7/26/10

Aaah. We had such a nice lazy weekend – no place we need to go and nothing we needed to do! It’s been a long time since that has happened!  But now it's back to the grind!

We took a family trip to Home Depot Saturday – I got on a kick lately to work on my Halloween stuff. I signed up on HalloweenForum.com and have seen a bunch of good ideas. Tons of people with great imaginations who like to share their creations and encourage others. Anyway, I raided the plumbing department & got PVC pipes & fittings to make 2 skeletons & one upper body to hang over the fence. Still have some work to do – like attaching foam to the “spine” and covering it with vinyl for the torso & I already added pipe insulation to flesh out the arms & legs. Then I have to dress them. I have the stuff to make a dress for the girl – who will be holding her head in her arm. I got some purple, black and white netting to create a flowing skirt for her, but one that will also dry easily after a rain. The boy will have a pumpkin bucket for his head and probably be wearing jeans & a really ugly shirt. And Fence Dude? I don’t know yet. I’ll have to find something for his head, and he just needs a shirt. I sort of screwed up with getting happy with the PVC glue.  I meant to leave the caps on the necks free so I could slip the bucket or whatever over the neck and replace the cap to held the "head" on.  But I glued them, too.  Crap.  Oh well - as far as I can tell that has been my only ooops.  Definitely need some fake blood, too. Can’t have a headless body with no blood! And hands. Then I think I’m going to make another coffin that is sticking up out of the ground & I’d really like to make a fence to go around the coffins. Pallets would work great. And also need some strobe lights. I have no lights on my graveyard!

Dry fitted bodies

Duct tape!

OK, I’m obsessed. I know I’m rambling but Halloween is just so fun! I woke up at 7:30 Saturday morning & my mind was racing with ideas. So I just had to get up. Linda asked me to make her a coffin for their yard, too. Sure! She’s gonna help me with it. Fun!  Tangent -  I have to put in a plug for the ratcheting PVC cutter! Totally worth the $13 !!! I measured & marked the PVC and Angel cut it for me. If a 12 year old can cut with it, you know it’s easy! And cut cleanly, too.  So the peeps (zombies?) are taking shape nicely.

OK, back to Earth. Thursday Angel got to go on a field trip to see a Tiger’s game. They won! Yay! I bet she’s secretly glad that the Club didn’t allow her to switch field trip packages after all. Water parks & park beaches probably look all the same after going to a couple.

Last weekend I went up north to Linda’s place on the lake. I’ve only been up there once before, a couple years ago. At first she was just going to take Angel & I was excited because Randy was working at the Mid-Michigan MS150. I was going to get all sorts of stuff done around the house. Then Laurie said she was going up and that I should go, too. Crap. I ended up compromising and went up Saturday. Jack & I were on the road by noon. I have to say, it felt really weird to drive for 2 ½ hours by myself! Felt like I was escaping or something!

Me & Angel on the boat

Laurie & I ready to tube!

Lisa & Angel's tribute to their cousin Catie.

