blah blah blah

ALL GROWN UP

2008-08-10T20:25:00.001-07:00

HI all, I've moved to a new address, check this out.

I've moved.

Hello Friend

2008-08-08T09:02:00.005-07:00

I am so glad to see you, muwh muwh muwh, kiss kiss kiss. It has been sooooo long. Why it must be at least a 1000 miles since I've seen you. You really are my favorite. Yeah, I know I say that every week, but it's true. I look forward to you from the minute I wake up on Monday morning and I cherish every second that I am with you. Why you ask? Because you are the opening curtain to my weekend. You present to me on a silver platter, both of my favorite entrees, Saturday AND Sunday. That's why you, Friday, are my favorite friend right now. You rock!

brought to you by the people that suffered a long long week

nom nom nom

2008-08-03T17:28:00.006-07:00

Oh my, in spite of the non-summer like weather here yesterday we had a GREAT summer time meal. Dinner was complete with white linens, baked beans, pasta salad and lot's of slurpy silence.

I imagine the leftovers that are in the oven right now, will be even better than they were last night. It's good to be at the top of the food chain.

To any bidder, no really!

2008-07-29T21:34:00.002-07:00

click to embiggen

CAT FOR SALE

Used: 18 years old, slight hearing problem, over compensates by meowing loudly, doubles as alarm clock. Answers, when she wants,to the name Kushka. Also answers to rattling of dry food bag being opened. Answers to the sound of canned food opening. Sleeps in very odd positions and in the weirdest of places, such as a slight indentation in the middle of the grass. Is the color of the grey concrete patio resembling a small speed bump. No tail to speak of and weighs in at 4 pounds. Has been known to square off with meandering raccoons, protecting the male species of the house (Sweet male feeder)from eminent attack. Has a historical problem with 'klingons' and has the worst smelling poop in the known world. Also sports the occasional leak.

Well?

2008-07-28T20:15:00.004-07:00

You didn't think we were done already did you? We're fast and good but not THAT fast and good. We also decided to remodel the 'west wing'. The West Wing is the room adjacent to the master bath on the west end of the house, cute name don't you think. We're going to take out all the weird built-ins and create a boring rectangle with a door and three windows. This actually makes it more conducive to a home office and media room. Yeah that's it. a media room.
One section of weirdness is gone, with one in the corner to go. What is that you say? Well it's a built in entertainment center cum bricky stage thingy that use to hold a wood stove. Confusing? You betcha, why do you think we're doing this exercise.

I think we are slowing realizing the wonder of a newly built house with all of it's builder accessible problems. Am I wrong? Am I?

Summer remodel 2008:right tool for the right job

2008-07-25T07:16:00.008-07:00

Well you knew that we couldn't sit back and watch summer go by without some major remodel did you? As you may recall a few weeks back I mentioned a leak that we found. Sweet Husband turned off the water to that particular bathroom and once we were done with visitors and a couple of misc projects then we could step up the remodeling process.

A few weeks ago I had to go to Eastern Washington on business overnight. While I was away Sweet Husband had every intention of having the bathroom demolished, but that wasn't to happen. Whoever created this shower stall was having it double as a fall out shelter. What I came home to was hardly a dent. The walls were made before backerboard, and the dude that built this house, we later found out, was the Mob boss for the cement guild in the Puget Sound area. We fully expect to find body parts in the walls or under one of the misc cement patios around the house. The walls in the shower were two inches of cement on a mesh wire and the tile on top of that. Strong little bugger.

A sledge hammer wouldn't budge it, so Sweet Husband rented a tool. A Very heavy tool, with chipping and hammering action. Might I mention a very LOUD tool as well?

We are now at the next phase, after much resting of arms and backs. We get to touch the rubble again, when we go to the transfer station. If our poor truck can handle it without breaking an axle.

The next adventure is to call the plumber so we can get a quote on what it will take to finance one of his children's college education. Last year I think we sent them to Figi for a couple of weeks when we remodeled the kitchen.

And now for your viewing pleasure.

A man and his tool...rental that is.

