Old things

Old things make me smile. Today I was thinking about some of the things I wore in high school;

We put patches on jeans where we didn't need them. We sewed pockets on the inside of our bells to hide our cigarettes ;-)

 We made our own jean skirts out of....old jeans

 And we made purses out of our old jeans.

And the shoes!!

I wore out several pairs of these. They still make them. Man are they uncomfortable now!

We wore these a lot too, from Pier 1, cheap! They came in black or dark red.

Pretty sure I had a pair just like these :-) Shoes were heavy then.

I had THESE!!! Red Frye boots. OMG I loved those boots. 

I also had a pair of these lace up Bass boots!!!

And everybody had these "desert boots"

And these babies? I still have them. These exact boots. I wore them. My brother wore them. They're never going to wear out. I bet they weight 5lbs each.

These are Earth shoes. I never had any though. I thought they were dumb. 

 I had a couple pair of this style, with the cutout in the heel.

I love shoes. I used to have A LOT of shoes! Now I'm old too so I just have flat, comfy shoes. So looking back makes me smile :-)

I had a pair of rainbow toe socks that I wore with my platform sandals from The Merry-Go-Round, along with a red satin blazer. Yep. The 70's were SO fun! 

(Thanks Google Images!)

School rules

I admit, it's been a looooooong time since I was in school or had kids in school, but the rules sure have changed!!!

When I was in school, we weren't allowed to wear shorts. We didn't have cell phones to worry about. We wrote in cursive. And we weren't allowed to smoke on school grounds.

Now, you can wear almost anything to school, even slippers!! I would still say 'no' to shorts. Mostly because it's kind of subjective how short is too short. I smoked in high-school so I don't care about allowing that or not, but it's so funny to me that some schools have smoking lounges for students now! 

Earlier this year I read an article about a high-school in Houston where the principle implemented a dress code for parents! How awesome was that!? A lot of parents were ticked off. Seriously. I say, right on!

Today, I read an article about a school in San Mateo, California that said no smart phones allowed in school. Honestly, I was a little surprised that this wasn't already a rule. How can you teach a class full of teenagers who are looking at their phones most of the time? They took it one step further though, by saying "school" instead of "class." By saying that though, they are forcing them to actually have conversations with their friends during lunch and between classes. I hope it catches on. 

equality

the Oxford dictionary says that gender equality is, the state in which access or rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender.

"Gender equality means that the the different behavior, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favored equally. That their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female."

Oh I get it. Really, I do. But why can't people just get their heads out of their asses? Honestly. A 9 year girl could give a shit about singing in a boys choir. Her mother is behind that. A 9 year girl is definitely not prepared for the hell an all boys choir would put her through. Mean mom. I just don't understand all the people who want to be treated the same as everybody else on one hand but special on the other hand. 

Genders are NOT EQUAL! Physically, we're a lot different! Mentally we're a lot different too - just ask any man or woman! Our needs are different. Stop acting like they aren't. Oy. Why are there always those people who want to act like a 15 year old who wants to argue semantics?

We have several same sex couples where I work and their domestic partner is covered under their health insurance. But a heterosexual couple that lives together can't provide health insurance for their partner. That's not equality. If common sense were alive and well, none of these things would be an issue.

sigh

Apples

How many varieties of apples do you suppose there are? Ten? Twenty? Wouldn't you be surprised to learn that there are over a 100 apple varieties grown in the US?!?!?! I was surprised. Maybe it's just because I'm not a big fruit eater? Really, did you know that there were so many? When I was a kid, there were red apples and green apples. That was pretty much it.

Now there are; McIntosh, Fuji, Red Delicious, Gala, Crispin, Braeburn, Honey Crisp, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Empire, Golden Delicious, Cameo, Jazz, Macoun, Ambrosia, Paula Red, Cripps Pink, Cortland, Liberty, Rome, Pink Pearl, Arkansas Black, Winesap, Northern Spy, Melba, Opal, Sweet Tango, Goldspur and tons more!

Yesterday I bought a lemonade apple. Just because. It wasn't lemony. But it was a little tart and very crisp. Maybe I could eat more apples.

what your lawmakers earn to boss you around

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/how-much-your-state-legislators-make-compared-to-the-rest-of-america/ss-AAF7fWf?li=BBnb7Kz#image=1

Way to go New Hampshire!!!  ...and Connecticut, Rhode Island, Arizonza and Maine!

SHAME ON YOU CALIFORNIA!!! ...and Montana!! and Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Michigan, New York and Kansas. You've got some nerve. 

And don't let those Alaskans fool you with their $254 a day per diem!

