Bohemian Valhalla: Living The Dream... It's Not The Dream I Had, But I'm Living It

We'll begin with Food Porn, The Man's Salmon Bennie Breakfast from "First Watch". He won't eat that side Salad. In Real Time it's the 25th of August and Dolly Parton Died Today at Age 80. What an amazing Talent, Philanthropist, savvy Businesswoman, Song Writer, Singer, Actress, and overall Wonderful, Kind, Humble, Smart and Beloved Person she was. Her Dear Husband of 60 Years had Died last Year, what a Real Love Story too of devotion to your Beloved. What an Icon and Real American Success Story she was, rising out of abject Poverty and then Paying it Forward once she attained Fame... giving back constantly.

I couldn't Help myself but think, why couldn't it have been a different 80 Year Old Scoundrel instead that was taken, and you all know who I refer to without even Naming Names... rather than an 80 Year Old Angel with Flesh on, who has contributed so many Wonderful and Positive things to this World! And apparently I wasn't alone in thinking that Sentiment immediately, since, I saw this Meme popping up immediately on my Feed from Friends and extended Family. *LOL* You couldn't even copy this Meme, FB wouldn't let you, so I screen shot it with my Phone Camera to Share here, coz, it was worth Sharing. She clearly will be Missed and had so many Famous People paying Tribute all Day. R.I.P. Ms. Dolly! You led an Amazing Life & Career.

When I picked up Princess T she bought me a bunch of things from SAVERS that I found and wanted, she insisted on paying since I'd bought a bunch of Treats and Cat Food for her Cat, Eli. Who, I do Spoil Rotten, but "Dollar General" had his fav Cat Treats on Sale half off and I got him every flavor they had. *Smiles* I had a $10 Off Coupon to use at SAVERS that will be good thru EOM, if you spend $25 or more, so, a Big Savings on our Purchase! I got a Virgin Of Guadalupe Rose Bead Rosary, Two pair of Cute Graphics Fabric Pajama Pants that are like Sweatpants {One has Horror Movie Graphics, the other Rolling Stones Brand & Graphics}, Light Pink Capris, a Vintage 1950's Tablecloth with Fruit Print, a Halloween Print soft Blanket, a New Old Stock Halloween Hot Pad with matching Dish Towel, a bunch of New Old Stock Original Packaged Barbie Clothing in Two Bagged Lots, Two huge Bagged Lots of LOL Surprise Dolls, a Colorful Yarn Boho Style Large Octagonal Granny Square Afghan, Two New Old Stock Dish Towels with Chinese Takeout Graphics, a New Old Stock RUSS Teddy Bear with Original $30 Price Tage attached.

Some of that will be Sold, about half of it actually will be Resale with great Margins. Making what I Keep be Free to me. Well, Princess T paid for it all so it was already all Free to me actually. It's my Great-Grand Cat, Eli, that Costs me Money! *Ha ha ha* He was so excited with his Treats tho' and comes to watch me open them all and put them in his Treat Containers, he knows what they are. After he sees it all and we get it put into his Treat Containers, he walks away, knowing he'll get some in the Morning, which is our Morning Ritual. He will Sing the Song of his People if I'm running Late with that Ritualistic Morning Pampering. *Winks* He's a very Vocal Cat and they only Voice things for Humans, Cats don't actually usually Vocalize, it's strictly for our Benefit. They Learned it's the best way to get our Attention and fulfill their Needs, they're Clever like that. Body Language and Scent is how they "Talk" to each other. But Humans are Bad at Feline Signals of Body Language and Scent, so they developed a "Language" just for us. *LOL*

His Cardiologist Appt. with Dr. Pham went very well, he's making great Progress in the Right Direction and Dr. Pham is very Proud of him. It's great to get Positive Reinforcement and input from your Docs and The Man is having better results Physically now, he's putting in the Work. When OT and PT resume again at Home I expect he may get off some Meds and out of his Walker, Dr. Pham thinks so, and therefore we'll keep on keeping on. It Encouraged The Man, he's very Discouraged usually, mostly from a Mental and Emotional Standpoint, it's become difficult to move Forward and get Positive Results, but, we keep at it and keep trying anyway. It literally took YEARS to rehabilitate from his Brain Injury after the Accident, Dementia is different, but I feel like we could mebbe slow the progression down enuf to finish out Life with a modicum of Brain Function intact to have better Quality of Life than Quantity. That's the Goal, since, he is already 74 and Cheated Death many times.

