YOU ASKED FOR IT!!

by Dianne

I thought I would write a little blog about having Tina for a roommate.  I sure hope this blog doesn't get edited (you all get my drift, right)?

I am not a person that really likes to share a room, so it took some convincing from Tina to even agree to this as I am very very shy.  Here was the story of the roommate:

The best thing was she brought a box of donuts just for us!!  She even brought me a little present...(probably for sharing a room with her) :)

When Tina gets ready for bed or in the morning, she went into the little tiny toilet/shower area and got dressed.  I am pretty sure she locked the door so I wouldn't try and get in (she said no but I heard the click). I think she would have propped a chair under the door if she could have fit one in there  with her.  I even mentioned in the morning it was rather steamy in there for her but her answer was "she likes to get dressed in steam".  .....whatever

Now it was time for bed.  Yes, there was that quiet deadly smell from time to time.  I knew that when deciding to room with her since I have been around her a couple of times.  Tina wears a slinky teddy to bed. It really made me uncomfortable but we are what we are as the saying goes.....She also brings her own pillow and it is shaped like a heart...again, whatever.

I was quietly reading a magazine on my bed when all of a sudden .....WHAM BAM....TINA jumps on top of me....nose to nose!!  Maybe it was just her way of kissing me goodnight or maybe it was just a Mexican thing.  One of my husband's used to do the same thing.

So...no naked pictures, but if want a teddy one....I could put it on FB or my farm.

All in all it was an experience to remember.  Any takers for the next Meet and Greet?

Dirt, Trees and Desert Stuff

by Bonachichi

I've just returned from spending a couple days camping with my oldest and dearest friend. After witnessing my recent meltdown in Copenhagen, you all know that I like to know where I am as well as "when" I am. Before going further, I would like to point out that my Copenhagen meltdown occurred whilst using all that modern technology had to offer, air taxis as well as some twisted connection to the Dutch Army, which I didn't even know was an actual thing. So why would I go to the middle of a desert, the location of which is still a mystery to me, with no internet, no phones and no daily showers, on purpose? I don't know. But I'm glad I did.

I knew I was in good hands. Everyone was an expert camper and they had lots of nifty toys to eat up the desert terrain, sandblast your teeth, and permanently tattoo desert dust in your arsecrack in one fell swoop. My girlfriend is married to a man who can do anything. Her kids, all girls age 13, 18 and 20 make me look like the village idiot of the off-road world. I had to be told that whilst sitting around the bonfire one night, my shoes were afire. I thought my feet were just toasty warm. No clue whatsoever that I was on fire.

My girlfriend's youngest daughter is a beautiful young woman named Corey. Corey isn't just beautiful. There is nothing that girl can't do better than any boy. I felt perfectly safe going for an off-road ride with her in her Uncle Clancy's contraption. It has a name, I just don't know what it is. This 13 year-old wonder had to show me how to strap myself into the harness. There was a roll-cage, which is always handy to have, an "oh-shit" bar as well as an "oh-shit" strap. Oh shit, what would I need those for?

Corey it turns out, is quite skilled in Gymkhana, which you Yanks call Drifting. If you've never done it before, it's unsettling because it feels as if you're hydro-planing. A good Gymkhana driver can handle the temporary loss of control and set the vehicle back on track. Corey managed to convince me within the first minute of our jaunt that she could handle Drifting. 

So there we were, racing cross the desert, laughing and having a blast. What are those branches doing right in front of the windshield? "Oh God! Don't tell Clancy I ran over a tree!" "Ran", "over" and "tree" are three words I never thought I'd hear in the same sentence. Ever. I was about to hear them two more times, during which we somehow managed to acquire a hood ornament that strongly resembled a big stick.

Then, Something happened. I'm not sure what, because I was busy "Oh-Shitting" myself. I heard Corey ask me if I was okay. Looking towards the sound of her voice, I looked to my left and "up". There she was, hanging sideways from her straps, just above me. I was laying comfortably on my right side, inside the car. Don't see that every day now, do you? We unstrapped ourselves and climbed out. 

We tried rolling the car back over, but it was too heavy for the two of us. Then we saw an RV coming down the dirt path. I ran out to the middle of the path and did a fairy dance, just in case the driver of the RV didn't think we were strange enough, in the middle of the desert with a car resting on its' side. He helped us roll the car back over; We had the insane thought that, "Maybe Clancy won't notice", so we came up with a half-baked alibi that didn't involve lying, but also didn't involve telling Clancy, "Sorry, Mate. We rolled your car."

Corey removed the recently-installed hood ornament, and we drove back to the campsite. The first thing Clancy did was ask, "What'd you do, roll the car?" Okay, so if you roll a car, someone's probably going to notice. I'm sure Corey and I will be spending some time as Clancy's personal slaves to make his toy pretty again, but it will be worth it. That was hands down, the most fun I had over the entire weekend. 

