0-3

Made it through the family 50th Birthday party for my husband. Went off pretty well. I had quite a stock of beer and was a little surprised this morning when emptying the coolers. They made a dent, but we ended up with enough beer left over for a few camping trips. The 30 can case of Pabst was gone, the case & 12 pack of GD was gone, had 1 case of Miller Lite left (thanks guys) and 12 Miller 64's left. Also left was the full 12 pack of Berryweise, and 3 bottles of Smirnoff variety pack. Mike's was gone. Also gone was most of the food and two birthday cakes. Thanks to Nannette, there was one piece of cheesecake made by Bonnie tucked away in the fridge for Barney. And Elvis is still standing proudly on our front lawn.

Seeing as this was day two of his birthday celebration (he takes a month) we met my daughter and three grandchildren at the driving range this morning. Note to self: take golf lessons. We spent about over an hour there and had a good time. The kids enjoy it and Barney got some practice in with his new clubs. I need work. I can hit far enough, just need to straighten it out a little. Maybe I should work on that so when I retire I can take to the courses instead of sitting home baking varieties of cookies.

On to the 0-3. I have now eaten at Red Robin 3 times. Why I go back to someplace I don't like is beyond me. The first time was right after they opened and beside being crowded (expected) my food was okay. The service is terrible. The second time Barney wanted to try it out so we did. Food was not good, service was okay. I think she knew the service was bad and tried to make up for it. Today we went because the kids wanted to go. I cannot stand going to a restaurant and having a wait staff person continuously apologize for being busy. Don't you want your restaurant to be busy? Doesn't busy mean money? Maybe you shouldn't have sent people home because you had a 1/2 hour lull in business. Our waiter, who had to be in his early 40's was rude as hell to the kids. He stops by the table to ask if everything is OK, the kids tell the guy it's their grandpa's birthday and he continues walking and says" Well it's still going to be his birthday when I come back". I found it rude. I could tell it made the kids uncomfortable and made the "maybe their really busy excuse". 5 minutes later the wait staff is singing away to some guy 5 tables away. I'm sure Barney was happy not to have attention called to himself, but it made the kids feel bad. I'm sure they're over it by now as the guy brought over an ice cream and plopped it down on the table. Oh, yeah and the food was not good.

Accepting Responsibility?

I seem to recall a conversation started by the campfire this weekend regarding people accepting responsibility for their own actions. Great conversation but what made it greater was all the people sitting around and agreeing with each other. It makes me feel good to know that my friends have morals and are all good people.

A conversation started in the lunchroom today regarding the article this week about the girl who fell into the open manhole cover while texting. One of the guys reading the article blurted out " People need to start taking responsibility for their own actions". Everyone agreed and of course comments were made and people broke into their own little conversations. Here's an instance where the city claims to be somewhat at fault as they didn't immediately place cones out to mark the open hole. Missy comes walking along and it texting rather than paying attention to where she's going and falls into a hole with of course, raw sewage. Accepting responsibility for your own actions. Yes the hole should have been marked, more so if it's a busy area. The workers claim they turned around to get the cones and she fell in. Well, maybe one of them should have stood guard while the other got the cones. Accepting responsibility/teamwork. What really took the cake on the story was having the mother quoted as saying it was embarrassing to her daughter to fall in raw sewage and "we still haven't found her other shoe". They're suing. My guess is, that they will win. This should be a 50/50 split. No damages were done so she should not receive any settlement. However the city workers should also be held somewhat accountable.

Here's my next beef. Shouldn't the Police Chief's wife be the one dragging his butt into court for his little "fling". This Harris jerk needs to butt his nose out of it and keep the city's money intact and not wasted on a court case because he has a beef with the Chief. He did wrong. He did wrong in his personal life. Harris thinks he may have had financial gain from the story the "flingee" did on him. This does not belong in the Milwaukee Court system. Let Mrs. Chief or the woman's husband do what they feel needs to be done. Adultery is still a crime in Milwaukee? Wish my lawyer would have told me that 27 years ago. Maybe I could have gotten my ex-husbands employer to foot the bill for my lawyer and court fees.

