hot mofo

It is 107 degrees in Yorba Linda at this moment. We were going to go to Knotts Berry Farm this evening in honor of Hallie's birthday, but sheesh....maybe an air-conditioned movie would be better.

Grandma and the possum

So my mother just called me to make sure I made it home alive from Mexico, and told me this event in her week.

They had a front blow through Tulsa recently and it brought some much needed rain and really greened everything up. Mom loves animals of all varieties, and spends hours sitting on the patio watching butterflies and bunnies and hummingbirds frolicking amongst the trees, but this week she had a wild animal encounter of a new variety.

One morning just after all the rain came, she took a bag of trash out to the outdoor cans stored at the side of her house. When she lifted the can lid, she saw what was, in her words, "the ugliest, most bedraggled, pathetic-looking animal I've ever seen." Sitting at the bottom of the can, in two inches of garbage and rainwater, was a large possum. It was soaking wet, and so motionless that she thought it was probably dead. It didn't react at all to the lid being removed. She tipped the can and let the water run out, and then rattled the can to try to roust it out, but it just lay there, limp as a noodle. Her heart was broken, and naturally, she became determined to save the poor possum.

She went inside and got a big plate of cat food and set it outside the tipped can. She read on the internet about what possums eat (anything and everything) so she also put a pile of fruits and vegetables out near the cat food. She was heartbroken when the possum didn't move a hair, and showed no interest at all in the banquet she'd laid out. She decided it must be sick or dying, but she went back to her computer to read up more on the world of possums.

As soon as she began to read in depth, she had one of those "DUH!" moments! As we all learned as little kids, when possums are threatened, what do they do? Well of course, THEY PLAY POSSUM!! As soon as she made the connection, she ran back outside, and you can guess it: the cat food was gone, the "possum salad" was gone, and most of all, the possum was gone!

On that day, in that place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it was a good day to be a possum.

We're leaving tomorrow morning for a week in Mazatlan. (I'm including a photo of the resort, Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay. It's our third time there--it's gorgeous.) My main focus will be trying to stay on Atkins the whole time we're there. I've actually bought foil packets of tuna, a summer sausage and a bag of nuts to pack in my suitcase. If TSA opens my luggage, they'll think the nut is ME!

See y'all in a week!

20 pounds

Is what I've lost since June 22. I don't know why I ever stop eating Atkins style. It's easy and it make me feel so good. It's not for everyone, so I try not to evangelize, but grains never agreed with my innards, anyway

The orchid tree

My bauhinia is nearly in full bloom now, and I wanted you to see why I won't let them chop it down! For a month or two in high summer, it creates a "wall of bloom" for me to look out on from my kitchen and living areas.

You can certainly see why the pool dude hates it, though. All the spent blossoms fall straight in.