So I (we) got up there and went across the street and played Bocce Ball with Laurie, Scott & Annie (Annie & I rock! Undefeated all 3 games! Not bad for not even knowing what the game was!) Then we went tubing. Laurie didn’t like to ride with Lisa or Angel, since they made fun of her for laughing. So we rode together & laughed like idiots together. We were bouncing around and it was like I went in slow motion going over the side. I was aware of the water being warm all around me and I came up laughing. Dave (driving the boat) thought Laurie was crying, not even caring that I was gone – hmmmpf! But she was laughing just as hard as me. Mainly because she could hear me across the water! It was a good time. Then we went & had some burgers, and went back out on the pontoon for a sunset cruise around the lake. Beautiful! Then we went back and sat around the fire for a while. Everyone laughed at me when I came walking up with my jug of pineapple juice under my arm, pulling my little cooler on wheels. I was keeping my Malibu on ice! Anyway, with the exception of my cup that got kicked over & the one I made for Laurie – I polished off that bottle myself. I was pretty HAPPY! I also learned that my knees don’t like to bend that far, so it was tough to squat behind the trailer to pee. At least I didn’t fall over or get any mosquito bites on my butt. Once I finished my bottle, I realized I was cold so I went to bed. Lisa & Angel had gone to bed earlier & took the dogs with them. Jack really did not like Scott at all. Don’t know what it was about him, but Jack would just stare & growl at him. He had no problems with Jeff so it wasn’t the “stranger” issue. Anyway, Jack apparently didn’t like his blanket on the floor of the trailer because he was up on Laurie’s bed! So once I found a plug for my phone charger, I called him over & he slept with me. He’s never got to sleep on a people bed before. He also takes up a lot more room than a cat! I woke up once to see what time it was and he was lying in the crook of my legs. He popped his head up to look at me and his jowls were all squished up in what we call “bed face”. I couldn’t help but giggle at him. It rained early Sunday morning and it was kind of chilly. I was perfectly happy wearing jeans & my hoodie! Dave took us all out to breakfast and when we went back, Linda wanted to go out on the boat. I don’t think I ever reluctantly put my bathing suit on before, but I did this time! So we went tubing again, then Linda wanted to go to the beach. The shallow water was colder than out in the middle of the lake! So we didn’t stay there long, plus it was sprinkling. We went back & packed up the cars & just got in then when it started to downpour – perfect timing! Linda rode home with me because Dave left while we were out on the boat. They usually leave early to miss traffic – don’t blame them!

I signed us (the Love fam) up for Adopt-A-Platoon & just got my contact info the beginning part of last week. I sent the first package of munchies out Wednesday. Now that I know how to do the customs forms, it’ll be easier. I had to ask the post office lady how to do it. Makes me feel good to know that a little something I’m doing will make 25 people happy and make their life just a bit brighter. This transportation company is in Afghanistan and they currently have 2 injured peeps from IEDs. Scary! Reading stuff like that in the news doesn’t mean much, but knowing that MY platoon has encountered them is totally different. More real. Yeah, they probably don’t even know about me/us yet and I already consider them mine. I really only need to send one package a month, but I’ll probably send 2 – one full of goodies & the other full of stuff to do and other whatnot.

LisaLulu did pretty good in her horse show 2 weeks ago. She didn’t place, but it’s tough for a beginner to compete against kids who have worked with a trainer since they were little. The first class was bad – she was nervous & Captain acted up so they went to the middle and the ringmaster led her out. She rode both English & Western. I think she was more confident in Western, although Captain didn’t use his low gear required for it. He didn’t lope, he straight up galloped around the arena! But he looked good! I didn’t get many pics because I was using Lisa’s camera for her!

Angel asked Laurie if she could have her birthday party at her house this year. She wants to have a “Hobo Weekend” type party with sleeping in the barn, etc. Alrighty then! This will be fun to work out the details to! Mainly HOW to get kids there! I wouldn’t expect the parents to drive them up there, so we’d have to shuttle them. Guess she won’t be having a HUGE party like she wants!!

So anyway, that's all the excitement here - other than the pallet & miscellaneous pallet lid I brought home from work today - the begiinings of my graveyard fence.  I'm taking my hammer to work tomorrow to break down some other wood frames and bring them home, too.  This is one of the few times I miss having the Hoopdie!

Oh yeah - Our septic field apparently has failed - so we get to have our back yard dug up! 

Ominous blue flags.  We now also have yellow & orange flags, too!

7/7/10

Tomorrow is mine & Randy’s 4th anniversary! I stopped by Della’s florist today & ordered some flowers and balloons to be sent to him at work – Heehee! Can’t wait for him to get them.


So let me see. The Friday after Angel’s recital was Lisa’s recital. She went to a new studio this year, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I’m not sure how many nights their recital covered, but if you took out all the competition dancers, it would have only lasted maybe 30 minutes. They had 3 different comp groups & they literally hogged the stage. Don’t get me wrong – they were really good – but that’s not what I wanted to see!

I hate to say it, but I think Mom is getting a bit forgetful. She asked how many of us were going to the recital so she could get tickets. I knew it was Field Day weekend, so Randy would NOT be there. So I told her 2 - for me & Angel. She still got him a ticket! Now I didn’t hear this conversation, so I’m not taking sides, but she asked Linda & she told her that because we’d gone to Ohio the weekend before, she’d have to go up north – thus not being at the recital. Mom swore up & down that Linda told her that both she & Catie would be there. Laurie told me a couple days later that Mom was still upset about the whole situation & had been crying during the recital. Not the rock & hard place I want to be between! I only know what I told her. So next year, to be safe…I’m going to write the number of tickets on her calendar & hope she looks at it before tickets go on sale. Whew.

