Musicals

The first post I ever made on this blog was about the musical Missy had taken me to last May. For many years, Mel and I had both enjoyed attending many shows (below are a few favorites) when we would go to New York and for a few years we had season tickets to the Summer Musicals in Dallas.








Well, after attending Wicked last May, I realized how much I still enjoyed and missed going to them. Then last fall when I saw the fabulous line-up of shows for this season, I knew we had to get season tickets again.

(As you can tell, I had to cut/paste this line-up as it would not fit across)

Missy, Mel, and I placed our order last October and received our tickets for the season last week. We were very fortunate to get the seats we requested (first balcony, center, second row) and look forward to attending the first show in a few weeks.


We're also looking at the line-up in Branson for our summer trip. Those who have not seen the Shoji Tabuchi Show there, I highly recommend it. It's every bit as good as those on Broadway!

No Deal

The hit TV show pictured above is hosting a casting call for contestants at our local shopping mall. The official start time is 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. This afternoon the local TV news showed the long, long lines of hopefuls already lined up, some standing, some sitting in lawn chairs, all prepared to spend the night to keep their place in line.

I have never watched the show. All I know is that contestants stand a chance to win bundles of money. I do hope several of our city residents are chosen. They certainly will have earned the right.

Side note: I vividly remember Howie Mandel as Dr. Wayne Fiscus in the TV show St. Elsewhere which first aired in 1982. Denzel Washington played Dr. Phillip Chandler. The show ran for 6 years and I watched almost every episode.

Caught On Camera

On the back roads from Cypress to I 45, just outside of Madisonville, TX. Click on the picture...love the license...only in Texas.

Easter Weekend

Over Easter weekend, we went down to Cypress, TX for our first visit to Michael & Jill's new home. The house is beautiful and we had a great time visiting and doing lots of fun activities with our grandsons.

Here the boys are doing jello cut outs of bunnies, eggs and flowers. For some reason the jello tastes better when made as jiggles.

Dying eggs is always fun---no matter the age!

And egg relays are fun too!

We all got up very early Easter morning to attend 7 a.m. services. Jacob and Josh are checking out their loot before we head out to church.
And what's Easter without an egg hunt. After finishing up in the front, we went to the backyard and did it all over again there.

If It's 7:00 A.M.

I know where my grandkids are.

Watching that quirky little sponge guy.

Josh is even going to celebrate his birthday with Bob next month.

p.s. I ate some of Bob's (gummy) crabby patties over the weekend.

Think I'll stick with good 'ole M&Ms!

Plan B

You may recall a previous post where I bragged about a terrific find at Target. The original of a very cute cow creamer had a $28 price tag at Williams Sonoma. I found Target's version on sale for $2.78. I was so thrilled, I bought two.

I used one for the first time yesterday for the Easter lunch I prepared. I happily poured the cream into the cow's back and set her on the table. Martha Stewart was smiling down on me.

I can't remember who picked her up first to pour the cream in their coffee, but what happened next crushed me. The cream poured out of the cow's mouth and promptly dribbled down her chin and neck and then left a big puddle on the tablecloth. This cow was not a functional creamer. Arghhhhh!

So now my cute white cow has a new job description:

As we say in Human Resources, verify the skills before hiring.

Car Fashion

When shopping for your new Easter outfit, don't forget about your car!

Today while I was out I noticed an SUV similar to the above picture. After a quick search on the web I determined that this was an "Easter Bunny Costume" for the car. It can be purchased on-line for $19.95.

Is this a new trend - dressing your car for the holidays?

Pictures From Our Past

This picture was taken outside our house in Detroit. (John was not added to our family until our move to Louisiana.) Peggy and I are all smiles as we show off our new clothes for Easter...our yearly new black patent leather shoes, purses, gloves, and hats. I remember loving that purse Peggy is carrying. It was called a bird cage! Wonder if Mother borrowed my hat from one of her friends that was a nurse? Although the brothers don't look as excited to be dressed up, I think they look rather nice.

Mother and Dad probably posed for this picture just before hopping in the car to go to church. I'm sure after mass, we all went over to the Nanas' houses to show off our new Easter finery.

Now fast forward 20 plus years. Here's John in Shreveport getting ready to host one of his famous Casino Parties. Did Jerry save his previously pictured Easter shoes all those years to hand down to our younger brother?

The Monkees

Aren't they cute? Among my collection of stuffed animals is this trio of sock monkeys. The originals were made from Rockford Red Heel socks in the 1930's. They have become a favorite piece of "Americana" over the years. Intended as work socks, mothers in the early 1900's fashioned the socks into toys for their children. The bright red heel became the trademark lips.

In the photo, the large monkey on the left was hand crafted at a senior citizens craft store in Winston-Salem. I had to search high and low to find an authentic one. The other two I found at a department store. They were made in China - far from the real thing.

Rockford Red Heel socks are still made and even come with instructions on how to craft a sock monkey.

Coming soon ... a post on my collection of Taco Bell talking chihuahuas!

Amateur Photo Edit

Photoshop is a photo editing program that lets you do all kinds of neat things with your digital pictures. It's very expensive. A recent article in Newsweek mentions an on-line photo editing program called Picnik. It is free. This weekend I played around with it a little bit.





Here's an original photo.






This effect they call posterize.









This is pixelate. When I appear on "Cops" I will look like this.





I love this one - pencil sketch.









This is the neon effect.





All of these effects are done with just a click. This is really fun and a very easy program. There are many more features I can't wait to try out. If you want to see for yourself .... it's called Picnik.

Celebrate!

Today is National Frozen Food Day.

Years ago President Reagan signed Proclamation #5157 which states "Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 6, 1984, as Frozen Food Day, and I call upon the American people to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies and activities." And, so this became a true National day of recognition and celebration.

Clarence Birdseye is credited for the development of the frozen food back in the 1930's. I am a huge fan of this process and use it frequently.

My favorites and always in my freezer:

Delicious and a very quick, easy supper. Can be microwaved or heated in the oven. I do both - microwave to thaw and then oven bake for crispness.




Throw these in the oven for 7 minutes. They're so delicious with the above entree or any pasta dish.




Hundreds of variations of this product. This is why freezers were invented.



I have yet to find a good frozen pizza. Help!

And a must for every freezer is a large bag of frozen peas. In case of an emergency, it can be used for an ice pack.

MISS SOPHIE (finally)

Here I am just wanted you to see how much I have grown.
Here I am with my mommy helping her play a game on the computer. By the way she won.