The last impromptu cocktails.

I'm a bit sad today. Partly because it's gloomy and rainy outside and partly because of my neighbors getting ready to move.

We met Jill, Barry and their 4 boys right after we moved into our house a year ago. They live right next to us and they are great fun. We've spent a lot of time together, much of it unplanned and on the spur of the moment. This is easily done when you're next door neighbors. And they are only moving a couple of miles from here, so we'll still visit frequently. But last night was probably the last time we will run into each other outside and end up having cocktails and playing cards until 1:00 a.m. (on a Tuesday!). So that's kinda sad.

I guess I should focus on how nice it is to have friends like them in the first place, though. The kind who will help with your home improvement projects and laugh at your jokes. The kind who will ask you for favors knowing that you'll ask them for a favor of your own at some point. The kind who will go to a Sinead O'Connor concert with you and take your son to baseball games when they have tickets. The good kind.

"Easy Opening."

So I just bought a mouse to use with my laptop. I'm getting better with the built in mouse but sometimes it's still a challenge. Anyway, it's working just fine, but as I was blowtorching my way into the plastic container it came in, I noticed something appauling.

A little red sticker in the top right corner that says "Easy Opening. Just bend corner."

Seriously.... what?! Umm, no. There is NO corner bending. There is NO easy opening. I'm glad the false advertising wasn't what prompted me to buy the product, otherwise I would feel horribly violated. I'm just horrified at the statement. And, for argument's sake, perhaps someone somewhere COULD easy-open-by-bending-corner. Let's say that this is within the realm of possibility. I still label it as false advertising because if a relatively average individual such as myself can't do it, then it probably shouldn't be stated as fact on the packaging.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on "furniture assembled in 3 easy steps." Lol.

The "Joy" of grandmas.

I wrote this yesterday on the road and am just now getting it posted..... Lol.

So we went on a road trip today to visit with my husband’s grandmother (who, incidentally, is named Joy).  This was the first time that the kids and I had met her. 

She was absolutely delightful.  It was well worth the 8 hours round trip for the only 4 we got to spend visiting.  I look forward to doing it again soon.

Incidentally, today marks the 64th anniversary of D-Day.  If I had been thinking about it, I might have asked Grandma Joy what, if anything, she could recall from that time.  I’m sure my own grandmother, her senior at the ripe age of 95, would have something to add.  Unfortunately I am drafting this blog on the road and my cell battery is dead so I can’t even call to ask. 

Speaking of being on the road with a dead cell battery and no WiFi connection in sight, I can’t even check my email or get on the forum to see if I’ve missed anything exciting.  This will never do.  We are going on a 3 week vacation soon which will include about 4,000 miles of road navigation.  I simply MUST find some sort of internet access solution before we head out.  I could die from the withdrawals.



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Pantsuit blues.

So, it's looking like Hillary is out and Obama is in.

I'm not excited about anything pertaining to this year's election. And I don't wish to get too political right now (I guess it's the mood I'm in). My plan is to pencil in Vince Vaughn as my choice. Do you think that will fly?? I mean, consider this: We need good diplomatic relations. Wouldn't it go a long way if our head of state were to skip over all the preliminaries and just tell those we have tenuous relationships with "You're so money, baby. You're so money right now!" Mama always said you catch more flies with honey....  And shame on you if you haven't seen "Swingers" and don't know what I'm referring to.

I'm all in love with life this morning because (1) people are actually TALKING on the forum and (2) it's Thursday, which for our summer schedule here is our Friday.  Woot!   =)

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I love it when you call me big poppa.

Have you seen the movie "Hardball?" Circa 2001, starring Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane among others. Not likely to be voted best movie ever, although it wasn't half bad and was based on a true story.

