Carrie’s Place

My wealth of creativity has been dry for quit some time now! Anyway, so thought I would share some pics from the past few weeks:

Me and Kathie at the Duck - can you say CHEESE? Sprung played that night, they rock!

Ha ha, me and Dan – that is supposed to be the Houston skyline behind us. We went to see Jeff Dunham, and had an awesome hotel room facing downtown Houston. We laughed our asses off that night!

The Fish Fry/Car & Bike Show at Fort Hood Harley:

Here is Dan with Bullitt. I think Bullitt really loves him, he follows him around like his little shadow!

Chocolate, ooh the queen of temptation. Chocolate tempts us with its rich, luscious flavor, its thick creamy texture and its power to soothe our minds. It is for some a “gift from Mother Earth”- her creation that has over 1,000 flavor components and 300 chemicals which affect brain chemistry and mood.

With the impending dreaded Chocolate Fest, aka Halloween, quickly approaching, I am going to have to build up my immunities to the craving! (with the exception of the bag of Hershey miniatures I ate today)

So why do so many of us crave chocolate?

Scientists believe it may be the hundreds of chemicals in chocolate, many of which are stimulants. Those include caffeine and theobromine (stimulates the cardiac muscle and the central nervous system), along with henylethylamine, which is related to amphetamines (strong stimulants). These are known to increase neurotransmitter activity in our brains (endorphins are released), helping us to pay attention, stay alert and experience a pleasurable “high.”

Although chocolate is not an aphrodisiac, as the ancient Aztecs believed, chocolate containg phenylethylamine PEA, a natural substance that is reputed to stimulate the same reaction in the body as falling in love. Hence, heartbreak and loneliness are great excuses for chocoloate over indulgence.

How do you like your chocolate? Wrapped in a heart-shaped box with a big bow — or piece by piece savoring every magnificent morsel? According to Astrology.com, here’s the Astrological insight into the way each Sun Sign craves and consumes chocolate.

Aries doesn’t waste any time and eats all of the chocolates in one sitting. (Dad???)

Taurus tends to buy two boxes and leave only the orange and coffee cream ones for you.

Gemini makes their chocolate choice by taking a nibble out of each piece and putting them back in the box. (Mom???)

Cancer stores the chocolates away and can make even the smallest box last for a month.
Leo will insist on having first choice.

Virgo cuts their chocolates up into small, manageable bites with a knife and fork.

Libra chooses two boxes of chocolates, white and dark; one for you, one for them.

Scorpio can’t resist rubbing the chocolates all over their partner and licking it off.

Sagittarius only orders foreign chocolates. (Weeeelll, I was guilty of buying about $40 worth of chocolate during my layover in Holland!)

Capricorn seeks perfection in picking truffles of the best variety. (Not mushrooms, Dan!)

Aquarius skips chocolates altogether - they prefer a box of carob and raisin health bars.

Pisces tends to share them all and forget to leave one for themselves. (Definitely Heather)

It seems like I’ve been busy for the past few weeks, but I can’t say exactly what it is that I have been doing to keep me busy. Perhaps is the turning of the season, with the days getting shorter, I find myself retiring earlier in the evenings.

With the cooler air came the beautiful weather! Saturday found me and Dan two-up on his bike, heading out to Gruene. Partially to continue his quest for FDDs, and my want to …well, not sure what I wanted, but I wanted to get away, so off to Gruene we went! On our way, we stopped at Central Texas H-D to check out the new place. Pretty cool. However, the new Toad is going to blow them away!

Off the beaten path and hidden back behind New Braunfels, we rode into the small town of Gruene. The economic growth there is astounding. Who would have thought that a small lazy historic town would suddenly be overwhelmed with so much new real estate? We found Gruene Harley-Davidson where Dan secured another FDD. Around the corner we found ourselves in the historic downtown Gruene, and ate at the Gristmill. The atmosphere was relaxing and lazy, and after a couple of beers, burgers and fries, we were ready for a nap! I would definitely recommend to anyone to eat at the Gristmill if you find yourself in the New Braunfels area! We mozied on up River Road and into Canyon Lake, from there we found ourselves at the Devil’s Backbone again before heading home.

Here is a picture of us the first time we rode the Devil’s Backbone.

Here are some pics of the Guadalupe River and Canyon Lake. It was a little windy, but the weather was great! Made for some great pics!!!

I really like this pic of Dan.

This morning I woke up around 6, and all I could think about was having to get out and mow the yard, do laundry, washing the bike…the list goes on. So I went back to sleep.

I woke up around 8:30, and again, the daunting tasks of the day made me wish I could slumber all day and ignore the inevitable. But sleep wouldn’t come back to me. What in the world could I do to get out of doing chores??? Oh yea….I forgot. I have a machine sitting in my garage that gives me the escape that I need when life becomes overwhelming. And sitting next to it was another one….so I called the “Demon.” Mom was kind enough to take the phone to him while he was in the bathroom.

An hour later, we were heading up 317, destination: Granbury. The Horny Toad HOG Chapter recently rode out to a restaurant called Groggy Dawg. So, why not check it out ourselves?

