Wild Cherry

Car in sister 56's family. From '67.

Just trying to recover after a socking migraine that hit late this afternoon. About the same time as a severe thunderstorm went through the area. Didn't help any that I awoke at 4:00 a.m. and could not get back to sleep. I was in hyper mode all day. I had some demonstrating to do and I was really in motor mouth mode. (The headache hit much later). Many of my migraines are preceded by a huge energy rush and burst of mental explosion. I did a lot of cleaning Tuesday evening and I blabbed up a storm today.

I can remember trying to tell some ladies while leaving work that my head was splitting and I could not come up with the word "splitting". All I could think of was "cracking" and I said "My head is cracking!"

The extreme pain in the side of the left temple is gone, but it still hurts. Any sudden movements, or sounds send me over the edge. I am trying to stay up late enough to get the dogs out for their evening business so I have no accidents in the morning. At this time I hurt so bad, I really don't care about anything that might happen in the morning. I do feel bad for them, though.

Between lack of sleep, lousy weather and more personal issues - I don't have a chance against the migraine monkey.

Push

There are some things I need to get used to about this "Fascinate". I am not totally "fascinated". My first and biggest complaint is I have no way of knowing if there is a message waiting for me until I pull the phone out of sleep mode and check my screen. My daughter (Droid 2) said that she has a small tiny green light that lets her know if she has a message.

Because (contrary to most folks these days) I do not take my phone with me everywhere (like the bathroom!). I will leave it sit on my desk at work and when I return I am left wondering "Did I get a message? How will I know?" My old Razr would beep at me every 5 minutes if somebody left a message.

This "Fascinate" remains silent.

My sister called me Thursday evening. I was sitting right by the phone. It did not ring. I heard a beep and I looked to find that I had a voicemail. In fact, it said I had "missed a call". How could that be? I was sitting right here. The volume was turned up. Hmmm.

The next day at work, my brother called. The phone was ringing it's head off, I pulled it out of sleep mode and pushed the button. Nothing. It just kept ringing. And ringing. I pushed and pushed. Ack! Another "missed" call. This phone is toying with me.

I tried to call him back. I pushed and pushed - no use. It was as if an invisible shield had come over the face of the phone and was not going to respond to anything I did to it.

It beeped (or hiccuped) with a message that I had a voicemail. Then (and only then) was I able to get a response from the touchpad keyboard. I called my brother back.

I set the phone down and stared at it. It had the audacity to go to sleep.

"So THIS is how it's going to be, huh?" I gave it a stern look. I squared my shoulders and sat up in my chair.

"Bring it on bitch. I will slay this dragon."

Recipe: Potato Salad

These did not make it into my potato salad.

boiled potatoes
hard boiled eggs
green peppers sliced thin
celery sliced
grape/cherry tomatoes
sweet baby pickles sliced tiny


dressing:

salad dressing
ranch dressing
sweet pickle juice
mustard

salt & pepper


Decoration on the top:

sliced hard boiled egg
slices of tomatoes (no insides)
or sliced grape/cherry tomatoes
leafy ends of celery stalks (bright green end leaves)

I was reading a couple of recipe books at work yesterday (on my break don't ya' know) and thought that maybe I would start buying cucumber dressing to add into my potato salad. It sounded good. I usually don't purchase cucumbers, but I have added them on occasion to my potato salad. Sometimes it is hard for me to write down a recipe because I don't always use the same ingredients each time. I punch it up with whatever I have and hope for the best. LOL!

Note to self: Turn the temperature down in the refrigerator so the pickles don't freeze. Yikes!

The years fly by

It is all going by in a blur - in the end it's a wink of an eye.

Time. Hurry up and wait. It keeps on slipping... into the future. It goes by so slowly. It goes by too quickly. It goes. To be four years old, then fourteen, and then 24. There is a cavern of time between the early decades. After 34 or so, they just blur together. Mine do anyway. I lived entire lifetimes between four and 14, and then between 14 and 24. Between 24 and 34. After that I kind of stayed in one place, remained in one job, saw the same people every day. The years became a blur.

Am under the weather today. I dreamt (how about dreamed?) I was throwing up. Hmmm yes, spell checker likes dreamed much better. I awoke with a searing headache and not feeling well at all. I gag when I sneeze. I am stuffed up. My eyes hurt. I don't want to go back to bed because I will then focus on the nausea. If I stay up and do things I can keep it in the background.

I think there was more to my purchase on Monday than meets the eye. Yes, I have been looking at the various smart phones and there comes a time (like when I buy a car) when I just get tired of looking and just say "oh, just buy the damned thing! One of them, any one of them so I can get out of the misery of deciding!" Make a decision and "poof" it's over.

The fascinate has a few caveats that I am trying to learn to deal with. It kept shutting down on me (going to sleep) so I figured out how to keep it "on" for a couple more minutes. I'm sure this will be okay when I know how to use the phone, but it was kind of aggravating while I was trying to learn how to use it. At first it "pushed" my exchange e-mail and then it stopped. I re-created the setup for my work e-mail and it began "pushing" my work messages again.

Anyway, I think I was upset from Monday at work - and purchasing the new phone was supposed to make me feel better. I am guessing - but I really had been looking. A co-worker and I were given a new job to do. Our organization started a new avenue. I bulldozed through the mess and figured out how to set up the entire show. I was ready with a presentation. For about the sixth time in 15 years, we ran out of time at the meeting and my presentation was nixed - again. Barely a mention. As I mentioned above it has happened to me before. All that work and "poof" nothing. Not a word, not a mention about it. WTF?!

