Photo's From Weekend

I have just a couple of photo's to share from the weekend.

My sister actually thought we needed to put 70 candles on my mom's birthday cake.
That made me giggle.
We didn't have a fire extinguisher was the only thought going around in my little head.
They put as many as possible on the cake and our mom sure did blow them out quickly!

I have no idea what my parents are laughing about here but they found it hysterical.

Yes it's blurry but I love this picture so I added it.

And they're still laughing.

Here are 2 of my favorite people below. Yes they are sisters. They look alike don't they?

That's about it. I threw my flip cameras in my suitcase and I never checked the batteries.
So I didn't get any video. I also didn't take a single photo. One of the girls in the photo above did all the photography. It was a busy day.....making sure the food was always full, the drinks flowing, mingle, mingle. You know all the stuff a misanthropic person just LOVES to do. :-)

Here is my sister Jenifer. She is holding my flip and realizing her idiot sister forgot to check the batteries.

But my favorite picture of my sister Jen is when we were in NYC.
This is in her PJ's and in the morning in our hotel. This is so her!!

In other news.....
Rick and my dog are still really suffering with allergies.
I am just waiting for my turn. 
I am also a bit fearful of this weather.
I know, I know, I sound like my negative familiy
Peg, why can't you just enjoy this positive 80 degree weather in March?
Well it's weird. We went from wearing a parka immediately to shorts and t-shirts.
I missed jeans and sweatshirt weather.
I fear July and August.
July will be in the 100's and in August I fear we'll just all blow up.
Just sayin'.....

My Weekend Trip to my Hometown.

Well I'm back.
It was a whirlwind trip and it is good to be home.
I was running, running, running and it's good to just be still.

I will start with the weather.
Now having warm weather down here in March is one thing.
But to have warm weather in March in Erie Pennsylvania is just damn weird!
I was thrilled beyond belief that they did not have their annual snow blizzard over St. Patty's day but it was odd.

This event to remind you all was for my step mom's 70th birthday party that her 5 daughters did for her.
My sister Jenifer did most of the work.
She and her husband busted their butts for this event.

Now the negativity of my family was in full force.
And if you don't find the humor in it all it will drive you mad.
My sister Jen and I can laugh at most of it. But some of it can also drive you up the wall.

One of my sisters was to meet me to pick up the food we had catered.
As I got out of my car she said, "Are you wearing that? Is this supposed to be a dressed up affair?"

"Hi Pam, it's so good to see you!" I was trying to ignore her but she won't let up.

"So do I have to go home and change now?",  she asked in a bitter bitchy tone?

I took a deep breath and said slowly, "Pam whatever you are wearing is perfect. There is nothing that is wrong or better than anyone else. Wear what you are comfortable in. I am wearing a skirt because I am most comfortable in skirts than pants these days.
You look good in that color and there is nothing wrong with what you are wearing."

She rolled her eyes. God how I hate when people do this passive aggressive shit.
But I ignored her. Pam loves to live in a place called victimhood. It's where she is comfortable and unless she is making everyone else feel terrible she isn't happy.
I wasn't going to buy into it.

But she was still in a 'mood' so as we were waiting for the food I asked if she was mad about something else. She said, "I'm pissed but I guess I'll get over it"
(oh please!)
So I bit - "What are you pissed at?"

"I wanted to be more of a part of this whole thing."

"Pam I called you when we decided to have this catered for your thoughts. You were then in charge of the cake & helping me pick up the food and we are all splitting the costs. What else did you want to do?"

"Well I was off work all week and I could have helped more."

"Well did you tell anyone you were off  work and you had time?  You could have called Jen who lives in the same town as you and say, I'm on spring break this week and I have time to do more do you need any help with anything? No one knew you were off this week."

"Well I texted her and I guess she just ignored them."

I said, "Well you told me you didn't get my text or my 3 voicemails so did you ignore them?"

"No. I told you I DIDN'T GET THEM."
"So why do you assume she ignored them? I am sure she didn't get them and seriously you could have picked up the phone and called her since it isn't like her to ignore them.
 Jen would have answered you if you she heard from you.
Pam everyone had the jobs they were to do. We didn't know you wanted more."

She threw her hands up in the air and said, "forget it, it's over and I'll get over it."

Oh my goodness a 53 year old drama queen.
I am so serious when I say this woman has never ever been happy a day in her life.
I don't get it. She exhausts me. 
How does this party end up being about her? And once again she is a victim. Poor Pam.

My Step Mom was surprised. Not completely, she had an idea because one sister had to make a deal but that too is typical. But what surprised her was who was there. Her brother from out of town made her cry. She was shocked to see me and the women she worked with. So that was nice. She seemed to genuinely enjoy herself.

