Only the Best

My special Valentine's Day date was, once again, my friend Susan. I found our being single is not to be pitied. I learned it is a truth while watching CBS Sunday Morning. This program has been on Sunday mornings since I can remember, and it's a magazine type show. LOVE it. They did a story this week on marriage and how it's not as popular a choice in our times. We knew that though. Studies show that the happiest people are not those who are simply in a marriage, it's those who are blessed with a happy marriage. This was followed closely by single women.

"Married people who are in good marriages are about as happy as you can get, followed by never-married single women 50 years and older who have discovered that, in fact, there are lots of pleasures in singlehood."

Stephanie Coontz, the author of a new book about the evolution of women in society.

They interviewed a woman, Ms. Scandurra, who lives a life similar to mine. Here's an excerpt...

When asked if married people are indeed happier, Coontz said, "Married people who are in good marriages are about as happy as you can get, followed by never-married single women 50 years and older who have discovered that, in fact, there are lots of pleasures in singlehood."
Jane Scandurra is one of them. A successful marketing executive, she owns her home, has her own boat, and a big circle of friends: Everything, it would seem, except a husband.
"The reasons you get married are no longer what they used to be," Scandurra said. "You used to get married in the past, you know, to have sex [because] no one had sex before marriage. You didn't have kids unless you were married. Now, people are having kids outside of marriage. And also, you know, women used to get married for financial security, because they didn't have any other way to sustain themselves. That's all gone."
Scandurra is co-producer of "Single," a documentary about the growing legion of the unmarried.
"I could very easily have gotten married, plenty of times," she said. "But I probably would have been a divorce statistic.
"I feel like I just didn't make a mistake."

From http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/13/sunday/main20031693.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea

Like Scandurra, I could've married and been divorced like so many others, but I'm waiting for the life that so many of my friends have--that happy married life. One step higher up on life's happyometer. It's either that or I have to be 50 or older to reach singledom nirvana. Not sure what to hope for now--single and over the hill or over the hill and happily in love. It seems they both work! Hope your happyometer is high today!

Busted

So, theoatmeal.com has some funny comics. One of the latest is "7 things you don't need to take a photo of". Their number one is below.

As a matter of fact, I DID order mangotinis at the Sunshine Celebration. Whatever.
Click here to see numbers 3-7.

It was a Sunshine Celebration (insert lisp)

It was dang near exhilarating when I broke the garage door free of it's frozen bonds and was ready to get all "Roxy Fireball" on this town. I put my face on. I put clean clothes on. (Well, semi-clean. I'd worn the jeans to dinner, but that's it, so pretty close to clean!) Full on makeup and clean hair. Even my manicure was a fresh one. My homies and I congregated, as we tend to do, around margaritas. We started at Casa Rita around 2:30. Our waiter was a sweet little 19 year old boy. It was his fourth day as a waiter. Sweet little thing seemed both thrilled and terrified to have us at his table. Can you imagine? 4th day and in walks Susan, Courtney and me. Susan promised him we'd be gentle. And so we were. His Indian name is HeWhoJacksupOrders; but we overlooked that, because we were together in clothes with lip gloss on thinking we were hilarious. Just try to tell us we weren't.

The sun came out and so did we. Tweet, tweet!

At 6 pm we checked the temperature because we still didn't believe it wasn't going to "get ugly". Well, it got ugly but it wasn't the weather. You see, at this juncture we knew we couldn't stray far from home because of those funny slick spots they keep pushing on the news. We made the choice to go to Down Under Pub, a.k.a. Frisco Disco. We were there before the band had even begun to set up so lots of time to "think about things".

We only heard the band's name once and don't remember it. They were really good! They did it all--rock, country, even some rap. So fun. And the crowds started coming in.

We are so happy!

Courtney had been inside so long that she needed a stretch before the dancing began.

Please do notice her boots, she might want you to see them.

