Moving One Car Load At A Time

Because, when you neighbor is moving at the same time, and says, "hey, let's get one big truck and my son will get a buddy and move us both."

Grandma J thought that was a pretty nice idea, and said, "I was going to hire movers because I can't be doing heavy lifting with my bad back, but if it's not too much for your son, then I'll pay him $200 but make sure he doesn't mind moving both of us."

It just so happens, the neighbors son is more than willing to move Grandma J for that amount, but it doesn't include the truck. No problem, Grandma J reserves the biggest truck....27'. But getting down to the wire, the rules changed. He'll move furniture only, no boxes, totes, drawers, computers, or other small stuff....

Now, it's all a matter of one load at a time. But when Grandma J's daughter heard that the neighbor's son decided that he wouldn't move small stuff, and no unhooking and re-hooking, or any assembly like beds was not included, she got mad. AND..... he's only making one three mile trip in the truck, well, it made her madder.

She was so mad, she told grandma J to hire her own movers out of the local paper for $60 hour, with a three hour minimum. But that wasn't an option because Grandma J already told her neighbor that maybe it was too much for her son to move them both, and she would hire her won movers....the neighbor said her son was really counting on the money, so it was too late to back out.

So, Grandma J's middle daughter took off work, and came to the rescue.




Loading and unloading all kinds of small stuff. Back and forth over and over....


And no, she's not a professional drawer stacker




And as you can see it really doesn't matter because by the looks of those drawers Grandma J is not a professional clothes in the drawer folder. Seen as she walks past the guest bedroom.




Before leaving, middle daughter wants to show off her battle scars.....


And the ones here, and here......


Especially the ones on her legs. Grandma J knows how lucky she is to have such a good daughter.


Tomorrow A-Ron has a visit to the orthodontist game on his city league team. What should be interesting is how the coach, aka Mr. Noodle, treats A-Ron. That's if the coach shows up at all. This same coach coaches A-Ron's competitive team too. Last Saturday at practice, there was an incident.

By incident, Grandma J is talking about A-Ron beating the crap out of smacking the coaches son for throwing his new cleats over the fence, and then punching A-Ron when he confronted him.

The two boys and coach were suspended for a tournament. Then the coach quit!! Then A-Ron's suspension was changed to just one day. Weather permitting, he will play on Sunday.....his birthday. I'll report back on the Wednesday night game.


* Grandma J does not condone fighting between chihuahuas teammates, or any mates.

* It was 97 degrees here today.

FRIDAY MATINEE.....
...on any freaking day there is always a matinee worth talking about.

Grandma J had a blast on Easter Sunday. There was mass in the morning where arriving forty minutes early didn't guarantee a parking space in the church parking lot. That's because all the good friends of the Easter Bunny got there two hours earlier. These are the same friends of Santa Claus that show up on Christmas. You know where this left Grandma J. That's right, parked far away on a soft shoulder, and walking in the rain, crossing one of those dangerous FM routes to get to the church.

All was good...we ate a nice big breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then we went to the movies. The first movie of the day is cheaper, and Grandma J loves a bargain, but you knew that. Here in Central Texas, the seats in our new Cinemark 16 are only $5.50.


We went to see Observe And Report starring Seth Rogen. Yes it's rated R, and yes A-Ron and newly Permitted to Drive Granddaughter went.



We like to sit up against the handicap rail so we can kick the disabled put our feet up. That's right, Classy is our middle name.



And as you can see Grandma J had no problem asking a complete stranger to take our picture. She was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't let me use his popcorn and large Icee as props.

Oh yeah, the movie........



If you saw Mall Cop, you probably wished Paul Blart would get some balls and quit being such a wuss. Well, in Observe and Report, Ronnie Barnhardt is a vulgar, fowl mouthed, gun happy thug who is head of mall security. He is basically deranged and psycho.



He lives with his alcoholic, sleazy mother who, when asked by Ronnie if he was the reason his father left them, says "Yes".


