This Little Piggy

A little less than a year ago, I heard an interesting story on NPR about "piggy cookies".  The story left me intrigued!  I learned that it is a traditional Mexican cookie.  Pati's Mexican Table looks like an interesting blog with lots of recipes right up our alley.  I can't wait to taste some of these recipes. 

It made me realize that people all over the world have traditional foods that you and I will probably never even see, not to mention taste.  But, I can seek them out.  Especially if it's a cookie.

A few weeks ago, we were shopping in the big city, and had lunch in "little Mexico", an area known for all of the Mexican restaurants and markets.  We walked past a bakery and decided to go in and see what we would find.  It was interesting looking through the bakery cases, and not recognizing a single item.  It was kind of exhilarating.

I chose a Mexican Sweet Bread that looked like it could have something inside.  Todd chose a plain roll for a sandwich later.  We were checking out, and I was still mesmerized by all of the lovely looking deliciousness by which I was surrounded. 

AND THEN I SPOTTED IT!

Low and behold, there was my beloved piggy cookie.  Sitting in the bakery case staring at me as I had looked right past it several times.  I KNOW the Mexican ladies thought I was a little loco when I spotted the piggy shaped cookie because I shrieked with delight!

Finally, I had a piggy cookie.  And It. Was. Lovely.

Oink!

Do you remember the Grandma's brand of cookies in the grocery stores?  They used to have a molasses flavored cookie, but apparently they no longer make it.  It is NOT the same as a gingersnap cookie, there was no ginger in this molasses cookie.  Here is a little known fact for you:  My oldest brother and I both loved this cookie!  I remember buying them at quick trip with him when I was a kid.  It was soft and chewy, with the mildly sweet flavor of molasses.

That is what this piggy cookie tasted like.  

It was very thick, over a half inch tall.  It was almost like bread.  It was not sweet like an American cookie with a boatload of sugar.  It was mildly sweet.  At first I was disappointed because it didn't taste sweet and then I realized my palette is so desensitized to sugar.  So I tried another bite.  Then I found myself being drawn to it.  Then I decided that yes, I really do like it.

If you ever have a chance to try something new, try it!  You just might like it. 

Cowgirl At Heart

My department had a team building event a few weeks ago.  It was so cool that I have to tell you about it.  It's by far the best day "at work" I've ever had.

We went to a local equine center and spent the day with animals.  We had a quick lesson on the different styles of riding horses (Western vs. English).  The horse trainer demonstrated some tricks.  Then, they let volunteers brush the horses before they showed us how to saddle them.  I ran for the brushes!

I've never cleaned a horse before, and I've always wanted to.  The instructor showed me how to use the double metal loop to gently brush with the grain of the hair, then follow up with a bristle brush.  They said how it's important to clean where the saddle will be so that dirt doesn't cause irritations to the skin.  I had fun cleaning Top Gun.  He was a big beautiful boy.  One of my co-workers cleaned Top Gun from the other side.  He must have thought it was spa day.

Then they saddled up the horses and asked who wanted to ride.  YOU BET!  Since I sort of started a relationship with Top Gun, I ran for him.  Wahoo, I got to him first!  I was able to get up without incident (hey, it's been decades since I've ridden a horse, and he's a tall boy).  They adjusted the saddle, and away we went.  We walked around with the instructor holding the lead.  He told me what to do, which sounded so simple.  What, wasn't I doing that?  Ummm, not really.  Ok, I see how I tried to use the reigns like a steering wheel.  Which only confused poor Top Gun.  Once I fixed that mistake, he was much happier.  Top Gun soon relaxed.  Then we were not only walking, we were trotting.  The trainer warned me that Top Gun has a bumpy trot.  He wasn't kidding.

Soon we were both at ease with each other, so the instructor turned me loose and told me to go wherever I wanted in the arena.  We not only trotted, we cantered!  It was so cool to ride that big beautiful horse.  It gave me such a sense of glorious freedom.  It gave me the bug to go riding again.

Just starting to ride Top Gun

I monopolized about as much of Top Gun's time as I could, then decided that I should let someone else enjoy him too.  The instructor (Top Gun's owner) told me that he doesn't adjust well to following commands from other people riding him, and he did really good.  Glad he told me that after, or it may have made me nervous.  Which would have made Top Gun nervous!  I dismounted without a step just fine.  Whew!  I did it.  And I loved it.

