My take on tools...

1.  Why are there two kinds of screwdrivers?  I believe they only exist to frustrate women.  No matter which kind of screwdriver I need, I find the OTHER one first.  And if one is obviously superior to the other, why aren’t all screws made with that type of head and the other done away with?  I think the world was just fine with a regular screwdriver and some dude named Phillip came along and said “I want a tool named after me.”  So he created a screwdriver, got all his buddies to agree to use it, and now we have about half the screws in the world with little “x’s” on them so when we’re looking for a screwdriver we need to know if it’s a regular one or if it’s phillip’s screwdriver. 

2.  Tool boxes are too complicated.  Really, Handy Manny has the right idea for the most part.  Have you looked inside a tool box lately?  (Especially a man’s toolbox.) There’s undefinable garbage in there.  I can accomplish most of what I need to do with just a few items, the most valuable of which is a hammer.  And if I can’t find a hammer, a lot of other things will do in a pinch.  (Gary once had a pair of shoes that was heavy enough to use as a hammer.  Sorry about those chips in the soles, honey.)  And as every woman knows, a butter knife will do as a screwdriver in all but the most precise screwdriver cases.

3.  Tools do not automatically become the property of the man.  I should not have to resort to buying purple flowered tools in order to guarantee they stay in my toolbox.  However, I happen to like purple flowered tools.

4.  Tools do not automatically become more valuable because they are filthy.  It’s is acceptable to have a clean tool.  Especially if you are borrowing mine. 

5.  Go ahead and mock my tools.  I realize that I am the only one in the household that thinks it’s neato-torpedo that you can unscrew the head off my purple-flowered hammer to find seven screwdrivers inside.  But then don’t resent my knowing smirk when I see you using it. 

6.  If you are borrowing something from MY toolbox (which should be fairly obvious because you found it IN my toolbox or you noticed that it is either a feminine color or it is a size you enjoy mocking) you should return it to my toolbox.  It does not belong in the garage.    

7.  When a certain husband leaves a favorite hose nozzle out all winter so that it doesn’t work (cuz something plastic in it got frozen and cracked so that the water just pours over my hand instead of shooting out over all of the cool different settings, a sledge hammer is the perfect item to take out your frustration with it.  But be careful, because it will scare the dog.  

Something I have done that you haven't done...

Here's a challenge.  Name something I have done that I don't think anyone else I know has done.  That's easy.  I have driven down the runway at Lowry Air Force base.  In a big white station wagon.  It wasn't a terrorist act or anything, I was lost.  I was trying to find the Cherry Creek mall and I took a wrong turn.  (Okay, a couple of wrong turns.)  I noticed that I was on the base, and the streets were getting narrower and twistier, so my logic  was that since I was obviously getting deeper inside the base, I should look for streets that were wider and straighter.  So I aimed for the widest, straightest street I could find.  Once I found it and was driving on it, the first thing I noticed was that there were no other cars.  Then I  noticed there were no typical lines painted on it.  (Not much gets by me, huh?)  Then I noticed there was a big airplane in my way.  I stopped driving.

As I was looking to see where I could turn around, I noticed a perplexed guard (complete with rifle across his chest) behind my car.  I got out and said, "I'm lost."  He replied, "No you're not."  Okay, that wasn't what I expected to hear.  He wasn't smiling, either.  I said, "Yes, I am."  He again said, "No, you're not.  Where do you think you are?"  I said, "I think I'm on a runway;"  He said, "See?  You're not lost."  I said, "But I really don't want to be here!"  He said, "Well, I'm not too wild about that myself.  Where do you want to be?"  I said, "The Cherry Creek mall."  Then he got this "how-in-the-world-did-you-manage-to-get-here" look on his face and lowered his gun.  He then gave me a bunch of compass words to get me to the mall, which of course I didn't understand at all.  (If I spoke compass I wouldn't have ended up on that stupid runway in the first place) and I turned around and managed to get off the base.  I wonder how many air force people were watching me drive around while I exited Lowry?

Of course this was LONG  before 9/11.  Thank goodness.

Weird...

This may be a total coincidence, but since I made my blog public I have received three facebook messages from men I have never met before, who are all looking for the woman of their dreams.  Reading back over my blog entries I can see absolutely NOTHING that would attract anyone, but who knows what others would find appealing?  Like I said, it could be a coincidence but it's a weird one.

