Finally, our summer has started

We were finally able to make it to the lake for the first time this summer. B-rad loves to go to the lake. He gets to do all kinds of stuff he can't do at home... I didn't feel like watching him & Brady have their faces stuck in their phones so I walked over to Brian & Lora's boat. Derik was getting ready to fish. Derik always fishes. Constantly fishes. Never stops fishing. See a pattern here? Cole thought he'd be funny & try to scare me with a worm. It worked. I was a total girl & shrieked & ran...
On Saturday, B-rad & Brady were going to swim. B-rad had brought his little video camera he uses on his motorcycle. He bought a waterproof case for it. And they all were loving the camera. B-rad went down the slide...

Then he taped Brady sliding...

I just wanted to sit & spend some time with Edward... I'm reading Breaking Dawn again to have it fresh in my mind for the new movie. Alas, these boys are loud & obnoxious. "Watch this!" "Did you see THAT?!" & a girl just can't get any reading done.

B-rad had a death grip on that camera... the case is waterproof...but it doesn't make it float...

A shot of Derik jumping off the top of the boat while B-rad stands on the deck...

They were like moths to a flame...

Let's see how it looks from this angle...

Lora & I were watching them swim. I told her we had to watch what we said because that camera could pick up our voices....so you know I barely spoke. Sigh...

Then I felt something gross on my leg. Brady took a tiny tomato & squeezed it on my leg. Gag. I hate tomatoes. Brat...

Ok-so insert going out on the lake to ski here. Let me tell you about that. I didn't even take my camera. Didn't even feel like it. B-rad took his new camera toy so we could tape them skiing. It has a suction cup on it but my job was to 'make sure it doesn't fall off the boat!'. I told Lora that B-rad must wanna be the next Steven Spielberg...

THEN he decided that he wanted ME to hold the camera while he was skiing. THEN I messed it up just a teeny tiny bit & he kept asking me, "What are you doing? What are you doing?!" Uhm, nothing B-rad...I got this... (Then Lora said, 'look like he wants YOU to be Steven Spielberg...) so I said ACTION! & off we went...

I had asked my wonderfully technological genius of a hubby to see if he could hook my ipod up to his parents tv so I could listen to music. UHM, that's why I keep him around. Wellllllll, when he saw there were usb ports in the back of tv, I heard him exclaim, "SWEET!" & I said, "Oh, it will work with my ipod?!" He said, "I don't know...but it WILL work with my camera!!!" Sigh... So when we got back from skiing, the boys had to watch all their videos from the day. Seriously....I should've taken a picture of them all surrounding the tv watching themselves while Lora was making supper.

So I told you in our last blog off how I love me some potatoes, right? Lora makes some potatoes that are the best.potatoes.ever. I don't know what they're called but I call them cheesy potatoes. When we go to the lake I LOVE for her to make them. Potatoes, cheese, garlic, onions & butter. Lots & lots of butter. Be.still.my.heart.

I was sitting on the front deck after supper spending time with Edward. But I also like to listen to music. "B-rad, will you see if these speakers out here work so I can listen to music?" "Sure, in a little bit." Hmph.

I was sitting in silence & then I heard music! And I ran inside. And guess who had figured out how to play music? B-rad? Pssssh, shut your mouth! NO! Brady! I was so excited! As I hugged & kissed all over Brady & told him he was my new best friend & favorite nephew B-rad decided to perk up a bit. "I was gonna look at that for you." Mmm hmm, B-rad...mmm hmm...

And since B-rad's conditioned me to never be happy with what I have, I wanted them to see if my ipod would hook up to it. And B-rad decided he'd try to help little ole Brady with that. Alas, the radio is too old, BUT Brady had an fm transmitter thingie we hooked my phone to & then it played through the radio. Oh, happy day...

Cole went fishing & he got a nice size fish. He did NOT wanna touch it though! Like I have said before, Derik LOVES to fish. And he doesn't like it when other people fish & catch stuff & he doesn't. He wasn't around when Cole caught his fish so when he came back to the boats someone said, "Oh, Derik - Cole caught a fish!" Derik immediately responsds, "NU-UH!" I said, "I have a picture!" Then he wanted to know if it was 'bigger' than the one he had caught? Someone said, "No." Then he saw the picture. And Derik's exact words were, "Thank God." He cracks me up.

