From Inmates to Playdates

Posts Tagged ‘Jeep’

It’s back to school around here and that means we are back to answering to that darn alarm clock.

I hate my alarm clock and I hate the back-to-the-grind schedule. We lay out clothes, pack snacks, and place the backpack right next to the door so that our morning routine goes smoothly.

I am counting down the weeks until Summer.

And I count down the hours until the weekend.

Because the weekends mean family time with my three favorite fellas!

On Saturday, I accompanied this guy,

on a little ride in this,

We tested the waters

and drove through this

and barrelled right over top of these

with ease.

I looked over at McDaddy’s seat and saw what I thought was a leaf,

And then I squealed when it did this, because it hit me that no, it was not a leaf.

So yes, I squealed on a trail ride during another offroading extravaganza, yet again.

And then I smiled.

Because I got to spend the day with these guys,

And that works for me!

Visit We Are THAT Family to see what works for others!

Google sends quite a bit of business my way.

I am easily entertained as I read the searches that send people to From Inmates To Playdates. And what better way to entertain you, my loyal readers (all eight of you!), than to share those searches. I’ve picked a few to share this time.

Get a load of these…

Knoxville, Tennessee arrived from search.yahoo.com on “What I Learned At The Funeral Home” by searching for can anyone watch an embalming process.

• Hello, Knoxville! I’m not sure if just anyone can watch an embalming process because its not for just anybody. It takes someone with a lot of quirks a strong stomach to watch the process. It also helps if you have a friend who is a mortician. Good luck with your future funeral home endeavors. I’d love to hear what you think.

Laurel, Mississippi arrived from google.com on “Wow! That’s weird. – From Inmates to Playdates” by searching for i tried to remove milia from my face and there is a deep bleeding hole.

• Laurel, Mississippi, I’m glad you’re here but I’m not glad to hear about your problem with the um, deep bleeding hole . Wow, that’s a new one. It’s not everyday someone announces they have a ‘deep bleeding hole’ just before arriving at FITP, Inc. I must admit that using that milia tool didn’t appear to be too difficult and definitely not that dangerous. I’m sorry to say there’s probably not too much info around here to help with the deep bleeding hole but hearing about yours will definitely cause me to rethink using the tool on my self someday. So thanks so much! Good luck to you!

United States arrived from bing.com on “Letters To Crazy People – From Inmates to Playdates” by searching for crazy jeep people.

• Those crazy jeep people are just that – CRAZY. They get their kicks by driving through creeks, over rocks, and straight up hillsides. They are serious about their jeeps and loyal to their peeps. Oh, and with my level of crazy, I fit right in with them.

Elk City, Oklahoma arrived from google.com on “What I Learned At The Funeral Home” by searching for grossest part of being a funeral director.

• What’s up, Elk City? I have no idea what the grossest part of being a funeral director is because, um, I don’t happen to be one, but the grossest part of the embalming process was definitely aspirating the internal organs with a trocar. If you’re interested, you can certainly visit John T. Google to find out more about that, because there are very few people who want to hear about the actual details of the embalming. Thanks for stopping by!

Fpo, Armed Forces Pacific arrived from google.com on “Today on Guantanamo Bay” by searching for no vacancy windward brig GTMO.

• Fpo Armed Forces Pacific how goes it? There was no room in the inn when I was on Guantanamo Bay back in 2009, because either 1. they have very few jail cells, or 2. they have way too many criminals on the island. Either way, I sure hope you don’t have plans to end up in the brig any time soon. I speak from experience when I say jail is not a place you want to be. Trust me on this one.

Middletown, Delaware arrived from us.yhs.search.yahoo.com on “Feeding Me A Line!” by searching for you sold me a line this time.

• Hey Middletown! You have to be very skeptical about anyone who sells you a line because people will tell you anything. You’d be better off to take your money and run. But hey, thanks for popping in on me and my little blog.

Until next time… 

Google away y’all!

I talk about vehicles a lot here on the blog.

So, as one might imagine, I was pretty excited about this week’s You Capture challenge – Vehicles.

I know for certain that McDaddy expects at least one picture of the heap, er, I mean Jeep to show up here today.

And y’all know how crazy I am about the nearly extinct Saturn Sky.

Ahem.

Can you believe I drove by a parking lot and snapped this series of pictures trying to be all secret squirrel because I feared if someone saw me they would think I was some sort of private investigator or stalker or whathaveyou.

