What did you pray for?

It is finally Friday.  I for one am grateful.  I thought it was Friday already twice this week.  Nothing more sucks.  Well, that is not true, but it does rank right up there in things that suck.  It looks like it will be a great weekend for hunters and gatherers (those buying stuff on the Scenic Drive.)

Do you ever drive to work or home from work or to the store, or anywhere I guess that you drive to often, could be the store, school, whatever, and you arrive at your destination and you realize that you don’t remember driving there at all?  It is like you have an auto pilot, because you are thinking about so many things while you are driving, that you are not actually paying attention to the driving itself?  I do it a lot and it is kind of scary actually.  This has no value to my blog I just thought about it on the way home from work the other night when I pulled into the driveway and realized I remembered nothing about driving home.   I am pretty sure I cannot recall most of the times I drive to and from work.  Ask me to tell you what I am thinking about while I was driving and I probably cannot recall that either.

ANYWAY…I have big plans for the Friday Blogs, but I couldn’t pull it together for this one, so be excited for next Friday.

I will however leave you with a question to ponder.  I don’t know whether I heard this on the radio, saw this on TV, Facebook, somewhere…either way I thought it was an amazing question.  Now, if you do not pray, or believe in God, or you only pray at Church, whatever, you may not have an answer to the following question I am going to present.  To each their own.  I have no problem with you if you do not pray, but for those of you who do, this question is for you.

If you woke up this morning and were given ONLY what you prayed for last night before you went to bed, what would you be given?

For a very strange reason, I prayed a lot last night, otherwise it is quite the opposite of the following:

Strength, comfort and peace for:
My Aunt Michelle’s father and family to deal with his news that he has cancer…
A little girl with Epilepsy and her momma…
A little boy named Jett fighting Leukemia and his family…
All of my friends and family battling cancer or any other illness…

That Brodie’s Epilepsy is manageable…
For my mother’s continued happiness and for Terry’s health…
As good a harvest as humanly possible for my father…
To have my heart, head and feet guided in the right direction towards the place where I find my own peace…
That my brother and sister and their families were watched over and protected…
Love and protection, for all of my friends and family I cannot be with…

Normally, I would have woke up this morning having asked for, no headache when I woke up, a money tree to have sprouted in my backyard, a new vehicle in the driveway, a week’s vacation to somewhere tropical…you get the point.

At the very least, it makes you pause and ask yourself, if I woke up tomorrow getting what I prayed for, what will I be getting?

What scares you?

With Halloween right around the corner…I decided to write about the Top 5 things that scare me.  I mean really scare me.   I love the scary, horror, thriller movies, but they do not scare me.  Halloween, Friday the 13^th, Nightmare on Elm Street, absolutely love them, but they don’t scare me.  Macabre movies like Saw and Hostel, LOVE EM, but nope, not scary, gross and gruesome yes, but not scary.  I will tell you that some movies that are based on true stories or “actual events,” have had the capacity to scare me.  The 2008 movie “The Strangers” scared me.  Although it was not entirely true, some of the events in the movie were which made it scary.  However, Psycho, Amityville Horror, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jaws, etc.  Not scary.  And there is probably some argument that any of those are completely true.  

Certain “things” scare me or have scared me I should say.  Interestingly they are things that could’ve happened, or could have been worse.  And they all had something to do with my babies… (Nieces and nephews.)  Actually Brother and Sister have given me a scare as well…Brother when he had a rail drop on his leg and got a blood clot that went to his heart/lungs…that was very scary.  Sister had a stroke at the age of 36.  She hasn’t been right since, but it was very scary that she had one at that age.  Knock on wood they are both fine.

The Jolly Roger Pirate Cruise

A few weeks back I mentioned that it was National Rum Day.  I also mentioned I had a great story about Rum Punch.

It was December of 2002.  I had been back in Illinois almost a year.  I don’t know why sister and family asked Mom, Dad and I to go on a cruise, but I think maybe we split the cost for our parents or something for their Christmas present that year.  Sister and husband had been on one before and wanted to take the kids this time around, because apparently they missed them so much when they went alone that it wasn’t funny.  ANYWAY...off we went that December for 7 days to the Southern Caribbean on the Royal Caribbean’s "Radiance of The Seas," two weeks before Christmas.  Having only a brief stint in the cruise industry I can tell you this is the best time to go…the most economical anyway.

Mom, Dad, the kids and I had never been on a cruise so this was an experience.  We flew into San Juan Puerto Rico, spent a night there and boarded the most enormous boat I had ever seen.  Like twice the size of Maquon. 

Puerto Rico was amazing and I would go back in a heartbeat.  The minute we got off the plane though, all of our hair went flat.  It was quite humid and much different from the snowy tundra we had left in Chicago.

Off we went on our adventure.  If you have never been on a cruise, it is only the kind of vacation I need to take, but it is not for everyone.  Especially if you experience sea-sickness.   There are tricks to dealing with that if anyone wants to know (not medicine related.) 

This was a beautiful boat.  The rooms scared the hell out of us, because two people could not move side by side in them, but you were rarely in your room, so it really didn’t matter.  We both had a walk out deck (which mom slept on most of the nights because Dad had issues with snoring), but it was breath taking.  A city on the water.  A mall, 15 restaurants, a theatre, water park, the list goes on…you would never have to leave the boat to have the whole world at your beck and call.

My Favorite Fall Foods

Apparently my sister only cooks REEEEALLLY good stuff in the fall/winter.  To be honest, she is more of a baker than she is a cook, and to be even more honest, she cooks a lot.  Not mentioning any names but someone in her house likes to have a hot meal at night…no matter what night, no matter what is going on.  Personally, I would be like, bowl of cereal or a sandwich, but whatever, not my house.

My mom was not a big “cook” either but to her defense that is because all she ever had to cook was potatoes, corn and some sort of flat, no fat meat, (think thin bone-in pork chops, over cooked pot roast, breakfast ham, dry ass turkey…) because my father had to have all his meat well done and dry…My mom makes an awesome Turkey Breast and she makes the best Easter dinner ever, but she usually makes it at Christmas…whatever, it is good.

