A Night on the Town

It turns out that some people actually listen when I speak....weird.  Apparently, at one point, I mentioned that I wished I would go out more and see more things.  The past two weekends, I've done just that!!

**All of the following photos were taken by professional photographer, Delroy Cornick.  See me, if you'd like to use his services.  I'll be more than happy to put you in touch with him directly.

I went to an RV Show.  Yes.  I went to an RV Show.  I was completely overwhelmed the entire time.  I had never been in an RV before and there was a lot to take in!!  It's just amazing what they do with those things.  You can park your RV in front of a mountain range, open the door to the bathroom and just do your business or take a shower while watching the clouds climb over the peaks.  WOW.  I'm sorry - that's just where my mind goes.  Like I said, there was a lot to take in.

Bored by the Mercedes RV.  So lame for a Benz.

So much to think about...

I managed to lighten up a little after spending some time in a recliner.  I forgot how much I love me a good rocking chair and a laugh.

I have never been to DC either...EVER.  Weird, since I traveled so much, and it seems that's the one place in Indiana that everyone has been.  Me?  Never.  Until last weekend.  Just drove around, was too cold and far too late to go walking around.  I will return in the summer, FO SHO.

I was in shock, because you could just pull up to the Capitol Building and hang out for awhile.

The very next weekend was very interesting as well.  How about going to watch a Romanian band in Fells Point?  Just for fun?!  OKAY!  I happen to love music, especially LIVE music of any kind.  BRING. IT. ON.

I am having a GREAT time here in Maryland.  Just had to share.  :)

The Attack of the Squirrels

As many of you know, an army of very cunning, creative and annoying squirrels have declared war on Gramma's House and my mental well-being.  Let's start at the beginning....

I moved in...

The squirrels decided to move in too..

This is the view when I leave the house for work in the morning....

 And this is the view when I get home from work!

Waiting for the right time to attack...I see you evil-squirrel!

HAHAHAHA!!  TAKE THAT!!

I WIN.

Christmas in Indiana and New Year's at Gramma's House

Well hello again!!  I am really terrible at keeping this thing up.  I always promise to do better and it never happens, so I'm going to stop promising.  That's that.

I was able to go back to Indiana for the Christmas Holiday.  Mitch and Deb opened their big and beautiful (often how I describe myself) home to me and Debbie's parents who came all the way from England.  Had a great time!  Apparently, Emily is still roaming around in the mornings looking for Max.  She calls me Max.  She's awesome.

Here are some pictures from my week, and then some...

Bro-man and Smemy playing in the snow.

Mitch got this remote-controlled helicopter for a white elephant gift at our extended family's party.  It provided TONS of entertainment for us...poor Brody almost got attacked!

PLAY-DOUGH!!  She loves playing with Aunt Wendy anyway, but add play-dough to that and IT'S ON!!

We're buddies.

Me and Grandma Betty, Mom's mom.  I made her sit down for two seconds (yes, on my lap).  She didn't like it one bit! 

Apparently Grandma has kept everything I've ever given her!  I gave this to her in 1995...I was 10.

Aunt Martha...she's the best.

Me and some of the girly cousins...fun group.  We should totally vacation together.

Mitch, Deb and Emily...I think this should be their Christmas card next year.

Next was New Year's Eve.  To be honest, I felt like death warmed over and really didn't feel like doing anything special.  BUUUUUT, Gramma's House (my rental house) is just so awesome.  We knew it would be cold, but I have this huge screened-in porch area that people usually hang out in during these little get-togethers.  So, at lunch one day, we took a trip to Home Depot and got some plastic sheeting.  We thought maybe by hanging that and turning on the heaters, that it might help keep the warmth in.  Well, it didn't work, but we had fun anyway!

We aren't sure what this is (someone obviously thinks it's a hand), but we think it's awesome...so therefore it will be our center-piece!

Brian and Eva, responsible for the wall.  I'm blaming them.... (the fishies liked it!)

The coolest sweatshirt ever!  Yes, it has a pocket for my beer.  And yes, it's a little snug!



Some fun....

