From Inmates to Playdates

Archive for August, 2009

Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:7

Our little family has much to be thankful for this weekend.

Exactly one month and one day ago, I blogged about a dump truck.

Today, I am mentioning the dump truck again because OHMYWORDITWASWORSETODAY!

Without going into too much detail, my day started with an appointment at a particular Doctor that may or may not use a dump truck in her examinations.

Or at least it felt like a dump truck.

The procedure that was done one month and one day ago will sadly have to be repeated. Today’s procedure was worse than the first. The party, held in my honor was painful.

But, that’s all I’m going to say about that.

You are welcome!

In addition to that, I feel like I could pluck my eyes out with forks because SWEETMERCYTHEYITCHLIKEMAD.

As if that’s not enough, my sweet Alex has some sort of Summer Snot Croup that is causing fever, lack of appetite and sluggishness.

And if you know anything about Alex, you know that is not normal.

I busted out the nebulizer tonight, but I fear it was probably too late. I fully expect to be making a trip to the Dr’s office tomorrow. I am hopeful that I’m wrong.

McDaddy had planned a nice weekend for the two of us as a sort of late anniversary get-away, but sadly, it does not appear we will be able to slip off for the weekend. So, as you might guess I’m a little blah today.

Not my usual shiny, happy self who enjoys talking about the Saturn Sky and reality TV.

I’ll do my best to use what little bit of energy I have left to discuss the injustice taking place in Retail America.

Because you know, every now and again we need to actually learn something around here.

While shopping for school clothes last week with my sweet boys, I was again reminded of the meager offering in the boy’s department.

The girls department is filled with all manner of frills, sparkles, lights, hearts, dogs, bears, cats, stripes, polka-dots, plaid, short, long, tie-dye, hot pink, light pink, medium pink, barely pink, not pink at all and any other color you can imagine. Oh, and need I mention those hoochie mama Bratz doll shirts?

The boys department offers stripes, sports, CARS or super-heroes.

Seriously, it’s a disgrace.

The shoe department plays the same discrimination game.

I saw 437 pairs of little girl shoes that had me drooling and wishing that my baby-bearin’ days weren’t over.

Most of the stores we visited in our quest for the perfect tennis shoe for my boys did not offer EVEN ONE STINKIN PAIR of tennis shoes that fit my proverbial bill (easy to get on, elastic in lieu of strings for Alex, NO velcro, and affordable.)

After making our way to nine stores, we found these

And another pair just like these, except with red trim for Alex. I was thrilled because Stride Rite happened to be in the midst of their Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Off sale which means I was able to sqaunder some cash because mama needs some new shoes, too! The new shoes made Alex talk non-stop about how excited he is to start pre-school.

That boy loves shoes. I’m not sure where he gets that from.

Somewhere out there in Retailville, there is someone with the power to even the playing field.

Mamas like to dress little boys cute, too. Can I get an Amen?

I just don’t get it. It’s all very frustrating.

We did get a post-card from Stevie’s 1st grade teacher in the mail  today. She has big shoes to fill because his Kindergarten teacher was the best. (I had originally written the bomb, but erased it because I’m in my mid-thirties and shouldn’t be using the word ‘the bomb’ to describe a member of the teaching profession.) I hope he has another great year. His teacher, Mrs. P. happens to be the cousin of one of my best buddies and the teacher that I requested for my sweet boy just after being elected PTA President because hello? Shouldn’t being the PTA President have its perks?

Other than that, the day is almost done.

McDaddy is watching Bones.

Surprisingly I have never watched that show. As you might guess, they are talking about all manner of embalming a human body.

Which interests me because I am a freak weird like that and because I recently watched an embalming. It is a really cute show. Cute because I have laughed out loud several times. Not like Criminal Minds where I sit here on pins and needles wondering ‘who done it’ and hiding my eyes when they show the victim.

Unfortunately, I’d rather dig my eyes out than hide them.

OHMYGOSHTHEYITCH.

Ok, that’s all.

I apologize for all the randomness.

Enjoy your weekend, y’all.

While sitting under an oak tree in our fancy, schmancy Gander Mountain camping chairs last week, I used my beloved iPhone to read y’all’s blog comments.

My favorite Mother-in-law, Jean, left a comment with a bunch of ideas for upcoming Thursday Thirteen posts because as you may recall we finished up the Alphabet after 26 weeks of Thursday Thirteens starting with A and making it all the way to Z.

When I casually mentioned the idea of a Thursday Thirteen post of the thirteen vehicles we’ve owned, McDaddy came alive.

I hadn’t seen him that excited since Alex was born back in 2005.

Oh, I kid.

Sort of.

I began writing down each of the cars we have owned since we each started driving 19 years ago, and McDaddy went and got all technical on me, grabbed the note-pad and began putting the vehicles in order of their appearance.

Because McDaddydoesn’t play around when it comes to vehicles.

Remember, he does not hunt, fish or watch sports, but he likes his vehicles the same way he likes his women.

Fast.

And Cheap.

Oh, I kid.

Sort of.  *smiling*

I had the daunting task of scanning and then editing all of these pictures for a post. Then, I had to upload the images to photobucket. Just before scanning the pictures, McDaddy spouted off specific instructions to “be sure and include before and after pictures of my Jeep” because it was “stock” before.

Stock, as in how it looked when we bought the thing. You know, normal.

As opposed to how it looks now since it’s been modified. Modified to the tune of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours spent working on the thing.

And, as of this writing he is currently under the Jeep in the garage. Working on that thing makes him all kinds of happy!

So, without further fanfare, may I present thirteen vehicles we have owned.

And then some.

1. 1981 Buick Regal - This was my very first car. My parents bought it for me in 1992 when I was a senior in high school. When we went to look at it, I immediately knew it was the one. I spent many a wonderful hour in this car with The Crew – which included me, McDaddy, and our friends, Jodie, Tommy and Shawn rockin’ out to Bell Biv Devoe, Garth Brooks, Firehouse, Bobby Brown and Motley Crue.

2. 1981 Buick Electa -This was McDaddy’s first car. It actually belonged to his PaPa and then to his parents.  Here is McDaddy back in the day when the car rolled over 100,000 miles.

At one time the car’s license plate read “1BIGBUIK”

Surprisingly, (to everyone except for those who know McDaddy personally), he still owns this car today with some sort of emotional attachment I cannot explain.

3. 1993 Chevy Corsica – My second car. Not a lot to say about this car except that it was a good one. Oh, and also it had a kickin’ stereo because McDaddy installed a Kenwood stereo that had a removable face plate and a car phone that was mounted on a pole. Remember those?

4. 1995 Chevrolet S-10 – This was McDaddy’s first new vehicle. It was also a standard which meant it endured lots of abuse as McDaddy taught me to drive a vehicle with a manual transmission. A requirement for anyone planning to become his wife.

5. 1996 Dodge Avenger – Sweet mercy, I loved this car from the first time I laid eyes on it. Much the same way that I loved the Saturn Sky when I first laid eyes on it. This was my first new car. It had a chronic oil leak that the sorry saps at Nitro Dodge were not willing to fix. Sadly, it spent more time in their service department than it did in my driveway.

This was the Avenger when we sold it. “Never smoked it” and “Lady Driven.”

A great car for anyone looking for a good used car with a chronic oil leak.

6. 1996 Honda CBR 600 F 3 – McDaddy’s first motorcycle. Remember I said, fast cars and fast women.

McDaddy actually traded that bike for his current one.

7. 1997 Suzuki Intruder 800 - This is McDaddy’s current motorcycle.

8. 1996 Toyota Camry – We traded the oil leak Avenger for this car. And as I sit here 11 years later, I cannot remember why we traded the Avenger, except for maybe the oil leak.

