Weekend Update

This weekend was the big Freebird concert out at Western Trails Ranch. What a concert! If you like Lynrd Skynrd, it was absolutely fabulous! (The link is there for those of you who don't know who Lynrd Skynrd is. Yes, I know some of you aren't old enough - you whippersnappers!)

A few people, who shall not be named, bailed on us, so we rode out alone. The weather was perfect, and once we got past all the traffic lights on Grand Ave., it was a great ride.

We ran into a few friends there, and got some interesting advice from Kimmy, the President and National Publisher at Biker Information Guide. She rode her Trike there, but didn't have her jacket, so she left pretty early, as it got cold as soon as the sun went down.

Here are some pics from our night:

Bikes in the parking lot.

More bikes in the parking lot.

Chess, anyone? I forgot to mention the life-size chess/checkers game. What fun!

All Hail The Queen!

I felt compelled to write this post after receiving an email from Queen B with a pivot table on eateries at DFW airport! I couldn't open the first one she sent, so she had to dumb it down to my version of Office. I am totally thrilled! Here is what I have learned with the help of this AWESOME pivot table:

• 3 Dunkin' Donuts locations
• 4 Au Bon Pain locations
• 5 Starbuck's locations
• 5 TGI Friday's locations
• 3 Taco Bell Express locations
• A total of 91 eateries

And that's only from the summary sheet! The 'By Terminal' sheet has the actual location within the terminal for each place, so I can easily find it with a map of the terminal! QB - YOU ROCK! This will make my experience a little smoother when I travel there next week. Thank you!

If anyone has any other suggestions for business travel (this is my first time traveling for business), don't be shy! I already know from the Queen, if I bring my workout clothes, I will not work out, so they're already packed! :o)

Thanks, everyone!

Fashion Faux Pas

My favorite Phoenix admin, Deb, is having a bad fashion day. Deb is usually so pulled together, but she gets dressed in the dark in the mornings, and this is today's result:


Funny: She wore a black sock and a blue sock
Funnier: She didn't notice (nor did anyone else) until 1:10 p.m.


Glad I had my phone handy! Thanks for the chuckle, Deb!

Vicki's New Glasses

As a follow up to my recent post about Vicki's glasses, there were a few who wanted to see the glasses after they had 'transitioned' to the darker lens color. Here ya go! And yes, Jane, she looks EXACTLY like Big D!

A Very Special Birthday Shout-Out

Happy birthday to Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. My fellow Bostonian is 60 today, and, IMHO, still looks great!

Born Steven Victor Tallarico in Yonkers, NY, he moved to Boston in the '60's and started rockin' with the boys. In '79, the band broke up for a time, and in '83, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry patched up their differences which led to a reunion of all the original members in '84. By '87 they were all reportedly clean and sober, and continued to completely ROCK!

My sisters and I love Aerosmith, and when I lived in Massachusetts, I never missed one of their sold-out concerts! In honor of those days, here are some of my very favorite Aerosmith songs:

• Sweet Emotion
• Toys in the Attic
• Back in the Saddle
• Dream On
• Last Child
• Mama Kin
• Big Ten Inch
• Same Old Song and Dance

OK...I guess if I list all of my favorites this post would go on forever. Happy birthday, Steven! Keep on Rockin!!!

Birthday Shout-Outs!

I'm posting these shout-outs a little early, because I won't be posting over the busy weekend or on Monday. On Monday, 3/24, my darling daughter Vicki will be 10 years old. We're having a party for her tomorrow...wish me luck! Vicki, I hope your next 10 years is as easy as the first 10 were (yeah, right!). I love you, sweetheart! Happy Birthday! Also on Monday, my sister Christine will celebrate her birthday. We joke that Christine and Vicki are soul-sisters because they were born on the same day. Christine, I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and I hope your neck is better for your Aruba trip...but if not, just bring your straw!!! I love you and miss you a lot! Happy Birthday! Have a great weekend, everyone, and to those of you that will be celebrating Easter: Happy Easter!

Never Argue With A Woman

One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book. Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?" "Reading a book," she replies, (thinking, "Isn't that obvious?") "You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her. "I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading" "Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up." "For reading a book," she replies, "You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her again, "I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading" "Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up." "If you do that, I'll have to charge you with Sexual assault," says the woman. "But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden. "That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment." The Warden replied, "Have a nice day ma'am," and he left. MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Orange Hummers

A little required reading for today's post can be found here. I promise it's short and worth it.

