August 29, 2011

eye candy

i know i am not supposed to post any eye candy. supposedly a married woman shouldn't do that (yes...i was born in the 1800's...juuuuuuuust kidding). but, i am making an exception. there are very few actors that i would break my promise not to post about. lots of blogs will post about paul newman.

who wouldn't? he is THE most handsome man ever born...ever.

(okay, aside from my husband and my son, who are the most handsome men, ever - that's just in case either of them ever read this)

but, this post is not about him. i have fallen in love with another man.

gary cooper

he is my jimmy stewart. i have seen 'sergeant york', 'meet john doe' and i cried and cried while watching gary cooper play lou gehrig in 'the pride of the yankees'. his speech at the end made me burst into tears. also when he hugged his mother and asked her to his best gal.

i, now, am setting my queue to watch a few more films with of my hero.

has he ever played a villain?

how can he with those dimples?

i am a sucker for dimples. that's one of husband scott's best traits...his dimples and his smile. daughter michelle and son jason were lucky enough to inherit both those traits from him.

if this photo isn't enough to convince you, watch his appearance on 'what's my line'. he was 58 years old at the time and i believe the whole panal melted when they took off their blind folds.

do you ever...

watch a movie over and over again and never get tired of it? i have a few that i can do that. i have watched 'drive me crazy' a gazillion times and it isn't even a great movie. i also have another that is a really really great movie that i just watched twice this weekend. it is funny, heart wrenching and true. 

muriel's wedding

the first time i saw it i didn't know who toni collette was. she is such a good actor. i loved her character. i am not much of an abba fan, but i love all the songs in this movie. in fact, i have never watched 'mama mia' because i want the abba songs to only relate to 'muriel's wedding'. 



this time around, i took note of something that muriel says in the movie that resonated with me more than ever. she is talking to rachel griffiths' character, rachel, who has asked muriel how she can stand taking care of her (rachel)...

and she says, "i'd just stay in my room for hours and listen to abba songs. sometimes, i would stay in there all day. since i've met you and moved to sydney, i haven't listened to one abba song...because now my life is as good as an abba song. it's as good as dancing queen."

that's what i want in my life. i want it to be as good as dancing queen, don't you?


August 23, 2011

i love tuesdays

have you ever notice that how one little event can change the whole emotion of the day?

i was checking my emails and there was an email from a friend that i have not seen in 17 - 18 years. i was really close to them and their younger son was really close to mine. we were living in syria at the time when we met. it was sad to leave and say good bye because i knew that the chance of us ever seeing them was really really really remote. they are from australia and after their stint in syria, they moved to hong kong and then back to oz. we moved from syria back to the states and that is where we've been since...albeit we went from syria to oklahoma to california and now in texas (not near as exotic as syria to hong kong and now in australia, is it?)

anyhoo, the email was to say that after spending the christmas and new year holiday up north, they were flying into dallas and driving down to austin, fredericksburg and san antonio!!!!!!

omg! omg! omg! must call husband scott...rats...he's tied up in meetings. who can i call! who? can't contain myself...aaaaaaaaaaagh!

so i call sister laura and we have a really nice talk. i am now on cloud nine...so very happy.

then, husband scott came home. i tell them the great news! he was excited...i guess. then, he proceeds to tell me my skirt is too short...really?!
i shouldn't wear short skirts at my age...

have you ever noticed how one little event can change the whole emotion of the day?

btw, it is not a short skirt...it goes to just above the knees. it was the way i was sitting that hiked it up AND i am at home, relaxing...in a place where i can wear my pj's for crying out loud.

he later apologized, but i am not accepting any apologies around here unless this is attached to it:

thank you very much                     




August 22, 2011

i hate mondays

sorry for no posts for the whole week...did you miss me? i am sure you did (not).

i had a good reason for not posting. i was moving daughter michelle from here to utah with me driving a truck, by. my. self. that's right, i drove 20 hours in 3 days in a 16ft rental truck with daughter michelle's possessions in my, well, possession. it was a first for me. more on that for a later post...i promise.

