My First Ever Speeding Ticket and It Couldn't Have Come At A Worse Time

So, I am 53 years old and have had one ticket in my lifetime in Phoenix for a waste of finite resources which didn't go against my record and the fine was affordable. If I had received a ticket in Arizona, I could go to traffic school and it would go away. However, I live in Washington state and the ticket cost $113 and in order to have it not go on my record, I would have to pay $150 which is out of the question.

The bad thing is, I drive the road I got the ticket on several times a month, I know the speed limit and I was so busy talking to my son and DIL about the area, I wasn't paying attention. Of course being a retired dispatcher, I pulled over the minute I saw the lights, had all my information and admitted I had no reason at all for speeding.

Instead of citing me for the 15 miles over the speed limit, the officer gave me a ticket for 2 over but with me not working due to surgery and taking care of my mom most of October, it may as well have been a million dollar fine.

I am embarrassed and my husband is justifiably upset.

I don't think there is ever any good time to get a ticket, but I feel really red faced and pretty stupid!

International Winner Is...Arlette

While they aren't exactly a prize to write home about, they are the prize I have chosen to give away in my first hidden giveaway for the month of November.

I placed those of you who are from other countries in a hat and my grandson picked out the winner and the winner of these 24 Sea Glass Tag Pad (Etiquetas surtadas) is Arlette of Costa Rica.

While the larger giveaway is only open to residents of the US, UK, Canada and Australia, this little giveaway was open to anyone not in the United States.

Congratulations Arlette and please send me your address in Costa Rica so I can mail these out to you.

For the rest of you, please don't give up, I have a few more surprises up my sleeve so all of you have many chances of winning!

The New Me

I cut my hair today and I think it is probably the shortest it has ever been and I love it very much. The truth of the matter is, it is actually shorter than my hubbies!

You can see my Diva girl in the back, she came running up to me and loves it. The baby on the other hand keeps staring at me as if to say, 'where did you put my Ranny? I hear her, but you are not her!'

I was going to color it however, they cut all the gray out, so now I have a box of hair color and don't need it for the time being. Besides, I don't think I could get an entire bottle on my hair as short as it is!

I also feel it takes a few years off my face!

Just wanted to share!

Holiday Traditions

Wow! There are so many things going on in my life right now, sometimes it is hard for me to register that the holidays are fast approaching! My mom is sick and I want to get back to see her after some physical therapy. My son and his family are here with us until December 2nd. The kids all have dental appointments coming up and I can resume working full-time as my back allows!

This year as last, we will travel to our friend John's home for Thanksgiving and while I relax, the men will do all the cooking :), talk about being spoiled. I prepare the sweets the day or two before and this year I discovered a most delicious recipe I want to try out of the November 2009 Cooking Light Magazine on page 164 called, 'Pumpkin Ice Cream Torte.' It looks like 3 layers of heaven!

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Cooking spray
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
9 cups vanilla low-fat ice cream (aprx. 1 1/2 cartons), divided
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted and divided
1/4 cup caramel topping

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients (mixture will be crumbly). Firmly press crumb mixture into bottom of a 9" springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack.
3. Combine pumpkin and the next 4 ingredients (through cloves) in a bowl. Soften 6 cups ice cream; add to pumpkin mixture, stirring to blend. Spoon half of mixture into prepared pan. cover with plastic wrap; freeze 1 hour or until firm. Cover and freeze remaining pumpkin ice cream.
4. Soften remaining 3 cups vanilla ice cream; stir in 3 tablespoons pecans. Spread over pumpkin ice cream layer; freeze 1 hour or until firm. Soften remaining 3 cups pumpkin ice cream; spreak over vanilla ice cream mixture. Cover; freeze 8 hours or until firm. Cut torte into 12 wedges. Place 1 wedge on each of 12 plates. Place topping in micro-wave safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 45 seconds (depends on your micro-wave). Top each serving with 1 tablespoon topping, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon pecans.

Last year, I discovered a delicious recipe for brussel sprouts with bacon and then during all the activity in the kitchen, totally forgot to make it, but it was a dish I feel would be great repeating.

Some traditions we stick with, but when it comes to the menu, I like to change it around a bit and have some variety. How about you?

My Mom's Journey

My mom is an only child so it goes without saying as a child we had no aunts, uncles or cousins on my moms side....none that I knew.

My grandfather had one brother and they had a falling out at one time or another, so we never met him that I recall and most of my grandmothers family had passed on years before my birth.

It was our grandparents that we did everything with...Disneyland, Sea World, holidays and vacations.

