Monkey

Catching Up

I've been a bit slow on posting a lot of things....so in an effort to catch up a bit, I will start with a few pics from the marriage of Brandon & Michelle










They were married on June 13th, 2009.

Kill Me,

Kill me now.



Explanation.
Last nite as we were watching TV, the Shankster decided to go into the kitchen to get a drink. I followed. As we left the kitchen we could see the TV my dad was watching. He usually has the sound down and he watches and reads with closed caption. It is usually golf/or news or sometimes a bluegrass band if he can find one. That is about the only time the sound will be up, to hear a banjo play.

Tonite was different. Not a bluegrass band, but the sound was up a tiny bit. That is what caught our attention. Now I know you will find a movie or two on HBO or Showtime that might have some adult content in it. Gee you find it on regular channels anymore and some of the language is not so good either...but that is just the way it is.
But I don't/will not watch anything like that in front of my family, especially my child or my dad. That is just me. Call me little miss priss...I don't care that's me.

Which brings me to what was on the TV. Adult content. OMG.....OMG....let me tell you I don't know what channel he was watching....but he kept it on it and for a while too. I know as I could hear it. NOT SOMETHING I want to hear coming from a room my DAD is in.


Kill me now...please.

What is The Deal?

I really don't get some people anymore. Especially when it comes to all the things that are on the internet now. You've got Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, All kinds of blogging, Classmates, Match.com, EHarmony and I can't even think of how many other things you can do to put yourself out there in cyberspace.

So what is the deal with people who have there info out there and then get mad when you look at it? What? You gotta be kidding me. It all seems pretty simple to me, If you don't want anyone to see what you are doing/writing and especially if you don't want your info to be public...then don't put anything on the WWW. It is called the WORLD WIDE WEB for a reason. DUH>>> it means WORLD WIDE...that means anybody can see it.

So it is really very simple....don't put yourself out there if you don't really want everyone to see it.......period.

No Power & Some Cool Facts

Didn't even know it was to rain....let alone storm so much to lose power in a matter of seconds before the storm even hit. Six long hours without power. Ok so I can get along without the internet for 6 hours....who knew? And I don't need to watch TV for 6 hours.....(we won't talk about it) And you can even get by with 2 candles and one flashlight. Guess I need to unpack all my things more than I realized. I think I have bought 6 flashlights since being here...and I know I have some packed..somewhere. I know I have candles too. Two candles sucked. Dad was snacking watching TV when it happened. He just finished the snacks and laid back in his seat and went to snoring......until midnite when I guess he decided he would get up and go to bed and snore some more. Elvis couldn't figure out why we weren't using the fans. The Shankster was having an anxiety attack more than usual along with an asthma attack, it was so hard to breathe in the hot house with no air circulating. So we decided to open all the windows we could to get some air, moving....it didn't help much. We then remembered the ipod had some games on it to play. I opted for the Cool Facts so to keep talking. I usually can't shut up, but in the dark it is kind of weird to know what exactly to say. So we had a nice evening even with the power out. Here is a few things we learned from the Fact File..................

Tipping in Iceland at a restaurant is considered an insult. (we want to go live there)
It is illegal NOT to smile in Pocatello, Idaho. (we could live there too)
Apple seeds are poisonous.
A broken clock is always right, twice a day.
Colgate's first toothpaste came in a jar.
The average housewife walks 10 miles a day around the house doing chores. (Guess I am not average as I should have lost weight by now)
George W. Bush and Hugh Hefner are cousins.
A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.
It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary.
In Kentucky, It's illegal to fish in the Ohio River in Kentucky without a Indiana Fishing License.
In Kentucky it is illegal to carry Ice-cream in your back pocket.

hmm......

(I guess these things are some reasons why I don't live in Kentucky.)

KFC

You know it's bad when you sneak chicken from the buffet in a cup.






Seriously.......I didn't do it. They are bones and Who Knew you couldn't even take the bones home to your dog? Also The Shankster had a piece that was not done and you know better than to eat that so instead of tossin it he decided to take it home to the dog this way.

He even went so far as to act like he was drinking through the straw on the way out.

I thought I would pee my pants laughing.

Another Pie Recipe

A few days back I made a Key Lime Pie. Had to do it. Had been having nothing but rotten luck so needed a pic me up. A pic up for the Shankster too. Anyhow, it was delicious. So took a new direction and made another pie. (yes more bad luck, rotten days, usual life)

It was called, Creamy Cheesecake Pie, with graham cracker crust and Yummy as well. Didn't have time for the pic. Just remember to eat these with caution. Too much can make you sick. Or maybe just don't wash it down with a cupcake with chocolate icing.....


I know from experience.

Ongoing Saga

Just when you think it can't get any worse......it does.


Life just sucks raw biscuits somedays.

Surprise!

There Back!

The Shanksters Favorites, Surprise Lillies...

