Friday Night Fun with Friends

On Thursday evening (yes, I realize the title of this post has to do with Friday, but just go with it) I received some heart-wrenching news regarding my brother. I'll let you take a guess as to what that might be. If you know me or have been reading this blog for any amount of time, then it shouldn't take too long to figure it out. I called my friend Nick who was leading our class Bible study that evening and asked him to please remember my brother and our family in prayer and later that evening the group said a special prayer on our behalf for which I am especially grateful. 

Fast forward to Friday - I woke up to a few different text messages from church friends letting me know they were praying for my family and Justin. then some time before lunch my friend Amanda sent me a text asking if she could take me to dinner. As is most always the case, I had no plans for that evening and agreed to meet her at 7:00 p.m. She and Leland, Haley and Holly were going to the safari park out in New Hope (yes, there is a such thing) and wanted to know if I could come with them for that as well. The timing didn't quite work out for me to meet them at the safari park. I needed to let The Tide out, etc. so I opted out of the drive thru safari but said I would see them all at dinner. 

I left work around 4:00 and as I pulled in the front of my house, Jackie pulled in at the exact same time. She had brought me a Gigi's cupcake because not much else cures sadness like heaps of sugar. As we walked up to the front door of my house, there was a vase of roses and carnations from another girl in my class at church, Amberly. Amberly actually lives a couple of blocks down the street from me and we share a birthday, as luck would have it. She left an extremely sweet card for me and said if I needed anything at all that she was right down the road. Her brother battles some of the same demons as Justin and so she can probably relate to how I am feeling at times. 

Gigi's Cupcake

Flowers from Amberly

Totally random note - there was a band bus parked next door when I got home. It has been quite a while since my neighbor had any bands stay the night at her house. Honestly, I have no idea how she even knows about these bands or how they end up staying at her house. I need to ask her about it because I'm curious to find out. The band was called April Mae and the June Bugs and they played at Lowe Mill on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. I did not make the show. This particular bus looked familiar, but I think it may just be the same color scheme as a previous bus. I tried to look back through the blog but couldn't find one like this. I do know that April Mae's bus runs on grease (like that restaurants dispose of) and I know another bus that stayed next door also ran on the same thing; so, maybe April Mae has stayed next door before, but you would think I would remember a name like April Mae and the June Bugs where it's "All About The Boogie"!

April Mae and The June Bugs - It's All About The Boogie!

Jackie hung out at the house for a few minutes and we chatted about all that was going on and also about our Saturday plans (more on that tomorrow) and then she headed home for the evening. I did some laundry and a little cleaning before leaving the house to meet the gang for dinner at Zoe's. 

It was really great to have some normalcy and a diversion to take my mind of of things and I am super grateful to my friends for going to dinner with me. I had the salad and hummus plate which is seriously one of my favorite things ever. We had a fun evening talking about nothing in particular. Leland, being the only boy, was either grateful for the insight into the thought process of women or he wanted to run for the hills. Actually he was a trooper and I think he enjoyed the girl time.

After dinner, we all headed over to Amberly's house and saw on the news that the second Boston Marathon bomber had been captured. We watched the news and had more girl talk and then Amberly whipped up some chocolate fondue. We had strawberries, rice kripsy treats, brownies, bananas, graham crackers and pretzels to dip in the chocolate and it was super yummy! I stayed at Amberly's until about 9:15 or so and then went on home. I was tired and had to be up early the next morning so I wanted to wind down from the evening and go on to bed. 

It was a really fun and relaxing evening and really lifted my spirits and I will always be grateful for these wonderful friends that God put in my life.

The Mystery of the Mustache

Can someone please tell me when and why mustaches became so stinkin' popular? Everywhere I look, there are mustache do-dads for sale - decals, necklaces, scarves, notebooks, and the list goes on. Seriously, one day there was nothing related to the mustache for sale and then the next day there were a plethora of mustache items available. I don't understand. Who is the person that started this trend and why did they do it? What's so great about a mustache logo? Can someone please explain this to me because I don't get it. Does this mean I'm getting old when I don't understand the new fangled trends? 