I was Proud of him that he ate his Bennie and didn't play with it, he ate it all in fact, yay, progress! I told him I'd only order it IF he ate it all this time since last time we threw most of it away after Two Days of it being Takeout he never bothered to eat the Leftovers of, which, was most of it. I don't mind that he throws the Salad parts away, he has no Teeth and chokes on uncooked Greens. Above was my Brekky of Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Lemon Curd and Fresh Strawberries with Powdered Sugar. They bring Warm Maple Syrup to the Table but it was Sweet enuf to not need it. The Lemon Curd was Sublime, the Pancakes, both of them, were huge, so I brought half Home to eat later on with some Lemon Curd I have here.

The Table beside us had a bunch of Pinal County Sheriff's having Breakfast. Pinal County is between Phoenix and Tucson with Florence being their County Seat {563,000}, the 3rd most Populous County, behind Maricopa County here around Metro Phoenix {almost 5 Million} and Pima County around Tucson {1 Million}. So since Florence has a Big Prison and another Big Prison is close by the Restaurant, we figured they had mebbe been Transporting Convicts coz they had a Van? The Man and I looked at each other and I knew we were both Thinking the exact same thing! You know how when you're Married a long time you almost have the same Thoughts, and without Words you can communicate and even finish each other's Sentences? Well, it was like THAT, coz I just knew what he and I were both Thinking and not saying yet until they got up and left... Wow, they no longer have any Fitness or Weight Standards at the Sheriff's Department! *LOL*

We aren't trying to be Mean, but for Sheriff's Dept., Police, and the Military, generally there used to be Fitness Standards, no matter how Old you got. So you could do the Job required and be an Asset and not a potential Liability if you were really out of Shape. They were all Younger Guys and Three of them were literally Morbidly Obese, the others were quite Overweight and not very Fit, but might could Run after a Perp, tho' I don't know if they'd be able to catch one if the chase was too long or too fast? *Smiles* The Three very Fat ones would just have to pull out a Gun and say, "Stop, or I'll Shoot"... and if the Perp doesn't, then say, "Or I'll say Stop, I'll Shoot, Again!!!" *Bwahahahaha* They were eating a LOT, a Gluttony LOT, so, I could see the consumption of Food was far more than either one of us could consume in even a couple of Meals if we were very Hungry. Shit, I could only eat less than Half my Meal of just Two Pancakes, and I'm a Big Gal!

They had a lot of Gear on, and the really, really fattest one, I don't even know how they find a Vest or Uniform in that Size, Honestly? He must have weighed damned close to 400 lbs., definitely in the high 300's range, and I'm not exaggerating or being hyperbolic! It's a Shame when I see any relatively Young Adult, or Child, whose that out of Shape and that Overweight, it can't be Healthy and likely will come with a host of Health Issues related to Obesity and Poor Habits. There are some Precious Children at the Elementary School level that Weigh as much as me, and I'm overweight, it grieves me. Coz Children that Young aren't buying their Groceries or preparing their Meals, the Responsible Adults for them are and not being particularly Responsible about that Child's Diet or intake. Surely their Pediatricians have to be Warning them of the Dangers of Childhood Obesity? But, very often, sadly, the whole Family are Morbidly Obese too, so the Habits are Generationally passed along not to be eating Healthy or practicing a Healthier Lifestyle. I feel so Bad for those Kiddos.

You can't say anything, even with the Best of Intentions and real Sincere Concerns, to a Family about their Child being so overweight tho', they will lose their shit. I know, coz I even said something to our Oldest Daughter when one of her Children was so overweight at 11, she looked Pregnant in a Holiday Pix they sent us at the time, and I Freaked Out that perhaps she was and said something!!! That Grandchild has struggled with her Weight ever since coz Habits since early Childhood tend to be very difficult to conquer. I suspect it mostly goes unsaid, tho' I'm sure everyone Thinks it, when they see a poor Morbidly Obese Child and wonder WTF, don't the Family acknowledge this is a Bad thing for that Kiddo?! You'd say more if a Child looked obviously Starved, and you know you would if you thought they were being Starved and not fed enuf! And to me either is a Bad thing for any Child's Well Being and development, both Physically and even Emotionally. So I don't envy their Pediatrician having to voice the Obvious concerns about Childhood Obesity. Over 21% of American Children 1-19, suffer from Obesity, in the 1970's it was only 5%.