Heavy sigh

2008-07-21T20:52:00.003-07:00

I should have just stayed inside and out of other peoples way today. My cranky factor has been way high lately, and I have no reasonable excuse for it. I don't know if it's hormones or no-mones, but I'm out of sorts. And where does one get a new supply of sorts anyway? I must google that. At first I thought it was me and a jillion other people whacking out over the moon being full. I didn't have to start shaving my forehead or anything, but I did feel a little werewolfish.

But no, it's more than that. Today in the parking lot of a Kmart, yes Kmart, I was backing out of a parking spot and so was a man about 85 years old. I know that science teaches us that two or more objects can't occupy that same space,it's true I proved that theory today. Mr Mini Van says I ran into him and I say we ran into each other. Either way, he shouldn't be driving. We were both backing out at the same time. I look carefully to each side, and out the back window, proceed in reverse, I am very careful and I hear this scraping sound. Wonderful~

He's all weepy about his Mini Van got a scrape of paint on it, And I'm all ,F#$@#!, what the hell now? So of course being the responsible driver that I am, I called the cops. The cop shows up and proceeds to tell us that they don't get involved in parking lot accidents, it's now between us and our insurance. I made mention of the fact that dispatch could have told me that and we wouldn't be wasting his time. He shot me a glance saying back to me, "I'm sure they tried." What? I'm not so sure what he was implying, but I didn't like his tone. I guess that's why the dispatch kept asking questions about what part of the parking lot we were in and so on. So I exchanged info with the nice old gent from the mini van.

I talked to my insurance and they now will have an adjuster call me tomorrow. This was a change in tactics as Mr Mini Van said I backed into him and he wasn't moving, uh I don't think so. If anything we were both moving. I will take responsibility, but I will not be a party to untruths. Listen, I've been driving for 34 years, I drive over 25,000 miles a year and have never been in an accident, parking lot or otherwise. I don't get speeding tickets and I don't cheat on my insurance or anything else for that matter. I also won't have my insurance pay for something that can surely be buffed out. Grrrr, the whole thing is so unnecessary and trivial in the scheme of things. But I'm sure this gent has more time on his hands to persue the solution than I do. As for me I'll pay to buff his bumper and take care of my own swath of mini van cream on the back side of my car.

Gosh I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Points to Ponder

2008-07-18T05:49:00.002-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A measure seeking to commemorate President Bush's years in office by slapping his name on a San Francisco sewage plant has qualified for the November ballot.
The measure certified Thursday would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
Supporters say the idea is to commemorate the mess they claim Bush has left behind by actions such as the war in Iraq.

Local Republicans say the plan stinks and they will oppose it.

Black out

2008-07-16T06:10:00.003-07:00

photo by Ruthann who lives somewhere on the intertubes

I awoke out of a very deep sleep last night to the sound of total silence. The power had gone out in our neighborhood which silenced all the fans in the house. That lack of sound, woke me up. It was the sound of snoring that I heard next, I think it was the cat. I was wide awake and curious as to the cause. I know! Why should I care at 2:37 in the morning if the power is out or not? Roll over, hug your pillow go back to sleep, ya dork. But if there was some calamity or the second coming of Jesse,I wanted to know about it before it hit the papers. I got out of bed, pulled open the blinds to let a flow of fresh air in, ah much better. It's so quiet out there, and dark.

I stumbled toward the door, heading out into the hallway, whoa, my house is very dark. When I get to the living room I part the curtains to look out and the only lights I see are across the lake. The whole neighborhood is pitch dark. It was kind of creepy so I found a flashlight and went back to bed.

I laid in bed thinking about horror movies most specifically the movie SIGNS where the aliens were in the house,blah blah and YIKES I was scaring myself right into a frenzy. How bout those Mariners! Cuz, what if when I turned on the flashlight I could see aliens surrounding my bed. I hear a noise, WHAT'S THAT I think as I sit straight up and stare at where I think the door is...nothing there, so I lie back down. Another noise, this time there is movement and the cat who isn't snoring after all, jumps on the bed. I utter a huge sigh of relief and lie down again. I'm just about asleep because Ive chased all the aliens out of head, and sweet sweet sleep is about to overtake me. When suddenly I get a flash of light in my eyes and the fans roar back to life. Obviously the power has returned. I reach up to close the curtains, hit the clock to stop the flashing numbers, roll over, hug my pillow and drop off to sleep.

