Snapshot from Along the Broken Road: February 2013

A photo of me:

I could have done a nicer one, but this one just makes me laugh so much.

1) Candle scents this month:
French Vanilla. North Pole. Balsam and Cedar. White Christmas. Red Berry and Cedar. Mountain Berry. Be Jolly. Deck the Halls.

2) What I am reading this month:
I have 125 pages left to go in The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett), and then I will get back to Knuckler: My Life with Baseball's Most Confounding Pitch (Tim Wakefield with Tony Massarotti). I have enjoyed The Pillars of the earth all along, but the last 100 pages I've read have *really* sucked me in. It's all starting to come together now and I can't wait to see how it ends!

3) Three things One thing on my mind:
1. I really hate being told "As a woman/Christian/citizen/whatever, you should feel OUTRAGED by [fill in the blank]." How about "you" stop telling me what I should feel? As I free thinker, I perfectly capable of looking at the facts, weighing the various options, considering my own personal values, morals and priorities, and deciding how *I* feel about said topic. Your trying to shame me or guilt me or bully me into agreeing with how *you* feel about something is pretty offensive, actually...even if I agree with you! It's fine for you to state how you feel, and we may or may not agree, but simply because we share similar religious beliefs, happen to be the same gender, are affiliated with the same political party, live in the same state, or whatever classification you wish to use does NOT mean that we have to be clones in how we think or feel. You may feel very strongly about any particular issue, policy, topic or cause, but it isn't up to you to tell a single other person how they feel. BACK OFF.

4) Movies I saw:
Not a single one. February sweeps mean lots of new television episodes.

5) Calendar image for the month:
The home version, and if this doesn't remind me of Chippens Hill on a snowy February day, I don't know what does.

The work version makes me long for a May night and the crack of a baseball bat.


6) New recipes tried this month:
Creamy Chicken Florentine. Super-Easy Cherry Pie. Baked Ziti. Brown Sugar Glazed Baby Carrots.

7) Restaurants where I ate:
Bob Evans.

8) Five things I am loving this month:
1. Our new bed and bedding.
2. Finally finding Yoplait Original in raspberry at Target. Publix stopped carrying it. Winn-Dixie stopped carrying it. T couldn't even find it for me at the W-store where I refuse to shop. Thank heaven for Target!
3. Mike Lowell back with the Red Sox as a temporary infield instructor. I love hearing that Pedey asked him to make an appearance and spend a little time with Will Middlebrooks, giving him some insight on how Lowell and Pedey used to work together turning double plays.
4. Mint M&Ms.
5. Frosty Florida mornings.


9) Five goals for next month:
1. Clear out 10 magazines from The Stack.
2. Scan 25 more old photos.
3. Do one Pinterest project.
4. Finish those two books and move on to something new!
5. Get the DVR cleared out to the point that only the most recent episode of a show might be lingering. (Baseball season is rapidly approaching, the DVR has been acting a little weird lately, and we've been wanting to switch the special HD DVR that will access the MLB Extra Innings HD channels.)

10) This month I looked forward to:
The beginning of Spring Training. Even if the games count for nothing, I am thrilled that baseball activities are taking place.

11) Something that made me laugh this month:
I was outside, watering the plants, when I dropped the hose. It landed on the spray nozzle "just so" and next thing I knew, I was getting a cold water shower directly in the face. It probably took ten seconds for me to react, I was so shocked. And what is there to do but? Well, laugh, and then, open the front door and stand there, dripping, asking your husband to please get you a towel. (He laughed too.) (I'm more than ok with that. Life is too short to take yourself too seriously. Also, he did the same thing the previous weekend and had to run away from the hose!)

12) A photo I took this month: