Happy Birthday To........

 ME!

Today, I am 46 years old.

My mind doesn't feel like it's aging.

I still think of myself as a young, carefree girl in her late twenties or thirties.

My body, on the other hand sometimes reminds me that I am not twenty something or thirty something,

by behaving way beyond its years.

It punishes me physically, as if I were a ninety year old woman.

I breathe the air and smile that I am still here. 

Ferris Wheel and Fireworks

The one thing I like about Las Vegas is that when something is going on in town I can drive to the top of the parking garage of a casino, set up my tri-pod and capture things in motion.  This photo was taken last night from the parking garage of the Silverton Hotel Casino looking out towards the San Genarro Fes,t which is an italian festival that is held every year.  The sky was already a bit hazy and smoky from the previous fireworks that were let off.  Ah, I love learning new photo techniques and night time shooting is by far the most fun for me....and things in motion. 

FMTSO: Flora, Fauna and/or Pets

Where the wild things grow......

Red Rock Canyon is an extremely popular area for hiking and biking.  Here, you will come across wild burro, cactus and other plant life that I have not identified as I am terrible at horticulture.  The following photos were taken in Red Rock a few months ago. 



The above picture was taken in a hilarious moment. 

A friend and I had just eaten at the restaurant located at Bonnie Springs in Red Rock Canyon and my friend had some potato wedges and something else to take home to her son.

We spotted a couple of wild burro near the road so we stopped to take some photos.

Well, the burro pictured above got a whiff of the food and hewalked over to our car and stuck his head through the car window. 

My friend was screaming because she was afraid of the burro.

I was laughing my ass off and told her to give him a treat.

So she gave it a potato wedge and the burro kept trying to get more. 

My friend ended up feeding the burro the entire contents of her "to go" box.

It really was a hysterical moment.

Above:  Sasha just after her bath on Wednesday.  Three months shy of fifteen years old.

She has some health problems but still gets around really well.

That's it for my flora and fauna.

To see more amazing photos click here.

Special Delivery

The other day when I opened my mailbox, 

I was delighted to find an unexpected package sitting inside.

Hmpf!  Who could this be from?, I wondered.

I couldn't wait to get back to the house to open it and discover the contents of the gift.

I noticed the return address which revealed that the mailer of the package was my Mother-in-law.

She's on vacation right now in the midwest.

I cut the tape that held the box so tightly locked and I peered inside.

Oh, how wonderful, my eyes gleamed.

Inside was the perfect birthday gift for me.

I love to cook and I love using spices.

I was thrilled going through the box to discover several different varieties.

I really love this gift. 

It not only fits my personality,

 but I think it's wonderful because it came from someone else's vacation spot which means

that she was thinking about me even when she should have been thinking about herself and having fun.

What a wonderful and thoughtful gift.

It even came with these empty jars to transfer the spices into.

I think I'llgo  buy some filet mignon and tryout  the steak seasoning tonight.

Ah, it's wonderful getting snail mail.

I really hope that snail mail doesn't die out.

FMTSO: Lines and Stripes

There are lines everywhere. 

Thank goodness because that is the theme for this week's

Friday My Town Shoot Out.

To see some really amazing photos for this week and/or to participate yourself

all you need to do is click on this link and you'll see a list of blogs who joined in on the fun.

The Rain Came Down

It's finally starting to cool off here a bit. 

Yesterday, the rain came down and made me smile. 

I'm not the only one who enjoyed this welcome change. 

Sasha was really happy. 

 For those of you who don't know, Sasha is my nearly 15 year old dog.

Lately, she has been really clingy.

So, to get her outside by herself is a real feat these days.

Yesterday, I opened the front door to take a photo of the rain and Sasha walked right outside.

(Believe me, this is quite an accomplishment)

I came back in the house and spied on her through the window.

I expected her to come back to the front door but she just stood there in the rain,

letting the drops soak into her thick fur.

She spotted me spying on her but she didn't move.

She stood frozen in the same spot for a few minutes before deciding she wanted back in.

I guess it finally got a little too wet for her.

The rain never lasts for long in Las Vegas.

It pours for a few minutes and then just stops cold as if to tease us like a lover would do.

 

Imposter!

I was so excited when we walked into a nut and candy store in the middle of the desert and I spotted these candy cigarettes that I so loved from my childhood.   My taste buds recalled the remeniscent flavors of a cross between teaberry and cloves gum with a hint of pepto bismo.  Yeah, I know..... what kind of person remenisces about the flavor of pepto bismo?  Apparently one whose memory isn't quite what it used to be.  I'm a sucker for nostaligia.  I didn't have to battle with myself for too long before I decided to buy the candies that I really did not need.  Sugar is not really my thing, unless it's in a doughnut or a cake.  But I gave in and boy what a mistake that was.  These cigarettes didn't have a hint of pepto bismo flavor infused into the sticks.....more like Maalox and chalk with something that was trying to emulate a minty taste but not quite making it.  Blah!  These were not the same sugary treats I remember from my childhood.  These things were an imposter.

Day Trip Turned to Night

We took another trip to Rhyolite ghost town which is just minutes away from Beatty, NV.

FMTSO: Graffiti

Yay, I am so happy to be participating this week.  It seems like I've been away for an eternity, and as much as I'd like to write about my woes, I won't bore you with the details.  So without further ado here are my photos for this week's Friday Shoot Out.  Oh by the way,  you may notice some similarities between my photos and Gayla's photos as we both ended up in the same place at different times.  I was originally going to photograph train cars with graffiti, but when the hubby and I drove out to where they usually are, those train cars were gone.  I was so disappointed, but then I found all of these photos. 

This graffiti artist gave me permission to take his photo while painting.

Night was beginning to fall and I noticed when we pulled away in the car the lights were turned on.

Darn!

To link up to other graffiti posts please connect here for a crusie down artist lane.