more birthday photos

Happy Birthday Serena .

Happy Birthday Serena Bear

Home From Texas

I am home from Texas, it is rough leaving Jack & Serena,

but it was time for me to get back home.

****

I am sooooo happy that they are in Texas,
one short flight and I am there to share
Jack's daily wildness.

He does not play with toys,

he stands on them , or will try

to take them apart to see how they work.

Everything is to be pounded, or thrown.

******

Jack has one speed- it is " WIDE OPEN".

He keeps Serena very very busy !!!

*****

New Words:

Guava, Grandma,down down,more,

puppup,yummmm,and a couple others that

I cannot remember right now .

****

He loves hot tamales with sour cream

**********

I arrived on Friday and we were

invited to a pool party on Saturday .

Some of Serena & John's friend have

this beautiful pool in their backyard.

Needless to say

Jack was a happy camper!!

Until Serena removed him from the pool.

Then the screaming started.

He is a water baby

*****

Come on in Mom

**********************

Let me out of this boat,

I want to be IN the water.

********

This is more like it!

Floaties are good -

but I am not quite ready for them

****

Oh no, I have water in my eye,

and it is salt water !!

Don't worry, I am tough,

I can take it .

********

You said KICK !!!




**************
No, this is not Peyton Manning
but it sure looks like him




remember-- you can click on the photos to enlarge them


More later....

They are among us .....

This is out of sequence-- I didn't want

you to think I forgot to post

pictures of my trip to Texas..

********

My Welcome Home

H

I just finished grocery shopping--

what a pain in the ass - and I swear the kid that

was running the register must be one that rode

the short bus.

=======

I gave him 3 canvas shopping bags and told him

I would like to use my own bags..

So he puts a plastic

bag inside one of my bags puts 2 nectarines

in it and hands it to me.

Freaking MAROON !!!!!

*****

So I explained it to him again-- in a simpler

form so that maybe he will get it .

*******

"I am trying to cut down on plastic in

the landfills and prefer to use my OWN BAGS."

He asks me -- Where are they? ? ?

By now , I am ready to strangle this kid.

*****

I told him to scan EACH item- and hand it to me

and I would bag it myself- so now he is really confused

he wants to put each item in a PLASTIC bag and

then hand me the bag.

<><><><><>

What the hell am I speaking YANKEE AGAIN ??

*************

Karen & KC's vacation report

F&J were great didn't miss a beat and nothing was tore up.

(F & J are the new kittens - Frankie & Johnny)

*****

Our flight was late then Dollar rent a car made us wait 2 hours for a

car cus they didn't have any.

We were then in the midst of rush hour in construction.

We got to Morocco late and didn't see Mike & Maureen until

the next morning.

I caught a cold on Saturday.

*******

The next hotel had a false alarm evacuation due to

some jerk running around saying that the CO2

tank was under pressure and would blow up . PLEASE!.

******

It was very amusing as we were evacuated. There just happen

to be a fireman convention at the hotel. It was the most pitiful evacuation

I have ever seen. People meandering out ,going back in.

The firemen on the top floor in the conference room didn'tc ome out, but

they did act like they were sluggin booze from a bottle, then

the shirt went up, then the shirt went off, then the belt got unbuckled.

*****

By then the beers that KC and I had in hand,

(as we were in the bar at the time ,were emptied),

so I spotted a Red Lobster (Yuck) across the highway and

we went over there and had beers until the local department left.

*****

They even called in the Pepsi guru who weighed about 300# and

after the melee was over gave the girls a "little lesson" on the

dispensing guns. All he missed saying was

"Well you know little Missy".

It was entertaining to watch a 300 pounder try

and swagger like John Wayne.

*****

Oh ya ,on top of that right before I left I got a

spot on my left calf that they gave me some cream for,

which did nothing, so the day before we left they gave me

another cream, which I started to use Wednesday night.

By Sunday morning I was a solid rash on both legs that itched and felt

like a severe burn. Quit using it Sunday, called the doctor on Monday.

Went back on Thursday when I got back, now have a new cream that

has stopped the itch and burn, but I haveburns from mid calf to mid thigh,

both legs. My left leg has transformed into an elephants leg, I have no ankle

bones and didn't know that toes swelled up.

I can not wear pants, I will try tomorrow.