No wonder I woke up tired, and this was after a $3000 dinner with clients which should have been more fun than what it cost.

Seconds of Fun

2008-07-11T09:11:00.001-07:00

...and now fresh from the Tri-Cat Production facilities, for your viewing pleasure, Seconds of Fun.

The following is an actual conversation:

My sister sitting at my make up table applying a new brush on make-up,
"hmmm bronze, what's that for?".

My sweet husband just walking into the room, "Third Place."

Happy Friday!

The Guests

2008-07-06T18:40:00.004-07:00

I LOVE this picture. It's so cool and fits him so well!

Force my smile? Never! We had so much fun at the Space Needle, we had just stepped off the elevator.

This guest plays well with others and will share toys.......or hats.

We had a BLAST!!!! Wish you could have all been here!

Time travel gifting

2008-07-03T06:26:00.002-07:00

Remember back a few posts, come on you can do it I haven't posted much lately. So remember back a bit when I was telling you about my brother and I was lamenting the fact I never got a Water Buffalo that he mentioned while he was in Vietnam?

WELLLLLLLL, Richard, his wife Kathy and my sister Gale are here for a weekend vist and guess what he brought me? Yup, a Water Buffalo, I am so happy, it's so cute and he is a sweet man. thank you big brother, you're a gem.

I'm such a DORK!

2008-06-25T20:45:00.003-07:00

I am looking all over the interwebs for pictures of smallish bathrooms. It seems the noise that I kept hearing last night was a leak somewhere in our master bath. We now need to speed up the remodeling process a little. The insurance won't cover old pipes with new leaks so we're on our own, stupid insurance. We only need to take the bathroom down to the studs, replace all of the old pipe, retile, drywall and paint...no bigee. Anyway I've been looking and this is what I found.

The following is an actual conversation.

"Hey, here's a website called 'Well Hung Sinks'. That's a catchy slogan, don't you think? They have sinks that are attached to the wall and the pipes are covered. They're kinda cool looking" she said.

"Is there a big picture? Big enough that I can see it pretty good?", he said getting up to come look at my computer screen.

"That's an ok sink, I don't hate it. But that website says WALL hung sinks, NOT well hung sinks. He says with a big laugh.

I try to make like I was joking all along, but I'm caught. I swear it said Well hung sinks, cuz that would work too.

Told you I was a dork!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

2008-06-23T17:56:00.001-07:00

Guess who I found? Enjoy, it's heart warming as usual.

Where to start?

2008-06-22T16:39:00.011-07:00

When we were last together I blogged about my oldest brother. What I failed to tell you was that I had been in Idaho again since coming home from the funeral of my brother in law. so I saw him as well. My two sisters who had already planned a trip to Idaho were not able to make the funeral so I came back to Gales house and we had a 'sisters' weekend with the occasional brother thrown in.

BUT before that we had the best celebration of the whole year. We graduated from High School. Yeah!!!! We have provided another producing source of taxable income for the United States of America. I am so proud of our Sweet Daughter, she's Smart and Beautiful. I cried of course, as I know this is the first of many milestones. It was very emotional for everyone.

BUT before I actually went to Boise we had the Secret Garden tour to go on. We have done this for the last several years. The deal-e-o is to exchange our tickets at the Town Center and get a map of where all the gardens are. We were a bit pressed for time because I had a plane to catch later in the day. The day was typical Secret Garden tour weather, overcast with the promise of sun and the threat of rain, neither of which arrived. We headed toward the car, in spite of the first two tours within walking distance...we had things to do, time is of the essence.

As we arrived at the car we heard, "OH! You're not going on the tour? We were going to follow you." Two nice looking ladies said to us in unison as they looked confused.

"No," I laughed, "we're on the quick tour, I have a plane to catch this afternoon, but would you like a ride with us?"

