Category Archives: Randomness

Musings from Madrid.

IMG_0034After my last accidental photo post (mobile WordPress and I don’t get along so well), I thought I would report some observations from Madrid as I make my way back to the states.

Some highlights from an Americano after a full week in Madrid:

Sounds of motorcycles, mopeds, horns and sirens can actually be soothing if you give it a minute.

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7 out of 10 people on the streets seem to smoke, anywhere.

Scarves can make any outfit fashionable. Especially in Madrid. But then Madrilènes could make trash bag dresses look cool.

The architecture is magnificent, with myriad towering steeples, daunting domes and intricate corbels – everywhere..

The eating schedule is a challenge to get the hang of. However if you say ‘tapa,’ you can be fed any time.

Don’t even think about ordering a martini in Madrid, unless you’re at an Americanized hotel bar. And what’s the fun in that anyway.

Remixes of pop American music from the seventies and eighties streamed throughout retail stores and one taxi ride treated me with Staying Alive by the Bee Gees. I wondered if they had an American flag button on the dashboard and tapped it when they saw us coming.

Politely attempting to speak the native tongue often is rewarded with a gracious welcome. Calm politeness can get you far in any city.

Drinking, of beer and wine especially, takes place all day. Seems to be five o’clock all the time. In most places beer choices were ‘large or small’ rather than our overkill assortment of brewery concoctions.

Servers never walk away from your restaurant table with your credit card, instead bringing a device to the table, which makes much more sense when it comes to security.

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If you can figure out the metro (subway) on your own as I did, high-five yourself. It’s a maze down there that makes Manhattan subways look like a walk to your mailbox.

Beautiful iron balconies, balconies and more balconies everywhere you look.

Old Madrid is my favorite area, overflowing with rich history at every turn.

Every door I pass on the street in Old Madrid is a masterpiece in and of itself.

Everyone on the streets looks like they put some thought into what they are wearing — even the joggers.

Flamenco dancing. Now I totally get it. Sexy, emotional and heart pounding.  Parts made me cry.  Wow.

Bull fights. Couldn’t do it. I know its tradition, but the thought of watching eight bulls die brutally and some horses die as collateral damage for human entertainment weakened my knees and hurt my heart.

20130518-182658.jpgThe city is beautifully clean and lush.

Dog breeds of popular choice on the streets are Bulldogs and Yorkies.

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Ham (jambon) is to Madrid what pizza is to New York and hot dogs are to Chicago.

And there you have it, for now.

Ps: I’m announcing a caption writing contest for that last random photo post I did of a Ferrari in traffic in Madrid (contest jokingly suggested by one of my readers). Submit yours as a comment on that last post and the caption that makes me laugh the most wins an exciting prize, or at least gets a public pat on the back. Honorable mentions will be listed as well.

Many cooler pics to come. Madrid was a wonderful experience and opportunity.

Gracias.

Feeling lucky?

morning

I snapped this as I was leaving the school parking lot this morning. I’m lucky this is my view every weekday as I drive away from the school.  The others waiting to pull out of the lot behind me are not so lucky.

I’m feeling lucky.  Lucky, that is, that I discovered WordPress and to be part of the WordPress family.  (As well as to have stolen this shot of the sun peeking out of the clouds this morning.)

As I’ve told many, I feel truly grateful to have such a wonderful group of bloggers out there who are so very supportive and kind.  It really is like having another family out there.  Fellow bloggers who don’t judge or compete, instead offering kind words of encouragement and support.  I truly thank you.

I’ve been nominated for the WordPress Family Award by Sonel, writer of  Sonel’s Corner (I get to experience Hartbeespoortdam, South Africa and wonderful photos through her blog), and Kira, writer of Wrestling Life, who writes some terrific poems and is also part of the Rome Construction Crew organized by Green Embers, and Let’s Talk About Family who is a wise and caring fellow soldier in this parental Alzheimer’s battle.

