Wondering What The Weekend Will Bring

This weekend, Vicki is going up to Williams to play in the snow with my girlfriend and her kids. She is leaving today and coming back on Sunday. We got her some new snow boots last night, and she is very excited. Big D and I are also excited! :o) A weekend without a child at home is a rare jewel, indeed. I believe we're going out to dinner tonight, with our Olive Garden gift card from Sam and Rodrigo. Tomorrow, we're going to head out to the grand re-opening of Western Trails Ranch in Morristown. I'm so happy they decided ot re-open..this place is a lot of fun! I hope the weather holds, because we'll be on the bike. (and I will be wearing my hot new chaps!) Sunday will be dedicated to cleaning, doing laundry and preparing for Vicki's first day back to school after winter break. I will need the entire day for this. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

If They Can Get Along...Anyone Can!

Meet Rascal and Kitty. When they first met 3 years ago, Kitty sliced Rascal's nose wide open. It was an ugly scene. It was open warfare in our house for at least a month!

Tonight, I fed Kitty, but apparently Rascal's food was better, so they shared his food! They sleep together on Rascal's bed, and if one isn't feeling well the other is always trying to comfort the one that doesn't feel well.

If these two sworn enemies, my cat and my dog, can get along...I think we, as human adults can learn to get along.

Hot Rod Lincoln

I know it's not exactly Jay-Z, Aerosmith, or Toby Keith, but as a child, this was one of my favorite songs. When it came on the radio, I used to sing it with my Dad...oh, the memories!

How Proud Am I?

Last night while drying Vicki's hair, Britney's new song came on the radio. Vicki asked me if I thought Britney deserved to have her kids. (These 9-year-olds really keep up with celebrities!) So I explained that she no longer has custody of her kids, and a little of the 'why' without going into a long explanation. Then, Vicki looked at me with a very serious expression on her face, and said, "Yeah, Mom, she made some really bad choices. I hope she's learning from her mistakes." OMG! Something I said got through??? YAY!!!!!!

More Laughs

I just got off the phone with my sister Christine in Massachusetts. We had the following conversation: Chris: We were just talking about you last night. Me: This can't be good. Chris: Do you remember playing the violin when you were little? Me: Yeah, I was in the 4th grade. Chris: I can remember you practicing, and telling Dad to make you stop! Me: (Laughing) No, I don't remember that, but maybe that's why I quit! Chris: Nobody remembers that! I'm the only one! I remember Dad saying, "That's enough, Ann." We had a really good laugh. I can just hear my Dad saying, "That's enough, Ann." She said I used to practice very close to the TV. I told her it was probably because my Mom made me take the violin lessons - I did not choose to take them. If I was annoyed, everyone was going to be annoyed! Thanks for the laugh, Chris!

The Queens of Jenga

Last weekend, Vicki and I decided to break out the Jenga game. I used to be the Queen of Jenga, but that was a long time ago! Vicki has proven herself to be the up and coming Queen of Jenga. I took this picture because I just KNEW it was going to fall over on the next turn...and it did!

Daryl's Court Date

A lot of you commented on my post, 'Thank You' back on September 14th. Some of you knew what was going on, and a lot of you didn't, and you still lent me your support through your comments - thank you so much for that. I will blog about this tonight, because this week was the conclusion to our nightmare. In July of this year, D got a ticket from a DOT officer. (He's a truck driver.) He gave the ticket to his boss, as it was equipment violations, and not having the proper paperwork in the truck. His boss said, "I'll take care of it." And that, D thought, was the end of it. Not so much. On September 11th, some lady hit D's truck at a job site, so D called the police to report the accident, per company policy. The police said there would be no citation, as it wasn't D's fault. But - D had a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear in court. They arrested him. He called me, but I was in a meeting and didn't answer. He called his work, and the manager said, "We'll bail you out today." Unbeknownst to me! Well, about a 1/2 hour later, I have two messages on my phone from the receptionist at D's work. She didn't leave any details in the message. I have been married to two truck drivers, and the only reason they call the wife is if there's been an accident. I immediately went into panic-mode! When I called back, she tells me, "No, he's not in the hospital, he's in jail." I asked her if she had the right wife! D? In jail? WTF? So she tells me that in order to bail him out I need $780. Yeah, I'll just pull that right out of my ass! No prob! Now I didn't know what this was all about. I had NO details. D couldn't call me from jail, because we don't have a land line...only cell phones. So, the 1st 24 hours, I did a lot of brainstorming, etc., and did the dance around Vicki telling her Daddy was on an out-of-state run, and his truck broke down. I couldn't exactly tell her that her hero was in jail - jail is for bad guys! The next morning (Wednesday), I went to a bail bondsman and told him my sob story. I needed collateral equal to the bail amount. The only thing I had was my wedding & engagement rings. I took them off and started crying. It was an awful experience. So Jerry, the bondsman, went down to bail D out. He said D would call me when he was released - probably within 4 hours. That was at 10:30 a.m. 24 hours after his arrest. At 3:00, I called the automated number to see when D would be released, and found out they moved him to a different jail (Durango). I called Jerry, and he said, "Go visit him." So I did. What a catastrophe! I got there just as they were getting a bunch of inmates off the bus together. I saw D in his black & white jail stripes, with pink flip-flops, handcuffed to another prisoner (pink handcuffs, too). I'm so glad he didn't see me at that moment. So there I am, waiting to see him. My number will be called soon. A voice comes over the loudspeaker telling everyone that the jail is now on lockdown - go home - visiting hours are over. WTF? So, I go home for another sleepless night. Me & Rascal in the recliner again. The next morning, I called the automated number and it said he was released at 5:00 a.m. Um, ok...it's 7:00! Why hasn't he called? Oh, yeah, and they moved him to yet another jail (Lower Buckeye)! So I truck on down to that facility and very calmly ask where my hubby is. They told me that it could take 10-12 hours from that release time before he's actually released! Well, snapped. I started screaming like a crazy woman about 48 hours in jail for a f'ing failure to appear in court...and quite a few other choice words. All of a sudden, there was a hand on my shoulder, and I heard these words, "Ma'am, if you don't leave immediately, I'm going to take you into custody." Um, ok, I'll be going now. So I sat in the parking lot and cried. Then I went to work. D was released at 10:30 a.m. that day, exactly 48 hours after his arrest. What we didn't realize is that his company wouldn't back him up. And that there were criminal charges filed against him. So his court date was yesterday, and he pleaded to 1 of the lesser non-criminal charges, and all others were dropped, and the bond released. I got my wedding rings back today. The only time I was happier to see them was the very first time! It had been 83 days without them on, and one of those days was our anniversary. So again, thanks everyone for your support. I would especially like to thank Aaron, Veronnica, Ted, Julie, Mark, Ingrid and Kramer. I really couldn't have gone through this without your support!

My Pets

I'm posting pictures of my doggies in response to a comment from Teri. Here you go, Teri!

Spotsy is a 12+ year-old Dalmation-Border Collie mix. She has been with us for 2 years now, and she is a lover, not a fighter.

This is Rascal, aka: Little Boy, Little Buddy, Pasquale. He's a 7.5-year-old Daschund-Sharpei mix. I just call him my mini-Rottweiler!

Our Son Eric

Our son, Eric called us last night from Korea - where he's stationed in the USAF. It was great to hear from him, as we hadn't in a while.

Eric sounded a little down on the phone. I'm thinking that maybe he's a little homesick, missing his wife (who is also stationed in Korea, but at a different base), and just generally tired. He's in an unfamiliar country, and as I understand it, there's really not much to do off-base there. He's planning a trip to visit his brother and sister-in-law in Japan, but that won't be until February.

