Farewell to the Heffernans

The King of Queens has been a favorite of ours ever since Chris and I started dating. We watch that show and it is so eerie how similar to them we are. The way they argue, how completely retarded they are. Sometimes it feels like the writers of that show have had a hidden camera in our house and use the footage for inspiration. Last night was the one hour series finale. It is always sad when your favorite shows come to an end. First there was Seinfeld, Friends and Alias and now King of Queens. Next year will see the end of another favorite of ours, Scrubs. Such is life, shows don't last forever but it is still sad to see them go and know that you will never see another new episode. All in all I was happy with how they wrapped the whole thing up. The ending was priceless when after they had skipped ahead to "one year later" Arthur came through the front door claiming "things didn't work out!" Referring to his marriage to Spence's mom and that he would be moving back in.

FRIENDSHIP -- BLOG OFF FOR BREAST CANCER

--Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same--

I have been fortunate in my life to meet some amazing people and have been blessed with friendships that have changed my life. I really don't believe that we could make it through this life without friendship. I always hear people always say that as you get older finding those lifelong friendships become harder and harder to come across. I am not sure I totally believe that. I think maybe we become a little more closed and a little more guarded as we get older. At least that is how it is for me. But I do know that in the last couple of years I have met people that are not only my friends but friends who will be around for the long haul.

I love the kind of friendships that just happen. You know the ones. One day you just meet someone and a simple conversation turns into a friendship that you never saw coming but you are so thankful you now have. Those friendships are the ones that come so naturally to you that you never have to work at it.

Recently I have reconnected with some old friends from way back when. It is an amazing feeling when you realize that they have thought about you just as much over the years as you have them. The test of true friendship in my opinion are the ones that are still there after all that time, after all the separation and years of not speaking you realize that bond never went anywhere in the first place. One of my best friends from my teenage years and I have recently gotten back in touch after almost 12 years. There is no good reason for the years between then and now. We simply grew apart, we lived in different places and led different lives. I have realized though that all those years we were out of touch our friendship was still there. That bond that made us so close in the first place never went away, and I am so excited she is once again a part of my life. Her and her fiancee will be coming here to Boston in a few weeks and I cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to hug her and just be in her presence.

--Those truly linked don't need correspondence. When they meet again after many years apart, Their friendship is as true as ever--

I think too often we take our friendships for granted. I certainly know I am guilty of that at times. Sometimes I think back on friendships that have been lost that i know had I been a little less stubborn that relationship could have been salvaged. But such is life. You live, you learn and you move on and you pray to God that the next time around you will get it right.

Sometimes people come into our lives at just the right time. One of my friends who I hold very close to my heart is a friend I met about a month before my mum passed away. Her best friend had died the month before in a horrific car crash so we had that common bond of loss and grief. We found solid ground to stand on together and in the midst of our grief we found a friendship that has no boundaries and no matter where either of us go in this life the place she holds in my heart will never change. While grieving her own loss she stepped in and helped me through the hardest time of my life. In some ways she saved my life. When I needed to cry, she let me. When I needed to yell, she let me yell at her. When I needed to hate the world, she let me hate her. When I needed someone to yell at me and put me in my place she did, and when I needed to just be silent with someone I could do that with her. It didn't matter what it was, she was everything I needed her to be and THAT is the kind of friendship that I hope we all can find at least once in our lives.
This is a post for the Blog Off for Breast Cancer. Feel free to click on any of the links on the right to check out any of the other blogs involved. Also, if you'd like to make a donation to Courtney, please click on the banner below.

Interview Me

Ok so I am sure plenty of you have seen this meme around blogs. I was silly enough to ask Carly to interview me and I feel the pressure to come up with some great witty answers. No promises, but here goes......

1. What was the hardest habit to give up after you were married? I think we all have those annoying habits that drive our significant other crazy. There are a couple however that possibly drove Chris batty. I would not say I have completely conquered these habits but I try. The first one is putting the lid back on the toothpaste. I have always been horrible about this, I don't do it on purpose it is just the way it is. Chris has resorted to only buying toothpaste with the attached flip caps. Even then sometimes I don't close it, but in the 2 1/2 years we have been married I have come a long way. The second one is replacing the empty toilet roll with a new one. It's funny because I have always usually got a new roll out, just never put it where it belongs. This is another thing I have gotten much better at but I still have my moments, but I try hard.

2. As part of Courtney's Blog-Off For Breast Cancer, how have you found the experience so far? Which has been your favourite word to post about? Have you learned anything from the exercise? I have enjoyed being part of the blog off. I definitely thought coming up with posts for most of the words to date would have been easier than it it has been. My favorite word?? Well, it's funny that I struggled so hard to write my post on the word Clarity and now that I look back on my posts I realize it has been one of my favorites. I also had a lot of fun with my post on the word Golden. Have I learned anything you ask? I think I have, I have always known I like to write but I tend to get discouraged easily and not have a lot of confidence in my own abilities. Taking part in the blog off has given me a renewed love for writing and I am excited about that.

3. You and Chris have talked about wanting to move ever since the moment I met you. What is it about Boston that you dislike the most? At the same time, it must have some strong points. What's your favourite thing about it? While Boston is a beautiful city to visit, it is a horrible place to live. At least in our opinion. It is horrendously expensive, it is old, the houses are old, the drivers suck, their is possibly nothing more annoying on this planet than most Boston sports fans and the people in general are just not nice. A lot of it is just being on the east coast, people are different out here, the way of life is different out here. But if I had to pick what I dislike the most it would definitely have to be the people and how they are just obnoxious and rude. That's hard. Their are however some things I do like about living here. Living in New England offers you a unique opportunity to travel to and from 6 different states (Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut) within an hour. It really is beautiful once you get out of the city. We love to just go for drives and enjoy the scenery. We will definitely miss that the most when we leave. I also love being so close to New York City.

4. What is one phrase you've noticed coming out of your mouth more often than any other? This is an interesting question to ask me because the answer definitely changes from time to time. Lately I have been saying "suck it" a lot. I actually got that from an episode of Scrubs (best show ever) where another surgeon said to Turk (Donald Faison) "suck it Turk!" Ever since, I cannot stop saying it, just ask Carly. I tend to say "first of all" a lot, usually when Chris and I are arguing. he he.