"Sure, why not" they said, and they got into our car. All of those things that you hear about letting strangers in your car were totally thrown out the window. Besides whose ever heard of gardeners being serial killers....really.

The gardens were great as usual, this house below is on the property of the first school house in our little town. Very nice and pretty hard to find 3 acres surrounding a house these days, but I'd take it.

The last garden on the tour was a bonus. We brought them to our house where they could see a real work in progress. Those nice ladies even offered to come back and weed, now wasn't that nice?

Then Sweet Husband took me to the airport.

I got into Boise about 8pm and was greeted by two very large smiles on two of my three sisters. After a sister group hug, we collected my luggage and made our way to Hooterville. It was Festival weekend in Hooterville, where we walked over to check out the haps in the park. It was an odd sensation to be in a place that had been the center of my summer universe when I was a teen yearning for freedom and fun. But those wants were replaced with different one. I can't even remember the last time I attended the Festival and all the events that surround it. I hadn't really missed much...same ol carnival rides and Elephant ears. What made it good was the company, that was the most enjoyable.

The next day being Father's Day, we girls piled into the car and headed off to "visit" dad. Our dad was interned at the Idaho Veterans Memorial Cemetery a couple of years ago and I hadn't been back to see the plaque. It was pretty cool to see, especially on Father's Day. I miss him. I think he would be very proud of all his girls.

We then did sister things like shop a bit, have lunch, go see Aunt and Uncle and our two groovy cousins visit with them. It was a very fun day and nothing....I SAY NOTHING, could spoil it. We got back to Gales where we ate a bit of supper and watched a show on HGTV. It was fun, relaxing and as you can see, 'blog worthy'. It's BW, because we haven't been together for a few years to just do sister things. But the best was yet to come. The next evening we went to dinner with Richard of the previous blog and his very nice wife Kathy. OMG, we laughed and laughed and laughed, it was so fun, I want to do it again VERY soon. Can we huh???

When I get home a day or so later I am reminded that there is visit planned with Karl of

White Noise and his lovely wife Darlene. White Noise is THE BEST Canadian blogger, eveh! When I was single I did some dating of men that I met online and ultimately met Sweet Husband and married him. I equate meeting Karl and Darlene like meeting a date for the first time after knowing them online. The correspondence went on for awhile and then it led to meeting on the phone and then in person. Well we've been reading Karl's blog for a while and they were coming to Seattle so of course we had to invite to meet up, so we did. We took them to one of our favorite restaurants where we stuffed ourselves and yakked and yakked and yakked. We've made some new old friends. They are great and I know that if we ever find ourselves near Calgary, we are going to visit them on their home turf.

There is, however, one thing I hope doesn't make the headlines. "Canadians invade Seattle and capture US flag"

Two of Seven and Six of Seven

2008-06-19T18:30:00.005-07:00

This is a man that I have known my whole life, but never really had a relationship with. He being the second oldest of seven children and me being the second to the youngest, we never spent a lot of time in the same house. When I was in first grade, he joined the Navy and by the time he was retired after 20 or so years, I was well on my way to my own set of choices.

This is a man that taught me at the tender age of four (me, not him), how to tie my shoes. He did so well at this lesson that, to this day, I can still tie my shoes.

Unbeknownst to him, this same man once disappointed me at Christmas, when the promised water buffalo never arrived to my awaiting arms. I was so excited, and yet strangely naive. I wasn't really sure what a water buffalo was, but I knew that I wanted one, particulary if someone was going to give me one.

I can still visualize his handwriting on the lined paper that he used to write letters home when he was stationed in Vietnam. I often wonder if my mom kept any of those letters, or even what she thought when she received one. I really wonder what they said and the stories they told, or if he just wanted money.

One year when he broke up with a girl friend around Christmas time, my sisters and I were the recipients of a gift set of the perfume Chanel No5, this we were lead to belive may have been destined for a different set of wrists. Even now, when I detect the scent of Chanel No5, I think of him. Please correct me if I'm wrong, maybe he thought that 10 year olds should smell so good. OR....we really did need to smell better....augh!

