Lollipops and Wise Old Owls

Posted on July 20, 2017 by simplygiselle

Mr. Owl; how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

It is close to impossible for me to hear the word lollipop and not travel back in time to the 70’s to a commercial where a young boy asks a number of animals this very important question. I wont even describe the short commercial because it loses so much in translation. The answer ultimately becomes 3 and leaves you to believe even further it is not the answer because the owl can’t make it to the end and bites into it. Ok, spoiler alert for those that were too lazy to look it up beforehand.

My favorite flavor of the tootsie pop was cherry but the tootsie roll center was not a complementary pairing. I ended up tossing the center which is too bad because it is pretty tasty on its own.

In need of some Tooth Fairy money but Mother Nature is taking to damn long? Astro Pop to the rescue! Sticky rating: 11 out of 10. No way to save a tooth once this pop made the slightest touch.

A Ring pop is for the little girl who wanted it all; the 12 yr old prince that could afford one and the sugar to keep us running from them and pulling on our ponytail.

The Whistle Pop is the revenge pop to every parent who allowed their child to scream endlessly at the supermarket or restaurant and blankly stare at the rest of us as our ears bleed, for every kick to the back of our chair, for every cut in line at the bathroom because the kid just couldn’t wait… take THAT. A lollipop that blows out your eardrums for a good 30 mins or more, hopefully on a long car ride where the parent cannot escape.

The DumDum, aka the Halloween lollipop . A case of these will cost about a dollar. Treats handed out at a fraction of the cost and yard not toilet papered; dun and dun. Any what is with the ‘mystery’ flavor? Call it berry and stop screwing with us.

Which lollipop springs to mind when you hear the word?

Blue eyes becoming extinct!

Posted on July 19, 2017 by simplygiselle

If you have blue eyes, you better start procreating with others of your kind before it’s too late. According to an article in the NY Times in 2006 (what the hell year is it anyway?), it states from U.S. Census Bureau, that blue eyes have now become increasingly rare among American children. It goes on to say that due to “immigration patterns, intermarriage, and genetics, all play a part in their steady decline.” The 2002 Loyola U study stated “about half of Americans born at the turn of the 20^th century had blue eyes… by mid-century that number had dropped to a third” i.e. as of 2015, only 16.6% of American have blue eyes, and sounds like this number will be dropping rapidly.

See? Statistics don’t lie – jump on that fancy cell phone and start pawing through your little black book, make some booty calls, and explain the devastating future that lies ahead for your kind. That should be a sure fire way to get you a hooked up.

Blue eyes no lie: Goose

An American heritage and genetic line that lost its blue eyes?! Disastrous!!

The value of time? Priceless.

Posted on October 2, 2016 by simplygiselle

There are many things we cannot put a price on; love, trust, time…especially time… The value is priceless – it is just that simple.

goose

My daughter’s laugh; priceless (and contagious)

There is just not enough time for us to have fun together; we always want more.

If I could pay for more time with her, I would surely rob a bank.

just-dirt

finished

We paint, we plant, we indoor skydive, we vacation, we explore, we adventure…never enough time… value of time is priceless.

Look at me, I am flying!

Posted on March 10, 2015 by simplygiselle

Go big or go home. If I cannot fail– I want to fly. Not in an airplane, or a light craft, or with some other device, I want to truly fly…I want the force of the air to hold me up. I don’t care if it’s a simply as sticking my arms out like a plane, flapping them like a bird, or take a running start to lift off, I want to fly.

The closest to this feeling I have ever experienced is being on super huge swing – the feeling of zero gravity at that pivotal moment, the breeze blowing through my hair, my eyes tearing from the force of the wind and then looking up at the sky as if I were just mere inches away to touch it…

Flying is the one thing we cannot experience, no wholeheartedly anyway. We swim with the fishes and yes we need to come up for air here and there but we still swim. But fly?! Not only are we not built to fly (aerodynamically), Mother Nature did not equip us with an internal gyroscope necessary to navigate the 3 dimensional aerial world.

Something like a wish or a superpower, but hey, I didn’t come up with the daily question and there are no stipulations.

In response to today’s question: Tell us about something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

(tutle photo: gchewlin.blogspot.com)

Happiness is a dirty smiling face

Posted on March 3, 2015 by simplygiselle

In response to today’s prompt question, this is what happiness means to me:

They say the first thing that pops into your head is usually the correct answer and this was it. Happiness is a dirty smiling face.

One of the many adventures Goose and I have had together, destination: Aruba. The endeavor that was in store for us on this particular day involved several broken down ATVs, a swim in the Natural Pool, stepping on a sea urchin (and therefore having them stick 4 inches out of her foot), and the guide forgetting his wallet at the beach and having to wait until dusk until he arrived back to guide us to the garage. Although Goose was in pain from the sea urchin, she didn’t complain, still drove the ATV back, and then dealt with the ER wait and doctor’s remedy of, ‘sorry there is nothing we can do, it has to work itself out’….

Yup she is a trooper, amazing, my daughter, my Goose, and my travel partner until the end.

Happiness is indeed a dirty smiling face….through the good times and bad….love you more

King of the Kasbah

Posted on February 19, 2015 by simplygiselle

It was Morocco, 2006(ish), and the trip was in full schedule mode; A trip to the southern coast of Spain and all its side trips were added to the agenda. How could I possibly pass up a quick day trip over to Morocco when you can practically see the coast of Africa from where we would be staying! Warnings from family and close friends not to take the side trip, along with the U.S. government travel website, were not heeded as who knows when I would ever have the opportunity (and bragging rights) to visit in the future!