I am the cook in this family and I like to cook all kinds of food.  I love pasta, I love my steak medium rare, I like my pot roast soaked in red wine so it melts in my mouth, I like fat pork chops, big juicy chicken, and you get the idea. 

Sister makes two things that are out of this world deeeelish, Pumpkin Cookies and Cheeseburger Soup.  I do not like pumpkin flavored anything.  But I love these cookies.  I could eat these cookies until they make me sick.  She also found this Cheeseburger Soup recipe that we used to serve at the bar…the purpose being to serve as a special.  However, Debbie and I loved it so much that we ate most of it before we could serve it to any customers.

He has special needs...

Lots of people write blogs for lots of reasons.  You can find blogs full of recipes, blogs full of do it yourself projects, blogs full of artsy fartsy projects to do with your kids…health, fitness, nutrition, exercise, etc., the list goes on and on and on and on.  Just like a website, you can find a blog that will tell you about anything and everything.  Most people “Blog” about what they know.  Or what they are good at, for instance parenting.

I am good at writing.  I love to cook, but it is a personal passion, I don’t know that I would actually share recipes because I do not use recipes when I cook, I go by taste.  I used to be able to spout my words of wisdom to you about diet and exercise.  I could give you some pointers on owning your own bar/restaurant…working on a cruise ship…managing fitness centers.  You get the idea.  My blog is an amalgamation of stuff that I feel, experience, see, etc.  I suppose it is a diary of sorts, but mostly, it’s just a place for me to put all the stuff that goes on in my head.

You won’t find many of my blogs about parenting, uh, since I do not have children of my own.  However, I do have a child, he just happens to be an animal.  And I implore anyone to convince me otherwise.  Try to convince me that he is NOT my child.  No I didn’t create him, or give birth to him.  But I chose him.  From 12 weeks on I have cared for him.  Am I his biological mother?   NO!  But I am the only “mother” he knows.  Just ask Brodie, my son. 

Hoarding your sweets

I like cookies.  Various kinds, as long as they are soft and chewy.  If they are chocolate chip, easy on the chips.  I like brownies.  The outside pieces, preferably with powdered sugar, not frosting.  I like cake.  Yellow cake with milk chocolate frosting is my favorite and I have to have the inside piece.  I like Peach Crisp, Peach Pie, Crème Brulee, Bananas Foster, Cheesecake, Boston Cream Pie, anything lemon filled, and once a year, I really, really, really love my sisters pumpkin cookies.  I do not like much of pumpkin anything, but these cookies are the bomb.  Really, the list goes on.  I will try anything once.  With all of that being said though, I do not have a giant sweet tooth like some people.  I would rather eat my meal than dessert any day. 

Where am I going with this?  Well…I will get there.  I am all about sharing too.  I mean if I make something and I am constantly talking about it, I will bring it to work and let people try it.  Why toot my horn if no one can see for themselves that I am telling the truth? 

This requires more of a story than I am going to give you, but let me just say that my employer talks a lot about how good her sisters desserts are.  Amazing…you can’t believe it.  They are off the hook delicious.  Well, how would we ever know, you have never brought anything in for us to try?

Until today.

Dessert sized Chinette's and how was your weekend?

Okay, so I didn’t blog at all this weekend and I will tell you why.  My readership stats, (which I am desperately trying to build,) take a huge dive over the weekends, which means, NO ONE IS READING the blog on the weekends. I mean, totally fine with me, who wants to read my blog over the weekend, I sure don’t want to write one, but it is totally messing with my overall stats, so it will be a rare occasion that I have one on the weekends from here on out.  Even my creative mind needs a break.  Sadly though, I don’t feel very creative.

At some point yesterday during our family “September birthday luncheon” at my Aunt Lisa’s, my sister leaned over and said you really need to blog about this…to be honest, I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to blog about as there was so much going on.  Find out today she wants me to blog about the plates we were supposed to eat off of, so I will get to that…

I don’t lead a very glamorous life, in fact if truth be told, I am a homebody.  That wasn’t always the case, but has been more so in recent years.  So I will recap my weekend and trust when I say, I don’t expect to hear much back about it because it was pretty low key.

Friday I left work early with sister to attend the Homecoming parade.  Sadly it only lasted about 20 minutes.  I did get to see all my nieces and nephews who are still in school, riding on their floats, so that was fun.

Sister and I then attended my cousin Garett’s surprise birthday dog burn (that was not really a surprise, because his schmuck of a roommate ruined it.) But it was really good to see friends and family that we normally see at the river, covered in mud, or sitting in the Big Red Barn having not bathed in days.  Everyone was clean and had multiple layers of clothes on so it was surreal.

Why Bowling Shoes are Ugly and Dangerous...

I don’t like bowling shoes.  Never have.  Probably because I am not a good bowler.  I think I used to do “ok” way back in high school.  But we all think that don’t we?  I seriously think I am not a big fan of bowling anymore because I simply can’t move the correct way.  I am afraid I will pull a rod or something.

I am not saying bowling isn’t fun.  It is really fun when we go to Fun City with all of Mom’s family and we take up two lanes of bowling when only one of us (Uncle Dennis) is really a great bowler…those times are fun but I just watch. 

I don’t feel like I have control in bowling shoes…even when not on the alley itself.  They scare me.  I suppose they would anyone who had a bad back…but I will keep my Keens thanks. 

So on the night we somehow ended up going on a road trip for Amy Taylors birthday bash, I was quite surprised to find my friend Angie Johnson in a pair of bowling shoes.  That I think she stole.  Apparently she thought they were cute, or stylish or something.  I bet she doesn’t think this now.

Why we were going on a road-trip I do not know.  I don’t know if it was last minute or we planned it.  It was sister, Angie, her husband Ernie, Me, Dana, and someone else.  At the last minute we ended up with Jill Schisler.  That requires its own blog entirely.  I do not know how we ended up with her, but we did. 

