New book! "Who's Haunting You?"

It finally happened! I have a new book out titled, "Who's Haunting You?" It began when high school students told me ghost stories that happened to them. Then a 94 year old lady told me three hauntings that had occurred in her house. I was off and running...

or, writing, rather!

Here's the link:

Available in Kindle soon!)

What Do You Want for Christmas?

 Lots of kids want a puppy for Christmas. Lots of kids want toy cars. My nephew Jacob McGarry put them together for an irresistible puppy in a truck!

Now I just have to wonder... does that dog have a driver's license?

What do you want for Christmas?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Missing My Dad

I'm missing my father, Dell B Anderson, lately. 

(If you noticed, his middle name, "B," does not have a period after it. That's because it's not an initial, it's his middle name. Originally, his parents intended to give him his mother's maiden name, Bell, but before putting pen to paper, they reconsidered how "Dell Bell Anderson" might affect him his whole life. Then they just went with the initial.)

I've heard it said that dying is like passing from one room to another, which is what my dad did on August 1, 2002. This last little while, my heart aches from missing him. So I have to wonder, why is it that we can't just stand in the doorway of the two rooms to have a nice chat now and then?

Love you, Dad.

A Motorcycle Party, in Honor of my Mom's Birthday!

Hey, look what I found! Pictures from this past summer when I discovered evidence of a motorcycle party in downtown Ephraim! (2013 Ephraim, Utah Population: 6,431)

 You may see the bikes parked in front of Towne Theater and deduct that they all stopped to watch "A Mouse and His Motorcycle," but it's not likely that they stopped to watch a movie. See the little blue sign on the building next to the theater? It says, "Main Street Diner."

(I wonder if they ran out of pie?)

Interesting anecdote... while driving down the freeway one day, I watched a motorcycle rider toss a glove over to another motorcyclist while biking along at 75 mph. The second rider reached out to catch it, and missed by just 12 inches. (No, they didn't stop to pick it up. They just laughed and kept on going.)

These motorcycles remind me of my mother (Happy Birthday Mom! She turns 90 years young today!) because Mom has always wanted a red convertible sports car. That's the next step to a convertible!

Do these motorcycles make you want to hop on and go for a ride?

Do you have a motorcycle heart? Or are you a four-door kind of person?

Found Some Pirates at Walmart

No, Halloween isn't over yet! I found these pirates at WalMart!

But wait a minute...what if they aren't dressed for Halloween? Could they be from a Pilgrim ship? (Or chasing a Pilgrim ship? Maybe they're hungry for a shriveled apple!)
Or maybe they always dress this way. It could be their regular modus operandi!
It was fun to run into them, and I'm thankful they let me take a photo without brandishing a cutlass.
What are you thankful for? 

Badger Ballers Basketball Game

What in the world is a Badger Baller Game? It takes place on the Snow College Campus, since their mascot is a badger. It pairs people with special needs with the college basketball team for a rousing game of hoops.

 If you're under five feet tall, you might get a boost to help you make a basket. Or you might get the ball passed to you multiple times until you swish it through the net. Or your shot might get extra propulsion from a long arm to travel those last few inches into the basket.

Here are some of the players. (My smiling sister is in the center. She's the five foot cutie in a flowered short sleeved shirt.)
If the Badger Ballers came to your town, would you want to play?

Cutie Pie Birthday

This Cutie-Pie granddaughter of mine just turned 5!

I just love her imagination. Can you guess what she's holding? I asked her, and she was quick to reply. What does it look like to you? Come on, formulate a guess before you look ahead.

Ready?

What did you think of?

This is what my granddaughter said:

"They are my puppets."

Makes sense, doesn't it? You can put your finger in the end of a bitten pepper and say in a funny voice, "Hi, I'm Peppy, and I'm wearing a stem hat. Do you want a stem hat, too? Then go plant your feet in the ground and stand there for three months!"

What would your puppet say?

Flowers in Winter

When I saw some big, bright flower decals at the store, my heart bubbled over, imagining how they would brighten my walls. But when I got home, I realized that I had acrylic paint in the same colors as the plastic flowers, and if I painted my own, they wouldn't look all the same.

 So I painted, and painted, and painted.

