I'm Not a Virgo Anymore

Many moons ago my fellow managers and I were having dinner together when the person sitting next to me asked me what my sign is. I said "I was a Virgo until I got married." (which may or may not be true, by the way) She looked at me with her forehead all skrinched up, blinked twice and then started talking to the person to her left. Ignoring me completely. About an hour later she starts laughing hysterically and slapping me on the back. She said "I get it. Here I was thinking you're nuts, but it's a joke, isn't it. That's the funniest thing I ever heard.

(She's the same person who felt it necessary to correct me during a staff meeting once- I used the word eclectic in a sentence and she said there's no such word. I didn't have a dictionary handy - which was good - because I would have thrown it at her.)

My Yahoo Virgo Horoscope for today (Sunday, 9/14 if you're not keeping track) :

"Starting new projects is not advised right now -- they will have more of a confusing effect on your life than you think. Plus, as soon as you get into your day, you will probably start to feel foggy or unclear about things. Instead of getting all wrapped up in your own things, put more energy into focusing on the things that other people are doing. Maybe they could use a little help? You'll be far more productive helping others than helping yourself."

You may have noticed, I've been ignoring my horoscopes for quite a few weeks. They're too perky. Too climb that mountain. Too organized, in-charge and in my face. Today's horoscope is more like it - at least the first part: I'm absolutely off the hook for starting new projects today. How cool is that? A no guilt day for a change. I keep making lists of projects (to avoid) and leave them laying around until my next item on the list is "consolodate all 200 sticky notes on the counter tops. "

The only project I've started since yesterday is to go get a pedicure. Which would have been more relaxing if the pediperson hadn't been asking me 104 questions about the People Magazine I was trying to read. I had to buy my own magazine at Walgreens. Happy Nails only has 2 magazines in the whole salon. One for mothers with babies (don't even know the name of it - my kids are in their 30's. I stopped burping them years ago and don't have to organize play dates for them.) The other magazine is an old copy of In Style. It's so old it's Out Of Style. So I brought my own.

How do you say "leave me alone and let me read this story about Britney Spears" in Thai? I need to learn Thai anyway. I'm just positive the pedi-persons are all talking about me. They get all chatty among themselves as soon as I sit down. I need to learn how to say: I did too shave my legs, I am not too old to wear this color and So What!

(see my tattoo?)

As for the foggy part of the horoscope ; that is a stellar description of my current state. This was made worse by our favorite waitperson at My Cafe this morning. She was singing "Camptown Races. Guess what's going though my head now. The ONLY thing going through my head. (......Doo Dah, Doo Dah......gwine to run all night, gwine to run all day.....) I told her I'd be calling her at 3:00 am to sing a few lines. Click on "Camptown Races" so you can sing along with me for the next 36 hours. (...I'll bet mah money on the bobtail nag, somebody bet on de bay...).

The last lines of my horoscope are going to be a problem. What should I do? Help the Mister not watch football because he's sitting in front of the Hey Bob Interviews snoring? I think not. I'll stay right here and Doo Dah whatever I feel like.

Enjoy your doo dah day!

Two Surprises! Thank You Jen n' Jan!

I received two very nice surprises, one yesterday and one today! I love surprises. The first is an award from my bloggy buddie Janeen of Chachaneen. It is the highly coveted BFF Gold Card that never expires!

Thank you Janeen, it is a wonderful award!

Janeen's blog, Chachaneen is full of fun, family, food and fabulous field trips. It is always a pleasure to stop by and see what Janeen is up to, what she's cooking, eating, where she's going and what's happening with her and her family.

Janeen will be joining in on our Indian Summer picnic too! Can't wait to see what she conjures up for the party.

This award comes with a request to pass this along! I'll be doing that as soon as I stop going hmmmmm, let's seeeeeeee ahmmmm whooooooooooo doooo I give itttttt toooooo. I'll be working on this and get back with ya'll soon!

Surprise #2 arrived on my doorstep this morning! It is from my daughter Jennifer who lives in San Francisco. She sent 2 beautiful orchids from Hawaii. ALOHA new orchids.

The one of the left of the picture is a hybrid. Its a cross of Ascocentrum x Vanda. and has several more of the beautiful lavender flowers in the I'll be bloomin' in a minute mode. Lovely! The other is a Doritus. It looks very much like a phaleanopsis, but apparently has different chromosomes. The small white flowers are brightened at the edges with yellow dots, and according to Jennifer it may have a lemony scent. I think it's in a recovery mode from the long trip and I don't detect a scent just yet, but I'll report back on that.