My mom has cancer that has metastasized and as many of you know, I went on an emergency trip to California several weeks ago and fully at the time thought my mom would be gone before we made it to see her. When we did see her, I ran out of the Hospice House she was in and I thought I was prepared for this. I AM NOT!!

I mean honestly, what do you do when your mom passes on? Who do you call when you are sick or in pain? Who do you call when you want to cry or laugh or share something special with? What in the hell do you do on Mothers Day? The picture above is my mom and grandmother on my parents property back in the 70's & 80's.

My mom was closer I believe to my grandfather than my grandmother. Although mom loved both of her parents very very much, I always had the feeling growing up that she really was much closer to grampa than gramma.

This picture is of my mommy with her daddy when grampa was in the skilled nursing facility. You can tell by the picture how much they love each other.

My mom has such a great smile her and her fingers hadn't been ravished by arthritis at this time. Grampa's face just seems to beam. My moms hair never grayed, so the black hair she has here is natural!



My mom had a wonderful childhood full of adventures in ranching, raising and training horses and moving around the United States as my grandparents were horse owners and Harness Horse racers. I do not think I ever heard my mom once complain about having a hard or terrible childhood.



Today, my mom called and she was surprised at how no one had told her how close to death she had come several weeks ago (I guess I thought she knew) until one of her nurses told her today that she was their miracle and that my grandchildren were my moms miracle. After talking to her this evening, I wondered if she even remembers any part of that week??



We cannot fool ourselves, my mom is dying...I do not think they have done any testing to see if she has been miraculously healed, but I know those babies did something for my mom that day and there isn't a doubt in my mind she came back for them! She didn't come back for her husband, me, my siblings or anyone else, she came back for her grandbabies!




This last picture is of my mom as a young girl probably 18 or so with 2 friends of hers. My mom is the tall girl on the left. I had to show this so everyone could see how beautiful she was as a young girl and that her choice of hairstyles over the years didn't seem to change.

Love ya mom!

Yesterdays Visit To Seattle

Nothing quite says Seattle like a Washington state Ferry and we were lucky to get this beautiful picture as we were visiting Pike Place Market yesterday.

This was quite a treat for my daughter in law who had never seen or heard of a ferry and since we didn't get a chance to ride one yesterday (we will before they go back home), is still a bit confused at how you can actually drive and park a vehicle on one.

They day was just amazing as you can see, the skies were a beautiful blue and the sun was shining.

The second picture was as the ferry was coming into the Seattle docks and we were walking around the waterfront when I got this picture. I love ferries and if I could live in an area where I could take the ferry daily, I would be in heaven, it just seems to melt my stress and daily cares away!

The sign on the bottom sits atop of Pike Place Market a wonderful market of beautiful smells, tastes, colors and people.

The first place I always go to is the Pike Place Fish Market, I love to watch the people that work there visit with the crowds and toss fish and my grandchildren were amazed as was my son and daughter in law. How I wish we could have taken some home, but we had to be elsewhere last evening. If you want wonderful fish, you can order some online and they will have it delivered to your front door!

Around the corner from the fish market is the wonderful Daily Dozen Doughnuts which sells these amazing small delicious doughnuts in paper bags while they are still warm and the cinnamon doughnuts are the most amazing things I have ever tasted.

You can also get them in powdered sugar and frosted and I think I remember the cost for a dozen was less than $4.00 and we purchased 2 dozen and with 4 adults and 3 children, they were gone almost instantly!

Then there were the produce stands filled with wonderfully colorful and aromatic fruits and veggies, fresh pasta shop, local honey, nuts, cherries and salsa's as well as vendors selling handmade wares and that was all on just the first floor.

This last picture is of the DIL and son (who turned his back as I was snapping this shot) standing near Rachel, the markets bronze piggy bank that collects money for the foundation. You see, many people only see the vendors and the shops, few know about the foundation which has a child care facility, senior center, foodbank, housing, medical clinic, etc. .

Pikes Market not only takes in money from visitors all over the world, they give back to the local community in so many wonderful ways. Thank you for sharing our day!

My Apologies To All Of You!

My apologies to those of you who were confused about my asking for international bloggers but being totally ignorant to the fact I didn't list what country I am in and assuming you would all know I am in the United States.

Ooops! I didn't realize my mistake until someone brought it to my attention, so please, forgive me for omitting that HUGE detail. That being said, I am extending the international surprise to tomorrow at 9:00 pm Pacific Standard Time (I do not know anything about GMT) to residents outside the United States only.

I do apologize for the confusion to all of my followers and newcomers, usually I don't forget these details!