It Really Sucked

Today, there is no picture. I came home from work, went to bed and then woke up at 6:00pm with the worst headache I've had in years. It hurt at the base of my skull like someone had clubbed me. I also had pain at the temples. I made it to the recliner and stared miserably at the TV for about 2 hours (I also took 2 Alleve). After that 2 hours, there was no change in my headache. I hadn't eaten since about 3:00am the previous night at work and I was aware that I was starving by 8:00pm but I had no desire to get out of the chair or move my head at all. Next thing I know, it's 12:15am and I heard my phone beep with a message. I was supposed to be at work at midnight and my buddy Charlie was checking on me. I texted him back to ask him to please notify work that I was calling in dead and then I went back to sleep and slept through the night. Yep, I slept 22 hours in a 24 period. But, I woke up Wednesday morning without a headache and life resumed as normal.

She's Got Moves

It's that time of year again. The time of year where I root for the Fordland Lady Eagles basketball team. You wanna know why? Because I have dear friends that live in Fordland and that's where their kids go to school. And because #23 here, Meagan Claxton, is one of them. I've talked about her on this blog before, I'm one of her biggest fans. The girl has moves. In fact, she's got so many good moves that I don't even call her Meagan. I nicknamed her Moves after the first few times I ever saw her play. You can expect to see more pictures of Moves here.

Weekend Is Over

After several tiring days of being off work, it's time for me to start heading back towards the grind. I don't have to be at work until midnight tonight, so I left Chuck's house in plenty of time to stop by Cassville and have Sunday dinner with everyone. But between Seligman and Cassville, I took a few minutes to circle through Roaring River and see what I could see. You know, I love this place. I wish more people knew about it and could see it. Even though I've been to Roaring River almost as many times as I've changed my socks (that may be a bit of an over-estimation, but not by much), I never get tired of it. I still drive down there every chance I get. This picture didn't turn out very good because it was so overcast today, but this is one of my favorite trees. There are a couple of more like this in the park. But this one's my favorite because it overlooks the man-made waterfalls that feed water into the river from the spring.

Public Service Announcement... these trees (and so many other things in Roaring River, such as the cave where the spring originates) make an excellent choice for Senior pictures. Or engagement pictures. Or any picture at all. If you like nature and beauty, you should definitely check out Roaring River. Oh... and trout fishing too. Lol.

Hanging At Chuck's House

After the madness of a Thanksgiving meal gone wrong and getting up at 2:30am to go Black Friday shopping, I decided to spend the rest of the weekend chillin' at my brother Chuck's house with him, Ruthie and the kids. We watched movies, took naps, went to Walmart and went over to mom & dads for supper where we finally got to eat the turkey and dressing. It was actually one of the best turkey's I'd ever had, so I guess it was worth the wait. Then we went back to Chuck's and did more chillin'. Somehow, I did not take a picture of anything. Add this to my list of things that make me suck.

Black Friday

Fun. Crazy. Scary. Tiring. Madness. Expensive. Cold. Lines. Parking. Walking. No carts. Wouldn't miss it. Every year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's turkey day... and I didn't get any. Lol. I started the day off at mom and dads house and because mom didn't want to do all the cooking (she always goes overboard and burns herself out and this year Thanksgiving was on her birthday), she had ordered a fully cooked turkey and dressing from the local grocery store and arranged to pick it up at 11:00 so we could eat by noon. You can imagine how shocked we all were when dad got home with it and we discovered it was frozen. Yep, fully cooked but frozen. You would think they would have made that clear. Especially since she was picking it up on Thanksgiving day. Whoever took the order should have thought to make sure she knew. Luckily, I had been in the Thanksgiving mood for several days and I had felt like cooking so I had brought down a ham, some pasta salad, broccoli and rice casserole, pecan pie, and corn. All of that in addition to mom's sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and rolls, means we all had plenty to eat and it worked out.

I was upset we didn't have turkey because I love the stuff, but I wasn't too worried because I knew in a few hours I would be going to visit the other side of the family and would get turkey there. So about 2:00 I headed up to Cassville to spend time with the Beesons. I was disappointed to find out a lot of my cousins had already left before I got there. And I was disappointed to find out there was no turkey and dressing left. I mean, the carcass was still in the kitchen, so I technically I did pull off a tiny bit of meat there, but it's not the same.

But regardless of me missing out on turkey it was a great holiday. I got to spend time with the families I love and the surprising little ice storm we had made everything so pretty. I have a lot to be thankful for.

It's Like Living In Seattle

More rain again today. Gray days, cold rain... it must be winter. Luckily, since The Shattering did indeed take place yesterday in WoW, I am perfectly fine spending my days inside online.

