Birthday Post Script

I tried to post Ashlyn's birthday blog last night when I wrote it, but blogger was driving me bonkers.  I was able to get into it on my break this afternoon and sent the post from my phone.  Of course by that time I had rethought the entire blog and had other pictures that I wanted to add.  Well, actually the blog last night was supposed to end with this picture, but it wouldn't load. 

All day today the song "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks has been floating around in my head.  I've been dangerously close to tears a couple of times. 
♫ Children get older, and I'm getting older too ♫  It isn't because I'm getting older, I'm looking forward to 42.  When Ashlyn's birthday arrives I know that I have one month left at my current age.  This particular year has not been fabulous, I'm anxious to see what the next one will bring me. 

I think it's just that Rojo Diablo is growing up so fast.  I want to grab her and make her stop.  I love the woman she is growing into, but I miss the little girl who used to call me "Uncle Joanie". 

Happy birthday Ash, here are a couple of "better" pictures of you!!  ;)  Make a fish face for the camera and you know it's going to show up somewhere!

All my love, forever,
                                Auntie Pig Nose

Fabulous Fifteen

How can this child be 15????  Yesterday she was three.  I swear it.

I don't know where the time goes.  I'm just glad that the oldest of The Five still isn't too old to be a Goover.  We changed our sleepover plans to accomodate the high school football game for her, and I stopped and thought about it for a moment.  She is fifteen now, maybe sleeping over at her Aunt's house with her little sisters just isn't the thing anymore.  Then I sent her a text asking if she was perhaps too big now for Goover Sleepovers.  Dreading the answer, of course, but knowing that at some point this is just not going to be cool.  She and I could do lunch, or a manicure, or whatever it is civilized people do with teenaged nieces.  She assured me that she is not too old, so we'll goover it up on Sunday!  I dread the day when she sends the little goovers off to Auntie's by themselves, but it's coming. 

This beautiful woman child of ours has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year.  She'll start her sophmore year in high school later this week.  Last year this introverted girl was Concert Master for her orchestra.  I was late to the spring concert, but I heard her solo as I was walking in the door, I know how hard that was for her to do, and I couldn't have been more proud.  I can't wait to hear her again this year. 

It's exciting to watch her plan out her future, even though it means that she is  growing up and probably away.  It's that whole roots and wings thing I guess.  She's a shy bird, who sometimes has to be nudged out, but when she spreads her wings she soars, and it is an amazing thing to watch.   The pictures she takes are inspiring, and I think that's what she's leaning toward for a career.  Still lots of time to think about that.  Football games to attend, Dances to be danced, songs to be sung, life to be lived, boys to be......... stay away from boys.  :)  

The kids love hearing stories about themselves, so I'm trying to think of one to share.  There are SO many.  I remember the very first sleepover we ever had.  It wasn't in my house in Itasca like you remember.  It was in your room at Grandma's on Christmas Eve.  It was the first time you slept in your bed (cause you always slept with "Randma Ruffie") and I slept on the floor.  You were three years old.  I remember lying there listening to you talk about Santa and presents, and anything else you could think of to keep yourself awake.  It took a LONG time for you to drift off.  Then I had to get up off the floor and get more blankets to sleep on from Grandma.  I'm pretty sure that was the last time I slept on a floor.....  That is also the Christmas where our dress up pictures come from.  We sure were fabulous!  No, I'm not posting those.  First of all, they are buried in the albums, second of all.......yikes!  We'll look at them on Goover day, like we always do. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl.  The one who always says "I love you" first.  I LOVE YOU!  I'm so glad you aren't too big to be a Goover, but I'm still going to kick your butt at Monopoly on Sunday after we get the little Goovers to sleep!  

Hairspray!

