Weekend Highlights!

Well, Harrisburg area got 5-6 inches of snow... not too bad, and in fact it was quite beautiful. There were intermittent flurries in between squalls. Harrisburg crews seem to be much better about clearing the roads than they are up here so driving, while a bit slower, wasn't as much of a hazard as it would have been at home.

More about the trip later... I HAVE to share what I saw Sunday! The cold air lent itself to some incredible atmospheric optics. About 4-4:30 we were walking across a store parking lot when I saw a rainbow sundog. I should have gone back to the truck for the camera right then, but it was cold... bad excuse, I know... but it started fading not long after I saw it, and by the time we were inside it was gone. That's event #1. We were leaving the same parking lot a while later and of course I was trying to see the sunset through the back window... something caught my eye and I asked hubby to pull into the lot behind the store where there was a better view. Events #2 and #3 not long apart... a beautiful upper sun pillar and my first viewing of what I believed to be a weak, but still awesome, circumzenithal arc! (That's an upside-down rainbow over the sun.) I scrambled for the camera, which I'd foolishly stashed in a bag... I managed to get a few shots of the sun pillar before it went away completely, though my photos were too late for the full effect. Missed the arc entirely, drat it! Here's the tail end of the pillar, as it was fading:

Winter is the best time for seeing halos and anything caused by ice crystals in the air. Pillars can happen any time, I believe, but seeing 3 optics in one day really had me stoked.

On to the rest of the weekend... Saturday, as we were cruising through Hershey, we saw a sign for the Antique Automobile Collector's Association museum. Having a fondness for spontaneous detours, and especially for ones involving old cars, we turned left instead of right and went to check it out. It looked small at first... we were a bit disappointed, and didn't want to pay a lot to see just a dozen or so cars, but when we rode by the main window a 1987 Buick Grand National on display changed MY mind. After drooling over the GN we paid eight dollars each for admission (dollar off with AAA, by the way) and went to see what else was inside. The museum turned out to be huge and chock-full of not just autos but memorabilia, including a service-station diorama and a complete (!) mobile diner from the 50s that you could walk into. There was an antique bus display and part of the Nicola Bulgari car collection. As it turns out, Bulgari (of watch and jewelry fame) just happens to be a Buick aficionado... yay!... And like I am (or would be, if I could afford it) he doesn't buy cars just to show off, he actually drives them! I was pleased. And he owns a GN... *sigh*

Onward... to the Eastern Outdoor Expo... where within 5 minutes I fell in love with a pontoon boat. And a minute later was trying (halfheartedly) to convince my husband to move down South, move into my great-grandfather's empty house, and haul that boat out to my cousin's dock. He actually thought about it for a good 30 seconds before laughing.

There were a million and one things to look at there... we managed to get through about 3/4 of a million... saw a booth for the charter-boat guy who took us striper-fishing on our honeymoon. He wasn't there but it was nice to have that bit of memory pop up unexpectedly.

Had to check out the 4x4 section too. Decided I liked the Toyota Highlander almost as much as the Tacoma. B found a hybrid Chevy fullsize pickup. I could go with or without the hybrid option. Nice idea, but I think it will be a while yet before the technology is streamlined and fine-tuned.

Saw an accessorized van that we decided NEEDS to be in any A-Team remake from here on out. Mr. T would have traded his gold bling for this van:

I also learned why I rarely see red foxes around, and why I've never seen a wild cat (bobcat, lynx, etc). They're all dead, stuffed, and mounted, and put on display at the Expo. Seems like every booth had some kind of mounted critter hanging around. One booth had a revolving rack full of fox pelts. *Shudder* Yes, I hunt. But I eat what I kill, and I don't agree with animals suffering in traps... I hate the idea of trapping them just so their pelts can be sold at flea markets and sports shows. Does anyone really eat fox, mink, or bobcat? I don't think so. And we're long beyond the age where fur clothing is necessary for survival, at least in the majority of the world today. (If you all want to sell critter skins, find a use for groundhog hides and leave the foxes alone, okay? And come up with a few woodchuck recipes while you're at it.)

Off my soapbox now... we bought a new deer drag harness, a really neat one. Hope it works. Got a few samples here and there, crawled in, under, around and through a bunch of boats and trucks... watched two Grizzly bear cubs playing at the animal exhibit, which also had a young grey wolf, tigers, a black bear and a coatimundi... watched the log-rolling and chainsaw show... I recommend the Expo to anyone who likes that sort of thing because it's a lot of fun. Just leave your credit cards at home!

So... between the snow, sky, cars, and Expo, and a couple of ostrich burgers at Fuddruckers, we had a great time. Left with a lingering urge to go fishing and camping but what we need to do first is go wash the salt off the truck. ;-P

Dashing Through the Snow

Okay, more like negotiating highway through the snow... supposed to get more white stuff coming up from the south tomorrow. And naturally, we're driving south, right into it. Hopefully we'll be in the Harrisburg area before it gets bad (preferably before it hits at all).

I seriously thought about canceling this trip, but my husband was incredulous when I said that. He doesn't see a few inches of snow as a deterrent from anything. Crazy northerners...
I'm thinking about Rte 15, which is full of insane drivers on a good day, and city traffic once we get there. I'm not keen on being in either place in snow. The good news is that it isn't supposed to start until after lunch, by which time I hope to be safely inside the Farm Show Complex, drooling over pontoon boats and custom rifle stocks and Alaska sightseeing excursions. The other good news (?) is that we're only supposed to get a few inches... this can be good or bad. On one hand, that's enough to either be a nuisance or make the roads slippery as all-get-out. On the other hand, our local weather forecasters have a lower accurate prediction rate than Punxsutawney Phil (who is at, I believe, 30-35%). Meaning, we could get anywhere from zero to twelve inches in localspeak.

I wish I'd gone to weather person school. Meteorologists have it made... they study scientific weather phenomena, learn a bunch of technical terms, spend a lot of time on TV pointing out said phenomena using the terms that no one else understands, and get paid beaucoup bucks... and they're wrong half the time and DON'T get fired! What a sweet job that must be.

Heck, I'm more accurate than that... if my husband's hip aches, it's going to be cold. If my hair's frizzy, the air is dry. If I can hear birds outside the window, it's warm. And if it's humid inside, it's raining out. We have a great system at work, too... if we want to know what the weather's like, we go outside and look around. ;-P

Seriously, being a meteorologist would be fun, I think. For me, the best part would be learning and fieldwork. I love studying the sky... am fascinated by storms... have been known to run outside with a camera during a lightning storm or tornado warning... one day last year, as I was leaving work, I heard on the radio that there was a funnel cloud forming not a mile from the road I was on. Anyone who knows me knows exactly what I did... pulled over to watch! I actually wanted to be one of those kamikaze idiot reporters who were on location during hurricanes, yelling into the microphones over the wind and rain and fighting to keep from blowing out of camera range. I wanted to be on the crew that launched "Dorothy" during the movie Twister (up until the end, that is... you can keep the flying cows, thanks!).

That's my alternate-life dream, right there... in a nutshell, I wanna be a stormchaser. How odd, from someone who doesn't even want to drive two hours south because it might snow three inches. *eyeroll* The biggest risks I take nowadays involve driving in the dark through deer territory and the above-mentioned tornado/lightning watching. The latter is because I'm determined to catch one or the other on camera. I WILL get an awesome lightning shot, you just wait and see!

Return of the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Girl!

I got called back in to work a few weeks early, along with a dozen others. Apparently the potting schedule has been changed so much and on such short notice that they're now a week behind. So I got the call yesterday to come in today... no warning, just like the sudden layoffs a month ago, just "Come in." Had I not been half-asleep at the time, I might not have answered the phone and thus gotten in a "readjustment" day. Meaning, now I have to be awake and mentally functioning enough to drive only three hours after I've *been* going to bed. Yeah, this morning sucked.

But I was only on the potting line until 11:00... then my regular supervisor called me back to my usual stomping grounds to prep bays for new plants... Spent the rest of the day in a white suit, boots, and gloves, slinging chemicals around. It actually felt good to be "home." I had to break into my own office, though. Before Christmas, someone ran into the doorframe (twice) with the sweeper (not a vacuum, but a propane-powered industrial sweeper with tires and a seatbelt). The frame was knocked out of whack and the deadbolt wouldn't line up. I didn't have anything in there worth stealing, and probably would have laughed at anyone who stole my prehistoric computer anyway, so I never locked the door. Well, someone decided that computer *needed* to be secured, wedged the door shut, and locked it. My key wouldn't open it because of the pressure against the bolt... couldn't get in the inner door because the knob is on backwards... I'm going to fix that. I got locked in the middle office right after it was switched, since the door locks were on the other sides of both doors. Dumb dumb dumb! First time I ever had to break OUT of the office.

The reversed doorknob sums up the site management. Nobody has any idea why they do things the way they do, and even if something is obviously bass-ackwards to everyone else, there will be ONE person who insists that it needs to be done that way. That person will be in upper management. And after the problem is recognized no one will go out of their way to fix it until it inconveniences upper management. I still don't know why that knob was turned around with the keyhole on the inside. I'm sure someone at some point had a reason for it; they just neglected to tell anyone else what it was. Maybe they were waiting for the radio help call from a hapless grower locked in the middle room, so they could have a laugh. As long as I have a pocketknife on me, it ain't gonna be me making that call.

Back on the potting line tomorrow... it's fun, really. Hard on the legs and back, but fun. Tough to get out of the growing mindset though. We were potting New Guinea impatiens this morning and I kept looking for diseased spots and anything else that might be of concern to a grower. Someone finally said "Look, you don't have to think today. Just pot the plants." Gave me a chuckle! For the first time ever, I felt like I was overpaid for what I was doing instead of the other way around. What a nice (and strange) feeling that was!

Heather V. Graham Harden!

I can't read your email on the website you sent it through, and I haven't been able to get to you on IM. Email me through this blog PLEASE! Or look for me on Yahoo... you know who I am... or even join the LHS Alumni site (it's free), I'm on there too. LHS site

I posted this in case you or someone you knew happened to be Googling your name for whatever reason. I just want to know how you're doing, what you've been up to... just to catch up with an old friend. So buzz me already! :-)

Soy Dung Chow,
Me

It's The Hoff!