Not nearly as sexy, but just as cool, is this vehicle carrying two little Amish boys. 

 And definitely not as sleek and sexy as the Saturn sky, but with just as much horsepower as the previous vehicle is McDaddy’s favorite vehicle.

May, I introduce you to The Heap, ahem, I mean Jeep.

McDaddy loves his Jeep and very often goes “wheelin” with the JeepinWV Jeep club. Sometimes I go too, if there are other wives going and I’ve been properly medicated. It’s a good time for the whole family.

Givin’ some knuckles!

For more vehicle shots (which I’m sure McDaddy will take a peek at) head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry.

It is no secret that I have a boat load of quirks.

I do not try to hide it, rather, I embrace it. My quirks and I have been through a lot. In fact, we entertain each other.

Take this evening for instance.

McDaddy is out of town (again!) this week and when that happens, the boys and I get into a tight routine where anything goes. If we want to see a movie, we see a movie. If we want to go to Toys R Us at 7 PM on a Tuesday evening, we go. And we normally eat dinner out somewhere because any reason I can find for not cooking is reason enough. What can I say? That’s just how we roll around here. That’s not to say that McDaddy doesn’t like to have fun or do those things too, it’s just that when he works all day and comes home, there is an expectation of oh, I don’t know, some form of dinner and relaxation in between yard work, domestic projects and playing in the garage with his heap, er, I mean Jeep.

Another thing that happens when he’s gone, is that I very often feel like a lost ball in a field of weeds. Not that I mourn McDaddy’s absense or anything, it’s just that I get bored easily. Especially when the boys are watching Tom and Jerry or fighting over batman toys. There are times when the urge hits me to take on a project and if I have any sense at all, I DO the project when the urge hits because Lord knows it might be another three years before the urge hits for that particular project again.

I took the boys to see Despicable Me after Stevie got out of music camp today. The second I walked through our Laundry room (which is a stretch because it is more of a walk-way connecting a “soon to be mudroom” and the new playroom) the urge hit me to sort toys. The boys helped me sort the twelve multi-colored buckets, the bins, and the toy box and before long, it was done.

Then I looked over at my laundry area and another urge surfaced. I kicked off my shoes and got busy. I would have taken a picture of the mess pre-urge, but really, it was embarrassing, and I was afraid y’all would judge so you’ll just have to believe me when I say it was a mess and has been a mess since the laundry room / toy room project got underway. The dryer was covered with all manner of wall fixtures and hanging stuff. A broken toy that needed fixing, a pile of stuff that needed to be taken to Goodwill and who knows what else was there. Immediately beside of the dryer was a microwave stand that housed a small television that we really no longer need along with a VCR (For you twenty-somethings, the VCR predated the DVR) some old coasters, three sleeves of paper cups (another of dad’s “too good to pass up at the auction” finds) and an envelope containing what appeared to be loan papers for a vehicle.

The urge to straighten the mess smacked me in the face and before I knew it, I was swarpin’ and tossin’. Then, I heard the kids going bananas upstairs and knew from the excitement in their voices that paw-paw stopped in for a visit. My dad pops in at totally random times and that’s just fine with me because he can’t sit still either and loves to tackle a good project. I put him to work putting together a dryer rack because my bras and shirts are shrinking at an alarming rate and also because there’s a big dryer funnel looking thing ont he floor that I thought wouldn’t be so obvious if there were a drying rack resting in front of it.

Like I said. Quirks.

Because the dryer rack was about four inches taller than my dryer, I was bothered.

Not the kind of bothered that makes one go, “shoot, I wish that was a bit shorter, oh well!”

I’m talking about the kind of bothered that me and my OCD knocks around that says, “That thing will either be sawed off or I will march it right back to the Wal-Mart tomorrow!”

In a matter of minutes, my daddy had the bottom portion of the dryer rack sawed off and put back in place and I’m sure I heard the hallelujahs roll. We spent the next hour cleaning the windows over the washer and dryer because neither of the TWO! discount dollar stores had blinds long enough for the window. Funny thing is, now that the window is clean and bright, I don’t think I need a blind there.

See for yourself!

What’s that?

Oh that picture?

I thought you’d never ask.

Indeed it is. Yours truly in a Chili Pepper Red Saturn Sky. From the test drive, of course.

