Saturday, August 30, 2008

I've been in New Jersey..

Yeah, in case you were wondering where I disappeared to the other day...I was in the Garden State. Late Wednesday afternoon, Same, Emile (Emile is the french kid that Sam stayed with this summer...they got along so well that they invited him to stay with us for 2 1/2 weeks so he could improve his English. He leaves on Sat.) and I drove over to Rockaway, NJ to spend the night with his Grandparents. We used the new GPS system and it worked great but it had us get off I-80 a little sooner than we should have and we ended up traveling 10 extra minutes because of stop lights. We had dinner with Bubbe and Zadie and eventually went to bed. LOL...I had a strange little fellow in my bedroom, holding a beer can. Wait, wait, it gets better...lol, I made the mistake of checking to see if he had any clothes under his long beard and I about fell over laughing. Who knew Bubbe and Zadie would have such a well endowed doll in their guest bedroom. I was going to tell them that I had a hard time sleeping because of the strange man in my room...but I totally forgot.I wasn't going to post a picture of that thing...but I knew nobody would believe me if I didn't provide photographic proof. Well, that and the fact that it reminded me of the thing I made for my friend Steph many years ago. I took nylon stockings of many different shades and with the help of some batting and a needle and thread, I created a whole jar full of multi sized "man parts". Yep, and I put a label on it that said, "Steph's Pickled Peckers." She loved it. I wonder if she still has it. I'll have to email her and ask her. I never got a picture of it. Hey, it was before I blogged. Anyway, back to the Jersey trip. Thursday morning we got up early and drove to Princeton to tour the University. It was a lovely campus and Sam said he would definitely go there if they accepted him but only if Harvard rejected him first. Oh, interesting enough...if you watch the TV show House, in the opening credits, when they show the hospital House works at....its really an aerial view of one of the buildings on the Princeton campus. WE are big House fans around this house so Sam and I were impressed. After we ditched the Princeton Experience...we headed to SIX FLAGS GREAT ADVENTURE in Jackson NJ. Hello! Roller coasters! Need I say more. 
 
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This picture is of Emile and Sam on the Superman ride. We'd already gone on it and it was the last ride of the evening...I decided to skip out so I could go buy The Rue a Six Flags T-shirt and pink Superman cape. That and I had to admit that I'm getting old. After all the rides we went on...I started to feel the effects and was slightly nauseous. We went on a ton of rides and some of them more than once. My favorite was the Nitro ride. OMG...the drops on that ride were awesome. Oh and get this, the boys talked me into going on a water ride. You know those giant spinning rafts that travel down a mock river and though rapids. I knew before I went on that I'd get nailed and they'd stay dry-ish. Well, I think we would have been OK if it wasn't for the bimbo next to me announcing really loud that she wasn't going to get wet. I looked at her and about shouted, "NOOOO! You just jinxed us! You were supposed to say, 'I hope we get totally drenched!'" I could have beat her. So, guess what happens. I get totally drenched and the boys are barley wet. Emile managed to stay dry except for a spot the size of an orange. Sam was maybe twice as wet as that and my entire left side and entire back were wet. Yep, we are talking dripping wet. I had to ring out my pants and shirt...that wet. I was freezing my a$$ off and it took a good 6 hours for me to dry out completely.

We left Six Flags after 9 PM. We turned on the GPS and I thought it was so strange that it was taking us down these crazy back roads and highways with street signals. I thought it knew a shortcut to one of the parkways or interstates....and perhaps it did but I got sick of passing signs for them and not getting on them so I just jumped on the Garden State Parkway and let it reset. Why should I drive 45-50 when I could get on the parkway and fly, right. Everything was great until I Got across Staten Island and over the Verrazano Bridge. Bam! WE hit traffic. Come to find out that they are in the process of repaving the Belt Parkway and they had it down to one lane of traffic instead of three. Yeah, that backed everything up for miles. Then Sam had his ipod playing though the radio when he fell asleep. Suddenly his song list ended and the radio came on and blared, scaring the holy crap out of me and not two seconds after that the car in front of me decided to slam on his breaks, thus causing me to act fast. I mean, seriously, I was no where near him but he locked his breaks up, we are not talking a tap, he stood on that break and came to a complete stop. I still can't tell you why. I could see the van in front of him and it kept moving as well as the cars on both sides of him. Needless to say, I passed him as soon as I could.