*****

So me being thefashion queen have on a long gray skirt, really

nice tho a white shirt and my Hanes anklets with my white tennies

with the green stripe. Oh ya the toes are green from me mowing the

lawn last night.

********

We did really enjoy theMotorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Ohio.

It was a great exhibit on Motorcross, which KC use to race.Other

than that nothing much going on today.

Gotta run-LK (LK= Love Karen)

PS feel free to share this life adventure with the bored--

LOL

Thank you.

Karen Hon

LEAVING

Hopefully I will be going to Texas today.

Just holding my breath and wishing for an

empty seat on the airplane ..

If this doesn't work out today

I will have to wait until next week for a

Jack fix.

That might be better, since Serena's

birthday is the 30th. We could be

be there for her b-day and still

get a Jack fix.

Photos Only today or NOT

YUM

Fresh Strawberries

sitting on my kitchen counter.

These went from the field to the box

to the car and HOME !!!

The only way they would be fresher is

if we sat there and ate them in the

parking lot ..

***************

There might be rants or raves later today.

Keep scrolling after this set of pictures

to see yesterdays RANT !

******

Grandma Dorothy

*******************

I just talked to Serena,

John & Jack are sitting in the hot tub.

Jack must be loving it ,

he is such a water baby..

*******

More later

Possum Grape

Yes, I said Possum Grape

****

On our mini road trip yesterday we

passed an exit for Possum Grape,AR.

What the hell were theses people thinking?

****
Drunks trying to say Pass the grape?

I don't get it ..

Some of the strangest names in AR

^^^^^^

Bald Knob

Toad Suck Park

Alf, Ben Hur,

Berea, Birdtown, Bloomer, Blue Ball,
Bono, Congo, Cooter, Crows, Fannie,

Fifty-six, Four Gums, Grape, Hicksville,
Hog Jaw, Hog Wallow, Hon, Hooker, Ink,Joy
Marmaduke, Mist, Mt Pleasant, Needmore,

Ozone, Promise Land, Ratio, Romance,

Seed Tick, Social Hill, Stinking Bay,

Story, Stumptoe, Sunshine,

Three Brothers, Tintop,

Tomato, Tongin,

Turkey Scratch,

Twist, War Eagle,

Weiner, Y-City.

And sooo many more ..

***************************************

Feel free to add ones from your state ..

*****

Now for the daily photo review...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

****************5th grade

Inner Peace (and then more photos)

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could

all use a little more calmness in our lives.

By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find

inner peace. Dr. Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner

peace is to finish all the things you have started and

have never finished."

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started

and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning,

****

I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel,

a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of

Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the

cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel.

Please pass this on to those whom you think might be in need of inner peace!

**************

***********************

These are just random pictures from the computer.

Keep checking back because you never know

when your face will show up.

******

I just finished reading The Sweet

Potato Queens 1st Big-Ass Novel

Too funny

If you get a chance read it . It will tell you

what being friends is supposed to be like.

*****

We are rid of sbcglobal-

the bad thing is , it took all of my jokes

too. So I have nothing funny for you

at this time.. Damn, I gave you funny

photos, that should hold you for a while !!

****

Serena, John & Jack are going to California

for a family reunion. Sally has not seen Jack

since he was tiny .. Boy is she in for a BIG

surprise..

***

I guess I should get some sleep

More tomorrow

or Not ...

Pampering is Nice.....

Photos First..

These are being posted in no

particular order.. So bear with me

and you will show up in here someday...


Some of these old papers and photos are out of
Mom & Grams keepsake albums
Yes, that is an actual V-Mail
*****************

On Friday I went for a massage , manicure and
pedicure. Compliments of Serena.
It was nice to spend almost 4 hours doing
N O T H I N G
but being pampered..
Thank you Serena Bear.
*******

This will be a busy week.
Tomorrow - the dreaded grocery shopping,
plus I am still looking for a bedspread for our
room. Don't even get me on that soapbox again.
*****
Tuesday it is return my books to the
library day and that always takes
a couple of hours.. I just can't turn
in the books and walk away.
Oh no, I have to see what is new..
*
I have discovered a book moocher website,
This is going to be good- trade my old books
for some other persons old books.
At least I am not buying books every week now.
*
Speaking of books, I will have to call Serena
tomorrow and see if she every received the copy of
Marley & Me that I had sent to her.
*****
Serena called tonight -- well Jack called-
He knows that if you push the buttons on the
phone then somebody will talk. Only problem,
after we answer , he keeps pushing buttons.
We are about due for a "Jack Fix" - but it will
not be until they come back from California.
John's sister and her husband are coming in from
Australia. This will be the 1st time they will be meeting Jack.

