All I want is a movie or my experiences at Blockbuster

What is the deal with Blockbuster lately? I occasionally buy monthly movie passes. For $30 you can rent 2 movies at a time for 30 days. Theoretically, you can get as many movies as you want in that 30 day period. If you rent 2 movies in the morning and watch them, then you can go back later and switch them for 2 more movies.

We don’t do it every month because usually by the end of the month I’m scrounging the shelves looking for a decent movie. It’s been a couple of months and I figured enough new movies have come out to make it worthwhile.

Michael and I went and picked 2 movies. We got to the counter and I told the clerk I wanted the movie pass and he proceeds to tell me all about their online service. No thank you I want the movies now. But the monthly service is..blah.blah.blah. No thank you I’m not interested. But with the monthly service…blah,blah,blah. No, I wan t to watch the movies now. Today. Instant gratification. That’s why I got in my car and drove here. To get a movie not to sign up for an online service and wait until next week to get the 2 movies I am holding in my hand. But, ma’m, with our online service…Again NO! Then he got all huffy and said he was just trying to give me a better deal.

As we were leaving, Michael asked “What part of no didn’t he understand?”

And now for the punchline…I got home and opened the dvd case to watch my movie.

The freaking case was empty!!!! I swear the jerk did it on purpose.

Here's a couple of layouts I did for my Walt Disney World Annual Pass album. We had annual passes and went 6 times from October 2004 through September 2005. So I have tons of pics from myself and my two sons who also enjoy digital photography. The first layout was just a simple one I did to practice my Photoshop skills. For the next one I used a sketch from Ginger Thibodeau. She has a sketch challenge each week on her blog. The kit I used was from the design team at Scrapbook Bytes and is called Carnival.

Carol-0 Cannolis 1

The boys were both working Saturday so hubby and I went to Bonefish Grill for supper. We had Mussels Josephine as an appetizer and I had swordfish for my meal. Heavenly! I haven't had swordfish in ages. I had planned on getting dessert too but was way too stuffed to even contemplate it. Hubby and I went through two baskets of bread because we kept dipping it in the pesto and olive oil and also in the juice from the mussels.

After Bonfish I went into the nearby kitchen store, Mi Cucina, and bought some cannoli forms. The boys were heartbroken that I didn't make cannolis immediately upon entering the house. After that meal I didn't even want to think about more food.

But by Sunday, I was ready to tackle the cannolis. I had read about problems with runny filling so I made sure to dry my ricotta by wrapping it in a towel and letting it drain in the fridge. The filling came out perfect. It was the dough that gave me problems. It was very stiff and didn't want to roll out so I put it through my pasta press. Probably not a good idea...I have a feeling that this type of dough should not be handled too much or it won't be flaky enough. I finally got it thin enough and wrapped it around the forms. The recipe said to cook for 8 minutes...after about 4 or 5 minutes the first two had begun to brown beyond recognition. I took them out and put them on a rack to cool a bit before removing the forms to make more. (I only have 4 forms) Only the dough didn't want to let go...it hung on for dear life. By the time I got it off the dough was in pieces. Next ones I made sure were LOOSELY wrapped around the form. They came off much easier some too easily...they popped open in the hot oil. Well... they were certainly easier to fill. LOL!!!

Told the boys that if anyone made a wisecrack about how the shells looked didn't get any. I had planned on photographing them and putting a pic here. LOL!! No way. Although the powdered sugar helped hide a lot, they were ugly but they tasted good...could have been better but it was my first try. I always tell the family that the first time is for experimenting. I think I'll try a different dough recipe and see if that helps.

Some layouts I did recently. This one is from our National Parks trip in 1993. For the layout I used Kathryn Balint's World Travels kit. This is the trip where almost all of our pictures came out really crappy because my camera wasn't working right. This picture taken at Monument Valley was bad too but I scanned it in and did some PhotoShop magic on it. I could probably do even more to it but I'm still learning the ins and outs of PS. I just used the automatic color & contrast adjusting.

This one I did for my dad. I used Mo Jackson kits for this one.

"Leave the gun. Take the cannolis."

I guess all Godfather fans will recognize that line. I don't remember if it's from G1 or G2. My husband loves them both and has watched them both numerous times.

