Earring 0211 The other side of an egg

What is the other side of an egg? A chicken? Well, that's what I had for supper tonight. Made my smoked chicken thighs on Sunday and wish I would have made more. Got too tired to cook the second batch so into the freezer it went. Now I'm contemplating putting that chicken into the crock pot. Not only do I love eggs, I love chicken too. The only chicken I don't care for is Chicken Cacciatore or any other red sauce, pasta, and chicken combination. Got sick on it when I was 14 and can't bring myself to eat it some 40 years later. Of course, I'm not much on spaghetti sauce and pasta anyway. Much prefer a white sauce over red sauce. If my mom was making her homemade spaghetti sauce, then it's a different story. There's something about the chunks of vegies in homemade sauce that I like. Still, leave out the chicken and I'd be happier.

Subscribed to WorldWideWords.org and am excited to read what Michael Quinion has to write on a regular basis.

Today's earrings

Earring 0210 - Eggstra Special - Tea Eggs - Taiwan

Keep learning more and more with my blog. In Taiwan, 7-Eleven stores sold approximately 40 million tea eggs each year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_egg What's a tea egg? It's a hard boiled egg that is cracked and boiled again but with tea or seasonings. A friend of mine makes these. The eggs always look delicious. He usually makes his when he makes soups. Throws in the eggs to cook them up. Pretty sure he cracks them and tosses them back in. I think navy bean and ham soup with some of these eggs in there would be pretty good. Maybe I'll have to try it when I make my boiled dinner. My brother might be giving me some corned venison to make with my boiled dinner so that I can save my ham for split pea soup. Will definitely have photos of my eggs when I make them. The tea eggs look beautiful and I hope they taste as good.

Today's earrings

Earring 0209 - Indian Summer, Nazomer, babyne lito, pastırma yazı, qiū lǎohǔ and more

Think this weekend is our Indian Summer. Indian Summer comes after a killing frost and consists of hot weather during the fall. Well, even though many people around here didn't have a killing frost, some areas did. The tress are telling fall signs too with their colors. Our trees are starting to change colors but we're supposed to have a couple of days with hard rain. That happened last year when we thought we were going to have beautiful fall tress. If the rain and wind would hold off for one week, the trees would be in full color. However, the lack of control over that is out of my hands.

Indian Summer is in the Northern Hemisphere. According to Wikipedia, here are some names for Indian Summer in other countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_summer):

Britain - Indian summer
France - l'été indien or  l'été de la Saint-Martin ("Saint Martin's summer")  Note: this should increase my sister's French vocabulary!
Germany/Austria - Altweibersommer ("old wives' summer") or Goldener Oktober
Sweden - brittsomma
Netherlands/Flanders, Belgium - Nazomer ("late summer"), Nazomer ("late summer"), sint-michielszomer ("St. Michael's summer"),  Trezekeszomer ("St. Theresa's summer
Slavic  - "ladies' / women's summer":
   Russian - babye leto (Бабье лето)
   Poland - babie lato
   Czech Republic - babie lato
   Ukraine - babyne lito (Бабине літо)
   Slovakia - babie leto 
   Croatia - bablje ljeto
   Solvenia - babje leto
   Bulgaria - Gypsy summer or Gypsy Christmas -  циганско лято, tsigansko lyato
   Servia - Miholjsko leto
Hungary - vénasszonyok nyara ("old ladies' summer" or "crone's summer")
Lithunia - bobų vasara, "summer of old ladies".
Latvia - atvasara, meaning "re-summer" or "return / repeat / flashback of summer".
Finland - intiaanikesä ("Indian summer") or akkainkesä ("old ladies' summer").
Turkey - pastırma yazı
China - qiū lǎohǔ (秋老虎), which literally means "autumn tiger".
Brazilian Portuguese - veranico (literally, "little summer").
Southern Brazil - veranico de maio

I was surprised that so many countries referred to it with women (old wives', women's summer, old ladies' summer, crone's summer) and that United States, France, and Finland referred to it as Indian summer. I would have thought Indian summer had something to do with our Native Americans, but apparently not. According to Wikepedia the following makes the most sense because it would be world-wide based on shipping, "The term may also refer to the weather patterns in the Indian Ocean, where ships' hulls were marked "I.S." to indicate the level at which they should be loaded during that season.^{[1]"  b} Deedler, William (Fall 1996). "Just What Is Indian Summer And Did Indians Really Have Anything To Do With It?". National Weather Service Detroit office. (Very interesting article!!!)

