Busy as a bee? That would be me.

1) We are getting ready to have a GROJ Sale (Gettin' Rid Of Junk) a week from Saturday.

The Commander is coming home next week for a few days to go through the garage, the shed, and the little barn. Man stuff.

I have been going through the house and taking all of the "where did we get this?", "why do we have this?", and "do I really need this?" stuff to the dining room to be priced.

The boys are going through their stuff (slowly).

In a nutshell, we have a lot of crap. Good crap, but still crap.

2) My family reunion is coming up in a few weeks. We are going, once again, to Possum Kingdom Lake down in Texas. I need to sit down and figure out what all I need to pack - towels, pots and pans, food, drink, clothes, swim suits, swim shoes, life jackets, games, activities, movies, stuff for the auction (we usually hand make things and then auction them off to pay for the community building we rent), stuff for bingo prizes...what am I forgetting? The place we stay has new owners and, woohoo!, they now rent paddle boats! I'm just called down there and reserved a paddle boat and a golf cart.

3) I've bought our plane tickets for me and the boy to fly down to see the Commander over fall break! I'm taking a week off of work and taking the boy out of school for three days.

The Rolling Stones are playing down there that week. The Commander wants to go. He mentioned spending up to $125 dollars or so a ticket and I scoffed. Ha! Maybe for Harry Connick, Jr., but the Stones? How many Geritol and Ensure breaks do they have during the show? Oh well, I'd go just to say I saw them and to support the Commander in his happiness.

So, what are you up to?

(My car was base. You should see the little hand prints all over the side.)

Who Knew?

Go to Wikipedia and type your birthday in the search box (not the year). Find 1 significant death, 2 significant births, an interesting event or two, and a holiday/observance.

Death

Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Braganca (b. 1907)

(Maria Pia bo bia bananafana fo fia fe fi mo mia, Pia.)

Births

1868 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (d. 1927)

(I just like the name Gaston. It makes me go "Hoh Hoh Hoh" in a terrible French accent.)

1574 - Pope Innocent X (d. 1655)

Interesting Event or Two

1937 - Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.

(This is the one event I tend to work into conversations about birthdays.)

1954 - Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.

(Why?)

Holiday/Observance

St. John in Oil Feast day.

(No idea who St. John in Oil is, but he sounds fun.)

Dentistry hurts

Some of you may not know this, but I have a smiley face inlaid on one of my crowns. I've had it for a couple of years. My dentist actually stomped his foot and said (very firmly), "I WILL NOT PUT A SMILEY FACE ON YOUR TOOTH!" I would now like to refer you back to my first sentence. He ended up apologizing. He told me that he takes his work very seriously. Jolly for him, but since the Commander doesn't want me getting another tattoo (Oh yeah, I have one of those as well. I've actually lived longer with it than without it.), I decided to decorate my teeth. If I had made this decision a long time ago, I could have a small art gallery in my mouth by now.

Well, guess what? On the 9th of August, I'm getting my new crown COMPLETE with a paw print. I'm getting it in memory of my Tabby Cat. He tried to talk me out of it, but again, my mouth, my teeth, my money. I'll try to get a photo of them posted here if anyone wants to see them.

I have had the temporary crown on since Tuesday and MY MOUTH ACHES LIKES NOBODY'S BUSINESS!!!!! I have been popping Tylenol (Sorry liver. Oh, and, uh, sorry about all of the alcohol as well.) like crazy. I think I need to call him and let him take a look at it. I can handle most pain, but tooth and ear pain sucks.

On the bright side, I installed a ceiling fan yesterday.

We went to my BFF's house yesterday for her daughter's birthday and BFF showed me the fan they had bought and said her husband had started on it, but it was hard/complicated/difficult/etc. So I told her I would do it.

First off, I had her run an extension cord into the bedroom and plug in a lamp so we could see. Her husband ended up walking into the front room and telling everyone that we were one up on him in just doing that! I had never put up a ceiling fan before, but it wasn't as hard as I thought. (Except when I tossed a screw into my mouth to hold it and somehow managed to lodge it under my tongue.) BFF was my helper-outer. We just followed the directions and there ya go. One installed ceiling fan. I told her hubby he had to come mow my lawn, but I'm not holding my breath. heheheheheh

Side note to Goob - The Pirates We Could Have Been shirts are available up to size XXXL.

HA!

I like them both. What do you think?

Couch Slouch, that's me.

From Ben.

Here’s a list of televsion shows. Bold all the shows which you have seen at least 3 episodes.

24
7th Heaven
Adam-12
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
Angel
Arrested Development
Barney Miller
Battlestar Galactica
Baywatch
Beverly Hills 90210
Bonanza
Boy Meets World
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (No vampires. Ever.)
Bug Juice
Chappelle’s Show
Charlie’s Angels
Charmed
Cheers
CHIPS
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Coronation Street
Coupling
Cowboy Bebop
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Danny Phantom
Dawson’s Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Desperate Housewives
Doctor Who
Eastenders
Emergency!
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Extras
Family Guy
Farscape
Father Ted
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Frasier
Friends
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan’s Island
Gilmore Girls
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Grey’s Anatomy
Gunsmoke
Hannah Montana
Happy Days
Hill Street Blues
Hogan’s Heroes
Home and Away
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Inuyasha
Invader Zim
Invasion
JAG
Jackass
Joey
Little House on the Prairie
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Malcolm in the Middle
Married… With Children
Medium
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission: Impossible
Monk
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
NCIS
Neighbours
Night Court
Nip/Tuck
Numb3rs
NYPD Blue
Only Fools and Horses
Oz
Perry Mason
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prison Break
Rescue Me
Roseanne
Roswell
Saved by the Bell
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Smallville
So Weird
South Park
Spongebob Squarepants
Starsky and Hutch
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate SG-1
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Taxi
Teen Titans
That 70’s Show
That’s So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Dead Zone
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Good Life
The Honeymooners
The Jetsons
The Love Boat
The Munsters
The O.C.
The Office
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
Three’s Company
Twin Peaks
Veronica Mars
Weeds
Whose Line is it Anyway?
Will and Grace
Wings

These boots are made for walkin' motorcycle ridin'

Guess what I bought? I'll give you a hint...



