JUNE 30th

Eighteen years ago my daughter, Avery, was born. (the one in the middle) That is why today is such a special day for us! Pretty soon she will be off to college and for the first time in 30 years I will not be raising children. What will I do with myself?

SUNDAY TRIVIA

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?
2. How many states are there? ( don't laugh, some people don't know)
3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?
4. What 6 colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?
5. What 2 letters don't appear on the telephone dial? ( no cheating!)
6. What 2 #'s don't have letters by them?
7. When you walk does your left arm swing w/ you right or left leg?
8. How many matches are in a standard pack?
9. On our flag, is the top stripe red or white?
10. What is the lowest # on the FM dial?
11. Which way does water go down the drain, counter- or clockwise?
12. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?
13. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?
14. Which side of a women's blouse are the buttons on?
15. On a NY license plate, is New York on the top or bottom?
16. Which way do fans rotate?
17. Whose face is on a dime?
18. How many sides does a stop sign have?
19. Do books have even # pages on the right or left side?
20. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?
21. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?
22. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?
23. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?
24. On which playing card is the cardmaker's trademark?
25. On which side of a venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?
26. On the back of a dollar bill, what is in the center?
27. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?
28. How many curves are in a standard paper clip?
29. Does a merry-go-round turn clockwise or counterclockwise?

answers: 1. Bottom 2. 50 3. right 4. blue, red, white, yellow, black, and gold 5. Q, Z 6. 1,0 7. left 8. 20 9. red 10. 88 11. Actually, it depends on the plumbing fixture. The notion that the water direction varies with the hemisphere you are in has been disproved! 12. towards bottom right 13. 12 ( no #1) 14. right 15. top 16. clockwise as you look at it 17. Roosevelt 18. 8 What about the front side and back side? I think it also could be 10. 19. left 20. 5 21. 6 22. Bashful 23. 6 24. did you notice there wasn't one? 25. Ace of spades 26. Left 27. ONE 28. *, # 29. 3 30. counterclockwise

If you score 30-28 Mensa is calling you! You are a genius. 25-27 Not too shabby. 20-24 You could do better. 16-19 McDonalds is calling. 15 or below is pretty bad.

WORLD NAKED BIKE RIDE

It will be a cleaner-greener world. We won't have to depend on oil as much. If you are serious about changing the world then get out of your clothes and grab your bike to join one of these rides! (check out the quote of the day in the upper right corner of my blog) It can explain this crazy behavior. Check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5VcC9_hsug&feature=related

FISHING FRIDAY

We had a birthday lunch for Perry at Ruggles Restaurant on Wednesday for lunch. I surprised my husband with a quick trip to a rented beach house in Galveston, Texas for a few nights. We could relax, eat out, and fish to our hearts content. Unfortunately the fishing wasn't great but the company was!!!This was really the only keeper of all the fish we caught. A really nice flounder! Our friends, Sharon and Eddie drove down for the afternoon yesterday and so we took a long walk on the beach and had dinner together. Now we are back home to reality. I am pretty sure the kids loved being home alone.

SANTA BARBARA FLOWERS

I was spending a few days visiting my ex MIL in Santa Barbara. I had a wonderful time and took so many great pictures. Today I am showing a few of the gorgeous flowers that grow there.

COOL AT LAST

Greetings from Santa Barbara...

These are Eucalyptus trees that line a street in Montecito. (That is where Oprah lives) We had lunch at The Beachside Cafe and then drove the hills and looked at all the expensive homes. ********************************************************************************************************

This morning I woke up to a refreshing breeze! It is finally the California weather I imagined. Only downer is I only have one day to experience it. I will be flying home tomorrow morning. It doesn't matter...I know that California is the place for me. (i sound like the song from the beverly hillbilly's) I picked my first orange from Phyllis's tree right outside her door. Can't do that in Sugarland.

Roses that Phyllis grows

R

Beautiful sunset on Sunday night.

Gas prices where the rich folks live!!!

SUNNY SANTA BARBARA

Can you believe that the minute I landed in Santa Barbara they decided to have a heat wave!!! I cam e here to get away from our Houston weather and now I am right back into the oven. I won't complain too much since the scenery is much better here. There are mountains all around and the beach water felt wonderful this morning. We walked for about two hours picking up rocks and tumbled colored glass. I also had my camera and took a bunch of shots. We went to a fabulous seafood store called " Kanaloa " and bought some Dungeness Crabs for dinner. There was a seagull out the door that they had named Knocker. He would take his beak and knock on the door to come in. He wanted all that fresh seafood to eat. Tonight we will watch the surfers and the sunset.

GETTING OLDER

I am flying to Santa Barbara this morning. I hope I don't look like Ethel on the beach!!

DUMBER THAN DIRT

We adopted a new puppy from the Humane Society and I think that his brain size is not that big. Why do I say that? Because he doesn't get things very quickly. When you call his name he does know that. He also can sit, go down, and understand wanting to eat and go for walks. But the rest is like talking to the wall. That is what I love about this cartoon. Maybe he will grow to understand more as he gets older. YOGI BEAR is only 7 months old. I am training him as if Ceser Millan is my personal trainer. I just love THE DOG WHISPERER!!! http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

FOR US OLD FOLK

HOW MANY OF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THESE THINGS????

TV TEST PATTERNS TIMMY AND LASSIE GUM WRAPPER CHAINS CHATTY CATHY DOLLS SPEEDY ALKA-SELTZER BROWNIE CAMERA CAMERA FLASH BULBS ERECTOR SETS LINCOLN LOGS 25 CENT GAS JIFFY POPCORN TOPO GIGIO FULLER BRUSH MAN SKY KING TV SHOW REEL TO REEL TAPE RECORDERS TINKERTOYS GREEN STAMP COLLECTING ICE CUBE TRAYS BEANIE AND CECIL CARTOONS ROLLER SKATE KEY DRIVE IN MOVIES

BROWNIES

This is a shot of my famous brownie recipe. I try to make them for all the kids that come over. I have been told that they love them! The secret ingredient is putting powdered sugar on top. Yep, it is that simple. I think I will go make a batch now.

DONALD ROLLER WILSON

I wanted to highlight my favorite artist today. His name is Donald Roller Wilson. I first discovered his work almost 23 years ago. I was visiting the home of one of my students and they had a few of his oil paintings. I was mesmerized by his work. It was so unusual and odd that I immediately fell in love with it. He's so good at it, in fact, that his paintings make Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford, Paul Simon, Elizabeth Taylor, Steve Martin, Meryl Streep, Carol Burnett, Diane Sawyer, and Carrie Fisher. Nevertheless don't think Roller is about fashionable pop culture. My husband surprised me and purchased one of his artist prints, a giclee print, which Roller personalized for me. It is this image that we have over our fireplace. It is called: COOKIE IN THE GARDEN. You can check out his work on his website and learn a little bit about him. Be prepared...it is a strange place!

http://www.donaldrollerwilson.com/2001x.html

SNAZAROO

Sharon and I attended the Clown Alley Meeting last night. Sharon's clown name is SNUGGLES and I am TIC TOC. The Snazaroo rep was there to give a demonstration on painting full faces. I volunteered since I didn't wear any makeup. I love face painting! I find it very easy since I am artistic but most people feel intimidated by it. Here is the link to their website in case you want to order anything or just look at all the photos. They allow you to copy anything you want to use as long as you don't put it on your blog, website or business card. http://www.snazaroo.us/