As I was driving to work on Wednesday morning, I drove up onto the interstate as I do every morning and there was a gray Ford truck in the lane driving so slow that I actually thought it was just stopped. I had to basically come to a screeching halt so as to not hit the truck. I was traveling at about five miles per hour behind the truck while all other manner of car was pulling over in front of the truck to continue going on down the road, but there were so many cars coming that I couldn't get over to go around. The next thing I knew lights started blinking all over the truck - like police lights. Blue and white and blinking like the lights of a police car. I say blinking, you may say something else. At any rate, I looked at the license plate of the truck and it was just a regular Madison county tag, starting with 47. There was absolutely nothing on the truck to indicate it was a state or city vehicle. Apparently the truck was after a white car in front because the white car pulled over, the truck pulled over, and I was finally able to continue my morning commute. Of course, all of this took place in the course of about 30 seconds, but felt like five minutes. This was the first time I have ever seen an unmarked vehicle without state or city plates and it kind of made me wonder if it was some prankster. I'm sure it was legitimate, but it's had me curious ever since. Have any of you ever noticed any unmarked police cars without city or state plates? Is it legal, because it seems like entrapment to me, at least as far as handing out tickets. 

I wanted to share with you a funny story from Monday afternoon. A friend of mine, Janet, came over around 5:30 to pick up some make-up (yes, I still sale BeautiControl for those of you who didn't know). She didn't plan on staying long as she had somewhere to go and just wanted to stop by quickly to pick up her order. She was there less than five minutes and after she walked out the front door, I went about my business and then saw her walking back up to the house. She had locked her keys in her car but her sunroof was open and she wanted to know if I had a step stool; as a matter of fact I did/do. So, I got out the step stool along with what was once a wire hanger that has been manipulated into a long piece of wire that can be used to retrieve hair from drains and strings from pants. Janet climbed on top of the hood of her car and leaned into the sunroof and used the wire to get her purse and then got the keys out of her purse and was soon on her way to her next destination. So, not only do I have neighbors that I can blog about, but I can also providing blogging material for my neighbors. It's a win-win situation for everyone. 

In work related type news, W is back to bumming rides off of people, well, specifically T. She has yet to ask me for a ride. I don't know if she is scared to ask me or what the deal is, but I can't say I'm upset about it. She is once again waiting to the very last second to ask T for a ride home. She's actually only asked twice, but the second time was last Thursday when there were tornadoes in the area. T doesn't like driving in bad weather and was packing up her things to leave early. When W noticed T was packing up her things, she quickly packed up her things and basically just jumped in the car with T. Needless to say, T was less than happy about it but didn't say anything; however, her driving and mannerisms apparently made W realize that T was upset and so W has not asked for a ride since then. Rumor has it the car has the same problem as before (clutch) and that the part is under warranty but she isn't sure how much the labor is going to be. Um, why don't you get it quoted for one and if she can't afford the labor, well, I don't really even know what to say about that. Maybe for extra cash she could start selling mustache decals; I hear they're quite popular with the kids these days. 

Channeling My Inner Mrs. Kravitz

I didn't mention in my last post that the neighbors across the street from me (and next to Jeff) moved out over the weekend. I actually have no idea what their names are or what they do, etc. as I have never bothered to go over and introduce myself. It's sad, I know. Since I've lived in my house, the rental across the street has had many colorful characters live there. I am assuming the lease has run out and the people decided to move elsewhere. In all honesty, I don't think the man who owns the property is a very good landlord, so the high turnover is not much of a surprise. 

When I first moved in there was a lady and her older son who lived there and about two years later her job transferred her to Washington and they moved. Since then, we've had an array of neighbors who never stay more than a year, and sometimes even less than a year. There was a woman who lived there with one or two family members that Jeff referred to as "Panties" because he saw her come outside in her underwear once and I think it scarred him for life. We had a couple of bachelors in their 20's live there and one of them had a girlfriend who was there often as well. In fact, the girlfriend took it upon herself to park in my yard until I left her a note one day to park in her own yard. There was a young family (wife, husband, young child) that lived there before the current couple and we never heard much out of them. Really, the only crazy people that has lived there is "Panties" and her crew. 