Woot! Stylin' Baby! I have been looking for a pair of buck suede boots to match my suede, fringe-y, embroidered, Harley-Davidson jacket. Now I got a pair!

Jealous?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

P.S. The orange is *way* more orange than it looks in the photo.

Who Cares? Post 'cause my shoulder hurts.

I recently was asked about my laundry habits. Mainly, do I sort by color or weight.

I go by color mostly. Followed by type.

Jeans (or any other denim)
Darks (non-jeans)
Lights
Whites (including white towels)
Colored towels
Sheets

What about your own bad self? Not that I really care, but just for the sake of conversation.

(How was that for the most rockingest post ever?)

So far, the day, she be full.

Get up very early (for no apparent reason) - check
Watch The Ringer - check
Eat a chocolate/caramel Pop Tart - check
Drink some white grape peach juice - check
Watch two episodes of Run's House (I heart him) - check
Feed the boy - check
Feed me - check
Help cousins load up boat to take to their house - check
Intervene on a Billygoat/English Bulldog death match (neither belonged to me) - check (it ended in a draw, but the boy got knocked off of his feet and into the side of one of the pontoons)
Shower boy - check
Shower me - check
Eat lunch - check
Drive like maniac to Tulsa - check
Arrive four minutes late for a wedding - check
Stuff face on horse-doovers - check
Stuff face on huge piece of cake - check
Watch (with WTF? expression) boy do the Cha Cha Slide on the dancefloor while people yelled "Sherry! Look at your boy! Where'd he learn that?" (dunno) - check
Hold six week old baby Noah - check
Give Mom and Dad their card and gift for 40th (!!!) Anniversary - check
Stop at Weber's for a root beer freeze (blended float) - check
Drink freeze while going "mmmmmmmm" - check
Drive not as fast back to Stillwater - check
Jam to Ska band Suburban Legends - check
Update blog - check
Go to store for milk and other essentials and then head back home to work on who knows what - on my way!

Jim. You know. What's his name? That guy. With the Hot Pockets...

What is making it so I can not remember Jim's last name?

There ya go.

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine."

Amen Brother.

So, did you watch? Please tell me you did. PeeWee's Playhouse reruns started last Monday! Woot. I recorded it and made the boy watch it with me. He had pretty much the same look on his face then as he did when he watched The Who's "Tommy".

It was just as funny as I remembered.

Me - See the chair he is sitting on?
Boy - Yeah.
Me - Do you know what its name is?
Boy - No.
Me - Chairy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Boy - ????

The word of the day was "Help".

PW - Help!
Me - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
PW - Help!
Me - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Boy - ?????

Jambi - Mekalekahi Mekaheinieho.
Me - Mekalekahi Mekaheinieho.
Jambi - Mekalekahi Mekajonnyho.
Me - Mekalekahi Mekajonnyho.
Jambi - Mekalekajibberishblahblah.
Me - Mekalekablahblahyaya.
Boy - ??????

I plan on recording every stinking episode I can.

Anything can happen. At PeeWee's Playhouse.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Intro (High Quality)

Back the truck up - updated

See this?





Notice that it no longer says "Three months and one week". That's right. They're keeping him another year.

Me and the boy were going to move down there, but things are so up in the air, we don't know now.
- Can I get a leave of absence from work? Nope.
- We can't get housing until he gets written orders.
- School starts in five weeks.
- Can we get written orders and housing before school starts?
- How long 'til I snap?

Waaaaaaah.

Waaaaaaiiiitttttt!

I was sitting in Minnesota, in the family room, using my laptop to make a photo DVD for the in-laws when the kids came running in from the backyard yelling, "ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM!"

Me - Wha?
BB - ICE CREAM!
Me - Where?
BB - OUTSIDE!
BS - COMING DOWN THE STREET!
Me - YOU MEAN THE PINKY-DINKY MAN?!
Them - YES!

I throw down gently place the laptop on the floor and make a mad dash for the front door. (And if you know me, you know that I rarely mad dash anywhere.)

YES! It was the Pinky-Dinky man! The boys ran down the sidewalk trying to get his attention while I ran (right) quickly strolled behind them yelling, "DON'T GET IN THE STREET!". ('Cause the Pinky-Dinky man makes you lose all sense of responsibility when you are younger than 18.) The truck backed up and we stared glassy-eyed at the goodness that is the Pinky-Dinky man. Should I get a snowcone? A fudge bomb? Eskimo pie? Decisions, decisions.

BS got a watermelon pop, BB got a ice cream sandwich, and I got a fudge pop, no, wait, a watermelon pop, no...okay, I'll go with the watermelon.

Best of all? BS paid for it!

Score!



(What do you call the ice cream man? I've always called him the Pinky-Dinky man. I don't know why.)

BTW - The truck was playing Beethoven's Fur Elise. Gotta give 'em a little culture with their ice cream.

Ya, you betcha.

Hey ho! We're in Minne-snow-ta visiting the Commander's family.

Here is the youngest, McTavish.



We got an early start to the 4th festivities.



Slackers Vacationers.



The Commander and I are headed down to his hometown in Iowa tomorrow to look at some vacation home prospects. Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa.

We really don't know right now what is going on with his job yet. He still hasn't heard if his deployment is being extended for another year or not. Hurry up and wait. I would say the not knowing is driving me crazy, but it is a short walk.