i got back last night and now i am tired. i've got a whole bunch of laundry to do tomorrow...i didn't feel like  doing it today. husband scott went out and bought new underwear so he would not have to do laundry while i was gone. he told me that he thought about calling me and asking me how to use the washing machine, but changed his mind and went shopping instead.

soooooo...as i said i got back last night. i had never been to utah until last week. i enjoyed being with michelle for the whole week, driving, unpacking, organizing, exploring the place and just sitting around watching last season's mad men. (i cannot believe i have to wait until 2012 to see more...seriously.) i guess i am glad to be home. i already miss my daughter. empty nesting sucks!

so i went from this:

so much fun!

to the saddest photo in the world:
so why is this so sad?

it's a photo of me waiting in the las vegas airport...for 2 hours...leaving michelle in utah...while drinking a $3.50 iced tea (really? $3.50 tea).

then being home, without children, on a monday...i hate mondays.

August 10, 2011

fate, coincidence or 6 degrees of separation?

a while back, i was talking to my mom about son-in-law's new job and she asked where he and daughter michelle were going to live. i told her cedar city, utah. and then i said, "she is so excited because there is a shakespearean festival, there!"

i was kidding.

in our family here in fort worth, mom and i are the only ones to go to the trinity shakespeare festival every summer...or should i say all three of them since it has just started up again...you should go...it's good.

and, mom said, "i wonder if it's the big one in utah that is well-known? the reason i'm asking is because laura's friend, debbie's, son is part of the cast." i googled it and there was my sister's friend's son...in the cast! not only that, debbie was going to be over for dinner at sister laura's house THAT NIGHT!

weird, right?

what are the chances that:  son-in-law dru gets a new job > moves with daughter michelle to cedar city, utah > where there is a shakespeare festival > with a cast member > whose mom > is a friend of my sister's > and is a dinner guest > that night?!! (i wonder if i can tie kevin bacon in there...somehow...hmmmmm.)

now remember, i live in texas, my sister & her friend live in new jersey, and my daughter in utah...not really all in the same community.

so...is it just a big coincidence or is it fate or just 6 degrees of separation?

it is a small world after all, indeed.

btw, michelle and i are driving the truck o' stuff (me) and her car (she) all by ourselves. wish us luck!

August 08, 2011

i hate mondays

what to do when it's 110 plus degrees outside all. the. time...

if you are as lucky as i am, you have friends like these
who invite you to spend the weekend with them and their wonderful boat, where you fly on the water to find a nice cool spot to sit on a water noodle and cool off in the lake. and, husband scott attempts to water ski
and your friends know that you like to take photos of birds, spots one for you, and very very patiently waits for you to find it on the screen (in the bright sun with your sunglasses...why oh why is there no view finder?) of your point and shoot, while your husband is saying, "give it to me" and husband takes great photo for you.
and they don't complain when you want to walk blocks to your favorite store, red, in 120 degree heat, to just look around and wish you could buy everything in the store, but end up snapping a photo of what you really like and not buy anything.
and you go back to their condo and have peanut butter pie.
so much fun!

but then comes monday.

where you wake up to a forecast of 109 degree high, a 4lb gain (curse you, you extra delicious pie), and get to go to work, which happens to be a financial advisor institution where the dow drops 600 plus points (curse you, you debt ceiling and drop down from triple a rating).

husband scott is no longer looking like this:



curse you, you triple digits

curse you, you economice crisis

and curse you, monday, most of all (sigh)













wish i was back in the weekend fun.






August 01, 2011

how hot is it?


too hot

it is so hot that when i drove past these guys, i had to turn around, park and take a picture.


when i drove by the cardboard piece was just laying on his head. here, he is readjusting it. why does the city choose to tear up the street in august and have these poor guys working out in the heat?

of course, this year, it wouldn't have mattered since june was already 100 plus degrees, but normally it isn't.

i was in a parking lot across the street when i took this photo...and was VERY discreet...or so i thought

i'm glad to see he has a sense of humor. mine has disappeared and won't be back until it hits below 90 degrees.