We took off in sisters Tahoe, of course taking the back roads…sister and Jill in front seat, Angie and Ernie in middle, me, Dana and whoever was in the very back.

The Lost Art of Hugging

I am having trouble with this Blog today because what I really want to write about I haven’t quite figured out how to put into words...so, I will simply wait until the words come for that and write about Hugs.  And why I love them. 

Research shows, you will have to get one for yourself, that I give pretty awesome hugs.   Ask Cousin Rhetta.  I have always been a hugger.  I liked being hugged when I was little; I still enjoy being hugged as a big person.  I think they are amazing.  However, I am a touchy, feely person by nature, so naturally hugs are important to me.

Now, let me make some things clear.

I will hug a perfect stranger, when the situation calls for it.  When does that call for it?  Well, these are things you just know.  I would not go to an interview and hug the person interviewing me.  I would not go grocery shopping and hug the meat counter man.  I don’t hug my Dr., or Chiropractor, or Stylist, etc.  I mean that is silly!

I hugged the people I met (passengers) on the Cruise Ship.  Not the minute I met them, but the day or two before they were de-boarding.  I will hug someone that knows my parents, family, etc.  I will hug the person who sells me the winning lottery ticket…once I buy it.  A lot of people would come into the bar that I had never met and of course, would end up loving me before they left and they would get a hug.  I would probably hug the guy or gal, that saves me a bunch of money on my car insurance...hopefully you get the idea.

Pet Peeves-List One

I had no idea I had so many, I swear to you.  Once I started I couldn't stop, I am sure I have many more to list, hence the reason it is titled List One.

And I have a lot of them.  Please keep in mind that I have no patience…so a lot of these may have to do with that.  Actually, I should be honest.  I have more patience now than I ever have had before in my life.  However, it is still pathetically not very much.

LIARS…
Of any kind.  I do not understand why people do it.  Sometimes it is to protect themselves; sometimes it is to protect you, the person getting lied to.  Sometimes it is to protect someone else.  My least favorite liar is the one who lies directly to my face.  Sometimes it is done to “save face.”  May I suggest if you want to “save face,” consider keeping the lower half of yours shut.  I could go on about this one, but I think people get it.

People who say it is freezing when it is not below 32 degrees…
Seriously.  Freezing has a temperature and rarely is it that when a person says it is.

Supervisors, Bosses, Co-Workers, etc. who scream orders at me…
DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT SCREAM ORDERS AT ME.  I am a 39 year old woman who has a Bachelor’s Degree and who has managed a multi-million dollar facility.  My personal poor choices in life do not give you the right to treat me like a second class citizen.  Asking someone to do something for you, instead of telling them to do something for you, goes a long, long, long way in my book.  Plus it will prevent me from cocking my head, looking at you funny and wondering what pack of wolves you were raised by.

The "F" Word

Whew…the final day of happy, funny.  And to you who said it couldn’t be done.  I dare you to challenge me again.

I honest to God do not know who all is reading my blog, what walks of life you come from, how you feel about religion, food, cars, well, really anything.  But this story is about THE “F” WORD.  So I am going to be honest.  If you don’t like that word, or any other cuss words, you should probably skip this one.  I will not personally use them in this story, but I don’t want you to think I am someone I am not.  I use them, probably too much.  But I use them.

I was born and raised a Catholic.  Mother took us to Church faithfully every week.  We had Catechism every Sunday after Church.  We weren’t obsessive but we were taught to mind our P’s and Q’s and not say bad words.  Funny how what I remember most about going to confession was confessing to doing just such a thing.  “Bless me Father for I have sinned.  I have said bad words, mostly to my brother and sister.  I have made my mom and dad angry…but mostly Father, I have said bad words.”  I look back now and wonder what kind of sins Father expected us to confess when we were 6 to 9 years old.

Refrigerate After Opening

It is never a good idea to call oneself out on something, but I was challenged to 7 straight days of happy or funny or anything but sad and depressing.  If you watch Sunday football you know yesterday was not a good day for me.  So I took a nap, and opted to not write at all.  If you can’t say anything nice, say nothing…a lesson I am learning the hard way, cause, uh, I am pretty outspoken.

I will make this short and sweet. 

I am not blonde, never have been.  Don’t necessarily believe in the whole stereotype either, but once in a blue moon, I have a “blonde moment.” 

I do not remember how old I was, I want to say my freshman year of college…cannot honestly recall.  Too old to know better, that is for sure.  But I had been grocery shopping with my parents.  I don’t even know why that either.  But when we returned home, I took a bunch of stuff downstairs and proceeded to open everything, close it and put it in the fridge.  You read that correctly.  All of the things I wanted cold, like 2 liters of pop, Miracle Whip, who knows what else.  Mother comes down and asks me what in the hell I am doing?  I said I am putting stuff in the fridge.  Why are you opening everything first?  I very clearly state to her as if she is the dumb one that the labels state to refrigerate after opening.

Honest to God she starts laughing so hard I think she is going to pee her pants.  She is laughing to the point of almost being in fetal position.  She screams for my father to come down.  I am still clueless.  Literally. 

He joins us and she proceeds to tell him what I am doing.  He laughs and says, and this is the one who is going to college? 

So I took it literally.  No one told me you could refrigerate BEFORE opening, it simply said after.  And there were things I wanted cold, so naturally I opened them first.  I now know that I can put things in the fridge before opening. 

Surely each and every one of you has had this happen to you at some point.  A literal reaction to something… 

For instance, my niece Isabella helped me in the kitchen at the bar from the moment I opened.  She was awesome in there.  We needed onions sliced, so I told her to avoid them burning her eyes, to cut them under water.  I said exactly that.  She looked at me as serious as the day I opened all my containers to refrigerate, and said, how am I supposed to breathe? 

Sorry Belle…I didn’t want to be the only one…

#34

It was very difficult to bring myself to write happy, funny anything yesterday, so I simply skipped it.  I suffer a tremendous amount of pain when my Chicago Bears lose, especially when they play so polar opposite of the week before.  I take it harder than a person should, but then again, I guess that is what it means to be a fan. 

