I spent Wednesday making up some egg salad and some tuna salad for sandwiches for our outing on Thursday on the boat. The Beast swore he had *cleaned up* the boat and today I almost died when I saw his version of *cleaned up*. Never send a man to do a woman's job. He really has no clue unless totally guided. But it was okay since we were all in a good mood, the day was perfect and even the temperature was not unreasonable. I think it got up to about 85 degrees but that was perfect.

We jumped off the boat and swam around for a while to cool down. The Princess, Johnnycakes and Pinky spent a lot of time swimming around and dunking each other under the water. We let the boat drift with the wind and they got back in as soon as the lake weed got too high for them. The Beast brought the boat into deeper (and no weed) water so the kids could get back into the water. Even Taytay, who can't swim, got into the water with her float vest on and enjoyed herself. She hung onto the ladder, however, since she didn't want to float away. At least she was able to get wet and have a little fun.

I found the water almost too warm except that it was just the top layer. Where your feet were was definitely a lot cooler but it still felt good. The Beast didn't want to get into the water (no clue why not) and just relaxed for a change. Johnnycakes finally took out his fishing rod and a lure and started fishing. He even caught a big mouth bass but it was too small to keep. The Princess was disappointed because she was hoping for some fresh fish for dinner tonight or tomorrow (Friday).

Chewlee did not like having to keep her vest on but she finally settled down and accepted it. She didn't want to go into the water, which surprised me but she sure wanted to keep an eye on her mother. The first couple times the Princess dived under the water, the baby screamed because she thought her mother wasn't going to come up. Once she saw her mother do it a couple times, however, she thought it was a game and started going *Ut oh* or *whee*, depending on what the Princess was doing. As she swam around the pontoon boat and under it, Chewlee would run from side to side, trying to spot her.

She saw a couple fish in the water and got so excited that I thought she would jump in trying to catch them. We kept putting sunscreen on her to try to keep her from getting sunburned and she spent a lot of time with me on the couch and under the bimini top in the shade. I caught her a couple times with her hand in my glass of iced tea fishing out an ice cube even though we had been giving them to her. She loves to eat ice cubes. The Beast forgot to bring a bowl for the dog so even the dog was eating ice cubes I gave to him until we finally filled up a glass to the top and let him lap it up from that. He curled up at the Beast's feet between the console and the chair to keep out of the way of everyone walking around and grab some shade of his own. He's so darn big and he would start leaning into me on the couch until I was ready to kill him. I finally started leaning into him and he moved away having gotten the hint.

Taytay and Pinky didn't get to fish because we didn't have the right spot for putting down baited hooks and they weren't able to use a lure right. I was sorry for that but, hopefully, we will have another chance to do that with them sometime soon. Their father will be coming to pick them up on Saturday so there won't be another chance this time. I may call and see if Tonto is going to be fishing tomorrow evening, though, so who knows? I just can't believe their time here is over. It sure flew by. I've enjoyed having them and getting to know them better. I will miss them.

Their schools start on August 14th which happens to be Pinky's birthday. My grandson, Doc, their older brother, will turn 17 on August 27th. I can hardly believe it's been that long since Hurricane Andrew. He was born the day after it hit south Florida. I remember that time so vividly. How can time fly like that????

I'm sitting here in my chair at the computer and I still feel like I am rocking after six hours or so on the boat....LOL. At least when I get on my feet, I don't feel that way or I would really worry about me. The baby didn't get her nap today and the Princess told me she was halfway asleep during her bath but you could see she got sun today. At least she doesn't have sunburn. If she did, I would sure be pissed at Coppertone. The Princess worked hard at getting some color. It's the one thing she misses being able to do and it's best on the water since it seems to amplify the results. Taytay and Pinky will be going home with some color, too. They were way too pale to my way of thinking.

When we got home, the Princess (joking) said, *What are you making us for dinner?* I replied, *Sandwiches for everyone!!!* What's funny and cute is that I had thrown some *Uncrustables* in the cooler for the heck of it because Taytay can be picky at times and isn't crazy about onions. I was glad I did because it turns out that Chewlee loves them. She sat quietly next to me and ate hers as long as *I* ate one with her. She made me go and get one for myself before she would eat hers. I was also amused at how neatly she ate it. It was just too cute for words. Especially if you have eaten one and you know how the peanut butter and jelly can squish out of it. They are definitely generous with those as the filling.

Well, it's late and I want to get this posted so I will say Adios amigos, hasta manana. Hope you have a great day and good weather. And here is my thought for the day: You should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy.

Love you all.

Bratfink and I got to talking a bit this morning about families because of an incident with the Beast's cousin, Blowhard. I know that every family has someone like him. It was all because he said to me that he had had his first cataract surgery on Tuesday and he did it without taking any anesthetics. He was saying it like he had been so brave and manly and, of course, I had both my eyes done a little over a year ago and I KNOW. By that, I mean that I asked questions and one of the things I KNOW is that you are NEVER given an anesthetic because you must be awake for cataract surgery. The reason? If you are put to sleep, your eyes roll back in your head and make it impossible for the surgery. I have heard so much bullshit from this particular person that I said to him, *Blowhard, they don't want to put you to sleep because your eyes roll back in your head. All you get is numbing drops in the eyes and the surgery is painless and over in about 5 minutes or so.* He kind of stammered a bit and then, to distract me from his having to make any kind of real response said, *....and I am seeing so much better. It's not perfect yet but it's great.*

I, being the kind person that I am (and Bratfink finds this as a fault with me), just said, *Isn't it fantastic?* I let him go on for a minute or so and then he was very anxious to get off the phone with me. Now I know this is not a real confrontation with Blowhard and my voice was very gentle. But he makes me absolutely crazy with his exaggerations about EVERYTHING. I don't understand why he does it because we know the truth or else we find out the truth because his mother or sister or even his kids let us know.