(not sure of that name but it is what my mom used to call them)

Key Lime Pie

Just had to do something for the Shankster. He had such a rough day yesterday. Of course I didn't mind it either...Very good. First time I made it and it was as easy as pie......:)

Living with a Snake

Just when I thought just living here was enough to make me go mad for the last 6 years, I find yet another reason. Yes, I thought the noise the Racoons made on the roof and in the chimney and the destruction on the back porch was just about all I could take. Let alone some of the "gifts" they leave all around the house. Yes, I thought having to be so cautious every Spring because of the Skunks out the back door or under the deck was enough to make me go crazy. Yes, I thought just the thought of having to live with a dog that got sprayed by said Skunk, would be enough to make me go crazy. And Yes, even knowing the said Skunk has made his home under the barn, which nearly makes it unbearable to go to the barn would be enough for me to go crazy.

I now have another reason to go crazy.

I now have a SNAKE under the walkway. A pretty good sized one too. All Black from what we saw. For weeks I noticed a hole dug out on each side of the end of the walk and I would just push the rocks back into it as I thought it was surely the Skunk trying to keep the babies there (its happened before) but then each time the next day the holes would be there again and all the rocks pushed back. When we came home the other day right as we got out of the car there it was all curled up getting some sun on the rocks and then scurried under the walk right where the hole was.

YECH!!!!!!!!!!!! is all I can say. Other than I Hate Snakes.

Wedgies, Storms & Hornets

What a day! So we ventured out this morning to finish off some tree trimming. It wasn't sunny so thought best to check out the weather forecast first. It looked like on the map that the storm was well to the north of us so we were in the clear....of a storm that is, and any rain.

What were we thinking I now wonder as we have done just that before, relied on the weather forecast and it was no where near was was said. We will just never learn. So there we are, I am sitting in my car on the hill on the South side of the street to warn not only the Shankster when cars were coming but to maybe deter them so we wouldn't have a lawsuit on our hands if and when the tree fell into the street. Cars speed over that hill so fast I could just see that tree falling on a speeding car just as the Shankster cut it down. So other than get close to it as I have done in the past and it didn't go so well I just decided this was my best option in helping. Luck was on our side as not a car came down the road for the tree falling. He did a good job and it didn't even go into the road...just like yesterday.

This is the second tree...we have one more to go. So as I was doing my job in breaking it all down putting it into the wheelbarrow and sweatin like a mule, geez was it ever muggy today....all of a sudden I hear the Shankster starting to trim the last tree. That was ok I thought as it was going as quickly as it did yesterday and we might even be done before noon. Then he stopped and as I took one look up to see if this one was going to follow as the others and not make it into the street, we noticed it was stuck. See there has been a rather large tree branch from the nearest maple tree that had broke off way up high and fallen down not to the ground but to wedge itself on another branch for well over a year now. I tried all last year to get dad to get it down as I found it to be a hazard not only to me and the Shankster as we mow under it but to anyone driving by in case it ever decided to un-wedge itself and fall. But that never happened and now it was keeping the dead pine tree from falling completely down. Stupid Wedgie. So after several attempts if finally came down...almost. It went sideways and the larger branches on it that had some life left were keeping it still halfway up the hill. Not too much of a problem said the Shankster...he motioned me to go ahead with my work and he would figure this tiny problem out.

Then all of a sudden...without warning I heard him shout out...."RUN"! Hey my momma didn't raise no dummy, I didn't ask a question...I ran. Hey wait a minute...I didn't think I could run. But there I was...RUNNING! Down the street. Then I heard the Shankster say...HEY RUN UP HERE TO THE HOUSE YOU GOOFBALL!
What? oh ok. Couldn't run UP the hill however but hey now I know...I can run! Knees are getting better I guess.

Ok back to why I needed to run. The Shankster was looking over the situation with the trees/branches and he said he wondered why there were so many flies flying about. They weren't flies....they were HORNETS and there was a hornets nest on the tree branch that had been hanging for so long and when the pine tree wedged itself on it, well it made the little buggers mad. So we figured we were done it for the day. I went and got some hornets spray. And needless to say we are not pros to this tree falling thing. Or to taking care of a hornets nest either. My job here was to hold the front door open and the Shankster would spray the nest and if they started towards him he would run to the door. Uhhh, ok.

I swear to this next part. He went out at about 30 feet from the nest. (the can said pinpoint spray from 29 feet) He aimed and I screamed "RUN" I saw them come out towards him BEFORE he even sprayed one drop! So at this point I watched him spraying all willy-nilly while running towards the front door. At this point not a drop I think was near the nest and then his bad knee went out and he fell. He got up, all the while spraying with pinpoint accuracy, and fell again. Now mind you this is a man with a broken bone in his neck, bad back and worse knees.....and what happened next? You guessed it..he got stung in his neck by one of the hornets. I was able to get to it quick though. And lucky for us I got 2 cans of the spray.


Pic of the Hornets nest.



Little video of the next attempt.










