Tales from the Love Shaque

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Happy Veterans Day

To all of those who served before me, with me and after me.... THANK YOU!

Here's a little "I Love Me" memory lane trip.....

March - May 1992

A green 18 year old kid

May - September 1992

Long enough to realize that electronics is not for me!

USS Canopus AS34

September 1992 - December 1994

USS Canopus Decommissioning Crew

USS Abraham Lincoln CVN72

December 1994 - April 1997

Re-enlistment happened between the rudders of the Lincoln

March 1996

Tiger Cruise 1995 (with Mom)

October 1995

F-14 Tomcat - only the coolest plane ever flown!

Naval Station Everett, Washington

April 1997 - Mar 2000

My ribbons & Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist wings
on my VFW cover.

photo http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-124-9BF74C716651145ECAC7EDD1AB729D6B_zpsxkuumtdq.png

Friday, November 9, 2018

Holy crap. Sorry - I mean What's Up, Weekend!!

How is it that Halloween is over & November is over a week old already????

How is time moving so fast? Is it age?? Please don't tell me it's age!!

I'm linking up with the lovely ladies Lindsay, Beth & Charlotte at the Peaceful Posse. There's too much crap & negativity in the world, so these are all positive / happy / grateful posts in this linkup.

First of all -

Here's my house Halloween night.

Here it is last Friday.

I probably shouldn't include this on this post, since this does NOT make me happy!

And here's my backyard - tonight!

It only got up into the mid 30s today & it's been spitting snow off & on all day.

I'm pretty sure this cold has finally done my roses in. I always get a second wave of blooms in mid/late October. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it happens with several rose bushes I have. I went to a rose class last spring & they said not to prune them until the forsythia's bloom in the spring. So what happens if we get a wet, heavy snow? It's going to break all the branches!

Anyone hear of this?

Have box - must cat!

Randy ordered some stuff and 2 out of 3 cats enjoyed the boxes muchly. Rusty didn't even wait until the box was emptied - he just climbed in & got underneath the packing material. Maddie trotted around the corner & didn't even hesitate - she got right into the cat trap in the hall.

This is my newest great-nephew!

They came to Michigan to visit the last weekend in October.

I just want to squish those cheeks!

Aw, how quaint!

I took the Spawn & we went to vote Tuesday.

She told me by the time she's 40, she'll be able to go alone.

But she has already mastered to art of evading the politician's cronies that hang outside the polling place, giving out pamphlets & pencils.

Panera had a ghost pumpkin cookie.

So I had to get it!

Not sure why it's white with a blue stem, but it tasted good!

Tomorrow is the first of the annual craft shows that I go to with Mom & the sisters. This one is held at the high school that all 3 of us graduated from. We have a good time, shopping & chatting then going out to lunch. I have to try to find something for the mother-in-law. Talk about someone impossible to shop for! She's not big on "things" or experiences! She's got no hobbies that I know of. We'll get her a gift card for a restaurant, and she'll hold onto it until Randy (or both of us) come to visit. She seemed appalled when I asked her to go to the bathhouse with me (she lives in Hot Springs, AR) - she's never been in the waters & has no desire to. She's retired so I don't know what she does with her days! Sheesh.

So I feel like a bad fur-Mom. Poor Jack

(pic from this summer - obviously not taken recently!)

It took me more than a month to figure out that the poor guy wasn't actually coughing at night, but actually gagging and that the food I was giving him probably didn't agree with him! I woke up at the stoke of 0300 this morning with that thought. He'd been eating grain free since August when Laurie's dog had to be put down and she gave us the rest of his food. Pretty sure that's when it all started, it just got worse recently and for the last week or so, he really hasn't been interested in eating his food (people food was OK, tho!). So I stopped & got him some regular food on my way home & he's done pretty near a full 180. There's still some coughing, but not anywhere near the extent he was. It'll probably take a few days to get the yucky stuff out of his system. So I'm happy he's feeling better!

What kind of fun stuff do you have planned this weekend?

Saturday, October 27, 2018

#Blogoween - The Art of Horror

My first book review!

So I really don't know what I'm doing so here's the pertinent info about this awesome book.

The Art of Horror

An Illustrated History

Edited by Stephen Jones

Forward by Neil Gaiman

Genre - Pop Culture / Horror / Film / Television

Publisher - Applause Theater & Cinema Books

Publication - October 31, 2015

256 pages

500+ illustrations & photographs

ISBN# 9781495009136

I won this book in a raffle from another blogger a couple years ago. I really didn't think it would anything I'd be interested in, but the illustrations & images are so beautiful and interesting! I'd consider it a Halloween-time coffee table book.

Inside the cover was a copy of the press release that says " These images continue to inspire nightmarish creatures that wander the streets every Halloween; the tradition of bone-chilling campfire stories; and let's not forget the psyche-scarring films audiences cant get enough of."

I hope it's OK to share some of the images from it!