My Favorite Coastal Beach Town: Manzanita!

Me... doing my favorite thing in my favorite house in my favorite beach town. 

Last October my husband and I took a four day trip to Manzanita Oregon, which is just south of Cannon Beach. We've vacationed in Cannon Beach many times but it always felt so crowded which is why we love Manzanita more. It's less touristy but still has everything I want: cute shops, good restaurants, a pub, two grocery stores, including a small Whole Foods, great pizza from Marzano's, a wine bar, even a golf course (though i don't golf). Oh... and the Cloud Leaf bookstore! Don't you just love when vacation towns have a bookstore? I always make a point to buy books while on vacation. On our last day the Bread and Ocean bakery next door to the bookstore served me the best latte I've ever had. Had I known earlier I would have been there every morning!

In Manzanita you come across folks of all ages, locals and tourists alike - cute construction/surfer guys with dreadlocks, families with young children, older couples stopping through on a long road trip. Everyone is so friendly. We had a great time watching the Seahawks/Panthers game (even though we ended up losing) sitting with fellow Washingtonians at the San Dune Pub. We always make it to the San Dune a couple of times when we visit and feel so welcomed.

On this trip we stayed at the Historic Reed House. The house recently went through an extensive remodel that took over a year. (I know because I followed it on Facebook.) It was worth the wait. This house could be on the HG Channel!

We already booked it for a whole week next October to stay with my brothers and their families.  I hope to make it an annual family get together.

I can't quite do justice to the Reed House with words alone or even photos. I did take many photos and here are some of my favorites. Later I can link a website here that show photos of the bedrooms (which are so nice!) too. I know it's cliche to say, but this place really feels like home away from home. (Ha! I say that even though we live in a little two bedroom condo. It's actually better!)

French doors from the main floor go outside to the wraparound deck. My husband is taking a photo of that amazing view.

Love these French doors to the wraparound deck

Moon shot from deck

View from the beach. Oops, just noticed i forgot to turn on one of the bedrooms lights! 

It's a big house! But here's the thing: it's not so big that you feel lost in it if you are just hanging out on the main floor. It's the right size whether you have two couples or eight couples. When you walk in right away you smell the new wood. The maple floors look original and are an important feature in the house. The owner is a designer and she did a fantastic job blending the old with the new, which lends to retaining the history and character and warmth of this home even with all its modern conveniences. At first I focused so much on the view and the main floor that it took me a couple of days before i noticed everything: a vintage phone booth (the phone works too!); schoolhouse lighting; a custom made rolling barn door to the master bathroom; three vintage movie theater seats in the upstairs TV room; farmhouse sinks and so much more.

Vacation Feet! I always take a photo of my feet. 

I love the eclectic furniture and sitting areas. They are comfortable too! 

Living room - you can't quite see how great that ocean view is from this photo. All of those windows open and have screens, the better to hear the ocean.  

I wish i had taken a better photo of this kitchen. I like cooking. This is my favorite vacation kitchen. Two dishwashers! Two ovens! And that fabulous kitchen island. (Can't wait to cook dinner here with my brother next year.) 

There are lost of interesting pieces of furniture and colorful rugs which make this large room feel so cozy and warm. 

My favorite little sitting corner.

The best equipped kitchen ever. Thanksgiving would be great here!

The photo doesn't show how large this master is. Best thing - the mattress was super comfortable and it's a king bed! 

This was taken downstairs where there is a pool table, ping pong table, living area and more bedrooms and a bathroom. I liked the look of this photo and those custom closet doors.

Taken on the walk back down the main street from the San Dune pub

Here are some town shots I took with my other little Coolpix camera when i went for a run. (I wished I had the nerve to ask the one cute dreadlocked guy with the surfboard on the top of his truck and the tools in the bed of it if I could take his photo.)

I'm sure this guy must be from out of state! 

I always get a kick out of folks taking photos with their iPad. With my increasingly bad eyes, i get it! 

Safety first! 

