"A" is for Apprehensive and also for Advil....and Alcohol.

I don't like to fly. It's not been scientifically proven that a plane can fly. Wait....what? It has been? Well, not to my satisfaction it hasn't been. I am pretty sure that the planes I am on stay in the air simply because I concentrate and mutter "wingardium leviosa, wingardium leviosa" over and over. (Google it....you'll see...) That, and the firm hold that my clenching fingers have on the armrests, clenching and pulling upwards at the same time. The combination of those two things keeps my planes in the air. And it only has to be done for 7 minutes. Almost all crashes take place within the first 7 minutes of a flight, or the last 7, as you land. I can handle 14 minutes of spell casting and arm clenching for the good of all four or five hundred passengers.

I never, ever drink while on a plane, it dehydrates you and makes adjusting to a new time zone tougher, and besides, I'm not much of a drinker. I like a glass of wine in a nice atmosphere and a crowded, generally smelly, usually noisy, often bumpy plane just doesn't cut it for me. Plus, what if I get drunk and turn into one of those people that pee in the aisle? So I take a few Advil, the nighttime ones that relax you a bit, and save the alcohol for an enjoyable drink with dinner.

So if you look up into the sky this Friday and Saturday, and see a plane up there, winging its way south, send me a good vibe and say a gentle "wingardium leviosa" as we pass overhead.

To juice or not to juice.

Everybody is juicing. "Juice!" they say, "it's so healthy for you" they say, "look at the benefits" they say.

I'm not sure that I quite get the idea. I know it's trendy, Jennifer Anniston does it, Oprah swears by it and so does her pet Dr Oz (I cannot abide that man.....he is just creepy). I think juice bars have become the new Starbucks. There's one on every corner.

But...drinking my salad through a straw? How come? Wouldn't you rather sit down and enjoy a healthy salad? And then have a tasty bowl of fruit for dessert? Are we so busy now that we have to blend our meals and desserts into one slimy, sloppy, green sludge? And then pretend it's tasty?

Is your life truly so chock full of things to do that you can't sit with your family and enjoy a meal? If so, I really feel sorry for you.

BUT! I don't want to appear too negative or uppity. I understand some of the reasons you might feel the need to juice. Maybe your kids just can't or won't eat veggies....a glass of your magic juice indeed has lots of healthy vitamins, I get that. And that's great, really, I think it is.

And I guess there might be the odd occasion that you just have no time for a meal, although I never understood that concept. That's like when people say they have no time to read. How can that possibly be? You can always find time to do the things you enjoy, and the things that are important to you. That's kinda the point of being alive. To enjoy. But anyhow, I, as they say, digress.

What I find interesting is the people who claim that a juice cleanse removes toxins from your body. What toxins are these? What exactly are we cleansing? Doctors, nutritionists, dietitians all agree that our bodies, particularly liver and kidneys are "equipped to naturally remove toxins from our systems." And again, most doctors, nutritionists and dietitians agree that while juicing in moderation in wonderful....nothing wrong with it in the least, it's best to eat your vegetable and fruits whole. If you juice because you like it, fine, I could not care any less, but that doesn't mean you are healthier than I am.

My own self, I'd rather eat a banana, a bowl of fresh strawberries and blueberries, a crunchy apple, tart and tangy. And a huge bowl of spinach and romaine with a bit of balsamic vinegar and maybe some pink salt and freshly ground pepper...how can a glass of liquids even compare?

So, juice away folks, juice away. Enjoy your big, frothy mug of thick green stuff, I'm going to have an actual meal, use my teeth and jaws to chew and my tongue to taste, the way nature intended.

Which would you prefer?

Just a test.

I've been trying to figure out how to post the pictures from my ipad to this blog. I think I may have found an app for that. There really is an app for everything. But we will see.....

Up until now I could write my regular blog from the ipad, but I couldn't add any pictures. The other alternative was to start a whole new blog that was compatible with the ipad, and that seemed like a pain and too much work.

This may be the answer...let me try and add a photo....hang on...

Hmmm, I'm seeing the picture I chose, but it's about the size of my pinky fingernail. At least it let me access my pictures, lets see what happens when I hit the "publish" button.

The picture is Shane's dog, Sava, who is smiling with joy at her new toy set- up.

Road Trip!

We went on a little road trip this week, down to Coeur d'Alene. I love Coeur d'Alene, it's so....I don't know....quaint isn't the word, but it's something along those lines. Touristy, but not in a touristy way. And friendly?  Geez, the folks are nice. "Folks" is the right word, they're just a folksy bunch. But not hillbillies, or rednecks. Although we did see lots of big 4x4 trucks that had balls hanging from the hitch. As in "testicles", but not real ones. I asked a friendly folksy guy at a gas station what they were, and not only did he tell me (truck nuts is the term, and it's just a macho kinda guy thing) he said his buddy had a set for sale, and he actually called the guy to being them to work the next day so that we could pop back in and purchase them. We passed, but appreciated the offer. I don't need to drive around with truck nuts swinging beneath me. I could, however, see a yearning in Stevens eyes.

We stayed at the casino, which is about 30 miles south of town. It's a beautiful resort...golf course, spa, large casino, lots of restaurants, and live entertainment. And guess who we missed? The Bacon Brothers! For those of you from BC who read this, I don't mean the bad, gangster Bacon Brothers, I think they're mostly in prison or dead, I mean Kevin Bacon and his brother, who have a band and they tour places like this.  I think I may have shed a tear, in both disappointment and despair. I heart Kevin Bacon. And I really, really hate when people write "heart" instead of using ❤. Or just writing "love". So you know I mean it. 

And I had an ice cream experience. I'm not a huge fan of ice cream, but the menu said it was "prepared from fresh ingredients at your table" , which sounded fun. Our server girl brought out a table with a huge stainless steel bowl and many little bowls with mysterious powders and liquids, plus a steel pitcher, whisks and wooden spoons and big ol work gloves. She mixed fresh creme anglais  with our choice of flavours (there was Guinness & cinnamon, Jack Daniels & cayenne, huckleberry & dark chocolate , and something else which I have forgotten. We decided on the huckleberry and chocolate.

So she whisks and scrapes and whisks and scrapes and adds the liquid nitrogen, which steams and froths and billows and sputters and burns when a small drop splashes out onto your arm.  It was pretty scientific-y and chemistry-like, and it turns into the most delectable ice cream right before your eyes...oh.....so.....good.....yum!

We also did a bit of a hike, the whole area around the lake is filled with trail and paths. we stopped here:

See the hill in the middle of the picture/ It's called Tubbs Hill and  we ended up at the top of it.  Here:

I'm not sure why the flags were there. I know that they have a huge fireworks display on the lake for the July 4th weekend, so maybe from that?
And this is another view from the hill:

and then we back to the casino, where our rooms were wonderful...with a Keurig machine and a selection of coffee, decaf and regular, hot chocolate, green tea, breakfast tea as well as orange spice herbal tea....refilled daily! Yay! some of the extras ended up in my suitcase.

And if that isn't enough to make you want to race right over to Coeur D'alene...how about this elevator roof? You can fall down, either drunkenly or tiredly, and gaze at the roof and pretend you are outside. How thoughtful!

I was sad to leave, and in no hurry to get home, which was just as well as we were stuck behind this truck for miles and miles, which just goes to show that this should not have been the name on the back