5. You guys are coming to stay with me and Aaron this summer. What's one thing we should probably know to prepare for your arrival? I can't really think of anything you should be afraid of, at least not anything you need this long to prepare for. The only other thing I can think of is Chris's deadly cat allergy, but you already know this. All we ask is that the cats don't get in to where we will be sleeping for a few days before we arrive. You also know about Chris's deadly nut and fish allergies, so all I ask really is that you don't kill my husband. lol.

And there you have it folks. Carly I hope you are more than satisfied with my answers, if not you can SUCK IT!! Now if any of you out there would like to play along.....

1.Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2.I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3.You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4.You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5.When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Another week has come and gone and I have managed to keep on for another week in the blog off. This week we had to say goodbye to Gina over at Speaking Quite Franke. I suppose I am a little surprised I have lasted this long but happy I will be around to blog about my word which is up this week, my word is friendship. Speaking of friendship.....

So I have this old old old old friend who I lost touch with and have not seen in probably almost 12 years. We used to be the best of friends. But you know how things go sometimes. Life happens, people move and you lose touch. Well, we recently are back in touch after all this time. Evette now lives in England with her fiance and they are coming HERE to Boston to visit us in less than 3 weeks. I am SO excited.

And now I must go, doggies can't walk themselves you know. Have a great day!

BLOOD -- BLOG OFF FOR BREAST CANCER

Last year Chris and I came home one day to a peculiar finding. After we had let the dog out to go to the bathroom we had noticed there was some blood on my pants about knee level. I checked all over to see if I had scraped myself somewhere. Of course I hadn’t. Well that was odd, but we went about our day. A little later that day I noticed some blood on the side of the house near our door. Still though, we could not figure out where it came from. The next day we started noticing more streaks of blood on our walls down our hallway, in the kitchen and on our stove. BIZARRE we thought. But still we could not figure out where it was coming from. We figured it had to be the dog, so we gave her a good check but still found nothing that would be a source of bleeding. At this point we were beginning to think we were going crazy. Finally, one day soon we figured it out, we cracked the case. We KNEW it had to be the dog because of the height of the blood streaks, the trick was finding out what was bleeding.

Once again we did a thorough check of Belle and sure enough there it was. On the very tip of her tail we found the source of the mysterious blood. We didn't know how she hurt her tail, at first we were a bit worried that she had done it intentionally out of anger for being left at home in her kennel while we were out. But that didn't really make any sense to us considering she has always been in her kennel and it has never been a problem. She is not neglected and definitely is not lacking in quality time with us. She is with us a lot of the time. We finally came to the conclusion that regardless of HOW she hurt it, that when we got home she was reopening the wound when she would wag her tail and hit it hard against her kennel and then the walls once we let her out. You see, Belle does not have a lot of hair, she is a very short-haired dog and so when she wags her tail it is like a little whip. And she wags it fast and very forcefully. So there she would be, wagging with all her might in her joy and happiness not realizing she was just hurting herself and in the process painting our walls with blood. I swear at the time it looked like a murder scene with blood streaks all over the place. Amazing a tiny little wound could make so much blood.

It was like CSI at our house. There was Chris and myself kneeling and looking at the blood streaks on the walls, talking and trying to figure out what it could possibly be from. Perhaps if they are looking for another new CSI show they should give us a call. Can’t you see it now? CSI: Hyde Park, starring Chris and Evey McClees. Now that we had found the wound we decided a plan of action to try and have it heal properly and quickly. We got out the peroxide and cleaned it off nice and good. We had some gauze and bandages and medical tape, so we decided to try and jimmy rig our own bandage. This was a difficult thing to do because it was on the very tip of her tail, but we gave it a shot anyways. The next time we went out we came home to find our idea had not worked at all. The bandage was off and once again her tail was bleeding. I was getting frustrated thinking she was doing it on purpose (making her tail bleed that is), and concerned for how the heck we were supposed to get this fixed. We made an appointment for her the next day to go and see the vet. He was quick to assure me that she was probably not chewing on her own tail and that it was more likely what we thought all along--that she was reopening the wound with each whip of her tail. He also pointed out that if you put a bandage on a dog and they can reach it they will bite it off. Go figure! He took the time and cleaned her wound very well, put some ointment on it and bandaged it up again pretty good. He told us to leave the bandage on for a few days but after that we would need to remove it so that the wound could breathe and heal. And then came what I just knew Belle was going to hate. The cone for her head. Let me tell you, she was NOT impressed. It was funny too, because she had no perception of how much room she had to walk through doorways, etc and she was constantly walking into things. We started out by only putting the cone on when we went out and left her at home only to quickly realize we needed it on her a night as well. Otherwise she would get at the bandage while we were sleeping. Considering Belle sleeps in our bed with us and most of the time UNDER the covers, it was an interesting challenge. We very quickly learned that the cone was useless. Her tail is so long, and she is so very flexible that she could still reach her tail. Here is where Chris got creative…..

Finding one of those plastic file folders he cut it up and duct taped it together in the shape of the cone. He then duct taped that to the cone itself and basically extended it by 3 inches. It was hilarious. There was my poor dog with a clear cone on her head, duct tape all over it and an extension made with a plastic blue file folder. I am sure she was the talk of the town. And never mind the fact that with the addition it made it heavy and she had a hard time holding her head all the way up and walked into things even more. Poor thing!

The good news however is that it kept her away from her tail and that eventually after a few weeks it started to heal enough we were able to leave her alone without her cone on her head. I am certain Belle smiled the day the cone went in the garbage and we no longer needed to bandage her tail. I was glad for her that her tail had healed and I was glad for me that I didn’t have to scrub anymore blood of my walls. I was also extremely to happy to learn that my dog is not a "cutter!"She still does have a little rough spot on her tail and the hair never grew back. But a tiny bald spot that is hard to notice is a better option than bleeding everywhere everyday. She is a happy girl now......

This is a post for the Blog Off for Breast Cancer. Feel free to click on any of the links on the right to check out any of the other blogs involved. Also, if you'd like to make a donation to Courtney, please click on the banner below.