I always regret not writing as much as I'd like.  Soon, very soon, blogging will become at least a weekly routine.  I know, I've said that for about a year now and I appear to be full of empty promises.  I'm really looking forward to writing about the war I've declared on the Arbutus squirrel population.  But, I'm still gathering material.

I am actually on vacation...staying with my brother in Indianapolis for about a week.  For those of you that don't know, Mitch and his family moved back to Indiana a few months ago.  They've got a great house, nice and big with some great food and company to come along with it.  Mitch's wife, Debbie, invited her parents over for the holiday.  They are in town from England for a few weeks.  It's great to get to hang out with them again.  I'm sure I'll have some pictures to share from this trip once it's complete.  I'll be back to work on the 27th, and will blog sometime that week hopefully.  To tide you over, here is one of Emily helping her Momma make dinner. 

Lately, my little group of "work homies" have come up with some fun things to do in the office...  We had Argyle Sweater Day last month, and we just joked around about having an Ugly Christmas Sweater Day as well.  The next thing I know, the office Holiday Party last Friday had an Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest!!  Oh man, I HAD TO WIN!!  And, I won by a landslide.  Below is a picture, I'm working on getting a video...it was pretty awesome. 

As you probably know, from reading my blog, I really love where I live.  We lovingly call it "Gramma's House".  Well, there have always been things to clean up or fix up.  Gramma and Grandpa (not mine, but a co-worker's grandparents actually built the house and lived in it for most of their lives) have a lot of stuff!!  One of the coolest things there is this bar that the Grandpa (I later learned that his name was Jim) made.  It was in a corner of my screened-in porch.  A few weeks ago we pulled it out, cleaned it up and used it.  It was AWESOME!!

This is Brian.  We were celebrating his promotion.  (If you look hard enough, you can see the sign for "Jim's Bar" behind Brian.)

More later, guys.  I hope you have a great Holiday and that you are wherever it is that you really want to be...

REALLY?!

Some of you know, that I live in a very interesting little town in Maryland.  It's called Arbutus.  I would compare it to Farmland, Indiana (yes, it's an actual town), as there is a pizza place, grocery store, paint/hardware store, liquor store and is just barely off the beaten path from a big intersection.  Arbutus is quite a bit scarier though.... Not scary in the sense that you may die on the way to your car from the store.  The people here are generally very nice and there's one guy that lives on my street that waves at me all the time.  The landlords say he will be Mayor one day.  No, it's scary in the sense that most of the people living here should be on the website, http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.  Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the place.  It's small, has everything I need, and I don't have to worry about what I wear when I go out!  PERFECT in my book.....  TRUST.  I can really look shady if I want to.  HOWEVER - it seems that this town is plagued with women/girls/interesting-persons-that-I-can't-tell-what-sex-they-are that wear those sweat pants that have some sweet little nasty-gram written right on the butt.  This is where the, "REALLY?" comes in. 

Just so you have an image of everything going on in my head.... Here is what my face generally looks like when saying, "REALLY?!" 

It's kind of a half-laugh, half-OH.MY.GOD.

You all know what sweatpants I'm talking about, right?  My thought was that everytime I see a slighty less-than-attractive-person in these pants that I would take a picture of them.  I quickly got that idea out of my head.  That would've just been AWFUL if I got caught.  Could you imagine?!  HAHAHAHA....  "No, no.  I wasn't taking a picture of your nasty ass in those sweatpants that say your ass is Juicy.  I swear."  In case you aren't aware of the pants I'm referring to, here is a nice picture.

And here is what they should say:  THIS IS MY ASS

I mean, REALLY?!  Do you really need to bring extra attention to your ass by having something written there?  If someone wants to look at your ass, they are going to look at your ass whether you have something written on it or not.  Just sayin.

Okay, okay, okay.... you're right.  I'm just jealous.  I literally have no ass.  There is NO crease.  My body goes from back to leg, there is NO in-between.  I know, some of you are saying, "REALLY?!" in your head right now.  "I really wish I didn't have that image in my head right now about Lindy.  But, it IS a pretty funny image.  My gosh, she is SO funny.  I wish I could hang out with her everyday.  She is just SO amazing."  Sorry - I digress.  Let's just say, if I were to wear a pair of butt-print sweatpants, they would need to be printed with two words, so the space in the middle looks like it's supposed to be there.

