99.9% Finished

Remember this?



Take a look now!



And these?



Wooooooo!





We just need to do some paint touch-up, sweep, put some sealer on the floor and hang the shower curtain.

We managed to somehow lose the fancy, matchy-matchy curtain rings we bought so we have some cheapo plastic ones for now. Plus, the curtain I ordered online is 100% cotton and, as John Travolta said in the movie "Hairspray", "I need to do some arnin."

Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit up

Awesome!

Stuff and such

They filled the tub today to make sure there were no leaks! I got too much a little excited.

___________

You Are an Ice Cream Sandwich

You are well grounded, reliable, and very balanced. You love to work hard, but you also know how to take it easy. People might be surprised to know you have a very goofy side to you. You like to let loose and have fun. You just don't let yourself go too crazy!

What Frozen Treat Are You?

More demolition

I didn't mind the color.



Except for this. The photo doesn't do it justice. 1950s diner laminate with gold flakes.



Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye.

Let the fun begin!

It was...



Now it is...

What we did on our summer vacay. Part Uno

We took someone to Scout Camp.



He got to climb the rock wall.



We went camping. This is our hovel.



This was my view for a lot of the time.



These are my new shoes that are really comfortable. Guess what my sunburn looked like. (I say "looked like" because it is already fading. I'm destined to be pasty.)



We had fun with The Commander.



Someone relaxed at the amusement park.



Someone else pretended to throw up at the amusement park. Another someone was not amused.



This was amusing. He didn't want to do it. I made him. Heh.



We tried to ride on the Queen for three days, but the wind was blowing 847,000 miles per hour so she wasn't going out. We have season passes to the amusement park and the Queen so we can go back any time, but still...



We took someone to Church Camp. This is when he realized he had forgotten his swim goggles back at the RV.



He soon forgot about that and was having fun.



We did a lot of other stuff (Like horseback riding!I found out 30 minutes is my limit in the saddle.), but I kept forgetting my camera.

The cobbler's children have no shoes.

Well, of COURSE it did.

We're back from camping, but that's not why I'm here.

Months ago, in a land far away, a plumber (A plumber, you say? This can't end well, can it?) told me that one way to clean my garbage disposal was to grind a bunch of ice up in it. The ice will freeze to the gack in the disposal and clear it away.

Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?

I dumped the better part of two bags of ice out of our cooler into the sink. Hey! Maybe I could clean the disposal while I'm here. I grab a wooden spatula, turn the water on, flip the disposal switch and start cleaning away!

La, la, la.
La, la, la.
Clean, clean, clean.
La, la, la.
La, la, ... heh? Why are my feet getting wet?

I fling open the cabinet doors and sure enough. THE PIPE FROM THE DISPOSAL TO THE DRAIN HAS FROZEN AND CRACKED THE HELL OUT OF ITSELF.

The end.

Yep.

Husband says good thing they didn't ask me because I would have skewed the scale.


see more Funny Graphs

Here we are.

Here we are. Two weeks into summer vacation and we are flip flopping between extremely busy and extremely bored (Thank goodness for Jon and Kate Plus Eight! The crossover with Orange County Choppers? Awsomeness!).

Extremely busy? Last Saturday we went over to the Iowa Great Lakes to the Harley shop. We had to order extra keys for my bike since the oldest boy packed one up when he was cleaning out his dorm room and we figured it was easier to order some more than to search through all of his stuff.

After the Harley shop, we hurried over to catch the 3:00pm Queen II tour of the Lakes. Then we hopped over to the amusement park and rode some rides. (I'm loving their bumper cars! Tilt-A-Whirl? Not so much.) We bought season tickets so we are trying to get our money's worth. This is our second excursion to the park and our first tour on the Queen. One more visit and the tickets will have paid for themselves. Anything after that is golden!

