I Love New York

My Uncle Pete, that would be Big Bob's little bro, recently turned 70 and my cousins threw him a fabulous surprise party that I was lucky enough to attend. At first I was going to go to NY with Michael but he blew me off. I really did not want to go by myself. I tried coercing Lauren to no avail. Then last Monday my cousin Caroline called and convinced me to make the trip. After booking some really shitty, expensive, last minute flights I was off. Spent last Thursday night in Ausable with the "Upstate Cousins" and the remainder of the weekend in Pleasantville with all the cousins. I had seen the "Upstate Cousins" just two years ago when Ken-Bob and I travelled to the Adirondacks. But the "City Cousins" not since our Gram passed away seven years ago. And even my cousin James (who I haven't seen since I was a teenager), who lives in Brazil with his wife Fabiana and their daughter Julia, made the trek to NY. Growing up we spent many memorable summers together in the Adirondacks. We now all have families of our own which makes it difficult to get together. But when we do, look out. It's almost as if we're kids again playing in Grandma's yard. In reality, it is our kids playing now. Very bizarre. So, a great big THANK YOU to Caroline, Kevin and Carrie who put up with me all weekend and transported me to and from the Albany airport. Another one to Licia, Bill, Billy and Timmy for a great party, the tour of Yonkers to see my Dad's old house and Grampa's gas station, and all those baby Rolling Rocks! And one more to Joe and Erin for the very elegant Sunday brunch they hosted. To view all the pictures click here.

Quick Update

I really want to post about my impromptu trip to New York last week but that will have to wait. We had terrible storms here in Homer last night. No power for almost 7 hours. We have six trees down in the woods, one of them uprooted. I promise some pics later because it really is unbelievable. Before that, our basement flooded form a leaky well tank. My neighbor, Timmy, and I ripped up all the carpet in our basement yesterday. I am so sore today. Can you say old and out of shape?! Lots of pics and a NY post coming soon. In the meantime, you can check out the Chicago Tribune's story about the HG storm. click here

Nature at its Best

I know the photo isn't the best but these are the new baby robins (one still has not hatched) living in my purple plum tree by the pool. The mama robin is so trusting of us lately. We can walk within inches of her nest and she doesn't even fly away.

This next photo, however, is a bit disturbing. These are growing in the mulch near my spruce trees. I'm certain they are some sort of mushroom/fungi. Interestingly, in the morning they are standing straight up and by sunset they seem to wither and fall. Sound familiar guys?

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.

So Pretty

I know it has been awhile since my last post so here's a quick update before I head down to Cadiz for a weekend with the girls.

The grad party was a huge success in spite of Rick. He completely redeemed himself the day after the party when Mikey and I just sat around while he cleaned up the entire mess from the party. Times like that I know why I married him.

The cicadas are still out in full force and their noise is deafening at times. We have seen a lot of hawks recently, must be due to the cicadas. Yesterday there were two hawks flying so close to the house, the closest I've seen in 14 years. Of course I did not have my camera handy to capture their unbelievable grace as they swoop into the trees for a cicada snack.

Lauren finally started working for Rick's firm. The job is so cushy and she makes ridiculous money. Good for her. I guess it pays when Dad is a partner! But the bottom line is Dad is the one paying her!

We finally got some much needed rain and my lilies are in full bloom. They are so beautiful right now but don't last very long. They will more than likely be gone when I return from Kentucky on Sunday. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Finally, a happy happy belated birthday to Marc and Ashley!

Holy Crap!

That's right folks..........Rick DROPPED the cake............and the fruit tray! I'm speechless. Actually I'm not but this all goes back to "What's Bloggable?" The cake is salvageable since it was in the box just not too pretty. The fruit tray however, tumbled down the entire flight of steps into the basement. I cleaned that mess up. Thanks to Bonnie, I will still have fruit salad. I love Bonnie.

Just Call Me Shrek

The party preparations are well under way. But not without incident. Last night Rick, Lauren, Karla and myself were busy doing our assigned tasks. Rick mowed the lawn, burned some boxes we had lying around the basement, carried in all the pop and beer, etc. Lauren cleaned all the bathrooms (she is the best bathroom cleaner!), decorated the basement, cleaned her room, etc. I pretty much cleaned all day. Then Karla and I played "Martha Stewart on a Budget," changed the music in the jukebox (a big fucking royal pain in my ass which is why it doesn't get done often), etc. Everything was going too smoothly. Rick came in from burning the boxes and asked me what was in them. I said nothing. He said there were two big "wheels" that were maybe Styrofoam or something burning in the box fire. Whatever. About five minutes later it occurred to me that the "wheels" were actually the crepe paper I had bought for decorating. He inadvertently burned the entire box of graduation decorations I had ordered a month ago. Under no circumstance should you ever give this man a match. Only those who know me well know what happened next. It was not pretty. So I'm flipping out and Rick is just staring at me, Lauren and Karla are SILENT when Rick just starts laughing at me. He is the only one who could ever get away with that! Not too long after that I took a break during which I played with Ozzy a bit. But just a bit. I turned around in a hurry while chasing Ozzy and SLAMMED the shit out of the right side of my head on the open door of the jukebox! Ice packs and Advil ensued along with a huge bump. Rick couldn't hold back. He looked at my face and said, "Nice goin' Shrek."

Other than that, things are going great. See you all tomorrow, black eye and all!