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Thank you so much for nominating me. I am honored to be considered part of your WordPress Family.

The founder of the The WordPress Family Award established the award because they felt that the WordPress family had taken them in and showed them love and care like a family, always there for them.  Even though we may never meet in person. I’m continuously impressed by how cool of a concept this blogging thing is.

Here are the rules to accept the WordPress Family Award:
1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate 10 bloggers who’ve had an impact on your WordPress experience
4. Let them know you have awarded them
5. That is it. Just please pick 10 bloggers that have taken you in, and spread the love.

This is the part I don’t like – having to narrow down just ten bloggers who have enriched my blogging experience in these short nine months.  There are so many! Please know that ALL of my readers and fellow bloggers enrich my blogging experience in a positive way each day, and for that I am grateful to each of you.

So here are ten of you who I feel like I could easily hang out at Starbucks with even though I’ve never met you (hoping that doesn’t creep you out).  Some of you have been with me since the early days last fall, and some just over these last few months.  All of you provide perspectives on life that make me breathe more deeply, or smile, or laugh, cry or think.

Free Penny Press

Nature Restores Me

Transformed by the Journey

Diane Gray

Lame Adventures

Sonel’s Corner

Wrestling Life

Let’s Talk About Family

Angie Inspired

Ambling and Rambling 

There are so many more that this list could go on and on.  Thank you all!

What do you feel lucky about today?

Note to self: Shut your mouth.

mouthSo, my sixteen year old son got his first speeding ticket.

Before you judge, know that he was reprimanded sufficiently and that he will be paying the fine.  And that the ticket was reduced to a defective vehicle violation.

He also beat himself up about it more than sufficiently, as he was clearly upset and remorseful. Days later, as his remorse continued, I decided that the best way to make him feel better about the whole thing would be to begin recounting my litany of violations and mistakes with regard to automobiles when I was young.  I was on a roll and my stories kept getting better and better.

As the words rushed out of my mouth at full speed, MacGyver looked at me puzzled, as if wondering why I thought this was a good idea. But I didn’t get the hint.

Then at some point, thank goodness, I realized that I needed to shut my mouth.  But … as it is on many occasions … it was too late.  I have only my lack of caffeine that morning to blame for this lapse in judgement.  Duh.

Ever realized you needed to shut your mouth when it was too late?

Really, it’s not you, it’s me…

snowYes snow, you’re beautiful …  and the way you fall quietly sometimes calms me like no other …  but I’m over you.

These pics are from the last two days, then we got a reprieve most of yesterday, and now it has started again.  And it’s coming down aplenty outside my window right now.

Meanwhile my friends elsewhere are posting wonderful pics of their beautiful Redbud trees and colorful flowers on Facebook which reminds me of how fresh and new Spring  is going to feel.  And even though I think I have really become a Colorado girl at heart,  I’m ready to end this relationship, or at least take a break.

However … if this is my biggest problem today (which is sort of, kind of is … depending on how you look at it) … then I’m doing pretty good.

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Can YOUR dog empty the dishwasher in 5 seconds flat?

monkeydogfeatIt was a usual exciting Saturday morning and I was upstairs folding laundry as I drank my coffee.  Suddenly I heard a commotion so loud that I was sure that all of my kitchen cabinets had fallen from our kitchen walls.

Apparently I left the dishwasher door open while I was upstairs. And Monkey Dog was hungry.

Based on the evidence shown here in Exhibit A, I’m speculating that Monkey Dog decided to crawl into the dishwasher with the dirty dishes (I promise we do feed her).  From there, all I can hypothesize (based on the aftermath) is that perhaps her collar became hooked on a rack which startled her, prompting her to jump back and create enough momentum to launch the wheeled dish rack across the kitchen?

As you can see, the lower dishwasher rack  ended up several feet away from the dishwasher, at an angle no less.

Amazingly, only three plates were broken and I was able to repair the dishwasher rack, since the wheels literally came off. And Monkey Dog was unharmed.