By nine a.m. Saturday morning we were on our way to Chanhassen to enjoy some fine dining and theater!  I have seen two movie versions of Hairspray, the one where Rikki Lake plays Tracy, and the one where John Travolta plays her Mom, Edna.  I like both of those, so I knew I would love this, and I did!  The food was great, I had the fish, and the musical was energetic and hilarious.  I especially loved the gal who played Motormouth Mabel.  Her name is Aimee Bryant, and apparently she has a cd out.  I'm going to have to look into that. Wow did she have a set of pipes.  When she sang "I Know Where I've Been" she almost brought me to tears.  The man who played "Seaweed" definitely fits Kerri's definition of "sexual chocolate".  When the cast came and danced with the audience he stopped about five feet from us!  Five feet too short, the story of my life. 

At Chanhassen they deliver your dessert during intermission, which is a good plan.  People would definitely be too full to spend any extra cash right after dinner!  Vicki and Kate had some ice cream things, and I had a grasshopper.  MMMMmmmmm is was minty smooth and so delicious!  The theater itself is spectacular and we spent a lot of time exploring it before our lunch.  Unfortunately my phone camera doesn't have a flash (that we have found yet anyway) so we couldn't get any pictures at all from Chanhassen.

Funny story about the drive over, which I believe took about forty-five minutes.  Vicki has GPS, so we put in the coordinates and away we go.  When we arrived in Chanhassen the lovely lady told us to turn onto Amrstrong and "in two blocks you will see your destination to the right."  Well, we were talking and drove right on by, or so we thought.  Vicki turned the car around and back down Armstrong we went.  One would think you couldn't hide a dinner theater........ Turn the car around again, and back down Armstrong we drive, eyes peeled for a theater, and nothing.  Then we headed to the gas station on the right side of the street.  Vicki gets out, heads on in, and proceeds to get laughed at.  When she asked where the theater was the man pointed out the window, right across the street.  Now in our defense, we did also look to the left, because GPS can definitely steer you wrong. (pun intended)  The theater is somewhat set back behind some construction.  I have no excuse for not seeing the big sign......

All in all we were there for five hours.  Tons of fun, and I would definitely go again!  Now that I know it's on the left.....  So we piled into the car again, and headed off toward the Mall of America!  Kate had never seen the aquarium, so that was our next destination.

On Our Way

Wow, what a fun weekend!  I can't tell you how good it felt to get the heck out of here and spend some time with old friends.  I didn't want to leave today, and I'm not glad to be home.  I could have easily spent the day visiting with the kids.  I don't get to spend nearly enough time with them, and had nothing to rush home to. Of course my sister, who was driving, had CeCe (and Tom) here waiting for her.  It's the first time Kate has gotten to go anywhere since CeCe arrived six years ago, if you don't count hospital trips, and that is a very necessary part of being a good parent.(She says like she has a clue.)  Having a bit of your own time, I mean. 

Kate picked me up on Friday at eleven, and after some banking, and running to Kmart to purchase a coffee maker, we were on the road.  When we arrived in North Branch we were met with a car coming straight at us down the off ramp.  Luckily he/she moved over, and then realized they were going the wrong way and turned around at the bottom without incident.  After that we scoped it out and decided to grab a bite of lunch at Denny's first.  This is what greeted us.

Yes, that is Denny's.  Yes, that is a hearse to the right.  We had a good time playing "Who is the driver of the hearse?" while waiting for our food, and we guessed it right.  It was the gentleman dressed in sweats and a tank top, with shoulder length hair.  His bangs were pulled away from his face with.....a scrunchy.  Yes.  A scrunchy.  This dude kept eyeing me up, and was making me nervous.  My sister had her back to him.  At one point she went to the ladies room and I begged her not to leave me.  I did not want another "incident" to blog about.  I just kept really busy on my phone while she was away.  When she came back she got a good look at him and said "Oh, is that why you didn't want me to go?"  I nodded and she agreed that he must be the hearse driver.

We downed our lunch, palatable patty melt and a bacon cheeseburger, and headed over to the outlet mall to do some shopping.  I exercised my self control and only bought a few little bubble baths at Bath and Body Works.  It also helped that my sister followed me around saying things like "This is the first store, do you really want to spend ALL your money here?"  Thanks Kate.  Well, my checkbook thanks you anyway.....  CeCe scored some excellent pants and t's from Oshkosh B'gosh though!