Boy am I screwed......

Left-handed women may have a shorter life-span

Prayers for Heather

I do not know Heather, I have never met Heather, I have never even spoken to Heather. I simply found her link through Jodi's blog. I went to Heathers blog and I read her story. Please take the time to go over to her blog. Click HERE for the link. If you click on the category "brain stuff" on the left hand side or her blog you will be able to read all about what she is currently going through. She is 32 years old with a young family and a husband and on Thursday she will undergo brain surgery at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for a brain tumor. Please take the time to offer her your prayers. I felt I needed to bring attention to her and her family because when I read her blog I was moved. When I read her words and her love for her family and her faith in God even with all she is going through I am inspired and encouraged. Lets remember to hug the ones we love a little tighter today and pray for the health of a young mother and wife.

The Dark Side...

People in Boston are crazy passionate for their sports, and rightly so. The teams out here are pretty good--well, at least the Red Sox and Patriots are. The Celtics and Bruins? Not so much.

Anyways, people out here tend to be a bit overzealous to get you to become fans of the home team. It's a bit like the Church of Scientology...."come to the dark side." I guess I don't understand people that have grown up in a city with a baseball or football team, then move here and all of the sudden become die-hard Sox or Pats fans. And I know quite a few of them. Did you just shun your childhood team? You can't do that! Please read rules 18 and 19 of this article, because it's just not right. Actually, you should read the entire article on being a true fan. It should be law.

What also bugs me is the ignorant nature of the fans here. Guess what? THERE ARE OTHER PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL THAT ARE GOOD THAT DON'T PLAY FOR THE RED SOX. Crazy, isn't it?!?! It's like they all have blinders on, and nobody else matters. As you know, we went to the Mariners-Red Sox game a couple of weeks ago. We went to eat before the game and started talking to a guy a couple of tables down about the pitchers that were starting that night. The Red Sox starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka, came over from Japan in the offseason with a bunch of hoopla and all of the fans were excited because it was his first start at Fenway Park. Our starter that night, Felix Hernandez, is a 21 year old phenom who will be a great pitcher soon. Suffice it to say that the guy I was talking to was a typical Red Sox fan and didn't know a lick about Felix and figured they'd win the game easily. Oops. Felix threw a complete game one-hit shutout (for those of you that aren't baseball fans, that's really good.) I only wish that I would've ran into that guy after the game.

Of course, I have to throw in the caveat that not all Boston fans are idiots. Just most of them.

Can you believe it is Monday and I am posting? I have gotten into such a bad habit of using up all my blogging brain power for the blog off that by the time I am done I slack the rest of the week. But this is a new week, and if your lucky you will have something new and fantastic to read everyday;)

Chris was on call this weekend so we needed to stay close to home. Sometimes he gets no calls at all so it was a surprise to him when they just kept pouring in. Friday night we met our friends Georgette and Tyrone at Chili's out near our place for supper and then headed back here to play a game. We played Pop5 which is by the creators of Cranium. I like this game MUCH better than Cranium itself. We had a fun time, it was boys against girls and sadly after some hard nosed competition the boys took it 2 games to 1. And seriously, if you know Georgette, the next time you see her you must have her demonstrate her mad Pop5 skills for you. Preferably "Eye of the Tiger" or "New Kids on the Block." You WILL NOT be sorry!!

Chris and I both came down with a pretty nasty cold the last few days. The plan was 2 hole up in our place for all of Saturday and Sunday to kick the colds butts. Unfortunately for Chris he had a really busy weekend. He was gone for about 6 hours on Saturday and had to go up to New Hampshire on Sunday. He didn't get the relaxation time he wanted this weekend, but that's how it goes when your on call. We both still have the sniffles today but the worst seems to have left us.

We were glad to have the time to watch a movie Saturday. We watched The Prestige with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. I really enjoyed this movie. I love how the story takes turns you don't expect, which makes the plot and movie as a whole that much better. If you haven't see it check it out if you get the chance.

THINKING BLOGGER

Ok so you in case you missed it, the other day I posted about the fact Amanda over at Life, Vegas! Style had given me a 'thinking blogger award. Click HERE to read the post. So now it is my turn to give some of my favorite blogs the same honor.

The rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think

2. Link to the original post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' in the post that you wrote

I have been thinking about this over the last few days. I love most of the blogs that I read, but there are a few that stand out for one reason or another. I am actually going to cheat a little because I am only going to make mention of 4 blogs. Mainly because Amanda would have been one of my five but I have already talked about her and she already received the thinking blogger award. And so here they are. (in no particular order)

1. Organized Chaos - I came to know Jodi's blog through a friend of mine and I am so glad I did. Jodi is a mother of FIVE kids, all under the age of 11. Everyday I look forward to reading her posts and learning what adventures she might be on with her kids that day. She is a constant reminder to me of so many things. Most importantly how blessed we truly are in this life and how important family is. I am inspired by her and her love for her family.

2. In My Shoes - Leslie sometimes finds ways to get the wheels in my head turning with a simple sentence. Her and her husband are pastors up in Canada. Her blog posts are generally short and to the point. Which is what I love about her blog, because even in those short posts she is sometimes able to spark something in you, in your mind and in your heart. Her love for God, her family and her church community is something we should all be inspired by.

3. With A Twist And A Turn She Gets Her Wish - I met Carly at a wedding last year and later found out she had a blog. Whenever I start reading a new blog I always wonder whether I will be able to be sucked in and return everyday. With Carly's blog I was hooked the first time I read it. She is not afraid to say what is on her mind and I love that about her blog. I know that I am definitely guarded about a lot of the things I write on here, and I am sure so is she on some levels, but her way with her words and her sheer honesty is something I totally love. I love her style of writing and her view on so many different topics constantly has me thinking.

4. Family of Five - This is a private blog so I cannot post the link for you all. This has to be one of my favorite blogs for the simple reason is that it is as real as it gets. I am inspired by her love for her husband and her children. The realness of her posts shows her heart in times of joy and time of trials and sorrow. She is a constant reminder to me of the things that matter most, and her stories of her children constantly make me smile.

