Category: Life-condensed

Oh, I need to write this down before I forget it happened … like next week.

Kevin and I went to lunch yesterday. Actually, we go to lunch every Wednesday … that’s not what I wanted to remember.

Though it’s nice to know I wrote that little tidbit down because years from now, when we’re old and sitting in our rockers and yelling at each other to be heard Kevin will say,

“Remember when we used to go to lunch together every Wednesday?”

And I’ll say, “Huh?”

And he’ll repeat his question, only a few octaves louder and I’ll cup my ear and yell, “WHAT?”

And then he’ll scream it a few more times and I’ll be all like, “Honey, we’ve been married for 50 plus years and even though I know what you’re thinking most of the time, I still haven’t mastered the art of reading lips so, SPEAK UP!”

But anyway …

We were leaving McAllister’s Deli (by the way, have you had their panini’s?! WOW. Good stuff) and we were in the parking lot, in my car, when we see this woman zig-zagging her way through the parked cars. We didn’t think anything of it and I kept right on talking.

Kevin stops me and nods toward my window.

“Uh, I think that lady wants to speak to you.”

I whip my head around and this nice-looking (as in nice, not as in gorgeous), is standing right outside my door giving me a hopeful and friendly smile.

I roll my window down and give her a questioning smile.

“Hi. I hate to bother you. But I was wondering if you could give me a ride to my house. I only live four blocks from here and I have an abscess on my foot and it’s killing me to walk on it.”

*blinkblink*

“Are you going to kill us?”

Was my first thought, but of course, I didn’t say that out loud.

Actually, my exact words were, “Oh, briwqutgcl bitlaiudf/?”

Yeah, I have no idea what that was supposed to be, either. I was shocked. I wasn’t sure what to do. I mean, the whole dangers of picking up strange people spiel ran through my head and yet, she really did look like she was in pain.

Or she was a very good actress.

I looked at Kevin. He looked at me. I looked back at the woman, gave her a hesitant smile and then looked back at Kevin while mouthing the words, “Should we?”

He nodded and I took a breath before pushing out the words, “Sure. Absolutely. Hop in.”

And then she shot me in the head and my spirit came back to life and now you’re reading the words of a ghost.

Not really. I unlocked the doors to my car and waited for her to climb into the back seat.

I took off and she started in with the sweetness.

“Oh. Thank you both so much. You looked like such a nice couple and I really need to get home. I’m sure glad I wasn’t walking my dog, I’m not sure what I would have done!”

And I’m thinking, “I’m not sure what you would have done, either.” Because let’s be honest, you know my feelings about dogs and in my car?! Ugh.

Okay, fine. I’m lying. I would totally give her and her dog a lift home.

We all awkwardly laughed and she gave me instructions to her house. Which really was only four blocks from the restaurant.

So, I pulled over, she got out and that was the end of the story.

Sort of anti-climatic, wasn’t it.

But my question to you is: would YOU have done the same thing?

So, we’ve been trapping Japanese beetles now for one week. And every single day, we’re filling up two of the bags you see in the video below.

And when I say we’re “filling” them, I mean we are FILLING them. The bags are so full Kevin has to put the bag into a Wal-Mart bag in order to keep the beetles lucky enough to be on top from spilling out.

If you haven’t seen a Japanese beetle (close up of bug, don’t click if you’re squeamish), they look like tiny June bugs.

Clear as mud?

They are actually sort of cute. They have a hard shell and they are sort of a green/bronze color.

Apparently, the buggers were accidentally shipped to the U.S.:

From Wikipedia: As the name suggests, the Japanese beetle is native to Japan. The insect was first found in the United States in 1916 in a nursery near Riverton, New Jersey. It is thought that beetle larvae entered the United States in a shipment of iris bulbs prior to 1912 when inspections of commodities entering the country began.

And since the U.S. doesn’t host the natural enemy of the Japanese beetle (a wicked looking wasp), then they have become an annoying infestation.

These insects damage plants by skeletonizing the foliage, that is, consuming only the leaf material between the veins. Hence the reason we have found hundreds of paper-thin leaves in our yard: they were killing our tree.

We’ve never had a problem with these beetles in the past and supposedly, they only have a year life span so hopefully, we won’t have this problem next year. But I do wonder if there is some correlation between our beetle infestation this year and the sheer number of moles we’ve had. After all, the beetles lay their eggs in the grass and they turn into grubs, which attract moles … so, I’m thinking there’s a connection in there somewhere.

And speaking of our stupid mole problem …

The mole guy came out a few days ago and set more traps. And of course, another one went off immediately.

This now makes a grand total of TEN moles that we’ve caught in our yard. And our yard is only a little under 1/2 acre folks.

Even the mole guy said this was unusual to find so many in such a small plot of land.

