Busy Hands....gather no moss

Or something similar. What Grandma J is trying to say is she's been busy.

Now that September is here, October is on the horizon...and that's a busy month on so many fronts.

Here's a rundown, give or take any unknown minor adjustments:




*Sgt John is coming home on leave from Iraq with just enough time to take grandma J to all the dinners and casino trips he promised over the last several months....and she has the emails to prove it.


*While Sgt John is home, grandma J's granddaughter his daughter is having her tonsils out, and he wants to be with her because under the best of circumstances, she always cries for her daddy.


*Sgt John thinks he'll have time for a quick three day weekend getaway to Las Vegas with his bride...and Grandma J will entertain the grandchildren and JJ while they're gone.




*Once Grandma J has had her fill of Sgt John and his bride gets back from Las Vegas, Grandma J is hitting the road for So. CA. Yep, a 1,400 road trip, each way, with an itinerary that would knock your socks off. More about that in a post of it's own.

I know what you're thinking....who cares about October? September is just starting, and October is eons away, so how busy can you be?

Well, I'll tell you. A-Ron went with Grandma J to the fabric store after his three hour baseball practice. She wanted him to help her pick out fleece to make some more blankets for the children in the pediatric oncology ward for Christmas. He goes with Grandma J to distribute them and we need at least twenty. Right now? We only have six.

I figured I'd let A-Ron pick out the fabrics that he thinks an older kid would like. Here they are:

Yeah, good choice! SpongeBob SquarePants with Patrick. The one thing that really irritates me is the price of licensed fabric. Not only is it twice as much, but you have several wasted inches of fabric with their warning on it. In this case.....thank you Viacom.



Oh, and SpongeBob...was this really necessary?

This was A-Ron's second choice! Ummm, maybe Uncle Michael would like this one. Once again, Thank you, Twentieth Century Fox.

Now, I thought maybe A-Ron could find something a bit softer....something a girl would like. He claims he doesn't go there!

But, I finally got him to pick this out. It's some kind of Disney stuff that has nothing to do with princesses or pirates. Once again, we paid through the teeth for the Disney name.

And who notice that Grandma J took these pictures on her stripped down bed? Yeah, it's because she doesn't neglect her chores, even when she's having fun. Nope....she's airing out her mattress while her sheets are in the dryer.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...
..is no secret

Because, when Grandma J steps into the world of gambling, corruption and brothels, she shares it all with her peeps! As my oldest daughter alerted you to on my last post, my flight out of the local regional airport, who's slogan is "We'll Take You There" was canceled, as were all flights to Houston, where I was supposed to connect to Vegas. The weather was fine, so why were all flights cancelled? Let me tell you...it's because it's the same friggin plane that travels to and from this local regional airport and Houston all day, and the next day. And because this condition is permanent and terminal (as in airport terminal), Grandma J wasn't happy with rescheduling for the next possible flight...the next day! So she walked all the way over to the only other airlines and got booked on their next flight which connects out of Dallas to Vegas.

Because this other airline is located about ten feet away, they arranged the change with the original airlines electronically. So, off we go, and because of the changes, Grandma J arrived in Las Vegas five hours late, but at least it was the same day.

I met Tabatha's Mommy, Marianne, who is also my son-in-law, Sgt. John's Mommy too...and my friend.
We stayed at the Four Queens downtown....
which isn't ritzy like The Strip with all the panhandlers and prostitutes. It's where the whole Vegas thing started way back when. It's also where the fabulous Fremont Experience is. Several years ago Fremont street was closed off for two blocks of hotels, that were renovated and covered to create a plaza with kiosks and a great laser show several times a night with great music.
Our room was on the fifth floor, and this is the view. This is what the covered Fremont Plaza looks like during the day from the street level.

These next pictures are from our room for the light show...which moves too fast for Grandma J's cheap camera.

And lookie who Grandma J found in the casino?

We had a blast, meeting old friends.

And getting chummy with people with familiar names, like John Wayne.
And maybe inhaling too much laughing gas...or developing a food allergy or something that might affect our small motor skills....just saying.

But two days later, the fun came to an end... or did it?

The final chapter of this junket is still raw and painful. Spending 22 hours to get home, with eight of them hanging with my new roomie was not the icing on the cake, just saying! The icing, if you want to call it that, was the fact that out of the zillions of others who attended our sleepover in the Houston airport, my new roomie and I were the ones who found the only four comfy chairs to make matching beds.

MONDAY MATINEE...
formerly Friday Matinee on Monday

You know I love you when I keep my commitment to you, and take time out of my busy schedule to go see this movie.
THE HAPPENING Don't get too excited because I think someone owes me big time. I mean really! I feel like I just flushed two hours of my life down the toilet. OK, I know the movie wasn't that long but I'm including travel time.
And of course, since it's not Valentine's Day, you are probably curious as to why I would post in RED. Well, reader, I will tell you. Red stands for this:

Do not pass GO!
and this:

that only made me want to go in the water more.

or this, which is why I don't wander off the main roads in Florida.
Whoopsie Daisy!

So have you figured out how I felt about The Happening? Honestly, I didn't want to do two negative reviews out of three, but I couldn't find anything redeeming about this film. Plot? Someone please tell me what it was. Suspense? Except for the first few suicides....nada. And for the record, I don't like suspense or scarey movies because I hide my face, or close my eyes while I plug my ears and say, la, la, la, la....really loud. But this movie didn't faze me. It was poorly done and almost laughable

My advice to you readers is buy a couple of gallons of gas instead.

I won't be posting tomorrow or the next day (Tues, Wed, oh yeah, and maybe Thursday)....or never if I win some huge jackpot. Because in case I haven't mentioned it before, I'm heading to Las Vegas Baby!

WHAT'S THAT SMELL?

I have never been antsy about air travel. I do it often and I've been on some flights that had quite a bit of turbulence. It's on the really rough flights that I pretend I'm at Disneyland. Let's just say it keeps me sane and my heart rate within normal range.

Lately some pretty bizarre things have been happening on flights. Like the woman on a flight out of New York that duked it out with the flight attendant because he told her to put her cigarette out. This cause the pilot to land in Chicago instead of going on the San Francisco. People missed connecting flights, which to me, can be a major problem. With my upcoming cruise, a delayed flight could make me miss my ship leaving port. Or a delay could cause me to miss my connecting flight in Dallas on my trip to Las Vegas next week. Where I'm meeting up with my good friend, her mom.

But one of the worse thing that could happen? Here's a clue: Evidently an uninvited passenger, created a smelly situation on an American Airlines plane in Miami. That's right, a skunk was found in the cargo hold, discharging it's foul odor throughout the aircraft. When crews tried to remove the skunk, it released it's notorious rotten smell. The smell filtered throughout the cabin, and all passengers where taken off the plane.

I know from past experience, you cannot get that smell out. Do you think American Airlines will pay any claims for new luggage and contents?

**Loyal readers, and those of you who gave up on my Friday Matinees. I have temporarily renamed that feature to: Friday Matinee on Monday. With all the inconvenient interruptions lately, and all the kids hitting the theatres on Fridays, I had to make the switch. I promise I won't keep jerking you around make any further changes without your permission.

Also...Stayed tuned, I will update you soon on my visit to my new Orthopedic professional, Dr. Bob.

Love, Grandma J and JJ