Funny Dad

by Lynn D

I am in need of cheering up and lately this is my go to when I want to laugh.

This guy IS the Worlds Best Father! :)

Source: themetapicture.com via Megan on Pinterest

My Punkin!

by Lynn D

 
 

Zack Matere: Growing Knowledge

by Lynn D 

Shark Week Is Coming...

by Lynn D

Crocker Art Gallery and Museum

by Lynn D

The picture below was taken at the Crocker Art Gallery and Museum, when I went to Barb's last month. I would like everyone to take a stab at what this exhibit looks like to you.

Barb and J/L don't give it away. I will post the Gallery description at the end of the day. :)

I'm a slut, I'm a slut, I'm a slut slut slut!

by Lynn D

I Love Irishmen!

by Lynn D

I stumbled across this video of Michael D. Higgins the President off Ireland. This man tells it like it is and obviously will not take shit off of anyone! lol The man interviewing him Michael Graham does not have a chance and as the Michael Higgins calls him a fear mongering wanker seems about right.

The nests Michael I dedicate this one to you. :)

Goosebumped Beach Bum

by Lynn D

PEMCO  is an insurance company here in the NW and I love their commercials. This one is so perfectly me. Yes I am one of them.

What Breast Cancer is, and is not!

by Lynn D

This woman is fantastic and really shows what a poor decision Susan G. Komen made when they tried to defund Planned Parenthood. She is brave and real and I think she is my new hero!

Not Jealous and Not a Sexist

by Lynn D

I do want to warn anyone who is easily offended there is language and well if you have ever watched Bill Mahr he is not one for the religion. However he has some very good points and this is exactly how I feel about Sarah and Michele.

Fair and Balanced?

by Lynn D

I love Hugh Grant more than ever! This man is a hero in my book. What this clip reveals is chilling on all levels and if we don't think these same tactics are being used in this country, we are beyond naive.

Eva Wonder Girl

by LynnD

It is a wonder how far Eva has come! She is now 3 months old and making so much progress that we are having a hard time keeping up. She is the light around here and everyone who meets her cannot resist her smile. I am sharing with those of you who have sent your prayers, positive thoughts and support. I sometimes think of her as our nest baby. Thank you and bless you all.

Kathy on Sarah

by Lynn D

You’re watching The Palin Army on 'Kathy Griffin: 50 & Not Pregnant' 3/17/11 - TV Replay. See the Web's top videos on AOL Video

Love Kathy! I have read about other people who have insulted SP and her minions do go a bit crazy and leave filthy messages and emails and also death threats. What Kathy did not cover and the others have is that the emails are generally so misspelled that you have to get out a decoder ring to figure them out! LMAO

GENERATION WE........ARE YOU READY?

by Lynn D

Generation WE: The Movement Begins... from Generation We on Vimeo.

I read about this generational movement a month ago and I really believe that this is the real reason many politicians on both sides are worried. Change is coming, it is unavoidable. This generation does not believe in partisan politics, does not believe in religious affiliations and strongly believes in the rights of all races and income levels. They volunteer, and have studied the effects of pollution on our world. They have been raised to accept all people of all colors and faiths. This is what I want for my children and grandchildren!  What about you?

Mr. Lynn D takes the Bitch to the Beach

by Lynn D

As many of you know, I recently took a mini vacation to the beach. Mr. Lynn D and I loaded up and headed out after I had a melt down and insisted we were going or I was going alone. This was a must and I am actually feeling the pull again. I really really really want to sell everything and move to Westport, Washington. I have always loved it and feel it calling me so strongly that it is driving me a bit crazy.



This part of Washington is called the Cranberry Coast, as there are several bogs and Ocean Spray has a huge facility there. I have included a picture if Tina can upload it of two huge wind machines, right below is an actual Cranberry bog. Contrary to what Farmtown would have us all believe they do not grow on freaking trees. They grow in bogs just like the commercials. Anyway, back to the beach.

I love this little town because it is also a fishing port and it is just a little village really. Off season, the population is about 2500 people. They run charters in season and have contests for biggest fishes caught. The boats come in and they weigh the catches to make it official. Once a month, someone wins money prizes for their catch. When we were there, they were fishing for Tuna, Salmon and Halibut. You can also go down and buy fresh fish right off of the boats to take home.