The end of the town's main street leads right to the beach.

There are so many cool houses in the little town. I really liked this red door and planter. 

The beach goes for miles. I ran every day on it while i was there.

Stay tuned.

 New fall season coming in September. I haven't given up blogging, just decided to take a hiatus. I actually keep coming up with ideas to write about but usually just post some on Facebook instead because I like reading the comments and I think blogging is not exactly a summer sport.

"What do you do?"

I was prompted to write about this subject because a friend on Facebook posted an article about this very thing. He added that he hated when someone asked him "What do you do?" when he met them, being a job.

This question can be a real conversation killer and shuts it all down before it can ever get started. I have to admit that i too do not like this question when someone asks me upon meeting. I also hate even more, the question "Where did you go to college?" The reason being for that one is because i did NOT go to college. (At least I've always had a job before.)

As far as the What Do You Do question, i always answered that i was a union secretary. I always emphasized the word 'secretary' because i never bought in to 'administrative assistant' sounding better. While i get why flight attendants don't want to be referred to as 'stewardesses' i never understood the aversion to the term 'secretary'. However, it is not a glamorous job and certainly working for a union isn't going to make folks admire you as they would....say a civil rights attorney, or a NASA engineer, or a Medivac pilot (something i used to like to introduce myself as when asked this question of strangers, though as a joke - i would own up to it later).

Sometimes i think i hate this question because often people will ask it because they want to tell YOU about where they work. Or they simply don't care enough and this is the most original small talk they are able to come up with.

Because my second ex-husband liked to pretend he had money and hung out with some fairly wealthy people, we were often at some hoity toity peoples' parties which i dreaded so much because i never knew what to wear and had no friend among the women to ask.  I detested most of the people on sight for the simple reason that I was 10 years younger, insecure at these events, and had nothing in common with them. Especially politically.  And I am not kidding when i say i ducked the racist comments (of which i am not proud of now).

Real estate developers, designers who owned their own business, restaurant owners, etc. and lived in big homes in Gig Harbor or somewhere else on the water were in attendance.  I was working as a waitress in a sports tavern and at the school district in the accounting office at the time.  A wife of one of those moguls (is that the right word?) asked me where i worked and i answered the school accounting office and she responded with "Oh, that sounds boring."  But you know what? I bet she is divorced now and i have a better credit rating than she does! I don't even think she had a job. (But she had new boobs, THAT i do remember.) Truth is, she was right. It was boring. That's why i got the union job! lol.

What do you do? I do my best. That's what I'm going to start answering.

18 Things I Think About While Doing Yoga

I actually have a better chance of being a professional football player than i do of ever becoming a 'yogi', but that doesn't mean I’ve given up!

This is my 4^th week – I’m working on going Monday, Wednesdays Fridays. So far, so good... at least for attendance and commitment.

I’m liking how I feel in the morning, but I doubt that I will ever get into the Namaste-ness of it at all.

Here is what I thinking about yesterday when I was supposed to be "letting go of my pain and struggles in our lives” which is how our Wednesday instructor always gets us started.  

1. I can't believe i bought a bottle of olive oil that was only 8.4 ounces and cost $34! (When i got it home I also noticed that the expiration was 2-2-2014.)

2. That must be some pretty fucking awesome olive oil...

3. Shit, at $4 an ounce that would make any salad I made cost about $12 a serving!  (Maybe $15 if I use yellow peppers and avocado and pine nuts.) 

4. I need to return that olive oil. Hope I still have the receipt. 

5. I wonder if the owner of the shop who sold me the very jar I bought is mad at me and did this on purpose? 

6. Naw, she is not passive aggressive like that. She's a nice person. And i always write checks there and they never bounce. 

7. Dammit, I wish this instructor would quit constantly telling us when to inhale and exhale. Wow, but some people are exhaling SO hard. I wonder if anyone has ever collapsed from a heart attack in yoga? 

