Feeling Weird

Yeah, I'm feeling weird.

Is anyone else feeling weird? 

It seems like all sorts of things are coming to an end.

Taylor is graduating from Trident with her Associates in Arts.  Now she decides where to complete her college career.  I'm guessing it won't be somewhere nearby. 

Jake graduated from law school yesterday.  Now he's an "official" grown up and moving into the adult world, and all that it holds. 

The English Football season is over.  All sorts of players, managers and television folks retired. 

Season Finales on TV,  graduations, proms, etc etc.

These things always make me sad.  It signifies all sorts of change around the corner.  And Mama does NOT do well with change.

I moved too many times in my life, and I just resist it as much as possible.  I hate saying goodbye.  I feel like there are all sorts of goodbyes right now. 

Oh, I know, I know.  You have to say goodbye before you can say hello.   I'm sure it will all be good, but right now, I'm just feeling weird about the endings.  I guess I have to get through that before I can be excited about the hellos. 

Memorial Day is the unofficial HELLO to summer.  Maybe that hello will get me out of the goodbye funk?

(I would have liked to say hello to winning that Powerball though...)

Mid Week Mute

Well, here's something I didn't know about the duck penis.

Credit to little Breann for the link.  And the alternate title, "What the Duck?"

Let's Catch Up!

Whew, I am really really behind on posting, eh?  Because I'm feeling super lazy, but still want to get caught up, we will just do this quick and easy.  So, no more procrastination, here's the recap of the last week!!

Ate great Mexican food for Cinco De Quatro AND Cinco De Mayo.
Got free Tshirts at the good restaurant. 
Sir shaved a goofy chin strap on his face and got free food and drinks at same restaurant.
Worked four days.
Watched AMC on line.  The jury is still out...
Marveled at Charles Ramsay.
Tried to hire an attorney for the firm.
Wrote a goofy bio for the firm website.
Watched TV with Taylor.
Drove to Columbia.  Drove back.
Listened to three hours of my book. 
Got my nails did.
Went to Savannah.
Stayed in a really cool loft in downtown Savannah.
Walked a lot.
Drank beer at the Rail Pub.
Played loads of songs on the jukebox.
Had BAD Mexican food, never thought that was even possible.
Saw a bird explode.  Seriously.
Watched ManU get their trophy today and got choked up when Sir Alex spoke to the crowd.
Got caught up on Grey's Anatomy.  Please don't let Meredith lose the baby!
Ate some Angry Pasta.
Thanked the powers that be for my two wonderful kids.
Talked to my Grandma.
Ate a few Munchos.
Took a couple naps.
Took the lazy way out to get caught up on the blog.

Happy Mother's Day to all of us.  Even if you aren't a mom, I know you have mothered someone or something in your life.  Kudos  to you!

Sir and I celebrating fourteen and two.

photo by Sir

Friends of Ju

Welcome to Part III of the series, "Friends Of Ju."  Tonight, I bring you another boy.  Ladies and Gents, meet Neil Caruso:

Steven and I met Neil through soccer in the summer of 2001.  He was a young buck, single and out there, living large!  He was Steven's "best defender."  The boys played games on Sundays, and the games were always followed by recap sessions (aka drinking sessions) at Moe's Crosstown Tavern.  Many a Sunday found us closing down the place and somehow making it through a productive Monday at work.

(L to R:  Chris, Jon, Neil and Sir)

  See why he's special?  He's listening to some really stupid story of mine and acting like it's really important.  I'm sure I'm discussing Dave Matthews.  

 

One of the things I've always appreciated about Neil, and the trait that makes him unique, is that he has developed and maintained a friendship with Sir, with me, and with Sir/Me.  I am his friend, independent of Sir, even though we met each other together.  I enjoy speaking with him, listening to him, and laughing with him.

I've watched him go from single dude to married man, to homeowner, to daddy of one, to vodka entrepreneur, to daddy of two, and to mini van owner.  (ouch?)  There's something to be said about watching your friends grow.  He's an excellent cook, an avid sports buff, and apparently a fantastic defender. 

Neil and his WONDERFUL wife, Jodi, are like family to Sir and I, and like an aunt and uncle  to Taylor.  They include us in family activities, traditions and celebrations.  For a gal who has such little family, this means the world to us.  Steven took the photos for their wedding and for the christening of their first daughter, Addison Grace.

