Mother's Day Potluck Wrap-Up

So...

Here were the predictions:

3 different chiles
1 dish with wild meat
6 bags of chips
1 potato casserole
no vegetables
1 jello salad
2 tubs of ice cream

And this was the food:
1 chile
1 baked bean dish
elk burgers
bbq pork
only one bag of chips - with the chile
1 veggie
2 jello-ish salads
about 3 more salads
about 5 desserts - no ice cream

There were more salads and desserts than I expected. HOWEVER... I believe nearly everyone cheated! There was one good sport manning the grill for the elk burgers, and I suppose a few others I'm sure pitched in. However, I doubt the rest of the men had much to do with the food other than the eating of it! Not to mention any names...SLC.

Tour of Nevada: Carson City

 Austin, NV above and below

 Below: Sand Mountain - A series of sand dunes that are quite popular with atv drivers.

  Carson City is our state capital. We enjoyed walking around the downtown area. Carson City has TREES!

 P near the Capitol Building.

 The Capitol Building.

 Wayne and P near the Mining statue.

 The Law Enforcement Memorial

 Kit Carson Memorial

 Supreme Court

P eating tofu at a Thai restaurant

Fishing Nevada Style

These guys are fishing at the local soccer fields....for gophers. I'm not joking. They bring their lawn chair, poles and lures out and sit waiting for a gopher to grab their lure. The gophers apparently 'fight like crazy' and the men have some fun for a while. Then they just let out a little slack and the gophers let go and crawl back into their holes.

Dr. Gross

I told Wayne he needed to write a guest post about his trip to the dermatologist, but he refused. I then realized that it is better I write it. You see, Wayne is actually a published journalist, although only in science journals. You would need to read it with a dictionary and dermatology book next to you. Yes, I better write this one.

Wayne went to visit Dr. Gross, a dermatologist. I am not attempting to be comical, or use a pseudonym for anominity. The dermatologist's name is Dr. Keith Gross. 

Wayne wanted to have several skin moles looked at, as well as his infamous 'lumps' examined. Wayne has several 'lumps' on his body, apparently they are harmless and are common in his family. Poor Penelope.

Wayne arrived for his appointment at the dilapidated strip mall semi hidden behind a Subway. The receptionist barely looked at him, preferring to speak loudly to someone else about her hair appointments and split ends. Wayne was soon called into a room sparsely furnished with old oak furniture and a wall filled with exposed medical equipment.

When Dr. Gross came in he didn't introduce himself, but just said, "What can we do for you?"

Wayne explained about the lumps, and Dr. Gross bluntly said, "Well, if you want me to take them off, I can. We can do it right now. It's up to you."

Wayne told him he'd think about it and asked if he would look at the moles on his back. Dr. Gross looked at his back, grabbed his ball point pen, and quickly circled four. "These need to come off," he said, and grabbed a needle and scalpel. Wayne was a little wide eyed at Dr. Gross's directness, but didn't really have time to ask any questions before the doctor was shooting him with Novocain.

About six minutes later, Wayne had five spots removed. Dr. Gross told him to 'come back in a week' but as he left no one seemed very interested in either scheduling an appointment or paying for 12 minutes he was in at the office.

I guess the conclusion of the matter is this: If you aren't ready to go under the knife, don't go visit Dr. Gross.

More SD pics

P with Grandma

 

 P petting dad's new 'favorite cat'

 Mom says I shouldn't put a picture of her messy basement up with out after pictures, so here you go:

Before

 After:

Visit to Gma and Gpa Cassens

 

P with the donkeys. Below is Gma's extra cleaning supplies:)

 Helping Gma organize in the basement.

 P and Gpa taking a cow to the vet.

 Seth and the newest Luke.

 Below - P scaring Gma

 Gma's swing is a big hit

Visit to Bradley & Aleah

The Men Cook Mother's Day Potluck

Penelope and I are going to visit some family here shortly, and I have heard we will be attending a Mother's Day Potluck - where the men are bringing dishes to share.

Bwaaa-hahaha. Snort. Tehehe

I'm sorry guys, truly. I'm sure it's going to be great. Wonderful, really, if you are cooking. If you do the clean up too that would be fantastic. The women will all be impressed.

