Why?

That's it: Just . . .why?

Fill in your own why.

I've had wine, but I know I wonder . . . why?

My faith says believe.
So I will.

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide . . .

They WILL find you.

Stolen from bluepaintred, and a fun license plate

I saw this plate when I went to the bank yesterday. I love having a camera phone that takes good pictures without a lot of skill on my part.

And here's a new meme I hadn't seen before--stolen directly from bpr, one of my favorite blogs.

ABC'S

A - Age: 47

B - Bed size: Huge, thank God, because I'm doing the hot flash thing these days.

C - Chore you hate: Dusting. Never liked it; never will; been known to avoid it for months.

D - Dad's name: Frank

E - Essential Start Your Day Item: Caffiene, in any way, shape or form, but preferably a grande 5-pump skinny vanilla latte from 'Bux

F - Favorite Actor: Love Sean Connery forever,but am now very partial to Clive Owen

G - Gold or Silver: White gold

H - Height: I am definitely challenged in this category, coming as I do from a family of 3 older brothers all over 6 feet tall. I'm about 5'4" and not shy about asking the nearest taller person to reach something for me in a store.

I - Instrument(s) you play: (I love blue's answer on this so I'm stealing that too) Keyboard. As in, on my computer. I tried to learn the harmonica but it kinda freaked out my pet birdies so I gave up(that was just me, I don't if Blue ever tried the harmonica)

J - Job Title: Office manager, and hopefully soon "Pharmacy Tech"

K - Kids: None of my own; 5 stepkids. no, 6. the hubs qualifies in this category more often than not.

L - Like: Coffee. Email. 4-legged creatures. Traveling. Books. Seeing nasty people get taken down a few pegs.

M - Mom's Name: Alice (altho somehow on mailing lists it got changed to "Slice" which we think is hilarious because she's a golfer)

N - Nickname: "Jesus Christ!" (usually employed in disbelieving tones)

O - Overnight Hospital Stay Other Than Birth: having a cyst removed from my cheekbone when I was like, 11. I was the only patient on the children's ward who needed a bra under my pj's (I had those girls chopped down later on, woo hoo!)

P - Pet Peeve: People who firmly believe they are ALWAYS RIGHT, ALL THE TIME, and refuse to even consider another point of view

Q - Quote That you Like: "I can't brain today; I have the dumb" --Sam, and "Trust, but verify"--Ronald Reagan

R - Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S - Siblings: 3 older brothers and 2 sil's

T - Time You wake Up: Which time? One of the many when I need to use the facilities, the time I wake up worrying about stuff, or the ACTUAL time I wake up to get out of bed?

U - Useful Tool: Computer. Cell phone camera. Sense of humor.

V - Vegetable That You Dislike: Lima beans & cooked peas GAG ME.

W - Ways You Run Late: I'm usually on time, if not early, for stuff. Except when I'm visiting in Ohio; I usually run late there because I'm having so much fun with Person A, that I run late for Person B, THEN I'm having so much fun with Person B, I run really late for Person C, etc. etc. etc. Thank God for the understanding of good friends!

X - X-rays You've Had: chest, ankle (multiple times), hand, teeth, carry-on at the airport . . .

Y - Yummy Foods You Make: Turkey chili, molten chocolate cakes, cashew brittle, shrimp scampi

Z - Zodiac: Aries. Sometimes I wish I actually had those rams' horns--I would do some SERIOUS damage to some nasty people.

In the meantime, I'll just keep an eye out for fun license plates . . .

Overheard Stuff

The LA Times puts out a magazine occasionally in the Sunday paper. Mostly it's full of high fashion crap and ads for expensive bling for bodies and houses.
They do have one column that's fun, however. It's called "Overheard" and they encourage people in the LA area to email things in.

• "I just had my wisdom teeth pulled--now I don't know which teeth to turn to for advice." - Twentysomething on his cell at a medical plaza in Century City

• "I am so pro-knife." - Two women discussing their noses at Whole Foods

• "I'm almost forty. Maybe it's time to self-publish." - Customer to the cashier at Starbuck's in Little Tokyo

• "Enjoy the movie, kids--that was your college money." - A fortysomething dad paying for a family of six at the AMC Century City

• "Where was Hitler's mother?" - Ten-year-old watching the History Channel with his parents

• "No nonsmoking section? I need a minute to meditate." - Frantic woman on the patio at an Art LA opening

• "I'm looking for one that will appeal to a jury." - Older man shopping for a tie at Kohl's

• "Wait, are we talking about Nietzsche or the Oscars?" - College students in a late-night discussion at Jerry's Deli

• "I have the status symbol of the 21st century--a job." - Reply to, "You went from a Beemer to a Saturn?"