Another Cut

Not sure if I'll be safe this time or not, but they cut the hourly people down to 32 hours starting the week of the 20th. Not a good thing when the boss waits for everyone by the time clock. What was worse was him signaling me out to hang for a second. He's not sure if this affects me or not as I'm salaried and of course we couldn't find my boss to ask.

If the truth was told back in April, then I am not. Just wondering how boring it may be from 5 am until 7 when the operators come in. I'm not real big on the "you'll probably find out by the end of the week" statement, although what's the difference? I'm hoping he doesn't put me on Monday through Friday. As always, I'm sure it'll all work out in the end. Of course winning the lottery would be a better option.

My fat, old body is a little sore. I just spent a total of about 8 hours in two days over at my mother-in-laws house weeding and planting for her. I decided I was sick of listening to her complain about her grand kids that live downstairs, and sick of other people making excuses on why they can't help out. The bottom line is she needs help. It appears that everyone wants to point the finger at the other person for not helping out and in the end no one helps. I also feel that it's horrible for her to be treated this way. I knew my husband's father since I was 14 years old. Hard working, kind man that I would imagine is just fuming at whats going on.

The 3 children (22,20 & 15) that live downstairs have no direction. Part of the issue is there is so much to do around there that I believe they are overwhelmed. Several things are started and off they go on to something else. My biggest bitch the other day was seeing that "yes, the hedges were trimmed, however the trimmings were never picked up". When I questioned that I got "blah, blah, was supposed to do that". Just like the shovel of dog crap that he left sitting next to the kennel as he didn't have a bag. He didn't like it to much when I showed him the effects of leaving a pile of crap in the hot sun for a day. Had to go inside and get sick.

Anybody want a turtle? They have one that someone got from the park. It's in a tank, with filthy water and they're complaining because they didn't know you had to change the water every two days. So now it sits outside on the patio in a filthy tank. I was going to dump the tank on it's side and let the thing go last night, but another sister-in-law said she was going to take it to the park today and set it free.

Off that subject. I may develop heartburn from thinking about the situation. The porch is almost done. The carpet is in and I see that there are just a few nail holes to patch and paint. I'm impressed at how much Barney did today. Good thing Ben didn't get a hold of him early this morning for a trip to the Casino. Maybe that's what he's gearing up for.

My Head May Explode

Not from being full of any useless knowledge, but on a scale of 1-10 I have to rate this headache as an 8 or 9. I get little nagging headaches every so often which I can attribute to "the girl thing" or sitting in front of the computer to long. This one woke me up at 4a.m. Part of it seems to be a sinus thing which I also find odd. I feel fine except for the pounding above my eyes. I went right for the allergy relief medication.

My topic today, since I was in the medicine cabinet, is pills. In my medicine cabinet I have, aspirin, Benadryl, some expired antibiotics, a bottle containing pain pills (also expired and now flushed)some allergy medication and some cold tablets. Not a big hit for someone looking for drugs in this house. I was having a discussion with my daughter last night about the ease in obtaining medication from some doctors. I must see doctor's from a different mold, as besides my limited pain medication after my hip surgery (now flushed) I have never been offered any type of medication. She was telling me about how her doctor offered her three to four "answers to her problems" in pill form. She declined them, as she's already frustrated and trying to manage pain from two back surgeries in a different way. We went on to discuss the number of people her age that she knows that are on multiple medications.

Don't get me wrong, as I know there are ailments that require or can be better controlled with medication. There are instances where anti-depressants may be of assistance to someone for a short period of time. My mother took them while awaiting a cancer diagnosis for two weeks. She may have had worse issues without them. What I don't understand is why a 20 year old needs anti depressants to help them through a tough spot. Why a doctor isn't saying "Buck it up, find a job, get off the booze, and straighten yourself out. If they "need" this medication at 20, then what happens when the real world hits them? Does taking the medication make you better able to cope with these problems, or does it mask them so one just doesn't care? Does it make you get up in the morning and go look for a job? Does it deter you from stealing money from someone to go out and drink? What exactly does it do?

When I was in my mid-twenties I went through a lot of crap. There were days I didn't want to get out of bed, but my two children needed tending to. There were no pills to help me. I will admit that my father played a huge roll in leading me in the right direction, but the final outcome was me telling myself that things had to change. At first I looked at where I wanted to be and it looked like a long way off. Little steps get you far. You just have to keep going, and when you stumble get up. I think the saying is "Where there's a will, there's a way".

