My tweezer may go bad.

I spend far too many minutes everyday in front of my magnified mirror tweezing those suckahs.

It's just not right.

It's just not fair.

It comes with age, genetics and that pesky thyroid disease that annoys my life.

I finally made the plunge and bought laser hair removal treatments - thanks to Groupon.

$199 will get me six sessions (chump change when you have the ol' plastic magical money).

The logic is that this will save my sanity and maybe a bit o' self esteem.

The hair on my chinny-chin-chin will be history in less than a year.

This is a life changing event.

This could be my birthday gift to myself...

Wait, that's what this was:

I will mention that I forgot to have the halo added...

The reason boot cut jeans exist.

Last summer I went to the Adirondacks.  While there, my sister comes out in the most amazing boots.  I may or may not have drooled.  They were worn and rugged and cool.  She wears them when she goes horseback riding which made them even cooler.

I wore them one afternoon when I rode a horse for the first time in about 30 years.  This was to get over my fear of horses.... besides the point.
I believe those worn, rugged and cool boots gave me confidence.  I spent a lot of time looking down at my feet... even on top of that horse... bareback.

"What kind of boots are these?"
"Those are Frye boots".
"What?"
"Frye.  It's the brand."

The day I get back from NY I search online.  Where do I get these Frye boots??  What are these Frye boots??  Well, they're $218 is what they are and I've never spent more than $49.99 on footwear (except my running shoes which I no longer run in).

"They never go on sale", I'm told.

I'm bound and determined to get these boots.... someday.

Well, today is that day, folks!

I found them on Amazon.com for a lot less so I snatched them up and did another thing I never do... I charged those bad boys... because they're worth it and gosh darn it, so am I.

Hell mutha effin' yeah.

Know when to walk away, know when to run

I'm not a gambler.
Repeat that 10 x and that's about how much I'm a gambler.

So, when the idea came up that "we should go to the casino for an hour just to waste some time", my first instinct was to clutch my purse tight to my chest.

I don't get excited to go to casinos... they take my money... I'm not a winner.

But I went, they serve free pop.

We went straight for the penny slots cause we're hard core like that.

I put a dollar in.  Didn't win.

I put another dollar in.  Didn't win.

I put a third dollar in.  This is stupid!  I'm just feeding these things dollar bills.  I quit!

I take a break, walk away.  This is intense stuff.

I say, fine, I'll put another dollar in.  I push a button.  Dang!  I just bet $.75 of my dollar!  Oh, wait, cool, I got five free spins.  Interesting, I'm winning my dollar back... two dollars... six dollars.  Great, I won my money back!

It keeps going.

$10.40

$22.00

$48.20

OH MY!

$81.50

$125.30

$167.00

HOLY!  I think I may have won a million dollars!!

$199.95

$215.20

$224.50


Holy mother of....

I cashed out and clutched my purse tight to my chest and got myself a Pepsi.

They should change their name to The Sucky McSuckertons

My dad and I went to see The Chieftains in concert last night. I was really excited all week. Sadly it was a let down (except for the dancing). Between the poor sound system, the coo-coo's swaying and bobbing their heads in front of us and the woman in my perifrail vision checking her phone everying five minutes, it was enough to go a little postal.

We left an hour later during intermission to go have dessert at the French Meadow.

Shoot 'em up

This past weekend I went shooting with my dad. I haven't been since I was about 10 years old. I shot a .357 revolver and a .45 Beretta.
I've had this phobia of guns for the past several years and this kinda helped me a bit. I am a horrible shot but for the most part I hit the paper... not always the target itself though.
I remember the revolver having a lot of kick and I was prepared for it but holy shiite! My hand was tired and starting to shake. My wrist was sore for two days. I was trying to hard to control the kick.
It was fun, I'd do it again. Next time I'm going to shoot a .22 and I think I'll pass on the .45.

New blog!

My friend Jen and I have started a blog together. On it we are posting a random photo from our day.
I, unfortunately, am having technical difficulties with the flash on my camera. But, it's a fun little project that I hope we keep up.
I love taking pictures and this will add a bit of a challenge to look at things differently, in a more creative sense.

Take a picture, it lasts longer!

Trail of Terrible

Saturday night my friend, my sister and I went to Trail of Terror. I'm glad I went but I won't go again.


1. It's really out there. It was about 25 miles away. Then the you are led on a dirt road for at least a mile to a bumpy, holey ground to park on. You're trying to salvage your car by going slowly over these craters while the parking lot attendants are yelling at you to "keep moving, keep moving"! Aaahhhh! The pressure!

2. Once you get to the main events area it's lit bright with flood lights. The air is polluted with off-key, screaming karaoke.

3. 90% of the people there are between the age of 14 and 18.