Since I know he reads my blog (even though he doesn't leave comments), I thought I would share some of my favorite memories of him, and remind him just how much we love him and how damned proud we are that he's our son.

Eric was a bit klutzy when he was growing up, so a lot of memories I have are of injuries. Like the time I told him, "Eric, I'm opening the freezer door, DO NOT walk this way for a minute." (we had to tell him things like that or he'd walk right into it.) Well, about two seconds after I said that, Eric walked into the freezer door like it wasn't even there! The handle got him on the nose, and I think he got a black eye from it. There was another time when he was playing in the woods with his brother and a bunch of neighborhood kids at night, and Eric was the one to run into the rusty 55-gallon drum that nobody knew was there. I believe he still has a scar on his stomach from that.

But my memories of Eric growing up are not all injury-related. I can remember going to car shows, the Worcester Nationals in Massachusetts, for example. We'd pack-up the kids and go for the day, and Eric loved T-buckets. He pointed out every single T-bucket in the show. For those of you who don't know what a T-bucket is, here's an example:





We would have to take a picture of every single T-bucket at the show, and the show was huge. It took us all day to see what we could and we never did see the whole thing.

Another of my favorite memories of Eric is when he called us on September 1st, 2005, and said, "We're going to get married, and we want you and Dad to be witnesses." He was 20 years old. I calmly explained to him that I thought he might be a bit young to get married, and why the rush, etc., etc. Then he calmly explained to me that he loved Toshia, and they were going to get married anyway, but if they didn't get married now, the Air Force could not guarantee that they would be stationed together again. He explained all this to me so calmly, and in such detail; I almost couldn't believe I was talking to Eric. Eric, who usually gets so excited, and maybe a little heated when having to explain himself. I knew he had his mind made up, and I could either go with the flow, or miss out on a wonderful event. Needless to say, I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world.

It's funny that when Eric was a teen, his Dad would try to get him to work in the garage with him, and Eric was not having it. He hated working in the garage. Daryl would tell me, "It's like pulling teeth getting that kid into the garage." It's funny, because now Eric is a mechanic in the Air Force, and doing very well. This makes Daryl extremely proud.

Eric has grown into a proud young man, and he is loyal to his friends and family, sometimes to a fault. When he was stationed in Tucson, he came to stay with us in Phoenix, every chance he got. We went Salt River Tubing a few times, he took Vicki to California and Sea World. He took me food shopping at the base commissary in Glendale when money was tight. We were lucky that he was stationed so close to us. He spent holdiays with us, and we were able to visit him in Tucson, too. He is perhaps, one of the most compassionate and caring individuals I know.

We love you very much, Eric, and we're proud as hell of the way you've defeated your demons, and of the man you've become. Keep your chin up, you'll be visiting Rex and Deja in no time, and then it's on to England! We can't wait to visit you there.

I Have Big News...

But I have been asked not to blog about it yet! How frustrating is that?! Tell me something really, really great, and then tell me I can't blog about it? I really cannot wait to share the news with everyone! But I have to wait for the ok, first. She'll be REALLY mad at me, and I just can't have that at all! I'm so damned happy, though! I'd better end this post or I will slip and tell you my BIG, BIG news!!!

Very Funny Story

I have a funny story to tell, but first, the video that reminded me of the story. The video is not that long, and it's really funny: http://www.glumbert.com/physical. Did you watch it? Good. Now, the video itself is funny. But I was laughing so hard that I was crying! It reminded me of going to the gym with my Mom when I was about 18 or 19 years old. My Mom wanted to try some new equipment at the gym, so we walked around looking at everything. Then she spied the cross-country ski machine. I don't know what made her do it, but she jumped on without even reading the instructions or knowing anything about it. Let me stop for a moment and say that my Mom and I don't exactly have stellar hand-eye coordination. Nor can either of us walk a straight line - ever. If we walk anywhere together, we have to keep a distance of at least 2 feet between us so we don't bump into each other as we're walking. So, Mom gets on this cross-country ski machine, and immediately, she is all arms and legs akimbo! I've never seen anything like it! It was a close call, and she almost landed on the floor, but caught herself just before the moment of impact! I was laughing so hard that I couldn't help her up! She was laughing so hard, she couldn't help herself up! Needless to say, we left the gym immediately after that incident. We did return to the gym after that, but cautiously avoided the cross-country ski machine! In the ensuing years, Mom and I have often laughed about her ski-machine episode. I emailed her the link to the video this morning after I saw it on the news. Her reaction was, "It's funny, but I feel bad." Yeah, Mom. It is funny, but not as funny as the ski-machine!

