Should mention

I should mention that today my mom retired from her business. It is no more, done and done! Except the cakes she does on the side....

I made a sign for her on Power Point (better backgrounds than Publisher) that she put on her business door. It looks like a wood sign, (as much as it can on computer paper), and says, 'Gone Wishin'' Cute eh? It was her idea... I thought it was perfect!

I hope that she enjoys her retirement, she deserves it. She's worked hard her whole life.

It's a good time for me, as I have more time to spend with her, hm, I hope I don't bug her...

I know that she is having mixed emotions, and I hope that she doesn't regret it, because she should have done this years ago.

She's starting off retirement with a church related dinner, (whoopee!) and then she is visiting her brother in the States for a couple of nights. Good for her!

Nothin much

Not much is new or exciting around here. Billy is on call and is working late, and today I cleaned the house, (big surprise).

While I was busy today, my thoughts kept returning to a recent post I read on a site where I lurk.

She mentioned that her X had recently broke up with his girlfriend but are now back together trying a 'trial engagement'. This has to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of. I should mention that there is a child involved so my lurkee has a definite interest in any relationships her X may have...

If anything, engagement period of a couple is a wonderful time when a person thinks that they could possibly burst with love. A time when the couple is very secure in their relationship and moving forward together and planning their lives. A 'trial engagement' to me means:
a) neither should be secure, or beaming with happiness, as any real commitment is negated by the word 'trial'.
b) one person is perhaps trying to appease another with a false sense of moving forward.
c) if they can't fully commit to a real engagement resulting in a successful marriage, why do they bother with the 'trial'? it's not like trying on wedding dresses to see which one fits best...

I could go on, however, because one thing leads to another, here are some more thoughts along the same line...

In my life I have seen many relationships come and go, (not all just mine...). It's funny what an outsider might see as a red flag, or deal breaker, while the people in the relationship try, (or don't) and fail...

I knew a woman who was miserable in her marriage, (4 kids), her husband asked why, and she said that she couldn't be happy unless they had a bigger house. Their little home was too crowded and stressful for her to live in. He had a huge addition put on, and she was gone with the kids within a year.

I know a guy who was kind of a flirty playboy before he got married, and his wife left him because she couldn't take his playboy ways. Hmm....

I know of a couple who split up for a short time, now they are back together and selling their home to buy another. I'm sure that will solve their problems, especially if it's more expensive, because financial strain is helpful in rocky relationships... (sarcasm) We'll see how that one ends.

People often create excuses for their unhappiness that have nothing to do with the problems they actually have. Happiness, (the Doctor is 'In') comes from yourself. Being happy with another person is about compromise, commitment, understanding, communication, and acceptance.

"And that," said Liz, "is that."

Zen and the art of plant maintenance

I've been cleaning, (although not Friday) for the past two days, as if expecting, (although I'm not thank God) a visit from Queen Clean herself.

I can only rationalize this binge by knowing that I love our house, and I like to live in a peaceful place, free from the black crap that appears mysteriously on the bottom of windowpanes, without crusty unidentifiable food chunks stuck on the inside wall of our fridge, and sans cobwebs connecting the lights hanging above our kitchen island, (quite a feat I must say, we have industrious-college-graduate-with-advanced-engineering-degrees-arachnids).

Really I guess my recent rampage is because things can only annoy me for a limited time before I have to do something about it, including climbing to the top of an 8 foot ladder, armed with only Windex and a squeegee and without a safety net.

Do I have any real concerns about the self-appointed-Queen-of-clean-but-don't-look-in-any-draw, closet-or-cabinet, who has recently rediscovered the lure of partying and is possibly not so concerned with cleanliness coming over? Nope, but I do inadvertently think of her when using a toothbrush to clean our kitchen cabinets.

Someone once told me that they don't have any plants in their house because plants are dirty. Well, of course this is a direct slap in the face, (intended, trust me...) as we have at least 30 indoor plants. I agree, plants can be dirty. They attract dust like nothing else in the house. They constantly need, trimming, watering, dusting, rearranging, fertilizing, etc. (at least when you have 30+ it feels that way...) So when cleaning (usually limited to Fridays...) I always find myself poking at the plants, pulling away dead leaves, cutting off long tendrils and dusting them. Absolutely worth it, if you ask me. They add something to the house, but I can't describe what... or maybe it's how they make me feel... alive, connected to nature, a caregiver.