This is the guy that loves Nascar, a sport I really don't understand, but I don't really have to, do I? He also loves tinkering and fixing stuff. He's a first class mechanic and "a something something" Class Petty officer in the Navy. He lost some of his hearing in service to our country and they've rewarded him by ignoring that fact....bastard$.

This is the man that I could never recall how old he was until one day I got good at math and figured out that he is exactly 10 years older than me. But most of all he is my oldest brother and I love him. I present to you, Richard.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

2008-06-18T06:50:00.003-07:00

Yeah, I know!

Saturday meme

2008-06-14T07:44:00.006-07:00

Hi all, I 'jacked' this meme from Kathy over at the Junk Drawer. Read the instructions and play along if you want.

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Google Image Search or same type of search engine for pictures.

2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image. You can’t search forever for a certain image.

3. Copy and paste each in any program that you can post the pictures in a mosaic pattern. You can post them 3 X 4 or 4 X 3. We used Microsoft Paint below.

The questions:

1. What is your first name?…Carla, and yes that really isn't me in the photo

2. What is your favorite food?… Tacos, I could eat them until I pop. I know, what a mess.

3. What high school did you go to?… Emmett High School, Emmett Idaho. AND I know how to read write and perform the occasional arithmetic.

4. What is your favorite color? … Azure, it's such a big color

5. Who is your celebrity crush?… Edgar Martinez of Seattle Mariner fame. Eddy, as I fondly call him, would be heart broken to meet me this late in his life. It's really best that we leave it at that.

6. What is your favorite drink?… Aqua,wasser,maim,viz,eau water. I really do crave this stuff. And it's good for you in any language.

7. What is your dream vacation?… Tropical...it has all the right stuff, sun, sand and my husband. Ahhhhh I long for that.

8. What is your favorite dessert?… Brownies, with. out. a. doubt. They have to be dense and soft with just the right amount of crunchy edge. mmmm brownies.

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?… Independently wealthy, that is what I want to be when I grow up. But as I think about it, being independently wealthy is probably as illusive as actually growing up.

10. What do you love most in life?… My Sweet Husband, he is the best thing that ever happened to me. I'd take him over tacos and brownies any day of the week.

11. What is one word that describes you?… I'm gonna go with Goofy. I am a self admitted goof. Perhaps the single reason that I won't be growing up anytime soon.

12. What is your blog name?… Blog-o-licious.

Now wasn't that fun?

Loves me some maps

2008-06-12T21:05:00.003-07:00

I don't think a day goes by where I don't say, "I love the Google". I like that instant gratification of finding out facts, bargains or news at the tip of my fingers. Some people spend time watching TV, I spend time dinking around on the Internet....it's so entertaining. I'd go so far to say it's the best invention, well since toast, um and butter.

Way back a LONG time ago an old boy friend of mine got a computer and a subscription to Compuserve. He was showing me all the bells and whistles, actually I think it was a triangle and a kazoo, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why he needed 'all that'. 'All that' wasn't much of anything, come to think of it. I think all that was available was a news service with no picture, ads or stories, just headlines. And email? I don't think it had even been invented yet. Or if it was invented not alot of people were using it. The cost to have this luxury was some ridiculous amount of money, like $30 per hour to connect. The good thing was...there wasn't much to connect to.

I like that fact that I kind of grew up with computers and have seen their evolution. I remember the start up screen was a DOS screen with the following...c:win. I had no idea what I was doing, I was simply following instructions. It was so new and exciting to me. I know I'm such a beginner nerd, but that was big stuff to me, I'm no programmer. But at least I knew what that screen was. Yes I'm stating the obvious to many people, but the rest of us take computers and the Internet for granted. When the Internet 'goes down' I feel sort of disconnected, but adapt quickly with realtiy staring me in the face. I also like the fact that the internet has the capabilities to make some places to live, bearable. Remote to work....no problem. I LOVE that.

well that's all for now....do you like the picture of my house from space? Looks like we were all home that sunny day, look at all the cars in the driveway. And the green umbrellas up over the patio. Home Sweet Home.

well now!

