Nothing but Rain

Yep. Two plus weeks of it. We still managed to enjoy our time with family and friends. And I always adore some alone time with my man. Nothing like it.

Ron and Bon joined us for a week and Lauren and Nathan came down for Easter weekend. Rick and Ron caught plenty of fish. Enough for a Good Friday fish fry and then some. Ron caught a 20lb. spoonbill catfish that he cleaned and fileted. Not knowing what it would taste like we cooked a small portion and all decided it was not fit for human consumption. However, it was the biggest fish Ron has ever caught. Go Ron!

Nathan trailered his new motorcycle down here but only got a chance to ride once. I felt bad for him. All he wants to do is ride that bike. When he was buying it a few weeks ago I told him he needed to get a helmet for my daughter and he did. He is such a nice young man. The nicest boyfriend Lauren has ever had. I can't find a thing I don't like about him. Makes me suspicious, just my nature. But I'm going to try and lighten up. Lauren, Nathan and I stayed up late one night playing Sorry and the two of them were so busy jumping each other that I won. Twice. I love it. I never win at Sorry but they won't play Scrabble with me anymore. I'll have to wait until we go to New York this summer to play Scrabble. Gotta beat Caroline.

And then there was the egg coloring party. Rick made his usual "Floyd" egg and Nathan made a "John Deere" egg. Yes, he's a farm boy. Lauren made an "I heart U" egg for Nathan. I looked at Nathan and said, "I used to get the "I Heart U" egg!" So Lauren made another one for me that simply said "Mom." Oh well.

We had some of the most incredible storms over the past 2 weeks. Several trees in the hood are down including two of our neighbor's trees that fell on her boat dock. A total mess. It looked as if the neighbors would be able to salvage their boat dock but after more heavy rains and rising waters the dock just couldn't take anymore and went under. DOH!

Rick had a client come down for a weekend of fishing. Something they have been trying to do for years and finally managed to get it together. Well, needless to say there was no fishing. It was all we could do to get to the dock. But the inventor and the patent attorney put their heads together and came up with the Redneck Raft. I have to say it worked pretty well except that you really need to step onto the raft in the middle. Learned that the hard way.

Last but not least, our house was struck by lightning. We were lucky, though. No fire and no serious damage. But it did fry our TV, surround sound, my beloved ipod, the Wii and my Jacuzzi tub. Currently waiting for Lakeysha, the insurance adjustor, to get back to me. I have expect to get screwed by the insurance since insurance is the biggest "legal" scam going. As soon as you make a claim, boom, up go your rates. We'll have to see what happens with that. I sincerely hope I am wrong.

Cadiz April 2011

A couple of weeks ago was my last Mom's weekend at U. of I. Colleen flew in from New Mexico to tag along with me, Karla and Michaelene. Then, just for fun, Rick came down on Saturday. That meant that Rick, me, Karla, Mikey and Colleen all shared a hotel room Saturday night. Rick has been known to crash Girl's Weekend in the past and the girls never seem to mind. He fits in quite well. So we get back to the hotel on Saturday night about 2am, Rick is parking the car and we are heading to the room when someone says, "Do we have to sleep in our bras?" Turns out it wasn't an issue since we were all tucked in by the time Rick got to the room. Lights out, ready to crash and who starts the giggling? That's right, Rick. We all were like, "REALLY Rick?" Guess he never had too many sleepovers.

Lauren has a good friend, Billy, from high school that pitches for U. of I. baseball. Billy and Rick have always had the baseball bond and have talked incessantly about the game over the years. It was fortunate for us that Billy was pitching that Saturday of Mom's Weekend so we finally got to see him play. Rick sat right beside the girl with the radar gun and asked her after each pitch how fast Billy was throwing. Billy was so thrilled that we came to see him play that he got Rick a game ball signed by the entire U. of I. team. It now sits in a case on our fireplace mantle in the basement. A nice addition to our sports memorabilia collection.

Oh, and Ozzy loves college!

Mom's Weekend U. of I. 2011

Next up is graduation weekend. Where did those 4 years go?

A belated happy birthday shout out to Justin. Love you and miss you man.

And Henry is walking! Look out world!

What a Gem!

While in KY, Bonnie and I took a few side trips. One was to Nashville for the night. Nashville is about an hour and fifteen minutes away so whenever Rick and I have gone in the past we have never been able to experience the "honky tonks" because we always have to drive home. Not this time. Bonnie and I set out early one day and made our first stop The Hermitage, which was Andrew Jackson's home. We spent almost five hours there. Very interesting. Excellent guides. I highly recommend it if you're ever in the Nashville area. According to Bonnie's AAA guide, it's a gem. I definitely agree.
A few facts about Andrew Jackson: He was an orphan at age 14; He was the largest single slave owner in American history, estimated to have owned as many as 140+ slaves at one time; He and his wife, Rachel Donelson, did not have any biological children. They had one son who was an adopted nephew.

After leaving the Hermitage it was time to check into the hotel and begin cocktail hour. Very important business. We enjoyed some libations and were off to dinner. Dinner was at one of those Tex-Mex places where you can throw your peanut shells on the floor. I kid you not when I tell you I had one of the best pork chops ever at this joint. Sante Fe is the name of the place. They also had 32 ounce margaritas for $4! You can't beat that with a stick.

One of the main reasons for spending the night in Nashville was to be able to go to the honky tonk bars and drink and have a good time and not have to worry about driving home. All along our intention was to take a cab from the hotel to the strip of honky tonks, party and dance like fools til the wee hours, and cab it back to the hotel. But after talking with a hotel employee who told us of a benefit concert that was taking place that evening at the Troubadour Theatre adjacent to the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, right behind our hotel, we just had to change our mind and go with the concert instead. For $15 we saw 3 hours of live music from the 4th row of a 400 seat theater. It was amazing and we both agreed it was the best $15 either of us has spent in a long time. Acts included Crystal Gayle, Stu Philips, James Intveld, Stonewall Jackson, Jim Ed Brown, David Ball, Jesse McReynolds and George Hamilton IV.

The next morning we took our time rising and then headed to downtown Nashville to check out some of the honky tonks, including the famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and visit the Country Music Hall of Fame, another gem.

Our other side trip was to the Museum of the American Quilter's Society in Paducah. The quilts in this museum are nothing short of breathtaking. There were old quilts and new, hand stitched and machine sewn, miniature and large. Absolutely worth the trip. And another gem. Three gems in three days. Top that!

I didn't take many pics but if you're so inclined, take a look.

Cadiz Spring 2009

Sunrise in Cadiz

I am always up early. Maybe it was the years of 5am (sometimes earlier) skating lessons or maybe it's just in my genes since the rest of my family has the same problem. But days like today I am glad to be an early riser. Before I took this shot of the sunrise over the lake this morning, I washed all my kitchen cabinets. My mom and sisters will appreciate that.

Today is our last day here. We had planned on staying until Saturday but the weather forecast for Thursday and Friday are foul at best. So we'll head out tomorrow and stop at U. of I. on the way home to take Lauren out for dinner. Then Rick will go back to work on Friday. Probably a good thing for him since we leave for Cabo on the 19th and he'll be out another week this month. The man still has to bill you know. Everyday can't be vacation.

What a glorious two weeks this has been.

He Can't Help It

The man must burn. I need him to burn here at the lake. The garbage pick up here is a situation. Since the majority of the people who have homes on the lake do not live here full time the sanitation company has a terrific policy of "pay as you throw." You don't have any kind of service contract with them you simply leave your money (cash or check) in an envelope taped to the garbage can and they haul your crap away. $3 per can, $2 per hefty bag. Simple, right? Except that Monday is garbage day and most everyone, including us, almost always heads back home on Sunday. You can't leave your garbage at the street when you leave on Sunday because there is no one to bring the cans back to the house. Some say, "No problem. Just put the garbage in big ol' hefty bags and and leave it." They have never experienced the wrath of raccoons. Inevitably we often travel home with garbage in my truck looking for a dumpster somewhere. Then we do the dump and run. Lene is very good at this. We also burn anything that is paper when we are here. Totally legal to burn unlike the dump and run. So Rick burns. And he burns well.

But since we were here this past Monday I happened to observe the garbage man actually bringing my neighbor's (who do not live here full time either) garbage cans back up to her house. I immediately grabbed a few bottles of cold water and ran out to the street. I handed him the water and asked if he did that for everyone or just my neighbor and would he do it for me if I made it worth his while. He said he would and I'm going to give him a little something on Monday for his trouble. Why didn't I think of this before? Our garbage woes are over at last. Six years but no more. Brilliant.