Ronnie falls for a pretty blonde makeup girl from a kiosk in the mall similar to Paul Blart falling for the pretty girl in the wig kiosk in Mall Cop. The difference is, the makeup girl, Brandi, played by Anna Faris, can't stand Ronnie, but when she drinks she gets vulgar and raunchy.


The mall falls victim to a streaker, flasher, and this gives Ronnie the opportunity to prove that he is smarter than the detective assigned to the case. Some of his tactics are delusional and scary. I have to say, there is plenty of humor too. But there is also plenty of nudity.............


And when the streaker, who is older and fat, runs through the mall for what seemed like forever.....with us getting a full frontal view of his little noodle competing with his belly in the jiggling department...some of us laughed and someone covered their face.

Oh yeah, Ronnie shoots the streaker....and dispite all the blood and guts he is still alive, though barely.




I give this movie two out of five Easter eggs . Yeah, I thought it was that bad.

Saturday Fun

Grandma J loves nothing better than sleeping in rising at the crack of dawn to caravan down the highway for a baseball tournament.

Of course the road to fine sports and family fun goes right by Dog Ridge.

Grandma J's middle daughter loves living life in the fast lane even if it means layers of clothing topped with blankets swaddled all around her.

And no, Grandma J did not notice, nor will she comment on that man's "Mr. Noodle."

A-Roid, formerly A-Ron, with a lethal dose of McNuggets, is in rear form. Isn't it lovely what the wind can do to a full head of hair?

For some reason Middle Daughter and Michelle #2 both keep score....because the team likes to have two scorekeepers. Hello? Yeah, they like to keep two sets of books. Go ahead, your guess is as good as mine.

And because Grandma J is nothing if not kind and generous, she treated herself to her second pedicure in less days than she has toes.

Speaking of toes....OK, so no one was speaking of toes, but lets pretend we were....which leads Grandma J to this question. Does everyone anyone have hairy toes?

And, because she loves Michelle #4, she got the deluxe pedi with the leg mask and hot rock treatment. Michelle is a pro at getting blood out of a turnip.

BEST BUDS, or......

....maybe it's BFFs




Yesterday, while Grandma J was attending to A-Ron, and his triple extraction, she was too busy to visit much with JJ.

She did let him and his best buddy, Phillip Johnny Bob go for a spin in her new Escape....

because a favorite pass time around the neighborhood is sniffing the genitals of out the car window for other dogs.

Dude....your seat belt!!!

Back at the house, once again Grandma J lost contact with JJ......he seemed to disappear from his usual mode of being under foot front and center where all action was taking place.

Tiptoeing upstairs, this is what Grandma J found.......

JJ and Phillip Johnny Bob, staring out the window. This window in the loft at Grandma J's daughter's home, is on the side of the house and looks down into the neighbor's back yard.

Grandma J doesn't know these neighbors, they come and they go, always screaming at each other in Portuguese smiling and waving, Hi .

Back up to the loft an hour later, the guys were still fixed on whatever was in that back yard. Grandma J decided to take a look, because nothing could be that interesting....no, nothing.

Wait! I've seen that car, and that woman before! It's Oprah....and, what? I see something else moving around...

OMG! It's a big dog......a Great Dane! Could this blogger she be my daughter's neighbor?

Just about then my daughter starts calling my name.....I awake, and realize I was dreaming!

or was I?

Afternoons In The Fast Lane

Since retiring, my afternoons are just a tad bit laid back.

When I worked, I spend my lunch hour doing stuff like paying bills, running errands, and sometimes I actually ate lunch. Once a week I did important stuff like getting pedicures mentoring little children, or donating blood. Every so often I would actually sleep work at my desk.

Since retiring, things have changed ever so slightly. Now, I try to go out to lunch at least once a week. I do my Friday Matinee Reviews.....hey wait, where did this week go? OK, so sometimes I do my Friday Matinee on Mondays.

JJ gets so lonely during the day and misses his Mommy and sister and brother, so I try to swing by and take him for a ride, and then play for a while....which always involves plenty of kisses and treats. If his sister is home, I'll let her do the driving around the immediate neighborhood. Hi State Farm Agent!