After several near death experiences following Dad (can I reiterate, “Demon”~ don’t let the trucker hat and Goldwing fool you) we found ourselves in an interesting restaurant that is docked on Granbury Lake. Littered with tropical motif and pirate paraphernalia, it seemed like the ideal place to be on a lazy Sunday avoiding house chores. However, the food left a little to be desired. I would give it two stars: one for the ranch dressing, the other for the atmosphere.

It was 95 degrees by the time we headed out towards Lake Whitney…the last thing on our minds was fuel. At 140 miles, I had to switch over to reserve…then out of the blue…an oasis…FUEL! The old timey fuel pumps in Lake Village outside of Whitney were a lucky omen…time to go home!

This is me chasing him up 56…

Just in case anyone was wondering why I call him “Demon”:

Going……

Going……

GONE!!!

What do you get when you get together with two Cajuns and a Texan with a zest for cooking?  GREAT FOOD and great hospitality!  The past few days have been filled with brisket, shrimp, white wings, fried fish, and oh yeah - cold beer! (I am sure there was more, but between the food induced high and alcohol induced buzz…well, I was going somewhere with that sentence, but I can’t remember) 

I could really get used to eating like that ~ one of these days, Mike and Maureen are going to walk outside, and I am going to have set up camp in their front yard, with a sign that reads “Will fold laundry for food.”

Dan and the rest of the New Orleans crew left out this morning to return to a storm weathered city. Sounds like it won’t take long for life to return to normal for them ~ with electricity and water being restored quickly throughout Gustav’s path, I am sure they are all heaving a deep sigh of relief to return home unscathed.

I am a little sad at their departure, and my mind lingers on thoughts of deep brown eyes, Cool Water, loud pipes, and pumpkin spice liquor - and lots of laughter and smiles.  Life is good.

Check out my page on Pearl (click on Pearl to the left of this post) ~ she is my current foster kitty. Please help me find her a home!!!

This isn’t the wild hogs type - check it out, coming in September on FX:

I had feared the worse for the past couple of weeks. No siting the the HSBG lately. Every morning I sit and stare out my wondow, scanning for any sign of the bunnies. None. Three weeks and not hare in site.
Until this morning. I pulled back the curtains to my window just in time to see one come out from the treeline, and trot right up to Burney. Then, just a few feet behind her, the other one emerged from the treeline, and they both hopped right up to the back porch and commenced to eating the vegitation growing up around the concrete slab. I did see evidence that the small one with more dark markings is a boy. The other one appears to be female, she is slightly bigger than the boy, and lighter in color. She even stood up on her rear feet for a moment when she suspected she saw movement in my window. They didn’t hang out very long, I am sure they took off to the the back fields to chase each other back and forth as I have seen them do.

It is Day 4 of the Ear Mite Drama at the House of Cats.  Devin is persistently getting better at her pathetic cries of …cries of patheticism.  (I think she made that word up.)  She is the biggest struggler. I literally have to pin her down under my legs and chest to get her to hold still while I clean out her ears. Dropping in the fluid is almost impossible. The whole ordeal takes 15-17 minutes with her. Her cries lure the other three to the other side of the door, crouching low with their ears back, prepared for whatever might emerge from the bathroom. 

Shelby is easy to lure in the bathroom with a pinch of tuna fish. Once in, with the door closed, she recognizes that she is about to experience the ear drama.  Her hair stands up on her back, and she hunkers down in the corner, and I suspect she is cursing her weak will power and inability to deny tuna.  She has perfected her growling technique.  It starts as a low guttural deep in her chest, and as I squeeze the drops in, it emits from her as a loud and angry hiss!  What a feminine 15 pound sweetie she is! 

Bullitt and Galenthius are the Gentle Giants.  They let me clean and administer the drops with very little restraint. Then they hide from me for hours afterwards, hunkering down under the bed, their ears laid low, looking like Yoda stand-ins for Star Wars.

Ten more days to go!!!!

Sometimes I feel that if I could pull the throttle hard enough I could leave behind the weight of life. Sad thing is, sometimes, I can’t pull hard enough. It chases me, catches up with me, and my anger only makes my shoulders stiff, hard to take the curves; my eyesight weak with stress; my legs stiff from tension. But it still feels good to have the wind tugging at my body, the lull of the vibration from the bike to ease strains and sorrow, even after the rain starts to pelt my arms like needles, making the road slick and traitorous. Danger is no threat, only a challenge, one to take and face head on, to overcome and put behind me, like the road I have already consumed, rolled past and gone. The clouds are ominous, looming and ready to burst with the cry of my emotions, to hide the tears that roll down my cheeks, erased by the anger of the rain. I want to go home. My real home where my friends beckon to me, promises of love filled days, sweet tea and sunglasses, lounging on chairs in the sun, stretched out to feel the heat from a forgiving life, so unlike the one now.

The throttle can bring it all back to me, in thoughts, in daydreams, in reality its only a whisper. Tomorrow is a new day. Here.