Day 39 - April 17
Listening to: Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Thought for the day: "I owned an El Camino pickup in the '70s. It was a real sort of Southern deal. I had AstroTurf in the back. You don't want to know why, but I did." ~Bill Clinton

I spent some time at Alive Hospice today. I shed a bucket load of tears on my way home and in the midst of the eye flood I saw this RoosterMino (El Camino). I immediately thought, “Hmmm my life could be worse. I could be driving around in a big Chicken Camino.”

Last week, I fried a bunch of chicken and thought afterward how unattractive I smelled. I thought I could write a personal ad that said, “SWF smells like fried chicken ISO SWM that doesn’t.” Then I giggled to myself because I’m stupid like that. Today I added to my ad. “SWF smells like fried chicken and drives RoosterMino.” I think I’d get a lot of response...........for the car alone. Anyway, it just goes to show God works in mysterious ways. I continued to cry, but I was reminded I had the ability to still be silly and smile for a moment.

Day 40 - April 16
Listening to: Baker Street
Thought for the day: I have a question. You probably get this a lot, but this isn't the real Caesar's Palace, is it? ~Alan in “The Hangover”

I feel a bit of pressure because one of my best friends returned to Facebook today after a lengthy Facebook sabbatical and commented on her wall that she missed my daily thoughts. Where would I be without friends?

It’s a free HBO weekend (insert me singing the Hallelujah! Chorus here)!!! All I’ve been doing today is filling my head with movies, movies, and more movies. My coffee table looks like a Diet Coke graveyard with the cans serving as headstones. To celebrate such a joyous occasion, I made stove-popped popcorn tonight with loads of butter. I could have cooked microwave popcorn, but microwave popcorn is more in the class of reality TV and/or American Idol. It’s not the best. Raise your hand if you’re a stove cooked popcorn fan!

Day 41 - April 15
Listening to: I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
Thought for the day: Lost.

My photography skills are a lot like my driving skills. I’m not a very good driver and I'm not a very good photographer. When I combined the two, the outcome wasn’t pretty. Yes, I took this photo while trying to manipulate the streets of Madison. I had to. It was too poetic. In case, you think you need reading glasses, don’t fret. It IS blurry.

You are looking at a garbage truck with the words “PRAY TODAY” on the back. My initial thought was “If I had to get up at 5 a.m. every morning and smell, see, and touch other people’s trash I’d be in constant prayer for my circumstances to change.” Then, my thoughts switched to the fact that many people, including myself, only pray when there is garbage in their lives. Why is it so difficult to pray when the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed?

Day 42 - April 14
Listening to: Early in the Morning
Thought for the day: AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGH

HHHHH

At what age is it considered okay to become repetitive? You know, the age where no one says, "you already told me that." Let's pretend I'm at that age because I think I'm probably being repetitive with today's thought.

I know what my Dad’s favorite food is. It’s ice cream. He bleeds it. You can count on eating it if you visit him. He used ice cream to teach me his sharing principle; the principle that the process of sharing makes whatever you are sharing better.

While visiting him one summer, I went to get the ice cream container out of the freezer only to find it almost empty (a rare occurrence in the Trolinger household). I scooped out the remaining clouds of vanilla into my bowl without any regard for anyone else. My Dad was observing my every move. When I sat down and started to eat he said, "You know that would taste better if you'd share” I giggled and said, “yeah……..right.” What kind of ploy was this? Then, a strange thing happened. I was slammed with guilt and ended up sharing. We laughed the entire time. I remember the moment more than the ice cream which is EXACTLY why sharing makes everything better.

There never was, nor will there ever be a need to scream in our family car to get Dad to stop for ice cream.

Day 43 - April 13
Listening to: Molly Malone
Thought for the day: If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good! ~Dr. Seuss

I is Kris, Kris I is…………If I was afflicted with a case of Dr. Seuss-itis, I would construct a story about Scotch Eggs and Corned Beef to describe tonight’s Wednesday Dinner Group experience. Before tonight, if you had told me I would be noshing on Scotch Eggs and Corned Beef at McNamara's Irish Pub, I would have told you I do not like either food here or there, in a house or with a mouse, in a box with a fox ………you get the idea. Alas, my creativity is a bit knackered tonight, so you can consider yourself lucky that I won't KriSeuss you!

I experienced a first tonight. We shared an order of Caledonia Scotch Eggs as an appetizer. I had no idea what they were, but just the sound of Caledonia Scotch Eggs sounded hurlistic to me. Heaven smiled down on me………..they were fried. You know my rule on fried stuff right? If it’s fried, Kris likes it.

For my main meal I ordered the corned beef bites. I typically don’t like corned beef. That wasn’t the case tonight. The corned beef bites were to die for. I am going to be hard pressed to order anything else when we return to McNamara’s next time………….. and we will return. For the record, the waiter said the fish and chips were the best item on the menu. Several of my friends concur.

Day 45 – April 11
Listening to: You Are Perfect
Thought for the day: When the lawn mower of life runs you over, act like a dandelion.

Someone warned the dandelion brigade that I was mowing Saturday. They apparently all bowed to the blade and were spared. When I walked out this morning, the newly bald dandelions were standing erect in full blown glory once again. I am convinced this is my yard’s way of giving me the finger for trying to annihilate anything living in it. Oh well. I might as well admire the dandelions’ perseverance. There are lessons to be learned here. Next time someone mows me over, I’m going to pop back up and keep living my life…………………..until someone blasts me with Kris and Feed.

Day 46 – April 10
Listening to: Wind chimes singing in the wind………..somewhere in the background The Masters
Thought for the day: “Snakes….I hate snakes.” ~Indiana Jones

If Pearl (my black Lab) had her own Fab Lab company, she would produce perfumes called Squirrel, Scent of a Bitch, and Eau Du Dead Animal. Today, she discovered and dabbed on a new scent. We’ll call it Snake or Snake Oil for dogs. Fortunately for me, this dead snake had not been departed from this world long enough to become odiously odoriferous. This baby snake was actually our second snake sighting for the day. God was smiling on me in that Pearl Girl didn’t see the first big, fat, black, nasty SNAKE slither off into a massive tangled tree vine universe. I wasn’t fast enough to get a picture of the big mutha. I was too busy sucking in 50 pints of fear-fueled air.