Sorry I’ve been such a slacker with my blogging the last couple of weeks. I’ve been putting in more hours at work, our weather has cooled down, my house was dirty, I was tired, I had to go grocery shopping, my cat needed lots of hugs, my husband needed lots of hugs, I had to do the laundry and my cat needed more hugs, so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I was thinking that maybe if I do a post it might get me motivated to clean the house. Those dust bunnies are starting to rub against my legs for attention, why can’t they just stay in their corners. I thought they were afraid of the light.

I was tagged by a new blogger friend (caterpillar) to answer the following 10 questions, her friend had her do it.

1) Why did you create a blog

I took a few creative writing classes over the years and heard about blogging. I did a search online and found out how easy it was to create a “free page.” I found an old girlfriend from when I was in the Air Force (over 20 years ago) on facebook and found out that we were kindred spirits with our writing interest. We encouraged each other and I’ve been blogging steadily since February of this year.

I really get a kick out of seeing my thoughts down on paper. I’m finally (almost) over the insecurity of sharing my thoughts (sort of). I really enjoy writing funny posts but sometimes I show my soft underbelly. I get so excited when I get a comment or a new person starts following me. It can put me in a good mood for the whole day.

2) What kind of blogs do you follow

I’ve only really started following other blogs the last month or so. But so far I like following other woman bloggers who are just kind of stumbling through life, but have the ability to laugh at themselves. I really want to find some bloggers who have retired abroad, that prospect really appeals to my husband and I. I love the idea of that kind of adventure

3) Favorite make-up brand?

Clinque

4) Favorite Clothing Brand

Woolrich

5) Your indispensable makeup product?

Face moisturizer, I’m not real particular on a particular brand

6) Your favorite color

Blue, like the sky

7) Favorite perfume

Don’t wear it too much. Usually something citrus like or earthy tones- . I don’t like flowery smells.

8) Your favorite film

I like a movie that delivers good laughs and a good cry. I think Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorites, I just love the ending. I’m a sucker for a happy/sappy ending.

9) What country would you like to visit

I would love to go to Italy.

10) Write the last question and answer it yourself

Do you want to be published someday?

When I first started writing that’s what I thought about (constantly), how hard can that be. But now, not so much anymore. I’m just having fun with my blog, writing whatever thoughts come into my head, no pressure. It’s all good.

I was reading someone’s blog that I’ve been following and she was talking about a little “quirk” she has. I told her we all have them. So while I was getting ready for work I was thinking of a few little oddities about myself and thought that might make an amusing blog. So here goes…

1) When I tweeze my left eyebrow it makes me sneeze

2) I hate bright lights, most mornings I just take a shower with the closet light on. I like those muted yellow toned lights and candles around the house.

3) Now this one is going to sound crazy, but hear me out. Sometimes I wonder if spirits are trying to communicate with me. Many times I am woke out of a sound sleep hearing someone say my name in my ear. It used to scare the “crap” out of me, but not so much anymore

4) Along with number 3, I also wonder if I have telepathic abilities. So many times at work I’m thinking about something I want to say to a player (usually something they need to do/or not do) and within 5 – 10 seconds they do it without me ever having to say anything. Come on, that’s kind of weird, right?

5) I can only sleep on the right side of the bed.

6) I never leave the house without a bottle of water. But I do live in the desert so maybe that’s not so crazy.

7) When I’m at a party and I am bored with a conversation that someone is having with me I don’t really listen to them but I act like I do. I nod my head, say “oh really”, say mmmhhhh. But I’m actually not listening to a word they say. But they don’t know – so it’s not rude, right? Dale will always crack up from across the room when he sees me doing this. Sometimes he’ll come up and whisper in my ear – “you don’t even know what this guy is talking about.” Oh and I nod my head quite a bit also.

8) Sometimes when I travel I bring my pillow. “Baby needs her pillow.”

9) I hate when vegetables touch each other on my dinner plate

10) I use a razor when I need to do maintenance on that annoying hair on my upper lip. Before you say, “Oh no you didn’t,” Dr. Oz says its okay and its not true that it comes in thicker.

