Andre the Giant has a Posse!

In case you don't watch the news - Atlanta's been underwater for, oh, about 10 days! It's been cloudy and wet and downright miserable. But yesterday the sun ventured out and today a breeze came through and I tell you what - fall has arrived! To celebrate, I went for a walk on my lunch break today. Let me first say that This American Life podcasts are the greatest walking tools! I got so absorbed in the stories, I couldn't hear my internal voice that usually tells me to turn around once I hit the coffee shop. I ended up walking for 40 minutes of my lunch hour! It was fantastic!

On my way back to the office, stuck on the back of a speed limit sign, was a small sticker, no bigger than 4 square inches. On it was a sketch of Andre the Giant and scrawled in the corner was "Andre the Giant has a Posse". What a blast from the past! Andre the Giant?! In 2009?! For some reason this sticker just made me giddy. It was a treasure on a boring walk down a busy street. It's almost a better sighting than the fire next to the train tracks I saw awhile back. Almost. But then a funny thing happened. I started getting all nostalgic.

A silly little sticker brought one person rushing into my head. Grandpa Campbell. He LOVED Andre. LOVED WWF! But not like testosterone filled rednecks love it. He loved it for the comedy. So many times we'd walk into his house and see him sitting in his recliner, watching wrestling and laughing so hard he had tears running down his cheeks. The women sidekicks gave him the most amusement. The more hysterical they'd get, the more he roared with laughter. Then one day he bought us tickets! WWF was going to be in DC! What?! My 10 year old ears could hardly believe that these people who we watched on TV would actually be here, where I lived, and we could go see them! I saw Andre the Giant fight Hulk Hogan. I don't remember anything else from that day except that. It was a legendary match up and I knew it even as a kid. And people still today tell me how impressive that is when I tell them. I dutifully woke up at 7am every Saturday morning to watch "Hulk Hogan's Rock & Wrestling" cartoon and reveled in the knowledge that I had seen them in person! In. Person.

Today my grandpa is gone. And my cousin Stephen, who sat next to me on that awesome day and laughed along with Grandpa at so many things, is also gone. So many things lately flood these memories back to me since Steve left us. I always wonder, would these thoughts come back as easily if he were still here? Would I remember him teaching me the names of all the moves: Nelson, Half Nelson, Sleeper Hold. So many little things that come into my brain and they're fun, happy memories. But they make me so damn sad because I can't tell him that I saw this sticker today and it reminded me of when we were 10. I have to wonder if he would appreciate, as much as I did, a sticker that said "Andre the Giant has a Posse".

The worst brings out the best

How many more people are we going to hear about that are losing their jobs? Too many for my taste. You read the sad stories everyday, people selling their most prized possessions, cutting back on luxuries, downsizing their homes, cars, etc., etc. It's not often you hear the stories of people making it work with the new time they have or finding a new love after a long career was put to rest. Here is such a story. This is the story of Anna. This is a single mom, one of the millions in America laid off. Her newest venture - art. And I love it! It's funky and retro, and just plain fun! Her collages are my favorite. Please check out "It Takes Two" and imagine my girls.
http://www.annacreates.com/

She has her very first art show this Wednesday, August 19 at Get Coffee in Chamblee. Good luck Anna!!!

Get Unspoiled

I think I'm in love with this man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

It won't let me embed it, I apologize but it won't hurt you to click. It's worth it I promise.

So is this:


My cousin gave up Facebook for Lent. My mom is giving up internet Boggle. I'm giving up just being on the computer at home for anything other than necessities. Family & friends are more important. Call them on the phone, go visit them. Life is more than instant gratification. Just wait, it's worth it.

Fail

Have you seen the Fail Blog yet? If not, go now. No wait, read this small post first, and then go because once you get there, you will undoubtedly spend hours scrolling through the ridiculous blunders showcased. It is one of the few blogs I view every single day. Although sometimes it's fun to wait a few days so I have more posts to view when I get there.
While I'm out and about, I usually find my own fails that I only hope will one day get posted on Fail Blog. Such as this:

I don't know where to even begin with this. The idea alone appears to be a fail but then there's more. The final 'S' on Jesus is insane. The final 'S' on Loves was an afterthought. It is just fail gold! What is the message here anyway? Are they trying to tell me that Jesus loves police or that the Jesus Police love me? I'm so confused! I didn't even get a photo of his rear window which was covered in spiritual messages. How he sees out of it, I have no idea. So maybe the message is supposed to be that Jesus loves Police so that when he gets pulled over, they will show mercy.

