Caboose

I've been away for a couple of days working on my son's costume for Comicon in Chicago.  I can't believe I only have 21 more days to work on this.  It is kicking my butt!  I went to Instructables (great site for anyone whose crafty...not just for grandmas...geeky crafts, garden crafts, seriously check it out!!) and found this walk through.  I'm using yoga mats I found at 5 Below. (think dollar store only things are $5 and below)

It is so much more time consuming than I thought.  I will post pics as I go, but for now I'm in the holy shit are these instructions in English phase. 

Drop me a comment if you have tips, if you've made a costume or if you are going to Chicago too!

Love to hear about it.

It's Decided!

As a family we have decided to go to the Wizard World Comic Con as Raising Hope!!

I, of course, get to be Maw Maw.  (I do want to state for the record I am only 49 and single *wink,wink*)
Anyways, I am stoked!! My oldest and her hubby and my little bubala will be Sabrina, Jimmy and Hope, and my middle daughter and her hubs will be Virginia and Bert.

If anyone comes across pants online that look like this, let me know.  I will be frequenting the local Goodwills to find my outfit.

Wish me luck...52 days and counting!

Me and the chilluns are going to Wizard World Comic Con in Chigao in August.  I am so stoked!  My 16yo is going to be Caboose from Red Vs Blue and I'm looking to Instructables.com to find some how-tos.  I'm thinking of using 6mm foam and a heat gun to mold.  As I have never worked with either, this should be interesting.

My oldest, her hubby and their little one are going as characters from Firefly.  My middle and her hubby have not even come up with costumes yet.  I would like to be Zoe from Firefly or Buffy, however I would like to lose a little weight before then.

Anyone ever been to Comicon?  Anyone with insider tips on how to make costumes?  Any pics of you in your costumes?  I wanna see!

Charlie Davidson Series

I have recently started reading the Charlie Davidson Series by Darynda Jones. I just finished #4 "The Fourth Gave on Beneath my Feet"

This has been such a fun series so far.  It is based on Charlie Davidson, a PI who can see and talk to the dead, oh and she's a portal for them to cross through.  She sees herself as a grim reaper, but I wonder if Darynda has something else in mind for her.  But I'm getting ahead of my self.

Charlie has always been able to see and talk to the departed.  This worked out great for her dad since he was an officer in homicide.  He has since retired but her uncle is still on the force.  However helpful to the two men in her life, as you can imagine, it is awkward, to say the least, in day to day life.  She runs her detective agency with Cookie, her best friend, who is loyal and is always on her side.  Charlie is a bad ass (and a smart ass) character and the dialogue in Darynda's books are great.  

Book 1, "First Grave on the Right" introduces us to all the great characters, like Charlie, Cookie, UB (uncle Bob) and Reyes.  We learn about Charlies background and about Reyes (RE: super hot guy, or Jason Stathem, Bradley Cooper, Chris Hemsworth...you get the pic)

These are mystery/thriller/steamy books that are fast reads cause they are so good!
Start the series, let me know what you think.  They are the perfect summer read!

Free phone wallpaper

 I have found a fun site called AppsGeyser and since my son and I love to take pictures I thought I could make wallpaper from our pics.  Here's a free app I made and free wallpaper for your phone!! 

Let me know what you think.  I'm gonna make more soon.


Download our App Picture This built by Appsgeyser.com

The theme of the day: INAPPROPRIATE

I had a doctors appointment the other day in Muskegon.  My daughter came along for support and we decided to kill some time in Wallyworld and a nearby thrift store.  While walking into Walmart there were 2 cars parked with, shall we say, questionable bumper stickers:

I know you can't read this...it says:

"If you're going to ride my ass...

at least pull my hair"

(no comment)

I felt sexually harassed before i even made it into the store!

We decided to go to a local thrift store and found this:

A little boy who pees your liquor into a glass.

People in Muskegon are c-lass-y!!

The Voice

In the words of the immortal Lionel Richie....