If we travel down this coast you go through several little towns. They are all located on this 18 mile arm of beach and land and it is a beautiful drive. You will see little shops, great restaurants, and beach houses of all makes and designs. Campsites and state parks, wildlife all around and the sound of the beach follows wherever you go. There is also a new Winery, trying to figure out exactly what grapes will grow here!( lol) I am planning on checking it out next time we go down there. You can also go to a fabulous Oyster Farm called Brady's Oysters. The man that owns it basically saved the oyster population here. It was declining for many reasons and he stepped in and cleaned the area up and brought them back. At the other end of the 18 mile arm is an area where they crab. You can see the crab pots all over and at the very end a great place to buy fresh crabs to take home or back to your camp site.




What I love about it is that it has not been over developed or taken over by huge condo's and other crap. No fast food restaurants can be seen here. It still retains the spirit of a real get away place for me. I know we all have these little pockets of calm. Where is your favorite place to escape to?

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!

Care Takers

 by Lynnd

I spent this morning unpacking my suitcase from the trip to Chicago. As I pulled out the clothes to sort into piles and unpacked the toiletries and other items, I also unpacked the gifts that made it home with me. There was the wonderful glass with the Mint Julep recipe that Bebbi brought us and then out came the Mingo pen from the real Mary. The newspaper wrapped owl from Dianne, the owl book marker from J/L and I kept thinking about all of the wonderful people I met on this trip. The leap of faith to fly half way across the country wondering what I was getting into.

Turns out I had unfounded worries. I met a group of fantastic people who welcomed me warmly with big hugs, kisses and smiles. As the first day turned into two and then three and everyone arrived I was struck by how caring these people were. Dianne who would scan the room and make sure she acknowledged everyone there, Mary with her Mingos and chocolate chip cookies she baked and carried on the plane. Jodi dragged Spotted Cow beer and homemade potato salad for all of us to enjoy and made it to Chicago with it still chilled even with all of her car misadventures.

Just/Lin and Sacbarb taking care of me by being my back up memory and excusing my travel burps and butt. Sacbarb with her never ending suitcase full of things we might need. She packs everything and guess what it all came in handy. Whabby taking his time with all of these excited crazy women, showing up and surprising us all and giving us his gentle welcoming smile.

Goldie and Mr. Goldie playing host and host-est with the most-est in their room with no hesitation. Mr. Goldie our charming bartender and food server always checking to see if we were allright or needed a refill. He also warned us to travel together and take care of each other. Goldie laughing and teasing, with her the conversation never flagged. Bebbi jumping in to organize our food orders keeping us on track and double checking that she had the list right. I say thank goodness for that because I am the worst at this task ever and usually end up with something missing.

Carol took the care in finding a Hotel that we could all meet setting up the reservations for dinner and when she arrived worried that we were happy with it all. Her smile that made you feel wrapped in a hug and above all worried about our comfort. Mo showed up bearing food too! Divine cheese and summer sausage with her laugh and quick wit so sensitive to others.

Tina, our quiet one. Not sure really what is running through your mind most of the time, but you were there in a pinch picking up many at the airport shuttling them to the hotel, including me. Being there when I called in a semi panic from Ohare when my flight was delayed you went into care mode and called Janice and tried to find a way to avoid my missing my connection in Minneapolis.  It didn't work, but it was comforting that you were on the other end of the line trying to make things easier.

Even when I talked to Zona and Shirley on the phone they were excited and wanted to know about everyone but I kept hearing are you having fun? Are you comfortable? Are you enjoying yourself?

Care takers everyone of you. Always looking out for the other and taking the time to worry about someones feelings and comfort. To me this is what keeps floating in my mind and made this trip so memorable. How lucky am I that I met you?

Distilled Moments

by Lynnd

Sometimes it seems that we are so caught up in life that we just don't have or take the time to notice or savor little gifts that are handed to us. I have been having a moment all this week and have been pondering why it has made me so happy and why I feel such soul satisfying joy from it? It has taken me a few day to let it seep and distill down and really appreciate what it all means to me.