Despite my sadness something happened last Thursday that has to do with the Chicago Bears and it was one of those feel good moments, the kind of moment that takes your breath away.

My mother and father got divorced this past February.  However, my mom had been out of the house for over a year prior to that.  She was staying at my Uncle Chucks house, which worked out good for her and him, since he was having trouble selling it.  Anyway, she went and did something she has never done in her life, made a major purchase.  After 60+ years she became a first time homeowner.  It was the first thing she has ever personally owned alone and I am very proud of her for it. 

HOWEVER, her new house is considerably smaller than her old one, so there was some major purging that needed to take place, because there is no way it is all going to fit into her new home.  I for one am grateful.  My mom is a clothes hoarder.  She may not appreciate that statement, but it is the truth.  She loves clothes.  Trust me; there are worse things to hang on to.  But the other problem is that my mom’s weight has fluctuated for at least the past 9 years…so of course, you have to have various pieces in various sizes.  First and foremost I am very proud of her for getting rid of and donating at least 60-70% of her clothes to the Salvation Army.  She is ready to downsize and simplify her life and I for one am ecstatic. 

Adult Kickball Summer Session

I very rarely write about Illinois, or happy fun memories of any kind, sorry fellow Illinoisians, my heart has belonged to Minnesota since I was a very very little girl.  Anyway there are a few tucked a way in the back of my mind and one was actually quite recent. 

Before school got out, my neice was having a family fun day at school.  Kick ball game with your family in Mrs. Rhineharts class. Kolbies mom had to work and couldn't attend and asked if I would go, of course.  I would go the end of the numbers for Kolbie.  And when I found out Angie B was going, I was all in.  Until I got to the school and realized her class was a bunch of little people all hyped up to spend the day playing recess.  Parents against kids.  Dear God, how hard can this be. 

HARD.  I hadn't ran in God knows how long, I was recovering from surgery on my foot, I WILL SUCK IT UP AND DO IT FOR HER.  I don't even know if I ever got on base.  But I was playing outfield when a small boy came up to kick and I retreive it.  Thinking I will let him run and get all the way to home before I tag him out, I start chasing him around the bases.  Between second and third base is a giant pot hole.  I hit it.  I do a face plant in front of 25 small children and a dozen adults, oh and the rest of the school who was out playing, smack my face on the ground, the ball goes flying.  The little SOB gets a home run on a kick to second base.  This is going to hurt, in more ways than one. 

I return to work defeated and embarrassed and never wanting to play kickball again.  The last time I had played before that?  6th grade, Joey Platt kicked a ball directly into my gut.  It was like a cannon.  Lunch ended up on the field that day and I swore I would never play again.

Later that day, Angie B says we should have an adult kickball game with adult beverages.  Invite people.  Dear God are you serious?  Who would come?  Well lots of people who said they were coming, didn't come, but we had one, and it turned out to be one of the best days of my life.  Some of the highlights of the event:

The Owen sisters bringing their zero gravity chairs and showed off for everyone in their little recliners.

Blythe came up from Paducha Kentucky, the furthest to travel to an adult kickball game ever.  Cousin Lori thought she was in a league or something.

Once teams were established my sisters team is up to kick first and she proceeds to kick it, only to inform us that she was peeing her pants the entire time she was running to first.

She can't remember Cousin Lori's friends name so she she calls her "hey you" all day.

Amy Jo didn't bring shoes, so I gave her my only pair of tennis shoes and I wore my Keens.  Big mistake. 

Gary, I am not sure if he thought he would be in the outfield a long time, proceeded to wheel his cooler out there with him.  All day.

Cousin Jay is running around like a ninja, all day, until he realizes he is entirely too old for that and twists his knee.

For reasons unknown they put sister on first base and she decides she has to pee, so she disappears to the porta potty, while her team is throwing the ball to first base only to discover they have no first baseman.

I would say Bob and Jay worked harder than all of us out there combined.

I caught two fly balls with for unknown reasons, two beers in my hand.

Cindy Lou Who shows up to support us and single handedly drinks 6 bottles of wine, thanks to Clay and I's stash.

Jody was on the ground the majority of the time he was playing.

The Ya Ya's stopped by for a little visit, but refused to play.

 
Melissa, the least atheltic of the entire group got on base every single time.

When it was time for my sister to kick again, she said she had already kicked for the day.  Clearly she was not prepared to kick more than one time the whole day.

Jay and Amy Jo got into a heated moment of love and we had to hid the kids.

It was Angie B's idea but I don't think she got out of hand.  Todd, Shelly and Michelle, were very well behaved.  Apparently we stopped taking pictures after Clay and Ash arrived.  And Sara, well she surprised us all by not knocking anyone off  their feet.  God love her. And Chris was well behaved as well. 

I am not kidding when I tell you we all, laughed as hard as a person could laugh.  And then most of us couldn't move for up to two weeks after.

We will be doing it again, very soon in fact, for our fall league.  I sugguest you join if you can...it's a laughing good time.  There will be stretching afterwards!!!

Sexy Girl

This was too funny to pass up and too recent to wait to post later.

So, my friend Jody and I are writing a Food Critique, of course to help our peers such as yourself, make educated decisions on where to dine out.  I love my once a month dining experience with Jody.  Fantastic guy and it is a lot of fun.  Plus he enjoys my company which is always refreshing.

Last night we dined at Osaka Hibachi and Sushi at The Shoppes of Grand Praire.  Although it is only he and I doing the critique, I asked my friend Melissa to join, as she has no one to go eat Sushi with.  Really, not an easy thing to get people to do with you.  

So the three of us decided, well I decided for us, that we were going to enjoy both sides of this fantastic place.  The Hibachi side (open grill, cook prepares your meals in front of you with roaring flames) and we would order Sushi as appetizers.  Best of both worlds.  

I say, oooh, I have to check us in on Facebook, because Melissa gets funny if I don't...I am not sure why.  But I forget because I am too excited about the Sushi and the dining experience, I really don't care who knows where I am except that it is my civic duty to alert people to good places to eat...

