June Cleaver Nirvana

It appears that the city in which I live is balancing the budget on the back of its hurried citizens.

It started a few months ago when road construction began...well, not the actual construction, but the cones and warning flags for the actual construction. A new and improved speed limit had been set 10 mph lower than the original with minimal new and improved signs. The way I figured it out was through watching the plight of fellow citizens pulled over with lights flashing in between the cones of impending construction.

I am quick like that.

Since that time the actual construction has arrived and along with it a fleet of enforcement. I feel lucky to drive the road frequently because I now expect dark colored police vehicles with low rise lights tucked away in every driveway, tree cove and blind corner.

I pity our town's unsuspecting visitors.

To give you an idea as to the density of which I speak, I counted 7 law enforcement vehicles in the 3.5 mile stretch of this road between town and my house.

Wow! That is an impressive ratio of public to public safety - especially considering that the city planners have dictated that lot size in this portion of town exceed 2 acres per house. I dare say that the resident population is now rivaled by the law enforcement population.

Obviously, I have slowed down. Not that I ever am INTENTIONALLY non-law abiding, I just get bored driving slow. I am happy to report that my law abidingness has kept me speeding ticketless for nearly 3 years.

Impressive.

Yesterday when I drove Ryan to school I noticed a police cruiser parked in a new location. An area where there is no construction, in fact he was at least a mile from the heavily patrolled construction zone.

Was he lost?

It didn't look like it. It looked deliberate and clever. His black car was disguised in the shadows of a forest on a quiet corner.

The road should go straight here, but it appears years ago someone built a house and then they built the road around it. I drive this way multiple times a day, multiple times a week. All that practice has allowed to me to negotiate the corner without harm.

Repeatedly.

I passed the cruiser and then made a mental note that in 5 minutes on my return trip I would abide by the speed limit.

Which I did.

All 15 mph of it.

The speed warning zone starts 100s, maybe 1000s of yards prior to the actual corner.

It took every ounce of my self control to actually drive under 15 mph for the ENTIRE corner as witnessed by the my city's best.

At first it felt like I was walking.

And then I felt like I was stalled.

And then I actually had the sensation of backward movement.

While rounding the slow motion corner I had time to think...

I thought and thought and thought.

And then it occurred to me. In the history of that corner it is very probable that no car has ever made it completely around within the letter of the law.

I am the first.

I really should get some sort of prize.

A medal.

Or parade.

And then I wondered why would they set a speed limit SO LOW that it is impossible to follow?

Did I mention the city budget issues?

Crap, they probably won't have any money left over for my parade...

If you give a Texas Mom a sunny spring day
she will ask you to find her a field of bluebonnets.

If you take her to a field of bluebonnets
she will definitely need her camera.

After she locates her camera
she may even want to make sure her children are in coordinating outfits.

Once her children are in coordinating outfits
she may ask you to help her pose them in the bluebonnets.

After her children are posed in the bluebonnets
she might notice that SECURITY has arrived.

Once SECURITY has arrived
she will probably mention how UN-Texan it is to chase mothers from fields of bluebonnets.

You might want to intervene before she gets carried away
and ask you for a lawyer.

So you will carry her away
to find another field of bluebonnets...

...because it is a sunny spring day.

Potluck is back.
Back with a vengeance...well, vengeance in the nicest way.

SATURDAY NIGHT WAS AWESOME.

Seriously, if you are a DFW blogger and you were NOT at Grand Luxe - Galleria you missed out. 30 people who for the most part had never met each other were chatting like they grew up together. I love that about this community of blogging.

A fellow blogger is never a stranger.

In fact, as you can see by this picture, being in Canada wasn't an excuse to miss the party:


I am going to keep up the RSVP list a little longer so I can make the rounds. There were several last minute RSVP's so if you were there and your blog is not on the list, please let me know and I will add ya.

The whole evening was funny:


This is what I ate:

I know! I know! They have fancy food there, but I just felt like this.

I also got a lesson in self-portraits. I have complained how horrible I am taking my own picture.

I was told the key was to have the camera higher than my face so you can avoid the up the nose shot:


So I tried again:

Much better.
I think I may need to do some additional practice on this technique.

I talked too much to get more pictures.

BUT I know that I posed for about 100 which brings me to another benefit of getting together with bloggers...they will blog about it.

So link up!

If you wrote about Saturday night, please leave the link to that post in Mr. Linky below.


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I have been getting quite a few hits from "plunging a low flow toilet" so I googled it myself to see where I was:


Oh ya, it is true. June Cleaver Nirvana is #1 and Blog Nosh who ran that post is #2 in the plunging low flow toilets search results. I am creating quite a SEO niche for myself.


What is up with Holly's coccyx?



I am doing well. Thanks.


Let's find out who is Peep of the Week!


In response to Cleanliness is next to the Crazy Train:

carpet is the devil's handiwork.
of course, loud echoey houses are the devil's playground.
but at least it's clean. --Janet

And in response to Holly goes to poker school:

That sounds awesome! I can't play for chips and I wind up just eating them. --Weaselmomma

Veterans at Peep of the Week both of 'em. Congrats to Janet and Weaselmomma for being this week's Peeps!


What is in Holly's fruit bowl?



7 bananas (none are over-ripe), 5 onions, 6 large baking potatoes, 4 navel oranges and a broken pencil decorated with Santas.

Now go hug a blogger today...

Heeeeeere's Mr. Linky...

My amazing weekend adventure started over a month ago when during our 17th anniversary dinner my husband handed me an envelope. I opened it and read that I would be attending the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament Academy and then tried to contain my excitement in the super fancy restaurant. It was nearly as hard as sitting quietly at a poker table when holding pocket aces.

*deep calming breaths*
*control body movements carefully*

The poker school was last weekend at WinStar Casino. It was a two day seminar of lectures, labs and a tournament. The academy professors were three professional poker players: Greg Raymer, Michael Gracz and Bernard Lee. The 35 or so academy students were from all over North America and I was one of 9 women.



My favorite part was the poker lab.

The poker lab was a frightening and educational experience. A poker professional would sit down at a table full of students, deal a hand and then watch the play. At the end everyone would flip over their cards and one by one defend their play.

Holy crap.

Let me just say that this was not only an eye-opening experience about how I play, but was a bit shocking to see the thought processes of other players.

So, how did I fare? Before I give you a few tips that I picked up, I want to mention that I was very proud of myself for not bursting into tears at any point during the weekend.

There is no crying in poker.

So here is how it went.

Michael Gracz gently reminded me that King - Jack is really not a premium hand even if it is suited after I called an all-in bet out of position and lost...



Greg Raymer commented I might have over-raised at 5 x the big blind...



Bernard Lee sat next to me for about 30 seconds during play and identified a huge tell...



I figure if I can remember my position, my cards, the pot odds, the implied odds, the reverse implied odds, the number of outs, the rule of 2, the rule of 4, how my opponents play, any tells they show, the amount I should raise, the amount I should re-raise, when to check, when to check-raise, when to fold, what cards are good in which position, how each of these elements might change at different levels of the tournament and recall this all within a 5 second pause after I look at my cards with a straight face and without moving my hands then I should be good.

Really good.



Until that time it might be in my best interest not to wear my WSOP Academy baseball cap when playing in tournaments...

I sure hope you kept the box so you know what the finished puzzle looks like...