Shout out to Sam the Cab Man (469-583-3014 Tell him Sara and friends sent ya)

This picture is my favorite because Susan looks scared. She went home not long after this was taken. Courtney and I were on our own. There are no pictures. We were busy.

Style to Inspire

My friend Jill follows many blogs. One of them is a young woman's blog who poses and has her picture taken in her outfits. Then she discusses them. The woman did not make them, but has styled them. I visited the blog to look at a hair style Jill wanted to show me. I saw the cute hair, then I read through the blog a bit. What I came away with is that this girl LOVES herself. She posed and styled and just KNOWS we all want to see what she's wearing. I'm just hoping that no one at campus B notices I wore Tuesday's outfit to campus A the day before. I just want to do the best for my figure (a perfect apple, thank you!) and maybe someone will tell me I look good in a color. But this little blogger, she had her dad take her picture as she posed by brick walls and train tracks so that the world could share in her stylish ideas. They found the perfect graffiti wall that she normally hated but it made just the perfect background for her outfit. Wouldn't she just ADORE the fields of bluebonnets to show off her denim styles? You know she would! Well. I've had some stylish ideas myself this week, and I thought I'd share them with you. Surely you can pick up some tips because I'm so clever and stylish. I KNOW you want to see me when I'm looking cute. You must, because I'm so cute. And by cute I mean slobby with no makeup.

Today

I'm wearing flannel pajamas with owls and snow trees all over them. The long sleeve t-shirt layered underneath gives it a dressier feel. The blue socks have paw print grips on the bottom which add another bit of whimsy to this already fun outfit. Very rare and expensive. You'll only find those at hospitals. They gave them to me when I had surgery. The ramp I'm leaning on is the ramp my elderly, deaf and mostly blind dog uses to get into bed. She has to sleep with me because I need to know when she wakes in the night and needs to go out and do her "business". Lucky me! It was the cutest thing to pose on--cute angle and unassuming color. Just perfect!

I've had a couple of jeans outfits. One was when JB and I were going to play Wii. I felt I needed to be a bit more "dressed". And by dressed I mean brush my teeth and hair. That day, I had on jeans and a brown sweater. This out fit above (forgive the poor photo) was for dog walking. I wore floral goulashes to lift everyone's spirits with my joyful boots. Saw noone on the walk, but oh, my feet felt happy as they sludged through the snow.

This was yesterday's outfit. The pants have a fun LOVE appliqued down the leg--the o is a piece sign. The "over sized" sweatshirt is a size 4x from when I was much bigger. You see what I've done is a mix of vintage (old sweatshirt) and modern (pants). My hair was worn with the bangs clipped back. Please notice that today, day four, is when I've taken all pictures so clothes have been dug out of dirty laundry and bed wasn't made today. I gave up on it today.

This was Tuesday's outfit. Once again, over sized and vintage with an undershirt to make it dressier. The hat was added that day because the house was so cold until JB came and lit the fireplace.

I do hope I've inspired you with my styles to create your own. I'll bet you had your own cute look going on at your igloo though!

Luck and Coping Skills

About a month ago, I ordered a lime green, medium sized, silk, round Indian floor pillow. 'Bout the size of an ottoman. I got it for a deal at The Foundry. What was sent was a very expensive, very large silk turquoise, fully embroidered floor pillow. Like some cultures might lay around on to watch TV or eat dinner. The box it came in is as big as the clothes dryer, so I knew something was weird before I opened the box. It was silk, but not lime green, not round and not a at all what I wanted. JB agreed to take it to the shipping center in the back of his truck to return because it wouldn't fit in the back of my car. I did the online return process and when finished the system told me, "No need to return your order, your credit is being processed immediately." I was a bit confused. I phoned them and was told that I could indeed keep the giant, beautiful silk floor pillow because it would cost too much for them to pay the shipping to return it. I GOT IT FOR FREE! I guess they were sold out of the lime green small round one and sent this instead. So...I now have a beautiful floor pillow kept rolled up behind a chair for when people are over playing games or needing a nap. J.B. is holding it in the picture below. It's so big, you can't see him! Look at the beautiful silk and embroidery.

