AMERICA . . . MY HOME SWEET HOME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA . . . GOD BLESS AMERICA . . . GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES . . . PROUD TO BE AMERICANS!

IF THE CAKE WAS REAL ...

 eat it ...

Shoe and cake - what a perfect combination!

Where did the time go?  Half of 2014 was gone - we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this month - a nephew who was in his mother's womb when she was at our wedding will be getting married in August.  All the kids in our wedding party have one or two kids of their own.  We count our blessings every day that we made it this far!

Have a safe and enjoyable summer ... don't forget to eat cake!

IF THE SHOE FITS .....

 ... wear it!

What size do you think this shoe is?  It definitely does not belong to Cinderella :>)

Here are a few expressions associate with "shoe" -
I wouldn't want to be in your shoes;
The shoe is on the other foot;
(I am not sure what this expression is about) The shoemaker's kids always go barefoot!
Hey QQ, how about, "Have shoe will run"?

BUTTERFLIES ON THE CAKE

This cake is on display at the Butterfly House and I believe it is one of the best decorated piece.  Of course, the theme is easy and butterfly is such a lovable, colorful species.  (I just realized that the word "species" is both singular and plural - I need to pay more attention and try to improve my limited vocabulary!)

Back in 2011, when I was "thrown off the bridge", instead of feeling sorry for myself, after spending time in the morning on job search, I volunteered for 4 hours in the afternoon, three days a week at the Butterfly House. 

I learned about the butterfly from the training and enjoyed explaining to visitors.  I enjoyed talking to people from out of town, especially tourists from other countries.  Most of the volunteers were nice to work with but there were a few that were "questionable"!

I highly recommend the Butterfly House if you are visiting St. Louis.  It is a fun place and most of the kids love the butterflies.  (There were a few that were terrified of the butterfly, especially when a butterfly landed on their body.  The more I tried to explain that the butterfly would not hurt them, the more the kids became frighten!)

It is getting warm today - we were planning to drive around in the T-bird but we decided to stay indoor.  I should clean up my office, organize the closets and it's time to gather items for donations.  Oh, all my earthly possessions - they could be more burden than blessings when you have more than you actually need.  What earthly possessions will you give away today?

DON'T SIT DOWN .......

..... because there are butterflies on the chair!
I am sure you heard about the Blackhawks victory in Game 6 last night (I know the whole world does not revolve around Stanley Cup playoffs).  It was another exciting game, lot of scoring in the 3rd period and the Hawks scored the winning goal with 3 and a half minutes left - whew!


Today was sunny until an hour ago when it started to rain.  I just heard rumbling noise outside my window, so it could be stormy weather coming for the evening.
(We lost internet connection ....)

(We got the connection back ....)
The evening turns out to be real nice.  The rain stopped, then the sun came out – go figure!
We even took the T-bird out and went to a restaurant Cafeteria style.  We drove pass the location many times but finally went there today.  The place is large, bright and nicely decorated.  The food is tasty, well prepared and the price is reasonable.  We noticed others around us were mostly over 90 years old.  We started laughing and quietly said to each other that we have reached the point where we go to dinner at “old people” place!   

ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?

My wish for the Cup to go back to Canada has to wait for next year!  Game 6 is over - the Rangers scored the only goal of the game and eliminated the Canadiens.  There will be no Game 7, but I am happy that my American Hometown New York Rangers will get their trips to the Stanley Cup Finals.  I don't care much for the Chicago Blackhawks but I want this year's Finals to be Original Six Match-up.  But it would be interesting if it is NY Rangers v. LA Kings for the Finals.  It would be East Coast v. West Coast rivalries! 

I am assisting the Firm with recruitment for a replacement for the secretary who will retire this week.  Since this person will also be providing assistance to me (plus two attorneys and a business manager), I will participate in reviewing resumes and during in-person interviews.  I mentioned the job opening to my professor at the College and she put the announcement on the bulletin board.  I already got a few resumes.  One of the candidates submitted a cover letter mentioning that she recognized my name from a meeting a few months ago.  Of course, I remember her name because I wrote her a nice email welcoming her to the Legal Studies program.  I offered to connect with her since she was a new student.  I never heard from this person.  I wonder if she expects me to put in a few good words, especially in her cover letter, she misspelled my name!

I believe and have always been respectful and courteous to everyone I meet.  I learned never treat anyone better just because the person has a fancy title or what I could gain from being associated with the individual.  Treat everyone with respect because you never know that person could be someone who makes an important decision to your future, whether employment opportunity or simply being able to make positive comments about you.

HERE I AM TOO NERVOUS TO SIT AGAIN!

Here we go again - Game 6 Rangers v. Canadiens, 1-0 at the end of the 2nd period.  Same game plan - Rangers will try to eliminate Canadiens and the Habs will "pull the rabbit out of the hat" to win tonight and force Game 7.
It is now half way thru the 3rd period, still 1-0 Rangers.
Question - will it hurt more if Habs lost in Game 7? 
It is a beautiful day today and no rain as predicted.  There is a Farmers' Market every Thursday and it is around the corner of my office building - how convenient!  I went last week so I decided just go straight home today.
We will have a Retirement Party for a secretary tomorrow.  She has been with the Firm for 14 years and have been in the workforce for 51 years.  When someone asked her today what would her advice be about working, she said, "Don't work too long, make sure you enjoy your life and not wait until you retire."  That is what I have been doing - our annual road trips, see the world and live life to the fullest.  How do plan to enjoy your life?

I AM TOO NERVOUS TO SIT DOWN

You probably wonder why I am blogging instead of watching Game 5 of the New York Rangers v. the Montreal Canadiens.  The Rangers is looking to eliminate the Habs while the Habs is fighting to force a Game 6.  Perhaps you won’t see this post until much later because it is not like you are anxiously waiting for my witty comments and cheesy photos!

I am just nervous to be just watching the game.  It has been a crazy game indeed.  The score was 2-1 Habs in the 1^st period, then within 10 minutes into the 2^nd period, it was 4-2 Habs.  Rangers came back tied at 4-4 but Habs fought back – 5-4 at the end of the 2^nd period.

Bourque got his hat-trick in the 3^rd period and now Habs is leading 6-4.  But I am just too nervous to watch, especially when Rangers got on the power play.

Less than 4 minutes left in the 3^rd period – Habs is up 7-4 over the Rangers.  There will be Game 6 – I am so torn between the Rangers my American hometown team and wanting the Cup to go back to Canada, at least this year since my Beloved Red Wings are already eliminated!      

CAKE AT MUSEUMS

We have had “almost perfect” sunny and comfortable weather the whole weekend.  We took the T-bird for a ride each day.  We went to a few estate sales.  One of the places in Ladue, where wealthy people live, I saw their outdoor pool and it was bigger than my entire house!

On Saturday, May 24^th, my husband spent the afternoon repairing the fence in our backyard.  The northwest section of the fence sustained damage during one of the storms earlier this year.  The strong wind knocked down a panel and broke a couple of the boards.   Today, Monday, May 26^th, Ralphie spent almost the whole morning finishing up the repair.  The fence looks like new, well, at least it looks better without the big 4x4 holding it up.

Because of the typical hot and extreme humid summer in St. Louis, we don’t spend much time outdoor so this weekend we try to take advantage of the comfortable weather before the hot temperature arrives.  Today we ate lunch and again dinner out in the patio.  I got a couple of mosquito bites and my husband had none!  He said because I was so sweet.  I disagreed – I believe the mosquitoes were looking for Chinese food! 

When the hot weather finally arrives, we plan to spent time visiting the museum, going to the movie or simply staying in the basement!