Geezerville

Vic, Jimmy, MJ, Tom and Leslie each turn 50 this year. Wow - You guys are old.

Not Like The Others

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
















Manny's reaction:

Yard Sale!

Lauren invited Haley to participate in the Riverside Terrace yard sale. It's huge! Families set up in their own yard/driveway and buyers can walk the neighborhood or drive from place to place. There was quite a crowd - including some nasty people looking to steal stuff. Haley was one of their victims. They came into the yard in a pack, speaking a foreign language and picking up all kinds of things being very distracting. There were 3 middle-aged women, one elderly woman, a man and a boy. They caused quite a scene, bought a couple of items that totalled $1 and by the time they left, we realized that an X-Box game was missing. Nothing we could do about it, no receipts, no proof. Just sucks that people feel the need to do this. It left everyone very unsettled. I stuck around at the table for a little while - on the odd chance that they'd try it again. One of them did come back to ask if we found any money, saying she lost $15. Right. A short time later I left the girls and wandered around to check out the other sales. It didn't take me long to find them in action again. Scum bags. Most people seemed to be watching them like hawks but there were probably plenty more that were victims of there scheme.

After wandering around for a while, I came back to the girls and found that they had multiplied. What started out as 2 kids had grown to 5. They wanted to check out the sales. So, Lauren's mom, Judy, and I decided to man their post and let them look around. We had a nice time chatting. It was a gorgeous day. Not too many customers for us. While we were sitting there, I noticed this huge bird fly into the yard. Initially, I thought it was a hawk after smaller birds in one of the shrubs in the front yard. I remembered I had my camera and went to get it. When I came back to the yard, the bird flew up into the tree. One of our "customers" told us it was a falcon. Pretty cool.



Here's a link to a video I shot. You can hear Judy saying the bird is on her car. I'm just trying to keep up with it. It's short, blurry and pretty funny. Pretty much all you can see is the falcon flying off down the street. It kind of looks like a duck in this video.

After the kids came back, we stayed for a little bit more and then packed up to go home. Haley ended up making about $50 and she was pretty happy with that. However, that feeling of being scammed by those idiots really took something away from what otherwise would have been a great day!

McNuggets

I have to say, this is one of THE most annoying commercials I have seen in quite some time. I had to post it here. This stupid song gets stuck in my head so often, thought I'd pass along to get stuck in your head too. Ketchup and mayo. Good Lord. Try getting this out of your head now.

Wild Turkey

No Maire, not that Wild Turkey.

Took Mom to Swansea Mall today. We came home through the backroads (over the new bridge in Barneyville) and passed by a field with a rafter of wild turkeys. I did a U-turn and took a couple of snaps. Wow! I don't ever remember seeing this many around here before.

After we got back to Mom's house, I was watching the monarchs on the butterfly bush and found this other little butterfly/moth on the tree. (You can click through the pictures above to see it.)

Nature - It's all over me!

Foster the Wonder Squirrel

There he is in all his resplendent glory. Have I told you about Foster? Of course I have.

Well, if I happened to have missed you - here goes.

I spotted this little squirrel a couple of days after Coco had died. He was running up the driveway and looked to be listing to one side. After watching him for a couple of days, I came to the realization that there was something definitely wrong with him. His entire left side didn't seem to work properly. Vic named him Foster, after Foster Brooks, because he looked like he was drunk. Seriously. As soon as the name was across his lips, Vic insisted that he would not get attached to this thing that was almost certainly going to end up as roadkill. Of course, I had taken to this poor little guy immediately.

He was hanging out in our yard to get the bird seed. He'd amble in from across the street or through the neighbor's yard, have a little nibble and then move to our back yard. I started leaving seed on the ground for him, but soon the other squirrels would chase him away, and he'd get nothing. He then started hanging around on the roof of our garage at the very peak. He'd wait & watch for me to put the seed out, make his way down and get some dinner! He has continued this and is there almost every day. Sometimes he's even waits on the deck. In all of my Foster gazing (taking on National Geographic proportions), I've come to realize he is kind of blind in his left eye and has serious problems with both left legs.

I'm on a mission to get a video of him running, just because it is so spectacularly goofy.

The birds have long been forgotten and all the seed goes to the squirrel. I did have to alter the amount I've put out, because one week the little guy didn't finish all the seed and there was quite a bit left over. Later that night, two skunks came into the yard & found the seed and proceeded to screech and fight each other, spraying away, into the wee hours of the morning. This happened on two consecutive nights. There is still a lingering oder of skunk in our basement.

