You Know What I Hate?

I hate when I "unknowingly" step in pet poop in my own front yard when I don't even own a pet.

I hate the first wave of realization that there is a strong odor of poop suddenly, in my house.

I hate that it wouldn't occur to me that I could possibly have poop on my shoe... because... again... I don't own a pet... but sure enough, upon lifting my foot... there is poop on my shoe.

I hate when I turn around to find that I've tracked said poop through the house.

I hate when I have to start Monday morning by mopping up poop tracks across the kitchen floor, down the stairs and onto the landing.

I hate when I have to scrape my shoe with a stick to get poop off of it.

I hate the smell of poop!

And finally... I'm not very "fond" of people who either let their pets poop on my front yard, or let their pets roam the neighborhood, to poop anywhere they can, except their own dang yard.

We Are Those People

On an early beautiful Sunday morning ...

We open every window and door in the house to let the cool breeze in ...

We close the doors to the TV cabinet ...

We listen to the melancholy lyrics of slow country music ...

We read the Sunday paper ...

We speak in quiet whispers to each other ...

We make pancakes and bacon for breakfast ...

We look forward to the sunny glorious day ahead ...

We thank God ...

We are those people ...

Everybody Into the Pool

Well...

Attempting to open our pool this weekend led to a trip to the pool supply store for a

Plastic filter cover ($29.95)

3 foot plastic hose ($5.95)

and a Solar Cover ($59.99)


Filling the pool to the right water level led to another trip to the pool supply store last night for an

Automatic Chlorinater ($39.95)

And some fiber glass marine epoxy ($3.74)

But now... It is time!

EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL!

The water temperature is cold as heck and I'll have to charge a cover fee to make up the cost to "open" it...

But you're welcome to come on over for dip.

Good Friends

I have been close to the same group of friends for over 20 years now. Some of us are family by blood. Some of us are family by marriage. The rest of us are family by choice. We are all very close in age. There are boys (men now) that looked after my sister and I in our late teens and early 20's. They would fix our cars when they broke down or bring donuts over to our apartment some mornings. There are girls that I consider bonus sisters. (These girls are still married to my ex-husbands brothers and we are still family to one another to this day) A bunch of us all worked in the same restaurant as servers, bus boys, and bartenders, basically living our lives around each other while most finished college.

As a large group of co-ed friends, we would camp together, go to ball games together, BBQ/Picnic together, etc. We would go out partying & dancing till we closed the bar and then go out to breakfast at 2:00am. We all lived within 5 miles of each other. We would get together almost every weekend. Good times!

In a few short years, all but one of us got married. We took turns standing up in each others weddings. Our group of friends got bigger as each one of us gained a spouse. So many couples starting their new lives together. Me and two of my guy friends got married during one summer. All the bridal showers and weddings kept us close to one another.

In a few short years, we all started having kids. There were 3 babies being born every year for about 7 years straight. Baby shower after baby shower after baby shower. Christenings & Baptisms... 1st Birthday parties, 1st Communions... Confirmations. This was how we kept in touch and our families grew close.

A fews years after all the babies were born, we would each take a turn every month to have a party. The host would plan games/prizes for the kids. We'd play musical chairs, have scavenger hunts and throw water balloons in the summer. There would be pumpkin carving contents and touch football in the fall. Sometimes the party would be at someones house. Sometimes we'd all meet at a park. We all still live relatively close to one another. Our children have grown up together.

Four years ago, the chain of high school graduations for "our" children started with my oldest daughter being first in 2004, followed by her two cousins in 2006 and 2007.

Today, in the mail, was my first graduation invite for this year. I smiled as yet another of "our" children has reached that milestone. I'm excited to see my friends at the party as it was New Years Eve when most of us last saw each other as a group.

Graduation invitations will be coming in the mail for the next 7 years until the last of our babies has finished high school, followed shortly and sometimes overlapping, with wedding invitations and/or birth announcements from our older kids.

Good friends are a blessing.

