Road trip!

My little road trip yesterday. Same thing today. Sa!t F0rk lodge.

Getting pulled over

There was no doubt this little tyke was the hit of the party Saturday evening. I need to get a shot of him in his duds. His mother dressed him up in a little golfer outfit. The dinner was at a restaurant at a Golf Course. Huh. Not a one of us golf. One nephew used to. Eh...

We had a great time. We were loud. There were 17 of us and two children. There was plenty of drinking. The drivers did not imbibe or only drank a couple. Such as I. One beer and I was like - give me ice water from now, on. I did taste my daughter's drink. Grey goose and vodka. Uh, no thanks! Yech!

On the way home I was to drop sister 1954 off at a bar and my daughter was anxious to get back - she had plans to go out and meet friends. We were chatting. At one time I looked at my speedometer and thought, "Oh, I am such a granny driver."  I thought perhaps my daughter would say something eventually. I really have slowed down even more since hitting the deer in 2009. Everything I see alongside the road is a potential deer.

So, I was very surprised when I was the one pulled over. I saw his lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled over immediately and glanced at the tail lights of the car in front of me. My first thought was 'I wonder what the guy in front of me did.' My second thought was 'I wonder what is going on that he (the patrolman) has to rush lights flashing.'

I giggled and said 'He is after ME!"  Like I was some giggly girl in high school and just found out a boy liked me. Good gawd!

He said I was doing "65" in a "55" zone. I said "Sorry, we were probably chatting and I didn't realize."  I could find my drivers license. I found an old registration but could not find proof of insurance to save my life. He said given the state of my car he was certain that I had insurance and let me go with a written warning.

Both my sister and daughter said there was no way it was ME doing 65. The more I thought about it the more I realized that they were right. I am a granny driver. I don't even go the speed limit. My daughter said he must have "clipped" the guy in front of us. Things were not so funny, then. What if he had given me a ticket? What are they now $120. Ten dollars for every mile over the speed limit? $100? I would have been pissed.

I had not been passed. In fact, I recall somebody pulling out in front of me shortly before the straight stretch. Ah, well. I did NOT get a ticket, but it un-nerves me to think that I can get a ticket because they "clipped" someone else.

And for ONCE sister 1954 did not have a beer with her in the car. She manages to sneak one in her purse from the bar almost every time.

I dreamt that the same guy pulled me over again. I killed him - with a machete knife and I was trying to get rid of his head.  OMG! WTH?! WTF?!  How angry WAS I?

Road Trip

East to west. Route 70 today. Three sisters in a car. There will be lots of stories and lots of laughter. Sadly, no shopping. More of a personal business trip for sister 1949.

Survived

Survived another family reunion. This time with extended family members is so special to us, but alas - not everybody feels that way. Our attendance was so low this year we doubt we will have it again next year. Or, we need to change the format to a much less activity-based event.

Our first year we had over 150 attend, this year - maybe 38. It was our fourth one and the heat was so intense I believe some of us suffered a mild heat stroke. So many were dizzy and we just sat around limp. Not to mention the body odor. It was a good idea to choose burgundy color shirts for our matching tee shirts but not healthy. The heat was intense and with a dark, thick tee shirt on - well, you can imagine. Some of my family members refuse to wear them and opt for spaghetti straps and what not for a cooler outcome.

I certainly will have to do something next year. I have expressed my desire for an air conditioned building and having it inside. That seems to be the major reason for absenteeism. The blessed heat.

The party on the patio at the motel was rather tame, also. Just a few who wanted to burn the candle at both ends, and the staff finally moved them into the lobby because of motel visitors complaining. I had gone to bed long ago. I do not party any more. Especially since I am on this medication. I asked to try the bud light lime a rita. It was so delicious and I only drank 6 oz. but it knocked me on my butt. (Medicine intensified, I am sure). I am not one to follow the rules, but when I felt woozy - I stopped cold. I don't push it too much. (Any longer).

We had two siblings that could not make it this year. The first time all 8 of us have not been to the reunion. Well, the first reunion sister 1954 could not make it. Not because she did not want to, though. Most of us find it difficult to understand why they would not want to come to the reunion but you have to let stuff like this go and let people be. Their "excuse" was that they had to work but we all knew about the reunion months in advance. The actual date, anyway. And the ones who could not make it got days off just prior to the reunion and another one - they are going to the ocean in a week or two. So it isn't like they CAN'T get time off. They just decided not to. We held the reunion on a Saturday this year to make it easier for folks who have to travel and get back to work on a Monday. That backfired. All the ones who requested that option, did not show anyway. Claiming they had to work. What is up with that?

Whoops. I am not letting it go, am I?  My daughter showed up and the ones that did show - we had a fantastic time. When the heat was so bad, we got out the water balloons and the mister (sprays water). I find it nice that we have coolers full of water bottles in the same amount as soda. I did not drink one soda, all water. I crave a soda once in a while - but drink water all day.

