FOOTBALL!

I am getting ohsoexcited for football season which is quickly approaching! We've already made plans to visit Leslie in Indy for the Nov. 2nd Colts/49ers game and my brother in Atlanta on Dec. 6th for the Eagles/Falcons game. I thought I'd share the story about the Tennessee Titans game we went to on New Years Eve back in 2006.

Before I moved here, I was traveling out here pretty often and I managed to get the week after Christmas off. Howard knows me pretty well and figured out that getting me tickets to the Titans/Patriots game instead of some piece of jewelry I will never wear for Christmas was the key to my heart. He had it all planned out. The game was on New Years Eve at 12 pm. We drove down to Nashville early that morning to check into our hotel first. It took some effort but we finally found the hotel. We decided to ask about transportation to the stadium so we could both have some drinks. The front desk clerk informed us we could catch a bus about 1/2 mile down the road that would take us right to the game. Score!

So we threw our bags in the room and headed off to the bus stop. It is then we realized that we might not be in the best part of town. A man (read: crack head) walked up to us and says, "You smoke?" to which Howard replies, "Cigarettes?" Nope. "No, you smoke crack?" Howard quickly said we don't smoke anything and we continued walking (a really, really fast walk...ok, possibly sprinting). We then see a girl (read: crack head) about our age run out into the road, narrowly missing being hit by a car, and up to our new friend. Wonder what that was about.

We made it to the bus stop in time to barely catch the bus. There weren't any seats available so Howard and I had to stand in the middle holding the rails. Once we were moving, I began to look around and survey the scene. The man sitting in the chair next to where I was standing was drooling. The woman behind him was talking in loud mumbles to herself. Howard nudged me and told me to turn my eyes forward and not to look at anyone. It was the longest bus ride of my life.

But we made it to the game! We got there about 10:45 am and decided to tailgate for a little while. We walked over to a gas station to pick up some beer. We are standing in line waiting to pay when two cops walk over to us and ask us what we are doing. Um, we are buying beer kind officers. Not until 12 pm, you're not. Oh right. Stupid Tennessee laws. We left empty handed and started wondering around looking for some friendly (read: drunk) people that wanted to share their supply of deliciousness with us.

And then it started raining.

We gave up on tailgating and entered the stadium. People were walking around with beers and it was only 11:15 am! There is a god! So we grabbed some beer, found our seats and began to get excited for the game. A little rain never hurt anyone, right? The game started and we forgot all about the crack heads and the beer laws and the bus ride we were going to have to take home.

And then it started pouring...like cats and dogs as my mom used to say.

Remember it was New Years Eve. The weather is cold in TN in the middle of winter and rain makes it even colder. I couldn't take it. I kept moving to stand under an awning and I kept getting told I couldn't stand there but that didn't stop me. Howard didn't move. He didn't move at all. Like not even to move his beer up to his mouth. He said if he moved, then his limbs might start to break off. It was that cold.

But then the rain stopped at halftime. And the sun came out. We got to enjoy the last two quarters of the game in peace. We also got to see Vinny Testaverde, who was the Patriots 3rd string QB, complete a touchdown pass with less than two minutes left in the game. This was significant because it was the 20th consecutive season in which Testaverde has thrown a TD pass, an NFL record. It was also his last season playing. Very cool.

So we left the stadium to go back to the hotel and change so we could go out that night in Nashville to celebrate New Year's Eve. One small problem. We couldn't find the stop where the bus had dropped us off. No one seemed to know where we needed to go. We just started walking around enjoying the sites figuring we would come across a stop eventually. And we did. But it was the wrong one. The helpful bus driver pointed us in the right direction though. In the right direction of the bus stop in the hood. We probably only waited 10 minutes but it felt like eternity. I'm not even sure which I considered worse at the time...the bus load of raving lunatics or the gangstas staring us down.