8. Is our instructor gay?

9. Oh God, I hate how my butt looks in this mirror when doing downward facing dog or forward fold.  I don't think even Giselle would want to look at her ass in yoga pants from behind.

10. Oh how I love to hate Giselle and her cheating husband Tom Brady.

11. I shouldn’t be thinking about hating on celebrities while doing yoga.

12. I really HATE downward facing dog. Can't wait to get to corpse pose.

13. Who comes up with these yoga terms anyway? Doesn't 'corpse pose' seem incongruent to yoga?

14. Am I using 'incongruent' correctly?

15. Oh crap, how did i get that bruise near my ankle? I hope it clears up before the wedding next weekend because it will show. and what's this one on my forearm? 

16. I am going to quit taking those baby aspirin in the summer. 

17. Ohhhh, FINALLY…. corpse pose. Love it. 

18. I really need to get my own mat. 

Note to Self: 

Longest plank: 3 minutes

Longest run this week: It will be todaywhen i run 5 miles to pick up my car which needed a new battery and alternator

Temperature: yesterday it was 80 degrees! First time putting on our air conditioner and it's not even June 1st

Book: You Couldn't Ignore Me if You Tried - about John Hughes and Cameron Crowe movies. Also loved The Splendid Things We Planned

Movie: Can't recommend high enough: Short Term - it's on the list of 23 Netflix Movies You Haven't Seen. 

Hillary... Grey's Anatomy...My Favorite Baby... A random jocucina post....

My Favorite Baby.

1. I have lost a bit of my mojo for politics since those Gumbo days. Part of the reason is because my activism comes out when i am totally against something (as in the Iraq war and Bush/Cheney regime) and i didn't have as much reason with my choice of president in the last few years.

Having said this, i do admit i like presidential politics when it's all new again. So i might get my mojo back. And the reason i might get it back is because Bernie Sanders is running against Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination. I don't think he has a chance in winning any more than i have a chance in being the next Pulitzer Prize winning author. HOWEVER, i like that he is in the game. He will make Hillary a better candidate.

2. I am making no promises to work on Hillary's campaign, but if we are stuck with Rand Paul and Ted Cruz i am totally in.

3. Re: the photo above.  My Favorite Baby. This is my favorite nephew's boy. Baby Brady.  I never had this urge to have children, even as i loved being around kids. I am so thankful that i have a way to be a surrogate grandmother in my life right now. I am in love with this little guy. And what is so cute is my husband is a drummer in a really good band and is living his dream. We talk about how he will teach Brady how to play someday if that's what Baby Brady wants.

4. I used to watch Grey's Anatomy .... When i first heard about it, i Netflixed the first season and binge watched about 4 or 5 episodes during the mornings of my vacation time in summer. I quit watching about two seasons ago right before Dr. Yang (Sandra Oh) left because i felt it 'jumped the shark' about 5 or 6 time  by that time and that was my limit. But two weeks ago they killed off McDreamy Derek, THE main character. So i've watched those last two episodes. And it got me thinking about how i would cope if I lost Brian in an accident like that. Meredith, the wife character ran away from it all, from her job, from her friends, from her home....and i sort of got that. I think i might do that too if it happened to me. Though i might have a friend come with me when i do it. I would have louie/Sarah and my sister in law Marie (Kylee/Modern Hippie's mom) come with me if that happened if their husbands wouldn't mind.

5. The reason i say this is because too often the grieving person ends up being the comforting person to the friend/family/co-worker/casual acquaintance person. (Don't we all know these folks? If you have a story about this you should vent it here!)  That so pisses me off when people think they need to cry to show you how much they care.

6. Yoga Update: I have been 6 times to yoga since i last posted. OMG, it was hard that first time, and it is still not easy, but i'm getting into a groove and rhythm. I think this is going to be a habit like running. I will not likely get the breathing down. I will probably ALWAYS open my eyes and look around, and i am pretty damn sure i will never clear my mind, especially if the teacher is so off base that he thinks the Beatles performed the 'Turn, Turn, Turn' song. But i love how it makes me stretch and work my muscles.