I think our mole guy is feeling sorry for us. He said he would “cap” the dollar amount once we reached it and any moles he catches from that point on he won’t charge us for.

I thought that was really nice! I swear, at the rate we’re going, we’ll have to take a loan out just to pay for all of these stupid moles!

GRRRR.

Just in case your new to this little ole blog of mine (Hi!), here are a few more things about me and my boring (but satisfying and happy and no, I’m not just saying that) life.

You can find pictures of my husband and two boys in the sidebar. ➡

(You can find more crap things about me here).

50. My second son was born in 1995.
51. He was two days early.
52. He had a huge head.
53. He was not the prettiest baby.
54. But one of the cutest toddlers I’ve ever seen.
55. My oldest son has brown hair and dark brown eyes.
56. My youngest son has blonde hair and blue eyes.
57. Yes, they have the same father.
58. My great-great grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian.
59. My crooked nose most likely comes from that heritage.
60. I’m very proud of my crooked nose.
61. I started college in 1995.
62. I finally graduated in 2003.
63. I have a Bachelor of Science in Professional Writing.
64. I wanted to major Creative Writing, but my husband talked me out of it.
65. My first website was an accident.
66. I volunteered to take over my sons’ elementary school website.
67. Word spread and I’m currently maintaining seven eight school websites.
68. I LOVE MY JOB!
69. I want to start selling blog templates.
70. I want to design my own blog theme.
71. This requires a thorough knowledge of php.
72. Which I know nothing about.
73. But I’m working on it.
74. I currently drive a silver ’08 Pontiac Vibe.
75. I forgot to mention that I drove a maroon Ford Escape for seven years.

Twenty-five more things coming soon.

I also have another page if you can stomach any more About Me. In addition, I took a quiz that exactly sums up who I am and why I am the way I am. Proceed with caution. 😐

I’m thinking the man is ready for vacation.

Actually, we’re ALL ready for vacation. And it’s coming up fast.

It’s all I can think about. It’s all I can DREAM about. In fact, I had so much trouble turning OFF my thoughts the other night that I had to actually get up and jump on Twitter to distract me.

I was out cold 45 minutes later. 🙂

He wore this Hawaiian shirt to work Friday (casual Fridays). I know this doesn’t exactly seem like a big deal to most of you, but this man of mine – well, he didn’t start wearing prints, of any kind, until just a few short years ago. He’s really stepping outside his comfort box wearing this shirt.

And I’m so proud he has four more shirts like this in his closet. He’s come so far. *smile*

He plans on wearing these Hawaiian shirts on our vacation, because really, there’s never a more perfect time to wear Hawaiian shirts.

Oh beautiful vacation, we can not wait to see you up close and personal. I’m literally counting the days.

For now, we’re busy entertaining two of my nephews today. I plan on working out, Kevin plans on having band practice and the boys plan on having some fun with their cousins.

In short, it’s a good day in our household today.

How is your Saturday going?

Can you guess what’s behind this closed shade?

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

Give up?

It’s a robin’s nest tucked into the crook of our rain gutter.

We keep the shade closed because every time we walk by the window we give the momma bird a tiny heart attack and she flies off leaving the eggs exposed and vulnerable.

We usually have a new bird family move in this time every year. They love our rain gutter because it’s a perfect place to build a nest. It’s up against the house so they have protection from predators, and it’s under the eaves so they have protection from the elements.

After the eggs hatch, the daddy bird usually makes an appearance, bringing worms and other goodies for his young-uns.

We check the progress of the birds every day until one day, they’re gone.

That’s when we remove the nest to make room for the next tenant.

It’s sort of fun hosting our bird families every year.

Good Saturday, everyone!

I’m waking up to more weather junk: a front came through last night and dropped our temperature ten degrees, so it’s cool and rainy right now.

And my sinuses have expanded and are pressing against my skull.

My poor brain doesn’t need any more pressure. 🙂

Anyway, I thought I would post two of the best songs from Jazz’s 8th grade concert on Thursday night.

This first video is the jazz band. Jazz is the blond kid on the front row, third from the right, playing the saxophone. The song is called “Impact Zone.”

This second video is of the entire 8th grade concert band. The clarinet section is being showcased because the song is called “Clarinet Hoedown.”

The band teacher told us that 90% of the kids were moving on to the high school band next year. I thought that was a pretty impressive percentage. And I’m also relieved for Jazz as he’ll have plenty of familiar faces around him next year.

I know that the name of the school is being shown, and I’m okay with that – Jazz will be leaving that school in a few days so it’s a moot point. 🙂

Besides, I take precautions about keeping my kids anonymous, but you know, I refuse to go crazy about it.

I’m off to do the regular Saturday chores. Don’t forget to check in tomorrow for the start of the Love Dare. In fact, I’m actually starting the dare a day early so I can report on my results.

See ya! *waves*