The current couple is somewhat of a mystery. When Brittany picked Sydney up on Sunday she thought she recognized the girl as someone she went to school with. The girl has a little boy who stays with her on occasion. They had a cat at one point; in fact I mentioned the cat once before as I found it interesting that it would sit on the roof of the house. The cat also had kittens which they gave away to various folks. Then Jeff found out they took the cat out to the country and just left it somewhere because the girl didn't want to pay for an animal license. They also have, or had, a dog; I'm really not sure if the dog is still with them or not because I haven't seen it in a long while. The dog was sweet and the man who lived there took it for walks. Jeff said it was a very friendly dog. Obviously Jeff and I do a lot of talking about our neighbors. Anyway, some time back in the fall, the couple broke up and the dog, which belonged to the girl, stayed with her across the street. Only instead of taking care of it and letting it inside as she did when her boyfriend lived there, she left the dog tied up outside. The dog would get tangled and Jeff would go over and untangle it. The girl didn't give the dog much care or attention. It was very sad. 

Also while they were broken up she had some other guy shack up over there; but, she was being really secretive about it because I would see his car there like at 5:30 or so in the morning but by the time I left for work, the car would be gone. Whatever girl, you didn't pull one over on me! Anyway, I guess she broke up with the new beau after a month or so and the next thing I knew the original (and still current) boyfriend moved back in. This was a good thing for the dog as the dog once again received attention, was let inside, and walked a few times a day, which made both Jeff and I happy. It's pretty apparent that the girl is not very responsible when it comes to animals. Come to think of it she must not be very responsible with children either or else it seems her little boy would live with her all the time, or at least that's my take anyway. 

That's really all the neighborhood news for now. Thankfully there haven't been any more break-ins recently, or at least none that I know of. Charlie is back to not mowing his grass on a regular basis which makes my yard look stellar compared to his tall, tall grass. I think that he thinks the hideous bushes between our properties belong to me when actually they belong to him. He never mows between them or trims them up so I feel like I'm going to have to break down and have a discussion with him on shrubbery maintenance. If it's left up to me, I would pull them all up and be done with it. The bushes were planted there by the people who flipped Charlie's house and they only planted them there to be mean. So, it just seems inevitable that these dreaded bushes will once again be a topic of conversation; hopefully it will go well, after all, I don't want to have to put the beat down on an old man! 

A Steady and Slow-Paced Weekend

Well, I didn't post Sunday night - just wasn't in much of a writing mood and the weekend wasn't too eventful - and then really didn't have much to say after the events that took place in Boston yesterday. So, today, Tuesday, I'm back to posting about nothing of great importance, otherwise known as normalcy around this little corner of the internets.  

Friday night I came home from work and mowed the lawn - front and back this time. I need to do some weed-eating as well; but, I suppose that will have to wait until I have a shed again and all my belongings have been returned to me. At any rate, it looked pretty good after I was done. Apparently when my dad and his friend Buddy worked on the mower the week before they didn't properly screw up the side where the filter is because by the time I started on the front, the little door was basically hanging on for dear life. It's probably a good thing this happened though because honestly I didn't have a clue where the filter was even located and it needs to be replaced. So, I plan to do that before the next mowing, which will be here before you know it. 

After mowing the lawn, I spent the rest of the evening doing laundry and straightening. Please don't be jealous of how awesome an evening I had. Then I watched some TV, falling asleep before the stroke of 9:00. I live a thrilling life.

Saturday morning I was up before 6:00 a.m. and started on the weekly cleaning and even made myself some pancakes for breakfast. The church where my dad preaches had a community cookout on Saturday and so I went to that for a couple of hours. They had a really good turnout, or so it seemed, for which I was glad. They put a lot of effort and hard work into the event and hopefully they will soon see the fruits of their labor. 

After the cookout I went back home for a couple of hours of quiet time before Sydney came for the night. Brittany brought her over around 5:00 and I fixed her some dinner which she ate a little of and then declared she was hungry a few minutes later. I think I've mentioned this before, but that child is always hungry and it cracks me up. After her bath she wanted an apple and I think she also had a bowl of cereal at some point. We watched "Mary Poppins" (again) which she is now enjoying and has asked me if I will get it for her for her birthday. She played some games on the Kindle as well and I broke down and bought her a new game she asked for and since she liked it so well, I bought her a few others after she left that are similar to that one. They were just 99 cents so it's not like it broke the bank. I also painted her toenails and actually stayed in the lines as opposed to when I paint my own toenails. 

Sydney fell asleep shortly after 9:00 while watching the movie and I soon took her to bed. I went to bed myself and watched some of  "The Help" for what seems like the 400th time. About 2:00 a.m. I heard some little footsteps walking towards my room and sure enough here she came. She said it was just so dark in the other room (I leave the closet light on for her) and she wanted to sleep with me. So, I spent the rest of the night wedged between her and The Tide. It was not a relaxing experience. 