So there you have it. Please do not be offended if I did not make mention of your blog. I love all of the blogs that I visit. If I didn't I wouldn't visit you. These were just a few that really stand out for me.

On a side note. A couple of weeks ago I decided to be brave and submit my blog to be "critiqued" over at Critique My Blog. I constantly am convincing myself that I am not a good writer and that my blog is boring. But I took the plunge and let a total stranger offer their opinion on my blog. Between this and Amanda it has given me some encouragment and a little bit of an ego boost. Here is a snippet of what was said about me at Critique My Blog:

"We have some staying power here with this blog being born in 2004...I would add a site meter ( http://www.sitemeter.com/ ) to see how many visitors you have coming to your blog. The content and writing is great, I particularly liked the recent post about Privacy...I am with you there...only I use the men's room :)
Keep up the great work and keep the blog rolling"

There was mention of my background and it being too much. But as you know I have that up for the purpose of the blog off and will change it back to something else afterwards. While I realize it might be a bit much, that was kinda my point:)

SO there you have it! Are you up for having YOUR blog critiqued? Go for it, i dare ya, I double dog dare ya;) Props to the person who knows what movie that is from?!?

CLARITY -- BLOG OFF FOR BREAST CANCER

CLARITY -- Clearness and accuracy of thought, reasoning and expression

This word was a tough one for me. I sat here at the computer for hours on end really struggling to find a direction. I am still not sure I have found exactly what I am looking for in regards to what I really want to say, but perhaps in my search of what to write on the word clarity I have found some clarity for myself.

I am certain we all have searched and longed for some form of clarity at different times in our lives. Moments when you so desperately need an answer and some reassurance. Clarity.

When my mum passed away in 1996 I lost all sense of clarity and understanding in my life. It was like that for a long while. I floated through my life, I had no direction and I questioned whether I would ever truly be happy. Everything I had ever known and thought seemed to be gone in an instant. Perhaps that is a feeling that only losing someone so close to you can bring about, I don't really know. What I do know is that then more than ever I needed clarity and I struggled to find it. A few years later, I finally came to the realization that to find the clearer picture I was so desperately searching for, maybe I needed to be elsewhere to do it. Somewhere where nobody knew me, where nobody knew about my mum passing away and where nobody knew of the things I had done in my life. A chance to start over, a chance to look for the answers I was searching for. A new beginning to find the clarity, the reasoning and the understanding of the events in my own life that eluded me for so long.

I packed up what I could into my little Chevy Sprint and I was off to a new beginning to an awesome chapter in my life. I didn't know it at the time, but making the decision to leave the only place I had ever known would turn out to be all the understanding I needed.

Shortly after I arrived in Vancouver, I questioned my decision to leave behind my family and my friends. Once again I felt like I had no clue. And all I wanted was a little CLARITY!

I met Chris in November 2001. We met online. He was in Seattle, I was in Vancouver. We quickly became friends, and soon after that we met for the first time and not long after that we realized that this was more than a friendship. We both realized the potential for something much more than that. And there it was, right in front of me. Through all of the confusion and trials and times where I didn't think I would ever understand or figure things out. There was my clarity. Things were clearer than they had ever been. All I had been through with losing my mum and other events that had transpired in my life had led me to that time and place with Chris.

We all find the answers we need in different ways--whether it be through a song, a conversation with a friend, or in meeting that person you are meant to spend the rest of your life with. The trick is being patient enough to wait for that time to come. I think sometimes we look so hard for answers that we miss what is right in front of us.

Sometimes clarity comes in forms we least expect. Last September, when Chris and I were flying back from Seattle I took this photo from the plane.....

Even now when I have moments of confusion and lack of understanding, I like to look at this photo and it puts things into perspective for me. The sky, the sunrise, and the simple reminder of the beauty of God's creation brings me all the clarity I need.

This is a post for the Blog Off for Breast Cancer. Feel free to click on any of the links on the right to check out any of the other blogs involved. Also, if you'd like to make a donation to Courtney, please click on the banner below.

THINKING BLOGGER

I was so excited on Sunday to see my good blogging friend Amanda over at Life Vegas Style had given me a Thinking Blogger award. It totally put a smile on my face as I have been feeling a little discouraged as of late of the direction of this blog. At first we started it as a place where we could keep our families in the loop as to the daily goings on in our lives. It has evolved into much more than that. At times I feel guarded as to what I can and can't say on here. Perhaps I shouldn't feel that way, it is MY blog after all. Either way, I was so excited that Amanda thought of me. Here is what she had to say.....

--Evey was a great writer before she joined the Blog Off For Breast Cancer competition, but her posts for this cause have really blown me away. Funny and insightful anecdotes, stories built around a single word (shenanigans!) and everyday occurrences get a fresh view. Her writing has evolved as she has escaped the guillotine each round and I'm sure even after her blog returns to "normal" the way she has included emotional ties to her writing will stay with her blog forever. She has turned into a fierce competitor and I hope she wins! Plus she gets extra points for living in Boston even if she dares to (gasp!) dis the Red Sox (but we will forgive her for that because she is so wonderful.)--

If you have a few minutes you really should check out Amanda's blog if you already don't read it. She is a great gal and I love stopping in everyday to see what she has in store for us. One day she will pour her heart out, the next she will go on and on about her favorite TV show and the next will be the never ending and awesome stories of her super cute and ever mischievous cats Portia and Nerissa. It is never dull and she always manages to put a smile on my face, thank you for that and for thinking of me.

So now it is my turn to choose 5 blogs and award them the thinking blogger award. And now that I have you all on edge with suspense wondering who my 5 blogs will be. You are just going to have to wait a little longer. You see I need to go expend all my brain power and write my post for the blog off this week. The word is Clarity and I am having a little trouble with direction for this word. Goodness, I need clarity on my clarity post.

Speaking of the blog off, this week saw Sandra from Sandra's Goings On leave us.

GOLDEN -- BLOG OFF FOR BREAST CANCER

We are all on the way there. We cannot avoid it, inevitably we will all get there. Where is there you ask? Well the Golden Years of course.

