In The Pit

Could you imagine having 100 hands grabbing at you all at once, trying to either shake your hand, touch you, or get you to sign something? Too much. I don't know how they do it.

Nice Skin

Fortunately for me, Sarah was too busy to have any kind of interaction with me. I was so stunned I probably would've commented on her lovely skin. Really. I was speechless when she came down to greet everyone. All I could do was hold the camera and shoot.

And you know what's really strange, is I kept my cool for the most part. I made the drive home today and put all my photos on the laptop. Then I started to get all welled up because I'd just attended something really cool. And I got to sort of meet Sarah and Todd. Or, rather, they got to meet me.

I Feel So......International....

This is a picture of my t.v. at home, playing the interview on the DVR. If Steve hadn't been home (and awake) I don't know WHAT I would've done!

I Got Married Again

I guess I knew this day would come. It's been a long time coming, really. I didn't even have to think about it, I just said YES. What's really nice is Steve's been feeling the same way for a little while now. We both talked it over and "BAM" we both came to the same conclusion pretty much at the same time.
I think we may have even high-fived over it.
We looked on the internet to see where we could do it.........

And I got married to a new espresso machine....



It's fully automatic. Push one button and this wonderful, delightful product comes out nice and quietly.



No more messing around with the loud bean grinder in the morning, because there's a nice sized reservoir for beans and it grinds them almost silently. It brews the espresso, dispenses it, and the used grounds are deposited into a container that you have to lift out every couple of days and empty.

I can even make settings for stronger or weaker espresso, I can push the large cup button twice and it will choose the right amount of beans to grind and process for two very large cups of espresso. Or I can just push the small cup button once and it will dispense one very, very delightful shot of Columbian goodness.

I have a feeling this relationship is going to last. We started off on the right foot, we took the leap for all the right reasons, and we have a long term plan that includes lots of caffiene and steamy milk.

I need to ask about a ring, though.

Sometimes My BBQ is Awesome....

Pork ribs are always good. As long as I don't screw them up. But accompanying the pork ribs was my trademark corn bread. It's corny corn bread, baked with sour cream, butter, egg, and cream corn. Seriously.



But making things a little more interesting was my veggie explosion. Just a bunch of vegetables cut up with butter and seasonings, cooked on the grill....

How to Roast 1,000 Chiles All At Once

I've heard stories, from Steve. He's heard stories, from his friend Tony. Really, this is the stuff we talk about. He heard that a local grocery store roasts the chile peppers right out front, and they package them up and you can buy them for about $1.00 a pound. So that takes about an hour off of your preparation time when you're making something like Chile Rellanos. Or Rellenos.
Unfortunately I find the smell of roasting chiles to be an aphrodisiac, so I prefer to roast my own. But finding that smell on a Wednesday while I was shopping for potatoes and corned beef certainly perked up my senses!

I was most certainly the only grocery shopper who had a camera, but I wasn't the only one who stood and admired the show. Kind of like a circus act.

I Socialized. A Little.

This was St Patricks Day, and obviously that's Elvis. He lives in Havasu now.

I was bummed about my hat, because last year I fit in as EVERYONE else out on St Patricks Day was wearing similar green and white hats. But I was the Mayor of green and white hats because mine was more awesome.
This year, I was the only one wearing a big green and white hat. It's the economy.

Another Reason Why I Can't Go Out...

So, it's bad enough that I can't go socialize out of fear of someone posting pictures of me on a dance floor on their Facebook or whatever,,,,,
But it appears our state's largest newspaper, The Arizona Republic, came to Havasu and photographed people out partying during Spring Break....
and posted the photos on a very high-volume traffic news site.

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/14070/1/26

Oh and here I am reposting it...

Pioneer Woman, Reese Witherspoon

I used to read Pioneer Woman's blog once a day, but busy times have prevailed and I can only see her stuff once a week now.
I've followed her for a few years, proudly reading as she chronicled not only life on the ranch but also life on the road as she promoted her cookbood. You know, HER COOKBOOK....



Yeah, the one that has THIS on the inside....



Oh and don't forget her spread in People Magazine....



Part of the entertainment known as www.thepioneerwoman.com is the novel she's written about how she and her sweetheart met in a little town in Oklahoma. It's called Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.
And now the folks at Sony Pictures have acquired the rights to her story to possibly make a movie.

And they're talking about having Reese Witherspoon play the lead role.

Jealous? Nope. Truly happy for her, I think it's positively neat that she's found such a successful nitch. Niche? Nitch? Don't know. No time to look it up.
Besides, this little chicky has plans of her own.

Uncle Jim is Broken

Shay and I went to visit Uncle Jim today, because he broke his neck. Really!
A car pulled a nice little maneuver in front of him while he was riding his bicycle, he crashed and noticed his neck hurt a lot.
I didn't find out about it until I got a voicemail later in the day that said,
"Hey, I don't know if you knew about this, but your Uncle Jim got into an accident on his bike today and he was airlifted to Vegas!"
Apparently I'm a bit low on the totem pole in the family, so I hadn't been notified.
I got word from the "network." I'm fortunate that I found out before it was in the newspaper the next day.
Oh, and for the record, the newspaper said U.J. (Uncle Jim) was getting a citation. That's not true. Just another little thing that the reporter made up. Our paper does that sometimes.
Even more interesting, the driver of the car who pulled in front of U.J. isn't getting a citation.

After getting examined in the hospital in Vegas, U.J. was told by the doctors that he'd be better off with a halo instead of surgery. So he gets to wear hardware for a couple of months, and riding a bike is out of the question.



He's talking on the cell phone while resting in his recliner.

Get Well U.J.!