Namaste, jojo

Jo Goes To Yoga (Another True Story)

Even though i can run 4+ miles a few days a week, i am not fit. I
found out how much when i started babysitting Baby Brady and my hip flexors (didn't even know what those were before) kept giving me troubles because of how i carried him. Whenever i did anything that wasn't involving sitting or running, sleeping or eating, my muscles would picket the next day and let me know this wasn't in their job description. (Little union joke.) 

I couldn't get a buddy to commit just yet so i venture out to the YMCA all by myself. I haven't been to the Y for probably 8 months though we've been paying for it. (In other words, we donate to the YMCA and regular attendance was another thing i promised to keep up with in retirement and failed to do.) 

I got my yoga mat, my shoes are off. I am ready for Gentle Yoga. 

Oh good, the instructor is late. Like 10 minutes late. (Is this allowed in yoga?) Everyone is here and ready and get this, I am probably the next the youngest person in the room of 14 people. One woman came in with a walker! 

Finally he arrives in a rush. (Hmm, there is no rushing in yoga,  is there? Also i am the third youngest person in the room now. But that's a good thing in an instructor right?) 

And then he starts us in a stand up pose, eyes closed, arms loose and palms out. I like the nice music. He's talking to us about relaxing and NOT being in a rush, he's talking about breathing. He's talking about waves at the oean. He's talking about breathing. He's telling us to feel our toes and our fingers. He's talking about breathing. Now relax your neck he says and think about the beautiful place we live. And then the breathing again. 

(FOR GOD's sake.... I am breathing! How long are we going to keep doing this? It seems like 5 minutes have gone by already, i sneak a look at the clock, yep it's a quarter to 11:00)

He's back to the seasons, I'm breathing. Inhale and exhale, ( though like like Zumba, i have it backwards every time). Also i noticed every single person has their eyes closed when i peeked at the clock. 

I'm breathing, he's still talking about the season, then he say something like this: "spring will be melting into summer, you know like that song "Turn, Turn Turn" by the Beatles."

WHAT???? By the Beatles? I open my eyes again to see if anyone caught that. Nobody. Then i keep thinking. Who does that song anyway? Why can't i remember? I know for sure it's not the Beatles and i would bet all my Jeopardy money on that, but who is it? The Turtles? No, that doesn't sound right at all. Yes! This is what is going through my head for the rest of the time. It's making me crazy i can't think of the band. 

Finally we are done just the standing and we do some more stuff that involves a chair. If you're good, you don't need the chair. After about a minute in that pose, i got a chair. 

So far, so good though. Wow, these stretches are pretty easy. Gentle Yoga is maybe TOO gentle. I only need to work on the breathing but i'm good at this! We do balance on one leg, one arm extended, pretty good at that too ...especially if i lean my hip against the mirror. (When he comes around I don't do that though. He never saw me.) 

He helps me get my back flat when i have one leg extended balanced on the chair and one arm straight out. But he had to help others too, not just me, the newbie.

It was all pretty gentle actually. Finally we are done. That was a fast hour, well, 50 minutes. Not sure this is going to be enough yoga for me I'm thinking. I'm going to check the schedule for a different yoga class. 

hahahahahahaha...... It's now the next morning as i write this. My shoulders, butt, backs of my legs, even my arms are screaming! They are not only picketing, they already went on strike! 

They lied! (Is lying in yoga allowed?) If this is Gentle Yoga, what is the other yoga going to be like? Thank goodness our instructor was 10 minutes late! 

So I'm going to keep going. Besides those new muscles which have been on permanent L&I for years, i need to work on my breathing and yes, my judgement!

Besides, where else can you go at 58 years old you and be nearly the youngest person in the room? 

Oh yeah, and right as I am pulling out of the parking lot of the Y it came to me: Turn Turn Turn is by The Byrds! I should have known that immediately but it's one of those kinds of things that usually keep me up in the middle of the night. So maybe yoga can help me with my memory too! That would be the best!

