memorial day west nile virus

We had planned on a Belle Isle picnic but it turned into a Williamston picnic instead. The location didn't really matter. We had the people, the food, the beer and there was even a river. But the river also meant mosquitoes. Lots of them. I have several bites that itch and one large bite that aches. I thought it was big because it is on my knee bone. But it is also big because it's all swollen and hurts like a mo' fo'. But the picnic was a blast and Julie is home! For now, anyway. Yay!!

Today I had planned on gardening but it is hot, damn hot, and I'm staying inside.

So here are some picnic photos.








So these people put four canoes and two kayaks on this little itty bitty trailer. We watched the entire process and were sure that someone was going to die. Kristin told us about someone that was decapitated when their boats slid off the trailer and into the vehicle. I didn't want to see a beheading but these people seemed kind of stupid so we were sure something bad was going to happen. And we were sure someone, the tall kid with the dark wife-beater t-shirt and ball cap standing right next to the trailer, was going to get maimed because he climbed in the trailer to ride home right before they took off. Much to our dismay, they drove away and nothing fell off and everybody's heads remained attached. The canoes and kayaks didn't even fall off and destroy Jesse's car when they hit a bump right by his car. This is a boring story now but trust me, at the time, it was minutes and minutes of entertainment.

it's that time of year again!

Don't forget to make coffee ice cubes for your ice-y coffee and booze drinks!

snot and plants.

Today sucks. I didn't get much sleep last night. I didn't go to the game today. Allergies are kicking my ass. I have been sneezing and sniffling since 8AM and Sudafed and Claritin didn't help. I think I have gone through half of a box of tissues and my nose still hasn't stopped running. My nose hurts. It's hot outside. I want to cry because I am a pussy.

Oh! But exciting news is that I went and bought plants for my little garden. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll feel more human and will be able to plant tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, basil, and marigolds. But first I have to figure out where to move the phlox that has taken over my little garden area. But before that my nose has to stop running. It has to.

trips.

I am preparing for a road trip with my aunt and uncle. We are going to Philadelphia to see the Tigers play the Phillies and then will head to DC to see the Tigers play the Nationals. Preparations include testing motion sickness medications to see if they are truly non-drowsy. I spent much of Monday sleeping on the couch before I figured out that (A) Bonine is not really non-drowsy, and (B) I should test motion sickness medications at night when I should be sleeping anyway. I thought it was a good idea to take motion sickness medication during the day because I haven't had much time to play video games. I forgot about the whole sleepiness thing. Tomorrow afternoon I think I'll go see the Tigers play the Angels and then when evening comes and Jesse is maybe at the bar doing stand-up, I will try out the other motion sickness medication I purchased and will play video games until I fall asleep sitting up. In other preparation news, I bought tickets for the Tigs and Phillies game! It always feels more real once the tickets are purchased even though I purchased Tigs and Twins tickets and we didn't go. I'm going to see the Phillies because it won't matter if Jesse's car doesn't work. I'm riding with my aunt and uncle. Hence the motion sickness experiments.

Time to clean the house or read the New Yorker until I fall asleep. No, no meds today. Just lazy.

again with the bad ideas.

I recently decided that I need to print some photos and frame them and put them on the walls of our lovely house. We've lived here for way too long to only have random photos and other things on the walls. It is time for planned wall decorations. Last night when I couldn't fall asleep I came up with the really great idea to have one wall or area dedicated to bad photos.

Photos that are bad because I'm not a photographer.

And photos that are bad because I look goofy and bad in them.


I think this will be fun not because I have really low self esteem and want to glorify the bad stuff. It's because I have really high self esteem and want to glorify my human-ness. It's time to accept my double chin, the wrinkles around my eyes when I squint, the big belly and to put all of my physical flaws out there for everyone to see and laugh at and love. So if you have bad photos of me, and I know you do, please feel free to send them my way.

confession.

Movies that I have to watch if they are on tv. Even if I have seen them 20 times before. Even if I have seen them yesterday. I can't change the channel.