9. 1997 Pontiac Bonneville - I think buying this car had something to do with the fact that I was pregnant with Stevie and this car had 4-doors. Our neighbors across the street now own this sweet ride.

10. 1996 Jeep Cherokee – Ah, the Heap (ahem! I mean Jeep) – This vehicle was originally purchased becuase we live on a big, honkin’ hill that requires a 4-wheel drive in the Winter time.

Shortly after that, McDaddy began modifiing this vehicle to its current state – A Beast.

As per instructions from McDaddy, here is a before….

And here is the after….

Meet, The Beast

Seriously?

11. 2002 Toyota 4-Runner -My beloved 4-Runner. I absolutely love this vehicle. Sadly, I am afraid it is on McDaddy’s radar to trade for a truck. We use the 4-Runner to pull our summer home camper and McDaddy fed me some line about the camper “being a little much” for the 4-Runner.

12. 2006 Dodge Caravan – While the Dodge Caravan may not be the coolest ride in town, you cannot beat its versitility. We hauled our double-bowl bathroom countertop in it without a problem. The cargo area makes a better bed than a tent does, especially when its raining outside. Our boys love that it has a media package. In other words, a DVD player and wireless headphones. The van has heard more than its share of Tom & Jerry episodes and the movie CARS. If I were a member of the Jeep club, I would call this my “daily driver.”

13. 1996 Jeep Cherokee -  I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I have made a mistake because I have already mentioned the 1996 Jeep Cherokee.

This 1996 Jeep Cherokee is a different heap. And, yes, I mean heap! 

One day while McDaddy was in Cuba, I happened to be rambling on about how bored I was with deployment, or how badly I needed an iPhone or probably something about my latest checkbook mishap when he casually asked if he could buy a Jeep. The question was actually rhetorical because its not as if he needs my permission to buy a Jeep. It was more of a feeler. He was feelin’ me out to see if I would take the roof off of the house or just calmly say, “I don’t care what you do.” Instead, I said something along the lines of “What in the name of Pete do you need another Jeep for?”

Now, I’m not sure who Pete is or what line he’s in, but McDaddy launched into some detailed tirade about buying the Jeep, switiching out the rear end (as if we don’t have enough rear end around these parts) and various pieces and parts for his Jeep, selling some parts off of it to other suckers fellas in the Jeep club and ultimately selling the finished product to some Jeep freak that looks at the thing with a loving heart and a gleam in his eye.

What I heard him say was, blah, blah and more blah.

At any rate, he made an international deal all the way from Cuba.

The next thing I knew the Jeep showed up at our house one weekend while I was gone.

Meet The Beast – Part Two

As you can see, he is in the midst of some sort  of trading out. While I was writing about the Buick Regal, he came inside, looked at me with puppy dog eyes and asked if I was bored. Like the dutiful wife that I am, I quickly placed the laptop on the floor, got my Croc flip-flops and followed him outside. He asked me if I had ever helped him bleed brakes before.

Dumb question.

No, I am not well-versed on brake bleeding.

I spent several minutes pumping the break pedal while waiting for his cue to stop or start again.

I was happy to help.

I’d be even happier if we had one of these sitting amongst our list, preferably somewhere near the end.

I am still waiting for someone at Saturn to get a whiff of my blog here at From Inmates To Playdates and send me one of the extra ones sitting on a lot somewhere. Surely, they could use it as a tax write-off and can you even begin to imagine the advertising I would do for them.

All eight of my readers would read daily about my experience in this sweet, sexy ride. Heck, I might even rename my blog.

Something like “The Sky’s The Limit”

Or “Me and My Sky”

Oh, and I could have included pictures of the company cars that McDaddy has had throughout the years. I decided against doing that because I don’t want to bore you any more than I already have.

There would be a chevy Cavalier, one Chevy Lumina and three Chevy Impalas added to the list. In that order.

