Emily Bloss

We had a fun and delicious Easter celebration this year, at our house. It was so good to see everybody. Here are the pictures!

My niece and her boyfriend came to visit Florida for spring break and while they were here, we got to see them! We all went up to visit the manatees at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.

The park serves as a rehabilitation center and refuge for endangered West Indian manatees that have been orphaned or injured in the wild and also for manatees that have been born in captivity. In addition to the manatees that live in the park, we got to see a few wild ones, including one with her baby in tow.

The spring is the headwater of the Homosassa River, pumping millions of gallons per hour of crytal clear water.

We had a really great time at the park and Adrianne surprised me with a stuffed manatee! He lives on my desk and I take him into my lap for patty-pats now and then. He is so soft and I just love him.

After the park, we took the scenic route to a little place called Pape Kibos, for dinner. Along the way, we got to see the Gulf, lots of sawgrass marsh and palm trees.  We also spied a redneck taking his dog for a walk… the dog was going along the road, and the redneck was in his pickup truck, staying alongside the dog. Too funny!

Pape Kibos was a nice place for dinner… we plan on going back there again. The food was unusual and very good. I had a dish called Scallops Al Duko, which was scallops sauteed with black olives, capers, white wine, tomato and overfried spinach. The spinach was really good – it was like tissue and it melted in my mouth. Trav had a chicken ceasar salad. Adrianne had Chicken Grandma (with white wine garlic sauce with capers, black olives, artichoke hearts and asparagus) and Phillip had Snapper Bobo (with grilled asparagus, tomatoes, capers and oregano bread crumbs). It was all very yummy.

Then we went for ice cream – Phillip’s treat. Thank you very much, Phillip!! After dessert we went down to the Hudson marina to see if we could catch a nice sunset. It was really cold and windy down there! But we did stay long enough to see the red sun dip below the horizon.

In all, a fantastic day. Thanks for coming to see us, guys!

The prom must have turned on some kind of girly switch in me… I discovered it’s fun to paint my nails! Here’s a design I did a couple of weeks ago – my first attempt at fingernail painting.

I actually kind of like this one – it reminds me of the Barbie dune buggy from my childhood. I’ve been getting inspiration from the designs at Schmucknagel.de – there’s some really cool stuff on there!

My friend Jean went to a Super Bowl party and we got to make penguins for the event! In this batch we had football players, refs, cheerleaders and spectators.

Jean printed out a picture of a football field and we put that on some foam board and wrapped it in green plastic wrap. The players have cocktail onion shoulder pads, the cheerleaders have parsley pom-poms and the spectators have carrot flags.

Next time one team will wear green olive heads. Or one whole team could be made of green olives! And perhaps a tiny carrot bikini top held on with a dot of cream cheese over the middle of it, for the cheerleaders. Anybody have other ideas on how you can decorate football penguins? Feel free to comment below.

If you like these, you can get the recipe and more details here.

On his birthday this year, Trav took me to my very first prom. It was the Senior Prom, sponsored by the YMCA. We were the chaperons because we’re under 50… someone needed to keep all those senior citizens in line! Here we are, dressed for the occasion (you can click any picture for a larger version):

See that grin on my face? It was there from the time I got my hair done until way after we got home. The prep started with getting my hair styled in an updo by Sofia at Kurl Up & Dye in Spring Hill (her number is 352-836-2012). Thanks, Sofia! Everybody really liked it.

On the way home from the salon, we picked up some of the new Dominos pizza and it turned out to be pretty good. We enjoyed our simple dinner of Hawaiian pizza & beer. Then a little later we got ready to go. Here’s a closer-up shot of the happy couple! Trav is so handsome and he looked quite dapper that evening.

I felt like a princess! Trav got me a lovely corsage from Sherwood Florist. And Trav’s mom gave me some very pretty press-on nails and lovely blue earrings to wear. Plus she supplied me with some really cool nail polish for my toes.

The prom was a lot of fun. We got to hang out with a bunch of people from our dance class and nibble on cookies and punch. Trav’s name was drawn and he got to serve as one of the princes of the prom, to stand up with the king and queen as they were crowned. And we danced and danced and danced!

My friend Jane sent this to me. Thanks, Jane!!