We've not heard the last of Corey, I'm sure. She will be the next Jolene Van Vugt. A beautiful daredevil, able to do things most boys just can't handle. I fell in love with Corey that afternoon. That 13 year-old woman handled herself better than most men I know with the possible exception of maybe Clancy and her dad. One thing's for sure; The word "failure" just doesn't exist for her.

~ Journey Medley ~

by Tina~in_ut

I can't get enough of these kids.  Since the season finale, I've listened to this CD over and over and nothing else.  It only has six songs on it and I love them all.  They are showing the season all over again on Thursday nights and I'm watching it again.  Watch it and fall in love with these misfits too~

Tell Him

by Shirley

Two female music icons singing together...it doesn't get any better than that! 

What's He Thinking?

by Bonachichi

This is a day for creative thinking. What do you think is going through this man's mind?

Garden Snakes Can Be Dangerous

from your hostess today... DeeDee

Snakes, also known as Garter Snakes (Thamnophissirtalis), can be dangerous. Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes. Here's why.

An older couple I know had a lot of potted plants. During a recent thunderstorm watch with reported hail, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from possible damage.

It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants. When it had gotten acclimated, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa.

She let out a very loud scream.

The husband (who was taking a shower) shuffled out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa.

He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the behind. He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor.

His wife thought he had had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still, and called an ambulance.

The attendants rushed in, would not listen to his protests, loaded him on the stretcher, and started carrying him out.

About that time, the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.

The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor who volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch.. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief.

But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa.

The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to revive her.

The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.

The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.

By now, the police had arrived.
Breathe here...

They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little garden snake!

The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife.

Now, the little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table. The table fell over, the lamp on it shattered and, as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.

The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car.

Meanwhile, neighbors saw the burning drapes and called in the fire department. The firemen had started raising the fire ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires, put out the power, and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area (but they did get the house fire out).

Time passed! Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car and all was right with their world.

A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a thunderstorm watch for that night. The wife asked her husband if he thought they should bring in their plants for the night.

And that's when he shot her……

STRESS

by Dianne

Ouch, hurt foot

Go to doctor

Misdiagnosed

Back to Doctor...(still ouch)

PT suggested

Pt didn't work..sigh

Back to 2nd doctor

Surgery needed

Confined for two months

"must" makeover house, closet, etc.

Surgery not approved (2 days before surgery)

F@@@...call doctor

"be patient"....I AM THE PATIENT

Go have beer

Surgery approved...ouch

Mind thinking.....Well, at least it's not the dentist!!!

Do you ever have stress that you can do absolutely nothing about and drive yourself nuts over it or is it just me?

~12 Step Program Of Recovery For Web Addicts~

by Tina~in_ut

1) I will have a cup of coffee in the morning and read my PAPER newspaper like I used to, before the Web.

2) I will eat breakfast with a knife and fork and not with one hand typing.

3) I will get dressed before noon.

4) I will make an attempt to clean the house, wash clothes, and plan dinner before even thinking of the Web.

5) I will sit down and write a letter to those unfortunate few friends and family that are Web-deprived.

6) I will call someone on the phone who I cannot contact via the Web.

7) I will read a book... if I still remember how.

8) I will listen to those around me about their needs and stop telling them to turn the TV down so I can hear the music on the Web.

9) I will not be tempted during TV commercials to check for email.

10) I will try and get out of the house at least once a week, if it is necessary or not.

11) I will remember that my bank is not forgiving if I forget to balance my checkbook because I was too busy on the Web.

12) Last, but not least, I will remember that I must go to bed sometime... and the Web will always be there tomorrow!

Is this sad or what? The ONLY thing on here that I already do is read.......in the bathroom.....when I don't bring in the laptop!!! Last night, I couldn't even be bothered to get my butt up and put in ONE load of laundry. I need help!!!!!!!~  Hey.....does my butt look bigger to you?~

Funny Headlines

by Shirley

Kicking Baby Considered To Be Healthy

Rescue Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim

Police Begin Campaign To Run Down Jaywalkers

Grandmother Of Eight Makes Hole In One

Two Convicts Evade Noose; Jury Hung

Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25.

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead 

Joint Committee Investigates Marijuana Use 

Enraged Cow Injures Farmer With Ax

Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years 

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over . 