My reasoning involves making the laundry room a more enjoyable experience.

And that works for me!

Visit We Are THAT Family for more WFMW entries.

My family had a wonderful July 4th holiday. We attended the “oldest Independence Day parade in the nation” held in Ripley, West Virginia, and attended a family reunion.

The heat was there along with its BFF, humidity.

Sweet Moses, the humidity?

Was. Miserable.

I tried not to think about the heat because at this same time last year, McDaddy was deployed to Cuba and I was miserable because I was missing him. I tried to focus on the awesomeness of  having him home with us this year and not the stinkin’ humidity, but I’ll tell you it was miserably hot.

On America’s brithday, we saw old cars,

and heaps, er I mean Jeeps, beauty queens, (sorry for the poorly centered picture!)

acrobats,

our friends and their horses,

pulling a wagon carrying my two sweet boys! (Decked out in flashing patriotic sunglasses my dad picked up at an auction!)

Happy Birthday, America!

Visit You Capture for more America pictures!

While sitting around the campfire tonight, we talked briefly about the bucket list. I don’t really have a bucket list, but I do spend a fair amount of time thinking of things I would like to do before I um, you know, pass.

This isn’t necessarily a bucket list, because? Hello? I’m already 36 and these are things I’d like to do before I’m forty, not before I’m dead but it’s certainly a list of things I’d like to accomplish before I have the birthday that comes after the thirty-ninth.

And just before the one that starts with forty and ends with one.

1. Give up my love of lists.
 
2. Lose a lot! of weight.
 
3.  Learn HTML code.
 
4. Go to Australia with McDaddy
 
5.  Get a full ten-hour night of uninterrupted sleep (without waking to pee!)
 
6. See a Broadway Show
 
7.  Share McDaddy’s love of off-roading without irrational fear or panic attack.
 
8. Own a Saturn Sky even if only for a short time.
 
9. Purchase the empty lot beside of our house so that McDaddy can have the garage of his dreams.
 
10. Finish the basement. I mean completely finished and mess cleaned up!
 
11. A new deck (We need one sooner rather than later or else we’ll have our very own drop zone!)
 
12. Worry less.
 
13. Get a full night of uninterrupted sleep.

What?

I already said that. Yes, I know. I’m just reminding you!
 
14. Go to the dentist and get a good report without getting the dreaded floss lesson. (Which means I should actually floss each. and. every. single. day. Thankyouverymuch!)
 
15. Visit Alaska
 
16. Worry Less
 
17. Get off blood pressure medicine. This could probably happen by achieving at least seven of the items on this list.
 
18. Declutterize our house completely!
 
19. Learn how to start the lawn-mower. Not cause I really want to mow, but, because its the responsible thing to do.
 
20. Find the perfect bra. Why is that we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t make a bra for every woman’s size and body shape that is comfortable?

 21. Actually pay attention every. time. someone. speaks. to. me.  {Huh, what did you say?}
 
22. Learn how to make a perfect batch of no-bake cookies just like my daddy!
 
23. Read the Bible allthewaythrough.
 
24. Have a really easy, great haircut that is easy to style.
 
25. Be free of my addiction of caffeinated Beverages {Could someone warn the folks at Dr. Pepper that in four short
years there could be a slight decline in monthly sales}.
 
26. Get rid of everything in our house that has not been touched for a year.
 
27. Let my boys be – BOYS. Without fear of injury or something worse!
 
28. Learn more about stuff I know nothing about. Knowledge regarding things like stocks and HTML Code could be very helpful to me some day!
 
29. Cook more. {Enough said}.
 
30. Buy flowers for spring and keep them alive all summer by watering them instead of depending on prayer and God to bring them back to life.
 
31. Find the perfect purse. I have purchased at least twenty perfect purses, yet, they find their way to the bottom of the purse pile when the next ’perfect’ one hops off the shelf and onto my arm.
 
32. Get rid of stuff in the loft that we have not touched since we moved here seven years ago. {Anybody out there have a need for old diaries or one or two or twenty backpacks?}
 
33. Do every. single. thing. on my long term To-Do List. Or just shred the list.
 
34. Be caught up on scrapbooks with NO pictures in the pending basket. After all, someday these boys will be grown and may actually want to take them when they leave.
 