WTF????!

Why is it that insurance companies persist in being such total dictators?

We moved our business. The building we were in was about 7 miles away, in an industrial area that experienced some crime (e.g. gas stolen from delivery trucks, OUR truck was stolen and later found abandoned behind another building down the street--of course it was a total loss) and we did NOT have any electronic alarms on the premises.

Now our business is at home, in a quiet residential neighborhood that hasn't had any crime in the 6 years I've been here, our neighbor to the north is a CHURCH, and we have an electronic alarm system AND motion detector activated lighting all around the perimeter.

WHY, then, does the insurance company want to TRIPLE our rate for business insurance?! They SAY it's because we moved to "a different area." It's not like we moved to WATTS, for Pete's sake! And since everything is IN the house or garage, homeowner's would cover anything lost, damaged, or stolen.

I say this is yet ANOTHER example of the small businessman getting royally SCREWED by the SAME companies that allow people to rebuild their houses next to rivers that flood every year, and allow yet MORE tin can trailers to be parked in the paths of hurricanes.

Bastards.

I Miss You Already

"A joyful heart is like a sunshine of God's love, the hope of eternal happiness, a burning flame of God . . . And if we pray, we will become that sunshine of God's love--in our own home, the place where we live, and in the world at large."--Mother Theresa

This is my friend, Bernice Fifer. She and I worked at the same flower shop in Ohio. She was a floral designer from way back--by the time she'd come to our shop, she'd already retired from another, and worked with us and another florist part-time. She was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and was in a water ballet troupe while in her teens. She learned to drive on the backroads of rural Ohio--her husband, Darl, lay across the hood of their big old 40's sedan on his stomach, shotgun at the ready, for when the noise of the car would scare pheasants, rabbits, or wild turkeys out of the underbrush. She had a wicked sense of humor and kept us all laughing, even on those long exhausting days and nights at the shop right before Christmas or Valentine's Day. Her faith helped her survive cancer. She eventually had to stop working to take care of her beloved Darl full-time. I feel bad that I don't know when he passed away. She and I lost touch after I moved across the country. I just happened to look at the Akron paper online the other day, and saw her obituary (it became a habit, working for a florist, to check the obits every day; funerals would keep us afloat during the lean times).

How I wish I could have gone back for her calling hours, to talk to her children and let them know what she meant to me and how much she taught me about everything. I would have been one among many, this I know. I pray the others brought them comfort.

It's raining in LA right now, but I know that when the sun comes back out, Bernice is going to be right there, shining down on us all, because I know she has always been the sunshine of God's love.

The Wonders of Vegas

Hubs decided we needed to spend SuperBowl Weekend in Las Vegas (never mind that he decided this while ripped on wine--my computer was on and I had reservations at The Sahara in approximately 8 minutes).
It's about a 4-1/2 hour drive from LA, just a nice little jaunt across the desert, which is gorgeous in its own way.

We stayed from Friday to Monday and had a great time! Surprisingly, we only gambled a few times, playing video poker. We came out about $150 ahead, all told. And won on the game--again, a BIG surprise, given the way the Steelers played like some peewee league team who'd never seen a football before. Back to rooting for The Browns next year!

Most of the trip was spent wandering through the hotels and casinos,
window-shopping, people-watching, and eating at favorite restaurants. The picture is of one of the items for sale in The Dale Chihuly shop in Bellagio. The man is a wonder. Many of the fixed displays at Bellagio are works of his--the ceiling in the check-in area, sculptures throughout the hotel and in the several bars and restaurants of the property.

My other favorite place was The FAO Schwartz Toy Store in The Forum Shops at Caesar's. They sell arcade games on the 3rd floor--you can buy tokens and try them out before purchasing (in case you have a house big enough, and an extra $30,000 burning a hole in your pocket). It was more of a ride than a game--you recline on benches and hold on, because the benches move in tandem with the scene on the screen--going down the first hill of a roller coaster, soaring out over the Grand Canyon, landing on a dirt road and roaring around a sharp curve, etc.). Lots of fun and action for a mere $2! People were looking askance at us when we finished our ride--were we really yelling THAT loud?!