Why am I quoting from that movie other than the fact that I love that line? I guess I'm homesick. Since moving to Tennessee in 1997, I have rarely missed Massachusetts. Especially in winter! I do admit that during the long summer months I sometimes watch The Weather Channel and covet "75 and raining".

Anyway, my point is that I do miss the food. I'm not just talking about quohaugs, steamers, and chowda. I'm talking Italian food. I mean real Italian food. Don't get me wrong, I like the Olive Garden but the atmosphere is all wrong. I bet if I went to Olive Garden in Chattanooga right now and asked everyone their name I wouldn't get one "Sonny-boy" or "Joe Dogs" or "Big Nose Sam".

I guess my next cooking project will be to learn how to make cannolis. I've had to do that with a lot of other foods.

I did some more layouts. One for my dad using kits from Mo Jackson and another Grand Canyon trip one using a Kathryn Balint kit.

Blogger is being stupid and not letting me upload my pictures. Will try again later.

Carol 0 Charcoal Grill 3

My old gas grill needs to be replaced but I can't afford the one I really want so I decided to wait to replace it. In the mean time I miss grilling out. After all it is summer. So, I bought a small charcoal grill to use in the interim. A cute little grill for $20 except by the time I bought the charcoal, the lighter fluid, the non-stick spray for the cooking grate and, oh yeah, some steaks. Not to mention the ingredients for s'mores (Michael insisted!). The bill came to $75!!! I could have put that toward my new gas grill.

Anyway, I drag the stuff home and follow the directions for getting the charcoal going. It says they're ready in about 15-20 minutes. Ha!!! I got it lit. Came back in 10 minutes and the briquettes aren't even warm so I douse it with more lighter fluid and get a roaring fire going. Still about 30-35 minutes away from actually being able to cook on it. Meanwhile the family is sitting at the table waiting for supper. After supper we find out that because there's no flames like the gas grill, a charcoal fire is not very good for s'mores so Michael opts to make them in the microwave.

Next day, I decide to start the grill a good 35 - 45 minutes ahead of time. I get a good blaze going and come back in 10 minutes. The briquettes are cold to the touch. Evidently the windy conditions are putting the flames out before they can get the briquettes going. Get another blazing fire going with copious amounts of lighter fluid. Same deal. So I drag the stupid grill into the garage where the conditions are less windy. Finally, the briquettes catch fire and start to ash over. But they're still pitiful and the family is waiting for supper. So I bring the half cooked chicken in and stick it in the microwave.

Third day I am prepared. Start grill 45 minutes ahead of time and get amazing blaze going. Come back in 10 minutes and it's looking good. Come back in 10 more minutes and it's ready to use except it's still 25 minutes till supper and my london broil doesn't take that long. Throw a couple of briquettes on to slow it down a bit. Another 20 minutes and hubby calls to say he's going to be 20 minutes late. Charcoal is now practically reduced to ashes. Throw a few more cold briquettes on. Hubby gets home and grill is a nice mix of ashes and barely warm briquettes.

So, I guess if Budd can use his dishwasher as a dish drying rack, I can use my microwave as a grill.

I meant to post this much earlier but our internet was down almost all day.

Here's a layout I did as a sketch challenge at Scrapbook Bytes. It's from our Grand Canyon/Utah trip back when Alex was in kindergarten.

Not much to report. John went to Atlanta Saturday to see the Red Sox. The tickets for Saturday had been sold out but he kept checking and a few seats opened up. He was 3 rows up from the Red Sox dugout. He was thrilled. He had also recorded the game and when he got home and watched it, he saw himself. He also had a good father's day. His all time favorite movie is Grand Prix, a real oldie with James Garner. It's never been out on DVD. Finally a special edition 2 disc set is coming out in July so the boys pre-ordered from Amazon and are giving that to him. He was thrilled and surprised because he didn't know it was finally being released. The boys were glad to be able to surprise him.

Michael had wanted to see Nacho Libre with Jack Black but the reviews weren't very good so he decided to wait until DVD and rent it at Blockbuster. A lot can be forgiven when a movie is a rental as opposed to spending big bucks to see it in the theater. We usually get a Blockbuster monthly pass every few months so we have unlimited rentals at least for that month.

Well, gotta post this and go pick up Alex. He's working 42 hours this week. Welcome to the real world!! LOL! He had to be in at 7:30 this morning even though the mall doesn't open until 10. Penneys got new cash registers and everyone had to go for training.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenom?