The food was fantastic - a lot less to choose from - but there is still plenty to go around. Desserts were almost non existent this time. Some cookies, pies and nut bread and that was it. I made calico beans. Once I heard my nephew was bringing a generator (my sister told me he was bringing it for me so that I can have a fan on me) I grabbed the chance to make my beans. The generator would run fans and a crock pot or two on low. I am just grinning to think that he would bring that for me. I love that boy (he will always be my little boy to me) so much! Even though he and his mama are very close and I am so happy they are. For all the hell they have gone through with each other they are so very, very close. It just makes my heart burst.

I find it strange to hear stories about other families that do not step in and take a child if their sibling is having trouble or problems in their life. My sister has been in and out of prison and I had no problem taking her daughter into my home.  Her son was old enough to be on his own. When she moved back home in the early 80's I was working a daylight job. She was tending bar at night. I watched her little boy every night and cared for him. This is family. Her children are my children. That is how I feel. My sisters ALL feel the same way.

Anyway, reunions are a special time for me. I grumble about them. I grumble about the heat. I grumble about the work. I grumble about the money - not so much because to me, complaining about money is vulgar. If you want a wonderful time - sometimes it costs a lot of money. But (to me) you cannot put a price on family and love.

Last, but not least - headache update. Although I did not have a migraine, I had a very bad headache through out the week-end. I attribute that to sleeping (or NOT sleeping) in a motel, the heat and the upset in the schedule. And driving long distance. If I were still on my migraine medication, I certainly would have taken one. Although the pain I felt was not a classic migraine, it was bad enough to warrant a migraine pill. The migraine pill would have knocked it out of the park. Alas, I did not and just kept taking Advil which was not touching it. Many more of my relatives were suffering, too.

This morning. No headache at all. I have taken this Monday off from work (recovery day!) and will releax, wash clothes and enjoy my daughter and her beau's company. The laughter is rocking the Peruby household once again. Quiet time is over. And... the dogs come back today. Ugh!

Equal Opportunity

Here are the black olives from Easter dinner.

Sigh. Yesterday got much, much worse. I was out with the dogs in the fresh air and I realized that this headache was not going away with OTC meds. Drat! Another imitrex? Or, generic imitrex, rather.

Yes. If I wanted to get to that birthday party. I tried the very, very hot shower. I moved slow. I lay back down after the shower. My pets hovered around me. "What are you doing?" I dozed on and off. I told my sister I would probably be late. She told me to stay home (in a nice way, LOL!) if I had a migraine. She gets them, too.

My daughter was coming over to watch the dogs for me. She had one hell of a night fighting with her boyfriend. It was all dramatic and tense. It set my headache flying again. She was crying. I listened. Finally, my head hurt too bad and I left for the party. It was breaking my heart to watch her.

I stopped at a store (not walletmart, yeah!) to get myself a new coffee pot. A migraine exacerbates little pet peeves. For starters, I hate shopping. I do like people, as most of you know from my previous posts, I will talk and joke with just about anybody.

This trip was much different. It started in traffic. Everybody was getting on my nerves. While turning into a parking lane, some lady was just sitting in her car (I think she was texting) - not in a parking space, but parked in the lane where everyone had to drive around her (once they made sure nobody was coming from the other direction). She is one of these drivers that makes me want to park my car. Get out and go up and bang on her window and scream 'What the f#&* are you doing?!' But, I didn't.

The lights were excruciating. I grabbed a buggy and it was buggy Nascar in there. You ever have one of those encounters where you are wheeling your buggy down an aisle and there is another shopper coming straight at you? I always try to steer to the right. I did. They steered to their left. I switched and so did they, again - and again! By this time we were getting pretty close to one another. We missed each other but I heard him make a remark to his wife. I was giving no eye contact and no response. Usually I would have smiled and joked about it. NOT today.

Of course I could not find the coffee pots. The only help I could find was a cashier at the very front of the store. And as typical of a horror story, the moment I ask her a question "Where can I find the coffee pots?" somebody (some idiot new employee with butter fingers, I am certain) decided to drop a metal pipe that must have been forty feet long onto the concrete floor of this massive home construction store. It echoed through the entire four counties all three times that I tried to repeat myself to the cashier." Where can I find the coffee pots?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Where can I find the coffee pots?"

"Sorry." She gave me a bewildered look.

"Where can I find the coffee pots?" The echos were still resounding through the store. I sighed.

She motioned towards the sound. "Can't hear you."

Sigh. Finally, she was able to answer me. Of course! The coffee pots were all the way in the BACK of the store. So, back I go. Then there are the people who block an entire aisle. When I stop to browse or read something, I pull my cart in as close to my area as I can, thus leaving room for another buggy to get by. Not most people. Every aisle I tried to go down, had one or two people on one side of the aisle looking at something and their buggy would be stretched out (at an angled position) blocking the entire, frickin' aisle! I was livid. I was fuming. See? I despise migraines for doing this to me! It is no wonder older people can be so cranky. If they are always in pain, that is. And, I think most of them are.

