I almost messed up.
I'm not accustomed to working 40 hour weeks yet. It's really hard to do housework when you don't spend weekends at home. I hate ironing clothes! Have I ever mentioned that? Well...I hate ironing clothes!
Pine pollen season is over. My house needs a really good spring cleaning. Saturday afternoon while Sam was watching the race (since Dale Jarrett retired, I don't watch any more) I cleaned our walk-in closet. I had already stripped some of the old clothes out and set them aside for charity (delivered them yesterday). I tossed shoes out of one of the shoe racks and moved it out of the way so that I could vacuum that part of the closet floor. I walked out of the closet to put something somewhere else. When I walked back in, I tripped on the shoe rack. My mind was on the shelving...I did not want it literally ON the shelving! So I tried to make myself as small as I could tucking in body parts and ducking my head.
That probably kept me from throwing a hand out and breaking a bone.
My head hit a shoe. I lay prostrate on the carpet and thanked the sweet Lord because he led us to a house with a large walk-in closet. If it had been ten inches narrower...
Then I laughed at myself. Stooopid!
I got to see Isabel...more about that on another post.
The main blessing on Sunday had nothing to do with attending an organized church service. On our trip home, we stopped for a hamburger in Sulphur Springs (Texas). I noticed a couple of men dressed in fatigues and mentioned to Sam that I saw a couple of military men. When we entered the Whataburger...they were everywhere! I talked with one of the kids...er...young men and found out that they were from Little Rock and were on their way back to Fort Hood to complete their training before being deployed...he was headed to Iraq. Sam had found out the same thing talking to the soldier he was visiting with.
Then Sam talked to an older man, a civilian. A Little Rock church (I didn't get all the information from the side of their bus but it was a Baptist church in LR) sent their big bus and their little bus to Fort Hood and brought the men and women back home before deployment! They were on their return trip at the end of their leave and had stopped in Sulphur Springs in an area that had several places to eat and the soldiers had spread out.
We had a couple dozen soldiers eating with us. Sam and I sat at a table eating our hamburgers. I could barely eat for trying to keep the tears out my eyes. I made certain that I looked at each person and said a prayer.
For Elsie...and every other red blooded woman in blogland. But, most especially 
... for me. P.S. Ducky, Your mother does NOT want the visual of you wearing your kilt on your motorcycle. Shudder!
We went to the Tartan Festival in Minden Louisiana again this year. 
My friend Nancy wants to know what they wear under the kilts. I kept watching this particular kilt wearer but never could catch him bending over. 
Sigh. Nancy, I tried. Thought about tripping him but I think Sam realized what I was thinking and gave me "the look." Kilts weren't the only dress of the day. Look at this dapper gentleman. 
This guy evidently doesn't like walking. 
Then...there's the music... 
...And sheep dogs rounding up the Scottish Highland Cattle. 
They were "over yonder." 
My little camera did a pretty good job of zooming in on them, but the clarity suffered. 
I think this is a Norwegian Fjord horse. You could ride for $2, but you were led around, not turned loose on the horse...so I passed. 
The Irish dancers from Mississippi performed again this year. 
He is doing the "plank" dance...
...as in walking the plank.
Last year I ate Shepherd's Pie. Sam ate Haggis. (Gag me with a spoon! But it's not the idea of cooking it in a sheep's stomach...that's just a vessel for cooking. It's the garbage that is put in the stomach that gags me - liver, heart, lungs. No wonder they season it...to disguise the taste of the innards!) This year we had coo burgers. That is - Highland Cattle burgers. Highland beef is leaner. The burgers would've been really good if:
1. They were fully cooked - not rare.
2. The meat was hot - not stacked in a foil pan covered with foil and allowed to cool.
3. Hamburger buns had been toasted - just wave 'em over the grills please!
4. The meat had been seasoned before cooking. Bland, bland, bland!
So, next year I already know what I'm getting. Meat pasties, Scotch eggs, and taddies. My mouth is watering already! So much so that I've already got the butter coming to room temperature. I'm baking shortbread in a few minutes! Photos to follow!
Cranky Old Woman time...
I've been on the automated phone system with the Social Security Administration following a phone call from Mama. The rural route mail carrier is circling her incorrect address...from before the enhanced 911 calling system went into effect. She tried calling SSAs 1-800 number. The automated hussy inside the phone could not understand Mama's "Shirley. S H I R L E Y." So...I told Mama I would give it a try. First time...something was wrong with the information. I tried again leaving off her maiden name because she probably did not get a Social Security card until after she and Daddy married. That didn't work either. Heaven forbid a human being comes on the line! 45 minutes later...no luck at all. So...I get on the computer and try it. Nope. Something is still not jiving with the information SSA has. So it looks as if my poor decrepit mother is going to have to go to the nearest SSA office. Sigh.
I almost messed up. 