The opposite of Blog Slog... More like Blog Sloth

I need to change this but because of our wood floors being refinished we couldn't put back our area rugs for six weeks (as I was told). And so we couldn't put our nice ergonomic rolling chair in our computer guest bedroom. I hate changing this blog on the iPad.....

 in the words of the Terminator... I'll Be Back.

Biding time while they clean my hotel room.

I am writing from a Downtown Portland hotel. We arrived on Saturday and leave tomorrow on Wednesday. Brian is here for a communications and marketing conference and is busy with some of the conference dinners with other college folks so i get to hang out alone, which i like.

I haven't had my hotel room cleaned so far yet (since i've been in it and just clean it myself, including the little kitchen since we have a little suite) but since i'm running out of toilet paper i need it done today so i'm hanging out downstairs where they serve a buffet breakfast.

I'm just going to start numbering and go with it. i needed a photo so i put this up from a few years ago from my car window.

1. I like Portland better than Seattle. It's an easier drive getting here even though it's longer. I like walking around here more, easier to get my bearings. And it may not be true, but i feel safer walking alone.

2. I can't believe i forgot my running shoes. Brought clothes, even my knee brace and extra socks but no shoes. I was distracted since i was packing and also preparing the same morning to help give a baby shower for a niece with Brian's side of the family. (We left after the shower).

3. I am not a big fan of showers, wedding, baby, whatever. And don't even go there about the grandmother showers! I think it's because guys don't have to do this. And nowadays there feels to be some pressure to come up with a really nice expensive present that feels more like the present you buy for the wedding or when the baby is born. And i always feel alittle bit sorry for the person who has to open all those presents and be excited in front of all these women who don't really know each other and make polite chit chat. We had to play a stupid game (not my idea - the new grandmother came up with this). But at least we were able to nix her stupid idea of having we 'aunties' giving the shower do this choreographed dance where we dress up like WE are pregnant.

4. I don't know why, but i really hate the term 'auntie' and hate being called that. (Kind of like how i hate 'hubby', 'preggers', etc.

5. I was only in charge of helping set up and clean up and paying for the mimosa stuff and mini croissants. Having said that, i am giving one for my niece Ashley who is getting married but Kylee is helping me and we get to be in charge. And there will be wine, not this half and half kind of drink.

6. March has always been my least favorite month on the calendar. #1 because when i worked it was the one month that had NO holiday off at all and #2 because it is gray nearly every day. (At least it used to be.)  But this month i have been gone from my house for  i think the count is 14 days total (because of Manzanita and the remodel and now Portland) so it has made the month go by quickly. I should find something else to remodel next March.

7. My husband says that i need to quit watching the HG channel. And Sarah/louie and i talk about how maybe watching too much HG could be detrimental to our marriages. lol... My nephew Brian just emailed me some photos of the bamboo floor that he is laying himself and it looks fabulous! Then he sent me photos of his living room and how how rearranged it, asking what did i think ....said he was catching "the Aunt Jo bug". (He actually has a knack for aesthetic design i think!)

8. Now that the carpet is all gone, he can teach Brady to moonwalk!

9. Ted Cruz announced that he is running for President and i couldn't be happier! This will be fun.

10. It could be enough to get Jon Stewart to reconsider leaving The Daily Show. (One can hope.)

7. I forgot how tricky posting a new blog post is from my iPad so i'll sign off and go back and see if my room is clean yet.

Dear Abby, That Bitch, Tells me to "Loosen Up"

Recently Dear Abby had a letter from a writer that could have been me.

Dear Abby Letter

DEAR ABBY: Do you know why people nowadays feel the need to announce their pregnancies via ultrasound pictures? I'm sorry, but I really don't want to see all that. I guess some folks think the image of a blurry, black-and-white fetus is "darling." But to me, all I see is an up-close-and-personal snapshot of a stranger's uterus. Even if we're best friends, I don't need all that detail. TMI, right?