*****

We have a couple of sick puppies, One or two
of them have been vomiting . We know for
sure that Smokey is one -- but the other
two have also had rumbling , grumbling stomachs
for the past two days , So I can't be sure what
is going on. I hope they get over it soon.Poor babies.
*******

Rainy day today , so I have spent most of the day

vegging.. My body is aching - SURPRISE huh.

****************

I am sick to death of so called "meal replacements".

So today I took a flying leap off of the diet wagon!!

I had a bowl of vegetable beef soup for lunch,

and a tablespoon of peanut butter for a snack.

I had a treat today a bowl of

cereal for the 1st time since January 10.

I used 2% milk and I LOVED IT !!

OMG- cereal - what a concept.

Milk - fruit- OMG

I'll probably play gringo bingo for the rest

of the night , but I don't care.

*****************

So turn me in to the diet police

with the food high I am on right now, I don't

think they could catch me !!!

*****************

Some old family photos that I thought

some of you might enjoy seeing

Mom & Cathi

**************************

Uncle, Cousin, great Uncle & Great Aunt

****************************************************

No Introduction needed

Happy May Day

What we need to do is bring Mayday back in America with style

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Mayday is not recognized as a legal holiday,

even though it's one of humanity's oldest celebrations,

predating Christianity itself!

It was originally a pagan holiday, although in the last two centuries it

has also become associated with labor radicals.

Mayday is above all a holiday for everyday working people.
Nobody should work on Mayday!

What you should do, instead, is celebrate!

Take a small basket of flowers and place them on

your neighbors doorstep.

Ring the bell and RUN.

*****
And because Mayday is about human solidarity, it shouldn't be

celebrated alone or in isolation -- solidarity is about human

togetherness -- so you should take the opportunity to celebrate the

holiday with others.

Personally, I think a Mayday parade would be pretty cool tradition to start,

because it gets people out there and allows opportunities for public interaction.

It's light-hearted and fun, and offers people the opportunity to work

together creatively to create something nice.
MAYDAY PARADES:

There were Mayday parades in the US in the late 1800s,

particularly in Chicago. There was considerable working class radicalism

in the US from that period until the authorities began systematically

attacking the working class. These parades exhibited satiric themes of the

time, and were sources of much revelry, which really spooked the ruling class.
The ruling class dominates our

society, they

have more money than ever, they own the media, they

own the government --

but they don't own us!

*****

My sister Karen and her husband KC

***

I just want to share our photo memories with you.

*****

Yes, I am a photo junkie and Tom supports

my habit by keeping me equipped with

cameras..

Thank you honey.....

**********************

On to other things..

A bit about us ( Tom & Linda)

( well mostly me and my ramblings)

We moved to Arkansas from Colorado and I have felt like

an alien since the first day.

I just do not fit in here--

Being a displaced Yankee (originally from Chicago).

*****

People here treat us like we have a social disease because we

did not jump on the church bandwagon as soon

as we moved here..

We are not Baptist and do not plan

to change our minds anytime.

Locals will some what chit chat - but as soon as they ask

"what Church we belong to" that ends any chance

for further conversation.

Then there are the ones that you meet and they

are your friend when it fits their time frame.

Basically , you are the person they call

when nobody else will talk to them or put up

with the "occasional friend" crap. Well that has come to a halt

also. Screw people that only understand

part time friendships.

****

Oh well - that is their loss

<><><><>

I still maintain a close friendship with 5 "girls" that I have

known for more years than a lot of you have been alive.

These are the women that I can call at 3am and

they don't say- What the hell is wrong with you - it is 3am!!

These are the women in my life that say - hang on -

let me get to the kitchen

- get some coffee going and we will talk.

They have been thru all of my ups and downs.

1 in Chicago, (Okay, Joliet)

1 in Nevada,

1 in Nebraska,

1 in New York-

and

1 in Michigan

So miles may separate us physically - but not emotionally.

Two of these friends are younger - but we connected the moment we met.

Age is only a state of mind..

><><><><><

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a new website I found ..

Ladies- sign up and see what

is going on in other parts of the world..