I really have no words. I was laughing too hard. Who knew David Hasselhoff was such a comedian? (I think the ooga-chakkas did it for me. I always liked those.)

Happy Birthday B!

We didn't really do much today. Hung around the house, washed some clothes, then went for a ride around the back roads looking at houses. Stopped at the Amish market for some meats n' treats (deli ham and dried fruit). On the way home we passed a guy who had tried to turn his minivan around in a small field and got stuck in the mud, so B went back to give the guy a pull. It was done in five minutes, B wouldn't take any money as usual, and our two vehicles slogged on back to town slinging mud and gravel.

Dinner was okay... the elk steaks were marinating all day, stuck them under the broiler and they were a bit chewy but tasty. I think I like elk better than venison, and definitely more than beef. Had sweet corn and homemade potato salad and we're now eyeballing the cake... I made an ABS (Almost Better than Sex) cake and it's so rich and yummy that I'm drooling just thinking about it. I am Cake Girl, after all.

Hubby's sister sent him some German brandy-filled (Asbach) chocolates for his birthday and now I'm jonesing for chocolate cordials. It's so hard to find good ones; these were great, but I like the round kind that come in 20 different flavors. *yum*

All in all, not a bad day. I have to go because hubby just decided he wants cake and I am so there....

Kibbles & Bits

It's foggy out there, has been all day but got worse right at sunset. (Sunset used loosely, cause the sun was nowhere to be seen, it was just greygreygrey all day.) My hubby surprised me... he isn't one for noticing anything beyond the windows, but when I heard him say "Wow... freaky" while peering out of the kitchen window I had to go look. I assumed the one neighbor had modded his car again, or the other neighbor's kid had done something weird to his hair, but it turned out he was looking at the fog through the bare trees out back. And it was kinda freaky, like something straight out of the opening scene of a horror movie. Really neat though. If the telephone pole wasn't in the way I'd have taken pictures.

Segue: I love the perspective from the second floor. And higher, when I can get there... the landlord left the attic door unlocked so we could check for leaks (lots of rain lately), and the last time I went up I just had to go look out the window. And since it was dark, and I had a flashlight, I can only imagine what the neighbors were thinking. A light in the attic? (Wait, wasn't that a Shel Silverstein book? It was.) So now I want to put the blue filter on my flashlight and go wave it around the next time I check the attic ceiling. Nobody EVER goes up there, or sees lights, so it might get someone talking... *grin*

Last night's TNA wrestling show was another chapter in the Sting history book. He came out and gave a very emotional farewell speech and "officially" retired. Of course it's an angle and he'll be back in a couple of months, but the whole segment was incredibly well done. The man has got some mad mic skillz, yo. I personally don't care if he ever wrestles again, just give him a microphone and some airtime and let him roll with it. He'd be a great commentator too. Guess that's why he's a good guest host on TBN.

February 4-12 is the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Expo in Harrisburg. We obvs aren't going next weekend, since it's Super Bowl Sunday and we wanna watch the Steelers on Dad's bigscreen TV. The weekend after is a good possibility. The Expo is HUGE, and features everything you never knew you needed for any kind of activity that takes place beyond your front door. There's even an indoor archery range, with targets set up in the bleacher seats of the arena. Not to mention trucks, bikes (both varieties), boats, equipment, gun manufacturers, and a whole slew of people trying to sell hunting/fishing/camping trips to the far reaches of the earth plus Colorado and Montana.

We're also having a belated birthday party next Sunday for the love of my life, who turns 31 tomorrow! We met when he was a young 25 and haven't been apart since... Love you hunny! Happy Birthday! XXXOOO!!!

For tomorrow I think I'll bake a cake just for the two of us, since a friend is making one for next weekend. (She makes him some form of chocolate cake every year and it's a given now.) And maybe cook him his favorite dinner, which is... umm... hmmmm... Well, he eats almost anything, so whatever I make should be fine. I'm lacking a fresh deer heart so that's out. (Whew.) Maybe elk steaks on the grill... he'll love that.

A true story: I was having major access problems with my computer and after weeks of fighting with it, took it in to a (well-known chain) shop for repair. It was determined that when the pre-installed Norton Antivirus software expired (and I didn't renew cause I use AVG) it went haywire and started blocking more stuff every day. Cost me almost a hundred bucks (techs ain't cheap!) to have everything manually uninstalled and my access restored. When I picked up the computer and paid for it, the guy at the counter says... get this... "If you want a better antivirus program, we strongly recommend Norton." (begin sarcasm) I said "Isn't Norton WHY I had to bring this thing here in the first place?" He gave me a funny look, smarmed a bit with the "Well, if it's properly installed...." spiel but I reminded him that it came pre-installed, I didn't do it myself. He stopped talking and I thanked him and left. I had an appointment to get my headlight fluid changed... (end sarcasm)

And now I have to go bake a cake, like a good wife who knows her place is in the kitchen and not on a computer or under the hood of a car. *eyeroll*

Cars and Wrestling: A Redneck Saturday Night!

My drool glands are working overtime. The Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction began this week and today the big-money cars are going on the block. It's on Speed Channel and if you are a classic car buff, or if you just like shiny things, you HAVE to be watching this. You won't see some of these babies anywhere else.

Seriously, it's worse than getting sucked in to fishing tournaments or Cheers reruns.... the polished paint and gleaming chrome (enhanced by their special lighting and cameras for that extra-sparkly effect) will hypnotize, mesmerize, and stupefy. I found myself sitting slack-jawed as a Hemi Cuda sold for almost half a million big ones. And that wasn't even the top seller of the day... that honor (so far) went to... get this... the RIGHT to buy the first 2007 Mustang Shelby Cobra. $648,000 for the deal, plus whatever the car is going to cost once it's built.... flippin' insane. (UPDATE: 4.2 MILLION for a 1950 GM Futurliner "Parade of Progress" show bus. Yes, I said a BUS.) The top 20 sellers so far have all gone for over 200 grand and there's still the rest of tonight and tomorrow to go. Addictive. VERY addictive.

And in this corner.... TNA iMPACT! is on at 11:00 PM. See high-flying action! See Jeff Jarrett get booed again! Tune in to hear what's up with Sting!

We're doing the entire routine... cheese steaks (Philly style, with Whiz of course), chips, and brownies. Collective oohs and aahs for the cars, a couple of "dang, that was COOL" comments for the wrestling (and much eye-rolling) and maybe some Scrabble. We have no life! I love it.

Friday the 13th Recap

Y'all, I like Friday the 13th. Not the movies, but the day itself. I always thought I'd make it my lucky day since nobody else did... what I failed to consider is that there is more than one kind of luck. Today has probably been one of the most stereotypically insane Friday the 13th days ever.

• I went to work, hoping against hope that I wouldn't be doing a lot of bending today. I've been working on a different crew for 2 weeks and the new movements and repetetive actions have put my back and legs into severe agony. It hurts to lift my own weight, much less sit down or walk... I hoped my muscles would be adjusted by now but I spent all day yesterday bending and turning to set pots on the greenhouse floor and that just took a major toll. Anyway, sure enough I was scheduled for the same job today... *groan* It didn't last long, as I was called away to do something else, then something else again, and I was thinking it was going to be a good day after all. I could deal with the pain as long as I could move around and stretch now and then.
• I was called to the bunker after an hour or so at work. The site manager handed me my paycheck, explained that they had too many people and not enough work, and asked me to leave the site immediately, and I'd get paid for the whole day. Okay, so I'm laid off... at the time, my poor legs were imminently grateful.
• The company can't lay off an employee who has vacation time on the books. So they cut me a check for the vacation and then deducted the next 3 weeks' worth of health insurance co-pays and taxes from it. After that I have to pay the premium every week to keep it. Now, when I get called back, I'll have no vacation time left and will have to start my accrual over again. (This, after I shorted myself over Christmas break so I could carry some time into the new year...)
• I was told that I could collect unemployment benefits during the layoff. Great, except I had to open a new claim and this week is counted as a "waiting" week (that means an unpaid claim week which is mandatory for a new application). I can open the claim next week, but it will be 3-4 more weeks before I'll see a check, and that will be 50% of my gross pay less 10% taxes. If they'd told me (or all of us, for that matter) that layoffs were coming, I could have already had the claim open and the waiting period over with, but it came as a surprise to everyone. Therefore I have a week's worth of pay to last me for the next month. Yay.
• My mom didn't have such a great day either. Her car broke, I believe the clutch finally went out, and she doesn't have the $ to fix it right now. She was also off over the Christmas break so she doesn't have any time off either. The pharmacy didn't have a prescription she needed, she had to cancel some appointments... if she wasn't 800 miles away B and I could fix the car for her, but she doesn't even have a reliable mechanic in town she can trust. Toyota is a bit proprietary when it comes to parts too, so I have a bad feeling she's going to wind up getting soaked at a dealer service center.

And that's our day. Everything will work out, I have faith in that. None of it is life-threatening (maybe quality-of-life, temporarily, but oh well, not like we haven't seen worse) and nobody is going to be anything more than inconvenienced for a while. In the grand scheme of things it isn't worth stressing about too much. But if anyone would like to send up a few prayers for us, especially my mom, we would greatly appreciate it. I hate not being able to help her out.

Great Show Tonight!

Once again Steve "Sting" Borden will be hosting "Praise the Lord" on TBN. This time some of the guests are also wrestling-related: Vince Russo and "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels will be joining Steve on tonight's show. Should be interesting!

Showtime 10 PM EST, 7 PM Pacific, on Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN)
If you miss it or don't have TBN, archived shows can be viewed at www.tbn.org

More Sting news: the man did indeed sign a year contract with TNA wrestling; his first appearance will be at the "Final Resolution" pay-per-view this Sunday night at 8 PM. For info check out www.tnawrestling.com! Tune in to their weekly shows... they're 100% better than the garbage spewed forth on WWE. Check out the X-Division and get back to me once you pick your jaw up off the floor... some of those guys need clearance from Air Traffic Control to perform moves like they do!

