Can You Spot The Real Boy?

Can you spot the real boy?  

He moved! Can you spot him now?

   Talon has been  posing with mannequins since age three.  Wonder if he will outgrow this behavior? Probably not as long as his parents keeping laughing.  And not as long as his mom continues to indulge in the silliness of posing with mannequins too.  Actually, I hope he never outgrows the silliness...

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Lovely Yellow House

This is my brother's new house in Portland, Oregon. Isn't it beautiful?! 

So charming and so much character.

And it is yellow!!

But can you guess what else has me swooning?

That lovely wraparound porch!   Us southern girls do love big ol' porches... and this one is just perfect for reading, thinking, visiting  and, of course, tea sippin'. 

Oh, I can't wait to loll about on this porch with a good book. (and visit with my brother)  

Here is a photo of the house in Portland's snow storm last week:

 Definitely too chilly for porch sittin'! 

My brother emailed this with the title 'Life in a Snowglobe'. It does look like a winter wonderland.

Heehee,  and very funny in a karmic sort of way. Why?  Because my brother lived in Hawaii for years... whenever it was stinking hot or frigidly cold in Oklahoma, he would call and tease us with  perfectly balmy island weather reports. 

So far, Oklahoma is having a very mild winter with lots of 'no jacket' days.  

So in accordance with official big sister code:  Hahahahahahahahahaahaahaha!




Linking to: Weekend Reflections

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Life Is About... Surviving Bad Juju!

If the Universe sends a strong message... you better pay attention! 

And by a strong message, I mean bad juju. Have you ever been stalked by bad juju? Like one bizarre incident after another? And after awhile it doesn't seem so coincidental, does it. Cue Twilight Zone theme.



Thanksgiving week was one big bad juju extravaganza for my family. (Yes, I know it is time to blog  December fun but I can't move on till I make peace with blog about the bad juju. Blogging is cathartic, you know.) 

Anyhoo,  back to Thanksgiving. We get a week out of school to deerhunt  celebrate Thanksgiving. Oh, how my family loves this week. We don't hunt. We travel, dine, shop and frivolously entertain ourselves. And spend time with family and give thanks, of course. We aren't totally shallow, after all... just partially shallow.


This year, our destination was New Orleans (NOLA). Did we make it to NOLA? NO! Such a disappointment since I was so looking forward to introducing the delights of NOLA to my mother and my little boy.




So how did the bad juju begin?


It was a dark and stormy... Ha! Just kidding! Actually, it was a beautiful sunny day when we headed south towards my mom's house in East Texas.

What could possibly spoil such a promising beginning?

Forgetting our NOLA music (Harry Connick, Louis Jordan ect) to set the festive mood of the trip, that is what!  



Just an inconsequential bummer, or so we thought at the time. But from that point on, the Universe thwarted us at every turn.

Really, it was as if the Universe channeled the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld: No music? No NOLA for you!

It took three loud clear messages before we finally got the hint. Yeah, we can be a bit thick, unfortunately. 

Bad juju one:  Hub forgot his blood pressure pills-- but he was able to get an emergency week's supply from a pharmacy in Texas.


Bad juju two:  A tiny scrape on my knuckle, that I spotted as we left our house in Oklahoma, morphed into a raging painful swollen oozing staph infection by the next morning at my mom's house in Texas. A red stripe was actually streaking past my wrist. Scary! Thankfully, a Saturday clinic set me on the road to recovery.

At this point, we should have seriously rethought our travel plans. But no, so...

Bad juju number three:  Four plus hours into the trip, between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, the check engine light came on.  Oh, yes, it did! And it took two cranks to start the car. Not a good sign. All this at a Welcome Center too... some welcome!  

Finally, the Universe had our undivided attention.

Way too much weirdness on top of a weird day so since it was almost dark we stopped at a hotel in Baton Rouge hoping the car would magically unglitch over night. Of course it didn't--- in fact, the car was even more difficult to start the next morning so we headed back towards Texas. 


We did not turn the car off the rest of the way back which meant tricky bathroom and snack scrounging breaks at convenience stores. Hub even put gas in with the engine running-- Now that was really taking a big chance considering the bad juju!

No explosions but the Universe sent one last parting shot to make sure we kept skedaddling out of Louisiana.

Bad juju number four: At one stop, my little boy noticed a hubcap was missing! Who loses hubcaps anymore? Actually, we think it was stolen at the hotel because our hubcaps are held on with screws. 

Bizarre, just bizarre.