We asked around to find a new-to-us restaurant to go to. We ended up here. I should have second thought it since it was at a RESORT. Sure enough, we probably were the lowest income people there. I told The Commander that this was the place the rich come to drink. Lakeside dining, Jimmy Buffet music blaring, old coots with their dogs, 20-somethings slugging back their shots, it could have been a reality show.

Somebody liked the plates...





The food was good, but there wasn't quite enough of it. The Boy's kid's meal had more pasta on it than my plate did. He ended up eating some of mine because his mac-n-cheese wasn't that good (I warned him.) But the kicker was...ready?...no free refills on the lemonade. I wish someone would have told us this before we had seven lemonades between us. Yes, we spent $17.50 on lemonade. I 'bout choked when the bill came. I should have said something, but we just paid and got the heck out of there.



We dropped by the RV resort to take some stuff to the camper (we store it there). The Boy and I got in a quick 18 holes of mini-golf before we left. (You can check out the putters, but you have to buy or bring your own golf ball. WTF?)

Then we have the extremely bored. It has been raining and in the mid 60s here for the last few days. Yesterday, we (me) ended up dancing around the house singing about just how boring it was. We got a couple of games of Life in and The Boy had a friend over, but, lordy, unless we want to drive for 20 minutes, there's not much to do here. I've played close to 2,000 games of Jewel Quest II and read I don't know how many books.

We are going camping this weekend and working in a day of Scout Camp. The weekend after that we are hitting the campground for six days/five nights. I'm really looking forward to that. Just trying to figure out what to cook while we are there.

So, that's what's up. Sorry I don't post here as much, but with TwitFace, I seem to put all my quickie notes up there.

Love you the most,
Sher

What's up, chicken butt?

The Commander is in Kansas tonight so it is just me and The Boy holding down the fort.

When he called from Oklahoma earlier today, he said, "IT'S HOT HERE!"

It hasn't gotten very warm here in Iowa yet. It did get into the 90s for a couple of days and The Commander thought it was necessary to turn the AC on. (I called him a wimp.) It hasn't gotten that hot again. Right now it is in the mid 60s. An hour or so ago, I was sitting out on the deck reading a book and watching them bale hay in the pasture behind us. I was thinking about how cool the weather was and how I needed to go make some coffee. (I had some White Chocolate Raspberry ground at the coffee shop today.) Then I said to myself, "Woman. That is all you need. Up all night peeing." Then I thought how maybe I could make some tomorrow morning and sit out on the deck enjoying the weather, but I remembered I'm not a morning person and maybe mid-afternoon coffee might be better.

Then I watched the weather forecast. High in the low 60s tomorrow. Good. 70% chance of rain. Not so good for sitting on the deck. I may just open all of the windows and pretend to be outside.

__________

Speaking of chilly. The city pool is open for the summer and evidently, the water is a titch cold. Doesn't stop The Boy. I dropped him off about 4pm today and told him I was headed to the library* and would be back around 5pm. I went back to pick him up and decided to let him stay a while longer. All of the other kids had gone home for supper and he was the only person at the pool besides the five life guards. They were taking turns throwing diving rings and things for him into the pool. I opened the windows in the car to catch the breeze, picked one of the books I checked out at the library and read for an hour. It was nice.

__________

We are quickly filling up our calendar for the summer. I'm hoping to make it to Oklahoma sometime, but I don't know when. The Boy is taking golf lessons this month and swimming lessons next month. He is signed up for the library's program for this month too. Later this month he has Cub Scout Camp and then Church Camp. Luckily, both are over at the lakes and we will be able to camp over there while these are going on. We are going to spend a few days before Church Camp starts at the RV resort too. Then in August, the four of us are headed to The Black Hills, South Dakota for a real, genuine, honest-to-goodness, family vacation!!! It has been forever since we had one of those.

__________

*It is possible that I will be a part-time librarian come July! Two part-time jobs around things I love - food and books.

Sweet.

Let the fun begin.

Today is the first say of Summer Vacation for The Boy. Yea!

We decided to let him stay up late last night and sleep in this morning. Yea!

First day of golf lessons is today. Yea!