I think it went over well. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the party. So it went well as far as I could tell. The women that my mom works with all thanked we girls and said such nice things and were complimentary. I looked at my sister and said, "It was so positive you can tell they aren't family." We had a good laugh about that one.

I was near the door when my step mom and dad walked in and we yelled SURPRISE.
My father walked over to me and hugged me and said, "It's nice to see you again"and he walked away.
He said it so strangely like he didn't know me. I pulled away and looked at him and he was walking away. I didn't even have time to register it all. I know I was standing there with my mouth open when my cousin Frank said, "Oh my goodness he didn't know you.  Are you okay?"
I remember nodding but honestly this hit me like a ton of bricks.
Then when my father was about 8-9ft away he turned around and was shaking hands with someone and he looked at me and said, "OH MY GOD PEGGY'S HERE!" as though he saw me for the first time and he came over and gave me a 'daddy' hug and kissed me and told me it was so nice for me to be there.

I have to say I realize he's 84 and that time is limited.
I know he is a pain in the ass. But he is my father.
And I admit this was killer for me. I see him being so frail now and not this big burly man he was.  Him not knowing me was weird, scary and uncomfortable.

My step mom when told of this the next day just poo-poo'd it.
She said he was confused because this was a surprise for him too.
She kept saying, "you know how he is in that type of situation etc."
I am not sure if she is delusional or she was trying to make it better for me.
Either way I saw it, I felt it and I didn't like it. 
I don't see him except a couple times a year and each time he looks older and more frail.
It sucks to get old.  God I hate it.

I don't have time today to upload the photos. I'll share tomorrow.
So good to be back home. 
As Dorothy says in the wizard of oz, "There's no place like home!"
I am so feeling that today.

The Chew....Can you hear me Gordon Elliott?

I absolutely love The Chew!

My husband and I watch it daily (it’s on our DVR)
After work as I am slicing and dicing we sip on wine/cocktails as I prepare dinner & we watch the show.

I love the mix of hosts.
I love the mix of foods, yes even the vegetarian ones, who knew?
I enjoy the topics and tips as well.
We have made many a recipe from the show.
This winter Michael Symone’s spicy creamy tomato soup is my husbands crack.

I would so like to be on The Chew.
Yes, this is high on my bucket list.
May I be allowed to be a guest star?
Okay, so I’m not a star…..minor detail really.
How about just a guest?

Oh no, I don’t want to sit in cafeteria row but to interact with the “gang”
Be at their table. Share in the stories and food.
Please, just for a day?! It’s just a quick trip up to NYC from DC.
I’d pay my own way and be a nice polite and proper guest.

You see I have learned a lot since watching.
Clinton has taught me what not to bring as a host/hostess gift.
I promise not to talk with my mouth full.
I will sit back and listen intently.
I will only speak if spoken to.
I can contribute if asked but only if asked.
And if I am asked I can share a few funny and delicious food stories from my family.

Oh sure there would be a great deal of anxiety over ‘what not to wear’ when meeting Clinton.
But I think if I bring a bottle of Grey Goose for him it may soften his opinion about my clothing don’t you?

I’d hit it off with Daphne because I LOVE to drink red wine and we all know how it is loaded with antioxidants. She loves antioxidants – we’d be pals. I may not eat tofu but we can work around that minor detail.  She could be another little sister.

I am 100% Italian American so Mario knows how things were in my house growing up.
I never got to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich until I was an adult.
I was sent to school with salami, cappicola or prosciutto and no one would trade with me!
I was ridiculed beyond belief.
Yet my father would proclaim the exact thing to me that Mario does at the top of each show. 
He said that phrase so often my sisters and I had a T-shirt made for him.

Carla (from Top Chef fame) and I can discuss baking.
She and I both had a cookie company in our past lives.
Mmmmm….and her 10 gallon apple pie! My oh my!!

Then there is Michael Symone. Aah, Michael. Sigh
If you promise to keep it a secret I will confess here - Michael is my pretend boyfriend.
(Yes my husband knows this and laughs as well)
We also have a great deal in common aside from bonding over pork and bacon.
I too lived in Cleveland and I grew up in a small town next door in Erie PA.
I’m a Midwestern gal from a very ethnic family where it’s all about family, food and wine.
(And of course the plastic covering on the living room furniture)

See I can be one of the gang so easily.
Would you please be so kind as to allow me to be lucky enough to win this show lottery?

Fire Update and Assorted Ramblings

Update on the fire.....
We are hearing rumblings that the home that started the fire was about to go into foreclosure.
Could they have thought this was the answer?
I hope that isn't true.
I don't see how that would help them. It will be found out if that is true.

