Divine Secrets of the Blog-Blog Sisterhood

the not-very-official blog of the sisters formerly known as rosche

Monday, February 26, 2007

Birthday Pics

Jill (my niece), Lea Anna and Daniel















Joyce, my Sister in Law (the really cool one that doesn't leave my trash can filled with reeking half empty cans of Busch beer)



Sunday, February 25, 2007

Happy Birthday Lea Anna

4 years ago today, a little princess entered into our lives. Being known as one to never skip a meal she must have smelled cake, since she missed her Dad’s birthday and her Mom and Dad’s anniversary by a mere two minutes. Coming from a line of eccentrics, princesses and divas our world has never been the same since. Nor would we want it any other way. My world has also been more colorful since, as have my walls and carpets - which, by the way , washable crayons and markers don’t really wash off of everything.
We celebrated her birthday a day early yesterday with a little cake and ice cream party. I kind of gave up on having an actual party for Gary since the “baby” always over shadows everything and he’s not keen on celebrating his birthday anymore at this point in life. It made her day having company over, not to mention plenty of food and girly presents. Lea Anna even proved her "big girl" status by not locking herself in the bathroom when the thunderstorm passed through last night. She did make a point of telling anyone who disagreed with her (especially at bedtime) “but I’M the BIRTHDAY girl”. She also woke me up at the crack of dawn this morning to ask if she was still the birthday girl.

Yes Lea Anna, you are still the birthday girl.

On another note, Daniel is healing up quite well after tripping and smacking his face on the steps coming home from school Friday. Thank god it wasn't nearly as bad as we first thought, but for a couple of days he looked like he was on the wrong end of a barroom brawl.

Labels: , , ,


Saturday, February 24, 2007

We Were Going to Kentucky

Two weekends ago I took a trip with Brian and the kids to visit his grandparents in Kentucky. It didn't occur to me that our route would take us within a few miles of Lisa's place until I started seeing signs for Nashville. Doh! Not that we could have done anything about it, because by the time we got out of Atlanta traffic it was late, late, late. I'm sure we would have been welcome even at 1:00 a.m. - right Lisa?

The reason that Brian wanted to drive up, in addition to simply visiting, was to give his grandma a talking to. She was not happy about the fact that she had to be placed in an assisted living sort of place until she could heal up from a series of falls that were caused, in whole or in part, by vertigo. So instead of busting her butt to get well and go home she started refusing to even get out of bed for physical therapy. I imagine that, like our grandma Agnes, she was upset over the loss of independence and she just started giving up.

Note: This post is super long; click the "more..." link below if you want to read the rest of it.


I think our being there and her having to listen to Brian and his sister nagging her (and his sister being downright mean) motivated her to do better. While we were visiting she went from a passive futility to flipping Brian off, calling him a smart ass and claiming it was just fine to curse as long as you didn't use the Lord's name in vain. It was very sweet to see Brian's grandfather interact with her. After 60+ years of marriage he still calls her "baby." Of course, he also flirts with the pretty young nurses, but that's another story.

On our way out of Atlanta we stopped at Ruby Tuesday for dinner (yes, the one Amanda works at, but she was back at the house with our pack of dogs). Between the traffic and a couple of other things I've since forgotten, we were running pretty late given the six hour drive ahead of us. Just as we finally got back on the road I realized I hadn't taken the antibiotic I'd been prescribed for a sinus infection. You're supposed to take them with food or they'll upset your stomach, so we pulled over almost as soon as we headed out again so that I could get the pill out of my bag in the trunk and take it. Big mistake.

A few miles up I-75 I started feeling sick. Really, really, nauseatingly sick. I figured I'd tough it out and hope it would pass, because it had already taken us so long to get underway. But within a few minutes I realized we were going to have to stop or I was going to toss my cookies all over the car. I thought I could at least make it to the next exit but within just a couple of minutes I knew that wasn't going to be possible. Brian pulled over and right there next to I-75 I left my own special memorial to Ruby Tuesday. He rubbed my back as I puked my guts out in the grass on the shoulder of the highway, while the kids sat in the car silently. I think they were traumatized.

The moral of that story is that antibiotics and Pinot Noir - even one glass - don't mix. I didn't think about that fact because the doctor had given me samples, which didn't have all those silly warning labels about things that we all think we already know. I did know not to drink wine while I was on them...I just forgot about it until about five or ten minutes after I swallowed the pill. Ugh.

On Sunday morning when we got up and got ready to head back to Atlanta, we discovered Brian's grandfather had lost control of his left arm - symptomatic of a stroke, with which he was familiar since he'd already had a few. This seemed mild in comparison to the others, from what I understand. He was upset, no doubt worrying about how he was going to get his goats fed and take care of everything else around his farm. Brian's dad, who is on oxygen, was visibly stressed with his mom being in assisted living and his nearly 90-year-old dad apparently having had another stroke. He has been regularly driving down from Michigan to stay at the farm for various stretches of time. Given his lung problems he often doesn't even have the energy of his dad, but he does what he can. But he got his dad to the ER that morning.

We went to visit B's grandma again, then went over to the ER to see his grandpa before heading back toward Atlanta. By the time we got there Grandpa was in good spirits and telling all the young ladies how pretty they were. He's in a facility similar to the one B's grandma is in, doing rehab and doing pretty well. It's kind of a blessing that, if he had to have a stroke at all, everyone was there. Had that not been the case he no doubt would have gone out and tried to feed his goats and do all his chores, and there would be a high probability he'd have injured himself given the loss of control over half his body. Plus, now neither he nor B's grandma has to be home alone fending for themselves while the other is in the hospital.