Saturday & Sunday were Field Day. Randy was at the Nat’l Weather Service Office, so we went out to visit – conveniently a short time before they launched the weather balloon that evening. Angel got to help the meteorologist who launched it. It was a beautiful sunshiny day, so we could see it for a long time. We stayed there until around 11pm before heading home. We were invited to go back out Sunday, but I opted not to. Besides, they shut down operations about 1 ½ hours early due to storms!

A row of Ham cars

Angel holding the box with weather equipment.

NWS dude with the balloon.

Launching!

This past weekend was BUSY!! 3 day weekends are supposed to be relaxing, but it wasn’t! Linda came & got Angel Thursday night to go up north. So Friday night, Randy and I went out to dinner & to see Grown Ups at the theater (hysterical!!) Saturday we did the siren test, and then went out to White Lake for my cousin Todd’s surprise 50th birthday party. Then, being a nice aunt & uncle, we went to cousin Jennifer’s house on the lake for a while so Lisa Lulu could hang out with her cousins that she goes to school with. It was nice, even if all these cousins are much older than I am. Had a nice chat with Kevin, who was a Lieutenant at my bootcamp graduation & is now up for Captain. He’s been in 30+ years !! Crazy! But anyway, Lisa got to go tubing & stuff and then, since we were only about 3 miles from the NWS, I asked her if she wanted to go see a weather balloon launch! So she was really easy to get away from there. First we went to Timmy’s for some iced coffee, & then she got to help launch the balloon. I think she was more interested in it than Pnut was. She asked questions & everything. Guess she learned how cool it is to have geeky relatives!

Sunday we went to our church service at Stony Creek MetroPark. It was nice! Pastor Kevin blew the amplifier, so he had to do the sermon “unplugged”. And included one joke about how Jesus managed to speak to 5000 before amplification. But we sat out on lawn chairs under the trees next to the lake. Then had a nice picnic afterward. Tons of really good food. And I got baptized! I’d been thinking about it anyway, but what better day than Independence Day?? Most of the other 9 people brought bathing suits, but I just went in my clothes. Handed my phone & camera to Randy and that was it. Oh yeah, we just walked over to the beach & waded in! So we had a huge audience, even if most people probably didn’t realize what we were doing. It was a glorious day!

I'm behind the large glowing white woman.

Monday was the parade in Clawson. It just so happened that a couple days before, Gerald, the guy in charge of staging, just happened to call Randy at the last minute & as if he could round up some hams to be stationed along the parade route. He did it, tho! He rounded up 8 people (including me!) and set us up along the route & in staging. It was pretty neat. I got to argue with an old man who wanted me to move the barricade so he could get out onto 14 Mile and go get some medication for his wife. Sorry Charlie! The parade route is closed, go around. I should have stayed there and gave him the evil eye, because I think he moved it anyway. Oh well. I got to go up to an entry & tell them to hurry up, too. They had too big of a gap in front of them, so they needed to get the lead out! So after the parade we all went over to Gerald’s Mom’s house for another picnic. There we gladly went home & vegged the rest of the day. I was really surprised to see Linda & Angel there. They apparently left “up north” at like 0530 to get there. Wow!

My first event badge!

Me!

Angel wants to run away and join the circus because of these people.

I don’t know what the deal is this year, but someone let off maybe 5 or 6 M-80s over the course of the day a few weeks ago and now Jack is scared of loud noises! That day he followed me around and cowered all day. I felt sorry for him at first, and then it got annoying. He didn’t like fireworks or the fire trucks with their sirens going! Neat.