Clueless (it's on HBO right now!)
Overboard
Field of Dreams
Corrina, Corrina
The Untouchables

Embarrassing, no? Come on, share some of your must see movies!!

julie!

So the whole point of going to MA was to surprise Julie. She curated an exhibit called "What is Love: Selections from the Permanent Collection at the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center - University Gallery. On Thursday May 3, she hosted a Gallery Talk where she got to talk all about the exhibit. I was very excited to go and learn all about art especially since I am an "art-tard." And of course I was super excited to see Julie! I have a big mouth and am not very good at surprises but this one worked out very well. Julie was happy to see me! It was really cool to hear her speak in her professional voice about the exhibit.

Here is Julie... I hope she doesn't care if I post photos!

And here is Julie and some other people...

Another cool part about showing up at this little gallery talk was hearing all the wonderful things Julie's professors and colleagues and classmates had to say about Julie. Of course we in Michigan know how fabulous she is but it was nice to know that those in Massachusetts know it too!

After we left the gallery we went to see Michael Penn at a cool little venue. And because I am not cool, I only knew one song. But Julie is cool and the show was cool and I was so glad I was able to get a last minute ticket!

And then after that we went to Ye Ol' Watering Hole and Beer Can Museum and drank yummy screwdrivers with fresh squeezed orange juice. Way more yummy than screwdrivers with fresh mixed Tang.

And then I went back to my hotel room and tried to sleep but didn't. And then I took Jesse's car to the Volkswagen dealership in Northampton and then the dealership shuttle took me back to my hotel and didn't come pick me up until 2PM. It sucked a lot. But the car was a little better when they were done with it.

And then after that Julie and I went diner hopping! Some of you may know that Julie really enjoys diners. I enjoy them too so she took me to a couple cool ones in the area. She already posted photos on her blog but I'll post some more.

Photos from Blue Bonnet Diner

I love me a good quote of the day!

We sat at the counter and I took photos of random people also sitting at the counter.

Appetizers!

And then we went to the Miss Florence Diner!

Julie tried to get me to order the "Miss Flo's Talking Dixie" but I didn't do it.

Instead I got the diner-fabulous hot roast beef sandwich. And then only ate a few bites because I was full from appetizers. Oops.

Me! And you can see the cool jukebox at the table.

It was a really short and fun trip. I was glad Julie wasn't pissed that I showed up and that she had some time to hang out with me. I hadn't planned on hanging out with her since she is really busy finishing up with school so the Michael Penn show and the diner-hopping was super nice.

Whew. I'm finally feeling a little caught up. Birthday posts to come!

boxing.

I don't know anything about boxing. I do know a little something about halls of fame. So I went to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. Since I don't know anything about boxing, I decided I could try to learn something about it. And if not, find the funny stuff.

There were statues of dudes.


And happy dudes.


And Jewish dudes.


And sequins.


And more statues. Creepy statues.


It was a fun little hall of fame. Little. Very little. It was much little-er than the $9.50 ticket price led me to believe. I suggest that you only go if you are really into boxing. Really. A lot. Or sneak in for free. I don't suggest sneaking in because it is so little that they will find you very quickly.

get to the point.

Jesse and I are on our way to America's Roller Coast! See you when we return...

sneezy

When Jesse leaves in the morning he always kisses me goodbye and tells me he loves me and I usually sleep through it or wake up and get all surly because I'm not a nice morning person and then go right back to sleep. This morning I woke up and I don't know if I was surly but I probably was. I do know I couldn't go back to sleep because of a massive allergy attack. I sneezed five times in a row. Give me a break. And now something is really wrong because I am going to move the treadmill back into place and then I am going to go for a jog. What kind of allergy is this? I'm not looking forward to it but I am going to do it because the thought of it doesn't make me want to vomit so I must take advantage of this moment. I'm sure it will be tons o' fun because I am stuffy and sniffly and snotty all at the same time. Yay!