So, I know what we are doing for my birthday this year.  Trail riding, and I can't wait.  The last time I rode a horse was in college with my college roommate, Jus, probably the summer of '89 or '90.  For something fun to do, we went on a trail ride towards the end of the school year.  Wish I could find the fuzzy out-of-focus picture from way back then.

I rode a couple of times growing up (as in single digits, not like I did it often).  The first time or two was on our family vacations to Colorado.  Here's a picture from when I was 10 or a little younger...

I guess I had a flair for wearing clothes that clashed on the weekends as a kid, too.

After riding Top Gun in the arena, I walked around and looked at all the other animals they have.  

Meet Ham (left) & Bacon (right), not their real names

The llama

Beautiful horses

And I met my new boyfriend, Jake.  He's a total lush when it comes to a butt rub, so we bonded.  Both of his eyes were brown/blue in each of his eyes.  I've never seen another like him.  

I'm a sucker for those eyes, and his hair

I have a weak spot for border collies/Australian shepherds.  But alas, I know that breed is not for me.  Not until I can devote all my time and attention to one, and when could that ever happen?!?  Not until I retire.  They are slightly smaller than a Golden, and their lifespans are longer.  And talk about smart.  Smart enough to get into trouble.  Every day, I'm sure.  So, I will admire him from afar, and visit him every chance I get.

Speaking of visits, Tullybird will be here tomorrow--in just a few hours as a matter of fact!  I have the week all planned out for meals/drinks/shopping, and... horse back riding!  We are going to hit the trail for a ride.  WAHOO!  I am so excited that she's coming for a 2nd visit this year!

Savory & Sweet

I wonder what the deal is with the "chicken & waffles" craze of late?

I've had the real deal twice in my life. The first time was in Vega$, June 2011 at B.B. King's Blues Club for breakfast before flying home. The last time was at M&M's Fish & Chicken Shack in Sparks and their waffles were great! I believe there was a cornmeal taste to them. Loved it, even if I had to pick the chicken wings apart. There's nothing like being one with your food. I thoroughly enjoyed both times, actually. 

B.B. King's chicken and waffles, great for the morning after you partake liberally

Todd got a bag of Lay's Chicken & Waffles flavored potato chips. OMG, they are so addictive! Generally speaking, I prefer sweet to savory, so chips are usually not my downfall, but daaaang these are goooood. It's such a strange combination that I keep wanting to eat them to make sure my mouth isn't lying to my brain. The maple flavor is subtle but distinctively there. I told him not to buy another bag, because I can't resist them.

And by the way, he bought the cheesy garlic bread flavored chips to, and my thoughts on those are:  Meh.  They are OK. Totally resistible. The person who suggested the Chicken & Waffles flavor got totally ripped off in that contest. But I understand if you don't agree.  If you don't like maple, you would probably hate them.

Next up, thanks to social media, I heavily anticipated Popeye's special promotion of their Chicken Waffle Tenders. Thank you, Popeye's. Thank you for dreaming up such a creative approach to chicken tenders.

I remember the first time I "experienced" creative chicken tenders. It had to be almost 20 years ago when Todd and I loved visiting Chicago on at least an annual basis to eat and shop. We went to Planet Hollywood and had their Captain Crunch chicken fingers. They were divine. I've had them again since then, and the magic is gone, now replaced with low-quality mass-produced sub-par frozen-fried chicken strips. I guess they got so popular that they decided to cut costs and go with a cheap version. I will prefer to keep my memories of the first time we had them.

Anyway, back to Popeye's. We went on a little adventure today to find them because Todd knew how much I wanted to try them, and after all, they are only here for a limited time.

The crust is light, crunchy, crispy, slightly sweet and tasty. We waited two minutes, happily, for fresh waffle tenders to be up in the window. I did not care for the maple dipping sauce at all. It was thick and chemically smelling with a sweet taste of nothingness so I skipped the sauce. Our tenders were accompanied by steaming hot mashed potatoes with Cajun gravy. I do not want to know what's in that gravy. It's SO ugly with unidentifiable components. But that's OK because I wanted to eat it and taste it, not look at it.

Popeye's Chick Waffle Tenders, MMMmmmmm!

It was worth driving an hour for lunch to try these. I don't think I will do it again, but now that I've had them, my curiosity is satisfied. And so is my tummy.

The Tale of Our Boo

Warning:  If you knew our Amber, this will make you cry.  I'm finally ready to share my memories of her.  Finally.