Oops, I was so wrapped up in Indian Summer, I almost forgot my earrings (plus I'm smoking chicken while writing this blog - took me as long to write the blog as it did to smoke the chicken).

Earring 0208 - Spiraling

What a day! It was beautiful. Left home about 7 a.m. and got back a little over 10 hours later. Went for a drive along the river valley. Great fall day. Later my sister and I met up and we took a little drive and did some craft shopping. Have one more afghan to crochet and am having problems deciding what pattern to use. It's for my oldest grandson. Already got one done for my other grandson and one for my son and his wife. Tried so many different patterns but couldn't get the design I wanted. There's always an easy answer to that, a new pattern book. Think this one will meet my needs because it uses several patterns, which I was trying to do. Couldn't get the length of the afghan right and will be taking apart what I've already done. This will probably be about the fourth or fifth time that I will be taking it apart. Hopefully this time will be the last.

Besides all the spring cleaning I did yesterday, I finished up with washing all of the curtains in my apartment. That was an easy job The tough job was putting the living room curtains up. The rods run the length of the window, about 15 feet. Almost got them up and then the center rod twisted. Well, after multiple attempts, it's twisted so I can't get them together. Had to move furniture around to get the curtains up. Normally, I do not give up but tonight I did. The rods are apart in the center but if I hadn't told you, you probably wouldn't have guessed that. Can't put my chime up because of the split. When I have more energy again, I will move the furniture away from the window and attempt to put the rod together. Kind of frustrated because it's not done and I still have to hang my bedroom curtains. Those will be much easier because the windows are only about 4-5 feet wide. Yes, the windows are big but that is one of the things that I like about my apartment. You get a feeling of openness even if it's not.

Today's earrings

Earring 0207 -It's either black or white, not gray

My dad would say either it's right or it's wrong; there's no in between. Just finished erasing the paragraphs that I wrote. Guess it's up to me to be an example and through my actions, maybe gray areas for others can change. Short and simple.

Had my first day off (not including holidays and weekends) for the last six months. My plan was to relax but that didn't happen. Got my living room rearranged multiple times and finally the furniture stopped moving. The biggest problem I had was my cat tree. I wanted it in a different location. So I moved it. Bobbi didn't like it. She would sit on the floor and look up at it, look at me, and then meow. Finally, I had to put it back in the old location. Still like how my living room looks so I could appease her a little. Well, I had it backwards from how it was before I started moving furniture. She tried to jump up to the top but couldn't do it. Remember, she does not have claws. Now the cat tree is back the was and now Bobbi is not coming out to even investigate. She's kind of like a horse. You can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink. I put her on the cat tree and she jumps off. The things we do for our animals!

Today's earrings

Are you asking yourself "Did she wear them out? and I can answer that quickly. I did not leave the house today. Even with that being said, I do like these earrings. If I had black and white polka dot clothes, I would wear them out. Know someone who looks great in black and white polka dots and think these earrings would look super on her.

Earring 0206 - For Pete's Sake

Wouldn't you have thought "for Pete's sake" would be in this huge book of idioms but it's not. Looking for it on Internet brought me to a cool website http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pet2.htm, which explained that when frustrated, both Pete and Mike were "stand-ins for God."

The writing at this site is beautiful and almost like poetry to me. It may not be poetry to you but there's a sense about the writing that you can tell about the writer. I could tell almost instantly that he was British and about my age or a little older. The formality of the language is very attractive to me. Used to date a Brit and he could have talked and talked and talked. It didn't make a difference what he talked about and it wasn't even the accent. It was "true English" and not the mish mash that we use in the United States. The website is on idioms. There went my heart...and yes, the writer is from Britain. His name is Michal Quinion and the latest book he has written is entitled "Why is Q Always Followed by U." Ironically, he also has written a book on cidermaking, which to me is pretty close to my vinegar making with kombucha (that's probably stretching it a little or maybe even a lot). Here's info on Mr. Quinion http://www.worldwidewords.org/personal.htm

Michael Quinion is probably someone that I could listen to for hours, if his voice is pleasant. I know that the way he writes, I could read his works for hours. Now you ask, did I get star struck. Maybe.