Ok-this is perhaps the most exciting news of the whole weekend. This dude walked by the boats on the dock holding the cutest little beagle puppy. And since there is some un-written rule that McAfee's have to talk to every.single.person that walks by the boat, someone started a conversation with the guy. Turns out he raises them & he was going to start giving them away next week after their last round of shots. One thing led to another & Brian & Lora & the kids are the proud new owners of this cutie patootie!

I must tell you, he is one of the cutest little things I have ever seen. I kept saying before they decided to take him home, "Just remember-he's a cute baby NOW... he WILL grow up to be like them (as I pointed at the kids)..."

Everybody wanted their picture with the new puppy.

And the poor puppy was just exhausted from all the attention...

and since we wouldn't let Cole hold him while he slept, Cole decided to lay beside him because 'he was tired too...'

The new little guys name is Turbo. You don't wanna know how they came up with that. Actually it may have been B-rad. B-rad's names for pets depends on the hobbies he has at the time. His cat was Beavis. Wonder what tv show he was into at the time? We had a cat named Taz after his go-kart.

They kicked around 'Casey' for the Case tractor. But then I heard, 'What about Turbo after the Turbo till?!' (The turbo till is a piece of equipment they use on the farm...) And Brady like Turbo, but Cole wanted Casey. B-rad like Turbo & I delicately reminded him, "UHM it's not our dog!" There were a lot of, "C'mere, Casey" & "No, c'mere, Turbo" to see which one he'd answer too. It was quite funny because the dog is 10 weeks old. He just runs around with his tail wagging for whatever...

B-rad & Jer aren't allowed to play together anymore!

So B-rad got done with nitrogen last night & today was going to be a relaxing day. B-rad mentioned he would mow the yard & I had thought maybe we could go see a movie too. Jer had called B-rad to see if he wanted to ride the motorcycle for a bit. Well, B-rad's always up for a bike ride... especially when there's work around the house to be done.

Jer & Rhonda came over around 1:45. I told B-rad, "No, I didn't wanna ride, but thanks anway!" He replied,"You can't ride the Gixxer because it doesn't have a seat or pegs for your feet. And we can't ride the FZ because it doesn't have tires!" (Yes, he has 2 bikes...surprised?!) I asked about the roads being wet from the rain? "No, Jer says they're fine." And off they drove.

I was sitting on the couch (duh) eating left over pizza (yum) watching the dvr (duh) because I taped 'Eclipse' (sigh...). And the phone rang. And it was B-rad. And I knew something was wrong....

Let me go back. Jeremy & B-rad don't have good history together. A few years ago, Jeremy had bought a brand new bike. They went riding. An hour or so later, B-rad shows back up at the house. I thought they had gotten into a fight or something. I said, "What's wrong?" He said, "Jer went down on his bike." Jer totalled that brand new bike. There have been other little things here & there but it always seems when they're together something happens...

So B-rad calls & I know most of you have never spoken to B-rad...but believe me when I say that he talks fast & mumbly. He's really hard to understand most the time. And when he called today he was in major talk fast mumbly mode & all I understood was: Gixxer. Down. Okay. UHM, exsqueeze me? WHAAA?! He said, "I went down on the Gixxer but I'm ok!" Holy crap.

He came home on Jer's bike to get the truck & the trailer to get his bike. And this is what proves Jer & I are related: When B-rad got on his bike to come back Jer said, 'hey man, don't wreck my shit!' HA!

We hooked up the trailer & off we went. They were only 10 minutes from the house. He said, "There were people stopping asking if I was ok. I wanted to call you right away because I didn't want word to get back to you first." Wow, he's smart...

I know it's hard to tell in the pics, but he's really done a number on his bike. The exhaust pipe/muffler is bent to heck. He was going around a curve & there was some small gravel & dirt on the road....& when he hit it, he realized what was happening & let off the brake & the bike just went out from under him. You can see where it skidded under the guard rail.

Gas tank dented. See the white mark on the tire? That's from the crap on the road. Lotsa scrapes & scratches. His peg is bent.

See where it slid on the road?