So Tuesday I’m back at work (bored because I’d gotten all my work done Friday) and I get a call around 3:45 from Terina, the owner of Pnut’s dance studio saying due to a “scheduling conflict”, her summer classes got changed to Tuesday nights. She asked me if I’d gotten her email about it – but the email was mostly about all the fitness classes she’s offering now and mentioned that the 5-10 year old age group classes had been changed. So I deleted it because I didn't think it applied to us.  Well, Pnut was still tired from being up north & was crabby, and not enthusiastic about dancing right away. When we got to the studio (late because I didn’t know when her first class started now), the only 2 girls in the class were maybe 7 or 8. Angel was not a happy camper. She did NOT want to dance with the little kids. Even tho Desiree told her that there were 2 or 3 others her age who would be there next week, she refused to go in. So I sat out in the lobby with her (she was upset and I was mad, but now I understand why she was offended) to make sure she went into jazz afterward. She calmed down & was OK for the next class, so I left her. I know she wasn’t the only one who was ticked about the change. Another girl’s mom came in and saw Angel was a bigger girl, too and asked me what was up with the change. IDK! Anyway, when I went to pick her up, she told me that Terina wanted her to go in Wednesday for that ballet class. And it was exactly what I suspected. All of the “better” dancers were there. Terina should not have put age groups as the classes. She should have put beginner, intermediate, advanced, etc. I think these girls would have been a lot less offended to be put in the “intermediate” class with a wider range of ages, than to know you’re going in the 5-10 year old group. Grr. But I think she’s over her snit now. I’m still not happy about Terina blatantly keeping all her ‘good” dancers together and treating the rest like chopped liver. Oh yeah, and then Terina wanted her to take ballet again before comp team try outs in August, but since I’d already paid for 3 classes, she didn’t charge me for ballet.  That news didn't add any joy to the girl's demeanor!  I'm sure next week she'll be more prepared and ready to dance.  I know if I'd spent several days staying up really late & being all hot & sunburnt, I sure wouldn't want to dance, especially in 4 classes!

But anyway, we have survived. I think Pnut and I are going to watch Lisa Lulu ride in her first horse show Saturday, but other than that, it’ll be a quiet (hopefully!!) weekend. Next week Randy will be at the Mid-Michigan MS150 bike race. No other real big plans for the summer. Hoping to go to the UP before school starts up again!

But I have incentive to get my butt back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon! It’s called a trip to Mexico in February! Woohoo! And the 2.6 pound loss I had today ~faint~ helped a lot! We don’t have any solid dates as of yet, but we’re most likely going to Riviera Maya, and all inclusive resort real close to Cancun. I’m pretty excited. I now have a vacation playlist on my iPod = Margaritaville, 10 Rounds with Jose Cuervo, 2 Pina Coladas, Redneck Yacht Club, etc.

6/22/10

Aaah! Home at last!

We’ve been busy since I posted last. Let me see – the weekend of the 11 / 12 / 13 Randy was over in Holland working at the West Michigan MS150 bike race. He had a bunch of late nights prior to that, getting trackers ready and whatnot. Last Wednesday the 16th was dress rehearsal for Angel’s recital. Thursday was the recital. Wednesday was a half day of school for her and Thursday was her last day, so I took half days off work, too! I also took Friday, Monday and today off, too! We left here Saturday morning and drove down to Dayton to see Terry & his fam. So we just got home around 2:30. Currently Randy is napping & Angel is in front of the TV – you know she went several days without watching any!!

The recital was really good, as usual. Pnut messed up slightly in lyrical – oops, but did really good otherwise. Something was extremely funny during ballet, since she was cracking up thru most of the dance. But she looked really good! She was keeping time with Sarah (the studio owner’s daughter who is really good) during the spins & such. Very nice. Hiphop was just a neat dance. It was a mix of probably 6 songs and each one they danced to differently. Jazz had a very Caribbean feel to it. It was just fun. There were technical difficulties during the finale and it was cut in half. The sound just went out. But all the dancers improvised and hurried up & got into their ending positions for when the lights came back up. I had 3 other favorite dancers. One was a tiny little 3 year old black girl who was just too cute for words. The next was her sister who was probably 5 – she really got into the music and most of the time did her own dance – so funny! And the last was the only boy in the recital (there was a grown up guy, too) He was in 4 dances & they worked it so he got to dance with each girl in the class for a few steps. He was pretty good, seeing as it was his first year. I’d say he was 8 or 9. I hope he sticks with it! I know his sister dances at the studio, too. The grown up guy was at Ford Field with them for the Thanksgiving Half-time show. I seem to remember him being called Carlos, but he was in the program as Charles. Anyway, he is of the extreme feminine persuasion – if you catch my drift – but he can dance! He did “Nasty Girls” with the rest of the adults & even wore “Pink” sweatpants from Victoria Secret !! Funny!