Some people claim that they can't keep any plants alive, and I've been there too. There was this cornstalk plant that I couldn't get to stay alive for anything. I had to let it go. It was suicidal I guess.

Well, I'm glad we have plants. I love them, some I've had for almost 10 years. I can tell you where every plant came from. I also love when our house is clean. I'm so grateful and very lucky to have the time to care for our house with all the plants. Life is good, very good.

Dis-encourage

I purposely, every day, place all four of the pillows on the love seat to discourage the Pooch from laying on the couch.

I think that she must find the prospect of cosying up in all the fluff quite tempting, because today I discovered this:

Could she be any cuter? I think not! She could, however, be skinnier... so could I....

Done!

I just finished the blog for Tennessee. It's nothing fancy, but it will save me the hassle of driving across the county to give someone the famous, 'book'.

Here's the link.

Better

I'm in a better mood.

Here's yesterday in point form:
- Cleveland won, it was a great game.
- We had spaghetti and meatballs with homemade bread. It takes Billy several hours spread over 2 days to make the dinner, and it is eaten within 15 minutes. Good job.
- MomG came over for dinner, my mom was babysitting a few houses down, so she missed out.
- I went to bed before the Eagles game ended, Billy gave me the highlights at 4am.
- The Eagles almost beat the Patriots. That would have made my day.
- There is no longer a junk drawer in our house.
- Hot tub is 102* and feels oh so good, wish we were in it while it was snowing...

Here's today in point form:
- Go to Staples, Home Depot and Old Navy, (ink, gutter extension, shirt). Luckily I have a gift card still from the summer for Old Navy.
- Leftovers for dinner.
- Watch Heroes.
- Finish Tennessee blog damn it.
- Hoping for hot tub.
- Make appointment for oil change.
- Make doctors' appointment.
- It still smells like meatballs in the house despite what Billy says.

Tough life, eh?

Cranky

Yep, I'm cranky.



Great coffee, quiet house, beautiful morning, but here I am, focusing on one little, iddy, bitty thing.



Why do people try to be what they are not? You know what? I know where you were raised, where you live now, what you do for a living, and about 243 of your insecurities. Why do you act holier than thou, better than the rest, the self appointed person of knowing it all?



Until you examine every facet of your life, you have no right to insult any person, place or thing.



It's maddening to see such snobbery, when there is so much room for self-improvement. I think that if you are going to live above people you should do something to have the little ones in your life look up to respect you.



Still cranky.

Extreme Hangover - Thanksgiving Edition

It was a great night. The dinner turned out perfectly, with the exception of the turkey being done 3 hours after we expected. But it was good! Veggies good, stuffing excellent, (rave reviews) gravy from a can with fresh mushrooms good, and Boston Creme cupcakes good. I am a genius in the kitchen! (not really...)

I suffered the next day! Too many Long Island Iced Teas, ugh, never again.

Can't wait for next year and upcoming holiday funs!

Hiya

Happy American Thanksgiving!

We're at home with Luke, JohnnyB, DaveM, Davey, Billy and I.

I hope that we're starting a tradition.

Best to you all,

Liz

Disturbia

I was just rooting through some stuff and came across some crayons and slightly used colouring books that I received a long time ago from someone with kids.

Many, several, *most* of the pictures of people (including but not limited to the Three Wise Men) that were coloured, the eyes were scribbled in black.

Weird.

I wonder what kind of issues these kids have... does it mean something? Any kid psychologists out there? Anyone care to guess... I found the images very disturbing...

I did not know that

Good God, I'm naive.

While walked the pooches around the barn today, my brother, (we'll call him John), was at the back of the barns screwing around with his large collection of crap, mostly metal, shiny things. As I haven't ever really had a conversation with him, (aside from 2 months ago when he talked at me for 25 minutes regarding his ideas for selling reverse osmosis water systems, of which I couldn't care less about), I simply said, 'anything new?' He asks me if I have seen his new card. Seeing as he recently opened up a business, I incorrectly assumed he meant his business card.