The Top Five Reasons We Should Have Known...

You ever get the feeling that you should know what's going on, but you don't? All the signs are there, you're just not putting them together! What's wrong with you?! Well, just recently, Big D and I had the feeling we should have known something was up, but couldn't quite pin it down. Here are the top five reasons that we should have known Samantha got married:

• Large diamond ring on Sam's finger in pic she sent us from boot camp (we got a really small pic, so you have to REALLY look at the bottom corner to see it)
• Large-sum jewelery store bill sent to our house by mistake
• Rodrigo moving to VA with her after boot camp
• Scramble to get an apartment (and get out of her brother's house) before we got to VA for the wedding
• The lovely "Rodrigo" tattoo on Sam's back (saw that at the beach)

Now if you take all of that into consideration, it should be fairly clear. Though, I would like you to please keep in mind, not only are we old and frail, but this was over the timespan of at least 6 months. Now, the piece of the puzzle that completed the picture:

• The piece of junk mail I found at Rex's house with Sam's married name on it
• And her husband labeling pics on his myspace account as "Me & Wifey" didn't hurt, either - but that was more of a confirmation, as we bumped into that yesterday

Big D has suspected this since the jewelery store bill showed up at our house. I did not suspect anything until "the great apartment hunt" began. The only thing we don't understand is why they didn't tell us! When Eric got married, he asked us to be witnesses, and we said, "You're too young," and then we said, "Of course we will, if that's what you want." You see, we did the best we could with them, and what we didn't teach them in their 18 young years, they will learn as they grow. We love them, and will do anything we can for them, and that's a promise.

I think the funniest thing about all of this is when I asked Deja, "Are they married?" after I found the piece of junk mail. Deja's response was to give me a total 'deer-in-the-headlights' look and stutter! Well said, Deja! LOL!

I hope that Samantha and Rodrigo have many happy years together. I really do. We had the pleasure of meeting Rodrigo while in VA, and we both really like him. He' s a very nice guy. I just want to offer this piece of advice to both of you: be nice to each other, and respect each other. It's not always easy, either, so don't be quick to throw in the towel!

Now that I know their anniversary date, it can be added to my blog!

Veronnica - I hope you're happy!

More Randomness

OK, I tried watching Big Brother 8...I hated it. I don't see what everyone is getting all worked-up about! Maybe I'm just too old, or maybe the show really sucks! Let me tell you, when the A/C goes out at work, it's EXTREMELY uncomfortable!! I think they had it fixed by 1:00, but it was 106 today, and it took a long time for the building to start cooling off. Hopefully, tomorrow it will be back to normal. I never thought I'd be fantasizing about going back to freezing to death at work! I put in a bid on a great pair of shoes on ebay tonight. Hopefully, I'll win the bid. I hope I didn't just jinx it by blogging about them! No word from Sammy, yet, and now she's out to sea. That will be Friday's blog. Spent Sunday at Stacy's house, sitting by the pool, watching the kids. Thanks for the laughs, Stacy! Don't forget about Friday night, ok?? My Mom finally bought a condo! She signs papers on the 27th. It looks really nice. The condos used to be apartments known as "the ghetto" in the town where I grew up. The description on the website has a blurb about "catching the latest buzz at the community information board..." I cannot picture my mother hanging out at the info. board!!! But, anyway, I'm glad it's not the ghetto anymore. The condos look beautiful. If you want to see them, email me for the link. Well, I guess that's all the randomness I have today. I hope everyone had a great Monday. Now, I'm going to watch Dream Girls. I'll review it tomorrow.