Amber Lynn Svec                       9-12-99 – 11-8-2008

Lover of:

• Frisbees,
• Beer cans (preferably Keystone Light),
• Shadows (bird or hand),
• Dirty socks,

Yes, that is not a pair of dirty socks

• Tom’s fresh off the vine,
• Laser pointers (isn’t there one attached to every set of keys? And BTW, she knew your keys were in your pocket),
• Ice cubes,
• Fireplaces and camp fires (she loved to be next to the warmth),
• Flash lights (she knew where every one of them was located in the house),
• Water out of a garden hose,
• Swimming (off of a boat, from the shore, or into the pool),
• Snow, 

December 2005
Mission, KS

 

February 2008
The meadows, Lake Tahoe, NV

• Harmonica playing,
• And her daddy & her momma.  She loved us so much.

Fast Facts:

• Alpha to our Nellie and Roscoe; Beta to our Abbytail and Keystone. 
• She had short ears.
• She had a long nose that had a spot on the end which was more noticeable when her nose was pinker.  Her nose changed colors—pink to dark brown. 
• Graduate of puppy class, advanced puppy class, dog class, and advanced dog class.
• When she was a puppy, she had a sleek coat that was fluffy like all puppies.  She had a curl at the very end of her tail.  As she grew, the curl crept up her tail, along her back, and finally all the way to the top of her head.  She had been amazingly curly and we love the uniqueness it gave her.
• Her tongue was amazingly long.

Young Amber's looooong tongue

Fall 2006 on a road trip to PA

 

Amazing Stories:

She learned to roll over and let us rub her belly after she nursed her puppies for a month.  Her puppies had been scratching her up and we used Udder Balm to soothe her raw underside.  Prior to that, she would never roll over.

She stepped into a lily pad pond at a Victorian B&B in Wilmington, SC when we took her & Roscoe on a 2-week, cross-country, road trip vacation to see the ocean.

After wave crashing in the ocean with Daddy in October, 2002, Amber took in a lot of salt water. 

She nearly spewed directly on the hand of a nice lady who had graciously taken our family picture when she reached out to pet Amber. That was the first Ramada Inn we graced with our presence and what a great time we had.

Family picture (October 2002)
Front to back: Roscoe, Amber, Todd and obviously me on the right.
Taken by a surprised but gracious volunteer!

 

She was Boomer’s first love.  She made him drool.  Incessantly.

Boomer and Amber (October 2002)

            

When she was tiny, we used to roll her onto her belly on our lap, and let her ears flop over and rubbed her belly until she would growl up a frenzy.  She actually scared us with how aggressive her growl could be.  She looked like the cutest little bat with her head upside down and ears flopped over like that.

She was born 9-12-99, 3 days after we were married.

She loved visits from Tyler and Trenton who came across the street to visit.

When going for a ride in the car, she loved to bark at motor cycles.  It curiously resembles a wobbly flash light…


There was no motorcycle right then,
but she loved to go for a ride in the car

She had an exciting New Year’s Eve (12/31/02) with Banjo. 

Banjo & Amber, sittin' in a tree...

She had 11 puppies on February 25, 2003.  She woke her daddy up and told him it was time the morning she gave birth.  Todd had the whelping box completed the day before.  Just. In. Time.

Amber, February 24, 2003
the day before she delivered 11 puppies

Amber with her 11 puppies
February 25, 2003

Kevin and Suzie came over to witness the amazing event, and we celebrated by cooking breakfast.  Sausage links & eggs.  Todd cracked his first beer at 11a.m. 

About a week after her puppies were born, she wandered the house looking for Roscoe.  (Roscoe passed away 2-12-2003.)

Amber could crawl.

Amber began what we call the “rib juice dance” one time after having “gravy” added to her dog food which was the juice from ribs that Todd had boiled.  She also taught her kids this special dance.  She would come into the living room after having eaten, and rub her face on the ground with her butt still up in the air and she would rub one way then the other and moan.  The better the meal = the longer & louder the dance.  We would then appropriately applaud her efforts.  This would often happen even when they had nothing special added to their chow.

When Amber was really little, we put a brick in front of the water crock so she could reach the water to get a drink.  We thought it might be risky, and sure enough, she fell right in.  That was her first swim.  We started putting a cutting board over the water when we were not right there.

Amber was even smaller than this when she took her first dunk

She had a great time at her puppy shower; so many friends came to see her.  She also enjoyed the pups 1 year birthday party (a.k.a. Mud Fest 2004), too.  She had a hard time relinquishing her Alpha status to Abbytail but after a year or two, she adapted and became her happy self again.

