Back in the Saddle Again

Thought for the day:  When the tide of life surrounds you and the water upsets your boat, don't waste your time on what might have been... just lie on your back and float. [Ed Norton to Ralph Kramden on the Honeymooners, 1956]

[morguefile]

Okay, so maybe the title of this post is a teensy weensy bit misleading, because my tush hasn't been in a saddle for more years than I'd care to count. But floating on my back, enjoying life while watching the world go by? Now, that's more the real me these days.

So how are y'all doing? Happy New Year, one and all. I hope the Holidays were fantastic for you. After slacking off by posting re-runs the past couple of weeks, here I am, back, live, and none the worse for the wear. We had a blast over the past couple weeks, both figuratively and literally. In line with my whole back-floating approach to life, I'm gonna ease into the new blogging year by sharing some pictures, and a wee bit of info about an upcoming blogfest. (Since I haven't participated in a single one of them this entire year, I figured it was about time for me to be get outta the pool and be more sociable...)

CHRISTMAS IN ALABAMA...

As much fun as I made of inflatable decorations a couple weeks ago, I've gotta admit, I loved these. Especially the Minion. These,  a few other inflatables, and a host of other decorations filled one of the rooms in our son's house. The Christmas room, the grandkids called it. (Not that the rest of the house wasn't decorated, too.)

Of course, I liked the inflatables even more when the kids sat still long enough to pose in front of them for me. From left to right, that's Aaron, Jaiden, their cousin McKenzie, Kymber, and Devyn.

Smarticus and Aaron, just before we all watched the Minions movie together. Gotta be dressed in the proper attire, right? It was Aaron's idea to get those snazzy pants for Smarticus. (and me!) Funniest toy ever? Aaron's new Minion doll, which bends over, breaks wind, and falls to the floor laughing. Hilarious! (Goes very well with the fart gun, which he already owned...)

Devyn is entirely enamored with anything associated with the movie Frozen, so this was one of her favorite gifts. She and Kymber have watched the movie so often, they know every word to every song, and darned near all of the dialogue, too.

Here's our handsome son and whiz kid Aaron. (Junior has a heckuva lot of nerve having gray hair, doesn't he...?)

HA! Our daughter-in-law thought she'd grab a wee little bit of shut-eye. Rots o' ruck with that!

Troy (a Husky/malamute) and Stormy (a blue heeler) had other ideas.

Um, yeah... the dogs won that argument.












NEW YEAR'S IN TENNESSEE

We saw the new year in with our friends in Tennessee. (The header picture is the gorgeous view from their back deck.) As usual, we did a lot of laughing, swapped a few lies, and played a lot of games. In fact, we were so deep into a board game as midnight approached, it's a wonder we even noticed a new year was about to begin.

Smarticus and Cliff in their usual New Year's Eve garb of  tux tee shirts. Isn't that fireplace fabulous? It's so deep, it looks like a big ol' cauldron should be hanging in there.

The fireplace isn't just for looks, either. There was a fire blazing in it most of the time we were there.

(P.S. Smarticus really does own other pants... ☺) Trust me, he didn't wear these when the guys went off to a gun show...

Meet Squeak. What a cutie! He kinda looks like the dog who was in the old movie Benji. The guys were getting ready to take a walk to the mailbox, and Squeak got unbelievably excited when Cliff pulled out his little doggie jacket.

Squeak and Shelby weren't exactly begging when Kati was trying to eat a piece of pizza. Let's just say they were very... attentive.

Here's the newest member of the family, in spite of the fact they were calling him NOC, as in Not Our Cat. Kati found him wandering around a parking lot meowing pitifully a couple days before we got there. He not only made fast friends with all of us people, he also did well with the other two resident cats Kismet and Miss Groucho... and the dogs. He's such a beautiful, well-groomed, and incredibly friendly cat, we're sure someone must be missing him terribly, but so far, in spite of their best efforts to locate his owner, no responses. I'd say they're gonna have to change his name...

Caught him in the act! (Almost) That glass container holds dog treats, which are doled out to the pooches every time they come into the house. (Nope! Not spoiled a bit!) I reckon NOC thought he would just help himself to a little something-something. I managed to snap a quick, albeit blurry, picture before rescuing the glass jar from being knocked to the floor. However, in the middle of the night, NOC was once again successful in getting the lid off and knocked the contents onto the table so he could nibble a few. Very wily!

About the literal blast I mentioned earlier? It... actually, quite a few of them... came courtesy of this nifty cannon Smarticus built. It's meant to go with Cliff's Pinzgauer, which he drives in numerous parades with other members of his military vehicle club. The cannon is based on a single-shot rifle, and the ammo is courtesy of a bunch of empty plastic prescription bottles. (Unfortunately, Smarticus and I have a LOT of them on hand.) The BOOM was very satisfying, and the best-looking smoke was provided by ashes from the fireplace.

Here's another view of the cannon. The guys had a lot of fun test-firing it to see what would work best. Lots of work to go yet to make it aesthetically correct, but I think it'll eventually be a cool tool for various military demo events.

An inside look, for those of you who might be interested. As presently configured, it doesn't function as an actual weapon. Just a fun toy for grown-ups. (The guys even fired some parsnips through it!)

Okay, enough pictures. Now, about that blogfest coming up. It's gonna be held on February first, and it's called Lost and Found, Valentine's Edition. 

It's the brain child of Arlee Bird, who describes it as follows:

Do you remember that special feeling of love found? And who hasn't experienced the emotional experience of love lost? Some of you might have even lost a love only to find that person later for another go around. 

Tell your story about love lost or found in our special Valentine's blogfest. Your post can be a short fiction, an essay, poetry, or even a song-- let your imagination run free. Any genre is fair game, be it romance, historical fiction, memoir, or even science fiction. After all, there are no limitations when it comes to love. 

The fest, which will be co-hosted by Guilie Castillo-Oriard, Elizabeth Seckman, Yolanda Renee, Denise Covey, and Alex Cavanaugh, sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it? I've already signed up... how about you? Just click on that handy dandy badge in the sidebar, and it'll whisk you away to more info and a sign-up sheet. Why not go for it??? I'd love to read your story...

And talking about whisking away, I believe it's time for me to whisk away, too. Those Christmas decorations aren't gonna take themselves down...

                               Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.