However, the thought of it is totally making my day. I envision tables piled high with dead animals and burst out laughing. I wonder how many foods can be deep fat fried and giggle. I wonder how many casseroles are available at the grocery store deli.

So, here's to you, men: Thanks for making my day.

I'm sure I will be impressed beyond belief next Sunday. But until then, here are my predictions:

3 different chiles
1 dish with wild meat
6 bags of chips
1 potato casserole
no vegetables
1 jello salad
2 tubs of ice cream

Magazine Reading

Recently I have had the time and luxury of reading a few magazines. I may have only read a few pages at a time, but it has been very relaxing.

It has also been mind boggling. Or maybe I'm the only one who notices the odd things 'experts' have to say about diets and beets.

First off, you know you are getting old when you are reading a magazine with an article on hair loss: "What Happened To My Hair?" along with tips on puchasing a wig. I quickly skipped that article. The inevitable can happen later.

Another article begins, "Next time you're roasting beets..." I don't think I have ever in my life roasted beets. I could count on one hand how many times I have eaten beets. The article, from a family magazine, must assume that a)fresh beets are readily available to everyone and b)beets are a common dish. Neither are true for my household. You might as well say, "Next time you're visiting Antarctica," or "Next time you're pregnant with triplets."

Now on to Lucy Liu. The actress is apparently a role model for those reading Fitness Magazine. As an actress, she works 16-hour days, works out, and sticks to a healthy diet. Her healthy diet consists of eating 'only juice before noon, usually made with bananas and berries." If she's really hungry, she 'might have a breakfast burrito with spinach, a fried egg and tomatoes." But that's just if she's REALLY hungry. Tsk, I sure hope that is egg white only. Then for dinner usually fish and steamed veggies OR a salad. Not both. She does eat veggie pizza or pasta also, especially if she is doing more physical activity. How human!

So maybe she sneaks in a candy bar that she's not telling us about, but regardless, that sounds like about 700-900 calories per day. I'm no expert, but if you are working a 'demanding' 16 hour days and on a strict work-out regiment, I'm not sure a sub 1000 calorie diet is healthy. Should she be promoted as a fitness role-model?

Stress seems to be a big issue today. One article talks about stress and how to deal with it and even turn it into 'good' stress.

Stressful Situation #4: "Waiting in Line for your lunch."

Let that sink in for a minute.

If you get stressed waiting in line for your lunch, then I would be glad you break it to you: You have a problem.

I also began to consider all of the things that a magazine suggests you purchase, so I went back and made a list of items that are mentioned - excluding advertisements: (If there was a list of similar items, like bags, I picked one)

- athletic pants: $78

-tank top: $42

-Spotify account: $10

-winter makeup: $52

-sunscreen: $10

chocolate cosmetics: $55

-Straight Iron: $28

Microgreen growing kit: $40

-green ski poles: $125

-nail products (including some of the 'hottest new hues'): $85

-more make-up and personal products (never knew there were so many...): about $200, picking about half

-more skin care: $50

-'winter' running shoes: $75

-gym bag: $72

-workout DVD: $20

-ski apparel: $400-900

Grand Total: $1342+ And that's just February, folks.

Out of the magazines I have read recently, I do have a favorite. It is something of a guilty-pleasure. I think for normal women it would be trashy gossip magazines. But we all know I'm not normal. And since you already know many of my secrets, I'll share. Esquire Magazine. Yep, the men's magazine. I stole it from Wayne and have yet to give it back. I love the drastic contrast it has with women's magazines. How it talks about real issues and doesn't focus on the '5 tips to better nails' or 'Brand New Cleaning Tips' that you have heard your whole life. And the best part is that their fashion adverts are generally clothing you might actually wear. If you are a guy, that is.

Penelope's Words

A little bit back I wrote down the words and signs that Penelope knows. Since then it seems like her vocabulary has exploded, so I'll try to write a list again. Let's see how many I can remember:

froggy
cat
dog
cheese
cereal
pop
toast
banana
cracker
please
shoes
clothes
hat
swing
nose
toes
bubbles
toothbrush
powder
no
mommy
daddy
baby
door
step
snap
bike
uh-oh
ball

About thirty. I will add more as I think of them.

5/4 additions:
apple
strawberry
blackberry
snacks