I take up the slack for my daughter on chauffeuring the kids home or to work, or maybe even a play date with Grandma J a dinner at Chili's or Cheddars.

This week I've done some afternoon baking because Ree, over at Pioneer Woman, invited some bloggers to come to her ranch and bake with Barbarella Bakerella. I was snubbed decided to virtually play along and bake with them...sort of. Besides, today we had plenty of rain, which gives me a good excuse to stay in and get creative.

Besides my daughter and grandkids, I have some other human contact here in Texas. Yes, I do...and I'm not just talking about Gary at ATT, Dr. Bob or the cable guy.

I have a few semi friends here at the Compound, we might do something once a month or just visit. But really most people here are old. I have two friends outside the Compound and get this! All four of them are named Michelle!!

Michelle #1 is my daughter's neighbor across the street. She's an RN and works long hours. Her husband is deployed so I help out when needed, picking her daughter up at the high school.

Michelle #2 is a baseball mom, and her son is on my grandson's team. She is a new friend and might be reading this...."hi Michelle". I'm not sure she knows she's my friend.

Michelle #3 is another baseball Mom who I' have known for almost two years now. She and her husband own a T-Shirt printing shop and she also moonlights at Starbucks. What I really love about Michelle #3 is the fact that she calls me to come get her free pound of coffee every so often because she doesn't drink coffee. She's also a fun person who likes to go to bingo every six months.....a real plus? She's not old. Hi Michelle.


Michelle #4 is this gal. She has been doing my pedicures and manicures since before I moved to Texas! I used to get my nails done on my visits to Texas, and it's possible Michelle is the reason I moved here. Not likely, but possible. If you can't tell, Michelle doesn't want her picture taken because she's in a witness protection program very shy. Hi Michelle!

Yesterday, I went to see Michelle #4 at the nail salon for my bi-weekly pedicure.


She likes me to soak for two hours because I won't let her use the cheese grater on my heals. So, I soak until the blue stuff melts away the callouses.

See? Being retired is exhausting! And just so you know....I don't watch Oprah, Ellen or Dr. Phil.

NOTE: Just so you know....commenter loxandlo is my old boss...not that she's old, because she's not.....it's just that I have to clarify, any goofing off or slacking was never, ever done while I worked in Geomatics. I waited until she retired, and I went to Administration...we all know that's where the gravy train is. And now we are both retired and good friends.

AMERICA'S FIRST TEAM

Today was a cloudy day in Central Texas, as 1st Sgt. John, along with other members of

The First Cavalry Division deployed from Fort Hood, Texas to Iraq.

Last night we celebrated with BBQ

The family is used to deployments. This is John's third tour in Iraq, with two tours of duty in Korea sandwiched in between. That would be over five years out of the last seven away from his wife and kids.

My middle daughter will be OK

And the kids will too......because

They are close, and....

Know how to love, laugh and act silly...

I'm sure today was a day of both pride and sadness as they had their private, personal and formal good-byes. I spent the day with JJ.

Stay safe soldier, and thank you for your service, and keeping America safe and free.

Countdown to Christmas.....

Yesterday was caaa.raaazzzz.eeeee.

As is the custom, because we've done this exactly twelve one year in a row, my granddaughter and I, with JJ in tow, made our way to HEB to pick up the final ingredients for our traditional, signature, Christmas pile of goop Rice Krispy Treat Wreaths.

We needed everything but ribbon and marshmallows.....for real. And when all was said and done......


This was the damage done to Grandma J's social security check Roth IRA, or better known as my estate. and just in case you think I'm a prudent shopper the coupon savings is $1.48, not $148.


Of course, we bought some stuff for dinner, because we would still be working on our Christmas Wreaths well into the evening hours....and because my grandson knows I make the best babyback ribs evah!!



This is the assembly line.....waiting for the finishing touch.


This is the Director of Traditional, Signature Christmas Wreaths...sitting for a photo op putting the finishing touch on the project.

By "finishing touch"....I mean just that!



Here is an up-close look at what Middle Daughter will be passing out to her co-workers and the doctors she works with. She is such a suck-up! considerate, generous person.

Merry Christmas!