After a few hours, don't worry Kate, I wont tell about you getting stuck on the low couch, we continued on down the road to Vicki and Bob's.  Nice drive and it felt so good to be out in the world!  When we arrived at the Bed and Breakfast (after only one wrong turn, that was the direction givers fault) I asked the proprietor where my suite was.  True to form Bob pointed my way back out the front door.  Some things never change. 

We had a great dinner, prepared by Bob, and then some time visiting with all of them.  I got to play the piano with Meg, and Thaniel and I played with "Littlest Pet Shop" toys.  Meghan also gave a crash course on Greek Mythology (Yeah, she's just like her father.) with a quiz to follow.  I payed close attention to the things I didn't already know as Meg decided there would be a trivia contest between Vicki, Kate, and myself.  Now, I have NEVER lost a trivia contest of any kind to those two, even when they team up on me, so I had to be prepared!  After the kids went to bed we visited for another hour or so and then called it a night.

Part two to follow. :)  Otherwise this would be WAY too long.

Wait!  I almost forgot about Spike!  I can't put the kids in my blog, their father doesn't want them on the net, and I respect that, but that doesn't include the pets!  Meg and Thaniel have a dog, Belle, a cat, Sam, and a bearded dragon named Spike!  I could not bring myself to touch the creature, it kept looking at me like it wanted to take a bite out of me.  *shudder*  Here he is on Vicki's lap, and Kate is being the brave one.

Getaway!

Tomorrow my sister Kate and I are heading off to the Twin Cities for a long weekend!  This is the first time Kate has been away from her family since CeCe arrived six years ago.  This is the first getaway for me (if you don't count dating someone in Two Harbors for a couple of months....four years ago)since my honeymoon!  Sad to admit, that was almost six years ago.  Of course, we were in the the Twin Cities then too.  I just don't have the time right now to go, and when I did have the time I didn't have the money.  Also, a good portion of my vacation time tends to be eaten up by family things.  I take plenty of "me" time, but I guess it's always close to home.  I truly didn't realize until I was talking with *"Officer Dave" the other night how long it had been since I have gotten out of here!

We haven't set the plan for tomorrow yet, which is surprising because my sister likes to have anything and everything planned out months in advance.  You think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not.  She ought to be asking me about Christmas any day now. :)  We are going to do some shopping at Tanger, which I hear goes by another name now, North Branch something or other.  So I guess it depends on where/when she wants to have lunch what time we will head out. 

Kate and I are traveling down to "The Bob Bentz Bed and Breakfast" which is what I like to call my friend Vicki's house.  Bob would be her husband.  It isn't a very good Band B since she can't even tell me if they have a coffee pot.  I am in a semi panic about this, because I MUST HAVE COFFEE.  I have my old maker in a box in the garage, and if I don't hear back from Vicki, I'll just bring it along.  She has known me my entire life, you would think she could fathom how important this is!  They are in a pretty rural suburb.  It's isn't like I can skip on down to the gas station, or Mc D's for a cup.

Saturday we'll head down to Chanhassin to enjoy a delicious lunch and matinee performance of "Hair Spray".  That is my "pick" for what to do, and I'm very excited about it!  Then we'll head over to the Mall of America and go to the Aquarium, which Kate has never been to.  I also need to do some birthday shopping for the girls, and Vicki's daughter Meg, who had a birthday this week.

I'm hoping to convince Vicki and Kate (my tea totaling friends) to hit a happy hour down that way on Friday night!  We haven't talked about it, so I'm not sure if Vicki already has something planned for us.  I'm all for going with the flow.  I'm just glad to be going!

* I have so many Dave's that have come in and out of my life, that for people "in the know" I wrote "Officer Dave" :)  For you enquiring minds out there....... mind yer business. ;)  Just kidding.  He's a good friend, who I happened to graduate with.  He might shudder when he sees the word friend (then again he might be relieved) but it's a distance thing, per usual.  "Friend" just doesn't seem to quite cover it.  Stay tuned. :)

Woo Hoo Text Message

Oh brother.  I finally graduated to a smart phone.  To say that I am obsessed would be putting it very mildly.  I went from "Why does anyone need a phone like that?"  straight to "How does anyone live without a phone like this?"