Seems to me so many people spend their time worrying about getting old that they forget to enjoy life. And worry for what really? It's not like we can stop the fact the one day we will all reach senior citizen status. People get all up in knots about it like it's some sort of death sentence and yet most people who are in their Golden Years seem to be having the time of their lives. Think about it for a second. No kids, no job, nothing but you and whatever you want to do. Many spend their time traveling. Imagine it--you, your spouse the open road and all the time in the world to go wherever you want. And what about the Golden girls? Who would have thought that four single ladies in their late 50's and up could have had such a great time? And for all you Golden Girls fans out there, this one's for you.

"Thank you for being a friend

Traveled down the road and back again

Your heart is true your a pal and a confidant.

And if you threw a party

Invited everyone you ever knew

You would see the biggest gift would be from me

And the card attached would say thank you for being a friend."

Sorry for the Golden Girls sing along. But come on, admit it. I know you started singing it. Okay, back to the topic at hand.

About 5 years ago Chris and I went on a road trip down to Southern California with a friend of ours. While most of our time was spent in the Los Angeles area and hitting up Disneyland and Universal Studios, we did spend a few days down in Palm Springs with Chris's grandparents. At that time they spent a good part of the year down there at a beautiful RV resorts for seniors. I totally get why people retire to places like this. It was amazing, the palm trees, the blue sky. One thing however that I will never understand is how older people survive in that heat. I remember when we first stepped out of the car when we got down there I thought I was going to suffocate. Now I know what your thinking? What fun could 2 people in their mid 20's have spending a weekend in a place like that? Well believe you me when I tell you that Chris and I had a fabulous time.

We were there for 3 days. On the second day there was a husband and wife comedy duo scheduled to perform in the evening. Bernie and Red do all sorts of RV tours and such. When I googled them to see if could find some info on them for this post I was surprised to see they are still going strong and that they even have a website.

Knowing that we were coming that weekend Grandpa went ahead and bought 2 extra tickets in case Chris and I wanted to join them at the activity center that night to enjoy the show. When he first told us Chris and I smiled politely and said "that sounds like fun." But really we were thinking was "what the heck? I don't want to watch a corny old couple try and tell jokes." Boy were Chris and I in for a shock. We went about our day and after supper we got ready to go enjoy an evening with a bunch of people 30 or more years older than us and a British Comedy Duo who were certain to bore us to death. Turns out Bernie and Red didn't just tell jokes but they sing and stuff too. And turns out they were actually pretty darn funny. Chris and I actually quite enjoyed ourselves and laughed into the night with Bernie and Red. The funny thing is we ended up staying longer than Grandpa and Char did. Bernie and Red were a little on the crass side and I don't think they appreciated it very much. Chris and I however, thought they were a hoot. I don't really know what that says about us. Perhaps Bernie and Red really are that funny or perhaps Chris and I should be trading in our youth and car keys already and checking into the retirement home.

Maybe we should all follow Bernie and Red's lead into our Golden Years because they sure seem to be enjoying every second of it. I like to think that when Chris and I reach those years that they will be spent traveling, golfing A LOT and spending holidays with our kids and grand kids. Sounds like a great life to me. Did anyone hear about the 102 year old lady who hit a hole in one a few weeks back? Read about it here. I hope I will still be golfing at 102. Golden Years indeed. So come on people. Let's embrace what is coming to us anyways. I am not saying turn in your keys and pick up your walker just yet, unless you want to of course. I just think we should enjoy life a little more and let the future worry about itself and welcome the Golden Years when they do arrive instead of trying to escape them.
Once again, this is a post for the Blog Off for Breast Cancer. Feel free to click on any of the links on the right to check out any of the other blogs involved. Also, if you'd like to make a donation to Courtney, please click on the banner below.

Please take a minute to enjoy the video below.

Maybe it's time for Chris and I to go out and get ourselves a couple of these road hogs. There would be no stopping us.

I would presume that unless you live in a box you have heard all about what happened at Virginia Tech yesterday. My heart breaks for all those people who died and for the families and friends who are now left to pick up the pieces of another senseless tragedy. I will forever struggle to understand and comprehend how a fellow human being can snap to the point of committing mass murder such as this one. If anything positive can be taken from something so horrific and tragic, I hope this is a reminder to us all how short and fragile life is. My prayers and condolences go out to all the families and loved ones who now grieve for those lost and struggle to understand.

Perhaps it is time for all of the states in this country to seriously reconsider the ridiculous gun laws that allow anyone of age in some states to walk into a store and purchase a weapon such as the ones used in yesterdays killings without a second look.

Once again I avoided the guillotine and will continue on this week in the blog off. PHEW! This week we had to say goodbye to fellow blogger Sherry from A Misty Dimness (formerly Joe and Sherry). The word for this week is golden and I have to be honest this might be the toughest one for me to come up with something for. But as always, tune in on Wednesday to find out what my clever self comes up with. Also please remember that Courtney who is the one who organized this blog off to raise money for the Breast Cancer 3Day that she will be taking part in in September. Please feel free to click on the banner below and leave her a donation to help raise money for the cure.

This weekend Chris and I watched Little Miss Sunshine. I loved this movie. If you haven't seen it perhaps you should put it on your netflix list or pick it up at the movie store. It was a dramatic comedy that had just enough of everything. The characters were great and little Abigail Breslin was excellent. Your typical dysfunctional family that fights constantly and ends up having to be stuck together in a small space and spend time together. My favorite part was when the horn on their VW bus got stuck and they got pulled over. Chris and I were crying we were laughing so hard.

I am starting to notice that we seem to have a lot of "lurkers" that come by and read our blog but don't let us know you were here. Maybe once in a while you could leave us a little hello in the comment section so we know you were here.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME....

On Wednesday April 11, 2007 Daisuke Matsuzaka, a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox was set to make his historic home debut at Fenway Park vs the Seattle Mariners. Matsuzaka, or Dice-K as he is referred to is a Japanese pitcher who was signed by the Red Sox in the off season. Over the past 10 years or so Major League Baseball has been lucky enough to have the talent from Japan wanting to come play here in North America, mostly pitchers. It wasn't till 1999 that a"superstar" if you will, made the crossover. And that superstar was Ichiro Suzuki who was signed by and still plays for my team the Seattle Mariners. He was the first position player to make the jump from Japan. Both Dice-K and Ichiro are considered national treasures in Japan. So as you can imagine this game was a big deal, it was a big deal that Dice-k's first pitch of his first home game would be against fellow countrymen Ichiro.