Alabama
A group of  Alabama  friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day.  That night, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck.
“Where’s Henry?” the others asked.
“Henry had a stroke of some kind.  He’s a couple of miles back up the trail,” the successful hunter replied.
“You left Henry laying out there and carried the deer back?” they inquired.
“A tough call,” nodded the hunter.  “But I figured no one is going to steal Henry!”

Georgia
The owner of a golf course in  Georgia  was confused about paying an invoice, so he decided to ask his secretary for some mathematical help. He called her into his office and said, “You graduated from the  University  of  Georgia  and I need some help.  If I were to give you $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?”
The secretary thought a moment, and then replied, “Everything but my earrings.”

Louisiana
A senior at  Louisiana  was overheard saying … “When the end of the world comes, I hope to be in  Louisiana .” When asked why, he replied, “I’d rather be in  Louisiana  because everything happens in  Louisiana  20 years later than in the rest of the civilized world.”

Mississippi
The young man from  Mississippi  came running into the store and said to his buddy, “Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!”
Bubba replied, “Did you see who it was?”
The young man answered, “I couldn’t tell, but I got the license number.”

North Carolina
A man in  North Carolina  had a flat tire, pulled off on the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet of flowers in front of the car and one behind it.  Then he got back in the car to wait. A passerby studied the scene as he drove by and was so curious he turned around and went back.  He asked the fellow what the problem was.
The man replied, “I have a flat tire.”
The passerby asked, “But what’s with the flowers?”
The man responded, “When you break down they tell you to put flares in the front and flares in the back.  I never did understand it neither.”

Tennessee
A  Tennessee   State  trooper pulled over a pickup on I-65.  The trooper asked, “Got any ID?” The driver replied, “Bout whut?”

Texas
The Sheriff pulled up next to the guy unloading garbage out of his pick-up into the ditch.
The Sheriff asked, “Why are you dumping garbage in the ditch?  Don’t you see that sign right over your head.”
“Yep”, he replied.  “That’s why I dumpin it here, cause it says:  ‘Fine For Dumping Garbage’.”

You can say what you want about the South,  but you never hear of anyone retiring and moving North.

We went over to Gramma & Aunt Susie’s house for Christmas, and this year Aunt Susie requested cream cheese penguins, so here’s what we brought!

This batch was fun to make. The hats are fashioned from grape tomatoes… I cut the pointy part off, scooped out the guts with a knife, dried the inside with a paper towel, and pre-poked the hole in the top so they didn’t squish the head down too much. They made great hats and they tasted good, too!

In case you’re interested… see the recipe and more pictures.

And here is the 2010 batch of Christmas penguins! We made a grape tomato Santa, celery sleigh, reindeer and penguin children.

Note to self for next time… group them into distinct crowds! This would have looked better had I done that. Also don’t forget the dabs of cheese on top of the hats. I took the cream cheese with me, intending to do it once they were set up, and I forgot. Doh!

The reindeer antlers are carved from horizontally cut carrot slices – about 1mm seems to be the optimal thickness. We had some trouble with the heads getting split if the antlers were not thin. I laid down two slices and cut both at once so they would match.

About 6 man-hours of work went into making this batch of 70 penguins.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with love and joy.

p.s. It’s a little late for this year, but I would love for you to participate in the new poll (see the right sidebar). Thanks!!

Our friend John sent this recently. Thanks, John!

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers (and who doesn’t?), please read on…

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, ‘Who’s on First?’ might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don’t know… What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes..

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows..

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.

COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’………….

What a fun day! We were invited to a party, so we made penguins for a snack… they got to dress up, too! They were a hit at the party – people were taking them home to show and stuff. We had a lot of fun making this batch.

Also see my new page about the penguins… it has a flipbook of the best costumes.

I’ll try to get more pictures of Halloween. Here’s a good one… Trav & his mom. Isn’t his mask creepy!!?!

And here’s one of the many awesome decorations.

Best of all – WE DANCED!!! East Coast Swing and a couple of slow dances, and I practiced the cha-cha a little bit at the table. There was a lady dressed as a princess and she danced a lot and was very good at it. She was having a blast, even if she was the only one on the dance floor. I was thinking on how I admire people who will go up and dance if they want to and then realized – we were those people!