Right after the puppy shower late March 2003

Amber after the puppy shower

She loved to walk up to us and put her head between our knees and just wag her tail.  Her dog-dad acted the same way on our surprise visit for me to meet her parents one time when we were driving around KC.   Sometimes she was so excited that she would walk right through.  I think it was her way of hugging.

She enjoyed her first Dog-N-Jog which benefited the Humane Society of Greater KC with Roscoe the summer of 2000.  On the way there, the Cow Parade was in full swing; at an intersection there was a cow at which Amber barked herself silly.

She captured Nellie’s heart.  Soon thereafter Roscoe followed suit.  Peer pressure can be a beautiful thing!


 

Nellie and little Amber

 

Nellie, Amber, and Roscoe

Amber loved her big siblings

Roscoe, Nellie, and baby Amber

She naturally chased her tail; so it was very easy to associate a command with the action.  She would do a “Round-and-Round” for treats and to wipe off her paws.

Suzie taught her to enjoy opening presents that come wrapped in a gift bag.

Amber's 5th birthday, I believe

She can catch a 2’ Frisbee.

Amber loved her Frisbees

In Advanced Puppy class, she had no problems walking through a refrigerator cardboard box.  Many puppies were not successful.

She watched her big brother, Roscoe, find the Golden Egg prize at the Easter Begg Hunt, sponsored by Three Dog Bakery.  She enjoyed sharing the year supply of dog food!

Amber on left, Roscoe on right
Scariest damn rabbit I've ever seen

 

We had a newer dog bed in the corner of our bedroom near T’s side of the bed.  Almost every night, Keystone would try to claim that bed, but we’d make him get down off of it, so that Amber could have it.  She would walk into the room and just wait.  She knew we’d make him give it to her.  Then she’d curl up on it, and Keystone would usually curl up right beside that bed.

She was very protective of her Momma.  Especially when Daddy was picking on me.   If ever there would have been a burglar, Amber would have put them in their place.  This thought is supported by how she acted when Todd would pick on me.  Amber would grab the toy closest to her and shake the heck out of it and growl.  She took her aggression out on the toy, cause she knew she couldn’t bite Daddy.  I would have pitied the poor soul who ever thought of putting a hand on me.  Now I fear they would only be sat upon by Keystone…

Amber would prance around after she received a beer can from her Daddy.  She would wag her tail and have her head bent slightly downward & look up at you to make sure you saw that she had a prized possession.  This was after she sat down right in front of us and stared from the can to us and back at the can.

Amber loved laying on the cool tile.

In the summer, Amber loved to play with Mt. Tiki Soakee.  It was a water fountain that would sporadically send up spurts of water.  Amber would run up to it, and bite at the water, regardless of how much water was coming out fast and furiously.  She LOVED water.  She would take a water hose full force in the mouth too.  She thought it was great fun.

She loved howling w/her kids (and dad) at the tornado warning sirens on test day in KS.  Who knew, until Todd started staying home during the day?

 

Favorite Sayings/Games:

·         Boo, you’re two?

·         Boo, you’re two times two plus two?

·         Boo, you’re two times two times two?

·         It can be a hat….  (while placing a frisbee on your head)

Nicknames:

·         Amber Boo,

·         Boo,

·         Amber Bamber Boo,

·         Curly Boo,

·         Miss Poopy Pants  (somehow this one made the last few weeks easier to handle).
 

Amber was a hippy Halloween 2003

The last day we were blessed to have her in our lives, she wagged her tail that morning (she hadn't been able to move anything below mid-back); also it rained, and there was a rainbow.

 

 

There Goes The Rules

I remember back in the day, when Keystone and Abbytail were little.  We would never allow them on the couch unless one of us was holding them.  This was part of the discipline we used for them to learn the rules of the house.  They learned the rules fast.  There were no exceptions until they got much, much older.

 

One day in NV when my parents were there visiting us, my dad spoiled Keystone and had him up on his lap for pretty much their entire visit.  Technically not breaking the rules.  Then Amber got sick and we lost our precious Boo.  We decided the "kids" were adults then, and they can get on the couch any dang time they want.

 

As a matter of fact, I bought our current couch with Keystone in mind.  I chose the one I thought he would enjoy the most.

 

With the new kids, things are a bit different.  I've loosened up a lot.  I'm not quite so strict.  Maybe I'll give them an extra treat, and not sweat the small stuff so much.  We still have plenty of discipline, and plenty of rules.  We still have fun.  But now, we enjoy our couch.  Sorry Stones.