I really wish people would deliver this kind of news face-to-face. Or call me, text me, whatever. It serves the same purpose and isn't nearly as graphic. -- NOT READY FOR A CLOSE-UP

Here is where this started : (aside from my earlier irritation with Facebook ultrasound photos...) : I have a sister in law on my husband's side of the family. (One of the reasons i will never publish my blog on Facebook.) A week ago she sent me four photos of her daughter's ultrasound photos where you can see a close up of the baby's face. Then she added that the baby looks just like his father.  (WTF?)...

As a Non-Mom i never get caught up in pregnancy stuff. I love kids, especially AFTER they are born.

I already got in trouble from this sister in law when i told her we were going to be 1- 1/2 hours late for their "Find out the Baby's Gender " party because i was not going to miss this year's Seahawk playoff game.

I don't understand this early celebration about the gender. While I am happy that her daughter is having a baby and think she will be a great mom - who won that playoff game was more important to me than if her baby is a boy or girl, since i don't really care about any baby's gender. I just hope it's healthy and happy and sweet when the baby gets older.

And to me baby ultrasound photos to me are like photos of cats. They all look the same. And they kind of creep me out.

I will add though i don't mind them (as much) if they are produced to me in person as a way of making the original surprise announcement. But if i already know they are pregnant and i am presented with an ultrasound photo, I feel as if i am expected to ooh and ahh when i'm just looking at a dark blob.  It's hard to know what to say. In fact louie here had to help me craft a response to the four photos i received. Her suggestion was perfect: "You must be very excited!" (Can't remember if i really used an exclamation point.)

Then it dawned on me why i might be having issues:  I am pro-choice. And while i am not saying that  to enter into a pro-life vs pro-choice debate here, because i do respect those who are pro-life, i am just saying it might be why I am uncomfortable. (Though i suppose pro-lifers may also share my issue with this oversharing of ultrasound photos. )

I never like it when i feel i have to come up with the right words because I don't want to encourage more of the same, I don't want to sound phony when i reply, and i also need to preserve the feelings of a sensitive person sending the message. Eggshells are the worst surface for me to walk on. And i usually fail at it. I would rather run barefoot over gravel.

Notes to Self: 
Word Count: 495(if you don't count the Dear Abby letter and notes)
Longest Run: 38 minutes
Highest bowling score/lowest: 159 / 91 (oddly enough my best game was the third game)
Book: Back to Fall of the Giants
Hi/low temps: 56 / 30
Sunrise/sunset: 7:10 am / 5:41 pm (19 extra minutes of daylight since last post.)
Good News: Things are underway and on schedule for our floor remodel!
Bad News: We won't have DVR capabilities when we are housesitting during the remodel.
New Favorite program: Better Call Saul

Jojo's Self Help Book Chapter Titles

This is the Valentine's card that louie bought for her husband. She took a photo and sent it to me by email. I put it in Photoshop, enhanced it and now I'm recycling it to my husband and that is going to be MY Valentine's Day card. I think it's so funny: "Thinking of You".....Brian will think so too since we don't celebrate V-Day. 

I often go back to a long ago post about a self help book that louie/Sarah and i were going to write and when i am running or can't sleep i think of titles of chapters that book. Just that. Only the titles. It's  more fun than actually trying to come up with the actual advice - i believe it was the actual advice that derailed our idea of the book. (This might seem weird to some folks who know me because i have an irritating propensity to offer unwanted advice to everyone. )

Anyway i came up with many of these chapter ideas a couple of nights ago at 3 in the morning and wrote them down in NOTES on my iPad. Then i got to thinking what we all came up with ideas for a self help book and then actually tackled them one by one, all of us offering our own advice? What do you think?

Anyway, here is what i came up with for starters: (Disclaimer: I mostly have no ideas for the advice just yet,  just the titles. So just make them up. Ask yourself: What do people need advice on most?)