When I moved out of my parents home my father gave me 2 fire extinguishers.
He also gave me a ladder to drop out my window should I need to escape.
How funny is that?
Only my father.
Those were my housewarming gifts from my father.
I remember getting these 'gifts' and thinking, why would you give me these?
Now as an adult I get it.
At one point when my sister and I lived together I had the ladder in it's box sitting in my bedroom. She would joke it was for a quick get away for the guys I slept with.
(that made me sound slutty didn't it?)
I still have these too. Thankfully neither I, nor any of the men I slept with, had to use the ladder or the extinguisher.

My dog is having horrific allergy issues. 
She has runny goopy crusty eyes and itchy skin and paws.
I gave her 1/2 a benadryl today and she is snoring at my feet.
I feel bad drugging her but it's the only way she can stop the itching.
She seems so miserable. Add that to the tick bite on her tail and the poor thing is a mess.
We got the tick out and thankfully her medicine works because it was dead.
But she can't stop itching/biting at the area of her tail where the bump is remaining.
At this rate she won't have any fur there.

She and Rick are really suffering with the allergies this year.
I guess due to the warm weather it's worse for everyone.
Knock on wood, so far mine are mild. But give it time.
I'm sure once the trees officially bloom I'll be a damn hot mess too.

I will be going out of town this week.
I'm heading north to celebrate my step mom's 70th birthday.
I have a ton of things to accomplish here in the office as well as my home before I make this trip.
So I will not be blogging until next week.
But I am sure this many days with family will be blog fodder and hey, isn't that what's it about?
Either that or I kill them and you'll see me on CNN.
I think blog fodder and finding the humor may be the way to go.

Fire

As far as disasters go fire to me is the worst.
I can't fathom how scary and difficult this would be.

We were walking the dog on Saturday afternoon when we saw this huge billow of smoke in front of us. It looked to be several blocks away but it was big and black and scary.
We then heard sirens. We knew it wasn't a good thing.
We didn't want to walk over towards it and be looky loo's while fire trucks needed to get there and do their thing.
We waited to see if anything was on the news and it wasn't.

Later in the evening when taking Izzy out for her last walk we saw a neighbor walking her dog with her little girl.
While the two dogs were chasing one another she told us that her friends house burnt because they were next door to the house that started the fire. They were with them at a basketball game with their kids when they got a call to hurry home their house was on fire.

Can you even imagine how awful that phone call was to hear?
By the time they got to their home they had lost the 2nd story.
Thankfully the worse did not happen. No one was hurt.
All animals and people were saved. 

This morning Rick and Izzy walked over to the homes and he snapped a couple of photo's and talked to the neighbors.  The neighbors all praised the fire department and how quickly they got there and did a great job. Especially from saving other homes from  going up in flames.

This is what happened.
A woman was cooking something with oil in her kitchen.
It caught fire and spattered all over the place. So what does she do?
She put a dish cloth over the pan and brought it out to her garage.
As Rick is telling me this I am dumb struck - she did what??????

She went back into her kitchen to clean up the splattered oil and her garage caught fire.
By the time she noticed this her house was engulfed as well as neighbors on either side and neighbors a few doors away.

This is the woman's home who thought it'd be a good idea to put a dish cloth over flames and leave it in the garage.

These are her cars. What you can't see is that they are literally melted in spots.

This is her next door neighbor who got the call that their house was on fire while watching their son play basketball.

This is the neighbor of the woman who started this on the other side of her home.
Note the melting siding.

And this house below was 2 doors away from the original  fire. It too has melting siding.

Last evening when we were chatting with our neighbor and her daughter about the fire her  6 yr old daughter asked, "But mommy where will they sleep? Do they have any clothes that aren't burnt?"
When her mom answered her she began to cry.
I felt the same way.

Kids/No Kids

I have talked here before about being the couple without kids.
Mommies treat women with out kids like a bad virus.
When your friends are in their kid zone you are on the outside.
Suddenly they want to only be around people with kids.
We always understood that but didn't understand why they couldn't have both kinds of friends.
So they let their friends just go by the wayside.

I get it. I really do....to a point.
I also don't like to have to ask, "can you go out?" all the time like we're in high school.
I don't like to have to hear, "oh I only have 15 minutes then I have to pick up little johnny"
So why do you want to meet me then? What can we do in 15 minutes?
Let's just catch up by phone so it doesn't stress you or me.
I get you can't ignore your child, I mean I'm not an ogre.
So the friendship goes by the wayside just because the connection gets lost.
Besides friendships like marriage have to be cultivated and can't be one sided.

