August 2010

Just Like Christmas

August 31, 2010

Every day at my house has become like Christmas, because I get to open packages! I’ve thrown away my mascara, because it runs down my face and makes me look like a sad clown (clowns are scary!). For some reason, my eyes leak every time one of those packages get opened. They are not gifts [...]

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The Lawnmower Blues

August 28, 2010

With a forlorn look on his face, my husband said, “The lawnmower is dead. It really died this time and I can’t fix it. The connecting rod broke.” I pretended like “connecting rod” meant something to me, and nodded wisely. “Oh,” I replied. “Then, don’t mow the lawn.” It seemed like a simple enough solution [...]

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Stepping Back

August 27, 2010

After a very hectic, bittersweet summer I am finding that I need to “re-group.” As Jennifer Yane said, “I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.” With all the stress, the thought had crossed my mind to simply stop blogging and delete This Eclectic Life, but [...]

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Roughing It

August 25, 2010

With my kitchen out of commission this past week, I’ve felt as if I were on a camping trip without benefit of Nature’s beauty. My Daddy would say I was “roughing it,” but I realize it’s not so bad. I could have to bring my water in buckets from the river, but instead I can [...]

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Chew On This One

August 21, 2010

Raise your hand if your Momma insisted on you displaying table manners when you grew up. I remember my mother telling me, “Close your mouth when you chew.” She told me that a jillion times. She also sometimes told me, “Don’t talk with your mouth open,” (ahem) but I didn’t learn to be a ventriloquist. [...]

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Smelling LUSH-ous

August 19, 2010

I bent my head to the side and pointed to my neck, “Take a whiff, Honey,” I said to my husband. “I smell like San Francisco!” My Sweet Spousal Unit shrugged and said, “As long as you don’t smell like a BART station.” I glared at him with my most evil eye! [Note: For those [...]

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A Chance To Help Share A Square Without Crocheting A Stitch

August 17, 2010

“I’d love to help you make those 150 afghans for kids with cancer, Shelly, but I don’t crochet!” That’s a comment that I hear a lot during the Share A Square project. If you think that, I’ve got two words for you: LAMINATING POUCHES. I’m in need. Now, I hear you thinking, “What is that [...]

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Where’s George?

August 16, 2010

Do y’all ever look at that handful of one dollar bills the cashier gives you as change at the coffee shop? That’s assuming that you ever get any change. I don’t (get change or look at it). If I do get money back, I just stuff it in my wallet for the brief time I’ll [...]

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Out Of Synch

August 15, 2010

Yesterday, I awoke with a feeling of foreboding. Does that ever happen to any of y’all? Nothing seemed quite right. All I wanted to do was pull the covers over my head … but it was too dadgum hot to do that. Dreading the triple digit heat we expected, my husband told me to think [...]

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But For The Grace Of God

August 12, 2010

Two times she had approached me on the street. She was dressed in a garish costume that made her look like she was celebrating the 4th of July, pushing a cart with two cats, and holding a sign that read, “Could you please help my two cats and I with some change.” Two times I [...]

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Enraptured By Ecstasy

August 11, 2010

“Do you want to go see the sculpture of the giant naked woman?” my son asked. Bless his heart, he knows I have nekkid mannequins all over my house. Sure, I did! So, we got on a bus (thank goodness) to traverse San Francisco to the neighborhood called Hayes Valley. There she stood in all [...]

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Like The Pied Piper

August 9, 2010

On the ninth floor of the Baldwin Hotel, near Union Square in San Francisco, I prepared to go to sleep for the night. However, when I walked near the window I heard a haunting melody. Someone was playing a saxophone outside. Like a child drawn to the music, I grabbed my camera to venture outside [...]

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Two Shall Be As One

August 9, 2010

It was a wedding out of a fairy tale! Our prince married his princess bride overlooking the coastline in Mendocino in a ceremony that was enchanting. Indeed, I put down the camera for the duration of the ceremony, so I won’t have pictures of it until the photographer delivers his work (I’ll bore you with [...]

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The Boot Centerpieces Kicked You Know What

August 7, 2010

Do y’all remember that I was gathering stinky old cowboy boots to use as centerpieces for our son’s wedding rehearsal dinner? With the painting that I did, and the decorations I added, they came out pretty well ,,, especially with some California wild flowers popped inside of them. They were definitely worth the effort. Today [...]

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Fort Bragg Boasts Interesting Sight Seeing

August 6, 2010

I had no idea that Fort Bragg had a shopping district about which to boast. Although we have driven through the town many times, we rarely get off of Shoreline Highway to explore. I have told y’all time and again that you have to leave the beaten path to find the treasures of a town, [...]

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Where The Locals Eat

August 5, 2010

What’s your favorite part of traveling? Mine, hands down, is food. I enjoy trying new restaurants … the ones the locals consider good. I look for three things as indicators that it might be a good place to eat: A different kind of cuisine than I can get in my hometown. A line at the [...]

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Crossing The Line From Tweeter To Twit

August 3, 2010

Last year, I watched my Twitter timeline with horrified fascination as a woman tweeted an entire wedding. Moment by moment, complete with pictures on her iPhone uploaded to TwitPics, she covered that wedding from the first preparations through the reception dinner. Now, it’s true that some of the things she said were mildly amusing, but [...]

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There Is A Word For That

August 2, 2010

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity as we prepare for our son’s impending looming upcoming wedding. “Impending” and “looming” didn’t sound quite right, for they both imply that the wedding “hovers threateningly.” It pays to consult a dictionary now and then so that you can find the proper word. There is [...]

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