Really? Sandy?

Oct. 26, 2012

I was watching my tennis team beat up on Golden Ocala and at the same time watching the skies. We were seeing the outskirts of hurricane Sandy. One minute it would be completely overcast, the next minute sunny, then a mix of high and low clouds. We just got a little bit of rain, but they say the northeast is going to get pounded. Stay safe!

Hurricane Sandy?! Bah! It makes me think of Little Orphan Annie's dog, and who could ever imagine Sandy could hurt anyone? They could have gone with: Sandro, Sandoval, Santino, San Dimas High School Football Rules!

Ice Ice Coffee

Oct. 25, 2012

Mike had this kind of coffee at the Google office in Kirkland and loved it, so he bought this contraption. You put very finely ground coffee beans in that middle part and let the ice water drip through it over the course of hours. This method doesn't leech out as much caffeine as hot brewing and it's not as bitter-tasting.

This also reminds me of Hawkeye's still in M*A*S*H.

Hmm, while looking for an online picture of the still, I found this :)  This looks awesome! Now I know what to go see next time I'm in Kansas and looking for something to do.

Practice Safe Banking

Oct. 24, 2012

Seth really wants to open this door some day

Slammin' Sammy

Oct. 23, 2012

We ate at Beef O'Brady's for dinner and I saw this hanging on their wall. I will always be a Cubs fan, but I wish Sosa didn't have the taint of steroid usage.

I had lost my obsession with baseball when the players went on strike for the gazillionth time in 1994. I was peripherally aware in 1998 that Sammy Sosa was in the home run race with Mark McGwire, and I did see him play at some point--went to a Giants/Cubs game with cousin Jake (hi Jake!). 

My favorite Cub is still Ryne Sandberg :)

Dentist

Oct. 22, 2012

Time for my next dental cleaning :D I like the view out of their window. I might be stressed out but at least I have nice trees and shrubbery at which to look.

Stepping Up

Oct. 21, 2012

I was having a hard time getting into our new shower. It's a big step up into it, so Mike made me a nice matching step.

It works perfectly and looks great :)

Death Say Hi

Oct. 20, 2012

After the Gator game (they demolished South Carolina 44-11) I was so hot I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Some houses had Halloween decorations up and this was my favorite:

No Cows

Oct. 19, 2012

I drive past this yard all the time. Sometimes their cows are near the street, and I've always thought they were very picturesque. A few days ago I was seriously thinking of parking nearby and walking over to photograph the cows, but the grass was so high I didn't want to get eaten up by bugs. As I was driving past, I saw the owner riding out on his mower to cut the grass :) 

So, I decided this day was the day. I parked in one of the closest neighborhoods and walked down. Unfortunately the cows were not being cooperative and were far away from the street. I liked the pumpkin decorations and the flags though, so I got some shots of those. You can kind of see the cows in the background.

USA! (Sweden)

Doctor Who

Oct. 18, 2012

Seth and I went to dinner at Main Street Pizza tonight. These sheets they have for kids to color in always make me think the chefs are some eerie Doctor Who villains--creepy, faceless, normally harmless but at the same time ominous.

A Slanted View

Oct. 17, 2012

I show up early to practice handbells on Wed. nights. After a couple of hours my back needs a rest, so I lie down on one of the pews for a few minutes. This is an angle at which I don't normally see the church :)

It's getting intense for the handbell choir. The big Christmas pageant is approaching. We've already been practicing one of the most difficult pieces since day 1 of rehearsals, and we've chosen two more. I hear rumors that there are more to come. Another issue is we still play twice before the pageant, and at least one of those pieces is difficult as well. I'm having fun though, and it's good to be participating in more things at church.

Speaking of the pageant, it's called the Boar's Head Festival and this will be the 10th and final year First Lutheran will be performing it. So if you've thought about going in the past but never made it, this is the year! I'll post dates and times soon.

Paynes Prairie Sunrise

Oct. 16, 2012

I had to drive Mike to the airport early. When we drove home from Tampa the other day we passed that little walkway on 441 that juts out over the prairie and I thought it would be cool to watch the sun rise as long as I was up and about.

Unfortunately I forgot to account for the fact that the sun doesn't come up until 7:15 or so, and I dropped Mike off at the airport around 5:20. Well, silly me, I parked in the turnout and read until the sun rose. It was as gorgeous as I anticipated :)

Google Maps

Oct. 15, 2012

I'm on a photograph-shirts kick it seems. I was just thinking with all the hoopla about how bad Apple maps are, my Google map shirt is always right :)

Sittin On the Dock of the Bay...almost

Oct. 14, 2012

Sunday morning low tide. 