So how much do you think I should give this guy? There are two of them. One drives, one rides on the back and does the deed. Keep in mind this is Kentucky.

Side note: There was a terrific ice storm in western KY in February. Rick is burning the tree limbs that fell on our property. We were luckier than most. There were parts of KY that were without power for 12 days, including Cadiz. As I drove in on I-24 last week there were piles of trees every 100 yards or so along the interstate and much more that stills needs to be done. There were no deaths related to the storm which is remarkable. And it has put many people here to work. So those are good things. But man, don't mess with Mother Nature. She is oh so powerful.

Today's Catch

Actually this is only half of today's catch. Rick caught the most but I held my own. Growing up with four older brothers one would think that I would have fished at some point in my life before hooking up with Rick. But that is not the case. Not one of my brothers is a fisherman. So I think I finally have found something that I can beat them at. Or at least a sport I can beat them at. Because I am pretty sure I can whoop any one of them at the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle or a game of Scrabble but the sports, not a chance. They always kicked my ass and never let me win at anything growing up. That's OK though, for that has made me the tough ass that I am and I wouldn't want it any other way.

In My Next Life

My father has always said that if there is a "life after" he wants to come back as my mother's dog. I want to come back as Lauren. Right now she has arrived safely in Florida for the week with 5 college friends. They are using our time share and staying in a 2 bedroom condo on the beach. Lauren just called to say that the master bedroom is HUGE with a HUGE walk-in closet and a HUGE master bath with separate shower and Jacuzzi tub. Nice. Good for her. We just hope we don't see her on one of those Girl's Gone Wild commercials!

Truth be told, I want to come back as me because my life ROCKS! Rick spoils both Lauren and me. And he does it quite well. I just got a brand new whopping diamond ring for my birthday. And it's not even my birthday for 4 more days. I love that man for so many reasons not just the great "prezzies" he gives me. But it makes the birthdays far more tolerable. In fact, it makes me want to have a birthday a month.

The girls are coming to Chitown this week for my birthday. Look out. Always a crazy time with them.

Then it's off to Cadiz for some good fishing I hope. I love fishing. It is so relaxing. Not to mention I tie a mean knot. Johnson taught me. He is the ultimate fisherman. I could learn lots from him and I have. Johnson and Kyle are heading down with Rick on Friday then Bonnie, Ozzy and I will join them on Monday. Ozzy is crazy for the lake. Really just the beach. He loves the beach. He especially loves to roll in the sand on dead fish that have washed ashore. Nasty. So so nasty. But I have good odor removing dog shampoo, thank God.

A First for IllinoiSkating

It was a very successful weekend for IllinioSkating. As always, the competition was tough but they skated a very clean program. Clean enough to earn them 4th place and a pewter medal. The first ever medal for IllinoiSkating at Midwestern Sectionals. And, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place were only 2.14 points apart. One month until Nationals in Maine. The girls certainly have their work cut out for them.

In other HG news:
-We got to spend the evening with Audrey last night. She is smiling and cooing and doing all the cute things little babies do. She's perfect.
-Happy birthday to Jeanne, tomorrow. We love you JLA!
-Got a new car, a Beemer. Maybe I'll post a pic soon. Then again, maybe not. I have been driving a truck for 12 years so Rick promised that if I didn't like driving a car that he would give me back my beloved Escalade. I'll keep you posted.
-We're supposed to go to KY next week, but no power there due to ice storms. They have been without power for a week already and expect it to be at least another week, maybe several weeks. We'll just play it by ear.
-My Dad got a good check up last week. His tumor has shrunk by 20%! That's huge! Why can't he be the one that lives for years with Stage 4 lung cancer?
-Blowjobavich is finally outta here! No one is happier about this than Rick and I. Apparently his daughter skates for Chicago Skates and had her security detail pulled last Thursday night from the hotel at Mids. That poor girl.

