HAPPY LIKE TOTA DURING NHL PLAYOFFS

 How do you measure happiness?  Just like in the commercial asking how happy the customer is when saving money after switching insurance company - as happy as TOTA during NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Regular readers notice that I have not mentioned as much about my beloved Detroit Red Wings after the lockout ended.  I was occupied with school plus disappointed with the Wings not playing at expected level at the beginning of the "season" and the last few weeks, I could not sleep or eat (just kidding) worrying because there was a possibility that the Wings might not get into the Playoffs. 

After dropping to 10th place, then struggling just to stay alive in the last playoffs spot, I am pleased to report that the Wings climbed up to 7th place (still embarrassing compared to previous years when they would be the first team to clinch playoffs spot).  Playoffs (Round 1) start tonight with the Wings against Anaheim Ducks so I might not be able to stay up late (puck drops at 7:30 p.m. in California but that will be 10:30 p.m. St. Louis time).  Other interesting match-ups - Toronto v. Boston; Montreal v. Ottawa; Rangers v. Capitals; and St. Louis v. LA Kings.  I finally got my wish - all Original Six teams are in the Playoffs, (Blackhawks v.Wild) including Maple Leafs after so many years of missing the fun!

Today is April 30th - 38 years after the Fall of Sai Gon in 1975.  The day when the Viet Nam war was supposedly ended but a different kind of war began for the Vietnamese people, my family included, living under Communist controlled government.  We escaped by boat in 1979, survived the journey and the refugee camp and began a new life in American (New York City) on January 10, 1980.  I am reminded of how blessed we are to be living in America and grateful for the freedom and liberty we have enjoyed.  God Bless America and those who have served this great nation.

YOU WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND IF YOU WERE NOT A CAR GUY (OR GIRL)

 Since we are not going to Hermann for the ShelbyFest, I thought posting these photos would give the readers who are car guys and gals something to look at and for those who could not care less (like QQ) about the Shelby or any muscle cars - well, this is what usually takes place when you are at a car show.  There are mostly men who would spent hours drooling over other men's cars.

I don't remember who told me that "A car is like a woman - she is beautiful and she usually belongs to someone else.  So look but don't touch!".  (Unless you want to get a bloody nose and killed if you let the blood dripped on the clean engine.)

I tagged along with Ralphie to a few car shows, especially to those classic vehicles.  There are many of them during the summer.  I built up a good knowledge and decided to surprise my husband while we were walking around the show, I casually pointed at one vehicle on display and said, "Wow, that is a 1958 Fairlane 500 Skyliner with the retractable hardtop".  I kept my "Poker face" only for a second then burst out laughing when I saw the beyond relief "Are you my wife?" surprising look on my husband's face - to this day we still laugh about this!

Can anyone tell me what these men are looking at?  These are strangers who did not know each other but now they became best friends and could spend hours talking about "their" restoration project, whether to put in a 5.OL or 4.6L engine block, what kind of suspensions or paint work and let's not forget the wheel bolt pattern.

EARTH AND SKY (YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK)

The above is one of the best images I captured during our visit to Yellowstone National Park - man and nature (except for the fish not too happy being caught).

Last week the City Police Department sponsored a Shred Day.  For $5 cash or a bag of can food, you could drop off up to 10 banker boxes at the shredding location where you could watch the documents being "securely" shredded.  Well, I emphasize the word "securely" to be funny because if you could not trust your own police department, who could you trust, right?  My husband helped me load up 7 boxes, mostly translation documents and credit card statements from the last 10 years, into the trunk of my car.  I made cash donation and also a bag of can food.  Sgt. JH, the Community Officer, told me this week that it was a successful event with almost $1,500 cash and 300 lbs of can food collected and donated to the local food pantry.    

After the Shred Day, I stopped by the Books and Baked Sale at the Community Center.  I did not buy any books but could not resist getting a small bag of cookies and a few brownies from Sgt. JH's mother.  She was helping out at the Sale.  Looking at the last name on her nametag, I asked if she knew the Sgt. and she told me she was his mother.  Seeing her "How the heck do you know my son?" look, I explained that I knew him from the Police Academy community training.