We went to church on Sunday morning and got some pizza for lunch and then Brittany came and picked her up. she wanted to know why she couldn't stay two nights, why only one? I told her that I had to go to work early on Monday mornings so I couldn't keep her on Sunday nights too. She is really enjoying church and has made some sweet little friends. It's really fun to watch her learn about the Lord. 

I spent Sunday afternoon and evening after church watching The Masters - what a finish! - and then watched my new favorite "Call the Midwife". I've given up on The Amazing Race; since so many Sundays have had sporting events which have caused The Amazing Race to have a late start, I've missed a lot of episodes. It's also not on On Demand and I don't feel like watching it online. So, I've just dropped it from my Sunday night line-up. "Call the Midwife" is much better anyway. So, that sums up the weekend - not very exciting, but still productive and entertaining, which is just how I like it. 

Pray For Boston

I started on post to put up on Monday night, but I've decided to wait until Tuesday. Instead, I would just like to remind everyone to pray for all the folks in Boston who have been affected by yet another act of terrorism on this great country we call home. Some days being an American can be frightening and Monday was one of those days. So, remember to pray for the families that have lost loved ones, those that were injured, and the first-responders who helped at the scene and at the hospitals. Pray for our leaders and pray that justice will be served. I'll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled programming.

Make Up Your Mind Already

There's really no rhyme or reason to today's post. Let this be a warning.

Wednesday the USPS announced it was going to continue Saturday delivery after all. Really? Why? I didn't read anything in-depth about it but the headline I saw said it was because of Congress. Seriously, I don't see what the big deal is in giving up Saturday delivery. I think the postal workers might enjoy being able to watch a full day of football in the fall or go to a cookout in the summer or whatever else they might decide to do with their newly found Saturday free time. I for one would not be opposed to doing away with Saturday delivery and I really don't see what all the fuss is about. I will say this though - if the postal service wants to save money, they might find a better way to ship packages. I recently ordered a few items from Lands End and my package went from Illinois to Nashville (logical) then it went to Birmingham, then to Montgomery and then to Huntsville. Huh? Did they forget where Huntsville was? Then , after it arrived in Huntsville it took another whole day before it arrived in my mailbox. Seriously, seems to me like it would have saved a lot of gas money for my package to come from Nashville to Huntsville. 

We are experiencing another round of storms and tornadic (apparently this isn't a word or I can't find how to spell it if it is) weather this afternoon (Thursday). As luck would have it as soon as I walked out the door to leave work the tornado sirens started going off. I went ahead and left anyway because I needed to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up some Drano and muffin mix. Drano because the bathroom sink isn't draining well and muffin mix because I've been craving Blueberry muffins all week and I didn't have any mix or anything which is extremely unusual for me. 

I made it to Wal-Mart before it started raining and while inside the bottom fell out. Thankfully when I left a few minutes later it wasn't raining too bad. I headed towards home and at one point it felt like I ran over something in the road only there was nothing there. Then I thought I smelled gas and before I reached home my service engine light was on. Y'all I wouldn't be surprised if I end up stranded on the side of the road some time soon. At the moment the service engine light it on, the driver's window is taped up, the passenger side view mirror is missing and the passenger side headlight cover is missing. That's all I can think of at the moment. Usually when the service engine light comes on I just have to put some gas booster in the tank and it's fine before the next fill up, but since it felt like I either ran over something or something fell off the car, I'm doubting it's going to be that simple this time; but here's to hoping. 

In the afternoons, around 3:45 or 4:00, the night janitor comes around and empties our trash. Listen, I don't like to complain about folks, but really, this gets on my nerves. When I'm working, I don't want the janitor all up in my personal space trying to empty my trash or recycling bin. I'm most likely going to be leaving by 4:30 - can't you just wait until then? I like the janitor, he's a nice guy, and I'm nice to him and say hello, but if he would just skirt around me until I'm gone, I would like him a whole lot more.

In other news I'll be getting a new shed soon - oh yeah! My dad's friend Buddy is going to build one at his workshop and then they will bring it over to my house in pieces and put it together. It's going to be wooden and hopefully won't blow away in the next wind storm. 

Hope everyone stays safe through the rain and storms this evening!

Dave Matthews Band at Oak Mountain - Part Two

Yesterday I brought you part one of mine and Justin's Dave Matthews Band concert experience and today I bring you part two. Please try to contain your excitement. 

