IS MY HORSE READY?

It has been a pleasant week after the big snow storm on Sunday.  The snow has melted.  The temperature is holding steady at upper 40s and we all love the sunny bright blue sky.  I am ready to get on my "horse" to go riding on another annual 4,000+ miles road trip again - go West geezer - haa haa !!!!!!

FREDDO THE FREELOADER

I submitted to you the evidence of Freddo "the freeloader", caught "red pawed" as shown in the above photos when he climbed up the water downspout on the side of the shed, then looked around to make sure "the coast is clear" before jumping down the feeder hanger;

Freddo tried to get to the feeder from the left but decided that the right side would be more "comfortable";

It was sort-of difficult to eat while hanging upside-down, so Freddo would take a break, sitting on the hanger to rest his tail;

Finally, when he got tired to hanging upside-down and did not want to keep switching position, he just squeeze the whole body and tail tucked nicely inside the feeder and had a feast!

A NICE STORY - COMPANION BAKERY

I normally don't mention company names in my blog.  Why gives free advertisement, especially when it is a negative story.  However, this is a nice story and I want to recognize Companion Bakery of St. Louis for the good thing they do by donating their delicious pastries (I love their products) to the police and fire department.  I understand it was because of the bad weather but the company should be commended for their donation.  Companion supports many organizations in the community.  The website is www.companionstl.com (not the other one in Santa Cruz, California).  You could find Companion products in local grocery stores and of course, at their cafes.  I think they have a catering service too.  Companion pastries are a bit pricey but definitely worth it, especially the bread which makes wonderful Banh Mi!

WE KNOW WHO "DO" TO THE BAD WEATHER

I sure hope this organization does not teach spelling!  Perhaps they should go to the Zoo and learn how to write and spell correctly.  Have a good day, y'all.  (Remember not to "do" bad weather today - haa haa).

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, NOT !!!!!!

I am sure we all got tired of looking at the snow outside the window and then have to see images of snow in "blogosphere" - so I thought it would be appropriate to share these photos taken from the Lantern Festival (2012) at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Portrait in dough, "trat" is very special; all of this "crouns" represents such "practicabziity" and of great "valve" - to whoever created this banner, ever heard of spell-check?

Have a good week and remember to be "practicab" - haa haa

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED (WELL, IT HAS BEEN MOVED)

He Who Loves Eagle told me that he saw "Freddo" the squirrel climbed to the top of St. Francis' statue, then from there using it as a launching pad, it jumped over to the bird feeder to get free lunch.  (Freddo = freeloader).  On Saturday, my husband switched the eagle (from the brick wall by the back fence) and St. Francis (as shown in above and below photos).  Ralphie also added the American flag since it goes together with the eagle.  Stay tune and I will let you know if the switching works (you probably already knew the answer). 

It did not take long for a bird to check out "the view from above"!

The snow covering the eagle make it looks like a person wearing Colonial wig - I dedicate these photos to Living In Williamsburg, Virginia (www.livinginwilliamsburgvirginia.blogspot.com), one of the blogs I enjoy following.  Visit this blog and you might like it too.  Happy Snow Day!!!

PICNIC IN ST. LOUIS - NOT !!!!!!

Looking at our backyard on Sunday, March 24, 2013, I thought we were back in Michigan!  The prediction was it would start snowing at midnight on Saturday but it was late arrival, not until almost 700 hours on Sunday morning when the snow began to fall.  It was gently spreading around the ground and after a few hours, our backyard was covered with the white fluffy snow. 

 I was a little concern that the tree branches with the snow kept piling up would break and fell on the power lines and we would lose power.  (My husband told me to stop being such a worrywart.)  I made sure to fully charge my laptop and the iPad, and as long as the cable was working, we could still have access to the internet.  I forgot how life was before all the technology and its wonderful tools to challenge the human mind!  

The snow had turned the rusted "brown" fence into a white painted fence - that was the proof of how much snow we had from this "biggest snow storm in 30 years" - and that was what the weather people said.  The campus shutdown again, my Monday class was cancelled and I am keeping warm inside the house.  I have plenty of things to do, reading assignments for Thursday Research class and more reading for next Monday Civil Trial.  I am hoping to get an internship for the summer.  It is a bit strange for a geezer at my age (52) to try to gain experience thru an internship.  But when you are forced to sort-of start over, to get your foot-in-the-door to jump-start a new career, I guess you have to do whatever you could to make lemonade when life gave you a rotten lemon!

HAPPY PLACE (LIFE IN MINNESOTA'S 9TH LARGEST CITY)

Inspired by the "Happy Place" post from Eagan Daily Photo (www.eagandailyphoto.blogspot.com), I am sharing photos from last year Orchid's Show at the Missouri Botanical Garden.  For 2013, the show will run thru March 31st.  I may go to the show this weekend. 

It is very confusing this week with the temperature, it is sunny and in the upper 40s yet is rather cold without a heavy jacket.  At times, the wind makes it so much colder.  I heard we might have rain/snow showers on Friday/Saturday.  I would not be surprised if we had snow on Easter Sunday!