I stopped by my old place of employment today (Chattanooga State Technical Community College better known as Chatt State) for a retirement punch and cake reception. A small group and I get together for lunch sometimes but it's been a few years since I've seen some of these people. And I gotta tell ya, some of them had gotten older. It's so strange how everyone changes but you! Has that ever happened to anyone else? LOL!! I can imagine what they must be saying about me!

The boys and I went to see Cars over the weekend. The boys loved it and I liked it. There was nothing wrong with it but it didn't have the same heart that Finding Nemo had. I do have to say that CGI has come a long way. Cars was visiually gorgeous. Really amazing. I think that's one reason the boys liked it so much. They were discussing the technical side of it and why it was so amazing. Using terms that I didn't quite understand. LOL!!! Anyway, it was a good movie and I can recommend it but I won't be lining up waiting for the DVD to be released. (Like I was for Pride and Prejudice! LOL!) My neighbor took her 3 year old to see it and said she loved it. Her daughter wants to go see it again.

Speaking of Pride and Prejudice...I watched it again. And I re-read Budd's review. And I agree with some of it. I think Donald Sutherland was perfect as Mr. Bennett although not necessarily completely true to the book. I may be wrong but as I recall from the book Mr. B held his wife and daughters except for Jane & Lizzie in contempt. I don't recall much affection on his part. But Donald clearly felt a lot of affection for his whole family and seemed to have a better relationship with his wife than in the 1995 version.

I wasn't even going to see the 2005 version because I thought it couldn't possibly be as good as the 1995 version. And how dare anyone but Colin Firth play Mr Darcy? LOL!! But I heard good stuff and went to see it not once, not twice but three times!!! In my defense I have to say that my son was still working at the theater back then and I saw it for free each time. And I love both Colin Firth and Matthew McFadyen.
And one last thing. I think Keira did a better job of demonstrating Lizzie's growth and maturity during the movie than Jennifer Ehle.

One more last thing! LOL!! I adore the scene where they're dancing and everyone else fades away. So cool.

This was a graduation page I did as a scrapping challenge using Mo Jackson papers and doo dads. So except for the picture, the diploma and NHS patch it's all Mo Jackson kits.
I'm sure everyone is getting sick of Alex's graduation by now, but this is a layout I did for a RAKScraps monthly challenge. It was a song lyric challenge using these lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water and I immediately thought of this picture with Alex and his dad standing behind him. I promise this is the last one!!! For this layout I used a kit called "Lena" by Monica Larson. Unofortunately, the TOU doesn't tell where to get her designs nor nor her e-mail so I can't list a link and I can't remember where I downloaded it. But I love this kit so if anyone knows her please feel free to post more info.

Is anyone a fan of Cold Case? I finally got caught up on watching them. TiVo had close to half a season--11 episodes!! Anyway, I don't know if there was a particular season finale. The last one I had, Lilly got involved with a victim, Joe and it looked like she might loose her job because of it. Was that it? Because the issue wasn't resolved in that episode. And Scotty beat up a suspected pedophile and that issue wasn't really resolved either. It was my own fault for getting so far behind. Anyway, if anyone can shed some light, I'd appreciate it.

We were hoping to go see Cars but Alex has to work today and the rest of the weekend so I guess it will be next week unless we went to a late show tonight. Anyone see it yet? Is it worth it? Can't wait till next month for Pirates of the Carribbean. More Jack Sparrow!!! Yes!

Well, I need to drag out my pressure washer and clean all the things I said I was going to when I bought it. LOL!!! The deck, the sidewalk, driveway, house...by the time I get done the first things will need cleaning again!

Hope everyone has a fun Friday night!

I love TiVo! I didn't even know we are now receiving a new cable channel--The Sleuth Channel--but TiVo did and it even recorded some Simon & Simon episodes for me! I used to love that show! LOL!! I'll have to see how it is now-some 22 years later! The new channel also has Miami Vice and The Equalizer.
Here's another picture taken inside the Opryland Hotel. This is a shot of one of the restaurants in the atrium.

Not much going on today. Watching House reruns with the kids. I've turned both of them into House addicts.

Well, off to bed before I fall asleep at the computer.

Like my new friend? LOL!!! I took this picture on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride at Animal Kingdom. And yes, he's real. We were lucky because the giraffes were coming really close to the safari vehicles that morning.

Segways are awesome!!