And, that isn't the worst of it. If you are defeated and actually have to wheel up one of the blocked aisles, they don't notice you. I make as much motion and noise as I can before I get to them so that they have plenty of warning. I cannot believe people are so oblivious to their surroundings that they cannot see another shopper standing less than 2 feet away from them with a buggy, trying to pass. I REALLY have a hard time believing that people are this clueless to their surroundings. What must they be like on the roadways? I fidget and ahem. Then just say "Excuse me! May I pass?" Then they act like they are being inconvenienced. Arrgghh!

They were lucky I had a migraine and was moving slow that day. Or, I would have plowed into their buggy like some crazed snow plow driver that had worked two too many shifts and was pushed way over the edge! I can see it now. Purses and merchandise would go flying up into the air (heaven forbid they have a toddler sitting in the front of the buggy) and the silver buggy (that never had a chance against me and my demon buggy - buggy Nascar, I tell ya) wouldn't know what hit it as it goes skittering across the store's waxed floor. The people would stand there mouth agape, in shock. I would nod as I passed them and say "That's right! Get the hell out of my way next time! Idiots!"

They are fortunate I don't get physically sick much anymore with these monster headaches, or I would have to vomit on their shoes as I pass them. You can bet your sweet arse they would get out of my way, then! Again, I do not like the monster that I become.

Ah, yes. So, the next time you witness one of these crazy lady buggy drivers in a store, try to remember. We do not want to be there. Sometimes we do not have a choice. I only shopped because I absolutely HAD to get a coffee pot or I was going to go insane with caffeine withdrawal. Migraines make us monsters! Beware, and please forgive. In retrospect I should have waited and shopped at a small drug store. Whew!

And if you do ever read in the newspaper about some lady in Ohio that went berserk at a store or while driving, remember that I am not always like this. It is the migraine monkey coming out in me that tortures me.

Dogs in snow

Who let the dogs out?! Without their harness and leashes? Me! That's who. With this much snow, they didn't go far. I did have one little scare when Slade (the brown one) took the pups for a run down the alley way. Sable was either too lazy, too sore, too tired or too smart to follow. I walked to the edge of my driveway and called them back and they came a-runnin'. Whew.

They had a blast in the snow. I uploaded the videos on Youtube. I think a search for Cheech Chong snow dogs might get you to the videos. I don't know. Yep, it sure does. Four videos taken just this morning. Sorry about the throat clearing in the one video, I had to keep reminding myself to stay quiet. You can also hear the wind howling.

I slept in! I slept in! My daughter woke me up by calling me. She wanted to know if I had taken the pups outside yet. It was 7:45. She wanted me to take videos so she could see them in the snow. The alarm went off at 5:30 since I had forgotten to turn it off for the week-end. I turned that sucker off and said "Aw, hell no!" and went back to sleep. I cannot believe I slept that long.

Then I have had anti-virus problems for a couple of days. I am hoping it is because I installed that new back-up hard drive and Norton just can't figure it out. I hope that is all it is. I ran the auto-fix a few times and it seems to be working for now. I do not look forward to working with tech support on the telephone for hours.

And, I discovered that I DO NOT have a cake mix in my cupboard as I thought. Well, there is no getting my car out and going to the store today. I don't feel like shovelling all that snow this morning. It may take me all day to get the sidewalks and the driveway cleared anyway. I'd hate to call my nephew and ask him to stop at the store and pick up his own birthday cake mix. Good grief!

I can't believe that I am going to attempt to make a cake from scratch! Me! This should be vewy, vewy interesting. If I retain my sense of humor through the ordeal, I'll take pictures and share them. Fat chance, though. I am not a baker. Cook? Definitely! Baker? No.

And by the way, I read his friend's facebook post that tells about them driving in the snow all evening last night playing. My nephew has his new all wheel drive Subaru and they said it goes everywhere! They passed dozens of cars that slid off the road but they had no problems at all. That and my nephew is a very good driver. He has driven all over the country. He loves to just take off and drive and drive and drive.

The snow we have is a very wet and heavy one. While taking the dogs out last night it was eerily quiet. I heard a loud pop and snap and a tree branch fell from my neighbor's tree. The wires going into my house were covered with ice. I think the worst one was my old POTS line, though - so I didn't care.

My hand

I was dealt this hand in Euchre last night

The opponent on my right dealt the cards. She turned up an Ace of clubs. I passed. Her partner passed. My partner passed. I held my breath. She turned it down. I called it Spades and said "alone!" Then I lay down the hand you see above. Once in a lifetime!

It didn't help me one bit. My partner and I lost all rounds of the game. Even after getting 4 points from that hand. I'm very rusty. Oh well.

I slept in until 8:30 this morning and I feel like crap. The dogs must have thought I died since I was not up and about at 4:30 or 5:00 to let them out. The headache is raging. I drank ginger ale so it is not a hangover.