Two Sisters Reunited After 18 Years at Checkout Counter

Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case 

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last a While

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft

~ Raising a Racist ~

by Tina~in_ut

My nephew and brother came over to my mom's house after school while I was there.  I told my nephew that I'd help him with his homework if he needed me to.  How hard could the 4th grade be?!  He had to take a practice spelling test and I gave him that and then corrected it.  He said he was done and I asked him if he was sure he had no other homework.  He paused and I knew I had him! (you don't raise 3 kids w/o understanding the pause!)  He told me that he had extra credit in science, but he wasn't going to do it.  I asked him why because I always made my kids do their extra credit.  He said that it was only worth 5% and that he didn't like his teacher.  I told him that he could go from a B+ to an A- with that extra credit, but he didn't care.

By this time, he was in the other room with my sister (the teacher), so I let her take over.  She wanted to know why he didn't like his teacher.  He said that he yells at the kids.  My sister wanted to know what he was doing to deserve getting yelled at.  "Nothing!" was his answer. By the time my sister was done with him, we all knew that the kids talk in class and they get in trouble.  What I didn't see coming was my nephews next words: "I don't like him.  He's Asian and everyone knows Asian's are mean!" 

My jaw dropped!  I waited for my sister to let him have it.  Nothing!  I found out later that she had left the room and had no idea that he had said that.  I looked at my brother.  "Did he say what I think he said?", I asked.  My bro wasn't paying any attention and asked what his son had said.  I told him and he shook his head, rolled his eyes and said, "He's a racist! He gets this from his mother!"  No sooner had those words left his mouth and here comes my nephew who starts hitting my brother in the arm and yelling, "I'm not a racist!"  My brother looked at me and said, "He doesn't like blacks or Mexicans either!"  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!  I couldn't believe it.  I know my SIL is freaking crazy, but this is unconscionable.  My nephew is more Mexican than I am!  He's 3/4's and I'm only 1/2~  My youngest told me that when my nephew was here last month, he said something like that to him as well.  I thought he must have misunderstood!    

Who in their right mind teaches their kid something so awful?  She teaches him that he's "American."  He tells people he's not Mexican.  Oh wait.....I mean, "a lazy Mexican!"  I got mad at my brother for allowing it, but then I remember that he gave up trying to make her do anything a long time ago.  They don't get along at all anymore and won't last much longer.  She won't listen to anything any of us have to say.  No....that's not right.  She pretends to listen.  Rotten wench.  I just want to take that kid and have him live here all summer just to get him away from her!  I told my kids that if they ever hear him say anything along those lines again, to let him have it!  They agreed that they will. 

Can you even fathom in this day and age someone purposely brainwashing their kid like that?  I guess you could say the same thing to me about Catholicism, but I don't teach my kids hate in any way, shape, or form.  Okay....I lied!  I teach them to hate the Lakers......but that's justified! :)~

Hakuna Matata!

by DeeDee

Something a little uplifting for Father's Day!

Nursery Rhymes... Not Like You Remember Them!

by Shirley

I found these and thought I would share some chuckles with you! Anybody know any more?

jack and jill went up the hill to smoke some marijuana. jack got high unzipped his fly and said "hey jill, ya wanna?"

mary had a little pig, she kept it fat and plastered, and when the price of pork went up, she shot the little bastard.?

humpty dumpty sat on a wall, humpty dumpty had a great fall.. all the kings horses and all the kings men.. had scrambled eggs for breakfast again.

hey diddle diddle, the cat took a piddle, all over the bedside clock. the little dog laughed to see such fun. then died of electric shock.

georgie porgy pudding and pie kissed the girls and made them cry, when the boys came out to play, he kissed them too cause he was gay.

jack and jill went up a hill they each took a quarter, jill came down with fifty cents, did they really go for water?

old mother hubbard went to the cupboard to get her poor doggie a bone. But when she bent over old Rover took over 'cause he had a bone of his own.

Mary had a little lamb. It ran into a pylon. 10,000 volts went up it's ass, and turned it's wool to nylon.

~Mammograms~

by Tina~in_ut

Many women are afraid of their first mammogram, but there is no need to worry. By taking a few minutes each day for a week preceding the exam and doing the following exercises, you will be totally prepared for the test and best of all, you can do these simple exercises right in and around your home.

EXERCISE ONE:

Open your refrigerator door and insert one breast in door. Shut the door as hard as possible and lean on the door for good measure.

Hold that position for five seconds. Repeat again in case the first time wasn't effective enough.


EXERCISE TWO:

Visit your garage at 3AM when the temperature of the cement floor is just perfect. Take off all your clothes and lie comfortably on the floor with one breast wedged under the rear tire of the car. Ask a friend to slowly back the car up until your breast is sufficiently flattened and chilled. Turn over and repeat with the other breast.

EXERCISE THREE:

Freeze two metal bookends overnight. Strip to the waist. Invite a stranger into the room. Press the bookends against one of your breasts.

Smash the bookends together as hard as you can. Set up an appointment with the stranger to meet next year and do it again.


