Burt Reynolds

One of my favorite quotes anyone ever said is from Burt Reynolds:

"I've been rich and miserable and I have been poor and miserable. Rich and miserable is better."

RIP Burt. Thanks for the memories!

Simple Love Quote

It is hard to love yourself more than you have been loved. —author unknown

Yes Virginia - There Are Miracles

I left work in a foul mood yesterday – which is quite normal as of late. The day was filled with meetings that could have been emails. There were also the requisite calls from angry parents, decisions made by staff that thought they knew the best way to do things, although they never asked the staff that actually DOES the things, if their idea was even possible, and 5,000 emails.

But it was also July 11^th. Doesn’t mean anything to you? It does to me. It was my parents wedding anniversary. It would have been their 65^th. But my father passed away 28 years ago. And 28 years ago on July 11^th, was the very last time I ever talked to my dad.

I was very close to my dad. I loved how he could fix anything. I loved to work on cars with him. I loved that he loved model trains and slot cars. I loved his sukiyaki (the only dish he would cook). I absolutely loved his sense of humor. Without him…well…you get the idea.

So, yesterday as I left work, miffed as hell about the day, baking in the afternoon heat, and generally just wallowing in self-pity, I got in my car and backed out of my parking spot. My radio came to life because I always have it on, usually blasting as loud as I can take it most times, and a DJ was talking. I generally change the station when I hear that, but I could tell he was almost done, so for once I left it.

And that is when the miraculous thing happened. The song came on. “Everything I Own” by Bread.

I almost had to stop the car. That was the song I listened to over, and over, and over, and over after dad died. Every time I hear it I think of dad. It was ‘our’ song. I hadn’t heard it in years – but it was on the radio TODAY.

That my friend is not a coincidence.

That was dad saying hi to me. That was dad telling me he remembered the last time we spoke. That was dad trying to tell me everything will be ok.

I hear you loud and clear dad.

Thank you. I love and miss you every day. Every day.

Everything I Own

P.S. Years ago I read an article that stated that most people thought David Gates had written that song about a relationship gone bad. But he later revealed that he had written that song about his dad after he passed away. Makes it all the more special.

No Tacos for You!

I have not posted in a long while. Too much is happening to even jot down a quick thought.


But today I have something to share.


For dinner tonight my family had agreed on tacos. But this afternoon, our resident chef, also known as 'our son,' called to say that the menu needed to change.


My son: "We can't have tacos tonight after all."


Me: "O.K., but why?"


My son: "Because I have to teach at 7:00."


Me: "Ok, well, I will leave work at 5:30 instead of 6:00 and you can just have them ready when I get home (it takes me about 10 minutes to get home). That will be enough time, right?"


My son: "No, we have to have something else."


Me: "Why?"


My son: "Because I eat tacos really slowly."


What do you say after a statement like that?

Happy Easter from Pee-wee Herman & Godzilla

To know this family, is to know that we adore Pee-wee Herman AND Godzilla. It has always been this way and probably will be until we die and go to Heaven and meet them both!

My very clever sister who owns an armada of Godzilla action figures (Godzilla's figures are not 'dolls' or 'toys'), and for holidays does amazing dioramas featuring Godzilla and whatever holiday being we are celebrating, created Godzilla taking out a peep community 2 years ago. It was hilarious. 

Well, in the last year, this picture, that she featured in her blog post, has taken on a life of its own. People we don't even know are finding it on the internet and re-posting it. Everyone loves it!

Well, today PEE-WEE HERMAN posted it on his Facebook page and his Twitter account. Two of our favorite things in the world have found each other!

Congratulations Sherry and thank you Pee-wee!!

Godzilla Says Happy Easter

Pee-wee Herman FB Page

She posted the peeps retribution this year. You might want to check it out. :)

Retribution

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking has passed away. A brilliant mind tethered to a shell of a body. He did not allow self-pity. He just overcame. A lesson can be learned from him, that can apply to all of us, about that.


CBS This Morning’s Mark Phillips said it best, “He was born on the 300^th anniversary of the death of Galileo and has died on Albert Einstein’s birthday. As he said, there may be order in the universe after all.”


R.I.P. Dr. Hawking, you are free to explore the universe at last.

Echos From My Past

Below are phrases that are/were common in my family since I was a teenager. I just wanted to document the fun. :)


Scram gravey ain't wavy.


When 'yourin' 'yearins' to 'urine', 'yourin' better 'urine', or 'yourin' trouble. (all words in quote marks use the sound of the word "urine")


Let's go to Valdosta and get some toasta. (Don't pronounce Valdosta correctly or it makes no sense)


Let's go to Macon and get some bacon.


Are we there yet?