Disruption of sleep pattern. But hey, what am I supposed to do? Stay home every night? Find friends that just want to get together during the daytime? Hardly. I like my down time, but I need to socialize once in a while, too. And, it was not a late night. I was in bed by midnight.

Bring it on. I've got the sumatriptan.

I got in my car to drive home. Most of you know that the newer model cars have an indicator light for when a tire has low air pressure. Mine was lit. It figures. It was 7 ° Fahrenheit outside. I ignored it. I almost made it home when after making a sharp left turn, I heard a god-awful noise coming from the underside of my car. WTF? It is 11:30 p.m., cold as the dickens and I have to stop and investigate. Sigh. Fortunately it was only frozen ice buildup on my splash guards that were rubbing against the tire. I kicked it off and all was quiet again. That stupid yellow/amber low pressure light remained on, though. Grrrr.

Gathering it all in

A friend's tree from 2006

I like to be alone a lot more than most people. I also like to socialize (not nearly as much as most people). I am quite content to be by myself. As the year ends and I am gathering all my thoughts and memories I contemplate how to spend the last hours.

I had planned to do nothing. If family stops in, I'll entertain and fix food, but if they don't I am just as content.

I've had two invitations for New Year's eve and I am not sure of what to do. I don't want to drive after dark anymore. For one, the deer incident still has me spooked and for two, my night vision ain't what it used to be.

I don't worry about drinking, because I don't have that insane need or desire to do THAT anymore. Will I regret not going anywhere come January? Will I just kick myself and say "Would it have hurt to go out and visit with friends and family just one more night?"

Aw, heck. I don't know. The one invite is to the friend's house from the photo above. I've not seen her in about four to six months. She is almost an invalid. She will have about five people with her so she won't be lonely.

I don't want to leave my dogs for that many hours. I also don't want to drive home after midnight and place myself on the highway wondering if a) the weather will be bad or b) are any of the other drivers drunk? That does not make for an enjoyable 60 mile drive home.

Can I go earlier in the evening and leave earlier? I suppose so. I'd have to miss the other friends and family that are coming later and the games that they have lined up. I love to play games.

It is kind of a melancholy holiday anyway. I just received word from sister 1944 that sister 1949 is having serious problems with her children. Not health issues. Behavior issues. They are 30 and 25 years old. There is always some kind of fly in the ointment.

I think I'll go and visit my friend during the daylight on New Years eve. We'll see if I can get away before I have to drive too late in the evening. That way I can visit, but also I can make sure that I have taken measures to be safe, also.

The other issue is, if I visit with my friend, I'll have to visit with some family, too. They are only five miles from her house. If they hear I was there and did not stop in, well, that would just be rude! Can I do it? Can I visit two (maybe 3) households that day?

I certainly don't mean to sound like an ingrate, either. Like "Oh, my! The poor dear! She has invitations but does not know which one to pick! How sad! Poor girl!" No, I don't mean to sound like that at all. I break down and choose visit with family/friends 90% of the time. I just have to realize that I don't need to do it all anymore. I can stay home once in a while and relax and take care of myself and my household. Sigh.

There, I've said it. I don't have to feel guilty about not going, right? Right! But then, it wouldn't hurt to go for a couple of hours....

Yes, (rein) deer DO fly

Not my picture. I swiped it.

This was the closest I could get to what I saw yesterday evening. Framed in my windshield. Yes, folks. It's the end of an era. And in case you were ever wondering, (rein) deer DO fly. The end of an era for my little green civic. I have had that car for 13 years (14 next month). I was the only owner. Now it sits in some junk yard waiting for me.

I'll go to take pictures and to get the very last remnants out of the glove compartment. The tow truck driver said that it will be considered totalled because both airbags deployed and they are very expensive to replace. Sigh. That and the front end is smashed in and the windshield is all cracked up.

Me? Not even whiplash. Not yet. It has only been 14 hours. My forearm hurts (but personally I think that is from carrying gifts/packages through the mall).

The deer is dead. They are obligated to ask the driver that hit the deer if they want it (for meat). I was too far from home for my brother to come and pick it up, so the patrolman had their dispatch call their resident dead deer retriever to come and get it. It would have made a great skit. He came in his beat up pick-up truck with his son, and two young daughters who had not even bothered to put their coats on. They were wrapped in old blankets. Foxworthy would have had a field day with this one. By the way - Santa... the girls want a DS and a Blackberry Storm. Myself, I think they should ask for some winter coats, but that is the adult Mom inside of me.

Now, for the fabulous conundrum that had me going. Just what is in an airbag anyway? Here I was driving under the speed limit for the posted 65 mph. I was travelling at about 60 miles an hour because I had plenty of time, I was listening to a radio station that played oldies and was feeling very good. I had shopped a little and was on my way to meet a sister (1944) in a town about 60 miles form home for a digital scrap booking class.