Aw crap, I was going to upload pics from dress rehearsal, but it seems to have stalled.  At least I already got her costume pics on here!

Thursday was a crazy day for me. I was supposed to leave work at noon, and go right to a dentist appointment for a check up (I’d gone in 10 days before to get a sore spot checked inside my mouth and had gotten a prescription for antibiotics) Anyway, I was working my butt off & got a call from Angel around 945 that she’d forgotten her art portfolio at home and needed it for her final. So I had to run home get it & take it to the school. So that meant I had an extra 45 minutes I had to make up after my appointment. Neat. Anyway, by the time I got all I needed to done, it was almost 2 before I left on my half day.

Friday was a punishment day for Angel but I didn’t torture her as much as I planned. She had asked to walk home from school with her friends on the last day. I told her no at first – since it was recital day. Its 2.7 miles which would be tiring in the heat & humidity. Then I said OK, but she was not allowed to wear flip flops. She had to wear real shoes. So she had on jeans & carried a sweater to put on over her tank top in class. I got a call from her asking if she could go to McD’s for lunch! The only problem is that McD’s isn’t on the way home – it’s in the opposite direction!! So I told her NO and to get her butt home ASAP. She ended up going to lunch at Taco Bell not far from school with her friends & got a ride home from Patricia’s mom. So because she didn’t go straight home from school like she said she was going to do, she had to go with me on ALL my errands Friday. She (finally) got lunch at McD’s out of the deal, so I wasn’t too mean to her. And she got out of going to weigh in with me, since I’d let her sleep in after being up late after the recital. But she went to my eye appt with me, thru the car wash & to stop by KFart to pick up my vitamins. Then i chose to wait for Randy to go to WalMart & to drop Jack off at the kennel, so she got a reprieve.

So we met the fam at Mom’s at 9 am on Saturday. We had room in our car, since we only had the 3 of us, but everyone else (Mom, Laurie, Lisa & Catie) all chose to ride with Linda. Pppft. OK by us! We ended up getting to the hotel about an hour before Linda, and were able to get the only available room in our block, so we were already in the pool when everyone else showed up! Once they got checked in, we went to Terry’s house (cute place with a ton of space located on the side of a hill above the river – with 2 back yards! One right behind the house & the other down a path by the river bank). We went to this cemetery where Erma Bombeck & the Wright Brothers are all buried until they closed & kicked us out, and then we went to the Mexican restaurant with the giant margaritas. I set the trend & only got a 16 ounce one – that’s what everyone else got, too. But 2 of those on an empty stomach was a bad choice. But my grilled tilapia tacos were really good! Then we went back to the hotel & went in the pool.

Sunday we went to this giant flea market called Trader’s World. That was an all day excursion! It was huge! But we got some fun stuff. Catie got a pair of stress balls that look like boobies. So those made a few appearances. We stopped at one of those old time photo places & got Angel’s pictures taken. They loved her! We ended up getting a leather portfolio with an 8x10 and 4 3x5s and 2 more 5x7s and a sheet of wallets, plus the CD & copyright so we can make as many copies as we want. Oh yeah – that was Father’s Day, so we got Randy a new Mr. Bill to replace the one he left in Arkansas, A DVD of the Jeff Dunham TV series & a pound bag of Tim Horton’s coffee. Mr. Bill & his girlfriend Pat, the crazy cat lady were quite the hit. Sunday night after dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse, we went back to the pool & Terry emptied 2 little bottles of hotel shampoo into the hot tub while it was bubbling. It was pretty funny! It was like a weird family bubble bath! By the way – it still bubbled last night!

Not my favorite setting.

This is one of her favorites!