The weekend leading up to this game the Mariners were to have played a 4 game series in Cleveland against the Indians. Mother nature had a different idea and all 4 games were postponed due to snow. It set Wednesdays game up to be a night to remember. Our "ace" of our pitching staff is a young phenom by the name of Felix Hernandez, or King Felix as he is so often referred to. He was on the mound on opening day for the Mariners and he threw 8 scoreless innings giving up only 3 hits and striking out 12 batters. So when it worked out he would be the starting pitcher for this game Chris and I knew we just had to have tickets. Tickets for this game in particular were hard to get. It had been sold out for quite some time and the only way to get tickets were for insane prices from people on EBay or through ticket brokers. Chris and I searched and searched and didn't give up and lucked out by finding 2 pretty good tickets for only 125 bucks for the pair on EBay. We jumped on it immediately and bought the tickets, how could we not?

Chris and I headed into the city early and had supper at Boston Beer Works across from Fenway Park. While we were there we drew plenty of looks since we were among the very few wearing Mariners gear. In one conversation with a guy sitting near us he asked us "so who is this pitcher pitching for you guys tonight, is he any good?" Chris responded by saying "uh yeah he is good and you will find out soon enough." The guy just kinda laughed as if to say "yeah right." You see Red Sox fans are like that. They seem to live in this little bubble where they think they have the best team ever and that no other players on any other team could possibly be any good and especially not better than anyone on their team. The ignorance drives me nuts. Little did we know that they would find out later that night just how good Felix Hernandez is.

After supper we met up with some friends, Kristen and Jeremy. We headed into the ballpark and visited while enjoying some cold beers. When it was time to head to our seats we parted ways as we did not have tickets together. Our seats were actually pretty good. Probably about 30 rows up from first base. We did have a big pole near us, but our seats were in a good enough spot that we could see everything. The media at the game was crazy. It was Dice-K mania everywhere you looked. There were Japanese signs all over, people with the Japanese flag painted on their faces, Dice-K headbands and of course a lot of Japanese people. When Ichiro stepped into the batters box the camera flashes were incredible. I have never seen anything like that. And when Dice-K wound up to throw his first pitch of the ball game it was even crazier. All the flashes going off, it was so cool.

Dice-K pitched a pretty good game. 7 innings, 8 hits and only giving up 3 runs and striking out 4. Not a bad outing for any pitcher really. Especially for one who was under the glaring spotlight and pressure to win in his first game on his home field. But it wasn't to be for him this night. What was supposed to be his night to shine became someone else's. Felix Hernandez swooped in and stole his spotlight and his thunder through 9 almost perfect innings of baseball. Perhaps on this night all of baseball realized just how good this 21 year old kid from Venezuela really is.

Through 7 full innings Felix had yet to give up a hit. He was unbelievable. His pitches were downright nasty. His defense behind him though deserved some of the credit. Second baseman Jose Lopez had made about 4 amazing plays to that point to keep the no hitter going. Raul Ibanez made a great diving catch in left field that was for certain going to be a hit. Chris and I were in awe sitting in the stands watching what could unfold before our eyes. The Red Sox fans sitting around us couldn't comprehend that this young pitcher was this good and shutting their entire offence down. Felix was on the verge of making history.

You see a no hitter is a rare occurrence in baseball. In Major League history only 233 no hitters have happened. That's in over a hundred years. It is one of the hardest accomplishments in all of sports. A shut out in hockey is nothing compared to a pitcher being able to go 9 full innings and not allow a single person to get a hit. In the baseball almanac it describes it as this

--"Words alone cannot describe pitching's second highest "club" and still one of the most desirable goals — a no hitter. These elusive gems are masterpieces of a career on the mound and a mystical feat that must be witnessed to be fully appreciated. Tossing a complete game with no hits are all that is required to join this elite group of pitchers. A group we here at Baseball Almanac truly appreciate and hold in the highest regard during a day and age when the home run is king."

It wasn't to be for Felix on this night. His first pitch of the 8th inning was hit into center field for a base hit. Jose Lopez made a diving attempt to stop it but it got away from him. And so did Felix's no hitter. But he has everything to be proud of after such an amazing performance. It was the most incredible sporting event I have ever witnessed. He didn't give up another hit after that. He threw a complete game, 1 hit shutout while striking out 6. That's nothing to hang your head at. Felix's time will come, he will have his no hitter and he will go into the history books. But for us when people are talking about him 10 years from now Chris and I will be able to look back and remember that amazing April night at Fenway Park when we witnessed the brilliance and talent that IS Felix Hernandez and remember how we were there we he almost made history. It was awesome!

SHENANIGANS--BLOG OFF FOR BREAST CANCER

--1. questionable act: something that is deceitful, underhanded, or otherwise questionable ( usually used in the plural )

--2. trick or prank: a playful trick, mischievous prank, or other display of high spirits

While I was looking for some inspiration for this post I of course googled the word shenanigans. I was a little disappointed with the lack of information I came across. I found a few sites with definitions and then a whole bunch of listing for bars, restaurants etc. I did however learn a couple of things I did not know...

-- There was a kids game show in the 60's called Shenanigans

-- There is a board game based on this show

-- There are a lot of Pubs called Shenanigans

So after my attempts to be inspired by searching the Internet have failed, I have come to the realization that I am on my own for this one.

I am certain we all have many stories of when we were kids and teenagers and all the silly stuff we got up to. Tomfoolery, if you will. Seems to me that people seem to always get up to shenanigans late at night. I wonder why that is? Maybe it makes the element of surprise easier. I spent many summers at camp when I was growing up. First as a camper and then later on as a staff member and when I think of shenanigans it is those times that come to mind.

My first memories as a deviant getting up to no good and playing pranks on people was at Sunday School camp if I remember correctly. My friend Rae and I got up to all sorts of no good that week, most of it at the expense of one girl in particular in our cabin. One night we pulled the old "hand in hot water" trick, the next night we found a stray kitten lurking around outside our cabin and laid it on her pillow above her head and woke her telling her there was a big rat in her bed. The night after that we awoke her with a flashlight in her face and yelling TRAIN! Poor girl, we never let down all week long. I am pretty sure that to this day she does not forgive me for my shenanigans that week.

