Five Random Thoughts

1. Why is chap stick so easy to lose? I think I have around 5 tubes for the specific purpose of keeping one tube at each location where I spend a lot of time...you know, so that I won't have to try to hunt some down when I need it. I used to have one at my desk at work, at my scrapbook table, in the car, in my purse and next to my alarm clock. They are all M.I.A.
2. Wrapping presents is not always easy, especially when you are not using a box.
3. Why is it every time that I am in a hurry, someone decides to drive ahead of me going only 45 mph? Not only are they going SLOW and under the posted speed limit, they are doing it on a road where I cannot easily pass them due to oncoming traffic, or a lot of hills. I wish I had a megaphone so that I could say to them, "Ahem...the pedal on the RIGHT is the accelerator. Please use it. Your other right! "
4. I love the individual who invented the SNOOZE button! Another "ten minutes" can feel so good - even though it is a quick ten minutes.
5. Sudoku puzzles are so addicting!

Farewell Old Friend...

This morning, I sold my 1985 Chevrolet Cavalier to salvage. They offer $75 for a vehicle, or $50 if they need to come and collect the vehicle. The car had belonged to my Grandpa McGowan, and after he passed away, I was the next grandkid in line to have their driver's license, but no car. I bought this car in May 1995 for $100. (At the time, the Blue Book value of this car was $500.) I was a lifeguard that summer and being a Senior in High School later that Fall, I was grateful to get the car because my Dad probably would not have gotten around to finding a car for me, and I would have been driving Mom's blue Astro mini-van everywhere, leaving her with nothing.

Given the age of the car, I had to put a new starter on her, and four new tires. She was a good car up through the late '90s. Once she gave out, my Dad backed her into the barn, where she has been for the last ten years.

A bum from Bellflower was inquiring about the car. He wanted to buy it off of us so that he could have the headlights....yeah, and probably strip it of everything else. Do we want Grandpa's car sitting in his yard to rust away to nothing? I think not. So, Mom arranged for it to be picked up and sold to salvage. And I got $50. Not bad, considering I paid $100 thirteen years ago. =)

Had it been left up to my Dad, he would have taken it into salvage in Bloomington himself, whenever he got around to it....and how many more years would it have been before that happened? So, "Redneck Towing and Recycling" came and picked it up. Needless to say, they lived up to their company name!

Score one for the single gals! Happy Valentine's Day!

A Visit from the "Schwan's Man..."

Last night, while I was watching the "boob tube" and while Bruno was chewing on his bone, we had a visit from our Schwan's deliverer, Jerry. I have never realized the relationship between Bruno and Jerry before, but let me tell you, they are quite good friends.

As the Schwan's truck began driving up our driveway, (which is about a quarter-mile long), Bruno jumps up and runs over to the door, barking hysterically. Jerry and another Schwan's guy riding along in the truck, ring the doorbell as I am trying to grab onto Bruno so that I can push past him to go out into the porch, yet leave Bruno in the house. As Jerry sees me in the kitchen, he gives a little wave and opens up the screen door, then the back door and invites himself in.

Bruno is elated and instead of barking or running around like a maniac, or jumping on the guys, he is calm and sniffs at their feet a bit. Then he lets Jerry pet him. It was almost as if he went into a completely tranquill mode since he knew his buddy Jerry had arrived.

And how did Bruno react when Jerry went back out to the truck to get the food....well he cried and whined of course! He was happy again when Jerry returned to pet him and to offer him words of encouragement and love. Sickening! It seems that Jerry would often play B-A-L-L with Bruno during the summer months each time he came to our house. Bruno is fast friends with ANYONE who will throw his purple, chewed up, rubber football.

However, the story does not end there.

I too have a bit of a "past" with Jerry.

In early November 2007, during a rainy, Thursday evening, Bruno and I are home alone, and we get a visit from Schwanns. As I head outdoors, Bruno runs past me into the damp grass, runs around in his usual maniac fashion, and gets his ball. Jerry emerges from the truck and greets his favorite canine. I say hello to Jerry and we all head inside.

With the unseasonably warm weather, I am wearing flip flops. As I step into the breezeway, my foot slips (wet, no tracktion flip flops on a bare smooth, concrete floor) and I begin to fall over. "Whoooaaa," I say! Just as I get my other foot planted down and begin to stable myself, Bruno squeezes through the door and knocks out the small shreds of balance that I have.

I begin to go down.

I am falling to the left, where there is a heavy statue of a little boy, holding a metal, John Deere tractor toy. My feet are no longer underneath me and my arms are flailing about. As I continue to fall over, I feel Jerry's hand on my ass. He is mumbling something...is he praying...he is mentioning God...? Did he really think he was going to catch me?

Bruno, who has been staring at us while holding his ball in his mouth, waiting for one of us to play with him again, now decides to get a drink of water. After all, he realizes that he probably has a few moments before we all go inside.

Well, my left arm landed on that toy tractor, and finally I was able to regain controll of my footing. I ended up in a squatting position. Whew! I picked myself up and tried to casually walk inside the house. After the somewhat intimate contact with Jerry, whom I have never met before today, I felt obligated to make a large purchase.

Following a $50 order of frozen food, Jerry bids farewell to Bruno, and I hobble away to nurse my wounds.

How embarrassing.

Happy Groudhog's Day

Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye!

On Gobbler's Knob on this fabulous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008 Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators, Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers, Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me.

Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Snow day!

Yeehaw! Thanks to the overnight snowfall of 9.5 inches, the Law and Justice Center is CLOSED today! The weather isn't bad enough that we are without power (thank goodness) - so it is a fun filled day at home. Could it get any better than this? It is even a Friday! Three day weekend! Yes!