I made a salad today using what I had on hand.
It looks good and tastes very good. The mixture is quite pleasant.
I call it Surprise Salad because it was a surprise to me how well it turned out.
If you like what you see, try making it yourself, then invite me over.
Surprise Salad
Surprise Salad
(fruit and veggies are sliced thin and/or narrow with all seeds removed)
2 Roma tomatoes
1/2 onion, white or red
1 cucumber
1/2 c. mushrooms
2 stalks of celery. sliced
1 Granny Smith apple
1 Papaya
1 small can ripe sliced olives
1/2 c. walnut pieces
1/2 c. chopped parsley
Balsamic and Basil vinaigrette dressing- with EEVO. The kind I use has 4g fat per 2 Tbsps.
Combine all fruit and vegetables in a bowl. Drizzle 1/2 c. Balsamic and Basil vinaigrette dressing. Toss well to distribute the dressing. Cover and chill in refrigerator 1 hour. Toss again before serving.
This salad will satisfy all your taste buds and then some.
If I had a banana and some raisins on hand, they would've been added.
Feel free to embellish or change the amounts as you wish and make this salad your own surprise.
It was pure genius to devise a code partly based upon the alphabet and word association.
Here's more info on how this code came about using the complex Navajo language where tone of voice can have a different meaning to a word.
The following are interviews with eight of the Navajo Code Talkers.
Peter MacDonald, Navajo Code Talker. It was destiny he do something great for his country, after dropping out of school after the 5th grade and joining the Marine Corps.
The Navajo language was not written. Memory only of the 400 who were recruited to use this code was one of the reasons it was undecipherable by the Japanese during the war. The Code Talkers were very valuable to the Marines and the war effort.
Samuel Tso, another proud Navajo Code Talker, didn't want to be called a draft dodger. He tells of the 'First 29' and how he volunteered to run across Death Valley to locate machine guns and how he knew he would survive that mission.
John Kinsel, Navajo Code Talker, tells of the meaning of the colors and symbols and how the Japanese almost got one letter of the code; how he got sick with malaria in South America; and receiving the Purple Heart, which he had to prove he was in the service.
Keith Little was orphaned. Listen to his story hearing of the 'sneak attack' on Pearl Harbor and hearing President Roosevelt say this is a day of infamy. Listen to how he volunteered for the Marines at age 17 and went on to be a Navajo Code Talker.
Kee Etsicitty, a Navajo Code Talker, tells how code talkers had to have a good memory in
order to translate into code. He tells why he had short sleeves in uniform and a little about
enemy conversations on the radio, and more.
Joe Vandever, Navajo Code Talker, tells how it was in the war and how he got word from a bird
that he would return home and of being brave.
Samuel Tom Holiday, Navajo Code Talker, tells of his early years and more.
Chester Nav, Navajo Code Talker, who as of April 2014, is the last of the First 29 Code Talkers.
He speaks of raising sheep when he was young, the livestock massacre, and the hard life living
on the reservation. He explains that he was raised as a warrior to protect what he loves and he had to
join the Marines to protect the United States. He tells that until the code was declassified in 1968, he could only speak of his work in the service of just talking on the radio.
In 2001 the Code Talkers were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
These brave men volunteered and served their country in wartime.
Their service is to be commended by all who live in the land of the free.
Recently I learned about an awesome biker organization.
Their mission is nothing less than what I would describe as AWESOME!
These black leather wearing guys and gals are truly angels on wheels.
Bikers Against Child Abuse. BACA, they're called, are they're doing some mighty good works for kids who've been abused.
Am I the only one who wishes any adults thinking about abusing an innocent child have to face BACA?
Any child would feel safer with BACA around. Take a look.
They are serious because their cause is serious.
A child should not have to grow up in fear. Bless each of them.
The Paralympic Games are held following the regular Olympic Games every four years, and give athletes with a physical disability who qualify to compete just like 'non-disabled' athletes to go for the gold.
Trisha Zorn, blind from birth, has won 41 gold medals in various swimming competitions. I believe she holds the record for gold metal wins in any Olympic Games. Michael Phelps won 14 gold metals for his swimming wins in the regular Olympic Games.
The Special Olympics are for those athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The Deaflympics are for those athletes with hearing disabilities.
I've been fascinated with the tiny home movement. These dwellings are adorable and quite the contrast compared to massive square footage homes. Why work just to pay a huge monthly mortgage payment when you can live small and have lots of dough left over for lots of other things.
And, tiny homes sure make house cleaning a simple chore. That's pretty alluring to me.
I couldn't help but think of the shotgun houses I've seen. They are compact and make full use of interior footage because of the the lack of a hallway.
Then there are the micro-homes which can be made in whatever shape you prefer.