Laid out, it's larger than my coffee table which has sari fabric underneath glass. If you've been here, you know there's an eclectic vibe going on with strong Mexican and E. Indian veins running through it, so this thing works here. Just perfect for game parties!

See how thick and cushy it is?

I laid it out to play Words with Friends (Givemetx name, hit me up) and Lolly found it super comfy too!

COPING SKILLS

I love using my fake lisp to say "slick spots". The media has been saying it throughout the newscasts all day. I repeat it back to them each and every time. That's just one of the many things that have helped me keep my sanity during the, after tomorrow, four days of being frozen in the house. I am stuck in my igloo. I have tried repeatedly to open my garage door. No Luck. I gave it three tries in a row yesterday and saw it begin to bend in its efforts. Not wanting to buy another garage door from a stupid mistake, I quit. Did try again today (remember the definition of insanity?) to no avail. STUCK!

SOUP

I've made lots of soup this week. Tonight it was a delicious New Orleans corn bisque with sausage. Yum. It has potato in it and turkey kielbasa. I use fat free half and half instead of cream. I had soup for lunch yesterday, then salad for dinner. Baking has been avoided even though my bored mind has considered it but this would naturally lead to bored eating of baked goods. And you KNOW I'd bake something that would go down super easy.

These above are the left overs of Tuesday's cream of broccoli, Wednesday's creamy taco soup (shout out to Jill) and lunch today which was tomato basil Parmesan. Tomorrow will be butternut squash soup. Obviously, next week's menu plan is already in place.

THE LITTLE HEATER THAT COULD

This little oil heater has been a life saver! JB got one too (shout out to Karen). We love them. If there's a little draft by the windows, you roll it over there and no more draft. It's really given the house heater a break.

WOOL SOCKS FROM BETH

Wool socks are no joke. Light but so warm. My always amazingly crafty and generous with her talents sister, Beth, made these for me. They are the second pair she made for me, because without thinking, I put the first pair in the dryer. I know, I'm dumb and she's got all kinds of crafty talent. If you know me, you know the fruit of my sister's many talents. Mad skills, yo.

MOLLY LOLLY

Angel in dog form. Sweet, sweet baby. (I love that little moustache that comes out in the pictures of her.) Mol-Mol has kept us busy by demanding to go out 100 times a day. If you don't let her out she does circles around the kitchen breakfast bar. JB is so sweet that he's now taken her for two big walks. I've learned that she will stay out about 10 minutes at a time. Left her out a bit longer today and she actually jumped and scratched at the door. An Emily move from way back, I am programmed to respond. Here she is going out again.
Notice the ice that was once blown in sleet spilled into the porch? Looks like someone spilled a large bag of sugar into the porch!

This is a close up of the ice built up around the screen porch door. Shows how thick it is. Looks fluffy. It is not. It's SOLID.

The birds are all over the bird feeder and Molly is a bird dog so her job is to watch them. She's an over achiever. Molly checks both doors of porch constantly while out.

WINE

Keeps me mellow so I don't lose it from a pacing man and a pacing dog. Plus it's good for me!

FRENCH HORNS AND CHAI TEA

Hydration is important.

COMPANY/ROOMMATE

Thank goodness I haven't lived alone during all this. It's someone to talk with, cook for and who walks my dog. God bless, JB. :)

That's what's going on here. What's been going on in your igloo?

This is too much

I posted this in May before I had surgery. It's so true! I can even hear me saying it. Too funny.