I would like a chork pop please. (pork chop)


There goes an airy-go-buzzer. (plane)


Is he in the horsepistol? (hospital)


Thank you Dad and St. Luke's United Methodist Church youth group.

Instant Human

Just Add Coffee

Good to the last drop!

The Price of Coffee

I don’t know if you have ever seen a commercial for the coffee maker named Nespresso. Well this post is all about that wonder machine.

I love coffee. I do not function during the day without coffee. My sister knew this fact so well that she bought me a sign. It reads, “Instant Human, Just Add Coffee.” No truer words were ever put on a plaque in regard to me. It hangs over my coffee maker.

The first time I ever saw a commercial for the Nespresso machine I was hooked. I drooled, I wished, I dreamed, I longed for, I WANTED one. But, there was a slight problem – the price. At that time is was just over $400. I could buy A LOT of ground coffee with that much money. No justification in the world would come to mind to allow me to spend cash like that just for a machine.

So, I let my dream go – until – a girl I work with brought her machine to work for our massive 12 Days of Christmas Feast Extravaganza last year. OH.MY.GOSH. The coffee was heaven in a mug. All the wonderful things I imagined about the machine and the coffee it brewed were realized. The machine even popped out the ‘pod’ and put it into a discard container for you after it brewed the coffee! You never have to touch anything hot – except your coffee! HAZAH! They thought of everything!

My friend told me that the price had dropped too – to $300.00. YAY?! But still no dice for me.

I mean coffee makers are basically water heaters that drop their hot water through a filter and grounds. They aren’t made of gold.

But last weekend I stumbled across one in Goodwill. Yes, Goodwill. I looked at it and walked away. I came back and looked at it again. I walked away AGAIN, but the thing was calling my name. I was hesitant because our Goodwill has turned a place for unwanted things to be cheaply re-purchased and loved again, into a “½ price mart.” I swear I think they look up items in stores and on eBay and then price them ½ of what they found. I have even seen store price tags on items in our Goodwill and then saw the multiple stickers on the item with only 20 – 30 percent off. I have seen items priced in Goodwill higher than they are priced in a store. That includes old, used coffee makers of all makes and models. Most times, the price is ridiculously high.

But Saturday, the planets aligned and karma was on my side. I asked my husband to take it off the shelf and tell me what price they had on this machine of glory.

He said, “$10.” WHAT? $10!! I was stunned! They obviously had no idea what they had. An employee told us it was cheap because it was ‘missing a part’. The only thing missing was the discard container. No worries, it is nonessential to me.

I still worried though about why someone would get rid of the Adonis of coffedom and I speculated that perhaps it didn’t work. I might buy a useless hunk of plastic and metal. I could waste $10!

But, I had to give it a try. I have wasted $10 on lesser dreams.

Long story short. IT WORKS! Nespresso even sent us a discard container for FREE!

Once in a while, the universe throws you a bone….

 

New Olympic Sport

The Olympics are all over TV this season. People love them - people hate them. I rarely find anyone who languishes somewhere in the middle. But today, I received a text that indicated the sender would like to add a new sport to the competition.


Are you listening Olympic Committee??


"Men have made being a fucktard a skill set or a sport I think.
Good grief. What next?
A Fucktard sport in the Olympics?
Probably not.
Too many contenders and not enough gold to go around." 


I love this friend - and I agree with this friend.


I am sure A LOT of women do.

Valentines Day

I have an Instagram account that is nothing but pictures of the cutest cat in America. She was very small when we got her and she is still very small. We named her Little Rat. Not really appropriate for a beautiful cat, but it is the name that stuck. She does however continually have this look on her face that screams - leave me the hell alone - although truthfully she is a very loving cat.


In honor of today being Valentine, we got this picture of her and I had to share here, for those of my dear readers not on Instagram.

So, Little Rat wishes you a Happy freaking Valentines Day. #ratthelittlecat

Eggs

Let me start by saying – MY SON IS BACK HOME FROM THE UK!!!!

Because of this, the dynamic at my house has changed a bit; which is totally fine. As a matter of fact, I welcome it!

What I mean by dynamic is – that because an adult is now living for free at my home – I believe certain contributions should be made. Let’s start with the easy one. He is home all day; I get home from work at 6:30; therefore dinner should be ready when I arrive.

But when I got home from work last night, the dinner that we had talked about and agreed upon earlier in the day, was not even started – and I was hungry. This was not a complicated meal; we were having breakfast for dinner.

Breakfast for dinner equates to: sausage or bacon (or both), pancakes or French toast, maybe fried potatoes (my favorite), and eggs. Eggs for everyone but me – I detest eggs.

