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What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up

“Blogs of Note” is one of the cooler things Blogger does, in my humble opinion. Their words best describe the purpose of the list … Interesting and noteworthy Blogger-powered blogs, compiled by the Blogger Team. It is updated daily and every now and then I check out the offerings.

That’s how I discovered Scary’s West, which is one of the Blogs I recommend in my collection of links better known as Other People’s Blogs. Some of the Blogs are cool and totally suck me in. Others are, um, weird.

Now, I know that I haven’t quite found my posting niche. There’s no real purpose for this Blog. But it gives me something to do. Yet another of my many hobbies I never have enough time for! (I just wish I’d started it years ago so I could’ve documented the WV Project here instead of on my Web site.)

When my Blog “grows up” and becomes a really interesting Blog that thousands of people visit every day, I want to appear in Blogs of Note. In the meantime, I’ll just post random pictures and talk about stupid stuff like how I aspire for this to be a Blog of Note.

Until then, here’s another random picture. I was going through holiday pictures a while ago and found this one of me and my Grandma from Christmas 2007.


Earlier this evening, though I am not sure why this thought popped into my brain, I realized I’ve never really posted any pictures of Hubby. Of course, he was in some of the vacation pics, but those were incidentals. I think I should post one of just him all by himself. On purpose. My latest favorite of him is below…


I’m not sure why I like it so much. He doesn’t look particularly happy (though I know he was). Maybe it’s just because I caught him off guard and he doesn’t have that “do-you-have-to-take-ANOTHER-picture” look.

Anyway, I’m interested to see if others like the picture, too. Click on “comments” below and let me know.

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And the Difference is…

Today’s post is all about being different. I was inspired by something I read on another Blog, Blogger Buster, about stylizing posts to make them stand out. I decided to give it a try.

One of my favorite sayings is, “Nothing is ever easy.” Its true. For me, anyway. The tips seemed so simple. But there was one key thing missing. A warning that said…

You must have a basic understanding of HTML to use these tips effectively. Knowing what CSS is–cascading style sheets–and some familiarity with CSS properties wouldn’t hurt either.

Now, I pretty much know who my faithful readers are. The list is short. But I don’t think any of them, except maybe Mrs. Mac, know or care to know about HTML and CSS. But I figured I’d include the warning anyway. Because I know a certain, recently out-of-the-closet blogger MIGHT be tempted to try the tips, too. So I thought I’d save her some frustration.

The weirdest thing I discovered is that each time I add a different HTML/CSS element, my drop-cap (the big “T” in my opening paragraph) code is changed.

I fixed it a couple of times. Then I finally decided this is taking way longer than I thought it would. And I need to get to work.

So, I’ll close today’s post with a not-so-flattering picture of me (most pictures of me aren’t very flattering) pulled from my arsenal of wacky photos. At least then you might say today’s post was mildly entertaining.

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Honey, Grab the Camera. It’s a Bear!


I took the above photo on a recent trip to Alaska. Hubby and I spent two weeks touring various parts of the state. Many people have asked, “Did you enjoy your vacation? Are you happy to be home?” To all, I have answered, “Yes, the vacation was awesome. No, I am not happy to be home.”

The truth is, I really did spend the entire first week back pissed off because I absolutely loved Alaska and didn’t want to leave. The weather was perfect for us. The scenery is magnificent. We got to see all kinds of critters (like the bear shown above). And made new friends.

Alas, we did have to come home. It wouldn’t have been so bad, maybe, if we hadn’t returned to Maryland’s horrible summer heat and humidity. And work. We do need to make a living, but I really enjoyed those two weeks of leisure!

I’ll stop whining. After all, we’ve been home for over a month. I don’t spend all of my spare time dreaming of life in Alaska. I do think about it a lot though. And I am really close to applying for a spot on Discovery’s Alaska Experiment…

Anyway, on his way out of the house for work this morning, Hubby told me he’d seen on the news that a Cruise West cruise ship ran aground in one of the inlets in Glacier Bay. I just had to look it up to see if there was any damage, like an oil spill or something, because Glacier Bay is one of the most beautiful places on Earth (that I have experienced, anyway). And it would suck, big time, to have any of it spoiled.


There was no damage, fortunately.