The Dealership

A few years back I had a fairly new Pontiac Grand Prix lease, about one year old. We got a brochure in the mail from a Chevy dealership offering to pay off our current Pontiac lease and put us in a new Chevy lease. The brochure also said, "We'll give you $5.00 bucks just for stopping in". We were skeptical that they could pay off our current lease because we had only had the car a little over a year of the three year lease. But we figured, if they can pay off this lease and put us in a new one with lower payments, then we would go for it. So we went down there to see. They couldn't pay off the current lease, so we took our $5.00, "just for stopping in", and went about our day.

In the mail recently, we received a brochure from the same Chevy dealership stating that they were looking for 2007 Pontiac G6's to fill some order or something. The flier went on to say that they would pay off our current lease no matter what we owe and that they'll put us in a new Chevy lease. And it also says, "Get 5 scratch off lottery tickets just for stopping in".

I have a 2007 Pontiac G6. I'm not looking for a new car, nor do a want one. I love the car I have. It's red with a killer sunroof that I begged my husband to let me have for the extra (unnecessary) cost that it was going to add to the monthly payment. I don't want to get rid of this car. I just got it last year.

But my husband said, "well... if they can pay off this lease and we can get you another new car with lower payments... then it's worth looking into".

So we proceed to the Chevy dealership, that is right next door to the Pontiac dealership, where both of our cars were purchased in 2007. A salesman meets us at the door and hurries us over to his desk. We show him the brochure and he asks "So, what kind of car are you looking for?" Right away, I answer... "I'm not looking for a new car, but you guys sent us this brochure about buying off this lease and putting us in a new one."

The dealer asks "How many payments left of your current lease"?

My husband answers "23".

The guy just about fell out of his chair.

"23 payments?! We can't pay that off."

My husband said, "Well that's what we figured, but you guys sent "US" this brochure".

So the dealer takes the brochure to see which moron in marketing or advertising sent it to us.

He comes back very quickly and says, "I'm sorry folks, we can't help you at this time". And then he proceeds to give us our 5 - $1.00 lottery tickets, "just for stopping in".

I won $4.00 on two winning tickets.

Then I proceeded to call my parents (both retired from 40 plus year careers at General Motors) to tell them that I think I know why GM is loosing profits.

The Holiday Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is here at last.

Three days off from business as usual.

When my husband called me at lunch yesterday (Thursday), we engaged in the small talk of "what's going on?" "Are you keeping busy?" etc...

And then I asked, "How many are taking tomorrow off?" (meaning the Friday before the Holiday weekend making it a 4 day weekend for some)

My husband replied "I am". I thought he was kidding. I asked, "Really, you're taking tomorrow off?" and he said "yeah, I really am".

I was so excited. My kids are with their Dad until Tuesday, so it will be a lovely 4 days of marital bliss with my husband. I'm not being sarcastic. I love this man. I love spending time with him. We always have fun, no matter what we're doing. Even a trip to the grocery store his entertaining when he's along.

I just caught up on all the work that I'm going to do. All the shipments are out. The questions are answered. I'm done.

Now... what to do with our 4 days, lol.

We have no plans at all. It would be a good weekend to go up to Northern Michigan but with the price of gas, I highly doubt that we will. With my husbands 110 mile, round trip commute to work each day and my 44 mile, round trip commute to drop off and pick up my kids from school... well... need I say more than our disposable income has taken a big hit this year.

The weather is beautiful here. A rarity for the Memorial day weekend. I swear it's usually raining and cold, but not this year. So I know we'll be outside most of the weekend. We have great parks and trails around here. A hike or bike ride would be splendid. Maybe a bonfire tonight... get the telescope out and wish upon the stars.

So... the sky's the limit...

Unfortunately... money isn't. Always a limit there I'm afraid.

News Boycott

I think I'm going to boycott the newscasts for the next four days.It's nothing personal that I hold against the stations or the anchors. I simply do not want to hear what they have to report.

I am sick to death of hearing the gloomy predictions and lousy realities of the rising costs of everything.

I am tired of hearing the bad news about the housing markets and the latest total of foreclosures.

I am more than saddened enough about the world tragedy's and the mounting death tolls.

I am disgusted about the rising gas costs and the projected highs they will reach.

I am angry that the cost of food keeps going up.

I am fed up with Mayor of Detroit.

And frankly, I need a break from the sounds of all this nonsense.

I need to hear some good news. Is there any out there?