I know everyone has their opinions of motorcycles. And that's ok...I have my opinions too. But I will say that his gear protected him. His jacket is ripped where he slid on the ground.
Look at his glove. Imagine if he had his bare hand sliding on the pavement?
B-rad is ok-just a little pissed. This is the first time he's went down on the road in probably 16 years. Rhonda was worried I was gonna be pissed at him...but I'm not. I'm glad he's ok. I'm not happy about all the insurance & crap we're going to have to deal with, but I know the bike can be replaced/fixed/whatever. If B-rad got hurt, who would take out the trash? Who would mow the yard? Who would set the mouse traps? I need him healthy!

Farming doesn't take a holiday

We had been planning to go to the lake for the holiday weekend, but as it the time came closer, B-rad grew more apprenhensive about going. He reallllly needed to finish putting down nitrogen on the corn. (With all the rain (rain is good!) we've had, the corn has been growing. While this is great, it's also bad because the corn grows & once the corn gets a certain height, he can't go over it with the tractor & the applicator. Have you noticed that farming is time sensitive?)

B-rad stewed about it & decided we would stay home so he could get it done. I was fine with that. I enjoy the lake, but I also knew there was plenty at home for me to do. I mean, the dvr isn't gonna watch itself...

On Saturday, I went into cleaning frenzy mode. I channeled my inner Ginmommy & Alicia McAfee & threw.stuff.away. I'm really bad about not putting up all my winter clothes & summer clothes. Like, I will keep sweatshirts & stuff in a drawer all year because 'round here you just never know when you'll need them! Well, those things take up room in a drawer, so other things that should go in drawers have to find another place to live. And they were living stacked in front of my chest of drawers. And I had had enough. I went through the pile with one rule: If you didn't know it existed/forgot about it/not worn it for 1 year - it's trash! I'm sad to report I had 5 trash bags full. (Yea, I wish I hated clutter...) I even threw some old purses away. Gasp, I know. It's blasphemy but it had to be done! I didn't take any pics (fail...) because once I got started I didn't wanna stop! I feel SOOOOO much better about our bedroom now that there's not clothes stacked everywhere.

Mom asked me to go to Graceland's God & Country service with her Sunday morning. I haven't been for a few years. It was really good. It's so neat to see how they honor the men & women of the military. (Tracey--I didn't see you in the choir in a fancy, sparkly blue top. Where were you?!) (Ginmommy-mom asked about you! At the end she said, "is your friend here? Do you want to say hello?!)

Sunday I laid around most the day watching that dvr. I had taken B-rad lunch after church & he had warned me I was going to have to help him move later in the day. He called around 5 as I was watching the Casey Anthony closing arguments on Fox news. I told him, "I'll ride around with you for a bit. I'm bored..." I am a giver...

After we moved, he said, "UHM, why don't you let me finish up here & you go get pizza for supper?!" I said, "Why? You don't want me riding with you?" "No, I just thought it would save you from making supper....... Plus I don't want you complaining because the tractor rides really rough now." Ah, he knows me so well... They had to take the duals off the tractor to put down nitrogen & that makes the tractor more unstable...B-rad knows that in an unstable tractor I make screeching noises only dogs can hear... & that gets on his nerves...

As we were moving stuff, I had looked at the radar & saw rain was coming. So he changed his tune & said, "Ok, lets get this field done & you can help me move everything back to the barn before the rain comes."

Filling the tank...

Notice whose car is parked on the side of a very small country road? I didn't like my car being there. I was worried someone would hit it. B-rad is so consoling to me. He said, "They'll hit the semi first. And if they hit your car they don't have any business driving anyway!" Awww, thanks...


So here's how nitrogen works: Those blade thingies make a groove into the ground & then there are tube thingies that squirt the nitrogen in. Yes, I am highly technical...

See the groove?And there is some collateral damage. Some corn gets ran over. I used to ask, "Why do you do it if you run over corn?" To which I get (in his most annoyed, sternest voice) "Because we're helping more corn than we're running over!!"

B-rad had relented & let me ride with him (because he wanted everything moved back before the rain, remember?!) . I had requested to listen to the music on my ipod & not his satanic, head bangin' music but he refused. He made me listen to stupid comedy albums the whole time.

Bor-ing.

Of course he's not used to someone else being in the tractor with him & he was having to work around me.

B-rad: "It's hard doing this with someone else in here with me."

