Coming Up Roses

Everything's coming up Grampa's roses! Years ago, Grampa gave us a cutting from his rose bush, and somehow, Sister got it going. It now covers our mailbox and comes back bigger and better every year. Now that Grampa is gone, it's a beautiful reminder of him. Every day we come and go, we think of him! Thanks for the memories, Grampa, and the roses!

Thanks, Sis, for snapping the pic!

MIA at the Landfill

Okay, getting up at 5:45 a.m. and having so much energy after work has prevented me from blogging on a regular basis, but I hear that the public awaits, so I'll do better!

To bring you up to date on my first week as Recycling Coordinator for Lexington County, here's a brief rundown:

Monday: Trash truck hits side of scale and blows out two tires while I’m standing about five feet away.

Tuesday: Lady loses and subsequently finds church money in a Lexington County dumpster. Our worker Dale tells her that he'll find it since it's the "Lord's money," and sure enough, he finds it. She offers him a $20 reward, but he tells her to give it to the church.

Wednesday: First venture into South Congaree, dined at the South Congaree House of Pizza.

Thursday: Lexington County bomb truck arrives to detonate ammunition, including a Civil War cannonball (I wonder if he was pulling my leg). There is a pit in the landfill in which they do this on a regular basis. Picture of the bomb truck to come.

Friday: Trash truck drives on the scale with his trailer up and pulls down the wires from the building, damaging the metal facing on our building in the process. Fire Services and Mid-Carolina Electric were called and our building was evacuated for an hour.

Every day is an adventure when your office is at the landfill!

Life at the Landfill

Only two days at my new job, and I can tell you that life at the landfill is going to be a hoot!

I love my job, boss and co-workers, but even more, I love the craziness that surrouds the landfill, at least in this first two days!

The first day, a big trash truck drove up crooked on the scales, and BOOM, one tire blows out. I was outside bringing in some of my boxes, less than 10 feet away from it. I felt the air and dirt on my face. So just in time for me to recover from the heart attack, they drive forward and blow out another one!

Today, a lady called in a panic. She accidentally threw away the money collected at her church on Sunday! She threw it away right at 7 p.m., so she thought it would be easy for our workers to find!

And almost at the end of the day, someone found four kittens, so young that their eyes were still closed! Good thing someone else had a bigger heart than me and took them.

What adventures must lie ahead! I must bring my camera tomorrow!

GOP Debate: We Are There!

Yahoo!

I scored Sister and I tickets for the GOP Presidential Primary debate here in Columbia on Tuesday night!

It should be a good time...

Be sure to watch.

You're Lost Between Baby Boomer & Generation X If...

I've italicized the ones I'm guilty of...

You remember when Jordache jeans with a flat-handle comb in the back pocket was cool.

Any photograph of you shows you wearing an Izod shirt with the collar turned up.

You know any "Weird Al" Yankovic songs by heart.

You've ever rung someone's doorbell and said "Landshark!"

You were once bowled over by the technological excellence of such products as Atari, IntelliVision, TelStar and Coleco.

You remember the premier of MTV -- or worse yet, you remember its predecessor, "Friday Night Videos."

You and your friends ever discussed having a reunion at the end of the century and playing Prince's "1999" until you passed out partying.

A predominant color in your childhood photos is plaid.

You remember when music that was labeled "alternative" really was alternative, and when "alternative comedy" was really funny.

You took family trips BEFORE the invention of the minivan.

You rode in the back of the station wagon facing the cars behind you.

You've recently horrified yourself by using any one of the following phrases: "You know, back when...," "When I was your age...," or "When I was younger..."

Schoolhouse Rock played a HUGE part in how you learned things like grammar, math and history. (A big hint here is if the only way you can recite the Preamble to the Constitution is by singing it.)

You ever dressed to look like someone in a Madonna, Cyndi Lauper or Duran Duran video.

You remember your first kiss with someone having happened while either "Leather and Lace" or "Crazy for You" was playing.

You remember with pain the day the Green Machine hit the streets (or the sidewalks), instantly making your Big Wheel obsolete.

The age-old question "Where's the beef?" still makes you laugh.

You remember when film critics raved that no movie could ever possibly have more advanced special effects than "TRON."

You had a crush on Ted the photographer on "Love Boat," Gage from "Emergency," or Ponch from "CHIPS."

Your hair at some point in time in the '80s could only be described by saying "I was experimenting."

You've ever shopped at Benetton.

You're starting to believe that having the kids in school year-round wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

You're currently employed doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with your college major.

U2 is too popular and mainstream for you now.

You remember trying to guess which episode of "The Brady Bunch" it was by the first scene.

You had a front-row seat (i.e., blew off one or more classes) for Luke and Laura's wedding on "GH."

Your parents wanted you to attend medical school, but you decided it was pointless since Quincy got all the babes anyway.

You know who shot J.R.

You recall when Love's Baby Soft was in every girl's Christmas stocking.

This rings a bell: "My name is Charlie, and they work for me."

You were unsure if Diet Coke would ever catch on. (Related item: you were sure that "New Coke" would NEVER catch on.)