I spent the afternoon at an employment agency.  The process was very different compared to when I signed up with the agency for job placement when we moved to St. Louis in 1994.  This time, after being greeted by the receptionist, I was assigned to a computer and there I completed my employment application, filled out income tax withholding forms, I-9 Employment Eligibility form, took several assessment tests including computer skills, personality tests and aptitude tests.  Then an interview with the Placement Manager going over my work history and then the question, "Why did you leave ......?".  Well, I did not leave, I was "thrown off the bridge" after I "dared" to file a complaint about a 2nd incident of ..........  

I was emotionally exhausted after almost 4 hours of being at the agency, especially having to tell the "story" again.  It seemed like the wound was never completely healed.
Traffic was not too bad and I was able to make it to the evening Mass (during Lenten Season we have 5:30 p.m. Mass in addition to the morning Masses).  We already went to Confession so I tried not to wish ill on "a particularly individual" until after Easter!!!!! 
It has been a struggle since I began this journey.  I believe that things happened for a reason and something good will come out of this experience.  I have moved forward and am already in a Happy Place!

STOPUCKS (OH CANADA)

How appropriate that I spotted this "STOPUCKS" license plate in the parking lot across the ice rink.  Of course, where else would someone from Canada, most likely a hockey fanatic like me, be but at a hockey game.  In 2007, I was able to cross off "Visit Hockey Hall of Fame" on my Bucket List.  I had a great time there.  I would have spent the entire day at the Hall if my husband did not "drag" me out of the building!  The gift shop did not have as many Original Six items as I expected.  I had fun participating in the interactive games.  I put on the goalie mask (it was heavy and uncomfortable) trying to stop shots from Mark Messier - I stopped one out of the 10 shots, not too bad, eh?  I did better with shooting against Eddie Belfour - I scored three goals and each time my husband would yell "She scores" - we sure had a great time.  My next item on the Bucket List would be to see the Habs in Montreal (had to be the Original Six game), then take the train to Toronto to see the Leafs, again has to be an Original Six game - I hope to reach this goal before my 70th birthday!!!!!     

ALMOST SPRING

These photos were taken in late February when we had the big snow storm.  It was Thursday, Feb. 21st to be exact.  My class was cancelled since the entire campus was shutdown.  He Who Had Two Cool Vehicles but had to borrow my "not so cool but practical" front-wheel drive Mazda "Luc" to get to work.  (The Mustang with its wide tires would not provide traction on the slippery roads and the T-bird is for summer driving only.)  The snow started around 900 hours and by noon time, the backyard was completely covered with a blanket of snow.  The next day, the coughing started and for the next 10 days, I was stuck in the house, feeling miserable.   

I did not have much sleep because of the constant coughing.  I kept moving from the lazy-boy to the sofa in the family room, then to the sofa in the front room, back to the bed trying to get some rest without much luck.  I even tried standing up against the kitchen counter hoping the coughing would subside while closing my eyes to get a few minutes of sleep - it did not work!  It was so frustrating and draining from the lack of sleep and the exhaustion from coughing.  After I finally got well, but then my husband started his coughing.  I am pleased to report that we are currently enjoying sort-of good health. 
We had heavy rain over the weekend and the temperature was in the upper 30s.  I think we have enough snow and winter weather.  I am ready for spring but not the typical hot summer days in St. Louis.
(I sure hope no one will try to steal our St. Francis statue because of the new Pope Francis.)     

NEVER TOO BUSY TO EAT THE CANTALOUPE

During a visit to NYC (I don't remember the exact year), my husband and I made an offer to my sister CH that we would help taking care of things in her apartment or whatever she was not physically able to do.  When we got to her place, CH already got a list of items that she would like to get done.  While my husband did the heavy lifting like moving the furniture, assembling a bookshelf, CH and I re-organized her closets and gathered items to give away.  After we came back from dropping off the donation, we found CH sitting at her kitchen table eating cantaloupe.  We asked what else needed to be done.  CH responded while looking at the list, "I have a million things on this list."  We thought the comment was funny since a million things had to wait while CH was slowly eating her fruit.  "Well, I had to eat the cantaloupe before it goes bad", she said.  Since then, it has become an inside joke with us that whenever we talked about chores that needed to get done, we would say, "But first we have to finish eating the cantaloupe"!

HOW DO I LOVE THEE - LET ME COUNT IN CHINESE

I saw the above license plate while walking back to my car after finished my shopping.  The vehicle parked in a spot close to the building and the owner probably was still inside.  I thought it would be interesting to know who owner is.  But then I should not assume that if I walked around the store and found an Asian-looking person, it would be the owner.  The individual could be a Caucasian, Hispanic or African who has studied Chinese; perhaps speaking the language better than I do.  
If you would like to know the meaning of "WAHINE", send me a bottle of Maker's Mark (90 proof only - no cutting corner) and I will tell you what it says in Mandarin Chinese - haa haa.    
(Qaptain Qwerty or any Chinese-speaking readers, please do not post any comment as you would give away the answer.)