 Now I have whimsical flowers in my house all the time.

What kind of flower do you like best?

Graveyard Landscape

I thought this homeowner had decorated for Halloween.

But when I looked closer, I realized that it was a landscape design with upright flat rocks, not a faux graveyard.

I wonder what they have in their house?

Ghostly Handprints

When I walked out to my car, I found some ghostly handprints on my car door. Strangely enough, if someone had stood at my car and pressed their hands against it, the fingers would most likely point upward, but you can see (if you look closely with your supernatural vision) that the handprints are pointing downward.

I hope my car's not haunted by a carwash attendant. Have you ever felt haunted? (Happy Halloween!)

Ruth Anderson 90th Birthday Open House!

Here's my mother Ruth H. Anderson and little sister Carolyn at Mom's 90th birthday open house. Aren't they bright and beautiful?

 Here's a classic picture taken when we weren't ALL READY!

 Here are seven of Mom and Dad's eight children, the ones who could be there. (Dad passed on to the next life 13 years ago, and the oldest child, Melinda, was in the hospital. She is getting better now! Oh, happy day.

 Now Mom is surrounded by (Left to Right) Carolyn, Loraine, Greg, Bev, Shirley (that's me!) DellRay, and Rebecca. (Melinda belongs next to Rebecca.)

We all have blue eyes! Only six of us are comparing the blueness, because DellRay had left by this time. (Everyone was leaving by this time! We're outside!)

Mom is cheerful, helpful, and looks for the best in every day she wakes up.

Would you like to live to be 90?

(Oh, and here is her newspaper announcement because it belongs with all these other pictures!)

Long Lost Cousin

Family is so much fun!

          I have 46 cousins, but I haven't seen all of them yet. Lucky me, I got to meet one more last weekend during my mother's 90th birthday open house! May I introduce cousin Brent Anderson (left, a cartoonist who's worked with DC Comics, of all companies), then me, then fellow cartoonist Michael Lovins. 
          Brent has a brother I've yet to meet, and a sister, who's passed away. (So have two of my other cousins...all on my Dad's side, ironically.)
          Do you have cousins? Did you visit them when you were young? Do you visit them now? ;o)

Cute Girls Club!

Who knew that cutting up my "school pride" shirt would garner me an exclusive invitation?

In my new job at the elementary school, Friday is set aside as "School Pride Day," when students and teachers are encouraged to wear school colors (green, or Manti High School colors red and white, or Snow College colors orange and blue. Or this "I'm A Bucket Filler" shirt. Yes, it does say that. Hold your computer up to a mirror. See? Can I help it if no one is here to help me take a picture except the mirror? I'm adaptable. That's a good thing.)

In order to help me remember Friday's suggested wardrobe, I got a t-shirt. But it was kind of boring. So I got out the scissors, snip, knot, sew (see the sparkle beads added to the ends of the curly-cues and to the bucket's eyes?)

At lunch time, I was swishing my fringe down the hall when a couple of cute girls who've greeted me before saw me. Their eyes went wide and they hurried closer. 

"I love your shirt!" one said.

"Do you want to join our Cute Girl's Club?" asked the other, fluttering her cute eyelashes.

Sticking both arms straight up in the air with excitement, I replied, "Yes! I'd love to be in your Cute Girl Club! Thanks so much for asking me!"

So now you know. I am an official member of the Cute Girl Club.

What is your favorite type of clothing? Do you like structured pieces? Sweats? Loose and floofy? Form-fitting Spandex? Casual jeans and t-shirts? Shark bite pants and sliced up clothing? Come on, tell us... what do you like to wear?

Selling Pink Rocks?

When I saw this in the store, I thought it was very pretty, but didn't know why anyone would want to buy pink rocks.

 Then I turned the jar around, and lah-di-dah, it was HIMALAYAN PINK SALT!

I wonder, does it come in other designer colors, too? Purple? Indigo? Chartreuse? Or do you have to visit other countries to get other colors?

Would you eat pink salt?

Happy Hippo

Hippos are known to be dangerous...

They may look fun and friendly with their aquatic antics, huge smiles, and innocent little eyes, but deep down, they do not have your best interest at heart...

 ESPECIALLY if deep down, they are filled with CHOCOLATE!