I also believe that is why I am throwing myself into the Ubuntu experience. I need to have something to learn to make me feel good about myself. I must stay resilient and not become recalcitrant.

Can't touch this

Without getting my fingerprints all over it. I just have to live with fingerprints. At least I got the screen protectors for it. And an extra battery. It is power-intensive.

I also have three (count them, three!) books from the library on how to configure and tweak Ubuntu. Good grief. My head just might explode with information overload this week.

The third book (Ubuntu Bible) is at work.

I am switching from a Razr (red) to the (black) Fascinate. Steep learning curve. Steep.

Celebration

I have been very busy this week-end. Lots of family came into town Friday night to celebrate sister 1956's birthday. The staff at the restaurant put these silly hats on my sister her husband and one of my brothers. I can only guess they were not entirely certain what guy she was with. Some family are still here and I have been very busy with them. No time to post. My cheeks hurt from laughing so much.

I realize how very blessed I am. I am taking full advantage and am enjoying it. I'm not wasting a precious minute.

Family

That is my maternal grandmother on the right. She died when my mom was ten. That would be 1930. So this photo was probably taken in the late 1920's.

She left my mom to be raised by her parents. She did not marry my mom's dad. She met this man many years later, married him and they had a son. She died ten days after childbirth.

I can only imagine what my mom felt since she is no longer around for me to ask. I didn't think to ask questions when I was younger.

My mom's half brother caught up with us in 1976. He came to meet his half sister and her large family. He was always talking about how lonely his childhood was and how he wished he were part of a huge family. His 80th birthday is tomorrow.

Way Back

Is that right? Way Back Wednesday? Here is one from the old family album. My sister said anytime you see a picture with my Dad's hand behind his back, he is hiding his beer. I am not born yet, so I don't suppose I am in this photo. Have a bit of a headache tonight and do not want to spend a lot of time at the computer. Ciao.

Your Labor Day

I hope your laboring is light and unencumbered today.

Burn baby, burn

Good grief it looks as if we are burning one of the chairs in this photo. Not at all. The chair was safe on the other side of the fire. This is the camp fire we build when I go to visit friends near the lake at the campsite.

It was a beautiful day (August 27th) and a lovely evening.

Barely there

I got a couple of blooms from my moonflower plant this year. One plant grew large enough. It is hiding underneath the hydrangea and protected by the huge lilac bush on the other side. It peeped through and bloomed a few times.

I have two more plants, but they don't look like they will produce any blooms this year. I am wondering when I should transplant them. I was going to try to get them back over to the western side of the house where they were when I first moved here.

I finally replaced the "coin" sized battery in my behemoth computer and the very next morning the electricity went off for about ten seconds. I was in the bathroom getting ready for work and I came out and said to myself "This is it. This is the test."

I turned the behemoth on and it started up, went straight to Windows. No "Press F2 to run setup" configuration error. It kept the date as 2010. I didn't have to change it from what it usually resorts back to - 2004. Hurray!

Not so lucky for the sub woofer. I have no sound. The sub woofer blew the new fuse I placed in it the second I turned it on. Wah! I figured a cat probably peed on the unit and short circuited it out.

I can't find anybody (locally) that works on speakers and stuff, so I may have to look north.

Running on

It is very difficult for me to get a motion picture of Slade. Canon's annoying "delay" makes me miss most of the shots I want.

In the vein of "Labor Day" I find this quite annoying, also. Fifteen years ago when my daughter was in grade school, my work day started at 8:00 a.m. It still starts at 8:00 a.m. She did not have to be at grade school until 8:30 to 8:45. I paid a sitter to watch her until it was time for her to walk the 3 blocks to the school.

I find it annoying that in my work place, the managers (who now have grade school age children) come in late every morning (after taking their child to school). And most of the time during the summer they will come in late after taking their child to football practice, or cross country training.

I won't say any more on the matter, but I needed to have my gripe time and here it is.

Oh, woe is me

Using my backup computer again. Here is a photo a month or so old with our cat Teton looking at some fish in a bowl. They are there, up near the top. The food cover we use so the fish can't jump out and so the cat can't stick it's paw in is kind of covering them.

I have my main computer down to change the battery. I got one at Radio Shack and (par for the course) got the incorrect one. I also changed the fuse in my sub woofer and promptly blew the new one out. So that means a more serious problem. I must find a place that repairs sub woofers. Oh, woe is me.

And, I have insomnia. I have been up for an hour. The dogs have been taken outside and fed. I still have some kitty litter duty but I kind of procrastinate in that area. Work has been busy in an interesting kind of way.

I hope to visit some family and an old friend this holiday week-end coming up. Labor day. Hah.

Eye liner

My niece's cat

I've never seen a ring around just one eye like this. Then again, I don't see many white-faced cats. In the middle ages or in ancient Egypt, this cat may have been considered an omen. Hopefully a good omen.

It was a great week-end with plenty of friends and family. But WAY too much food. I remember saying "Eat light, we eat again in just 4 hours!"

Work is crazy with the beginning of the school year.

Now the sub woofer on my computer system blew a fuse. I am so glad I thought of the fuse. That will cost just a couple of dollars to replace. I pulled the fuse out and it is burnt black. I was pulling cables out and getting them all organized and I thought to myself 'here I am again, messing with electrical stuff!' Yikes!


I need to have sound so I can hear all the funny videos and enjoy the clips folks send my way. A couple of cute ones I saw over the week-end are 'machine-gun kitty' and 'surprised kitty'. Both found on Youtube. Both of them showed up first when I typed them into the search feature on Youtube. If you like cats, you should check them out.