I started telling Bratfink about some of the other weirdos in the Beast's family. The uncle that read palms and told me that I would have three children and the Beast would have four. He got the weirdest look on his face like he was having a lot of fun with that idea. He also read tarot cards and believed himself. He was, btw, always wrong but it never deterred him from inflicting himself on everyone at any gathering. l

He has another cousin, a female we shall call Prunella. She was a flaming redhead that put the UGH in UGHLY (pardon the misspelling but it is deliberate). She did, however, think she was gorgeous and wore some of the worst clothing for her. She was also a kleptomaniac. The nicest thing I can say about her is that she died an early death from an undetected heart defect that seems to run in her father's family.

He has two twin cousin, Pete and Repeat, that were as different as night and day. One was not bright but he tried hard, graduated from high school, went on to trade school and married like a normal person. The other one was a born criminal with all that entails and couldn't be trusted in his own mother's home. He stole money from her and even stole her TV one day while she was out. She was constantly having to change her locks because her goofy husband would give the kid a key. Her husband, btw, used to sleep with some strange woman's underpants under his pillow. He wasn't a good looking guy but apparantly he had some sort of charge and his aunt was constantly catching him fooling around with someone. She once took a cast iron pan to him while he was sleeping when she had finally HAD it with him. She filed for divorce the next day.

I could tell you stories about his family that you wouldn't believe all the way back to his great-grandfather but the end result is that Bratfink decided the *Weird's* are not alone in this world. The funny thing is that the Beast's father actually thought MY family was socially WAY under his. It's enough to make you want to either tear your hair out or laugh your butt off.....that is, IF YOU GAVE A DAMN. Which I never did because I could see with my own eyes that his family had a long way to go to catch up with US.

I know this is a bit of a rant but haven't you had those kind of days? When the other shoe FINALLY dropped and your temper with it? I have had it up to my chin with that kind of crap from someone who tries to act better than anyone and I know he actually is so damn envious of us that he can't stand it. He's even deliberately destroyed things that belong to us because of it. Oh, and he also stole MY fishing rod and reel (it was new) and gave it to his dad for Father's Day one year. Of course, we discovered it and actually got it back but can you believe the nerve? The worst thing is that no one called him on the carpet for it (it wasn't my place but it sure burned me up) so everyone is enabling him to continue on.

Oh well, rant is over. Thank you for listening although I know you could care less....LOL. Have a great day, take care and please be careful while out in the world at large. If you see someone without a smile on their face, give them one of yours, please.

Today the Beast decided to make a journey to another one of the many waterfalls here in Alabama. It involved a 2-1/2 hour trip and then the hard part.....a walk that was both up and down the mountainside. Pinky went with him to help out with Baron, which she enjoys since he loves these outings and is very well-behaved. What the Beast did wrong was not leave until after noon so it was the hottest part of the day when he got there.

One of the things the information he had on the site was NOT included was the fact that it was some very rugged rocks that had to be climbed in order to get down to the base of the falls. Pinky went down there but the Beast did not. He took his pictures from up the trail because he was worried about the dog AND himself. He thought HE could make it down but he had his doubts about the dog and didn't want to leave him tied up at the head of the trail. Whatever excuse floats his boat, I know it was because the heat just KILLS him and he was probably lucky he didn't have a heart attack on the way back to the car.

When they got home, I had all the ingredients for tacos ready to go. All I had to do was heat the shells up but the Beast collapsed on the bed and went to sleep for a bit. Taytay had been keeping herself busy using up some eye patches she found in the bathroom cabinet with the excuse that she has a lazy eye and it was *bothering* her. I told her they were for eye INJURIES and the patch was supposed to go over the GOOD eye when you are correcting a lazy eye so she had best stop using up my bandages. She DID change the one she had and put it over the correct eye and I put the bandages back up where they belonged.

Pinky had a good time and I don't think she realized how bad off the Beast was. I could tell by his color when he got up from his short nap. He also had no appetite and I was glad I had gone ahead and made the shells for the girls to eat. I ate also, thank you for asking.

The Beast finally decided that his legs needed soaking in a hot bath and headed off to soak for a while. He spent a long time in there but looked a bit better when he finished. Of course, it could have helped that he shaved, too, and the hot water put some color in his face but who knows?

I worked on putting the clothes away that I had hung up yesterday, made my bed and dust mopped the floor but that was about all I did other than making sure Taytay had something to eat. Pinky just helps herself (gotta love that) but Tay is still a bit shy about it. She WILL go get the snacks and knows where they are kept.

It's that time of night again and I want to get this posted. I've been trying to do this up and keep up a conversation with a couple people I play games with on Pogo. It means I have to double check for typos since I get too distracted. I guess I am going to have to just stop doing that from now on. It's just too frustrating.

Everyone else is in bed now, including the Beast and Baron. Baron at least got to swim for a bit on the *walk* and cooled down. Even HE was exhausted when they got back home.

Have a wonderful day all and I wish you good health, good weather and some fun in your day. Here's my thought for the day. It's not original but I found it worth thinking about. What do you think?