It took me a little while after I read it to decide to blog about it. Frankly, I was stunned. What was she thinking? "Well, I have to run the meth and cocaine to my distributor this morning...I guess I'll take the BRIGHT ORANGE Hummer that I had no intention of returning to Hertz." Yeah, that won't be too conspicuous!

Does she not have any friends? If I was her friend, I would have told her, "Don't take the BRIGHT ORANGE Hummer that is probably now reported stolen! Oh, and by the way, Andrea, I'm telling you this because I'm your friend: it's time for some new hair color." I might've added that she really shouldn't be delivering meth and cocaine to ANYONE, but that's her choice.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Today is National Sweater Day in honor of Fred Rogers, of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood fame. Fred would have been 80 years old today. So dust off your ugly office sweater, or your sweater vest and wear it with pride today. Can you say, "Happy Birthday, Fred"? I know you can!

Is McCain Really a Commie Bastard?

The title of this post is really a nod to my BFF Donna, to whom everyone is a 'commie bastard' if they don't offer some sort of discount or perk for members of the military. Keep up the good work, sista! Today's required reading can be found here. It's a story I found online today, and I actually heard about it last night on the news. Just a few things of note, here. I have not heard of the 'similar' suit in Riverside, CA, but kudos to that lawyer. Kudos also, to Mr. "Live Free or Die State" for his suit, as well. If McCain wasn't born here, he can't be president. There should be no issue here, because the Constitution is pretty clear on this. "A term on which the Founding Fathers did not elaborate"...I don't think they needed to elaborate on this! Now here's something to ponder: What happens if McCain can't run for prez? Who will take the Republican nomination? Will we need a 'do-over' in every state? Will it default to Mitt?

Vicki's New Glasses

Yes, the frames are purple! But she's happy with them and that makes me happy. They look really cool when she's out in the sun - they get REALLY dark!

Happy St. Patty's Day

A man stumbles up to the only other patron in a bar and asks if he could buy him a drink. "Why of course," comes the reply.

The first man then asks: "Where are you from?" "I'm from Ireland," replies the second man. The first man responds: "You don't say; I'm from Ireland too! Let's have another round to Ireland." "Of Course," replies the second man.

Curious, the first man then asks: "Where in Ireland are you from?" "Dublin," comes the reply. "I can't believe it," says the first man. "I'm from Dublin too! Let's have another drink to Dublin." "Of course," replies the second man.

Curiosity again strikes and the first man asks: "What school did you go to?" "Saint Mary's," replies the second man. "I graduated in '62." "This is unbelievable!" the first man says. "I went to Saint Mary's and I graduated in '62, too!"

About that time in comes one of the regulars and sits down at the bar."What's been going on?" he asks the bartender. "Nothing much," replies the bartender. "The O'Malley twins are drunk again."

Broomstick One

If Hillary is elected:

Contributed by my BFF Donna - Thanks Donna!

Thanks, Babe!

I'm not going to be doing a lot of blogging on this subject, but I feel I need to give credit where it's due. Big D has spent about 3 days working on this particular part of the bike he's building for me. The bike is a 1974 Ironhead Sportster, and it's going to be an original Big D Custom Creation. He's decided to go show-quality with it, so there will be many, many man-hours spent on this bike. It will be gorgeous when it's done.

The part is called a rocker box, please don't ask me what the hell it is or what it does; I just know that it's part of the motor and oil goes through it. This is the half that he hasn't worked on. This is how they looked when we bought the bike.

Now, this is the half that he has put so much time and energy into. See the difference?

Like I said, he's going show-quality with the bike. I'm not sure if that's a great idea, as it will be my first Harley, but he's pretty much made up his mind. Now I just have to sign up for the course and go get my license! Stay tuned!

Hello, Again

In a previous post, Saying Goodbye Sucks, I wrote of how my friend Tanya was moving back to Massachusetts and how I would miss her and how much it totally sucked that she was leaving. Well, apparently they thought it sucked, too, because they are moving back to Arizona! Woo-hoo! My first thought was, 'this must be a joke', but it's not. They are extremely unhappy back east. I think they have found that their memories of 'back home' were seen through rose-colored glasses. And now, their memories of 'back home' are right here in AZ. The people back there are not as nice as they remembered, the weather is a lot worse than they remembered, and let's face it, you can't live in a place called 'The Valley of the Sun' for 8 friggin' years, and then move to a place where summer only lasts 2 months! Hello??? But I told her not to feel bad: they had to find out for themselves. If they hadn't gone back, they always would have wondered how it would've worked out. Now they know where home is. I really do feel bad that it didn't work out for them, but I am sooooo happy that they're coming back! They're leaving on 3/28, and I absolutely cannot wait to see them and say, "Welcome HOME!"