Today we went to Ikea and I bought some pepperkakor for Gary.  I also bought a package for the kids/grandkids to eat in the car.  Jack loved them.  :)  It's the first time I've seen him not just open his little mouth for the next bite, but actually grab the hand holding the next bite and help guide it to his little open mouth.

We also went to see the movie, "Rio."  A few days ago we saw the movie "Gnomeo and Juliet."  Both of them were cute little movies, and Alice seemed to like them.  But neither of them could hold a candle to Tangled or Toy Story 3.

Tomorrow or early Monday I'll be headed back to Colorado and my real life, no more Grandma duty in Utah.  I'll miss the babies so much.  It's been a fun visit.

A stupid thing to be sad about...

Okay, this may be low on the totem pole of things to be upset about, but my favorite soap opera, "All My Children," has been cancelled.  I'm sad about that.  I used to go to "Super Soap weekend" with my sister every year, till that event was cancelled.  I even got kissed by Michael E. Knight (on the MOUTH!) seven (yes SEVEN) times.  I saw Susan Lucci in person, and she is really, really tiny.  Plus she looks even younger in person than she does on the show, no where near 63.

I actually got to be an "extra" on an episode once, too.  A "groupie" in a concert scene.  The funny thing was that there were all these paid extras who were dressed the part, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and I ended up on camera while the paid extras did not.  :)

So the soap that airs right afterwards, One Life to Live, is also cancelled.  I have watched that one on and off too, but my favorite was All My Children, which I started watching back when I was in college.  It will air its final episode in September.  It'll be replace by some stupid cooking show called "the chew."  I won't be watching.

An experiment...

Okay, I'm trying an experiment.  I'm turning my blog non-private for a while.  Apparently when it's private none of the updates show up so people have to actually visit to see if I've posted.  That's too inconvenient, I know everyone is busy.  Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

It looks like Dad and I are going to try to make it to Florida (FINALLY!) for the weekend of May 13 through the 15th.  I want to see Herman's Hermits (with Peter Noone) and besides, its the end of the Flower and Garden festival at Epcot.  I don't know how long exactly we'll be there.  Dad will be in Boston the week before that, on a business trip.  But maybe I'll go down a day or two earlier.  I haven't been there in months and I'm going through severe withdrawal.  :)  I'll have to rent a car or something, I'm sure.  Unless, of course, I get a room on Disney property.  We'll have to see what I can get for a reservation.  There's not a lot of time and the rooms might already be booked, which means we'll be staying off property.

I got two dressers re-finished.  One is in the family room, replacing a horrible particle-board monstrosity between the two couches.  The other is in the front room between the sliding glass door and the window in the front room.  Now all I have to do is finish painting my bedroom and I think I'm done with major projects in the house.  I think.  Oh, wait... I still wanted to make a quilt and I have several afghans to crochet.  And the downstairs desk to re-finish too.  And a backsplash for the kitchen.  Man, the list never gets shorter.  Oh well.  I'd hate to get bored.  :)

Via email...

Got this via email, and it's worth a chuckle...

Things that kids say: While walking along the pavement in front of his church, a minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton wadding, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased. The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.' (I want this line used at my funeral.) 

I hope I can figure this out...

I just got this little video via email and I really, REALLY hope I can figure out how to post it here.  Although it gives me a headache to watch it, it's also hilarious.  :)

Vintage Pyrex

For anyone who is interested, Sukie is selling vintage pyrex for a friend of hers via her blog.  Actually, she's created a new web site to sell it.  Check it out:  http://networkedblogs.com/gf2cZ

It's strange to me how so many things have become collectible.  It's also strange that once I find out it's collectible, I seem to want it more.  :)  Once I found out that older pyrex was considered "vintage" I found a divided dish at a garage sale for two bucks and I bought it.  It's a cute pattern and all, but before I found out about "vintage" pyrex, I wouldn't have given it a second look.  Also, I have looked around my kitchen and have seen a few more of my own pieces and they are much more attractive to me now than they have been in the past.  I am SO easily influenced I suppose.  Oh well.  :)

Anyway, take a look at what she has if you get a chance.  Some of the patterns are really unique, I haven't seen them before at all. Others are so old I haven't seen them in years so it's fun to see them again.

Cookbook link

I have a new link on my blog, it's called "Susie's Cookbook."  It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll do until I figure out how to make it better.  In the meantime, I got rid of a bunch of emails I've been carting around since forever.  If you want anything else posted in there that I have, let me know and I'll put it in.  Or if you have a recipe that you want posted, I can put that in too.

Ta DAA!

Susie