The phone, of course, is smarter than me.  The people who make it assume that everyone knows how to use one of these things.  They don't even point out where the "on" button is until two pages from the end of the manual.  Yes, I had figured it out long before that.  However, they never told me how to do something as simple as add a contact, and  it took me three and a half frustrating hours to figure it out.  It took two days to understand that if I wanted to grab on to a picture sent to me in a text all I had to do was put my finger on it, and I found that one out by accident.

I love the apps.  I spend way too much of my time paging through free ones.  I did find a tip calculator, which I will definitely use.  I also have two Jane Austen novels downloaded to read at my leisure.  My new obsession is "Zedge".  It has tons of free ring tones.  By the time I'm done everyone on my phone will probably have their own tone.......   The title of the blog, "Woo Hoo Text Message" is from one of the notification tones.  Lisa has it on her phone, and it's cute, so I put it on mine.  It's already gone, because every time I hear it I jump five feet.  I also put The Chipmunks singing "Bad Day" on my default ring tone.  It was the first one, so everyone had it.  I think the song is cute, and I thought it would make me smile.  My phone doesn't ring that much anyway, it's mostly texts.  Well, Friday was a bad day, and after work my phone was ringing off the hook.  The fifth time I heard "Cause you had a bad day" in that little chipmunk voice I almost pitched it through a window.  Finding "Teenage Dream" last night was a bonus!!

I did have the phone set up to blog straight from it, which would work well this weekend while I'm on the road.  It isn't working now, for some unexplained reason.  I'll have to look into that.  She says like she knows something about anything.  If I push enough buttons something is bound to happen.  Right?

Heck, my clock radio (that is literally 20 years old....at least) just decided to break, so now the phone is also my morning alarm.  I almost had a disaster with that this morning.  I pushed snooze and went back to sleep, but my finger didn't really hit the snooze, and I didn't realize it.  Luckily I woke up on my own because I'm so used to snoozing for ten more minutes.  The calendar in the kitchen was replaced almost immediately by the one on the phone.  How easy it is, becasue i have it with me all the time, and it even will give me reminders.  Every day I need more of those.

The camera on the phone takes pictures that are almost as good as my camera, and again,it's always with me.  I don't have to remember it, and the batteries don't go dead mid birthday party!  I have wanted to take pics of the kids at work to put up in our learning centers for so long, but can never remember the camera.  Now I have the pics, I just have to print them off and get them back to work....... too bad there isn't an app for that.....

Went shopping on Amazon tonight for another charger (dang the battery goes down fast on these phones), a protective case, and a screen protector thing (technical term).  I could not believe how cheap that stuff is on Amazon!  I bought a car charger just because it was so cheap.  I'm not even sure I have that capability in my car.  I spent $10.88 with shipping.  Unbelievable!  No more Amazon.  That doesn't need to be my next obsession!

Then there are the Angry Birds.  Why are they so angry?  A better question would be why can't I put that stupid game down??? 

HeeHaw Happy Hour

It has been a few days since Happy Hour, so I'm going to have to think back to the particulars.  It has been a busy weekend, but Happy Hour was pretty tame.

Lisa and I met at five over at Keyport.  The server, who doesn't wear a name tag, actually remembered me from the Friday prior, and even that I had Opulent (vodka) and pink lemonade!  Impressive, since I didn't do anything worthy of remembrance that evening. :)  That is a good sign when we are looking for a home base.  The fact that they carry UV pink lemonade is another!  Which is what I had to drink.  Lisa had Miller Lite (shocking I know) and the deep fried cauliflower.  I had the chicken strips and fries.  We were both pleased with our choices.  Great service, good food, and the prices are perfect. 

I called this blog Hee Haw Happy Hour because of the patrons of the establishment.  I would not be surprised to see my old next door neighbors (The hillbillies) out on the deck.  I am trying to remember one of the lines of conversation that almost made me choke on my drink, but I can't. It is an excellent people watching venue.  The average age of the clientele is probably 55 though.  Definitely not a young crowd.  We seem to say that a lot, and I said to Lisa, "Well, when we stop noticing how old they are it will probably be because WE are that old."