Yes, that's me on a Segway. We all got a chance to ride one at Epcot. Of course the "ride" didn't last long enough. The kids and I want to take the Epcot Segway tour next time we go. We're saving our $$!! John said he liked it but not sure if he wants to pay money to go on one. He said he wasn't as "enchanted" by them as we were. So of course the whole rest of the vacation every time we did or saw something, we asked if he was enchanted yet! LOL!!

Didn't mean to disappear so quickly--I planned on posting before we left but ran out of time. We spent all day Monday (Memorial Day) in Nashville after stopping in Murfreesboro to look around MTSU (Middle TN State Univ). Alex is getting excited about going off to college. I'm happy for him but know I'll be crying when he goes. After looking around MTSU, we went to OpryMills Outlet Mall and to The OpryLand Hotel. Here's a shot from inside the hotel.We got back from Nashville Monday night then left Tuesday night for Florida. We went to DisneyWorld and also spent a day at the Kennedy Space Center. We had a blast! John and the boys got to ride the new Expedition Everest ride at Animal Kingdom (I don't do roller coasters) and loved it. Just looking around at the stuff they had was interesting. Michael and I had watched some tv shows about the making of the ride and how Joe Rhode had gone to Nepal and bought authentic things for the exhibits. Joe Rhode is the Disney Imagineer in charge of Animal Kingdom and Michael's hero. He told the people working in the gift shop at Everest that they should sell Joe Rhode t-shirts!! LOL!!!

Any 24 fans out there? I don't have a picture of it, but Alex ordered a "Jack pack". He was so happy that it came before our trip. He was lucky, they delivered it about 20 minutes before we left and he quickly packed all his stuff into it. I'll have to take a picture of it to post. It's that green pack that Jack Bauer has carried with him all season. Only Alex's doesn't have guns or grenades in his...just books and his PSP. LOL!!

Better sign off before I totally bore everyone!

A layout I did for the color challenge at Digital Freebies.

Alex and I finally went to see The DaVinci Code. (Hubby and #2 son didn't want to go.) It was --okay. I didn't love the movie and I didn't hate it. I think Alex enjoyed it more than me. It described it as "interesting". Maybe if I hadn't anticipated it so much, I might not have felt so disappointed. I really thought with Ron Howard and Tom Hanks it would be a winner. Alex said the trailers made it seem like it would be more suspenseful and action-packed and it was more of a talking movie. What little action there was turned out to be annoying because it was mostly dark and the camera action jerked around a lot. Like in the car chase through Paris. I loved Sophie's tiny car and thought it would be a great scene but it was hard to see much of it. The Paris car chase from The Bourne Identity is still the greatest.

Anyway, I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. I'm glad I saw it but I'm not planning on running out and buying the dvd when it comes out.

At least it wasn't as bad as Silent Hill. That movie was horrid. I only went because Michael wanted to see it and he's not old enough to get into R-rated. We met one of his friends (accompanied by his dad) at the theater and they both loved it. Raved over it. I thought maybe it was a male thing so I asked the friend's dad what he thought and he laughed and said he thought it was "horribly bad". LOL!!! He said it obviously knew its target audience--teenage boys.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day Weekend. We're thinking of going to Nashville on Monday and stopping in Murfreesboro along the way so Alex can take a look at MTSU (Middle TN State U). It looks like that's where he's going to be going. For a while he had his heart set on Savannah College of Art and Design. Unfortunately, he has horrible, mean parents who won't fork over $120,000+ . I told him he could take out student loans but he said "I don't want to owe that much when I graduate!" Guess what, Alex. I don't want to owe that much when you graduate! Then he found out that a friend of his is going to MTSU (he's known the kid all through high school but they didn't have many classes together so they didn't hang out as much) and they're going to try and room together. So now he's getting excited about it. I'm so glad because while I'm not willing to pay $30,000 a year, I wanted him to be happy about which college he was going to and not just go there because he couldn't go where he wanted. So unless he gets a fantastic scholarship to SCAD; he'll be going to MTSU.

And I'm already planning to move my computer out of the dining room and into his bedroom. I can use his internet line and not have to share with the dh! We have only 4 lines on the router and 5 computers. Yes, I know we have only 4 people in the family but hubby has a laptop. And yes, we've tried wireless but had nothing but problems so we went back to wires.

I'll post pictures if we go to Nashville on Monday.