2008-06-04T15:27:00.003-07:00

Click pic to embiggen

Give me a lighten up

2008-06-02T16:55:00.007-07:00

So I'm thinkin that I need to lighten up a bit because that is our family trait, to use humor as our best coping mechanism. So with that said, I have one story totally unrelated to anything and then something else.

Today Sweet Husband and I were coming out of a store when I heard the 'clack clack clack' of cheap high heels behind me. Women you know what I'm talking about, the heals are hollow, generating a 'clacking' sound when one walks so that it is heard from quite a distance. Every cheap shoe store carries them, I know, I used to buy them.

I turn my head to the left, glancing slightly behind me. I see these ginormous breasts trying to be contained in a 2 sizes too small white tank top coming straight at me. I could clearly see the under garment outline, and it was straining, yearning to breath free. The defying of gravity was amazing. She clacked on past and I muttered to Sweet Husband, "hooker" like I always do when I see a hoochie mama like that. Why yes, I am judgemental.

As she clacked past us, I was looking at her 4 inch heals wondering how in the hell she could even walk in them when I was greeted with a sight I'd never seen previously. Her pants were tucked. Into. Her. Butt. Crack. Those pants didn't move, not one bit,they were at their destination. I was fascinated. I've never seen anything like this, and I was curious. Was this some new fashion that I wasn't aware? Was it actually paint, instead of clothes, like Sweet Husband said? Or was she a mime, mimes wear all white right? I am left to wonder.

This wasn't one of those accidental wedgies, she had to have had help. The kind of help that requires another set of hands and a special wedgie tool, like the Ronco Wedgie-matic. What it did was separate the orbs of her buttocks into near perfection, well except for the size and shape. There was clear separation of right cheek and left cheek, how did she do it? More importantly why? But I could tell she was a working girl. She was carrying a brief case. (Sweet Husband just said, he didn't notice a brief case, go figure)

NEXT>>>>

While we were strolling through Best Buy today I told Sweet Husband that depressed people spent more money than those that weren't depressed and perhaps that we needed to go look at TV's. He then said, "If Rocky will be looking down at us from heaven we're gonna need a big screen".

2008-05-28T08:52:00.002-07:00

Written yesterday on the plane.

Today something happened that I wasn’t ready for. This day was coming, expected, dreaded. But this day came because of and in spite of all those things. Today my sister closest to me in age, lost her husband. All we can guess at this early time, is that he died in his sleep. I cannot begin to imagine the pain that she must be in. The only thing I knew was that I needed to be there with her, so as I type, we are winging our way there. I don’t know what we will do when we arrive other than hug and cry. Sweet Husband asked what we would do for Gale once we got there…I don’t have an answer other than, just be there.

I hate this part of being an adult. It doesn’t make any sense and I don’t know how to cope with it. Death makes me cling to my husband more and more and I only know that I want to spend as many precious minutes with him as possible. Call me a nerd, a sap, a wishful thinker, I don’t really care what you call me, I chose my husband because he was and is perfect for me. I only know that Rocky was perfect for Gale. What will happen now? How can she live in the house without him? What will happen how? I have my whole life planned with Sweet Husband and death doesn’t figure into the picture for a very very very long time. Death sucks. I love Rocky. He was a great individual and it makes me incredibly sad that he won’t be coming to our house this summer and bringing beer. My eyes well up with tears right now and it’s hard to type. It sucks so much. 50sometihing is too short of a life and I know that he had some incredible adventures, 99% of which I don’t have a clue about. How does Inez go on without Juan? I can’t get enough air right now, it hurts so bad.

I hurt for my sister, his son, their children, his mom and dad, Jody his aunt/sister in law, I hurt for Sweet Husband and myself because we will miss him so much. Rocky Colton is and was a great person.

Decoration Day

2008-05-26T08:24:00.005-07:00

A few years back Sweet Husband and I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC. While we were there we went to Arlington National Cemetery. That visit was a sobering and somber time, one that moved me like I hadn't expected. At the Tomb of the Unknown I was moved to tears as we watched the laying of a wreath performed with precision by the color guard. I didn't expect to be so emotionally involved, it seemed like such a personal thing for the family that was participating, yet I didn't feel like an intruder. It was a very beautiful thought provoking moment.

