I lack a good pictorial spread, and anything of substance to say but feel compelled to litter the WWW with my thoughts and opinions once again.
So I turned to Plinky.
Out of the five prompts/questions I decided to truthfully : ) answer whether or not I've ever lied about my age.
Here goes. No.
I don't think so. I remember buying Malt Duck (how nasty, nasty, nasty was that ? Yuck!) when I was below drinking age, but we knew of a teeny mom and pop gas station that sold the foul brew to just anyone. So. Not for the purpose of drinking illegally.
And, even though the number makes me cringe sometimes, I don't lie about my age to seem younger than what I am. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty thrilled that though gravity and the gray fairy have caught up with me, that I don't look my age. There is nothing that makes my day (and possibly ruins 24s) as when someone thinks 24 and I are sisters. Yes!!!!! And when I was in my mid-thirties and we frequented amusement parks I'd love the guys who promised a prize if they could not guess your age or weight. (I would have never picked the weight guy...ugh....there was a stupid scale!!!) They always underguessed my age by a mile. Yes!!!!!! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the genes.
Today...I got my eyes checked. And they strongly suggested I go ahead and consider the bifocals since that is inevitable. And at 48....sooner than later. Nope. I will wear the new glasses to see movies and signs better, but I will fight bifocals....until I cannot fight any more (probably because I can't see the weapons/enemies. : )
Oh. It does help to refuse to act my age.
Fans of this trio of games. Reviews from Good to Best! And no link because you can find them all over the place...get the best dealio.... fun times. PAIRS IN PEARS (GOOD)
We are Bananagram fans. So the idea of new games - Pairs in Pears and Appleletters built up some serious excitement.
Neither of the new games quite hit the potential of Bananagrams. Without the predecessor, either of these would have been new, fun and creative.
Pairs is a very fast moving game. The goal is to create two or three two word sets. Ideally, you will have matching "suite" letters (there are four different suites) which increases the point value of the win. The more letters you use, the better the score.
We played several "hands" then moved on to Appleletters in the same evening. All of us (five from age 24 to 52) preferred Appleletters to Pairs in Pears but loved Bananagrams the best. One of the fun things that we didn't do but thought of would be to turn all the tiles face down and play a huge memory game or turn it into a rummy type of game where you collect suites of letters. If you have Pairs, be creative and see what you can come up with. If you haven't purchased Pairs in Pears and are wondering which of the three to buy, Bananagrams is the best in our opinion, but Pairs wouldn't be a waste, especially if you can get a good deal.
APPLETTERS (BETTER)
Appleletters is very similar to Scrabble without the point values and without the board. The players take turns and build off each others words but in a snake pattern. Portabilitywise, Appleletters is great. I love the cute little Apple carrying case. But for off the charts fun and games, I still would choose Bananagrams hands down. Appleletters is quicker than Scrabble, and easier because you have more tiles to choose from. Kids would benefit especially if they are needing fun help in the spelling department. But again, if I had to choose I'd pick Bananagrams.
BANANAGRAMS (BEST)
If you are looking for a fun game that is portable and versatile, look into Bananagrams which has become our family’s favorite game. We’ve hauled it to two different states, introduced it to two additional state dwellers who visited and got hooked, and played it internationally with a visiting German student. The game is simple. Think individual Scrabble "boards" (without the board, tile holders or points), for each player, with the added benefit of playing with loads of tiles at a time and the ability to move, remake or change your words at will. You can “dump” and get rid of a difficult letter replacing it with three others that may or may not be better ones at any time throughout the game. When a player uses all the letters he/she originally drew (plus the dumps), she/he calls "Peel" and everyone grabs one more letter, and so on, until there aren't enough letters for every person to "Peel" one. In that case the person who finishes wins "Bananas!". Simple as that.
You can play with multiple people or even as solitaire. The more the merrier, but either way it's fun. You can make easy adaptations and add your own quirks to the rules to make it your own. It moves quicker than Scrabble and is less frustrating than Scrabble, too. You don't keep score via points, nor do you have to deal with someone taking your perfect spot. Bananagrams would be perfect for beginning spellers as well as classroom fun with vocabulary words. We really love this game.
I've managed to confuse Kim with my "is she or isn't she globetrotting." And no doubt others.
For the record, I am currently in Iowa and intend to stay here for some time.
No more trips planned.
No more vacation time left.
The veggies I picked were indeed from my Iowa garden and picked on the 26th after I spent the 14th of October to the 20th of October whizzing thru various parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and then back again in the opposite order.
The random pictures were just part of my reentry back into my random life. Sharing the sights with you and the sometimes addled bits of my brain, too.
So. No more flip-flopping unless a picture seems to work well with what I'm writing about.
I do have to share a laugh. One of Toad-Boy's friends responded to my "Happy Birthday" Facebook greeting with a little story. Please keep in mind that Toad Boy was like 15 and a foot taller than me before you call Child Protective Services. Also. I do not remember one second of this incident in which this poor young man lost a little bit of his innocence. Toad Boy's adolescent tomfoolery drove me to madness a time or two and many days blend together into moments that just require some laughter and maybe a bit of forgiveness.
This is what he said.
"hahaha, I was just telling one of my friends about the first time that I hung out with Toad-Boy, and we were in your mini van with you, and he kept poking your face and saying "whats that do? Why does your eye close when I touch it? whats that do?" You kept telling him to stop and he wouldn't so then you just started punching him.... meanwhile I'm in the back seat and I have no idea what to do. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing.
And that's how I was introduced to your family.
THE END!"
I pulled this plethora of produce out of my veggie garden yesterday. October 26th.
Last year it snowed on October 11th. This year we have produce almost all the way into November. Tomorrow night should freeze though so I'll have to harvest one last time.
They say that it you don't like the weather in Iowa, just wait a few minutes...it'll change.