Today's earrings

 

 

By the way, today there were ten readers from France. Wonder if they were upset that I attributed Hollandaise sauce to the Netherlands. With some of my roots coming from France, I don't want to upset the applecart by offending anyone, especially if they are French. I can hear my sister now jabbering away in the few French words she knows. Maybe the next time we go out for coffee she can pretend that she's more French than she is and while she's doing that, I'll eat my Eggs Benedict.

Earring 0205 - dictionary of IDIOMS

The book is by American Heritage. Don't know what I expected but it's not quite what I was looking for, or is it...

From "Dictionary of IDIOMS" by Christine Ammer

I like opening a book to parts that open naturally. Maybe that's why I like Psalms in the Bible so much. They're almost at the center and so often it's a naturally opening.

"If the shoe fits, wear it" - if something applies to you, accept it. I always felt this was kind of negative but then maybe it was used negatively towards me.

"Lose oneself in" - this is really familiar because I like to lose myself in books and in my Asian television dramas.

"Pay back" - isn't pay back great because you don't have to do anything because it always seems to happen (or it's going to happen at a later date).

"Single file" was termed in the 1670s and it was used for how Native Americans walk in order.

"Tie to apron strings" was not what my husband was. He wasn't tied to my apron strings nor his mother's. However, I know men who are tied to their mother's or wife's apron strings. They can't do anything on their own without "permission". Think I may have been tied to my ex's apron strings. Hmmmm.

"From the horse's mouth" means get the information from the person who said it or from someone in authority who knows what they are talking about. Along this line is "straight from the horse's mouth" which has something to do with "examining the horse's teeth to determine its age and hence it's worth".

"Get" has a lot of different idioms such as "get one's bearings", "get off one's chest", get one's head examined", "get over", "get set", "get religion", "get the goods on", "get someone's goat", "get the drift", "get under someone's skin", etc.

"In a dither" was something mom used to say. She would get kind of strung up (in a flutter or tizzy).

"Mixed feelings", "mixed blessings", "mixed bag" are some of the mixes. All three contain good and bad of feelings, blessings, and what's in the bag or collection.

Now you can see why I'm thinking that maybe this book isn't too bad. Just by saying the phrases without even having what it means gets you thinking. One of the things that I've learned by watching my Asian shows is the commonality between the countries. The United States doesn't have dibs on idioms. It still blows me over when I hear an idiom that I use and it's on Korean television and used like they always have used it.

Today's earrings

Earring 0204 - Hollandaise Sauce and Earrings????

Granted, the two have nothing in common unless you have been reading my blog. Besides looking at earrings in the countries of the readers, I try to make eggs based on recipes for that country. Well, I'm changing it up because my favorite egg breakfast is Eggs Benedict with extra Hollandaise sauce. Even though the French may take credit for Hollandaise, there is enough documentation showing that it was from the Netherlands.

At a restaurant I worked at in high school, my boss did an Easter special serving Eggs Benedict. I wasn't an egg eater at that time but did try it. At home, we had Hollandaise sauce but not made like Eggs Benedict. Mom could whip up any kind of sauce at a blink of the eye. However, I'm not the same. I can make Hollandaise but it becomes a boring task for me. My sister, on the other hand, makes excellent sauces. Bet you she could whip up (second pun of the day) some Hollandaise like the other sauces she patiently makes. Once I tried the packaged Hollandaise sauce. Because I like extra sauce, I made two packages. And I threw both concoctions out. It wasn't Hollandaise and for the life of me, I couldn't even tell you what it even came close to being called other than garbage.

so I have two choices: ask my sister (remember, she can't eat eggs) or go to Perkins. I think it would be too much torture for my sister to make me Eggs Benedict or even to make the sauce. Perkins makes it pretty darn good and I will take a photo of it before and while I'm eating it.