I guess I just have a chip on my shoulder when everything in society is treated with a pill. It's no wonder kids think this is a way of life. Headache seems to be letting up a little.

What to do...What to do...

After a second of thought I decided to take a vacation day today. Beside the fact that had I gone to work I would have been the only non-management person there. One by one yesterday they were dropping like flies. With no production running people were assigned to cleaning. Part way through yesterday there were 3 out of 8 people left. I was plugging away at work needing to be done for ISO certification. I can't understand why no one wanted to help me. After getting a good chunk of it done and then finding out that there will be no production Monday or Tuesday I figured I could take today and finish the rest Monday.

I feel good having a 4 day weekend. Then I started thinking about all the things I can do around here. I made a list in my head but now can't seem to remember much of it, so there must not have been to much that was important. The things I do remember : laundry, grocery shopping, painting trim for the final steps of the porch, finish putting mulch down, find a new lawn mower for my husband. I think I may need to enlist the help of my brother for this one. See, I know that Barn will balk about buying a new one. In a previous post I had described our ghetto lawn mower. Yes, it functions. It has no bag so when mowing it is necessary to garb yourself in combat gear complete with safety glass's to prevent getting hit by lawn shrapnel. And then the clean up of the sidewalks and driveway afterward is necessary. I say, "Why make something two steps, when it can be done in one". This may be a purchase that angers my husband but I can always say I bought it for myself. We were discussing the lawn mower last night and I found out that he paid 50 cents for it. Got it at a rummage sale. I think he's lying about the cost, but I think he shouldn't feel to bad when I buy the new one and put this one on the curb. At any rate, my decision has been made to purchase a new mower.

Hello??

I think I may be the only one working this week. All my email buddies appear to have taken the same week off of work. What were they thinking? This is how I keep my sanity during the day. Was this a plot? Thankfully we are only working 8 hour days this week. Not sure if I could make it 10 under these conditions.

Actually it is quite a slow week. There is no production running so I am doing a lot of safety work.

I wish them all an enjoyable week off.

Is That BBQ Sauce on Your Ear?

Despite being a little humid on Friday & Saturday, the weather was pretty good to us for a camping weekend. Once again the food was plenty, but the consumption of alcohol was on the lower level. I think that once I drank a few gallons of water I was just to full to drink any beer. I did try the festival Vodka in a drink and decided that I'll pay the extra money for Vodka that doesn't taste like lighter fluid.

We did get a little rain on Saturday evening which brought out the Jack & Coke. It was decided that since I don't partake in the "ritual" that I have quite a few credits coming. Some people have a few debits so some dealings were made with trade-offs. Connie got an easy 10 from me for a sweet treat she'll be bringing next time.

Once again Ben's ribs turned out fantastic. The group must have been hungry as not one slobber of BBQ sauce was seen on any one's person. Clean t-shirt, clean hands, arms, faces and ears.

Saw some interesting creatures last night. First off we had a visitor hopping around for a few hours. It was a pretty good sized toad. He just kept appearing every so often. The next two were quite unwelcome. Mick was dive bombed by something we were not immediately able to locate. A few minutes later we spotted a rather large dark red beetle type thing with pincher's. Barney killed it. A few minutes later another one made it's way into our circle. We think they may have been falling from the trees as we did not see wings. At any rate they were big, ugly and sent a few people to bed.

This morning proved to be the day that you just wanted to sit down and not go home. The weather was perfect. It was hard to pack up and come home to reality. Some of us....there are quite a few people not working this next week. What was I thinking?

I Don't Want to Whine but..........

It's a little to hot for my liking. I'm all about the 75 and sunny with a little less humidity. The two room ac's are doing some work, but not much. I'm sure that as soon as I pour the $$ into having the central AC fixed the weather will cool off.

My poor dog was a mess yesterday. I was pretty concerned about her as we didn't have the ac's in yesterday and I got home and she was laying on the kitchen floor panting. She looked how I felt after lugging in 2 cases of water and some groceries. We got the ac in the bedroom window and I put her in there and that's where she stayed the rest of the night. The cats had the right idea in staying in the basement. She was much better today but I'm starting to see her age now. A few years back she would have sprung right back. Of course while at the store yesterday I had to see the idiot that left their dog in the car. Pets or kids left in the car on days like this are inexcusable. You don't need anything that bad that can't wait. I'm sure there will be several news stories within the next day or so regarding this matter. I'll wait until the news breaks and rant some more.

