An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

I've slowly replaced all of my plastic hangers with flocked, cascading ones. Frankly, I was out of space in my closet so I needed to start going low to get more in there. I'm donating the plastic hangers to a charity. Except for one. This is a hanger I have from when my Grandma was in the nursing home and we had to ID all of her possessions. I'd actually forgotten about it and I don't remember how I got it (maybe one of my Aunts) but I will never give it away. It's funny or wonderful or heartbreaking (insert your own emotion here) how things can bring back feelings and memories.  Whether it's a picture or a knickknack or a mixing bowl or the front steps of a house or a piece of jewelry (insert your own item here), objects carry power. My Grandma Hazel was truly great and we talk about her often even though she's been gone for many years. One of the things we do when my Dad and his siblings disagree about something from their past (did they have ch...

Here's what I've watched since I posted my first set of reviews . These are all Netflix Original Movies. The Kissing Booth Best friends from birth, literally, have several rules one of which is that they can't date each other's family members. After a fund raising Kissing Booth, Elle hooks up with Lee's older brother Noah and tries to keep it secret. There was little I liked about this scenario. Noah had a hair trigger anger issue, got into a lot of physical fights, Elle's Dad 100% didn't approve and lots of lying. Did I mention the anger issue? I fear young women will watch this and think "See, I can fix my boyfriend" when they should run away as fast they can from a controlling anger monster. I did like that they showed safe sex being utilized. Coin Heist Kids at fancy prep school develop a plan to create misprinted coins to sell as collectibles after one of the kid's Dad (head of the school) embezzles all of the endowment...

I love football. I love competing against my friends. I tolerate losing when it's my fault. But, when it's out of my control, I go nuts. Which is why I shouldn't play fantasy sports. Yet, I do. In TWO leagues. My first draft was the Sunday before last.  I had the 6th pick in a 12 team PPR league (that only means something to those that play fantasy but that's probably my only readers at this point - Sports Ball!). Here's who I drafted (in order). Ezekiel Elliott Keenan Allen Jerick McKinnon* Royce Freeman Josh Gordon Ronald Jones Corey Davis Sterling Shepard** Matt Ryan*** Jordan Reed Paul Richardson Corey Clement Justin Tucker Tyrod Taylor Broncos D *Frak me. McKinnon went out for the season before it even started! ACL tear. I did a quick pickup of the guy behind him on the depth chart, Alfred Morris. Having written that, other sources say that Matt Breida is the actual guy behind him. I figure I'll see how it rolls out as the season goe...

I've been filling some of my recent free time with catching up on some Netflix material I'd been meaning to see. Once I realized how much of it was composed of their original content, I focused in on their movies. In short, some are good and some are terrible. Below are my thoughts on what I've watched. To All The Boys I've Loved Before Based on a YA novel I had actually never heard of, this is the movie I've been telling everyone to watch. Lara Jean is too afraid to share her feelings with her crushes so she writes them letters. The letters get sent and she has to deal with the consequences. So. Much. To. Love. The boys aren't stupid caricatures. The young lead isn't flighty nor does dangerous things. The featured parent is loving, involved and smart (and played by the still delicious John Corbett). The romance develops as the characters actually get to know each other by (gasp) spending time talking and sharing their feelings. If you aren't a...

I spent the first part of August in beautiful Detroit Lakes MN (beautiful in August, pretty sure I wouldn't think the same in January) for a super big and long running country music show. It was my third WEFest and I truly love the event. When people ask me about the lineup, I start rattling off all of the acts. Most people, unless they listen to The Highway on Sirius/XM, go glassy eyed and politely nod because there are a bunch of up and comers they've never heard of. There are also always some "classic" country acts that have been around for a long time and that the young listeners may not know. I listen to The Highway about 90% of the time in my car so I know all the newbies. I've also been listening to country since high school which is, sadly, long enough ago to know the classic artists, too. Here are my thoughts on the performances. Any quotes are actually paraphrased because I wasn't smart enough to write them down right away and it's been ...

I was recently in Tacoma, WA and my friends and I played tourist by visiting  The Museum of Glass . You're greeted by pieces by  Dale Chihuly  on display in the walls and ceiling of a bridge from the street to the main building. Then you see an oddly compelling water fountain before you head inside. I could have watched it for quite a while but we were raring to get inside. View of the bridge ceiling. Fountain with polite request to not throw coins in to it.  Because's it made of glass so, duh. It's a very cool place! Also, a literally very hot place as you can sit in on the glass blowing and watch works in progress in the appropriately named Hot Shop. You will break a sweat in no time. Those peeps are tough who are working right next to the fires. The fire is in the "Glory Hole" which makes my inner 13 year old laugh. They have cameras on the work areas and broadcast the images  on big screens so you can see the detai...

Back in January of 2017, my friend and colleague Kyle polled our department to see who would like to participate in playing board games once a week during lunch. We started at the end of that month and the group soon settled into the "regulars" - Kyle, Lenny, Brian and me. Occasionally, one of us would be out and someone else would drop in for the week but then it would be back to our gang. #boardgametuesday Kyle, Kathy, Brian and Lenny At one point during our RIF process, I was considering leaving at the end of May so Kyle suggested that I get to pick whatever games I wanted to play for that month. I ended up staying for June and we let Brian pick those since he was also leaving. I lucked out on the math since I got five weeks to pick and he only got four proving, once again, that I am the Princess. World's Fair 1893 I immediately knew which game I wanted to play first. World's Fair 1893 is my game. There's something about that allows me to d...