AND vanilla cream!

Who knew a hippo could taste so good? But if I eat too many of them, I may begin to look like one... beware the nefarious hippo plot!

What is the strangest thing you've eaten?

Because I'm Pressed for Time, A Question about Sneezing!

Does a dainty sneeze really satisfy as much as a sneeze that's a big as a horse?

If You Think I'M Tall...

Some people, especially little ones at the elementary school where I work, think I'm tall. It's true that when my hair's fluffy, I reach the six foot mark. I was the tallest female in my family (besides my six foot tall mother) until my gorgeous niece, Vanessa Wetton, surpassed me. She's two inches taller! (And that's her studly baby boy, Lokk, in  the photo.)

As a teenager, when Vanessa realized she was inching up on me, she told her mother, "I don't want to be as tall as Aunt Shirley!"

Wish granted. Her DNA made her taller.

Then one day I embarrassed her at Parent/Teacher conference when I saw her talking to her friends 5 feet from where her teacher sat, slouched over so far that her shoulder blades stuck out in back. "Well," I said, pressing on her back in an effort to get her to straighten up, "the way you're standing gives a whole new meaning to the term, 'double breasted'."

She was mortified!

But guess what... she stood up straight after that, and looks much better for it! (Or else she darted a furtive look around to see if embarrassing Aunt Shirley was in the vicinity before daring to slouch.)

Has anyone ever embarrassed you for your own good?

Or did they just do it for a laugh? (Which was also for your own good if you managed to laugh along with them!)

Granddaughters by the Fishimg Place

It's SEPTEMBER!

When two of my four granddaughters go fishing when it's cool, they need more than bait. They also need blankets!

Are you a fishing person? Do you like to actually fish, do you like to watch someone fish, or do you like to stay home?

A REAL THONG!

IT'S BAAAACK!

When I was a kid, thongs were worn on feet, not butts! So when I was in the store last week, I was THRILLED to see that THONGS ARE BACK in their original form!

I feel like a kid again!

So, what do you call these things that provide a sole for your foot to rest upon, held in place by straps over your upper foot and a stem between your toes?

Dead or Alive?

When I first saw the bug on this fan, I had to wonder, "Is this fly dead or alive?"

It's so plump and healthy-looking, but if it were alive, it had staying power, because the fan was blowing (albeit on its lowest setting.)

Yet flies can walk on ceilings, and survive being swatted, so are their feet really so sticky that they can hang on to a slowly blowing fan?

What do you think? Dead or alive?

(Scroll down)

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

It was dead!

Have I Been This Good?

Have I been this good of a girl?

 I got to trade in my wondrously roomy Captiva for this short little wear-your-car to work version of a Ford Focus in a Candy Blue color. THE THING IS, my Captiva got 24 mpg combined, while driving this petite thing home on the freeway registered 39.8 mpg average. Not only does it have smaller payments, but best of all, I fit! (So does Bob, but he can't wiggle his toes!) Thank you to whatever came together in the Universe in a shower of sparkles to create the magic of this car parked at the curb in front of my house, waiting for me!

Mystery Lights Photo Reveal!

What were those lights I posted last Wednesday, anyway? Here are some more pictures I took of them!

TA DA! It's the oil refinery by Bountiful, Utah, also called "Air Products" on the web. The difference is that I took pictures out of the car window as we were zooming down the freeway. (Interesting effects, right?) This last picture is not wobbly. (I think the place looks so fascinating at night... kind of like Mordor!) 

 nDo you like to be out at night? Or are you a daytime person?

What are these...lights?

Yep...yep...it's true. I'm doing my Monday blog post on Wednesday. 

(Hey, at least it's not Thursday, People!)

Once upon a time, we Bahlmann's got a magazine with close up pictures of ordinary objects, such as the strings in a stalk of celery, or the front grill on toy car, and the question: "What is this?" 

Now I pose the question to you...here is a picture I took with my very own phone camera. "What is this?"
(I'll let you know next Monday, people... or Thursday. Whichever!)

Not Really Dead

I do respite care, which means I watch over and take care of, a boy with autism. Since he loves playing in water, it makes sense that he plays in the ditch in front of my house. If I have to go inside for something, I'll sometimes watch him from my window for a minute. Once I returned something to my next-door-neighbor, but stood at the door so I could check on him.