"Don't run past yourself"


Words to live by....

The Oscars

Well, I am taping Celebrity Apprentice to watch the Oscars.
Yes I said taping cause we have not yet made it to the 21st century and dvrs...we still tape on a vcr.
I don't usually watch the Oscars, but I do love Billy Crystal so I had to watch.
Watching the people who present and accept the rewards my daughter and I have decided that people ought really let themselves age naturally.  It really looks bad when you try to defy age.  I think some of the most stunning women are the ones who embrace their looks:

Helen Mirren

Blythe Danner

                                                     

and then there's 
Joan Rivers








just sayin.

  

Oh my aching back!

My back seems to be getting worse.  I got a referral for a second opinion, however this takes time.
I only hope and pray that there is an opening soon and the new Dr has better news.

It's hard to believe that I have been putting up with this since April of last year.  There has to be help out there somewhere.

My body is revolting.

 I don't mean "to look at" (well, on most some days I do mean that) but staging a coup, an uprising, a Network moment

I guess after the 40 odd years of eating what I felt like and lack of exercise, my body has had enough.  Last April, while bending over in the shower to wash my feet, my back seized.  I couldn't straighten up.  I yelled for my hubby who moved me to the bed and massaged my back.

His question? "Did you stretch before?"
WHAT?!? Am I so old and decrepit that I need to stretch before I shower?

I digress...
Next day I was stiff, but felt all had passed.
Little did I know, it was only the beginning.  I started getting back pain so I go to my primary care doctor. She's not sure whats going on... but hey, lets try therapy.  12 visits to the therapist and no relief so I go for an EMG.  I hate needles.  He sends me for an MRI and on to the next Dr who is basically a middle man.  I'm not really sure if she even has a clue.  I am informed that I have arthritic degeneration in my 5th lumbar and she sends me on to another Dr who gives me a shot near my spine to relax the muscles.  That makes things worse, so back to the middle man Dr.  This time she sends me to a different therapist.  This therapist knows exactly what is going on and she gets to work.  She explains to me that I have an annular tear and the spinal fluid is leaking.  This is causing me pain and numbness down my leg and we don't want that to continue or I will get nerve damage.  After 6 weeks I am finally getting to the point where I can work on strengthening my abs.  However, the middle man thinks that this is not good enough and she refuses recommend any more therapy and sends me to the neurosurgeon.  She informs me if I feel therapy is helping I can certainly go and pay for it myself.

Nice
So, on to the neurologist and another MRI with contrast this time.  This Dr tells me not only do I have arthritic degeneration but I also have pseudo cysts.  Spinal fluid is leaking which is why I have such bad pain in my leg but he's not sure where its leaking so until it gets worse there's nothing he can do.

So after 4 Drs, 2 therapists, and a middle man/dr and God know's how much money, I'm right back to where I started from.

Ahhh, the miracles of modern medicine.

Hunger Games

I know I'm a little late to the game, but I finally read "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.  This is a story about "Panem, a country that rose up out of the ashes of what was once North America".  Now broken up into 12 districts, each specializes in one aspect of what people need to live.  Katniss lives in District 12, they are responsible for mining coal and are the poorest of the districts. 

As the book opens, it is the day of the reaping where two children between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen from each district to participate in the annual "Hunger Games" were they will fight to the death.

I usually don't get into futuristic books, but this one isn't to hard to imagine.  The author does a great job describing the landscape of the time period without being to wordy.

We follow Katniss and Peeta who are chosen to represent their district.  This is a huge event that is celebrated and televised to all.  The pairs from each district are given mentors and a fashion team to coach and prepare them to earn sponsors (who can give them slight advantages in the arena) and devise a game plan.

This was a fast and great read.  I am super excited to see this on the big screen and excited to read the next book in the series.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.
Pure enjoyment.

Jeopardy

I need money and I seem to have no luck with the lottery.  So I have decided I am going to get on Jeopardy. 