Detest is probably not a strong enough word for how much I hate those little baby chicken embryo’s. My aversion runs so deep that I used to make my mom take the hard boiled Easter eggs out of my basket before I would dig through the yummy candy! It took me years to understand that the Easter Bunny was not playing some sick joke on me by putting them in alongside my candy.

That was a total sidebar - back to the story.

After regaling my husband and son with what I thought was hilarious (I am sure they would disagree), banter about the fact that they had not even started supper, we started to gather the ingredients.

Bacon – Check
Sausage – Check

Potatoes – Check

Cinnamon Rolls (a new addition!) – Check

Eggs –

Notice there is no 'Check' mark next to the eggs.

“I thought we had eggs.” I say.

“Me too!” My husband stated.

“We did, but I ate them for breakfast,” our son replies.

“But you knew we were having breakfast for dinner, why didn’t you tell us so we could have gotten some when we went to the grocery store at lunch?” We asked.

“I didn’t think about it,” he replies.

My response, “Oh my gosh. You didn't think about it? But you need eggs, dammit, you need eggs – or it isn’t breakfast!”

“Calm down, it is fine,” he snorts, “I will put them on the list.”

We went on with a variation of the 'breakfast for dinner' due to the lack of eggs and the rest of the evening went fine.

As I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, I glanced at the grocery list.

There, written under the other items needed that were already on the list were these words, in my son’s handwriting,

“Eggs, dammit, eggs! We need eggs”

It is so good to have my son back home! I am still smiling.

Gone

This weekend was the best of times - and - the worst of times.


I was given a wonderful gift from my kids of a weekend stay in Daytona Beach and tickets to go see Brian Regan. AND IT WAS A BLAST.


But the black cloud in the mini vacation was as we were heading to Daytona, we went by my Welcome Station. You may remember I blogged about it a few months ago. (Click here).


I am saddened to report that it is no longer there. It has been torn down. I couldn't believe it. I guess deep down in my heart I had hoped that there was some other person that loved it as much as I did, but had the money needed to restore it.


I was wrong. They only wanted the land, not the history, not the memories. No one seems to want the memories anymore.


I looked away and closed my eyes on the way home. I didn't want to see the rubble again. It hurt too bad.


I identified so much with that Welcome Station. Its past joy, its present fortitude despite the years. To me its demise means that I may not be far behind.

He's Baaaaaack.....

This weekend was exhausting, but in a good way. I got to pick up my son from the airport - BECAUSE HE CAME HOME FROM THE UK! I also got to spend time with my daughter for her birthday! It was a blast.


Walmart camping - Ok.


The heater in our RV - useless.


Taking the dogs on a trip - interesting.


Trip to the airport to get my son - long.


Seeing him walking toward me after not seeing him for a year - exciting.


My daughter's driving - scary.


Spending time with family - PRICELESS!

Yes or is it No

Thought for the day:


One minute I truly believe I can complete my classes this semester.


The next minute I truly believe I cannot and am overwhelmed.


It is a vicious cycle.


I go back and forth - Yes, I can do it. No, I can't do it.


In class today, the professor happened to look at me while I was 'closed mouthed' yawning, he stopped what he was lecturing about and said, "Rachelle is clearly bored, class dismissed."


Maybe there is hope.

STOP

When I drive to work everyday I encounter a 4 way stop. On multiple occasions I have seen police hiding in the bushes trying to catch roll through drivers. Because of that, I always stop. It doesn't matter if any other car approaches the intersection or not - I stop completely. Due to this intersection and my reaction to a potential ticket when I may least expect them, completely stopping has become a habit of mine at ALL stop signs. Why take a chance?


Today, the car in front of me was the only other car around and the driver did the slow down, roll through stop. The "I sort of stopped! Seriously no other car was around me except for the one behind me, so why should I have to completely stop?" I already HAVE to wear a seatbelt whether I want to or not - so cut me some slack." (Oh wait, that last sentence is my driving pet peeve.)


Anyway, the action of the previous driver made me think of one of my favorite jokes - and I smirked as I stopped.


Enjoy!


"A cop stops a man for running a stop sign and the gentleman gives the cop a lot of grief explaining that he did stop.

The officer explained to the gentleman that he did not stop, he just slowed down a little and rolled through the intersection.

The gentleman replied, "Stop or slow down, what's the difference?"

The cop then made the guy out of his car and started hitting him with his nightstick. When the man protested the cop looked at him and said, 'Would you like for me to slow down or stop?"


I am smirking again!!

Everyday

What I am pondering today why it is so easy to state you are going to post short random thoughts daily. I mean just a quick snippet of daily life. Sort of an online journal if you will.


But as you can see read - apparently I am not able.