Garage homes with 250 square feet actually looks pretty spacious.
For those who like being near the water, you might consider small homes on or near the water, like these. And, many of these house boats are priced in the $20s. Wow!
And, this man made a dwelling out of a garbage dumpster. See video.
All in all, I can see some manufacturers coming out with all sorts of combined fixtures/appliances/furniture to give the most bang for the square feet in these scaled down dwellings where space is a premium.
For the most part, I think making the most of every inch of living space is a great design for dwellings, eliminating empty, unused space and leads one to not accumulate and unnecessary stuff.
American Indians were at the forefront of compact dwellings with their teepees, longhouses and such, and they didn't have to climb up a ladder to get to the bedroom or the bed. And climbing a ladder might be the only draw back that I see in most of the designs to access the bedroom overhead. This could be no problem for the young but it might be dangerous for anyone with a knee problem or not too steady holding onto a ladder after just waking up needing to get to the bathroom in a hurry.
My experience with small living space was twenty years ago when I moved a storage shed out to the country and began moving my belonging out of a rented two-bedroom apartment. I placed all my furniture and belongings inside a 12'X16' storage shed with a wooden floor, a metal roof, two windows, a door, an overhead light and two wall sockets. It was Springtime and when it rained I slept so good! Everything was within arms reach and I was so happy living in that little space with my dog. I really didn't want to move out of it.
So, whatever size dwelling suits your lifestyle, in whatever material you want it constructed of, go on and live it up large in your small dwelling.
The size of a home doesn't matter. It's home as long as your heart is there.
I've been amazed with Diana Nyad, the distance swimmer, and her solidly-determined goal to swim without a shark cage between Florida and Cuba. Well, on her fifth attempt to complete the distance, she now holds the distinctive title as the first person who can honestly claim to have done it and can show proof that she swam it!
I was thinking she had to have a team of helpers to make this happen, not once, but five different times. That must have taken lots of man hours, planning, and belief in her.
I have some questions I would like to ask Diana Nyad.
How does one train to swim this distance?
Who are your support team, are they paid, and how much?
Do you have sponsors? And if so, who are they?
Can you sleep while floating?
Did your skin shrivel being in the water that long?
What did you eat and drink during your swim?
Were you able to speak and could you hear those in the boat at all times?
What is the amount in dollars in equipments, boats, manpower, etc for each attempt?
Are you in the Guinness Book of World Records?
And why was this challenge something you had to do?
I think it's so cool that a few women have taken up sumo wrestling. I found Sports Illustrated has done a layout on female sumo wrestlers.
This ancient Japanese sport is reserved for the full, hefty-bodied male, rikishi.
Women can compete only at the amateur level. Women aren't allowed in the matches because the platform is blessed by a Shinto priest, and women are considered unclean. There's a lot of ritual purification going on in this sport and there is no protesting the judges' rulings.
Sumo wrestlers charge their opponent with a weighty burst of energy
Wrestling is a full-contact sport. The objective is to use your mind to out-maneuver your opponent with your body in order to get control of your opponent and pin them down or push them outside the ring. This sport is performed barefoot while blending disciplines of self-defense, martial arts, and hand-to-hand combat.
Wrestling reminds me of a chess game with two queen game pieces remaining on the board-every move is vitally pertinent for the win. Even the stare-down, the psyching-out your opponent, is all part of the sport.
But unlike chess, tennis or boxing, sumo wrestling has a lot of rituals dating back hundreds of years.
When you watch a match, don't blink, because the wrestling match could be over in seconds. The opponents size each other up to get that split second lead of charging first with a blast of energy to throw the other off balance. Blink, and you might miss their lightening moves.
Sumo wrestlers have to be limber because a match can put the wrestlers in all sorts of configurations. I like watching wrestling matches and sumo wrestling matches are the most fascinating to watch.
Dan Gable won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling-I had the privilege of attending the same high school he graduated. There's a large portrait of Dan hanging in the school gymnasium. I preferred going to wrestling meets than football or basketball games because I think wrestling is more exciting to watch..
Wrestlers, no matter their weight class, have to be quick, strong, limber, and light on their feet. It's never boring to watch because there's always action on the mat.
Wrestlers have some nice physiques, too.
Sumo wrestlers must be comfortable with their bodies to move about while wearing only a big thong, uhh, I mean a belt, called a mawashi.
Women sumo wrestlers wear a mawashi over spandex, thank goodness.
These wrestlers are strong and solid. View this video and notice when they go down, nothing giggles.
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Back to women and wrestling... take a look at this young female sumo wrestler from the UK. Even though I've never been to a sumo tournament, I can see participating in this sport would increase one's focus, strength, agility, mind control, and improve one's self-defense skills, as well.