I worried about him while we were in Maine for a week. I really couldn't make myself ask someone to come over during the week, wait to see a squirrel on the garage roof and parcel out a precise amount of seed. People would think I was a little nutty (or nuttier than they already suspect). He did manage to survive the week without me, but he did look much skinnier to me. ;o)

Four months later and he's still alive. He's made it safely back and forth through the driveway. His witnessed mishaps are just hysterical. He fell out of the tree in the back yard one day. Another time, while being chased by one of the neighborhood cats (such an indignity!), he ran smack-dab into a bag of fertilizer. What a thud! And just yesterday, he turned up in the morning with an enormous piece of PIZZA!!! He carried it into the yard and then promptly toppled over with the pizza landing on top of him. He spazzed & squirmed & finally ran off, kind of. He was back later that night for his seed - I'm sure one of the other squirrels lifted the pizza.

So, if I've been ignoring you lately, seem distant or distracted, at least you know why.

This one is for Maire! AKA Friend Mary

You knew it would have to happen sooner or later...



The Hello Kitty Visa! Just think of all the damage you can do with this baby!

This thing is legit, too. So, if you want one, go here: Sanrio

And if you act fast, you'll get a FREE "Exclusive Hello Kitty Business Card Holder!"

The Grand Salami

The aftermath of Papi's grand slam!

More videos on my YouTube page (link on right).

Sweet Caroline

Our seats were about as far away as you can get at Fenway - but what an incredible game to see!

Titta? I don't even know her

Hill's Beach

Haley & I went up to spend a couple of days with Mary. Kelly came too. We left on Thursday and just got back this afternoon. It was a nice couple of days. While it rained cats & dogs in RI, we had a beautiful day in Maine.

We went back to Kennebunkport each night and had dinner at Allison's both nights. We had the mandatory stops at the candy store and t-shirt shops. Kelly even found a cactus cell phone charm (in case you hadn't heard already).


The place where Mary stays is closer to the sandbar to Basket Island. We made trips out whenever we got the chance.

While Mary & Vicki searched for sand dollars, I checked out the tide pools & rocks on the island.
There are more pictures at the Flickr page (link on right).
I'm glad to be home - aren't joo?

We're Back!

Maine was great! The weather was superb. The cottage was more than we expected. The girls were "cellar dwellers" all week - literally! They had their own space with 4 beds, a TV and their own bathroom! Oh, and some bugs. And the PS2 (brought from home) so they could play Kingdom Hearts II. All week long we kept hearing fits of laughter, the occasional scream and "Guitar Hero."

We saw some new sights this year. We went to York's Wild Kingdom on Tuesday. It was just the right size, not too big and lots of animals to feed. The girls fed the ducks, the goats and the deer. Thank goodness there were lots of Purell stations around - gotta wash off the goat slobber. Ick.


Wednesday & Thursday were beach days. Vic & I basically parked ourselves there and did not move. The girls snorkled, walked out to the island, swam, and got attacked by horseflies.


Friday, we drove north to Freeport. We visited the Desert of Maine. Interesting place. I think if we ever get up to Freeport again, I'd like to do the walking tour.


Somewhere in between all of the above action-packed stuff we managed to go to Kennebunkport a couple of times, had dinner at Nunan's Lobster Hut, and make brief shopping excursions to both Kittery & Freeport.

Lunch Bunch

Uncle Gene, Peggy & Owen came to town today to visit Mom. We went out for lunch at Quito's in Bristol. Ricky, Terry & the girls came too.

It was great to see them. Owen has gotten tall and even more handsome than the last time I saw him! Also, Peggy had a BIG birthday last week too...Not quite as big as Vic's but close. :::cough:::: 40 :::cough:::The food was great. I think the kids had more fun trying to feed the seagulls, though. There are a few more pictures from today on my Flickr page (link on the right side of page).

Takes Tetris to a whole new level

Well, not technically Tetris, but ya gotta love this crazy Japanese game show. That "Harry Potter" dude was the only one tht got the job done!

It's somebody's birthday today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR VIC!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!

XOXOXOXO

Guess Where I Went Today?

I'll give you a hint:

Any guesses yet?

