Starbucks in miniature

Yesterday morning I stopped for a grande iced caramel macchiato at Starbucks and much to my surprise and delight, they had just whipped up a sample tray of the pumpkin spice frappuccino. They serve their samples in these super-cute tiny cups with a super-cute tiny straw. The frappuccino was underwhelming, but I felt like I won the lottery for just a couple of minutes.

A horse of a different color

I may have forgotten to mention in my first 40th birthday post that as I get these gifts I'm to tell the story behind them. If I get them in a group (like the rooster magnet I got while vacationing in Montana), I have to tell the story right there. But this latest gift was left on my porch in a gift bag last week. I found it shortly after my sister, Jenny, had been here for an overnight stay. Coincidence? I don't think so. But nobody's taking credit yet. If you have no idea what I'm talking about but want to know, click here.

Anyway, here's a picture of the gift and then the story of the horse. The note taped to the package said, "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to Ned's we go!"

Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my aunt Ruthie and uncle Ed's house. Their kids were more my age than my own siblings. Scott, Mike and Danny were my most frequent playmates as a child. Scott is two and a half years older than I am, Mike is almost a year older, Danny is a couple of years younger, and Jason was born about a month before my tenth birthday. When Ruthie didn't have us doing chores (she was the master of the Chore List, especially on Saturday mornings), we were playing "Jacques Cousteau" or "school" or "church" (I was never the priest) or "house" (I was always the mom). Some of my favorite memories include being at their farm, which at the time was where their grandparents, Susie and Pete, and uncle Paul lived.

On the farm, they had a horse named Tonka and he didn't look anything like the horse pictured above. He was light-colored and was a pretty mild-mannered and tame horse, but he had his moments. I loved riding him because it was different and exciting to be on horseback. Once when I rode him, Mike saddled him up for me. He didn't get the saddle cinched tightly enough around Tonka's belly. We got as far as the driveway (which isn't that far from the barn) when the saddle slid sideways. And so did I. Once I fell off (I clung to the saddle horn for a long time before I finally gave up and landed on the ground), I looked back and all three of the boys were standing behind me doubled over in laughter. I was not happy. After they quit their guffawing, they finally cinched it up tight enough and I went on my ride.

Another time, the boys and I had just returned from a week of summer church camp and I was out at their house after a brief visit at home with my own family. I wanted to ride Tonka, as I did every time I went to the farm. Someone finally saddled him up for me and I got on to ride. As luck would have it, Tonka hadn't been ridden in several weeks. He was ready to run and no amount of coaxing with the reins convinced him to slow down. I was bounced around in the saddle and terrified of falling off when he finally slowed down and allowed me to have him stop. By that time I was over a mile away at the nearest neighbor's house. That would be where Ned and his parents lived. Ned was the scary neighbor who embodied all the stereotypes of a hillbilly. Once I got Tonka stopped, I got off and stood for a moment weighing my options. I decided to hold the reins and walk him back to the farm.

I'm sure I rode him again after that, but I don't remember. I probably haven't been on a horse since I last rode Tonka. I'll have to ask what eventually happened to him, I don't recall if he was sold or given away. It's rare that I visit the farm when I go back home. Every once in a while I get the urge to ride a horse again, but then my childhood memories come to the surface and I change my mind.

Girls rule at Cranium

This past Saturday my niece Katie and her boyfriend Frank came for a visit. They drove in from Emporia where they're both freshmen this fall. They were in need of a "get away from Emporia" weekend and apparently didn't want to head to Ellinwood, so they showed up on my doorstep. They didn't even bring toothbrushes, the spontaneous knuckleheads! We headed over to Heather and Justin's for dinner. Heather's cheesy potatoes, bacon-laced green beans and pork loin were a big hit with the dorm crowd. And me, too. I brought dessert and Gage enjoyed the blue frosting teeth he got from eating the cake.

After we ate, we played a game of Cranium, girls against boys. The boys were defeated handily by the girls, but you'll have to see Heather's blog for photos of the defeat.

You remember in the movie "Miss Congeniality" that her talent is making music with glasses filled to different levels with water? Well, I've never seen anyone do that in person until Saturday night. When Justin started making music with Heather's wine glass, stuff almost came out my nose. He gave Katie, Frank and I a lesson and let us all have a turn making the glass sing. Katie and Frank were good at it right away, but it took me some time to get it right. Don't try it with a cheap wine glass, it has to actually be crystal in order for it to work. Everybody else probably already knew this. I did not. Something else I can add to my resume.

Thanks for the good food, good wine and good times.

Cow Chip Queen

Last Wednesday, my friend Kathleen and I worked a three-hour evening shift at the Kansas State Fair in the Newman University booth. Before we worked at the booth, we met her mom and a couple of her mom's fellow Red Hat friends at the beer garden inside the fairgrounds. Her mom had been at the fair all day with the Red Hats since it was their special day at the fair. One of the activities was a cow chip throwing contest which Kathleen's mom, Lovella, won by wide margin. Here she is with her winner's ribbon and the winning cow chip.

Lovella says she's bronzing the cow chip, and as she said this Kathleen's dad did a big eye roll. It was quite enjoyable to meet Kathleen's folks along with Lovella's friends Thelma and Louise. I kid. Louise was only her middle name, her first name was actually Georgia. But I preferred calling her Louise for some strange reason. We (all but Thelma) made our way over to the Cottonwood building, where some of us dined on delicious chicken and noodles. The cow chip came with us, but Lovella kept it in the plastic bag while we ate.

Caden comes to visit

It's been a busy week and a half around here. Sorry for the lack of posts. There's really no excuse, just didn't feel much like posting. But this one's for you, Teresa.

The weekend after Labor Day, I had some family visitors. Caden and his mom and dad (Rachel and Andrew) came to stay at my house Saturday night. They brought their two dogs, Copper and Zeke. Zeke is a new addition to the family. He's a puppy who's at least part lab that someone found. He's been abused and has the evidence of that on his head. When Andrew brought him home, Rachel couldn't say no to him staying. Caden got to try out some of the toys I recently bought at a garage sale, including a green tractor that a little boy removed all the stickers from. But that's probably good, because Caden's dad and grandpa only have red tractors.

Caden had scrambled eggs, toast and peaches for breakfast. He's an incredibly good eater. And he does love him some milk.

After a night in a strange house, he was ready to load up the dogs and go home. Here's a picture of Zeke, the newest addition to the family. Could you say no to this face? I didn't think so.

I hope they come back again soon. It seems they were only here for a few minutes and then they were gone again. Don't tell Copper I didn't post any pictures of him this time. He doesn't want anybody to think he likes Zeke, but I saw them playing in my backyard when he thought no one was looking.

A final for the ages

This photo says it all for me. Back in July I watched one of the best tennis matches I'll probably ever see. For a tennis fanatic like myself it was a thing of beauty. The Wimbledon men's final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal didn't finish until almost 9:30 p.m. local time. Centre Court at Wimbledon doesn't have any overhead lights, so Nadal accepted the trophy in darkness right after the match. Roger Federer was seeking an unprecedented sixth straight Wimbledon title this year. And Rafa scratched his way to a win in a five-set epic match over Federer on his third try in as many years. While I have no qualms about the tennis prowess of Roger, I love to see Rafa play. Not only is he a buff Spaniard who's pretty easy on the eyes, he's an awesome player. He plays his heart out on every point no matter who is across the net and when he does lose he doesn't give any excuses. I'm in awe of his play for a couple of reasons, but the main one is that he plays left-handed. He does everything else in his life right-handed, but for tennis he's a lefty. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to switch after playing with his right hand for years. But now, how can anybody question the brilliance of that move? Rafa won his quarterfinal match against American Mardy Fish early this morning in the US Open draw. I'm still cheering for Andy Roddick, the only American left in the draw now, but I can't help being awed by the game of Nadal.