YOU ARE TOTALLY PREPARED!

(I've already gone this year.....have you?)

USELESS FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW

by Shirley

The average airspeed of the common housefly is 4 1/2 mph.

No wonder I can't kill the damn things!!

Honeybees have hair on their eyes.

So if you find hair in your honey don't blame the manufacturer.

Mosquitoes prefer children to adults, and blondes to brunettes.

Umm I don't think the Nova Scotia mosquitoes know that. ijs.

In 1972, a group of scientists reported that you could cure the common cold by freezing the big toe.

Someone try this and let me know if it works, mkay?!

Men have more blood than women. Men have 1.5 gallons for men versus 0.875 gallons for women.

OK this one pissed me off! If men have more blood then how come we have the periods?

In 1977, a 13 year old child found a tooth growing out of his left foot.

Maybe he put his foot in his mouth one too many times!

The average Human bladder can hold 13 ounces of liquid.

Oh no it can't!!!

The female lion does ninety percent of the hunting.

Even in the wild females do most of the work!

The duckbill platypus can store as many as six hundred worms in the pouches of its cheeks.

Bet you can't do that DeeDee!!

In South Africa, termites are often roasted and eaten by the handful, like pretzels or popcorn.

Hey Dianne and Bebbi try this the next time you go to the movies! Yum!!

Pigturducken is a pig, stuffed with a turkey, which is stuffed with a chicken, deep fried in oil, which is usually put into something similar to a horse trough over propane burners.

Birdee and Mo watch your backs!

In Bavaria, beer isn't considered an alcoholic drink but rather a staple food.

Bear or Jodi are either of you from there?

The world's largest coffee pot is located in Davidson, Saskatchewan. It measures 24 Feet(7.3 Meters) tall, is made of sheet metal and could hold 150,000 8 ounce cups of coffee.

There ya go Carol, that should hold you till lunch!!

~ Les ~

by Tina~in_ut

Watch the 2010 MTV Movie Awards at MTV.com!

My kids taped the MTV Movie Awards or as I call it, The Twilight Awards!!  I fast forwarded through the show to see if there was anything worth watching before deleting it.  The kids saw me doing this and told me to watch Tom Cruise.  I couldn't find Tom Cruise.  They showed me this short, balding, hairy guy who was throwing a half nekkid tiger off the stage.  I really didn't believe it was Tom until they showed Katie in the audience clapping and grinning from ear to ear.  He was supposed to be his character, Les Grossman, from the movie Tropic Thunder (never saw it).  I couldn't stop laughing.  Tom keeping up with Jennifer Lopez.  I guess you'd call this acting.

A Shower, A Shit, and A Shave

by Shirley

Let me tell you all a story about my Dad. Remember back in the "old days" when people only took a bath on Saturday night? Yes you do...think!  OK, well that was my Dad. Saturday night like clockwork at 8 he would gather his stuff to go into the bathroom. Now if you were smart you would make sure you ran down stairs and went to the bathroom first, otherwise it would be 2-3 hours before you would be able to get in there.

Dad always said he was going to have a shower, a shit and a shave...HA!HA!HA! (his laugh not mine)...but not in that particular order...HA!HA!HA! (again his laugh not mine). But there was always something I could never understand and he was never able to explain it to me...why did it take an hour to shave his face? I'm sure I have more hair on my two legs than he had on his face and 10 minute, I'm done. Was he plucking them one by one? Measuring them? Counting them? What?

Now before he took his shower he had to cut his toenails...with mum's good sewing scissors of course. Keep in mind that my parents were like oil and water...the only reason they remained together was for us kids ( I would have rather they divorced, but that could be another blog). So mum was not thrilled to learn that Dad was using her sewing scissors to cut his "filthy toenails" with. Although Dad always claimed that anything other than oil and grease was "clean dirt". I would beg to differ with that, cause dog shit on your shoe ain't too clean if you ask me...but who am I to argue with my Dad!

So where was I? Oh yes, he was about to take his bath. Now somewhere between the shaving and toenail cutting I assume the shitting took place. ijs. He would then fill the tub and get in. I know, I said he took a shower, well he did, but it was after he had a bath to "soak all the dirt off him".  Of course he would have to reheat the water 2-3 time during his bath. Mum was usually in the den watching TV but that room shared a wall with the bathroom and I could hear her from upstairs in my room, pounding on the wall and telling him to "hurry up for heaven's sake...someone else might want to use the bathroom you know!!". At this point about 1 1/2 - 2 hours had passed.

Eventually (probably after he got tired of hearing mum) you could hear the shower going and know that within 30-40 minutes he would emerge a clean, shaven and somewhat lighter man. That was his ritual almost every Saturday night. There were exceptions of course and in those instances Sunday morning would be difficult to get into the bathroom.