Today's earrings

Earring 0203 - Girl with a Pearl Earring

Have to welcome my first visitor from the Netherlands. In their honor, how appropriate is the website of the museum that is home to the painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Vermeer. You can find the painting and its information at http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/cities-in-holland/the-hague-1/museums-in-the-hague-1/mauritshuis-7/discover-the-girl-with-a-pearl-earring.htm.

Think all of my siblings would enjoy a train ride in the Netherlands and I would particularly enjoy visiting the Mauritshuis Museum. Bet my siblings would like it too! Pearls and trains - can't beat that combination! http://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/discover/tentoonstellingen/

My train ride Friday night was not in the Netherlands. Trains are different in the United States. The ride is pleasant and an experience. The food is delicious and usually you can meet interesting people. The problem with riding the trains in the United States is the number of freight trains. I realize our economy counts on the freight trains' timetables but passenger trains should be more like other countries' passenger trains and important. They are economic and I think possibly greener than everyone driving cars.

Today's earrings

Earring 0202 Round and around

These earrings are close to our travels this weekend. Needless to say, my travel turned out to be more important than the earrings. Too tired to write. Took a road trip with my brother and sister-in-law. We had a wonderful time. Saw some fall colors, because skies, happy people, and better yet, beautiful scenery. You don't have to go far to see all of that. Probably put on 700 to 800 miles on the car. Both my brother and his wife drove and I got to be the passenger. Only one time did I take a short nap in the car because there was so much to see. And talk! We went from one subject to another. Our meals were delicious and reasonable priced to boot.

What a beautiful way to bring in fall.

Earring 0201 - All aboard for a ride out of here...maybe a flight out of here

This morning this almost prevented me from getting to work on time.

I had the cutest photo of geese spread over an area in front and on my sides so I was unable to drive through. Patiently I was waiting because I'd rather watch the geese trying to figure out what side of the road they wanted to be on. It was funny because they were walking across the street to a residential area. After a larger truck went through while blowing its horn, the geese separated. Some went across the street to the homes and the others went back to the field they had tried to leave. They're gone now. It's the first time in 8 years that I have seen geese in the field. I've seen ducks when there is a lot of rain which gave them puddles to swim in but never geese.

Here's todays earrings

Earring 0200 - Wow, already 200 pairs (or more) worn

Hard to believe that I have worn at least 200 pairs of Donna's earrings already. When you see today's photo, you will see why I say "or more." Last week, I started to wear earrings in the extra holes. Doesn't that sound funny?

Speaking of funny. This morning I was pretty tired when I fed Bobbi. I accidently put her food in my to-go container that I was going to put my sandwich in. At least I realized that something wasn't right. Neither Bobbi nor I would have been too happy. Bobbi wouldn't have had lunch and as hungry as I might be, I'm not at the point where I would eat her canned cat food.

Such a gorgeous Fall day today!

Earring 0199 - Oh, What Did I Do?

Guess I should have read my minutes and notes from the prior year before I committed to being a co-chair of a committee. Perusing was not a good idea this time. Oh well, I'll get through it and next year my life will be different because by then I should know my job.

This is probably one of those should have, could have, would have times. I love to say those words together. Sometimes I learn from them and sometimes I don't.

Very busy day at work today and have a meeting tonight so you know this is going to be short and sweet.

So now you must want to know where did the phrase short and sweet come from. Word for word, here it is: "The expression was made proverbial in 1539 when it appeared in Richard Taverners, 'Erasmus's Adagio'. Over the years it was occasionally amplified as in James Kellys Scottish Proverbs 1721.  'Better short and sweet than long and lax' " by pukebob https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080917174929AA1378K and the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Definitely this is a book that I am going to have to get from the library!

Today's earrings

Earring 0198 - Learning to say "no"

Learning to say "no" to others when they wanted something was really hard for me to learn how to do. Had to practice at it with role playing. It's so easy to say "yes" even if you really mean no. For years, I was a "yes" person and eventually volunteered for too many things. That was then and this is now. Now I choose where I want to volunteer and my capacity. Today, I received an email that suggested that I become the lead person for the finances of a volunteer committee for a big fund raiser. Considering that I have never served on a committee before for this organization and new very little people, having never attended any of their fund raisers, and getting a new job this year, I decided to decline the chair but am willing to co-chair with an experienced person. Next year, I would be willing to chair it.