How ’bout you?

Tell me about your first car.

Your favorite car.

Or your daily driver.

I’m sure it would tickle McDaddy to no end to read all about y’all’s vehicles.

I was a little surprised at this week’s You Capture challenge.

PEACE.

We don’t get much of that around here because did I mention I come from a long line of loud?

But, after thinking about the word peace, I knew this was going to be an easy week for me.

Take a look at some of these PEACEful sights from the beautiful hills of West Virginia.

Peace.

West Virginia nature is full of it.

Usually, the McResidence is not.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry (which is actually what I should be doing) for more You Capture participants.

Peace out, y’all.

Next Week’s Challenge - FOOD

During our week-long camping extravaganza, I watched in horror as our laundry bag filled to capacity and then began to seep out the top of the black plastic trash -bag.

Seriously, there are four of us. And two of us happen to be under forty-eight inches tall.

Fearing an all-out revolt, I decided it was time to fight the evil forces of the laundry bag and its filthy contents.

During a trip to the Mart of Walls, I found a product that I will be using for years to come in our camper. May I introduce you to Purex’s 3-in-1 Laundry sheets. I don’t think I ever recall seeing these in the laundry section before now, but its possible they’ve been out a long time because I don’t make it a point to shop the laundry aisle any more than necessary. I was looking for a travel size bottle of laundry detergent because as I said we were camping. I didn’t want to purchase a big, honkin’ bottle of detergent because I didn’t want it to spill all over our camper in transit.

My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when I saw these boogers. They seemed perfect for storing in a camper throughout camping season.

They were a bit pricey, but once you figure in the price of detergent, softener and dryer sheets, I would bet it’s pretty-much equal.

Still skeptical of such a do-it-all product, I rounded up enough quarters to do two loads of laundry in the camp ground laundry room (which was no small chore let me just tell you) and made my way back to our camper to retrieve the bag of laundry so that I could try these suckers out.

When the wash cycle was complete, I was shocked at how good the laundry smelled. I had no idea there were three different scents and sadly, the sheets are still tucked away in our camper, so I have no idea which scent I happened to pick up at the Mart of Walls but it smelled really good (and so did our closet in the camper after the sheets sat on the shelf over-night.)

I was thrilled with the product and thankfully doing those two loads of laundry made a big difference because instead of doing seven loads once we returned home, I only had to do five loads.

Sweet mercy, I didn’t think it would ever end.

Unfortunately, Purex has yet to come up with a way for their product to fold the laundry as well.

Purex 3 in 1 detergent sheets worked for me!

Visit We Are THAT family for other Works For Me Wednesday Posts.

After a week-long hiatus, its been kind of tough getting back in the bloggy groove.

You may recall that I did not participate in any carnivals last week because I was camping with my fellas. I missed y’all What I Learned gals, but I’m back after a much-needed break with several points to ponder.

Here is what I learned this week, in no particular order.

1. If you are ever in the town of Davis, WV and find yourself in need of lunch, you should know that Hellbender’s Burrito is only a good choice if you are not in the mood for authentic Mexican food complete with free chips and salsa. The chips and salsa at Hellbender’sare not free and they are not good. The salsa was nothing more than a bowl of dry onions and tomatoes. Oh, and the Philly Cheesesteak will arrive at your table looking like a burrito. Hence, the name. But, it was pretty tasty. We asked for cheese sause in lieu of the salsa and it was really good too.

2. A Hellbender is actually a salamander.

Go ahead, Google it.

And, just so you know, I totally wanted to call this post, “What in the hellbender is that?”

But I didn’t because that title didn’t sound very lady-like. My mother’s favorite line when I was growing up was, “I’m trying to raise a lady not a street urchin.”

And to me that sounded street urchiny.