A Slice of Southern Life

This is a conversation from earlier today. Imagine the one in blue font speaking like a Southern grandma.

e2000: Short story....wanna hear?
cj: sure
e2000: Last week I heard a noise in the garage...scuffling. Opened the door and shined light....BIG ole possum....I chased him back out the hole he came in. I went back inside and stood by the door, waiting to see if he came back. THEN I hear "knock, knock, knock"....
e2000: possums DON'T knock.
Heart Failure Max..... It was YOU coming on line on the computer
cj: *laughing*
e2000: Something is gonna get me yet....
cj: *falls off chair*
e2000: Then you cuss while heart is slowing down.
e2000: Possum hasn't come back either.
cj: Did you cover the hole?
e2000: Scared the shiznit out of him
cj: heh heh
e2000: Also had big rat traps in the garage....they kept tripping....no rats...MMM? watched to see what was setting them off, eating bait, and not getting caught. BIG roaches.
e2000: So I set out roach bait, and the rats ate it.
cj: *eyeroll*
e2000: I need some tiny roach traps
cj: Roach motel?
e2000: No, they moved in and invited the possum
e2000: Now about that snake in the attic....
cj: Is he back?
e2000: I hope not....he just left his skin and moved out.
cj: Didn't want to eat poisoned rats
e2000: or big roaches or shiznitty possums
cj: heehee
cj: smart snake!
e2000: I have had TOO MUCH COFFEE
cj: NO.............. I haven't had any
e2000: up at o dark 30
e2000: Now I don't want to go back to bed, so I will sleep good tonite.
e2000: unless the possum comes back...

After a very long Christmas day of wassailing from one place to another, and eating approximately 47 pounds of cookies, the Jingle Elf just wanted a quiet place to nap.

Oops...!

Romans 12:14

Wish good for those who harm you;
Wish them well and do not curse them.

This Week Is....

• Silent Record Week• Universal Letter Writing Week• Braille Literacy Week• Universal Week of Prayer• National Law Enforcement Training Week• Diet Resolution Week

Tonight is Nat'l Girls Night Out, and tomorrow is Leisure Suit Saturday!

So... make a record of your resolutions, write them in a letter, try to use the ATM via the Braille keypad to get your cash for Girls Night Out, and pray that you don't run into Law Enforcement or cheat on your diet. :-P

I don't know what to say about leisure suits. But if you have one in your closet, wear it!

Lost and Found

Continued from last post... these are the people I either want to talk to again, or ones who once were lost but now are found!

Lost:
Joseph "Hamster" H: Where are you? I feel like we left something unfinished there, like you just dropped off the face of the earth. We never said goodbye or wrote that last letter. I just want to know that you're happy, doing what you love, and being with someone you love. You deserve it. I still have the Violent Femmes tape. Come over and listen to it with me sometime. I could use more friends like you, comfortable to be around, no eggshells. Your poetic imagery was wonderful too.

Fidget in Cali: I just want to know if you still go by that name, and if not, can I have it?

Vladimir K, the Flying Man: Okay, so I never met you, but you were the first breathtakingly stunningly gorgeous man I ever laid eyes on. I heard you're still doing shows in Vegas. I'm sure the years have changed you, but I still want to fly with you, just for the thrill of flying! (If anyone has a copy of People Magazine's Beautiful People issue from sometime in the late 80s/early 90s, the one with Vlad hanging around in the middle, I'll give you $10 for it. $20 if it isn't drooled on.)

Don E, my non-date dateless date: Slamdancing at Cadillac Club, and the motorcycle trip over the Sierra Nevadas... you know who you are. We have some catching up to do. You will love my husband, and I would like to know how you're doing now! Hopefully better than you were then. All my best. You're the only one of that bunch I actually miss.

To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Red '65 Barracuda, I wish I'd bought you. Same to the '61 Chrysler and the '62 Buick and the '59 Ranchero and the '72 El Camino SS... *sigh* And esp. to the Yenko Chevelle in Shamokin Dam, if I ever see you again I'm taking pictures this time. I doubt I'll ever see another one like you!

Found:
Diane W in SoCal: Your babies are adorable! I'm glad I found you, and I love the pictures and updates. I'll write soon. Please swat Tim for me. Thanks.

Joy V: We haven't done much more than exchange cards, but it's really nice having a connection with you again. You have a beautiful family!

Chris B: I was floored. I mean, of all people to hear from... I don't even know what to say. Just amazing that after a bazillion years you can still make me laugh with your snarky witticisms. Thanks for the nostalgia trip. You and L. are incredible folks doing incredible things! Much love and blessings to you both. Do. Not. EVER. Lose. Touch. Again. I mean it. I hope we can all meet up someday! Enchiladas y guacamole, my treat.

Jenn M, my step-sister and former partner in weird goings-on: After 10 years we finally got to talk. I was a bit teary-eyed, I'll admit, because it was so wonderful to not just chat but to see you, even if it was on a webcam from 2000 miles away. I can't wait to come to NYC when you get there to see you in person. I'll bring Skid Row, you bring Gorky Park, and we'll stay up all night reminiscing... Love ya, sis. If you ever decide to disappear again, call me. I promise not to tell the 'rents.

David F in Ohio: You shocked me when you called Mom's house. You're as goofy as ever, and I believe the best thing you ever did was to marry Missy and get away from your insane family. So good to hear from you and know you're enjoying life. You ain't that far away, Bozo! PS OZZY! OZZY! OZZY! *headbang*

Out With The Old

For this New Year, I've decided to clean mental house. So here's my version of purge therapy. Writing it down gives closure. Some things were good, some not so much, but all made me "Me" in some way or other. It's time to give thanks and apologies and move on.

To the random people hanging around the ol' memory banks: you need to go away so I can make room for others! Seriously. It's like keeping wire coathangers because you hate to throw something out, but all the useless wire ones are taking up space where your nice new wooden ones could go.

So... NO WIRE HANGERS! (don't go there)

To:
Ed B, the AWOL USMC cook: Thanks for the pierogie pie recipe. I still make it. And I still have the dustpan you swiped from 1st Battalion. Too bad you weren't nearly as useful.

"Bubba" Brian L, current (?) Alabama cop. If I ever drive through your neck of the woods and you pull me over, it better be just to say howdy. You know why. I sincerely hope you've found a woman who can handle your mood swings, or that you've at least gotten therapy. Oh, your step-mom makes the best cracklins EVER. I hold her and her cooking in much high regard to this day.

All the Mikes: The one with the Chevy Malibu, sorry you were too young for me. I didn't need the drama. Loved your car though. The one with the gothic jewelry, my former bar buddy cutie-pie, I really miss talking to you. I hope you found the gal of your wildest internet fantasies, and that she was legal at the time. The one with the red Chevette, when you say you have a place I can crash for the night, underneath a baby crib CONTAINING AN ACTUAL LIVE BABY is not an option. Thanks anyway. I'm over the trauma now.

Brian McN, pool shark extraordinaire: Your talent for checking all the fluids in your car without getting a single speck of grease on your white pants astounded me. It also should have warned me. By the way, I liked the Grand National WAY better than the green convertible. Sorry I called it a mere Buick. As a current mere Buick owner, I mean that sincerely.

Brian "Harley" D: Your photography is quite good, but your editor needs a promotion. Seriously. Not one misspelled word yet... Oh, and thanks for saying I'd be a good-looking woman in my 30s. I'm getting there. I still think you highlight your hair. And I think it's hilarious that your beautiful wife outranks you. PS Bite me. You never said goodbye.

Scott E, pervertus maximus: Had I only known. I used to hate myself for being so stupid, and for not seeing what you were up to, but you're not worth it anymore. You weren't then either but I was too young to realize that. The only good, worthwhile thing you ever did for me was introduce me to Joe, who is still my friend in some alternate universe somewhere. Your phone number should start with 1-900, at three bucks a minute. Now begone! *poof*

Lisa B, my horndog filter: Thanks for taking all the guys who just wanted sex. I never despised you for it, you were doing me a favor. Thanks also for sleeping with my ex-fiance. Saved me a load of trouble there. I owe you one.

Gene McK, liar, thief, babydaddy of the masses: HOW many kids do you have now? Do they come visit you in jail? Have you run out of blonde women with bad attitudes to knock up and cars to steal? Never mind. I don't want to know. Congrats on being the only person I ever really, truly, hated. Lord forgive me... I'll shoot if you ever come near me again. I mean it. I can be out in six months for justifiable homicide. (OK, I need to work on this one...)

Billy C (not Lisa's brother): I was five. FIVE. What were you thinking?!? I'm over it though. I truly hope you're a better person. I feel only pity for you now. When I think about it at all.

Robbie C, hottie classmate: Sorry I made fun of you. It was that kindergarten mentality, picking on those you like. And boy was I ever obsessed.

Mitzi B and Julie T: Where are you girls? Denim jackets and peeing on the railroad tracks and Prom Night... I used to wonder where you went. I'm going to stop wondering until one of you calls me.

Heather G: I give up. As much as I'd love to hear from you, I've realized I've spent too much time in NostalgiaLand. We probably have nothing in common anymore. But if you read this, pleasepleaseplease send me that recipe for Brown Sugar Drops, okay? Garfield stickers optional.

Traci and Kelli S: Stories about you two will be told for generations. Traci, lighten up! Kelli, thanks for not saying anything about Chris. I really, truly enjoyed getting one over on Lisa for once. SO worth it at the time. PS I wish you'd kept Bubba. I totally didn't need that.

Chris ("Christopheles"), tall Marine with too-long bangs: Our night of Lisa surveillance was so much fun. So was the garage and painting the Harley. I didn't have nearly enough time hanging out with you, but in retrospect it was a good thing. Thanks.

Che M: I miss our chats. But you were very bad for me. Please tell Jess I love her to bits and wish I could have gotten to know her better. She's one of the most beautiful people I've ever met, and it came from within. Count your blessings, man.

Timothy A, Trekker Extreme: It was weird. Really weird. I never knew toilet seat pins could be turned into fake teeth. You have so many talents, wasted by your bitterness. But thanks for introducing me to Data and crew, for the cosmic ceiling, and Spot, the Drooling Cat. My hope for you is that you get whatever it is that makes you happy and you don't ruin it by dissecting it too much. Oh, and you have great handwriting for a guy. Sorry for being so naive.

naD and ddoT, met on a road trip: That was the most fun I have ever had at a Waffle House. I still tell stories about that waitress. My sister has the box. Silence=Death, Dinner=WH? You guys were great and I hope I meet more like you. I tip a green-apple Blow-Pop to you both.

The Bass-Ackwards Guys in Scottsdale: Another memorable night involving total strangers, too much coffee, and fluorescent pens. And drums! And Red Rover at 2 AM! We really connected and I hope you're all successful. I kept your art but mice ate the kangaroo. Ah, to be young again, and silly! Thanks guys. Rock on!

Kevin and crew, off a highway in Shreveport: I want my hat back. It was ten bucks and three Dr. Peppers, right? I can swing that. No, wait, forget it... I don't want to go back to Shreveport.

Toni C: I wasted more time resenting you than I should have, when you were never worth thinking about in the first place. Hope you're happy with your own personal Jesus. And I hope you get older and find out the hard way that your looks won't carry you forever. Good luck with that when it happens.

Paul D in Armona/Hanford/Lemoore/???: The last time I saw you, you were drunk and barefoot, asking for a dollar. But that doesn't change the fact that I was wrong to treat you the way I did before then. I hope you're stable, secure, and happy now, and putting your soundboard skills to good use. I loved looking at the clouds with you and riding the "Who's Who of Mental Illness" AKA the Kings County public bus. And the VCR joke... I still use that. Thanks.

Steven, Navy guy from Alabama: You wanted to marry me, move me to a farm in Bama, and have lots of fat babies. You can see why it never happened, right? I hope you found your ideal wife. Thanks for letting me use your car; for a while it was the only place I had to sleep.

Steve W, career USMC radio guy: I admit I was naive and a complete witch to you. But what is it about guys named Steve who think every woman is going to fall all over herself wanting to get married? Really, I couldn't have taken the Charlie's Angels reruns, you ironing my underwear and starching my shirts, and lining up my shoes with precisely thismuch space between them in order of use. I hope you made somebody a good husband. I bet your house is spotless. OCD much? Best to you, and I'm sorry. Especially for the OCD crack... OK, not really. It's true.

Karen P: I last saw you a couple of years ago. Your boyfriend seemed like a wonderful guy, and I wish you all the best because you deserve it. Life gave you a basket of rotten eggs. I want only love and peace for you and the stability you've been searching for your entire life. But I'm sending you out too, because you're part of a past I don't belong to anymore. Thanks for the memories.

Tommy E: Rest in peace, friend. I tried, honestly I did. But you treated your short life so casually that there wasn't much more help I could give you. You were simple and "beyutifull." I hope your son grows up with more opportunities. I was shocked to hear of your death but then I realized it was always coming... I'm sorry I didn't come to the funeral. A rose for the memories, and I'm done wishing I'd done more.

I know there's more... but now that I've cleaned out my closet, so to speak, I can stuff the rest back in the corner and drag them out later when I feel like I need the room. If you are any of the above-mentioned people, please remember me on National Forgiveness Day, the 4th Sunday in June. ;-P

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To all of you from both of us, have a safe holiday! And PLEASE drive carefully, or don't drive at all if you don't have to.

We are staying home, having a little drop-in party here tonight... it's been snowing so we might have some folks staying over. Never tried to sleep more than 3 people here at once so somebody's going to end up on the floor. Times like this I wish I had a Murphy bed, or at least a pull-out couch, but an air mattress will have to suffice. At least we have no shortage of blankets or sheets.

Should be fun... see y'all next year!

Bummed

We always park the good truck all the way in the back of our lot, next to a fence, where nobody can park on at least one side of us. We don't park up front on the pavement due to the constant traffic in and out for the local grocery next door (the truck was bumped once in a minor hit-and-run). When we got home from making the family rounds yesterday, we recalled that the store would be closed today... didn't want to walk across the ice unloading the truck, so we left it up front along the side of our building.

Nobody hit it this time, but when we came downstairs the first thing we saw was our bug shield smashed to pieces and a huge chunk of ice on the hood. The snow on the roof had melted and refrozen, then today when it warmed up, sheets of it were sliding off from two stories up and one of them landed right on the nose of our Bronco. I wasn't concerned about the bug shield (didn't like it anyway) but there are now two dents in the hood and one in the top of the fender. Not majorly noticeable but there nonetheless. As soon as we can afford it I'm going to call the pop-a-dent guy to see if he can fix them. Why bother, you ask? Because the Bronco is (or was) immaculately straight and beautiful and now he isn't and it bothers me. That's my baby we're talking about.

Ironically enough, my old Buick was parked right next to the Bronco, and even though ice was falling on it too, nary a scratch could be found. Thing's a tank. Funny, the big bad "Ford Tough" 4x4 can't take a beating, but the junky former granny car doesn't even flinch. *Sigh*

Lesson learned... don't park so close to the house! The reason the Buick was up front stemmed from another lesson learned the hard way. My spot is next to an old barn out back. I came out one morning last winter to find my car buried in snow that had slid off the barn roof. This was the day after I'd spent half an hour digging it out so I could get to work... and I had to do it all over again. And I never even thought about the snow becoming ice on the house roof. Guess I will from now on. Going on seven years here and I'm still learning the nuances of living in a snow zone. Ice sucks...

Week In Review

Just got home from a night out. My longest-running friend here has a new boyfriend after being terminally single... just found out he plans to be married and have kid(s) on the way within the next year. My friend is of the opinion that words and actions are two different animals so we'll see what happens. Whatever the outcome, I hope she finds the happiness she wanted.

Work is winding down for the season. Just a handful of poinsettias left that only took me 2 hours to water today. Already started on the cleanup for the spring crops, spraying weeds and shutting down most of my greenhouse. We're shut down between next Friday and Jan. 2, so that's a lean week with no pay coming in. Bummer.

Hubby sunk his work truck today. A customer had put fill dirt in his driveway, but it wasn't packed and was covered with snow. B drove over it thinking it was solid and buried the front of the Mack up to the axles. A nice neighbor with a tractor pulled the truck out, wouldn't take any money for the help either. God bless farmers.

We had a soup party at work yesterday in lieu of a Christmas party. I was impressed with the Thai soup (spicy but very tasty) and the ham n' bean soup. There were four soups plus chili; I had to try some of each! Our Christmas gift from the company was a single glass ball ornament in a plastic gift bag. I'm surprised we got that much, really... Angela in Human Resources tries to have a little something for gifts, anniversaries, and birthdays, and it's nice that she goes out of her way to at least give a token of appreciation even if the company itself no longer does. Not that anyone expects anything, but she believes recognition is a morale-booster and people do appreciate the thought.

My buddy and co-worker Ray was having chest pains the other day. I ended up driving him to the hospital in a company car (quicker than waiting for an ambulance, and he refused to let anyone call one anyway). He's okay, nothing serious, just high BP and stress from working out in the cold. I got to drive a new Chrysler, which I didn't like. Too low to the ground and I couldn't see the front of the car. I hate that. I like knowing where the nose of the vehicle is so I can tell how close I am when parking and turning. Whatever happened to hood ornaments anyway?

B and I made our one gesture towards decorating for the holidays by hanging a string of lights on the porch railing (the old-fashioned big bulb kind, not those bitty things) and putting out my Moravian star. It's hanging from the porch and looks absolutely beautiful. I wanted one of those for so long, finally got one last year... it looks so nice! (Below image swiped off Yahoo; mine looks just like it.)

(For background on Moravian stars, visit http://www.mcnp.org/edeb/star.htm )

I have to get started baking tomorrow. My annual tradition of procrastination is going to bite me if I don't. We have no $ for Christmas gifts, so everyone's getting cookies and munchies. It's a gift that's always enjoyed. I make great cookies too... The Amish market no longer sells a certain trail mix I used for my family-famous dump cookies, so I'm going with date-walnut rocks and white chocolate-coconut this year, plus the traditional sand tarts, chocolate chip, and peanut butter. Maybe some chocolate mint too if I'm not sick of baking by then (or sick of eating the ugly ones!). I got an excellent chocolate-chip cookie recipe from the Amish market, which I tried earlier in the year, and let me tell you, the oft-used Tollhouse recipe can't compare. They're that good!

We had two days of sub-zero AM temperatures, with highs in the single-digit range, then a snow/sleet/ice storm that turned the roads into car ballet arenas. Our parking lot was as slick as an ice rink, or maybe more so, since I'm sure if I'd gotten a running start I could have slid from the sidewalk all the way to the fence a few hundred yards away. Of course, temps hit the mid-30s the day after, turning everything to gray slush which then re-froze overnight. I couldn't get into the Bronco tonight because the doors were frozen shut. A 99-cent can of de-icer is a must-have item around here. (I bought two, since silly me keeps leaving the can INSIDE the vehicle, where it does no good whatsoever. Nothing like being iced out of your car and being able to SEE the solution through the frosty window. Now I keep a spare can inside for those "duh" moments.)

Nothing much else going on. I have 8 Christmas cacti that will be presents for somebody, I hope, so I can get them out of my hallway. Anybody want one?

Painting What?

A European trend has made its way to Podunk, Pennsylvania. Suddenly painted poinsettias are The New Big Thing. Therefore, we spent some time last week... guess what? Painting poinsettias. I read the emails from Sales today and the sparkly blue ones sold out first. Blue poinsettias...*sigh* Just doesn't seem very Christmasy to me, but I guess all those people with trendy color schemes for the holidaze like being able to match their plants to their decor.

Anyway, we had fun painting them. I did a few trials on my own that were well-received by the Sales team, but I won't post those pictures. Don't want anyone else beating us to market!





My boss and a coworker on the "spray line." That's me in the background mixing paint.

Sting returns!

Former WCW wrestler Steve "Sting" Borden is rumored to have signed a deal with TNA Wrestling. This was more or less confirmed at the end of tonight's TNA pay-per-view, when the Sting logo appeared on the video screens and his trademark coat and bat were shown on a chair in the middle of the ring.

