He's a 'rabid' Cubbies fan. He's been very supportive of my quilling so I wanted to do something nice for him. Plus, he'll hang it in his new office - which gives me good exposure. It's a win, win! I dig it.

And, today is National Pi (3/14) day, National Potato Chip day, and National Napping day. So, have some chips, take a nap and eat a piece of pie! It's a good day!