What I learned before is when you spread yourself so thin, you don't do anyone or any organization justice. Plus, you do yourself a great injustice. It's hard to say no but it's so much easier when you practice it. Of course the person you are saying no to really wants you to say yes but it's more important to have a win-win situation than a win-lose situation. Life is too short to become overcommitted and not enjoying the rewards volunteering brings.

Today's earrings

Earring 0197 - Weekdays = short nights long days Weekends = short nights shorter days

You can probably guess that I'm tired. I worked extra time today and can really feel it now. Bobbi sure let me know when I came in the door. You could almost consider her loud meow as a yell and not a meow. Pretty sure everyone who walked through the apartment hallways could hear her. One would think that she wasn't fed. That's not the case; she didn't even touch her dry cat food so I know she wasn't "that" hungry.

Lots going on this week so I'm going to keep this short tonight. My brother who lives in town gave me some ham, a ham bone, and ham juice. MMMMMM I know that I'm going to either make a boiled dinner (cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery) or split pea soup or navy bean soup. Put it in the freezer so that I can make it in the next couple of weeks. My mouth is watering thinking about all of the possibilities for what I can make. This is the weather for that kind of food.

 

 

Ever notice that an hour during non-working hours is not the as working hours? My day flies by but my hours at home usually fly by faster. It's probably because I have things I want to work on at home. Have four projects going on and none getting done. Oh well. If I'm not here tomorrow, it won't matter.

Earring 0196 - Five-hour energy car ride

My brother and his wife visited today. We drove out of town for a delicious Italian meal. From there we went to an apple stand but they aren't going to have my favorite variety out until tomorrow or so. Looks like we'll be stopping there next week.

Then we went on a road trip to see our grandparents' home (our dad's parents). We also went to the cemetery which was a short distance away. Even though there is a bit of age difference between my brother and I, we shared many of the same memories.

It took forever to drive the one-hour trip. I wanted my sister-in-law to see how beautiful our countryside is with the hills, valleys, creeks, and the fields, which will be harvested in the not-so-distant future. So many of the roads are under construction. There were quite a few new bridges. Because of the construction, many of the roads were gravel. It looked like the pavement was remove recently from these roads. The signs weren't too clear either and I think maybe when they were working on the roads, they removed some of the signs. Either that or everything has changed so much in the last five years. But then again, maybe it's my memory!

We have a fantastic weekend planned with a road trip. Will have to ask my sister to feed my cat for me; otherwise, Bobbi will be eating dry food only. She won't be a happy cat. And when the cat isn't happy, no one is happy. Doesn't the saying sound familiar, especially if you're a cat owner.

Last night was pretty tough for sleep with only three hours. Already, I've been up for over 15 hours. Hopefully I won't be taking a nap. Oops, I realized that I closed my eyes to think and fell asleep.

Here's today's earrings

I'm beat. Was waiting for the photo to post and fell asleep again. Guess that's my signal to take a cat nap.

Earring 0195 - Early Morning Late Night - Anyone notice my earrings don't match?

At 5:45 a.m., I picked out my earrings. It took me about ten minutes to figure out which ones I wanted to wear. I was wearing my basic black and wanted to wear pearls. The problem was, which set do I wear? This shouldn't be that difficult but I did wake up about 1 1/2 hours before my typically work day.

Now that I finally made it home, I looked at my earrings closely. Even though my eyes are drooping, I am pretty sure that I have anywhere from two to four different earrings that I was wearing. The hanging ones are pretty close to being a match as are the posts. However, when you look closely at them, there are some differences.

Well, when I get my ear pierced again, then I'll be able to wear up to six different earrings. This morning I forgot I had one more place I could have put an earring in my ear. Funny thing about ear piercings is that you don't have to wear earrings often in them and you can still use the holes. Don't think I've had more than a pair of earrings on at one time in at least the last four or five years. Wanted to show off my pearls since they are so pretty. When I do my next piercing, it will be with a pearl stud that I won't be taking out. I've been contemplating this for over a year now and I'm one day closer to doing it.

