Colors

This week has just been kind of lazy. I've been reading some, watching TV and some movies. Just enjoying kind of a mellow week.

I did do some errand-running and a little shopping. I am singing in the choir at church for our Easter program. We are supposed to wear black pants/skirts and a solid, spring-colored shirt. The word pastel was tossed around too. So I looked through my closet. I have red, gray and black. So.... Is gray a pastel? Does it say spring? I don't have much in the way of spring colors in my closet. I'm much more of a jewel-toned girl. And recently, I've gotten on a gray kick. So I went to see what I could find. Let me tell you, there's not much out there in the way of spring colors to BUY either! So I ended up getting a green shirt and a blue knit top. Green, like Crayola green. And blue, like a royal blue. Still not pastel, but more springy? I don't know. But that's what I've ended up with.

And the sky. It's been amazing recently. The different shades of gray, giving way to a patch of blue sky. There is something so peaceful to me seeing the clouds like that.

Action

This is going to be a random collection. But that's how this week has been!

I have become addicted to the world of RSS feeds. It's a way that you can collect all of your favorite websites in one place, then they tell you when something is new on them. It's more of a "here's what you want to know" - just handed to you, instead of having to go to every website and look for it all the time. (Google Reader - really good and easy to use)

I have been watching the show Being Erica. It's on the soap network. And interestingly, it's a Canadian show. But it's great. It's about a girl in her 30s who's not where she thought she would be. Expectations, of other people and your own. But each week, she goes back in time and learns more about herself by trying to do things differently. And it's not about going back and fixing the problems each week - and everything comes out perfectly. It's really more about learning who you are and being that person. There's usually a good quote each week, inspirational words, given to the character. This week it was "Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not." ~Henri Frederic Amiel. I loved that one!

One day this past week, I was running errands & meeting a friend for lunch - it was an adventure just getting there! On the way out, just driving down the road, I saw a deer running toward me on the shoulder of the road. I said to myself “ah, a deer. OH!!! A DEER!!!!!” My brain was so confused. I was torn between thinking how beautiful she was running toward me AND thinking “please don’t run out in front of me!” I had just seen a cop car and had naturally let off the gas petal, so it was easy for me to slow even more. She didn’t run out in front of me – and both me and the deer were safe.
Then on my way back home, I was at a familiar (normal) intersection, looked up and saw an army tank. Like a real, in the desert, military tank. On second glance, it was on a flatbed truck. But in the middle of a residential area is not usually where you see a tank. After the deer and the tank, I knew I had to get home - and soon!! No more weirdness!

Friday evening, we went to the driving range. It was great to hit the ball again. Um, to be able to hit the ball again. Those first few swings, I didn't know if last summer was just a fluke. I was all over the place. I was hoping that I hadn't forgotten everything I had learned. But then I finally started making contact. And remembering what I had learned - and putting all together! And actually I was able to hit with the driver (well, the 5 wood, what I call a driver) farther than I did last year. And more consistently! The irons were another story. But they've always given me troubles. I'm just glad that I haven't forgotten.

Warm

I have a weather center. I am addicted to knowing what the weather is doing and is going to do. So I got this at Christmas - and look at it everyday! The "guy" in the middle is Oscar. He dresses according to the weather. Coat, scarf, hat, long sleeves, short sleeves. Stuff like that. Well, since I got it in the middle of the cold weather, I've really only seen him in pants - very well covered. The other day, it got up to 82 degrees. And here at 79 degrees, I was surprised to find him in basically - NOTHING. So here's my question: if he's basically in a Speedo at 80 degrees, what is he going to be wearing when it gets up to 90 degrees?


So this week, for my "try new things" - I mowed the grass (well, weeds) with the riding lawn mower! I haven't been on one in a LONG time. So it was basically new. And I've never mowed the whole yard before on one. It was so fun! And I didn't get hurt. Well, I did cut my finger a little, but that was on the gasoline can. Oops.

I can't believe that less than a week before mowing the grass in really warm weather, there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground!


New venture: I want to make a good low fat donuts. Or something that resembles the flavor of a donut. They are my weakness. I love them. And since I really favor cake or sour cream donuts, this should be a little easier to find a recipe that works. My first attempt at perfecting a recipe went pretty well. I ended up making more of donut mini muffins - kind of donut hole size. But they were very tasty! I even coated some with powdered sugar and they were even better! And I made notes, so that I could alter it – and know what I did the last time when I try again.



I recently got a Big City Slider maker. [Big City Slider - a mini burger "press" that cooks on the stovetop - advertised by Billy Mayes on TV]. I was looking forward to trying it out. The first few times it was used, it was AWESOME. Kind of a pain to clean - ok, really a pain to clean - but the burgers were very good! And cooked very fast.
But about the fifth time I used it, I noticed that one of them had silver streaks on it. It looked like someone had spray painted in between the grill marks. The "nonstick" surface had come off from the top (the press thing) onto the burger. I hadn't scrubbed it with anything rough or abrasive - nor did I use metal on it at all. And it was the TOP that seems to melt onto the burger. And the top really was easy to clean, so I never really had to scrub that at all. I was so disappointed. I hadn't expected absolute greatness when I got it. I figured it would be ok with the cooking and a little hard to clean.
But it made GREAT little burgers. And it was nearly impossible to clean. It was just so easy and fast to cook with. So I'm trying to remind myself, while I am disappointed that the maker "broke", that the cleanup maybe was just a little too much for something so simple. If it hadn't impressed me at first, then I don't think I would be as disappointed now.

Snow

We had a beautiful snow here today. And it was the best kind too. It didn't make the roads slick at all. It was just pretty. After church, I did as much as I could in the snow! I watched the big flakes falling, took lots of pictures and even made a little snowman! By the afternoon, the sun came out and all of it melted away. But it was so amazing while it lasted!

My little snowman - only about 6 inches tall!

Snow on the holly

white everywhere - snow makes everything more beautiful

And then it started melting away.
I loved this shot of the white, green and blue. Such vibrant colors!