Getting Married Soon?

Oh if I had to do it all over again!!
Can you see Bill DOING THIS!! VBG

It's sure something to think about.
They look like they are having so much fun!
Let's do away with those boring,
stuffy, formal weddings!

My sister, (Dawn) and her husband, (Chris)
got married in a hot air balloon.
I'll have to see if I can get some video of that.
It was totally awesome!

One balloon carried, Bride, Groom, Minister,
Maid of Honor and the Photographer.
(who doubled as Best Man)

A second balloon carried a filming crew.

The families followed the balloons
around in cars throughout the country.
They landed in a hay field where
strawberries and champagne was shared!

A barn dance was held a week or so later.
What a BLAST!

What I'm 'coming back as'!!!

I was at the vet's office yesterday waiting while Kruz and Mad had their dentals.
The vet office now has a big flat screen TV that plays Animal Planet 'non stop'. I suppose that's all well and good, but with the huge increase in their prices, I could live without it! Not to mention, I can't read a book with the TV on. Luckily I took some knitting along!!

One of the AP shows was about animals with extreme diets. I learned that I would like to come back as a HUMMING BIRD!! They eat 60 meals a day and don't gain an ounce! I think with a heart beat of 200+ per minute, Martha might already be one?

I do NOT want to come back as a whale! One species swims 6000 miles round trip to give birth in warmer waters and then swim back without eating! Hello! We can't make it 20 minutes from home with out cracking open a soda or some chips! Sorry baby, you're on your OWN!

They talked about bears going 7 months during the winter without eating, drinking or peeing!! YIKES! Seals that gained 400+ lbs so they could give birth, feed their baby up on warmer land and not feed for 3 months. Penguins males that went 3 months balancing an egg on their feet and ate snow to stay hydrated, but didn't eat! I sure hope that snow wasn't YELLOW!!! EEWWWW!!

Yep, I'm definitely coming back as a Hummingbird!

Fun at Christmas Time!!

Well, Christmas FINALLY came and I was able to part
with that 'fart machine' that has been begging me to
turn it lose for the last couple weeks!

OH THE PRESSURE!!!

It made it to Christmas Day UNOPENED!

I made a little movie clip showing
Daphne and Vaughn opening their gifts.
I've included the noises in
case you'd like to purchase one!

Brother Kalvin is the one that asked
if it was a 'fart machine'.
A while later I was wishing I'd
gotten him one too!

It did get opened and we needed a
screwdriver in order to insert the 9-Volt
battery that was required.
Kalvin saved the day!!

He was inserting the battery,
I had the remote!
Of course I was planning on
'farting him' as soon as the
battery was inserted!

I thought he'd had gotten
it in place, so I pushed the remote.
A FANTASTIC Fart erupted!

Every one's laughing, except Kalvin.
He looks up, and asks,
"Was that the fart machine?"
My Brother in Law, Chris points an
accusing finger at my sister.....
"No, it was DAWN!!!"

Kalvin started to laugh and said,
"I didn't think so, I didn't
even have the battery hooked up yet."

Yep...that's my family!
The GRISWOLD'S!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

From our little Red Neck Christmas Tree you YOURS!

I think the winds were just a bit too much for it!

It's now tucked up nicely in front of the house.
Maybe I'll get a picture of it later! G

Have a Great Day!
If you're traveling,
STAY SAFE

One of MY FAVORITE Days of the YEAR!

It's the first day of WINTER!!!
Am I CRAZY!!
No, not really...

We've been suffering with winter weather the last 3 weeks.
Now it's just OFFICIAL!

What I really love about it...
is it's the SHORTEST day of the year!

From here on out.....
days will get LONGER!!

That means SPRING is
JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!!

New Year's Resolution Anyone?

I know, Christmas isn't even here yet...but it's "NEVER"
to early to start thinking about your better living habits in 2010.
If you're looking for a way to eat better,
then might help you along the way.