Let the records show that Monkey Dog is not a Great Dane, but rather a “mini” Golden Doodle, weighing just 25 pounds. And, as I’ve written about before, she keeps her retractable, opposable thumbs hidden until we leave her in the kitchen alone. (Which is why we’ve decided it’s time to install a 24/7 Monkey Dog Kitchen Cam.)Piper

Not surprisingly, she was afraid to go near the dishwasher for the rest of the day.

Can your dog unload the dishwasher that fast?

Related posts:

https://lifeonwry.com/2013/01/28/monkey-dog-does-the-bacon-boogie/

https://lifeonwry.com/2012/08/27/iron-stomach-part-352-gratitude-experiment-continues-day-14/

Driving through a postcard everyday. Caution: Cheese ahead.

4run front copycheese signAs cheesy as it sounds, and maybe it’s because I’m not a Colorado native, I must say that I appreciate this state’s absolute beauty and splendor every single day.

This state has placed nature squarely in front of my face, giving my soul a little jump start each time I stop to notice.

Here are a few shots over the last few weeks from my life as I drive through postcards.

And I don’t even live on the side of the town with the views…

 

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Across from school drop-off yesterday.

Deer grazing in park on way to Mom’s house yesterday.

View as I cross over the dam to go to Mom's.

View as I cross over the dam to go to Mom’s.

On the long way home afteer school as sun is coming up. (previous post about Long Way Home: https://lifeonwry.com/2012/09/19/the-long-way-home-gratitude-experiment-day-35/)

On the long way home after school drop-off yesterday. (previous post about Long Way Home: https://lifeonwry.com/2012/09/19/the-long-way-home-gratitude-experiment-day-35/) I love the long way home.

On way to school a week or so ago.

On way to school a week or so ago.

In the mountains last week.

In the mountains last week.

One-year old babies at the ranch last week.

One-year old babies at the ranch last week.

View from my bathroom last week. For real.

View from toilet last week in mountains. For real.

Out of car window last week.

Out of car window last week.

My co-pilot.

My photography co-pilot on a bad hair day.

Postcards can be found wherever we live, if we keep our eyes open. Ever stop and notice?

A big slice of gratitude with a side of nature.

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I’m feeling quite lucky to have so many reasons to be grateful today.

I just realized that not too long ago my little ol’ blog reached over 10,000 views!  Thank you dear followers for being with me on this journey as I figure out life (Do we ever really figure it out?).  You are the reason for this blog’s success.

I’m also truly grateful to have had the opportunity to experience one of the most beautiful places on earth over the weekend at a guest horse ranch in the mountains.  Nothing like nature and animals, along with a lack of cell service, email and television to help you recharge.

I’ve also been remiss in formally thanking some wonderful  fellow bloggers out there who have nominated me for two awards. I am always honored and humbled to be celebrated by fellow writers out there.

Special thanks to Food Flavor Fascination for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blog Award and Glad to Be Alive  and Dressed to Quill  for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award.  I’m nominating them today for whichever of these awards they don’t already have. These are all great blogs you should check out, by the way.

Here are the rules: 1.  Copy and place the award in your post.  2.  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.  3.  Tell 7 things about yourself. 4.  Nominate 15 fellow bloggers and let them know.

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Now for seven things about myself which you don’t already know (I’m afraid there may not be much left to tell since my blog is quite often a large window into a chunk of my soul, so forgive me if I repeat myself.)

1.  I really can’t stand the overuse of exclamation marks.  More than one at any time seems way too overboard to be sincere.

2. I have almost completely quit drinking diet coke.  This is huge for me.

3. I will probably never quit drinking coffee or martinis.  If I owned two horses I would name them Folgers and Hendricks.

4. The smell of horses and even what they leave behind (pun sort of intended) soothes my soul, as does the gentle sway of their walk with me in the saddle and way my heart  skips in a canter.