We finally got on the bus and were heading back towards the hotel. Again, it was standing room only and I kept my eyes focused straight ahead. Until I heard about 10 cop cars with sirens screaming blaze by us. Howard and I just looked at each other and shrugged. As we approached our hotel, I saw all the cop cars gathered at the laudromat next door. The front windows were shot out and there was a cop with a machine gun pointed at a man he had flattened on the ground with his foot. Cops were handcuffing other people and putting a woman into the back of a cop car.

And our bus driver stopped pretty much right in front of this mess for our stop. As I stepped off the bus, I felt Howard put his arm around my waist and whisper, "Walk as fast as you can, don't look up, go straight to the room!"

Once in the room it didn't take much talking to figure out that neither of us wanted to venture out of the hotel again. This all happened in the middle of the day. We didn't want to know what went on at night. Howard ran across the street to get some beer and I ordered a pizza. We spent the rest of the night locked in the hotel room. Some New Year's Eve! Actually, if you know Howard and I, you know we have fun no matter what we are doing so we were both very happy.

We didn't have a mini-fridge so Howard filled the trash can with ice to use as a cooler. Later that night, I decided to go get some more ice. I walked out of the room and no sooner did I close the door, I saw fireworks. However, Howard thought they were gunshots and came running towards the door to make sure I was still alive.

Our room was on the backside of the hotel so I began walking to find the ice machine noting I should have asked Howard where it was before beginning my journey. I found it on the frontside of the hotel. I saw everyone out on the streets and was trying to make as little noise as possible so I would remain unnoticed. I put the bucket up to the ice machine and immediately the old, rickety machine went BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM. I took off running before I had even had 5 pieces of ice. Beer went down warm for the rest of the night.

Phone Calls

I was sitting in my office talking to my boss this morning when the phone rang. It was a lady from a company trying to sell us supplies. I assumed my boss didn't want to talk to her as he was violently shaking his head and mouthing, "I'm not here, I'm not here". She has called before and I have given him the messages but he chooses not to call her back. Nothing I can do about that. I have since stopped reiterating that he needs to call her and now just humor her by pretending to take the message. However, I was not prepared for this. Here is our conversation:

Sheila: Hi, this is Sheila calling from [Company]. Is [Bossman] available?

Me: No, sorry, he's not in right now.

Sheila: Does he have voicemail?

Me: No, sorry, but I can leave him a message.

Sheila: OK, please have him call Sheila at 1-800.

Me: Uh huh. (merely listening and not writing anything down)

Sheila: [xxx]

Me: Uh huh.

Sheila: [xxxx]

Me: Uh huh.

Sheila: ext. [xxx]

Me: OK, got it thanks.

Sheila: Could you do me a favor and repeat that information back to me?

Me: (Oh. My. God.) Uh uh, um, uh, I, um have it written down elsewhere...

Sheila: (very snottily) Right, thanks. Click.

I immediately felt like a real a-hole. Would it have been that difficult to pick up a pen and jot a few numbers down whether I was going to pass them along or not? Apparently so. So I decided in order to make myself feel better, I would make someone else feel like an a-hole!

My next phone call:

Me: Thanks for calling [Company]. This is Dana, how may I help you?

Lady: (most likely calling from Taiwan) Yes, I need to know the name of the man who is in charge of maintenance.

Me: Excuse me?

Lady: Could you please tell me the name of the man who is in charge of maintenance?

Me: Well, why would you ASSUME that a man is in charge of maintenance? I am, in fact, in charge of maintenance (I am soooo not in charge of maintenance).

Lady: Er, oh, um. Click.

But that didn't make me feel any better. Having a conscience sucks. I decided I had to prove to Sheila that I had her information elsewhere and that I was passing it along to my bossman. I scoured old emails and notes until I came across what I hoped was the right number and extension and sent my boss an email. I then forwarded that email to her with my boss' email address just in case she wanted to email him. I felt a teeny weeny bit better.

But why stop there? Next I forced my boss to actually call her back. He begged and pleaded with me not to make him do it but there was no use fighting with a girl who had set out to prove she's not a complete bitch. He called her, mentioned that I had told him she called and then actually had a productive conversation about a part he needed.

