WILD LIFE INVASIONS

Recently, yesterday I was telling you all about the deer that wandered, aimlessly lost overran the Spa where I live.

The incident reminded Grandma J that she was living in the wilderness, just one hundred yards from a major intrastate highway known as FM 2410. This has huge significance since FM stands for Farm to Market in Texas and other wilderness states.

Will all the excitement of wildlife fading like Grandma J's hair from brown to grey into the past, Grandma J moved on with her plans for the day. Plans like taking A-Ron and his sister to the mall for a day of shopping and good Mexican food at En Fuego. Little did she know that her close encounter with Mother Nature's beasts was far from over......

As she started to get dressed, she felt some itching in her chest area. Glancing inside her bra, revealed a colony of ants. Holy mother of all living things!



Grandma J, quickly stripped down looked in her drawer full of "delicates" to see the whole Texas Colony of ants partying down like they were at a Victoria's Secret Grand Opening Gala.



Being quick on her feet, she sprayed the inside of the drawer with Raid Flying Insect stuff, then emptied the draw with her hands, and sprayed the inside of the empty drawer with more Raid Flying Insect stuff.....because that's all she had.



Next, she shook out all the infested "delicates" and then put them in the wash, and Swiffered up the ants' remains.



Please don't pay any attention to the dust.....I Swiffered the whole room, and I have a couple good reasons for the huge amount of dust amidst the ant corpses.

1. Construction dust in the AC vents.

2. Hello? Did you forget about Grandma J's dependency on Vicodin lack of a working knee, rendering her unfit for housework?

After a productive visit to the mall, it was back home to box up some special purchases to ship to 1SG John in Iraq.

And of course to veg out.....before heading out to the ball park.

And practice for the AAU South TX Regional Chmpionship Track & Field National Qualifier, July 16-18 in Round Rock TX. That Grandma J will sadly miss because she'll be at the VA Blogfest.

Even JJ was vegging out....too pooped for playtime......

You think? NOT!

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.

BYE BYE, FLAT CAROLINE



Sunday Grandma J's daughter took Mr. triple extraction A-Roid and a buddy to the Outlet Mall in Austin. Because he had a ton of money from the tooth fairy to spend.

My granddaughter and I decided to take Flat Caroline to a landmark here in Central Texas. Maybe a Mesquite tree, or a field full of cattle...ummm, nah, we did it one step better....




We took Flat Caroline to the main gate of Fort Hood Army Post. Fort Hood is 340 sq. miles of rolling hills and plains, with a population of 71,000, and the largest active duty armored post in the United States. It's also the post that 1Sgt John deployed to Iraq from with the 1st Cavalry.




Foot Hood has played an important role in the life of my granddaughter, and she wanted to share it with Flat Caroline. My granddaughter came to Killeen Texas in 2002, when she was in the 2nd grade, just like Flat Caroline. In seven years her father has been deployed to Iraq three times, and Korea twice. Each tour of duty is at least one year in length. If you do the math, it's easy to see that the families of our active duty military make huge sacrifices, just like their parents who serve our Nation. Grandma J's granddaughter is now 15 and in the 9th grade...boy does time fly!




We stopped and bought a post card of Texas, and printed out these pictures to send to Flat Caroline's teacher and classmates.





Bye bye, Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so good......


and she's off to faraway lands....like Florida!!

How Did You Spend Your Spring Break?

Checking birth certificate. Then we are off to get our driver's permit. What a glorious day under God's heaven!

Paperwork in perfect order

Arriving at the Texas Department of Safety, 11:00 A.M. This should be a breeze....even if I pull number 12....and they are currently serving number 82. The wait will be worth it.

If you don't have your Social Security card, we can't help you. It doesn't matter that you have a military ID with your picture and SS # on it....because you aren't active duty. Besides, your grandmother is getting on my nerves.......NEXT!

Sad, but true.....we drive up to Temple Texas, and await a duplicate Social Security card.

It's 3:00 P.M. on the last day of my Spring Break....I'm in my second Texas Department of Safety office, because we dare not go back to the first office... and my grandmother has been told over and over, not to take pictures.