Decision made, and with my Goose (daughter) in tow… off we go. We joined a bus group to take us to the port in Spain to catch the high speed ferry to Tangier. While filling out the typical paperwork for customs, one young lady, thinking she is the Don Rickles of her generation, says loudly enough for all to hear, “occupation… let’s put terrorist” – (white trash family laughter, nonfamily members-crickets) yes that is hysterical. Please do not quit your day job and shut your trap you are going to get us all killed, moron.

Disembarking from the bus and running away from the Chuckle Hut as quickly as possible to disassociate ourselves, we board the high speed ferry to whisk us away to a new adventure. Goose hears a man saying he wants to get his passport stamped – a great reminder of travels past! Wrapped up in the thought of visiting Morocco (and yes, a bit naïve) we jump on board that suggestion – “would you mind doing ours too?!” (as we blindly handed over our passports to a complete stranger for a .25 rubber ink stamp and about to enter a country we were told to stay out of…not one of my finer moments.) Thankfully, he was as upstanding as we had hoped and returned with an armful of passports all stamped (yes!).

First stop, camel ride on the beach. Although we did not take advantage of this (because Goose made the excellent call not to smell like camel for the rest of the day) we did get some really cool pics. We were told that the camels are treated very well because they have excellent memories and will not cooperate with a heavy-handed owner (animal cruelty is always a concern of mine).

Our guide was amazing and walked us through all the back alleys of the Kasbah filling our minds with so much history, culture, and levels of knowledge it is difficult to remember all the details. There were snake charmers, sellers of spices, local fruits and flowers, and the like, all tugging at our sleeves and bags to get us to stop and buy their wares. Luckily, Goose came to the rescue and spoke to them in French (their second language) letting them know we were not interested but thank you very much anyway. They seemed to welcome abiding by our wishes in their own language much better than others as the American speaking visitors were still being followed and taunted.

Last stop before the bus departed was the carpet store. Traditional locally-handmade Berber rugs filled the room in all sizes, shapes, designs, and colors you would probably not see elsewhere in the world. After the host gave us the history of the Berber rugs, Goose and I were taken aside, and felt a little uncomfortable as we were being corralled to an area surrounded by rugs to the ceiling and no other workers or visitors in sight. (I thought we would never come back from that one-maybe the warnings were right!) But with a little bit of haggling, we seemed to get an affordable price and off we were to get back on the bus.

Of course no story ends that simply when Goose and I travel. In exchange for my beloved Life is Good® baseball cap I was offered several different kinds of jewelry, to which I said no every time. However, the winner of that much treasured hat was the most persistent and leaned in through the door with one last plea just before it closed. I tossed it in his direction and waved good bye. He held it up as if it was a crown and placed it on his head – the new King of the Kasbah.

In response to the Daily Post Question: Use It or Lose It – Write about anything you’d like, but make sure the post includes this sentence:

“I thought we’d never come back from that one.”

(crown photo: animal-kid.com)

What is behind Door #1?

Posted on February 6, 2015 by simplygiselle

“That” room… This is clearly not Let’s Make a Deal. There is no new car, no boat, no vacation, and not even a donkey with a sombrero and a serape.

My daughter does not like to clean. It’s a fact plain and simple. If the mess it is out of sight, even more so. That being said, I know there is a place in her apartment that even SHE dare not go.

When I see the door that leads to “that” room, it sends shivers through me.

Scenario One: Not unlike the scene from Poltergeist when the closet door opens to the abyss of hell. The only way I will open “that” door is if I have a priest (or little person with a funny hat and big sunglasses to clean the room in a spiritual sense) and a bucket of holy water.

Scenario Two: Opening “that” door could also be a black hole, sucking all of existence through it into another dimension. Stephen Hawking would be afraid to open “that” door.

Scenario Three: Have you seen Monsters Inc.? There is no proof that opening “that” door may not lead to 1000s of monsters and their factory of closet doors to scare children. I am an adult and “that” door scares me.

Keep the scenarios going…. What do you think is behind “that” door.

Reply to: No, Thanks – Is there a place in the world you never want to visit? Where, and why not?

My blog, my brand: blogging 201

Posted on February 3, 2015 by simplygiselle

**Please take a moment to view my notes below and critique the site as necessary. All points of view are welcome!**

Although before setting up my blog I did put some thought into it, but as time passes and things change (whether we want them to or not) today’s assignment is a good cause for pause to make sure it is really want we want to represent us in this big blogging world.

That being said, I did fix my picture last night. It was driving me nuts from day one because I couldn’t get it focused and finally it is here (yippee). The picture itself, however, is how I want to represent me and my blog – Scotch and Chocolate (classy and sassy).

Why? I bought a discounted ticket for a this tasting. I knew very little about Scotch, as I mostly drink wine, but thought I would be adventurous, step out of the comfort zone a bit, to do something a slightly bold… The chocolate was divine and decadent and that too was something I wished to have represent me. So this is why the picture is there. I learned so much that night (about Scotch and myself to step out of that zone more often), had a great time in the process for very little money.

Next about my branding, the color scheme. A soft pale pink. I love pink (and purple and green.. ok I love color) but the pink says to me, happy… it is welcoming and not harsh, and when wearing rose colored glasses, everything looks so much better. I like to think that the majority of my posts have been and will be, a good representative of that – a positive vibe even if things don’t always feel that way, on every subject matter.

I do however want to mess around with the widgets a bit more to see how I can add to the site without it becoming ‘busy’. I like the theme that I picked because it is clean, soft, and easy to read. Especially the font, sort of funky don’t you think??

Today’s assignment: audit your brand — look at all the ways you communicate information about your blog, and make sure they’re consistent, focused, and say what you want them to say.