Happy 60th Birthday, Ski!!!

According to the Double Cola Company, Ski was released Aug. 10, 1956. 

Ski ... known around these parts as the "Unofficial Soda of the West Side" or "West Side Water" or ... as I like to call it ... "Nectar of the Gods" ... is 60 years old today! I have been addicted to Ski for as long as I can remember. With every single sip, every single time, my first thought is, "Mmmmm. Ski is so good!"

Those who haven't tasted Ski often ask if it tastes like Mt. Dew. (Them's fightin' words!!) Aside from being yellow, Ski is NOTHING like Mt. Dew. Ski is the most delicious drink on the face of the earth ... and I feel sorry for those who don't feel the same way ... because that's all they serve in heaven!!

I've been trying not to drink Ski, which is hard because I love Ski as much as I love breathing, but I'm going to have to make an exception today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SKI!

I LOVE YOU!!!!

Naked Ladies

A few years ago a co-worker bought his first home. Whoever had lived there before was an avid gardener, and he had new flowers and plants popping up all the time. He'd never gardened before and had no idea what most of these plants and flowers were, so he'd take a picture and show them to me. One time he brought in a picture of Belladonna Lilies. At the time, I didn't know their "scientific" name, I just knew them by their common name ... Naked Ladies.

We were still talking about these and other flowers in his yard when our boss came up and asked what we were talking about. I said, "Oh, we're just talking about all the Naked Ladies in his yard!"

Her eyes popped out of her head and her mouth fell open. Luckily, we were able to show her a picture before she had a chance to usher us into her office and fire us!

I only have a few Naked Ladies in my yard, but I'd love to plant more. I think they would look perfect in the above flower bed between the house and the hostas and lambs ear. Every fall I say I'm going to plant spring flowers, and every autumn has passed without me so much as buying the first bulb. This fall, however, I vow to plant to plant spring bulbs ... and a row of Naked Ladies!

Guess What My Sister-in-Law Saw at the Library?

My first book, Boomerang, on the end cap!!

That Was One LOOOOOOONG July!

Has anyone else noticed how many typographical and grammatical errors there are on stories posted on the internet? I know I'm hardly one to talk, as I've published more than one typo/grammatical error on this blog. But, I don't have a large staff of copywriters and editors at my disposal, whereas the news sites that I read online are news giants ... particularly the one I grabbed the above screenshot from. The site that provided that screenshot is a huge, multinational organization, and they have more errors than all of the other sites I frequent combined!

I know it's nit-picky, but if the draft of this story had been given to a competent editor to proof, I'm sure they would have suggested "...in July of 2010, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail for breaching her parole."

There were less errors when the pages were assembled by hand with individual letters!

Did You Know August is National Romance Awareness Month?

Neither did I ... nor do I care! This history of National Romance Awareness Month is unclear, but I have a few theories ...

Theory 1:

A woman decided only one society-mandated day (Valentine's Day) of spoiling and romancing her wasn't enough, so she created a whole month of it to torture her (probably already tortured) beau.

Theory 2:

It was created by a woman ... whose partnerless friends had no one to spoil and pamper them ... so she created a special month to rub their noses in the fact that she does. 

Theory 3:

It was created by a woman whose partnerless friends were constantly bragging about how much fun they have going out, dancing and flirting with handsome men, while she's at home watching her man fall asleep in the recliner, in his underwear, covered with chicken wings. She's also the woman who sends herself flowers all month in an effort to convince her friends how much romantic real love can be.

Fortunately for men, National Romance Awareness Month hasn't really caught on!

To me, romance isn't flowers on a special day ... it's flowers for no reason at all. It's him keeping your favorite beverage stocked in his refrigerator. It's him asking to be moved to a different table in a restaurant because the vent blowing right on you is making you cold. It's him spending his Saturday doing your honey-do's. It's him sending you funny jokes or links to articles he thinks you'll enjoy. Romance isn't the big things they do because they have to ... it's really the little, everyday things that say "I love you".

Oh, No!

Police were called by the manager at a hotel frequented by drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, and those down on their luck. The manager said she had gone to one of the rooms about a disturbance, asking the occupants to quiet down. The man renting the room threw a full bottle of Ski at her, injuring her neck. A full bottle of a perfectly good Ski!! I can only hope the bottle wasn't open.

When the police arrived, he resisted arrest and assaulted one of the officers. His sister was in the room with him and stated he had not taken his medication. I can only hope that had he been taking his medication, he would have known better than to ruin a perfectly good bottle of Ski!

He is currently in jail facing felony charges on battery causing injury to a public official and resisting law enforcement, and misdemeanor battery. Throwing that bottle of Ski is apparently only a misdemeanor. That should be a felony, too!

Craigslist

I've bought some really nice things from Craigslist. It's one of the first places I look when I'm searching for a unique pieces. There iare some very beautiful things on there, but there is also things like this ...

This is being advertised as a sofa, but it's not a sofa ... it's a bench with ugly, homemade cushions. They're asking $99 for it. It's been on the site for a while, so they may want to consider lowering the price ... and perhaps call it a bench rather than a sofa!

I Figured out Why the Hummingbirds Quit Eating at My Feeder

A spider built a gigantic web on it! I knocked the web down, then cleaned and refilled the feeder, and the hummingbirds are happy again. The feeder is one again as busy as ever ... until that stupid spider spun another web! I knocked it down ... again! I guess I'll just have to keep an eye out for spider webs so that the little hummingbirds can eat safely. I don't care where that spider spins her web ... as long as it's not by my hummingbird feeder! I'm hoping she'll get tired of building webs and move on, but I have a feeling spiders aren't that smart, and that I'll spend the rest of the summer and fall knocking down webs. I guess I need to get the Home Defense out and kill that spider. I'll put that on my list of things to do!

Baby girl's fever is gone, and all the tests they've ran so far have all came back normal. That's good, but it would be nice to know why she had such a high fever the other day. One of the things they tested her for was meningitis, and we're all very grateful that came back negative. I'm also very grateful I wasn't there when she had the spinal tap. I've had one before, and they're no fun.

I took big brother to the hospital to see his Mommy and little sister. He was so happy to see his Mama!

Both of these babies seem to have a pretty even temperament. Little girl is happy laying in her crib or snuggling in your arms. Now that big brother can crawl, he's harder to contain, but he's still an easy-going baby. We hit the jackpot with these sweet babies!

I plan on going to the hospital to visit the princess after work, and I'm really hoping her big brother is there, too. I miss those tiny angels!

Sick Granddaughter

My sweet little granddaughter is running a fever. She's only eight days old, so they've admitted her to the hospital for a couple of days to run tests, and I'm kept my grandson overnight. I took a picture of him when he was sound asleep now ... recharging for another busy day.

I got to spend the day with both of the grandbabies Saturday. These little ones fill my heart to overflowing! I'm sure baby girl will be fine, but a high fever in a newborn is concerning, and they err on the side of caution. I'll take my grandson to the hospital in a little bit to see his Mama and Nana, and I'll get to see my little princess.

This past week has been hard on my grandson. When his sister was born, he spent one night with an aunt and two nights with me. When he went back home, there was the new baby to contend with. He's so loved and spoiled that having another baby didn't really take anything away from him, but it's different and he's just too little to understand all the changes. My little grandson knows I love him and he loves me, but nothing can take the place of his Mama, and I can tell he misses her.