Minding my own business, it was about 5:15, 5:20 in the late afternoon. No cars were around me because I was puttering along. They had all passed me. It was a 4-lane highway. I can't recall exactly what song was playing but the incident was almost a festive scene. Within that split second I saw a flash of white (air bags deploying), a bunch of snow (dust from the bags) and a flying (rein) deer. Framed perfectly in my windshield in the exact pose shown above. His rack was not as big as that. It was 8 points. Well, he looked as if he was flying.

My first thoughts? Well, I know I said "OH!" because of the thump and the jolt. But, as soon as I saw the deer my mind went "DEER!" and I came to realize rather quickly that I had an accident. I rummaged my right hand quickly under the drivers side airbag (which was quickly deflating) and pushed my flashers (four-way) button. I did not swerve the car into the other lane since I hit the deer head on. I thought the deer had continued on because he looked fine to me (from my windshield point of view). I quickly steered the car to the side of the road.

Once I got the car off the highway my first thought and action was to get out of the car. I knew that I was on a fast moving highway, so I couldn't just open the door and get out. I wanted out of that car because of the smoke. My God, the smoke! Well, I thought it was smoke. It smelled and looked like smoke and it was certainly choking me. Air, air! I need air! I furiously rolled down my drivers side window. I tried again to roll it down when I realized it WAS down all the way and I still could not breath. All I could think of was I gotta get out of here. I can't stand this smell!

An interesting read on airbags can be found here. Since my car was produced in 1996 it is quite possible that the contents in my airbag were more toxic than the newer models have. This article also explained the burning smell I kept smelling. I thought the car was on fire. There were not any cars coming so I exited. I grabbed my purse and cell phone and got out of there.

I stood behind the car against the guard rail to gather myself. I looked for the deer. There he was (just barely off the road) in the grass between the two sets of lanes and he was indeed dead. Aw, nuts. I had no idea who to call. I remember reading that you are supposed to call the state highway patrol. I had no idea what their number was. Who could I call to look the number up for me. (I found out later that yes, I could have called 9-1-1), I just didn't feel that it qualified as an emergency.

I had another sister (1954) that lived relatively close and I called her. It did not help any that this was the exact day that my Mom died from a car accident 9 years ago and she was the one driving at the time. The actual car accident happened on the 2nd of December, but my Mom died on the 3rd. My sister (1954) said that of course she would call the patrolman and she could be there in 30 minutes. It was while talking to her that I thought I should go and look at the damage to my car.

I walked in front of the car (making sure to stay out of the highway as there were many cars and semi trucks zooming by). The entire front end is smashed in. Some thing fell underneath the hood while I was up there and I quickly retreated to the back of the car (I was still thinking fire).

I attempted to reach my other sister (1944) (the one I was meeting for the class) but got no answer. My sister (1954) called me back to say that the patrolman was on his way and so was she. I saw him coming down the hill about 1/2 mile away. He pulled somebody over. Excuse me! I'm waiting here! It was well over 30 minutes before he got around to me. He wanted me to pull the car off of the road more but it wouldn't start and the gear shift would not budge no matter what I did. I was no longer worried about a fire.

It got dark very quickly. My sister (1954) showed up. She was crying because almost anything reminds her of that horrible accident in 2000. I was in the patrolman's car. We did the paperwork thing, the license, the insurance, the report - blah, blah, blah. Sister 1954 got all the stuff out of my car and into hers.

The deer retriever came, the tow truck came. It all took more than an hour. Sister 1954 drove me to the library where the class was. I had reached sister 1944 on the phone to tell her why I wasn't in class. I chatted with her and told her to be careful driving back. Sister 1954 was going to let me use her car. That is what I am driving now.

We stopped to get my favorite pizza. I had sisters and brothers calling me all along (and my daughter). This is exactly (well, almost exactly) what my daughter said when I told her. I said "I totalled my car. I hit a deer." She said "Do you know that Slade won't poop when there are a bunch of deer standing around?" No, of course that is not what she said first. But, that is what I remember. She actually said "No way!" and "Did you get a busted nose from the airbag?" Because I told her that is what happens when the airbag deploys. Well, that is what happened to somebody I knew.

Well, this post is getting entirely too long and I have to call my insurance company now. I'll post pictures of the car once I get some.

Ransom

I clocknapped this clock today

This morning one sister and I had a training session on how to re-hydrate and conserve old paper documentation. The society we joined has started the difficult task of preserving county documents from the 1800's to 1917. Interesting stuff.

She and I travel over an hour to get to the county where we grew up. On the way back she and I both had to use the bathroom. We have another sister who lives about half way. She was working and her family was not home when we stopped to use her facilities. Being the rascals that we are (or being the rascal that I am) I stole her kitchen clock right off her wall.

When I got home I took a picture of it (said I had broken it's leg to show I was serious) - it isn't really broken. I then e-mailed it to her and demanded a million dollars to be sent to me by Black Friday.

Of course I will return it when I see her on Thanksgiving, but that is 12 days without her kitchen clock. Do you think she will be angry with me? LOL!