He handed me a hard plastic card that looks like it's well worn, and I notice 'Health Canada' on it, I flip it over and there is a picture of him and the title 'Medical Marihuana' official something or other.

What do you know, I didn't even know these things existed. Apparently, according to the card, he can even grow up to 15 plants. Hmm, so nothing has really changed, just now it's legal.

Hm, I didn't even know that he had any 'real' heath problems, he says that his central nervous system got messed up during a kidney stone episode. I immediately wondered, but didn't ask, if possibly a central nervous system could get screwed up from smoking pot daily for 25 odd years... I imagine it could...

Anyway, whatever. At least he works and is productive, not to mention that he has contributed his brilliance to the genetic pool with his 4 offspring, (great kids, really, surprisingly, so far, cross your fingers...)

He told me now that when the 'cops' see him, they are totally just like, 'have a nice day, man.' I'm so proud of him!

Very exciting

Normally, as a tradition, Billy would skip out of work on US Thanksgiving Day to go to the Lion's Head and watch football. I bet he's been doing it for at least 15 years.

This year he has decided not to, because, as he said, last year, 'it sucked'. Well, I was there and it was certainly nothing to get excited about. Half the people you want to see don't show up, and I guess, all good things come to an end.

So, as opposed to driving 1/2 an hour to get home from the bar after drinking for several hours, Billy and I are going to stay at home and watch the games. The exciting part is that I am (with Billy's help) going to make a turkey dinner. Very cool.

I have never by myself made a turkey, and Billy and I only have attempted it once, (quite successfully I may add) and that was in about 2001 when we lived in the cottage. In the summer.

So, I'm going to pre-make the veggies and stuffing on Wednesday, so all will be left is the potatoes, gravy and obviously the turkey.

I really wouldn't be making this if it wasn't for the fact that we've had a smallish turkey in the freezer for year, which Billy won, oddly enough, at the opening of a pizza place in Essex, (Chochi's).

We'll see how it goes! I guess I be celebrating my American Heritage twofold!

Football Sunday

Yesterday's plan was to relax and watch football. Luckily, we live in an area that our TV antennae can receive not only Detroit channels, but also Toledo and occasionally Cleveland. (Crazy, I know...)

Billy flipped the TV off the satellite so we could watch the Browns play in Baltimore on a Toledo station. It was a pretty important game as they have the same record as the Ravens, and also because Cleveland doesn't seem to get much respect...

It was a great game, Cleveland was totally dominate into the 3rd quarter, very much like last week when they played Pittsburgh, but then blew it, as they did last week in the 4th. Against Pittsburgh, the kicker failed to make a 53 yard field goal, (it was against the wind) which would have tied it, which would have resulted in over time, and the possibility for Cleveland to beat the arch rivals and evil bastards otherwise known as the Steelers. Well that sucked.

So yesterday, while pretty much giving the game away in the 4th quarter, (they were leading by 14 believe), they were down by 3 points, with a few seconds left and Cleveland had possession of the ball. The kicker, Phil Dawson had a chance for redemption. As he kicked, Billy and I held our breath, then the ball veered to the left, hit the upright, fell down hit the crossbar and bounced back towards the playing field... The Ravens fans went nuts, game over, that's not good! But wait! Did the football cross the bottom bar before hitting the support and bouncing back? As the coaches shook hands and the players rushed the field the kick was being reviewed. Unheard of, really.

It was good! They go into overtime!

Then Phil Dawson came through again, with a great kick for a 3 point win.

That is why I love football, and the Cleveland Browns... With the Steelers losing yesterday, Tennessee has to lose tonight to Denver, and the playoffs are a becoming a reality for the Browns! (Says Billy) Can't wait until next Sunday!

Saturday, part 2

Saturday morning I cleaned out parts of the office closet as well as the filing cabinet. Billy slept in, and when he got up around 10, he was on the computer searching for a new guild on WOW. He was kinda crusty saying that it was our last chance to go golfing as the course was closing for the season on Sunday.