You shouldn't go for looks; they can deceive; don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

It started off pretty normal from my point of view. We got up, had coffee on the deck and chatted about nothings. The temperature was in the mid-70's and it was just plain peaceful. The girls got up a bit later than we did and checked out the fridge and pantry trying to decide what they wanted for breakfast. I think they definitely are feeling more at home. Tay found the fruit punch drink I bought for her and helped herself to it. She was *fruit punch* hungry, if you know what I mean. She had been craving it I guess.

I decided to get all the laundry done but didn't make myself crazy over it. I did a load when I felt like it. Folded the clothes when I felt like it. It really was nice to be able to do it at my own pace. It all got done, including the stuff the girls had. Since their mother isn't feeling very well right now (her back seems to be getting worse instead of better), I would prefer they didn't have a lot of dirty clothes to take home.

After about the second load, the Beast came into my computer room with his brainstorm. After the girls go home, and we can resume our normal days of no air conditioning but keeping all the room fans on, he wanted to put a window unit in our bedroom so we can leave the main ac off but have a cool bedroom. He is hoping this will reduce our electric bill down to something that he thinks is more reasonable. I have a tough time with his thinking it's high because it is so low to me in comparison to our bills in Florida. But, since I really am not crazy about air conditioning, it sounded okay to me. It would allow him a comfortable place to lay down when the heat gets to him and at night when we go to bed. I can take more heat than he can. So, after telling him that it sounded like a plan to me, he HAS to run up to Lowes to see what they have in stock and check out the prices against what he found online. Of course. Are you surprised?

He found the same unit at the store but it was priced about $10 cheaper. Then he found another one that was probably the previous model and it was marked down to $149. He thought that was incredible since he compared the two units and found such a minute difference that he grabbed the older model and bought it right then and there. Hey...at least I can understand why.

Installing it in our room was another of those days when the air turned blue with his language. I had to close the door in the bedroom so it didn't drift through the house with the girls in it. He cussed, he swore and when I tried to tell him he was trying to put the upper part of it the wrong way, he turned on me like a lion. I kept my cool and told him to just go ahead and install it his way but he would sleep in the bedroom alone because it would be full of bugs. His real problem was he hadn't bought a brace for it for outside. He can get really cheap at all the wrong times, I swear. He ended up going back to Lowes to pick one up. It made it more secure but left us some areas to plug up. Thankfully, we had the material to do it and it's all done now. So much for *after the girls leave*.
I swear he is a shopaholic. He makes me nuts with all his spending. I could easily feed him poison mushrooms if we had such a thing around here. He pisses me off THAT MUCH at times. This is all because he wants our electric bill to be under $100 instead of the $118 or even $130 that it is at times. This is after we used to pay almost $300 and up while living in Florida. Of course, maybe that's how he thinks he's going to compensate for all his spending.

I played Mahjong most of the day when I played on Pogo. Again, I did it at a kind of lazy pace. I watched a couple of good movies while Taytay watched her programs and Pinky took a ride with the Beast to the waterfall down in Gadsden. He had promised to make his potato pancakes so I went ahead and peeled up enough potatoes and got the onions ready for him since he was going to be cutting it very close to the promised time when he returned. He had promised it to the Princess and she was picking up Chewlee after work and coming right over to eat. She can make a pig out of herself over them if she's really hungry (and she was....LOL).

Once the Princess left to go home and put Chewlee to bed, everyone just watched TV or went on computers again. The Beast hasn't cleaned up his mess in the kitchen so I will have to do that before *I* go to bed. *sigh* It's early but I am heading to bed now because I am nicely tired. Like I said, except for that short time I had to help the Beast out while he installed his brainstorm, it was a nice, easy and relaxed day.

Love you all. Have a great day and wonderful weather, ya hear?

The 4th was not a bad day, all things considered...ahhhh, but the night sucked. First the good part. The day was sunny and clear and slightly less hot than previous days. That means that it was only in the 80's and not the 90's. Tara stopped by before she went to do her grocery shopping and invited the girls to their cookout they had planned for around 3-4pm at the lake to secure a good spot to watch the fireworks later on. The girls were eager to go since they could swim in the lake for a bit and get some sun as well as spend time with Tara, her boys, the Princess, Chewlee and Johnnycakes. This trip is as much about getting to know their relatives a bit as it is about spending time with me and the Beast.

The Beast dropped them off at Tara's and they all went off to picnic, visit and have fun. Taytay, the youngest, was going to be able to go fishing with Tonto and was excited about that. Tonto brought a fishing rod for her to use and even baited her hook for her. She was so excited because she actually caught 12....an even dozen....fish. So her first time fishing was definitely a winner. Tonto only caught 7... But, to be honest, she was holding HIS rod while he was baiting her hook and got a couple of fish that probably should have been his. It didn't matter to him because he got such a kick out of her.

Our plans were to join them around 8, before it got too dark, and watch the fireworks together. What we (or I should say *I*) hadn't counted on was my IBS. You guessed it, it started acting up. I didn't DARE go more than 10 feet from the bathroom until after my meds kicked in. Yes, I do have meds even if they are OTC. The stuff the doctors want to give you are waaaaaaaaay too strong since it involves trying to knock out the spasms and it also knocks YOU out, too. So we sat out on the deck and watched what we could until it was time to pick the girls up from Tara's. She called us to let us know when they were leaving the lake.