Basketball Season

One of my oldest, closest friends has a daughter who is a cheerleader at Fordland high school and a niece who is an amazing basketball player for Fordland. When Meagan plays ball, Jessica is there to cheer. So it's a great time for me to go to the games and visit with all of them, support both girls and cheer for them both, practice my photography and just revel in my love of sports. Of course, I didn't realize until about 1 1/2 hours before game time tonight that the season started tonight. So I didn't have time to get my Nikon prepared. Crappy cell phone pic will have to do for now.

Lamberts

Saturday was Scott's birthday and tomorrow is our buddy Jamie's birthday, so of course we needed to go out and celebrate. We all met up at Lambert's in Ozark for some "throwed rolls" and great food. We had Kim & Sidney, Charlie & Rachael, Ian, Tschetter, Kris, Tim & Angie & Rylie & Bailie, me, Scott and Jamie. It rained like a bitch and made several people late, but a good time was had by all.

Also, this happened....

Bad Day For My Car

When I got off work this morning and got in my car, I spotted a note under my windshield wiper. It seems the lady who had parked on my passenger side had her door ripped out of her hand by the wind when she parked this morning. It slammed into my car and left a door ding and a whole hell of a lot of orange paint. On her note she apologized, gave me her full name and phone number and offered to pay for all damages. Because of her honesty (seriously, most people don't leave notes) and the fact that I scraped quite a bit of it off with my fingernail right there in the parking lot, I left a note on her car thanking her for telling me and letting her know accidents happen and I won't be making her pay for anything.

I went home, went to bed and woke up to the sound of hail hitting my window. Crap! Now my car is getting hailed on. Amazingly, it's never gotten hailed on before. I usually put it in the garage if I know the weather's gonna be bad and there was a parking garage at my old job I could use. But now the garage at the house is overflowing with junk and I had no idea it was supposed to hail anyway. I have not been able to see any hail damage, so considering everything it's been through today I'd say my car came out of it all pretty lucky.

Sugar Cookie Disaster

I decided to make decorated sugar cookies for work and I had envisioned making them in the shapes of fall leaves and pumpkins. I found a highly recommended recipe online, mixed it up and put in the fridge to chill for a few hours while I went to Walmart to get cookie cutters and a few other items. Would you believe I walked around the store for 30 minutes before I finally found the only cookie cutters Walmart had on the end cap of the greeting card section. I mean who the hell would have thought to look there? And to make matters worse, all they had was Christmas designs. So I went to Dollar General... and even though the lights were on and the sign on the door said they were open on Sunday from 8:00am - 6:00pm, the doors were locked. I knocked. Nothing. So I went to Price Cutter and they don't have cookie cutters of any kind. So I gave up and decided just to make sugar cookies like I do chocolate chip cookies, by dropping them in balls on the cookie sheet. But that didn't really work either. I think because the recipe I had was for rolling out cookies. All I know is, the cookies were a disaster and after I baked several pans I gave up. The dough tasted great, so I ate a bit of it, then I threw everything out. How disappointing.

A Day Of Achievements

The new World of Warcraft expansion is coming December 7th and to prepare for all the new stuff, Blizzard is releasing several patches between now and then. Rumor has it that The Shattering (the world as we've known it for the past 6 years is changing to introduce new technology and techniques into the places that haven't changed since 2004 - via a giant dragon named Deathwing breaking out of his prison and destroying many lands and cities) will take place during maintenance this next Tuesday so most players are scrambling to finish up stuff they've been working on before everything changes. I have gotten quite a few things accomplished but it's because I played all day yesterday, all day today and I will continue tomorrow. I can't wait to see how the world is gonna look after the shattering, but I do wish I had a few more weeks before it happened.

No, It's Not Playboy

I totally freaked out today when I went to check the mail and found a magazine addressed to me and enclosed in a white plastic bag with no markings on the outside. I have alway heard Playboy magazine and other porno mags come that way. Turns out it was just my first copy of the World of Warcraft Magazine I recently subscribed to. I was relieved it wasn't a girlie magazine, but I was also a bit upset that they had wrapped it. Was I supposed to be embarrassed to be a WoW nerd? But after I read through the issue and looked up some stuff online, I figured out why it was wrapped. These things are worth money. There are only 4 issues a year, they are subscription only and Blizzard only prints as many as they have subscriptions for, they average 175 full color pages, they are completely ad free, they are really beautiful magazines. I missed out on the first 2 issues, my first one is issue #3, so I looked on Ebay to see if I could get the first 2 somehow and was shocked to discover there were only 2 listings and each magazine was selling in the hundreds of dollars. That's why they're wrapped. To keep it protected and prevent it from being stolen. Holy cow, I really wish I had gotten the first two issues.