To be perfectly honest, I was hoping he wouldn't go back to wrestling at all, but TNA is hands-down a better choice than Vince McSatan's trashy WWE. It showcases more technical wrestling and is more viewer-friendly to younger audiences.

Steve is a Christian man, an elder in his church... he gave his life to God in 1998. As a result his marriage was saved and he kicked his drug and alcohol habits literally overnight. Lately he's been appearing at Christian conferences, stores, and on TBN television to give his testimony. He recently co-hosted Praise The Lord for the first time after being a frequent guest.

There are several Christian wrestlers out there but few who are as well-known or as vocal about their faith as Steve. It will be interesting to see what angles he, as Sting, is involved in, knowing how TV wrestling is all about getting ratings at any means. The unseen side of wrestling is full of temptations too... having experienced it for myself, I can say that only a person with strong faith would be willing to walk back into the lion's den and take it head-on after having the same scene nearly ruin his life. I first met him in his darkest days and he's truly a changed man now. Best of luck, Steve, and go with God.

Sting fans, come check out the Official Sting Site and stop in the forum to say hello. I'm there every night and Steve himself drops in often. www.therealsting.com

Determination or stupidity?

So it's supposed to be 0 tomorrow. As in 0 degrees Fahrenheit. As in cold.

And what are we doing? SITTING IN IT. Not just experiencing a bit of chill going between the front door and the truck, not dashing from the house to the store and back, not sticking our heads outside and saying " Woo! Cold out today" before returning to the relative warmth of the indoors.

Nope, we're going outside to deliberately park our tails in the woods for several hours. 5 AM to 5 PM, with an hour for lunch, which is just long enough to thaw out. Yesterday we were out in it, and even the deer were smart enough to stay in their beds. Not a creature was stirring, literally, except the two morons dressed in safety-orange winter gear, shivering under a tree in the snow. I lost my toes for a while... I mean, they were there, tucked into boots and socks equipped with heat pads, but the cold got to 'em anyway and they just didn't want to cooperate. I'm test-driving some battery-powered heated socks tomorrow. *eyeroll*

It's our last day to hunt so I hope we trip over a deer. I have a feeling it's the only way...

Now, if you know me, you know how much I love winter. I love the cold, the snow, pretty much everything except driving in it. I even like shoveling the walks. But there's a limit. I'm going to test that tomorrow. We were out hunting once when it was about 5 below, but we were moving the whole time so that was fine. Sitting still is going to be a challenge.

Too bad it doesn't apply to husbands!

He who knows the way of the Lord can find it in the dark.

Opening Week

The end of the first week of hunting season for us, and it's Deer: 3, Us: 0. Between us we've seen three bucks. One was a spike (not legal), one was a 4-point (not legal), and yesterday a big 6-point ran past us. B couldn't get a clean shot so we had to let him go.

I had a scary ten or fifteen minutes in the woods last night. I was walking back to the truck up the main trail while B went along the ridgeline parallel to me. I could hear and see him until I stopped to listen to some rustling nearby, thinking we'd startled a deer. When I started walking again just a moment later, my husband had disappeared. I whistled... no answer. I called him, still no answer. Now, a big man going through brush and dead leaves makes a lot of noise in empty woods, and I was hearing nothing except my own voice echoing back at me from the next mountain over. I called him for almost 10 minutes, at the top of my lungs, scared out of my wits thinking of what might have happened to him. I wanted to run get the truck but at the same time didn't want to leave in case he was lying in the woods someplace. By now it was dark and I had my flashlight out. I was two seconds away from firing off a three-shot distress signal when I heard a whistle from far off... and a minute later here came hubby down the main trail. Apparently when he dropped down over the ridge he couldn't hear me, nor I him, and he was almost back to the truck (a quarter-mile away) when he finally got up high enough to hear me yelling and came running. I wanted to beat him senseless but I settled for a hug. :-D My heart rate didn't drop for another half-hour though. Note to self: no matter that they might scare the deer, next year we WILL have two-way radios. My sanity depends on it.

Oh, and he was almost shot on Monday. We aren't going back there. Got some nice quiet private property to hunt on next week, thank God. The public lands attract ignorant, gun-toting, deer-fever-addled lunatics.

Of Trucks and Deer and Holiday Cheer

Hubby's truck is back home. All the problems it had (besides the unrepairable issue of it being a 1986 Chevy) were traced back to a broken wire. It *might* need an ignition module eventually but for now it's running and I haven't had to go rescue anyone. The entrance (ANY entrance) to Wal-Mart is not the place one wants to break down this time of year!

Rifle season opens tomorrow. We're going to sight in our guns today and get everything laid out, since we'll be up at oh-dark-thirty. By sunup I should be comfortably parked under a tree in the woods, sassafrass tea in a thermos beside me and gun across my knees. I'll watch the woods wake up. Birds and squirrels will start their chirping and chatter, sunlight will make crazy patterns through the foliage, and eventually it will warm up enough for the ice to melt and drip, loud in the stillness, on the dead leaves scattered about. Every sound is amplified to me. A squirrel can sound like a herd of deer if he gets feisty enough. My hearing gets a workout; have to rely on senses normally focused on tuning out, not in! I love it.
Since we'll be in a place I've never hunted, I'll spend the first half-hour of light familiarizing myself with the look and shape of things so if anything changes I'll notice it. Deer are sneaky and ghostlike and blend in quite well on a grey morning... knowing the landscape silhouette is important. Oh, and the camera goes with me this year. I just don't know if I personally want to shoot a nice buck, or snap a picture and let him go make more for next year. I really don't care if I get a deer or not. If hubby gets one, our meat needs are taken care of and I can just sit back and enjoy the scenery for the rest of the day. And that's the reason I go. It's my time for introspection as well as just marveling at creation.

The unfortunate thing about rifle season is that it falls so close to Christmas. Meaning, my days off are spent in the woods, not out shopping or baking or prepping for the holiday. In a way it's good; I don't like dealing with the madness that is CommercialMas. But on the other hand I have a lot to do... A friend and I are supposed to be baking cookies in the very near future and hubby and I have to shop for the kids in the family. It will be a lean Christmas financially, but it isn't about the money or the gifts, is it? I don't recall reading about Santa Claus and Rudolph in my Bible. I read about a miracle, a savior born... and isn't everlasting life a pretty swell gift? Bet you won't find that at Wal-Mart!

Counting Blessings

A very happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. If you aren't celebrating it, well, have a wonderful day anyway.

I am thankful for my husband, family and friends, for our health and happiness, the blessings God has bestowed upon us, and the beautiful world He created.

I'm also thankful for the first person who put marshmallows on sweet potatoes. Amen!

Victorian Dreams

The first time I visited my dad and his family here, in this particular borough, I fell in love. With a house. The neighboring communities all have houses that strike my fancy; some are more elaborate and beautiful than others, and some have property that greatly increases the attractiveness of the house itself. The old wooden farmhouses with ancient barns and stately Victorians with their fancy gingerbread trim catch my eye most often.

There is one house in my dad's hometown that I've admired since I was a child. It's smack-dab in the middle of the busiest part of town and is now either a funeral home or a law office. I always loved the curved bay windows with the inner polished-wood privacy shutters, also curved, and the ornate woodwork and dark green-with-cream color scheme. But that's not the one I was referring to, though it's on my list of favorites.

There is another huge Victorian, blue and cream, with an incredible wraparound porch and a matching guest house and garage, sitting on a corner lot in the Big Town across from the former Wal-Mart location. It was for sale at a surprisingly low price for a home of that caliber a couple of years ago. It needed a bit of woodwork which has since been done. It's gorgeous, also on my list, still not the one.

There is yet another, right here in town... an old faded white farmhouse on a large tree-lined lot. It's set back from the road in a private copse and is in need of cosmetic work. I love the location. It's a block from the so-called hub of town and fronts the main road, but is tucked away so neatly that it took me a year to realize it was there. To my knowledge it isn't for sale. I went up to the porch once to scope it out, thinking it was empty; a note on the front door told me otherwise. The house could be beautiful, truly impressive, with some fresh paint and new windows and landscaping. And, you guessed it, that's not the one either.

Finally, one out on Rt. 61, for two reasons: one, it has rainbow-colored clay shingles. Two, it has an impressive garage with matching shingles. I look for it every time we go that way. I'd like those shingles on my own house someday, but I bet they're outrageously expensive for a place that size. Now, on to The One...

The house I fell in love with the first time I saw it isn't brightly colored or dripping with scrollwork. It doesn't have a barn or a lot of property, though it does have a nice corner lot. The only people I ever see there are the ones mowing and landscaping in the spring and summer. There are rarely any lights on after dark. I know someone lives there; I was told it was an elderly couple, or perhaps just the woman now, but I haven't met or spoken to anyone there. It's a large hulking tan-brick with white trim and copper shingles. And a dome. I've never seen the inside, no idea how it's laid out or if it's kept up as well as the exterior, and I don't care. I. want. this. house.

I see it more than once every day, since it's across the street from my place. On a main road, no privacy or wooded lots bordering it, no buffers from traffic noise, in direct earshot of the emergency siren at the firehall (as are we), and on the corner where the parades turn (not that that's a bad thing, really). It isn't out in the country (which B and I both prefer) nor is it practical by any means. It's just a big chunk of house with a beautiful yard plunked in the middle of town. Oddly, it's easy to overlook, since most people drive right by, unless you stop and realize just how impressive it is. I do this on a daily basis. Sadly, even if it did ever go on the market, I'd have to win the lottery twice to afford it.


I love the ornamental iron around the chimney!

Not even going there

I could tell you what a crazy day it's been. I could complain about my job and the clueless people who call the shots. I could type half a page about how I got home, ready to warm up from the cold and relax, and instead had to go pick up my husband, whose truck had a serious internal mishap (two days after he hit a deer with it) and will be sitting indefinitely in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I could gripe about the fact that I'm still cold, haven't had any dinner yet, and am huddled in front of the computer because I'm just too tired to do anything else.

But I'm not going to.

My job can be a challenge, but when things get insane I take that challenge and meet it head-on. The nutsier it gets the more I'm forced to think and act on the fly, and I've learned a lot about that over the last few years. Give me five minutes to come up with a plan and I'll git 'er done.