Before I get started on part two of this tale, I must backtrack for a moment and mention an observation from the parking lot before the show. I actually wrote this tidbit down to remember and share with you and then didn't pull out any notes when writing part one and therefore forgot to mention it. At any rate, there were three guys and a girl parked across the row from us and one of the guys had a koozeball. What is a koozeball you may ask, it is a koozie shaped like a football. I realize this is completely irrelevant to any part of this story, but Justin and I found the koozeball to be quite hilarious and before we left the parking lot, these lads were tossing the koozeball around like it was a real football. To us, it was quite entertaining and I wanted to remember it when I look back on this blog years from now. 

Now, to pick up where I left off yesterday... 

I went back to my seat and then Justin decided to make a pit stop and by the time he came back the doofus that had the seat next to mine had arrived. He had been drinking and was just generally obnoxious. He was with a married friend and to the right of them were two girls who drunkie and his friend started hitting on. Y'all, it never ceases to amaze me the ridiculous things guys will say to try and impress and girl. Seriously - so dumb. The guy was also broad, not fat just broad, and took up a lot of room. At one point he elbowed me in the face. I let it slide since I knew he was about two sheets to the wind (he hadn't quite reached three. Justin soon came back to the seat and not long after I reached down to take a sip of my $5.50 Diet Coke and it was gone, vanished, nowhere to be found and I was crushed. There was no way I was about to buy another one though so we just went through the remainder of the show without anything to quench our thirst. It was seriously a bewildering moment. That missing Diet Coke always remain one of life's greatest mysteries. 

The Dave Matthews Band came on stage about 8:30 and opened with Proudest Monkey, which was apparently my cousin Bennett's guess  on what he would open with. Bennett and his dad (also my cousin) Chris were there but Justin and I never saw them. It's a large venue. Most people immediately stood up when the show started, but Justin and I are old and the folks in front of us were still seated so we remained seated until they stood up and therefore forced us to stand up too. The guy beside me started dancing and I was generally afraid for any future blows from his elbow. The band played a lot of newer songs in the first set, but the second set had mostly older songs which made us 30 and 40-somethings happy. All the boozers on our row (and the rows below us for that matter) made multiple trips in and out of the seats for bathroom and beer runs and were sometimes gone for 20 minutes or more, which just baffles me. I mean, let's think about it for a minute, why pay $75 for a ticket to a concert and spend the majority of the show in the bathroom or at the beer cart line? It's a lot cheaper to just listen to music at home and drink beer on your front porch. I'm pretty sure these feelings of mine are a sure sign that maturity has set in and that kind of saddens me. 

There was a lot of pot smoking going on at the show and as Justin put it, you could tell who had the good stuff and who had the not so good stuff, and that's the truth, folks. Even the guy sitting directly in front of us brought a bowl and would look back behind his shoulder and take a hit and this gave Justin and I a large laugh on many occasions. The guy was obviously trying to not get caught but his mannerisms were those of complete paranoia and it was rather hilarious. 

The band played for almost three hours, with the show ending around 11:15 p.m. We maneuvered our way through the masses to the car (where Justin immediately tor into those Dunkin' Doughnuts) and then bobbed and weaved our way out of the parking lot, trying to avoid all manner of people and car. We finally made it to the interstate at midnight - yes, a five minute drive turned in to 45 minutes and that was the most frustrating part of the evening. Once we got on the interstate it was smooth sailing. I had been worried earlier in the day when, as we were driving south to Birmingham, we noticed a TON of people driving north on I-65. Seriously, the traffic going north on the interstate was basically bumper to bumper from Birmingham to Huntsville. I think a lot of people must have been making their way home from spring break beach trips. Thankfully all the vacation traffic had cleared out by midnight and there were no obstacles in getting home. We made a stop for a soda and a bathroom break on the north side of Birmingham and quickly returned to the road. Justin cranked up the volume on Blue's stereo and played DJ until he fell asleep leaving me listening to Green Day and volumes that were probably not safe for my ears. I, however, sung at the top of my lungs and felt quite wired, most likely a result of all the drugs I inhaled at the concert. We pulled in front of my house about 15 minutes until midnight at which point Justin decided to wake up. He made the trek over the mountain while I walked in, let The Tide out and then hit the bed. It was a fun evening and a great brother/sister outing.