Non-bowling update

Well - I decided not to bore any of the viewing public with weekly bowling updates. Suffice to say there were good games, and bad games. And there will be more good games and more bad games. I jinxed Denise when I penned a whole post about great she was doing, and her being a superstar! She's done well, but no more 190+ games. Now she can back to that...

So, I'll have to think of some other meaningful things to post about. So far, I've got nothin....

I'll think of something soon, though!

AMW

Ever have one of those days?

Yesterday was one of those days for me.  It was a Murphy's Law day, to be sure....

It started when I jumped in my car to head to work, and it wouldn't start.  I was about 90% sure it was the battery, because we'd been saying for months that we were gonna check to see how old it was, and replace it if it was near it's expiration.  You know how that goes, though...  Time gets away and you don't check until there's an issue.  Like yesterday morning.

So, I decided to take the Jeep.  Which is still dressed for summer (the top and windows are off), and I knew it was gonna be a chilly ride, but I was thankful to have a spare car at the house.  First I had to get the cover off which had filled with a TON of water from the rain.  I was already dressed for work, and didn't wanna change, so I used a bucket to get most of the water out before removing it.  Only got a little wet, so it wasn't that bad.

Made it to work, only about 1/2 hour late.  But as is usual for the last two weeks, my computer wouldn't start.  It finally started and stayed running about 3 hours after I got there.  I've had this issue for a while, and was offered some IT support recently, so I took them up on it, only to find out that the IT guy was out for the day.  Oh well...

I made it home without incident!

I stopped by our local mechanic shop to talk about the dead battery issue, and David gave me a battery pack to take and jump my car.  No problem.  As I'm standing in front of my car to hook everything up, I realize I'm standing on an ant mound, and they are crawling  all over my legs!  YUCK!!!

Got the car jumped, take it back to the shop, and confirmed that it was, in fact the battery and not the alternator.  David suggested I run up to Advance Auto, since it would be cheaper and they would install it for free.  It's only a couple miles up the road, so off I went.  I turn off the car to go in (not in the best neighborhood) and proceed to buy a new battery.  The service guy said he'd be right out.

I went outside to wait, and that's when I realized that sometime that afternoon, my bra strap had broken, so there I was hanging out (literally) with one boob covered and one boob uncovered under my t-shirt.  And my strap was hanging out the bottom of my t-shirt.  I have no idea how long it was like that...

After 30 minutes of waiting for the guy to "come right out", I went back inside.  Seems he had forgotten about me.  Nice.  He made it out, and 45 minutes after buying my new battery, I was on the way...

I made it home again without incident, and proceeded to dress the Jeep for the winter.  Put the top, doors, and windows all back on.  This was extremely difficult to do with one person, since everything had sat for most of the summer rolled up.  So it wasn't expanded for easy installation.  It took almost all my strength to get it all attached, but I got it done...

I sat down for a few minutes to check my email real quick, and hadn't been sitting for 2 minutes, when the dog decided that was the best time to go ahead and get sick.  On the carpet.  She's usually pretty good, and will go toward a room with no carpeting, but not today.  So of course I cleaned that up.

In the meantime - D was at the doctor for right shoulder-ish pain.  Turns out, there is probably a touch of pneumonia in the right lung.  So we made the decision to cancel our weekend away in the OBX since the doctor said to REST, REST, REST.

Finally getting a few minutes to chill out, the front door bell rings.  It's our new next door neighbor stopping by to introduce herself.  I can't even imagine what she thought if she noticed that my bra strap was STILL hanging out  of the bottom of my shirt.....

Hopefully it will be a relaxing weekend and it will be what D needs to start feeling better soon!

And the next time I see "Murphy" heading my way, I'm gonna run over him with my car!  New battery and all!

AMW

It's all about Denise H.

I mentioned last week that my teammate Denise had done really really well.  Well, folks, she's on a roll!

Each week we get a weekly recap of all the teams, our standings, and all kinds of stats.  On the "Season to Date Individual Achievements" - Denise's name is on every list for the females!  EVERY LIST!

Average - 5th one listed with 160

High Series Scratch - 3rd - 516

High Series Handicap - 2nd - 729

High Game Scratch - 9th - 197

High Game Handicap - 4th - 268

And that is partly what has help our team remain tied for 1st place!  

Ok - technically, we're in 3rd, but with points won and lost, we're in a 4 way tie!!  And since we won all of our games last night, I'm hoping we stay there for a little longer!!

WAY TO GO DENISE!

AMW

I done good...

I actually did quite well and was even consistent last night.  I bowled 132, 131, 128.  pretty impressive, huh?  My average is officially 111, but was listed on the sheet last night as 116.  We'll see where it goes from there...

Stay tuned shortly for a special bowling feature!

AMW

Great Horned Owl

While on a recent camping trip, I had the opportunity to see a Great Horned Owl.  Up close and personal.  This isn't something that happens everyday, so I was pretty excited.  