I've told you before that I only have one really good friend since 6th grade who we went through it all together. She didn't ignore old friends because she had children.
She included us all. Her kids were also in my life so long I have seen them from baptism to marriage.
She never said things, "oh I'm so busy with the kids I forgot to call you back.... for 3 months"
But I think a good key here is she didn't have a husband who sucked the life out of her but an equal partner. He didn't think staying with his children was "babysitting" anymore than when she stayed with her children it was considered babysitting.
He was an equal partner in every sense of the word.
I have come to the realization after all these years that this is the key to it all in this scenario.
Hands down!

She worked full time and raised 3 kids. She owned her own hair salon.
She is a marvel from what I hear from others.
I watched her juggle and she never complained when I asked her about it.
Her children are all great highly functional independent adults.
(both daughter's in the medical field, one a surgeon and one in occupational therapy management. her son is a supervisor at a roofing company)
So it wasn't like she turned out bad kids either.
I think I need to nominate she and her hubby for some award from what I see and hear around me.

That brings me to this new movie.
It's called 'Friends With Kids'.
It's about that one couple who watches all their friends become pregnant and they no longer have anything to talk about. 
I am curious to see how they play this out.
Will the couple without the kids be the mean couple?
That is normally how we are portrayed.
So I am really looking forward to seeing this movie.
It doesn't hurt that Jon Hamm (Mad Men) is starring in it and that his girlfriend is the person who wrote, directed, produced and stars in the movie.
I admit I find Jon Hamm how shall I say, hummina hummina hummina.

Right now I know a couple who were deep in diapers in their very early 20's and 30's.
When their kids were grown and out of the house they had no friends left.
So what do they do? Become bar flies. I realize in their small town there isn't a lot of things to do but really one must resort to drinking every night as entertainment?
If they aren't in a bar every night then they think they are acting "old."

When they were in their 20's and 30's we were all out traveling, being carefree, drinking and doing dumb things. I think they are trying to recapture something they think they missed.
Now they are in their 50's and behaving this way.  
At that age being a bar fly no longer looks good on you.
They think it makes them appear young.
They dress inappropriately and are aging exponentially due to all the smoking and drinking. They look terrible.
What is most sad is they feel they missed out on something but what did they miss really?
Or are they doing this because they have nothing left to talk about or share with one another? They perhaps lost something of "them" while doing the child raising.
I just find it sad and I want to hug them and tell them it's okay to be their age and they didn't miss a damn thing!

I don't want to relive my bar hopping partying days.
Who the hell wants to be 20 something again?  First time was bad enough.
I like my skin right where it is, well except for the wrinkly parts.

UPS Hell.

Yesterday I had to go to UPS.
I had several packages to ship.
The service was below sub par.
This woman is always there every time I have to go.
When Rick goes there he always gets her too.
We both dislike dealing with this woman immensely.
She has no right working with the public.
In fact this woman should be kept behind a cage....she is as mean as a snake.
In Websters Dictionary this woman's picture would be under the word RUDE.

Yesterday was my last straw dealing with this woman.
I had 3 packages.
I got 2 done by her and I took the last one to the post office so I could just leave.

I walked up to the counter to Ms. Sour Puss and said, "Hi. How are you?"
She glared at me and never smiled.
I said, "I would like to send these 3 packages, all ground please."
She said nothing.  She rolled her eyes though.
I wondered what the hell that was about.

When she told me the price of the 1st package I was startled.
I sent this a couple weeks ago and it was about $5.00 less.
I said, "This is about $5 more than last week - have the prices gone up?"
She snapped and did an eye roll, "they go up every year."
I said, "Okay but I sent this last week and it was $5 less than today."
She literally yelled, " DO YOU WANT TO SEND THIS OR NOT I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS."

Now there was only 1 man in the whole place. He was at the computer making a label.
It's not like it was Xmas and they were jammin'.

I told her I did want to send it.
Then in my professional kind voice I asked her, "Are you having a bad day or did I do something to upset you?"
She did not answer, she only rolled her eyes again. C'mon how old are you? rolling your eyes?

I said nothing more. I sent two packages and I took the 3rd one to the post office.
As she finished she threw the receipts on the counter. She didn't hand them to me.
I took them and said nicely just to show her how to be nice to people, "I hope your day gets better"
As I turned around the man who was at the computer was coming up behind me and he said, "she never has a good day!"
So apparently everyone knows this woman is a bitch who hates her job and lacks social skills and customer service.

This incident in the big scheme of things wasn't a big deal.
But it's constant with her. Rick has had issues and I have several times before.
This is why when we have to pick a shipper for Easy Restore we went with the post office.
I know, who the hell would think the post office would be where you'd get service.
But it was. Maybe because they need the business, who knows, but they were great and have been great so that is where we are keeping our business shipping needs.

