I have decided that IT'S GREAT

to live amongst such music lovers! First of all, a big THANK YOU to Steve and Karen for making the weekend so enjoyable! Good friends, good food and good music always seem to go together well. Here's some pictures to prove it!

Here is the hostess with the mostest favoring us with a little tune! Awesome stuff Karen!

This is Karen's nephew Tom! He LOVES Stevie Ray Vaughn and favored us with with some awesome music!

Here's neighbor Bill! While the cat was away, the mouse came out to play.

Here's Michael helping out with some percussion!

And of course there's Ike!

And here's Charlotte singing her heart out.

Sorry, no pictures of the bread that I made or the wonderful soup that Karen made! A good time was had by all.

Have I mentioned that it's HOT here?

Changes

It's amazing how much one person's life can change within the matter of a month or so. It's been kind of a sad month for me! My best friend here in Kentucky moved away several weeks ago. Maybe I wasn't her best friend, but she was also my neighbor! I have watched her kids grow, shared meals with her, did the Black Friday thing with her, shared good times at our favorite winery with her, and the list goes on. I miss their little family so much. It's like something is amiss on our block without the Cromikas being next door. To see Grace kicking her leg at Edwin through the deck and giggling and "flirting" with him, or seeing Gavon jump off of the porch at least a hundred times without getting tired, or just sitting on the porch with Michael and Ashley on a Friday night and chatting about all the crazy things in the world! I am wondering now how I am going to get along without them. I realize that change must come, and most of the time, at the most inopportune time, but life is just not the same. First John and Megan and the grandbabies move away, then Michael and Ashley and the kids! GRRRRR!!! I want all my kids back~~~!!!!!

But, the one cool thing that happened though, when Mike and Rondia (Michael's parents), brought Gavon and Grace over to tell us Goodbye, Pete and two of his friends (Phil and Paul), and Gavon and Grace played the most intense game of hide and seek that I have ever witnessed in my life. Pete is 18 and Phil and Paul are both 19, but they took this 7 and 3 year old and had a hell of a good time. They were hiding in the portable toilet down the street, in trunks of cars, anywhere that they could think of, and these older boys were serious about this stuff too! We laughed and laughed and had such a good time watching them. We also had a really nice visit with Mike and Rondia.

TOP SEVEN AT 7!

1- GOT GREAT NEW NEIGHBORS TO THE WEST, GETTING NEW NEIGHBORS TO THE EAST NEXT TUESDAY!

2- WAY COOL "HIPPIE" ARTSY VAN PARKED KITTY CORNER FROM US! MORE NEW NEIGHBORS??

3- HIRED 2 NEW GREAT EMPLOYEES AND HIRED BACK 1 FORMER EMPLOYEE, THINGS ARE LOOKING UP FOR VALERIE TO SOON HAVE A DAY OFF!

4- MADE SOME KILLER SANGRIA LAST WEEKEND, AND SHARED IT WITH FRIENDS! ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO DO! I AM GLAD THAT YOU ENJOYED IT BILL AND PATIENCE! I HOPE THAT ALL OF THE GUESTS ENJOYED IT TOO. I BET YOU ALL HAD SOME KILLER FRUIT SALAD FOR BREAKFAST!

5- TRYING TO PLAN A GET TOGETHER FOR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, BUT AS ALWAYS SEEMS THAT MY TIMING IS WRONG OR I AM JUST TOO TIRED TO GET OFF MY BUTT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! SANGRIA WILL BE INVOLVED, GOOD FOOD, GOOD COMPANY, AND PROBABLY PINK PANTIE PULL DOWNS! sorry michael and ashley, gotta share the love and do it without you!

6-WESLEY WILL BE 6 YEARS OLD ON THE FIRST OF JULY! WHAT IN THE WORLD WILL WE GET HIM? ANY SUGGESTIONS?

7-THINKING ABOUT STARTING TO WALK TOO AND FROM WORK! THESE GAS PRICES AND THE GOVERNMENT ARE REALLY STARTING TO TICK ME OFF! I DON'T HAVE FAR TO GO, BUT WITH MY LUCK, AT THAT EARLY IN THE MORNING, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT KIND OF CRAZIES YOU WILL MEET. THERE WAS ONE STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF 9TH STREET WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUST STANDING THERE, LIKE HE DIDN'T HAVE A CARE IN THE WORLD! PEPPER SPRAY MAYBE?

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS! PEACE!

SIT

I like to sit! Especially after a grueling day at my work place! This was a different kind of sit! Several weeks ago, when Barb was here, she ask me to sit for her while she did an artistic view of me with pastels! It is different when you sit in front of the tv, watching your favorite program, or sit while reading a book, or sit and play a game of cards, or dice or a board game with your favorite friends or beloved family members. This was what I will call a "hard sit"! First she told me that I should wear something bright and colorful! I scoured my closet for the requested article of clothing, only to realize that I am quite a boring dresser. My closet is filled with mostly black and white clothing. Black because they say that it is "slimming", which I really need, and white, just because I like it! Only recently have I begun to purchase tans and something with a little splash of color here and there. So, I guess that meant that I had to go shopping! Oh, darn!