On my daily walk

And I thought walking under a ladder was bad luck. Just happened to look up while walking the dogs on Saturday and this is what I saw. Not real close to my house, but just around the corner. I took the dogs home, got my camera and came back for a shot. Still shooting with my daughter's camera, so I don't have it mastered, yet.

I like that my daughters' camera has the "shaky hand" feature, but if you want to zoom in real close you lose that ability. I zoomed this one and I got a slight blur with the pic. They look like mud wasps to me.

Jive Talkin'

For my friend's birthday bash she requested a little disco music. I found some. I don't have much of that flavor of music in my stash. Maybe five songs or so from (please let us forget) that era.

Had a wonderful day with friends at the camp grounds yesterday. Could not have asked for a more pleasant day. It was beautiful outside. Just beautiful.

Driving around on the golf cart we drooled over the camp sites that were for sale. So nice! So shady. Not many were lakeside, and some were downright shabby. Ah, well.

We will survive! We did survive the disco craze. LOL!

Number 3 bites the dust

I found the batteries and disposed of them properly. Just like the package said. Dispose of properly. Good girl. This happened a few days ago, not recently. This remote I used just to turn the TV on and off anyway. My cable remote can do it (although I never can remember what button turns the TV off and what button turns the digital cable box off and I always get the wrong one). And of course, I can get up and push the button on the TV unit itself. Heh, heh.

My niece came in last evening to take a shower. She is moving into a new apartment and does not have hot water, yet. She was driving a huge U-Haul truck. I have to get a picture of her little self inside the drivers seat. I hope to do that today before she has to return it. It is funny looking.

The boxer was sick

As far as I can tell he got into my raffia in my craft stuff. Once outside, he ate grass like it was going out of style. I sat outside with him for about an hour until I finally had to go back inside and clean up his mess from where we didn't make it outside in time for the first wave of sickness.

And darn it! I have been so disciplined in putting the remote controls up at night. Sigh. It is the cable remote again. It is only chewed a bit on the end. It might still work okay. Calgon? Where's the Calgon? Take me away!

FYI: I have a blog that I follow that had to shut down and re-open a new one. Seems she reached her limit of photos she can post on the blog. Yikes! I'll have to look into this.

Some man

My mom told the story with a sense of humor. This man knocked on our door when I was three and my older brother would have been five. We ran to the kitchen "Mommy! There's some man at the door." My Mom went to the door. My dad had come home from the workhouse.

Tuna Noodle Casserole (cheat version)

One time a few years back I was in a hurry to fix dinner. My daughter and niece were hungry and I didn't take the time to add bread crumbs and bake the tuna noodle casserole like you are supposed to do. I layered noodles, peas, tuna and cheese and zapped it in the microwave.

They loved it! They raved about it.

I have fixed it that way ever since.

The above dish has mushrooms added to it. Not my daughter's favorite, but I liked it just fine.

So, just cook the noodles as the package instructs. Layer noodles, peas, tuna and cheese. I use sweet baby peas and Velveeta cheese. The above dish has regular tuna (usually I use the albacore or chunk white) packed in water. I use Light 'n Fluffy extra wide egg noodles. I butter the casserole dish and sometimes add pats of butter in the layers. Sometimes I add a little milk so it is not dry. It usually is not dry.

Come to find out the girls hated it when the noodles get hard and crunchy. I don't like it baked anymore and I never did like the bread crumbs either.

This recipe is really quick. Ten minutes to boil the noodles, five minutes to layer and five minutes in the microwave. I open the cans of tuna and peas while the noodles are boiling and slice the cheese. I also butter the casserole dish while waiting for the noodles.

It is creamy and it is rich.

Well...

Remember the TV show Bewitched, where Samantha would do something and Darrin would look at her and she would just say "Well...?" It was one of those moments.

It all started when I forgot to call my pharmacy prescription in. Really! I usually phone them in or send them in via the web page. I forgot. So I dropped it off and had to wait for it.

I said to myself "I'm going over to the electrical department and am going to learn me something!" Well, I learned something alright - but it wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Or should I say, I RE-learned me something. Heh, heh.

I am extremely fortunate that the outlet (and the plug) were the only things damaged. And, my err... ego. A bit.

I read the back of the package. We have been using the outlet adapters for a few years, but I always said to myself 'One day, I am going to ground those suckers.'

Well...

I figure you just have to unscrew the middle screw and re-screw it back in over the little loop on the adapter plug. I said to myself 'Okay, I can do this!' Famous last words, huh?

Me sitting cross legged directly in front of an outlet with a screwdriver. An outlet that had not had the faceplate removed in seven years when the walls were last painted. A screw that would not line up for me and I tilted it.

I remember sparks. They looked like fireworks. I remember a popping sound. I don't remember seeing any smoke. I remember I threw the screw driver. I remember some funny sound came out of my mouth. I DID NOT cuss. I do know the dogs ran and peeked around the corner for a long time before they came back out.

Now, I usually know better than to play with electricity. I've said this before in my blog, especially when I am at work. It scares the bejesus out of me. Sigh. I really thought I could do this little thing. I usually don't mess with it.

Hmm... on second thought (actually eleventh and twelfth thought) maybe you don't remove the faceplate. Oh, dear.

Anyway.... does anybody know the name of a good electrician? Ha, ha! I had one guy in here when I first moved to the house, the previous owner had recommended him. Then in another conversation she said "I hope he got away from those drugs." That was all for that electrician.

