Jerilyn’s phone was dead but she’s fine.

Jerilyn’s phone was dead but she’s fine.

Having pizza in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt last night, both my phones starting blowing up at the same time with incoming video calls. The incoming caller name said “Tader.” I’m not gonna lie — it scared me. I thought something was wrong with Jerilyn.

Come to find out, Jerilyn and Tader stopped in Thirsty’s Bar and our cousin, Debra, and her son Kyan just happened to pop in there too. Debra’s already inebriated face filled the phone’s screen and she said if I didn’t come there she wouldn’t love me anymore.

Family gathering at Thirsty's in Crothersville, Indiana.

Of course, family is important and I sure don’t want anyone to stop loving me.

Then Tader reminded me 100 times that these people were MY family…

He also went on and on about how we needed to get together more often. He even threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, “THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT EVER!” And then he planned a party for the eclipse in early April and reached out to hire Henry Lee Summer for entertainment. I sure hope he remembers it tomorrow.

Debra and Tader

I’m pretty sure he likes MY family more than I do. 😉

Now you know: A popular drink in the UK is “beef tea”, made by mixing salty meat extract paste (Bovril) into hot water. The meat paste was originally know as ‘Johnston’s Fluid Beef’.


a picture’s worth 1000 words: 5 grand coming your way

a picture’s worth 1000 words: 5 grand coming your way

While the phrase, “a picture’s worth 1000 words” is often attributed to Confucius, Wikipedia says it was Fred R. Barnard who deserves the credit. He wrote it in an advertising trade journal in 1921 promoting the use of images in ads. Of course, I’m not advertising anything – but I am sharing a whole bunch of words through images today.

Candid shots are my favorite.

Photos that are unposed capture people as their authentic selves. They aren’t planned or crafted to look perfect.

My heart - Ben and Coco

With my family, candid shots are the only way to capture them without crazy smiles and silly faces.

I do it too… obviously.

Dogs don’t fake smile or pose dewclaws up. ðŸķ

Even when I TRY to create a posed shot of either of my hound dogs, they never turn out that way.

Humans notice cameras and the second they know they’re being photographed, it takes them out of the moment. Not dogs! Dogs don’t ham it up or pose in a way they think will make them look their best. I’m sure Dharma and Merida have no idea what a camera is… but they do know it pauses whatever they’re doing or what they’re trying to let me know they want.

Dogs remain authentic even when a camera is pointed at them. That’s why they’re almost always candid shots — and one of the reasons I like them so much.

Now you know: All polar bears in Iceland are shot on sight. They are not native to the island, and dangerous because they are hungry after floating over on ice from Greenland. It is too difficult and expensive to return them home.


a new tradition we didn’t start this year

a new tradition we didn’t start this year

I have an acquaintance (she was a friend of my deceased sister-in-law, Sheri) who is a author among other impressive things. Not gonna’ lie… she’s way out there different and would likely be happy to know I said that about her. She recently had a birthday, and at her celebration they started a new tradition.

A symphony of life.

Everyone at the celebration was to choose a word to describe her and SING their word of choice at the same time as the others sang their word choice. All together it “created of symphony” of her life. Perry barely got an off-key version of “Happy Birthday” and was darned lucky to get that. His cake had 5 purple candles to symbolize 50… and 2 pink to make 52.

Perry and his birthday cake

We embraced the same old traditions…

Like… not getting ONE group photo without someone being stupid.

family group photo

The pesky neighbors didn’t get the memo. They look the same in every photo. 🙂

photo of my crazy family

It only went downhill from that point…

Ben, Coco, me and Mom
my crazy family

I went to bed without even cleaning up the mess.

When I crawled in bed last night, the trash can needed emptying and there were 400 forks and spoons in the sink. It was all worth it though — Perry said he had a great birthday. âĪïļ

Now you know: New York City is owed over $1 billion in unpaid parking tickets and speeding fines.


Cheers to Perry for making another orbit around the sun

Cheers to Perry for making another orbit around the sun

I didn’t need 5 calendar reminders just to remember today is Perry’s 52nd birthday. He’s made yet another fun-filled, successful orbit around the sun!

Perry's orbit around the sun

Today we’ll celebrate his special day with Chinese food and smashed cake.

I showed Perry his cake — the one I had delivered from Walmart (yes, I suck) that was smashed on one side by a crushed lid. He laughed. What he doesn’t know is that I actually remembered to buy ice-cream too. Who wouldn’t be thrilled with a birthday celebration like that? 😉

Ole’ Perry is an easy-going guy — sometimes too much so.

Perry’s always up to go anywhere and try anything. My family has become his… and that ain’t easy, y’all.

Perry and Colette at Disney

He works hard and is generous — and he’s not picky except when it comes to food. I’m not saying he cares so much about having big meals because he’s fine with a peanut butter sandwich. But never mention having goulash or mushrooms. Oh… and never, EVER, offer him sushi.

When I met Perry, he had hair. 😉

Perry had hair!

And then, we worked together for quite a few years and both of us lived through it. (Barely!)

Me and Perry - the southern branch of McKain Performance Group

Happy birthday to Perry — I hope his upcoming journey around the sun is amazing!

Now you know: Compared to their overall weight, koalas have among of the smallest brains of any animal. They are so dumb that they cannot identify leaves as food and refuse to consume them when they are placed on a flat surface as opposed to branches.


mark me safe from frostbite here on the glacial trail in the frozen tundra

mark me safe from frostbite here on the glacial trail in the frozen tundra

We’re supposed to have a big ole’ heat wave headed our way. Why, it’s forecasted to get up to 29° F today. While still pretty darned cold, it sure beats single digits.

When I was a kid, I thought it was hilarious to make a face with my eyes crossed. Mom would yell at me to stop — claiming my face could freeze that way forever.

What about this face Mom?

I might freeze like this

Relieved my face didn’t stick like that… and thrilled it didn’t shatter into a million crystalized ice shards when I wasn’t acting stupid. Whew! That was close. ðŸĪŠ

i'm still freezing

Blind people can drive?

While at Mr. Pesky’s eye appointment yesterday, there was a dude in the waiting room using a red-tipped cane. I heard him struggling with his memory too — he asked the guy sitting beside him, (who was 85) where he worked at least 3 times.

I walked to the car and saw the dude come outside. He was using his cane to navigate the railings on both sides of the steps that led to the parking area. Tap. Tap. Tap. Then, I watched as he walked to his truck, got under the wheel, and drove his blind self right out of that parking lot!

Mr. Pesky didn’t drive and all he had was a pair of dilated eyes!

Me and one of those pesky neighbors.

Now you know: In 1988 Ivan McGuire, an experienced skydiver with 800 recorded dives, jumped from the plane for his 3rd dive that day. He had his camera rig with him but completely forgot to equip a parachute rig, thus he jumped to his death from 10.000 feet. The camera footage of the fatal fall survived.