Did I mention the girls get motion sickness or car sickness? Pinky is not quite as bad as Traci but I think she does well if she is sitting up front in a car rather than in back. Since we actually live in the foothills of the Smokies, our terrain is not exactly flat except in a few areas. Where Tara lives, it's more noticeable than at our house. The roads twist and turn and so does the road to the lake. Add the fact that Tara is not exactly a GREAT driver and tends to get distracted easily and it can be a scary trip for a kid, I think. The girls both were nauseous and headed right to bed with just a little conversation before the goodnight hugs.

About 2am (give or take a bit), I heard some strange noises coming from the guest bathroom. Taytay came out to meet me all embarrassed and a bit pale and almost crying. She hadn't been able to sleep because she couldn't get over the nausea and ended up vomiting. She ALMOST made it to the terlit. So there I am, first trying to clean up the floor and terlit while reassuring her that it was okay. Chit happens. I just didn't have anything other than a cool rag to offer her since it's been a while since we needed anything like that in the house. At least I was pretty sure that getting the contents of her stomach out would probably allow her to sleep after she was cleaned up. That done, her back in bed and the floor mopped up, I went back to bed only to be awoken by Taytay a couple hours later because her sister was sick. SHE, at least, was a lot more help in cleaning up afterward. That done, she showered and went back to bed.

As for the Beast, he slept like a log and was totally unaware that anything had happened until he came into my computer room at 6am to find me dozing.  I had stayed there, close to the guest room, just in case.  I told him what had transpired and his comment was...*Really?  Sorry to hear that.* 

Taytay, who hadn't slept at all I think, was pretty lethargic most of the day until she showered and decided she would take a bit of a nap. She was out like a light shortly afterward and I just checked her from time to time while she slept to make sure she had no fever and was breathing normally.

By this evening, both girls were better and will probably be fine tomorrow. I did go buy some anti-nausea medication for them and made some homemade chicken soup for us all. It is a comfort food, after all. I couldn't locate any dramamine where it is usually located and I have a feeling it has become one of those OTC meds that they are keeping behind the pharmacy doors for one reason or another these days. *sigh* I will have to go back tomorrow since the pharmacy was closed when I got there. I don't want the girls to be miserable when we are finally able to take the boat out.

I am tired as heck right now and going to head for bed as soon as this is posted. My daughter-in-law (the girls mother) hurt her back helping to move in their new dining room table a few days ago and is recuperating herself (she has had several cracked vertebrae since an auto accident about 10 years ago). I reassured her that the girls were okay after talking about what happened and she finally talked to both girls herself via the internet. She didn't want to let Taytay know that she hurt herself because she is one of those kids that overreacts to any injury to her mother. They are very close for many reasons, including the fact that we almost lost Taytay several times since she was born.

Love you all. Have a great day. We had some much needed rain today (all darn day) but we should have a break a time or two tomorrow before heading back into sunshine and hot days the rest of the week. Don't take life too seriously; no one gets out alive. Try adding a little laughter into your day and smile often. It's very good for the facial muscles and can lighten the worst mood.

Ever stop to wonder just how we lived without our cell phones and computers? I know I did because they just were not even a dream when I was a kid. Except in the minds of some science fiction writers that I just loved to read when I was in grade school. Just a stray thought. I'm having a lot of those these days for some reason.

Mine was actually caused by the fact that I couldn't use my computer today for most of the day. I've mentioned that we have Hughesnet Satellite for our internet service. Well, our downloads actually have a limit on them every day. It seems my youngest visiting granddaughter was downloading a lot of weird stuff onto our laptop that she was being allowed to use and she, being young and stupid, didn't even give it a second thought because they have cable internet at home. I was horrified to find out we were in the *red zone* and couldn't get online. The Beast was a monster because he also likes his internet and couldn't read his email OR play his Pogo games. Since that's his main form of relaxation......well, you can imagine.

I had no idea that the little stinker would even THINK of doing something like that since every time i checked on what she was doing, she was playing her games on Disney.com or chatting with her mother on an IM. I didn't even notice that the IM was msn messenger (duh!) and that is a rather big download in itself. She also downloaded a book (a HUGE download) and that is what sent us over our limit. The Beast started yelling at ME because of it (the girls were not here) and that sent me into a rage that I think took him aback. I literally screamed at him (this is NOT my personality by any means) that it was NOT my place to assume that she would do it and I didn't know that I was totally in charge of making sure that she felt distrusted for no reason. I said it was OUR fault that we didn't tell the girls about the limitations and make sure they talked to us about anything they wanted to download. It was not MY fault but was OUR fault. In truth, I feel it was HIS fault since I hadn't even considered that either of the girls would download something onto a computer not their own but HE had.

So that is the reason I didn't post any pictures of the surprise wedding. We unplugged everything so that we would get it back as soon as possible and the router would reset as well. We had other things to do anyway so we kept busy with cleaning up the boat and I mopped the living room, dining room and kitchen floors after giving them a good sweeping and a followup dust mopping. I still find it incredible how much hair a doberman can shed in a short time. I suppose it's the hot weather but still.....

The youngest granddaughter, Flibberdigibbit, had never gone fishing and always wanted to do some. Well, she got her wish today when Tara's boyfriend brought along an extra pole for her and they became fishing buddies. She caught 12 Brim and her poor buddy only caught 7! I think he lost out because he was baiting her hooks for her. He promised he's going to take her out a couple more times before her folks come to pick her up.