Silly Me!

I was chatting with my sister Christine today, and she mentioned that she's leaving for Aruba in 18 days, and that her back/neck is bothering her. So, I tell her that she better take care of it now, so she's able to lift her margarita/cosmo/beer glass while on vacation. This was her reply to that comment: "if my necks still hurts in Aruba I'll use a STRAW, I’m a Studley after all! LOLOL!" For those of you who don't know: Studley is our maiden name. Yes, all three of us have an extreme wild side that we blame on the name. It's in the bloodline. I have friends that can tell you I have used a straw due to neck/back injuries. It works great! Have fun in Aruba, Sis!

Belated Birthday Shout-Out

OK...I didn't forget this one...I was sick with the flu last week, and still am.

Happy birthday to the best Mom in the world! Here are 10 great things about my Mom:

1. She's MY Mom!
2. She bought a Chrysler convertible just before I got my driver's license!
3. She's understanding.
4. She was my ER-watching partner for years!
5. She (and Dad) brought me to all kinds of places on vacations as a child.
6. She still buys me clothes every now and then. And she still has great taste in clothes!
7. She took me and my sisters to Playa del Carmen, Mexico in '06.
8. She sends me funny emails.
9. She'll drink a magarita with me when we're at Margaritaville.
10. She's the absolute best Mom in the world!

Mom, I hope your birthday was wonderful...I still can't believe you worked!

Love you!

Here's the birthday girl getting ready for her birthday dinner, wearing her beautiful mink coat.

My Message To Tailgaters

In a previous post, I mentioned that I have a special sticker on my car for tailgaters. Well, here it is. Thanks, V, for the great sticker! You know me too well! The only thing better than having this sticker on my car is making Big D take my car to the store!!!! Now that's funny!

I Can't Wait To Meet Jayden!

I just had to post this picture of Samantha. I stole it from her myspace page, and she's probably gonna kill me, but I figured, hey - she posted it, so why shouldn't I? Anyway, here's Sammy in all her pregnant splendor. She's due on 4/2 - 1 day before the champ!

Take good care of that little Jayden, Sammy! Maybe now Deja will send me a preggie shot, or I will have to steal one from her myspace page, too!

Weekend Update

Vicki was at her friend's house all weekend, so we had a chance to go out, and not worry about getting a sitter!

Friday night was nothing special, just appetizers and a few drinks at Dillon's. Saturday morning's weather was perfect for a ride on the bike to get breakfast. We did some errands, stopped at a few yard sales, and did some things around the house.

Saturday night, however, was not so low-key. We made plans with my friend V, and headed up to New River, to the Roadrunner Saloon. It's a great little restaurant/bar and they have an outdoor bar, too. The band playing was Dok & Gal. They play a lot of the local venues, and they're great.

It was a long ride up there (32 miles) but not too bad. Although it was very cold on the way home at 2:30 a.m.! V got there before us, and grabbed a table under the heat lamps (wooo-hoooo!) .

Some highlights:

• Sitting next to Petey the Serial Killer (who works for the government and when asked, "Where do you live?" answers: "In the desert.")
• Dancing with Big D
• Dancing with V
• Leaving a drunk voicemail for V's friend that no-showed

Some lowlights:

• Blonde chick in the blue shirt - dancing a little too close for comfort!
• Fight on the dance floor (NO-I wasn't involved!)
• Losing my voice on Sunday (and it's still not back today!)

All in all, I'd have to say that Saturday was a great night. Except for the crappy service at the bar. I got to dance with my hubby, and he even stopped on the way home so I could hit the restroom at the QT...otherwise, it would have been ugly!

Sunday was yard work day, and Big D fixed our gate. So I mowed the lawn (front & back yards), whacked all the weeds, and trimmed the hedges. My sneakers are now green and I don't think they will ever be the same again.

Petey-the-serial-killer: he wouldn't let us get a picture of his face...but he had this FANTASTIC glass eye that was too big, and looked off to the right. He was CREEPY!!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!