Me: "I love you too, Mac."

B-rad: "No-it's just that I don't want to hit you."

Me: "Hit me if I'm in the way." (& ya'll know I would've totally yelled at him if he had hit me...)

B-rad: "No, I'm not gonna be like you."

Me: "Oh yea, I would totally hit you if you were in my way."

B-rad: "Yea, I know..."

B-rad counts the rows so he knows which one to go down for the applicator. I kept telling him to slow down so I could take a picture of him counting. (It was funny...) B-rad is really a good sport about me taking pics most the time. But he was in 'I gotta get finished & nothing is gonna stand in my way' mode & he wasn't cooperating. Again, in his most annoyed voice, "Have the camera ready when I get to the end of the row. I'm NOT stopping for you to take a picture!" Hmph, okaaaaaaay.

So here's what I got: No pic of B-rad himself, but I got his hand counting...

This reminds me of 'Thing' from the Addams Family!

But nitrogen's done, people. This is good news. AND we got everything moved back & I still went & got pizza. Score for me, no cooking!

While B-rad's away, I will play...

B-rad took a little road trip with his buddy, Hoosier, to go down to Tennesse or North Carolina or somewhere to ride his motorcycle at this place called Deal's Gap. Now-I'm super confused because I heard it called a bunch of different names while he was gone. "The Gap". "The Dragon". "The tail of the dragon". I just know it's a really curvy road & they can lean their bikes waaaaaaay over & 'drag some knee'. (Apparently this is super fun... Eh, who knew?!) And this place is FAMOUS for this stuff. There are people there set up with cameras (magazines, etc.) taking pics of the bikers. Here's one B-rad found of him on-line last night...

I was all excited because he was leaving & I could do whatever.I.wanted. To be clear, I pretty much do whatever.I.want anyway, but this was different. You know, I didn't have anyone saying,

"Are you gonna make anything for lunch? I'm hungry."

"When are you gonna do laundry? I don't have any clean underwear."

"I came to bed last night & you were on my side & you wouldn't move & I had only thissmuch of the bed to sleep on."

You catch my drift... Alas my big plans of laying around & eating peanut butter cups all weekend were thwarted because I had other things to keep me occupied. Sigh. But ya gotta make hay while the sun shines, right? Right!

Here's how my weekend played out:

Friday- Had dinner with fellow blogger, JLL. She couldn't come to our jewelry sample sale BUT she wanted to look through my pieces for sale to see if she could find anything that struck her fancy. We ate at El Nopal on Charlestown Rd. It was really yummy. After dinner, I ran over to Kohl's (I mean, I was that close, it's gotta be against some kind of rule not to stop?!). I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't find any clothes I liked. I did find a purse (shocker...) & I carried it around for a bit & then changed my mind. I left empty-handed. Sigh. I got home around 9:00. I was sooo tired that I went to sleep around 10:00. I heard from B-rad earlier in the day that they had made it to their dragon-tailed gap place. He had absolutely NO cell service. There was wi-fi in the hotel lobby so he would send me emails with updates. (I had told him to be careful & not do anything stupid & get hurt because if I had to take the time to drive 6-7 hours to get to him, he would wish he was dead. Just sayin'...

Saturday-Our annual hostess/customer appreciation jewelry sample sale was from 10am-2pm. I had to be there at 9am & it takes me an hour to get there. Whilst I have no problem staying home alone, I do get a little scared sometimes (okay, alot...). I hear noises & then convince myself someone is hiding in the house to pounce from the shadows & kill me. Soooo, I didn't get much sleep. I was awake at 5am & fell back asleep around 6 only to have to get up at 7 to get ready for my day. The sample sale went really well. I invited 75 people...& 2 showed. While I'm grateful for the 2 that showed, I was also a little disappointed. But, it is what it is. There are lots of ball games, family reunions & vacations going on right now. I know people are just busy, busy, busy. My jewelry friend, Rose, was there & we had decided we were gonna hang out & shop & catch up after the sale. We went to Clarksville to shop! On our way there, Shauna (Hoosier's wife-the one off the grid with B-rad) called to ask if I could meet up with her & take her to pick up her car. Rose & I got done shopping around 6 & that was just about the time Shauna was ready for me to pick her up. I sent Rose down the road for her 2 hour (!) drive home & ran over to Shauna's. We ate a quick dinner at Tumbleweed & then went to get her car. We got back to her house around 9. She was going to play cards & asked me to tag along. I.was.exhausted & said, "no way, I gotta go home!" I got home around 10, went to bed at 11. One of the most exciting parts of Saturday was that the new cell phone cover I bought came in the mail! It's ghetto, it's blingy & it's purple! And I LOVE IT!!!!

