Vicki is having fun – and writing about it!
Found a great way to have fun on Halloween – go to the Six Flags Halloween Haunt! The entire theme park has been converted into haunted houses, graveyards and other spooky things. They have characters in spooky costumes roaming about the park, too. I wonder if the park guests are supposed to come in costume? I have some friends that could dress up and go crazy at a place like that.
Sounds like a blast – I can’t wait to go!
All the TV crime shows are so interesting and full of crime solving information. I hope that the information they provide in the shows is correct. Like, in CSI, they mentioned that every crime has a “Trinity”
So, I wonder if the police really use that term or is that something the writer’s made up to sound cool? I love the CSI shows because they are always talking about technical details and police lino that sound real.
I’m so worried about all those people who lived in Galveston and Houston now that Hurricane Ike has devastated southern Texas.
I’ve been watching CNN for coverage of the storm the past two days and the damage is just shocking. It looks like almost every home on Galveston has been reduced to a pile of splintered lumber, and some homes are nothing but a concrete foundation. It’s so sad and upsetting to think that thousands of people have lost their homes and possessions to the wind, rain and flooding that happened one day and then stopped. Like a door that slams shut and leaves the room deadly quiet.
My girlfriend got a new Cricket cell phone and I tried to warn her that those phones aren’t good in this area. The Cricket network does cover this area very well – lots of places have dead zones. It’s really frustrating to be talking to someone on your Cricket phone and then with no warning the call gets disconnected because you drove over a hill and lost the signal. Sometimes the calls get dropped when you simply walk across the room. She says she got it for emergencies, but if you have an emergency in a dead zone then it’s no help after all. I think she wasted her money on that cricket phone.
With my boss out of town this week, no one will miss me much if I take off a couple days of personal leave and go do something fun. I’m not planning an official vacation this year. I thought I’d have more fun if I just tacked an extra day or two onto a weekend here and there.
So I invited my sister and my nephew to go to Atlanta with me for two days of roller coaster thrills at Six Flags. My nephew doesn’t really like a lot of the scarey rides – he’s just 4 years old anyways. But they have a great little kiddie park area with trains and planes and carousels. She can stay and watch him and I’ll head off for the roller coasters – they are my favorite.
I got a special price online that get the three of us in the park for half price, so we can go for two days for the price of one. That way we can stay overnight and not have to rush back the same night after being hot and tired from the rides and crowds. Of course, her husband is being an ass about her being away overnight. But he can’t get off from work and for goodness sake, she’s with me, sharing a cheap room for convenience. And safety. And we’re taking her kid. It’s not like we’re going to leave a 4 year old in the hotel room by himself and go out drinking or anything. And she sure as hell isn’t going to leave me in the room watching her kid so she can go out drinking. I mean, get real!
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my car. I bought my Malibu brand new, off the lot, with everything I wanted in it except for leather seats, and I was able to talk the dealership into having aftermarket leather seatcovers put on it – at no extra charge!
But with the cost of gas going up and up, I’m starting to wonder if I really need to drive this car every day and every where. Since my house is only 5-6 minutes from the office, it’s a little too far to walk (especially in the summer heat) but it’s close enough that I’m thinking that a quick scooter ride to work might be fun and it will save a bunch on gas.
I’ve seen a couple really nice Vespa scooters and they don’t cost very much. They get really great gas mileage – I’d only have to fill it up once or twice a month, and it’s a tiny gas tank! Of course, my Dad will freak out – he hates motorcycles. But its not like I’m turning into a Harley rider or anything.
This weekend my sister has “reserved” the Lake cabin for herself and her family, so I’ve been told to find something else to do. Hmm. That’s a new attitude from her and her husband, and I’m not sure I like it. The cabin belongs to my parents and frankly I find it a little insulting to be told I’m not welcome there by my sister.
However, I am a good sport and “a big girl,” and I can certainly find something else to do this weekend. I’m thinking about a quick trip to Atlanta. My girlfriend is usually up for a Saturday night at the clubs in Buckhead. So we’ll see what kind of big city fun we can scare up at the last minute!
Is it just me? Or is this a banner year for bugs? It must have something to do with all the rain we’ve had this spring, which we needed and will hopefully not have the horrible problem with a late summer drought like we had last summer. But good grief! The bugs are out in full force.
We got back from a weekend at the Lake and I found three ticks on me when I took a shower. Plus, I’m covered with mosquito bites. Even though I used the OFF! each morning, going out on the Lake and swimming and sweating as much as you do when you are out on the water, I guess the OFF! didn’t last nearly long enough to keep away the mosquitos.
This year Memorial Day comes early in the calendar year, but that doesn’t stop everyone around here from celebrating the first unofficial weekend of summer!
My parents have a little cabin on the Lake and we’re all heading down to Guntersville for the long weekend. I’m taking off work a couple hours early so I can go over to help my mom get ready. Mom and Dad and I will go down tonight and do the cleaning and set up to make ready for everyone else that’s coming tomorrow.
The cabin has been empty since Christmas, so we have to re-stock the pantry and the linen closet. We have to deep clean everything – there’s always a lot of dust and mildew to deal with. That’s what you get when you live by a lake and have the place closed up for 5 months.
My Dad will be busy cutting the little bit of grass and weeds around the yard and making the boats and motors ready for use. He also sorts out and cleans and repairs all the water toys and equipment, and all the fishing gear. We won’t see much of him until really late!
When my sister’s family arrives Friday night, we’ll have a nice big dinner and spend a couple hours down on the dock, and then Saturday we’ll all take turns driving the boats and water skiing, tubing, and fishing off the dock. I love this family tradition and it’s a great way to kick off our summer.
Yesterday was all about food since it was my birthday.
My boss took me out to lunch and we invited his secretary and my friend in human resources to go with us. He wanted me to pick the restaurant, so I picked one that I know he likes – the Macaroni Grill. I think almost everyone likes good Italian food. We all ordered a different entre and then when it came out to our table we all shared between ourselves. That was really cool and one of the great things about working with these guys. We are a strong team and I think of several co-workers as fondly as I do my own brothers and sisters.
When we got back to the office, there was a surprise waiting for us – a birthday ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Everyone popped into the main conference room to wish me a happy birthday and get themselves a big piece of cake. So of course, I had to eat a slice – to hell with the diet on my birthday!
Then last night my parents wanted me to come over and I was hoping for a home cooked meal, as my mom is a great cook and there’s things she can cook that I can’t manage to have turn out any where near as good as hers. But my dad wanted to go out, so they told me to pick a restaurant. One of my favorites is an Asian Fusion restaurant, but it’s a little expensive for my budget and I would have loved to go there, but Dad doesn’t really like Asian food and he didn’t want to go there, so I just picked the Longhorn Steakhouse. My Dad is pretty much a meat and potatoes guy, and he likes just about everything on the Longhorn menu.
So I stuffed myself like a pig yesterday and had a very nice day celebrating my 30th birthday. Now, back to the diet!