It is that time of the year - the dreadful "allergy season" has started, filling the air with pollen, covering up our cars with the green stuff and people walking around sneezing and running nose.  The last few years I have suffered from itchy and dry eyes no matter how often I sought relief from various kinds of eye drops.  I did not have any problems when we first moved to St. Louis in 1995.  I guess after so many years of fighting, my immune system has been weaken by the overwhelming pollen army.  

We were planning to go to Hermann, Missouri today for the Shelby Festival.  He Who Got to Drive a Clean Car decided not to go because "it would be embarrassing to drive around in a dirty Pony".  Ralphie could not wash the Pony because it was raining.  So we will be staying in all day which is fine with me.  I will be posting while Himself is out in the garage spending quality time with his T-bird and all the tools that are rarely used!

JUST TAKING IT EASY

This is me, taking it easy and enjoying the free time (I would be the one sitting on the rock while others swimming around).  A few of my classmates have kids that are between 6 and 8 years old.  One person has a 9 months old baby.  Others work full time and carrying the same course load as I do.  They attended class and submitted assignments on time.  They don't expect special treatment or getting passing grade without doing the hard work.  I told them that I greatly admired them for their determination and how they managed to handle all the responsibilities.  I remembered when I was at Hunter College while working full time but that was when I was young and had a purpose and lot of goals in life than simply watching hockey/football games!

I still don't know how I did it - one semester I carried 12 credits while working full time.  Somehow I managed to earned a straight A's that semester.  It could be because I set goals to achieve a college education and a better future.  And I had to take care of myself since I did not have a husband back then.  Now I am a geezer, not much energy left, and I could live off my husband who has been very supportive.  After 30 years of working and paying taxes, I will try not to feel too guilty about taking it easy for awhile.  Besides, I would rather be working only if I was not "thrown-off" the bridge .......     

FRIDAY "YELLOWSTONE" SKY

 Happy Friday ya'll - it is good to be blogging again!  I could not believe that I have all the free time on my hands, no reading hundred of pages of "legal mumbo jumbo", no research or drafting assignments, no looking thru cases to locate authority, statutes or court decisions.  All the chapters have been covered, (weekly) assignments have been submitted, I only have to make it thru the finals and I would be free until the summer semester starts!  

 Looking at these photos taken from our Westward adventure in 2011 makes me long to be on the road.  I love seeing America and there is so much to see (13 more States to be exact).  I have not taken pictures lately (QQ, are you surprised?) so for this Friday Sky post, I am sharing these photos from our visit to Yellowstone National Park.

 Just in case you heard about flooding in St. Louis, we are ok and don't live in or near flooding areas.  It was sunny yesterday but today is back to cloudy with a threat of possible rain late in the evening.  In addition to school schedule, I have been busy with going to the courthouse to observe "justice in action".  Did I share that I started a Legal Studies Club on campus?  We had our first club meeting on April 3rd and it was sort-of well-attended.  Election of officers will take place at the next meeting and I have been busy with campaigning, fundraising in between a few rounds of golf and family vacation - all expense paid for and funded by the club membership dues (just kidding)! 

 We had a nice and quiet Easter (can't believe that it was a month ago).  A new manager (let's call him NC) from my husband's workplace is from Charleston, North Carolina.  NC is actually originally from Boston.  His wife is still in NC as they are trying to sell their house.  So we invited NC to our home for dinner to celebrate Easter with us.  We did not talk politics, only pleasant topics like football and hockey!

This small church is right across from our hotel in Gardiner, Montana.  This is the view from our room on the 2nd floor.  It is a great view to see each morning or anytime when looking out the windows.  Mass schedule listed 8:00 a.m. during the summer but only 3 times each month and 4:00 p.m. Mass during the winter.  I tried but the door was locked so I could not take any pictures inside the church.

FRIDAY SKY - BALLOONS AND BLUE SKY

These photos of the colorful balloons against the beautiful clear blue sky were taken at this year Ice Carnival in downtown St. Charles (faithful readers know I love writing about balloons, especially the ones that got away, broke free from the "golden handcuff", flying high into the sky to freedom and liberty).  I just noticed there was an "airless" red balloon in the above photo. 

Happy Spring to ya'll - the hot and humid summer weather will be here before you know it!

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!