Month: August 2017

My friend/second mother/drinking buddy/fellow old broad/porch pal, Peggy Crane, passed away this afternoon. When I visited her in the hospital this morning, we laughed our way through a long talk. I left the room to grab a soda, and when I returned, Peggy wasn’t sure who I was. But once she saw Bow Tie o’ the Day around my neck, everything made sense to her again. [Check out Peggy giving Mom the bunny ears in the first photo!]

Bow Tie o’ the Day, sewn to its own collar, is thrilled at how the light is changing throughout the eclipse. Skitter is kinda uneasy about it. She’s pacing around, about two inches from me wherever I go—except outside. She will not leave the house. She looks me in the eye, and it’s like she’s saying, “WTFudge?” Roxy is absolutely oblivious to what’s going on in the sky. Yup, she’s enjoying grazing and licking the kitchen floor.  🌮 ☀️

Here’s Mom wearing Tie o’ the Day in March. For years, Mom held court daily from a glider chair on my old porch, where she was never shy about sharing her opinions or her kindness. Our porch-time is priceless to me. She’s enjoying living with Ron in St. George. But I’m already shopping for a stair lift, so when Ron kicks Mom out for misbehaving, our house can accommodate her. Nah, Ron’ll likely keep ‘er. But I’m still getting a stair lift to ride and play on 24/7. 😜

Roxy’s our Tie o’ the Day model. We’re feeling kinda low about her. Roxy’s eyes and ears are failing. She’s 14, so it makes sense—in the circle-of-life way. But we hate it. We know she’s still mostly happy, cuz she’s got her appetite. And everyone else’s too. We’ve always called her our Hoover, cuz she eats any food particle she finds—including pickles, onions, cauliflower, and banana peels. The day Roxy isn’t hungry is the day Roxy’ll want to join Dad’s Bert, and my Araby and Vinnie.  🐶 😭

Bow Tie o’ the Day keeps finding more of my hats. How did I acquire the million I have? And will they all fit in my truck bed for their ride to Deseret Industries? Yes, we still have two houses of stuff, living with us in this one house. We are slowly culling the storage bins for keeper things. And I mean SLOWLY. It’s a tedious job. And as much as we want the project done, we’d rather chill by the pool. 🏊‍♀️ ☀️

Sometimes I’m undecided about what kind o’ tie to wear. Bow tie? Bolo? Necktie? Ascot? So I split the difference. This Tie o’ the Day is meant for kids 0-12 months. Thanks be to Seagull Book for their clearance bin o’ kid ties/bow ties. And for 99 cents! You shoulda seen the grin on my face when I saw that bin. And you shoulda seen the clerk’s face as he rang up my haul. He couldn’t quit staring at my tattoos. I can’t possibly be the only tattooed woman who shops at Seagull Book, can I? 😜

Bow Tie o’ the Day guest stars Darci and Dan Rose. Ain’t he dapper in his duds? When we moved to Centerville 5 years ago, I met Darci on Facebook, through Suzanne’s work hubby. We snarked and commented and liked on Facebook for months. When Suzanne asked what I wanted for my birthday, I said, “I wanna meet Darci.” Loveliest gift ever!! Darci married the romantic Dan. But I’ve seen him only once—for 5 minutes in a shoe store. He’s another priceless gift. 🎁

Grandmas are braggy. It’s one of their job requirements. My cousin, Gina Diaz, sent me this brag-worthy pic of two of her suave-looking grandsons. Zak and Zane are grandly rockin’ Bow Ties o’ the Day. Their mom, Kaitlyn Swalberg, is clearly raisin’ ’em right, in the bow tie philosophy of life. All ties provide excellent guidance to wearers. In fact, every bad decision I’ve made in my life was made when I wasn’t wearing a tie of some kind.👔

Bow Tie o’ the Day suggested we listen to Emmylou Harris. My ears were in that exact mood. And when “Boulder to Birmingham” began, I remembered the Birmingham hat Suzanne bought me when she was there on business. Naturally, I had to wear it. Never been there. Wanna visit. Hey, my eyes work, even though Birmingham reminds me of college football. Must’ve conquered yesterday’s I’m-missing-football mood. The mutts and ties were worried about me. 😟

Tie o’ the Day and I are forlorn cuz it’s not yet official college/pro football seasons. Clearly, I’m in such severe football withdrawal that my eyes can’t function. Thank goodness Ute Tie is a trained seeing-eye tie. I’d hate to fall and break a hip, then have to go live in St. George with Mom and her hip at Ron’s place. On the other hand, Ron has fantastic televisions for watching football. Hmmmm….I’ll have to think about this. 🏈