To my parents

Happy anniversary to my Mom and Dad.  You are a couple that was definately meant to be.  Nobody stays married any more.  It's too easy to quit when the going gets rough (I've done it.)  Yet, you keep on going, making it work.

You two shaped who I am, and I'm proud of who I am.  You always did, and continue to do right by me.  I see you daily, but can't wait to spend weekends with you.  I get lonely when you're out of town for the weekend!

You live within your means, enjoy each day as it is, and set a good example of honesty, love, respect, and happiness.

I love you! 

This place has gone to the dogs!

We're dogsitting while Mom and Dad enjoy a weekend at Branson.  The house has never been quite this loud.  Sadie likes to wrestle non-stop.  Hawkeye plays along for about 10 minutes, then lets her know in no uncertain terms that he's DONE.  She leaves him alone and they both nap for 10-20 minutes, then they're at it again.

He has gotten after her pretty hard twice, but won't hurt her.  About 4 times, he sat on her head to make her stop.  That was pretty darn funny, since he's about 3 times her size.  She just wriggles out from under his massive butt and jumps at him again.  I wanted a picture of them both napping, but if I stand up or move to get a picture, they get worried I might do something that they shouldn't miss, so they jump up.  Within a minute, they're back at it again.

Sheesh!

A question from Russ

I offered to answer anything to Russ, since he is so open and honest.  Here is his email:

Answer this in your journal if you like.  But maybe wait for the fourth beer first!  ;)

 

Some married couples have a shared joke that wouldn't make any sense to people on the outside.  What is yours?  What is the story behind it?

 

Pete and I have many because I'm always cracking jokes.  The latest:

 

Russ: (picking up keys and heading out the door to go get beer or cigs or whatever)

Pete: "Where are you going?"

Russ: "To go find a REAL man."

Pete: "Pick one up for me too!"

 

We do that EVERYtime one of us goes to the store.  It's a shared joke between two people who love each other very much.  We also say "I hate you." alot because it's funny to us. 

 

love, I mean 'hate',

Russ

We have so many.  When Larry the Cable Guy gets heckled by someone in the audience, he always says "See ya at the house." like it's his wife.  We end each phone conversation with a hick sounding "See ya at the house."

When I yell at the dog, "Get your fat, lazy, hairy ass outta my way!" Kevin responds, "but I'm not IN your way!"

When I hear Trace Adkins sing, I say "I'd drop you like a hot rock for that man."  When Sara Evans sings, Kevin says, "I'd drop you like a hot rock for that woman."  We would never leave or cheat, but it's fun to think about the folks that make us weak in the knees.

When one of us is worn out, almost asleep, or sore from old age, or...you get the idea, one will say, "you look like shit!" and the other will respond, "I'm not dead!" in our best Monte Python voice.

Kevin has had surgery on a shoulder, and needs more.  He hurts all the time.  He often says, "It's from carrying HER sorry ass for 11 years!"

Most of our references that wouldn't be understood by many are obscure movie references.  We have odd movie tastes.  We like the old cliche' movies like Smokie and the Bandit and Princess Bride and The Jerk.

Oh yeah, The Jerk.  When we are letting the kids pick something out at the store, Kevin is likely to say something like: "you can have anything between the pencils and the chicklets, under the stuffed animals and above the toy dogs."  Nobody else gets it.

That's us.  We're weird and we wrestle and we play hide-and-seek and we make weird references in our jokes.

Consider my ass kicked

Well, it's done.  It has happened.  I always knew it would.  The time HAD to come, but tonight?  I wasn't prepared.

In this house, things are different than in other homes.  We have marathon hide-and-seek sessions, we wrestle, and we talk shit...just for fun.  It's been a while since I kicked Brett's ass, so tonight, when he mouthed off, I was ready.

Ummm, sort of.

I lost.  I don't mean that it was a close call and someone called it quits...I mean, HE.KICKED.MY.ASS.  My shoulder was sore and my wrist was sore.  I iced both, but my wrist will need wrapped tomorrow.  Damn.  It's not his fault...I wouldn't back off.  I kept shouting things like, "I've got you where I want you!" and "Now you're a goner!"  Nope, he won.  I couldn't get out of the hold.

Yes, tomorrow will demand an ace bandage and some ice (since my hand is swollen and I have a fragile wrist) but that's not what bothers me.  This is the first time in his life that I couldn't take him.  He's a stout guy!  I've struggled in the past, but I've always won.  Tonight, I lost.  I have the swollen hand, sore wrist, aching shoulder, and wounded ego to prove it.

He's a man.  He won.  I lost.  There, son, I said it.  *sigh*  Good night.

A great weekend

It was a great Sunday, other than my boy, Jamie McMurray coming in second in the Nascar race.  He was hosed by Michael Waltrip, who was in a lap car.  HOSED!, I say.

We ate at Mom and Dad's, then I helped untangle the spider web of cords behind mom's desk.  The dog got much needed exercise, fighting with Sadie.  He also got tagged on the nose by some over-protective mamma cats.  Serves him right.

I spent a lot of time in the lot with the horses.  The flies are bad, and it's cool how they work together against the pesky insects.  People who haven't been around horses might not know this:  The horses stand nose to tail, so the swishing of the tails keeps flies off of a buddies face.  Pretty smart.  I played with the filly quite a bit.  She wants to turn her rump to me and kick (playing) so I push her butt away and command "NO!".  She finally quit trying.  She's so animated and sweet. 

When we came home, I mowed the yard and weeded the flower beds.  Brett weed-eated the ditch and the banks.  Then I watered the trees.  I can't wait to have trees.  By the time I retire, I'll have shade!  Everything looked great when we were done.  It feels good to accomplish something on the weekend, all the while feeling like there's been enough relaxation time.

Tomorrow will be a 13 hour day at work.  We will be reorganizing and cleaning and brainstorming ideas for the customer service area from 5-9.  I'm not looking forward to the hours, but will enjoy the rewards.  I am always hopefull and excited about changes at work.

Time to sign off, since internet service has been intermittant at best, lately.  Ciao, baby.

Summer Time

Mom got the girls a Slip n Slide at a garage sale, and they had fun.  Monica hit the back of her head pretty hard on the ground, and Natalie has a raw backside from hitting the grass so much, but they had fun anyway.

It was hot again today, but it feels good to have summer weather.  I'm not sick of it yet.  The city-wide garage sale was a bust.  Just a few old ladies with a card table full of coffee cups, for the most part.  I'll find a good one soon.  They're going on every weekend this time of year.

Well, time to go kick back and get lazy.  The A/C is on, after being off for 3 days.  It hit 90 again today, so I figured we'd better get it comfortable in this house.

Still a workin' stiff

Nope, we didn't win the lottery.  Big shock of the day.  I went to work (early) and ran statements.  Then I did my usual job.  Life is fine, I'm just not rich.  I wasn't rich last night, I'm still not rich.  No big adjustment needed. I WILL buy a power ball ticket for Saturday's drawing, too. LOL

I need a weekend.  The city-wide garage sale is this Saturday, so maybe I'll find the dresser I need.  Maybe Kevin will find something he can't live without.  Maybe the kids will find something they MUST have.  It's always probable at a city-wide.  Here's hoping.