Picture Dump

During my last trip back to Indiana, I stopped by the Howells's house.  (I figure they are famous enough to be called, "The Howells")  I'm sure they could correct my grammar....is the possession punctuation correct?  Anyway, they had two cute little kitties.  I love kitties.

 Yes, the infamous Peanut M&M Package Costume has made an appearance in Maryland this Halloween.  For those of you that don't know, my mother made this for me when I was in the 6th grade.  A friend of mine was dressed in the little green peanut M&M.  We went Trick-or-Treating together every Halloween.  My cube-mate, Lori's daughter needed a costume.  Don't worry - the Peanut M&M Package Costume to the rescue!!

 OMG.  I laughed for about five minutes over this.  This is just before the turn left onto Route 1, where that weird smell is....  I'm taking some co-workers on a field trip for lunch soon to figure out what the smell is.  I'll send you an update once we figure it out!

Happy Days Are Here Again, Come On Get Happy

I have internet in my house now - things could get dangerous.

I am a little fascinated with the GLEE TV show.  I guess you could say I've turned into a bit of a GLEEK...isn't that what they call us?!  Well, to be honest, the show kind of drives me crazy sometimes.  But, there are some truly great moments.  Songs touch me in a way that nothing else can.  Here's to all you other readers that feel the same way.

The characters Kurt and Rachel did a version of one of my favorite songs.  Here are a few videos of the same song.  Dare I say it?  I think Kurt and Rachel may have performed it best.  Don't forget to pause the song playlist to the right.  Enjoy, friends.

Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland


Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland (this is a close second, even though I think Judy Garland is wearing the same shirt as the above video.  Weird.)


Jim Bailey as Barbra Streisand with Carol Burnett


Chris Colfer and Lea Michele (Kurt and Rachel from GLEE)

Charlie and Wendy's Wedding

How about a photo field trip?!

Tall girls, helping a sister out...

Wendy and Kristy - LOVE IT!!

Brody is SO READY for his daddy's wedding...

Charlie waiting (not so) patiently.

Wendy and her daddy.... I love this picture.

Deb and Emily, watching from a garden.

YAY!!

WOO HOO!!

Deb, Emily, Mitch and Brody

Emily slapping Pappoo on the head.

Emily in her garden...

 Siblings...can you tell?!

Same old Wendy and Charlie - the best!

And then, there was that time that Emily ate a lemon!!

It's been too long....

OH MY GOSH - fancy meeting you here.  How long has it been, friend?  Yes, I guess it has been about two months now.  Goodness!  Well, I've been here and there, and what feels like everywhere.  Since we chatted last, I believe things have gotten a little more exciting.  If you're interested - keep reading.  If not - see you in another two months.

Most Saturdays in Maryland this summer I would hang at my brother's place.  Not only did he have internet, cable and air conditioning, but he also has a pretty cool kid too!  Here is the last summer pic I could find.  I kinda love it. 

Okay - moving on.  I went to Naples, FL for work during most of the month of September.  I got to visit with some old friends and co-workers and got to meet a few new friends and co-workers.  I had been there almost three weeks and I discovered that I really hadn't done anything other than eat and sleep.  My mom would say that I was as productive as a baby.  (I think I heard her use that line a time or two, and now it's come back into my life again!  Funny how that works out.)  So, a co-worker and I decided to go on an airboat ride.  It was something I had never done, and it was definitely an experience I will never forget.

Yeah - it was cool until it started storming while we were out in the water on a metal boat.  Not cool - but really, really funny!!  The person I went with had on khaki shorts, and apparently had on four-leaf clover boxer shorts...needless to say, everyone could see the clovers once we were drenched with rain.  Mine was pretty embarrassing too!!

First on the list when I got back from Naples was to register and title my Jeep in Maryland.  IT'S OFFICIAL!!  I'm actually a Maryland resident..... WOW.

 

While I was in Naples, Mitch announced that he and his family would be moving back to Indiana.  This is what they've been looking forward to for awhile now, and I think it will be great for them and Emily.  It is certainly a great place to grow up.  Since I've been back, I've been trying to help them as much as possible on their way back to Indiana.  I dropped Deb off at the airport this morning and will drive Mitch's car back to Indiana this weekend.  Charlie is getting re-married this weekend, so it works out.  I'm sure I'll have some good pictures and videos from the weekend.

