Saturday Six - Episode 14

Patrick just keeps on keeping on.  Lucky for us.  

The weeks just fly by any more.  It seems like just yesterday Patrick was putting together last week's edition, and here we are ready for another set of six.  

Answer the questions at Patrick's Place or put the answers in an entry on your journal...the link you leave at Patrick's gives everyone who plays a chance to visit your journal!  Enjoy!

1. Open local telephone directory and turn to the "X" listings in the residential section:  give the first surname and the last surname that appears in the "X" listings.  (In other words, what last name beginning with X is the first listing in the "X" section, and which last name beginning with X is the final one before the "Y" listings begin?)

Local telephone directory?  You mean that large book of paper I burned to start the fire in my outdoor fireplace? Sorry. No can do this question.

2. Of the seven deadly sins:  pride, envy, gluttony, anger, greed, sloth, and lust, which are you most recently guilty of?  (Details aren't necessary...unless you wanna...)

Gluttony -- guilty! This evening I was overtaken when a family size bag of Riesen's chocolates followed me home and wouldn't leave until I ate nine of them.

3. What is the last dish you cooked completely from scratch?  ("Hamburger Helper" doesn't count!)

Does microwaving Lean Cuisine count? Does pouring olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the salad that comes from White Hen Pantry in its own plastic bowl with an optional plastic fork count? *sigh* Probably not.

Okay. For real: I made ice tea from scratch.  Turned on the faucet. Filled up the glass teapot.  Pushed the buttons on the microwave. All this without supervision I might add. Heated the water.  Found the good teabags. [As a concession to modern living, I no longer grow my own tea]. Poured the hot water over the teabags.  Steeped the tea.  Got out the ice cubes [which I had made from scratch earlier].  Poured the tea into a glass over the ice cubes.  Opened the bottle of concentrated lemon juice. [What?  You can actually buy lemons at the store?] Poured in a cap full of juice that I measured myself. Added two packets of Splenda, [opened them myself]. And voila, homemade ice tea from scratch.

4. List the states in which you've actually set foot.  (If you drove through a state but never got out of the car, don't count it.  If you've flown over a state without landing in it, don't count it.)

Oregon [my favorite personal growth seminar locale; once drove from Portland airport to Eugene at night in dense fog], California [go to LA a lot, but still can't get over the giant redwoods], Nevada [little old ladies in Reno playing slots at 7:00 AM, wearing those weird muslin gloves -- I walked past them on my way to a volleyball tournament], Texas [love the hill country, San Antonio and Austin; you can have Dallas, never been to Houston -- never want to go], Oklahoma [arrived in Oklahoma City shortly after the bombing to discover a large Ryder truck parked outside the building where we were shooting a video], Colorado [loved riding horseback down Ruthie's Run in Aspen], Montana [best photography store in the country is in Bozeman], Wyoming [one word: Tetons], South Dakota [vast Badlands and bikes], Minnesota [great camping; great theater in Minneapolis], Wisconsin [Door County is ajewel], Illinois [Chicago Chicago Chicago], Iowa [the writer's school at my older daugher's alma mater], Missouri [St. Louis Cardinal football], Florida [have you ever been in the clean, clear, and very warm water on the bay in Pensacola?], Georgia [21st century Atlanta has all the charm of a cinderblock outhouse] , North Carolina [college], Virginia [History on the highways; but Monticello is looking pretty run down these days], Indiana [the Amish are remarkable], Ohio [Toledo is surprisingly nice; Cleveland is a disappointment], Michigan [Ann Arbor rocks; so do the sunsets on the west coast beaches], Massachussetts [what's not to love about the Cape?], Connecticut [Greenwich has a lingerie store that requires an appointment], New York [Staten Island ferry at midnight], New Jersey [the Joisey Shore], Delaware [great corn and watermelon; lots of relatives], Maryland [the Bay, even with all the jelly fish] DC [Georgetown is charming], Tennessee [Nashville's great music; Memphis has art, great food, tradition, AND Elvis], Hawaii [swoon], Arizona [best place to see a sky full of millions of stars], and Nebraska [last place to buy Coors in the old days heading east; and a convenient place to change a flat tire in the median]. South Carolina [Stopped at a stop sign in Hilton Head, looked to my right and there was a gator sunning in someone's backyard] Pennsylvania [The turnpike tunnels, Buck's County, Ringing Rock, all the interesting fences], Louisiana [Buying a big silver ladle in the French Quarter, riding the City of New Orleans train to get there],

5. You must give up TWO of the following "modern" conveniences.  Which two would you most be likely to toss out for good?
A) Dishwasher
B) Remote Control (for all devices)
C) Compact Disc Player
D) DVD Player
E) Internet
F) Washer/Dryer
G) Microwave
H) Cellular Telephone
I) Your Online Journal

Actually I can live without personal ownership of any of these. Got rid of my dishwasher [boy was he ticked off]. Hate my cell phone. The only thing I refuse to live without is a remote for the TV. I can't watch TV unless I have one.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #12 from Emeraldcalf: What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to your significant other?

Significant other, isn't that someone who makes an impact on your daily life in an up close and personal way?  I may have to recuse myself.  Wait, there's the lawn guy.  My pet peeve with him is that he doesn't put the birdbath back in its place after mowing the grass. Why he moves it is beyond me.