So, half way through the meal, I decide to check us in.  And I will show you what I posted on Facebook:

Probably one of the best Hibachi and Sushi places I have ever eaten at. The sexy lady was to die for — with Melissa Hunt Schulthes and Jody Reed at Osaka Hibachi & Sushi Bar.  

I set my FB friends up, although I didn't think anyone would catch it because I tried that with a post about apples not long ago, and not a single person caught it.  Such as below:

So I am sharing an apple (possibly a yellow delicious, Sister doesn't know) when I ask her if she knows what my favorite kind of apple is? Her response, not kidding, she says, probably a Pink Lady. For. The. Love. It's Honeycrisp for anyone that cares.

The response I got was all about everyone's favorite apples.  No one caught the Pink Lady or why she would have said that.

However this time, one Facebook friend took the bait and I love her dearly and I need to post her response, which I think made a lot of peoples nights!

Melissa ordered a Sushi Roll, called the Sexy Lady.  It was by far one of the best things I have ever eaten.  It was a tempura fried lobster, wrapped with seaweed, spicy mayo, eel sauce, perhaps an avocado, and filet mignon, topped with more spicy mayo and caviar.  Sounds horrible, but it was truly amazing.  I swear to God, I would order it again.  So, because of its name I laugh and say I am going to check us in and say that the sexy lady was to die for.  Here is the response I received from my friend Alicia:

Alica- OH!! You should see this one lady at CJ Nails!! WOW!! I went in one afternoon and a lady was in getting her nails done - she must have told her hubby he needed his done too. I laughed the whole time mine were getting done - he had to be loving the show!!!! LOL!!!! She ALWAYS wears LOW cut and has the shape for it!!!!

I am not kidding when I tell you that Melissa and I literally LOL in the restaurant, in the car, all the way home…I couldn’t stop laughing.  And then Jody and I laughed all the way from Elmwood home.  Not because Alicia fell for it, but because she FELL for it.  And HARD!!  God love her.  And please Alicia, know that I loved it and I hope this doesn’t embarrass you because it is one of my all-time favorite responses to anything I have ever said on FB.

Truly a classic!  Thank you for making me laugh Alicia!!!  It truly is the best medicine!

P.S. what we ate looked most like the sushi on the top...

Duke The Spook, Who Puked In Dubuque

Continuing on with my brother…

As much as you hear people complain about Iowa, Dubuque, Iowa is one of my favorite places, for a variety of strange reasons.

The biggest reason is that when we would take our yearly family vacations, Dubuque meant we were almost leaving Iowa and entering Wisconsin and even though we still had a loooooooooong way to go, it meant we were farther away from Illinois.  It was also one of the many times we would cross the Mississippi River on our way up.  That always fascinated me when I was little, how many times we would cross it heading north.

The other reason I love Dubuque is because it means I am almost to Galena, Illinois, which is literally in my Top 5 favorite Day Trips, probably THE top actually.  I love Galena…it reminds me of a place along another river in Minnesota that I am insanely fond of, Stillwater. 

This story is about traveling to Minnesota, I know that I talk about it obsessively, I apologize, the post is about an adventure on vacation one year.

I do not recall the year.  And I try to post about “my recollection” of whatever I am writing about.  I am sure my cousins will have a different version.  Hopefully Barb, she was the oldest and has a much better memory than my sister.  Regardless we were traveling as a pack with my cousins, The Buckmans from Yates City.  Jerry, Sue, Barb, Julie, Jenny and Brenda.  Jerry and my father’s dads are brothers.   Although he and Sue are not my Aunt and Uncle, they should have been.  More so then cousins.  Somehow they always managed to fit a lot of people in a very small car…I will never know how they did it.  We either had a station wagon, a Conversion Van, one time I think we even took my grandparents RV…but for some reason we had more room than 3 small children ever should’ve had.

 

Anyway, the story is not about the vehicles we traveled in. 

I don’t remember the time of day, or what meal we were eating, breakfast, lunch or dinner…but our entourage stopped somewhere in Dubuque to eat.  And there were a lot of us, so that was not an easy thing…party of 11 please!  I think it was some off name family dining place, but I cannot even be real sure of that.   Hopefully someone will fill me in on the lost details.

I think because there were so many of us, we had to sit in back to back booths.  Or perhaps at a table across from the booths, either way, we were split up.  I don’t know what my brother ordered, but it had mashed potatoes with it.  After we received our meals, and had been eating for a bit, for reasons I do not know, my brother started vomiting.  I don’t know if he told mom he was sick, I don’t know if anyone would believe him if he had said so, he was a slim shady from a very young age.  I just remember it was towards the end of our meals, heck maybe it was the result of food poisoning, but usually that takes longer…I think mom chalked it up to him eating too fast. 

How he managed to vomit profusely…on his plate…not a drop of it spilling over on the table…only God knows.  How none of us started vomiting from watching him or the smell, only God knows.  The waitress came over and I am not kidding, asked him if he needed a doggie bag.  I think the other six of us laughed hysterically, or we did several years later, but honest to God it looked like a giant plate of mashed potatoes and gravy.  Dear God, NO we do not want a doggie bag.

His nickname at the time was Duke.  I think the old neighbor guy gave it to him and I have no idea why or where it came from.  I think Jerry is the only one who still calls him that.  I don’t know if it was Jerry or Dad or who gave him this moniker for the rest of his life, but he was officially crowned DUKE THE SPOOK, WHO PUKED IN DUBUQUE.  Our family has laughed about this for years and it is a funny story.

Hence the final reason I love Dubuque.  It will forever remind me of our family road trip to one of my favorite places on this earth and I physically cannot drive through the town without smiling and laughing out loud. 

I think the picture may have been from that actual trip, I am on the far left, front row...cute hair eh?  I love this picture.  In our cabin, ready for bed... 

P.S. Jeni, Jett looks just like you in this picture!!!!

