Fun Monday - #5 - Your Refrigerator

Amy W's Mission this week is to see the INSIDE of your refrigerator without CLEANING.IT.OUT.FIRST

So, here goes the mission:

I opened the door and here is what you see --



You would think that there is nothing out of the ordinary ... BUT wait, if you move the stuff off the top shelf on the left -



There sits corsages and boutonnieres from various weddings and proms !! (My boys graduated from high school in the early 90's). What the hell am I keeping them for - it's been at least 10 years since the last event and some of them are from before that !! But ... most of them still look pretty damn good (I brought them with me when I moved here - oh, SIX YEARS AGO !!)

And another weird thing that I have kept for no reason other than stupidity. Bottom bin on the left is full of ....



CHOCOLATE!!

Easter chocolate ... Christmas chocolate .... None of which, I am sure, is ANY GOOD !! The chips maybe, but probably not. And I know good and well that chocolate doesn't last forever! (and again, something I brought with me when I moved here SIX YEARS AGO!!)



Bottom shelf on the right side - Bottles of Corona Light - at least 2 (maybe 3) years old. I don't even like beer ... but who can throw away something when you just might have company some day who wants a cold one? Just kidding ... beer gets old too!

Go ahead ... I know what you are thinking ....

The freezer isn't as bad - I promise.






A little bit of frozen stuff ... mostly breakfast stuff. I hate to cook breakfast (mainly because I have a hard enough time just getting up in the morning). But, you MUST eat breakfast in order to lose weight and maintain that weight once you have lost it.

My freezer isn't a South Beach commercial but I am sure they would appreciate seeing it!

The instructions said not to clean it out first and now that I have shown the world how ridiculous I can be about not throwing things out, I guess it is time to do just that. MAYBE ...

SJ - quit laughing and be sure to check out my frig the next time you come to VA for a visit!!

The bottom line is: If you plan on coming to my house for a meal, CALL ME FIRST so I can go to the grocery store - OK? I really can cook, but who wants to (much) when you live alone?

Summer Secret Swap

Can you believe it?

I still have a week and 2 days before I have to get my Summer Secret Swap in the mail AND it is already packed, wrapped, addressed and READY TO GO. Now, I just have to find the time to get to the Post Office before August 3rd. That could be a challenge ... since lately I have been leaving work late almost every day and who gets up and is dressed before Noon on Saturday !!

Sunday Silliness AGAIN

I need to get serious and post about the important things - like my trip! It's been a few weeks and I still haven't gotten my act together. Hell, I visited CO in April and still haven't posted about that either (sorry SJ - I really did have a good time).

So, on to the silliness ...

Scattergories

Choose an answer to each category. It must begin with the first letter of your name.

1. Your name: Beth
2. Famous singer/band: Beatles
3. Street name: Broadway
4. Color: Burgundy
5. Gifts/presents: Bracelet
6. Vehicle: Bus
7. Things in a souvenir shop: Beach Balls
8. Boy Name: Benjamin
9. Girl Name: Bethany
10. Movie Title: Back to the Future
11. Drink: Bahama Mama
12. Occupation: Banker
13. Flower: Buttercup
14. Celebrity: Barbara Walters
15. Magazine: Better Homes & Gardens
16. U.S. City: Baltimore
17. Pro Sports Team: Boston Red Sox
18. Fruit/Vegetable: Banana / Bibb Lettuce
19. Reason late for work: Bad Hair
20. Something you throw away: Banana Peel
21. Things you shout: BE QUIET, Please
22. Cartoon character: Bugs Bunny

So, there it is ... Silliness and a sorry excuse for a post when you just don't have time to do a real post. Anyone else that is having a "time crunch" or "mental meltdown" GO FOR IT !! Sorry I haven't given credit to the blogger who originally posted this - but I CAN'T REMEMBER where it came from. I was cruising the Saturday Photo Hunters and found it on one of the links. Next week ... Better subjects, I Promise (well, maybe ...)

How Disappointing !!

Mingle² -

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

CRAP (1x)

I didn't realize that I was so "uncolorful"!!