Both girls went with Tara and family to meet up with some of their friends at our big lake here and the Princess, Johnnycakes and Chewlee met up with them to spend some time after she got off work. Johnnycakes had to work tonight so they only stayed about an hour and a half and missed the fireworks but I am sure their town had some too. At least their neighbors probably set off their own since they've done it for other non-Fourth occasions. A good time was had by all and the girls were more than ready for bed once we iced down the two Brim Flibberdigibbit brought home. I think the Beast will make them up for her to eat tomorrow...at least I hope so.

Time to get ready for bed. I am tired, too. I didn't sleep well last night and never got a nap today. Love you all. Have a great day. We are due for rain sometime after midnight tonight and during the day tomorrow so we don't think we will be taking the boat out after all. Not to worry, however, because we will take it out during the week. I just have to run out and pick up some dramamine tablets for the girls. I knew Flibber got motion sickness but had no idea her older sister, Pinky, did also. *sigh* Hope you have some nice weather and that you had a fabulous Fourth.

Bratsis refers to my reunion with old girlfriends as the *delinquent reunion* for many reasons (and I guess in some ways she is correct) but suffice it to say that we are bonded and long term friends. Some of the girls I grew up with in the same Chicago neighborhood. Others I met in high school and when we went to Good Shepherd as teenagers. It is now 45 years since we all went separate ways but we have remained in touch over all these years.

Several of us were a kind of clique that was a core group. The others drifted in and out for various reasons. But we remain friends that can get together after many years apart and feel like we just saw each other last week. Our looks may have changed quite a bit (except for a few, dammit!) but we are still those young girls at heart. This get-together was not as large as other years, unfortunately. We lost one of us in January. She was a marvelous person and is sorely missed. Others couldn't attend for various reasons but we shall hopefully meet next year, god willing.

I went to my girlfriend's home to meet up with her and a lifelong friend of mine that I had not seen or talked to in 20 years. We not only grew up in the same neighborhood but used to cut classes together in high school. A third friend got lost and we had to go meet up with her and guide her to Christina's home. Another of our friends was acting as hostess and try as we might, we could NOT find out what she planned. We tried to get her to commit to whether or not we were all going to eat out or if we should bring platters.....she just kept saying not to worry about it, it was taken care of.

So off we go into the wilds of Chicago to a suburb named Berkeley. My Stewie GPS *guide* set them off laughing like crazy because I had to deviate from the *plan* due to a detour and they got to hear Stewie say *What the HELL are you doing?.....* It was so unexpected (I hadn't pre-warned them...LOL) that the car was filled with laughs and I had to put down a window to let some of them stream out.

Many of the girls were already there when we arrived and we all did the hugs and kisses thing while our hostess and her housemate of 22-1/2 years urged us to have a drink and partake of the veggie and fruit plates on the dining room table. We talked....and talked.....and talked. We were catching up on so many things and discussing our dear departed ones plus the absence of friends that just couldn't make it when our hostess announced that there was to be a wedding at her home at 3pm. We started to gather up our stuff, thinking that we were all going to depart for a local restaurant when she said it was her and her housemate that were tying the knot officially and we were going to be their witnesses, guests and Christina turned out to be the unexpected matron of honor. It was bedlam for a bit with all our shock, congratulations, more hugs and kisses...the usual type of thing, I'm sure you can imagine.

I WILL be posting some pictures but cannot do it in this (it is too long by half). I will post them during the day sometime after we clean up the boat for our launch on Sunday. After looking through the pictures I took, I realized we never took a picture of all of us together. Strange but true.

When we gathered on the lawn of her lot next door in front of a beautifully shaped bush of some sort or other, the bride walked down the steps of her house, down the driveway, across the walk and up to the waiting groom. I started crying as she walked up to him (and I am not ashamed to say that I cried up until the end....just not loud crying). He had such a look of love on his face and all throughout the ceremony. Her son-in-law acted as best man, her daughter walked her up the *aisle* and gave her to the groom. She then sat down across from me and she cried, too.

After the ceremony was over and the minister introduced the (now) wedded couple, the bride turned to me and said in a kind of stage whisper, *Why were you crying?* I laughed and told her I always cry at weddings, even ones on TV but felt HER wedding was special because she was my dear friend. We hugged and laughed over it as everyone started coming up to the newlyweds for their congratulations and hugs.

The bride and groom changed into more comfortable clothes and she had a white t-shirt with the word *Bride* on it while he had a black one with the word *Groom* on it. The food was brought out and we started eating (we were famished by this time). It was wonderful Italian beef with peppers on the side, Italian sausage with green and red peppers, onions and mushrooms (different but tasty), potato salad, a macaroni salad, assorted olives and other things that I didn't take notes and don't remember. A short time later, fluted glasses with champagne were distributed and we toasted the two of them after the best man gave a short speech.

We sat and had a few drinks after eating and exchanged email addresses and other information we needed to update. I want to give you the vows they spoke to each other at their wedding because, like the bride's sense of humor, it was unigue and very earthy. She DID tell us she stole some of it from one of her favorite shows on TV so they might seem familiar to some of you.

Here they are:

To love each other, even when we hate each other.

No running away. Ever!

Nobody walks out. No matter what happens.

We'll take care of each other, even when we're old, and smelly, and senile.

And... if I get Alzheimer's and forget you...

... I will remind you who I am, every day.

Of course, they were in the *first person* but you get the gist of it, I am sure. I thought it was very down to earth and appropriate. It seems the wedding was prompted by the passing away of our dear friend, Dolores, in January who came home from work, laid down on her couch to take a short nap and never awoke. Rest in peace, dear heart. We miss you very much.