HAPPY DAYS WERE HERE BUT HERE COMES THE RE-ALIGNMENT

I started this post on January 9th writing about how happy I was that the NHL lockout was over.  I also wrote about the Superbowl and my beloved New England Patriots being in the playoffs.  (Of course I was crushed when the Ravens eliminated the Patriots.  But I did not mind that the Ravens beat the 49ers to win the Superbowl.  I heard Kaepernick would have added a new tattoo of the Lombardi trophy should the 49ers won - haa haa.)

The next day, January 10th, I planned to write about the 33rd anniversary of my family coming to America, all the funny stories happened in the refugee camp and when we were "fresh off the boat" at JFK airport, our struggle learning the new language, adapting the New York style of living and assimilating into the American culture, going to school, working, paying taxes and becoming productive citizens.

A series of events took place that made my celebration of the end of the NHL lockout and the Superbowl became small and meaningless.  Just like a balloon running out of air, I could not and did not know how to continue blogging, believe it or not, I did not even go the games when my beloved Red Wings came to St. Louis on Jan. 19th and then again on Feb. 7th.   
This week the new realignment was made officially with the changes go into effect at the start of the 2013-2014 league season.  The biggest change in the realignment, wouldn't you know it, had to be that my beloved Red Wings and (I don't really care about Columbus Blue Jackets) are moving to the Eastern Conference while the Winnipeg Jets are moving to the Western Conference.  The Western Conference has five Original Six teams, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and my Red Wings while the only Original Six team left skating in the Eastern Conference is my American hometown the New York Rangers.  So what does it all mean to a hockey fanatic like me?  Starting with the 2013-2014 season, my beloved Red Wings will come to St. Louis every other year.  There is a Vietnamese expression that for each day you don't see your "love" equals three long seasons, so how long it would be if you don't see your "love" in three years?

DO I HAVE TO EAT ALL THE VEGETABLE ON MY PLATE?

I found this listing while conducting my daily job search.  At first I thought it was just a fancy name for a butcher position but upon careful examination of the job description, I saw that the responsibilities of Director of Fresh Meat included recruit, interview and train employees in that particularly department as well as dealing with buyers.  Do you know that there are schools that would offer training for people to become professional butchers?  I thought of sending my resume for consideration but for a short chubby woman like me, the title Director of Fresh Meat on my business card would be too funny - heh heh.  Also, what if I was asked about my special recipes, how do I tell them that I don't even know how to cook  ?????

JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE PRAIRE

Perhaps the title "Which way" would be more appropriate for these photos of this praire dog looking left and then right, unable to decide which direction to proceed.  That is how I have been feeling lately.  Even though I am occupied with school, volunteer activities, and job search, somehow it feels as if I am just "sitting on the dock watching the ship going by"!

This week Spring Break is almost over.  I met Himself for lunch today.  The KOC Hall where He "who has been third-degree knight for over 10 years" works, also serves lunch in addition to the regular Fish Fry on Friday evenings.  (I told Ralphie that if I were a man/knight, I would already be a Supreme Knight a long time ago.)  We both have catfish, green beans, lemonade and a piece of cake.  After lunch, I took "Luc" to a car wash.
School starts next week with Civil Trial Procedures on Monday and Legal Research on Thursday.  I am almost done with the first three chapters, Litigation, Parties and Jurisdiction, Informal Fact Gathering and Investigation; still have to review Missouri Supreme Court Rules 51-52 and 54.  I looked over The Bluebook (rules for legal citation) and it looks so intimidating.
We went to see the movie "Oz" and I ate a whole bag of popcorn.  It was fresh, warm and lot of butter.  Ralphie said the movie was full of "cheap tricks" to compensate for the lousy acting.  I was busy eating popcorn so I did not know what the story was about anyway! 

HELLO, I AM TOTA (IT HAS BEEN AWHILE)

I really don't know where to start since my last post almost 2 months ago.  There were many times I would create a new post, then unable to compose anything that would be meaningful to share.  I would stare at the computer screen just like the praire dog in the above photo.  What could I possible write that would be interesting?
Today I received a comment from Alisa (Displaced American - www.alisajoy@blogspot.com) and I know I must get back to blogging again.  Alisa, thank you so much for your kind comment.  It makes me realize that I have been selfish by not posting regularly.  I enjoy reading cute stories about Noah and Benjamin and beautiful photos of places you visited.  I look forward to Sunday for another "heart warming" story from Busboy (www.bus-stories.blogspot.com).  And I never missed "running" along with Qaptain Qwerty (www.qaptainqwerty.com) on his daily 10K.  As blogger, I must contribute by posting and making comments regularly, not just reading others' writing.  That is what sharing and connecting is about.
I don't really have any excuses for not posting since early January.  The Spring semester started on Jan. 14th but that was not the real reason.  Somehow I could not get back to posting.  It was as if I have lost all the desire to post, not even cheesy photos of license plates!
I don't know if I will be posting often or at least leaving comments on other blogs.  Spring is coming so just like the praire dog, I might come out running around the field or going back into the ground again!