At 9am. Yea!

I remembered at 9:15.

Oh my word.

I told The Boy to make sure all of his dirty clothes were in his clothes hamper so I could get all of the laundry finished today.

Later, as I was hanging the light clothes out on the clothes line (the feed lot isn't smelly today), I said to myself, "Hmmm. There aren't any of his shirts in this load. They must me all in the dark bunch."

Nope.

When I went into his room to get hangers, they there were. Still hanging out in his clothes hamper. Right where I told him to put them.

Gah.

Not a fan.

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.

That being said...

I was watching Survivor a couple of weeks back and had paused it to go do whatever, when I heard Scotch growling at something.

Scotch rarely growls.

When I went back into the living room to see what the fuss was, I had to grab my camera to capture the moment.

(Turn your volume up to get the full experience.)



I totally agree.

A house divided.

Mama-mia!

When Mom Central first told me about Mamapedia, I thought, "Great. Another Breastfeeding/Cloth Diapers site."

Then I took a look at it.

It is awesome.

Pretty much anything I had a question about, there was some sort of information on it. From regular, run-of-the-mill moms like me.

Teenage acne? Got it.

Scout Camp? Check.

There is also info there on Finances and House & Home.

Take a look. I think you'll like it.

Mamapedia™ is...

* For mothers with kids of all ages
* Questions by moms, answered by moms who’ve been there
* Over a million answers on everything from Acne to Zoos
* Easily searchable and browsable
* Updated daily
* 100% free

Because it is Tuesday.

You Are Salty

There's something about you that makes the world a better place. You make life more colorful, more flavorful, and more vibrant. You get along well with others. You always have something to add. Without realizing it, people can become very addicted to you.

What Taste Are You?

You Are Snow

You are peaceful and calm. You are able to enjoy each moment. You have a pure, gentle spirit. People automatically trust you. You have a playful, adventurous spirit. You still feel like a kid. You are able to find the joy in any situation. You are blissful.

Are You Rain or Snow?

Spring has sprung, y'all.

I made it back safe and sound from my trip to Oklahoma. I really enjoyed visiting my folks and some friends I haven't seen in a long time. I didn't enjoy the way my face became ickily oily and broke out like crazy. That happens every time I visit. I think the climate in that part of the state does a number on me.

Here's some photos of my trip.

Me at The Pie Hole. And what a hole it is. It has three or four tables (I can't remember), but it has some delish pizza. We had the roasted garlic, mushroom and spicy Italian ham. Yum.


This is me and my best bud. He loves to remind me that for the first three months he worked with me, I wouldn't talk to him. Long story short, I didn't want him hired. He wore me down. Now I don't know what I would do without him.


This is one of my favorite former co-workers. She's a hoot. I miss her like crazy.


This was dessert at Merritt's Bakery. Mini turtle cheesecake. It didn't last long. I shared. I'm nice that way.


This is me and the bride. She moved next door to me (well, as close as next door can be out in the country) when I was nine. We were inseparable until we graduated high school and went our separate ways.


And here is the family. I miss them most of all.


__________

We have put in a garden. It was hard on The Commander. He isn't used to waiting this late in the year to plant. We started a bunch of plants from seed and they were growing like nobody's business. The bush beans were more than a foot tall. Finally, the weather warmed up enough to take them outside.

We have jalapenos, onions, tomatoes, yellow squash, watermelons, carrots, bush beans and cucumbers. Hopefully, I can put up some salsa and pickles later on.

__________

Here is The Boy. I love the expression on his face.


__________

We had a girls' weekend in Minneapolis last weekend. After we went to Snuffy's (I had a bison burger and a chocolate/banana malt), we drove along the Three Mile Drive through the U of M Arboretum. This van tried to drive up our tailpipe. When we finally got a chance to pull over and let him pass, this was the site we saw.

Calm down? Really? Maybe we wouldn't be upset if you would back the heck up!

__________

Now for some tulip action.