I hope not. It's all fun.

Stopped at the lake

Taken yesterday at the lake

I shoot straight into the sun. I love pictures where the sun distorts the images. I switched this one over to B&W because first there was a huge blue spot in the water from the sun or the camera and second because there wasn't much color after the sun washed it all out anyway.

I stopped here late in the afternoon after my genealogy class. I did stop to get some of my favorite pizza. I bought a tray because my brother and I have this deal. When either of us travel down "home" and we get our favorite childhood pizza we get some for the other one and call them. I called and he might be able to pick it up tonight. I'll freeze it if he doesn't get by. If I don't, sure as shootin' - I'll eat it.

I already am in a carbohydrate induced coma.

Not sure where the phrase "sure as shootin'" originated, but it could be a part of the phrase "sure as shootin' in a barrel full of fish?"

On the way home I got stopped at a DUI checkpoint. The officer laughed and wanted to know if I was trying to bribe him with that pizza. A tray is 28 square pieces and this pizza shop had put it all into one gigantic flat box. It was sitting on the front seat next to me. I told him that my family would not let me into the house without it! He asked me if I had been drinking (not because of my conduct, because he has to). I told him just Pepsi. He laughed and said "Oh, the hard stuff." Yeah.

But 25 years ago, dude? It would have been a whole other ballgame, I am sorry to say.

It's that little green car again, Pa

I think I may have passed this buggy 4 times today.

I believe it was the same family. I passed them once while going to the school. Then I passed them when I went back and towards another school. I needed to check back at the first school and I passed them again, then when I went to drive back to my office, I saw them yet again. I figured I would see them, so I had my camera ready.

This was over a three hour period. It was very hot today. In the closets it felt like it was a hundred degrees. The sweat was rolling down the back of my neck. My only solace was my little car and the air conditioner.

I did have success today, though. Got the elementary buildings connected.

I've mentioned before that we are planning our first family reunion in August. My sister sent me an address of a cousin. I went to add their email address into my contact list. They use "we.serve.the.lord" and I accidentally typed in "we.serve.the.lard". I started laughing and I could not stop. I had tears running down my face. I think I have found my new email address.

I watched "Gran Torino" over the week-end. I had read a book on the Hmong people about a year ago. I don't think I liked the movie or it's message very much. Did he change in the end? Did he stop being prejudiced? He is eating dinner at his neighbor's house and he calls them "fish heads?" Really? I thought it was a little out of character for him to warm up to the family like he did. And calling the black gang "spooks?" and using "gooks" and what was with the slang term "slopes?" Was it a cocaine reference or was it a reference to their slanted eyes? Was he trying to be an Archie Bunker type? I get it in the end. How he handled the situation so that it turned out better for everyone he cared for. But, seriously. Christopher Carley really creeps me out.

Two things I did really like about the movie. I had a '73 Gran Torino (his was a '72) and PBR. That beer ruled in the mid-70's!

Wild, wonderful

West Virginia

Some family and I are headed south this week-end. Back to our roots in wild, wonderful West Virginia. We are planning a family reunion on my father's side in August. We are heading down to check out the shelter area and make plans.

The above photo is the cemetery where my father is buried. We don't think he was ever really happy in Ohio. When my parents and others moved to Ohio in the 40's some only stayed a few years, then returned. My Mom refused. She had no family left in the hills of West Virginia.

All 8 of my Mom's children were born in Ohio. I have maybe one aunt (by marriage) that remains in the mountain state. The rest are cousins. Lots of cousins. I may get to see just how many this year.

When we were kids (it took us two cars) we would visit every summer. It was great. We explored all over town. They had RR tracks and a train that went through the little town, directly across from my Aunt's house. I can still remember the train whistle blowing at night and the clickety clack of the cars running along the tracks. It was very mysterious and exciting for me.

They had an old, working hand pump in the back yard. We found it fascinating down there. They had bees and we would bring back honey. And my Aunt made jelly and always gave me a little jar of apple jelly - it was my favorite. We would have to be careful. If we said we liked anything, she was wrapping it up and giving it to us. I am so glad I didn't say anything about the glass cake holder. That would have been a little too much for a ten year old.

Her house was well lived in. It was just full of furniture and stuff that would be there from year to year. We would return and everything would be in exactly the same place and my Aunt would be sitting in her rocking chair in the enclosed sun porch where we would all gather around and talk. Next to that dreadful gas heater. Between the long car ride (none of my sisters and brothers ever wanted to ride in the same car as me, because I was the one who got car sick) and the smell of that gas heater, I was always ready for the outside excursions.

The house was full of old stuff. Calendars from the 50's and so much glass. Two things I didn't care for was the smell of natural gas and the spittoons. Mostly it was a big empty Maxwell House coffee can. My Mom always told us kids, "Do not get between folks and the coffee can." Yuck.