Do any of you remember things that your parents did or do that you would like to share? Come on now don't be shy!

A day in my life....

It is strange how your day begins with sunshine, and at times ends in a storm.

He fell, I was told.  My neighbor heard him yelling for help.  He ran to his aid and called 911.  When I got the call, Sal was being transported to the ER.  He was in pain and we all thought he had broken a hip.  As he was being wheeled away, his words were to his mother, "Mom help me," and off he went.

As the day continued on, my thoughts were on him, wondering now, with a broken hip, he probably would never walk again.  My feelings of frustration and abandonment surfaced.  As I shared this with my SSO, his words to me were simple yet profound, "You don't kick someone when they are down."  These words haunted me all day.  They ripped at my gut and allowed my heart to feel.

I normally would not visit Sal in the hospital.  I guess by me not seeing him, I can always have hope that he would return to me.  If I did see him, and his look was sickly, the realization of his illness would surface, and I would have to face the work world without him.

Yesterday was different.  I felt I needed to see him, to talk, to come to terms, to understand that we as a team would be no more.  So on my way home I decided to stop by the ER.  Parking was atrocious.  I drove around several times and almost gave up, but something pulled me there, something deep inside knew I had to go.  I parked illegally (which I never do, ever) and off I went.

The ER was packed.  I found my way to the attendant and asked for him by name.  I was told a room number along with directions.  I had to navigate my way thru several doors, and several people.  I walked on but could not find the room number I was told to look for.  So I circled and circled and circled until finally I asked a very busy nurse. "Go thru that open doorway, behind the curtain."

As I pulled the curtain, I saw a man that for some reason was not familiar to me.  I looked again, scanned the cubicle, and thought, "Is this Sal?"  A man with a tube in his mouth, not hooked up to anything, was just laying there all by himself.  "Sal, Sal it's me.  Sal, Sal it's me."  The slit of his eye was visible, so he had to know it was me. "Sal, Sal it's me, Sal!"  And then it hit me.  He was gone.

I went blank.  My mind whirled.  I checked his hand for the ring he always wore.  The ring was there.  I looked for movement of his chest.  I watched and watched and watched.  No movement.  I knew, my heart knew.  I left the cubicle only to go back in three more times.  The thought of what was occurring was not processing.

My feet finally took me to the nurses station where everyone was so busy.  I asked for help and was sent to another nurses station.  A nurse without a inch of a smile looked up at me and I pleaded.  "Please, I need your help."  And her reply, "What."  I think of this now and I wish I had kicked her in the shin (as Zona would do).  Instead I froze as I said his name to her only to hear, "I will get the Dr."  Frozen in time I was, as I waited.  The Dr approached, took my hand, and I said to him, "He is gone, isn't he?"  One word, I remember the one word, "Yes."

He was responsive when he got to the ER, x-rays came back fine, no broken bones, blood work came back fine.  But in a sudden twist, his pressure dropped, his breathing was labored.  They worked on him for an hour, but to no avail.  His heart could not take it.

I made one phone call, to my neighbor, who I asked to come (which he did).  As I waited, I went back to his cubicle, behind the curtain, and stood by his side.  Thru my tears, I said, "Sal, we started together and we end together."

I thought, if I did not come here tonite, who knows when we would have found out of his passing.  If the attendant did not notify me as I asked him to, then when would the call have come. To be alone as one passes is unthinkable.  I stayed with him for several hours.  I watched as he received his blessing.  I did not leave his side.  In my heart I knew he called for me, he pulled me there.  He did not want to be alone.  His family arrived and I was glad they did.  And with their arrival, it was time for me to bid farewell.

My only wish, my only hope, is that he is resting, in peace with the God he so loved.

Lady Gaga Medley

by Jodi

 
This piece was performed by the Oregon HS Chamber Orchestra June 2, 2010.  Sam's friend Willy Subach wrote the arrangement during Spring Break.   ENJOY!!!

Pier 39 Sea Lions

by EBJ

No trip to San Francisco is complete without a visit to Pier 39, home to the famous sea lions.

Here is a little history of the sea lions from the Pier 39 website:

The sea lions camped out in PIER 39's West Marina have been endearingly coined, "Sea Lebrities." The boisterous barking pinnipeds started arriving in droves, taking over the docks in January 1990 shortly after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

At first they numbered from 10-50, but due to a plentiful herring supply, available dock space and the marina’s protected environment, the population grew to more than 300 within a few months.

Each winter, the population can increase up to 900 sea lions, most of which are male. During the summer months, the sea lions migrate south to the Channel Islands for breeding season, but in recent years a small group stays year-round at PIER 39's K-Dock.