We finally managed to break away from each other so we could all return home or to where we were staying before it got dark. I actually had to set up the destination on one friends GPS for her so she could get home. She lived in Indiana and was actually a very successful investor/business owner but she just couldn't get the hang of a GPS. Go figure.

When I returned home to the Herbowski Spa and Resort, the bunch there were apparantly recovering from some incredibly potent drinks made by Bubba, who played bartender. We sat around on the patio for a bit before everyone started fading away to their beds for the night. I was exhausted from all the fun and anxious to get some sleep since I hadn't really slept all that long or that well after the night of carousing, as Bratfink called it....LOL

That's it for tonight. Everyone here went to bed early except for me. I had my Chewlee for a while today and she fell asleep in my arms with her one arm tightly around my neck. I think she missed me.

Have a great day, stay well and have a great Fourth of July. Watch Independence Day on either Spike or TNT, depending on where you are. It's a great movie and a fitting end of the day movie to my way of thinking. No matter how bad things may seem to you, remember.....it could be much worse.

Saturday dawned bright, hot and beautiful but not as humid as it had been the previous few days. I usually make up my fresh fruit salad the day before the reunion but this time I waited due to having fresh strawberries and cherries to add and the bananas were a bit ripe and I didn't want them to be mushy. I cut up the apples, bananas, strawberries, pears and opened the canned pineapple chunks (I often use tidbits instead) and mandarin oranges while Buttmunch pitted the cherries. Since we didn't have a cherry pitter, she had to do them all the hard way....with a small, sharp knife after cutting them in half. We also added some green and purple seedless grapes. I use some of the juices of both the canned pineapple and mandarin oranges over the fruit as I am cutting them up to keep the apples, bananas and pears from turning brownish and it helps to thin down the mayonnaise, sour cream and a touch of sugar that comprises the dressing for it all. This year I used some Splenda instead of sugar with no one the wiser. It got to be refrigerated for a good 8 hours before we pulled it out for eating so the flavors got time to blend. It's one dish (like potato salad) that is even better if made the day before serving. It's labor intensive because I cut the fruit into nice, small, bite-sized pieces instead of the thick chunks I've had in other fresh fruit salads. I just like it better and so do many people that eat it that way for the first time.

After getting that done, we pretty much got to rest, relax (alcohol may or may not have been involved) and spend time in the pool before we got the grill ready and pulled the hamburger patties and hot dogs out of the freezer so they would be ready to cook up. We had an impromptu get-together with one of Kay's sisters, her husband, and ex-brother-in-law of another sister and his girlfriend plus Bubba's mother and step-father. Bubba is Mr. Herbowski and our host, just so you can keep track since it can get confusing at times when alcohol may or may not be involved. We splashed in the pool, drank some mojitas made with fresh mint while others drank beer or the concoction of choice since we sure had a lot of choices.....LOL. We had a lot of fresh veggies and dip, plus we had made a big crock pot full of chili-cheese dip. Bubba's mother brought some 5 layer bean dip that was incredible but wasn't fully eaten due to all the choices of appetizers and we did eat some burgers and hot dogs also. It was fun. We laughed and joked, talked about our misspent youths and the beautiful Herbowski Spa and Resort. I was kidding about it being a two story tent with full basement because Kay is always so worried that her *guests* might not be comfortable enough.

If you read Bratfink's blog, you know that Kay is actually OUR EX-sister-in-law. When she and our 4-F brother divorced, we kept custody of her and the kids while he was left in the cold. The less said about HIM, the better.

I had gone to bed earlier than the others but found the patio area and kitchen cleaned up like nothing had taken place. I'm not sure if it was Bubba's OCD or everyone pitched in on the clean-up but I suspect it was a bit of both. I felt bad (for a moment) that I hadn't been part of the clean-up crew but I got over it quickly. That is, until I finished the fruit salad and started cleaning up the counter. I found myself walking away and looking at the counter from various angles to make sure that it was clean and shiny (it's granite) so that poor Bubba wouldn't feel compelled to clean it to his OCD standards. After all, he wasn't charging us for staying at the Herbowski Spa and Resort so it was the least I could do.

Later on, when we started putting up the table that held the napkins, plates, various salads and other food items, it went quickly due to everyone helping out. Bubba made sure we had enough ice, drinks and mixers in the coolers and plenty of places to throw away garbage.

As everyone arrived, they were relieved of any additions to the food bank, drinks supplied (we always make sure they are served their first drink and then they are on their own) and seating found. This years reunion was a little smaller than usual for many reasons but it was very much like the party we always had AFTERWARD at Kay's house since our parties could continue for days once we got started.

Several people remembered to bring bathing suits so they could swim and cool off in the Spa's pool. Talking, eating and drinking continued on into the evening. Some of the guests finally left to return, sadly, to their homes and we put food away and did our clean-up. Kay, Buttmunch and I went to enjoy Bubba's band where they were appearing that night (it's a weekend thing he does sometimes). I had never had the opportunity to hear them so it was a treat for me. Kay and Buttmunch had a great time dancing around while I enjoyed it from the comfort of my stool. It had a back, for which I was grateful but I think they kept those for the *older* generation.

Some time after midnight, I got into the back of Kay's car to rest since I had to be up early to get ready for another reunion. Kay had offered to finish her drink and take us all home but I could see they were having fun and didn't want them to cut THEIR fun short because of me. Besides, I knew I would be fine. I'm glad I did it since they ended up closing up the club at 4am. It was a long but happy day for us all.