Bossman: It's item number PSOT090775

Sheila: OK, I got it.

Bossman: Now Sheila, would you mind doing me a favor and repeating that information back to me?

Now who's the a-hole?

The Jobby Job

I got into work this morning and was greeted by most of the workers standing out in the yard. The back building that houses the electrical unit had caught fire. The fire spread through the back building and up the pipes and up onto the roof in no time due to the insane amounts of dust covering them. Was the fire department called? Nah. Two of the guys emptied our fire extinguishers onto the blaze and managed to get it out. According to one of them, "the last time this happened, the fire department showed up and had no idea how to use their truck". Key words: the last time, as in this has happened before and will probably happen again. I need a new job.

Worker #1 has been absent quite a bit lately because he's trying to get custody of his 2 year old daughter from his ex-girlfriend. He's been going to the child support office and the courthouse filing all of the necessary paperwork and seemed like he was really taking a step in the right direction. Then he decided to drink a case of beer (public intoxication) on a Tuesday night and get into a fight (assault) in the middle of the road. AND then decided to resist arrest adding one more charge to his already jam-packed rap sheet. He's a smart one, I tell you. His new concern - he's getting evicted from the apartment he just moved into last month. My new concern - what is going to happen to the poor little girl?

Worker #2 decided he was jealous of Worker #1 for getting a free meal and a free place to lay his head so that weekend, he started a fight with some random guy on the street, and picked up his 3 charges as well so he could spend the night in the warmth and comfort of the Graves County Jail. I am soooo jealous.

Worker #3 (Mr. Sober) has been absent on and off every week and earlier in July, it was a full week before we saw him again. We can't rely on him at all and it's getting to be a huge pain. However, for some reason, my boss has yet to fire him. He just came to me this morning, after having taken at least 12 days off in the last month, and puts in for his vacation next week. I asked him if he was going anywhere fun or had anything fun planned and he told me, "Nope, I'm just going to lay on my couch all week!" Unbelievable.

Worker #4 put in for vacation over a month ago for July 16 - July 22. He was to return to work on July 23rd. We have yet to see him. I called him yesterday and he told me in broken English that he's on vacation. I attempted to explain to him that vacation was over last Wednesday. He just repeated vacation over and over again until I gave up and told him I'd see him sometime soon hopefully.

Worker #5 quit smoking almost three weeks ago. So he says. He told me he wouldn't lie to me about it because he would only be lying to himself. Three people have keys to my bathroom. Last week, I noticed the strong presence of smoke in there. If it's not me, and it's not my boss (since he prefers the dipping form of tobacco) then it only leaves Worker #5. So I asked him about the smoky odor and he told me I must be imagining things. Hmm...Yesterday, I noticed ashes in the trash can. I must have imagined those too.

Worker #6 has been absent almost everyday for the past two weeks but for good reason - he has been at the hospital with his wife who was diagnosed with cancer. Problem: No health insurance. Two years ago, she injured herself while working at the Goodyear Tire Plant. They were recently offered a settlement which included two options. 1. Take $150K plus insurance coverage for the rest of her life. 2. Take $380K with no insurance. Which one do you think they opted for? Considering the chunk they have to pay at the end of the year for taxes, plus the new house they just bought and all the brand new toys and cars Worker #6 has recently acquired on top of the expenses from the hospital, I'd say that money is about gone. Sad.

One of the things we do here is recycle newspaper to make insulation. We accept paper from people in the area and pay them 2 cents a pound. It's a simple process. They drive up, let me know they are here, then proceed to drive onto the scale. I weigh them in. The workers unload the paper from their vehicle and then they drive back onto the scale where I weigh them out. Easy, right? Well today a carload of boys come in from a local school. I proceed to show them where to get on the scale. I weigh them in at 5500 pounds. The workers unload them, they got back onto the scale and I weighed them out at 4200 pounds. Only one small problem. Four of the boys are not in the car when they weigh out potentially lessening the weight of the car by 800 or so pounds. This is rocket science I swear to you. Let's look at this problem:

AT WEIGH IN

Weight of car: 4000

Weight of paper: 500

Weight of boys: 1000 (all five in the car)

TOTAL WEIGHT: 5500

AT WEIGH OUT

Weight of car: 4000

Weight of boys: 200 (since 4 are no longer in the car)

TOTAL WEIGHT: 4200

5500 - 4200 = 1300 x .02 per pound = $26.00

However, this is how it should have worked out.

