Doo- Dee- Dooing

"You missed the turn"

"I couldn't get over in time. The GPS will recalculate"

"You could have moved over if you weren't Doo-Dee-Dooing"

"Huh? Doo-Dee-Dooing??"

"Yeah, gawking around at the buildings and not paying attention. Doo-Dee-Dooing."

Ok....so MAYBE I was Doo-Dee-Dooing.

Sam and I went to PA this weekend. It's a lot of driving in a short amount of time but we had a good time.

We left Friday night after work and headed to my Aunt's in CT. We decided to have dinner at Cracker Barrel in MA. We had never been before. What a treat!! We loved it. The gift shop was divine and everything was on sale. I got a very cute birdfeeder that looks like a picked out watermelon. Once it is hung up I'll take a pic. It was only $9. The meal was good and inexpensive. We just loved it. My Aunt was in shock. The Cracker Barrel around the corner from her is VERY expensive. Hmmmmm....I guess it really IS true that just about everything is more expensive in CT.

My Mom, step dad, Sam and I all stayed at my Aunt's in CT. Sam and I were downstairs and the "grownups" were upstairs. It didn't matter that we had a floor/ceiling between us, Sam and I could still hear them sawing ZZZZZZZ's ALL NIGHT. It was like a house of horrors. Chainsaws running all night and teeth floating in a bowl in the bathroom. Our bed was very comfortable though. Once we fell asleep we slept well. The next morning Mom said she she didn't fall asleep until after 2AM. Sam and I looked at each other and giggled. I guess she snores when she is awake too.

On Sat morning we set Nagatha(my cousin's name for the GPS) for Perkiomenville, PA. We were riding in tandem with my Aunt and Uncle who had been there many times before so we didn't really need it. Except that we stopped to gas up and my Uncle got a little discombobulated and had us traveling east when we needed to go west. Nagatha knew the difference and after about 5 miles I agreed with Nagatha and made the executive decision to turn around. My Aunt was riding with Sam and Mom and I so I asked her to call my Uncle and let him know that we want to take a more direct route but that he was free to go any which way he wanted to. He opted to turn around and follow us.

2 pit stops and 5 hours later we arrived in PA. We stayed at the Courtyard in Collegeville and it was great. The bed was SOOOO comfy that Sam and I never heard the chainsaws. Maybe Mom and Rog slept so good that they didn't run their chainsaws all night. I don't know but we were all in the same room and we heard nothing. And I slept until 7:30am the next morning.

After checking in at the hotel we went to my cousin's for the party. OMG.....their house is to die for!!! It's a mansion. Sam and I counted 4 fireplaces, 9 flat screen TVs, 5 bathrooms, 4 beverage centers, 5 car garage and well over 20 rooms. They have a killer media room with stadium seating. It really is an awesome house. It even has an elevator. And a laundry room with more cabinets and counter space than my kitchen. Unbelievable. And of course there is a pool and patio area comparable to any movie star's house in Beverly Hills. Just the bill for maintaining the grounds would be waaayyy beyond my means. It is gorgeous and my cousins are so gracious and down to Earth. The party was great. T is all grown up and he'll be going to Penn State next year. The catering was great too. The caterer was wonderful. Not only did they put on a good spread they waited on us hand and foot.

We hung out at my cousin's until 10pm then went back to the hotel. We got there just in time to see Tiger Woods sink one of his eagles. I don't know anything about golf. Heck I don't even care about golf but THAT was a shot. I was so intrigued that I followed the game all day yesterday. I felt bad for Rocco but I am glad that Tiger won.

Sam and I headed out for home on Sun morning. Mom and Rog stayed down an extra day because my cousin had set up a tee time for a round of golf.

We had just gotten our new GPS last week so now it was going to be tested. I kinda knew my way back but decided to just let Nagatha take us where it would, with the exception that I did want to go through NYC. It was in Manhatten that I missed my turn while Doo-Dee-Dooing.

About 4pm we were getting hungry. We decided to ask Nagatha where we could eatand how to get there. Bug-a-Boo Creek it was. I must say, it was my first bad experience. Not with the food but the service. We decided to sit in the bar rather than wait a half hour for a seat. The bartender brought us the menu and a loaf of bread right off. But that's where the service ended. It took her about 20 min to come and take our order. We only ordered pasta bowls and it took over a half hour more to get them. We lost well over an hour there. She refilled Sam's glass but not mine. She never asked how the meal was. Didn't bring us the second loaf of bread we requested and we had to ask for the bill. I'm usually very gracious and understanding but we were sitting right directly in front of her yet we could not get her attention. We watched her interact with the couple on the other end of the bar many times, but I guess we were invisible. It cost us $30 for 2 pasta bowls and a Sprite (I had water w/lemon) which I thought was alot to not even get any service. All we wanted was our meal in a timely manner, more bread and to be acknowledged. Not nearly as good as Cracker Barrel had been but that's not to say we won't give them another chance.

About 2 hours later Sam mentioned ice cream. OK. Sounds good to me. Again, Nagatha to the rescue. I punched in Dairy Queen and hit the mother load!!! 9 Dairy Queens in an 11 mile radius! Now that's living the good life.

All in all it was a short but good trip. Nagatha is our friend even though she does speak a bit of a different language gets a bit testy if we don't do what she wants. Even though we slept very well both nights we were very glad to be back home and sleep in our sleighbed. I missed Sarah and Shelby. I think Shelby is mad at us because she slept in her own bed all of Sunday night and a good part of last night too. I hope she doesn't a hold a grudge for long.

Merry Christmas night

Just a few highlights:

Redneck Christmas

I asked my dad if he drank all of those beers that morning. He said no it took him a few days.
Shelby had to be in on every conversation. She was such a good girl. She made her rounds making everyone feel welcome.

My cousin Debbie loved her so much that she tried to sneak her out the door in her bag.

She sat for a few minutes like that. She is crazy.

This is her newest cousin DJ Jasper Jazzy Razzamatazz Spazz or just plain Jazz for short. Yes he is as adorable and cuddly as he looks. What a sweet little baby he is. He and Shelby had fun chasing each other and rassling together.

Shelby finally had more Christmas than she could take. She crawled into her bed and collapsed into a coma. I tried picking her up and she was like a bag of bones. She was so tired that she just laid limp on me. Hopefully she will sleep through the night and not be up playing at her usual time of 1:30ish.

I've had enough Christmas too. Next year I'm dragging out all the empty totes at 5pm and anyone still hanging around can help put Christmas away until the next year.


Hope your day was fun.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

The first day on my vacation, I woke up. Then, I went downtown to look for a job. Then I hung out in front of the drugstore. The second day on my summer vacation, I woke up, then I went downtown to look for a job. Then I hung out in front of the drugstore. The third day on my summer vacation, I woke up...

Ok so that wasn't exactly how it went, but I have been on vacation for a week. Day trips, R&R, family reunions...all the usual vacation stuff.

It was a good week. The weather was a little iffy but you know what they say...a rainy day at home is better than a sunny day at the office. I'm not sure who "they" are but it's kinda sorta was true.

I took 130 pix at a family reunion I didn't even want to go to. How amazing is that? I love love love that camera. The reunion was at my father's for his side of the family. I actually had a good time. I knew it was going to be fun when I arrived and there was a sign up that said "Beware of the Hog" and this was there:

To say that my family are rednecks would be an understatement. I have an uncle who has been with the same woman for 40+ years. They had several kids and never married. They just tied the knot last month because he was busted for drugs and the State wanted her to testify against him. The marriage vows proclude her from being compelled to testify. How romantic, huh?

There were at least 20 babies and kids under the age of 10. I snapped pix of every one of them. I am sending the pix to my step mother because I have no idea who belongs to who. This little one was particularly precious.
She belongs to a cousin who could stop a freight train. She is so cute that several people were asking him who the father was.

I got hit on a couple of times but only once by a blood relative.

You want to know how screwed up my life is?? In my divorce my ex got the Hatfields and I got his father's ashes, so my ex and his GF went to my family reunion. And I was glad to have her to hang out with. They got there before me and stayed a few hours after I left. I kept kidding her that if she can hang on long enough, that whole dynasty could be hers. We had a few good laughs.

Here is my Dad and I

And of course a pic of my dad and his favorite kid: