I love Christmas.  Always have.  Once when I was a kid, I actually cried when it was over, thinking it would never happen again.  As a teenager, I fell in love with my first boyfriend in December, and that particular Christmas was, to this day, one of the best I ever had.  So much gets wrapped up into the sentimentality of the occasion.  The smell ( Read more... )

Complaining about the weather is like barking at the moon.  Lots of noise.  Predictable results.  So while my friends and family are  slogging through sleet and slush up north, I feel fortunate that here along the Gulf Coast we've had only a few, brief, cold snaps.  That said, we are mindful that 14 months ago we had a sudden hard  freeze here ( ( Read more... )

OK, so it has been a while since I posted here.  I log in this morning with some interesting pictures to show, and the first thing I see is a COMMERCIAL (which I am forced to watch and cannot turn off) for Olive Garden, one of my least favorite (and its a long list) of fast-casual chain restaurants ( Read more... )

Its tough to be a little dog in New York City.  Stuck in an apartment all day.  Frequently  walked by (paid) strangers.  Very little grass to pee or poop on, and often forced to do so on command.  And if your owner chooses to, she can dress you up like the child you represent in her life.

Winter is especially tough.  Stringent laws prohibit "mummy ( Read more... )

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Houston officially inaugurated its 61st mayor this morning.  Annise Parker takes her place next to Kathy Whitmire as one of the only 2 female mayors the Bayou City has had in its history.  After 20 years in the oil and gas industry, she was elected to Houston City Council, and for the past 5 years she has served as City Controller.  She's a fiscal ( Read more... )

It was the trip discussed and planned for years.  Gotta see the Grand Canyon.  Not from the air, but go to the rim.  See the colors.  Ooh and ahh.  So we did.  Early in December we flew to Phoenix and made the drive north through Arizona.  Past the cactus and the sagebrush, up to the mountainous areas where the air is remarkably thin.

Our first ( Read more... )

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The weather gods have finally  turned off the oppressive summer heat, and fall, as this little Yankee knows it, seems to have arrived.  No turning of leaves or wearing of sweaters, harbingers of autums past; just that cool snap in the air that makes me want to sit in the warming sun of my patio and savor the fresh air.  This could only be more ( Read more... )

Setting up this blog was the first step ... now I confess I've gone down the Twitter path.  It was purely peer pressure that made me do it (and the fact that I was missing out on a lot of information passed among my foodie friends).  Yes, I drank the koolaid.  Now I'm hooked on ANOTHER website that hovers as an icon on the bottom of my screen.  ( Read more... )