Staff from The Marine Mammal Center's Kiosk, located next to the sea lions, are happy to inform visitors about these fun, flippered animals. Each weekend, weather permitting, the Center provides volunteer docents at K-Dock who explain sea lion behaviors and answer visitors’ questions. More information and interactive exhibits are available on Level 2 of PIER 39 at The Marine Mammal Center’s Interpretive Center and Gift Store.

For more information about California sea lions and The Marine Mammal Center: www.marinemammalcenter.org or 415 289 SEAL.

Here is a link to the web cam that is on the sea lions 24/7.  http://www.pier39.com/Information/webcamnew.htm

Flowers and Their Meaning

by Shirley

• Acacia - Friendship, Concealed love, Beauty in retirement, Chaste love
• Acorn - Nordic symbol of life and immortality
• Ambrosia - Your love is reciprocated
• Azalea - Love, Romance, First love, Take care of yourself for me, Temperance, Chinese symbol of womanhood, Fragile passion
• Begonia - Beware Bittersweet Truth
• Bluebell - Humility
• Cactus - Endurance
• Carnation - Solid Color - Yes... Pink - I'll never forget you... Purple - Capriciousness... Red - My heart aches for you, Admiration... Striped - Sorry I can't be with you, No, Refusal, Wish I could be with you... White - Innocence, Sweet and lovely, Pure love, woman's good luck gift... Yellow - Rejection, You have disappointed me
• Chrysanthemum - General Cheerfulness, You're a wonderful friend, Rest Red I Love White Truth Yellow Slighted love
• Clover - Good luck
• Crocus - Youthful gladness, Cheerfulness
• Daffodil - You're the only one, Regard, Unrequited love
• Dahlia - Instability
• Daisy - Innocence, Loyal love, I'll never tell, Purity
• Gardenia - You're lovely, Secret love
• Geranium - Stupidity, Folly
• Gloxinia - Love at first sight
• Ivy - Fidelity, Wedded love, Friendship, Affection
• Lilac - Humility
• Magnolia - Love of nature, Nobility
• Marigold - Cruelty, Grief, Jealousy
• Mistletoe - Magic plant of the Druids, Kiss me, Affection
• Orchid - Love, Beauty, Refinement, Beautiful lady
• Pansy - Thoughts
• Peach Blossom - I am your captive
• Peony - Bashfulness
• Petunia - Resentment, Anger
• Snapdragon - Deception
• Sunflower - Adoration
• Tulip - General Perfect lover, Fame... Variegated - Beautiful eyes... Yellow - Hopeless love, There is sunshine in your smile
• Violet Blue - Watchfulness, Faithfulness, I'll always be true... White - Let's take a chance
• Zinnia - General Thoughts of absent friends

What Would You Have Done???

by Dianne

Ok....get in the mode....you are 9-3/4 years old and you are a good child and student. In your class, if you talk, forget homework, etc., you have to "pull a ticket". If you have no tickets pulled by the end of the year, you get to go off campus for lunch with the teacher. You haven't pulled any and have been working very hard to reach this goal.

When you do homework, a book report, etc., you have to get a parents signature on it each day. You are now in class and you forgot to have mom sign it last night. You are not allowed to call home and even when you do explain...you will have to pull a ticket. It is to teach you responsibility. There is a sub today and it's getting close to time to turn the paper in....what would you do? Suck it up and have to pull the ticket....remember, you have worked so hard all year for this lunch? Tell the teacher..but still have to pull the ticket? Just put yourself there and think what you would do.

Now, I will tell you what this good student grandchild decided to do. She signed her mother's name. She told me she didn't think the sub would notice. Bad news for her is that the sub didn't even look at them and then the regular teacher did the next day. She got in a lot of trouble and then had to call home with the teacher to tell mom about it. She was grounded for a week from phone, playing with friends, etc. She knows she is a good person but made a bad choice.

We talked (just the two of us) about it this weekend and I do think she really learned her lesson plus she loves her teacher and felt bad about disappointing her. She wrote her an apology letter on her own, too.
Is there anyone out there that maybe would have done what my granddaughter did or would you just take the ticket? I probably would have taken the ticket because I was always afraid that I would get caught doing something wrong and I didn't want to face my dad.

~ Grad Night ~

by Tina~in_ut

Grad Night was held at a local gym. Not only were there the different sports available for the seniors to play, there was a movie theater set up, poker tables, hair and nails, and henna tattoos, just to name a few.

My lovely son came home with a "tattoo" on his toe! WTC!!!! I thought it was kind of girly, but didn't say anything. It looked wierd. I didn't know at first that I was supposed to look at it sideways.