We called UPS, FedEx and the post office when we knew we would be shipping Easy Restore. UPS and FedEx were not accommadating, and both were what I would call cavailiar about getting our business.
Granted we are small, but I know that in my former life as a sales executive I didn't treat my big clients any better than my small clients.
They all kept me fed and in a nice lifestyle. No one to me was better than another.
So I felt companies looking for my business should do the same when trying to sell me their services. They did not.
The post office sales people not only were great to use but gave us options.
They also gave a competitive price. Granted they need the business but thus far they have gone beyond the call of duty. I tell everyone because I believe every company out there should provide customer service. And damn good service.

I called UPS.  Rick insisted that I complain about this woman.
I felt that this incident was not her worst so why bother.
Mr. former VP of HR had a different take on it.
He felt that she never is nice and it's been ongoing for a year.
He and I both will go to another line to avoid her if possible.
Mr. HR thinks that she needs to be disciplined.
I don't want her fired, I want her counseled on how to provide customer service.
To greet a customer and to smile. Those things.
Mr. HR felt that unless I called and spoke to someone about this that will never happen.
I said I would think about it.

Then last evening while walking the dog we saw a dog neighbor who said he saw me yesterday pulling out of the UPS center and he said he waved but I apparently didn't notice him.
Rick told him about my encounter and he immediately said, "Oh my God isn't that woman a piece of work. She is like that with everyone. I hate dealing with her"
Rick looked at me and said, "See? you need to call"

So I called this morning. I spoke to her supervisor.
Sadly she didn't sound surprised.
She asked me some good questions and thanked me.
Will something be done? I don't know.
I don't want to get someone fired, I just want her to get counseling on how to do her job well.
Or else give someone who needs/wants the job for petes sake!

My Weekend

I had a nice weekend.
Mellow and nice.

It was my birthday as I said on Sunday.
That is where I will begin and go backwards.

At 5:00a.m. my husband is awake.
Apparently he had gotten up to pee a few minutes prior. 
The dog was stirring because she is up by 5:30a.m. and never a moment later.
For some reason Rick thought I was either dead or awake.
Because as he so nicely put it, "I didn't hear your soft purr so I assumed you were awake."  He leans over top of me as I am on my side and he loudly says, "Happy Birthday Babycakes." 

OMG. I was not awake!
Soft purr my ass.....I was fast asleep and he woke me up to say happy birthday? 
I said, "thanks" and rolled further to my corner to continue to sleep.
Oh no, Mr. Morning person was awake and by God we were all going to be awake. 
Now he is singing me happy birthday. 
I gave in, laughing on the inside because that is all the morning energy I can muster.
But there was no way I was now sleeping because that got Izzy excited and Izzy jumped on the bed. So now I have Mr. Morning Man and Izzy all over me.  I'm awake! 
Who does this to a non morning person? 
I'm Sybil on this topic, It was very sweet of him but the other side of me is, You can be sweet later in the morning babe when I'm awake! Boy morning people are annoying aren't they?
So now that we're all up and Izzy is jumping all over me it was time to start my day.

I got down stairs to a card on the island from Izzy and a gift.
What a wonder dog that she could sign this and pick out a gift.
And all without thumbs. It was beautifully wrapped too.
She could make me millions.

I told Morning Man to not buy me gifts.
I don't need anything and financially this past 18months has been the worst for us so I just didn't care about it.
But he didn't listen. What else is new.
He did do small things and I love them all.

Izzy bought me this great baseball cap with me and Izzy on the top of it.
It's not really Izzy and Me but it's exactly and I do mean exactly how we two sit on the stoop everyday. It is a stick person from the Life is Good brand.
It is a woman and her dog leaning on one another exactly how we do on the stoop.
I love it!!!  So bad hair days - I have my baseball cap.

Rick got me two NYY t-shirts which I had been whining about how much I needed since all my old ones are 4 sizes too big.
I got a gift card to this great bra store so I could get a new bra. YIPEE
Seriously I needed new bras and I love pretty bras.
And no I will not show a photo of my new bra.
All the gifts were so very thoughtful and nice and I loved it.
The rest of the day I was spoiled beyond belief and it was fun.
So a good birthday all around.

I did end up cheating on the ole diet. He bought me a cannoli.
I love cannolis. I mean what is not to love, cheese and sugar?  C'mon.
I worried about the diet but when I got on the scale this morning I was down another pound so apparently it didn't kill me. MY GOD WAS IT GOOD TOO!!!!