The experience was something very extraordinary. Sitting for an artist takes tons of concentration and most of all self control! More that I thought that I could ever exhibit! At first, yes, I took the break after 20 minutes or so, stretched my legs, went outside to satisfy my ill habit, then I was back at it! Staring at a pink post it note on Karen's wall, I willed myself to not move a muscle! The longer that I sat, the longer I wanted to sit. I found myself in some kind of weird zone, not because I wanted the whole experience to be over, but because, there was no one there that was bothering me, I didn't have to think about anything, unless I wanted to and it was pretty cool! Then Barb, the artiste!, did a bad thing! She offered to make me some coffee! I said "sure" with my closed mouth, so as not to screw up the end result! Time for a break! Went outside, came back in and the coffee smelled oh so good! I got a couple of swigs in, then that old slave driver made me assume the position once again! I sat my cup right near the front leg of the chair! It was Starbucks and it smelled so dang good, and I couldn't even take a sip! By the time that break rolled around again, it was just the right temperature for guzzling! I won't ramble on too much, only to say that this was a really good experience. It taught me a lesson about self control, in that you can really have self control when you need to! Thank you Barb and Karen for the great experience. Now to all of you far away readers, here is the end result! I love it!

PATIENCE PICTURE!

WORD OF THE DAY:

Can't help thinking about the little boy in the Dairy Queen commercial!

ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM

Main Entry:
antidisestablishmentarianism
Part of Speech:
n
Definition:
originally, opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England, now opposition to the belief that there should no longer be an official church in a country
Example:
When people are asked for the longest word they know, they often say antidisestablishmentarianism

FINALLY A FEW FREE MINUTES!

OK dear readers, I know that you have been anxiously awaiting a detailed report of how my trip went, but with some consideration for you poor things that so painstakingly read this blog, I am going to have a little feature, along with my Word of the Day, and "Patience Picture", called "While in Idaho". I figure if I do it that way, I will have time to reminisce and focus more on all of the details and share more with you, rather than just rambling on and on incessantly about the whole trip all at once.
I have decided that it is really good to be home though. It's strange how you always consider one place "home", only to reach your destination and realize that somewhere completely different is now your HOME. I will always consider Idaho home, but when I got to my HOME, it was a completely humbling feeling. It's hard to explain, but hopefully something that some of you may be able to understand.
There is so much going on here right now! Mostly the anticipation of our LowerTown Arts and Music Festival. It's over Memorial Day weekend. Word has it that 80 vendors have signed up! There will be food booths, artists selling their wares, live music and all that jazz. But, what makes it so nice is that we can sit on our front porch and listen to all of the music without having to fight the crowds. Now, don't get me wrong, it's nice to wander the streets and see people, but, there's no place like home! That's my funny for the day! It's pretty bad when you get to the point that you can't stand to wander about 2 blocks away! Maybe I am getting phobic or something. EEK!
WORD OF THE DAY: CHUFF
–noun 1. a rustic.
2. a boor; churl.
3. a miserly fellow.
PATIENCE PICTURE: SEE WHILE IN IDAHO

WHILE IN IDAHO
OK, so while I was in Idaho my whole family, well, the ones that were there ate at numerous restaurants! My brother told me about a new place called Oakey's. When Samantha and her family arrived, we all decided to eat there. It was such a cool place. Just a glorified burger joint actually! Sports stuff on the walls, guitars on the walls, record albums posted all over the bathroom walls, it was just way cool. While looking at the menu, Dustin, Samantha's true love, noticed a 20 ounce burger. He just knew that he could tackle it with no problem! The served it with a pound of hand cut fries, yes, made from IDAHO potatoes, on a trash can lid that had been turned upside down!
I told Dustin that I would give him $5 if he could eat all of it! He made a good stab at it! But, ended up taking some home in a go box!
A good time was had by all, and no one left hungry! Now here is one of the funniest pictures that I took while I was in Idaho.

Only 8 more days and a way cool ART SHOW

Yeah, only 8 more days. I had to mention that first because I am getting nervous as all get out. No, I haven't started packing yet, my trip to the airport is still up in the air, as I don't know if I am driving myself, or if my neighbor is really going to call in sick and take me. There are just way too many considerations to make and it's not good for the body, soul and mind to be in such disarray! Like, should I take both my digital camera and my film camera? Am I going to be charged extra for a second piece of luggage now that Northwest and Delta have merged? Will there be flight delays? (Delta has had a lot of problems with this lately.) Will I make my connection from one end of the MSP airport all the way to the other end on my flight there? I haven't started packing, but I do have my suitcase open and waiting to be filled up. The weather there is going to suck! Looked it up on the National Weather Service and Accuweather this morning, so I have decided that I will be doing a lot of layering, rather that carrying a coat around with me, just more to deal with and I don't need that! How many books should I take to read? How long is my mp3 player going to last? Should I even bother taking it? AAAARRRGGHH!!!! Help me out here folks!

Went to a WAY TOO COOL art show on Saturday night. The guy was pretty young and what was really cool was that it was in one of the condos down the street that hasn't been rehabbed yet. He had many different types of media to choose from, and I even bought Pete a piece of art. Will take a picture of it when dude gets a hold of me to come and pick it up. You can see pictures and more on the art show here! There may be someone you know in a picture! Anyway, that's all that I have for now. Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's off to work I go. Later!

OH, Any suggestions for my pending flight would be greatly appreciated!