As I got older the pranks became more fun.

I remember as a senior at music camp we did some crazy stuff. There was the time the diving board got stolen and held for ransom. There was the time we stole our counselors mattresses. The time a group of us canoed across the lake in the dead of night to capture the flag from the Jewish camps flagpole across the lake. Sneak water gun attacks. Oh the fun we had. I remember one time finding our bras had been strung up outside the dining hall and on the flagpole. Embarrassing? Sure. But did we deserve it? Heck ya!!

I think of the times all us girls in our cabin at night would laugh about the silliest things. I think of Jenn running up and down the hallway with her pillow and pillow case over her head. I remember one night in particular at music camp we were up to all sorts of no good late one night in the cabin making all sorts of noise. Too much sugar perhaps. I remember Char (our counselor) storming down the hallway and yelling at us. Her words were something along the lines of "get in bed, shut up and I don't want to see or hear one more person out of bed. I don't care if you have to go to the bathroom, WET the bed!" Oh the trouble we always got in for our shenanigans. But what fun really would it have been without them?!

One summer when I worked in the kitchen, we were sick of all the male staff members playing tricks and pulling pranks on us so we decided to get a couple of them back. One day when we made lasagna we "laced" two of the pieces with a whole lot of Metamucil and served them to two specific staff members, (Kirsten you should ask Chris about this, I am sure he remembers). Later that day one of the guys came to get some milk to try to settle his stomach, little did he know. We proceeded to tell him we hoped he had a very moving weekend. Shenanigans!! Fun times.

I am sure there are people out there who are grumpy and bitter and therefore don't like jokes and pranks. Those people who think shenanigans should be outlawed. I think those are the people who have just always been on the wrong end of the jokes. Those people need to take a chance and pull something off on someone else. Have some fun.

Once again, this is a post for the Blog Off for Breast Cancer. Feel free to click on any of the links on the right to check out any of the other blogs involved. Also, if you'd like to make a donation to Courtney, please click on the banner below.

Enjoy the video below, the best use of shenanigans in cinema!

****It does contain some foul language, so please be careful of little ears.****

Super Troopers - Shenanigans

I hope this video makes you laugh as much as I did.

Trying new things......

There were a lot of things that I had no interest in before I met Chris. Baseball, NFL football, golf. I love all 3 of those things now. It is funny what happens when you open your mind up to knew things instead of always sticking to what you know. One thing in particular I think of when I think of "things I didn't like before I met Chris" is wine. Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed a glass of blush wine now and then but for the most part I didn't like it.

Chris and his family are big wine drinkers, his moms side of the family that is. His uncle Kevin (the first profile when you click on link) is a Viticulturist, so the wine flows freely. They have their own small vineyard on their property and recently in the last couple of years put in their own cellar in their house. Chris and I had the opportunity to see it when we were out there last September. Any family function with that side of the family will always include a bottle or 5 of great wine. Which brings me to my original point of this whole blog and the story I want to share.

Not long after Chris and I started dating I was down in Seattle for the weekend. Chris's grandparents were coming over for dinner and it was going to be the first time I had met them. As expected with a family dinner there was wine involved. If I remember correctly there was 3 different bottles of wine on the table. As we started to eat and talk Chris's Grandma Williams noticed I had an empty wine glass and asked me if I would like some wine. I replied with a "no thank you, I am not much of a wine drinker." She would not however take no for an answer. So not wanting to be rude I found myself with a glass of wine I had no intentions of drinking. After dinner I realized that I was not going to get out of it and so I slowly began to sip my wine. At this point Chris and his brother Bryan had made their way downstairs with our nephews to play. So there I sat with Chris's folks and his grandparents. I had barely gotten down the last sip of wine from my glass when Grandma Williams was asking me if I wanted more. She insisted I try one of the other kinds that sat on the table. Again, not wanting to be rude I took another glass of wine. Finally after that glass and another I excused myself from the table and made my escape downstairs. Chris took one look at my glossy looking eyes and my flushed face and said "whats wrong with you" and I replied "your grandma wouldn't stop feeding me wine, I feel a little dizzy and my face is hot." For those of you who aren't wine drinkers, it tends to hit you a little fast especially if you are not used to it.

So there I was tipsy from drinking too many glasses of wine given to me by Chris's grandma. It is a funny memory that I like to look back on. I now THANK Grandma Williams for encouraging me to drink all that wine that night. I now have a great love for wine and most evenings you can find Chris and I sipping on a glass with our supper.

PRIVACY --BLOG OFF FOR BREAST CANCER

I like to think of myself as a relatively private person. I don't share my most personal thoughts with just anyone. I am a little more cautious than some about who I air my "dirty laundry" to. I am not sure why I am that way. Perhaps some of it is pride and some of it is fear of it being used against me. One area I am very private about is the goings on in the bathroom. For this reason (aside from them being dirty) I HATE using public bathrooms. I mean who wants to pee next to 5 other women. I don't, but sometimes you have no choice. I remember one time I was in the bathroom at a restaurant and the lady beside me had her small child in the stall with her. I would say he was probably 3 or 4. Before I know it this little head pops right under my stall, looks up at me, smiles and says HI!! Here I am mid tinkle with some strange child saying hello to me. My first two thoughts were this--please do not let your children crawl on a public bathroom floor that is just disgusting--and why are you laughing its NOT funny, its creepy. I don't care how young your child is its NOT funny. (I should note that I find this funny NOW, I didn't then)

I don't think I would survive one day in the limelight like celebrities. The other day I thought it was pathetic that our local news channel had to use air time to tell us Britney Spears had checked in to a local LA area hospital with a toothache and was seen leaving an hour later. Are you kidding me? While I don't give a hoot about Britney my point is still the same. Have we become that pathetic in our society that a person can't even go to the doctor without us all hearing about it? How about going to the grocery store, out for dinner. What about a simple argument with a loved one that turns into national news. I get that these people know what they are getting into when they choose the careers that they do. But it doesn't make it right. I still think it makes society in general sad when people cannot live their lives in peace (regardless of who they are) because we are so worried about what the hell they ate for breakfast. As a society we have decided that because they are celebrities they have given up their rights to privacy. Who really do we put them blame on for the invasion of privacy these people have to live with everyday. Some will say the blame lies within the paparazzi, some will say the writers and publishers of the magazines. I say the blame lies with the people who buy the magazines in the first place. If we don't buy them, then the companies who produce them have no business and the paparazzi have no one to sell their photos to. Maybe then they could get real and respectable jobs as photographers instead of stalking people who are just trying to go to the grocery store like the rest of us.