Coming soon to a blog near you....

Wow, I have been neglectful. Sorry to my few dedicated readers. It's not time, I don't think I'm any more busy, just lazier. I'm doing better here than my poor baking blog which hasn't been updated since October.

This weekend we discovered that Mia & Layla can handle Wii bowling. I have video and will post it tomorrow. Layla's form consists of a feeble attempt at "throwing" the ball and then yelling "GO BALL GO BALL GO BALL" as it rolls down the lane. It's hilarious, I promise. I also have plans to include a weekly Layla photo post but since her camera is still in the box and sans batteries, that will have to wait a bit. But when it happens, it will be awesome. What could be better than a 3 yr old's view of the world?

To keep you occupied until I get my stuff together, visit this site my sister sent to me. It is one of the greatest gifts the internet has offered since the Lolcats.
http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

Grey Gaas

My family is Irish. Last week we lost one of our cousins. We are good at being Irish and so we drank. As we drank, we discussed the merits of Grey Goose Vodka. What happened then was a tale of its origin created by the warped mind of my cousin Joel. This is his story:

Grey Goose vodka was invented by a Mr. Goose. He married a woman name Ms. Greygaas. He made a vodka and it was fantastic. He loved his wife very much. He was honored that she had taken his name when they married because she had such a wonderful name before. So he decided to name the vodka after her and call it Greygaas. But decided to spell it Grey Goose to include his name too. But the correct pronunciation should always be like Greygaas*. So what begins as a love story ends as a story of a man who attempts to be chivalrous but just can't do it 100%. After badgering Joel for quite some time about how ridiculous his story is, he claimed to have read it on Wikipedia. So here's that link; try and find the story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Goose_vodka

The moral of this story is. When you're feeling inconsolable about the loss of a family member, just find that "special" family member to make you feel all warm & fuzzy inside.

Look how adamant he is and how his family just laughs at him. Bless his heart.

Love you Joel!

*a spelling which I am completely making up by the way

Hi, remember me?

I'm the girl with the blog. I've been busy/lazy and not updating for - jeebus - one month! Sorry to my loyal 3 readers. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I missed my VA family as I nommed on dry turkey and strange yellow gravy. It tasted right but looked off. However, yellow gravy does not top the myserious green potatoes of '89. I can eat yellow gravy, I could not find it within myself to sample Nana's potatoes.

In the time between now and my last blog. We've been busy! The girls enjoyed trick-or-treating very much!

We went to a neighborhood that goes all out for the holiday and though many houses scared the crap out of poor Layla, many were like this Hollywood home - very cool! There was a Wizard of Oz house that was handing out full tins of hot chocolate mix. It was a lot of fun. Although Layla still complains about the monsters to this day.

In other news, they are preparing for Santa's arrival by studying toy catalogues and asking for different things everyday. Chuck prepared by cashing in extra leave hours and buying a huge a$$ TV! I have to admit, it is an awesome television and we have enjoyed it immensly. Especially when LOTR came on this weekend and Aragon was in 42" of high def!

So, we are all still alive and well. I will leave you with a Mia-ism. Last night we were driving home from my father-in-law's and Mia asked, "Mommy & Daddy, can you get me & Layla some stock bonds?"

Why I should have been a high school education major

My friend Emily is a college English professor. One of her grad students is currently doing her student teaching and assigns the kids to use their vocabulary words in sentences. Then she shares the sentences with her college class and Emily consequently shares them with us. And I think our friend Angel put it best "I love this so much I could hug it."

If I'm in church and I'm feelin the lord I tenacious someone's hand.
Communism permeated in China a long time ago.
Billy Bob feed his chickens with notoriety.
Everyone has to get a tantamount of food.
My girl has a special place that she go hackneyed.
I couldn't tell that one my aunt was pregnant because she's socorpulent as it is.
My mum and I are completely incompatible, we're like day & night at the same place & time.
The cold permeates through my jacket like a hot knife through butter.
Incompatibility is impossible on eHarmony.com.
I'm in the retard class, and we only know the rudimentary skills ofgrammar.
Before the man was hung, he was thinking on how tenacious the ropeholding him was.
Just by looking at it, you could tell the greased up pig was very elusive.