While I was researching, I ended up at the Anchorage Daily News Web site (where else?). One of their regular features is BEAR SIGHTINGS. Me being the critter freak that I am, I just had to look. I thought it was pretty cool. I also thought some of my loyal readers would like to take a peek, too. Which is the entire reason for this post. Lame, maybe, but bears are awesome. Seeing bears in Alaska is the best! What’s most amazing is where many of the sightings occur… in backyards! If you haven’t already followed the “bear sightings” link above, CLICK HERE. Enjoy!

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Let Him Eat Cake

My youngest grandson, Joey, turned 1 this past weekend. His parents threw a party for him, of course, which turned out very nice. There’s just something magical about watching little kids discover the world. I’m sure Joey has tasted cake before–his parents aren’t afraid to let him taste new things–but I am also pretty sure that he never got to eat it by the fistful.

I envied him, in a way. I love cake. But boy was he a mess! He didn’t seem to mind one bit.


Mike and I spent the rest of the weekend doing landscaping at our Maryland house. We have neglected our yard horribly since all of our spare time over the last few years has been spent in West Virginia. Now that we got new grass and an irrigation system, we figured it was time to make the flower beds look good, too.

We’re not quite finished. We have to buy about 30 more bags of mulch to spread. But I am sure it will look fabulous when we’re done. I’ll have to post pictures of the end result in a few days.

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The Weekly Toad-bit

I was looking for some info about toads this morning–on the Internet, of course–when I realized many people don’t know how to tell the difference between a frog and a toad. So I figured I’d take a moment to enlighten everyone.

Though this will probably just confuse you more, all toads are actually frogs. Remember the classification scheme or “taxonomy” you learned about in high school biology? Frogs and toads are in the same order…

  • Kingdom = Animalia
  • Phylum = Chordata
  • Class = Amphibia
  • Order = Anura (frogs and toads)
  • Family = Bufonidae

It is when they get to “family” that things change. The critters, like those seen on the right, most people think of as toads are part of the Bufonidae family, also known as true toads. I borrowed the following text from FROGLAND:

These types of frogs are characterized by:

  • Stubby bodies with short hind legs (for walking instead of hopping)
  • Warty and dry skin (usually preferring dryer climates)
  • Paratoid (or poison) glands behind the eyes
  • The chest cartilage of toads is different also.
  • Toads tend to lay eggs in long chains. (There are some toads (genera Nectophrynoides), however, that are the only types of anurans to bear live young!)

True Toads can be found worldwide except in Australasia, polar regions, Madagascar, and Polynesia, though Bufo marinus has been artificially introduced into Australia and some South Pacific islands. Besides Bufo, the family includes 25 genera, all of which, like the frogs, are anura!

Since a nice, side-by-side comparison is available at FROGLAND, I won’t list it here. Instead, I’ll end this REALLY boring post with my favorite FROG photo.

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Will You Cut It Off!?!

Again, there’s been a bit of a lag between posts. Sorry. There’s just not that much excitement in my life. I am not complaining, mind you. I have quite a nice life. I just can’t bring myself to bore you with the everyday tedium.

I did, along with Dear Hubby, enjoy a lovely dinner last night with Shannon (oldest daughter), her boyfriend, Daniel, and Daniel’s Mom, Cindy. We went to a charming little place in Baltimore called Arcos Mexican Restaurant & Bar. The atmosphere at the place is great; request a seat in the outdoor courtyard if possible. The food was okay, but the good company and great location made for a very pleasant evening. It was well overdue, but that’s a long story!

For those of you wondering about the title I chose for today’s post… I lifted it from a story my youngest daughter conveyed about her 7-year-old daughter, Brianna, my oldest grandkid. Brianna and her brother, Gaige (age 4), like most kids, bicker a lot. Usually about stupid stuff. Gaige tries his hardest to get under his sister’s skin, whether his arguments are logical or not. Sometimes, his efforts pay off.

On one recent occasion, when Brianna had had enough, she said to Gaige, “Will you cut it off!” Apparently, that is her hybrid combination of “cut it out” and “knock it off.” Amy said, when she was finished laughing, she had to explain to Brianna how the sayings are different and can’t really be combined effectively (if B. wants to be taken seriously, that is).

My next post should be more interesting. I’ll be away for a couple of days, but should have some photos and commentary to share upon my return.