1. What not to say at funerals.

2. Always use this alibi when caught doing something bad.

3. How to talk yourself out of a speeding ticket when you're not so cute anymore.

4. A better way to piss off an asshole without having to kill them.

5. Three easy ways to make your house look clean when it isn't.

6. How to write a sympathy card for someone you don't really know that well.

7. How to get over Writer's Block. (My idea on how to get over this i will list right now in case i forget later: Pull two cards from the Cards Against Humanity box and then start writing).

8. Extracting yourself from a boring person at a party without coming across as a douchebag.

9. The best appetizer to bring to a party when you're uncertain of the kind of party it is.

10. Respond this way when someone tells you a racist/sexist joke.

11.  Things you need to quit doing on Facebook.

12. Don't ever say this when talking about your child's accomplishments/mistakes.

13. How to compliment someone when you don't want to sound phony but also don't want to be mean.

Notes to Self: 
Word Count: 395
Weather yesterday: high: 61 degrees; low: 45 (broke record highs this week!)
Sunrise/sunset: 7:19 am; 5:31 pm (24 more minutes of daylight since last week's post!)
Book: My 3rd Kristina Riggle book this week: The Things We Didn't Say. After this it's back to Fall of the Giants
Longest Run: 43 minutes. My plantar fasciitis in my right foot is recovered. Left knee is still bothersome.
Number of cat photos hidden on Facebook: 3
Number of cat photos i shared myself: 2
Bad News: Jon Stewart leaving The Daily Show
Good News: Mitt Romney is not going to run for President in 2016.

I'm just here so i don't get fined.

This is Frank Lloyd Wright's quote. Comes from a book "In My Humble Opinion"
that my friend Julie gave me a couple of years ago. 

Coming soon ....a new post.

I'm thinking about talking about what's trending in the news. I'll be back to add to it soon.


Next day: February 5th. In the News:

1. The only reason i remembered the date today was because my favorite Seahawk Richard Sherman had his baby boy today. Born on 2/5, (Richard Sherman is #25 in Hawk uniform). It makes sense that Sherman is my favorite player. Back in the day (the 1970s) i LOVED football and everything Joe Namath and even read his book "I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow Because I Get Better Looking Every Day". Recently i watched the NFL two part series on Namath and loved it. I also couldn't get enough of Muhammed Ali. Very similar styles. I have never gone much for false humility and love brash personalities who can back up what they brag about.

2. Speaking of the football and the Super Bowl, i am tired of the media (and various folks on FB) who are pissed off at Coach Carroll's call to pass at the one yard line. The Seahawks got to the Super Bowl because of gutsy calls like that. Plus the pass was good, that Butler dude looked like Richard Sherman on that play. It was amazing what he did. Had the play worked everyone would have called it a brilliant move.

3. Harper Lee's new book - I'm excited to hear this news of her long lost sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird  being published, but i'm not getting my hopes up. When i Googled to find out more, i read that her attorney sister, who protected Harper Lee who was blind and deaf and losing her memory, died a year ago. There was an article a couple of years ago in Vanity Fair  about some scumbag trying to take advantage of her failing health by getting the copyright to her Mockingbird book. So i have some trepidation about the sequel and that it may not live up to the expectation. There must have been a reason that book was shelved. Her mystery was that she never published another book. And I doubt she would have agreed to what is happening now.

4. Speaking of books. American Sniper is also in the news for not being all that it is cracked up to be. Immediately i thought of Million Little Pieces and the Jessica Lynch, the soldier's story. I do want to go see the movie anyway. And yes, i believe Jesse Ventura. It's not difficult for me to believe that Chris Kyle would make himself sound like more of a bad ass than he was.

5. And more on the subject of embellishment or untruths: I am dismayed to find out that Brian Williams 'misremembers' the story of being in Iraq and his helicopter was an hour behind the one that got hit with a rocket, only it was reported that he was in the one hit. I LOVE Brian Williams!  How could he do this?