This last week some of you may have noticed a status post from me on Facebook. I posted that our food bank had received a brand new still in the box, frost free, upright freezer. I was doing a happy dance like you would not believe. We were all excited and beaming, not just me. The food bank has had much support from people over the 5 years we have been in existence but this really sent us into happy over load. Why? Well I really had to think about this and live the moments over in my mind. I think it really hit when I got teary eyed that night at home, and my husband looked at me and said "Hey it's a freezer", like geez yes, that is nice but get over it! So I shared the information below with him and he finally got it! I hope you do too.

We received this freezer from Thurston County food bank who is our lead agency. Someone donated two freezers to them and they thought to call us to see if we could use the other one. Well of course we said YES! What most people including my husband don't realize is that everything we have to run the food bank has been donated, and about 90 percent of that is used. Oh we have some new shelving units but appliances second or third hand used in many cases. We have been thrilled over the years to get these items as they helped start this food bank and kept the doors open. We have duct tapped, bubble gummed and twist tied so many things together that it is just what we do. I remember when we got our Walk in freezer and refrigeration unit we had all of this joy then, though it was headache to get it here from the midwest and then it had to be put together by great volunteers with no instructions and lots of prayers, as it was used too. It was the only one we could find that was even close to the money amount of the grant we received to get one. Even with all of that we had to come up with another 1,000 dollars to have it shipped to us. When it was finally put together and hooked up we still needed another hundred dollars to finish the wiring for it. That hundred dollars came from a few volunteers so we could get the sucker up and running as we were on a deadline.

So this was something that was brand new no cost to us or the food bank and boy we were gathered to enjoy it. It came on a truck with a food delivery we were waiting for and we had many of our volunteers on hand to help off load the truck. We even had 4 high school students there to help. The work study teacher was more than happy to have them volunteer for us that day as we were all hands on deck, this was a huge delivery. We got busy and unloaded the food first and had it put away and in it's place. Then the big guys we called took out the old upright and hauled it outside for us ( yes it still worked and it went to a clients family that needed one), finally off the truck came the new freezer! They got it to the doorway and it wouldn't fit.....but it only needed the packing box and materials removed to make this work. 

Now here is when I think I realized what a real gift this was. One of the students from the high school piped up and asked if they could have the cardboard box? We all turned to her and she looked at us and said "What? Appliance boxes are so cool!" Well we all looked at each other, several generations from 65 to 17, and we all got these knowing smiles on our faces and the memories started to flow. Everyone talking about the joys of a big cardboard box. Play houses, kool aide stands, and forts featured prominently in these memories, yes cardboard boxes are cool! She wanted it to take to the kids in the preschool program at the high school.  It struck me that maybe in this crazy world we just over analyze or get bogged down in the crazy that is our world today, but really some of the old innocence is still there when this wonderful girl from a much younger generation was passing along imagination and wonder in the form of a cardboard box from a freezer that was donated to a food bank. So we only cut one seam so she could take the box with her to duct tape and use to her hearts desire. Really looking back the guys really treated this like a ceremony celebrating that innocent moment.

Then there it was, this beautiful appliance, the guys slid it right into it's waiting spot like it was made to be there, it fit perfectly! We all cheered and I yelled out that maybe we should have had a bottle of champagne on hand to celebrate! Everyone laughed, and then I got my third gift. I looked around and it dawned on me, how so many of us who have shared so much blood, sweat and tears getting this food bank open and keeping it going all had the same appreciation and understanding about how special this free freezer was. 

For the last two days we have oohed and ahhedd over it. When I called the Director of the Thurston County food bank to thank him profusely for it, he was calmly happy, almost matter of fact in his response to my thanks. I realized that this is an every day event to him. So I thought lets spread the joy here.  I then explained to him that this was like getting a new Porsche to us. We have checked under the hood, ran our hands over it lovingly and the fact that it is frost free was like getting heated seats when you have a heater that barely works in your old car! He laughed a joyful laugh because he finally understood how special this was to us.  He then Informed me that I had made his day to know how much we appreciated this gift.

How many gifts was that?

 What I have realized is that I hope no one ever gets so jaded or busy that they can't stop to take a moment and ponder how one generous store bought gift, an every day thing to most people, can and should result in so many life lesson gifts...... if we just pay attention.

DO YOU DO “D”?

by LynnD

No that is not “D”, but I have your attention don’t I? LOL I am talking about Vitamin D. You might look as sexy as this if you are getting enough D.

