Follow-Up Friday

Lot's to follow-up on today, especially since I missed Follow-Up Friday last week...so let's just get right into it, shall we?

We will start with Fun Monday - A pinch of Salt, where we shared some of our favorite recipes. It appears that my martini recipe is well on the way to becoming everyone's favorite. I'm very glad I shared it then. I will also tell you that this past Friday I made the same martinis for a friend of mine, and they were a huge success. Also, Min asked "You can do that? You can just throw food together and it's edible?" - Yes, I'm just good like that! haha...no, but seriously, I can. It's definitely something I learned from my mom, who learned it from her mom. Or maybe it's just passed down in our genes in some mystery DNA code, but I can pretty much dig out a bunch of random ingredients and create something that works well together and actually tastes pretty darn good. The only problem with this approach is that I can NEVER recreate a dish, because I don't keep track of what I put in it, and therefore, the next time I try to make it, it's completely different.

Moving on to "Oh What a Night - Or Five". This was a meme I was tagged for by my friend JennieBoo. As I said in that post, it was really hard to pick which nights I'd use for this meme, as there are so many others I could have picked from. Qualcosa di Bello asked that I elaborate on my first night in the U.S. and maybe do a whole post on that one. I've noted that down, and one of these days, I promise to do so. Frigga commented on the NKOTB concert...Hey Frigga, you'll love this, my cousin M&M, (who went to that concert with me) called me this past Wednesday night squealing in delight because she was a local "fair" and Jordan Knight was performing. She said it was sort of sad, because there were like 6 people watching, everyone else was just walking by, not even noticing him. How far they fall, right? OH, and about Pandora radio, I actually listen to it as well. LOVE IT.

Now, about my Wordless Wednesday post of that week. "Make No Bones About it". I wish I could take credit for the creative "front lawn" display, but this guy actually resides, year round as far as I can tell, outside of a little gift shop at Weirs Beach near Laconia, NH. I took the shot on my mini-vacay a few weeks ago. It just struck me as so odd, outside of a gift shop.

My Thursday Thirteen last week featured 13 additional pictures I took on my mini-vacay. April Elizabeth said: "you are a fabulous photographer! Those pictures are so beautiful.we are practically neighbors, I am from boston. I love that lake. Where else in NH do you go, have you ever been to Pittsburg, nh? I think that place is heaven on earth." Thank you! I've only just begun with this photography business, and had no idea how much I would love it. I've really taken an interest in it, however, and appreciate the compliment, because it encourages me to do more. As far as where else in NH I go, mostly, unless you count shopping in the Salem or Nashua area, that's about it. I do travel up to the White Mountains once in a while, but not as much lately as I used to. Thank you to everyone else who said such nice things about my photos!

Friday of last week I began my 200 Things About Me list, in honor of my 200th post. Most comments to my first 50 were asking for the next 50...boy you guys are an impatient bunch! Of course, then I got sick over the weekend, and didn't exactly deliver on time. I apologize for that.

I was going to skip Fun Monday this week, due to feeling under the weather, but then Robin goes and asks to see our shoes! Well then. So I showed you some pictures, and although I know my shoes ROCK, what I didn't expect was all the compliments I received on my legs. THANKS Pamela, Beckie, Robinella, and WillowTree (and for the record, WT, I am short, at 5'2" so yes, that is part of the reason I wear heels so much, but I'm glad you approve! ;-). And thanks to Blue Momma about my toes, would you believe I had such a complex about toes that I didn't start wearing sandals until I was in college? Anyway, you all had me blushing with your compliments! And Kaytabug, I will post more photos of shoes in the future, you can count on that!

Tuesday I finally delivered Part 2 of the 200 Things About Me list. Julia said "I'm glad you feel you'd like to adopt, whether you're married, single, ready to be a mother, not ready to be a mother... somewhere your child will find you!" Thanks Julia, I believe that too. Terra said "You sound like you are doing really well... I admire you..." wow, thanks...that's a nice thing to hear.

Wednesday I gave you Part 3 of the 200 Things List. Beckie said: "Wow! I think you need to start dating more often. I can't wait to hear the stories!" Yeah, me too Beckie...any ideas how I start this dating thing? haha...

I know I still owe you all Part 4...I'm working on it, I swear!

My Thursday Thirteen this week was pretty random...just random thoughts I had throughout the week. Most of you commented on Britney...I honestly have a mix of feelings when it comes to her, and could go on and on about those. I feel badly for her because I think she's a product of the industry she's in, I think she really does need help, and I don't believe she's a bad person, just in a BAD situation. But at the same time, there are plenty of other women in the industry her age, who went in different directions (Christina Aguilera for one), so we can't blame the industry per se, can we? Should they leave her alone? Perhaps. Will they? Of course not. There are so many other things I could say, but I'll leave it with this...I hope she gets the help she needs before it's too late.

My comments on Kid Nation, on the other hand, got my friend Frigga all riled up. Well, not so much my comments, as the show itself. She said: Oh, and Kid Nation is an absolutely horrifying social expiriment meant to make yet another attack on families. They want to prove that families don't really matter - that the state is just as capable and parents aren't important. Please don't buy into all that propaganda. Every parent who let their kid participate should be charged with neglect for neglecting to have proper supervision for their minor for an entire month or however long it was. Ugh - that whole show gets me so mad." But how do you really feel Frigga? ;-) Seriously though, I see and appreciate your point. And I also don't entirely disagree with it. But I also don't entirely agree with it. I think as a concept, the show has both negative and positive connotations, and different people are going to take away different things from it. I don't necessarily see it so much as this social "experiment" or even as an "abuse" type of situation. I can see why others would, but from the beginning I looked at it from the kids' points of view, and all I could think was wow, I would have LOVED to have been a part of something like this when I was a kid...how freakin' cool. To run a town? With no adults? Talk about "playing house" to the max. And if you take the television cameras away, I don't see how this is all that different than sending kids away to summer camp. So, it's the cameras that make it objectionable. The "exploiting" of the kids, for a profit, I guess. Again, I don't see how that's all that different from allowing your child to be a child actor. I've read enough background on the show and the families involved to know there was an extensive background process that went into these kids being selected and the parents allowoing them to go on the show. There ARE adults present every day, they're just not on camera. I don't know, I guess I just have a lighter view of the thing. I do understand why others have stronger views against it. And I'm sure if I allowed myself to examine every aspect, I might share some of those views...but then, I might not. But overall, I see most of these kids benefitting from this experience. Guess we'll have to see.

And that about wraps up my week (two actually). Thank you ALL for the well wishes. I'm still hacking up a lung, but other than that, I seem to be doing much better, so hopefully, after a long weekend of some rest, I should be back to normal soon.

Next week I'll give you my last 50 on the list of 2oo, tell you all about "Forever Plaid", the Musical I'm going to Saturday night with mom, and acknowledge some awards I've been given from fellow bloggers. And maybe, just maybe, I'll share a story or two about my ex boyfriends. You know you want to hear those!