HOLY $#!%

Sam scared the bejeebers out of me this a week ago. He was driving the van, I was perched in the shotgun seat, as required by the NY State law. In his defense, he rarely scares me. He's usually a pretty observant driver and he doesn't drive recklessly.

OK, we were at the Music store and he pulled out onto Old Country Road by taking a right...which you have to do at that exit. No problem, however we wanted to go to Borders Books and Music which was in the opposite direction. There was no way he could get clear over to the left to take the next right so he pulled into a catering parking lot to turn around, that way he would have the light to make a right turn. This is what I would have done also. That intersection has a street that ends on Old Country Road and most cars turn left or right, so you don't have to wait forever for traffic moving though the intersection, atleast at that time of the day because the business wasn't busy. So, our light turns green and Sam pulls out into the intersection and starts to turn but there are two people walking across the street in the crosswalk. I totally noticed that he was looking at the guy who had passed him but not at the guy still crossing and walking right into his path. I said...while pointing, "watch that guy." Sam doesn't change course or slow down, I started shouting, "watch him, watch him! BRAKE!" and I'm doing all this with my arm streached out, pointing directly at the guy he's about to nail. Luckily when I yelled "STOP!" He did and then he said, "OMG, Thank you for saying that because I didn't seen that guy at all. I was watching the other one that was passed us." I said, "I could tell...Oh, and thanks for the heart attack, I really needed one of those." He stopped about two feet short of the pedestrian, who gave us the look of death. I don't blame him, I would have too. He had the right of way, after all. Plus everyone knows I get annoyed when cars don't yeild to pedestrians in cross walks.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Happy Birthday Raine!

She wouldn't let Snow White spill the beans but she can't stop me... My friend Raine is 34 years young today. She might try to convince you that she's far younger, but don't you dare fall for it. She looks to good for her age to start fibbing about it.

I have her present all wrapped up for her and now I'm just waiting to hear when we can get together. (Mental Willing: PLEASE CALL SOON! PLEASE, PLEASE...and the phone will ringggggg.....NOW! Shoot! It didn't work.) I just to called her cell phone and sang "Happy Birthday" to her! She asked for it! Scuttle or no Scuttle sounding voice, I sang my little heart out. I don't do that kind of thing for just anyone and that's a fact.

The Rue...she never stops moving.

I think my Mom gets annoyed because I refer to my Niece and either The Rue or Rue Rue. I can't help it...my Dad does it as well. You know, The Rue is no ordinary kid. She's larger than life and thus needs a larger than life extension of her name. Thus she is "The Rue" because there is no one quite like her, she's an original but I call her Rue Rue when I'm being more playful...and because frankly, I like it. The Rue is a go-getter. When she's around, she doesn't stop moving and she's always alert, always on the look for something different. For example, she walks into my Parents bathroom, stops dead in her tracks and points to the new rug. "Yes, MeMah put a new rug down in her bathroom." That is explanation enough. Then there was the time that she walked into the kitchen. Her MeMah usually hangs the damp towels up on a rack above her sink. That day MeMah hung the towel on the stove handle. Rue walked into the kitchen, saw the towel, pulled it off the stove handle and pointed to the rack above the sink, so MeMah would know that it was in the wrong spot and put it back where it belonged. The girl has a sense of order...or a little OCD, but only time will tell on that one. I think the Rue's motto is "Play hard!"She loved all the rides at the fair. At least,the ones she could go on. 
She loves hanging out with her PaPa. You know, its almost scary that they get along so well. What's not to love about Papa... he teaches you lots of things that MeMah and Mommy wouldn't even thing about.  
The Rue is a visual learner. When PaPa was fixing her push trike, she had to get down and check out exactly what he was touching and how he was doing it. She knows what a screwdriver is for and if she gets her hands on one, she goes straight for anything with a screw. Then proceeds to try to dismantle...aka fix it. 
The Rue loves to draw and color. She even gets PaPa and MeMah's neighbor, Jesse to draw pictures on the patio so she can help color it in.  
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Monday, August 25, 2008

Happy 35th Birthday Tisha!

