It is once again......

Left for Me to Find Friday!

When I walked past Bruce's office this morning, I looked in, as I always do, and he was reviewing a document with a stupid grin on his face.

I went to the kitchen, got a glass water and was headed back to my desk, when I once again looked in and this time he was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"What is so funny?" I inquired.

Still smiling like a goon, he said "Look at your desk."

This is what he left for me to find.....

isn't he a punk??!?!?!

skunk skunk skunk

“Now Anna said the dead skunk was to the RIGHT…

of the stairs, so when I leave thru the back door to the garage with my birthday cheesecake, purse and tote bag in hand, I will just look to the left, completely shielding my view of the remains from the horror of last night.” was my thought process as I got ready on this Birthday Morning to start my commute downtown.

I remotely opened the garage door and with some trepidation turned the handle of the back door, juggling everything in my arms and looking hard to the LEFT while I descended the stairs……

at which moment I remembered what Anna REALLY had said…..

“The dead skunk with its GUTS hanging out is to the LEFT of the stairs!”

i now need erase the image from my mind prayers

ps - skunk did not exactly look like the picture i have posted above - why, oh why does buddy the wonder dog not learn?

skunk smell makes eyes burn

Part of last night's train conversation.....

with my posse went something like this...

Me: Keith, I am not sure if you have met Todd. Todd this is Keith. Keith this is Todd.

Todd: Anthony.

Me: Todd.

Todd: No, my name is Anthony.

Me: What? I have been calling you Todd for days!

Anthony: I know.

Me: When I asked you last week if your name was Todd, why did you say “Yes!”?

Anthony: I didn’t. I said “No.”

Oops!

Well, at least it makes for some interesting snippet fodder when people sit on my deaf ear side.

new posse members need name tags applied

“So I saved the 2% milk jug….

and refilled it with skim. Guess what? He drank the whole thing and never complained once!” is the overheard snippet between two women during this morning's walk to my office.

As I was passing them, I couldn’t help but ask ”Are you talking about a husband who needs specific kinds of food?”

“Yes!” the one responded.

“Well my ex-husband would only eat Kraft American Cheese Singles, but they were always more expensive than the store brand, so every once in a while I would break down and buy Kraft, then save the outer wrapper and refill it with the cheap store brand singles...he always LOVED his “Kraft” cheese!” I shared.

"It is all in their heads!" we agreed.

a different wrapper is all you need

Left for Me to Find Friday!!

This morning's breezy, COOL end-of-August walk to the office led me past three colorfully whimsical items placed appropriately in my path for photographing with the ever-trusty Susan Snippets' camera....







All for babies except for the earring.

a theme

"Why are we pulling over?"

I nervously asked Steve yesterday afternoon.

We had been driving in pounding rains for miles as we made our way east of Hannibal, Missouri and into our home state of Illinois.

All during that rain soaked drive, Steve and Keith had been pointing out the “unsafe” drivers who would pull over onto the shoulder to wait out the storm.

Suddenly....we were one of them and I had to ask why???

“The tornado sirens are going off.” Steve calmly replied.

And that is when Susan Snippets started to get a little worried.

We were huddled in our vehicle under a concrete overpass waiting for the sirens’ wails to cease.

When we could no longer hear them, only the sound of the unrelenting rain, Steve started to drive again.

Shortly thereafter, we heard the emergency vehicle sirens and saw their unmistakable flashing lights.

Steve, being in the business of rescue, informed us that he was pretty sure they were “staging” due to a tornado touchdown.

And unfortunately, he was correct.

There was an SUV turned over in the median, a pick up truck with its rear window blown out and a Casey’s General Store off to our right – completely flattened by the tornado’s unpredictable swath of devastation.

Many hours later, we arrived home, at which point I think Judy said it best as to how we all felt when she proclaimed “I want to get out and kiss the ground!”

thankfully home safe and sound

"I am hoping for more than......

24 hours in today!" I said to Steve, Judy and Keith as we boated along this beautiful lake.....

Susan Snippets has taken a few days off work, both jobs - the Chicago one in lawyerland and also from DotDotDot eat cookies a lot! out in the western suburbs, to take advantage of the wonderful hospitality of kind friends that own a fabulous condo here in the heart of Missouri.

So far I have gathered quite a bit of blog fodder for later postings, but for now I just wanted to give you a glimpse of where we are!

first time ever boating to a bar

Another weeping icon.....

but I am going to have to say that THIS one might be a fake!

others money they make

I count my gulps…

One..

Two..

Three..

Four...

Five!

That is what I do each time I drink my water." I shared with a friend this morning after he commented that it was hard for him to drink enough water during the day.

Try it.

It works well.

Except for occasionally when I forget and carry it over to beer.

then oh dear

“Susan!”