 

Jessie at the top of the pic, Joey at the bottom

 

Jessie completely relaxed

Day After Turkey Day

Hi there, weblings.  I've missed you!  I have many things I want to share rolling around in my head, but haven't had time to type at you.  I will try to change that soon.  Maybe.

You may have celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday (or maybe you had to work or live in a different country or don't care for the holiday).  It's the holiday I look forward to the most each year.  Let's just say that this year did not live up to my usual expectations and leave it at that, shall we?  To keep things positive, I can say the food was amazing.  The turkey was moist and juicy.  I think I actually made dressing/stuffing that tasted like my moms and I didn't mess it up!  The mashed taters and gravy were fluffy and smooth, rich, and creamy. 

My Thanksgiving plate this year.

 

We chose not to have bread.  If we had baked buns, I would have emotionally lost it.  Abby loved her daddy's homemade buns.  She knew when he was making dough.  I usually baked the buns and she knew the routine.  She couldn't stand seeing the lightly browned balls of tastiness and smelling that fresh-baked yeasty smell without having part of the first bun.  That girl certainly loved her bread.  So this year we decided that it would be too hard to make them and skipped it.  Some day, but Thursday was not the day.

I followed my usual tradition and made monkey bread.  It's always an experiment.  I might have put one or two dough balls too many, but it didn't turn out like Frankenstein, so all was good.  I even cooked it long enough for all the bread to be done.  Todd commented multiple times that it was my best one yet--success!

Maybe a TINY bit big after growing overnight.

Best Monkey Bread yet!

I baked a pecan pie.  I haven't eaten any yet because when I was draining the potatoes, I forgot my hand was there and scalded the holy Hell out of my left hand (just the end of my middle finger--I am going to live).  I just didn't feel like pie.  Well, I did, but I was so flustered with house guests that I chose to retire for the evening vs. endure another minute in their presence.  It was worth giving up pie.

Oh wait, I was keeping it positive. So here is a picture of my pretty pie. 

My pecan pie was sort of decorative this year

I can't wait to bake one for Tullybird.  She has already put in an order for one when she visits in May.  Seriously, do y'all know how easy this pie is to make?  Oh wait, it's really, really difficult!  All that waiting while it bakes is torture.  If you ever want to visit and have some pie, just let me know and I'll bake you one too!

Speaking of pecan pie, let me tell you a couple of stories about good family.  See how I'm keeping this positive?  When I was growing up, I vacillated between my love for apple pie and my love for pecan pie.  If it was my Aunt Carol's apple pie, I would probably go for that especially if vanilla ice cream was available.  But I also went for the pecan pie just as often. 

My great grandfather loved pecan pie too.  As a matter of fact, we used to call ourselves pecan pie buddies.  At family reunions, we knew which pie we were sharing.  One time my mom dropped me off at his house so that I could bake him a pecan pie.  I thought the directions HAD to be wrong.  What pie on earth cooks for SIXTY minutes?!  That's an hour of cooking time!  That was long ago... way before the Internet and cell phones.  So we used our best judgement and pulled it out after about 40 minutes.  Our pie was a little soupy, but we didn't care.  It tasted great and we thought it was the best ever.

I had a school assignment in grade school, back in the day when you could use a tape recorder with cassette tapes.  I had to find someone old and interview them--hey, my pecan pie buddy!  I remember trying to think of questions to ask before I went over there.  I don't remember the conversation, except one part.  He was born in the early 1900's.  Like 1901 or 1904, give or take a year or two because I can't remember.  When he was a boy, he wore the kind of shoes that had buckles.  It was fun to think of him as a young boy with buckles on his shoes.

So there you go.  I said that I would share a couple of stories about good family, not necessarily good stories about family!  I have fond memories of going over to my great grandfather's house.  I can still remember how that house smelled in my mind.  Smells are very strong for me--it can take me back to a moment faster than any other sense.

This is my third Thanksgiving since I started my blog.  I had no idea I would enjoy it this much.  It's something I know I can always use to share my thoughts and craft ideas or to document a milestone or something great I ate.  Or to bitch and moan.  I may be back very soon to do one of these things.

Karma

Ever think about why things happen?  Some odd things have happened lately, and some of it just has me scratching my head.

A lady who is not the best driver, which will be apparent to you soon enough, was allegedly driving slow in a parking lot.  The early morning sun was glaring right into the driver's eyes.  Since she couldn't see, she just went real slow.  Guess what she did?  She hit someone.  Not a car.  Some BODY.  She hit a body.  A lady was hit by a car in a parking lot I frequently utilize.  I come walking up and see this lady out cold on the parking lot pavement surrounded by other people and I wonder what happened as I hear sirens in the near distance getting louder and louder.  Someone told me she had been struck by a car. 