Monday we braved the rain (& Waffle House for b-fast) and Terry took us on base to the Air Force Museum to see the Presidential Exhibit and the Research & Technology Exhibit. Personally I like the Research part better. You could really see where the current aircraft started from. It was like airplane evolution! And we could go thru Air Force One that carried Kennedy’s coffin, etc. They had it all blocked off with plexi-glass so there was only a really narrow walkway thru these planes, but they’d put dummies of the Presidents in there and FDR scared the crap out of me & Laurie. The walkway was really tight & we had just compared it to a funhouse with all the twists & turns. We had just stopped in a passageway next to the bulkhead of the plane to look back at Linda & when we looked in front of us, there was the FDR dummy & we just weren’t expecting a see a body, so we both screamed.  Moving on, this was cool because there wasn’t hardly anyone there, with it being both a Monday and being on base. When we went to the regular Museum, it’s open to the general riff-raff so it was more crowded, but not too crazy. It was really cool. There were 3 huge hangars to go thru & they had it broken up according to era in time. From the Early Years, to Vietnam & Korea, to the Cold War. There was the Aviation Hall of Fame section, one on the Holocaust, a section dedicated to Bob Hope, and a Space gallery & missile area. It literally took all day to go thru this all. Here’s a really cool map…. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/podcasts/index.asp  I don’t think I could have done the actual podcast, since we preferred just to go thru at our own pace. We had dinner at this bar & grill called Tank’s. The food was excellent, but MAN there was a lot of it. We just got burgers & stuff. Angel got a PB&J Club, which she thought was pretty neat.

I'd make an awesome first lady!

Yes - I laid on the floor in the middle of the museum.

Apollo

Sputnik I

Mr. Bill at Tank's

So anyway, it was obvious everyone was tired, since each night we were there it got tamer. Saturday night much alcohol was involved and we were all rowdy & loud. Sunday night wasn’t as much so. Last night we went in the hot tub because it felt good after all that walking, but we didn’t stay there long.

Terry, me, Linda Laurie

Mass Spoonage

The kids - Lisa, Angel, Catie, Alex

But we’re home now. Aaah! I don’t know why it just so much nicer to sit around in your own home than in a hotel.

So back to work tomorrow. At least I should be busy, since I’ll have 3 days of stuff piled up waiting for me – And it’ll be a short week, too! Angel will be going to the Club. Catie offered to keep her for the day, but I hadn’t heard anything more about it, so I’ll stick with my plans. ARRL Field Day is this weekend (I may go make an appearance at the Weather Service with Randy, but I won’t do the whole weekend), Lisa’s recital is Friday, and sign up for Angel’s summer dance is Monday the 28th. This is a requirement since she’ll be trying out for the competition team in August. She thinks she’s going to concentrate on tap & jazz but is going to take a technique class, too.

Whew – I need to go switch out laundry since I sorted thru the bag from Ohio right on the kitchen floor outside the laundry room. And we have very little food in the house, so I’ll have to figure out something easy for dinner until I can go grocery shopping tomorrow. Yay!

Later!

Stained glass window in the Museum - "Lord Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly"

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain"

Gives me shivers!

The Defcom levels

6/2/10

Depressed.  I just need to bitch & moan some then I'll be fine. 

This morning around 1:30 am, one of the teams at my work was in an accident.  It's just horrible, since I knew both drivers! 

http://www.ksat.com/news/23766817/detail.html#story

I just watched the clip for the first time - there's nothing left of that truck, except the chassis & some wire.  I've been doing some pretty serious praying since I heard.  I didn't know Hardacre very well, even tho he'd worked there for 5 or 6 years.  But I knew Gallagher well.  He had a herd of kids, the last I think can only be 4 or 5 years old.  When things were better at work, he was always telling us about the jewelry he bought for his wife.  He was the Hare Freight Union Steward until it was absorbed into Point.  Then he opted to go over the road.   I just pray, for their sakes, that it was over fast. 

It just seems lately that I've really been conscious of my own mortality.  I don't know why.  I am thankful for how blessed I am.  Family, health, life, etc.  All are good!   Just recently, Randy went to help Fred clear out a storage unit for the widow of a ham who passed away last Decemeber.  She had no idea what to do with all that equipment.  I'm afraid I'd be the same way if anything ever happened to Randy.  Sure, I'm licensed & I have my own mobile and portable units (and can use them) and I would probably keep using them until he says I need an upgrade!  But I don't know what kind of rig a person is using just by the antenna on their car, as they drive past at 80 mph!  So yeah, I'd have to call in more dedicated reinforcements.  But why should I even worry about that???

