Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Grandma-Mode

Yesterday we went to a local Chili's with Miss B., the Mom and Dad and the Grandpa (or Great-Grandpa, to Miss B., that is).

We're sitting there eating our lunch and the Mom shouts out:

"Cut that, that piece is too big!"

"Don't eat that, cut that!"

Was she talking to Miss B.? Nope.

She was talking to Great-Grandpa! Luckily, he laughed it off. Yep. She's in Grandma Mode.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Dating in the Dark

Okay, did anybody else watch this show tonight? As the Mom put it: "it should be called "six losers"". I know that's harsh, but still... what has reality tv come to? This was like watching "I want to marry a millionaire" all over again!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Return of the King

a Dungeon Seige Tale... all I can think of is Ray Liotta in that Jerry Seinfeld "Bee Movie".

Williamsburg!

On the way back to the NJ we stopped in colonial Williamsburg...








Overall it was pretty neat...


But I have to say, I was a bit surprised by the prices... $19,999.00 for a desk? (A REPRODUCTION) desk? What would the Keno brothers have to say about that!?!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

This Evening...

So tonight I went out with some of the ladies from high school. Indeed, I've known one of the ladies since the fifth grade, if my memory serves me correctly. It's always so funny when you see people after a long time and they really do look the same! Thankfully, I have better hair now then I did the last time they all saw me. It's also amazing to think that we each have children-- who would think we'd all be old enough to have little people of our own running around! Here's to visiting the ancestral homestead!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Georgia Aquarium!

Today we visited the Georgia Aquarium!







And then we got lunch at The Varsity!


And then we saw these goofballs on the Segway tour of Atlanta!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Just In Case You Were Wondering....


yes, Combos are the "official cheese filled snack of NASCAR".

It's All Thisbe's Fault

So, years and years ago not long after I moved to the city and started at the Job, Thisbe was kind enough to teach me how to knit. At the time there was quite a little knitting resurgence going on and I jumped on the craft bandwagon. After all, knitting ran "deep through our veins!" since it was Grandma who knitted a creamsicle orange one-shouldered pantsuit for my Barbie doll when I was a kid (and she didn't even use a pattern!) (I do have to say, the pantsuit design was mine, color choice I believe was left up to whatever Grandma had left in her odds and ends of un-used "pound of love" yarn skeins bought at the local Pearl.

Flash forward to present day where I have a ridiculously large yarn stash and am slowly trying to make my way through a long list of projects. The Mom tells me that there's this great knitting store in town and I'm thinking: okay, I'll go because I always love a good yarn store, but I can't buy anything because I've already got more yarn than you can shake a knitting needle at.

So, we visited the Whole Nine Yarns in Woodstock and can I say, what a fabulous place?!? Its not only got an amazing selection of top quality designer yarns and notions but then it has this glorious sitting area where one can sit and knit! While walking around I saw a lovely little angora hat (made with a multi-colored Louisa Harding angora blend). The store had a free pattern for the hat and it can be made with only one skein! How could I pass that up?

Now I'm home and I can't wait to start making the hat but I've told myself I have to finish my bolero sweater first. Its with Noro Silk Garden and a pattern called Halfobi. Knit all in one piece it is going faster than imagined... Will post pictures soon!!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Jury Duty!

Today I came back to the Ancestral Homestead and I notice some opened mail with my name on it. It was a jury duty notice that the Dad had opened on my behalf. Dad also went ahead and called Cobb County on my behalf to complain.

I turned my Georgia Driver's License in to the State of New York back in 2000! Hell, I moved from New York to New Jersey in 2004! (Speaking of which, I actually served on a jury in New York back in 2003, or thereabouts, one tries to forget jury duty, especially in New York!).

Now, what would have happened if my parents had moved and someone random had gotten my jury duty thingie and no one had forwarded it to me? And, I love how the jury duty notification indicates that "persons not living in Cobb County are ineligible to serve" (as if one wants, desperately to serve, but unfortunately you're just not qualified). To add insult to injury, in order to convince the county that I am "ineligible", I have to include "proof of my new address" when sending back the form. Proof of my "NEW" address? I've lived in my house for five years and that's the second place I've lived since I left the state!