4. The lines are horrendous. We waited about 45 minutes for the maze and an hour and five minutes for the hay ride. The maze was worth it, the hay ride wasn't. The lines to some of the attractions criss-crossed and went far beyond the entrances.

People are let in in groups of 4 or less. We were waiting in line to walk through "The Butcher". We were standing there for about five minutes shuffling along. All of a sudden a couple girls join the two girls in front of us. Okay, fine. Groups of four or less. Next thing about 3 more join them and then a couple guys. Now there are eight additional kids in front of us making the group 10.

Uh no. I say something to them about the end of the line being "way back there". One girl (about 16-17 years old) says that "we're with them". Hm. So my friend moves in front of them, and tells us to join her. We go up there and the kids are all up in arms about it. We explain to them that you can't have eight people join you in line. One girl says, "but they're with us. We're all together". Blank stares. Then one girls says, "Just go, go ahead of us. Whatever". My friend goes on to explain to them that it isn't her fault that their parents didn't raise them right... something about she has a kid at home older than all of them and if she ever acted like them, her kid isn't too old to get a whoppin'. She was on a roll. I'm standing there thinking, I'm too old for this. Don't do it, don't join... plus, I didn't want to say the things I wanted to say in front of my sister who had to be mortified since she is the same age as the group of kids. I was a little mortified myself.

After a few minutes it all kind of went away. But then it happened again in the Maze line. This time a group of high school guys ducked under the ropes and cut, literally, in front of about 100 people. I asked if they were seriously going to cut in front of every single person behind us. They got cocky and said, "Oh, I've been waiting here for 30 minutes saving a place in line". My friend got loud and got them to move back a few groups.

As we stood in line for the hay ride we got to zig-zag through the ropes and listen in on a lot of different conversations. At one point we were standing by a girl that was about 15-16 and a couple of her friends. One of her friends was telling her someone was talking about her. Instant attitude, "Who? Who's talkin' 'bout me? I will tell them 'bout themselves" As the line moved and she moved with it we heard the end of the threats, "I will shit on their head".

Really?

Art Festival

On Saturday I went to the Red Wing Art Festival. I was able to buy one thing for myself made by Sue Rowe and I got a Christmas gift from a pottery artist out of the way. They don’t have a website but here is an example of their work.

I stopped by a booth that was selling some of the most beautiful and unique pieces of jewelry I’ve ever seen. I fell in love with one ring but I didn’t have the $525 to spare. It was similar to this one but it had a square garnet and a rectangle orange sapphire.

Miriam Shuros’ booth had some pretty pendants. I may order something for my mom from her online store.

I spent a lot of time looking at Clay Squared to Infinity. So many fun things! I was excited to see her studio was just minutes from my work and that she is open to the public.

I found something I’d like to get for my mom made by Sandra Moen but unfortunately my mom was with me and Ms. Moen doesn’t have a website.

I love art festivals and craft shows! They inspire me and motivate me to dig into my creative side.

Eeeek! hahahaha

My throat was sore and my stomach muscles ached from laughing so hard.

Saturday night a friend, her daughter and daughter’s cousin went to Valleyfair (aka. Valleyscare). I hadn’t been since 2000 so I was really excited. Add in the element of scare and I was peeing my pants waiting to go.

We got there just as it was starting to get dark so there wasn’t much going on. So, we went on rides. Oh gawd! I had so much fun!

Steel Venom

Once it was dark the freaks came out and the mazes opened up. There was The Mangler Asylum (mental hospital), Hellside Farm, CarnEVIL (clowns), Chateau du Damne (vampires), Carnage at Crimson Isle (pirates), Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed (meat packing warehouse) and Blood Creek Cemetery. We went through the cemetery three times. This is where the zombies were. One zombie followed me and it’s just like the movies, you’re running, they’re limping, dragging, whatever, and somehow when you turn around they’re right there!

This one kept following me!

The vampires were scary. One vampire had on the whole cape get up and had on those roller shoes so it looked like he was gliding/floating around. Creepy effect! The vampires in the maze were pretty scary, fangs, hissing, all the good stuff.

We were there for almost six hours. I spent $10.50 on two lemon lime slushys (the best ever!) and $8 on two twist soft serve cones which Shakeela, with one lick, dropped hers on the ground.

In a couple of weekends we’re going on another adventure! I’m starting to like Halloween.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Last Saturday I went to the MN State Fair. The weather was perfect and the food did not let me down. We went early - 10:30 am. It wasn't that crowded and the lines weren't bad. Suddenly around 1:00 we realized the place was packed. Somehow we managed to stay another three hours shuffling our way through the crowds.