There are just so many issues surrounding privacy. There is the issue of work and personal emails. What rights should companies really have to access those personal emails before it becomes too much? How much say should a boss really have about what your write in your personal blog or journal? Thankfully since I work for myself I do not have to worry about such things, but I know it is a real concern for a lot of people. When I was looking for pictures to use for this post I came across a picture of T-shirt with the words Privacy is not a crime. At first I didn't really get it but the more I thought of it the more it began to make sense to me. It started to make me think about the effects certain things in our society has had on us and our privacy. My thoughts immediately went to 9/11. So many things have changed since that day. While I am thankful for most of these changes to make it safer for us to fly etc, there are some that make me really wonder. I remember the last time I flew on a plane they hardly gave us a glance as we were checking in and going through security. There have been times crossing the border to and from Canada where our ID has never been asked for. Yet if someones name is Abdul-Rahman it is automatic reason for the government or police to invade every aspect of that persons privacy and rights as a human being. It makes me shake my head and wonder what we are really trying to achieve. But that is a blog for another day.

Privacy is something that we all have the right to. It is our choice to exercise that right or not. But there are those people who take it upon themselves to make everyone else's business their own. It is those people that try and take away our freedom of privacy like it is some sort of moral obligation to keep them in the loop.

Please take the time to head around to the other blogs in our contest and check out their posts on this topic. Please also taken a few minutes to stop by and say hello to those who have left us so far. You will find all their links in my sidebar. And as always if you would like to make a donation to Courtney's fundraising effort please click on the banner above.

2007 Seattle Mariners

The 2007 baseball season officially got under way on Sunday. For me however the season didn't start until 6:35 pm yesterday when the Seattle Mariners went head to head with the Oakland Athletics. What a game it was, well if your a Mariner's fan that is. Our young pitcher Felix Hernandez became the youngest opening day starter in the history of the Mariners, 6 days shy of his 21st birthday. And boy did he deliver. He was unbelievable, throwing 8 shutout innings, giving up only 3 hits and struck out a career high 12 batters. This kid has some crazy stuff and I think he is going to have a monster season, they don't call him King Felix for nothing. Big Richie Sexson hit a 3 run home run in the 6th inning to help us to the 4-0 win.
I have talked before about how I was never a baseball fan before I met Chris. In fact I HATED baseball. At least I thought I did. I had never really watched it and I really knew nothing about it. My mother in law Linda changed that quickly. There is nothing like going to the ball park on a sunny evening. The smell of hot dogs and peanuts and popcorn filling the air. The kids with their baseball mitts hoping to catch that foul ball or home run. The sound of the pitcher throwing a strike and hearing the thud in the catchers mitt. The crack of ball to bat on a home run. The roar of the crowd during a late inning rally. The feeling when someone hits a game winning home run and his teammates all crowd home plate waiting to congratulate him after he rounds the bases. There is nothing like it.

And so a new season begins. New faces take their places in the clubhouse. A new beginning for a team that has struggled. New hope for fans and players alike that this just might be the year. 1 game down, 161 to go.

LET'S GO MARINERS!!!

Boy so I suck. It has been 5 days since I last posted. How did you ever survive your weekend without knowing what I was up to, it must have been rough;)

There are a few things I want to touch on today. The first thing is that I am happy to say I made it through to week 3 of the blog off. I am a little happy about that because I am having a fun time with it. Sadly we had to say goodbye to two more bloggers. Yellow and Orange and Subarban Princess. Go on over and say hello to them if you get the chance and check out their blogs.

I hate mice. And we have mice. And it sucks. This has been going on for far too long and I am about done with it. Since Chris and I live in a basement suite we can hear the damn things at night running around above our heads. We can hear them making sounds and squeaking, I am convinced they are laughing at us. The worst part of it is when we are dead asleep and Belle hears them she freaks out and starts barking which makes me jump damn near through the roof every time. It's not her fault, she hates the mice too. She is so funny, whenever she hears them she runs to her food bowl and eats whatever is left in there and then immediately looks for any rawhide laying around so she can eat that too. I can't blame her, it is her food and stuff. I just think that it's funny that she is so concerned about it.

Ever since last summer our landlords have had the same useless guy from the same useless company come to deal with the mice. Not ONCE has he gotten rid of them. He really is useless. He walks in the house and asks if we have been hearing, seeing, or finding signs of mice. We tell him yes. And then he proceeds to ask us (every time) to keep the dog food sealed (which we do) and then he puts some bait bags in the ceiling and he is off. OK here is the thing, these mice are SMART. They are like super mutant mice or something, I am not kidding. Either they don't eat the bait cause they are so smart or they are so immune to it they grub it down with no ill effects. Snap traps don't work, glue traps don't work, NOTHING normal like that works on these buggers. The exterminator guy that comes every few months KNOWS THIS! So tell me why he does not do something different, why does he not use some of his tricks that he knows, and why for all that is holy do our landlords keep paying them to do NOTHING. He is coming again this week, I am going to tell him he needs to approach this from a different angle. Let me tell you, EVEY IS DONE LIVING WITH THESE DIRTY LITTLE CREATURES!!!! The only thing I am thankful for is that they don't leave poop all over the joint. In fact, we almost never find any which seems so weird to me. But whatever, I am not going to complain.

As usual since Chris and I are such exciting people we didn't do much this weekend. We did go for a nice drive yesterday. We drove out to Buzzards Bay which is down in the Cape Cod area. We had a late lunch at a cute little family restaurant. Nice and relaxing:)