AT WEIGH IN

Weight of car: 4000

Weight of paper: 500

Weight of boys: 1000 (all five in the car)

TOTAL WEIGHT: 5500

AT WEIGH OUT

Weight of car: 4000

Weight of boys: 1000 (all five REMAIN in the car)

TOTAL WEIGHT: 5000

5500 - 5000 = 500 x .02 per pound = $10.00

I sat here in my office for a full 10 minutes trying to explain this simple mathmatics formula to five boys who could just not process this through their feeble minds. I'm not even sure if they knew I was speaking English. I finally just gave up and told them I was going to give them the higher amount even though they didn't provide us with that much paper. One of them had the nerve to eye the money as I was handing it to him and say, "This is it? This is all we get?" I vow never, EVER to have kids and raise them in Western KY. Promise.

Yesterday.

Yesterday Howard had his last soccer game of the season but instead of being at 6 pm like most of his games this season, his game started at 8 pm. We had a lot of time to kill so we finally decided to go see Ice Age in 3D which we have both been wanting to see for a while now. We haven't been to a movie in the theater since the Simpsons came out in the summer of 2007 so this was kind of a big deal for us. The movie started at 4:20 in Paducah so I left work early to go home and take the dogs out. I got to the theater at 4:10 and went up to the booth to get tickets. Here is our conversation:

Me: Two for Ice Age in 3D please.

Guy: Sorry m'am. The projector broke this morning in our 3D theater so we won't be showing Ice Age in 3D today.

Me: What?

Guy: The projector broke this morning in our 3D theater.

Me: (staring at him like he must be lying)

Guy: We have another showing at 5:30 in a different theater though.

Me: Is it in 3D?

Guy: Um, no.

Me: Well then that's just pointless. When are you going to fix the 3D screen?

Guy: Oh! It will definitely be fixed by tomorrow.

Me: Ok, good. How long will you be playing Ice Age in 3D?

Guy: (looks down) Actually, we are starting a new 3D movie tomorrow so today is the last day.

I actually couldn't help but laugh though. This only happens to me. So then we had no idea what to do. We ended up going over to the bar but only to get some food to kill some time. We then went to the soccer field at 6 anyway so Howard could sub in other games that didn't have enough players. We watched the first game since they had enough players and then he played some in the second game at 7.

His game started at 8 and they were short one player and it happened to be the goalie. While Howard was playing in the game at 7, I was talking to this guy Jacob on his team. He asked me if Marcus, the goalie, was coming and I said "Well he texted Howard on Tuesday when he wasn't going to make it and he hasn't texted yet to..." I trailed off realizing we had been on the field since 6 and Howard's phone was in his car. Sure enough, when I checked Howard's phone, there was a text from Marcus saying he couldn't make it. When Howard walked up to me I told him I had good news and bad news. The bad news being Marcus wasn't coming. He automatically guessed the good news as he got to play goalie. He's been wanting to play all season.

They were playing against one of the worst teams in the league that consisted of three sixteen year old girls and their fathers and one pretty bad goalie. I don't even know what the final score was but it was something like 20-0. I started to feel bad for them about goal 10. One of the guys on Howard's team said something about only being able to head the ball in from then on and one of the girls overheard them and got pretty upset (rightfully so). She called him a name or two and then of course he had to talk back to her. Then the goalie got upset because he thought this guy was thanking him for the goal everytime he scored on him when actually the guy was thanking his team for passing him the ball. It was a mess. Speaking of mess, I was standing on the sideline when a ball flew past me over onto the baseball diamond. I ran to go get it not thinking about all the rain we've had. I sunk about 4 inches into the sand/mud and couldn't move and everyone was staring at me waiting for the ball. Good times. I just love the feel of squishy mud between my toes...