I was driving to one of the picnic shelters when I passed the pump house, and noticed him/her sitting in the open, on the ground, in the middle of the day.  I did a double take, turned around, looked again to make sure I was seeing right, and went to the ranger's office.  I let the head of the park know (who is a friend of mine) and he grabbed a couple of guys to check it out.  I went back to the camper to grab my camera, then headed back... 

This is what we saw:

As you can see, we were within feet of him/her.  The owl was obviously not healthy, as he/she could have clawed our eyes out simply for being too close.  It was lethargic, but did manage to watch us as we moved about.

The park officials called a rehabber that specializes in owls.  While waiting for the rehabber, they were able to drop a blanket over him/her, and put him/her into a box in the nature center to keep it secure.

Later that day, we got an update that the owl was a juvenile, probably born in January or February.  It was malnourished (so not hunting well) and was infested with "flat flies".  Several days later, it was determined the owl couldn't be saved.

Sad as it was, it was incredibly awesome to be able to see such an amazing creature up close.  

Bowling Begins

Did you miss the bowling updates over the summer?  I can honestly say that I didn't miss bowling over the summer, although I did miss seeing everyone every week.  I did get see some of the folks a couple of times, though.

Bowling actually started a couple of weeks ago.  My first week was pretty rough, although overall I made my average.  My games were 137, 87, 109.  Yep a 50 pin spread between two games.  I think I should get a patch for that.  I can't remember, but I think we took 3 games.

I missed the second week, because I was sick.  My team won all of the games with me not there.  Hmmm...  That's a sign.

Last night, I bowled 121, 102, 128.  I was pretty happy.  We won 2 games plus totals.  

But the real star of last night was my teammate Denise!  She bowled a 193, 15osomething, and 193.  Two 193 games!  For ANOTHER 500+ series!  Impressive!  I hope to be able to do that one day........

Until next week (unless something exciting comes up between now and then...)

AMW

Interesting Combo...

Not the best picture quality, as it was taken from the phone. But it was taken in the parking lot of where we had breakfast this morning.

Apparently, there was a political breakfast for local supporters of one the candidates for governor. The stickers on the vehicles didn't speak to us nearly as loudly as the two license plates. Check them out!

One says: "PRY4US", which we took to mean "Pray for us" and the other one said "BE NUDE".

Interesting combo, we thought...

AMW

It's a Paul's thing...

I decided to do a picture story today about one of our favorite places to eat!  Paul's Restaurant in Pheobus.
We're always on the lookout for the mom&pop style places to eat.  Down home places.  Some folks call them dives.  We LOVE dives, so it's a term we use affectionately.  Paul's is such a place!

This is Paul.  He usually moves so fast, we can't get a good picture of him.  This was the best I could do while he was cooking our breakfast...

Paul's is open Monday through Saturday for Breakfast and Lunch.  He's also open for dinner on Friday only.  That's why he's a little late on Saturday mornings...  ;)

He has a full bar and will serve you a drink anytime you want it.  If you want a beer with your breakfast, this is the place.  I personally can't drink that early, but have seen a few of his patrons do it.  But we do enjoy sitting at the bar for breakfast!

The dining room shows that this place has been around a while, but it's comfy enough, and seat about 70 or so, I think.  Only once have I eaten at a table here....

A quick peek at the menu front.

The inside of the menu.  And below - the most important part:  Breakfast!

I'm pretty sure this is our breakfast cooking.  Pancakes, hash-browns, bacon, eggs.  YUM!

His pancakes are hands-down the best pancakes I have ever eaten.  Make no mistake - I've eaten quite a few pancakes.  But his are the best!!!

And the rest is yummy too!  He makes each order to order.  So you know your food is fresh!

Oh, and we know he's up to no-good when the hat gets flipped to the side.  He's a mischevious one, so we watch out when the hat goes sideways!  

And you never know who'll you'll meet while you're there.  This past week, we met Captain George (with waitress Michelle) who claims to be 105 years old!  He ordered a beer, and Paul made sure he got a warm one.  He knows his customers, and knows that Capt George started drinking before beer was refrigerated.  And knows he likes it warm.  That's customer service!

Michelle moves at the speed of light, too, so pictures of her are often fuzzy.  We all must have been carefully watching something?  I know we couldn't have all been watching this poor fellow eat!?!?
And here is a quick "behind the scenes" tour.  Really, that's it.  

And here's where we get him into trouble, by getting him laughing at something.  We truly enjoy coming in here on a Saturday morning and starting our weekend with Paul!

Stop on by if you get a chance.  

AMW

Heads up: PMS

Alright - heads up to any of my guy readers!  Tune out now if you can't handle the low down....

Ladies - fess up!  Who out there suffers from PMS besides me?  I know I'm not the only one.