On a lighter note, with all the rain we had Friday the ground in our yard was still wet yesterday. I feel good knowing that the $$ I spent on flowers did not get wasted yet. Some of the weeds are doing quite nicely also. Hope I don't get a fine for those.

They're Taking the Nation By Storm

Because I'm a dork I actually took the time to look up the history of Combos. I know they've been around for some time now but they seemed to have faded away for a few years. I found that they were invented in the mid 70's. Within the past few years the company (Mars) has hired two new advertising firms.

When I first took my liking to Combos there were only two varieties available: The cheddar cheese cracker and the cheddar cheese pretzel. I prefer the cheddar cheese pretzel still. These are the variates now available:

Cheddar Cheese Cracker (original)
Cheddar Cheese Pretzel
Nacho Cheese Pretzel
Pepperoni Pizza Cracker
Pizzeria Pretzel
Zesty Salsa Tortilla

I'm not a big fan of the other flavors. To fake of a taste.
I started writing this post because just today I encountered a few run-ins with Combos. I walked in the lunchroom and overheard a co-worker ask the vending machine man if he could put Combos in the machine. (He won't but made it sound probable as he asked what flavors). A while later while eating lunch a co-worker pulled out a sack (large bag) of combos claiming they were her lunch. Then a discussion began about where to get them. I got the lead of Farm & Fleet, Walmart and just about every gas station you walk in. A argument almost broke out when someone said Sentry. There was tension in the air as one person pointed out that Sentry doesn't carry shit. I've been to Sentry and never saw Combos. Pick & Save came up and the general conscience was that not all P&S carry them. The conversation faded away.

On my way home from work I glanced over at the car next to me just in time to see a guy tipping the last of his bag of Combos into his mouth. He looked to be quite a happy guy. The story doesn't end here.

I stopped at my local P&S on my way home (one that does not carry Combos). As I was going down the snack isle a customer stopped an employee asking where they kept the Combos. He looked crushed when it was announced that they don't carry them. He clutched his chest and fell to the ground. (not really). The employee stated that they "May" begin to carry them as so many customers have asked for them. So as if that wasn't enough for the day, I am then walking to my car and what should blow past me but an empty bag from Combos. I would like to think that those that indulge in the combo are courteous enough to dispose of the waste properly.

I've also made a friend for life. I've been bringing a bag of Combos to Dylan's baseball games and his 2 year old sister will sit next to me and chow them down. She likes to dip them in the cheese of whoever's nachos she can get her hands on.Don't worry Stb, I will replace my stash of them.

If It Starts

This entire weekend was spent working on the porch and doing yard work. I painted a ton of trim and now that it's all up I'll be touching it up sometime this week. The good news is the windows are now done. I can open them and get a nice breeze going. The bad news is there is more work to be done. I think Menards loves us this past couple of days.

While my husband was slaving away at getting all the trim done I took on the chore of cutting the grass and cleaning it up. It appears we don't have a bag for our mower. I asked if I should cut the grass and got a response of "Sure if the mower starts". For craps sake if we need a new mower then go buy one. Well it started but I stood wondering were the bag was. I should have worn leg guards and goggles because stuff was blowing all over. When the job was complete I asked for the blower/leaf sucker to clean up the mess. Once again "Sure if it starts". Now this is beyond belief as this blower is only 2 years old. I know because I bought it for him. It started after a few pulls and I was on my way. 1/2 hour later with my arm vibrating I shut if off and noticed my husband talking to the neighbor. I heard the comment "What's next for her. Can you get her up on the roof to start those shingles". As my head spun around and I spit green I sarcastically said "That's not funny", and I quit.

Yep, that's poop I smell

Friday. An off day. A day to sleep past 3:15 a.m. A day to wake up to the sunshine verses dark. A day to lay under the covers just a few more minutes. A day to wake up when I want to. But someone had a different plan for me.