I laughed out loud at one scene, in particular. Try as I might, I couldn't find a specific clip of it to link here, but that's beside the point. This movie is about a gambler and his stint as the coach of an inner city kids' baseball team. In the movie, the pitcher always has on headphones and always listens to one song in particular. He wears the headphones while pitching, too, and is a real talent. One team, in hopes of upsetting his pitching skill, insists that the headphone use during play is against protocol so the pitcher is left tuneless. This has the desired effect of rattling him. Later in the movie (after having been replaced with another pitcher) the young man in question is called upon again to pitch. He, of course, panics because he can't pitch without his song. So, as is predictable at this point, the rest of the team and the coach sing the song for him as he pitches. It just happens to be Notorious B.I.G.'s famous song. And regardless of whether we encourage children to listen to this music or incorporate it into daily life, watching those kids waving their arms and signing "I love it when you call me big poppa..... throw your hands in the air...." absolutely cracked me up. Worth watching if only for that part!

I'm off to try to take care of some business now. It looks gloomy outside here so that isn't helping my motivation. But I need some supplies for Salted Luck and I have some phone calls to make. Feels more like a Monday than a Tuesday!

Confessions of a woman with a crooked life.

I've been so content lately I'm almost waiting for something bad to happen!

Random Monday thoughts:

• Our friend and neighbor, Barry, is putting in our back splash. The one part of the kitchen that has remained undone for the past many months. It looks beautimus and he's almost done. Too bad we discovered that our cabinets were hung slightly off kilter and there is a half inch discrepancy between the ends (on just one wall, anyway). This will require some optical illusion adjustments with the tile work but Barry is a master. :)

• We have been working to put a Pergo like flooring down on the first floor. We're not done yet but it's gorgeous. I love it. And my husband has been working his fingers to the bone.

• I'm annoyed the my PC is out of commission again because I really wanted to work on my temporary tattoos and window clings today. The printer is hooked up to MY computer, of course, so (being that I'm too lazy to switch it to the old man's side) that means I can't do it until my PC is fixed. Don't get me started on THAT topic.

• My daughter has been ridiculously cute lately. And I discovered this morning that she's gotten two new teeth on the top... I don't even know when that happened!!

• My son has been very much trying our patience. I'm sure it's a phase but I'm ready for it to END. In the meantime I'm considering Buddhism. It worked for Tina Turner?!

• Usmcwives is coming along just fine and dandy. This is pleasing me TREMENDOUSLY as I've been so timid and nervous about it.

• I haven't had time to design any new jewelry in DAYS. I'm having withdrawals. Maybe I'll have time for some this afternoon.

• Today is going great so far for a Monday! :)

Birth.

So, the past few days have seen the birth of two things which are really still in infancy but about which I am excited. Like a dork. Seriously.

First is the usmcwives.com forum. I'm fumbling around like a lunatic trying to spruce it up, but I think it looks pretty good so far, given my experience level. I've reached out to some of my online contacts to review it and I can see that many have. I've gotten a lot of survey replies in the past couple of days. I'm stoked!

Second is the associated usmcwives.com blog. From a practical standpoint, the site doesn't need a blog. After all, I have my own personal blog and the forum itself should suffice for any chit chat. BUT..... being an imaginative soul, I'm thinking I might at some point be able to use the blog in a worthwhile manner. It can be set up so that members can have their own pages and/or input posts. I'm thinking since I don't yet know how to enable NICE profile pages on the bulletin board, this slightly more dummy-proof blog application might be an easier way to achieve the same result. At least for the time being?

And now to move off topic as is my custom: After spending all weekend helping my husband lay flooring on the first level of our house (which isn't completed yet but is BEAUTIFUL!) I was able to sneak off with my partner in crime, Jill, and take in the new Sex and the City movie this afternoon. It was pretty good. It would have been hard to live up to my expectations because I was soooo excited..... But I thought they did a solid job on it. I loved Carrie and Charlotte's latest developments in particular. I won't go into detail in case you haven't seen it. Oh, and I was also ashamed of myself not to have known beforehand that Jennifer Hudson had a supporting role. Outstanding. I've become a fan.