Somebody yelled from across the sidewalk during my lunch walk today.

Straying from my usual route, I found myself deep in the business district of Chicago, otherwise known as "The Loop" when Dave, an ex-co-worker, spotted me and yelled.

“Hey Dave, are you on your way back from lunch?” I inquired.

“Yeah, I just left the Tilted Kilt on Wabash.” he said.

“Oh, my boyfriend has been there.” I said, “Is the food good?”

“The food is phenomenal!" Dave replied, “Absolutely wonderful!”

He went on to tell me exactly where the Tilted Kilt was and being just blocks away, I decided to walk over and peruse their menu.

It was right where he said I would find it and in following his further directions, I took the escalator up past their sign...

to the second floor, turned left, entered a very, very busy pub and was greeted by these three at the “hostess” desk...


All I have to say is that my boyfriend probably doesn’t go for the food.

no wonder after those lunches he is in such a good mood

A Polk-A-Dotted Success!!

With my first foray into selling my-only-given-away-at-christmas-as-gifts cookies this past Saturday under my belt, I am happy to announce that it was a SELL OUT!!

Although some tweaking definitely needs to be done on proper cooling/storage of the prepackaged-on-my-dining-room-table red bags and other cookie/selling logistics, all-in-all it went very well.

And it came off as great as it did due to the gracious lending of equipment, giving of gifts (full white chef's apron!) and generous talents/help of my family and many, many kind friends.

thank you the amazement never ends

Left for Me to Find FRIDAY!! hooray!!

Street drinking - neat and discreet in trying to beat the heat...


Cars in jail...not for sale...


Feet of a "man without a home" (trying to use the NEW "PC" terminology) who was kind enough to oblige Susan Snippet's weird request - next time there could be an arrest...

A pear, cut, not chewed, left outside the East Bank Club of Health and Wealth...


and last, but not least, a discarded napkin or tissue, shoved it into the nearest wedged spot - snot...



p.s. - cookie update - 52 bags filled and i was excited, until my sister stopped by last night to help and reminded me..."At $10 for two bags (the deal) that means you can only sell to 25 people!"...tonight i will be baking more. cookies i am starting to abhor

Creatively numb from hours......

and HOURS of late night baking...so I will just post a shot that I took this morning on my walk into the office...a concrete worker's tools of his trade set out in anticipation of the day's work....

that might not necessarily be fun.

especially in todays hot summer sun

With another opossum......

kill under Buddy The Wonder Dog's belt, the following email I received this morning seemed timely and appropriate.....

Thought for the Day

Handle every stressful situation like a dog.

If you can't eat it or play with it...

Just pee on it and walk away.

he so loves to play and slay

“The second and the last!”

She stated to her friend as I passed by this morning.

“Really? You are definitely going to have to fill me in!” the friend replied.

I assume she was talking about a second date.

that did not go too great

“Necessity……

who is the mother of invention.”

In quoting the Greek Philosopher, Plato, his saying is as true today as it was during his life in 300-400 B.C.

“Just how am I going to make ends meet now that child support has stopped?” I asked myself over and over.

“Think, Think, THINK!” I would silently implore.

Fevering madly during a recent bout of swine flu...I had hoped for a crazy dream divulging what I should do to financially succeed.

But, alas, I only dreamt about being blind....which, in hindsight, was true, oh so true.

On the other hand, my son, Phillip, also suffering with high fevers...dreamt he was living with a tribe in Africa and sucking milk from a goat’s teat.

I told him that it was wrong for him to share a sex dream with his mother!

Needless to say...we both recuperated (thankfully), but I gained no financial enlightenment.

That is until I read a story about Angela Logan, a single mom, whose mortgage payments had doubled and was in jeopardy of losing her house. Angela started selling an apple cake, a recipe that had been in her family for years, that she renamed the “Mortgage Apple Cake” pricing it at $40, with a goal of selling 100. As you can read in this article she is now out of debt and well on her way to being a very successful business woman.

I can bake!

And people LOVE the cookies I give away as gifts only at Christmas.

Would others, besides my friends and family, also like them?

Enough to actually PAY for them?

Well, I will soon see.

THIS Saturday I will be debuting "Chocolate Polk-A-Dots" at my suburban farmer’s market.

From 8 a.m. until 12 p.m.

Sixteen all natural ingredients shortbread with a chocolate non-pariel on top, nicely packaged - $6.00 per bag – two bags for $10.

So as Plato said all those years ago...I am being driven by necessity and inspired by Angela Logan.

I also am seeking prayers of encouragement and success.....

and maybe, just maybe, if you happen to be in downtown Batavia this Saturday morning, stop on over at the Farmer’s Market and sample a Chocolate Polk-A-Dot.

then buy a whole whole lot