Another Glorious Vacation in Cadiz

It seems that's all we did this summer is go to the lake. Actually, that's all I did. My husband, who recently said that he was going to die at his desk, only vacationed twice at the lake this summer. I was fortunate enough to spend a bit more time in Cadiz. This particular trip was a blast. Our good friends and neighbors, Mike and Sue, finally made the trip down. Lots of food, drinks, fishing and boating ensued. And a little Wii action. We also had unexpected visitors. Marc and Ashley drove up from New Orleans along with their two cats and two bunnies. I would like to say they just wanted to spend some quality time with us but unfortunately they were forced out of their home by hurricane Gustav. I can only imagine what it is like to have to evacuate your home and city. They are now back in The Big Easy trying to dodge hurricane Ike.

There are a ton of pictures from this trip as Sue is non-stop with the camera. Thanks Sue. Without Sue's pics there would not be many. You can tell from these pics that Ozzy hates the lake and especially despises fish!



In other HG news: Lauren again made the IllinoiSkating team. She was unable to actually tryout this year due to her recent knee surgery. Since she was not an alternate last year and had a "spot" all year, her coach gave her a pass. While the rehab of her knee is going well, she has had a setback. Her skates were stolen. To come off an injury and have to break in new skates at the same time will be very challenging. For those of you who have never seen a pair of real figure skates, the leather is about an inch thick and it takes several hours of skating (and bad blisters and bleeding ankles) to break them in. If I find the fuckhead who stole her skates, I will beat them in the head with the toe pick of her new skates! Not a threat, more like a warning.

IllinoiSkating was recently featured in a spot on The Big Ten Network.Click here to see all the skaters except Lauren.

One More Day

Lauren goes back to school tomorrow. The summer just flew by. For her. Just kidding. Life has been crazy in the HG. Lauren finally had her much needed knee surgery in July and is just now starting to walk on it again. With one crutch. Hopefully it won't be long until she won't need any crutches. No skating for 3 months though. Thankfully her spot on Illinoiskating is safe and is being held for her. Because she is somewhat incapacitated, I have been doing all the packing etc. for the move back to U. of I. She sure has accumulated a lot of shit since going away to college. This year she shares an apartment with three other girls. Should be interesting.

I was fortunate to spend an entire week at the lake with Debbie and Sophia with no trips to the emergency room. (Deb thinks me and Fifi play too rough.) We discovered a great water park near the lake house. Pretty sure it was only about the third time I have ever left the lake house to go anywhere but out on the boat. We missed Dad since he is always willing to go get ice at the corner store. Here are the pictures from our week in Cadiz. Just click on the picture to see them all.

Cadiz w/Deb and Sophia

Busy weekend coming up. Tomorrow the big move, Thursday is Bears preseason with Kyle Orton as our starting quarterback (we wan Favre!!), Friday we see Jay Leno at the casino in Indiana, Saturday is dinner with the Roseland gang and Sunday Cubs game. I'm a little hesitant about going to the Cubs game. Rick and I have not seen a winning game in about 15 years. And the tickets were not cheap. But the beer will be cold!

It's Been Waaaaaaaay Too Long

I know, I know. But I am about to make up for it. BIG TIME. Good thing I don't get paid for blogging, I'd starve.

I'll start with Alex's wedding. What a fabulous evening. Perfect weather for an outdoor ceremony. Alex and Will both looked smashing as did their parents. Rick was super hot in his purple shirt. I still can't believe I convinced him to wear it. I found the perfect fat dress (and full body girdle). Thank goodness all the styles are made to look like your pregnant and therefore hide many things. Oh, and just in case a wedding isn't fun enough, Al's (the bride's father) Lexus got smashed by the hotel shuttle bus just before the wedding. Here is Melissa and Alex karaoking (is that a word?) to "You Shook Me All Night Long." Perfect music for a wedding!

I spent a fun filled afternoon at Brookfield Zoo with Sophia, Mom and Deb. Gotta love a kid at the zoo. If life could always be so simple..........

While I love my parents very much a week at the lake may have been a bit too much. Just kidding Mom. Shirley is a lot like a toddler in that she needs constant attention. You have to feed her every few hours or she gets extremely crabby. She also needs frequent naps and constant supervision. I have to admit that I could not have survived if Mikey and Karla didn't show up for a few days. We had the best weather but after a solid week of sunny and 90 degrees we were all ready to come home. I don't think I can get any browner than I am right now. And we even got Big Bob out on the boat one day! And we discovered that beer is good food. That's right, food.