I mentioned to him, that although I would love to golf, it was lightly raining and a balmy 39*F. Not exactly preferred golfing weather.


I continued on my organizational mission while he continued to talk about golfing, and he finally made the executive decision at about 1pm to go golfing. So we did.


We were, without exaggeration, honestly, truly, without doubt, the Only Ones On The Golf Course.

There have been times when it has felt like we (either Billy and I or Kiki and I) were the only ones on the course, but rest assured, when it is 39*F and raining, we were the only ones out there.

Good God, what a great time. We brought some Belvedere (you must say it like 'Belle Va Deer') and OJ and an unnecessarily large bag of ice.

When Billy sliced his drive on #4 and ended up almost on the fairway of #6, I yelled 'FORE' and we laughed pretty hard. We also made several comments like, 'should we let these guys play through?' or 'this group in front of us is really slow!'

Oh yeah, we're comedians... we also said things like, 'my drink is warmer then the air', 'I wish someone would invent chin mittens', 'Good thing we brought all this ice', 'we should have brought brandy'. Okay, okay, you had to be there...

We finished the night with Chinese take out, but when we got home, the Chinese was left untouched in the bag as we thawed out in the hot tub.

It was a great night, and a fantastic way to end the golf season. Did I mention it was the first time I beat Billy this year? and obviously the last. Oh well, he had a happy ending anyway...

Yesterday, part 1

Yesterday morning, I totally got into cleaning out the file cabinet. I emailed KT asking about tax information, what to keep, what to toss, and apparently it is okay to throw out tax information from 1991. That's right! My dad kept detailed records of me, including photo copies of driver's license, any credit cards, car ownership, you name it! If it was flat, he photocopied it. The apple doesn't fall...

So that was fun. I found report cards from grade one, a Kindergarten diploma, high school graduation pictures, plus an entire file with drawings, hand made cards and other stuff created by little kids. My dad made those files too, and that's that, because I've bawled about it in the past and don't want to sap out now. I kept them.

I discovered old essays from University, exciting topics such as "Gobineau and the Rise of the Theory of Race", or "The Oppression of Puritans in England: The Reasons Behind Migration" or what about "Stressemann's Performance as Foreign Minister". I'm able to lend these out if anyone is looking for compelling reads, because, yep, I kept 'em.

All in all, there is about 15 inches of stuff to be shredded, (private real estate stuff, anything with a signature or phone numbers, etc.) approximately 300-450 cards, yes cards. Cards from our wedding, our first house, our second house, birthdays, Christmases, V-day, sweetest day, S&BJ day, condolences from when Billy's dad died and when our first pooch died.... also not going to get into.... I kept some of the cards, don't ask me why... There was about 15 inches of recyclable paper from my real estate files, some french appliance manuals, (I don't know how they snuck in) 25 inches of continuing education material, 5 inches of Billy's old investments.

There's more, oh so much more. I'm glad to be done that little project. I think the reason it was so bad was because I had a filing cabinet when I was about 14, (of course I wanted it for better organization....) and when we received as a gift, a large 4 drawer cabinet, I just transferred everything without really looking, so there were some real gems in there!

Aren't you excited about part 2?

The big O

No, not that one, I'm talking about Oprah. I just finished watching part 2 of the show about compulsive hoarding. The whole episode made me feel downright ippy. I have to go clean a closet or a junk drawer, or... okay, there really is nothing else to clean... what can I say. Compulsive hoarding will never happen here...

I do however need to:

- Purge my filing cabinet of all real estate paperwork, (some goes back to 1996, but I had to keep it) time to go. That's a lot of shredding.

- Toss, okay recycle the mountain of continuing education paperwork pertaining to real estate. There has to be 15 inches of paperwork, and I Don't Need It! Woo hoo.

- Organize our memento folder, (y'know, movie stubs, ticket stubs, the odd stolen menus, etc...)

- Give all gardening magazines to SuprT and BW, (they have new houses and are probably itching to get started on landscaping, T is not quite in hers yet...)

