Here We Go Again....

Welcome to the last Saturday Centus of 2011! Miss Jenny from Jenny Matlock, Off On My Tangent, has given us an assignment to write about New Year resolutions and our experiences with them. We can use 102 words (with two of those words being Resolution! Schmezolution!) in any writing form we choose.


I cannot remember the last resolution that I made, much less, kept! Therefore, let me share with you the best of them that I can recall.

1. I resolve to …..

2. I resolve to ….

3. I resolve to …


Okay, that went well. Let's see what happens when I pour a tiny glass "Bob Mondavi" for inspiration!


1. I reshhholve to spend an hour each daee writing sonthin.

2. I ressslolveh to stay ghie4drated wit Bob while wrrrritiiig each dayeeeee.

3. I reeeelsllovoe to ........................................................ zzzzzzzzzzz.


Happee now..? I have nothing more for Resoluuuution! Schmezooooolitun!


HAPPY NEW YEAR!


I really only have one resolution that I make each day when I awake. It's something I learned as a Girl Scout many millenia ago: "I will try to do my best."

Please stop by Jenny's hood and see many other inspirational stories! Just click on the logo below and you'll be at the party!

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday Centus - Stop the Madness!

It's Saturday Centus Time! For those of us older than dirt...do you remember the Howdy Doody Show? Well....? Jenny, over at Off on My Tangent, gives us an idea, and then we write, write, write.... The prompt this week is "It doesn't have to be like this." We must not write more than 107 words (which includes the prompt) and Jenny is graciously allowing a picture this time. It took some deep thinking for me to come up with something that is so blatantly visible, but heck, it's only a story!


Every day is the same. She gets up, eats, and is on her way. When she arrives at work, she buys a muffin and Latte from the shop downstairs. At 8:00am, she wonders what to have for a snack.

Nine o’clock arrives and it’s time for a banana and juice. By 10:30am, she begins to think about lunch.

“What shall I eat today?” she asks herself. “If I walk to the deli, I can have chips with my sandwich, and save the cookie for later.” Her obsession with food was slowly killing her.

“It doesn’t have to be like this” the voice said. “Stop the madness, now!”


For some, it is a daily struggle, and some feel that they live one hour at a time. Thanks for stopping by. Please chomp your way over to Jenny's crib and read some fine literary spectacles by a few of my favorite blogger buds. Just click on the typewrite below.

Have a great week!

Saturday Centus - Sixteen...Dang!

Welcome to Saturday Centus, sponsored by Jenny Matlock, of Off on My Tangent. Our fearless headmistress has me feeling just a little uneasy at this point. Our assignment this week is to write about ourselves when we were 16 years old. What is going on? Is she doing that mid-life thing where 40 year old men climb mountains and then jump off of them? Or when women pull out that high school cheerleader uniform and actually think they are going to fit in it? Lord, help us all! This could be me today! The kicker, my friends, as that we may only use 16 words. Well, you all know what a chatty Kathy I am, so I had to actually put on that cheerleader uniform so that I could be motivated. Of course it didn't work! I've been crying my eyes out for the last two hours! Thankfully, we get to use a picture. So, after cruising through the family pics, I came up with the nerdy 16-year old picture. Here is my offering. Maybe some of you can relate to it...


When I was 16, I was in love… with boys… who played sports… any dang sport.

Thanks for stopping by this beautiful day. Click on Jenny's logo below and see what some of my blog buds have written!

Meet Me at The Fair - Craft, That Is!

Welcome to Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City, where many of her devoted followers send in pictures and fascinating info about what is going on where they live.

Where I live in the Midwest, craft fairs are big business for local crafters, artists, photographers and specialized bakers and cooks! The fairs begin in October and are held into the beginning of December.

There is something for everyone from home décor to jewelry and from children’s items to local sports teams (like the Cardinals…) And, the smells…oh, don’t get me started! Just outside of the main entrance is the Kettle Korn booth! One whiff of that and your taste buds are crying out to be fed, even if you just ate!


I went to such a Craft Fair yesterday, at one of our local high schools, Parkway Central. The organization of the whole event was incredible. There were parking attendants (no, not valet) and security everywhere in case one lost their way, and they were all students from the school. Many of the booths were school organizations so when you bought something as a gift (or a gift to yourself) you were also helping the school to earn needed funds.



My favorite booth was Diaper Dream Cakes. I’ve posted a few examples of them throughout this post. The artist/crafter is a delightful woman, Debbie Mazzuca, who is from the area. She makes her cakes out of baby items that cover all you could ever want for a new baby. You must visit her web site to see all of the cakes in her repertory. She will even customize the cakes for you. The website is www.diaperdreamcakes.net. Please check it out for some really fun gifts for a shower or new baby. I visited a few other “diaper cake” sites, but they just didn’t come close to Debbie’s cakes!