Ok, I also know that I'm probably not the only one who gets it BAD.  And when I say bad, I mean B-A-D!  Every month I think how nice it would be if someone just removed my innards.  Aside from the achy, crampy, generally miserable feeling, my hormones get all out of whack, and I've been known to, um, get close to the edge...  Turn into a BITCH.  (some might say that's an improvement...)  (others mights say *more* of a bitch...)

  

I don't mean to.  I don't like when it happens.  But the littlest things can set me off.  A sideways look.  A comment that otherwise would be fine.  But in the throws of PMS, they're just dangerous.  A simple TV commercial can make me burst into tears.  Or I can take a compliment the wrong way, and cry for an hour.  Insane, right???  Imagine living it!!

And being a smartass to begin with, when you throw PMS into the mix, then things sometimes come flying out of my mouth before I've ever had time to think about it.  Not good!

I've learned over the years, that sometimes it's best to sit quietly, and not say much during PMS.  This works for the most part, but then it draws a lot of attention when you aren't normally that quiet, and say, you're at a party.  Everyone wants to know what's wrong.  You don't really want to blurt out to everyone that you have PMS.  For me, it's hard not to snap at the millionth person who has asked me what was wrong.  

I've found a few things that help.  One is DRUGS.  No, not illegal ones.  Prescriptions.  But I haven't been to the DR in in a long time because of insurance reasons, so the good stuff has run out.  Then there is CHOCOLATE!  Copious amounts.  All forms and lots of it.  Another good tool?  Ben & Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream.  No other flavor helps me cope better than this one. 

If you've ever been in my path, I apologize.  I'll also apologize in advance just in case we ever cross paths while I'm in this state of mind.  It's definitely not personal.  

Just throw chocolate, and run in the other direction.  

AMW

PS - Milk chocolate is my favorite, and preferably with no nuts.  I also like Twix, and Reeses!  :)

Completely Random Update

Well, I sure have been delinquent in my blogging, haven't I?  Have I lost all of my readers?  All 2 of you?  LOL!!  Kidding!  I hope there's at least 3...

This is likely to be a complete hodge-podge random update.  

It's been an extremely busy summer!  A friend is staying at our house for a bit, so there is the dynamics of a third person.  Kind of strange, as there have only been two of us in the house for 3 years.  We're adjusting.  I'm not sure if I've ever lived with someone that shows signs of ADD and OCD.  It certainly makes for an interesting combination.

Since it's summertime - there have been lots of "gatherings"!   Several have been birthdays with pool parties that have been fun beyond words.  There have been impromptu "porch" nights, dinner at friends houses, and a near-weekly breakfast at Paul's Restaurant.  (I promise a FULL post with pictures about Paul's in the not-to-distant future.)

Our ADD/OCD houseguest has an over abundance of energy, and has a list of projects she's working on at our house.  She just re-roofed one of our sheds, edged the front brick walk with a shovel, cleaned and re-organized the back patio, and has dug up an overgrown flower garden, complete with pulling out bushes with her truck.  Did I mention she's only been with us for 3 weeks???  For her next trick - she'll do cartwheels while simultaneously cooking a gourmet meal for 100 of our closest friends in between re-grouting all three bathrooms!  She moves too fast for pictures, so there will be no photographic evidence.  

Work has been a bit on the stressful side.  Without dwelling on it too much, I'll just say that even though I own my own business, I still have to do what others tell me to do.  The owners of the building that pay my contract have had some requests lately that are affecting business.  And since business is already slow due to the economy, well, let's just say that it's nearing the painful stage.  I'll get through it.

My Casey-Dog (who is 13, by the way!) has started having a little more issues.  Her hips are bothering her more, and she's taking to chewing herself raw in spots.  And this is a dog that doesn't take kindly to your trying to help her.  If you try to clean a sore spot, she's likely to turn around an nip!  I've never bathed her...  I've always taken her to a groomer.  And clean her ears?  No thank you!  They can muzzle her at the vet, or they can risk the nibble that she'll give them.  So imagine when we take her to the vet, and the vet says to clean the area twice a day, and apply this cream.  Oh, and don't let her lick it.   Hmmm....  This poses yet another problem!  We all know that most dogs dislike the plastic collars, but my dog FREAKS.OUT.  Yeah, having her die of a heart attack from the stress of a plastic collar kinda defeats the purpose.  So I've tried just about everything!  What works?  When we're home, we keep her on a leash, so we can monitor her every move.  When we go to work, I put a doggy diaper on her that covers her raw hip, with a piece of gauze under it for a little more protection.  That was after trying a t-shirts (put on her backwards), and soft collar, and self-adhesive gauze.  All of those were not pretty either.  She's not thrilled with the doggy diaper, but she tolerates it.  We go back for a follow-up visit today.

Overall, the summer has been fantastic!  There are still more parties to attend before the summer is over.  We got invited to THREE for this Saturday, alone.  We can only make it to one, which is a bummer, but there are more lined up!

And then......  BOWLING starts up!  I know you can hardly wait for the weekly bowling updates, can you?????

What summer fun have you been up to?  Leave a comment here for me!

AMW