Here's a layout I did as a RAK Scraps challenge. I had a lot of fun with it and hope to use it as the cover for a Walt Disney World album. We had annual passes from 10/2004 until 10/2005 and went SIX times during that 12 month period. We certainly got our money's worth. I am planning to do a digiscrap album for that year and had that in mind when I made this. Now I just have to start scrapping and fill up an album.

Alex (#1 son) and I went to see MI3 yesterday. It was very entertaining. I probably would have enjoyed it even more if Tom Cruise hadn't been in it but no one was asking me when they cast it! LOL!!! Like my son said you have to look past the fact that he's in the movie and just enjoy it. It's a typical summer action flick. We're still deciding if we're going to go see DaVinci. That's what we had planned on seeing but then the reviews were so bad we saw MI3 instead. After we came out of the movie we ran into a friend of my son and he said he and his parents saw DaVince and they all liked it. So we may go again this week and see it.

Went a few days ago to the annual meeting for my younger son's IEP (individualized education plan). They have another new teacher for next year. At the meeting she was all excited and told me all the wonderful plans she has for next year. Field trips, model United Nations and all sorts of scholarship and career planning sessions, blah, blah, blah. I told her that I've been hearing this every year since 2nd grade. That's when Michael was placed in the gifted program. One, two, sometimes three months into the new school year the whole thing collapses. The teacher leaves for a better job or I ask about all the plans and I get "there isn't any money left in the budget for us". We still haven't found out what happened to last year's teacher. He was there one day and not the next. Someone said they saw him working at Steak & Shake Restaurant. Anyway, she said that it will be different this time. I've heard THAT before too.

Has anyone been to the dullest blog in the world?

My baby (actually he's my oldest but he's still my baby!) is a graduate. We had a great time. The graduation was at 6PM so we went to supper first at one of my favorite places, Carrabbas. Michael didn't really want to go to the graduation but he said going to Carrabbas made it worth going. He even wore one of his dad's dress shirts and his "Masters Jacket". Someone had given him a green sport coat and he looks like he's just won the Masters Golf Tournament when he wears it. Anyway, Carrabbas was fun. Alex had never been there before because he's usually working on Saturday nights when we go. He had mussels and said they were the best he's had. They're cooked in some sort of white wine and garlic sauce that is heavenly to dip your bread in. Alex ate all the mussels but there is always a lot of the sauce left over and hubby said too bad we can;t take it with us. The waiter heard him and said no problem he'd find something to put it in. So now we're all looking forward to dipping some nice warm freshly made bread tomorrow. Guess I'll drag out my bread maker.

Coming home from the graduation, Michael said he has a goal for high school (he's a freshman). He wants to be one of the students up on the stage during the graduation ceremony. It's possible since he's currently ranked 4th in his class. Hubby told him he's got 3 more years to inch his way up closer to #1. Michael said it wouldn't hurt if Mary Rose (currently #1) were to have a "tragic spelling bee accident"! LOL!!! She's been his nemesis (is that how it's spelled?) since the first grade. If he got a 99 on a test--she got 100. Whenever his ego starts getting too big I just say "Mary Rose" and he comes back down to earth! LOL!!!

Well, I'm off to bed. Hope to get some layouts done tomorrow so I can post some!

Today is Alex's day! He's graduating high school this evening. I still can't quite believe it. Here's his first grade picture and I have to say that those days feel like just yesterday. I've been scanning in a lot of pictures of him to do some layouts of some of his milestones. I'm sure I'll be posting those. LOL!! I'll post a picture of him in his cap & gown when I can finally get him out of bed!!

Well, I have to go try some more to get him up. He was still in the shower yesterday when his friend came to pick him up for graduation rehearsal. The only reason he was even that far along was because I came home early and dragged him out of bed. He sleeps like 10-12 hours a day, sits in front of his computer for 8-10 hours and works for 4-5 hours at the mall and then complains he has no life!!! Excuse me?! If we (his loving parents) didn't force him to work he'd have time to do all kinds of things like household chores, explore all the college scholarship possibilities, find a cure for cancer...LOL!!! Poor Alex, getting stuck with parents who have tried to teach him about responsibility and the value of money.

Instead of picking on him here, I need to go get him up and be sure he takes a shower before we have to leave for graduation.

I'm sure I'll be back with grad pics.