So, do I need to check myself into the psych ward? I just think that if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at. What a boring life it would be if we were all the same.

Now, I encourage you to post a comment and list a few of your “quirks.” Come-on don’t be a chicken… I dare you!

I’ve been trying to collect my thoughts on my experiences in Alaska since I returned home one week ago, where does the time go. I can’t believe I’ve been home that long already. A lyric to a song keeps popping into my head and really does sum up how Alaska made me feel – “I get a peaceful, easy feeling”, that says it all. I caught myself closing my eyes in Alaska when I was truly in awe of the beauty I saw, a few times I could feel my eyes tear up because I was truly overwhelmed. If the opportunity to visit Alaska ever presents itself – “GO”, you won’t regret it, and if you need some advice on cool things to see or do, call me.

I think we took every mode of transportation available (planes, trains, automobiles, helicopters, tour buses, cruise ships, ferries and on foot). My husband Dale is so crazy for trains. While he was mapping out our whole excursion I was a bit apprehensive about all these “train rides” that he was booking. And now, all I have to say is that, “I love trains”. I would actually consider a “train vacation” in the future. Alaska has some great “rails” to ride.

We had the best weather and were so fortunate to see the leaves showing off their beautiful fall colors. I’ve never seen anything like it and probably never will. It was like they waited for us and wanted to put on a private show. The trees, moose and bears definitely outnumber the residents. That was one of the things I loved best about Alaska, it was like the 20th century passed them by.

We stood at one large lake that back in the gold rush days there were 20,000 – 30,000 tents with people thinking they were going to hit it rich. Can you imagine what a harsh reality it would have been living through that first winter. I get cold just thinking about putting my hands in those cold streams sifting through a bunch of small rocks, day after day, week after week, year after year and the despair most of these people must have felt.

I saw so many beautiful sunsets; one at Denali Park was so crazy/beautiful, it didn’t even look real. I kept saying it looks like the sky is on fire. Then we were rewarded the next day with a clear day and we actually could see all of Mt. McKinley in its glory, it’s the tallest peak in North America. I think only 2% of the people actually see it on a clear day, it’s usually clouded over, but I saw it, how lucky was I? We kept saying every day was better than the last; I had to almost pinch myself.

I landed on a glacier twice, once in a small plane and once in a helicopter. I lay on my stomach on one glacier and drank from the bluest, clearest, coldest stream of water you’ve ever seen. My god that water was so cold it hurt my throat. Who gets to do stuff like that? I did.

I can’t wait to get some of our pictures developed. I will choose a few to keep near where I do my writing. I will put my headset on, listen to some Jackson Browne or Eagles and remember that peaceful, easy feeling I felt in Alaska and the words will begin to flow…

Many thanks to my mother-in-law Betty who made this trip possible, words cannot express my sincere gratitude.

I wasn’t even going to blog about our rafting trip to Laughlin, but some funny “shit” did happen along the way so I think I must share.

First off, whenever Dale and I try to get out of town, it’s exhausting to say the least, the whole “preparation thing”, is such a drag. His line is and has always been, “I knew we weren’t ready to go, we should have been ready to go last night”. He always thinks he’s missing out on “having fun”. “I never have any fun”. Well I say having fun is “over-rated”.

So we are frantically “over packing” for our trip, who doesn’t do that, right? It’s Thursday night and we begin packing the van and our boat that we will trailer down to the river the next day. Dale’s life is sometimes like a “Charlie Brown” episode that keeps running over and over, “when it rains it pours”. I am making multiple trips into the garage gathering up “more shit” that he thinks we need to bring. I go out there multiple times and on my third trip I notice that our hot water heater has exploded. There is water shooting out of the top and running down the sides, the floor is beginning to fill up with water. I’m running around the garage saying “shit, shit, shit”, and moving boxes trying to get to the main water shutoff valve before the whole garage floods. In my panic I also went around the front yard and turned of my sprinkler system, I don’t know why. I did have some crispy plants when we got home, that kind of sucked!