I thought something was up when he came to my house and he pulled his van up halfway down the alley. I was waiting for him so I went out to talk to him and he quickly rolled his window down and said "I'm just finishing my sandwich!" I thought to myself "No, you are finishing a joint!"

I've been associated and around enough party smokers to know one when I see one.

So, I won't be calling him back. I don't think he is in business anymore. Surprise! In all fairness, he did a good job, though.

Now, for the movie department. By all means skip "After.Life". Good grief! I really like L Neeson, but this was horrible! Unless you are a guy and like to watch C Ricci writhe around naked on a cold autopsy table. Yuck! Not my cup of tea. But, I did kind of like the bobble-head doll. Freak that I am. LOL!

Wee little thing

See? The fan I replaced yesterday was just a wee little thing. The non-working one sure made a lot of noise though. The room (which actually WAS air conditioned) was vibrating with the racket.

I did forget to take my camera. Ah, well.

Adding a little color

I was able to re-load the anti-virus software back onto my PC. It was a lot easier than I thought. I've done it so many times now, I guess I am getting pretty good at it. No problems at all.

My next step was to add pretty and inspiring wall paper to my desktop. I love finding new pics to add and I have some old faves. The one above is a new one. I center it so that my icons show up. Right now I only have a handful of icons on the desktop. Like moving into a new house, the furniture is sparse and the area is clean and uncluttered. As time goes on my desktop will look like a small hydrogen bomb went off as my house does.

Is that what they call them? Hydrogen bombs? Atom bombs? Nuclear blast? I wiki'd them and they are the same. I like that about Wikipedia. Instead of a URL address (such as www.someplace.com) you can just type in 'wiki atom bomb' (without the quotes) and it takes you to the closest subject in Wikipedia that matches atom bomb. Try it. Then try another like 'wiki daniel boone' or 'wiki chernobyl'. I used to sign out encyclopedias at the library (before the world wide web) and read them. I love small blurbs or stories about people, places and things. I love it!

I just tried an experiment. It works with the quotes, too. Yeah, I could read about stuff all day.

Currently I am reading "Jungle Child" by Sabine Kuegler. It is about a girl raised in West Papua in the 70's. I love the biography section of my library. Gosh I'm just full of love today.

And then I go to work. Where's the love NOW?! I'll be in a little school (no air). I am going to try to get there early enough and get my job done before the heat makes it unbearable. A fan has quit in a router and I must replace it. The unit has three fans. The fan is no bigger than a.... a....bar of motel soap. That's it. I couldn't think of anything that size.

And the pups? Hah! I had another remote control chewed beyond repair this morning. They also found a way into the picnic basket with the plastic utensils. All over the floor this morning. The remote - I can survive without it I suppose. It is to the TV, but the cable remote can control it. Or you know, I can walk up to the set and push the buttons. Horrors!

The basket that held all six remotes (don't ask) will have to be placed high on the book case I guess. I was mistaken when I thought that they were safe in a boxed basket. I am vigilant about putting the remotes inside this box every night before I retire. Little wicked devils. I didn't even mumble to them. I just picked everything up and took the batteries out of the now defunct remote and cleaned up the plastic ware on the carpet. My sweeper will love any little tiny plastic pieces left behind.

Maybe I need to go back to caging them at night. Ugh. They are in their cages while I go to work, I just feel sad putting them in there at night, too.

I watched "The Ghost Writer". The wife is the same lady who played the wife of B Willis in the movie The Sixth Sense. Did I like the movie? Not really. Not a big E McGregor fan. I am a P Brosnan fan. I recognized (barely) K Cattrall. I was like 'Is that her?' 'Yes, it is!' I thought the movie was a little silly in places. I was waiting for the servants to knock somebody off, they were so strangely mysterious and creepy. And they gave them the names of Dep and Duc? What is up with that? Oh, and here is a bit of trivia for you. The young lady who is the Island motel receptionist just happens to be the daughter of R Polanski - the director of the movie.

Yep, yep. Onward to the great unknown. I wonder where my camera is? This is prime picture-taking country where I am headed.

Hot August Nights

I really have to get back out there and take more pictures! This one is the big lake near my town and was taken in May of what year? Heck if I can recall. 2008?

Anyway, it's hot around these parts. I hear it's hot around your parts, too. I walk the dogs and I am ready for another shower. I walk the dogs first thing in the morning, at my lunch break, after work and before turning in for the night. Nice. I can't very well jump in the shower each time. Let's just say it is probably a good thing I work in an office all by myself.

I watched the movies "Crazy on the Outside" and "The Bounty Hunter". I could not figure out where I had seen the parole officer in COtO and then I saw where she was the female co-star in the epic failure "Waterworld." And I'm just sayin' we ladies got gypped in TBH. Anist0n got to prance around in a short black mini dress while we got to see Butler in an "god-awful ugly" checkered shirt. What is up with that?! I thought it was a chick flick! And seriously? The rickshaw thing was a little over the top.

I always said that S Bull0ck did not have much acting range, but I am really thinking that Anist0n can only play one type. She looks the same in every.damn.movie! And she plays the same ditsy character. Over and over again - femme fatale. C'mon. Seriously! Just take any of her movies, plug a new guy in and spit them out each year and I don't think that anyone would be the wiser. Let's see some talent. Change the hair. Reach out. Play a real gritty female. Put on weight for a real character. We are sick and tired of blah, blah, blah. Girl loses boy. Girl teases boy. Girl gets boy back. Boring! There are actors and then there are showgirls. Sorry Anist0n. You're just a showgirl.