I'm editing this because I realized I should have said I used Ronnie McCray's Appalachian Mountains kit for this layout. This is her blog and you can find out there how to buy her kits and read her great blog too!

This is a layout I did for a journaling challenge at RAKScraps. The challenge was to do a layout about something that made you sad. I did it about my childhood home. The journaling reads:

The thought that I can’t go home anymore makes me sad. The little red house on Bowden Street will never again be the gathering spot for our family. Ma isn’t in the kitchen making pies and Dad isn’t in the cellar sitting at his workbench and putterinfg with his tools. The house was never grand but it was home. There’s one thing it always was--red! Every time Ma mentioned painting it a different color, Dad replied, “As long as I’m alive this house will be red.” And it was. Even after he died, the house remained red. When you went home for a holiday, you never knew who you might meet. It seemed like a stranger was always seated at the table. Who is this? we kids would ask. The answer was usually something like, that’s Jim’s mother’s aunt’s daughter’s cousin’s neighbor--he or she didn’t have any place else to go today. By the end of the day, they were no longer strangers and when they went home, it was with enough leftovers for at least one more meal and an invitation to come back again--anytime. And of course they were more than welcome to bring their cousin’s hairdresser with them!

Didn't mean to bring anybody down!

And now for the continuing saga of driver's ed...

I keep telling them that just because the other driver has a red light, stop sign or yield sign doesn't mean that they'll do any of those. And my point was proven this morning. On the way to school there's a spot where two roads merge into one like a Y. We have the right of way and the other street has a yield sign. Thank goodness that some of what I've been telling him has sunk in. He slowed down when approaching this spot and thank goodness he did. A driver coming on the other street flew right by us...I don't think they even saw us they were going so fast. I noticed when they got to the stop sign at the end of the merged street they barely even slowed down. I hope this demonstrates for him why I've been saying this.

So people won't think I'm playing favorites, here's Kitty White Shoes since I had Ping yesterday.

I thought I'd post this picture of #1 son (Alex) with one of our kitties, Ping. This picture was taken last fall so Ping has grown some since then but not too much and it's one of my favorite pictures of him. And I'll probably be talking about both the kids and the kitties so you'll be able to picture them when I'm posting about them. It will probably seem like I'm playing favorites with our cats since we have 2 and I'll mostly talk about Ping, but the other cat, Kitty White-Shoes, considers being held, talked to or petted as forms of cat torture. LOL!!!

Coralee asked about fingerprints in the dashboard...they're still there but I'm getting a little better. This might give you a better idea of some of our roads. This was taken on the way to school this morning. I took the picture, #2 son (Michael) was driving.

And this was taken on the way home. Yay! I lived to tell about it. Yes, that is the roof of a house on the right side of the picture. A rather big drop off and yes, there are guardrails but they end before the danger does!!

I hope I am doing this right. For a good time, visit Khristy's blog and Coralee's blog.

Here's a layout I did with Khristy's freebie "Astounding:. I saw the colors and I thought of this picture I've had of Alex at Universal Islands of Adventure.

I'm still learning all this linking and html stuff so bear with me. I'm hoping to learn it so I can say get Khristy's freebie here and have it take you to her blog. Even if you don't want the freebie, you should read her blog. It's lots of fun.

I'm hoping to make this one fun and informative too. Well...maybe not informative so much as fun. I have 2 sons and both are currently learning to drive. My hair is getting whiter every day. Why 2 at the same time? No, they're not twins, #1 son 17 and #2 is 15. #1 son wanted to drive right up until he turned 15 and realized how many teens killed themselves in cars. That was fine will nervous mama. Then he turned 16 and still not ready...finally when he was 17 I said it's time! By this time #2 son is 15 and wants his permit. Hence 2 driving with permits. I actually would rather take #2 son because he's not ashamed to drive 20 mph. I tell him to ignore the long line of cars following him. 20 mph is a nice speed! #1 son thinks he should drive the speed limit--gulp!! When you're with your father you can drive the speed limit. But mom, the limit is only 35 or 40. Only? Only?

The area where we live is full of narrow, windy roads with deep, deep drainage ditches on BOTH sides. You can't run off the road if something happens.

Well, that's enough for a first post. Don't want to drive everyone away. LOL!!! Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'm getting ready for a grand opening. Be back with a layout and some chatter! (Not too much--don't want to scare anyone off!)