Sleepy Kitty

I know I'm constantly telling you that Takara doesn't like me. And it's true. But there is one exception - she cannot resist me laying in the recliner with a fuzzy blanket. As soon as she hears the recliner clicking all the way back, she comes running. She must have been up playing all night because when I got home from work this morning and stretched out, she laid down and fell asleep immediately.

Street Couch!

Driving home from work this morning I spotted this couch sitting beside the road and even though I tried to ignore it, the urge to turn around and take a pic was too strong. I had to give in. This urge stems from the fact that a couple of years ago on a local message board I'm a member of, we had a street couch contest. Just for the fun of it, to liven the boards up a bit. Basically you got a point per picture of any street couch, no repeats allowed. The only rule was it couldn't be on someone's front porch because that's generally redneck storage. I am happy to announce that I won that contest. And because of it, I still keep my eyes open for runaway couches.

This Is Not A Tattoo

This is a crappy, crooked drawing I drew on my own wrist. But I drew it because I'm pretty sure I want to make this my newest tattoo. It's taken me 30 years longer than it should have, but I am at the point in my life where I realize I'm in control of how I live. Life is what you make it. That's my new mantra. I think it'd be really cool to have it on my wrist. Although I'd make it a little bit smaller than this is. It's just really hard to draw on your own arm with a ball point pen and make it look good.

Also, before it becomes a permanent part of my body... I have it written as "Life is what you make it" but some people say "Life is what you make of it". Which one sounds better? I think I like it without the "of".

Learning To Love Green Beans

I don't like green beans. Never have. They're mushy and bland and they make me wanna puke. Of course, this is a carryover from my childhood. I don't believe I've put a green bean in my mouth for over 30 years. Well, except for when they are included in a soup. I can eat them then. But green beans are cheap, easy to prepare, and very healthy and I have decided I'm going to eat them whether I like it or not. Fortunately, I looked up a few different ways to prepare them and found one that made them sound good instead of making them sound mushy and bland. So I tried it... and it worked. I really liked these green beans.

Here's the secret (this is so simple):
buy fresh green beans
put a pan of water on to boil
while water is building up to boil, snap the ends of green beans and snap them to the length you want them
once water is boiling, place green beans in water and boil for 4 minutes
remove from heat, drain immediately
place on plate, sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan
enjoy

I have no doubt you guys have all heard this recipe before. So how come no one shared it with me? I could have started getting healthier years ago.

Pure Evil

If you were to go back through this blog and read every post I've ever written involving a cat, you'd realize that I think all cats are evil. And I say that because they look so darn cute and fluffy and inviting, yet you can't pick them up or pet them or call them to you unless it's on their terms and they have decided they want to be picked up or petted. I hate that. Especially since my silly kitty Takara rarely decides she wants to allow me to pet her. But in the case of mom's cat... I really mean evil. Mom and Dad are the only people allowed to be within 10 feet of her. And actually these days, dad won't let her be withing 10 feet of him because of the fact that earlier this year she bit him and sank her teeth all the way in on the soft spot of his hand between thumb and index finger. He developed cat scratch fever (yes, it's a very real condition) and his hand swelled up bigger than anything I've ever seen. It was even his left hand and he's left-handed.

So aside from the emergency room visit, 3 months worth of doctor's visits, and too many prescriptions to count, he couldn't even zip his own pants. Needless to say, he's not a fan of the cat any longer. It cost them several thousand dollars and even though his hand is fully functional again, it's still misshapen around the knuckles. But he's a nice enough guy that even though he no longer cares to ever pet her again (out of anger, not fright) he never suggested they get rid of her. Mom suggested it, but he said no. To be honest, I was hoping they'd give her away because she scares the holy crap out of me. Seriously, every time I get within like 6 feet of her she immediately starts hissing and batting at me. She is de-clawed so there's no worry there. It's just that I wouldn't put it past her to jump on my head and eat my face off. I think she's like this because she has half of a Hitler mustache.

But she's very pretty.

Scenic View

Today was opening day of Deer Hunting Season for firearms, so I headed down to Seligman where my family is all deer-hunting crazy. I figured me and my camera should be there just in case dad, Chuck or Uncle Garry brought in a dead deer. Sadly, none of them did. While they were all out in the woods, mom and I took a leisurely drive through Roaring River just to see all the hunting camps and enjoy the pretty day. We stopped at a scenic overlook and I snapped this pic of the fall trees. Then we stopped down at the Munsey bridge and picked up a few rocks (we're both rock nerds)and I walked through the old Munsey cemetery. From there, we circled the park at Roaring River and then headed home where we spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy.