The bozos in management? They sign my paycheck. As long as they keep paying me, I'll deal with whatever insane idea they come up with next.

The cold? I love cold weather. Gives me a reason to cuddle up with the hubby or soak in the bathtub. The air seems cleaner and fresher, the stars are brighter, and the black naked trees against a pale grey sky are visually stunning.

The truck? It's just a thing. Do we have the money to fix it? No, but so what? We have other options. One of us will drive the Bronco and the other one (me) will continue to drive the slag heap known as the Puick until we can get another vehicle.

Dinner? No big loss. The employee Thanksgiving lunch today was excellent, and I'm thankful that we all had plenty to eat and share. I'll have some cheese and cocoa and be perfectly content.

So... what AM I going to rant about? Just this: Every year at our employee lunch one of the suits gives a speech and then a manager offers the blessing, and everyone takes off their hats and waits until the prayer is said. This year nobody gave a speech (yay!!!) but no one said the blessing either... I waited... looked around... nobody missed it. I was shocked. So I said my own. And I missed the opportunity to say one aloud for everyone else... That bugs me. Some people who saw me did take their own silent moment. And granted, there are different faiths and the PC thing is to not offend anyone, but still... It's a sad day when a company changes their traditions to avoid getting sued over a prayer, if in fact that's the reason. Of all the things that happened today that's really the only one that is going to stay with me.

Turkey Trot and Fancy Doorknob

It was more like turkey run...

I have a big mouth sometimes. Usually at the times that are least conducive to my sanity and free time. In this instance, my boss announced that the site manager had just bought four turkeys for the employee dinner. He was going to fry two, someone in the office was cooking one, and that left one. He said to me (joking) "Hey, you wanna cook a turkey?" And my mouth overran my brain and said "Sure, why not?" It became less of a joke when I learned he wasn't kidding.

I don't have a turkey roaster or even a big baking pan (except the nice one I use for cookies and cookies ONLY.) I didn't really want to cook the bird either, but once I said I would I was committed. So I think, okay, I've roasted turkeys before. I just need a pan... I can cook it the night before and warm it up on Friday, so I need something to heat it in... two phone calls later and I lined up a warmer for Friday and my husband informed me that I did, in fact, have a roasting pan. It came with the new stove we got last year and was still in the bottom storage drawer. Whaddaya know...!

I hauled the turkey home on Tuesday and put it in the fridge to thaw. Tonight I got my marinade ready, heated the oven, washed and prepped the roasting pan... and the dang turkey was still frozen. *Brainstorm* Run to grocery store, buy fresh unfrozen turkey, and keep the other for the actual T-Day... that'll work! A nicer, bigger bird is in the oven as I type, oozing marinade and browning like it's supposed to.

About half an hour ago I heard crashing and thumping downstairs, like someone was trying to bash the lower door in. You can tell we live in a low-crime area because instead of thinking someone was trying to break in, I ran downstairs to open the door. See, this is an old house... the fancy brass doorknobs predate indoor plumbing... and something in the inner workings of the one downstairs finally went kaput. Therefore we haven't been able to close the door, since the slide jams and we can't open it again. Our neighbor was locked out, and he was, in fact, trying to bash the door in. My hubby got a knife and pried open the door; I took my screwdriver and proceeded to disassemble the knob with the intention of pulling the slide and innards out.

I have never seen such an old locking assembly up close. By "up close" I mean in my lap and all over the floor, since when I took the screws out a literal pound of various metal thingamabobs went everywhere. No tumblers in that baby... levers and springs and interlocking parts (and thankfully, several broken pieces that I personally was not responsible for). After ten minutes of head-scratching and rearranging I gave up, lined them all up as well as I could, screwed the thing back together and left it on the floor for the landlord. I did put the fancy knobs back in, though. So I don't feel entirely clueless... I hate not being able to figure gizmos out. At least I'm handy with a modern doorknob. I know exactly how to throw it out and install a new one. ;-P

Bits and Pieces, Part II

WWE and former WCW wrestler Eddie Guerrero passed away unexpectedly yesterday. He was a new man in Christ, although that doesn't make his death any less of a shock. He was only 38. It's a risky business. I used to watch Eddie a lot, both live and on TV, and he was always quite the character. Condolences to his family.

Today was an accidentally lazy day... I had a list of things to do and a pile of good intentions, but after getting out of the shower I made the mistake of lying on the bed to put my socks on... next thing I knew it was four o'clock in the afternoon. I was snoozin' with one sock on and had slept through the better part of the day. Guess I needed a recharge because I. Was. Out.

Didn't see the '59 Caddy yesterday. Bummer. I hate wasting a trip like that.

Hubby wanted some apples and cheese the other day, not typical of him but I wasn't going to argue. Between us we polished off a small bag of apples and a block of pepper jack in two days. Then we went and bought another bag of apples and some Havarti. I was hoping for Gouda or Edam but hey, if he's eating fruit instead of junk, I'll let him get whatever cheese he likes to go with it. Havarti's pretty good anyway. I just prefer Edam with apples and crackers. It's what my mom always got so it must be ingrained.

Have some fun and watch some "classic" dance moves... so it's a Gap ad, so what? Create your friends just so you can laugh at them. Hilarious! www.watchmechange.com (Volume essential for effect.)

Bits and Pieces

Why is Autumn so short? It's the most beautiful time of the year and only lasts a few weeks, it seems, before the six-month-long winter kicks in. I should go find some leaves to press before they're all gone.

Dad told me there is a 1959 Caddy up on Mt. Zion Road... must. go. drool. Think we're going to take the camera for another drive today.

Have to swing by WalMartHell too. Hubby said they had studded snow tires on sale, and I need two or my Buick isn't on the road until April when the snow melts. It won't get up the mountain without traction and the rear end tries to pass me on the straightaway. So, two good tires and a couple bags of coal in the trunk for weight should do it. No Buick Ballet on Ice this year!

The pheasant didn't wait for Thanksgiving. He was right tasty after being marinated a day or two and then wrapped with slab bacon and roasted. Good bird! Not nearly as good as the one my boss brought in, though... and that was a chicken! He has a deep-fryer... injected the bird and marinated it, then fried it... he usually does turkeys but the chicken impressed me more. SO GOOD. I got my dad a turkey fryer a few years ago and I'm thinking of borrowing it to do up my own chicken. (I roast a great bird in the oven, but there is no comparison...)

My company has blocked out any and all vacation time from now until Dec. 20. This time frame includes deer season. There are going to be a lot of people "out sick" for a few specific days. It's funny... the site manager won't approve a vacation request, but if you call in sick, they charge you vacation time for it... I wrote my own schedule and turned it in, gave myself my usual two days off each hunting week. I WILL be in the woods, vacation time or no. If we don't get a deer we become temporary vegetarians until spring, which is OK with me but my husband is a meat-and-taters guy and there is nothing I can do with eggplant or soy that will be an adequate substitution to him.

It's an absolutely gorgeous day out there... I can't sit at the computer any longer when it's like this, so I'm going to soak up some atmosphere. Might even jump in some leaves and have supper on the porch later. It's just that kind of day.

Loudly, and with the windows down!

James 5:13

Anyone who is having troubles should pray. Anyone who is happy should sing praises.

Lake Jean in the autumn.

Country rooooads, take me hoooome....

The Real Sting News

UPDATE: The Real Sting is back! Apparently someone submitted a false news item to the main site and it got posted accidentally. The result was a flood of fans wanting to know the story behind the rumor, and that overloaded the server. For the record: Sting will NOT be on WWE this week! It's amazing how a little blurb like that, which was only on the site a short while before the error was caught and removed, could cause such widespread interest in the space of a couple hours. Not to mention crashing the website... but we're up and running now.

In related news: Be sure to watch Praise the Lord on TBN, Thursday December 1st. Steve "Sting" Borden will be hosting Praise for the first time! If you miss it, you can watch a replay online at www.tbn.org

Catch the show, which airs at 10 PM EST (7 PM on Planet California), then join us for a forum party afterward!

Foooooo...

Feathers. Lots of 'em. In the hall, in the kitchen, but mostly in the bathtub.

Why? Because it's dark outside and my darling husband has no place to clean the pheasant he got today. So he's in the tub with the bird. Cleaning it. In the bathtub. Hey, why not? He WAS going to clean it in my kitchen, but after the squirrel episode I said no way.

When he's done I'm going to stick the Shop-Vac nozzle in the bathroom door, turn it on and suck all the floaters out of the air before tackling the tub. It's the least I can do for my hunter guy, who is so happy about his bird... Methinks roasted pheasant on Thanksgiving sounds good! A turkey shall be spared this year.

Thanks, God. Once again you have provided. (Next time, can you send us one that's already nekkid? Just kidding... sort of...)

*fooooo* (blowing feathers a la Hudson Hawk)

Faith, Snow, and Faith

Faith I

I was conversing with a friend on IM the other day. I re-read our conversation afterward, then went back and read some of the others we'd had. One thing struck me, and that was how I come across in (rapid) print as opposed to how I really sound. It's a common thing on the internet, and doesn't generally bother me. However, with the fast pace and randomness of our conversations, he has got to be wondering just what kind of Christian I am due to some of the comments I'd made. So, to explain (more for my own peace of mind than anything else):

1. Verbiage. I use masked cursing online more than I use it verbally (i.e. $#%@!!). It's faster when I'm aggravated about something (namely, my shift key not working) to type that than to say "Oh, gee, my shift key isn't working." I don't type 100+ words a minute so I use shortcuts. So assume it stands for "drat-diddly-dee" or something, OK?

2. The Playboy magazines. I've been an "automatic renewal" subscriber for years now. Why? I like to read them. No, really... I called once to see if it was available without pictures, but it wasn't except in the Braille edition. (I can't read Braille.) I like the interviews, the product reviews, some of the fiction and Raw Data. It's the only thing that might be considered smut that you'll find in our house. The hubby and I read it in turn and discuss articles with each other and I have no problem with that whatsoever. And we hide it when my brother is here.