I'm pretty sure that she will hunt me down and do a great deal of damage to my body, when she notices that I posted this picture for her Birthday. She hits hard too. Well, HEY...you only live once and its not like she's not going to get over it. Shoot, she'll probably get even. No, I know she will. Oh well. Happy Birthday! Tisha~ I did try calling you...but I was forced to sing into your voice mail. I know it was unusual punishment...but it had to be done.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Tutto E Possibile

I was sitting in the car, waiting for the boys to get their rears in gear...just twisting my ring around on my finger, when I suddenly realized that I never shared the joy of my new ring. Yep, after months of asking me what I wanted for my birthday, I finally found something that called to me, so The Leaches bought it for me. On the outside it says "Tutto E Possibile". The translation located on the inside says: "Anything is Possible". I wear it on my left hand ring finger for fun. Yep, I figured since everyone has given up on me ever getting married, I should subtly remind them that you shouldn't count your chicks before they are hatched...maybe my chick just takes a little longer to incubate. Let's face it, I have never been the kind of person you can rush. I just get cranky and stubborn. Yeah, its not a pretty sight. Anyway, I don't always wear it on my left hand ring finger...because it could easily resemble a wedding band and that would defeat the whole purpose of the ring. That would be what I would consider a backfire of my plan. Anyway, I love the ring and I'm going to make sure I have it on the next time I'm home and Donnie Gottula says to me, "Let me see that hand." Then when he goes on to say how disappointed he is that there isn't a engagement ring on it, I'll explain what my ring says.

I'm still waiting for the next person to lean over to me at a wedding and ask if I'm next...because the next funeral I'm at with that person, I'm going to lean over and ask if they are next. I know I won't be able to keep from smiling but it will be worth it.
Your results:
You are Mr. Scott
































Mr. Scott
80%
Uhura
75%
Geordi LaForge
75%
Jean-Luc Picard
70%
Beverly Crusher
65%
Chekov
60%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)
60%
James T. Kirk (Captain)
55%
Will Riker
50%
Spock
49%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)
45%
Deanna Troi
45%
Worf
40%
Data
35%
Mr. Sulu
30%
You are a fun-loving foreigner with an
amazing ability to get any job done on time.
Often described as a "Miracle Worker".


Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

Tuesday, August 19, 2008




You Are the Innovator



You're the type of person who is always a step ahead of everyone else.

You thrive when you're experimenting with new designs, ideas, and attitudes.



You are a creative person with many talents. You have to have artistic outlets in your life.

You need to create - whether it's writing furiously or redecorating your home. If not, your life becomes chaotic.



You tire of doing the same thing every day. You change your job, friends, and personal style often.

You are at your best when you have a focus. If not, you develop a flaky artist's temperament.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

More Baby Beau pics...

My Cousin and his new baby Beau. He looks like a happy Daddy, doesn't he.
Billy, Beau and Crystal
Little Beau...he sure looks happy, doesn't he. Probably because he knows how much fun he's going to have growing up. He's got a lot of Uncles and great Uncles to teach him all the bad stuff. Look how big his hand are! I just noticed that.

I bet there are people thanking heaven that there are not more than one of me....lol!


HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere is
1
person with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Friday, August 15, 2008

As Promised: Meet Beau James Kaster


This is my Cousin Billy's little boy, Beau James Kaster! He was born on tuesday August 12, at 5:19 p.m. he was 7 lbs and 13 ounces and was 21inches long. He has his Daddy's nose.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

New member of the family alert!