After crossing the stateline back into Texas, we felt less on edge and things started looking up. The car needed a new fuel pump which, thankfully, was covered under the warranty and was repaired the next day! Yippee!

We may have missed streetcars, pralines, beignets, po-boys  and jazz but we ended up having a wonderful hometown Thanksgiving week anyway. Lots of laughs, eats, movies, shopping and games... so there, big bad juju! 

Whew, did you make it this far? If so, thank you. I love all my readers but you are my favorite reader! 

I certainly feel much much better... festive and merry even!

Wishing you and yours a holly jolly and good juju only holiday season! 

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Ride'em Cowburgers!

Are we dining or riding the range?

Yes, that is me sitting side saddle-- can't hitch a leg over wearing a skirt!

Whataburger is mainly in the South but check here for store locations, maybe you'll get lucky, pardner!

Funny that in my hometown, the Whataburgers have themes-- or at least the two that I've been to have themes.

Can you guess the theme of the other one? 

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 Nascar! 

What can I say, I grew up in Redneckville!  

Do the Whataburgers in your neck of the woods have themes?

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A Curious Critter Watering Hole

Even during a hideous heat wave and drought,  there is always one spot by our house that stays lush and green.

Can you guess where?

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 By the central AC unit!

There is a narrow pvc pipe sticking out that drips.

One day this summer, I saw a most curious sight... a sight that I've never seen in twenty five years of living here.

A critter had created a little hollow to collect the dripping water!!

When I looked a day or two later...

A trough had been added.  Isn't that cool?! And what a clever critter! 

So which critter is responsible for this creation?

Any ideas?

I never spotted any tracks.  Our current dumped doggie isn't broke out with smarts so that leaves one of these resident wild critters:

Perry Possum?

Arnie Armadillo?

Rocky Raccoon?

Skippy Skunk? 

Gary Gopher?

Daryl Deer?

Terry Turtle?

Tommy Toad? 

Hmm...

Did Barry Beaver trek all the way from the woods to create a charming little watering hole?

I've got it!!

Barry Beaver is the construction boss and the others are the construction crew.

 Yep, sounds plausible to me.

What do you think?

By the way, I'm reading Wind In The Willows for the first time... Could you tell?  The book is darling. (especially for a Brit-tv and Brit-book loving anglophile like me) Have you ever read it? Can't believe I waited so long to read it! And it is all thanks to Risa of Bread Crumb Reads!  Thanks, Risa!   

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Monkey See Monkey Do...

 

 

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Doggie Non Grata

Sunday afternoon, we returned home after spending three days in Oklahoma City to kick off our summer fun. We ate fabulous food, shopped and played at the science museum and amusement park! Fun! Fun! Fun!

 Fun till we came home, that is. Then, it was-- Crap! Crap! Crap!
While we were gone, UPS delivered some Skecher Tone Up sport/water sandals that I had ordered.

Guess where the brilliant driver left the package? 

Right on the porch...

UH-OH!
Can you believe it!?

And the sandals were out in the grass in less than pristine condition!

I did find the ankle strap, thank goodness, and hope it can be sewn back on since these are the most comfy water/sport sandals ever. They are sproingy like a reebok dmx! Should be great for water rides and walking all day at Silver Dollar City.  

Drat-- look at this! So aggravating!!

And who is the culprit? 

Snowpaw aka Doggie Non Grata!!

This isn't Snowpaw's first infraction, by the way. 

And we wondered why she had been dumped... bet the dumpers had a big ol' heehaw at our expense! 

 

Did you enjoy your visit? Please click daily to vote for Dusty Us Diaries at the free-ranked blog directory Picket Fence!

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Friendly Follow Blog Hop

Welcome, Friendly Follow Blog Hoppers!   Such a surprise and thrill yesterday to find out that Dusty Us Diaries would be one of the featured blogs in this week's Friendly Follow hop.   
   I couldn't wait to get home from work to spruce up my blog and write a few new posts to welcome you-- Ha!  

Were all of you singing the Blogger blues too?   

I was waaay waaay down deep in the Blogger blues...

Bloggers been treatin' me real bad.... do dahda do dah....  Won't let me sign in... do dahda do dah...

But Blogger is back! Woot Woot! 

And Blogger: No more orneriness out of you-- And no more lost posts or comments!!

Oh yes, another wonderful bloggy thing happened yesterday before Blogger started being a pill:  

Dusty Us Diaries now has a blog button!

I love it! And it is all thanks to Tracy, a collaborator at my bookish blog and author of the smart, sassy and oh, so funny  Cooked Heads blog.  