Rick is an enabler. You don't ever want him around you if you are dieting or you have an addiction because he'll say things like, "c'mon just one drink."
Or "1 cannolli won't hurt you it's your birthday." He makes me laugh.
You would swear he was my Italian mother and grandmother. You know how they are.
You say, "But I'm not hungry" and they said, "that's okay then just eat this sandwich." 

Saturday it was so nice out and after watching some Yankee baseball we decided to take Izzy out for some 'chuck-it' and a walk.
We went to the area where we "chuck-it"
If you don't know chuck-it, it just means a ball thrown very far with this tool that can really wing the ball. Izzy will then hunt for it in the woods. Wears her out and she loves it.
After that we walk for awhile.
We got up to the park near our home and it was small kid palooza.
I would so hate living that close to this park. Oh my it's loud.
I said to Rick that I assume everyone who lives in this area must have kids.
We without children would hate this noise and screaming as we're sitting on our patio sipping wine. Awful aren't we?

But ole Izzy girl was in heaven because everyone wanted to pet her.
You see there is a stone wall around the park. Izzy will jump up on the wall and walk around.
She did that as we approached the park and that brought out all the damn kids.
Here she is getting all the love and attention and kissing on this little girl who giggled the whole time. They were all so damn cute.
The kid in front with the helmet just rode his bike by and yelled, "Hey can I pet your dog?" We all laughed and said, "c'mon over"
I have never met any of these people before.
I only know Rick and my dog in this whole photo.
I have to admit that having a dog really makes an anti-social person be social whether you want to or not.

Friday Flashback

As I am prone to do of late, I am reaching into the archives and being lazy on a Friday.

Boy oh boy, this 3 parter not only got me comments but a great deal of personal emails.
I didn't write it for sympathy or any of that type of "feeling".
I wrote this to explain why when I was asked what I was angry about.
My anger shocked me that day.
I thought all of that had been let go of when I was a kid.
Apparently it hadn't been and I had to deal with it that particular Sunday.

I don't have any anger or resentment for my dad.
You do better when you know better. He didn't know any better.
I have to look at him through adult eyes now.
He loves me to pieces, he just couldn't always give we girls all we needed at that time.
He was from a different time. Old school/Old country.
He's grown as we all have over time.

This was from 2010 for all you new followers. Boy 2 years ago already.

So you can check out Part I with this link.
Part II
Part III

Have a great weekend.
I plan on having a GREAT SUNDAY - IT'S BIRTHDAY TIME BABY!
I will forget I'm older than dirt and celebrate!
I'm sure I'll have some fun things for Monday.

The Flintstones.

I may have told you all this before.
But I can't remember and I’m old now so humor me.

I know the words to all TV theme songs from the late 60's - 70's.
I have mentioned here,or I should say, I have lamented and whined here before about not having any talent at anything.
I have waited and waited for a talent. I have tried and tried different things.
Sadly,I suck at everything.

But I have this knack for remembering stupid TV theme songs.
They just have always “stuck” in my head.
It's not like I try to remember them or anything.
If there was ever a game show where I could hear a couple notes or words and tell you the show and win zillions of dollars. I would win. Hands down.
I'd be a rich bitch humming to Gilligan's Island or Petticoat Junction.
Yea, hows that for obscure! I'm that good....and old.

Now having this great talent has gotten me nowhere.
There are no parades.
There will be no accolades.
There are no golden trophies.
Yes that's right nobody gives a rats ass.

My husband and I got into this goofy disagreement about the words to The Flintstones back in 1995.
Who knows where that came from to begin with but boy do we remember this event.
I remember it so well because we had laughing fits about this. For days!
I knew the words.
Rick insisted I was wrong. (when will he learn the poor boy, I am never wrong)
It bothered him for days. (Before there was Internet in all our homes)

Out of nowhere in the middle of the night, or at breaksfast or just driving somewhere he would shout what he thought were the words. All so random and out of context.
I would crack up laughing and then sing it right after him with the CORRECT words. We’d laugh and he’d say, "Damn it Margaret someday I am going to prove you wrong." 
Oh you silly man.

We went to a Best Buy on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Seattle to buy a TV.
As we were walking in a man was walking out with a Flintstones T-shirt on.
I made a comment to Rick and I turned around to look at the man again and lo and behold the theme lyrics were written on the back of this shirt. How lucky is that?

I, like the lunatic I am, ran over to this man and ask if he could hold still so I could prove to my husband that I was right. The man thought I was crazy but did as I asked. He didn't say much. I think he was scared of me. I'm not sure I would feel any differently if some nut job did this to me in the parking lot. I held his shirt and yelled for Rick.