He doesn't just dabble the water with his fingers. He'll sit in the shallow water, and sometimes lay his head in it to let the cooling water flow through his hair.

Twice I've had people stop their cars to check on him, thinking he might be dead. I quickly assure them that he's having fun.

I understand how they feel, though, because I have the same reaction when I see our 17-year-old cat.

What would you do if you saw this on your front lawn?

"Our" vs. "Are"

What the hey? I've seen words like "their," "there," and "they're" mixed up, and I only recently discovered how to use "whom," but this sign made me stop and read it again... and again... and then take an incredulous picture!

It should read, "Our tanning beds are out of order. Sorry."

Do misspelled signs make you stop to read them twice? Or do you just skip over them and go your merry way?

The Lady Who Saved My Son's Life

Happy birthday yesterday, Michael!

When this strapping young man (what does "strapping" mean, anyway?) was three years old, I took him with me to an evening Cub Scout meeting at the church house. When he got restless, I asked his older brothers to watch him while I finished my meeting. Afterward, I found my older sons playing in the gym, but didn't see Michael.

When his brothers told me they didn't know where he was, we split up to search the building and church grounds. I became so frantic that I was headed to the phone to call the police when I heard Janice Ray ask, "Is he yours?"

I turned around to see her holding Michael by the hand.

I ran to pick up Michael. Hugging him, I tearfully asked, "Where was he?"

"At my house," Janice said. "I heard the doorbell, and when I opened the door, I couldn't see anyone at first. Then I looked down, and there he was."

Janice lives on Main Street, more than half a block from the church.

Michael remembers walking along the sidewalk, trying to go home, when he saw a house with a "ding-dong bell." Wanting to push the button, he went up onto the porch and pressed it several  times.

Janice had the presence of mind to walk him back to the church to see if he belonged to anyone there.

He certainly did.

To this day, they have a special connection. Whenever Michael sees Janice, he says, "There's the lady who saved my life."

Have you ever lost someone, or been lost yourself? What did you do?

Cats Suffocating Babies Tale?

Have you ever heard of cats getting into cribs and smothering babies? Have you wondered if it's an Old Wives' Tale?

IT IS!

Here is proof positive that cats smother teenagers, not babies!

(By the way, Michael loves his cat, and his cat is just giving him a hug...on his face...but Michael doesn't care.)

My sister doesn't like cats because she can't stand them rubbing against her legs. My current family likes cats.

How about you? Do you like them or not? If not, I wonder why? Is it learned? Or did you have some anti-cat experience in your life?

Patriotic Vehicles

Since Bob traded in his red truck for a nearly-white Yukon Denali SUV, we have become the proud-to-be-American owners of a patriotic trio of cars!

Do you know what color of car most people say looks dirty the fastest? (What if I make it easy and give you the option of black or white?)

Ready?

Survey says... black! (I was surprised, too. I thought it would be white!)

What's your favorite car color?

Video for my sister Rebecca

I have tried so many ways to get this video to my sister Rebecca, and now it looks like this method is also a bust.

Sorry, sis. I'll do an Edison and try again, even though I may find 1,000 ways how not to send you this video clip.

*Sigh*

Mormon Miracle Pageant!

I've found myself in good company, lately!

This picture was taken at the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Payson Temple open house. 

These two pictures were taken at the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, Utah. My oldest son Andy shares the role of the Savior with another actor.

My youngest son, Michael, plays the role of Samuel the Lamanite.

Are you an actor/actress? What roles have you played, or would like to play?

An Ad that Turns your Head!

When I saw this truck at WalMart, I was intrigued by the actual guitar shape that helps advertise the offered lessons. I actually passed the truck, then thought about it for a second and walked back to take a picture for you to see.

When I was 14, I used my dad's old guitar to teach myself some chords from diagrams printed above the staffs in piano books. I admit that I'm not a guitar pro by any means, and my strumming is pretty basic, but I had fun developing callouses on my fingers as I sang Beatles songs!

Do you play guitar?

If not, have you ever wanted to?

Do you play a musical instrument of any sort?