Birthday Shout-Out To My Boy Rexxy!!

Rex is 24 today!!! Wooo-hoooo! He's also recovering from the surgery he had on his foot yesterday, so probably not so much partying tonight. Here are a few things you may not know about Rex:

• Yes, Rex is his REAL name (and me and Vicki call him Rexxy)
• When he's embarrassed, his ears get bright red, then his face and neck follow suit
• He sometimes tries to act like he doesn't care - but he does
• He's a nicer, sweeter person than he likes to let on
• He just recently got married
• He's in the U.S. Navy, along with his beautiful wife, and his little sister
• He has been stung by a scorpion, but I won't blog about where! ;o)
• He was a great kid, and now he's a wonderful young man
• He has ALWAYS kept us laughing!
• Me and Big D are SO PROUD of him!

The first thing people usually say when I tell them I have a son named 'Rex' is, "Oh, I had a dog named Rex once." Then they realize I'm not kidding; that's really his name!

We love you Rexxy! Hope you're feeling better - don't take too many pain pills, ok? Happy, happy birthday!

Rex - Notice how there were no pictures posted on this blog? There was the one of you from years ago on Sam's pink bicycle, but I can't find it!!! DAMN!!!

Much Love,

Ann & Dad

Quote of the Day on the Fourth!

I apologize for the tardiness of this blog, I was having trouble posting! On Independence Day, Big D's nephew Chris called us from Massachusetts. He said, "We were watching the news and saw how hot it was out there. The weather man said people should check on the elderly because it's so hot out, so I'm calling to see if Uncle D. is OK." Need I say more? Quote of the day, my friends. Chris is my favorite nephew!

Shout Out To Our Newest Family Member!

Little Boy Rogers was born at 2:00 a.m. today to my niece, M! He weighed in at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and has lots of dark hair and M's dimples! YAY! Congrats to M! I hope you name your baby boy soon! Hopefully I'll get back there this year to see my very first grand-nephew!!!

The End of a Great Vacation

Later today we fly back to Phoenix. It has been a fabulous vacation and I'm going to list some of the highlights here for you:

1. Dinner Thursday night at Venice on the strip in VA Beach...TERRIBLE!
2. Meeting all of Rexxy's friends has been interesting
3. The wedding was absolutely fabulous! Deja was the most beautiful bride we'd ever seen! (Deja's new nickname: 'Zilla!) ;o)
4. Catching Blue Crabs and Hermit Crabs on Norfolk Beach was fun!
5. Greenie's was great but Deja forgot her ID...boy was that waitress mad at us for doing an end-run around her!!!
6. Finding that damned snow globe!!!
7. Naval hospital tour was great - Thanks Deja!
8. Got to see Rex's ship (part of it) in dry dock: USS George Washington
9. Petey: the scared-of-his-own-shadow pitbull
10. Riding the ferry to downtown Norfolk...that was really awesome!
11. Ft. Storey Beach - my Dad was stationed there in the 50s! How cool is that?
12. Watching the pelicans and the dolphins at Ft. Storey Beach...very cool.
13. H-D dealers in VA are much more reasonably priced than the ones in AZ
14. Dinner last night at the Upper Deck on the strip...a waste of food!
15. The best food we had while visiting (other than at the reception, of course) was at Hooters! Is that sad?

We did lots of things on our trip here, so those are just the highlights. We also found out some interesting things about our very own family that I'm not at liberty to blog about just yet, as the subject doesn't know that we are now informed of their ill-judgement. (No commenting on this, V, as you're the only one that knows!) That will certainly be another blog coming soon.