Brother, Aliens and Cheeseburgers

Jarod James Buckman

It occurred to me, when I was told that I would not be able to write about funny things for a week, that I speak very little of my brother.  It wasn’t intentional, I just don’t see him very often and when I do, it’s a deal let me tell you.

My brother and I were very close when we were little…we did a lot together.  We had our moments…according to my mom he beat me up a lot…I don’t remember that and it is just as well.

My brother works for a company out of Chicago that welds railroad ties.  He has for many years.  Although this requires him to work away from home for a good part of the year, and he doesn’t always get to visit the most glamorous parts of the places he has to be, I am a little jealous of how much of our country he has seen.

I think there is a website called “not right in the head.”  It is definitely the best phrase to use to describe my brother.  He is very quirky.  Does a lot of things we have to just sit back and shake our heads at.  However, my brother has always been there for me, whenever I have needed him.  Even if he reminds me that he did me a huge favor.

This is the guy who took me to my first ever Redneck Fishing Tournament in Bath, Illinois.  We had more teeth in our boat than the entire crowd had that was sitting on the beach.  A beach you couldn’t pay me to sit on because it literally smelled like dead fish.  The day was a blast and truly one of my favorite memories of him.  But so is the year that he, Donnie Taylor and Chris Schultes came up to the resort during mom and dad’s vacation and brought some obscene amount of Busch Light with them, to the complete embarrassment of my mother…and would pull his car literally down to the beach and crank his stereo.  This was a “family resort.”  Mother almost died.  In fact I am not sure she even came out of the cabin except the one time to come and tell Chris she didn’t like him, to which he replied, that’s ok, I am not fond of you either Rita…and they have gotten along great ever since.

I have a lot of memories of his shenanigans, but the two that come to mind, that literally made me sit back and wonder if mom had dropped him on his head, were after he had his own children.  And one story that I just heard last night, that makes me want to shake him…of which he would just laugh and probably say, “NO RUNNING.”  It’s one of his favorite go to lines, even if running is not happening anywhere around you.

GAME ON

Most of you know that I love a challenge.  People, job, relocation, just about everything you could challenge me on, I love it.  I guess it forces me to do something.  If you told me to do something, I would say, whatever, shoo shoo now...but if you told me I COULDN'T do something, GAME ON PLAYA.  I absolutely despise being told that I can't do something.  Allow me to give you some examples.

• I was told I would never be able to play Sports again and that getting into the Fitness field was the stupidest thing I could do...I would never survive...I did have to quit playing sports my senior year, but I got my college degree in Sports and Fitness...just because someone said I couldn't.
  
• On the first day of my internship my supervisor asked me what I wanted to get out of this job.  I said, point blank...I want your job.  She laughed at my brutal honesty and said, although no one has ever said that to me, it is not likely to happen anytime soon.  Well, Johnson and Johnson made her an offer she couldn't refuse, people moved up, I got my first full-time job and within three years I was running the place.  Just because someone said I couldn't.
  
• I was told that I could not barefoot water-ski, okay, probably not the best example, but I did get up and made a circle around the lake the first time.  Just because someone said I couldn't.
  
• The Evil biotch who was our Account Manager at the Fitness Center, who hated me for my outspokenness said she would have my job before I ever accomplished proving to the company where my Fitness Center was housed, that it was more cost effective for the COMPANY to buy us, then to work for a contractor.  I presented my case to the entire Human Resources Department of a Fortune 500 Company, and proved that indeed, if the company owned us and we were actually employees, it would save the company thousands of dollars.  I cost my Account Manager, who should have been nicer to me, a multi-million dollar account...she shortly after that, was no longer an Account Manager for my previous company.  Just because someone said I couldn't. 

I am sure there tons more, but you should by now have caught on.

The purpose of this post is that I have been CHALLENGED by someone who shall remain anonymous, to post nothing but positive, happy things for the next 7 days, because my horrible depression that I really didn't think was that bad, was oozing out of my blogs and people didn't like that.  Trust me, I know this is one person talking, especially considering I was told multiple times at a football game last night, that my Blog was the best of part of certain peoples days.  My challenge back was, I dare you to find me a person who has 7 straight days of happiness...to which I was told if I don't involve myself in things, if I remain numb to what is going on around, or if I just have a heart of stone, that is quite an easy task.  Okee dokee then.

The truth is this is my Blog.  I write whatever I am feeling.  It may be happy, it may be sad...YOU, the reader have a choice.  You can CHOOSE not to read if it is a depressing post.  I refuse to paint some fake picture of my life being happy everyday, because the truth is, it just isn't.

HOWEVER, some anonymous person, said that I was CHALLENGED because they were pretty sure I couldn't write about happy things or funny things for the next 7 days.

Well, you nameless playa...GAME ON.

Oxymorons

I love Oxymorons.  I think the name itself just makes me laugh out loud.  How could it not ya know?  It is a funny word just by itself.  Despite what it actually means.  Which is also funny.

I love word play.  Playing with words.  I love words period.  I absolutely love playing Words With Friends on my IPod even though I am only playing one player right now and she plays like once a month...it is still fun.

The following is a list of some of my favorite Oxymorons...feel free to add your own!  These really do crack me up!

open secret
larger half
clearly confused
act naturally
alone together
Hell's Angels
found missing
liquid gas
civil engineer
deafening silence
seriously funny
living dead
Microsoft Works
military intelligence
jumbo shrimp
Advanced BASIC
tragic comedy
unbiased opinion
virtual reality
definite maybe
original copies
pretty ugly
same difference
plastic glasses
almost exactly
constant variable
even odds
minor crisis
extinct life
genuine imitation
exact estimate
only choice
freezer burn
free love
working holiday
rolling stop 

THE Broken Heart...

Of all the organs in the entire body, the one that amazes me most is the Heart.  Can you imagine if you had to put a cast on a broken heart?  Or put it in a splint?  Or put it through physical therapy for 6 weeks till it begins to heal?  There is no break quite like it because there are very few things besides time that can heal it.
 