Need some help trying to find
a proper diet?

Here's a British "Eating" show that you 'might' enjoy.
It's nice to see TV picking on other FAT people!!
It's NOT just Americans ANYMORE!
Okay, so we invented "FAST FOOD"!!
SORRY!!!

I do have to admit here, the "post" doctor is rather 'creepy'.
I'm sure that's why he got picked for the show!




One Stone = 14 lbs (25 stone = 350 lbs)
(12 stone = 168)
I think he's still smaller than most of the contestants on
"The Biggest Loser".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srUZwQf76Xs

Part Two
What's in your sausage?





Part Three
Are you eating enough fiber?



Part 4
This one is kind of interesting, they cut the bodies (350 lbs vs 168 lbs) down the middle. They also talk about the good vs. bad cholesterol.

Bodies cut down the middle to see
where your fat lays.




Part 5

How many Calories are you eating a day?


Part 6

How much salt is
in your food?





Part Seven

You can be skinny and FAT INSIDE!




Part Eight

The autopsy.
(this actually starts at the end of seven)
It's amazing the size of the lungs and heart!





Average Life Expectancy

Tokyo - 83 yrs
London - 79 yrs
US - 78 yrs
Glasgow (Scotland) - 73 yrs

Another Great Book!!

I really like this Author.
Unfortunately this is the 'last' book
until he gets busy and releases more!

They are all murder mysteries based in England.
Yes, believe it or not...they have murders too!
Remember Jack the Ripper!

This is the first of his new series with
a female character, Bess Crawford.
She's a nurse in the war, and her
series begins in 1916.

---------------------

His first series, has a male character,
Ian Rutledge, from Scotland Yard.
Ian has returned from the Great
War suffering from 'shell shock'.

As Ian's trying to keep his life together,
he's given the most complicated murders to
solve. With the hope of his jealous superior
that he will fail.

These are pretty quick reads and
very entertaining!
Set back in a time when cars we
new and untrustworthy.
No Cell Phones!
No INTERNET!
No OVERNIGHT MAIL SERVICE!

How did they ever manage?

IT CAME!!!

My Nephew's Christmas present arrived today!
I'm so excited!

He's 8 years old and just LOVES practical jokes.
So, when I saw this it had VAUGHN'S name,
ALL OVER IT!!

Now if I can just keep myself
from "testing it" at a party
this weekend.....

It's going to be tough!

What is it?

Just what EVERYONE WANTS!

Hey, he'll have a voice in picking
out my nursing home!

I've GOT to be nice to him!!

OH DEER!!!

It's Deer Season here in Iowa. That's great for those
of us that feed a raw diet to our dogs.
It's also great for those of use that have had the
misfortune of hitting them on the road.
Believe it or not,
it's also good for the deer as the quickly become over populated!

My luck in obtaining deer has been hit and miss.
There are years I get one or two and even one year that I didn't get any.
This year is TOTALLY a HIT YEAR!
My brother called the other day and asked me what I wanted.
Him and his friends had bagged a total of 16!!
YIKES!

They provided us with 10 or so large bags of rib cages and
legs that still had some meat on them.
Mostly the lower tendons.
These are great as the dogs seem to enjoy laying
on the kitchen floor and working all that meat loose.

I don't generally like the cold,
but it sure pays off when you have this much meat and bone 'dumped' on you.
Nature is going to have to be our natural freezer for this haul!

He also gave me several bags of nice trimmings.
I took 30# of it to the locker yesterday for summer
sausage and sticks. I have a good 30# more if you're interested.
I can feed it to the dogs, but it seems like
a waste when they have plenty!

7 Foods the Experts Won't EAT!!

Yahoo always lists possible articles of 'interest'.
I'll admit, I rarely read them.
Today, I DID!!
UGH

Yep, that's the title above....
7 Foods the Experts Won't EAT.

I should have left well enough ALONE!!