I am not saying the girl does not work hard for the money. She definitely works hard to keep that figure/body. Kudos to her. But there comes a time in life when you think one would say to themselves "Is this all there is to me?" A buff body? Is there no brain in here? Can I give something that really makes the audience think and just surprise the bloody hell out of them? Or, am I only in this for the paycheck?

She's back

I got the motherlode back up and running. Good grief! What a hassle. I have to get a battery for this mammoth system and maybe a little better surge protector. Ugh.

I did drool over the new XPS systems, though. I don't know why I keep getting gaming machines when I don't play any games. Weird.

There sure are a lot of updates when you load from an old XP installation disk. LOL!

Now, to get my AV re-installed yet again. I am wondering if Symantec is getting tired of hearing me say "my system crashed" because I keep having to re-install my AV. I have a 3 user license. I'm sure if I do it without tech support it is going to say "You have reached your maximum number of computers". Blah, blah, blah!

Just for kicks, I watched "The Tooth Fairy." I thought it was cute at times. It still did not come close to one of our favorites: "The Rundown."

A puppy tale

I was horrified. I read it in the newspaper. Some jackass threw a puppy out of a moving vehicle on a big open road that is known to be travelled often by semi tractor trailers. I cringed. The guy driving behind had to swerve to miss the puppy. He said he thought they had thrown trash out. Another driver stopped. She was a vet from a nearby city.

The driver of the "red van" did not stop. Nobody was able to get the license plate because of all the commotion. The police were looking for the offending driver(naturally).

My first thought was of a neighbor lady who I saw just two days prior. She had a little black lab puppy she was wanting to get rid of. She had broken her foot and could not take care of him. She lived in the only place on my block that rents to the seedier crowd of people. They only stay a few months and move on.

But, I never saw a red van anywhere near that place.

Until Wednesday evening. I was driving out the back alley and there it was. A red van! Oh no!

What would you do?

While walking the dogs later that evening, I walked past the rented house to look for any signs that the pup was still there. Nobody was out and there was no pup. Sigh. What to do, what to do.

I went back home. Read the paper. It was all a HOAX! The guy said his wife would never let him keep the puppy so he made up the entire story! Arrgghh! The lady vet must have been part of his story? No explanation was given that I saw about her.

Read the resolved story here.

I am so glad I didn't jump to any sudden accusations. I thought them, but I needed proof first. And then that story. I don't know who I want to slap more. Somebody who would throw a dog out of a moving vehicle or the guy that would make the story up and get all the readers in an uproar. The pup was one in a litter of 10. I don't suppose they are going to have any problems getting that set adopted. Most callers only wanted the "discarded" puppy. They were not interested in adopting any of his litter mates. Huh?

Then, there is the lady that left her kids in the vehicle while it was still running with the windows down. They were left alone long enough for a bystander to see this, call the cops and the cops to get there and cite her. She said she was in the store for five minutes. I don't know about you, but I've never seen any cops respond in under five minutes, but I suppose it could happen.

Still at it

This is what greeted me on my living room floor this morning. They are still at it. They will go for weeks (sometimes a whole month) without touching anything and then "bam". There it is. This remote controls my DVD player. Or, it did. It won't be as easy to replace as the cable remote. I think I have a spare universal one around. I hope I have the directions with how to program it. Sigh. I suppose this is their way of telling me they want a Blu Ray with a High-Def system.

Hi!

This is actually two shots glued together. I stood behind each tyke and shot straight down at them as they looked up at me. This produces an upside down tyke photo. I then flipped it around and glued them together to get this sort of fish eye look.

Here are the original shots:

This year

We had half as many as last year. And, can you believe I was not in this photo? LOL! I am not taking the picture (they had a tripod and a timer). I won't go into detail but I missed this photo op. Oh, well.

My group got matching tee shirts (burgundy) this year. Five of my group had already left before this was taken and five are not wearing their tee shirt in this shot. A couple you cannot see their shirts because they are mostly hidden. We had 25 show up this year in our group from our branch of the tree.

I am still SO tired I can't type very much or very long. I have to get more rest.

Room with a view

My nephew took this photo in Vegas I think. I like it.

Yesterday I stopped in my insurance agent's office to pay my insurance. The lady who has been there for a long time was busy so I went to the other lady. I usually always deal with the first lady. This gal was nice, we chatted. I am very chatty at times. After a while the first lady (no longer busy) came over to chat. We got on the subject of Boxers. They were both big dog lovers and the first lady had owned a boxer for years. It was uncanny but they knew somebody who had a boxer dog stolen about a year ago.

The first lady went back to her desk to call them and to pull up the pictures I had of Slade on-line. While she was dialing I sighed and told her I was going to a family reunion this week-end. She said, "So is my husband!" I said I was traveling to West Virginia. She said "So is my husband" and then her brain put two and two together. My last name happens to be the same as her husband's mother's maiden name. It dawned on her and her jaw dropped open.

When she said that, I wondered "Who?" She said his mother's name and I realized that was my Aunt. Oh, my. Of course she had passed - clear back in 1982. When we would visit my dad's relatives, we would go to the aunt that my mom was the closest to. That aunt would call all the relatives and if they wanted to visit, they would come to her house. I don't recall seeing this aunt ever. I guess she was not as close to my dad and mom as the others were. So, I did not know her children (some of my first cousins). She lived two blocks over and we would drive by her house and my mom would say "Your Aunt ___ lives there." I was young and never thought much about why we didn't see them. Something about the husband not liking drinkers and my dad was a big drinker. That probably had a lot to do with it.