Special Like Christmas

There's something so very cool about a "snow day" off of work. There's is this instant relaxation that overtakes the world. The morning rush is gone in a poof! No makeup and hair up in a pony tail all day. Delightful special surprise. It's as if everyone at the same moment takes a relaxing sigh, makes some hot chocolate and grabs a book. I don't mind the make up day in the spring because I know those are coming. It's surprise snow make up days that would bother me! (Oh, Sara, by the way. You'll need to work this Saturday to make up for that snow day in January. HUGE bummer) These snow days are complete surprises. We are gifted with an excuse for laziness. The night before is like Christmas Eve--you wonder what special things the next day holds. Will we go to work or not? Then you get the call. Everyone is home, so work isn't really backing up. You might have to reschedule a few things, but it worth it. Snow days are special like Christmas because nearly everyone is staying home. Everyone is having a day in with the family.

I felt for the people who were stuck in downtown Dallas on a mix master behind a jackknifed truck. Some were backing their vehicles up. Some waited in their car. While watching the news, I saw a dude who was parked on the interstate get out of his car to put on his coat then got back in his car. It was 20 degrees and sleeting with 45 mph winds but he couldn't find a way to wiggle into that coat while in the car? As he got back in the car, I wondered if he regretted getting out and thought himself the dummy that he appeared to be. I also wondered if all the drivers on the road regretted leaving home at all. When I see those people on the highway in weather like this, I wonder what it is they do that is so important to them, or to others that, no matter what the dangers, they must get there. Health professional or checker at grocery store. Both equally important on a day like today.

Mother and I spoke on the phone today. We discussed earth becoming an Ice Age situation. Yeah, Ice Age as in the movie. Mom said that one could clearly see from those movies that the earth being covered with ice is not a good deal for earth's inhabitants. (she's funny) Mom had been thinking about how maybe our galaxy has seasons like earth does. INTERESTING to think about. And seriously, God's wonders are so far beyond our pea brains that how would we know they don't? I don't need some Googlemeister or science geek to send me a thesis on it, but it's an interesting thing to ponder, but not too deeply. Once I start thinking about the galaxy and trying to imagine anything beyond it, my brain freezes up just like a computer does when you click on things too quickly. I just freeze up to work on it, realize I can't and have to reboot to clean it all out.

Imagine living in Elizabethan times when all there was time for was primping, partying, playing music and pondering. They got into far deeper thoughts than we do. We don't have to ponder. We have the Internet. See how the world has improved thanks to technology? NO thinking required. Progress!

This morning, JB and I were watching the news. They were in the convention center for Superbowl stuff going on. Lots of booths set up with swag and information and who knows what. The next Superbowl will be in Indianapolis. Indy had a big booth proudly showing their city and highlighting its wonders. Newscaster, Ms. Clarice Tinsley went and spoke to the rep at the Indy booth. That rep explained thatin their city they have 4800 hotel rooms within blocks of the football stadium and those hotels are all connected by tunnels to the stadium. You never have to even hit the weather outside at all if you don't want to. She said they do have lots of snow in January, but that THEY know how to handle weather. (Oh, girl, you did not just say that on Dallas news.) She strongly implied that we here in Dallas do not know how to handle weather. I turned to JB and said that we here in Dallas consider a month of over 100 degree days "weather" and WE know how to handle that. Bet they don't. We'd build tunnels but there is no way we could ever afford to keep the air conditioning at the desired public-space setting of a chilly 70 degrees. Forget tunnels. We'll just use our car a/c. See? We do know how to handle weather.

During this historical cold weather, I'm thankful to God for blessing me with a warm, nice home where the heater works well and healthy food with good wine for today...and tomorrow. All day I kept thinking of those who don't have a warm home to go to. I stood out in my backyard today and felt the weather and thought about that. About how it would feel if I was walking the streets, hungry and cold. How horribly lonely that must be.

This was a long, rambling post. There are about four more topics from today I have in my head to write about, but I've gone on plenty long. Hope you're warm, well fed and loved tonight too!

Here's a drink for you on these cold days. A French Horn. In a mug of hot chocolate, throw in a shot of brandy and 1/2 a shot of almond liqueur. Top with mini marshmallows or whipped cream. I've never met anyone who didn't just love them.