1050 pound pig!!! - UPDATE!

(update - see picture below!)

Last weekend Randy and I traveled up to Minnesota for his great aunt's memorial service. Certainly a somber purpose for a visit, but in our usual fashion we still had a great time. The service was Saturday, but we went up Thursday night and stayed with a friend in Minneapolis for two nights before driving up to Saint Cloud (big metropolis - heh) for the memorial.

On the flight to MSP, we fortunately had drink coupons. What a blessing those are. We both decided to order "doubles" so we wouldn't have to call the flight attendant back for a second round. Randy chose gin and I chose red wine. I felt a little bit like a lush as the wine bottles (1/4 of 750ml) looked so big... I actually thought for a second that I might only drink one - right.

When we got to MSP our friend Sid picked us up at the airport (which must have the longest distances to walk of any major airport - hrmph!). We dropped off our luggage at his place then headed over to Nochee, a trendy bar downtown. It was fun and had 2-4-1 UV Vodka martinis. Randy and I, being gin drinkers, didn't partake. However, Sid ordered a couple and they were quite tasty. After Nochee, we made it over to The Saloon, which was busy even on Thursday because it was their 18&up night. (I guess the "youngins" can stay out late - ha!) I guess I drank quite a few gin&tonics as the end of the night is a bit blurry for me. Surprise. (Bob, not *nearly* as blurry as going out in MKE last Labor Day!!!)

Friday during the day we went to the MN State Fair. I can't even remember the last time I went to a State Fair, but it had to be back in Arkansas... Let's just say, sometime in the 80's. ;)

Some of the more memorable things we saw/did:

• Haunted House


• Bob's Snake Zoo



• Drank lots of beer


• Ate cotton candy


• Ate fried cheese curds (a first for me)


• Life-sized heads carved out of butter


• 1050 pound pig!


• Baby pigs - so cute!


• Cows, horses, sheep, rabbits and other varmints

The fair was really quite fun. Also, you can get nearly anything edible "on a stick", more than likely, additionally fried. We saw fried candy bars, oreos, cheese, etc. They even had "spaghetti on a stick". Ingenious.

Friday night was early to bed due to the beer making us drowsy and the fact that we needed to be at a car rental place at 8 AM. Yikes!

The rest of the weekend was spent in St. Cloud hanging out with Randy's family at the Days Inn and, you guessed, once again consuming as much beer as we could find. ;) Randy's great aunt will be missed, but I'm sure she is happy to know that her friends and family laughed and cried, and drank thinking of her.

But can you do it with one hand???

If you think driving while talking on a mobile phone is a good idea, try this:

Simply dial up someone as you're walking into, say, a grocery store then start shopping.

If you're like me, you'll find that you can't really find the products you want while having a meaningful conversation. So, applying this logic to driving, I would surmise that you if you drive 'n' talk, you won't really pay enough attention to driving.

That's my public service announcement for the day. Enjoy!

It's cool, but...

If I had oodles of money, I'd be tempted to buy this "Watercraft" for my pool. It's very James Bond-ish, eh?

If you're reading this, and you have oodles of money, I'd be happy with four teak chaise lounges. ;)

Is it just hotter this summer????

I just looked at my electric bill - R&I used 4298 KWH (29 days) last month, as opposed to 2921 KWH (32 days) last year - WOW!

Or, maybe in our old age we just want the doublewide cooler. ;) I do admit it's awesome to walk inside from the sweltering heat and humidity to a cool and dry environment... Lord, I do sound old. ha!

Red Red Wine....

I suppose any of you who read my blog by now think I must have a pretty boring life, eh?

Well, the truth is, I'm always drunk. (just kidding)

Randy and I do though, drink wine often. Nearly every day. YUM! I often wonder what the people who empty our recycling bin think each week. Perhaps they just think we have friends over for wine often. ;) A while back I was at Publix on a Saturday afternoon purchasing a case of beer and three or four bottles of wine and the cashier said something like "Having a party?". As if. "No, this is for me. Thanks!"


With that said, I would add that we actually really enjoy cheap inexpensive wine. There really are some nice wines which are very affordable and have a nice taste and aroma. One of our favorites is Papio. Around here, Papio is sold for around $4/bottle (cheap! eh?) and we often buy it by the case and get a 10% discount. I would also recommend Barefoot Wines. Personally, I would recommend against Vendagio and Casarsa. They are closer to red wine vinegar. BLECH!