I sent her an email yesterday morning saying: Help! I need a button for the Friendly Follow blog hop tomorrow! 

Tracy emailed later that morning with a button!! The woman is amazing! She is the Queen of Computer Geekery and all things Photo Editing. 

Thank you so much, Tracy!

Thank you, Charla at Healthy Home Blog, Christi at Frugal Novice and Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier for hosting Friendly Follow and for featuring my blog!

And thank you again for stopping by...  Company is always welcome so pull up a chair and sit a spell whenever you are in the neighborhood.

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Talon's French Word...

The Kindergarten class learned a French word the other day. Can you guess what it was?

Derriere!

And can you guess how Talon used it in a sentence for his teacher?  

My dad sits on his derriere a lot!!

Hahaha!  So true that! 

My hub sure knows how to stay off them feet!!

Which is why I document rare man at work sightings for posterity! ;o)

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Pastel?

Each Kindergarten student had to bring ten plastic eggs to school for the egg hunt. I picked up two bags of eggs at Dollar General and asked Talon which he wanted to take: pastel eggs or bright eggs...

He said: I'll take the 'passed out' eggs!!

Kids hear things funny, don't they.

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Men at Work

Is there anything better than seeing 'men at work' at home?

Not something that I see everyday so figured I better document this rare sighting...

Clearing brush in preparation for painting outbuildings. Our outbuildings are made of insulated metal panels and they start to rust after a few years.  Two have never been painted so really need a protective coating of paint.

How long has this project been on hubby's agenda?

Just three to five years-- I lose track!

He's a real go getter, that hub of mine!!

Little man at work!

They still like work at this age...

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In the Ditch!

Last month,  we  topped the hill on the road to our house and saw another vehicle in the ditch! 

Don't know what happened but at least it wasn't upside down like this truck.

What is it with this road? You'd think a drive down a slow rural county road like this would be uneventful. 

Since these accidents seem to happen close to our house (that is us in the distance, see the white pear trees), we keep our seatbelts on till we reach our maibox! 

Count on me to find the funny (and blog fodder) in any situation...

   Shame on me for laughing but that is life on a dirt road: No paper, No worries...

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Buffalo Hunt!

Last week, Gram had just bought Talon a toy bow and arrow set at Walmart and guess what our favorite antique store had out front?!  A teepee and fake buffalo!  Of course, Talon had to play buffalo hunt. We were going in the store anyway-- we didn't stop just for blog fodder. 

Stalking...

Aiming... Will we have buffalo burgers for supper?

Nope, don't think Mr. Buffalo has anything to worry about...

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How to Improve Your Fashion Photo Shoot: Tips for Amateurs

So I'm not a fashion blogger.  But I do wear clothes.  And I do the odd style post now and again. Hey, no 'odd' style cracks.  You know I mean randomly occasional! 

I dabble in just about anything that tickles my fancy so after seeing the fantabulosity of  Izzy's fashion blog (she is also a co-blogger on my bookblog), I decided to go for more artsy style shots!  Ha!  Hahahahhaha  Silly me! What was I thinking?!

 Izzy makes it look effortless but getting an acceptable shot is tougher than it looks! 

Look at this: hair blowing in my nose, bra strap showing, necklace askew, sweater bunched here and there!

Pitiful! Don't know if an entire crew could've salvaged this one! But I need people, I tell you, people! 

 

It was fun though and as goofy as most of the photos turned out, they are still more interesting than my usual frozen staring straight at the camera smile. 

That is a trick I learned from Izzy:

Don't smile into the camera!



Darn necklace is still askew! But I'm not looking at the camera!



The next time you thumb through a fashion mag, pay attention to the models. Very few smiles and they usually look away from the camera. And they are usually snapped  lolling about or moving in some bizarrely interesting way.

Another trick I learned from Izzy: 

Focus on one part of the outfit or model!



Love the ruffled tops of these suede boots!



A photo of a shoe or necklace or collar or eye or hand or lips can be much more dramatic and interesting than the outfit or body as a whole. And highlighting one interesting element in an artsy way means less pleasing parts aren't on display! ;o)  

My five year boy is the photographer for this shot.  The lighting and sharpness could be better but it is still one of my faves from this photo shoot.  The breeze blown skirt and fringe adds a little pizzaz, don't you think.



Wedge heels are the best!  At least for those of us who need stability! ;o)

Photo shoots are silly and fun. Try one! 