3. Grade-school grudges. I don't have any, really, life's too short for that. But I refer to those people as I knew them then, since I haven't seen or heard from them since. Maybe they regret treating people like dirt. Maybe they talk about me the same way ("Oh, yeah, the weird chick..."). Maybe they don't think about it at all. I don't have any other points of reference so they're stuck in my memory as the mean girls. I hope we can find some other common ground to discuss besides grade-school history anyway, though I had a great trip down memory lane looking up our former teachers. I'm going to write to one of them.

4. Truck worship. Yeah, I'm just throwing that in there... (This is going out to everyone I've ever IM'd with a photo of myself hugging the truck.) I love vehicles, and I love my truck. I'm not obsessed with it, but since it's the nicest thing we own, I tend to yap about it. I picked him out, I named him, and he's like our first-born child since we don't have any actual ones to spoil. Not worship; unconditional love. Did I mention he's purple? What's not to love?

Snow

It snowed yesterday. Not here, but in the higher elevations. We took above-mentioned truck for a drive today to look at the fall foliage and wound up near Lake Jean. Hubby was surprised to see that there was enough snow to call out the plow trucks! It was the wet, heavy kind that's great for snow sculptures. Unfortunately I was unprepared, having only a long-sleeve shirt and no jacket or gloves, and the wrong shoes. I got out long enough to throw a token snowball at my husband, lost a shoe, and hopped around until I could retrieve it and get back in the truck. The remaining snow was pretty to see among the fall colors, though. The sky was simply incredible today too. Still... snow a week before Halloween? Might not have to move to Canada after all!

Faith II

Faith is a family friend. She and her husband are a truck-driving team; they are long-haul (or over-the-road) truckers and only get home a couple days a month. I missed seeing them this time around but my husband got to see them for a bit. They presented him with a goodie bag full of... drum roll... ELK! We now have elk steaks and elk loin in our freezer. Man, that's even better than venison. I'm stoked (and thankful, since we lost almost all our meat when the freezer quit). Faith, by the way, is the neighbor who invited me to come work for her for a couple weeks 6 years ago. I met my future husband my first day there, and I'm still working there. I'm grateful for the former; the latter is debatable. She was smart enough to get out. I got her job, but still, if a pay raise doesn't come my way soon I'm going to be seeking other employment. Guess I should be happy that I'm employed at all but I'm collecting job applications. (I'm also available for work-at-home computer stuff... hint hint.)
Anyway, Faith and Jeff are wonderful, down-home folks with big hearts and I wanted to give them a shout-out here. Hi y'all! Thanks!!! See you at Thanksgiving and keep the rubber side down!

Day's End

Baggage Claim

Matthew 11:28

Come to me, all of you who are tired
and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.

Home again home again, draggety-drag

Stayed at a hotel near the airport last night so my sister wouldn't have to get up in the wee hours to drive us. We ended up still awake in those wee hours, since the hotel had an indoor pool and a whirlpool. Then the NASCAR race was on, then I was in that too-tired-to-sleep mode.

Got about 3 hours sleep and also slept through most of our flights in spite of the coffee. I'm pretty disappointed with Starbucks. I thought I'd be wired, but I was out before the first plane even finished boarding. I think I wasted four bucks. (I have a funny Starbucks story to tell later, though!)

Got home about 3 PM, been in a zombie trance since then. But I'm going to bed as soon as I fix some dinner. I'll come back to post pics when I wake up. No more deer shots, I promise!

If you're squeamish, don't look!

Dinner the old-fashioned way... This is the buck my aunt got. I was cutting a shoulder here.

Episcopal Church, near Ridgeland, SC

I never knew there was such a thing. Only in Redneckland, y'all!

Of Mugginess and Meatlessness

Arrived in Savannah in the middle of a tropical storm. (The egg made it safely; they made us take off our shoes and belts in Harrisburg but that was it.) Our checked luggage arrived on the baggage carousel soaking wet. Made me glad I'd kept the ancient vinyl suitcase of my mother's, since nothing in that one got wet.

So it's pouring rain, 94% humidity and 80 degrees. Welcome back to the South. My niece and nephew were happy to see us. We spent the night at my sister's in Savannah. She made tofu curry and rice for dinner; I threw together a passable veggie pizza. Plus she and the kids had made cupcakes. My sister is the Baking Queen, and the cupcakes were great. Almost worth the trip right there! We played with their porch cat and their ferret. (Side note: I was dozing on the couch and was awakened in a jolting hurry when the ferret decided to chew on the instep of my foot. Good MORNING!)

Since then, we've been at Mom's. Went to Charleston one day for shopping and dinner and to give Mom and B a bad case of nerves... We took Mom's little Toyota, and "while in Rome, drive as the Romans do" was my motto. Yee-haa! That city is bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s. But we had a good time.

Let's see, what else... dug up some fossils at the shoals, just a handful of teeth and some random pieces. Going back today when the tide turns to hunt bigger sharks teeth. Went to my grandmother's yesterday, watched the Braves choke in the playoffs (of course) although they held on for 18 innings. My aunt decided to go sit in the deer stand for a while. She told me there was a big fox that came up sometimes, so I grabbed the camera and went along, but not until my grandmother had made me put on a pair of cammies (to keep the bugs off). I don't think I've ever sweated so much during hunting season in my life. When we hunt up north, most of the time there's snow on the ground and bugs are nonexistent. We saw five and a half deer (the sixth one didn't come out of the woods) and my aunt bagged a five-point buck. So B helped her husband clean it etc. and we came home with a nice piece of meat for steak sandwiches.

On the way home last night, at one of the backroads turns, we had to stop and wait for what we initially thought was a possum to get out of the way. It was only after we rolled up next to it that I saw my first *live* armadillo. (Only ones I ever saw had tread marks on them.) A younger one, but neat to watch... I tried to get a picture but my camera batteries died again. I know why they call them "possums on the half-shell" because it moved just like one, only faster. ;-P

Today, we go back fossil-hunting; tomorrow, fishing (finally!) and crabbing. Wednesday, if my sister will allow it, we're taking my niece with us to the state fair. I'm going to pull rank (Aunt Privilege) to get her if I have to. Haven't seen the kids in two years and my sister has to pick this week to have an authority struggle with my niece. She can wait a week, dang it. I've missed most of her growing up (she's 10) and left when my nephew was only a couple months old... he's six now and I've seen them both once a year or less since then. Adorable kids, and well-mannered to boot. Even my niece is good compared to most young'uns today.

So that's the update. More later, heading for the beach now!

I'm leaving, on a jet plane
Don't know if I'll be back again

We gone... will post from the islands when we aren't fishing, eating, or beach-ing. Not too worried about the flight; I always did like flying. I'm going to think about Jonathan Livingston Seagull when we're up in the clouds today!

Speaking of birds, this goes right along with the theme. I will be hand-transporting an emu egg to my niece. It's boxed and padded but I know I'll have to open it for security and explain just why I'm toting a giant green egg around with me. (I didn't trust putting it in our luggage.) Also in the box with the egg is a figurine of Buddha from a Chinatown shop. (gift for someone else.) This is going to be fun: woman with cowboy hat and sneakers, purse full of hard candy and camera and Christian book, carrying a box of really big egg and Buddha. Accompanied by redneck male. Yeah, I'm gonna get searched.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Fair, enough!

So the fair is going on in the big town. Everyone goes to the fair. The kids are given a few days off school (some of them the whole week so they can work at the fair), the seniors are temporarily employed hawking fudge and candy, traffic is backed up for miles, and of course it rains. It always rains during fair week.

Last year four of us went to a concert at the fair. It was raining and the stage seating (the ground between the stage and the grandstand) was of course muddy. Two of us remembered to bring ponchos and ended up sharing them with the other two. So picture two mud-splattered tent-looking contrivances, each one with two heads sticking out of it, one of those heads wearing an umbrella hat. Yes, I did say umbrella hat!

I bought one at the dollar store for the sole intention of wearing it to the fair. I could take a regular umbrella but it takes one hand to carry it. I need both hands free for the fair; one to bring whatever gastric delight I've just purchased to my mouth, and one to toss dimes and/or play bingo. An umbrella hat was the obvious answer. By the way, I am the dime-toss queen, y'all. That totally goes on the resume if I ever apply for a job in Alabama.

Now picture the umbrella-hat-wearing head holding a fried dill pickle in one hand and flipping dimes with the other. Occasionally interchange "fried pickle" for "cheesecake on a stick" and "flipping dimes" with "playing bingo" and that's pretty much me at the fair.

Oh, and we aren't going this year. It's not raining.

Countdown To Freedom!

Sunday: Invited friend over and baked cookies all afternoon. Subs for dinner, didn't feel like cooking after five hours in the kitchen.

Monday: Got broken fingernail fixed. Mailed cookies to a friend in Mississippi. (He lost everything to Katrina... others were helping with the stuff, but cookies might cheer him up.) Got frantic phone call from stepmother, who had just lost her brakes driving downhill in town. Picked her up and took her to get the truck from Dad. Received a package from Australia... thanks K! Big hugs to you! Ate dinner on the fly.

Tuesday: Worked. Broke another fingernail ($#@!!!) but it wasn't bad so I was able to fix it. Got a letter from the bank stating they were unable to withdraw our loan payment because our account was locked (see earlier rant about Em and Tee). The loan is through the same bank, and they were able to take out other charges, and B can withdraw/deposit money... so why couldn't they take out the payment? It was there! Called and griped about it, decided to switch banks ASAP. They have done nothing but jerk us around since we found out about them paying out of our account for an obviously fraudulent e-check. They don't want to take responsibility. And they owe us a lot of money too. Having tamales for dinner.

Wednesday Plan: I'm going to go to work late so B and I can have a little chat with the bank manager face-to-face. Have to call garage to arrange truck inspection, if Mike will ever answer the phone. Roasting a chicken after work.

Thursday-Saturday Plan: Work, possibly drop truck off at Mike's, call credit union about transferring our loan from Em and Tee, close account and tell manager we'll be looking forward to our reimbursement check. That was supposed to be our vacation money... grr. Now it might be Christmas money. Come home and begin vacation prep: laundry, clean out fridge, begin packing. Actually I'll probably procrastinate until Tuesday night and then run around like a maniac until three in the morning, but at least I'm able to go anywhere with a single duffel bag. Most women can't do that!