A week went by. His grandparents saw the "tattoo." So did his aunt. I was looking at it Friday night with both my son's. I shook my head and finally told them that I thought it was girly looking. My younger boy told me it was a camel. I gave him that "duh" look! I knew that! The boys looked at each other with a smirk! THAT'S when I finally got it! My older boy, after I was done hitting him, laughed and told me that the lady who put it on him didn't get it either until she was done!

Mints

by Bonachichi

I was going to write something about this, then decided it was pointless.

Old Wives Tales

by Shirley

If you eat cabbage you will grow large breasts.(Jodi is this true?)

If your right hand itches, you will receive money; if the left itches, you will get a letter.

While pregnant, don't reach higher than your head.

If you sweep under a woman's feet she won't get married.

Cure a toothache by spitting into a frog's mouth and ask it to carry the pain away. (Dianne are you reading this?)

A sneezing cat is a sign of future wealth.

If you sew anything on Sunday; when you get to heaven you will have to pick the stitches out with your nose.

Throw salt over the shoulder to dispell bad luck?

An acorn at the window will keep lightning out.

If you spill pepper you will have a serious argument with your best friend.

If you drink coffee it will stunt your growth. (Jodi, Carol, Lynn is this true?)

Don't step on a crack on a sidewalk or walkway. You'll break your Mothers' back.

If you sing before seven, you will cry before eleven.

You can tell what kind of husband a man will make by the way he treats his mother.

Cure leprosy and the plague by swallowing a spider rolled in butter.

Weekend In New England

by Zona

All right...I admit it...I'm a fan of Barry Manilow's music. I don't really like watching Barry Manilow sing live..if that makes any sense..but I do like a lot of his songs.  "Weekend In New England" has always been one of my favorites. It was written by Randy Edelman and was on the 1976 album "This One's For You". It's hard to believe that after all these years..for reasons I'll never quite understand..I still get chills when he sings the last chorus. It's almost as if you can hear the waves crashing on the shore. I also love the line 'With you there's a heaven..so life ain't so bad'..although I just noticed he changed that in this clip. So..does anyone else like any Barry Manilow songs? C'mon..you can tell us...it'll be our secret...  ;)

Better Marriage Blanket

by EBJ

***********************************************

GINK

by Bonachichi

The answer to our prayers. A place where nobody knows what anything means.

LUCY AND ETHEL RIDE AGAIN

by Lynn D

Well Lucy and Ethel ride again!  Jodi, this is for you.

My friend Angel and I had to run an errand for the food bank today.  I don't know why, whenever she and I go out together on these missions, it turns into a Lucy show.

The food bank has a private donor that just set up an account with the local Cash and Carry for us.  We get to order fresh produce by the case weekly and then he pays and we pick up.  Sweet deal!  Fresh, fresh, fresh!

Well it was my week to p/u.  Angel and I had not seen each other in a few weeks so we decided to make a day of it and she would help me with the p/u.  We headed into the next big town/city Lacey where Cash and Carry is located.

Okay, can I just say that I knew it was going to be trouble when the cart looked like a flat bed truck?  The frickin cart was loaded taller than me.  At first I thought it was part of their aisle of items to purchase.  It took me a few minutes and several double takes to really get that this was our cart.  I had to push it to the register.  I damn near killed three people on the way as I had no visual at the front.  I muscled the cart to the front and waited patiently to be rung up.  All the time I kept thinking there is no F#@*ing way this is going to fit in Angel's Crown Vic.  Three body trunk or no, it just seemed like an no go.   I figured I would have to come back later and get the rest.  I also kept thinking Angel is going to F&@#ing kill me!  I am standing in line with all of these thoughts running through my head and I start to feel a hot flash coming on.  I think it just might have been a little stressful.

So I waited patiently while the guy rang up 6 cases of cabbage, 4 cases of green onions, 6 25lb bags of carrots, 2 cases of apples, 4 cases of navel oranges, and 2 cases of zucchini.  I think there was more, but it all seemed like a bad dream at this point.  I won't go into how long it took the clerk to ring the crap up because as far as I was concerned, he was doing it all ass backwards.  Finally, total given, check passed to him and he says, "Will you need help with this load?"  Very dead pan.  I look at him and I think my response was, "Uh Yeah."  I think I might have been a little sarcastic.  I know, I know.  Not me.

Well this guy calls someone to the register and then he leaves the register and several customers standing in line to help me with the load.  Okay, can I just say, who came up with this dumb ass system?  The customers in line get all cranky but he just starts pushing my cart out.  This guy had the personality of a cabbage.  I am thanking him profusely and still worried about all of it fitting into Angels car, trying to explain to him that I don't think it will and that I did not place the order, someone else did, and I had no idea they had ordered so much. He just kept giving me his dead cabbage stare.

