A Modern Art Lesson From"Mooma"

The artistic styles of Piet Mondrian and Marcel Duchamp can be seen in this creation for Cow Parade (New York City, 2001). Her name is "Mooma," after the Museum of Modern Art, or as

it is commonly known, MoMA.

When it comes to modern art, this is as close as I care to get. As a matter of fact, this vintage dress is getting a little closer to me than it needs to. I can zip it, but I won't be wearing it out anywhere until I work off a few more inches at Curves.

Be sure to go visit Curly this morning for a cup of coffee!

No More Ice Cream

I am not feeling very well today, and it is because I did not sleep well last night. I have no one but myself to blame. I never should have eaten that M & M Blast from Sonic last night. But I wanted it sooooo bad. I know better. I had such a stomach ache, and I deserve it. I even have some pills I can take, but I didn't know I was going to eat ice cream, so I didn't have them with me. I have no self control when it comes to ice cream. I am making a promise to myself, and I am recording it right here: I am never going to eat ice cream again. Never, ever, until the next time I want it soooooooooo bad. There is no fool like an old fool! All that said, now you know how "Lactose Intolerabull" from Cow Parade (Atlanta, 2003) became today's cow-of-the-day. Enough about all that.

I have been reading blogs again, and I just watched an awesome video. With September 11th right around the corner, we are being urged to show our patriotism. This video brought tears of pride to my eyes. Visit Smiling Sally and watch it. Click on the link that says "footage." You'll be glad you did. If you aren't already flying your flag, get it out there!



Charli has inspired me to join in a blog activity.

So here I go! Friday Fill-ins with obscure song lyrics.

1. If I was to walk into your life, would you be willing to chat about the people you love?
2. Catch a bright star and place it over your mirror to remind you to smile all day long.
3. And you can send me a sentimental e-mail that is sure to touch my heart.
4. I promise to forgive you, but I'm dealing with a memory that never forgets.
5. I'm the innocent bystander / Somehow I got stuck watching while everybody else got rich and famous.
6. What's keeping us apart isn't selfishness, it’s missed opportunity.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching a good movie, tomorrow my plans include garage sales, and Sunday, I want to go to church and spend quality time with my family!

Everyone have a great weekend. Mine will not include eating any ice cream!

"Early Show" All Day Long

I received some Gustav pictures from my friend Susie who lives in Mississippi.

I was looking at the cows to see who could be the cow-of-the-day.

(I am saving the pink ones for Saturdays and the blue ones for Mondays.)

As I was trying to decide on a cow, my stomach started growling, so I looked at the clock.

It's 1:24 PM.

I have been checking e-mail and reading blogs since...I don't know what time.

I did work on a puzzle and watch some TV and talk on the phone.

I don't know where this day has gone.

Anyway, I am still in my nightshirt.

There it is, the truth about retirement.

If you don't want to get dressed, you don't have to.

I do have to pick up my grand-daughter, Macie, from volleyball practice at 4:00, so I guess I better get my act together by then.

Anyhow, I decided "Early Show" from Cow Parade (New York City, 2001) should be my choice for today.

My son, William and his wife, Gina, want to go to Biloxi this weekend. He has called the casino, and they say they will be open. Speedy recovery, I would say.

"Cowabunga" Our Waves Are Breaking

"Cowabunga" from Cow Parade (Houston, Texas, 2001) is here to show off the waves of Fay!

The picture on the left was taken back at the beginning of the summer, on a bright sunny morning. The waves were just right to play in. The one on the right was taken an hour ago. When you look out at the end of the pier, you can see how much rougher the waves are today. There is a red flag on the beach, which means the water is not good for ordinary swimmers. While I was out there I saw three surfers, and only one of them was in the water.

Here it is, one parting shot of Grandma, the way she was back in the summer of 1967. This is the only picture I have of me pretending to be a surfer girl. My brother let me carry his board around so I could be cool. I wasn't usually content at the beach for very long. It was too hot, too sandy, too sunny. I liked to swim, but I didn't like to sunbathe, too boring. There weren't good sunscreens back then, and I hated to get burned. Fair skinned people have to be careful. We can't be sitting around in the gulf waiting for a good wave. Now that I'm old, I'm glad I didn't spend anymore time in the sun than I did. I'm enough of a raisin as it is.

"Nicole's Dream of Peace"

It's a lazy Saturday around here for me, nice and peaceful, so I decided the cow-of-the-day would be Cow Parade (Harrisburg, PA, 2004) cow, "Nicole's Dream For Peace." She was created by the employees of Coin Wrap in honor of the US coin, the "Peace Nickel." Tranquility and Peace radiate from the blue background, and the peace signs and clouds combine for a dreamy ambiance. Whenever I see the peace sign, it reminds me of my teenage days. Peace and Love, man. . . .

I never was a hippie, but I did dress up like one for spirit day at school back in about 1991.(Yes, children, Grandma's hair was long back then. I went to a lot of trouble to get it curly, too.) It was fun to dress up like a hippie. My students got a good laugh. That's a fun memory, but hippie peace is not what I'm talking about. I have a dream for peace, real peace. I long for peace of mind. I want to know my children and grandchildren have peace within themselves. We may not be able to have peace on earth, but we can have peace in our own hearts and minds, can't we? What's wrong with an old lady wanting her babies to be happy?

So, that is my prayer this day. I want all the people I love to have Peace Like A River. When my family is happy, I am happy. So make me happy, love one another, live in peace! Life is too short to spend even a minute disgruntled. God Bless Us Everyone.

"Dancing Diva"

Today's Cow Parade (New York City, 2000) cow is "Dancing Diva." She is the premier cow of my collection. My son William and his wife Gina gave her to me for Christmas in 2003. She is my soul sister. I really can't dance, but I sure do love to try. If the music's playing my foot is tapping, and lots of other parts of me are probably moving, too. All this to the great embarrassment of my family.




Even at the early age of four I was already making my mark on the world as a dancer.

















The only thing I can remember about this experience is that the tap dance outfit itched very badly. I wasn't happy about having to wear it at all. That experience ruined tap dancing for me.





Fifty years later I'm still a dancing diva, as you can see, at the Horizons Christmas Party. Lawrence obviously inherited all his dancing talent from me. His buddy Pat has some cool moves, too. Life is too short not to dance, dance, dance! Here is further evidence of my dancing ability. We were all on a Mexican Riveira cruise in October, 2004, when Lawrence, Macie, and Grandma entered a dance contest. You can see Macie also inherited my dancing gene.

Cow Parade is Fun for Sure!

This Cow Parade (New York City, 2000) cow is called "Daisy's Dream." She is jumping up to catch a frisbee. Maybe she is dreaming she is a dog. Who knows? Maybe she is just retired and all she has to do is play around all day. I know it was my dream to retire from teaching while I was still healthy enough to play frisbee. My dream came true! I have having soooo much fun enjoying my retired life with my family and friends. I enjoyed teaching and I could not have had a more wonderful career, but it did demand a lot of my time and energy. I had a great time working, but not as great a time as I'm having now!

My family has the real cows up on the farm, but I have the cow parade cows here in Florida. I am the proud owner of 193 Westland Cow Parade figurines. They are so cute; they tickle my fancy. I have been able to go to the actual Cow Parade in Atlanta and Monte Carlo. I had such a blast seeing the life-sized cows. Collecting the cows is a bit of an obesession for me. Since I am now a bit hooked on blogging, I have decided to mix the two compulsions. I will feature one of my cows every now and then in the blog.

Boogie Beach

This morning was so perfect we decided to take the boogie boards out to the beach for a ride.
Florida is a great place to retire.

Faith and Bob frolick in the waves.