3. When you are camping at a State Park and the metal trash-can at your campsite comes equipped with a bungee strap, there is a pretty good chance you should use the bungee strap. If you forget to use the bungee strap, you may be awakened in the wee hours of the morning to discover three raccoons wreaking havoc on your trash can and its contents.

Or so McDaddy says.

4. When choosing a book for your reading pleasure at the Mart of Walls, it is probably a good idea to choose a book that is not book two in a five-book-series, especially if you have not read the first book in the series.

5. When McDaddy casually asks, “You wanna go for a drive?” followed by, “I found this road on a map” that probably means you are in for a bumpy ride.

6. When planning your grocery list for a week-long camping trip that happens to fall on the day that your mones are raging, say around day 27 or so, it is probably a good idea to have a private stash of chocolate or else you will have to break into the smores stash and eat the whole entire Hershey delegation.

7. Mentioning the idea of a Thursday Thirteen involving vehicles you have owned during your marriage, will excite McDaddy unlike any post in the history of the blog.

It would excite me too if a Saturn Sky was somewhere among that list.

8. Interviewing Stevie for a Thursday Thirteen post involving things he learned in Kindergarten will have you laughing hysterically.

I can’t wait to post it!

But it will have to wait until after McDaddy’s Vehicles We’ve Owned post.

That’s all I’ve got this week people.

Head over to Musings Of A Housewife to see what else others have learned this week!

McDaddy does not hunt.

He does not fish.

He does not watch Nascar.

And in our little town in West Virginia, that is unheard of.

He also does not watch sports.

I’m telling you internets, McDaddy is a great husband.

He does however love his heap (ahem!) I mean JEEP. He belongs to a Jeep club called JEEPINWV. They are, in a word, JEEP Freaks.

Okay, that’s two words, but it’s my blog and you shouldn’t go and get all judgemental on a girl anyway.

Saturday, the JEEP club planned a trail ride. There were 10 JEEPS and 22 or so people.

OurMcDaddy’s jeep is the black one here in front.

I love the folks in the Jeep club. I love their outings at great restaurants meet-n-greets and I love it that McDaddy has a hobby that is family friendly and something our boys LOVE! TO! DO!

I am not, however, a big fan of the trail rides.

Which can be a problem if you know anything about jeep clubs.

I want to enjoy it, but, the nerves make it tough at times. The last time I went on an actual trail ride, I had a panic attack and acted like an idiot. I did not want to be an idiot, but I was. I had no control over the madness.

When McDaddy asked me if I wanted to come along this time, I thought about it briefly and then agreed because I didn’t want to sit at home by myself and honestly, I enjoy the people and the fun they have.

We packed stuff for outside potty breaks lunch and headed out early Saturday morning. I asked McDaddy to run through the McDonalds drive-through for breakfast because I’m much more enjoyable if I’ve eaten breakfast.

Our boys love wheelin’. They wear rain boots and have a great time playing in the mud, dirt and water in between stops.

McDaddy is a safe, gifted maneuverer. And yes, before you ask, maneuverer is a word.

Just ask me.

I enjoy watching his determination to navigate rocks, creeks and ruts. Even if sometimes the ruts scare the soup out of me.

Ahem!

Which is what happened this time. Thanks to paxil Thankfully, I did not have a panic attic.

Or any kind of attack for that matter.

I genuinely enjoyed being with my fellas and hearing things like:

• Daddy, you are the best at getting up that steep hill on the first try.
• Daddy, why are you getting our JEEP all muddy?
• Daddy, I’m looking for the gooiest mud I can find.
• Daddy, there is mud on my door, see here.
• Daddy, put it in 5th gear and go fast.
• Daddy, how’d we get back here in 2nd place?
• Daddy, this has been my favorite day.

And yes, actually my boys start 97.3% of all sentences with the word, Daddy. (I totally pulled that number out of the sky. But, I would bet its pretty accurate.)

McDaddy and the JEEP posse each took a turn climbing this hill and then decided to align their jeeps for a picture.