Here's today's earrings

Sorry if this seems kind of disjointed tonight. We had a 125th celebration for our churches and the event lasted all day. Very nice gathering and a whole lot of love.

Earring 0194 - Rattlesnake Memories

Just found a photo of our dog Mindy. When Mindy was about four or five years old, she got bit by a rattlesnake. We lived out in the country and it was common for snakes to bask in the sun on warm days. Even though Mindy wasn't a good hunting dog because she didn't like loud noises, she liked to stir up other animals. One day, she got too close to a rattlesnake. Got her to the vet right away. She wouldn't have made it had my son not nursed her back to health. The poor dog vomited for what seemed like days. The poison darkened areas on her inner thigh. She was in terrible shape. But my son wouldn't give up on her and she recovered a 100%.

A few weeks after this happened, another rattlesnake appeared on our sidewalk between our entrance and my car. I know I shouldn't have done this but I couldn't help remember what had happened to Mindy. I took the water hose and sprayed the snake thinking the snake would slither away. Well, remember I didn't think this might be a good idea; it wasn't. The snake started to come after me. I got the snake really mad. My ex was able to get the snake into the woods and then I got a lecture. Mindy didn't get a lecture. Hmmmm. Of course, neither Mindy and I didn't last long with my ex.

This reminded me of another story of when my sister and I were younger. We spent a lot of time at a campground along the Mississippi River. Because we were good swimmers and the current wasn't fast there at that time, we were allowed to go swimming without adult supervision. I think I was somewhere between 10 and 12, with my sister being four years younger. We were playing and my sister was about to sit down when I noticed a moccasin snake swimming behind her. She almost sat on the snake but was fast enough not to do it. Neither one of us likes snakes.

Last year at the cemetery, there was a bull snake basking in front of the office door. It was about four feet long. It didn't like us being around there so off it went to other parts of the cemetery. We watched it for a while but it gets boring rather quickly. What was interesting was that when it reached a monument, it didn't go around it, it went over it (monuments that were about 12" off the ground). Up and down it went. Kind of funny.

Today's earrings

These earrings kind of remind me of snake leather even though they are silver.

Earring 0193 - Photos

Labor Day weekend, I started going through my family photos. The photos are in piles. A lot of them have names on them now because as I went through them, I wrote the names on the back.  Somewhere along the line, I quit doing that because the people were in multiple photos and it seemed like I was making more work for myself. Finished the "loose" photos by getting them into stacks but think I have some more photo books to take apart.

Because I'm leaving everything out, I can work on them whenever I feel like it. That's kind of nice but it makes my apartment look pretty messy. Kind of makes me act like my mom. Whenever things were messy, my mom would get nervous. Maybe that's why I like things in their place. It sure makes life easier.

Today's earrings

Earring 0192 - Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

Granted they are not diamonds but they are really pretty. I love things that sparkle from diamonds to cubic zirconia to quartz to the stars to Crystal, my ex mother-in-law. Crystal shines from the inside out. She's a wonderful, caring person with a heart of gold. I am blessed to have her in my life and be able to consider her a friend. She is the one that introduced me to the quilting wall hangings that I do. I miss seeing her because she hasn't been in the area for a few years now. Not too many women can say their mother-in-law was fantastic. Mine was one step even further.

Short night, long day.

Earrings 0191 - Oui Oui

The day could not get any better...my first reader from France! Am I happy? You betcha I am (in my best Norwegian brogue). So I looked up French eggs. Going to try baked eggs with cream and butter sometime. Have to buy the cream because it is not something that I have. I can guarantee that if you like eggs, you will probably drool over my photos after I post them (this is specifically for my sister who cannot eat eggs; she can only drool over them - lol).

Looking a little more on French eggs, I found the following site http://www.yelp.com/biz/eggs-et-co-paris?osq=eggs+benedict. Looks like this is one of the best places in Paris, France to eat eggs. From the reviews, it appears the majority of people liked the Norwegian eggs the best - go figure that one! The restaurant is called Eggs & Co. and the Norwegian eggs are called Le

Norégian. The eggs are one of my favorites but with a twist. I love Eggs Benedict any time of the day any day of the year and probably in any country. The twist is they are served with smoked salmon. The only reason I would try it is because I'm Norwegian. Heck, I still have to try lutefisk and a couple other Norwegian foods.

