The Dog Days of Summer

Sadie is one of my dog sitting regulars, and we exercise a LOT when we're together. Since it's now too hot to go for walks in the afternoon, I decided to bring her over for a swim. She liked it more than I thought!

Three Wolf Moon Shirt

This is probably some of the funniest stuff I've read in a while. Amazon claims that this shirt is one of their best sellers now, and the hundreds of positive reviews prove it!

Be sure to page all the way to the bottom and read the reviews. VERY FUNNY.

http://www.amazon.com/Three-T-Shirt-Available-Various-Sizes/dp/B000NZW3IY/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I Am The Jewelry Maker

I love turquoise. LOOOOVE turquoise. But it's not cheap and I can never find a pendant that is just right. Then I went to our new Michael's store at the mall and located the aisle where there are loads of beads and pendants. I've never made jewelry before (except the Geek Bling, made from a Pentium Processor) so I decided to give it a shot.
Not too shabby. I will be wearing my new creation, along with the matching bracelet, today!

Sweet Potato Pie

I highly recommend making sweet potato pie, if you're looking for a good, different kind of dessert. It'd actually not too difficult, the hardest part is NOT DROPPING IT ON THE FLOOR....

Tombstone. I'm Going There.

Steve and I visited Tombstone down in Southern Arizona a couple of years ago. I only had a crappy camera, so it was amazing that I got anything at all worth keeping. We just happened to be passing by the cemetary at sundown.

I love history, and I love visiting places like Tombstone that have the old courthouse, the old saloons, and, well, in this case an old livery stable where people were gunned down. What I can't stand are the hack re-enactors who stop everything so they can do a crappy performance of something that may or may not have happened. Tombstone has strict ordinances about the re-enactors, so they don't have that particular problem.

However, we have a town nearby called "Oatman," and it's about ten buildings on a hillside that developed in the 1800's when there was some mining in the area. It's an awful tourist attraction. The stores all have overpriced garbage, the food is expensive and meager, and they charge money for people to walk thru a two-room hotel that Clark Gable MAY have slept in. Of course there are signs everywhere stating that Clark Gable haunts the place. Oh, okay. Could they have been any more desperate and random? And the worst part about the whole place is the re-enactors who make a bunch of noise and block the only street in or out of town. They act as though they're drunk and they do a hideous job of reciting lines. Get real.

So. Back to Tombstone.
I am going to Tucson in October as a delegate for a Republican Women's convention. It's about an hour drive from Tombstone, and luckily it falls on the same weekend as the annual "Helldorado Days." It's when they commemorate the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. I am so there. I will most definitely be dressed as a saucy little cowgirl so I can pose for a picture in the saloon that Wyatt Earp owned. Yeeehaaaa!!!!

How To Trim a Cactus Plant

How do you trim a cactus? VERY CAREFULLY....

I just love cacti (notice I used the grammatically correct plural form of the word)
I can't get over how easy they are to maintain. And to plant. Really, all you have to do, is stick a cutting from a cactus plant into the ground and it will grow. I wish it were that easy with everything else in the yard.

Last spring I needed to lop off a few growths of the cactus I'd planted in the back yard, so I grabbed the tongs and a cardboard box. Nevermind that I was wearing flip flop sandals and a bikini. It was HOT outside. The first trim that I made fell straight onto my flip flopped foot. Steve walked around the corner just in time to see all the 2" long needles sticking out of my toes. There had to be about 20 of them. He quickly set into action by taking a photo with his cell phone and quipping, "I'm going to title this picture, "Redneck cactus trimming." Not cool. Not cool at all.
These particular cactus needles form an air vaccuum once they dig into your skin. Pull as hard as you want, they won't come out. You have to snip off the ends with a pair of very sharp scissors in order to break the air vaccuum and get the needle out of your skin. It hurts as much as it sounds like it does.

This year I decided to at least wear some good shoes, so I wouldn't have a replay of last year.

But I forgot gloves. Welding gloves....


At least it was only one needle.

I worked diligently, using my tongs to coordinate the trimming and disposing.



No more cactus trimming. Not this year, anyway.

Almost Famous

I sometimes host a local t.v. show. It's incredibly awful, but it's a start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxLYg5xULLg&feature=PlayList&p=CFD0D4BC5A6AB55B&index=4