Sunday-a stupid storm came through about 4 am & I woke up to turn the tv on to see if there was another stupid tornado warning. Nope, just stupid thunderstorms so my booty went back to bed. I slept in until 9am. Heaven... I got up & did a few things around the house & then I had to get ready for a jewelry show. While I was drying my hair, I felt a tick. GAG! It was on my head in the back where I couldn't see it. I called Mom to see if she was home & could get it out. Nope, not home... I called Lora to see if she could get it out.... Nope, she wasn't home either. B-rad wasn't back from his adventure & I just couldn't stand the thought of that nasty little creature sucking the blood outta me until that evening when he got home. Luckily, Lora was going to be at the jewelry show I was doing & she said she'd get it out when she got there. Oh yes, she pulled that tick outta my head before my jewelry show. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do...

I was home from the jewelry show around 5 & laid on the couch to nap. I heard B-rad pull in & start to un-load the trailer. He came upstairs & talked a thousand miles a minute about all their fun. Perhaps the most fun thing was them both getting tickets for going 70 in a 45. Hmph. An $171 ticket. (Good thing B-rad has an account for his own spending money. He emptied it buying stuff for his bike for this trip, but he's gonna have to budget $171 back in for that ticket!)

B-rad was a good boy & took some good pics of their trip. I considered for a milli-second to let him do his own post. But I'm way too much of a control freak for that. He will have grammatical errors & his spelling is atrocious. I just can't handle that. I will just have to be the vessel to tell the story of the 'dragon tailed gap' place...

Lets talk turkey...or ham...or raw fish...whatever floats your boat

It's blog-off time again. The time where we come together to talk about what we like or don't like about a pre-determined subject. This session is all about our favorite foods & our favorite places to eat.

I don't really have a favorite food. I like food. Duh... But to say something is my absolute, most positively, most awesomest thing to eat? Nope, I got nothin'...

I love good, ole fashion home cookin'. (You know...what I DON'T do?!) Anything fried & mashed potatoes...mmmmm. I will say I love potatoes. I haven't met a potato I dont' like...except sweet ones. Which is strange because I'm a sweets kinda girl. More on that later...

Mom makes us our choice of dinner every year for our birthdays. I usually go with Swedish meatballs & mashed 'taters. And it's a double score when B-rad's birthday rolls around because he 'doesn't care' what she makes...so I pick that meal too!

Some people are 'salty' people...I'm a 'sweet' people. Candy - cookies....heaven.... My fav are chocolate chip cookies. Fresh baked outta the oven are the very best, but I will splurge & buy Soft Batches. Dang, I'm getting hungry... My favorite candy is hands down Reese Peanut butter cups. Be.still.my.heart. I also enjoy when the holiday's roll around & you can get the variations on the peanut butter cup: trees, hearts, pumpkins, eggs. Ahhhhhhh.... I'm also a big fan of tootsie rolls. Basically anything chocolate, I'm your gal!

Again, I dont' really have a favorite place to eat. I really like O'Charley's because of their rolls. I'm also a bread lover. (See the theme here? Love potatoes. Love bread. Love carbs... Sigh...) I really enjoy eating at Culver's in Corydon (I don't know if you guys have those 'in town'.) But the best part of eating there is the frozen custard. It's like ice cream so you get dessert when you're done! Score! My fav dessert there is the turtle sundae. Basically a turtle candie poured over ice cream. Carmel, chocolate, pecans...yum-my...

You speak, I listen

Ok, stalkers....you asked for it... the blog off is on like donkey kong.

First up on the list of pre-approved topics is our favorite places to eat & our favorite foods. (Now I'm hungry.... sigh...)

Ready, set, eat...er I mean, blog! Lets have 'em done by Saturday, the 25th... (And ginmommy, no I will NOT try sushi even if you have a whole, entire, hilarious blog post about it. Amen...)