Ladies and gents, if the sun is in your eyes, please don't drive real slow.  Find a way to see, or don't drive at all.  And if you are in a parking lot, please don't presume that others can see you.  You know, survival of the fittest and all isn't really working these days.  I hate to judge, but I just can't help myself. 

Now for something a little less dramatic.

I have a brand new cellophane wrapped multi-pack of stamps.  You know the kind you get at Coscto, with like 5 books of stamps.  So that would be 100 stamps, right?  One would think.  I've had this book of stamps on my dresser for oh, 6 months or more.  They are forever stamps, so I'm not in a hurry to use them.  I opened the pack this past weekend because I had something to mail.  I take the first book and pull off the divider stickers because I like to fold it up, and I pull off a stamp and affix it to my envelope.

Then I did a double-take.  What the aych-ee-double-pipes?  At the bottom of the strip of stamps, there is another empty hole.  I only had ONE ENVELOPE TO MAIL.  It's not like my mind played tricks on me and I USED two stamps and I just didn't remember it.  No.  THERE WAS AN UNEXPECTED HOLE ON MY STRIP OF BRAND NEW STAMPS.  The paper was there, but it's like the machine didn't put the sticker on it.  

You know what else?  I checked my other 4 books of stamps.  I have ANOTHER book that is missing TWO IN A ROW.  I kept the cellophane, because my hubby will take them back.  He is very good at confrontation and he will get them to believe that we didn't just "take" the stamps and then claim there were 3 blanks.  Because I'm thinking this story sounds so ridiculous, who is going to believe it?

Karma is going to somehow repay me for 3 stamp shortages.  I just hope Karma doesn't somehow make me pay for passing judgement on a bad driver.

 

And now for something a little more dramatic.

Speaking of Costco, I have to share my favorite Costco story of all time.  There is a karmic twist to it, at least in my opinion.

I hate lazy, careless, disrespectful, self-absorbed slobs who have enough energy to get their slothful butts off the couch to drive to and walk into a store, such as Costco, and walk all around shopping and stuffing their pie holes with free samples, waiting in line to check out, and walking ALL the way back to their cars to store their purchases.  You'd think they could muster up enough energy to take their dagblasted carts back to a corral.  They have enough cart corrals scattered all over (dangerous) parking lots, you'd think they could SEE them.  But no.  Apparently they have lost all of their energy right then and there at their car, so they better hurry up and get home to replace their lazy, selfish butts back in their barcaloungers. 

If you think this is a hot button for me, you'd be right.

Flash backwards, about 7 or 8 years.  Todd and I were visiting our favorite Costco in the KC area.  I'd been witnessing the atrocious behaviour of sloths everywhere, and I'd had it.  When 2 inconsiderate ladies left their cart IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARKING LOT, not even pushed up to a bush or tree, I said something.  I don't know what I said.  I'm sure it had the word lazy in it.

Anyhoo, we walk up to Costco, and you know what they did?  They drove right up and rolled down their window and confronted us back.  Game on.  You think we were going to take some guff off two lazy inconsiderate witches?  No way.  I do remember them asking what's it to us and we said it's inconsiderate, other people's cars are parked out there and they are so lazy and self-absorbed they couldn't take 5 seconds to actually exercise and take the cart to where it belonged.  They continued to argue.  Teehee.

Really?  HOW could we be wrong?  THEY LEFT THEIR CART IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARKING LOT!!!!  They continued to argue.  I saw my husband.  He started getting antsy and annoyed with the mindless twits who couldn't understand simple logic.  And then I saw his thumbs.  He started thumbing his stretchy pants waist band.

And then, he did it.

He slowly turned around, bent over, and mooned them.  I'm not talking just a little white cheek.  I'm talking they probably saw balls.

To which they said "Oh nice", rolled up their window and drove away.  We may have let them have the last word, but I had the last laugh.  I laughed my butt off for HOURS over that.  I still get myself worked into a laughing frenzy when I think about it, SO MANY YEARS LATER.  Now that was karma at work--when they leave their carts in a parking lot, and you know they still do, you also know what they are remembering.

Think about it--somewhere some security dude watched Todd moon a car.  We thought about shopping faster in case they wanted to ticket him for indecent exposure.

And this picture?  The very store.
 

Scene of the crime, right here