Last year I got salmonella from some hummus at Taste of Chicago but I was not going to let that keep me away this year. I have gone every single year and a little food poisoning will not deter me. Actually, the salmonella incident last year was the first time there was ever any problem at Taste. In my opinion that's a pretty outstanding record for more than 20 years. We had the usual crowd this year. Left to right are Officer Jake, Kristin, Karla, Sammi, Steph, Lauren, Joe and myself in front of Buckingham fountain, one of my favorite Chicago landmarks. (sidebar: Kristin and Sammi are Karla's daughters, Sammi is also Lauren's BFF. Officer Jake is Kristin's BF, Steph is Sammi and Lauren's BFF and Joe is Lauren's BF. Confused yet?)There is always lots going on at Taste on any given day. Concerts, giveaways, demonstrations, appearances, etc. While we did not see any concerts this year we were lucky enough to see the Budweiser Clydesdales in all their magnificent glory.Some of my favorite Taste memories from years gone by:

• Taking Shirl to see Lynyrd Skynyrd and having her ask throughout the concert when they were going to play "that song." Freebird is always, always their 20 minute encore!


• Seeing Dwight Yoakam from about the 20th row and having Rick and Mikey laugh continuously through the concert because you could see Dwight's "thing" hanging down his leg ala Tom Jones!
  
• Having Rick meet us for lunch each and every year. This year was a quick one since he had a big project he was working on and couldn't escape for longer than a sausage sangwich and a brew.


• Lauren and Sammi sharing a Hefty bag "raincoat" when they were about 6 or 7 years old. That didn't work out too well.


• Losing, and then finding, my prescription sunglasses on the water ride. This year was the first time they did not have the water ride. Someone must have gotten hurt last year and sued. End of the water ride.

There were a ton of volunteers passing out stickers, literature, etc. regarding Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics. That would be so awesome if we got them. I think Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world and if ever there was a mayor who could get the Olympics here it's Richard M. Daley. Go Daley!

July 4th. It always starts July 3rd with watching the fireworks along the lakefront from Rick's office on the 63rd floor of Sears Tower. It is so perfect. No crowds (this year they estimated a million people at the lakefront), air conditioning, no mosquitoes, lots of good food and drink and my family. This was the first year that J & J joined us. Just think, next year Wyatt will be here. Very exciting. Here's the gang at Rick's office. Left to right are Justin, Jeanne (with Wyatt) me, Rick, Sammi, Sammi's BF Jeff, Lauren and Joe. Then it's "Party in the Street" for the 4th. We have this crazy neighbor who lives in Hawaii most of the year but comes in for the 4th just to have this huge fireworks display. I swear it is just like downtown. Anyone who has ever come to Party in the Street will vouch for me on this one. About 6pm all the neighbors (along with friends and family) gather in the street. Heavy drinking ensues until Al comes out to invite us all into his yard. This is just a sampling of what we see every year.

While this video is just shy of one minute long the actual display goes on for about an hour, nonstop. This guy may be a bigger pyromaniac than my husband! Shocking, I know.

To end this post I would like to talk a bit about my lazy ass dog. When we were at the lake Ozzy was so tired after a few days on the beach I thought he would collapse. But each morning when we would pack our lunch and boat bag he would be right there waiting to go. And each evening when we would arrive home he would pass out, usually on the couch. This particular couch picture is in my bedroom here in the HG but you get the idea. Once we got back to the HG I think Ozzy slept solid for three days. There were knocks at the door that didn't even rouse him. Life is hard for the Ozman. And so much for my nice leather couch that stays covered with an old comforter so Ozzy doesn't wreck it. There's some money well spent.

Again, my apologies for not posting for a month. I promise to try and be better. Don't give up on me.

A Great "Wii"kend

When J & J moved out they bought us a Wii for the rent free months they lived in our basement. Then for my birthday they bought me a Wii carrying case that looks exactly like a bag for a bowling ball and is ironically made by Brunswick. We spent a good portion of the weekend playing Wii, that is when we weren't on the lake. If you've never played before, you should. Talk about fun for the whole family. My favorite games are bowling, golf and Rayman. I rock the most at golf. No one has beaten me yet. I am the golf master. Bowling is fun too but Rick kicks my ass every single time. Rayman just works me up. You have to shoot these rabbits that are coming at you and my heart starts pumping so fast that someday I will keel over playing that game. But the new Rayman 2 has other rabbit games aside from shooting and I have to say I could easily turn into a teenager with the Wii. No wonder the kids can play these video games night and day. They are very addictive. Lauren is very good at all the games, a prerequisite for college, I've learned.