Reality

The other night when we were surfing the TV channels, I noticed something. As some of you already know, I'm not really that observant about some things, like TV...so don't laugh. Have you ever noticed how many reality tv shows there are?? Holy WOW. Tons and tons of them!!
It's not just Survivor and Amazing Race or the Kardashians anymore. I think the majority of television is reality tv. Why is that? It's cheaper to film? Because some reality tv shows, in my opinion, are totally scripted. Anyway, I looked for a list of them and it's pretty incredible;

American Ninja Warriors
Ax Men
The Bachelor and all of its spinoffs
All those "Real Housewife" shows
A few tattoo shows
Talent shows galore - singing, dancing, comedy...
Big Brother
Several shows about hoarders
Many house renovation/flipping shows
Tons of cooking shows, not the ones w/real chefs either
A myriad of dancing shows
Shows about fat people and little people and people with too many kids and people who live is swamps!
Ghost hunters
Food trucks, logging trucks, ice road truckers...
Naked and afraid (not joking)
Shows about what to wear and what not to wear
Courtroom shows
It's amazing!! No wonder I don't think there's ever anything on tv!

things that are becoming obsolete...

You know I love these articles. Money Talks says these things will soon be obsolete;

1. Cash -  it kind of is already but I think it's still going to be a long time before it goes away
2. Remote controls - their argument was because of apps on your phone, remotes will become obsolete. But...doesn't that mean that your phone will become the remote control? hmmm
3. Car keys - I totally buy this one! Having a new car that doesn't have a key is pretty awesome. Also, we don't have a front door key. We have a keypad instead. Again, awesome!
4. Hotel room keys - is there still such a thing? Oh wait, we stayed in a motel recently that had an actual key. It was weird.
5. House keys - see #3
6. Manual transmission cars - did you know that only 4% of all 2018 car sales were stick shifts?!
7. College textbooks - Absolutely! In this digital age, save a tree, your back & shoulders and tons of money.
8. Mail collection boxes - Nooooo! I need a place to drop my cards in! Oh wait...
9. Shopping malls - I don't know what to think about this one. My mom and I were just in the mall not too long ago. Granted, it didn't look like the 'hang-out' it used to be but there were still a lot of people there.
10. Plastic bags - I'm feeling better about this one. The more I have to dispose of those, the more my own tote bags appeal to me.
11. Straws - well, they jumped on the bandwagon to add this to the list. Maybe there should be a bigger push for "don't be a litterbug" instead of banning trash.
12. Checks - I'm still on the same box of checks I bought 11 years ago. Yeah, I'm in.
13. Desktop computers - I guess it depends; at work? no way. At home? yep. I see laptops everywhere.
14. Print catalogs - what? I guess these people don't check their own mailboxes in October and November!! I LOVE wish books!!!
15. GPS devices - so, this one is misleading. I'll have to call bullshit on this one.
16. Print magazines - nope. NO WAY advertisers will let this go.
17. Alarm clocks - but does everyone have a smart phone?? come on.
18. Landlines - I sure don't miss ours!
19. CD's - I was just talking about this...isn't it funny that my new high tech car still comes with a CD player?!
20. DVD's - I don't know. I have quite a few 'digital' movies but again, not everyone has Netflix or Amazon Prime. I don't buy this.

where you pee

Some public bathrooms are so gross. And some of them, that you expect to be disgusting, aren't bad at all. At home, even if you're bathroom isn't spotless (and let's be honest) at least you know it's only your germs. 

At work, my expectations have always been that our bathrooms should be pretty clean. I mean, do you actually want your co-workers to know that they work with a lazy pig?! So I'm always surprised at how gross our bathrooms are sometimes. Seriously!!! It's shameful to think about all the women I work with that are slobs. Ewwwww. 
Now that I've said though, it's not true on every floor. Isn't that funny? Our office is 3 floors.  The 3rd floor is where most of the high paid, top dogs are. I worked up there for a few years. Our bathrooms were never gross. Now I work on the 1st floor, with all the lower paid worker bees. Our bathrooms are gross. It's shameful. But isn't it incredibly interesting to think that just because you make less money, you're a lazy pig?? Does your salary equate to cleanliness?? That's so crazy. 

don't do drugs...

That's all

Pets

I saw this story a couple months ago about a pet store burglary. The thieves stole $44,000. worth of puppies!!! That's like the whole store, right?? Nope. They stole FIVE dogs. I can do that math. That's over 8 thousand dollars per dog. It turned out that they were Bulldogs. Who cares. Why in the hell does ANY dog cost 8 thousand dollars???!!!! I just don't get it. Why is a pure bred dog so expensive? And why are "designer" dogs so expensive?? They're just mutts! Why is it so expensive to own a dog these days? When I was a kid, your dog got a rabies shot and that was it. And you fed them all sorts of crap. Nobody got their dogs teeth cleaned. Nobody gave their dogs heart-worm protection. Maybe dogs live longer now because of those things, but still. $300 to have their teeth cleaned? But I digress... over 8 thousand dollars for a dog??? A Bulldog???? I mean, Bulldogs are cute and all but they come with a ton of health problems right off the bat! Geeshh. Us humans sure love our furry friends don't we? But to pay that kind of money for  for a pet just seems so wrong. Our next dog is coming from the pound. I want to love a dog that someone else didn't. Come on people, stop paying so much for love! 