35.  Think. Before. I. Speak. {Sweet Hallelujah, is it possible?}
 
36. Take the boys to Lake Powell to spend a week on a houseboat. We’ve made this trip twice – before kids, mind you – and it is the most relaxing vacation in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.
 
37. Have patience.
 
38. Successfully back the van into the garage on the first try. It’s been seven years – and every single time I back in crooked I think about the fact that the guy who built it, (ahem! Glen) designed it just off center. I’m sure his botched calculations are the root of the problem.
 
39. Lose FIVE! sizes. And never find them again as long as I shall live!
 
40. Change my freakin’ attitude about things I have no control over.

WHEW! It’s a really good thing I have three years, five  months, and nine days to get this all figured out. I am no doubt going to be a busy girl.

What about you? Anything you’d like to do before you hit your next ‘milestone’?

Talk amongst yourselves!

Guess What?

I’ve learned some stuff this week.

Granted, its probably uninteresting, unimportant stuff, but it is stuff none the less.

Let’s just forget the small talk and get right to it, shall we?

1. If you have leather seats in your vehicle and it is 412 degrees outside, it is a good idea to have a towel on hand. Preferribly a big, fluffy, light colored towel because? Well, either that or you’ll burn the heck out of your legs.

2. The Rite-Aid pharmacy at the end of my road is quite possibly the slowest place on the face of the planet.

3. If you don’t water flowers marked “water often” the flowers will die. And then you will more than likely kick yourself because why in the heck can you never remember to water the silly things?

4. When tucked into the crook of your elbow, an ice cold bottle of water works beautifully on an sting from an unknown source!

5. Drinking an entire bottle of water just before bed is never, and I repeat, never, a good idea unless you aren’t all that interested in getting a good six hours of uninterrupted sleep.

6. Toy Story 3 is a wonderfully entertaining movie. I laughed all the way through it and thought that “Kenneth” was hysterical!

7. When you take your boys to see a movie whose last line is, “I told you kids to stay out of my butt” you should be prepared to hear that same line repeated 4,239 times over the next week. And I wouldn’t count on them forgetting the line anytime soon. 

8.  A rear locker is not a locker that’s stored in the back room, rather it mechanically LOCKS the left and right wheel of a vehicle (insert off-roading vehicle name or JEEP here) together.

How’s that for learning something new? (I’m sure McDaddy is grinning from ear to ear!)

9. If David Hasselhoff magically disappears from “America’s Got Talent” it might be because he took a job on your soap opera playing the same character (Snapper Foster) he played a bazillion years ago.

9a. I have no real idea how to spell Hasselhoff. I could ask John T. Google, but I’m at a campground and the internet service is spotty and if I don’t balance the laptop on my knee just so-so, and hold my head at a 62 degree angle and hold my mouth just right, I will get the dreaded red circle indicating that I have lost service (again!) and well to be honest it is just not that important to me.

10. The new season of Big Brother premiers on July 8th. Just in time to save the summer television line-up.

11. If you eat a big dinner of ribs, baked potato, salad, and baked beans with friends while camping in the Amish Country, you should not, under any circumstance eat an Amish fried pie after that because you will feel like a bloated pig the rest of the evening. And also because you just know better.

12. When you participate in a blog swap and your swap partner sends you a tiara there is a pretty good chance you will wear it at random times throughout the week.

There you have it.

A summary of my week.

Feel free to link up what you learned this week. I’d love to hear from you! Because around here, we are about way more than entertainment. You know The Drill!

After a fun day filled of swimming lessons and a workout at the Y,

I went with this guy,

and these cute little fellas,

 for an off-roading extravaganza in this heap,

er, I mean, Jeep.

McDaddy navigated creeks and rocks.

And tree limbs.

And lots of mud.

We saw three turtles.

And a turkey.

There were times when McDaddy had the heap, er, I mean Jeep at full throttle.

And there was one time I grabbed the door handle and closed my eyes.

Throughout most of the ride though, I just sat and I smiled.

I smiled because these two little fellas - who love rocks,

and water,

and of course, Jeeps -

had a big-eyed time in the back-seat repeatedly reminding McDaddy how much fun they were having.

And nothing makes this girl

any happier than to have fun with her fellas.

The End.

This cool jeep pic is linked to Wordless Wednesday over at 5 Minutes For Mom.

NOTE: No Jeeps were harmed in the making of this picture.

Wordless Wednesday is hosted at 5 Minutes For Mom!