• I can balance my checkbook everyday
• I can do the dishes multiple times a day - everyday
• I can feed 4 cats everyday
• I can feed my fish everyday
• I can take a shower everyday
• I get dressed everyday
• I talk to my kids everyday - well text or talk
• I can answer multiple stupid questions everyday
• I can make coffee everyday
• I can....

Well, you get the idea. All the things on that list take about as much time as it would take me to write a few words here and post them.


But I let that - the one thing I think I really want to do - slide and be ignored or forgotten.


Why?


I do not have an answer. I wish I did.

Day After Snow Day

All good things have their retribution.


Mine was food poisoning morphing into vertigo.


The snow day was so much fun!


Thursday through yesterday - not so much.


Now it is Monday and the first day of the Spring 2018 semester.


If you cared, you would put me out of my misery......


Is it 6:00 p.m. yet???

SNOW DAY!

Well, the countdown got an added 24 hours. We got a snow day! Now I know that is a common thing in many parts of the country, but I live close to the GA/FL line, so it has NEVER happened to me. Tornado Day, sure. Hurricane Day, but of course! Tree Down Day, without a doubt! Too muddy from rain to get out of the drive, naturally! But SNOW DAY? Unheard of.

I decided to take advantage of this unexpected bonus day and do nothing. TV and napping were my activities of choice.

Then I made a list of what I wanted to do this weekend.

1. Put up Christmas stuff
2. Replace the door opener on the storm door.
3. Get a basket out of the attic to put burnable paper in.
4. Put up all 2017 bills and burn receipts.
5. Change back to my 'unholiday' dishes.
6. Laundry.
7. Check my Coldwater Creek clothes.
8. Clean the dryer screen.
9. List stuff on eBay.

Well, after sleeping in and drinking coffee, it couldn't hurt to change from my holiday dishes to my everyday dishes. That would take only 5 minutes. (#5)

Oh, and laundry. 2 small loads. What is the harm. (#6)

I really need to get that burn basket down. (#3) I am actually late in the season for doing this.

Put up the receipts. (#4) Come on, I need to move around. I am getting stiff from sitting on the couch.

Replace the door opener. (#2). I want to leave the storm door open when I am on the treadmill to let cool air in. Heck, how long can that take?

eBay? (#9) Let me check prices. No, it isn't worth it to me. The things aren't selling for much. Maybe I will just give the stuff to my friend.

Pretty soon, my list looked like this:

1. Put up Christmas stuff
2. Replace the door opener on the storm door.
3. Get a basket out of the attic to put burnable paper in.
4. Put up all 2017 bills and burn random receipts.
5. Change back to my 'unholiday' dishes.
6. Laundry.
7. Check my Coldwater Creek clothes.
8. Clean the dryer screen.
9. List stuff on eBay.

My new favorite thing is snow days and doing nothing...

P.S. Did you know snow can also be PINK? I learned that from my sister.

Happy Great Start to 2018!

I

Countdown

I have been lucky enough to be off since December 21st. Oh, I have worked several hours over several days - but at home, or at work - alone. Both are such a nice treat. I can actually get things done!


But in 17 hours, that is all over with. At 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning real work starts again. Will all its, interruptions, distractions, problems, emails, calls, and general chaos.


I have enjoyed my 'quiet' time. I may need a valium tomorrow. I will let you know.

2017 - The Good , The Bad, The Want to Forget

HAPPY 2018!!!

All I have to say is 'Farewell & Good Riddance to 2017!' It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Here is a synopsis.

The Good:

1. My daughter bought a house.
2. My son graduated from university with his Master's Degree.
3. I got to go see my son in the UK.
4. I got to see the UK, Ireland, & Scotland.
5. My niece got married.
6. My nephew got married.
7. We got 2 dogs. One on purpose, and one accidentally.
8. I finally got to see the Avett Brothers with my friend.

The Bad:

1. I stormed out and quit my job.
2. I didn't lose my job because of it.
3. One of my daughter's dogs died suddenly and sadly.
4. Tom Petty died suddenly and sadly.
5. My daughter got bit by a caged coyote. (Don't ask)
6. Every time I visited family or friends this year, someone hit my car.
7. We got 2 dogs. One on purpose, and one accidentally.
8. I had an allergic reaction to who knows what in September and it still rears it's ugly head at least 2-3 times a week.

The Things I Want to Forget:

1. Life is getting very difficult at my job.
2. Life is getting very difficult at my husband's job - and we live where he works.
3. People have gotten much, much meaner this year.
4. I turned 60.

Well, well, it seems that it all evens out in the end. Somehow though, I feel that there is much more 'bad' and 'I want to forget' that I haven't dared to type. But, there is probably much more 'good' that I could write too.

So anyway - I raise my glass to 2018. May there be nothing but good in it for all of us.