It was so great to spend time with the kids. Not too often we are all together in one place. And with J & J now expecting what we have affectionately named "baby Wyatt" (which has morphed into so many names but our favorite being Wynotta!) made it even more special. Great to see Marc and Ashley too. Someday we will actually go to New Orleans to visit them. Definitely for Marc's graduation from Tulane law school next year. We are so proud of him. And he probably won't like that I'm blogging about this but in two weeks he turns 30. Tough duty to be 30 and be in law school full time.

Rick caught us lots of catfish that we ate on two different occasions and lost his glasses in the lake while cleaning the catfish on the dock. Lauren even tried some and liked it. Crazy, I know. I didn't catch shit. Just one sheep's head or something like that that nobody wants to eat. But it was a decent sized fish nonetheless. To view all the pictures from our week at the lake click here.

Role Reversal

Lauren has been away for two weeks already. She calls us frequently. The difference now is that we are aggravating her instead of the other way around. The other day she tried calling both of us a few times each on our cell phones and didn't reach us. When I saw that we had missed her calls I promptly called her back. That conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, you rang?

Lauren: You never answer your cell phone anymore!

Me: Sorry. We were on the boat and I didn't hear it ring.

Lauren: And could you turn the music down, I can't hear a word you're saying!

Rick and I couldn't help but laugh when I hung up. Shouldn't we be the ones scolding her for not answering her cell phone and telling her to turn the music down?

Empty nesting........a beautiful thing!

A Perfect Day at the Lake

It all began with a nice spicy bloody mary and a big fat steak burger for brunch followed by a little chill time. After a pleasant afternoon boat ride it's time for dinner. Steak, salmon, stuffed portabellas, baked potatoes. All on the "God" grill. And let us not forget the very tasty bottle of pinot noir. And it's only day one. YEEEHAA!

And, I just love Rick's new Blackberry from which I am posting!

All Set

Tomorrow Lauren is off to U. of I. The U-Haul is loaded down with all the necessaries: computer, bedding, clothes, storage bins, school supplies, etc. I am sure we are forgetting something, but what? Time will tell. We have a long day ahead of us but great rewards for all in the end. Lauren will be free of her nagging parents and we will be free of our hormonal teenager. At least temporarily. Good enough for me. The ship sails at 7am. First to the kennel in Champaign to drop off Ozzy for the day. Then to Hopkins Hall for the unloading/unpacking fiasco. Once that is complete we will drop off the U-Haul in Champaign, pick up Ozzy from the kennel and head straight to Cadiz for a week alone with my hubby. It doesn't even seem real. Lauren going off to college doesn't seem real and a week alone with my hubby doesn't seem real. Say a prayer for us all, we're going to need it.

A Dub

What a weekend. We all had a great time in spite of all the obstacles. The first obstacle came before we even left my house. The car was all packed, Colleen and Karla waiting in the car. I opened my car door and heard a big POP. I closed the door to investigate and, lo and behold, the bottom panel of my car door fell off! That's right. Fell right the fuck off. K-Ho to the rescue with the double sided carpet tape and scissors and we're off. (That carpet tape worked the entire trip there and back.) We arrived safely at the lake house only to find that the boat lift isn't working. Turns out it was the outlet on the dock that wasn't working. After a short trip to the "Do It Best" hardware store in Cadiz for a heavy duty extension cord to run up to the house, the boat was afloat and we were off to the beach. The rest of the weekend was uneventful for the most part. However, we did learn a few things.

• We never have anything good to eat or drink
• Mikey must always wear her PFD near the water
• We will never have "Girl's Weekend 2007" t-shirts, or the like
• We are all willing to take one for the team unless it involves John L
• Always have Pepsid on hand
• Nobody beats Mikey on garbage patrol
• Nobody beats Col at A Dub
• K-Ho is an awesome bartender
• We all love the word "CRAP"
• None of us know anyone with the names Paprika or Coriander
• Kentuckians seem to like Eminem, no matter how loud we blast it

Girl's weekend in New Mexico next year. I'm off to rehab. The Ingalls bus should be here momentarily.