Wackadoo Wednesday - getting you over the hump

My favorite time wasters: (in no particular order)

1. Pogo - solitaire on steroids
2. Dooce
3. Cake Wrecks
4. Facebook
5. Jennifer Eolin's Project Runway Blogs - you'll never watch the show the same way again!
6. Go Fug Yourself
7. Abdpbt
8. Smitten Kitchen - the best food porn you can get for free
9. LOL Cats - I admit it, I love them, they're adorable and make me laugh
10. Frezned - Adorable and funny and a cute accent

Happy time wasting!

Fall!

This is my favorite season. The weather is cool, the trees are gorgeous, and the holidays start creeping up on you. It's the perfect time of year. This weekend we're going apple picking. It's becoming a tradition for us. This will be the third time for me & Mia and second for Chuck & Layla. We drive up towards the GA mountains to get to the orchards so the scenery is perfection.

What I also love about this season is that every afternoon when I step outside my office to go home, I can hear the high school marching band practicing. Then I crunch all the acorns that fell around my car while at work. I actually get disappointed if I don't step on a least one intact acorn. The sound and feel of it crushing under my foot is exhilarating.
And then there's the baking. I've already made some amazing apple cinnamon cupcakes and I can't wait to start baking with pumpkin. Cinnamon & nutmeg smells - bring on the cozy!
What's your favorite part of fall?

The things we do for the one we love

My husband is one of the pickiest people I have ever known. It's not just about food, it's everything, what he watches, activities he does, trips he takes. It has gotten to the point that if I suggest something and he agrees with it, I have to stop a moment and check if I'm awake. Lately I've been badgering him about lotion. I have lots of lotions and he complains about the smell of them. All of them, except my mango scented one. So I've given him a mission of finding something he enjoys the scent of so I can buy some and wear it so as not to offend his sensitive nose. He once got so upset at the movies he wouldn't let me share his popcorn anymore because my arm had to go near him which meant he had to smell me. The horror! I solved that by snatching the popcorn and making him reach for it.
Anywho. The other day he called me from the office to say that he found a lotion he liked the smell of. It was someone's birthday and she had gotten some Pink lotion by Victoria Secret and he actually liked it. I got so excited. Tomorrow we have a date night, so I got inspired and went to Vicky's on my lunch break to buy some of this fabulous lotion.
Right now I have a headache and feel a bit nauseous. The smell is awful. I just put a little bit on. A tiny dollop. It smells like someone has drowned me in perfume. And I've washed my hands. Twice. It's awful. I'm praying he really does like this stuff so it is worth it. But I kind of hope I bought the wrong stuff. How could he like this smell? But if it's wrong, I just threw away $20. For lotion!
When I was in college the years were divided; odd graduating years were Red Devils, even years, Pink Panthers. As a member of the Class of '99, I celebrated Red. And as we chanted this to the rival classes, I never realized that one day I would take it so literally but Pink Stinks!

In Your Face!

Things to do with your face:

Face Your Manga - I have no idea what that means but it's cute nonetheless

Vintage Yearbook - Be one of those people you always made fun of

Hairstyles - Before you spend money on a haircut that looked much better on Jennifer Anniston in 1994

Why we should all start swimming

File under So Not Fair

Phelps' 12,000 Calorie Diet

What he eats in a day could feed my entire family of four for 2 days! Actually, I just read it again, it would feed my family for a good three days. Easy. And I'd probably have leftovers for lunch on day 4.

Olympic dreams and random thoughts as I watch the Opening Ceremonies

I just sat down to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. The opening credits made me teary. What is it about these games that tugs on my heart strings so? Is it what was repeated 100 times "Not the triumph but the struggle"? Is it the enormity of the events themselves? Is it that I'm a completely hormonal woman who got teary as her daughter took her very first shower this evening? Or all of the above? Regardless, I will be silently weeping through a majority of these games. I put myself in the shoes of the athletes as I always have my whole life. What does standing on that platform feel like? I am in awe of thier ability to hold it together with dignity and grace as their National Athem plays and millions are crying for them. And I put myself in the shoes of the proud parents watching as their child is crowned best in the world. The whole world! If that were my child, I wouldn't have a coherent thought. Chuck would have to just sit there, holding a wreck of a sobbing woman, looking at the camera inevitably pointed as us and just shrug and pretend he didn't know me.

And then there's Bob Costas. Although he so far appears to be behaving, I will never forget his horrible joke from the '96 Olympics. During the Parade of Nations, he spoke of the rule passed to the Canadian athletes - no sex during the games. He then remarked that there would be no "O Canada"'s being heard from outside their bedroom windows. *groan*

U.S. uniforms - driving caps. Awesome. Really, they are but it's a look that sends memories of my late Grandpa Campbell into my head. More emotions flooding in. It's going to be a roller coaster of a month.