I’m from St. Louis, MO. Welcome to my city!

This post is part of Unknown Mami’s “Sundays in My City” weekly meme. Please click on her logo below to see the cities of her fans from all over the world! Thanks for stopping by!

A Different View

It's week #80 of Saturday Centus! The weekly challenge to write a creative piece with or without a picture, using either 25, 50 or 100 words in a genre of our choice such as poetry, short story, song lyrics, or confessional... We are using a picture that we used last week, but from a different view, hence, the title (duh). My story is in bold and, last time I checked, it was 100 words!


Oooooh boy! I knew I should have gone at home. Now I gotta go bad! Maybe if I hold my knees together, it won’t explode on the coach! Oh please, don’t explode. It’s okay to trickle a little, but don’t pee on the coach! Oh, no! my mom is watching from the window in that building! I just know that she’s telling me “you shoulda gone at home…” Why did God give me this red hair? I can’t hide anywhere! Maybe the coach will have us run laps around the field. I think I could make it to that tree….

When you gotta go, you gotta go! Please "go" over to Jenny Matlock's and enjoy the Different View stories from my Saturday morning blogging buddies! Just click on Jenny's logo below! Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday Centus - You Are Here

Hi, and welcome to Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus #79! Miss Jenny loves to tease and challenge us with weekly writing assignments. This week, we are to write using only 100 words and the above picture as inspiration. This is my assigment. Hope you enjoy!


It’s not enough just to raise four children, but four with red hair? I’m telling you…it ain’t easy!

Wherever there is mischief, the only thing witnesses agree on is that the “red” hair kid did it! Teachers seem to always keep one eye on the "red-head!"

The one place it’s great to be “red” is on a soccer team. All the players have to do is find a “red” and pass the ball! I was happy to get them all on the same team. They are all good athletes and play well. Now, if I could just remember their names…


Thanks for stopping by today. Now, run down the field and over to Jenny's by clicking on the logo below. Have a great weekend!

A is for Angels

Once again, it is Alphabe-Thursday at Jenny Matlock's house! We are starting a new series of stories, poems, pictures, doodles and other forms of self-expression beginning with the first letter of the alphabet! Angels were the first "A" that came to my mind, and since I collect and love them so much, I thought I would share them with you.

For most of my adult life, I have been fascinated by Angel stories, Angel pictures, and Angel contacts. I've never met a real Angel, but I truly believe they exist.

I think that if the power that is greater than us has administrative assistants, then they must be Angels. They may be called something else, but I choose to call them Angels. I'm sure that many of you have had some kind of experience (good) with a force that directed you to think or act in a certain way. I would like to share one experience that I have had, that leads me to believe that angels are out there.

It was mid-afternoon and I was driving the kids (all four of them) to a doctor appointment. (I would make all of the appointments for the kids simultaneously so that I would only get stressed out one or two days a year.) Nobody was sick or bleeding or complaining of little green men trying to squish them; it was just the regular yearly checkups!

I exited the freeway and was driving on a two lane street. The doctor's office was just a football field away. As I was driving about 40 mph, I dropped something (a CD or an M&M, or something...) and I quickly reached down to pick it up. The second my eyes were back on the road, I was headed to "say howdy" to the back of a school bus. I was literally 40-45 feet behind the bus. I slammed on the brakes, (as is my usual m.o.) and braced for the impact. It never occurred to me to try to get out of the lane, but it did occur to someone. With both hands on the steering wheel, and saying the Lord's Prayer out loud, the steering wheel turned to the right and I ended up stopped next to the bus instead of "in" the bus. I did not consciously turn the steering wheel, (Why would I? I had never done that before!) but I'm am forever grateful that a Guardian Angel (as I like to believe) turned it for me.

As soon as I caught my breath, I said to the kids, "Get on your knees and thank God right this minute for saving our lives!" I was still shaking hours later. I knew that there was a force of some kind in the car with us that day. A scare like this has the power to change some people. I changed. I never try to pick up anything that has dropped (like coffee, push pins, M&Ms, or original court documents) until I am parked and the car is turned off!

This is my A is for Angel story; one of many. How about you? I'd love to hear about any encounters that you have had.

Please fly over to Jenny's 6,000 square foot blog and see what some of my classmates have turned in as their "A" assignment! Just click on the logo below. Thanks for stopping by!

Study in Black - Saturday Centus

It's Saturday....and that means Saturday Centus from Jenny Matlock, Off On My Tangent! Who is Jenny, you ask? Why, Jenny is the Head Mistress for the School of amateur (and professional) writers! Each week, she toys with our emotions by challenging us to write from a prompt, a picture, or any other whim that she may have at 3:00am! This week our prompt is a picture of black...which she lovingly calls "Study in Black." The kicker is that we can only use 25 words.


Nothingness abounds
I am cold and so afraid
Light, where have you gone?