Nonetheless, we do occasionally splurge for nicer bottles of wine. Although the "cheap" bottles are certainly drinkable, you'll find that many wines in the $12-$17/bottle price range will have less of a bite, more aroma and an overall smoother taste. Some that I like are Bogle, Fat Bastard, and one I discovered last Thanksgiving, Steele Wines, specifically their Shooting Star variety. I would love to order a case of Shooting Star Merlot (or Cabernet Sauvignon) - at $12/bottle online a BARGAIN! - but Georgia's arcane shipping laws won't allow them to ship here. (I believe wineries who do not distribute here can ship here - *sigh*.)

Fortunately, Randy picked up a case at the Farmer's market last week. YAY!

Creatures of habit

There are 2 or 3 routes I take to work every day depending on whether or not Randy and I make it to the gym, and which gym we go to. That's pretty normal I suppose. One thing I find interesting though, is that on my non-gym route I frequently follow the same red Cadillac CTS (personalized license plate). I suppose you might not be that surprised by that given that we are creatures of habit, but, given that Atlanta is home to some 4+ million people I think it's fairly interesting that I frequently see the same vehicles or people. With the red Cadillac lady, I assume it boils down to the fact that we're both aiming to arrive at work so closely to 8 AM that our timing coincides very often. Quite amazing though given the number of traffic lights and such.

There is something comforting in those occurrences though. It's kind of reassuring to know your surroundings.

Does that make us all (well, most of us) boring? Many people do believe that variety is the spice of life. Perhaps I should find something new that I could do everyday! ;) (blog??? - ha!)

A long time ago...

In a state far far away (well, 550+/- miles) I watched Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope. (I didn't realize until my web search just now that the "original" Star Wars movie was subtitled "A New Hope" - interesting.) I, along with many other kids was mesmerized with the film. My brother and I had gobs of Star Wars toys - action figures, X-wing fighters, etc. We even had the "Deathstar" with the trash bin and monster. It had little pieces of foam for trash. Endless hours of FUN!

At any rate, what reminds me of all that is that Randy and I went to the "Fabulous Fox" theatre Tuesday night to watch Star Wars Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. It was great! One of these days, when we have both time *and* an uber-cool home theatre of our own, I want to get the entire set of movies to watch over several weekends. It would be very interesting to see the original trilogy produced with today's special effects. I can remember folks clamoring over the effects back in the seventies - (eek! Did I say that???). Now they look like a high school movie project made with iMovie and a digital video camera. Amazing. (I mean, I could have made that in high school with today's tools... you believe me, right???)

Here's a picture of one of the Storm Trooper's walking around while we were waiting for the film to start:

Fun, eh?

cha cha cha CHIA!

For several years Randy and I have gone to a small Christmas party at a friend's place and we have a "white elephant" gift exchange (I don't remember if we followed those rules, but I do remember there was quite a bit of discussion about them...). The gifts are always based on a theme. We all really have fun with it, as you can imagine.

Anyway, the theme for last Christmas was "The 80s" - FUN! The gift I got was a Chia Garfield. Since I never had one as a kid I thought it was a hoot. Also, I had wanted something green in my office for a while and thought the Chia would certainly do the trick. Given that I am *not* a plant person, it's also nearly the only kind of plant I could keep alive - "Chias" only live a short time anyway, right? Who knows???? (I am also fairly good with "Lucky Bamboo", as long as it's in a clear container so I can see when it needs water.)

So... I'm sure you're wondering why I'm writing about the Chia Garfield now, eh? One word: Procrastination. ;)

Last week I *finally* took the time to put the damn thing together. Since I'm not really a plant person, it was OK. Here's a look at the initial planting:

And here's how it looks today - glorious, eh???

I hope it brings me wealth and fortunes!

Martha van Gogh

Last Saturday Randy and I were about to head out to Joining Hearts, a charity dance party. I was drying my hair and Randy was in the front of the house. Then I heard him running to the back yelling "A dog just bit Martha's (our dog) ear off!!!" I was like OMG!!! WHAT???

So, we grabbed some towels and went outside. Martha had been out front running by the fence and barking at dog's, etc. A lady was walking our neighbor's dog and Martha stuck her head through the fence and he bit!!! EEK!!!! He did indeed bite off about an inch of her ear flap. :( She hardly noticed...

We bandaged her up and called a veterinary friend who got us some antibiotics. After doctoring her up as best we could, we did make it to the dance party and had a great time. :)



On Sunday we took here to the clinic where our friend works and he doctored her professionally. He had to sedate her and trim the ear. :( Here's a pic.

So, her new name is Martha van Gogh - remarkable resemblance, eh?

Image of van Gogh from ArtRoots.com.