One of the reviewers is from the Midwest and didn't like the price of 25 euros, which is equivalent to $32.38 (https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=how+much+is+25+euros&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GUEA_enUS514US515&q=how+much+is+25+euros+in+us+dollars&gs_l=hp..0.0l5.0.0.1.824638...........0.Tx0mAFaxCBc), which also seems quite high to me. I would think that a price about $20 would be high enough for a dish like that. However, I do not know other restaurant prices in Paris.

When my sister and I were younger, we knew a few French words. My sister loved to go places where people didn't know us and she would speak in French pretending to be from France. I can still see and hear her doing this. Did you do this when we were in P-town too? I can't remember if she did, but knowing my sister, I bet you she did even though we were "much" older. Such a good laugh!

Today's earrings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earring 0190 - Idioms

We grew up with idioms. What did I just say? Yes, we grew up with idioms not that anyone I know uses that word. An idiom does not necessarily mean what the words in the phrase mean. A great example of that is from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/idiom, "It is raining cats and dogs" meaning that it is raining hard. It also means "linguistic usage that is grammatical and natural to native speakers of a language", which I understand a little better. So United States is a melting pot so there are many native speakers of languages so you will have idioms from around the world? One would think that but I'm not sure.

Phrases we grew up with were:

• A penny in the hand is worth two in a bush.
• Don't count the chickens until the eggs hatch.
• It's raining cats and dogs.
• A dime a dozen.
• One of my mom's favorites "a taste of your own medicine."
• How many times as a kid did you cry when you spilled milk and they said "don't cry over spilled milk." The only time I ever heard that though was when my sister or I spilled milk.
• As for my mom's cooking, she used "everything but the kitchen sink" and she was a fantastic cook who could make something out of nothing.
• And how many mornings did I hear, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed again. (My bed was against the wall.)
• Hell in a handbasket is where the world has been going for years and sometimes that is where I was headed when I didn't listen to my parents.
• Mum's the word when my aunt went off the road back in the 60s while driving my mom, my sister and I. We weren't supposed to tell anyone but I couldn't keep it a secret from my dad. Maybe my mom said "I smell a rat."
• "Would you kids please pipe down, I can't hear myself thinking" was frequently used in our home. Usually that was at bedtime when we were supposed to be quiet.
• Consoling me, my mom would say, it's water under the bridge...let bygones be bygones.
• Mom wouldn't eat corn because pigs eat corn and you are what you eat.

You can check out the following for more idioms http://www.idiomsite.com/

Today's earrings

Earring 0189 - Train Ride

Got home pretty early compared to the last couple of train rides. I ride Amtrak and love it but I can see changes they've made which aren't necessarily good for the passengers. One of the things is it is becoming more difficult to ride the Amtrak if you have disabilities. Today, I walked four blocks from the entrance/exit of two Amtrak stations. That's great if you don't have problems walking. Two of those blocks were outside and I wouldn't want to do it during a thunderstorm, a winter storm, or if it's icy out. This problem exists only for some Amtrak stations in the Midwest. Most other stations are sheltered or there isn't a long walk.

Today, the car I was in didn't have a working air conditioner. Usually it's advisable to wear layers when traveling by train. In my case, I couldn't take anything more off. The other thing that Amtrak is doing to save money is not rearranging the seats so you are facing the way you are traveling. That doesn't usually bother me but today with no air movement, motion sickness was close at hand.

However, I still love to ride the train!

My time with my family was wonderful. You can't beat those kinds of times because it's all joy. There is so much love and laughter. Great combination those two are. Very blessed to have the family I have.

Last night, Nixie, my brother and his wife's cat made me feel welcomed, loved, and at home.

Trust me, Bobbi could smell another cat's scent but was so happy to see me that it didn't matter.

Today's earrings

Earring 0188 Wisdom

Had a great day and topped it off by going to church and then dinner with my nephew and great nephew.