I think the coffee cans are long gone. The houses we visit now are more modern. The hospitality is the same. The pictures are nostalgic. I wonder if they have pictures of me and my siblings from the 60's and wonder who we are. I know I do when I go through the old family album. I will copy the old black & white photos and paste them onto a big poster board for the reunion and maybe I'll finally get to meet some of those kids I have looked at all of these years.

The Bar Scene

Drink glasses hanging over a bar

I went this week-end with a group who chose to eat at "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and then they chose to go sit in a sports bar. It was crowded. Too crowded for me. I drank Pepsi because I was driving. It was snowing something awful. I have to drive 30 miles compared to my friends who drive from 1 to 3 miles to get home.

One sister joins me from time to time. The group of girls I meet with take extras (friends of friends) into the fold and we have a good time. At the core there are six of us. I was the latest to join the group in 1990. The other 5 had been getting together since the early 80's.

None of us have married. I am the only one to have had a child. Each one of us are (or were) very close to our Mom. Every one of us are very close to our nieces and nephews or a sort of surrogate parent to a child of a friend if there are no nieces/nephews. Three of us have steady boyfriends. Three of us have at least one cat. I am the oddball with a child and many pets. They seem to be more citified whereas I am country.

The sister that joined me was very eager to get away from her husband. He is a couch potato and watches nothing but sports on TV kind of guy and they live way out in the boondocks. She hates sports and she just recently connected to the Internet through a wireless company. No cell phone. No cable. Their TV is satellite.

She likes the bar scene. She had a good time. As did the birthday girl. Me? I can't stand the leers from the drunks. Or the ones who bump into you as they sit down or walk past.

I'd rather stay home. I didn't drive to the restaurant as I had left my car at my friend's house. So I went to the bar with them. My sister was having a good time and I didn't want to cut it short.

But that snow. No plows had touched the roads. It took me over an hour to drive the 30 miles back home.

When my sister drinks she keeps talking about "the accident." She was driving in the accident where my Mom died. A dump truck ran a stop sign. She relives this nightmare and I felt so bad for her. Fortunately the next morning she remembered very little.

The food at CiP was good. I was able to talk to friends until the alcohol changed their conversation to the whiny, crying game. Poor poor pitiful me. The one girl had been on a blind date and he had not called her back. She was ogling the bartender. Another one went on and on about her cousin from Florida. The drunk on my right kept bumping his chair into mine.

It is like somebody has taken an evening from my early 20's and reran the video tape. I don't mind getting together at a friend's house or around a camp fire, but I just can't stomach the bar scene anymore.

Embossed

Here is another photo that I messed with. I use a free program called "Irfanview". I've used it for years. You can download it from the homepage or from download.com. I cropped the original photo, converted it to a grayscale image, sharpened it, and chose to emboss it. I then enhanced the contrast and turned it to a negative image. I may have embossed it again. I just click and play and click and if I don't like it, I start over.

To get the picture frame around the image I used my Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album. That one I purchased with my computer. I think I paid $30, but that was six years ago. It looks to be about $40 now.

The schools in the valley have closed again for tomorrow. I did venture out to run some errands today. I am a bit surprised that the roads are still in such a sad state. Everyone is talking about it. "Where is ODOT?" they are asking. The ice on the roads have formed hard bumps and I feel like I am driving on blocks of concrete.

What else?

The weather. I didn't get the day off on Wednesday, but all schools closed today and are closed tomorrow. Frigid temps and snow. Photo above was taken by my sister at her house. (Ohio).

I had to drive 70 miles south yesterday for a meeting. I got caught in a nasty snowstorm. Driving back home I was travelling west on I-70 and 8 semi trucks passed me at one incident. One after the other. Watching them in the blowing snow ahead of me it looked as if they were feuding. The trucks. I considered pulling off the interstate at the next exit and driving on a back road to I-77, because something just told me there was going to be an accident. I just got a feeling.

When I saw the next exit, I thought 'Aw, hell no.' The snow was piling up deep and fast. Sure enough another mile up the road, 5 miles before I took the exit ramp for 77 North I came to a complete halt. Me and another hundred vehicles or so.

Inching along for 40 minutes I saw six accidents involving about 8 vehicles. The last one I saw was a semi truck with a red car smashed into the back of it. I have no idea if it was one of the trucks that passed me or not.

Folks were driving like insane jerks. The passing lane on the Interstate was covered in snow. I stayed in the right lane with a lot of other folks. We weren't going very fast but we were moving and we made it home safe and sound.

Here she is

My daughter's new (to her) car sits in our drive way. This photo was taken from my kitchen window. What looks like smoke under the front of the car is actually spots on my window. I told you I was deficient in the house cleaning area, and I can prove it. Not that I want to and trust me, you don't want to see it. Huh. I guess deficient is a word.

I have not been very active lately in answering e-mails and posting. This is normal for me when I am in the process of making a big decision such as the purchase of a vehicle. I probably put more into this process than when I am purchasing one for myself. Because it is for my daughter and that responsibility weighs very heavy with me. The decision consumes almost all of my thought processes. I am very relieved it is over and done with.