It is my favorite game show, and when I get one question right I am BRILLIANT!!!  I yell out to anyone who is close..."Did you hear that? I got that question right!! Come revel with me in my brilliance!"  Only once did the associate at Walmart ask me to leave electronics, but come on....NOBODY there was getting any right!

I digress...I decided that getting one (or the odd 2) questions would not be enough to get me money, so I will be studying to get on the show.  I will start by reading any trivia book I can get my hands on... I will share some of what I learn, but not all...just in case you too decide to take on this endeavor and I end up next to you on the show. 

Wish me luck...and stay tuned.

My Observations

After watching America's Got Talent and my hero, Stevie Nicks, I have decided that my generation (40 to 60 yrs old now)has decided that we will never grow old.  


You know when 63yr olds (Stevie Nicks, Ozzy, Steven Tyler...) are still touring with the band, that's just proof  that we will not go softly into the night.  Or as Neil Young  put it... "its better to burn out than to fade away"

Thrift Store Find/Game Fail

Is the word "anal"????

Found this at a thrift store.

Really Parker Brothers?  You  couldn't

think of a better name for the game?

Cryer's Cross

I love to go to the Young Adult section for great finds.  It seems like sometimes the adult books are written for the benefit of the author.  The young adult authors know that their audience has a shorter attention span so they better have a great hook and get them involved quickly.

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann is a story centered around Kendall, a senior who has OCD.  The town of Cryer's Cross, Montana is a mere 212 residents strong, and as the books opens, one of them is missing.  A new family moves into town and the oldest boy falls under suspicion, but nothing comes of it and soon the search for the missing freshman girl ends and a new school year begins. 

Since it is a small town, the high school students are in one room for the day.  Kendall's OCD requires her to be the first in the room to place the desks, markers, trash can and curtains properly.  Soon after school starts, Nico, Kendall's best friend and boyfriend (though she doesn't really feel as strongly for him as he does her) starts to act strangely.  When Nico disappears the town again forms search parties without avail.  The sheriff requires all children under 18 pair up and never travel alone.  Kendall gets paired with the new boy, Jacian. 

The first 190 pages of this 232 pages of this book deal with Kendall's character development and how she's torn between her feelings for the new guy and her problem with not feeling loyal to Nico. 
Honestly at chapter 23 it felt like the author thought, "Crap, I forgot about the missing kids, I better come up with something quick".  From here, the book just got weird.  When you look at the description of the book, the ending really came out of nowhere.
The book jacket's description ends with this:

        Something's not right in Cryer's Corner - and Kendall's about to find out how far the townspeople    will go to keep their secrets buried.

I was really disappointed with this book...the problem I had was it was just false advertisement.  They should have described the book like this:

Kendall is a high schooler in a small town.  She has OCD that seems to rule her life and now she seem to have gotten herself caught in a love triangle between her childhood sweetheart and the new bad boy in town.  And oh, by the way,  two kids are missing, one of them is her current boyfriend.

Very rarely do I finish a book and say to myself, "well that was a waste of time"  I'm afraid that's exactly what I said when I finished this one.

I give this 0 out of 5 stars

Netflix

If you love movies, you probably have a Netflix account.  We are big movie fans at our house, but we have been having a problem for about a year now.

Not with Netflix, but with the United States Postal Service.  "Nooo way" you say!  But yyyeeeesssss.  "Not our postal service" you protest....oohhh yes, our government employed postal service, I reply.




We live in a trailer park and have a LOCKED bank of mailboxes much like the ones pictured here:

 

When we mail our newer Netflix movies it always takes longer than the older releases.  I have been suspicious of our mail person...thinking she's probably watching them and sending them back later.  But how do you prove that?  Recently we received a badly mangled Netflix envelope in a baggy, with the standard "we are sorry about this, but shit happens" (I paraphrased).  TWICE this has happened.  What we received Saturday, though, pushed me over the edge.  