1. Canned Tomatoes.
They are talking tomatoes in a can.
Apparently they absorb bisphenol-A in the lining that can
cause ALL kinds of health problems.
I just finished eating a bowl of chili made with....
store bought CANNED TOMATOES!!
(Yes, I do also can my own....which is suppose
to be healthier....I just don't have that many jars!)

2. Corn Fed Beef.
Now, if you think I'm touching this
topic you're NUTS!! Besides, there was beef in my
chili....listed above! Not to mention my Brother-in-Law
is a Beef Farmer. I'm NOT STUPID!!
Need I mention Oprah here?? G

3. Microwave Popcorn.
SORRY GUYS!!
Yep, the chemicals that line the bag is
linked to testicular cancer (and other forms)
animals!! I'm not sure why these animals
are living on a mainstay of popcorn,
but that's a topic for another post.
Luckily, I rarely eat popcorn.....
unless it's covered in caramel that is!!

4. Non organic Potatoes
COME ON!!
You can't be serious!
Too many chemicals....in the ground...
Then what about carrots?

5. Farmed Salmon
Another "FINE BY ME" one here!!
They are crammed into pens and
fed improper diets.
(and Twinkies and Ho Ho's are??)
If you eat farmed salmon more than
once every 5 months you are increasing
your likelihood of cancer!

6. Milk produced with Artificial Hormones
GROWTH HORMONES!!
These cause increased infections
in udders and pus in milk.
Now THAT'S an attractive thought!
So, why doesn't this apply to cheese
and ice cream as well???

7. Conventional Apples
(Vs. Non Conventional Apples??)
Chemicals again, you need to wash and peel them.
I always thought the skin was the best part!

Well, hopefully I didn't ruin your WHOLE
evening and prevent you from that bowl
of popcorn or ice cream!
I think I'll avoid the article entitled....

13 Signs You're Obsessed With Food.

(I attached the article below - sometimes these don't work)
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/the-7-foods-experts-wont-eat-547963

The RED Sparrows!!

This is one of the funniest clips I've seen!
It took so much work to put together and
it's HYSTERICAL!!!

Thanks to Michele/Packer for sending it to me!!!

ENJOY!!




Today I'm thankful to be inside a warm house!
The LP Tanker just pulled up, so barring the
loose of electricity (did I say that out loud??)
We should make it through the snow storm just
fine. I'm sure they'll be pictures tomorrow!!

Our House in 1913!

Well, here it is!

If I didn't know it was our house, I wouldn't recognize it!!

What's up with those awesome porches on front!
Who tore them off!!!
WHY!!!

Maybe I should ask "Why on the NORTH!!"
We live on a Mountain, so it's a hill!
It's a very steep hill.
Don't believe me?
Try running up it or riding a bike up it.
(we're the red buildings on the left)

Had I seen the old picture of the house
a few weeks earlier, I might have been tempted
to go with gray siding.

We stayed with white, I know boring!

The porches are no more, I'm sure it was the 'up keep'.
I would be tempted to add them back on,
but lets face it, it would be expensive!

Need a Good Read??

This was a really fun Trilogy.
Especially if you like dogs, horses, dragons, murder and suspense.
FUN FUN FUN!!! I think they may have made a movie?
I should probably check into that, but let's face it,
movies are never as good as the books.

These would not be classified as 'Quick Reads'.
They have a lot of detail and it's just like being there.
I'd classify them in the Diana Gabaldon series.


I would guess the majority of the books I read are
"Quick Reads". They are books you really don't have to
think about much as you read them. For instance, the James Patterson
series "Cross" books are very quick reads. You don't really get to
have a sense of who people really are. Obviously after you've
read 5 or 6 you get a good sense of Alex Cross, but not
the other people in the book.

So, if you have time to read. Like to read.
Enjoy books with a LOT of detail and don't
mind carrying around a 700-800 page book (each).
These might be a good winter project for you!
Luckily, the come in paperback!