When Howard's game ended, he was asked to stick around and play goalie again for the last game. As much as I wanted to stay and watch, standing around in the grass barefooted thinking that bugs were devouring my feet was getting to be too much for me to handle so I left. When Howard got home an hour later he told me that while sliding to save a ball from going in the goal, he felt his shoulder pop. It's still sore today so I doubt we are playing any golf this weekend. He also let 2 goals in but they still won 10-2 so he was ok with that.

On a random note, we were at Fridays this past Wednesday playing the NTN game when a question came up about George Mason University. You would have thought I won the lottery, I was so excited. I started pointing and screaming, "I went there, I went there!!" Not that anyone seemed to care and everyone got it right without my help. Go figure, I get disappointed when people don't know where my school is but when a trivia question comes up, I want to be the only one who knows where it is.

Braccoli & Chiken

Howard and I decided to meet for lunch today in Paducah. We were going to go to my favorite place, J's Cafe and Bistro but when I called to make sure they were open, the number was disconnected. Sad face. We both began looking at places online to see where we felt like eating. I came across the following and of course, had to share. They are all from different menus too...

Cheddard cheese is a staple for Paducahians.

Can't even get the name of the town where you are located spelled right?

Yummmm...Wish I had some Cheddard Braccoli soup.

No, this isn't a menu from Chik-fil-A

Jalopeno! Or Jalapeno? Can't decide? Go with both!

Gotta love random capitalization!

There is actually nothing wrong with this one but I want to go there just to try the wine.

Lowe's Island Shooting

This happened Sunday night on my parent's street in Lowe's Island. Very scary and sad.

PS. Notice there are no spelling mistakes by this Washington Post writer...

Two Arrested in Connection With Fatal Shooting in Va.

By Matt Zapotosky

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 19, 2009; 1:59 PM

Two men were arrested Sunday in the shooting death of a 19-year-old man at a house party in Loudoun County, authorities said.

Guillermo A. Alvarado, 20, of Berryville, and Rasheed L. Nurse, 26, of Herndon, were charged with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting outside a house on Tappahannock Place near Lowes Island Boulevard in Sterling, authorities said. Alvarado and Nurse apparently got into an altercation with the 19-year-old, and Nurse pulled out a gun and shot him, police said. He was transported to a hospital, where he later died.

Police did not immediately identify the 19-year-old because his family members had not been notified of his death. Kraig Troxell, a spokesman for the Loudon County Sheriff's Office, said investigators are still working to determine what sparked the altercation. The incident occurred at about 3 a.m.

Speeling Erors

I am seriously considering writing to the Paducah Sun or the local news network and telling them I will proofread all of their articles before they post them. I will even do it for free just so I can not be embarrased for the people of Western KY. Yesterday there was a crash near the exit I take to get home and they weren't allowing people to get on the parkway. I wanted to know what happened so I looked it up online on my phone and came across this article.

GRAVES COUNTY, KY- One person has died after a crash on the Purchase Parkway.

According to the Kentucky Department Of Highways, a truck hauling rock ran into the median and crashed, blocking the northbound lanes just north of Exit 25 at U.S. 45.

The road is expected to be closed for several hours for cleanup and the crash investigation.

Northbound traffic on the Purchase Parkway is being detoured off at U.S. 45 and around the Mayfield Bypass to KY 58 and then back to the Purcahse Parkway Exit 27 at the KY 131 interchange.

Very sad.

However, on to my rant. I know they can spell Purchase because they did so twice prior to spelling it Purcahse in the last sentence. Where is spell check?? The best is when I am watching the news and the headline they are running under a story they are doing is misspelled. Seriously, come on.

I was at Walmart on Sunday and noticed a sign on one of the electric wheelchair carts. I didn't take a picture because I felt wrong doing so but it said, "Broking! Do not use!" Just wow.