A sea of people

I love going to the animal buildings. My friend's daughter spent the summer in Iowa learning to barrel race so she loved the horses. We walked through the cattle barn and lastly the swine barn. There, plopped in a pen is the 1240 lb. sow that is always featured (a different one each year).

That's some pig!

And when you come out you turn into piggys.

Going with a group of people allows a person to try a little bit of everything. A bite of this and a bite of that. Grazing all day long. This year I tried many more items than normal.

1. Battered & deep fried pickle chips dipped in Ranch dressing
2. Cheese curds
3. Foot long hot dog with ketchup, mustard, fried onions and sauerkraut
4. Luigi Fries (cheese covered bread sticks dipped in marinara sauce)
5. Roasted corn on the cob
6. Seasoned pork chop on a stick
7. Chicken egg roll on a stick
8. Chocolate covered banana and strawberry on a stick
9. Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies
10. Strawberry banana smoothie
11. Root beer float
12. Taco burrito
13. Chocolate covered bacon (served cold. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good)
14. Alligator on a stick
15. Several lemonades and waters

I feel like I might be leaving something out but that's the gist of it!

Pig Lickers - Chocolate covered bacon

That's enough for one year. Now the countdown begins for next year.

Anything and Everything On-A-Stick

In Minnesota, the state fair is something that I and most others start waiting for somewhere around March. The food cravings start as a soft whisper and by June and July it becomes this intense NEED for food on-a-stick. The wait is prolonged until the first of those 12 days through Labor Day. We eat our way through the fair, see animals (last year I went to the Miracle of Birth Center for the first time and was pretty much appalled. Cows and sheep panting in labor with crying kids [god, it was so loud in there] and people crowding around their pens... but I'm overly sensitive) and do a lot of people watching. Many ride the rides and play games while I cringe from the Carnies. We see shows and concerts and even watch a surgery on a cat or dog. A trip to the fair is not complete without a quick walk through the Empire Commons to see the butter sculptures of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Nearly 1.7 million people went through the gates of the MN State Fair in 2006 and 2007. That's a lot of Pronto Pups to be served.



Just a small list of some of the FOOD served at the fair:



Mac and cheese on-a-stick
Rueben on-a-stick
Walleye on-a-stick
Spaghetti & meatball on-a-stick
Alligator on-a-stick
Pork chop on-a-stick
Belgian waffle on-a-stick
Egg roll on-a-stick
Frozen espresso on-a-stick
Pizza on-a-stick
Hotdish on-a-stick
Fried fruit on-a-stick
Salmon on-a-stick
Frozen key lime pie on-a-stick
Fried pickles on-a-stick
Butterscotch cake on-a-stick

Deep fried candy bar on-a-stick
Coca-Cola cheesecake dipped in chocolate on-a-stick
Rocky road scones on-a-stick
S'mores on-a-stick
Sloppy joes on-a-stick



New this year is:
Big Fat Bacon - 1/3 pound of bacon, fried and caramelized with maple syrup (on-a-stick).
Pig Lickers - chocolate-covered bacon sprinkled with sea salt
Pickle Pop - pickle juice frozen in a push-up sleeve
Hand made tator tots - made with hashbrowns, chedar cheese, bacon, green onion and sour cream deep fried and served three on-a-stick

Chicken bites - blackened chicken breast meat served with horseradish sauce
Walking taco - taco meat, cheese salsa and sour cream served in a Dorito bag of tortilla chips
At O’Garas - Leprechaun legs - lightly-battered deep-fried green beans with dipping sauce
Caribbean jerk seasoned sausage (jerk on-a-stick)
Sticky bun burrito - tortilla filled with cinnamon bread pudding covered with caramel sauce



14 days to go...

Wicked!

That's right. The time is finally here. I'm going to see Wicked.

I went last June in Chicago and have been obsessed every since. I've had these tickets since November and I can't believe the day finally here!

I just hope it's as good as I remember and I hope that the people I'm going with love it as much as I want them too. I've been really trying to pump them up. They haven't been jumping up and down when I talk about them. I, however, bounce off the walls when I talk about it! :)

Body Worlds

Yesterday, I went to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Museum. It was pretty interesting for the most part but some of the body displays got a little too bizarre and it all started looking the same.

The process of plastination is really amazing. There were displays of entire humans and animals made up of only blood vessels. The real deal. There were many many organs displayed. Healthy lungs, smoker's lungs, cancerous lungs, livers, bones, arteries, ovaries, fetuses, embryos. I think the best display I saw was a pregnant woman laying on her side belly and baby exposed. Yeah, it could be considered disturbing by some but there was something beautiful about it.


I think it's worth seeing. It's something that gets a bit boring after a while (it took two hours to go through) but looking back and remembering everything is making me like it more.