Cast your vote today!

I’ll get back to my regularly scheduled commercial enterprises pronto. But today is an exciting, scary, American day – please, to all my U.S. viewers and customers, go vote! It matters.

And stay tuned!

Yay Kansas City Royals!

Oh, I had to say it. Mostly I stay away from partisan sports, but these guys are right in my back yard! And the 5th game of the ALDS contest was so exciting – that 8th inning home run? Classic baseball excitement!

So yay Royals and may you win your way to the Series!

A tree on the roof

So this week we had a little interruption to normal stuff. Early Friday June 26 (like 2:00 in the morning early) we had a pretty good storm here in KC. I heard there was a small tornado skipping down a nearby road – no confirmation on that though. But we did have a little drama here at our house:

tree branch that fell on the roof

And we were so lucky – the falling branch got gentled by other branches, and did not make a hole in the roof. We know a really good tree guy (as in, removal of) but he was booked solid, so my DH did the work himself. He’s a champ! The only other PITA was being without power for 2 days – and no internet for 3 days.

So now I’m playing catch-up. But you know? SUPER lucky.

(And by the way, that broken branch looked way bigger in person. Just sayin!)

Dame Helen Mirren Tony Award Winner

I know, this isn’t my usual. But I so adore Helen Mirren, I just had to applaud and add one more voice to the “You are fabulous” list of fangirls!

Read all about it here (and thank you to the Entertainment section of www.independent.co.uk::

Helen Mirren, Tony Award winner for Best Actgress 2015

Dame Mirren has already won an Academy Award for playing Queen Elizabeth – but this is her first Tony. I haven’t seen her performance – yet – but if I get a chance to get to NY I will definitely be in line!

P.S. And did I hear you ask, why do I love Helen Mirren? No, you probably already know. But I’ll say it anyway. Not only is she a great actor – and gorgeous – but she seems to have fun. And like herself. Talk about a great role model!

Tippi Hedren is now my hero

I’ve always loved watching her. “The Birds” and “Marnie” come to mind first, and while I think I would’ve run screaming (how appropriate) from Alfred Hitchcock as a person, he did make good films. And Tippi Hedren has always been a classy actor.

But I didn’t know till recently what a terrific role model she is, as well!

I recently read a very informative article from the BBC about Miss Hedren:

Tippi Hedren
“How Tippi Hedren helped Vietnamese refugees get jobs and establish an industry in the US”

Please go read that article – it is inspiring! In short form – in the mid 60s, she realized that displaced Vietnamese women, homeless because of the war, needed not just charity – but jobs. She established a school that taught the women sewing, typing, and most importantly – nail care and fashion. It worked so well that by now, 51% of the nail technicians in the U.S. are Vietnamese.

Ms. Hedren wasn’t just sympathetic to their plight. She DID something to help. Truly a hero!

P.S. And her other, very personal cause? is the Shambala Preserve, a sanctuary she established to care for abandoned and orphaned exotic big cats.

Like I said – a class act!

Happy Halloween !

Woo hoo, time is flying by – here it is Halloween already. One of my favorite holidays!

Happy Halloween pumpkin

We’re all set for the little ones to come by for goodies. Didn’t do as much as usual this year, somehow the holiday snuck up on us. So we don’t have the vibrating dead rat, or the huge ghost out front – but we do have creepies and crawlies, and our friendly Scary Witch on the front porch. My DH is probably going to wear his Headless Frankenstein Monster suit again. The kids love it 🙂

Have a happy, safe, fun Halloween!

Saturday morning cartoons…

A day I never thought I’d see: Saturday, October 4, 2014, there were no Saturday morning cartoons.

I haven’t actually watched Saturday cartoons in decades. I won’t miss them or anything. And I think it’d be great if thousands of kids weren’t parked parked in front of the TV so they could absorb early-propoganda lessons about Stuff They Need To Buy. But I’m not that naive. There is still “children’s programming” and there are lots of commercials for those.

And handing your kid the iPad or tablet and letting them play on that for hours isn’t a big improvement over cartoons.

It’s just another name for “keeping the kids entertained”. And yeah there’s educational stuff available on the net. Oh yeah, kids are turning that on, right.

Kind of makes me miss the cartoons, actually.

Early Saturday mornings …

This was one of those ambitious mornings – I got some orders packed up, little notes written, labels printed…. and I knew it was going to be hot, so thought it would be a good idea to go to the post office early. DH and I both had errands and sometimes (!) it’s fun to do them together. so at 8:40 am, we headed out. I felt extremely virtuous 🙂

I have now learned that the post office (in my neck of the woods anyway) is not OPEN until 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

It never occurred to me. Shows you how often I get there early on a Saturday (never). So we had to find something to do to spend a few minutes. Went over to my fave thrift store – and they didn’t open till 9:00 either! What else to do?

Donuts, of course. A darling little cafe that I’ve seen a hundred times – and never visited. Well this morning we did. Lovely donuts and fritters, and a table to sit outside. It wasn’t even hot (yet).

A nice way to start a Saturday!

Words to Live By

I saw this quote over on Pinterest and I think it contains an idea we should all remember:

inspirational quote

Yeah. I don’t really want to be ‘used up and totally worn out’ – but I do want to use every minute – and yes this life should be quite a ride!

Let’s remember that, okay? Stop with some of the “should be doing” time killers – and go have fun. Try stuff. Learn stuff. Play.

It matters!

Thanks on Memorial Day

This is a Thank You to all the vets – past and present – who have served our country. Who have put their time and health and sanity and lives on the line, to do their job. Because they need to know they are appreciated.

Memorial Day

So this is taking a moment to remember the sacrifices these men and women nave made – and to let them know that they are remembered, and appreciated, and that at least they were valued. Are valued. It’s not enough – but I mean it. Thank you.