We get to the car, thank God we had backed it in, Angel pops the trunk and gets out of the car, turns and spots the cart.  I saw her eyebrows shoot up past her forehead, and then she whips her head around and gives me the ole fish eye!!!  Yikes!  I look at her and shrug and I keep repeating like the rain man, "I did not place the order, I did not place the order."  The cabbage clerk, in the mean time, is looking at me and the car like you have got to be kidding.  After I remove a Tonka truck and few other items out of her trunk, I look at him and say, "Well here goes."  Still dead cabbage look. Mr. Personality, NOT.

Angel is in high gear at this point!  Grabbing boxes like a mad woman loading them in the back seat, thank God for big back seats!!!  Luckily she bought this car after her kids were grown.  Cabbage clerk is filling the trunk.  I am handing off produce and mumbling, "I did not place the order.  I can come back for the rest.  I can hold that case of oranges on my lap."  I tell you rain man channeled.  Unfricking believable it all fit!!!! I don't know how, but we got it in the car, one load!  I thank cabbage clerk again and he just gives me the dead look.

Angel and I crawl in the car and look at each other and crack up! Her first words were, "Wow, he had personality didn't he?"  Then we looked at each other again and laughed.  I loudly proclaimed once again, "I did not place the order!"

Finally, we were on our way.  I realized the back end of her car was now a low rider.  Two white women in a Crown Vic loaded to the gills with produce!  Now you have know that this trip takes about 25 minutes to a half hour back to Rainier.  We get about half way back and I shout, "SHIT"!!!  Angel whips her head around and asks, "What? What?"  I just hated to tell her I forget the damn keys to the food bank at my house.  Lord help me!  Thank God there was not anymore room in that trunk for my body!  Not even if she cut me up. She just sighed and started laughing.  We swung by my house and I grabbed the keys and Mr. Lynn D as he was home, to help unload it.

We arrive at the food bank and start unloading.  Angel pops the trunk and I think Mr. Lynn D is going to wet himself from laughing.  He still wants to know how in the hell we got all of that in her car.  We only had one little mishap after that when a box of cabbage went rogue and broke open.  I caught one between my knees.  I thought that was pretty tricky.  We gathered it all up and finally had everything put away, and I hear Angel say, "Remind me next time you call me for help to just say NO!"

I think this is why Angel and I have been friends for over 23 years.  We may reluctantly say yes to helping each other but we always do, and then we laugh our asses off and have great stories to tell later.  Friends!  I hope all of you have a friend that you can turn to no matter what and laugh like crazy with.  I am so damn lucky!

Comfort Wipe Commercial

by Shirley

As they say in the ad, "Think about it, toilet paper is REALLY disgusting." But I think not having it would be more disgusting. 

Tomato Cages

by Bebbi

I love to garden. In my years of gardening I have learned something important. When growing tomatoes, the tomato cage is very important.  It helps to grow a better crop of tomatoes and they produce bigger better tomatoes! 

Last year my mom bought 3 tomatoes. I planted mine in the back with a good sturdy tomato cage. My mom planted hers in her garden with a good sturdy tomato cage and my sister got the biggest plant and she had it on her front step. With mine, hubby and I watched the tomato plant and adjusted the tomato cage as needed. If it fell over or seemed to get unsturdy, we reinforced it and adjusted the limbs of the plant until it was balanced again.  With my mom, she put the tomatoes in and left them, she did not readjust them and did not tend to them as much as two people do.  With my sister, she left her plant on the front step and didn’t water it.  It soon died.

My mom’s tomatoes were good but not huge and also she did not have very many. With Mr. B’s and I’s the tomatoes were huge and the crop lasted long into the fall. It was so wonderful to have those tomatoes..they were big, full and delicious. We were very proud of them.

I went to Walmart today and bought 3 tomato cages. We have 4 plants this year but we have a tomato cage left from last year. I am probably going to replace it because it is a little used up. As I was driving down Shelbyville road I realized the correlation between being a parent and being a good tomato cage.

A good tomato cage will be made of strong material. It will be flexible but sturdy. It will need to be adjusted as the weather blows it around and it will have to be tended to.  All these things are like being a good parent and your children being the tomato plant. To be a good parent, you should be made of a good strong material, be flexible but sturdy and adjust to the winds of change.

Also, in this, that is why it takes two people, because it is a lot of work to keep adjusting and monitoring the success of your tomato plants. It’s just wiser to have two people to do it.  It’s not always possible but the two people that do it don’t have to be “husband and wife” they just have to have a commitment to the tomato plant!

I would like to hear your opinions on my analogy.  Do you agree or disagree?  What are some times that you felt like you’ve been a good “tomato cage”.  Do you adjust to the winds of change?  Are you extra "sturdy” Are you flexible, but strong?  Who has benefited from your support?