Howard and I went to the Pasta House on Saturday for lunch and I was looking at some brochures for local wineries. On the back of the brochure it had directions on how to get to the winery from Paducha. Maybe I'm just overly crazy about spelling but when you are trying to portray a professional image and you misspell a word, your credibility goes out the window.

End rant.

Apple Valley Hillbilly Gardens & Toyland

On Saturday afternoon before heading into Paducah, we stopped at the Hillbilly Gardens & Toyland. When we pulled in, we were greeted by a young guy who announced himself as our tour guide. He took us into the old diner first where he pointed out different items his grandfather had collected over the years from being an extra in a bunch of movies like Waterworld and Jurassic Park. I didn't catch everything because the guy was talking a mile a minute trying to get out all the information he had. It was kind of hard to keep up and understand him. He then led us around the property pointing out the different sections like Hillbilly Springs and the Rattlesnake cage. After that was the Toyland where I could have spent at least an hour looking at all the toys. It was insane. Pictures don't do it justice. There were over 3,000 toys to see and according to the guide, there is still over 10,000 in a trailer that his father is waiting to put up. The tour ended with the animals. Overall it was entertaining. The guide said they have only been open for about a year. When they inherited the land from his grandfather his dad decided to start putting up the lawn art. Neighbors began to complain and tried very hard to get them shut down. Eventually the neighbors began to get accustomed to the hillbilly art form and began donating items to them. I didn't get any pictures of the Hillbilly forest where random items are hanging in trees but there is an old, dirty mattress hanging in one tree and apparently one neighbor thinks it's haunted so she prays for the demons in it every night. WEIRD!

The remnants of the old Gulf station...My personal favorite piece!

Tree man #1

A mound they turned into a grave...He said no one is buried here but they did scatter his grandma's ashes on it. He said he didn't think she would mind.

A giraffe having some water.

Another giraffe

Aminals!!

Hillbilly Heaven...an outhouse.

Spongebob!

Death of Society.

The random bike tree.

Re"tire"ment Home

Hillbilly Springs...this one made me laugh hysterically for some reason.

Hillbilly Spaceship

Rattlesnakes...this also made me laugh pretty hard.

Hillbilly Cemetary

I don't know what he called this one but he did say when they first opened, the cops tried to shut them down for attempting to bury trash.

Hillbilly Apartment...Frankenstein and his bride are in the van.

Tree man #2

Happy Birthday Ashley!!

- Dearest Ashley -

Happy Birthday! I love having the smartest girl in the world as my best friend. It makes it so easy to brag about you. And plus, when I get old and achy, you can fix me :) And I won't even

have to travel far for your services since you and Jason will be living out here in KY by then. Do me a favor, when you are making the big bucks and you buy your mansion on Kentucky Lake,

allow me and Howard to place our trailer in the back corner of your lot (I need a lake view though). I'll hide it in the trees so it will be barely noticeable. I'll even paint it camouflage! Great, it's a done deal then.

I hope you have a fantastic birthday and as always, I'm sorry I can't be there (but at least I remembered). Not like we aren't used to this separation by now. I think out of the 10 years we have been BFF's, we have been in the same area for about 2 years total. Makes our friendship all the more amazing though :)

Love you! IHYHIYHM!!

PS. I already found a house for you. And I'm thinking it's big enough for us to share. Howard and I will take the basement and stay out of your way so you won't need to charge us rent or anything. But we get to share the yacht and speedboat you are going to buy.

So Amy has Something to Read!

Last night, Howard's soccer team had their rematch against the green team that they lost to about a month ago (their only lost to date). It was scheduled on Monday through an email so we weren't even sure everyone knew about it and would show up. Two members of his team weren't there but they at least had enough players to play, just without any subs. The guy, Jon, who invited Howard to be on the team moved to St. Louis last week but came back to play in the game. They ended up losing again 5-3 but I thought it was a great game, much better than last time even though they lost 3-2 then.