And that's all I am going to say about it because this has turned into an epic. Love you all and hope you have a great day. I am almost recovered from the whole trip now and getting back into a regular routine. Well, almost as regular a routine as you can have when you bring home two granddaughters with you for a couple weeks. I must have lost my mind.

My thought for the day? I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it!!!! Laugh....it's healthy.

Although we had all retired fairly early the day we arrived at Kay's, we slept in a bit later than we normally would have. All except for Bratfink, of course. She was up earlier than all of us and made coffee. We were glad to have it and she made it strong enough that I had to shave my chest before putting on my bathing suit. j/k but it did make my eyes pop open and I was grateful.

That was our first full day and we were in the pool by 7:30am. When Kay woke up much later that morning (she doesn't often get to sleep in and we tried to keep quiet enough not to wake her), she could hardly believe we were already in the pool. She put on her suit and joined us for a while before she started futzing with the lovely landscaping and all her flowers. She never wants help because it's a job she loves and totally enjoys so we have stopped asking her. The new tent has enough grounds for her to totally indulge in the things she enjoys and that makes us happy for her.

Later on we did our usual shopping for various things we needed for our reunion which includes my fresh fruit salad. I had checked and found out that Bee was making her potato salad (always wonderful and I wouldn't even TRY to make it just like she does). Since Cee was not able to join us this year due to her recovering from HER surgery for a bleeding ulcer, we actually forgot about her seafood salad that she usually makes until it was too late. Besides, we had all kinds of appetizers, including Bee's spinach dip with Hawaiian bread. We picked up hamburgers, hot dogs, buns and made sure we had all the condiments for them since we were trying to keep it simple so we could enjoy sitting and chatting. The usual liquors were purchased also and assorted mixers. We even picked up some for making mudslides which tasted wonderful in the heat and humidity. We picked up some wonderful country ribs and Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce (if you haven't tried it, do so.....it's wonderful and there are several variations) for one of our dinners prior to the reunion.

We had to pick up some aloe gel for Buttmunch who was so pale she almost glowed when we first got to Kay's but she had managed to get a quick sunburn the first day. We didn't laugh later on when both Bratfink and I needed it but at least I only had one small patch of it from sitting with a slice of sun hitting just one spot that didn't get under the umbrella shade. Figures, right? By day 4 of the trip but day 3 of the sunshine and pool, poor Bratfink looked like a boiled lobster. She claimed it didn't hurt her but it sure hurt to look at her. The only place she complained about was the top of her ears, believe it or not. She claimed she didn't ever remember having sunburn there before.

The rest of the day was pretty much just fun in the pool, drinking, eating, more drinking, more pool time....did I mention drinking? In fact, I think of all the reunion get-togethers, we really did NOT indulge in as much consumption of alcohol this time as in previous years. I think it was a combination of weather and age plus it was just more fun to swim and sit around in the pool. We took our drinks with us and they sat a lot on the edge of the pool. We didn't seem to be able to multi-task (drink AND talk) as well. Who can say? For my part, I really didn't want to have any kind of a hangover to recuperate from since I might have had to do some driving in that sun and heat. It turned out I didn't have to but, hey, who knew?

We tried to keep our mess down to a minimum for the sake of Mr. Herbowski, did I mention he is a bit of a ....err, neat freak? We also heard the news about Michael Jackson earlier that day (I think Bratfink turned on the news and greeted us with that little tidbit when we awoke). I was a bit taken back by all the hoopla over him and the little tiny bits about Farrah Fawcett, who had been fighting cancer and doing so much for the cancer research society. I know that it was a shocking and unexpected death of a pop star at the age of 50 but I think there was way, way, way too much hype about him. His life was so very controversial and, let's face it, weird! He was talented, however, and I truly enjoyed a lot of his music. I also loved his *We Are The World* project and think that was a fabulous song and video with all that marvelous talent brought together for charity. God Bless him for that. I really and truly hope that he is now at peace and in a better place where he can BE Peter Pan and live in Neverland.

We did have a bit of fun discussing who, what and why there would be fights over his children, his fortune and that mansion of his in California. It always happens, no matter what, when a fortune is at stake. I heard that most of his family believed he had died without a will and it was a shock for them to find out he had one that he made out in 2002. Tee hee hee! Wonder how they will attempt to break THAT one?

We also heard a lot of MJ jokes, some funny, some not so much but we heard them whether we wanted to or not. Even the Beast greeted me with one he heard that involved Farrah Fawcett, Heaven and Michael. I won't tell it here but I am sure that it has made the rounds.

I was kind of glad I arrived earlier than I usually did prior to a reunion because it gave me/us a chance to visit calmly for a while before we had to start all the preparations. I missed having time with my cousin, Patsy, due to her being ill for a while and still not over it. She was very reluctant for company due to some of the *problems* that accompanied her illness and I respected that. I hated to but she almost begged me not to put her through what could have turned embarrassing for her. I wouldn't do that for the world so I just spent time talking to her each day I was there. She is not only my cousin but we have been close friends since we were young kids. I just hope she is better and still here with us (and I hope I am here, too) for a nice visit next year.

Time to hit the sack for me now. I have two of my granddaughters visiting with me and they are already in bed. The Beast bade me goodnight a bit ago so he is probably sound asleep, too. The Princess is taking them to one of the waterfalls in Gadsden tomorrow (it has a beach at the pool below and a playground nearby for them to enjoy). It will give me a day to finish up unpacking from the trip while they are gone and before I get Chewlee on Friday. It seems the Day Care Center is closed for 4th of July (even tho' that is on Saturday, it's a holiday they MUST give their employees). But it should be fun for the three girls even with the big differences in ages. At least, I hope so....LOL.