Lisa and I parted ways for about a half hour.  I had to run home and finish cleaning the apartment for my weekend house guests.  We met back up at V.I.P at about seven-thirty to watch the Packer game.  The Lounge Hounds were also playing, and they are a fabulous group!  Kind of old a.m. radio tunes from the seventies, but we like them!  If you have the chance you should definitely check them out.  Christina was also at the bar and we had a good time watching the game and listening to music.  Barry the bartender was in rare form, and that's all I have to say about that.  Well, that, and subtlety is not his strong suit.......  I did learn a new joke, but of course I can't tell you cause it's x rated.  I think I surprised him when I told him one back.  :) 

My evening ended at nine.  I had to scurry home to let the relatives in!  It was good to see Melanie and Les again, even though we didn't have much time to visit.  They were great house guests, and not only did I get a brand new berry bowl, I also got another vase!!  I squished Milkie good-bye and begged her to behave, then went to stay at Kate's with Sky.  Nothing like sleeping with a one hundred pound dog who finds great  joy in bounding into the bed at all hours of the night to wake me up.  Plus they took the good computer.  OH, and the good breakfast sandwiches are NOT in the freezer.  I will be taking it up with the customer service department!

So now it's Sunday evening and I'm spending some time at home before going back up to my sister's for one more night.  I thought maybe Milkie would like to spend some time together, but apparently her nap is more important.  That and the fact that while she was a good girl for company, she bit me.  When I got here it was all lovey dovey for about ten minutes, then she just bit my hand.  Not hard, no marks, just a little shot to express her displeasure I'm sure.  So I expressed my displeasure right back and then she went to bed.  :)  *sigh*  I'll be home after work tomorrow and we can begin again.

Happy hour this week (if it happens) will be on Wednesday or Thursday.  Kerri and I are both heading to the cities this weekend. 

OH I almost forgot.  The girls went and watched the baseball team from "Players" on Thursday night.  We went back to Players for a bit, but it was boring with a capital B.  Then over to Grizzlies in Superior for their late night Happy Hour.  I'm not going to Grizzlies again.  Too expensive, and Lord in Heaven........WHO puts corn in guacamole?????  So much corn that if you took out the corn there would be nothing left.   YUCK   Plus, the regular price of a titanic tea is now $6.00.  No, I'm not kidding.  So at Happy Hour prices they are $4.50.  Which in my opinion are what they should be regularly priced at.  The end.  :)

House Swap

This weekend I will be staying at my sisters'  house and watching Sky (the dog) while Kate, Tom, and CeCe go visiting in LaCrosse Wisconsin.  We used to have family there, at the convent, (yes, nuns) but they are both gone now.  It's a beautiful place, and I enjoyed visiting St. Rose Convent too. (Yep, I really did.) Tom still has a relative there, and a family friend is in residence also.  They'll be gone from Friday to Monday, so I get to live my life from the comfort of central air and mmmmmm junk food!

My cousins, Melanie and Les, will be up in the Northland again this weekend at another art fair.  This time Copper Moon Pottery will be down at Bayfront.  You really should check them out!  They asked if they could have a spot on my floor, and since I'm out of the apartment I was able to do them one better!  I agreed to trade my queen sized bed for an awesome green berry bowl!!  I will post pics and you will be jealous!  So they get to stay here with Milkie in the un-air conditioned apartment, and eat....well, I warned them to bring food. :)  There are plenty of eggs, and bread.  Perhaps a hamburger patty in the freezer?  Oh, and some bags of not so fabulous chips on top of the fridge that I pack in my lunches.  I just don't keep a lot of food around, it tends to go bad with only one person eating it, and she isn't home half of the time.

I hope that the Milkster will be o.k. with this.  Melanie and Les are animal lovers, and have several cats of their own, so I think it will all be good.  If she's mad she'll just hide and shred the box when they leave.  We haven't had any biting incidents in weeks............