There I was in the midst of a good dream when everything went sour (or should I say stink?) This was something I couldn't even blame on Barney. Maybe I should have taken into consideration that just because I don't have an alarm clock today, that maybe someone else does. I shan't take the blame for this. Right now the culprit is outside looking a little bit sheepish. It appears that Sadie's is pretty regular.

I can't stand the smell of anything cooking while I'm sleeping. Never could. I'm not the person on the commercial that is awaken by the smell of something brewing and wakes with a smile. I'm the person that smells something and hides her face under the pillow. My stomach immediately churns. Well it churned and did a few flips this morning. Out of my deep and relaxing sleep came the words "Shit, I smell poop". It woke Barney also who's first words were " What the hell is wrong with her". I don't recall the cold nose nudging my arm or the little whimper which if not answered turns into a loud bark. This would have prompted me to get up and let her out or suffer the outcome. There was no warning. Just the smell. Hell she even knew it was bad. As soon as I hit the "spot" she was standing at the door ready to hit the road. Barney got up, looked at the area, went and did his own morning ritual and hit the sack again. I, cleaned it up, disposed of it, de-smelled the area and am now wide awake at 6:40 a.m. when I should still be sleeping. She's out laying on the deck in the sun looking all kinds of smug.

Tired

I don't know if it's effects of the cold I had or what, but I could have fallen asleep at the bat of an eye today. Luck had it that today I spent a lot of time entering numbers and sitting in front of a computer. I almost drank a cup of coffee but then my senses got the best of me.

I think the higher ups at work are counting their chickens before they are hatching. As I was eating lunch my former boss and the warehouse manager were conversing about hiring some people for the new business that's coming our way. They brought me into the conversation by mentioning that they still hadn't replaced me out on the floor and then went on to say they were going to have to go back to two shifts. Insert doom music here. Not doom for the new business, but doom for the other shift. I think I may have ESP because the next question that came was whether I thought it should be a second or third shift. "Why are you asking me" I innocently said. It was then that warehouse guy starts talking about how they're going to have to hire a shipping person as he can't do it alone. He can't handle all the paperwork and trucking. So I said " They'll probably need another QC person too, because I'm not working two shifts" (with a chuckle). Former boss then says "No, Charlie (new boss) will need to start earning his salary." If I was a betting person I'd put a grand down on Charlie staying on day's and me going to another shift. Then I choose third as I cannot stand working second shift. The bad news is it's going to happen. The good news is they're predicting not until after October. All in all if it means we're picking up business, then it's a good thing.

I think Sadie may have finally come to the conclusion that rabbits do not belong in our yard. I also think she may have attacked one. When I let her out before work she usually does her business and comes right back in. If not, I shake the treat container and she comes running. I had to go out and look for her this morning and found her digging at something and growling. She may have gotten into a nest. I went to look after work and all I saw was some fur. Hopefully something else got it and not her. At any rate, there may be hope for the mighty huntress yet.

Kleenex Please!

My husband left a short time ago for the bank and was nice enough to ask if I needed anything. My only request was a box of Kleenex. It appears I have contacted a spring cold. At first I though it was just allergies but they usually have just a slight headache and runny nose. This is a nice spring cold. Headache, snotty nose and sore throat. I may be thanking my son for this gift. My cold tablets have been taken and packed along with NyQuil for my weekend camping trip. I will not let this put a damper on my weekend! Not sure how far I can go without a wad of Kleenex in my hand, but I'm bound to have some fun.

Last night I noticed that one of the pests that I most despise this part of the year are alive and out in droves. The June bug has made it's appearance. Yes, I saw several on my screen door last night. Stupid useless bugs just irk me. I'll be wearing a hat to prevent the pests from flying into and lodging in my hair. This is a bug that serves no purpose but to annoy me and just fly around and bang into things. Once down, if they land on their back they cannot flip back over. They must be a food source for something as I've seen them littering our front porch, all flipped over but by the morning they're gone. Maybe they have a rescue team that comes out and flips them all back over. I don't see that intelligence so my guess is they get eaten by something.
There can be some amusement tonight watching the stupid things fly into the fire. Between that and the suicidal frogs there should be a few good chuckles.

Here's to a good weekend for all!