 

Oh yeah.  That reminds me.  Neil's grandma, Mariette.  You can see from this photo that they are the spitting image of each other.  After spending time with her, I realize that he was the male version of this spunky special woman.  And, the love and respect he felt for her made me that much more enamored of him.  We will all miss Grandma, as she was one of the special ones.  Mariette, I'm watching out for them.

As I said before, Neil is now a vodka entrepreneur.  He and his partners have developed and are marketing and selling a very cool vodka by the name of Chilled Dills.   This was created from evenings  in their backyard where they combined vodka with pickle juice, dill pickle juice.  Let me just say--AWESOME in a Bloody Mary.

We have known Neil for years, and in so many capacities.  One of the most special remains the fact that he was the officiant who married us at our very impromptu wedding.    The wedding was just like Neil:  straight to the point, no bulls***, mixed with a bit of emotion.

(still a look of shock on my very fat face)

So, there you have it folks.  The guy Steven and I both pegged as our favorite friend, many many years ago.  He rocks. 

And, while I was composing this blog, I received a text/photo from him of Jodi and Daughter Number One:

I love seeing those I love so happy.

****************************************************

Bonus pic of Sir and I from back in the day.

Oh, the glory of youth!

 

5 Hour v. 6 Hour

I'm not a coffee drinker.  It's not that I don't enjoy the flavor, I do.  It's just that I don't have the patience to wait for hot drinks to cool down so I can drink them without burning the heck out of my tongue.

I do drink unsweet iced tea, but that doesn't really pack much of a caffeine punch.  So, on days where I find myself needing a bit of a pick me up, I've been known to turn to the Five Hour Energy Drink.  Grape Flavor.

I like this little drink, mainly because it is a little drink.  I don't have to put a bunch of liquid in my body, and it usually does the trick quickly.  The grape flavor doesn't make me want to vomit, and hey, there's no sugar, so it fits into my oh so healthy lifestyle.

Let me introduce you to my little friend:

Notice the calm mountains on the bottle, the healthy looking bunch of grapes, and the simplistic words on the bottle. 

And remember this phrase:  If it aint broke, don't fix it.

Now, let me tell you how Steven tried to kill me this past weekend. 

Sir brought home the generic Food Lion equivalent of the 5 Hour Energy Drink.  It is, creatively called, the 6 Hour Energy Drink.  Because, you know we all need that extra hour.  Anyway.... meet my nemesis:

EXTREME ENERGY!  World's most extreme!  Flames!  Feel the Rush!  Works Blazing Fast!  WOW, huh?  Wow, no.  No bunch of grapes.  No peaceful mountains.  I should have known.

First of all, it tasted like evil ick.  Seriously, it was like Robitussin on Crack.  BLECH.  I hate to appear ungrateful, but I just couldn't imagine why he brought me this one (in a double pack) home to me. 

And then this happened:

hives  (hvz)

pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

A skin condition characterized by intensely itching welts and caused by an allergic reaction to internal or external agents, an infection, or a nervous condition. Also called nettle rash, urticaria.

 

And that ↑ was the color of my skin, the elevated very itchy skin.  My body did NOT like the 6 Hour Energy Shot, and it did NOT enjoy the rush.  I could have gone all my life without that extra hour.

 

 

 

 Go for the Grape.

 

 

My Cup Runneth Over

Many years ago, I made the hardest decision of my life.  I like to think that I had a few guardian angels guiding me---

I've spent more time away from him than with him.  

Not being together broke my heart each and every day.

Getting this yesterday was a reminder that I did the right thing at a really wrong time of my life.

He was raised with love and light.

and somehow no anger or resentment.

 

Seeing "mom" in his handwriting?

Worth it all.  

Congratulations Jake.  I love you.  

Be very very happy.

HIJACKED!!

This blog has been hijacked by a Candy Crush Addict.

There have been relatively few posts on here because the author has been taken hostage by the evil game known as CANDY CRUSH.

 

She plays it from the time she gets to home until the time she goes to bed.

No intellectual conversations with the husband.

No reading of wonderful novels.

Not even the viewing of Chopped, Breaking Bad or some reality show.

Her life has been taken over by little candies, the horrible girl and man above, and the quest for lives, donuts and clearing of the jellies.

She hopes to be freed from this prison soon.  Just as soon as she gets past Level 45.