Despite the tears and insanity in my head what I keep thinking is this:

How F**king cool are these Opening Ceremonies? Damn China, you put on a good show!

RAIN!

On Saturday we were supposed to hold our big comeback for the Movie in the Park. We were showing Goonies - that awesome classic from my generation's childhood! Then this happened.

We won't go into how long it took me to get this shot but it's just a sample of the completely crazy storm we had. The screen tech was all, "this will blow over in 10 minutes." Sure it will, but how many people are still going to come? An hour and a half later when it was still shooting bolts all around us, he finally packed up his stuff and went home so I could do the same.

Fun finds

If you have not logged on to see the great finds at Etsy, do it today! Everything is handmade and most of it is super cute and/or super trendy! Here's a few of my favorite things I've seen so far:








Letters I bought one for every member of my family and am hanging them in my hallway dispersed among all the photos I have there already.

Monkey Hat This reminds me so much of the Mickey Mouse costume I wore when I was 2 and my cousin Steve & I dressed alike for Halloween. I'm just hoping one of my friends gets pregnant soon so I have an excuse to buy this adorable head piece!

Apron Maybe it's because of all the baking I've been doing lately but I just love the idea of a full apron. If I had one, I might not have scalded my stomach with boiling caramel last night. Oh yeah, Dad called me "Grace" as a child for a reason.

Explore Etsy for yourself and see what amazing items there are! I swear I could almost furnish my entire home with the cool stuff listed! If only I had the money......

When it comes time to vote

I'm going to listen to the children.


Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children�s Healthcare

Why I love Photoshop

On Friday in Destin, it was cloudy & rainy all day. Very heartbreaking when you're on the beach. As we were driving back to the house from a failed attempt at kiddy rides, I looked out at the ocean and proclaimed, "How cool! You can see exactly where the rain starts!" And promptly jumped out of the car and took a picture. Well this is what I got:

It's not terrible and you can tell it's a storm but even Chuck looking over my shoulder said, "That didn't turn out very good, did it?" And he was right.
But then I got to work and plugged this little baby into photoshop and VOILA! I got what I wanted:

See how much more beautiful the water looks and how much more menacing the clouds look? Photoshop is my new favorite toy. :)

Death and taxes, well maybe just death

This is Layla giving my father-in-law's dog, Goliath, some love. Goliath and his sister Georgia are adorable little Dachshunds. Who doesn't love a cute little "wiener dog"?
According to Wikipedia, "The standard size was developed to scent, chase, and flush badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, while the miniature was to hunt rabbits." Unfortunately, my husband and I did not know this little fact about dachshunds but even if we did, I'm not sure we could have predicted the events that happened within 5 minutes of letting them in my FIL's house while he was in sunny CA, and we were supposed to be taking care of everything.
Dachshunds are yapping dogs. Chuck and I can take only so much yapping before we start trying to think of ways to divert their attention to something quieter. On Thursday of last week Chuck had the brilliant idea to let the dogs inside to rest on their little beds. We made sure to lock the cats up so there would be no altercations there and let the dogs have the run of the house. Oh how foolish we were. I was downstairs with the girls and I hear Chuck call to me "Baby, did you put the gerbil's cage on the floor?" Oh. My. God.
Carnage.
Cage on the floor.
Cedar bedding everywhere.
No sign of gerbils.
I flash back to when I was 9 and lost my hamster. I found it weeks later, cowering in the corner of my mom's closet. So I start searching dark corners. I turn, move the desk chair and see it.
Gerbil carcass.
I shriek and Chuck comes running. I think we stood there for a full minute, just staring at the poor dead rodent. Then Chuck speaks. "Do gerbils play dead?" No honey. No they don't.
I found the other one in a guest room.
Let me ask you. Does that puppy in the photo above still look cute?? No, not to me either.
RIP little gerbils. And thank you God for understanding in-laws.

Literary craziness

My friend Jill sells used books. She gets some jewels and she gets some duds, and then she gets some that are so insane she is at a loss for words. Her girlfriend told her to create a blog about them and thank God she has and I now have a whole other way to waste time at work. Keep 'em coming Jilly Bean!

They Actually Print This Stuff

Family note: check out the author, I hope he or she is not a relation of ours.