She called her husband and we had a good laugh. I said I guess I'd see him Sunday. Then came to find out her son is on the same fire department as my brother. She knew many people that I knew and we talked for another hour. I have known this lady for over 10 years. Granted I only go in to pay my bill once in a blue moon but we always chat and laugh and have a good time.

Small world. The folks she knew who had the boxer stolen were not at home. I told her to give them my number. Yes, I have bonded with the boxer. But, if I had a dog stolen I would want to know what happened to him. I guess the folks had moved and had another boxer. Must not have been theirs because I have not heard from them. I just always wondered where he came from and what happened. I guess it will remain a mystery to me.

I'll be taking the dogs to the boarder in a couple of hours. People should start arriving at my house shortly after that. A huge group of my family stay in the same motel and we will party on the patio tonight and swim. Then tomorrow is the reunion at the shelter house. Most of us stay an extra night because we stay to clean up. Then it is back on the road home on Monday.

I have heard that a few of the folks who went last year are not coming this year, (we have four from our group not showing but two new ones coming) but I have also heard there are other new ones coming this year (such as my insurance agent's husband and his siblings). My agent can't make it. This is our 2nd one. We had 125 last year.

I am usually so busy helping with the auction, the 50/50 drawing, placing food on the tables (the food, my God - the food!) that I don't get a lot of time to actually meet people and find out what line they are from. I am going to put forth an extra effort this time. More pictures, more pictures!

Riding on the B-Train

I was going thru my nephew's photos and I found this. Yes, it is the same barrel train that I took a photo of back in September of 2007. My good friend's nephew made it I think. Here he is hauling some kids thru the Memorial Day parade in their home town. Notice the little girl in the blue barrel holding her hears. That would have been me at that age. My ears are still sensitive.

Here is my photo: http://welcomemyworld.blogspot.com/2007/09/barrel-train.html

On Parade

This photo is lifted from my nephew's collection. He handed over his memory card that had pics of my party on it and I downloaded the entire folder onto my hard drive. I like the color of the car.

Feeling very blah. Have the reunion in WV this week-end. I'm saving all my energy up for that.

Monkey See

The visit with my sister, nephew and niece went very well. I had a house full Sunday. My daughter and her beau were here as well. My niece picked the meal for the day. Little pizzas made with split English muffins.

As for the monkey picture? It is kind of funny to me how the adults have more fun with the kids toys that I bought for my party than the kids did. The kids just kind of shake their heads and look strangely at us. Hmmm.

Eye Dee Ten Tee Error

A picture of my pineapple pudding cake before adding the pineapple and cool whip.

I had to throw almost the whole dang thing out after my party this year. I guess I just had way too much food this year. Nobody ate any of it. I gave a couple of pieces (or with this cake it is more like huge spoon fulls) away, and I ate one myself - but the rest? Garbage disposal got it. Oh, well. Mama said...

Anyway... good news. I figured out half way through the day (when I dropped my cell phone) that it was still missing the battery, so when I went home at lunch I found the battery under a hamper and my cell phone is fine. I am kind of bummed because I really want a smart phone and I need a good excuse to treat myself to one. (Just because I am eligible for an upgrade isn't a good enough reason for me). This coming from someone who will get her daughter the latest and greatest gadget while I take her hand-me-downs.

As to the title of the post, has anybody ever said to you "That's an eye dee ten tee error?" It certainly is NOT a compliment. We techs would jokingly tell each other that and when we came across somebody who did not know what it is, we say "write it down." Phonetically it is pronounced eye dee ten tee. Written down it looks like this:

id10t. :)

What a lousy host I am! A good friend e-mailed me Saturday morning and said she was getting a group together that evening to play cards and such. I said "Sure" because I did not have plans. I had worked on a small "mini-laptop" that she purchased for her niece and this would be a good time to return it. (I'll post more about this unit another day.) Note: I am seriously "NOT IMPRESSED" with this device.

So, I head up north and settle in with good friends, good snacks and good games.

I get a message from my sister in Columbus. She was visiting her daughter (autistic) and she, my nephew and niece were headed to my house and would be there in an hour. I was an hour away. Whoops. I had forgotten they were coming. Yikes!

I tried to call them back, but they were probably travelling through the "no man's land" area where I had worked at a week before and I did not reach them. My nephew still had his key so it all turned out okay, but I felt bad. I stayed to play cards with friends (because we were playing teams and stuff) and I made it home around midnight.

Bad sister! Bad host!

Heat

Here is Teton busy trying to grab the wrist strap to my camera.

I am blaming it all on the heat. The heat is making everybody crazy. I went out to walk the dogs this morning and it hit me like an oven. Once we got out and about there is a breeze blowing. That helps. We went our usual route. We rounded a corner and I heard a funny sound. I stopped. It was the Boxer growling! He has never growled before. A deep very soft growl.

I quickly looked around. What in the world would make this massive animal growl? Is it a bear? A deer? A huge dog? All I could see was the street department cones and a flashing battery operated light on top of a street sign where they had dug up the pavement to put in a new home's sewage drain pipe.

Ack! That was it! He was afraid of the traffic cones and the flashing light. I talked softly to him and walked him over to the area and he finally came forward and sniffed the cones and the sign and then he was no longer afraid of them.

Then we went on our merry way.

Sigh. To the showers to cool down!