- Get rid of all the gaming magazines. Seriously they are Billy's and there is a ton of them.

- Toss out old filed bills from 2006. I'm pretty sure I totalled them all up in the first week of January, time to shred

- Clean out the closet in the office entirely, oh oh, I'll take a before picture...

Yikes! Now that I've really looked at it, it's pretty nasty! This is the worst drawer in the cabinet

Why do we have stuffed animals in the office closet? Apparently it's a good place to store mirrors and some framed pictures. There's a shelf from Ikea from like last year that I haven't put up yet... Hahaha, I like the rubber band workout thing hanging with the bows, of course those 2 things go together! Duh!

There is way too many magazines, but I have to say that my photo albums are nicely stacked and labelled, (so is every picture, by the way)except the new pink one on top. I also like my paper tray, and portable file carrier with different paper types and computer ink. What is with the creepy mini chair? That's got to go!

I have some work to do... I can't wait!

Oh, that's funny...

So because one thing leads to another, and sometimes I get lost in cyberspace... I read the lyrics for our national anthem. No surprises, it turned out I did know the English version.

I then read the French version, and was stumped (embarrassingly) on several words. I then copied it and pasted it into 'Google translate'.

Here is the English version:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Here is the French version:
O Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Here is the "Official" translated version of the above lyrics:
O Canada!
Land of our forefathers
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
As in thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
Will protect our homes and our rights.

Here is the "Google translate" version:
O Canada!
Land of our forefathers,
Your forehead is surrounded by glorious jewels.
Because your arm knows bear the sword
He knows how to carry the cross.
Your story is an epic, the most brilliant feats.
And your values, faith soaked,
Protégera our homes and our rights.
Protégera our homes and our rights.

I like the the forehead surrounded by glorious jewels... faith soaked... that's funny!

Oh, Canada

Our home and native land.

Did you know that I don't know all the words to our national anthem in English? About half-way through I switch to French, and because I don't really understand or speak much French it ends up like a gobbly-gook mess of made up words.

I do know the Star Spangled Banner, thank you sports programming...

Do 'they' play the anthem before golfing events? I've never been to one, I can't imagine that 'they' do, but 'they' should... anyway...

Yesterday Billy (not his real name, didja know that?"... we named the dog Indiana..." anyway...) called to inform me that he got his flu shot. The doctor, who is otherwise known as the greatest doctor in the world, is a friend of Billy's boss and popped into the shop yesterday morning and handed out flu shots like left over Hallowe-en candy. Hm, how nice.

I'm not going to get into why I have never gotten a flu shot, that's not what this is about...

Basically flu shots are really easy to get here; walk-in clinics, municipal events, grocery stores, anywhere really... oh, and they are free, always free. When there was a huge shortage of shots a couple of years ago, and the American media was creating a panic, (they would break into programming to tell viewers that 46 shots were available at the Downtown Seniors Center...) we Canadians were being poked regularly and had a nice little surplus to send stateside.

I'm getting to my point, but there is a twist at the end...

So, not to get into an and US vs. THEM rant, I just want to note that that is pretty cool. No, not everyday a doctor walks into a grimy mechanic shop with a happy box of needles, (he also is a regular at Kurley's and has been known to pop in there injecting burger lovers and beer drinkers as well...) but here's the thought...

As You May Well Know, our health care is free, so our system happily makes flu shots readily available. Yay! Immunizing citizens keeps them from getting sick. It keeps employees from becoming ill, so they can be productive members of society. In turn, it keeps these people out of hospital emergency rooms and clinics, which saves the government huge money. That's right, spend a little, save a lot! Smart! The same interest that wants us to be healthy, also has a direct financial benefit.

So, our crazy overtaxed socialistic system right? Please hold.... I just dug up Billy's 2005 Notice of Assessment, (of course I knew it's exact location...) and he was taxes 27% of his income. That's not bad for all we get.

I golfed with a 25 year old cop from Nashville and his father-in-law in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. This young guy has a son with serious medical problems and actually had a partial heart transplant, (part PIG heart... crazy!) and spent a ton of time in the hospital. The total medical costs? Seven! Million! Dollars! Could you imagine not having coverage? He did, thank God...