The company I work for was gracious enough to give me a couple of tickets to the first Baltimore Ravens home game - suite tickets to boot. 

 This is me tailgating in the rain.  Turns out - I'm not very good at drinking.

Pretty awesome seats!!

So - nothing really spectacular or interesting in my life, other than I feel like I will have a handle on things soon (this is a good thing).  I am almost to that goal that I've had for almost 10 years.  Stability.  Mitch and Charlie both have interesting lives at the moment - Mitch has moved back to Indiana with his wonderful family and Charlie is getting re-married.  Awesome.  Seems like things are on track.

I'll be blogging more often now and things will be more creative than informative, hopefully.  Like the good ole days.  Soon, very soon.

Until next time...............

Just a small stop....

I can't write long.........

I hate that I haven't been blogging religiously.  Though, it has shown me that people really do read this thing.  Many people have been getting on my case about not blogging very much.  Well - I don't have internet yet at my house, so it's not as easy as it used to be.  To be honest, it's been great not having it.  Seems that internet and cable consumed my life a little bit.  Glad I figured that out, before I let it get worse.

I've had an absolutely WONDERFUL time getting to know myself better here in Maryland.  I changed a lot out on the road, and I'm looking forward to the changes in the future.  Bring it on.

I am in the middle of actually becoming a Maryland resident.  Like, a for real one.  Monday, I got a Bank of America bank account.  I went with BofA at the request of two of my Tribal Council Members (See the below book, if you aren't sure what that is)

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/If-You-Have-Cry-Go-Outside/?isbn=9780061930935

and my brother. Next, I signed up for Maryland car insurance. Then, I called the MVA (Motor Vehicle Administration).  You aren't even allowed to call it a DMV or a BMV here.  Apparently, sometimes it's a deal-breaker.  I've heard horrible stories about how horrible the MVA can be....so I'm getting an early start on things.  My plates expire at the end of September (I think).  So, I am giving myself plenty of time to get everything done.   Sorry - I digress.  I had to call the MVA, because in Maryland, they have to have the title to register your car.  It's not that way in Indiana......so I've got to get the title from Indiana and they have to send it to Maryland.  I was able to get the ball rolling on that this week.  YIPPEE!! 

Saturday, I'll be getting a haircut.  Tuesday, I have a doctor's appointment with a new doctor.  Thursday starts the fall softball season.  I am in LOVE with my new life. 

This is what is on my mind right now, as I'm sitting in Cosi using the WIFI while wearing my softball outfit (just came from practice).  I should probably tell you that for softball, I wear a baby blue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt.  It's truly awesome.  You have no idea.  I digress, yet again. 

On my mind:  I love Celtic Woman music, Glad it's not storming anymore, Wonder how many people are staring at me right now because they're jealous of my t-shirt, hoping I can make it to the mall to take things back before 8pm when So You Think You Can Dance starts - it's the season finale, it's 7:30 and my iPhone isn't done updating, It was dumb to start the update today, Kinda want another Cosi sandwich, Hope I can get a cheap flight to Indiana in October, I'm sleepy, I should probably work out again tonight, I'm tired, I have laundry to do, I'm tired AND hungry, my butt has fallen asleep, I really wish I could just hide sometimes, My iPhone update needs to hurry its little ass up, I curse a lot, I hate it when the outside of my glass sweats, I wish I was outside playing softball again, OMG - he's cute, Bet he wishes he had my t-shirt, I should start planning a trip to NYC, Wish I had some friends to go to DC with me,  Can't wait to be able to wear sweatpants everywhere, The whole reason I came here was to change some bank things around and to update my iPhone, I'm stopping my update - it will lend me something else to look forward to, I'm looking forward to being a couch potato tonight while watching "my show", Crap - I missed GLEE yet again, I'm ready to do a whole lot of nothing but watch movies this weekend, Shut 'er down.............

Yes - I could go on.  But, I'll spare you.  Thanks for reading.  Until next time...........