Speaking of the 1970's, here's an early 1970's Blast From The Past of me when we first Moved to Arizona. I Loved those East Indian Velvet Embroidered Kurti Tunics that I brought back from Europe and wore them all the time. My Style and Aesthetic was very different than the Arizona Youth Fashions of the 1970's, other Local Teens looked at me like I was a Cosmic Hippie from Mars or something. I was having more The Jimi Hendrix Experience than most of them, clearly. *Ha ha ha* I got most of the Kurti from the East Indian and Pakistani Vendors at the European Flea Markets when I was 13-16 Years Old and Worked for an Irish Gypsy who had a huge Tent Selling Jewelry at those Flea Markets. I learned to set up and take down a Tent Structure and set up Wares like I was Working for the Circus!!! *LOL, it's hard Work!* The Old Gypsy had been a Carnie for Years and taught me so much about working your Hustle and knowing The Good Stuff, he specialized in Silver Jewelry and made a lot of his own Silversmith Jewelry.

I often wore Turbans, Embroidered Jeans with either huge Flared Bell Bottoms, or, rolled up to above my Knees with Knee Hit Boots. Huge Earrings and had Multiple Pierced Ears before it was a Popular Practice, and lots of Colorful East Indian Bangles up my Arms. Or often wore Hot Pants, which, in Europe was "In" for a long time already, even my Welsh Nanna wore them and looked Great in them coz she was a good looking Gramma... but it hadn't quite reached Arizona yet! *LOL* And my Hot Pants were HOT, some in Wet Look Material, and damned near showed off The Good China! I was very Uninhibited about Fashion or my Body... still am, ask The poor Pool Boy! *Bwahahahaha*

Arizona isn't a hub of Fashion or Style, sadly, it often is Culturally deprived in the area of Fashion IMO. Back then I thought most Young People of my Generation here just looked sloppy. It's better now than it was tho', some of the Young People now here do have Style and some Swagger. But, as Princess T points out on The Regular, far too many are Copy & Paste. Not an Original Thought in their Heads... so they Mimic and look like Clones of one another. One of Princess T's Younger Sisters, the Youngest of the Trio in Mexico, sent me a Video Today of her blowing me a Kiss. Awwww, I Receive that Blown Kiss!!! She has Natural full Lips like Angelina Jolie, she Hated having such Full Lips when she was Younger, now she realizes how many Women would Kill to have Natural Lips that Full. She has a drop dead Gorgeous new Boyfriend, he looks like a Movie Star!!! She sent a short Video with him but I couldn't grab a Still Image of it. And the Shorts disappear in a few Hours, no Idea where they go into the Ether? *LOL* The Girls mostly use Instagram now. Princess T doesn't even use FB, never has.

And the Oldest of the Trio of Granddaughters in Mexico sent me this one, I'm still waiting for the Middle One to Post a new Pix for us. All of them greatly reduced what they do on FB now. *Sad Face* And I don't do Instagram. It just never Appealed to me even tho' all the Kiddos have tried to get me to switch over and a lot of my Friends use it more than they do FB now too. I don't like that I can't just grab Images off Instagram, it's the only reason I even use FB, to Share Pixs with Friends and Family, so if I can't Save any Shared, I just don't like the platform. It's a rigamarole to Crib an Image Shared off of Instagram, so I just don't like the platform. I often wanna Keep that Image Shared with me.

A fav Image of The Daughter, Age 3, with our rescue Cat at the time, Yuki Chia. We saved him as a Kitten from an Old Plant Nursery Guy who was going to drown the feral Kitten!!! Not on my Watch!!! I was there to buy Plants for our Home, came Home with a Kitten instead and he grew huge! He could stand on his hind Legs and put his front Paws over The Daughter's Shoulders and look her in the Eye! He often fought Coyotes, our Vet pulled many a Coyote Tooth out of Yuki! Saying, that's the Toughest Cat that has probably ever lived and he's gone thru more than his Nine Lives! *LOL* He would fight anyone's Dog if they came onto our Property uninvited, including our Friend Jerry's Hybrid Wolf Dog named Eeka, our Friend Dino's Malemute named King, and another Neighbor's Great Dane named Tiny!

Yuki always won and the Dogs would retreat and go Home, probably embarrassed to have a defeat to a Cat. *LOL* Eli looks very similar to Yuki, but with shorter Hair. Despite his scrappy Outdoor Habits and risks, he lived to be quite Old and Died Peacefully and defiantly laying on my Herb Garden to exit this mortal coil... he left a lasting impression on our Family. We had a lot of long lived Cats that were with the Family a long time, sometimes longer than the People around us stuck around. And then there were the Transient ones too, that were there for a Season, however long they decided it should be. That's the thing about Cats that I particularly like, their fierce Independence, they choose their Family and who they want to Adopt and for how long. They don't have Human Owners, they have Human Staff. *Smiles*

As the Temps are still around 116 or higher most days now I'm really concentrating on Fall and Autumnal Vibes and Holidays, can't wait! I'm Working Tonight, I forget who they said I'm filling in for... and Priced a bunch of Smalls to bring in with me that are an Easy Turn and inexpensive enuf to go out the Door without hesitation on a Sale. I have been Selling some higher priced items tho', which is a Surprise during the Summer Months and with the Economy such that it just is. So, some folks are feeling Economically Optimistic, which is good, I don't want the Economy Crashing. Tho' decisions being made in this White House boggle the Mind and make no Economic Sense whatsoever for the benefit of America or it's People. The newest Trade War with Canada just makes me send our Canadian Friends our Apologies, the majority of America doesn't support this decision and had nothing to do with Voting in this Regime... all I can say is, we're Sorry and Hope you don't hold it against all of America? Your Leaders made the Right decision for your People and your Nation, at least. Bravo!

Yeah, I'm still Living The Dream my Friends... it's not the Dream I had, but I'm Living it! *Winks and Laughs* That's my new favorite response and Mantra in fact, when anyone asks me how I'm doing? *Smiles* I was contemplating The Math, which is against those of my Age, and figure, shit, Dawn, you got mebbe a Decade, PERHAPS, left, to get everything Done that you really wanted to Do in Life... Tick Fucking Tock Girlfriend, get busy with it why dont'cha!!! After saying I didn't use or like Instagram, I did find myself there looking at some Fav Industry Folks Reels they'd put out on it. I felt very Inspired and Encouraged, mebbe my Grandkids were Right, mebbe I should spend more Time on Instagram, it was so Uplifting. Everything is short Reels or Stills with a brief Written Word... so it takes very little of your Time to watch a few. I've reconsidered now, and will fall down that Rabbit Hole a bit Daily to remain more Positive in Outlook and duly Inspired by what others are Doing.

I still Hate that you can't really Crib Imagery and taking Pixs of the Screen with my Cellphone isn't the best quality, but I did to keep some for Inspiration and Shares. I'll see what I can do to clean them up with Photo Editing now before Sharing some of my Favs. I took a few Pixs of my new Colorful Boho Afghan I got Yesterday for Five Dollars, it's huge and a lot of Work and Expense went into the Creating of it. It's large enuf to cover the entire Back of the long part of our Leather Sectional in the Living Room and would probably cover a Queen Sized Bed as a Bedspread. The Elderly Cashier told me she'd thought about Buying it herself and regrets she didn't, I told her I'm glad she didn't. *LOL* This was someone's Labor of Love and it took a lot of different hues of Yarn to Create it too. I just Love it.

My Brother hasn't yet told me how his Meeting with his Oldest Son went, or sent me any Pixs yet, so I'm only Hoping it went off without a hitch? It had been around 20 Years since the last time they'd met, and a good 20 Years before that when he was only Two was the last time I'd seen him in Person. Tho' my Brother did Share Pixs he took when they got together when his Son was in his 20's. He JUST called me, claims he already called and told me about the Meeting, I don't remember that Call and am sure it never happened. He was thinking I'm losing it, but I think he's on so much Medication he can't always recall what he's doing, he has a Morphine Pump installed and I'm not on any Mind Altering Medications, so I think he Thought he'd called me when he sent the Pixs. And the Pixs were sitting out there in my Messenger when I looked. His Son looks nothing like he did when he was in his 20's and not as Fair as when he was a Younger Adult and Child.