__________

So now you are caught up. I'll try not to wait so long to post again.

To have and to hold...

CAKE!

Don't weddings bring a little tear to your eye?



More cake tomorrow for Mom's birthday!

I lied.

But not intentionally.

I had every intention of staying off the computer while I was here in Oklahoma, but since I have been up for two and a half hours and my parents are pretending to be teenagers by still sleeping, I decided I have watched enough GMA and read enough of my book, Sherryl Woods' "The Inn at Eagle Point" (love Sherryl Woods), have had my Cheerios (Cheerios or Corn Flakes, thanks boring cereal parents.) and a few sips of Pepsi, I figured, what the heck.

I'm am almost caught up on my feed reader (Cursing Mama! I see what you are doing! I'm on to you. You'll have to send me your secret restaurant names.) and have checked Twitter.

I guess I'll go back to my book. Oh, and Neil Patrick Harris is in Regis' chair this morning.


WAKE UP, PARENTS!

A quick note

Dear Internet,

I am going to be leaving you for one week (give or take a day).

So I'm asking you to please, please not do anything remotely interesting while I am gone.

My reader has 40 some-odd unread posts as it is and I don't think I will be able to get to them before I leave. (Unless I wake up at 4 in the morning which is highly likely.)

Take care and stay out of trouble.

I'll try to bring you a souvenir. Or send a postcard. Or something.

Love,
Me

Like the corners of my mind.

Transferring old photos from our Windows 98 computer so we can finally get rid of it. I'm finding all kinds of cuteness on it.

Here's a sampling.






I'll have more as I find them.

When the moon hits your eye

like a big pizza pie...

(I sing when I cook. Crazy? Yep, just a little.)

We just finished a great spaghetti supper. (I would say dinner, but up here, they call lunch dinner. Yeah, confuses me too.)

The fine folks at Mom Central and Ragu teamed up to help spread the word about Ragu's two new flavors of Old Word Style sauce, Sweet Tomato Basil and Margherita.

I haven't had a chance to try either one yet, but as soon as I can lay my hands on them, I will.

If you go to the Ragu site, they have delicious recipes using these sauces. I'm looking forward to trying the Hearty Baked Rigatoni and the Upside Down Deep Dish Pizza. Both of these are made with the Sweet Tomato Basil sauce.

Recipes with the Margherita sauce include Steak Pizzaiola With Mozzarella which sounds like it is right up The Commander's alley.

I never thought about making anything but spaghetti with Ragu sauce, but I'm looking forward to branching out!

I have no words.

This chick JUST NOW CALLED ME BACK.

7:20pm CST.

To make an appointment for TOMORROW at 11:15ish.

Gah.

Miss Manners would not be happy with her. Nor am I.

Our house.

Sometimes it is peaceful.



Sometimes it is odd.



Sometimes it is crazy!

I love libraries.

Sherry's Dewey Decimal Section:

870 Italic literatures; Latin literature

Sherry = 985885 = 985+885 = 1870


Class:
800 Literature


Contains:
Literature, criticism, analysis of classic writing and mythology.



What it says about you:
You're a global, worldly person who wants to make a big impact with your actions. You have a lot to tell people and you're good at making unique observations about everyday experiences. You can notice and remember details that other people think aren't important.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

It sure is hard to find good help.

Luckily, The Addams Family loaned us Thing.

Life imitates art.

Life imitates art.
Originally uploaded by Sherrypg

Why my pillow smells like dog.

Sometimes...

...you just have to close your eyes and sigh.

I have to have a physical for a life insurance application.

The nurse called me the other day and asked when would be a good day for her to come to the house to do her thang.

I said Mondays and Tuesdays are best for me.

She said she would call me back and let me know.

She just called me back and asked if Monday the 20th would be good for me.

I replied that would be fine.

THEN! She said she would call me back and let me know what time!

Seriously? Seriously?!