Let's not even discuss all of the personal information they want you to fill out like employer, length of employment, nature of employment, spouse's employer, favorite color, favorite number and zodiac sign.

The best part of this story is that my Dad, when leaving the message with Cobb County, asks the key question-- how can he have lived here for 25 years and never been called for jury duty and yet I've lived out of state for 9 years and just got called.

(Finally, in the world of coincidences, the Husband just got called back home)...

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Today's Adventure

Today I had lunch with MCM, a friend from High School. It was fun to see her after so many years! We went to Pure Taqueria in Alpharetta. In Dave's honor I finally tried some fish tacos! They were pretty darn good!

Then it was on to an emergency dentist appointment. Last year I had a wisdom tooth pulled because it was impacted and I kept getting these goofy gum infections. On the way down to SC I felt like I was getting another one and it just wasn't getting any better. Go to the dentist and they ended up cauterizing my gum. Afterwards my mouth tasted just like barbeque. That was a lot less fun than the fish tacos.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Update on

the Euro Bungee!

The Past Few Days, or So I Guess I Really Am in Georgia

As you may know, the Fam took a road trip this past Friday to visit the Husband's fam for a mini-vaca in Myrtle Beach (or, more technically, Pawley's Island, SC). I had wanted to return our last Redbox rental before we got on the road but didn't have the chance, so I figured I'd give that whole "return it to any location" thing a try. Yup, I crossed state lines with a Redbox rental. And, when I say cross state lines I mean 7 states and a district. So, today was our first full day with the Mom and Dad at the Ancestral Homestead (to borrow a Thisbe-ism) in Marietta. A fun day was had by all and after Miss B. hit the sack the Dad and I decided to catch a flick. We headed over to the local multiplex to see the 10:45 showing of The Hangover. The Dad and I hot-rodded it over to the theater in his fancy-schmancy Chevy SSR convertible pick-up. Can I take a moment here to mention how much the Dad takes care of this vehicle? For instance, it's under a car-cover (a special, SSR specific, form-fitted car-cover)when it's in the garage. It's been waxed so much it's actually slippery to the touch and the leather interior has been armor-alled to within an inch of its life so you actually have to take care not to just slip out of the seat, as if you were covered in PAM. Point being: this is one well-maintained automobile. It's show quality.

SO. After the flick we were on a mission to finally return my out-of-state Redbox. The Dad has informed me that the Redbox kiosks are located in the lobbies of all of the Wal-Marts. First Wal-Mart? Closed. So we head over to the Wal-Mart on Highway 92 in Woodstock. It's Huge. It's more than a superstore, it's a football field of savings. It's a grocery store and a shopping mall all under one roof and at 1:15am it's got about 12 people inside. We parked and I was a bit surprised that the Dad left the convertible top down.

We go in and the Redbox was actually re-booting. I don't know when they actually stock the machines with the Tuesday new releases but I will say that we were certainly the first people to have access. Then we did some browsing. We picked up a Mr. Potato Head for Miss B., got a giant bag of dum dums. We were being leisurely. We looked for Nantucket Nectars and Tasty-Kake products. We bought a bag of ice. We got stuck in line behind a woman buying cigarettes for her children (sure, they were teenagers, but still).

Then we headed out to the car, loaded our goodies in the covered pick-up bed and the Dad went around to get in to the driver's side. As I'm walking to get into my side, he says to me: "Don't get in the car. There's a Creature in the car."

WHAT? (For some reason, the first thing I thought was tarantula. I have no idea why).

The Dad comes around to my side and opens my door. There we find:


A baby lamb in the passenger seat. (All I could think of was the tiger in the back of that mercedes in The Hangover). I was just waiting for either hoof prints on the pristine leather seats, or god forbid on the paintjob.

Yup. It was about 1:30am. We're in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart. There's a cloven-hooved animal in the passenger seat of our car. I guess I really am back in Georgia.

