Wanna Do Lunch?

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This is the One Stop Wash and Lube in our town. Every small town has one, right?

But I bet you don't have this at yours! So, what do you say..... let's meet for lunch next Tuesday and while we're eating we'll get the oil changed in the car.

Checking number 5 off my Bucket List

Wow, I didn't realize it had been two weeks since my last post. What a slacker! I'm blaming my television, specifically TIVO. Ever since we got Tivo I spend too much time sprawled on the couch watching shows I would have never bothered with before. What a waste of time! But I have to say........I really love my Tivo, last night I watched Dancing with the Stars (a 2 hour show), Brothers and Sisters (recorded the night before) and a sit-com, a total of 3 1/2 hours of shows in less than two hours. So in reality I'm not wasting time, I'm saving time! Okay, now I don't feel so guilty.

Do you have a "Bucket List"? I made a mental list after seeing the movie of things I just had to do before my number is called. One thing on my list was to see Elton John in concert. YES! I'm going to Vegas next month and have my ticket to his Red Piano Show. My sisters and I have talked about taking a trip together for the past year, but that's all we did was talk. Last week I found a good package deal, called Brenda and Jennie and within 15 minutes we were booked. When we saw that Elton John was performing we knew we had to go to his show, regardless of the cost, (not totally true, we're sitting in the nose-bleed section). I don't care about his politics, his lifestyle or anything else, I just love his music.

Photo Tag

This photo tag is from my friend Joan's blog. This is the 6th picture in my 6th photo folder. After you post the picture you are supposed to tell about the photo, so here goes. This is a picture taken on Easter in 1957. My dad is holding my brother Jim, my sister Brenda is next to him and I am standing off on my own. I don't have a clue where the dog came from. We're behind my Grandma Larson's house and I know she didn't ever have a dog. What I like best about this picture is that for once Brenda and I have normal length bangs. In most of our pictures our bangs are horribly short, I don't know if mom meant for them to be that short or if once she started cutting she just couldn't stop.


After you post your picture you're supposed to tag 6 people to do the same. I'm not sure I have 6 people who read my blog, but if you do why not play along.

1. Go to your documents/pictures.
2. Go to your 6th file folder.
3. Go to your 6th picture.
4. Post and blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same

How Appropriate is This?

Being the mathematical geek that I am it is only appropriate that this applies to my birthday today.

Count on Tuesday's alignment of the calendar to add some excitement to the lives of at least a few math geeks.

Tuesday is Square Root Day, a rare holiday that occurs when the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year. Numerically, March 3, 2009, can be expressed as 3/3/09, or mathematically as √9 = 3, or 3² = 3 × 3 = 9.

"These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day--and poof--they're gone," Ron Gordon, a Redwood City, Calif., teacher who organized a contest intended to publicize the event, told the Associated Press. The prize, or course, is $339.

Celebrants are expected to mark the occasion by cutting root vegetables into squares or preparing other foods in the shape of the square root symbol. I think I'll find another way to celebrate.

Square Root Day occurs only nine times in a century. The last one occurred on February 2, 2004, and the next will occur in seven years on April 4, 2016.

My Diet Plan

Feeling really fat after our weekend in Lovell, I decided it was time to start a serious, low-calorie, no sweets allowed diet. For breakfast I had instant oatmeal with only 1/3 cup of milk, mid morning I had an orange.

Breakfast Calories: 240

I was feeling a little famished when I went home for lunch so while I was waiting for my Lean Cuisine ravioli to nuke (a whole 3 minutes) I grabbed a weight watchers sherbet and ice cream bar. Okay that kind of went against my no sweets rule, but hey, it was weight watchers.

Lunch Calories: 340

After work I decided to stop by the grocery store to get the makings for a healthy, green salad. I walked by the seasonal aisle which they had freshly stocked with Easter candy. Without hesitating I grabbed a bag of miniature Cadbury eggs, thinking that I would reward myself with one small egg each night after dinner. By the time I reached the checkout stand I realized how stupid that idea was so I decided to put them back on the shelf, when what did I spot...........marshmallow chicks and rabbits! (my favorite Easter candy) Well, you all know the outcome of this story.

Dinner Calories: 910

There were still a few left (4) when I came to my senses, so I soaked them in water and threw them away. As disgusting as it may sound, getting them wet keeps me from going after them when my blood sugar returns to normal and I find myself craving sweets. TOMORROW I really am going to get serious about dieting.

Mom's Birthday Party

Today is my mom's 79th birthday ( I can get away with telling her age because she doesn't read my blog). When my son was little he called her his Chinese grandma. Looking at this picture, taken when she was 15 years old, she does kind of have an Asian look. Her ancestry however, is German and Norwegian. Ken and I picked up Colette and the kids and went to Lovell for the weekend to help her celebrate. Kim and her family decided to join us and drove down Saturday.

Gourmet jelly belly's are mom's favorite candy and she usually gets one of these huge jars each year. She keeps the jar hidden, but I bet they still don't last very long. I inherited my sweet tooth from both my parents. My sister Jennie had us all to her house for dinner Saturday night. There were 30 of us packed in her house. Jen is pretty easy going and she just goes with the flow. I would have been completely stressed with that many people in my house.

Rock Band and Guitar Hero are becoming mainstays at our family parties. All the children, young and old like to pretend they can sing. Tanner is taking his turn at the mike, accompanied by Madison on the drums and Nathan on the guitar.

Madison is singing here and Ken is anxiously waiting for his turn.

Kim has alway been a wannabe rock star. Colette and Kirsten are the members of the band. Tanner is probably thinking that he could sing it a lot better than his mom.

Of course baby Luke always attracts a crowd. We had a fun, but noisy weekend.

Dirty Harry in His Golden Years

Ken and I celebrated Valentine's Day by driving to Miles City for dinner and a movie. We haven't had a movie theater in our town for over ten years so our movie dates are few and far between.

We both wanted to see Gran Torino, starring Clint Eastwood, so the choice was easy. Actually, there was no choice, as there is only one theater in Miles City. I really do live in the sticks. The movie gets its title from a vintage car belonging to Eastwood's character. He plays a crotchety old bigot, grumbling about all the Asians who have moved in and taken over the old neighborhood. His prized 1972 Gran Torino is a magnet for the local gangs.

Clint Eastwood has always been one of my favorite actors, from the time he played Rowdy Yates on Rawhide. He has said this will be his last acting role. That's sad to me because even at age 78, I think he still has it.

I really liked this movie and would highly recommend it. Be forwarned though, you may not like it if you're offended by raunchy language.

When Walter Kowalski stands on his lawn and growls in his raspy voice "get off my lawn" you can almost imagine it sounding a little like Dirty Harry's "make my day".