Last year when I went for my yearly exam my Doctor asked me if I was taking Vitamin D. I said no. She informed me that she recommends all of her patients take 1,000 to 1,500 IU a day. Now I had a basic understanding about Vitamin D but really did not know much about it. She informed me that many people are Vitamin D deficient and that was her new policy for her patients.

Well about a month after I saw her I was at the grocery store and thought what the heck and bought a bottle of 1,000 IU Vitamin D. Started taking it. Really did not think there was much of a difference until about Christmas time. All of sudden just before Christmas I was feeling run down, nervous and depressed. At first I thought it was just stress. Then I started to think about it and realized I had run out of Vitamin D and had not taken any in about a week. I wondered could this be the reason? Well I hit the store and picked up another bottle and started taking it again. Within a few days I was calmer and felt more grounded and the depression had lifted. Well it does not have to take a brick to wake me up. It was the difference. I have since upped my daily dose to 2,000 IU’s a day.

I also started to notice several articles and TV shows were featuring information about Vitamin D. Did you know that they believe about 80 percent of Americans are Vitamin D deficient? Yes I said 80 percent. Even in the sunshine states like Arizona and Florida. What they find is that many people stay inside and with the advent of sunscreen many of us are not getting our daily natural dose of D. Those of us who live north in colder climates really miss out in our winter months.

Our bodies are designed to get our daily dose by being in the good old sunshine for about 20 minutes a day. It has been recorded that when this happens our bodies produce as much as 10,000 IU’s naturally. What our bodies don’t use is then naturally flushed out of our system.

Vitamin D helps our nervous system, helps to absorb calcium and new studies are showing that it may even help prevent different types of Cancer.

Two weeks ago I happened to have the TV on and it was showing Doctor Oz. Normally I don’t watch this show but the lead in was about Vitamin D and Epstein Barr disease. You know the kissing disease, Mono. Well the lead researcher in the country was on and she was explaining how people are affected by Epstein Barr. Most people might have a case of mono and our bodies fight off eventually. Then there are the people that get mono and then they remain sick. The gist of the show was about how the virus creates rogue white cells that the body can’t fight and in some cases they are mutated and take over. These people end up with a lifetime of Epstein Barr. It is a terrible debilitating disease. What they are finding is a link between Epstein Barr and a Vitamin D deficiency. The woman researcher stated that they are even looking at upgrading Vitamin D from the vitamin category to a hormone. Most vitamins we ingest through food and drink, our bodies don’t produce them on their own. Vitamin D is actually produced by our bodies with the advent of Sunshine. Therefore a hormone not a vitamin. Interesting huh?

I keep wondering if this could be the medical equivalent of aspirin a simple new discovery that can help so many. I know it is helping me tremendously.

You can find out if you are vitamin D deficient through a simple blood test that your Doctor can order. I will let you know that I have three friends and two relatives who have just been diagnosed as severely vitamin D deficient. In two of those cases they have been prescribed 50,000 IU’s of Vitamin D every 3 days. Your doctor has to write a prescription for vitamin D in this large of a dose. What that means is that there is basically no vitamin D in this persons system. Not Good at All!

My suggestion if you are feeling depressed, stressed fatigued you might consider checking your Vitamin D levels. I hope this helps someone just by imparting some of the information, because I don’t go a day without my “D”.

How far have we come, or have we?

by Lynnd

I watched this on another blog this morning because I missed it last night. Sometimes I watch but the last few days I have been so tired that I could not take any more bickering and arguing, and then this special comment punctured my weariness and had me riveted. It was a concise and caring argument about how far our country has come and yet the lingering effects of societal issues are still there today rearing its ugly head. There are some who play these differences like a fine violin to further their prejudices, to make them feel better.

I always wonder about the human race. Why do so many of us feel we have to make ourselves feel better by excluding others? We make them different and scary, we make the choice to not look beyond the surface and see that there are real people, individuals in that group we have lumped into a stereotype. When do we confront the fears and really look at ourselves and ask why am I doing this?

So I am asking everyone here to set aside preconceived notions and watch this. Listen to the words and the meaning of them, don’t be distracted by who is delivering it. There is a very good point even if you don’t like the messenger. What are we afraid of?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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