Okay, so now the twist. Growing up we didn't have prescription, dental, or eye coverage as my parents were self employed. It wasn't until I married Billy (not his real name... haha) that I have coverage, (except the crap coverage while I was in University...but anyway...) that I had coverage, and it makes me think...

Until then, I'd been paying for birth control for, well, let's just say... years... and while in high school I knew a girl, (there was more than one, but this is the best example) who became pregnant. The government paid, obviously for her pre-natal care, and hospital care. She then moved out into her own apartment, which the government paid for. She paid rent, fed and clothed her and her kid and went to high school, sponsored by Canada taxpayers. Once done highschool, she went to college off and on, (long enough to re qualify for mother's allowance) worked under the table, was able to buy a car, great clothes and wonderful, expensive Christmas presents for her kid and her boyfriend. This went on for 12! 12! 12! years.

And I had to pay for my own birth control pill.

Hmmm, I don't think the government *quite* has it right yet. A few hundred dollars worth of free medication VS. 12 years of good living...

Still, God Bless Canada, oh, and you too, US, I still love y'all.

From nowhere

You might know that I consider myself to be a little OCD, in a good way of course, the way that keeps me doing the things that I don't necessarily want to do, but if I don't it makes me anxious and for lack of any word, my word is 'ippy'.

So yesterday's plan, because I need a plan... was to:
(yes, lists in point form relax and medicate me...)
- clean out the garage
- move the outdoor furniture into the garage
- throw out some junk
- vacuum, clean the leather, windex, etc the car (it is part of the garage in my brain)
- wash the car (at the auto place, can't stand doing it by hand...)
- drop off photos at Costco
- Grocery shop at The SuperCentre (this was a little hard for me to think about, because it is not my usual food store... and normally I shop on Thursdays... take a breath...)
- Buy Brie cheese, chicken and ground beef at Costco and pick up the developed pictures

These things didn't happen.

Instead, at 11am while I was knee deep in dust Billy called to tell me that it was a beautiful day, and to see if perhaps I was interested in going golfing, as he was interested in playing hooky and hitting the links.

So, suffice to say, we teed off at about noon. The garage got cleaned, but the car did not, so obviously things are not right in my world right now. I better go before I get more ippy.

By the way, I would like to mention that my husband is only 400 gold from buying his Epic Mount, (that's World of WarCraft for those who are not familiar with the terminology...) I'm so proud of him! Wank wank.

Feels like Tuesday

I don't know why, but it really feels like Tuesday...

Anyway, Kiks and I golfed 18 holes today, and despite it being nearly mid-November, it was 60*. Unbelievable. I golfed pretty much my handicap, taking at 94, I'll take it, not bad, could be better, great to be out. What a life I have...

There are many great events popping up in the next couple of months that I'm really looking forward to... fun on the horizon. So let's talk about the ugly.

Did anyone happen to watch football yesterday? Good God, what happened? Out of the 14 games played, only like 4 of the favored teams won. It was bad. Poor Cleveland had a tremendous lead going into the 2nd half then they totally blew it. With this in mind, here is a list of things that I 'don't like' and 'make me mad' - hate is a strong, bad word...
- Ben Roethlisberger
- Heinz Ward
- The new Detroit Institute of Arts commercials, so annoying
- The fact that 97.1 is now a sports talk station, only D&D in the morning is non-sports related
- That evil dark haired psycho bitch on Prison Break
- The guy that hosts 'The Soup' on E channel, it would be a better show without him
- If you know me, you know who this line is dedicated to... 'nuff said, hahaha
- When people rant about how great someone looks, but it's because they've had plastic surgery
- The freakin' bears on Charmin bathroom tissue commercials. It drives me crazy to imagine a fat bear sitting down, leaning up against a tree taking a crap. It would be all up their back and down their legs, kinda like that chick at the wine fest this year... hahaha
- Hearing about Britney Spears every day, especially on 'news' shows
- Nicole Kidman is looking really unnatural and distinctly not good...

That's enough for now, feels good to be bad!