5. The velvety soft tip of a horse’s nose is one of my favorite things to feel.  I had a few nibble on my hands this weekend when they were looking for treats as I did this.

6. I am quite possibly more saddle sore today than I have ever been.  Age is a funny thing.alhorses

7.  I am grateful as all-get-out (Okie term) to be this saddle sore and for the fact that MacGyver rode horses with me and now just might be a convert.

Next, there are so many blogs that I enjoy, but I have to narrow it down to 15 bloggers to nominate for these awards (choose which award you would like because you all inspire me and your blog is versatile or I wouldn’t be following it).   Forgive me if you have already received these awards.  There are also many blogs not listed here that I love to follow but may have already given a shout-out too.

Each of these blogs, and many others, inspires me, refreshes me or makes me laugh so hard that I spit out my Folgers. And often they give me a necessary kick-in-the- pants perspective-check right when I need it.

Lifestyle Tea

Fresh Hues

Cancer Killing Recipe

Amy Unjaded

Alzheimer’s Speaks

Enchanted Seashells – Confessions from a Tugboat Captain’s Wife

The Savvy Senorita

Lady Romp

Cresting the Words

Susie Lindau’s Wold Ride

Food Flavor Fascination

Glad to Be Alive 

Dressed to Quill

Diane Gray author

Keeping the Glass Half Full

Thank you for reading.  What are you grateful for right now?  Gratitude truly rocks, but it often requires awareness, practice, and sometimes a sore bum.

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Making a Splash of a Different Kind. PS: I take back every blonde joke I ever wanted to make about Daryl Hannah.

Daryl Hannah TransamAs MacGyver tells me when I get riled up about how unrealistic movies can be, “Honey, it’s only a movie,” I should know better. But back in the day, most movies I saw Daryl Hannah in depicted her in a way that did not make me think of her as a potentially intelligent and interesting person. I fell for her movie typecast, and she in turn raked in some paychecks with that role she was so good at playing.

Today I heard her in an interview on XM radio discussing her new movie project, “Greedy Lying Bastards,” which she produced.  I haven’t seen it yet, so I’m not promoting it.  But I liked listening to her and I was pleasantly surprised. (For those of you who want to quit reading now, you can skip to the best part of this post at the end – look for the asterisks.)

But before you quit reading, know that I am not an over the top liberal.  But I am open minded and I do believe that every action has a reaction.  And there is no way that we can keep increasing our pollution and not expect any consequences. (I did recently trade in my beast of an SUV for a smarter version with much better gas mileage  –  but that’s for selfish reasons to boot.)

I know some of you will automatically be offended by the name of this movie alone and therefore never see it, which makes me question the naming because it would seem to defeat the purpose of getting people to open their minds to at least learning other views of what’s going on with our environment. And to consider why it might seem logical that efforts to change how we consume energy might be thwarted by those whose pocket book would be affected negatively by such change.  To me that makes sense, as does having an open mind to this concept – and to opposing concepts, quite frankly.

(The rest of you who have no problem with the name and are instead checking to see when it comes out and where — it opens nationally March 8.)

Lest I get all political, let me just wrap up by saying  that the best part of listening to that interview was to learn that Daryl practices what she preaches, she makes good practical sense and is she is realistic when she discusses the need to be aware of simply taking care of the world we live in a little better.

*******But the best of all….. I learned that Daryl Hannah owns and drives that TransAm she drove in Kill Bill.  She’s had it converted so that it runs on pure ethanol.  I wonder if she keeps her eye patch in the glove box?

Facial Fuzz Friday

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

My friend who I have known since grade school called me in horror yesterday, laughing and shrieking at the same time as I picked up the phone.

She had just been to her regular aesthetician for a quick eye brow shaping when the woman explained to her that it was time for a chin wax.  She was horrified.