Moving carefully
Step by step, oh so slowly
Light, I see you…aaaaggghhhhhhh!!


It could happen! The klutz that I am, it probably will happen....maybe when I go trick or treating at Jenny's house wearing nothing but black.

Thank you for stopping by today. Please go "step by step" over to Jenny Matlock's House of Horrors to read some really juicy stuff from my ghoulfriends. Just click on the logo below!



Have a wonderful weekend, and, if you celebrate it, a Happy Halloween!

Friday Fragments #169

I normally work on Fridays and don't have the time to participate in this fun meme sponsored by Mrs.4444 of Half-Past Kissin' Time. I have today off, so I would love to share with you some interesting things going on with me this week!

I live in St. Louis and have been swept up in the excitement of our baseball team. I grew up loving football, but since living here, baseball has sucked me in big time! Tonight, Friday, is the seventh and final game of the World Series. Our team, the Cardinals, had a once-in a lifetime, amazing, thrilling, unbelievable game last night, coming from behind two runs, bottom of the 9th inning with two outs, and two strikes on the last batter. It looked like the Texas Rangers had it all wrapped up! But, noooooooooooooo, not our "comeback Cards"!!! We tied the game up and took it into extra innings and then in the bottom of the 11th inning, once again behind, we scored two additional runs to tie it up, and then....our beloved, David Freese, hit a home run to take the sixth game! The crowd went wild! The Rangers had no idea what hit them! When David Freese got to home plate, he was greeted by the entire team and they ripped off his jersey (a new ritual of one of the players)! Winning tonight would be the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the banana split on top of the chocolate cake! But even if they don't win, this town will still continue to celebrate an incredible experience of coming from behind two months ago, winning enough to be a "wild card" team, and then beating two really, really great teams to make it to the World Series!" Am I excited or what!!!



My new hero! A hometown boy who went to the same high school as my kids. He's a little older than my kids, but not by much. Enjoy these pics of Mr. Freese especially the one of him playing on the monkey bars!







And, ladies....he is single!!!

I saw this on Facebook and just couldn't resist it. It has become my theme song (sort of).



And, can anyone tell me what is going on with the internet where every other word is double-underscored and in pink...and when you click on it, it goes to some stupid ad or someone's dissertation that has this word of mine in it? Goodness gracious (you know what I'd really like to say) who has the huevos to clutter up my hard work with a bunch of links? Okay...I feel much better now.

Well, this is my story, and I'm sticking to it! Please stop by and say hi to Mrs.4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time and enjoy the fragmented Fridays of some very interesting people! Just click on the logo below and you will be there!




Have a great weekend!

Alphabe-Thursday - Fall Break

This is my backyard in the Fall (not this Fall, but another Fall).



This is where Tootsie and I walk in the afternoons. Any other time, we just walk out to the front lawn, she does her business, and then we're back in the house!


This is Tootsie!

For a peek at some more fabulous colors of Autumn, please "fall" over to Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent and get ready to oooooh and aaaaaah!

Saturday Centus - Remembering

Welcome to this week's Saturday Centus, the brainchild of Jenny Matlock, Off on My Tangent! Each Saturday morning we wake up to a new adventure in writing for her pleasure, as well as ours! This week's 100-word theme is Sensory Details and she has provided us with the above picture. This is what I came up with while on my third cup of coffee!


I could not believe that we found the house! I remember stories from my grandmother about her summers at the lake. She spoke of her uncle’s house as if it were a mansion. Well, to a 10 year old, anything without common-wall neighbors was a mansion!

She spoke of the pancake breakfasts and beef stew dinners with hot bread made from scratch. She and her siblings would sleep in hammocks on the front porch so they could feel the breeze coming from the water as it cooled the humid nights.

It must have been pure heaven in its day!


Thanks so much for stopping by. Please click on Jenny's logo below and be awed by some of my fellow coffee drinkers!

Sundays in My City - Art in the Park!

Welcome to Sundays in My City, sponsored by the most beautiful... most bilingual... mother of the most curly-headed daughters, the lovely and talented Unknown Mami! Mami is always a bright spot in my Sunday mornings with her colorful and interesting photos of her city, her family, and anything or anyone else who has caught her eye.

Last Sunday, I had the incredible opportunity to help out my cousin (Yasek Design Jewelry) with her booth at the Art in the Park Show in Boulder City, Nevada! Yes, Boulder is about 20 minutes from the Vegas Strip, and I was a good girl...only losing the $20 that I brought! However, I did walk away feeling very wealthy after seeing some spectacular art exhibits and having the opportunity to meet the artists.

I'd like to share with you a few of the pieces my cousin had on exhibit (and for sale on Etsy).