 

   

   

song lyrics

Do you have favorites lines from songs? I love some songs just because there's a chorus or 1 line in it that I love.

For instance, I love the song We Own The Night by Lady Antebellum because of this line;
We woke under a blanket, all tangled up in skin.

Or Kieth Urban's Blue, for this line; If I were a painter I wouldn't change you I would just paint you brighter.

Cat Stevens Father and Son, from the moment I could talk, I was ordered to listen.

John Lennon, Imagine, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

From I hope You Dance, by Lee Ann Womack, When you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance

I love The Air That I Breath by The Hollies for this line;
Sometimes all I need is the air that I breath and to love you.

I bet you're thinking of some right now!

what a surprise!

I wasn't in the market for a new car. I thought about it a couple months ago but it was mostly a, that would be cool, kind of thought. Not a, I need a new car, kind of thought. But last month, after we got back from our 4300 mile road trip, I made an appointment to get my oil changed. Right after that, I got an email from the dealer that said they were interested in buying my car and would help me get a new one. Hmmmm. So I decided to look at cars while mine was being serviced. I always thought it would be cool to have a minivan. I know that sounds dumb but I've always wanted a car big enough to put a lot of stuff in! I've always had small/compact cars, hatchbacks. I'm totally a hatchback kind of gal. 

Anyway, I got in a minivan and thought, ahhhhhh. This is cool. Then my fella suggested I get into a midsize SUV (4WD), so I did. That's when I thought, ahhhhh, this has to be mine. So we bought it!! It was so surprising!

I've been driving it for a couple of weeks now and it's still so overwhelming. I feel like I'm never going to figure out how everything works! Today's technology is so outrageous. There's no key for this car. It's so hard to get used to. It's got a built in GPS, with a nice voice, a huge back up camera, satellite radio, and apps! With the press of a button it will tell me what traffic is like...as I'm driving! Heated seats and steering wheel! I don't think my butt gets cold but I'm totally gonna try it out! Oh! It also lane corrects - if I don't have my blinker on and I cross the white line, the steering wheel turns back into my lane. Whaaaat!? It's ASTOUNDING! 

It's the first car I've ever had that has wheels instead of hubcaps. I feel so grownup.

Seniors gone wild - Day 13

We woke up in Omaha this morning. We took our time, ate breakfast, had coffee, showered. It was a nice morning. I think we were only headed to Peoria IL but by the time we got there, the sun was still shinning, the skies were blue, the traffic was light, so we just decided to keep going. We took turns driving more frequently, had more shorter stops, but made it all the way home! To tell you the truth, we were ready to be home. We drove a total of 4371 miles in 13 days. We saw more of the country than we thought we would and it's pretty incredible. We saw wondrous things, beautiful things, big skies, vast prairies, the Rockies!, lakes and rivers, historical landmarks and just plain old things. I was a grand vacation and the memories will be priceless!

Next time, the northeast!!!

Seniors gone wild - Day 12

Today we drove to Omaha. It actually took us a long time because of the detours we had to take, due to flooding. Tonight was a free hotel night through hotels.com :-) So we chose a nice little studio condo! It was awesome. Relaxing and quiet. Did some laundry, had dinner around the corner at Olive Garden. 

Along the way, we stopped at the Corn Palace. Who knew??

We also stopped at a rest stop that was part of the Lewis and Clark Trail. 

 If you click on the picture, I want you to read the part that says, "What's for supper?" Does that sound crazy to you??? I think I can eat a lot but dang!!!

Then we went to the Falls that made Sioux. Super pretty. It's an awesome park in the middle of the city. If I lived around there, I would go there frequently! 

Seniors gone wild - Day 11

This is Deadwood, South Dakota. Deadwood has a pretty interesting history. It's burned to the ground twice and wiped out by a flood. Naturally, not much of Deadwood is original. The saloon where Wild Bill was shot is still under the saloon that took it's place and for 10 bucks you can go down and see it. We passed. None the less, Deadwood is really pretty. 

Nestled in a little canyon surrounded by mountains. We arrived fairly early in the day so we missed a lot of people :-)

 

At this shop, we bought a buffalo skull. We've talked about getting one for a long time. Now, every time we look up at it, we'll think of our 2 week adventure and our 30th anniversary.

After Deadwood, we headed for Wind Cave National Park. Along the way though, we got side tracked by the Crazy Horse Memorial

Some day it's going to look like this;

It's a really beautiful complex. Lots of information, displays, artifacts, etc. But after watching the mini movie about the memorial, you come to realize it's really about the $$. In 70 years they've only gotten the face done. Yeah, they'll never finish it. And why should they? I still really enjoyed it though, for what it is.

We never made to Wind Cave. We got lost. ADVENTURE! 

Did you know there was a place called Wall Drug, in South Dakota? We saw a few signs;

 

 

  

 

It has a fun history but mostly now it's just an enclosed strip center.