Monday Meanderings

Cultural differences I've encountered in the past couple of days:
~ because the city hasn't paid its water bill in a while, the co-op drove through downtown on Saturday morning blaring a message to that effect over loud speakers while co-op employees went store-to-store handing out fliers (from what I understand, this does not prompt the city to pay its bill but apparently does make the co-op folks feel better)
~ in the grocery store you will often encounter numerous empty shopping carts blocking check-out lanes because people who have already checked out, rather than returning carts to the front of the store, push them back into the check-out area after they've unloaded their goods onto the conveyor belt
~ people serve themselves from food that is right in front of them but do not pass bowls around the table as we are accustomed to doing in the U.S. -- I'm still not clear on whether you are expected to pass your plate and ask whoever is in front of the desired food to serve you or only eat what is in front of you or ask them to pass the food to you... any of the relatives know the answer to this? We'd like to know!

I watched a recent episode of Dancing With The Stars (a show I'd never seen before) because HELLO, DONNY OSMOND was on it. Anyone my age will totally get that; the rest of you, trust me, it was something I HAD to do :-) I did not expect to be so amused; I laughed -- hysterically a few times. Like when Ashley Hamilton said, "I think the biggest challenge is all the physical stuff." Duh! Then I felt really bad when he told about his motorcycle accident and brain injury and subsequent surgery, and being in a wheelchair for over a year. [Although I admit I couldn't stop laughing even then.]

And when Tom Delay commented that one move made him feel "prissy" before admitting: "One thing I wasn't prepared for in learning to dance was getting in touch with my feminine side" and then dancing to "Wild Thing".

Having never been a fan of reality or competitive television, I normally avoid such shows like the plague. But DONNY OSMOND compelled me to watch. The experience is best summed up by a comment from dapper elderly gentleman judge Len who is cold -- very cold -- and ruthless: "Parts were magic, parts were tragic."

I made cornbread yesterday after seeing the photo on Sara's blog. And it is some of the best I've ever made. I threw in some sweet red bell pepper, onion from our garden and a handful of freshly grated Sardo cheese. Yum! Thanks for the inspiration Sara!

On the other hand, I also experienced Fail #4 with no bake cookies. 

My SIL is having a giveaway on her blog but I don't want anyone to go over there because the winner will receive a beautiful handmade pottery bowl and I WANT IT. So just ignore her blog for a while, okay? Oh alright, go on over...but don't leave a comment. Fine then, leave a comment...but TRY NOT TO WIN.

In case you hadn't heard, you can be friends with a real, live Ugandan gorilla on facebook now. Don't believe me? Go here to read all about it. I'm not sure which is more disturbing: that I can be friends with a gorilla or that the word gorilla comes from a Latin term meaning "hairy woman".