All is well in Portsmouth, VA. We'll be back in Phoenix late tonight. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

ALS Awareness Month

You probably don't know that May is ALS Awareness Month. I didn't. I would never have known if ALS hadn't affected my family so profoundly. For those of you who do not know: my Dad had ALS. He passed away in January of 2005 after being diagnosed in October of 2004. If you're taking the time to read this blog, please take a moment to visit http://www.alsa.org. Tell a friend about it. Get the word out. Find your local chapter and get involved. My father's doctor told him in 2004 that we are at least 25 years away from a cure. Maybe if we get the word out, and get people to recognize this horrible disease, it won't take 25 years.

A Call From The School Nurse

It's never really a good thing when the school nurse calls you at work. Yesterday was no exception: Vicki had lice. I had to leave work to pick her up immediately. When I got there, I expected Vicki to be freaking out about 'bugs' in her hair. She was freaking out, but not about that. She was all worked up about spraying the furniture, her bed, washing her bedding, etc. She was afraid that I would be 'too tired' to do all that last night. Never fear: I got it all done. We bought the RID kit at Fry's and got to work. Let me just say, I have never, ever had to deal with this issue in my life! I never had it, and the other kids never got it, either. It took almost 3 hours between the shampoo and the gel and all that combing. Now I know why my girlfriend cut her daughter's hair short when she got lice! What a project! AND...I have to do all this again in 10 days! I have to say, Vicki was really good while I was doing all that combing with the microscopic-toothed comb that's included in the kit. She read her book the whole time and told me she was pretending to be at the salon! After we got her hair all taken care of, I put her bedding in the dryer (I called Big D and had him put it in the wash when I was on my way to pick her up at school). Then I washed all of Vicki's dirty clothes in hot water, then I sprayed all the furniture, her mattress, backpack, etc. By the time I was done with all the washing and spraying, we had just enough time for a quick bite to eat before Vicki's alteration appt last night for her flower girl dress! That will be another blog altogether! I had Big D check my head just in case, and I checked his, but we both lucked-out: No lice! Needless to say, I slept very well last night. Vicki did too. She told me this morning it was so nice that her head wasn't itchy anymore!

Vicki's End of the Year Concert and an Apology

Last night we witnessed 60 3rd graders singing "It's a Small World" and I couldn't help thinking of my Mom. Mom loves that song. I can remember being on the ride at DisneyWorld with her and Dad, and she wanted to ride it again and Dad said, "No way!" (The ride is about 15 minutes long, and the song plays throughout the entire ride!) Anyway, back on topic, it was Vicki's end of the year concert at school. They sang Boil Them Cabbage Down which is an old American folk song, You're a Grand Old Flag, and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. We got there a bit early and sat through the 2nd graders last two songs. While waiting for the 3rd graders to get on stage, me and Big D were talking and it went something like this: Big D: Are you crying? Me: No, my eyes are damp. Big D: You're a mess (laughs). Me: If I get teary-eyed at our 9 year-old's school concert, can you imagine me at Rex's wedding next month? Big D: Oh, boy. Well, the woman in front of us heard me say I had a 9-year-old and she did, too. So we were talking, and it turns out that this woman was the mother of the little girl who's been terrorizing my daughter in school. There was an incident just yesterday, and Vicki was taken to the office to start a harrassment report. Apparently, the mother knew none of this and asked us to stay after the concert was over so her daughter, Brianna could apologize to Vicki. The woman felt terrible, and she was really embarassed. So after the concert, we were to meet the kids back at their classroom. Big D and I walked with Brianna's Mom (I don't recall her name), and she made Brianna apologize to Vicki. It looked to me like Brianna could use a good beating, but what do I know? Brianna apologized while looking at her mother with laser rays coming out of her eyes. She was NOT happy. Her mother said that she gets picked on at the apartment complex where they live, and she couldn't believe that she would pick on someone else knowing how it feels. After that we went our separate ways, talked to Vicki's teacher for a few minutes and went home. It was a nice concert.