Fall

It certainly feels Fall like today. Gloomy, windy, and very few leaves left on the trees. It's a perfect day to stay in, watch football, then venture to MomG's for a prime rib dinner. Good day.

Yesterday was good as well. Billy and I went golfing at Sutton Creek, for perhaps the last time this year. Davey joined us and we had some drinks and laughs, (I golfed terribly, my back swing was wayyyy too fast, no control...) and came home to a nice steak dinner.

I have so many things to be grateful for. Life's good...

House in TN

Okay, here's the disclaimer: I'm so glad people rent our house in Tennessee. We have to rent it out to make it financially viable to own. The US bills would cripple us if good, nice people we know didn't rent it. If it is rented about 7 weeks a year, the US bills (except taxes and property owner's fees) are all paid for. We love renters.

But, jeez people!

Whenever I get there, I always look around to see what is different since the last time I was there. Since I was there in June, there was about 4 different groups of people, here are some obvious things I noticed:
- The wine opener, the only wine opener in the house is gone. It is simply not anywhere, because I spent a lot of time looking for it, and guess what? I didn't buy a new one.
- The indestructible plastic blue mug has walked off. Did I mention that it was my favorite mug? Also 2 of the blue mugs are gone, but I'm sure there were broken, as I noticed that one had a cracked handle.
- Someone bought a pair of Bass shoes. They left the shoe box. Thanks.

No big deal really, but here are some more things that make me shake my head....
- 2 huge empty water jugs. I guess that someone thought that these may be useful. They weren't.
- A huge empty jug of vinegar without a lid. Perhaps it could be useful if it had a lid, but it didn't and it's not.
- 2 empty cans of bug spray. Did someone think that another person may have magical powers to restore the contents of the can? I know I don't.
- In the closet where an enormous plastic bag houses hundreds of empty plastic bags, (which I recycle at the WalMart, it's a tradition for me...) I found jammed in there several broken plastic hangers, and multiple tags for g-string underwear and some bras. Thanks. I like sorting through that kind of thing.
- Batteries that don't work. If they don't work for you, they probably don't work for me. There is a battery tester in the same drawer, feel free to dispose of them yourself.

I could go on, but let's discuss the fridge for a moment... Please house guests, (yes this is in the 'book') please, please look in the fridge before you go grocery shopping. We have ketchup, we have mustard. If you look in the fridge and are unsure if the mayonnaise is still good, then pitch it and buy another, don't leave the questionable mayonnaise and buy another. As long as there is some edible mayonnaise in the fridge I won't be upset with you for throwing out the bad stuff. This also applies to: Barbecue sauce (5 containers), mustard, (2 regular, 2 Dijon), ketchup (2, both Heinz), salad dressing (2 Italian, and multiple other kinds), 3 containers of margarine, 2 strawberry jams, 3 mayonnaise, 4 soya sauce bottles, I could go on... Needless to say, I throw a lot of things out when I'm there...

Howabout the spice cupboard? I think that if a spice is so crusty is doesn't move in the bottle, that it is probably pass due. So if you deduce as such and purchase another jar of garlic salt, feel free to throw out the other one. You can do it. I give you that power. The same applies for any and all other spices.

If a tube of toothpaste (which we typically don't brag about supplying, but if one is left there and you have forgotten yours, then feel free to use it) is empty for you, it will probably be empty for someone else. If there are 2, (yes 2!) empty tubes of toothpaste, an empty box of bandaids, empty shampoo and conditioner bottles, you can throw those away too. Also, although I can appreciate the need for feminine hygiene products, I want everyone to know that you shouldn't feel the need to leave boxes and boxes and bags and bags of the products under the bathroom counter. A few should do. There are enough pads and tampons for year. Seriously... it's getting offensive and odd.

Basically, in one week I threw out 6 garbage bags of junk. There is no recycling at all in this area, so I feel tremendous guilt about it, but then again, it's their town and their county that are the irresponsible morons that don't implement the system... I did find and was able to recycle a huge box of cardboard.

Still, through all my frustration and amusement, it is totally worth it, and feel free to book it for a week anytime...