Because that’s what guys in the Jeep club do.

At the end of the day, it was a good day.

Even though it was 124 degrees outside.

With 104% humidity.

We came home and got cleaned up while McDaddy spent the better part of two hours washing the mud and dirt off of his Jeep.

And after that, we had dinner at a mexican joint which was a great ending to a fun day.

I first thought that McDaddy was rewarding my sportsmanship during the offroading extravaganza, but as it turns out, I suspect eating at the Mexican joint had less to do with my sportsmanship or the free chips and salsa and more to do with the fact that there are several car-lots in the area with used trucks for sale.

Whatever.

Me and the fajitas and the chips and the salsa had a great time.

Until they were gone.

It was a great weekend.

And I hope you had one too!

Spill it. What did you do this weekend?

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Psalm 139:17

Well, its back to the grind here at From Inmates To Playdates and the break is over.

It wasn’t me who enjoyed a nice, long week free of the telephone, the television, the internet.

Seriously, it wasn’t me because that wouldn’t be possible. Would it?

Going an entire week without various technological gadgets would be unheard of. So, nah, there’s no way that could have been me.

Unless of course you count the wonder of the iPhone which I don’t because I am not likely to search the internet and get lost in layers of blogs on the iPhone. Facebook, maybe. My e-mail maybe. But not layers of blogs.

And I know most of y’all know what I mean by layers of blogs.

While I did peek in the window a few times here at From Inmates To Playdates and even let myself in the backdoor once to approve a comment, I even took a much needed bloggy break except for the few times I picked up a pen and paper to compose a couple of Thursday Thirteen posts while picking at McDaddy’s brain and then Stevie’s brain respectively. I also wrote one What I Learned This Week post and one Works For Me Wednesday post. So, a big fat thank you to my BFF Becky for minding the store while I was gone. I left her with ten drafts to use as she saw fit. She made sure one got released to the blogosphere each day.

I think she deserves a nice round of applause.

All together now.

CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP. THANK YOU, BECKY.

We had a fabulous time and had wonderful weather. Our boys put thousands of miles on their bikes and I was perfectly content to sit and stare at McDaddy all. live. long. day.

Did I mention I was glad he was home?

I also got reacquainted with the stove this past week.

I’ll give you a second to process that.

I made pancakes 5 out of 7 mornings and also made spaghetti, manwich, hotdogs, and roasted lamb.

Ok, so I’m totally kidding about the roasted lamb, I really just wanted to see how many of you were still with me. If you’re still reading, I thank you because I know I happen to be rambling.

It wasn’t me who took 76 pictures in 7 days, but I will be happy to share some of them with you over the next few days and weeks. Here’s one of my favorites. It was one of our great adventures from this past week. The boys loved climbing over the rocks and called it “the best trip ever!”

Oh, and I totally didn’t stand behind my fellas and yell, McDaddy, hold onto him!!!

We are thrilled to have McDaddy back at home where he belongs.

Oh, and I even saw one of these during our trip. But, you should know that it was not me who foamed at the mouth when it pulled up.

Sweet mercy, I love that little car.

My life is complete again.

My sweet hubby is back.

Tonight, we shared one of these,

Yes indeed, things are back to normal around here.

And, I couldn’t be happier.

See.

And, it obviously wasn’t me who thought about sucking her tummy in before this picture was snapped.

Sheesh.

That’s all.

Carry on.

Visit My Charmng Kids for more “Not Me” Monday posts.

We just arrived back home after a week of relaxation at a state park and I’m home just in time to participate in Beth’s You Capture carnival over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

This week’s challenge is MOTION which will be very easy for me because I have a three year old that has two speeds.

Asleep.

And wide open.

And, a six year old who loves to run and jump and be the fastest boy in class.

Both of the boys enjoyed helping me out with this week’s challenge.

I had a lot of fun capturing my boys this week!

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for more Motion pictures.

Next week’s challenge: PEACE