I heard through the grapevine that my cousin Billy and his wife Crystal had their baby boy yesterday, August 12th. It was a boy, named Beau James Kaster...and that's all I have for details right now. More to come...I've requested a picture asap.
Who knows, everyone in the family may know before me...as I'm in the doghouse right now. Long story.

Figures...it used to be my favorite too.

Monday, August 11, 2008

There's nothing like a summer garden....

Do you remember me mentioning the prank I was saving for my next visit to Nebrasky? If not...you can read about it here. Sometimes things make more sense with a back story behind it. Then again....that doesn't always apply to the things that I do.

OK, anyway...a Beer Garden magically spouted in my parents new neighbors yard. He was actually in Omaha because he only comes down to work on the house when he can. They gutted the house and its coming along pretty quickly but they don't have the kitchen and bathrooms done yet. Anyway, that is neither here not there...what counts is that Chuck is going to come home to a Beer Garden growing in his front yard. It's amazing what a person can do with some old beer cans, a few sticks, a handful of artificial flower leaves and a glue gun. I even had a little help with the project but the guilty accomplice will never fess up. I told my crime partner that it was OK to deny any part of the planting. After all, I don't live there and I don't have to spend my days worried about what would show up in my yard.

In case you have never seen a beer garden...here's a gander:
OF COURSE I put it in the FRONT YARD....REALLY close to the street so everyone could get a good look at it when they drove by. I'm sure by the time he shows up in town, everyone will be talking about it. Ahhh, when that happens...my job is a success! Just between us...if I could have scrounged up more beer cans, I totally would have filled in the entire front yard. For Christmas, I'm giving Chuck a HUGE bag of beer bottle caps, aka Beer Garden Seeds, along with planting and care directions. Oh yeah, that's going to show up on his doorstep from "Santa."

Chuck should just be happy that I didn't sneak over and write my initials in his new concrete patio. I would have only used my first and last initials because they are the same as my Dad's and he would have gotten blamed for it. I joke about it, but in reality, I would never do that...its to destructive. I'm onrey, not mean.

Rue, the Artist

The Rue Rue likes sidewalk caulk. If she isn't drawing on herself, or putting rosie cheeks on her "Baby" Bear. Yep, she calls him her baby. I actually started something that I believe my Sister is going to have to explain to the gals at Rue's daycare. You see, Rue Rue likes to rock in the rocking chair while you sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." I don't sing the Merrily part though, instead I sing "Through the "Baby" overboard and listen to it scream." Uh, yeah, so now if you try to sing the song the correct way, Rue Rue looks at you like you are annoying her and shakes her head to let you know that you are not doing it right. When you sing my version, she's very happy and if "Baby is near, she drops him on his head and screams. It's not a loud scream, but its a scream all the same, just made with her inside voice. Ah yes, the trouble that I cause! Actually, I spoke with her on the phone the other day and she wanted me to sing, "Row, Row." So, I did and she'd scream then she'd say..."Row,Row!" and I'd sing it again. This went on for quite a while before she decided it was time to press buttons and her Mommy took the phone away.
Boy Baby Bear...aka Huckleberry is looking kind of motley. Must be from all of his trips around the washing machine.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Tricked you, didn't I!

Nope, I'm not back from my vacation. Nope, not at all. So don't even expect a real post from me until next week sometime. I'm only posting this now so people will not believe I have fallen off the face of the Earth. Uh, well, Nebraska...its kind of the same thing, isn't it. I'm headed outside to clean out the garage and then I have to create another flower bed on the south side of the house. I had Rue this morning and she's with her other Grandparents now so that we can get some things done before Sat...We have the Rue again tomorrow. Her Mommy doesn't know it yet but we are taking the Rue for a hair cut...just a trip really. That kids hair grows so fast and her bangs are in her eyes again. Who knows, maybe we'll just go for a Mohawk....kidding.

My Mom is at her physical therapy appointment right now so I decided to waste a few minutes on the computer. You have to be sneaky to get any personal time around this house....lol. No not really, because I'm the reason I have so much work to do when I'm home.

I hope you are all happy and blogging up a storm. I'll catch up when I'm back from my trip.