Never, ever, ever does a heart break even.  Someone always gets the short end of the stick.  Someone always has a harder time than the other one when a relationship ends.  It doesn’t matter if it is an intimate relationship, a friendship, a work relationship…only one of the two involved will fall to pieces. 

A heart can break many times, for many reasons.  If it would focus on its primary function which is to pump blood, things wouldn’t be so hard for it.  There is probably some controversial writing or research somewhere that says it isn’t even your heart that is involved.  That it is an emotion that you are feeling in your head, where your feelings are controlled, not your heart.  To my knowledge your heart has not been scientifically proven to FEEL anything.  And yet, hearts break every single day.    

You don’t get the job you have been wanting forever.  Your boyfriend/girlfriend breaks up with you.  Your favorite team loses “the big game.” A loved one passes away. You have to put a beloved pet to sleep.  Your best friend moves clear across the country.  Someone calls you a derogatory name or hurts your feelings.  You have feelings for someone who does not have the same back for you. (Sometimes I think unrequited love has to be the worst kind.)  The list goes on.  There a million ways a heart can break which as I mentioned, I find interesting since it’s our brain that controls our feelings.  If you have ever had a broken heart (and I am pretty sure we all have) you know that there is no way this can be true.  The heart is the only thing we can manage to break on our body and yet it still works.

Remembering 9-11/Bucket List #3

I was the Executive Director at The Lake Crystal Area Recreation Center, in Lake Crystal Minnesota.  I am not entirely sure if I got a phone call from my mom or sister or if Michelle, who was working in the daycare room, or Linda or Carrie, who would have been working the front desk, came to get me to watch the TV, but I was at work when the news about the terrorist attacks came on.  It was at a time during the day that we were not typically busy as most of the people had been in and exercised and were off to work.  I do remember my family calling.  It was a persons first instinct.  Call your family and friends.  But if you were watching it on TV or listening to it on the radio, you could not pull yourself away from it.  It was the most intense thing a person could ever dream of watching.  The only other thing that came close was the Oklahoma bombing. 

I don't remember the times the towers fell, but I remember the feeling I had when the first one went down.  I think all hope in mankind fell with it.  It was the most overwhelming feeling of sadness a person could experience, not actually being present and watching it.  I sat in the rocking chair that Michelle would use to rock the little people she watched, rocking back and forth as if that was going to make what was happening, more tolerable.  I was surrounded by my employees, but I had never felt so alone.  You almost felt as if everything should close, shut down and everyone go home and lock their doors.

I don't think anyone will forget where they were, or what was going on in their life.  It is ingrained in our hearts and minds forever.  I remember being completely in shock until I saw the coverage of the people jumping out of the windows.  How on earth did they know they would not make it?  How on earth did they know what was about to happen?  What was going through their minds when at that moment they jumped, thousands of feet above the ground, knowing, they were not going to live?  I think that is when it really hit me that this was not a movie, this was not a drill, this was not a joke.  I'd like to think I would not have jumped but who knows until you are forced to make that decision.  I'd like think I would loan my phone to people who needed to call loved ones.  I'd like to think I would have tried to save lives. 

No matter how you cut it, it was one of the worst days in America's history.  Ten years later my heart breaks for the family members who never received closure because their loved ones were dissolved into thin air.  Or the the loved ones of the passengers in the plane that crashed into Pennsylvania, also leaving nothing of themselves but their memories. 

My Bucket List #2 (Sant' Aresenio Italy)

#2
San Aresenio Italy.  Or Sant’ Aresenio if you are being correct. 

Of course I would like to see many different parts of Italy, but since that seems entirely unrealistic, I will settle for one place.  Where my great-grandmother, Rosa Amabile Mangieri came from.   The place she left before she got on the boat and headed to Ellis Island.

I remember when the movie The Jazz Singer came out and Neil Diamonds’ song “America” became so popular.  My mom used to cry when it played.  Always saying she couldn’t imagine what was going through Grandma’s head as she was traveling and when she first saw the Statue of Liberty.

I don’t know enough about my family tree back that far and I wish I did, because it fascinates me.  I mean don’t you want to know how and why you became the person you are today?  It goes way back trust me.  There are some things that you are born with.  So I guess this Bucket List is a two-parter.  Go and learn my heritage.

My Bucket List-#1 (Maine in the Fall)

We all have one…or we should.  Some days I think we should rearrange our lives so that we are working towards the bucket list…instead of retirement.  We aren’t promised that we will even get there, retirement that is.  So why not do these things now?  Well, most of them require money, of which we know I am not rolling in.  Regardless, I think it is important to make a list and check them off.  Hang it up somewhere that you can see it all the time as a reminder.

I have done a lot of things that I really didn’t think I would have done by now, so I am fortunate in that sense.  I have parasailed in Mexico. (Didn’t sit in the harness right, and can’t see without my glasses, but it was fun nonetheless.)  I have been on several cruises, to incredibly beautiful parts of our continent.  I have hiked a trail in the Rocky Mountains.  I have been on the beach at Cape Cod during a blizzard.  I can drive a boat, and a motorcycle, and once owned a Harley.  I have knee-boarded and barefoot waterskied, obviously not very well, but I did it.  I have driven up the Pacific Coast Highway from San Diego to L.A., which was probably one of my favorite road trips ever.  I attended Spring Break during my Freshman year of college in South Padre Island Texas.  I have seen Celine Dion sing in Las Vegas (kind of a big deal for me.) I have worked on a cruise ship, even if it was for a minute.  I have owned my own bar.  I would say at 39, I have been pretty lucky…but as you know with human nature, we always want more than we have.

I am sure that I could make a Bucket List that is over 30 or more things long, but kind of like weight loss, I have to set my expectations low, otherwise I will never accomplish them.  So we will start with my Top 5, one at a time…Not necessarily in the order with which I wish to do them, but pretty close I would say.

Why I "Fall" For Fall

There are so many reasons I love Fall.  I don’t even know where to start.