Two funny pics

I have learned to keep my camera handy while traveling. Here is a picture I took in Kentucky on 1-75 coming into Cincinnati, Ohio. This was the fastest part of the morning rush hour I was stuck in.

This is a picture of 'Butter Jesus' (aka 'Touch Down Jesus') it is a HUGE statue-type structure emerging from a small lake in front a HUGE church in Ohio, near Dayton. It looks like this Jesus was carved from butter, (not my original thought, there is actually a song about this thing) Very strange. Next to Trader's World, a huge flea market, in case you're interested... Only in America...

That's all for now.

So much, so little

I have so much to say, I think I will try to post whenever I have a couple of minutes... no, I'm not that busy, but I do have things to do, and as I'm not the world's fastest typer, a short post can take a long time...


So, first of all, about Tennessee. I want to talk about people/eating habits/fast food/shopping, of which I have discussed before, but I'm always taken aback when in Crossville.


One morning, in a shopping adventure, I decided to check out this one store that is going out of business, I think it's like a Kohl's department store, (it was closed anyway...) and that route takes me past Hardee's. I don't think that we even have Hardee's here, we have Harvey's which is pretty damned good fast food, and a staple of mine in University due to $1.19 bacon cheeseburgers, and good soup... but anyway... It was about 8:30 local time, and the Hardee's parking lot was absolutely full. The drive thru had at least 35 cars it in. Unbelievable. I know that they have a breakfast burrito, as I heard a commercial for it every 30 minutes, so I guess that's the draw... crazy.


On the way to the Super WalMart, I had to pass Rally's (which we don't have) McDonald's and BK. Guess what? They were all packed!


This is an area that is not rich, let's see according to City-Data.com, the average household income in 2005 was $25,100. Yikes! But it seems that everyone can afford to eat out for breakfast! I know that some may say that it is easier and more cost effective to eat out than make breakfast at home. Let's say the average fastfood breakfast is $5, (X 5 is $25, duh), well I'm pretty sure a box of cereal is $3, and milk is $2.50, and five bananas is $2, and a carton of orange juice is $2.50 and if only consumed at breakfast the cereal and OJ will last more than a week... total: $10, not to mention incredibly more healthy! You can buy a box of instant oatmeal with 8 servings for $2!


So what is the deal? Laziness I think... Also maybe a feeling that a person 'deserves' to treat themselves. I can imagine excuses like, 'I'm too busy to make breakfast'... but you have the time to sit in your car for 20 minutes in the drive-thru, wasting gas, not to mention if you had to drive out of your way to get that particular fast food outlet.


Around here, A LOT of people go to Tim Horton's. It's addictive, but not as expensive as American Starbucks'... only $1.37 for a large coffee... I can sort of understand that, as it mostly is just coffee, (ask SuprT) and it is also an important Canadian social custom (someone brings the coffee in, people meet at Tim's, or even the fact that the drive thru employee is the wife of a childhood friend... etc, etc..) still, Timmy's is not something I indulge in anymore than once a month... of course more when I was working... see, there's the excuse... It can cost a lot of money when you add it up... not to mention your time, the gas, etc. (Often I write etc. when I can't think of anything else to add... you got me!)

Back

I'm home, it was a most unpleasant drive home. It wasn't the weather, it was stupid drivers, traffic jams, and not having the heat quite right in the car. I really shouldn't complain.

I'm glad to be home! Can't wait to see Billy, and poochy, chat, hot tub, eat, watch some shows and hang out.

More tomorrow!

Miss me?

Well I'm not home yet. I'm at Mega Bites cafe just outside Crossville Tennessee, on a sticky keyboard, slowly connected computer in a restaurant that smells so strongly of greasy food, that I fear this stank may stay on me to the mall I'm planning on visiting. I had to do my football picks... although I can't watch any of the games... unless I head to a bar by myself.... in Crossville... me thinks not.

I would have a fairly lengthy entry, but I really fear my lung health.

I hope you all are well, and I shall be returning home tomorrow, when I shall share lots of observations of TN people, and random thoughts that occur when one spends a week in the woods by oneself.