Memories

Here are a couple of links to some past posts of my pet dogs (not pictured above):

http://welcomemyworld.blogspot.com/2006/09/rolling-of-buckeyes-day-one.html

http://welcomemyworld.blogspot.com/2005/04/shes-been-good-dog.html

Hope you enjoy.

Somebody stop the world.

What is this? What do you do with this? Huh? This "look" is the result of me playing with a cat instead of him. I was taking pictures of Teton (who was playing with the wrist strap to the camera) and I happened to look over my floor fan and see this. Good God Almighty! It is the look of "But, I thought you loved ME best!"

Anyways, my nightmare didn't end. It just moved into my house and follows me around. After my freakish day on Thursday the 15th, Friday was rather mundane and normal. Saturday brought me a ripe and juicy migraine with a side of exhaustion.

Sunday came. I ventured out to buy groceries and cat/dog food. I purchased some frozen food and ice cream. Came home and "BAM" no keys to get in the house. The spare key we keep hidden (LOL!) I had given to daughter's boyfriend so he could get into the house. Oh, my. I looked at my daughter's bedroom window. Is it unlocked? Yes, it was. It wasn't pretty folks and I hope (for their sake) the neighbors were not looking. I got in and I am still feeling the ramifications from THAT!. The dogs all thought it was quite hilarious. I gave them a what for.

Monday came. Work was okay. I stopped at the drug store on the way home. Two hours later I went to balance my checkbook and what? No wallet! I had left it at the drug store. I called them, yes they had it. I went back and picked it up. All money still there. I thanked the cashier and pointed to my head and made a motion that I was losing it.

Tuesday came. I took the dogs out for their early morning walk and when I returned there in the middle of the floor was one of my brand new SAS sandals. The back strap was chewed completely off. I had forgotten to put them in my bedroom overnight. They cost me serious $$ but they are so wonderfully comfortable. I wore my tennis shoes that day and will wear them today. Grrrr.

Wednesday dawns. I go downstairs to take a shower and flip my cell phone off with my clothes and it clatters to the hard tiled floor. It ain't comin' back folks. It is dead as a doornail. I am eligible to upgrade to a new phone. I guess something is telling me it is time to do it. NOW!

I know I mentioned having a couple of links to look back at. Some funny stories from the past. I did not have time to look them up on my blog, but will get to them soon.

Until tomorrow... I am locking myself in a padded room. Somebody stop the world, I want to get off! Ha, ha!

Go granny, go!

The men love her. She is a granny. When she talks she sounds like a trucker. A voice affected by too many cigarettes and too much whiskey. Each time I got near her with the camera she stood up and pulled her top down over her tat. This one I had to zoom in from across the room (sorry for the deterioration of the photo) but she was unaware that I got it. My daughter told me this type of tattoo has a slang name. A tramp stamp.

She is the type of gal who comes up to you (even if you are a stranger) and wraps her arms around your neck and puts her face directly in your face to talk. She comes on strong. This photo is where she hung all over a young fellow in a wheel chair. I am sure she made his night. She comes on just a little too strong for my taste. She is always putting her foot in her mouth. Perhaps because of the alcohol?

I did enjoy some conversations with her from time to time over the years. She is a big dog lover. Of course she knows everything there is to know about everything. She has lived a colorful life to say the least. Another expression that comes to mind when you see her "Rode hard and put away wet."

Blueish

That's it! After the rain today I am getting my camera and my daughter's and going out and shooting some new pictures. I am tired of this same old stuff. All I had on this memory card was hydrangea, blurred photos of my pets and a few pics of fully ripe tomatoes and huge sweet onions. Plus about 40 pics of my daughter (she was attempting to get a new facebook pose).

After a lazy week-end, I awoke this morning to very painful eyes. Before I looked at the clock as I lay there after wakening, my eyes still closed, I thought to myself "Is it supposed to rain today?" Because both of my eyeballs hurt like the dickens.

I rolled out of bed. About the 3rd thing I do is take some Advil. Opening the door to let the first varmint outside to do his business I see and smell the rain. You know what? It is an hour later and my eyes still hurt! Blast it. I hate it when the medicine does not work.

I've got the summertime blues. Even though there is a lot going on almost every week-end, we have not been on a real vacation in a couple of years. I think the last trip was to Cincinnati in April of 2007? Yes, I just checked. Sigh. The reunion is a couple of nights away and I guess that will suffice as a vacation again this year. The dogs will have to go to the vet's office for that week-end. The fish and the cats will be on self-feeders.

Cooling off the hydrangea

Yes, I finally went out to Staples and bought another card reader for my daughter's camera's memory stick. The dogs chewed up the camera cable and a card reader is easier to purchase. Less than 24 hours after the purchase I moved my big mammoth computer (still trying to revive it you know) and "voila!" found the card reader I bought her at Christmas.

Yes, folks. My life is the same as yours. Lose something. Go out and buy a new one. Find the old one. Rinse and repeat.

This photo is where I brought some of my hydrangeas in from outside and shot from underneath them looking up towards the ceiling fan.

Sweltering here in Ohio. Due to lack of organization/planning/funds I have not had my furnace/AC checked in a year. My bad. It grinds away. I was so good at having the company come and check it twice a year. Every spring and fall. Without fail. Well, maybe the dogs messing up my downstairs basement to a horrible state might have something to do with it also.

Life goes on after my July blowout. I had so much food left over to get rid of. My daughter and her beau either didn't like the leftovers or they are so much in love with one another they have no appetite, yet. They are planning a camping trip next week-end. Interesting. I am promised pictures of a grass skirt and coconut bra. (Not my daughter wearing them!)