After our call, I opened the community paper to a lengthy article by a regular humor columnist about midlife facial hair and her disastrous experiences with facial microplaning after her daughter told her that her face was furry like their puppy.

And then there’s Little Red Riding Hood’s  “fu manchu”  beard, as  I call it.  Mom’s Alzheimer’s is in full-on fast forward motion (so much so that it’s been hard for me to even think about writing about it lately) and I can hardly bear the frightened look she gives me when I come at her with the scissors to trim her little grouping of silver chin hair.  She would be mortified if she realized, but I’m not sure terrified is much better at this point.  Trust me, I question this judgement call for reasons I’ll explain later.

At my request, MacGyver installed a lovely 5000- power lighted magnification (I’m exaggerating a bit) cosmetic mirror in my bathroom.  And I’m telling you, if I catch my reflection too early in the morning at that strength, I’m convinced Sasquatch is in my bathroom.  I’m tempted to rip that puppy back off the wall, but it might hurt MacGyver’s feelings.

This midlife physical change thing baffles me.  And to be coincidentally timed right as we lose our near vision … so that we can’t even notice our facial fuzz and fur?  Now that’s just cruel.

I’ll add this post to my vanity diaries. I know I’m lucky to even have hair and to be alive to notice.

But I’m even luckier to have close friends who have sworn to me in blood that if I end up not realizing that I have fu manchu facial hair at some point one day, they will chase me down with tweezers in hand, no matter what.

Out of the Blue …

swirlMade it out of the blue and the brown … not a drop of brown or blue paint can be found on this latest funky painting.

As far as being out of the blue … ever have ideas come to you out of the blue?

My best ideas for writing usually come to me in the shower.  And therein lies the problem, as I am usually far away from my computer or notepad and clearly soaking wet. And then there’s something about stepping over that shower threshold after a shower that sometimes wipes my memory bank clean.

I decided to turn to my trusty Amazon in search of a solution — or of the discovery that a solution didn’t exist and my goldmine of an invention (a waterproof notepad) awaited.  Not surprisingly, I  found a nifty waterproof notepad and pencil set which sticks onto the shower wall so that I can capture ideas before they are lost. It’s absolutely genius.  I love it.

Where to you get your best ideas?  Any tricks for remembering them later?aquanote

Tell me your secrets.

peptoI’ve been blocked with my writing for the last week, so I’m trying something different today. Also, since my parents are coming this week to stay with my kids while we are away, a few of these things have been on my mind as I assess the areas of my house that might frighten outsiders.

Below are some random household and life challenges for which I would love any ideas or secret tips. How do you:

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1. Keep your medicine cabinet looking somewhat organized? (Mine is actually pretty organized by type but still looks like a nightmare.)

2. Clean and store vegetable and fruit and keep them visible enough to remember to eat them before they go bad? (Do you clean them before you put in fridge or clean as you eat them?)

3. Maintain a neat and orderly physical desktop while not forgetting about papers requiring action? (I am a stacker but the visual chaos unnerves me at the same time.  There has to be a happy medium.)

4. Keep the incoming mail/ junky area in your kitchen organized?

5. Remember to take your eco-friendly fabric grocery bags with you into the store?  I’ve tried keeping in the car, on hooks inside my laundry room door where I can see them, all to no avail.  Every time I get to the register I could have had a V8  and realize that I forgot my bags once again (as the checker and bagger shoot me looks of disdain and the plastic bags begin to rustle).bag

6. Unblock your writing (when you’re not feeling inspired and you’re worried you’ve forgotten how to write)?

7. Drink more water?  (I’m surprised I function with as little H2O as I consume).

8. Exercise regularly with no excuses?  (I go through bouts of great routine exercise but then when I fall off the rails, why is it so hard to get back at it?  Need ideas.)

9. Make yourself write on a regular basis? (The public challenges I proclaim (like the 100 day gratitude experiment) have worked for me.  But how many challenges can one really do?)

10. Find easy recipes.  Anyone have a website or app they love?