The choice. My daughter has always wanted a Celica. I've been looking at cars for about a year for her. We narrowed it down to what she likes and what I like and what we can afford. Did I go over my budget? Yes. I am hoping I made the right decision in the fact that I got a newer model and lower mileage. It may last longer.

The features. My oh my. I'll zoom in on the funny one. The salesman had one other guy on this lot. The gopher guy. Between the two of them it was comical. We looked at the car on Thursday. This was actually a very hasty decision. The first car (we saw on Saturday) had sold on Wednesday and we changed our course to check this one out.

We drove it back to our home town and had our mechanic check it out. All was good except a broken antennae and hinge on the gas cap cover and one oil leak. There was a little device on the windshield of the car. I asked the salesman at our mechanic's shop what it was. He said it looked like one of those devices that gets satellite radio. Well, we knew that service is a monthly fee so we dismissed it.

Back to the car lot. Salesman said he will take care of everything our mechanic had listed and we could pick it up tomorrow. On Friday I made the arrangements with the bank, insurance company, all that good stuff. There was a snow storm coming, but the roads were good after I got off work and we were on our way. Good grief did the roads get bad the farther north we went. Interstate traffic was crawling at 30 mph.

I wanted to get the car and get back home asap. My daughter did not want to drive her car yet, so she was going to drive my car (old reliable) back while I drove hers. Inside the office the salesman told his gopher guy to go out and start the car to get it warmed up for us. This incident is important because of what we found. It was a good find, though.

My daughter had not driven in heavy snow before. We left the car lot and started our long 40 mile drive home. Over an hour. Interstate still crawling. It was bad. Rush hour traffic. I was so worried about my daughter that I barely paid attention to the Celica I was driving. It drove like a dream. My daughter drove very well. We made it home and parked both cars.

The funny part. It was dark out when we got home. My daughter was checking out the key remote and locking the car, etc.. She said "I wonder what this button does." She pressed it and the Celica fired right up.

I am wondering if the salesman knew this when he told the gopher to go and start the car. Where he was sitting at his desk, we could see the car through a big picture window. All he had to do was turn around and press a button. I'm not calling him to ask him if he knew. It was not advertised as a feature of the car. We may never know if he knew, but now we know what that little device is on the windshield.

Slices

More layers and some slices. Tuesday I was much better - migraine was gone. Wednesday relapsed into a stress headache or tired, I don't know. Went to bed too early, awoke this morning too early. I caught an old movie. I kept thinking to myself 'That looks like Jack Lemmon'. It was. 1956 "You Can't Run Away From It." It was Jim Backus that helped me to nail down the movie. Once I have someone I can recognize, I can find the movie on www.imdb.com.

This will make for a long day today. I hope the snow is done for today because my daughter and I are taking a potential vehicle to our mechanic and are having it checked over before we decide to buy it. The car is located 40 miles north of us. We have to pick it up, drive it back here to our home town, have it looked at and get advice on it, then drive it back to the dealer by 7 p.m. Sigh. Long day. Especially if I have to drive in snow with a vehicle I have never driven before. Fun stuff.

I am already sleepy. Grrr. (rolls eyes).

Some winter days

In Ohio, in early December, when there was no snow.

This was taken last week on a drive to a school many miles away from home. I have no idea whose home it is. Just something I see on the ride. It was the middle of deer hunting and I saw lots of hunters out and about that day.

I don't know about you, but the Christmas specials and movies just don't seem the same since cable plays the same ones over and over again and videos and DVDs let you watch them any time you want. They have lost that "special" significance. Yawn.

This reminds me of a childhood trauma. Small trauma. But, to an eight year old it was pretty significant. Picture it. The year is 1968. It would be almost 10 years before VHS tapes were available to the public and another five before most homes were able to afford units to play them. Cable stations that currently play holiday movies over and over were also unheard of.

My oldest sister (1944) was getting married on the 27th of December. A friend of the family held her wedding shower on a cold winter night in early December. I was in the wedding and I was to attend the shower. The friend's children were grown and gone. The television sat in the corner of the room that held the crowd of ladies from around town. We ate little cucumber sandwiches and my sister unwrapped her gifts.

It just happened to be the one, the only night in a long year of 365 days that the one little television station would play the favorite classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." I looked longingly at that dark television screen many times during that shower knowing it would be another 365.. no, make that 366 days (1968 was a leap year!) before I would be able to watch my beloved Rudolph again! Horrors! That is a long time to an 8 year old.

I see that the movie only came out in 1964. Given the circumstances, I may have watched it once or twice before the year I didn't get to watch it. It was something I looked forward to. Sigh. I wonder how many times I have actually watched the movie. My daughter never got excited about the movie because we could watch it on Halloween or Thanksgiving 100 times over because we had it on video tape. It just isn't the same. Kids these days have no idea.

Summer drive

A drive from July 2007. Warmer days are just around the bend. Given six months or so.