The message at church was about wisdom and basically thinking. Had lots of thoughts and realized I need to start praying for wisdom. However, I didn't apply the message at dinner. I ate a delicious bread pudding. Probably gained five pounds or more the way I feel.

The train ride home is only a few hours away. Looking forward to the ride. Had a great time and its hard to go back but I bet you that Bobbi is lonely and waiting for my return

Today's earings will either be here or at the beginning of the blog.

Earring 0187

Going to be a short post tonight. Last night my sister-in-law called with a surprise. My brother and his wife picked me up and we traveled to their home. My sister is going to feed my cat, which will give her the cat-binding time. I really appreciate it because my cat is very needy but in her time only.

The day was fantastic because of the weather, the scenery was great and the company even better.  All which made the ride phenomenal but it seemed like it only took a little time and we were there even though it took a couple of hours.

We went to one of my favorite restaurants for supper. Went to Chick Filet where there's excellent food and superior customer service. They employ some of the nicest people who you feel really care for you as a person even though you are a stranger.

Here's today's earrings. Guess the earrings are at the top of the blog. Writing this on my phone and it's working out pretty good.

Earring 0186

This is one of those times when nothing comes to mind. Did a lot of different things at work today and can't concentrate any more tonight.

Today's earrings

These earrings went along really well with my blouse which was navy with lime green dots on it. Definitely will be keeping these.

Earring 0185 - Funny Quotes

I love to laugh. Any time I need to change my attitude, I like to look at quotes. Don't need an attitude adjustment tonight but maybe earlier I did. See more at: http://hubpages.com/hub/100-Funny-Sayings-Quotes-and-Phrases

"If Barbie is so popular, why do we have to buy her friends and boyfriends?"

"Those who throw dirt only lose ground."

"Error. No keyboard. Press F1 to continue."

"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show those who have the most live the longest."

"1492 Native Americans find Columbus lost at sea."

"When life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic."

"There's no 'I' in Team, but there is in Win."

"How do you know you are too drunk to drive? When you swerve to miss a tree and then you realize it's you air freshener."


Photo from: http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2012/08/air-supply-putting-todays-fresheners-to-the-test.html

Today's earrings

Earring 0184 - Norwegian or French

How do you go about getting someone to look at the blog who is from Norway or France? I'm half Norwegian but only know Norwegians from my home area. Know this is getting nitty-gritty but I'm 1/8 French and 1/8 Swiss with a little bit of Luxembourg with the balance being German. I'm pot luck in human form. Can you tell I know my roots? Would like to have a viewer or two from my heritage just to say that they looked at my blog.

Tonight's supper dilemma - the other day, my sister-in-law reminded me of a minestrone that uses spaghetti sauce. Mom used to make something similar to that but we called it hamburger soup. Sometimes it didn't have spaghetti sauce in it. It got me hungry for the soup so I bought a little bit of hamburger and browned it. Got the spaghetti sauce out of the fridge. Out of the freezer came chopped celery and what I thought could be beef base. Well, it tasted like beef base, it looked like beef base, just a little bit on the salty side, but it must be beef base. Got the hamburger and celery cooked and was going to throw in the sauce until I realized that it kind of looked funny and I didn't want to take any chances. Bummer. So back into the freezer went the "beef base"(????). Turned the hamburger into too peppery of a sloppy joe or something of that nature. Knew I should have frozen the sauce and knew that I should have labeled by containers. Might just thaw the questionable beef base out to see what it really is. Life is just an experiment...you gotta love it.

Here's today's earrings.

Earring 0183 Hope Star

Most of my family is at retirement age (or close to it). They are able to go do enjoyable things at their leisure. They also deserve it because of the number of years they have worked. My problem is that I want to spend time with them while we all can. There will come a day when someone is no longer here or we're no longer able to get around like we can.

I see mistakes that I have made in my life and maybe if things were different, I could be spending time with them now. That's the old should of, would of, could of and nothing will change when you get that attitude.

What I will do is enjoy the times we do have together whether it be a short time or many years. Not going to wish away my time either. Being happy with what I have.

Today's earrings, stars of hope.