Rick came over shaking his head and apologizing to this man that his wife is crazy.
But I ran my finger across the line on his back, "THROUGH THE COURTESY OF FRED’S TWO FEET."
SEE? Who was right now Mr. Smarty Pants? 

Rick burst out laughing and I thanked the man as Rick shouts, “She paid you didn’t she?”
This poor guy just looked scared and got in his car and drove off while we two knuckleheads stood in the parking lot laughing our asses off.

Just in case you don’t know the words to this little ditty it goes like this–

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyabba-dabba-doooooooo!"
Flintstones... Meet the Flintstones,
They're a modern stone age family.
From the town of Bedrock,
They're a page right out of history.

Let's ride with the family down the street.
Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet.
When you're with the Flintstones,
have a yabba dabba doo time,
a dabba doo time,
we'll have a gay old time

Flintstones... Meet the Flintstones,
They're a modern stone age family.
From the town of Bedrock,
They're a page right out of history.

Someday, maybe Fred will win the fight,
And that cat will stay out for the night.
When you're with the Flintstones,
have a yabba dabba doo time,
a dabba doo time,
we'll have a gay old time

"Wiiilllllmmmmmmaaaaaa!!!"

.....now if only there was some value to this (my)priceless knowledge.

R.I.P. Davy Jones

I am a child of this era.

I grew up loving Davy Jones. (although Mickey Dolenz was my big crush)

I had to sneak watching The Monkees when I was 12 years old because my father thought it was "garbage" and besides his Gunsmoke was on.

This was before the age of TV's in every room so that everyone could watch their own shows.

Nope we had to watch TV as a family. And there was no way my father was going to let me watch those long hair hippies.

I loved The Monkees. I read Tiger Beat. They were on the covers for years!

I can still sing the theme song by heart. (okay that is a talent of mine. I can sing you most theme songs from the 60's and 70's...more on that later)
Here they are orginally back in the 60's.

So today when it was announced that Davy Jones of The Monkees had died from a heart attack it made me sad. I know you are all mourning Whitney. I didn't feel that. Sad as it was it didn't affect me one way or the other. Another celebrity, it's sad, move on.
This I feel. He was of my generation and we are dropping like flies. Oh sure he was older than me but its still my generation. And the mortality of it all bitch slaps you in the face.

I last saw him on Dr. Phil a little less than 1 year ago. I happened to be flipping channels one night when I had my ever present insomnia and Dr. Phil was being repeated locally. I saw he was on, so I stayed on the channel. He and his young wife were on. He looked great, he sang and sounded great too.

Several years ago when they began to make the rounds as an old act touring again. (probably because the money was running out) I met them.
They looked like this then.  (Nice mullets.)

I was working at the ticket counter of an airline at the time (very early 80's) and they came up to the ticket counter like any customer would. Now granted there was only 1 gate in this little town and it was before 9/11 so there wasn't a big deal on security.
I looked up and it was Mickey Dolenz. I turned into a 13 year old girl all over again.
I smiled like a big ole dufus and said, "Hey, You're Mickey Dolenz."
What a horses ass!  I wanted a trap door as soon as it came out of my mouth.
He so kindly said in a surprised tone, "oh my God I am!"  He then laughed and asked my name. (apparently unable to read my name tag)
They were all very nice and I tried to refrain from being a total giggling drooling 13 year old girl. Inside I was dying to scream and hug them.  Inside I remained cool (or so I thought) and checked their bags, gave their tickets and left them with, "so nice to meet you. I have enjoyed your music for years." 

OMG what a profound dope!!!!!!!!!  Who says that shit?!

The airport was abuzz and people were pointing and looking at them but no one came over to them.  And when I say people there were never tons of people.....think the terminal on the tv show Wings.

So that was my brush with Davey Jones and The Monkees.

I'm sad he passed away so young.  I feel so damn old.

Leap Day

I used to have a lot of magazine subscriptions but now the only one left is MORE magazine.
I used to love More, more than I do today.
I still very much enjoy this magazine but it's changed.

When they got a new editor it took a different turn.
It was subtle but it's just different today.
I am on a More board of sorts.
They send me a questionnaire about each and every page that I am to answer after each new month comes out.
I know it's different but I can't seem to pinpoint or articulate exactly where that left turn was made.
It continues to address issues, articles etc of woman 40+.
Of late the articles don't thrill me.
I wish I could figure out exactly where it all went wrong for me but I can't seem to do it.
I would prefer the old editor but I'm sure that is not in the cards.

The things I enjoy about this magazine is it isn't mommy centric, it's about the next chapter.
It's about women's issues that run the gamut. They can be about career changes, career moves, empty nest, relationships, friendships, political, books and the frivolous like clothes and makeup for the 40+ group.