So, now what? The Dad tried to coax it out of the car but Lambchop was perfectly contended to stay where she was. Apparently, she wasn't bothered by the leather seats. There's nobody in the parking lot, the Dad doesn't want to try and move the lamb, lest we scare her and really even if we did get it out of the car, we can't just leave her in the parking lot.

Thus the police were called. I dialed 911 and asked for the non-emergency number. The dispatcher said he could try and help and asked what the problem was. Have you ever had to convince someone that you're neither drunk nor crazy and that yes, indeed, there is a displaced farm animal in your car? I just tried to remain calm and acknowledge that the situation sounded odd and emphasize that the car is a convertible and the top was down (clearly making it an attractive nuisance for lamb-depositors).

A little while later two police cruisers showed up. Both officers admitted that they'd never been out on a call like this before. (To be honest, I'm sure they were glad it really was just a stray lamb and not a hold-up at the Wal-Mart). One officer just bent down and scooped up Lambchop nice as could be and proceeded to hold on to her while the other radioed for someone at animal control to come and take her away. We had seen three college-age guys coming out of the store (I say they looked suspicious) and a couple who were parked next to us came out of the store while the officers were there and they said that they didn't notice anything in the car when they parked, but that they also noticed the college guys.

Random prank? Abandoned pet? Does a baby lamb in a pick-up truck at a Wal-Mart after midnight have some sort of cosmic or religious significance? You decide. But the one thing I'm sure of is that I doubt this would have happened if I was in New Jersey.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Jumpy Jumpy


Yes, that would be me trying out the "Euro-Bungee" in the Coastal Grand Mall in Myrtle Beach. This Bungee kiosk was run by Ari and Avi two Israeli guys that had a certain "Don't Mess with the Zohan" about them. It was unique to say the least.

Friday, July 10, 2009

One, Two, Three

How the hell can you run a goddamn railroad without swearing?

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Pronunciation

So today at Gymboree Miss B. was asking for "socks" (which sounds more like "sucks"). You don't even want to know what "fork" sounds like!

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Pictures Stolen from

the Mom blog

Grandma and Grandpa on their wedding day... how dapper!


Grandpa, golfing.... or as we like to call this picture "Weekend at Bernie's"

Who do I call

about having Pterodactyls removed from the yard?

Monday, July 06, 2009

Playland!

Here are some night pictures from a local amusement park...










Saturday, July 04, 2009

FYI

Thanks to MSNBC there's now a "Facebook Survival Guide for Awkward Adults".

Friday, July 03, 2009

Fireworks!

Tonight we watched Fireworks thanks to the Spirit of Princeton organization. The fireworks display started just after 9:15pm and could be viewed from the playing fields right next to the Princeton University Football stadium.



We got there early and the Husband picked out a great spot for us on the lawn. I had packed a picnic dinner and the weather was beautiful! Our picnic included tuna salad in pita pockets (but not just any tuna-- a combination of albacore and italian tuna with red onion, capers, lemon and pepper), home made mini blueberry muffins, deviled eggs, pesto pasta salad, macaroni salad, two kinds of chips, salad with dried cranberries and balsamic vinagrette, fresh fruit and cheese and a baguette thrown in for good measure. We also had cookies for dessert.




This is Miss B.'s reaction after the first of the fireworks...
























They put on a great show!

Happy 2nd of July!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Tropic Thunder...

Oh My God. I Am moving to catering after this!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Grounds for Sculpture

Today we visited the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton.

On the way there one passes a giant molar on the side of the road. Not sure why.





Miss B. really got a kick out of the prayer bell!
















A play on a French impressionist favorite...


































Interesting shapes and whatnot...











































This was pretty neat...














A rare glimpse at the author...














There were quite a few of these folks wandering the grounds while we were there...


















As we all know, Miss B. loves sculpture!

Deviled Eggs

a new way.


A good, but sad, read.

Counter advice to Master Oogway's contention that there are no accidents, or perhaps, coincidences.

Finally, Frugal Paris.

So sometimes we love the Times.