The Rain Has Put A Damper

I had plans for today which have now been delayed a tad. Hopefully this rain isn't an all day long affair. There's a whole lot of yard work waiting to happen. Now if I could just get my husband motivated enough to move on to plan B I wouldn't feel the day will be wasted. This would involve a trip to Menard's for several things needed to spruce up the yard. He's currently involved in eating breakfast and watching reruns of That 70's Show. I'll be patient for a little while..but not much longer.

Not a good game for the Brewer's last night. Several missed plays added to the injury. I'm hopeful that they can pull it together real quick. Dodi and I were able to hold good conversations throughout the game so all was not lost. We watched a regular get drunker and drunker and develop hiccups (which someone was not there to cure).

I've come to the conclusion that hard work and determination does wear off. 8 weeks ago I made a commitment to loose some poundage. I've changed my eating habits and stuck to working out 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. After 8 weeks I have a weight loss of 21 lbs. I can tell you that it's mostly in my boobs, face and stomach. I've got a long way to go yet but to me the hardest part is now past. The first few weeks when the loss isn't enough and you get frustrated and return to your old habits. It gets better when you can actually feel and see results. I figure another 40 lbs and my boobs will be concave. Once I get this weight loss under control I will begin working on quitting the nasty smoking habit. One thing at a time.

Ouchie

My body is sore. I've spent a good part of the last two days doing yard work will much left to go. I even got my husband to cut dead branches off the tree in the front yard. I think he was just happy for an excuse to use his chain saw.

The trampoline is causing fights among the children next door. Yesterday their dad made them get out twice because they were fighting. Twice I fetched their ball from the backyard. They were going for three when dad started yelling that they had no reason to have the ball in the trampoline. He stated that "the lady next door has better things to do then pick up your ball". Score one point for dad. They had some friends over and one little girl thought it was cute to jump up and every time her head went over the fence would say hi. I stopped answering after the fourth or fifth time. It was a re-run today, except no balls came over.

It was a good weekend to see which neighbors are still around. Just seemed like everyone came out of hibernation these past few days. The air was filled with the sound of lawn mowers, kids and a lot of leaf blowers, and my dog barking every time the kids jump on the trampoline.

So now it's wind down time. I'm feeling the aches of bending all sorts of ways to clean out window wells and flower beds. I'm smelling the grill which is just about ready for our steaks. The trick is to actually go with Barney to pick out my steak. Got a rib eye right from the butcher, and he actually made his choice before I did.

Change Of Plans

I sometimes forget that living in Wisconsin means you don't make outdoor plans until the last minute. Unless of course in involves camping or a sporting event. Today was the day I planned to tackle the yard. I've been putting it off because a week or two ago it just didn't make sense.

Our neighbors have a tree that drops some type of pod. The first phase is these pod things that look like roaches. Second phase are the innards of this pod that are sticky. We try to keep up with sweeping the driveway so they don't get dragged into the house. I figured I'd wait until they were done to get going on the back yard. But then this morning it occurred to me that the whirly birds haven't fallen yet, not to mention the sky is soon to open with more rain. Tomorrow looks a little more promising.

Back to the neighbors annoying tree. This year, as in the past 19 we're out there sweeping the driveway and washing off our cars (These things will stick on the cars and if you don't get them off will leave marks) when here comes Pauly, the neighbor, with a 12 pack of beer and some brownies. I think it was his way of being sorry for his tree. Earlier that day I had heard Lindy, the wife, complaining about no one wiping their feet and this shit being tracked all over her kitchen. The tree is very pretty, but very annoying for two weeks out of the year. It's close to our lot line and over hangs our garage and with the right wind I think we get the brunt of the droppings. I've often thought about sneaking over there while they were gone for the weekend and chopping it down but our payback is coming. Any day now our tree will begin dropping its helicopters. Although we get most of it, they are also blessed. If they think I'm bringing over a twelve pack and brownies they're nuts. My trees droppings can be mulched. It causes no damage unlike my shoes that have to be scraped off each time I walk up the driveway.

So it's on to plan B for today. Take my mother-in-law shopping for her Mother's Day Gift. We'll either be heading out to Steins (doubtful with rain) or to Kohl's. I am pretty sure that once I make the phone call stating we're on our way she will begin the list of excuses on why she can't go. I get frustrated with her because I feel like she's giving up. I get frustrated with some family members as I feel like they're letting her. It should be an interesting afternoon.

Off We Go

In a few hours we will be on our way to the seasons first camping trip. At this point the weather is good. Rain is in store. We can handle it. I've camped in down pours, tornado warnings, and some frost. In all the years of camping we only packed it up once and came home. That was when our site, and the entire campground became a small pond. We made the best of it and held out as long as we could, packed it up and came home and made our french toast in the comfort of our home.

What are the rules for bailing out?
1) You need a boat to get in and out of your site
2) The tornado has taken your tent
3) You have been injured from the pelting hail
4) You have run out of beer (?)
5) You have been struck by a falling tent pole (buck it up and apply ice to your wound)
6) You lawn chair broke (Barney always has extras)
7) The mosquitos are making a meal of you (apply some off-everyone smells just as bad as you)
8) It's to hot (go sit in the local tavern until it cools off)
9) It's to cold (that's where the roaring fire comes into play)
10) None of your friends have showed up (make sure you're at the right campground & right site because that just doesn't happen)

So the way I see it, is the tornado or the continous rain may be the only reasons for bailing.
I need this weekend away. Camping to me is more of a mini vacation away from the daily grind and drama at home. There's not a better way to relax!

At What Point?

We have a family living next door to us that have a few children. When they moved in the man of the family had asked if it was okay to attach his fence to ours. Not a problem. The kids were all pretty small at the time. Last summer we began the daily ritual of throwing their balls back over the fence. I had nicely explained that if the dog is outside when the balls go over that I'd try my best to get them back in one piece. I asked them not to go into the yard if she was out. I even talked to their father about that. We have a fence for a reason.
When the snow thawed earlier this year I threw 4 balls over the fence. They did heed my advice in not coming into the yard. Since the weather has now turned nicer the balls are once again flying. They have now taken to ringing the doorbell and asking me to fetch their ball. This has now become a daily routine, sometimes two to three times a day. Once is an accident, two to three times means maybe you better take a walk to the park which is 1/2 block away and play baseball there.
The other day I caught the younger one sticking a stick through the fence and teasing Sadie. I told him that wasn't a good idea. Dad was not around as I think he works several jobs. Stay at home Mom was not around. I have yet to see her even look out the door to see what these kids are doing. A few minutes ago I answered the door and went and threw the ball back again. I suggested maybe batting the other way. "My dad doesn't want us to hit the garage" was the reply I got. Here I'm trying to nicely say "Stop this".
I had a memory flashback of when our soccer ball went into the yard behind us and the old guy came out and just took the ball. We didn't even have a chance to ask for it back. It was gone. This was a one time thing. I remember I thought he was the biggest jerk. I also recall the former neighbor yelling at my sisters once and they smeared her garage with dog pooh. I don't want my house or fence smeared by these little guys. All I want is for the ball to come over when Dad's home so he can maybe warn them. For now, if I see the balls in the yard I will return them although they may be chewed. I may be disconnecting the doorbell.

Should Have, Would Have....didn't

Why didn't I go to Vegas with Nannette & Ben? I'm thinking it was because I had planned to go to Arizona the end of the month, but that got put off until September. I also had this little pang of guilt going on because my husband chooses not to fly. I know the whole "Stand by Your Man" and " Till Death " story but sometimes I believe you should get a free pass on that. He just better remember I made this sacrifice the next time he's at the store buying steaks. If I get a chicken breast in lieu of a Rib eye steak there's going to be some words.


That's all I have to say about that.

Hurry Up Spring!

I though maybe spring wasn't to far off until I was getting gas and being pelted by little balls of ice this afternoon. They said light rain, they did not say frozen rain. According to the weatherman warmth is on it's way. I'm either coming down with something or it was just plain chilly today.

Another good reason for spring to come quickly is that I'm loosing my patience with my husband. I think he's gone into hibernation. As I'm typing I can hear his gentle snoring coming from the living room. I've come to the conclusion that I need to purchase uncomfortable furniture. Maybe I will purchase a nice over-stuffed recliner and place it in the middle of the basement. This way I would be able to do things I want to do when I get home. It's either that or I re-decorate the basement to be me friendly. Maybe just the threat of doing such a thing would give him the hint. Enough picking on my husband for now. I hear him moving around so his hour nap must have been enough. If I can just keep him upright things will be fine.