I am positive that I have always loved it above all of the seasons and I would probably have to attribute that to it being NFL time.  I am a huge fan of watching NFL Football.  I truly feel it is one sport where the athletes actually earn their money.  They get the crap knocked out of them every week, some to the point of no return.  I don’t particularly like the concept of men tackling one another, but I do enjoy watching it.  I enjoy watching the Bears win, duh and I enjoy watching anyone who beats the Vikings and the Packers.  More Packers than Vikings, but you know.  I probably love it because when I was younger it is something my brother and I always did together…go out in the yard and play football.  I was always the Bears, he was always the Cowboys, I have no idea why, because he is not and has never been, a Cowboy fan, but whatever.  I was in love with Walter Payton.

I love Fall because I love hoodies.  I have many, too many to be honest, but I love them.  I like being wrapped tightly like a warm hug.  I love having to put on MORE clothes than having to take them off.  Maybe it’s modesty, who knows.  I don’t like the hoodie to squeeze my neck too tight and I don’t like it to make me hot.  It needs to make me comfortable.  So it has to be a certain hoodie, not just any kind will do.

My Imaginary Friend

Not every child has them.  Some studies show that those children that do turn out to be very creative and end up in careers where creativity is a requirement. 

I had one.  I am pretty sure that having one did nothing of the sort for my career path, but I suppose if someone had the time and wanted to pay me enough I would let them study me and figure it out.

My imaginary friends name was Jaime.  Yes, I am spelling that correctly.  She was The Bionic Woman.  If you missed that incredible series which was a spin-off of The Six Million Dollar Man between 76’ and 78’, I am sorry for you.  It was light years ahead of its time as far as TV series were concerned.  But yes, Jaime was my imaginary friend. 

I was between the ages of 4 and 6.  A tumultuous time for sure, having been drug around in a pillow case for most of my life, and stuck in cupboards to play hide and seek.  I needed something, someone to save me.  Jarod was of no help, he was barely talking.

I was crazy about Lee Majors, I have no idea why, but I was even crazier when Jaime appeared on the big screen, this comes as no shock to me now.

She went everywhere with me.  She was there the day I first started kindergarten (yes I remember pieces of it) with my big fat crayons.  Now, my teacher would not let her have a chair next to me, like my Grandma Rosie did whenever we were at her house.  Nope, Jaime had to wait over on the bench where we hung our coats because there simply weren’t enough chairs.  Whatever, I know exactly what was being done and I didn’t like it one bit.

Rumor Has It

I hate rumors.  Hate is a strong word, but I truly mean it.  I hate how they breed, I hate how they are born, I hate how they are raised and I hate how they are put to rest.  No good comes out of them.  I have been the victim of several in my lifetime, 90% of which were not true, but no one bothered to ask about the other 10%.  I would prefer you came directly to my face and said, “I heard…” and then I will respond first with, “and this affects your life how, and don’t worry I won’t ask where you heard it from,” because rarely is that the person who started it and I have no interest in the rubbish spewing forth out of Satan’s mouth.  I truly believe that as well.  Rumors are started to create drama, drama causes confrontation, and confrontation leads to the loss of friendships, relationships…family. 

I heard a rumor.  Rumor has it.  There is a rumor going around.  It doesn’t matter how you say it, no good comes from it.  Never ever have I heard a rumor that saved the world, a life, anything…but I have witnessed many destroy them.

First and foremost, there are two sides to every story.  And odds are the stories will be vastly different.  Second, if you don’t want someone to know something, you won’t tell someone else NOT to say anything.  Lastly, what kind of a person relishes in ruining someone else’s life?  Someone who is particularly not fond of the one they are living I say.

When I was younger, the rumors would hurt to the core.  A form of bullying if you will.  Later in life as I grew a backbone, at least a Titanium one, I realized the kind of person who would start one, or send one on its merry way.  And I learned that by reacting to it or responding to it in any way, would only add fuel to the fire.  And sometimes I would empathize with the pathetic person, I mean because it is sad, some of the people who start them and feed off of them.  But then I grew to just turn the other cheek.  If you know me at all, you know that I do not do that very easily. 

L.O.V.E. Part II

I love love.  Talking about it, writing about it, thinking about it.  This may come as a surprise to some, but if you know me at all, it won’t…I am a hopeless romantic.  No, not the kind that loves those “chick flicks” where boy gets girl in the end every time.  I love chick flicks, don’t get me wrong…but not that kind of romance.  Real life romance.  Most of you are laughing out loud as I type this, because few people believe in it.  I have many friends and family who say it doesn’t exist.  I think my Grandma Rosie used to say “marry for money, because sometimes the love runs out.”  I know she loved Grandpa Charles, but she also loved to be wined and dined.  She liked nice things…anyway, back to me being a hopeless romantic…I am, always have been.  I believe in love at first sight, the kind of true love that someone would wait for you no matter how long it takes kind of love…and I get a lot of crap for it…but whatever.  You have to believe in something. 

The following is a compilation of my top 20 favorite quotes about love, from some of my favorite movies.  Some may surprise you as they are not love stories themselves.  But I like surprising people and I like being surprised.  Feel free to add your own.  Obviously we are all different and LOVE means different things to us all. 

“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds and that’s what you’ve given to me.”—THE NOTEBOOK

“I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.”—DIRTY DANCING

“You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.”—GONE WITH THE WIND

“I’ve kissed a guy…I’ve kissed guys.  I just haven’t felt that thing…that thing…that moment when you kiss someone and everything around you becomes hazy, and the only thing in focus is you and this person.  And you realize that that person is the only person you’re supposed to kiss for the rest of your life.  And for one moment you get this amazing gift.  And you wanna laugh and you wanna cry, cause you feel so lucky that you’ve found it and so scared that it’ll go away all at the same time.”—NEVER BEEN KISSED

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”—SHAW SHANK REDEMPTION

‘I guarantee there’ll be tough times; I guarantee that at some point, one, or both of us is gonna wanna get out of this thing; But I also guarantee that if I don’t ask you to be mine, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life because I know in my heart, that you’re the only one for me.”—RUNAWAY BRIDE

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with a person, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”—WHEN HARRY MET SALLY