Love you all. More tomorrow. Have a great day and I hope you are all getting better weather than we are. It's hot as hades here. Here's a thought for the day: He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless, DEAD!!!! (Do you hear that Beast?)

If you can't tell, I am home! (*kissing floor albeit dusty) I had a fantastic time but it is always good to be home even if I was sorry to leave behind the *cement pond* at the *Herbowski home*, as Bratfink calls it. Sounds good enough to me so thus it will be here and in the future.

I left, as scheduled, on Tuesday morning and headed for Buttmunch's house in Louisville. I got to meet the Hoop, her main squeeze, finally. A truly nice man and well-mannered like most Southern boys are (although there ARE those others, whom I will not discuss here). He was so concerned about my being comfortable and it really takes very little for that. Just give me a pillow and a comfy couch, a little rag to throw over me and I am content. I had stopped at Home Depot to get the sand required for our *ashtrays* at the Herbowski homestead and the herbicide for the peach curl on our trees before I got to Buttmunch's. My errant son, Stefano, surprised me by coming over there to meet me and we got to walk around a bit (plus he put the bag of sand into my trunk since the sand was wet and very, very heavy). We talked and I found out he was actually still working and had come over because he wanted me to meet this particular person he was doing some work for. Unfortunately, my rear end felt like it was due for surgery and all I wanted was to go and put it on something softer than my car seat. I also was NOT dressed to meet anyone, the nut!

We made plans to meet up after he got done working to catch a bite to eat but he wasn't really feeling well when he got done working so Buttmunch and I went out without him. We asked the Hoop to come with us but he was going to bed early since he had to get up at 2am to tend the ovens (or smokers, rather) for something or another. He wished us a good time and headed off. We made a short stop at a local store to pick up a few things we felt we might need during our visit. Then Buttmunch and I hit the Outback to indulge ourselves with some Shrimp on the Barbie and Coconut Shrimp plus a few creative drinks. Afterward, we headed back to her place and got ready for bed to be nice and comfy.

Early the next morning, we got ourselves all packed up and ready to go for the next leg of our trip.....up to Indiana to pick up the Bratfink. It was a nice day, bright and sunny and went easily. At Bratfink's, we had to partially UNpack the trunk and re-arrange some things due to all the stuff we were bringing up that, thankfully, did not have to make the trip back with us. There were several times that I would have loved to throw out the cooler in the trunk because of how much room it took up but I knew it would be full of food on our way back. I had a long list of foods we cannot get here in the South that I was under orders to pick up in bulk and bring back with me.

Now here I need to tell you about my *Stewie*. I told you about my GPS the Beast bought me as a birthday present, right? One of the neatest things he did for me was to download the voice of *Stewie* from Family Guy as one of the directional voices on it. I thought I would die when I heard what he had to say if you missed a turn or deliberately took a different direction than had been mapped out for you. I really was dying for Buttmunch to hear it for the first time since I hadn't told anyone about having that voice on it. I said nothing to her about the voice when we first headed out to Indiana and waited for her to say something. When I asked her if the voice sounded familiar, she said, *I know the voice...don't tell me, don't tell me. I just need to hear it another time or two and I will figure it out.* We drove along and she suddenly said to me, *Is that Stewie?* I laughed and told her it was but waited for her to hear what he would say when we pulled off the road to get gas (that is not figured into the program). Well, when she heard him say, *What the HELL are you doing???......*, I thought she was going to choke on her own laughter. She couldn't believe it! That's what most people that heard it for the first time have thought when THEY heard it. It was a reaction worth waiting for. Bratfink (since she had sent the link for the Beast to find different voices including Stewie), already knew about it so there was no surprise for her there.

When we finally arrived at the Herbowski residence later that day, we were all ready to do the inspection of the new tent. What a great place! A very nice two story tent with a full basement. Not many of those around () But the cement pond (pool to those unfamiliar with that term) was really great. We all loved it but Bratfink was out to make Bratfink soup, I think. She spent a LOT of time in it mainly because she otherwise lives in a cave and knew it would probably be the last time she saw the sun for ages. She also stayed very comfortable (sunburn notwithstanding) due to the fact that she stayed WET and there was a wonderful breeze most of the time we were there.

Mr. Herbowski was home and helped us empty the trunk and find places for the food we brought with us. He is very, very organized (if you know what I mean, and I am sure you do!) so we spent a lot of time making sure we didn't cause him any additional work. It was the least we could do as good guests since he wasn't charging us (much). We helped load up the *ashtrays* (large metal coffee cans WITH lids) with sand for ashtrays and we sat out on the patio area between the house and the pool, under the umbrella just enjoying being able to stretch our legs. We did have some alcohol involved also but we won't talk about that right now.

When Kay finally got home, we already had familiarized ourselves with where the important things were located in the kitchen area (drink glasses, ice, mixers both in the house and out in the fridge in the garage) so we were set. Even though we usually order pizza the first night we are there, we ended up getting chinese food because the Herbowski's had eaten pizza the night before. We were all shown where we were going to sleep (although Bratfink claimed the couch in the family room area before anyone else could do that) and we got down to some serious pool play and drinking *YAY!!!!* ''

And that is all I am saying about days 1 & 2 for today. Love you all and missed you so very much. I am glad to be home and doubt I will be going anywhere soon except for a day trip here and there. Have a wonderful day and see you tomorrow, I hope.