He looks more like our Mom's side of the Family than our Dad's, I'd like to see him without the big fuzzy Mountain Man Beard. *LOL* He's clearly Tall and Husky, since my Brother is 6'4" and not a Small Guy. I liked my Brother's Anti-AI Shirt. *Smiles* The Meeting went fabulously, he's so excited to get to know our side of the Family coz he has absolutely nothing to do with his Mom or her side of the Family. She and her Family were always very complicated People, so I can't say I'm Surprised at all. And I'm fairly certain she wouldn't have liked him trying to find his Paternal Relatives, one reason my Brother didn't push the matter coz he knew his Ex had hostility and he didn't wanna cause problems for his Son with his Maternal Family. Seems there were problems anyway and why his Son dropped all Social Media and even changed his Online Name to avoid detection. He said that's why he was so Shocked his Aunt Dawn FOUND him, nobody else has been able to for around 20 Years now!!! *LOL*

My Brother said, well, your Aunt Dawn has her Methods of finding and getting whatever she needs or wants to. *Bwahahahaha* I used to Skip Trace folks in both my Corporate Lives who didn't wanna be Found and my Employers Needed to Find. And that was long before Social Media, the Internet just made that so much easier for me. *Winks* Anyway, so my Brother found out he has a Granddaughter Aged 12 and a Grandson Aged 7, and that the Siblings Hate each other. *LOL* So he told some Childhood Stories of what a Bully I was when he was little, but we managed to become Besties anyway, so perhaps his Kids will grow closer as they Mature? *LMAO, Yeah, I was the Sibling full of Piss and Vinegar and my Brother was The Golden Child without a Mean Spirited Bone in his whole Body* So, I used to Protect my Brother, even when he grew to be 6'4" and about 220, I'm 5'2" and weighed 98 lbs. soaking wet as a Young Adult. *Smiles* My Brother would Warn anyone thinking I couldn't hurt them, she's like a Rabid Chihuahua and she will not Stop Fighting you once she Starts. *Ha ha ha*

Anyway, he said the Restaurant was packed coz it's one of the only ones open that late and his Son's Flight came in an Hour Late. But a Sweet Waitress knew he was meeting up with a Son he hadn't seen in Years and Reserved a Booth for them. He said they ate and talked for over 3 Hours. He said his Son told him he'd been nervous about what they might talk about or how he'd be Received after all this time? But it was like they'd always known one another and it was effortless and not the least bit awkward, I'm so Glad it went that well and his Son wants to keep in Touch a lot more now and get to know all of our Family, since he has none now he cut off all the others he was Raised with. He said it was so much Drama and a Headache, he just couldn't deal with it anymore and didn't want Contact with any of them, not even his Younger Brother and Sister {who aren't my Brother's Children}. My Brother is like that tho', he's actually never met a Stranger and People just Like him and Warm up to him immediately. As Cher once famously said about why she's remained Popular for such a long Career: Sometimes People just LIKE you.

Now I'm dump an Avalanche of Still Shots I did off the Instagram Reels I spent the Morning immersed in. Not the best Quality of Image since it's a moving Video, but it was for some Photo Shoots that "Magnolia Pearl" has done. I Love the Imagination Robin soars to, which is really Out Of The Box Artistically and I've always liked that about her Creations and Line, it's constantly Evolving and pushing Boundaries. I've Collected them since the early Years when she Hand Sewed them all herself and didn't even have a Following or a Label yet. I like the Unknown Masters who are Creative Geniuses and defy the Norms and Rules of Artistic Expression. Before they become well known and then have a Brand, Outsource to keep up with Demand, and have to start mass producing their Lines, usually Abroad, to have the Supply necessary to become the next level Commercially with the Branding taking off.

I'm a Weirdo in my Aesthetic and Lifestyle, so I appreciate anyone really different, unique, and who breaks all the Rules someone else made up about what you should do, wear, say, or decorate with. Originality to me is Paramount. I may not like everything you Dream up or Create, but I can appreciate it if I've never seen it before and it's very different than the Status Quo out there being overdone and far less Original or Authentic to Self. You probably always have a good Story too... and it will be Different, Interesting, even Fascinating, whether it's a tragic one or a Dreamy one. I can Guarantee you that it won't be your Garden Variety Story either, which, those Garden Variety Back Stories are far too banal, Pedestrian and boring... Yawn.