Listen lady, that's not how scheduling works. You have your little appointment book there in front of you. When I say Monday or Tuesday, you find a day you have openings. Then you ask me if that day is okay. When I say yes, then you take your finger and slide it down the page to an open time and ask me if that time would work for me. Then I tell you yes or no.

YOU DON'T KEEP CALLING ME.

I know I'm not the most organized person in the world (We missed the Easter festivities at the city park yesterday because WE ALL FORGOT.), but when you work with the public, you need to have a little bit of a handle on things.

Different colored highlighters are wonderful.

Seaweed

This is Seaweed. (Click to biggify.)



He scared the pee-waddlins out of me last night.

He had a friend, Surf, who wasn't long for the world. He passed away just a few weeks after we got them. I found that out by picking him up and watching his legs fall off. Gross.

I had to get a paper towel, grasp him firmly, and pull his dead body out of his shell. Even grosser.

Because of this, we have been keeping a close watch on Seaweed. The habitat isn't exactly the best for these things. It needs to be a little warmer and a lot more humid. We keep some plastic over the top and spritz water three times a week. Plus we have a lid full of water in there to help.

But still, you never know.

Seaweed has been keeping a low profile for a while. The Boy asked me to spritz in there yesterday because he didn't remember to do it on Tuesday. I decided to check on the crab while I was spritzing.

I lifted up the half coconut shell that is used as their "Hut" and noticed a leg just kinda laying there beside him. Crap.

I put the shell back down and thought I would wait 'til The Boy got home from school and see how he wanted to proceed with the disposal.

Some tears were shed and he decided that we should just throw Seaweed away, shell and all.

I picked Seaweed up and there were some other legs laying there all nasty looking. I started walking down the hall and noticed the shell seemed to feel odd.

All of a sudden that little thing popped out! Jeebus!

I high-tailed it back to The Boy's room and exclaimed, "He's alive!"

Turned out, he was molting and the legs I saw were his exoskeleton.

I put him back down in his home, did a little shiver dance, and all is well again.

She's a fine girl.

One of my friends in Oklahoma is pregnant and I'm not there!

She emailed me the other day and let me know. She always poo-pooed the idea that she would ever have a baby, but I always wished she would. And now she is!

I wish I could be there to pat her head and say Poor, Poor Bunny while she is feeling icky/tired/stoopid. I'm having to do it over the internet and it just isn't the same.

I pointed her in the direction of my favorite pregnancy book The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy: Or Everything Your Doctor Won't Tell You. She bought it right away.

She has already emailed some of us Fertile Myrtles and asked about nursing bras. Asking me about bras, pretty funny.

I wish her and her husband all of the best and I really wish I could be down there this fall to smell some new baby smell and nibble on some baby neck.

If it's a girl, I'm going to call her Brandy. What a good wife she would be.

Mercy, Kel. Who'd a thunk these two bozos would someday be parents?
(Bowling Alley Baby Shower? I might could make it.)


Kelli and Sherry, Clueless College Graduates, May 1991

Nuthin'

Just got off the phone with my friend, D. The Commander asked me what was up with her.

"Nuthin'"

"30 minutes on the phone and nothing is up with her?!"

"Nope."

(He's on a need-to-know basis.)

Not my first choice, but it was okay.

The Boy asked me if I would rather see Monsters vs. Aliens or Return to Witch Mountain. Let me think for a moment....animated monsters and aliens vs. real, live Dwayne Johnson...DUH!

Evidently my vote didn't count.

We are just getting back from seeing Monsters vs. Aliens. It was a pretty entertaining movie. The only problem I had with it was watching the character Derek Dietl, Susan's fiance.

He is voiced by Paul Rudd (hawt, hawt, hawt), but looks very similar to Conan O'Brien (nawt, nawt, nawt).

I was going to put up a side-by-side photo comparison, but I couldn't find a graphic of Derek. And I really didn't want to put Conan on here.

So here is a photo of Paul to enjoy. (Happy Birthday a few days early, Paul!)



And, because I love you, Dear Readers...