On to planning the reunion. Which is fast approaching. 3 weeks away. We would like to hand over the planning and organizing to somebody closer to the event but we have no takers. So, we plan from a distance and hope for the best.

Movies.

Shutter Island - not as spine tingling as the previews lead you on to believe. A lot of hallucinations and back flashes add to the confusion of the main character's memory. Interesting ending and then a tiny pinch of yet another twist at the very end. Crude language and some male frontal nudity. (No female nudity). The sameness of the uniforms and hairstyles and hats lead me to get a bit confused as to which guard was which. They all looked the same to me! Rather gory in places.

The Book of Eli - sigh. It wasn't "Man on Fire" that's for sure. Although I have to admit - the ending will leave you wanting to watch the movie again for certain clues. I started to watch again, caught a few clues but then was like "No way he could do those things!" G Oldman played the nasty bullying character that he has come to create over the years - same as always. I see that J Beals looks as great as ever. I recognized M Kunis from "That 70's Show". I felt like I knew R Stevenson but looking at imdb.com I can't figure out where. I've not seen any of his priors. The movie bothered me in a couple of places. I was disappointed.

Picking up the pieces

Here is a photo from the past. I think I have some new pics on my camera, but have not had the chance to connect the memory card to the reader to download them to my PC.

I am still so very, very tired from the long week-end. I had a low count of 21 people at my party. That made for a nice, enjoyable get together. The next day it was up to my sister's house where her son was setting off fireworks (and the canon). Gosh, that thing is loud!

I did the baby care during the firework display so I do not have any pictures or movies to post. The wee one slept through the entire show without so much as a whimper. Nobody lost a thumb. It was a close call. There were about a dozen men drinking and there were fireworks. We should probably have an ambulance standing by next time.

Scamp

A shot of Cheech when he was still a wee mischief-maker.

I usually get up at six or six-thirty. Today? The day of my big blow-out party. I slept in until 9 a.m. It figures! (silent scream).

Pics are older because my main computer died. I am using my back-up. I am slowly adding all the extras to it so that I can have sound/back-up/photo card reader and a few other stuff that my monster mammoth system always held for me. I'm not playing taps, yet. When I get the time, I may format the other hard drive and add the OS to see if I can still continue to use my system.

My boxer threw up just as I started typing the post. I'm like, "Oh, goodie! Something else to contend with." The puppy gods are on my side today. Chong cleaned it up for me. Nice puppy! Helping Mommy out. The poor boxer ran to a corner and has not left since. He is sleeping by the back bedroom door where my nephew is sleeping. He likes men so much. I think a guy owned him before I did. People always ask where and how I got him. They still gush over his markings and shape and size. Well, when they aren't amazed at Sable's barrel-shaped frame.

Okay. Enough delay. I have a cake to bake and a couple of cheese balls to whip up. That is for starters. My nephew is doing the outside stuff for me. Yay! That is a good thing because my back is threatening me! I'll take pictures if I can find room in my kitchen to take a decent one without a ton of stuff piled up around the subjects.

Great and Grand

I looked it up. Grand Nephew is just the same as a great nephew. So, I was right all along.

My party is Saturday. My annual July celebration. I have it on whatever day my town is setting off their fireworks. They have a festival in the park (just over the hill from me) for about 3 or 4 days during this long week-end. It is a great time. Sometimes I don't get the chance to get over there, but when I do - I am never disappointed.

So far on the menu, sweet Italian sausage, hot dogs, hamburgs, calico beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, vegetable tray w/dip, cheese ball and cheese tray (I just remembered I need crackers), strawberry frozen, peanut butter fudge, pineapple pudding cake, lemonade, iced tea, pop and beer. Sister 1956 won't be able to make it this year. Drat! She and I just went to a party Saturday so that is okay. She could only go to one or the other (because of her job).

Sister 1954 is excited because there will be some family members she has not seen yet since her release from prison.

I didn't have my party last year because I had my daughter's high school graduation party (remember the sumo wrestling?). That was only one year ago? Good grief!

My daughter's new beau will get the full exposure to family and I think she might be nervous about it. I don't know. She got mad at me last night. I guess I embarrassed her in front of him by telling her to "chill out." She called me on it and accused me of getting an attitude each time company was over. She was stomping around the house trying to force one of the puppies to poop outside. He was so scared he ran and jumped into my lap shaking. (The pup, not the boyfriend).

I think stress is getting the best of her. New job, new beau and all. Me? I bit my tongue with her. I know how hard it is to be the new love interest in some one's home and I refused to make her new beau feel uncomfortable by arguing with her. I let it pass.

I bought my first bag less sweeper. I got the Bissell Healthy Home model. I really like the bag less feature. It was so easy to snap it in and out and to empty it. Once I figured out that I kept putting it back into "brush" mode and that was the reason I was not picking anything up, I was okay. It is much lighter than my previous models.

I am going to focus on outside mowing and landscaping today. I hope. I need energy. My head hurt as soon as I got up this morning. I went to bed too late (vacation days from work) and I suppose that might be the reason. The dogs don't care that I went to bed late, they want to go out at 6 or 6:30. Sooner if they can. I also got myself a brand new hedge trimmer. I have never used one before. I guess you have to supply your own electrical cord? Good thing I have one. My friends spoke of how they cut the cord while they trim. Sounds like it happens a lot. I suppose I will do it, too. I chose the lightest model they had. My arms will be sore enough.

I hate, hate, hate waking up with a headache.