Sunday Plan: CARLISLE!!! We were discouraged to find out that the Fall Carlisle car show (one of the biggest of the year) was the weekend before we left, when we're trying to save what money we do have, but it turns out we'll be able to carpool down and spend the day drooling after all. They have worship services on Sunday too. At a car show! How cool is that?!

Politicians At Large?

Romans 1:21-22

Their thinking became useless.
Their foolish minds were filled with darkness.
They said they were wise, but they became fools.

The Irish in me...

My blood runneth green.

Stuff n' Nonsense

Changed my mind on the hunting post, at least for now. Some ultrasensitive animal activist might flame me from here to the Happy Hunting Grounds if I write what I originally intended.

So... work sucks. Everyone's getting shifted or laid off for the rest of the year, which creates scheduling hassles for me. Not to mention fewer people to share the workload. Ah well... T minus 10 days until I forget about it for a couple of weeks. I'll assess the damage when I get back.

Yesterday was the first day of autumn. We've been complaining about the unseasonably hot weather here, but today it was like Momma Nature flipped a switch and POOF it was fall. Seems like the colors started changing overnight, the weather got cooler and the breeze picked up... I'm loving it. It's my favorite time of year!

I just joined another message forum. After reading the posts and replies for twenty minutes or so, I realized just how good ours is. I was stunned at the things I read. Not one of the members there would last past their first post on our site... they'd get nuked immediately. I decided to unjoin pronto... thought I'd have to claw my eyeballs out for a minute there when I clicked on a topic and was confronted with a picture of... well... never mind, I don't even WANT to go there. Ewwwwww........

Prayers going out to those in Hurricane Rita's path. Y'all bootscootn'boogie on outta there, y'hear?

I'm out.

Hi Y'all!

I had to turn on Comment Verification. This blog doesn't get much traffic, but within 15 seconds of a new post yesterday I had 3 comment spammers. I'm not wasting time going back and deleting them, so CV is on. Sorry to the couple of folks that are nice enough to leave comments.

I should get some self-tanner for my ankles. High heels with a sock tan is not fashionable. It screams Redneck!!! As if anyone needs proof.

Speaking of... you might be a redneck if someone mentions how they wish they had another 2 inches, and the first thing you think of is a lift kit for a pickup truck. You know the speaker is a redneck if that was, in fact, what he was referring to!

One from the Forum: You might be a computer redneck if your username indicates that you are the spouse of another forum member.

You might be a redneck if -ing endings do not exist in your vocabulary; rather, you use -in'.
As in fishin', huntin', swimmin', muddin'...

You might be one if a coworker sees you wearing anything other than your work clothes, and says they've never seen you without a baseball cap on... and you're female.

You might be one if Fireballs just ain't as hot as they used to be... if you know Tootsie Rolls are better after you've softened them up in your pocket for a while... and if you buy Dum-Dum lollipops at Halloween and eat them all yourself.

Coming up: Hunting recap. 'Tis the season soon! Now y'all excuse me, I have to get to the store... I'm out of ammo.

Today's Tidbits

I wrote an article for our company website/newsletter about what the company is doing for Hurricane Katrina victims. Hoping it gets published. I may well be the only person there who can spell, so I think I've got a good shot.

Debating whether to see "Transporter 2" or "March of the Penguins" tomorrow night. It's been a few years since the hubby and I have been to an actual movie theater... am waiting semi-anxiously for "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride." Burton, Danny Elfman, and Johnny Depp... it. must. be. good. (Did anyone else know that Tim Burton was an animator for the Disney movie "The Fox and the Hound?" How cool is that?)

Tomorrow afternoon the hubby is going up to Dad's to do something with the tractor and help clear trees. I might go, but I might also stay here and rearrange some furniture. *scoots wheeled desk chair six inches to the right* Well, that's done. I guess I'll go along.

Two and a half weeks... not another movie title, but the time left until we go on vacation! This is going to be interesting. My husband hates flying, and for the first time since we've been together we're NOT driving. He hasn't been on an airplane since he was in the Marines and said he actually preferred jumping out of one to having to stay in it... I, on the other hand, like to fly. The world looks so different from up there! I hope we aren't over the wing.

I've never been allergic to anything in my life. Suddenly, I have allergies. Might be my place of employment, might not, but either way the doc gave me Allegra. I'm going to lose weight now... about 5 pounds of sinus pressure, that is. I feel like a bobble-head doll. Little body, big ol' heavy head... I think I'm allergic to poinsettias. And I think it's psychological. Bet I feel better after I kick a couple of them.

A funny website: www.stuffonmycat.com A few minutes of mindless entertainment.

I just read Janet Evanovich's latest, "Eleven On Top." It's one of her Stephanie Plum novels. She went full-tilt on this one, laying on the improbability incredibly thick. Wasn't nearly as funny as the first six or seven in the series. I still giggle thinking about Grandma Mazur shooting the turkey. At least Stephanie hasn't blown up the Buick... I'll stop reading them if that happens. The Buick is my favorite part of the series, and IMO the best returning character. A car! Of course!

Have to start thinking about our Christmas card photos soon. Last year we set up the tripod at a scenic spot, only to have power-plant security come check us out and run our license plate. I guess they own the view, along with everything else in the area. The year before, we wanted photos taken in our hunting gear but Wal-Mart wouldn't let us bring our guns in with us. Not even unloaded! People are so suspicious anymore... *grin* It was fun asking, though.

And again with the shoes... made the mistake of driving past Boscov's last Monday and the gravitational pull was too strong to resist. Got a pair of Skechers for 10 bucks. Tres passe, but I needed new sneaks. "You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers..."

I've decided I'm on Team Aniston. Life-altering, isn't it? NOT.

With that, I'm out.

VAROOOOOM!

It ain't practical, but it sure is pretty.

No Pictures Today

I tried to upload some pics from yesterday's car show fundraiser using the image function, but for some reason they aren't working.

We went to support a friend of my husband's sister, who has cancer and is trying to raise money for treatments. The turnout was incredible, the cars (and trucks, and motorcycles) incited visible drooling from yours truly, and the weather was as perfect as it could be. There was a moment of silence in recognition of 9/11 and a nice memorial speech, plus a Chinese auction, raffles, and a bake sale that found repeat customers from our table. Whoever made the shortbread cookies needs to market them. Seriously, they were fantastic!

The DJ had some catchy nostalgic tunes going... I boogied my way from car to car, admiring just about all of them for one reason or other. Oddly, I found myself drawn to the former duds... a Chevy Luv pickup, a Maverick with a pea-green and tan plaid interior, and an absolutely gorgeous Edsel. And of all things, a mint-green four-door Buick Skylark... that Buick thing again! Gah. Resistance is futile...

Other highlights were a Dodge Warlock pickup, a Shelby Mustang GT-350, an El Camino (that sadly didn't have a FOR SALE sign on it anywhere), a couple of sweet Indian bikes, a mint '54 Vette, and one of my personal dream cars: a '66 Barracuda fastback (with that huge rear window). There must have been over a hundred cars there... No Grand Nationals, darn it, but one guy did have a Grand Nat engine and drive train in his Cutlass. I was jealous... wanted to do the same thing with my own car.

Speaking of Buicks... mine has been sick. It's been smoking and losing power on the hills and the engine light goes off and on. Same thing happened when the last oil pump went out, so I was afraid we'd have to tear it down and put yet another heavy-duty spring in there. We checked it out today... turns out the breather filter (the small one on the side of the air cleaner) was clogged solid. Three dollars later and it's fixed! That has got to be the cheapest fix EVER for that (insert expletive) car. The downside is, if it's running I'll have to drive it through the winter again, and it doesn't do well at all in snow. I need to invest in snow tires.

Or just get over my protective paranoia and drive the Bronco... is it wrong to pamper a truck? I think on some redneck level, it is... at least my dad makes fun of me for it. I won't even drive it up the mountain to his house if the bushes haven't been trimmed back to avoid scratching the sides. Dad: "It's a TRUCK, for cryin' out loud!" Me: "But it's a NICE truck! I wanna keep it that way!" Dad: *eyeroll*

Yeah, I got it bad. But I'm going to have one of the sweetest original Broncos out there someday. Then I'm going to sell it and buy a late-60s El Camino. See, I have a plan....!

What you talkin' bout?

Everyone's talking about the hurricane, the survivors, and the fuel prices, so I'm not going to. I won't stop thinking about it, but I doubt anything I could say would be any different than what everyone else is discussing at work and home and everywhere else.

Therefore, I'm going to yap about something else. A favorite rant: SUV drivers vs. SUV haters.

I was on a message board last night where people were complaining about gas prices. Half the group started flaming the other half for owning "big, pretentious, gas-guzzling, environment-polluting monsters on wheels." Also "4Wd is SO unnecessary!" Okay then. You there, in the Honda Civic with the spoiler and the lo-pro tires... Come up here when there's a foot of snow on the ground and try to get up my road. Come on, you can do it! What's that? Your 3" ground clearance isn't enough? Your slick tires have no traction? Well, turn up your bass booster, maybe you can bounce your way up the mountain... No? Gee, sorry to hear that. Mind getting that useless tin can out of my way so I can get my 4X4 in gear and go to work? No problem, I'll just push it out of the road with my bumper... Come back and pick it up after next spring when the mud dries up, okay? It's not going anywhere. Oh, and remember...4WD is SO unnecessary! *Snickering as I drive off*

As to polluting the environment... vehicles today have stricter emissions standards than ever before in the history of automaking. Please tell me how my modern-emissions-equipped SUV, which passes state emissions tests annually, is pumping out more pollutants than your 1987 Econobox with the exhaust leak and the oil dripping out of the valve cover? (If you have a newer hybrid vehicle, I defer that remark. I envy you, truly.)

Having said that, Hummers and Escalades and the like really are pretentious. People that buy them and then gripe about gas prices will get no sympathy from me. Hey Hummer dude, back away from the gas pumps! Save some for the rest of us!

Taken By Storm

Isaiah 22:1, 2
What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
You who are full of noise, a tumultuous city, a joyous city?
Your slain men are not slain with the sword,
Nor dead in battle.