As you can see, The one on the left is just the top part that has your personal address on it, the part you tear off and throw away.

Here, again, on the top, is what we received.  ONLY the top paper.  Where's the movie you ask...I have no idea.  With the exception of the the top corner looking like it was cut off with scissors, it looks like someone tore it off and took the rest.  "I would go straight to the post office and complain" you say???  My hubby did.  The postmaster at Zeeland, MI informed him that it was a machine that the mail goes through that must have done this.  My hubby told him that we seem to have problems with other Netflix movies getting back.  Maybe someone else is messing with our mail.  As I mentioned before...we have LOCKED mail boxes.  The postmaster at Zeeland, MI suggested that we should take the time to get to know our mail person.

WTF??? Its our fault the mail isn't being properly handled because we didn't get to know who delivers our mail????  I work and my husband is sleeping when the mail is delivered (he works 3rds).  So I got online and sent a complain to the governmental institution, the United States Postal Service...here's what I wrote:


We have had a problem with our mail service concerning Netflix movies for over a year.  Recently we received a Netflix paper, neatly torn from the movie, without the movie.  When we send newer movies back to Netflix from this location, they suspiciously take much longer than older movies. We talked to Postmaster (name omitted) and he recommended that we should get to know our mail person better.  Are we getting punished because we happen to be working at the time our mail is delivered and have been unable to get to know our mail person?  If we leave them a cash gift will that take the place of our inability to be there? What amount would be good, as we do not wish to offend and worsen our situation. 


Please advise



I'm pissed (and passive-aggressive with a sarcastic nature)

Degrees of Bacon

So my oldest asks me...
Do you think when an actor works with Kevin Bacon they 
think to themselves:

"I've hit the jackpot! 
I am now
 one degree 
from Bacon"

The Hangover 2

I recently watched The Hangover II.  The first one was hilarious (could have done with out the pictures), this one wasn't as good. 

Let me just say, I saw more penises in this movie then I have ever seen in my whole life and I'm 45, been married twice and have 3 kids. 

Just saying.

Back in 2008 I listened to Water for Elephants and thought it was a great story.
I always get excited when they make a movie from one of the books I've read.  I'm anxious to see who they pick to play each part and I must say I did not expect these two actors to be the choices.  When I listened to the book I expected them to be closer in age, and I'm sorry, I am NOT a big Robert Pattinson fan.  I didn't get into the Twilight series (even thought that author wrote one of my favorite books). 

I do love Reece Witherspoon.  She was also in Just Like Heaven which was based on another book I read, "If Only It Were True" by Marc Levy.  The book was cute but I haven't seen the movie to compare yet.  Honestly I read the book around 2001 so I couldn't compare the two unless I re-read it. 

Have you been to see the Water For Elephants?  Did you like it?  Are you one of the few who have read it and can compare them?  I would love to hear from you.

Hi all!!

I'm back. I started a new job about 2 1/2 years ago and when I started getting full time hours my reading and blogging dropped off. I miss both so I have decided to keep my sanity I must make sure I have time to do both.

So here I am.

It was a rough year. I lost my mom quite suddenly and unexpectedly. My family, that I thought was the greatest ever, turned out to be users and underhanded. My sister has been my biggest support (aside from my kids and hubby)

We moved from North Carolina to Michigan 14 years ago so I could be closer to my family and mom, leaving my dad and sister behind. My hubby and kids are not happy here, so we have decided to move back to NC.


So here we are...almost June, and trying to sell our place, get jobs, and move back down south by early August at the latest.
Stressed? A little. I feel this is what God wants for us, so I gotta have faith that things will fall into place. My hubby wants to move so bad he's promised to get me a color nook if we move this summer!


On a side note...My sister says karma will get our aunt and brother for the crap they've done. I have NEVER witnessed justice coming around and kicking the rightful person right in the bahookie....have any of you? Share your story, give me hope, cause I am sick and tired of people getting away with so much crap.