After the game, Jon wanted to grab a drink so we went over to the bar. It was karaoke night and Howard and I were planning on leaving before it started. They called the first name and I glanced over and saw an older man get up from a booth. I wasn't interested in watching him sing so I turned away. They started playing "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash but the voice I heard was that of a young child. I turned towards the stage and saw what may be the cutest kid (besides my nieces of course) in the world. He was about 7-8 years old with blonde, shaggy hair sticking out from a slightly sideways ball cap. He had on a screen print tee with baggy jeans with holes in the knees and vans. His older sisters must be dressing him. He seemed so comfortable up on the stage and was tapping his foot along with the rhythm while he had one thumb in his jeans pocket. Too freakin cute. We stayed a little longer after that and I'm so glad we did. The DJ started playing "Soldier Boy" and I saw the crowd all turning towards the door. This little kid and his sister who was probably 9 or 10 started doing the dance. I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE this song but the two of them doing the dance together in sync was adorable. I got some of it on video but for some reason I can't post it and I don't know why and it's making me very sad :(

The reason Jon moved to St. Louis was for some job. I don't know what it is but for some reason he had about $1200 worth of nuts in his car yesterday that he couldn't wait to get rid of. So guess what that means. MORE NUTS! He gave us two plastic barrels of pistachios and a huge box full of bags of different kids of flavored almonds, pistachios and cashews. I never want to see another nut again. Ever.

It dawned on me today that I hadn't paid my car payment yet. It was due yesterday. I'm a day late. I've never paid a bill late in my life. I'm traumatized over this. They didn't charge me a late fee or anything but it's the principle of the matter. So now I'm thinking about making it a recurring theme. I think I'll pay the electric a day late too. I'm living life on the wildside now!

The weekend is supposed to be in the mid-70's which will be the coolest weather we've had in

months. I'm sure we will have a lot of fun doing outdoorsy stuff like golfing or boating. But I'm most excited about visiting the Apple Valley Hillbilly Gardens and Toyland tomorrow! Apple Valley is a historical store, Gulf station and diner from the 1930's. It has many old items from that time period. Including some very eclectic art forms. Here is a pic of a "Tree Man" just to give you a sneak peek (Thanks Amy and Heather!). I'm sure I'm going to be taking tons of pictures.

Howard drives by this place everyday on his way to work. We never knew what it was until I finally decided to look it up and then found out that they give tours. I was telling my mom about it yesterday and I had her online looking at pictures while I was on the phone. This place also has a "Toyland" that has over 3,000 toys from all time periods. My mom was gawking at the toys and then says to me, "I want to come visit you out there so I can see this place!" Realizing what she had just said, she quickly added, "Oh, I mean to see you AND see this place." She also told me that I should try and buy some of the toys she wants and if that doesn't work, I shouldn't be opposed to stealing them. I'm sure she was just joking...right, Mom? I was telling Howard this story last night and his response was, "SWEET! I thought we were going to have to have a kid to get her to come visit us!" HA!

Have a great weekend :) I know I will!

Definition of a Packrat

I pulled into the parking lot of the bar yesterday and glanced over to my right and was stunned by this car. I told Ashley I had to get off the phone to take a picture of it. On first look, I thought it was filled with trash. After I got out of the car and took a closer inspection, I realized that it was filled with everything you could imagine. Books, clothes, gloves, phones, shoes, magazines, etc. I have no idea how they can drive without being able to see out any of the windows or mirrors or even if it's legal...which I'm assuming it can't be. Later on, I saw a little old man get in this car and he somehow managed to back out of the spot without much of an issue. My question is - Why does a little old man need a powder brush? (See dashboard in photo #2)

Jack & Copper...

are inseparable! They always have to be near each other when sleeping. And when they aren't sleeping, they are usually wrestling on the floor. The second picture is my favorite. And I love Copper's squishy face wedged between the couch and Jack in the third. These pictures aren't great because they were taken with my camera phone but I felt like posting them anyway :)