In other news, my 14 year old niece Jessica now has her first "real" boyfriend (as opposed to calling someone your boyfriend in 4th grade and not knowing what that even means). His name is John and tonight they went out to the movies and to dinner (with Jess' mom and one of Jess' friends). After they got back, they stopped by to introduce him to me and mom. When mom suggested they let me take a picture, John jumped right up and said "okay, cool". Jessica, however, had no desire. She blushed and stuttered and didn't want to. We finally got her to stand by him and the picture is quite cute. John had a great personality and I totally approve of her first official boyfriend.

Car For Sale

Driving home from work today I spotted this beauty sitting beside the road with a For Sale sign in the window. I actually flipped a u-turn on a busy 4 lane highway just so I could turn around, obstruct traffic by pulling over to the shoulder and snapping a pic of this beast.

Thursday Night Bowling League

Well, we didn't get to bowl tonight because Lisa & Larry were both sick and Scott was unavailable. We will make it up on Monday instead. Since I still needed some sort of exercise for the day, I threw on a jacket and took a walk. Thanks to the time change, it's pretty much dark all day long now (since I actually sleep during the day I never see the sunlight) and I didn't have enough light to take any good pictures. But I did get a crappy cell phone pic of a frog that jumped in front of me and made me scream like a little girl.

And So The Cycle Begins Again

Am I the only one who cycles through hobbies? I mean, I love to read. LOVE. TO. READ. But there are times I go 6 months or more without picking up a book and then there are other times where I have 3 or 4 books going at once. I cycle through styles of music I listen to. I cycle through video games I play. I cycle through doing jigsaw puzzles. You get the picture. I am now back into reading. I stopped by the library and picked up a couple of biography's. I always use them as fluff reading to offset the intense reading I'm currently doing working my way through The Wheel Of Time series by Robert Jordan (today I will start book 4) and re-reading the Twilight series and reading a humorous/motivational book I borrowed from a friend at work.

Now that I think about it... maybe I wouldn't cycle out of reading for months at a time if I didn't cram 6 months worth of reading into about 6 weeks. Lol.

Aside from going to the library, tonight I got to go visit DJ & Jordi. We went out and had a great dinner at Red Lobster and then headed over to the mall to visit our favorite store... Hot Topic. While we were there I introduced DJ to the mystery that is the Hollister store. I love Hollister clothing, but man do I hate their stores. They are dark, making it hard to see the merchandise. They stink, only because they oversaturate the air with their colognes and scents. The scents are not bad, they're just way too strong. And the music is way too loud. When we walked in tonight one of the sales associates startled us (by talking from the dimness of the corner where we hadn't been able to see her standing) and I think she was welcoming us to the store, but we couldn't hear her over the music so I'm not sure.

Mainstreet USA

I love history. But more than just reading and learning about it, I love looking at it. Original buildings, old style store fronts, classic main street areas. It's easy to find these types of places in rural southwest Missouri. This morning I had to go downtown to pay the water bill and because the water bill is a source of rage for me (the water department is ran by Nazi's) I decided to calm myself by enjoying Main street while I was in the area.

Isn't It Cute?

Yesterday I found a cute little plant at Walmart that I knew would just look darling on my desk at work. It's a Purple Waffle and it supposedly just needs medium indirect light and to be watered only when it feels dry. I think that will survive office life just fine. Plus, during the hours I'm there alone, I can talk to it. I'm thinking of naming her Cleo.

Roadkill

Driving home from Cassville today I was able to sort of sneak up on a turkey buzzard enjoying a not so fresh dinner. Yummy.

It's Too Damn Hot For A Penguin To Be Just Walking Around Here

That's a Billy Madison reference, in case you didn't get it. Backroading from Roaring River to Cassville with James and Krystle today and we came across this penguin just sitting here staring at us. Looks like a party spot for teenagers on the weekends. Weird, penguin cultist teenagers apparently.

Doing Nothing

Had a lovely day at home in my recliner watching old movies. And SuperNanny.

I Spent Some Money

One of the best inventions ever. Used it while I slept today, made a huge difference.

Great Book

Finally finished this great book. Apparently it's a well known "must read" in the sci-fi / fantasy world. I never even heard of it until this year, but I do highly recommend it to everyone.

Belated Birthday

Rachael's birthday was a couple of weeks ago but unfortunately we're just now getting around to celebrating it together tonight. Rach is an amazingly talented cake artist that can carve and decorate cakes that will blow your mind. I am not a cake artist at all. When I made her simple, boring cake for her today I knew it wouldn't be very pretty, so I just made sure to make it ugly on purpose.

Too Tired

I'm so exhausted from my busy weekend. Nothing going on today but incessant coughing and much sleeping. This is a quick & easy airplane pic I snapped as I was leaving the parking lot this morning.