Drive By Blogging

Drive by blogging is for those times when I don't feel qualified, inspired, have enough time, etc. to complete a full sentence, paragraph, post on a cohesive subject. (It is important that I post something so I can make the photo of the world's ugliest cake from my previous post go away, well at least to the bottom of the screen.)

So here are a few random thoughts in lieu of a real post-

- I don't like thinning seedlings in my garden. I know it's necessary and all that, but it feels a little like being the executioner, deciding which plant lives and which is sacrificed for the common good of the garden plot.

- Why do people who work at restaurants give you so many packets of condiments? I have never eaten Hot Mustard for a second time, but I have enough to open my own Chinese Restaurant. Same thing with the hot sauce. It's like they can't help themselves.

- From now on, I am just giving toilet plungers as housewarming gifts. Plungers are the best present on the planet for any homeowner. Forget the bottle of wine or flowers, a powerful plunger will be appreciated for years to come.

Please share any randomness that you would like and Thank you!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake and BAD Dog!!!

I made a double layer chocolate chip cookie cake for our son's 14th birthday party, but Unfortunately That is Not What is Pictured below. This picture is of a Brownie/Chocolate chip cookie cake made after the Top Layer of chocolate chip cookie was eaten by the Dog after it was decorated and sitting on the dining room table. Apparently Not Far Enough Away from the edge where the dog couldn't stand up and REACH IT and EAT IT!!!





(Rotten Dog!!! Bad Dog!! Dog for Sale!!! Good thing Dog is cute or Dog would be on the way to the glue factory. Grrr!)

Thank you to all who expressed an interest in how you make a chocolate chip cookie cake. To make a giant chocolate chip cookie, you make cookie dough for approximately 3 dozen cookies for each layer and bake it in a 13 inch aluminum pizza pan sprayed with cooking spray at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack completely and then decorate as desired. For my brownie layer, I made a double batch of brownies and put them in a sprayed pizza pan and baked for 40 minutes. Let brownie cool in pan completely also. Keep cake far out of reach of four legged animals with poor self control.

As you can also see from the picture, I'm a baker, not a cake decorator. (Especially when I'm P.O.'ed and rushed.) Thank goodness the teenaged boys didn't seem to mind.

Friday Flowers

Here are some wildflowers from a recent hike to Welden Canyon in the mountains between the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys.


The purple lupine is starting to flower.


This is yellow statice, very popular with butterflies.



I wish you all a wonderful weekend. We are hosting about a dozen teens tomorrow to celebrate our 14 y/o's birthday. I'm off to shop for the party and make a chocolate chip cookie cake as requested by the Birthday boy. Oh, yeah, then There is That Job Thing, sometimes it gets in the way of all the other stuff I have to do.

What are you up to this weekend? Thank you again, Best Always.

Dear Loser Letters

Dear Fellow Dog Owner:

Thank you so much for the privilege of having to navigate around your dog’s poop. I know you consider it a work of art and despite the plentiful “mutt mitt” stations and garbage cans Right Next to the Sidewalk, you are too busy reading the paper to bother with such trifle. I mean, after all, it’s biodegradable. But not until someone in my family steps in it.

Signed, Watchful Walker


Dear Lady in Women’s Restroom at Mall:

Thank you so much for educating me on proper cell phone etiquette. All this time I have made sure to finish up my telephone call or my “business”, not combine the two like you have done!! What a multitasker you are!! I am so impressed that you just go ahead and keep on chatting away all through the tinkle, the flush, the handwashing, The Whole Thing!! That’s a God Given talent it is. I know Mr.President or the Neurosurgery department or someone really important was waiting for all that vital information that you shared.

Signed, Still in Shock


Dear Sometime Scout Leader:

Thank you so much for helping us with our parenting techniques. You have opened my eyes to the efficacy of belittling and criticizing a child about Non Important things. I see it works so well with your children who have perfected Pouting to an Art Form. I appreciate that you think sarcasm is solely wasted on us grownups. We will be limiting our exposure to your toxic ways. And I’m not “Just Kidding” like you always say at the end of a biting remark.

Signed, Stay Away From Us


Dear Tightwad Mom:

Thank you so much for letting me know how wholly inappropriate and outlandish it is that my husband and I spend money as we see fit and can afford. I know I have so much extra dough lying around, but why in the world would I want to spend it on throwing a party for a kid’s birthday? I mean, a Bounce House and Burgers!! Who in the world do we think we are?

Signed, Spendthrifty


Dear Quiet But Not Too Bright Neighbors:

Thank you for showing me that regular care and feeding of my cat is completely unnecessary. Cats don’t need to be safe and warm in their homes. Running away from the coyotes and owls is good exercise and vermin is the latest “raw” diet craze for felines. Our garden makes a perfect litter box for your two now feral cats to relieve themselves. That is until I put down sprinkled hot sauce in the garden.

Signed, Sorry for the Cats

Grief Never Grows Old

Thank you all so much for abiding and acknowledging the loss of my much loved and missed brother, Jim on the occasion of what would have been his 49th birthday.

Grief keeps its' own calendar, its' own clock. I am brought back to the acuteness of my loss through a date on the calendar, another missed milestone, a song, a scent.

Grief is like a wellspring and sometimes I will stumble upon it and sometimes I know just where it will be.

I choose to honor and remember, embrace fully of this life as if to take in the share of those I've loved and lost.

Late Fragment by Raymond Carver

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

Happy Birthday Bro

Today would have been my brother Jim's 49th birthday. He has been dead for 25 years and I miss him still. He and we have all been denied so much.

I was talking with a friend of mine about growing up and she made the comment that as a big sister she looked after and "raised" her younger brother.

My brother, Jim looked after me too. He was a constant source of unconditional love in my life. He still is.

I miss him so much, I hope he knows how much he is loved and missed.

Until we meet again, Jimbo. Forever in my heart.

I need to call my parents today and let them know I love them. Maybe share some happy Jimmy stories too.

1909 or 2009??

I wrote a letter to the Editor/Publisher of a community magazine in response to an article written about a local shopkeeper's near brush with death due to an aneurysm.

The writer of the article used the term, "male nurse" in describing how the local man learned of the seriousness of his condition.

Here is part of my letter-


Re: Well Suited Article, Elite Magazine, March 2009

Dear Publisher:

I would like to inform you, your editor, and the writer of the article, "Well Suited", that it is 2009 and both genders have been part of the Nursing profession for many years. I find the term, "male nurse" used in this article to be distracting, demeaning, and outdated. Do you use the term, "female physician" or "male physician" in your publications? Please extend to me and my professional Nursing colleagues the same courtesy.

Signed, Martha K., RN

I will let you know if I get a response. Some people need to be escorted and encouraged to come into the 21st century.