It's a good thing the tide was higher yesterday when the guys were getting in and out of the canoe. Our friends don't have a dock like their neighbors' do. They just have the cement wall with a drop into the water.

It's a beautiful place though and they like hearing the fish jumping in the water. 

Row Row Row Your Boat

Oct. 13, 2012

Our friends live on a canal that connects to Tampa Bay. The guys all piled into John's canoe and paddled off into the great blue sea.

They made it back with all hands :)

Cartistry

Oct. 12, 2012

Mike and I drove down to Tampa to visit our friends John and Carolyn. I saw this car in the parking lot of the Chik-fil-A a health-food store (in case Charles is reading this ;) ), in Ocala.

This has got to be one of the most distinctive cars I've ever seen.

Cap and Gown

Oct. 11, 2012

10-11-12 :) We spent today mostly worrying about Seth having pain or difficulty with his new braces but it was in vain. He seems to be doing really well, though trying to figure out how to eat certain things. I'm cooking and/or buying lots of soft things. After a late night of watching the VP debate and post-debate commentary I lamely took a photo of Seth's graduation cap and gown order packet. Wow! It's happening so fast!

Brace Yourself

Oct. 10, 2012

Seth asked to get braces, and today was the day! He says he was gripping the armrests so tightly because he was angled downward and was slipping.

He never had any pain with them--phew! Hopefully that keeps up.

Quarters

Oct. 9, 2012

I think I've already mentioned my quarter collecting. I was happy to come across this little bugger at Starbucks today. I'll have to double check but I think I now have all the territories. "America the Beautiful"(national parks), I'm watching for you...

I didn't know the Marianas were broken up into different territories. Ya learn something new everyday :)

LoSeU

Oct. 8, 2012

Walking through the parking lot at the health club I saw these discarded, muddy mardi gras beads. It seemed a perfect metaphor for LSU losing to the Gators over the weekend ;)

Invested

Oct. 7, 2012

The handbell choir played this morning. We wore tux shirts and these nice red vests--but boy was it hot! I changed into comfortable clothes as soon as I could.

Yeah, bow tie and all

Straight Shooters

Oct. 6, 2012

I'm so glad I got an announcement about the Jr. Naval ROTC's competition at EHS this year. I stumbled across the competition last year while wandering around the Eastside campus. At that time I had just finished watching the show "Top Shot" on Netflix--who knew we had our own version of it town? :)

These kids were here for the first time. I think they said they were from Evans High School.

Their instructor was a really nice man who is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He delivered the mail to the guys fighting out in the wilderness, which involved driving on roads they weren't sure were clear of IEDs--talk about stressful driving. Mike decided to come with me at the last minute and he was glad he did after meeting this guy.

Old Yeller

Oct. 5, 2012

I got another kick in the pants to get caught up again on this blog.

Ok, who knew this shirt of mine would become so political?! :)

Awww Ya Make Me Wanna Shoop

Oct. 4, 2012

It's Book Club day again at Claudia's house. She sets the prettiest table :)

We read Sandra Brown's _Rainwater_. I thought I'd hate it because I know she's a romance author. This one was more of an historical novel though--it takes place in Texas in 1934 during the Dust Bowl--and I liked it for the most part.

Title tie-in: Salt-n-Pepa "Shoop"

Purple (Pink?) Passion

Oct. 3, 2012

Walking around Tioga Wed. night, I saw again these awesome planters outside Sabore. I'm not sure why I like them so much--I'd never pick them for my own place--but they catch my eye every time I'm in Tioga.

Unfortune Cookie

Oct. 2, 2012

We had take-out from China Bowl for dinner. Here was my "fortune":

Not really a fortune, more of a "wisdom cookie"

Whenever I see China Bowl, the song "China Grove" goes through my mind :)

Talkin' 'bout the China Bowl, whoa whoa whoa.

I'm sure that's what they had in mind when they named it ;)

Tennis Anyone? Not So Much

Oct. 1, 2012

I headed back to JTC to try to watch some more tennis, but I couldn't get there until the afternoon and by then the rain had started and wasn't letting up at all. Hopefully it'll be dry enough to get the tournament finished by the end of the week.