Homeless (H.H.W.T)

Well, I promised to tone this part of my blog down..... so here are the facts.  We will no longer be giving The Shack in Superior, WI our business.  In the process of re-structuring they have chosen to boot out some very dedicated employees.  That, of course, is their right as an owner.  We, as patrons, also reserve the right not to spend our money, or encourage our friends to spend their money in your establishment.  The end.

So now we really are floating around out there looking for a home base!  Our night began across the bridge in Duluth, MN.  There's a new bar/restaurant that we have wanted to try, located in the old Grandma's in West Duluth.  It's called G.B. Schneider's and it is FABULOUS!  We went inside to check out the atmosphere, very comfy and cozy looking.  Then of course we sat out on the patio with the smokers.  Which is funny because I'm allergic to smoke and was delighted when they were booted outside...... 

The people were warm and friendly, and the server (Jon) was knowledgeable and chatty, which we like.  The fish sandwich (talapia) was flaky, juicy, and very good.  I wont miss the Shack's at all now that I've found this.  The fries were good.....the same fries you get everywhere.  Good happy hour offerings, excellent prices, great food.  The only complaint comes from Lisa.  How can Miller Lite not be in your happy hour pricing??? (edit by Kerri:  They have Miller lite on TAP, not in the bottle as Lisa prefers....something else about the waiter being sexual chocolate......) We will definitely be back.  Looks like a cozy winter home for sure.

When we finished up at G.B's we headed back to Superior to check out Keyport.  For some reason we always overlook this place, but no more!  They have a deck added on now and we sat out there for a drink (vodka w/pink lemonade mmmmmmm) and perused their menu.  Good happy hour deals, excellent prices, so we will be going back for dinner one of these weeks.  Close to home, so that may be where we ultimately land.

It was a LONG night for me, as I am fighting an awful cold.  I took off work early and took a two hour nap before even heading out.  After Keyport we headed over for a Barry fix at V.I.P.  Spent at least an hour there playing "Pass the Pigs" which we used to play at the cabin as kids, and Heidi came and joined us at that point.  We wandered across the street to "Third Base" bar, because Kerri's hubby was there, but he had left.  That was a little "seedy".  We didn't stay.  Stopped in at Charlie Brown's in Billings Park (speaking of seedy....) and then walked down to Jimmy's where we did stay for a drink.  I think I was home by eleven.  I should also mention that all this wandering around was done in the rain.  Did I mention that I have a bad cold?  That was not a smart idea, and I'm suffering for it today.

I did leave my blog info on the comment card at G.B. Schneiders.  Hopefully they'll stop by and check this out.  If you haven't tried them I highly recommend that you do! 

I think next week we are returning to the Kounty Quarthouse since Lisa missed out on that one.  It's either that or Keyport. Then we have at least one week off as Kerri and I will both be out of town the last weekend in August.  That's the weekend I'll be taking you along to the Twin Cities with my "other" girls!

Happy Birthday Milkie

Happy 5th Birthday Milkie!

I have tried and tried to get her actual birthday, but to no avail.  When Milk and I met on Thanksgiving 2009 I believe that she was three years old, so I know that sometime before this Thanksgiving rolls around she will be five.  I'm bored today, so we decided that August 7th would be a fine day for a birthday!  She loved her little princess crown.  Really, she did!  With her temperament I can't believe that she puts up with this stuff.  I think she likes to pose for the camera.  She has gone back to her beauty rest now, I'll see her again somewhere around my bedtime.

This morning when I woke up I was really struck by the difference between my other cats and Milkie.  When I would make any kind of a move in the morning Misty and Pepper would pounce, crying and carrying on for food, attention, or nothing in particular.  Sometimes I would fake sleep just to keep the little demons at bay.  When I woke up this morning Milkie jumped onto the end of the bed.  I smiled at her and motioned for her to come and be petted, and was met with a look that totally said "Great, she's up."  She sauntered over for a pat or two and then jumped up into the window to look at whatever she was after in the first place. 

Milk found me later in the morning when she wanted to play, because it's still all on her terms, and I'm fine with that.  We take things slow around here, and little by little the trust is building.  I have been able to pet her belly, and I haven't seen her teeth in weeks.  When she gets up later I have a special nip treat that I've been saving for just such an occasion.  The Milkster loves her nip!