Mary called me at 11:15 AM and said "There's an extra ticket, wanna go?" - Of course. "We have to be in Providence by noon." - Alrighty then. Mary got the tickets from her friend Angela at work. Angela got the tickets from Kim Zandy at Pro FM. We met up with the rest of the group in Providence at 11:59 AM. Phew..... We had a great lunch at Kurrents (next to the Hot Club), then hopped on the bus for the trip to Fenway. The bus ride was kinda hot & Kim made us work. She had a 4-pack of tix for behind home plate. In order to win them, we all had to make a cheer. The best cheer won the tix. We broke up into groups of two to make the cheer. Mary & I came up with a darned fine cheer but needless to say, we did not win the tix. Two pregnant ladies won them. I believe they won the sympathy vote. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Our seats were in a right field box, near the Pesky Pole. In the sun. Did I mention it was 90-ish? Did I mention it was hot? Dayum hot. We had a great time despite our dampness. The Sox ended up losing the game :( but any day at Fenway is great fun.

I'm sure Mary's favorite part of the day was when she said "Hey look, here comes a beachball" and when I turned to look the darned thing hit me right in the face!! The guy behind us slammed it onto the field. Time was called during the game to retrieve the ball - the one with my sweaty face-print on it. It was kind of like the Shroud of Turin, but a beachball. With sweat. And my face, not Jesus'. You get the picture.

As we were leaving the park we saw TC & Jim Rice doing the postgame show.

Anywho...After the game was over and we were in our designated spot waiting for the rest of the group, guess who we saw? I'll give you a hint:

KATIE GREENE!!! Can you believe it?!?!?! She didn't know we were at the game. She was just riding her bike home from work. We were standing there and both saw her and were like, "Is that....Holy crap!!" Katie chased the players' cars (on her bike) to see who was in them. We saw a shiny black Hummer. Katie went to investigate. Wily Mo! Eating an ice cream! Wily Mo! Then a little while after that we saw Shonda Shilling go by in her little white Mercedes - no need for Katie to give chase. Then Alex Cora came by with a ton of people (wife & kids) in his little white Mercedes SUV thing. There was one other car that went by but all of the windows were so tinted we couldn't see in. That was it. I think most of the other players were staying for the Picnic in the Park. But where did Shonda go? Wasn't this picnic her gig? Pfft.

All in all it was a fun day.

Thank you Mary for taking me! Thank you Andrea giving Mary TWO tickets! Thank you Kim for picking Andrea and giving her the extra tickets!

17 Years Ago Today

Huge emotional swing

We came back from the wedding Saturday night and didn't check our messages. Sunday morning, when listening to the voice mail, Vic's brother, Paul, asked us to call him back. He didn't sound good. The news was awful. His wife, Bea, had died while white-water rafting in Colorado. She was on vacation with their daughter, Jane, and some friends. At some point during their run, they tried to help someone who had fallen out of another raft and in doing so their raft got flipped. Jane, Bea and the woman they were helping were apparently pulled down the river. Jane described going over rapids and coming to a calm section only to have the process repeated a few times. They got separated and she was helped out of the water by some hikers who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Bea was found further down the river. Jane is physically okay. She has a stiff/sore neck - physical wounds that will heal in short time.

We got to the city on Monday. The service was Tuesday. There was an incredible amount of people there. Both Paul & Jane spoke at the service, along with friends and her two nieces (her brother's daughters). It was quite moving as Jane read the letter she had written to her mother. Such composure and poise in the face of such a tragedy.

To go from such a range of emotions in such a short period of time....Eric & Caitlin were in my thoughts on Tuesday as Paul said goodbye to his wife. As one marriage starts surrounded by family & friends, the other needs that same support and love.

The 777 weekend

Phew...we had a busy weekend.

Friday, we had Eric & Caitlin's rehearsal dinner. It was a nice family night. Mary did a great job on the dinner. Even Nan's coleslaw was fabulous! ;o) I made some desserts. The strawberry pie did not gel. MJ said it would make a great jam for toast. It was tasty, just wish it held together. I also made brownies & magic cookie bars. I was planning on making two other pies, but in the end I only had time for one. It was a chocolate velvet pie and I must say it was delicious.

Saturday...the wedding. The weather was beautiful. The setting was gorgeous. The bride was breath-taking. She looked so pretty! Oh yeah, Eric looked good too.

We all had a great time. Any occasion that gets both Katie & Haley to wear a dress...well it just has to be off the charts!

For more pictures, check the flickr page (link to the right) or the album I made at Image Station.

Me as a Simpsons Character

Lovely, no? Here's a link to make your own: http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html
You have to Register in order to save your picture.

Have fun!