Oh, and I'm working on writing about my road trip. And I'll post photos. Ridiculous photos. Sweet!

surprise!!

I am in Amherst, MA!! I can tell you this now because Julie knows. And yes, it is 5:30AM. I have a nasty case of the insomnia and haven't been to sleep yet tonight. And in a couple hours I have to go to the Volkswagen dealership in Northampton because Jesse's car is doing the same damn thing it did before the dealership in Troy "fixed" it for $200. That's right. When I called the dealership here I explained what part was replaced and that it was doing the same thing again. The dude said, "Well it must be the turbo because that part should last for more than a week." In my head I was thinking, "No shit, sherlock. And since when is Tuesday May 1 to Thursday May 3 a week?" But luckily my voice said, "Yeah. I know. Perhaps the part broke?" and he said, "Yeah. That's possible." Um. THEN WHY DID YOU SAY IT MUST BE THE TURBO???

I have lots to tell about my trip but I can hardly see straight so I can't imagine I have anything coherent to say.

But I will say that Julie was very surprised to see me. Good surprised, not bad surprised. And it has been so nice hanging out with her that I am staying until Saturday so we can go to diners and bars tomorrow. Today. And then I will sleep so I can drive straight home because I really miss my husband. A lot.

almost there.

I am more than half way to my secret destination. Right now I'm at a Ramada Inn eating Burger King for dinner. Disgusting, no? But I'm really wiped and chilling in my little room and relaxing is a good thing. I talked to Jesse and since I am not home, he is having a friend over. He only invites friends over when his wicked-witch-wife is out of town. He says it isn't because he's embarrassed of me but since it happens every time I leave and rarely when I am home, he isn't very convincing. Oh well.

I can't write much about my trip so far because I don't want to give anything away. And nothing exciting has really happened.

Here's a helpful travel tip: If your throat hurts the day before you leave, it probably won't get better by the time you leave and you just might drive several hours wishing you would have stayed home. Oh. And if you decide to quit smoking, you probably shouldn't plan a long trip in the car a week later. The good thing is a sore throat kind of kills the urge to smoke. Kind of.

Time to put on my pajamas and watch tv until I fall asleep. Tomorrow will be more driving and then some fun.

ready to hit the road.

Last summer I sat around and didn't do anything. I didn't work. I didn't go to school. I didn't travel. I did, however, recover from four long years of working at a stupid agency full of stupid people. This summer I plan on not working. And not going to school. I am, however, going to travel. Tomorrow I go on my super secret surprise escapade. I freaking love alliteration although I suppose 'escapade' is a stretch. I will give you one hint. And that is: IBHOF. But that is just a small part of the trip. I'm almost ready to go. The snacks are all purchased (meat sticks!) and I'll only be gone until Friday or Saturday so I won't have to take many clothes.

Yesterday I spent four and a half hours at the Volkswagen dealership getting a check-up for Jesse's car that I will be driving on my little trip. Unfortunately they broke it so Jesse had to take it back today so they could fix it. Of course they are denying they broke it but really now. When I drove it in to the lot, it worked fine. When I left the lot, it wasn't accelerating like it should. When Jesse called them, they said to give it about 50 miles to break in the new fuel filter and stuff. When he returned it to them this morning after driving more than 50 miles, they said it was broken and would cost another $220 to fix it. This is after the $440 check-up yesterday. Luckily Jesse talked them down and it didn't cost quite as much as they said. But it still pisses me off that they think we will really believe this part just happened to break during the time it was at the dealership but they had nothing to do with it. I might have been born on a Monday but it definitely wasn't yesterday. Assholes.

We see the Tigers play the Orioles tonight. I kind of wish I was there last night to see the drama with Tejada and Bonderman... and Cabrera and Sheffield... and the Orioles bench and the Tigers bench... and the Orioles bullpen and the Tigers bullpen. I giggled when Sheffield hit the 2-run homer and Cabrera just stared him down while he ran the bases. So fun!