Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff...And A Winner!

Kelly of Koala-T Longarm Quilting, you won the Victory Quilts book giveaway! Just e-mail me at cindyjbrick@gmail.com with your snail mail address, and we'll get it on its way to you. Congratulations!
   Look for the next book giveaway to be on shortly. Meanwhile, I've been out planting beans and pulling weeds -- we had a steady day's worth of rain, which is almost unheard of out here in 'high desert' Colorado. Plants are practically leaping out of the ground, and I wanted to take advantage of it.
   The girls -- all 9 Black Australorp hens -- are heading toward adolescence. They strut around, pecking and fussing...and try to pull their new feathers down over their gawky, bony legs, like teenagers with too-short skirts. (Why do the legs get longer before the rest of the body catches up?) They spend their days in the outdoor coop (where Abby the dog stares at them, fascinated), and nights in the garage under the heat lamp. In a few weeks, they'll be outside all the time.
    Combine the outdoor work with the continuing painting, scraping and putting away stuff in the basement, and I ache all over. So does the Brick. Hot baths and Tylenol help, but I am starting to feel like Bill Cosby's mom -- 
Sick and tired.

While I continue to Deal With Stuff, here were some interesting things that popped up on the 'Net:

I'll Have Another won the Preakness! One more race, and the Triple Crown looms...this, for a horse no one thought would do anything in the Kentucky Derby. No one, that is, except his owners...and the jockey who rode him. Go guys, go!


Did you know you can re-grow celery in your garden? I sure didn't...but made a beeline to my vegetable crisper once I read this...

A nine-year-old has the courage to protest against Westboro Baptist church. This is the creepy 'church' (term used loosely) who pickets soldiers' funerals, among other cruel things. Good for the kid. 

100 words on why it pays to never give up. (Thanks, Len Penzo.)

Chef Mario Batali lives on a food stamp budget -- $31 per person -- for a week. 

Saver Queen's take on 9 things she did right this past Christmas. What especially caught my eye on this one was how apt these tips were for presents all year around. Like graduations, for instance. We've had three high school and four college graduations to deal with -- and that really starts to add up. Two of my favorite presents to give: The Millionaire Next Door (great long-term financial advice) and The Case For Faith (an excellent, practical analysis of Christianity). Put a check somewhere in the book, and you'll know for sure if it got read (or at least looked at) when it's cashed!

If you think you really need an item RIGHT NOW...you probably don't. (Thanks, Mrs. Accountability of Out of Debt Again.)

How to make it through a money drought -- by planning ahead. (This is from Penny Thots, my occasional stomping ground.)

Disco is bereft. Not only did it lose Donna Summer last week, but now Robin Gibb is gone.

I spent a few years in college working for a backpacking/rock climbing group. We regularly took Michigan youth groups, college groups -- and even a few Wards of the Court -- on adventure trips to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  The drive was an overnight one, with one of the instructors driving the bus while the others dozed in the back with the kids. I often pulled the 11 p.m. - 3 a.m. shift, because I didn't have as much trouble staying awake. (Still don't.) About the only radio station still transmitting that time of night was an all-disco one out of Canada. I can still hear the strains of "Bad Girls" and "Ring My Bell" echoing in the dark...