I must have a thing about cemeteries, because I frequently find myself in them. It's not like I'm looking for my future home, I simply find them fascinating. So today being Decoration Day, my thoughts lean toward cemeteries, again. Recently we were in the famous cemetery Recoleta of Buenos Aries and we actually visited it several times while there. I don't view cemeteries as scary nor am I afraid of all the dead people surrounding me. I've never thought cemeteries were creepy. Many, if not all, of the cathedrals and churches that I've visited while in Europe have the cemeteries on adjacent grounds, which makes it easy to visit both. Then of course there are all the 'important' folks buried inside the chapel with their various shrines. That history goes back a long ways.

In the little town where I grew up, the cemetery is on a bluff overlooking the valley, town and the river below. I remember on Decoration Day when I was little, my mom would cut Iris from the garden and we would take mason jars filled with water to hold the flowers and we would place them on the graves of my grandparents and the fine folks that went before us. To this day, when I smell the scent of an Iris, it always reminds me Decoration Day.

A few years back before I got married, I was in my hometown on Memorial Weekend. I was with my brother Phil and his wife Jody and we found ourselves wandering around the local cemetery. I'm sure when we arrived there, we had a purpose and knew who we were going to visit, but that purpose alludes me now. Of course as people die the cemetery grows so we wandered around recalling all the people that made this their final home. In the old days there were elaborate headstones very tall and imposing and very impressive. Today most headstones are flat into the ground, my only guess is to make it easier to mow. How boring. It was an interesting walk, talking about all of these people some I knew and alot I didn't. More than once there was the comment, "Oh, I didn't know they had died" or "Where's so-n-so buried" and off we would go to relive a story about a departed friend.

We went to the grandparents graves and paid our respects and then on to Jody's dad's grave where she told us the story of his internment as a prisoner of war during WWII and his life when he returned home. We walked around for no less than an hour and I'd do it again this weekend if I were there.

I know why I love cemeteries, it's the history, right here in front of us. There have been a lot of people that have come and gone before us and that's not likely to end when I die. I do know that today we have Memorial Day to honor the men and women that have died in service to our country, it's not the mattress sale at the JC Penny. Nor is it about a Monday off from work or the beginning of summer, it's about our rich history that has made us who we are.

Oh, yeah, I just remembered, where headed off to New Orleans soon. I just walked past Sweet Husbands desk where he is doing research for our trip and as he's looking at Google Earth he says, "Wow, there are cemeteries everywhere." See, it's not just me.

Word of the day!

2008-05-22T06:46:00.005-07:00

INCONGRUOUS

1. out of keeping or place; inappropriate; unbecoming: an incongruous effect; incongruous behavior.
2. not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking harmony of parts: an incongruous mixture of architectural styles.
3. inconsistent: actions that were incongruous with their professed principles

ap photo Andre Penner

Brazilian Indians ride a bus in Altamira, Brazil. Amazon Indians and activists continue to protest a proposed hydroelectric dam on the nearby Xingu River

Wait, I forgot to tell you

2008-05-20T21:56:00.006-07:00

Today when I was at an 'office' store getting copies I noticed an older guy wearing shorts and a tank top sitting in a desk chair chatting on his cell phone. He was deep into a conversation about the concert last night, blah blah blah and so on.

I stepped outside to get in my car and low and behold there was a cute little Miata with the top down parked so close that I couldn't get the door open. I stepped back into the store and said to the gent sitting down as if in his own living room.

"Scuse me, scuse me, is that your Miata?"

"What?" I repeat the question. "sure, why?" he said.

"Could you move it please, so I could get into my car, you parked too close."

Rolling his eyes, he asked how did I know it was his car, to which I replied.

"You're the only horses ass I could see sitting in the store like it was your living room and figured you were treating the parking lot like your very own garage." To which he went out and moved his car, I then got into my car and left.

Don't roll your eyes at me buddy.