Yeah we were a bit over it all by then. If that wasn't all, we noticed it got considerably darker and the Shankster decided to go in and check the weather map again. Before he even got there, he heard a snap and he knew lightning had struck. We lost a good tree topper here....and another few branches off of here. This storm sure came up fast. And lasted a good 20/30 minutes with a lot of strong winds.



Hard to see here but a couple branches split off the tall Pines in back.










We now have a Flat top Pine.







This is about 10 or more feet off the top of this Pine.





Best thing about the storm? It drowned out the little hornets. I knew we would get them one way or another.

One Down, Two to go......

Once again we are out trying to make a bit of sense with the trees on the hill. Some days and most of late it almost doesn't make any sense to try to do anything around this place when it isn't ours. But then again we hate to see it fall down around us and then where would we be?
So we are thinking of doing what we can do on the outside for the summer/fall months. So we went and got yet another Chainsaw. Third one since living here. First one we had for years. Got stolen with all of our other things we used to have in our garage. Second one, was a used one but a good one til Homie got hold of it and tried to dig out a stump with the tip of the blade. Hasn't worked since. So after a bunch of soul searching trying to figure out what it is we are to do with ourselves, we got out the Credit Card and bought a new one. Not the best, but one that hopefully will do the job around here. And yes we are hiding it from Homie.

So we went to work today on the hill and decided to take down one of the 3 Pine trees that were planted in front of the Maple trees. Not sure who or what the plan was but the Maples over tower the Pines and they are all dead...or nearly dead. Seems senseless to not do anything about it. But since being here every time we say anything about the trees, Homie just says the Pines are fine we just need to get rid of the Maples and they will grow fine. But they are dead. So we have never done anything...after all its HIS home.

But I cannot stand it. You can't clean up an area and leave SOME crap. You have to clean it all.
So I took it into my own hands to cut the Pines down. I mean he is always saying, you can do anything you want around here. But any time I have done something, he says something sarcastic about it. I mean if I can do anything....then he should keep his mouth shut about whatever I do. Right? I guess we will see.
So today I decided was the day to cut the trees down. Or at least start. The Shankster went up to the first one and pushed on it trying to show me which way he was going to make it fall.
There was this Cracking sound. I mean it split and cracked and about 6 feet up from the ground the thing fell over and rolled sideways down the hill luckily stopping at the road. (this was one of the trees that Homie said would flourish if the Maple was cut down) I mean you could not have done this to a living tree....The Shankster is my hunk and strong, but face it ...he isn't THAT strong.

Cool. So we went to work, the Shankster cutting the bigger parts and I working to break the branches and putting them into the wheelbarrow to take out back to burn.
I figured we could get it all cleaned up before Homie got home. He might not even notice it was gone. About halfway into the clean up job, and 11am I might add who drives up but Homie. Now mind you this is the day that he is gone from 7am to 8pm golfing/mowing and golfing again.

But he didn't seem to upset. I mean how could he, it was dead and he noticed it was dead too. He even mentioned we should get rid of the others as well. What? Who was this man, and what did he do with my dad?

We Shall Have Lights

In an ongoing effort to completely get rid of all our money on this house we cannot call our own, we decided to put in some lights outside to better see. We have one on the front porch that looks like it too..but I own a crappy camera and couldn't get a good pic of it. (I might add one later)

I love it. Yes I know this is silly but I figure you need light. Especially when the house finally does cave in we will be able to see it.

Driving Miss Daisy

Well not exactly.....Today it was Driving Mr. Elvis. Went to deposit our weekly dollar on our lottery fund and of course Elvis thought he had been home alone long enough today so just waltzed right out with us. It was ok, we occasionally take him along on short trips as he is NOT the dog who loves to be in a car. He is the one who usually wants to go but ends up cowering in the back seat floor scratching nervously and violently trying to get under the seats to hide. So only short trips for him. I opened my door and without warning he just jumped into my seat. Sat straight up looked over at me like are you going to shut the door and we can get going or what? SO I sat in the back. Whatever.

Like I said today it was Driving MR. ELVIS.



And now he is so tired.....




What a hambone!

It Never Ends

Went to get gas today. Bunch of girls with signs hollering "FREE CAR WASH" were at the gas station. You see it everywhere. I know it is usually to raise money for baseball/basketball or some other good cause. As I was in the car looking for the moolah for the gas, the Shankster was getting out of the car to pump it. All of a sudden my niece runs up to the car (she was a sign holdin holler~er) and says "hurry there might just be some Cookies left~!" And with the blink of an eye before I could even get my butt outta the car she was gone!

As we left I said to the Shankster, well I didn't go get us a free cookie. He was like Ok ,now you are not supposed to get a free cookie, I am sure you were probably supposed to go over and donate or maybe just buy some cookies, kind of a added bonus of the car washing effort to raise money.

OH!

Duh.....geez I never thought being over 50 would make you so stoopid.