(H.H.W.T.) Here Fishy Fishy!

The tour is somewhat toned down tonight.  Kerri is out of town, and no one else tagged along, so it was just Lisa and myself out on our home turf at The Shack.  This is how things started out.

The free glasses that the beer came with are the large kind, that are just awesome for iced tea!  Sorry beer fans, but I am not one of you.  While Lisa and I were hanging out with the free samples lady in the liquor store, the rep from this beer company comes along and gives us each a glass.  Well, first he told me a joke.  Why don't you take your beer to the beach?  (I'll tell you at the end)  So we tried the samples, and I didn't even mind it too much.  It was ice cold, and the day was so hot and humid.  I figured if they were that cold they would go down pretty well sitting out on the hot deck.

The Shack has begun serving a new menu, and this was my first look-see at it.  Honest opinion?  I think we're getting too fancy pants for our jeans.  The jury will have to be out until I try these new items.  However, I am really ticked off.  The Shack has the best fish sandwich, bar none, in this city.  Wait, let me restate that.  The Shack HAD the best fish sandwich.  It's off the menu.  I talked with Jon about it, and he said he'd bring it up at the meeting.  It doesn't mean much coming from little old me, but if people don't say anything it wont ever come back, will it?  I did actually mention the blog, and that I write about them all the time.  So someday when I'm famous will you bring back the damn fish??

So this is what I had instead.  It's called "The Belknap Burger" (street the restaurant is on) and it has cheddar, lettuce, onions, tomato and thousand island dressing on it.  The thing was honestly as big as the burger I had last week, and the burger itself was just as good.  I am partial to blue cheese though, so the Kounty Quarthouse still has my favorite burger.  The Shack fries are still the best though, and I enjoyed every one of them tonight!

Usually Jon does the deck parties, but the beer rep was doing the raffles tonight, and I don't know how to describe him.  Very low key.  Extremely low key.  So low key it's hilarious.  He's wandering around calling out numbers, but no emotion whatsoever.  This is the same guy who told me the joke and was actually pretty animated in the liquor store, but for whatever reason he's like Deano (his name) downer on the deck.  So anyway, we don't win anything, but Jon's Mom, who hung out with us, happened to be trying to get rid of a Packers Tshirt that she won somewhere else.  Score!  Then at the end, we were harassing Deano about the raffle  being fixed, because honestly all the people at one table won everything, and he swears my number was called.  So he shows me my ticket in the "winner" pile, but wont give me a prize......lets just say Lisa fixed that one on the way out, and I now have matching glasses.  :) 

I also have an incredible tummy ache and a headache.  I never feel like this after a night out, so it must be the beer.  Ugh and ish.  No more.  So of course this guy I know, and like, and maybe could be interested in sends me a text.  "Out with the girls?"  I explained that I was, and that I'm already home.  "Want to come out for a beer?"  *eye roll*  Not tonight, I have a headache. 

You'll get sand in your Shlitz.

Sassy Six!

Tomorrow, August 2nd, our baby turns six!  Caitlin Ruthmarie is off to first grade in the fall, but no worries there.  This is one lil chick who can handle whatever comes her way!  As I'm writing this I can hear thunder rumbling in the distance, and that's appropriate because we had awful weather the day she was born.  A tornado warning even, and that is rare for here.  Perhaps it was more of a commentary on the little bean who was coming into our lives than a weather statement?  Tater the Tornater. ;)

I see pieces of myself in each of the girls, but this firecracker reminds me the most of myself as a child.  That devil may care, spit in your eye attitude that got me grounded every time I turned around, is working just about as well for her.  I love her spirit, I love her smile, I love that she snuck a hot dog into the stew pot.  I totally agree, stew is awful!  I wouldn't have been brave enough to do that to my Mom though, her Mom laughed, I would have been t.o.a.s.t. 

Happy birthday my sweet sassy six year old.  Where does the time go?  I love you, my wild, willful, wonderful girl!  Don't you dare ever change!