Drizzle Ring

















Jellyfish









Gold, Silver and Pearl Rings









Our next door neighbors at the fair were two lovely women who spent the day presenting, informing and selling some of the most beautiful and unique clay sculptures. The pieces were fired porcelain with no two alike, yet they looked perfect when combined with other pieces. Here are a few pics! My pictures don't do justice to the beautiful pieces handmade by Teresa Testa. I highly recommend that you visit the website at: http://www.windancerstudio.com/



























The two days were hot and long, but Teresa and Lori kept us laughing most of the day with their funny stories and quick wit. I took a break and walked around to see some of the other vendors, and came across another unique booth called Rewind. The artist, Carlos Montanaro, has collected all sizes and shapes of pocket watches and their inner mechanisms from which he makes rings, bracelets and necklaces. Some of the recycled watches actually still work! Below are some pictures of his work. You can learn more by clicking here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rewind-Jewelry/133948923349844





Fall is arriving in Missouri, and the colors are breathtaking! It makes me grateful that I have my sight! I live in St. Louis! Welcome to My City!

Yadi, Yadi, Yadi!!

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday, sponsored by Jenny Matlock! This week's letter is "Y" (we are almost through the alphabet...I can't wait until Halloween Break!) Since we are fighting for a place in the MLB Playoffs, I thought I would share one of our St. Louis Cardinals with you! Say hello to Yadier Molina, Catcher for the Cards. He's hot, sassy and one heck of a ballplayer! We are currently tied with the Philadelphia Phillies, two games apiece. If we win tomorrow night (Friday) we get to move on to the next challenger. If not, well then we will still cheer on our guys when they get home!




Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Yadi joined the Cardinals in 2004. He has a home in Puerto Rico and another in Illinois during the baseball season. He is married and has two children. Yadi has two brothers, who also are catchers and play professional baseball.

He joined the Cards in 2004 and was backup catcher to Mike Matheny, who later joined the San Francisco Giants. That paved the way for Yadi to become starting catcher for the Cardinals. In addition to his success as a catcher, Molina proved to be a consistent contact hitter. During the off-season, Yadi played for a Puerto Rican team in the first World Baseball Classic.

Prior to the 2006 season, Molina changed his number from 41 to 4. In 2006, in Game 7 of the NLCS, Molina hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning off Aaron Heilman of the New York Mets, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead and helping them secure a trip to the 2006 World Series, where they defeated the Detroit Tigers in five games.




On July 5, 2009, Molina was selected to represent St. Louis in the 2009 Major League Baseball All Star Game as the NL starting catcher. He also won his second Gold Glove award later that year. On April 5, 2010, Molina hit a grand slam home run; he is only the third Cardinals player to hit a grand slam on Opening Day.

On November 1, 2010, he won his fourth consecutive Fielding Bible Award as the sole catcher, becoming the first player at any position to win the award unanimously with a perfect score of 100. Days later, he won his third consecutive Gold Glove Award.

On August 2, 2011, he was ejected during a game against the Brewers for arguing a called strike, after which he appeared to spit at the umpire. Molina said his face was sweaty and he didn't intentionally spit. Molina served a five-game suspension from MLB for "making contact with umpire Rob Drake multiple times and spraying him with spittle twice while arguing." I believe Yadi.




Thanks for stopping by to read my "Y" assignment. Please grand slam your way over to Jenny's by clicking on the logo below and see what my fellow classmates have offered!




Statistical and personal information provided by Wikipedia.

"X" is for Xena

Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. She first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess TV show and subsequent comic book of the same name. Xena was played by New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless who commonly wore a tight leather skirted outfit with silver accents.

Xena is the protagonist of the story, and the series depicts her quest to seek redemption for her past sins as a ruthless warlord by using her formidable fighting skills to help people. Xena was raised as the daughter of Cyrene and Atrius in Amphipolis. She has a brother who is dead; she visits his grave to speak with him often. In Hercules, during her two first episodes, Xena was an outlaw, but in the third (and last), she joins Hercules to defeat despicable warlords. Aware that the character of Xena had been very successful among the public, the producers of the series decided to create a spin-off series based on her adventures.

The original choice to play Xena was the British actress Vanessa Angel, but she fell ill and was unable to make it to the set. The role was also offered to four other actresses. Ultimately the role was given to Lawless as she was already a resident of New Zealand. Lawless had several problems playing the character due to the violent scenes, getting cut by swords and being hit in the head, and also in 1996 while rehearsing a skit for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", she fractured her pelvis when she was thrown clear from her horse. As a result, several episodes of Season 2 had to be edited to accommodate her recovery, and some of them were changed so Lawless could have a very slight appearance, and the crew created some brand new episodes.

Let me introduce you to my Xena, and her brother, Luke Skywalker, and brother, Kenny from South Park, and sister, Black Kitty!



Brought to you by Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. Click on the logo below and see what other fascinating "X" stories there are for your entertainment!



Information obtained from Wikipedia.