Step right up to the wager window and lay down your money, Folks!  Kidding – that just seemed like an appropriate lead-in for today since I’ve now read about or have been involved in a few conversations involving the placement of bets.  And, a cousin who is really into horse racing apparently made out very well on the Kentucky Derby.

I think I’m going to start off with a quick recap of my weekend.  Mr. Muse and I spend Saturday hauling away a trailer-load of junky bits for the town’s “Clean Sweep Day”.  It felt good to get rid of that pile of stuff (we save it up for a whole year for this day where we can get rid of it for free).  Then, due to another onset of rainy weather, Mr. Muse spent time out in his wood shop working on the catamaran and I spent three hours ironing fabric for curtains and things in our camper.  No… really.  THREE HOURS!  I also watched the songbirds and ground squirrel in the front yard as I ironed.

Sunday was an “Adventure Day” and Mr. Muse and I headed to Milwaukee to see the “Real Pirates” exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  The exhibit revolved around the wreck of the Whydah (pronounced “whih-duh”) captained by Sam Bellamy and wrecked off of the coast of Cape Code.  It was very interesting and we learned a lot.  I recommend seeing it, just be prepared for the $52 price tag on the tickets for two adults.  I forgot that they charge you for the special exhibit AND for general admission to the rest of the museum.  I’ve already been through the rest of the museum and nothing had changed, so it would have been nice if they would just charge for the special exhibit.  Oh well – at least the money goes for something good.

After our adventure with pirates, we headed to the Harley-Davidson Museum and for lunch at their on-site restaurant, MOTOR.  For all of you Gluten Free people, they do NOT have a special Gluten Free Menu at this time.  We were told that they were working on one.  They do NOT have any gluten free sandwich buns.  Also off limits:  all creamy salad dressings, the marinated steak (soy sauce is used), all soups/stews excepting the tomato-basil, and the barbecue sauce.  Our waitress did have a gluten-free cheat sheet, I selected the spinach salad with hot bacon dressing and the addition of a chicken breast along with a “Lime Time” (limeade with fresh thyme).  The Lime Time was very good as was the salad. Sadly, about 30-45 minutes into touring the museum… I felt a gurgle.  If you can’t have gluten, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  I waited a little bit… cause maybe it was just a “gurgle”, but a few more minutes passed and I had to excuse myself for a while.

I’m still not sure where the gluten was from, though I suspect from the chicken breast being cooked on a gluten-coated flat top grill.  The troubles passed after about three hours, thankfully, and I even felt good enough for some Dulce de Leche frozen custard at Kopp’s (I called the middle of last week to double check the gluten free status of upcoming flavors).  It was DELICIOUS.  Mr. Muse enjoyed his meal at MOTOR and ordered himself a Turtle Sundae with chocolate custard at Kopp’s.  I inquired about the gluten status of the caramel and chocolate fudge sauces and all the gluten free folks will be happy to know they ARE devoid of gluten, as are the nuts:  Turtle Sundaes are SAFE!

Then, THEN!  Today, I logged in here at WP and just started to read blogs before checking my own and found out that Mariette over at Cursory Moments nominated me for a Liebster Award.  What’s that?  It means she loves me… okay – my writing, she loves my writing.  We don’t know each other enough to call what we have love.  So, now you get my responses!  I’d post the rules, but you can read them on her page… and I’m lazy.  And, whatever!  I do what I want!!!!

Random Facts About Me

1. I have become somewhat obsessed with finding kick-ass female music artists.
2. I found that I really enjoy gluten-free baking for the challenge and science-experiment feel to making recipes work.
3. I am still unsure how much I like my Android phone (why does it need rebooting all the time?).
4. I drink an unhealthy amount of coffee.
5. I’m a stress eater/drinker (the more sugar the better, that includes alcohol).
6. I want to ride my bicycle.
7. I am obsessed with Paper Mate Ink Joy pens. Obsessed I tells ya!
8. I miss having a motorcycle.
9. Yes, I do have a motorcycle license.
10. I have a compulsion to cross off days on the calendar at my work desk.
11. At this exact moment, I have to pee… really badly (damn coffee).

11 Questions for Me:

1. Who is your favourite writer/author/blogger? – Me.  Oh… you mean someone else.  Too many from which to choose.  James Joyce currently, mostly because I’m reading “Ulysses” and he writes stream-of-conscious like me.

2. Do you prefer to write things out by hand or use a word processor? – Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.  It depends on the day.

3. Who inspires you? – It’s not always “who”, a lot of times it’s “what”.  Usually music or articles I read.

4. Aside from writing and blogging, what else are your passions and hobbies? –Cooking, baking, working out, gardening, tree-hugging, hiking, kayaking, camping and traveling the WORLD!

5. Do you have a favourite book from your childhood? – I was fairly in love with fables and nursery rhymes.  I remember a big book of them where the cover was taped on, but can’t remember the title.

6. What type of music do you like to listen to? – I can officially say, everything, though I have my preferences:  metal, rock, classic rock.
   

7. What would your dream job be like? – Do you watch Anthony Bourdain’s travel shows?  THAT!

8. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you want to go? – Everywhere.  Anywhere.  I really want to visit friends in England and Sweden right now.

9. Is there anything in your life you would like to change? – Nope.  Everything happens for a reason, whether we understand that reason right then, later on or just “not at all”.

10. Have you ever written and finished an entire book? – Not even close.

11. If you could be granted one superpower, what would it be? And why? – Mariette responded with “Photographic Memory”, but I have very-close-to Eidetic Memory already.  For me, with my love of travel – I’d love to fly… actually, it’d be nice just to teleport myself places, though flying could be really cool.

And now…. I nominate:  Everyone who reads this!  You heard me.

As for me and my ilk, I’m off to lunch at Red Robin (gluten free buns AND a staff that makes sure to keep me safe) today with Mr. Tall Dark and Swedish, aka “Husband #2”.  There is a story to that, but it requires a flowchart.  And yes, his wife, Mrs. Short Blonde and Swedish, knows.

I’ll leave you with a video from one of my latest female artist obsessions, Lana Del Rey’s “Ride” (it’s like a mini-movie!!!  Listen to the lyrics.)  Have a great Monday!!!