If my grandmother takes one more picture, they are gonna arrest her. Then I guess I'll have to drive her car home. Oh well!

YES!! I can now legally drive JJ around the neighborhood. Now, can we get some stimulus money to fix these potholes?

As usual, the Pretty Princess wins out in the end, and the whole Kingdom rejoices!

Spring Break On The Home Front

Yesterday Grandma J spent time with the girls who didn't go to Cancun, or Cabo San Lucas to lay on the beach and party at night. They didn't want to hang out at a ski resort, taking to the slopes by day, soaking in hot tubs under the stars at night.

That's right, while other pretty girls were frolicking in the surf, these beauties were baking and decorating cupcakes and mini cupcakes for Easter!


That's because tomorrow they are sending an Easter Basket to SGT John in Iraq. Some of you are wondering why I would take a picture with the pantry door open...showing all the Mac & Cheese, chips, and other good stuff like Chees-Its. Well, the door was closed...

But remember these dudes? The ones who accused Grandma J of trying to poison them with her homemade fortune cookies? Yeah, these boys were hiding in the pantry and came running out...not wanting to be involved in any of Grandma J's baking extravaganzas ever again.

Top Of The Mornin'

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



I know some of you were really ticked off disappointed that JJ wasn't my Letter J yesterday...because you know I could write about that little guy from here to Timbuktu! But I was saving him for today because he's Irish.


Here is a cute picture of him with his sister getting ready to party! Can't you tell he's excited? Before he gets to his first Guinness, he wants to share with you how Grandma J's paternal grandmother, Margaret Mary Spellman, happened to cross the pond. And to be sure, JJ's tutorials are far less wordy and more illustrative that Grandma J's. Just saying.



click picture to enlarge
This is the certificate we could have paid $29.95 for, because you can't print it out or even do a print screen without the people at the Ellis Island HOA Foundation smacking your hand, which is Grandma J's favorite way of stealing borrowing Internet data. Instead we had to take our own picture of the screen, which is when Grandma J said to no one in particular, "isn't this fun?"


click picture to enlarge
Margaret Mary Spellman boarded this ship, The Oceanic, in Queenstowne, County Cork, Ireland on May 31, 1900, arriving at Ellis Island June 6, 1900. Queenstowne was also the last port-of-call for the Titanic several years later. The ships manifest (which is hand written) states that Margaret Mary had the minimum $5.00 and was sponsored by an Uncle James of 35th Ave., New York, NY.

Grandma J's grandmother married the Frenchman.

Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, just ask JJ....what say you?

I will be picking the Blog Birthday winner, with the help of a random number generator, and posting the results this afternoon. Good Luck!

The Letter J

I Thought I would use a Celtic Letter J since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. The Celts are famous for using knots, leaves and serpents in their artwork. I did a cross stitch of the Celtic letter J several years ago, and it's stored away somewhere. Every year I'm reminded to dig it out and get it framed...maybe this is the year.

But hey, let's get on with some fun stuff beginning with the letter J.

here's something I saw yesterday in my daughter's neighborhood....


June Bug! June Bug the Clown!


This is Blue Bell, June Bug's sidekick and granddaughter. They clown around at parties. Mostly children's parties....but not limited to children's parties.

She sort of brushed me off, like time is money but not before giving me her card. Actually she gave me two cards and told me to give one to a friend, and to spread the word about her business. For that reason, I'm giving all of you her card...right click on the picture to enlarge. If it's clowning you're looking for, June Bug just might be for you.

I wonder if I can get my granddaughter to go into clown business with me. Maybe JJ or Phillip Johnny Bob?

brought to you by A to Z Mondays

Blowing In The Wind

I spent today at a track meet. Yesterday the temperature was in the 80's.....today it was in the low 50's....with the wind blowing at 30mph...and more!

My granddaughter..yes the one who plays basketball, ran the 100, 200, and 400 meter events. Is that what you call them? She also did the long jump.

Her mom was wrapped up tight....even though we never expected it to be so cold.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Did I tell you JJ fell out the car window? No, not my car...and he's fine...he's a tough one....scared but tough.