Gotta rush off now - it's my annual mammio grammio day. I'm sure that's the correct medical term for it. If you haven't had one lately - get one!

Got Me Again With Those Obscure Geography Questions

We had a guest speaker at church this morning, Gangadin Hannoe, who is a missionary in SW London. The interesting thing about this is he is from Suriname, a country one might associate with having missions if 1) missionarys had the vaguest idea that there was such a country and 2) if they had a clue about where it is. I'll get to that later.

Gang (pronounced gahng) and his family have been missionaries for 40 years and have been in London (that's still in England as far as I know) for 20 years! They work among the growing Muslim population, preaching the Gospel through Meetings for Better Relationships and by building personal relationships within the community.

Before he told his story, he asked how many of us have heard of Suriname. Although I was sitting near the front, I could tell by the lack of sleeves flapping and the usual shuffling sounds that perhaps 3 of us had heard of it.

I have, so I raised my hand. He went on to ask if we know where it is. Pin drop silence. Luckily I didn't say anything. This is the second time this year I have been confronted with this very same question. The last time was a crossword puzzle, and I thought Africa was a good answer - except that it didn't fit in the little boxes.

This time, for whatever reason I decided it is in Indonesia. Maybe I was thinking of Sumatra. Probably not. Anyway, just so we are on the same page, or continent, as it were I thought I'd share some information about this newly discovered (by me) country.

(Whatever - just like my highly informative post about Australia, I would learn more about Suriname before traveling there - especially since it's important to go to the correct continent.)

Suriname used to be called Dutch Guyana. They gained independence from the Dutch and changed the name to Suriname in 1975 - AFTER I was out of High School, so I feel I have at least one decent excuse here. Also, if you look at the map I got from the Surname Embassy web site you'll see they did not even put the name of their country on the map.

The little girl is saying : No we don't see many
Americans here. They don't even know we exist.


Population:
Suriname's ethnically diverse population is just under 500,000:

Ethnicity:
Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians"; their ancestors emigrated from Northern India in the latter part of the 19th century) 37%, Creole (mixed European and African ancestry 31%, Javanese 15.3%, "Maroons" (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10.3%, Amerindian 2.6%, Chinese 1.7 %, Europeans 1%, others, mainly Jews and Syrians 1.1%.


Religions:
Hindu 27.4 percent; Protestant 25.2 percent; Roman Catholic 22.8 percent; Muslim19.6 percent; indigenous believes about 5 percent.


Climate:
Suriname has a humid, tropical climate with temperatures ranging from 23 degrees Centigrade at night to 37 degrees Centigrade in the afternoon during some months of the year. There are dry and “green” seasons. I can't translate that to Fahrenheit - you're on your own to figure out the temperature.

Geography:
It has a big lake in it and lots of rivers.

Products:
The US does a lot of import and export business with Suriname. And of course, if you do decide to visit they have McDonald's and Popeye's restaurants. Aluminum, Bauxite (how boring is that), oil, gold, platinum and tropical produce are some of the exports


Economy:
The currency is tied to the US Dollar, so I won't even discuss their economy. I'm sure you can guess.


I asked my son, Jason, to look Surname up in his Onion, Our Dumb World Atlas and supply us with some additional information about the country. This is his reply:

"Pretty much the entire section talks about how uninteresting it is and constantly refers the reader to the pages for other countries."

So, now you know!

Me emit ju tamara (Until Tomorrow - in the Sranen Tongo language)

Oh - almost forgot: Jimmy Smits' father is Suriname.

Friendship!

Thank you Stevie Wren from a little birdie told me so for this lovely friendship award! I've made so many friends, including Stevie, of course, by way of visiting your wonderful inventive and personality filled blogs! I noticed that among those I visit frequently, Stevie has awarded Nana Trish, Betsy and Willow! Congratulations ladies!It appears that we are to pass this award along, and I will do so! I would like to present the Perfect Blend of Friendship Award to:

Lavinia who is among the very, very first to visit Muse Swings and leave an encouraging comment.

Bibi and Shelly and Janeen who are among the very, very newest of friends

Aunt Jo who's friendships and family are always present in her blog

Camille who is a friend and a friend and a friend


And a Blog in Bloom for Willow!

I would also like to present a Blog in Bloom Award to Willow of Life at Willow Manor. Willow's blog just blooms with wonderful feasts of art, poetry, books, life and, of course food - some of the most delicious and divine (with recipes available). It is always a delight to walk along the tree lined path, dappled with sunlight, open the gate, and knock on the door at Willow Manor!