And don't be afraid to experiment .

a.n.a. sweater    Ann Taylor Loft skirt   Soho Lab boots   Wilson's Leather purse    

'I have no clue' tights and necklace

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Car Show Couture!

A couple of weeks ago,  We attended the Darryl Starbird Custom Car Show and Monster Truck Races again. Yes, again. Don't worry-- I always manage to amuse myself.

At the fall car show (yes, we go to more than one), it was cars and canines.

This time it is car show couture!

On the way, we stopped at our favorite Boomarang Diner for lunch and I snapped a photo of my two goofy goobers wearing matching car show shirts from the 2009 Fall Foliage Cruise.

Of course, I said: Ya'll are so dorky!! Cute but dorky!!

Guess what I spotted as soon as I walked into the Expo?  Hotrod and car shirts galore!!

Too funny! Did you know that some men theme their attire to the event? 

Not all the attendees had on car shirts.  Only the serious custom car enthusiasts, I suppose. Or maybe just the dorkiest! haha

Here are few to illustrate:

This is the only gal I spotted. Her guy has one on too--  That is him with the blond ponytail. How sweet that they  share common interests.

The car show couture ranged from really tacky...

Isn't he a prize, girls!

To relatively classy...

Aww, cute and spiffy!

To show you what a lucky girl I am,  check this out:

Redneck at Monster Truck Races:  It's still too loud, ya'll!

Got me a winner, girls!!

To see redneck chic, check out my earplug post from the monster truck races last year: The Color Purple

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Sew Fine Hotrod!

 Spotted at the car show! I didn't take many photos of cars this year-- this one stood out of the crowd though...

Don't like the color but the shape is curvy and cool! Who would paint a hotrod blah brown?!




What made me laugh is the graphic painted on the side: Sew Fine

Is the owner handy with a needle? Then I thought of my friend DeLynne who amazes me with her sewing skill. She can make a bra with underwires that looks storebought,  for heaven's sake!

DeLynne needs a Sew Fine hotrod for cruising around the rainforest. Bet hers wouldn't be blah brown!



Now this is more like it! 



 A pearly mauve-- Striking and pretty! 

some of my other fave hotrod colors are: red, turquoise, pink, purple, and pearl white. And anything with flames or sparkle, pearl or flipflop paint. 

What is your favorite hotrod color?



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Hat Crazy with Mr. Yukkinmuffin!

Today, we visited a fabulous antique store in Checotah. So many treasures to tempt: books, gadgets, jewelry, tooled leather bags, fishing lures, tools, furniture, china, embroidered tea towels, toys and oddities galore!


Talon rummaged through a basket full of retro cookie cutters and found a mystery one.  I thought it was a rooster and he thought it was a man and dog--- so we asked Jim.  Guess what it was? A witch riding a broom! Obvious when turned the right way! 


Talon and I almost didn't resurface after landing in the vintage clothing nook! So many funny old fashions-- Too bad I couldn't play dress up!

Talon is hat crazy like his dad so couldn't resist trying them all on. He cracked me up with his antics. Gram, you are going to love this!!







Talon thought the gold on this on meant it was a hiphop hat! It is really a turban!!




and last but not least, Mr. Yukkinmuffin, the star of the hat show!! 

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Table For Two

Even when feeling puny after a doctor visit, Talon is full of silly beans.
  

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Coconut Pecan Brownies!

An example of my spouse's humor. He taped it on the lid of brownies he took to school for a pot-luck expecting to garner at least a few chuckles.  But No! No one even said a word-- I would have hee-hawed if I saw this label on a pan of brownies, wouldn't you? Or maybe not-- guess me and Mr. Corny are a good match. 

And no Brownies were harmed in the making of this recipe!

Hahahahahahha!

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Too Pooped To Party!

This boy has always been a good sleeper but maybe we are wearing him plumb out!




This photo from Dec. 2009 was taken during a Christmas shopping extravaganza. When I said:  We're going to shop till we drop, I did not mean it literally!





This photo was taken last month, Dec 2010 at Red Lobster in Branson after a fun-filled day at Silver Dollar City's Old Time Christmas Festival.   I pushed Talon's Scampi dish out of the way in the nick of time! 

Customers and servers got a kick out this but what was really funny was that a little girl fell asleep at the table right behind Talon.  Wonder if she spent the day at SDC too?


See the dish of alfredo showing in the photo-- that was a little lagniappe  courtesy of our server, Rick. After I bemoaned the fact that my platter didn't come with any alfredo, Rick brought me a small serving.  Don't you just love lagniappes of the edible variety?  



To see more delightful reds, please visit Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday.

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