Funniest.story.ever

**First I must say my blogger is acting funky. It won't let me center my post NOR make it purple. Hmph. AND it's some kinda bold weirdness with some italics placed in the wrong spots. I can't preview it either so I cannot be responsible for how this post looks. And ya'll know this control fuh-reak doesn't like that! I don't know what's going on but it's uber annoying**

Friday night, my friend Shauna & I were supposed to go out. Ya know - just dinner & a movie. Our hubbies are going out of town together this coming weekend & we had planned it for when they were gone. However, we (Shauna) got our wires crossed & she has to work this weekend so we rescheduled for this past weekend.

It's a long story (like THIS one's not gonna be...psssh) but she wanted to know if the boys could come. B-rad couldn't put down nitrogen because it was too wet so I said, "sure...the boys can come..." (That was my first mistake....)

We went to 4th Street to eat dinner. We saw there was a concert stage set up with a few people hanging out around. I figured it couldn't be anyone too big because surely they wouldn't be at 4th Street? We ate at T.G.I. Friday's & I had a drink with dinner. (That was my 2nd mistake....)

The boys blabbed about boring motorcycle stuff & Shauna said, "Is this all their gonna talk about?" To which I replied, "Hey, you're the one who wanted to bring them!" This became the running joke all night.

Ok so after dinner, we are standing on 4th street & Shauna was smoking. She knows I don't like smoke & she's pretty considerate about that. All of a sudden, I had ashes on me. I said, "Sheesh bitch, can you NOT flip ashes on me?!" (Let's alllll remember I had a drink. Jaime Mac + drink = even looser lips...) She said, "IT WASN'T ME!" as she proceeded to wipe ashes off my chest & hair. When she was finished, I said, "Geez, I think you missed a spot..." So she uhm, er, uh grabbed my chest... (this was the beginning of the end of the nice lovely evening...) We soon realized somebody on the walkway above us had dropped their ashes on me so we decided to re-locate.

As we walked past the stage, there were a TON of people there. Like I'm talking where there were maybe 10 when we went in, there were now hundreds. Shauna asked a chick on the front row who was playing. She said, "Thompson Square." I said, 'Hmph, I don't know who THEY are!' So she said again, "Thompson Square?" "UH, Nope, still dunno who they are." Then this chick says to me (serious as a heart attack) "Are you gonna kiss me or not?!" UHM hold up. Pump the brakes. So I replied, "Me? No - not right now....!" And she just kinda stared at me. I said, "Oh, don't get me wrong, you're a catch, but you're just not my type." Then Shauna starts screaming at me, "That's the name of their song!" Ruh-roh.... I think the chick that propositioned me was more embarassed than I was. She turned red & all kinds of colors. I just laughed it off & was like ,"Oh, I don't know them OR their song...I just thought you wanted me to kiss you..." Tee. Hee. Errr. Uhm, gulp.

So we decided to get the hell out of 4th Street. People there are ca-razy. B-rad was driving & downtown Louisville is like Beirut to me. I have no clue where I'm going. One way streets confuse me & I just crawl into the fetal position & suck my thumb. We came up on a street (NO CLUE which one...I just know it was near the Kentucky Center for the Arts). There were police cars in the road. And lots & lots & lots of people. Then I saw cheerleader lookin' people with pom-poms & I was like, 'OH, it's the Cardinal Caravan! I saw they were gonna here on tv this morning!' Then I saw lovely colorful flags. Like blue. And red. And orange. And purple. And then I was like, "UHM is this a gay pride rally or what?!"

Then we turned the corner. And we saw cars lined up. With poster board signs that said, "GAY PRIDE" Holy crap, it WAS a gay pride parade. There were people (I dunno if they were men or women...) in leather vests, pants & hats. And others in frilly stuff & tu-tu's.

I thought we were gonna die laughing. It was quite the gay inspired evening (not that there's anything wrong with that...). But if I learned nothing else from having Shauna grab my chest, being propositioned to kiss a chick or the gay pride parade is this: whilst drinking makes my mouth even mouthier, it also disables my abilities to think clearly enough to realize I need to get my dang camera out & takes pics. I didn't take one pic the whole night. (LOSER!) I would've loved for you stalkers to see the gay pride parade... & of course, my new girlfriend.