And a quick tropical storm update: Fay is up to something. She is strengthening over land and moving on her NNE path more slowly than expected. Although we expect very little weather from Fay here in Palm Harbor, she is taking her time with the southern counties. I don't think we have heard the last from her. My personal prediction is that she will move out over the Atlantic, gather her skirts in and make another grand entrance to Florida sometime in the next week.

Weather update : The weatherman must have read my blog! I checked the weather two minutes after noting my prediction and they have Fay doing exactly what I just said! Keep an eye on her - she's got her eye on Florida.

Rain, Rain, It's Okay. Go Ahead And Rain All Day!

I woke up to the sound of rain this morning. I love that! Florida is the land of the afternoon rains, and morning rains usually only happen when I'm working - which I'm not. Or if I have someplace to go - which I don't. That's because I sent the Mister out.
My horoscope said I would meet up with some preachy people today and that I should try not to argue with them even though Virgos are ALWAYS right. Are so. Anyway, I'm not going anywhere, having dispatched the Mister for several errands, so the chances of running into anyone at all today are pretty remote. And the Mister knows not to try and get all preachy teachy with me.
I took a few pictures of the rainy day: some live oak leaves on the sidewalk, giant elephant ears with rain drops along the vein of the leaf, and a dejected Mexican petunia. Also a dejected Layla the dog but I'll tell you about that a little later.

I missed writing a post yesterday! I had a busy day and was too pooped to participate after the dust settled. The best part of the day was having Drew and her Grandma DJ over for the afternoon. Drew and Lucy the dog played in the pool, we made bracelets, and had a delicious dinner of tortellini with butter and elephant garlic, dippy bread, grilled chicken with lemon and fresh rosemary, and warm brownies with vanilla ice cream for desert. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of the dinner - we were too busy eating. And, no, there aren't any left overs.

Does Layla look dejected? Well, she is!

Several years ago she had frequent episodes of major itching and scratched herself into a little bald mess. The Veterinarian never suggested a wheat allergy- they always just say vague things like "yeah , well, I see a lot of itchy dogs this time of year" or "it might be something in the grass". Kind of like the Doctor's "yeah, well, it might be a"urinary tract infection" which covers all obscure yet mild illnesses. Meanwhile, poor Layla was a mess - especially her poor little bald tail.

I finally found - with the help of daughter, Jennifer - that dogs can be allergic to wheat. Go figure. They eat things they find outside and lick stuff off the sidewalk that would kill the average human being without so much as a twitch, and they can't eat wheat? So, I searched around for wheat free dog food and settled on Merrick brand (Grammie's Pot Pie is her favorite). It works!

With few exceptions she's been itchy free and happy. Until now. Our newest dog, Lucy, has been eating Beneful dog food. Chock full of wheat. Her coat is beautiful and shiny and she has no skin problems, so we just stayed with it. Well, Layla's been snacking on it when she thinks no one is looking. The other dish always tastes better, ya know.

You can't really tell from the picture, but she's all bumpy and itchy again. Dog hives is what it looks like. I'm giving her an antihistamine, a soothing salve for her tail, and lots of attention to make sure she doesn't scratch herself into a frenzy. We'll be heading out to PetSmart tomorrow to buy the giant sized bag of Merrick - for both dogs. Layla can eat her heart out at either dog dish. She'll still think Lucy's is better, even if it's the same. Just like Lucy thinks Layla's food is better than hers.

Blog in Bloom Award

I have created the Bog in Bloom Award, which I will present from time to time to writers who have created a place that is blooming with the beauty of their spirit, personality and words and who encourage others to do the same. The orchids pictured are my own. They are a fragrant phalaenopsis hybrid. The blooms look like dawn when they first open and sunset as they close.

The first presentation of this award is very appropriately given to Lavinia Ladyslipper of The Birdbath Chronicles ! Lavinia has created a beautiful garden of words and pictures that is a pure joy to visit. She shares her garden with us, and encourages others with her wonderfully kind, inspiring and often humorous comments. Thank you, Lavinia for a beautiful Blog in Bloom!

An Award! Thank You Lavinia!

Lavinia Ladyslipper has very kindly bestowed an award upon me! The Just Plain Fun to Read award. If it were possible, I would be speechless. Thank you very much Lavinia! I will treasure your award, and I thank you for the wonderful critique of my blog!
Stop by Lavinia's Birdbath Chronicles. Lavinia will let you spend time in her beautiful garden and take a peek in her treasure cabinet! A beautiful sight it is, and a beautiful site as well!
I've posted the award in the margin for all to see.