Notes to Self:
Word count: exactly 500, unless i edit! (not counting notes)
Sunrise/sunset: 7:31 am / 5:19 pm (We have gained one hour 13 minutes since my last post, which was over a month ago).
Book: Fall of the Giants (just getting started!)
Project: In anticipation of our remodel and dumping stuff i just burned every cd we own into iTunes (i had missed many), donated probably about 150 of them and alphabetized them in two boxes.
Lastest iTunes purchase: Andrew Duhon. (He reminds me of Amos Lee.)
Looking forward to: BOWLING starts Feb. 17th!
Not looking forward to: Moving everything out of our house so we can redo our floors.

Random Ridiculousness

I like blurry photos of myself. This is in Florence last June. 

Besides those stupid Facebook tests which tell me what a loser i am, there are other stupid links you can find. Why, i ask, do i need to know these things? Here are just a couple of those link titles along with other random stuff on my mind:

1. 18 Celebrities Who Don't Drink. Why the shit do i care? But you know what?....I almost clicked on it, just so i can feel better about not wanting to meet them.

2. I also almost clicked on 33 Terrible Movies That Had Really Terrible Names. Without even going there i can already tell you that the movie (one of my favorites too!) on that list is going to be Shawshank Redemption. Can y'all think of any more without cheating?

3. Trending on Facebook right now is Donna Douglas -(Elly May from Beverly Hillbillies) died. At the age of 81. HOW can she be that old? Was anyone else shocked to know she was that much older than you?

4. What is even weirder is that Elly May is trending and Mario Cuomo's death is not!

5. My cousin Todd posted a photo of my second ex-husband Don and his son DJ (who was probably 4 or 5 at the time) on my FB newsfeed. Not sure why he posted it since I took the photo. It feels a little bit weird having it on my timeline but i left it because i am friends with DJ (so i shared it with him) and most all of Don's nieces and nephews. DJ's mom just died last month (Don's first wife - he never married after me). She was a year older than i am. No funeral, but i did send cards.

That life seems like a really thick book that i read a long time ago that i can't quite recall the plot but just remember that it was difficult to get into and finish.

6.  I know this is stupid but i have never gotten a flu shot. Not ever. I am not afraid of needles, having been stuck with them for 34 years of allergy shots. I am afraid of how medicine seems to make me sicker sometimes. I have had bad reactions to sulfa drugs, many antibiotics, ambien, vicodin, whatever anesthetic they give you when you get a colonoscopy, etc....

But the biggest reason is that when when i was 2 years old i had to get a typhoid shot because my military father was being stationed in France for two years. The reaction to that shot paralyzed my legs for nearly a year. We thought i might never walk again, there is a name for it but i can't spell it. I'm thinking about getting one though because i babysit Baby Brady often.

Because of me getting sick we never got to go to France and my dad had to go alone. My mother still blames me for that to this day i think and it's probably the main reason we never got along.

7. My dad was movie star handsome in his 20's and 30's but kind of unaware of it which women would love. Because he was only 25 years old when he left for  France for two years without us, my sister Kelly and I use to talk about having a half brother or sister in France.

8. New Year's Resolutions. I am still keeping mine from 1980 about running and i think that is good enough. I am done with trying to be a better person. Like the Facebook tests, it just makes me feel like a failure.

I just want to be healthy, happy, and around good grounded people and help out people when you can. That is what religion is to me.

New Year's Resolutions probably would work better if you made them on your birthday.

9. for ummagumma, wherever she may be.

Notes for myself: 
Sunrise/sunset: 7:57 am; 4:32 pm (YAY! 15 minutes more daylight since last post! )
Hi low temp yesterday: 39 degrees / 23 degrees low. (I love it when it's cold.)
Book: The Bone Clocks and The Secret Place
Project: Picking out new kitchen tile, organizing floors to be refinished, getting rid of popcorn ceiling.
Word Count: Too many i know, but i don't give a shit.
Longest run: 38 minutes (left knee a problem now).
In the News: see #4 and Air Asia plane crash from Singapore