Fun Monday - #4 - My Car

Many thanks to Tiggerlane for hosting Fun Monday this week. Her assignment in voyeurism:

I wanna see your CAR! It can be your current car, the first car you ever had, maybe your first new car with that new-car smell, a car you wrecked once, or even the dream car you would drive - given all the money in the world! Oh - and if you have a truck, SUV, lawnmower, whatever the local authorities allow you to drive, let's see it!

Here it is !!

Nothing fancy that's for sure. But it is the very first NEW car I have ever owned (even though it is now 3 years old). Every ride before this one was owned by someone else first. How I wish I still had my first one - a yellow '67 Mustang affectionately known back then as "My Little Pony".



2004 Hyundai Elantra - Good on gas - which is a neccessity in Northern VA !

Haven't had any problems with it in the last 3 years other than the headlights kept burning out - but the dealership replaced them each time at NO CHARGE.

Those Koreans need to learn a thing or two about headlight bulbs!

Sunday Silliness

This is my niece sliding down the slide at a playground near her house !!

Friday the 13th

It turned out not to be an "unlucky" day for me.

Remember this post back on June 1st?

Today, in the minds of a lot of people as a day full of bad luck, was my court date. I got to the court room, looked around, and thought "OMG, am I the only American person in here"? Evidently, a lot of people of the Latino persuasion violate traffic laws! The morning dragged on , because only 1 or 2 of every 10 people called could speak the English language. The poor translators (2 little women that evidently know nothing about American fashion) had to bounce back and forth between the 2 courtrooms. So, the cases moved very slowwwwwwwly (everything had to be spoken twice). Finally, after about 2 hours, it was my turn. I pled "No Contest" and was given the opportunity to give an explanation. I proceeded to tell the judge (she had been rather reasonable with most of the previous cases) that I frequently traveled the road and that I have always believed the speed limit to be 35 MPH. On this particular morning, I was indeed traveling faster than the speed limit but I did not feel that I was driving recklessly. She smiled (maybe because I didn't give a lame excuse like so many others did and I admitted guilt to driving too fast) and proceeded to say that since I had a perfect driving record (+ 5 points), the charge would be reduced to speeding with a $100 fine plus court costs. I smiled back, said "Thank you, your honor" and like Elvis, left the building (court room). Next stop, the room where you shell out your hard earned cash. Sticker shock - court costs - $62. I paid the fees and immediately thought of all the things I could have purchased with that amount of cash! I am not complaining by any means (well, not much) because it could have been much worse. I chalk it up to a lesson learned the hard way - Drive the damn speed limit even though everyone else is passing you like you are standing still. Do as you should, not what all the others do.

An added note: What is wrong with people in the world today? My Mother taught me to show respect and wear nice (suitable) clothes if I had to appear before a judge. I wore a dress - nothing fancy - but something that showed I put out a little effort when I got dressed that morning. The majority of the folks in the court room looked like they had just rolled out of bed minutes before they arrived!

I left the courtroom with a little less money in my checking account, but I had the rest of the day to do as I pleased. I decided to go check out the new baby, born just 6 days before.

Folks, I introduce to you ... Baby M (my great niece)



Isn't she a cutie? And she, seemed so tiny to me .... 7 lbs 1 oz.

But take into consideration that the last newborn I got to hold came into this world at a whopping 9 lbs. 5 oz!

And here's the Happy New Family ...



Mommy is still getting used to being a Mommy - Daddy is a proud as he can be - Baby M is shooting a wave your way !!

She looks a lot like her Daddy but most importantly .... Thank God she doesn't have my side of the family's EARS !!

NEXT ON THE AGENDA ....Cruise News !!

I Haven't Disappeared !

I have been catching some grief because I haven't posted since my return from the trip ( and the grief giver doesn't even have a blog - THANKS LB!).

Well, you see .... It's goes like this:

*Got home Saturday afternoon from being on a cruise for the last 7 days. I crashed early ... no real explanation needed.

*On what should be a day of rest (Sunday), I unpacked my suitcases and managed to get the laundry done (not put away, but done!) ADDED NOTE: The suitcases and various other things are STILL still sitting in the middle of the living room floor and it is a full week later!

*It became Monday already, and I had to go to work. I spent a good portion of the day checking the volume of email I had received the previous week. And answering dumb questions - most of which I had no real answer for because they all referenced events of the previous week and DUH I wasn't there.