You know all the words to the double-album set of the "Grease" soundtrack.

You've ever had a Dorothy Hamill haircut.

You sat with your friends on any given Friday night circa 1982 and dialed 867-5309 to see if
Jenny was actually there.

"All skate, change directions" means something to you.

You've ever owned a pair of rainbow suspenders like the ones Mork used to wear.

You bought a pair of Vanns and wanted to order a pizza in history class so you could be just like Jeff Spicoli. (Related item: if you've ever smacked yourself in the head with a shoe and exclaimed, "I'm so wasted!")

You owned a Preppy Handbook.

You were too young to see "Blue Lagoon," so you just had to settle for the second-hand reports.

You remember when movies were only PG and R.

You learned to swim at about the same time "Jaws" came out....and still carry the emotional scars to prove it.

You remember when your cable TV box had a sliding selector switch... and your "cable remote" was connected to the TV by CORD!

Your jaw would ache by the time you finished one of those brick-sized packages of Bazooka.

You remember Bo and Luke Duke, Daisy, Boss Hogg, or-worst of all-what Sheriff Roscoe's full name was.

Your parents paid $2,000 for a top-loading VCR that was almost the size of a coffee table.

You found nothing strange about Bert and Ernie living together.

You remember having a rotary phone.

You actually believed that Mikey, famed kid on the Life cereal commercials, died after eating Pop Rocks and drinking a Coke.

"Members Only" jackets...say no more.

And lastly, I'll make a song stick in your head for the rest of the day: ...you actually remember the words to the theme song of "The Greatest American Hero." ("BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I'M WALKIN' ON AIR...I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD FEEL SO FREE-EE-EE...)

Mama's Home Cookin'

Watch out! Mama Mary's opened a restaurant - in Cheraw, of all places.

AND, she's looking for a waitress!

Gramma's Birthday Lunch!

Sister, Mom and I drove to Aberdeen, NC on Saturday to celebrate Gramma's 85th birthday. We were joined at Lone Star Steakhouse by Mom's Sister Pat and her husband, Jim; our cousin, Patti; and our cousin, Jimmy, and his family. Jimmy's daughter, Rachel, also shares a birthday with Gramma, so we celebrated her 15th as well as Gramma's 85th.

Our waitress was one of the best waitresses we've had in a while. And she REALLY had her work cut out for her with this crowd.

Mom and Pat were looking at Mom's shoes - I think one even made it around the table. Uncle Jim looks like he doesn't quite know what to think about shoes being passed around the table. Or maybe he was studying the menu.

Patti and Gramma.

The best part of the picture - the bookends! Hungry, Mom?

Three generations. The fourth was still on the road, but in usual family form, we'd already ordered for them!

Gramma and the Sisters, as you know them.


Gramma and the "original" sisters.

Jimmy's family arrived just in the nick of time - right before the meals! Jimmy was sick and Rachel had a spend-the-night party the night before, so we cut them some slack. (Truth is, though, they're pretty much always late, but what could we do?)

Rachel and Gramma, the birthday girls!

We all enjoyed Rachel's brother Jay's prom pictures, especially this headless one! Photography skills seem to run in the family. Ask Sister, who has a special collection of photos with headless political celebrities.

Oh, yeah! It was lunch with the works!

I think Gramma would've been happy with just THIS for lunch!

It's just not a party unless someone leaves wearing Gramma's pink rainhat!

Pre-Debate Blog

Anyone watching the GOP debate? Answer these tomorrow if you watch tonight...

1. If you HAD to go out with one of them, who would you chose and why? Duncan Hunter; he was the most handsome. mp


2. Funniest? When McCain said he would follow Bin Laden to the gates of Hell. mp


3. Worst dye job? TOMMY THOMPSON! mp


4. Best hair? Gotta be Mitt Romney. But gotta give Rudy props for getting rid of the comb over. mp


5. Who are you LEAST likely to vote for and why? Ron Paul, he believes what he reads on the Internet. mp


6. Who surprised you the most? When Tommy Thompson said employers should be able to fire gay people. Isn't that against the law? Also, when one of the candidates (can't remember who) said he supported stem cell research. mp


7. What question would YOU have asked? I would've asked Tommy Thompson if that is a toupee or just bad hair! On a serious note, maybe something about the safety of food products coming in from overseas. mp


8. Who would be the best contestant on American Idol? John McCain. HE could sing his version of "Bomb Iran." mp


9. Who would be most fun to have a beer with? Probably one of the crazy ones, like Ron Paul, especially since he believes what he reads on the Internet. mp


10. Who would be easiest for editorial cartoonists to draw? Mitt Romney and his hair! mp

How Healthy Are You?

Take the quiz and find out!

I got a B. I still need to lose a little weight. I didn't get extra points for already losing almost 70 lbs.

AWOL!

Wow! I haven't created a new post in almost a week! Are you all on the edge of your seats or what?

I'm very busy getting ready for my new job, which is less than two weeks away. I still have SOO much to do that I'm starting to get a little anxious.

Good stuff coming up this weekend, including Gramma's 80-somethingth birthday luncheon!