Sigh.  I don't know.  Guess I'll go round up the dog & give him a bath because he stinks.

5/30/10

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

It’s so nice to be able to have a day to chill tomorrow! Angel didn’t have school Friday, so I took the day off, and spent the day getting the house presentable (and applying weed & feed and grocery shopping and putting dance pics in frames and random other stuff here & there). Saturday I had to re-arrange the living room, since the console radio and its adorning plants were in front of the window where we put the A/C unit. Then took Angel to dance, made another trip to the grocery store & the hardware store. 2 people that Randy graduated with came over with their families for a visit. We actually had a really good time! Hannah & Ron were really nice. Hannah’s hubby, Dave, grew up in Sterling Heights and his parents only live maybe 2 miles from us! Their son was perfectly happy in front of the TV.  Ron & Wendy drove up from Indiana for the afternoon….sort of an impromptu Smackover Buckaroo Class of 1985, north of the Mason Dixon reunion. Almost 10% of the class was there (they only had 39 in their class!) Today we went to church, then over to Aunt Jenny’s for a BBQ. We didn’t leave there until after 8 pm. We had a good time with the fam.

Randy, Hannah, Ron

me, Randy, Hannah, Dave, Wendy (with Dixie) and Ron

So the plan for tomorrow is…….veg!!! OK, changing sheets & doing laundry, but that’s it!!  Maybe spending some quality time out on the patio under the awning with some nice sun tea and a book....or I may drag out the coffin to paint it!  I will get that done sometime early this summer!!  It's calling for rain in the afternoon, so the awning will be welcome.

I finally got the girl’s dance pics yesterday. They’re awesome!

Ballet

ballet (yes - she's in mid-air)

Hip-hop

Jazz

Lyrical

Wow, not a whole lot has been going on otherwise. We got an email about Pnut’s ballet & jazz classes being extended up until the recital as of last week. An extra 45 minutes of ballet per week and 30 minutes of jazz. The ballet drill instructor is a real stickler, so she’s really “polishing” them. And jazz is just a super fast song, so the extra practice must be welcome. There had been talk about extra hiphop practice, but no one ever said anything more about it. Guess they got it together.

Pnut owes Randy 2 car washes – I took her out a week ago Friday looking for these rubber band bracelet things that EVERYONE had. So of course every place we went to was sold out. The last 2 places, a CVS and a Walgreens told us that they were getting trucks in Saturday morning, so I volunteered Randy to take her. Darn if that little turd got offended when we told her she could use her own $$ and then take Randy to Tim Horton’s for breakfast!!! She said it was a waste of $$!! I will totally remember that line & use it on her when she wants me to get her something.  So Randy bought her 2 packs of these cheesy bracelets and she has to wash his car once for each pack and had to pull all the weeds between paver bricks on the patio to cover breakfast. Took her an hour and a half, but she did a really good job!

Funny story while she was doing that. I was around the side of the house, pulling weeds in the flower beds when she called me – there was a strange dog in the yard and Jack wasn’t on the run because I’d been playing ball with him. So he’s out in the back with a huge put bull. But the pit was just standing there while Jack sniffed him. Jack turns deaf when his nose is working, so he didn’t come when I called him. I kept calling and calling and this pit bull circled around like he was going to come to me. I finally got where I could grab Jack’s collar and the hose to spray the visitor. So he left. He seemed friendly enough, never made a single hostile moment, but we don’t need strays in our yard! So when I was in the front, I saw the neighbors had the pit on a leash and a Shelby K9 unit was over there. I get the impression someone else in the hood had called the cops about the dog running loose but the neighbors knew who he belonged to. Angel said she saw that dog out & about all the time going to and from the school bus. A little while later, she took Jack for a walk and came home to tell me that she heard the neighbor’s calling the pit bull (who was doing full body wiggles while the cop was petting it) and his name was Jack, too! No wonder the poor dog looked confused, I was calling his name, but shooing him away!  But I'm so glad he was friendly, since Angel wouldn't have stood a chance if he went after her while sitting on the patio. 

Anyway, I’m getting tired now. These early mornings are catching up to me now, so I think I’ll turn in!

Out!

Joe was all up in our new grill!