I don't enjoy it as much as I used to but they did publish a post of mine and that was nice.
So then I have that guilt because I don't enjoy it as much and they were nice to play with me.
Do any of you read this magazine and have you noticed the slow shift in the magazine?

In other news......
It's Leap Day isn't it?  That means we get an extra day.
So if I have an extra day why must I do everything I do on regular days?
Why can't this be a day off?  A day to sleep. To do whatever you want to do.
To rejuvenate yourself.
Instead I am working on taxes today.
I don't think that is what anyone had in mind for an extra day.
Woo-hoo an extra day of stress!
Argh.

School Shooting

Another school shooting.
What could be worse for a parent than to send your child to school and get that call that he/she has been shot and killed? An environment where you thought your child was safe.

I lived in an eastern suburb of Cleveland. I had a big territory of eastern and south eastern ohio. Chardon where the shooting took place was in my terriotory. 
I had to go there for 2 clients.  It's a small enclave. It was about 15 miles SE of my home.
It was a cute little place of probably no more than 5,000 people.
I enjoyed the fall there where they had a sugar maple festival. I went every year.
I'd watch them make maple syrup and of course buy maple sugar candy.
I would also buy a vat of maple syrup. I'd eat pancakes and waffles for weeks after. 
It was held in the town square. The place was right out of a Norman Rockwell postcard.
The colors of fall, the steeples, the town square. The whole thing.

I imagine that a small town like this doesn't have metal detectors at the front door to have the children walk through to enter their school. They probably thought they were safe.
We aren't safe anywhere today.  I imagine that will now change.
To think when I was in high school brass knuckles were the worst thing a kid brought to school. That is actually funny to me now.

I remember when my parents were all up in arms because kids were smoking pot.
The 70's were evil to them. I'd take pot smoking over today any day of the week.
At least with pot people are mellow, laughing and probably the worse violence that would happy would be to tip over a snack machine in the cafeteria to take care of their munchies.
And seriously someone smoking pot would be too lazy to do that anyway.

I am thankful I am not growing up now. The world is too violent for my liking.
My heart goes out to this town and the families.
All of these kids will never be the same.

Monday Mornin'

I'm draggin' today. Hence the creative title.

Here are some of the highlights of my boring weekend.

** Izzy turned 3 years old. She got to swim her little heart out for 1.5 hrs at the Middleburg equistrian and canine rehabilitation center. It was Labrador central yesterday and she had more fun than anyone should be allowed to have. So I think she had a nice birthday. In my next life I would like to come back as my dog. Spoiled and loved. What's not to want?

**I had one of my infamous "goofs" while I was trying to tell Rick this story.
 I reverted to my 7 year old self and lost all the R's in my vocabulary while saying a phrase.
I also had a bit of a stammer/stutter. Yes I went to speech class for 7 years for this as a child. I don't normally fall back to that unless drinking but for some reason stone cold sober I did it Saturday. My husband began to laugh and imitate me.  I pleaded, "Please stop mocking me Richard."  He responded with, "Oh Hon I'm not mocking you I'm making fun of you." 
Oh well then that is so much better then, how silly of me.  The ass.

**The Oscars were a snooze fest. Viola Davis was robbed!
And it all felt old and boring to me. And what the hell happened to Tom Cruise's face?
I do not like the man but his face was fine before.  Why????  It looked overly injected.
Oh please not another Bruce Jenner who looks more female now than male.
People our men are turning into woman physically and it's so all kinds of wrong. Listen up George Clooney,  don't you even think of injecting or cutting your face.
You look great with gray hair, facial lines and a face that moves!
Angelina Jolie had an interesting stance didn't she? How odd.
Seriously she needs to eat a cheeseburger.
My goodness her arms were like sticks I could snap like a dried twig.

I received an award.  yipee me!
While it is much appreciated I feel odd having to do what is necessary because I feel it will bore the hell out of all of you. Because seriously haven't I laid it all out here already?
But I will play nice because it was such a nice gesture from our Queen Bee.
So without further ado, 10 things you don't know about me.
(play along I know I've told you everything by now)
1. I HATE cats, okay it's really a fear, a big ass strange fear of them but dislike is in there.
2. I tried being hypnotized to help with this fear of cats. (didn't work)
3. I love a great sense of humor in anyone
4. Men with big hearts melt me.
5. My new favorite saying is "Bigotry wrapped in prayer is still bigotry"
6. Not a fan of organized religion. (see number 5)
7. I never regret anything I have done only things I didn't do.
8. Nurse Jackie is one of my all time favorite shows.
9. I love to paint, oh not landscapes, just your walls etc.
10. QVC is my bitch