*Tuesday - a little bit more productive work-wise! And this evening was the time for me to start dog/house sitting for SJ's MIL. So, I go to her place and let out and feed the dog. Next stop, meet a former co-worker and her daughters at a bank up the road then proceed to the Metro to take the subway into DC. Every year, there is a concert on the west side of the Capitol on July 4th called "A Capitol Fourth". You are probably saying to yourself "but today is only the 3rd!" That is true, you see, the general public is invited to attend the rehearsal the night before and that is where we were headed. In the years past, the company I work for was one of the sponsors of this concert and we soon found out that this is no longer the case. Hence, no more special seating for employees (right up in the front). It was a beautiful night but we came away rather disappointed. Last year, unbeknown to us as we headed up to DC, the headliner of the show was Stevie Wonder - awesome, to say the least even though it was just the rehearsal. And the year before that - Gloria Estefan. This year, not so good. The headliner, Little Richard was a no show. He had a stand-in. An older WHITE man who looked like he was a leftover from the Hippie Days! And Elliott Yamin from last year's American Idol - another no show! His stand-in was a BLACK man with dreads. Go figure .... The rest of the show was OK - those people did show up.

*Independence Day !! Got up early and ventured into Fairfax to donate blood. There were lots of people there (which is a good thing) so it took quite a while. I got a T-shirt that says "It's Hip To Give" and a Baby Blood Donor pin. And of course, one of the things I absolutely have to have, a bag of Famous Amos Chocolate Chip cookies. Back to the MIL's place to take care of the dog, then to my home to participate in a small neighborhood cook-out. On the way back, I stopped in a neighborhood close to a park and caught a glimpse of some fireworks. The National Mall in DC was evacuated earlier in the evening due to some powerful thunderstorms that rolled through, but luckily none of them found me during my travels.

*Thursday brings me back to work again. The commute from MIL's house is heavenly. Ten minutes, maybe, and that includes stopping to get the morning coffee. From my home, 45 minutes is the norm. It was a busy day at work and I left an hour late which wasn't all that good because I needed to be in Stafford at 6:45 to bowl. I am on a summer league with my sister, my son and his wife. I made it with no time to spare and bowled like crap ! We WERE in second place at the start of the evening which I'm sure is no longer the case since the entire team wasn't at it's best. Oh well, it's just a game and we have 5 more weeks to get back up there. I made a pit stop at my house on the way home, then didn't have the sense to get myself to bed any time soon once I got back to MIL's house.

*TGIF - Fridays are supposed to be easy days, but today wasn't. A co-worker is on vacation and I am her backup. Today was the day that the Big Boss decided to put priority on the co-worker's work and guess who was expected to get it all done? I worked like a busy little bee and the mission was accomplished with only having to stay an hour late. The Big Boss actually said "Thank You" which is a rarity for her.
I called MIL to see how Baby G
was doing and he has improved greatly. Took a quick trip down to my house to get some more clothes, because I packed clothes for work but nothing for slumming around on the weekend. Another late night and nothing really got accomplished at my house because I haven't been there.

*Saturday - 07/07/07 - Happy Birthday to my youngest son who turns 29 today. I called him to wish him a Happy Birthday and he was grumbling about the traffic. He and his family had been in the Outer Banks and were on the way home. Evidently, someone decided to crash their vehicle at the entrance to the Hampton Roads tunnel and their 4 1/2 hour trip turned into a nasty 8 hours !! Today, I took it easy and stayed put. I have heard horror stories about the traffic all day. MIL's neighbor invited me to go to the community pool with her, so I did. Felt good - since the temps were up in the 90's today. I actually took a nap - and went on an hour long walk later in the evening with the same MIL's neighbor. I have become a great aunt once again. Congratulations to my neice who gave birth to a 7 lb 1 oz daughter today. No one should have any trouble remembering Baby M's birthdate - 07/07/07 !! And, to my youngest brother and his wife, Welcome to Grandparenthood !!

As you can see, it has been a busy week AND I haven't really been home long enough to actually post about my vacation PLUS the pictures are still on my camera. AND I haven't even posted Part 2 from June 15th yet, either! LB, be patient .... everything will get caught up in time .... which I desparately need more of !!