I don’t even want to tell Dale about the water heater. So in a calm tone I go into his office and say, “the hot water heater blew”. “Jesus Christ”, the one time I want to get out of town, it’s always something! That’s his other “coin phrase”. For some reason when he gets in these “moods” it always kind of amuses me. I have to really keep a check on letting the laughter bubble out, but the “rain cloud” over his head just makes me laugh. It is almost like someone upstairs says, “lets “f” with him”, because his reaction cracks them up to. I usually get him to laugh in these “stressful situations” by saying, its another episode for our sitcom.

We buy a new water heater that we will install when we return back from our trip, that disaster is averted.

So we are driving down to Laughlin, it’s roughly a 1 ½ hour drive. We have had so much work done on this van, but we still don’t trust it. We are just coming to the crest of the last hill, and I say, “well the van actually did okay on this trip”. Five minutes later the van totally dies, so now we are stuck on the side of this “big hill”. “Jesus Christ, it always something” I hear Dale say. Again I can’t look at him, because he will see the smirk on my face and not be amused. “How can this shit always happen to me”, he says. It does seem like misfortunes do tend to “cling to him”.

We get the van going, have fun on our trip, well other than having two of our friends get caught in the current and drift downstream. Don’t worry we found them, unharmed. We made it home in one piece. We were absolutely exhausted, had to drag everything inside that we took. I told Dale, “having fun isn’t all its cracked up to be, is it?”

I woke up feeling a bit anxious this morning feeling our long vacation is just around the corner and I have so much to do. What suitcase should I bring? Do I want to bring my heavy ski jacket that makes me look like a big fat puffy marshmallow, its warm but I look like the Goodyear blimp in it. I like my brown vest but will it be warm enough? What bills can I pay before we leave? What do I need to put on my list for my mother who is staying here while were gone? Who sells inexpensive long underwear? Should I order those fur lined crock shoes? These are just some of the things rolling around in my head. God, vacations are supposed to be relaxing but the preparation sure isn’t. Maybe I should not have had such a large coffee this morning. I’m pinging off the walls.

I was just going to send out a mass email to the ladies telling them about a company I heard about that has really cute bathing suits, but then I thought I’ve got a few things to say about that particular subject.

Why is it that the bathing suits that are really comfortable, you know the ones that your ass cheeks are securely covered, your back fat isn’t showing through the wrinkles and half of your boobs aren’t hanging out of the top always seem to resemble the ones that our grandmothers wore. Who designs these things anyhow? That’s what I want to know. Don’t they know that the average woman is a size 14. We want something cool like the younger crowd but unfortunately we’ve got a little more flesh on our bones.

I find shopping for a bathing suit one of the most depressing things “ever”. I can be in a happy place, feeling cute and secure with myself but a few hours after the shopping trip begins I just want to crawl into a hole. First off, you’re always too pale, the lights are to bright in the dressing rooms and those mirrors make me look fat. What’s up with the trick mirrors anyhow, do they think we find that amusing. Well I for one don’t. Oh and then there’s always some teenie boppers modeling their suits, “this size 4 is way to big on me”, one is bound to say. I can feel myself feeling hatred for them, LOL.

I always need to get a bigger size to harness my large “breastesses”. I know that’s not a real word but it always makes me laugh. I urge you to add this to your vocabulary if you’re a well endowed girl, its just a funny word, use it, embrace it, enjoy it.

And why do all the plus sizes always have large floral patterns, enter Granny once again.

And then there are those little skirts that I know I always feel more secure in. Sorry ladies those make us look like Gramma’s too. And they always seem to make those skirts too short especially on the back side. There is always the chance that an ass cheek might make an appearance. That’s always something to look forward to, yeah right!

Well after much rambling the site with really cute swim suits is, “Trunketts.com. Instead of the skirts they have really cute swim trunks. I might get ones with leopard prints. MEOW!!!!!