Labels: , , ,


Sunday, February 18, 2007

Amanda's Cute Doggie Pictures

Amanda, Buttons, Zipper and Neko hung out with Sara and Grayson while Brian and I went to visit his grandparents in Kentucky last weekend. I still need to post about that adventure, but only had a quick sec and wanted to share the cute pictures Amanda took (I stole them from her camera phone!) while we were away. Click on the picture to start the slideshow.

Labels: , , , , , , ,


Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day

Love never fails.

Labels:


Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Valentine Skate Massacre!!!

My friend, Nez, and I kicked off the week by attending Wumpskate's "Valentine Skate Massacre." ***FYI: Wumskate is a rollerskating event at World On Wheels Roller Rink that feeautures industrial music instead of the traditional hip-hop and/or disco. It's called "Wumpskate because there's an industrial band called WUMPSCUT, so it's catchy 'n' stuff...*** NE-wayz...

There was a theme that night. We were supposed to come dressed as "TRAUMA VICTIMS, BLOODY VALENTINE'S, or in MEDICAL GEAR as DOCTORS and PATIENTS." Nez and I went as surgeons. She was a "Neuro- and Heart Surgeon"; I was an "Organ Transplant Specialist."



We almost didn't go because Nez was treally tired, but at 8pm she was like, "C'mon. Let's just go!" Then I was like, "Are you sure?" Then she was like, "Yeah!" So, on the inside I was like, "YAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!"

We ended up having fun and we (especially Nez) made a new friend named Anthony!

I wish they'd have skated more... Both Nez and Anthony were not very good at skating, so they were able to suck at it together. (It was so CUTE!!!)



The only thing that sucked was the costume contest because the girl they picked to win had THE LAMEST COSTUME EVER! Nez and I went ALL-BALLS-OUT and had (and I say this without shame or modesty) the best costumes out of all the chics, and they went PERFECTLY with the theme that night!

We suspect they didn't pick one of us because we were the n00bs of Wumpskate (and it was obviously some kind of popularity contest), but we'll get them next time. Nez and I are now on a mission to out-due EVERYBODY there EVERY TIME!!!!!





Labels: , ,


Sunday, February 11, 2007

Back in Iraq

I know this is a bit overdue, but I've been pretty busy the past couple weeks. I've forgotten many of the details by now, but I've still got the big picture in my head.

I took Luby to Austin on 27 January, courtesy of my dad, to spend a couple nights at the Intercontinental on 7th street. We pulled up to the front door at about 2:30ish and less than five minutes later the bellman was putting our bags away. The room, though not as big as I had in mind, was fairly spacious. The TV was old and poorly placed, but we weren't there to watch television, so I wasn't too disappointed. After we got our bags unpacked and put away, we made our way back downstairs where the concierge directed us to a semi-casual seafood joint. Our faggot sissy waiter, Jeff, was very stuck-up, but didn't let that get in the way of his service. It wasn't until after we had paid and tipped him that he warmed up to us and tried to conversate. We started off with escargot, and since neither one of us have ever eaten bugs before it was a new experience. I'm a big fan of garlic so I had no complaints. Luby had shrimp alfredo and I had a po boy, which was quite unremarkable. For dessert, Jeff brought us a chocolate mug filled with white chocolate mousse and a mix of fresh berries... yum.

On the way back to the hotel, Roy's called me to confirm my reservation for that evening. We were stuffed, but they were more than happy to push back our reservation by a couple hours so we could get in some lazy time. As soon as we got to the hotel we hit the rack and didn't get up and dressed until about 30 minutes prior to our reservations. We got downstairs and I asked the concierge to hail a cab for me; and this guy walked right out into the middle of the street and called one over. We ended up getting to the restaurant a bit early, so we went to the bar and had a few drinks while we waited. I was drinking mojitos, my new favorite drink, and Luby was sipping on a lava flow. We got seated and had a hell of a time figuring out what to order. We started of with some lobster potstickers, of which I ate most of, and when dinner came I proceeded to stuff myself. I ordered kajiki and Luby had the butterfish with a lobster tail. When I was almost done with mine, we changed plates and I all but finished hers. We were both far too full to even think about dessert, so we carried our drunk asses outside and caught a cab back to the hotel.

When we walked in the room, we saw a fruit bowl and a bottle of Moet sitting in a bath of ice water (I guess it had been there for a while). Luby decided we were too drunk to pop the champagne that night so we decided we'd have mimosas for breakfast and went to bed. We woke up the next morning, and before the room service came with breakfast I got some fresh ice for the champagne and set it to chill. Breakfast came with a large caraffe of orange juice to make mimosas with, but after one sip of hers, Luby decided that it was far too dry and that she couldn't drink any more. Not one to waste alcohol, I happily finished the bottle by myself with my breakfast and laid back down.

A couple hours later, it was time for us to get dressed and ready to drive back to Killeen for our neice and nephew's birthday party. After a few hours and a few ill-spoken words, we were back on the road to Austin. Luby wasn't feeling well, so we canceled our plans to go out and stayed in bed all night. The next day, we had room service bring up breakfast and squeezed in about an hour's worth of a nap before we had to pack our things and get out. We were sad to leave so soon, but were also glad to get back to the kids.

On the way up to Killeen, we stopped in Pflugerville to catch a movie. We saw Epic Movie, which wasn't as bad as its counterparts, but definitely would have been more appropriate as a bootleg. We left the theater and headed for the outlet mall in Round Rock. About three hours and $500 later we were ready to leave and headed to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Compared to what we had been eating the past couple days, Joe's food was pretty boring. We made our way back to Killeen, and after a quick visit with my suegra we were back at the house, living as commonfolk again.

I know there's more to tell about my leave, but for now this will suffice. I'll get Luby to post pictures as soon as I can talk her into it. I never imagined I'd say this, but damn I miss Texas.

Labels: , , , , ,


Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Here's Your Snow Jazzmin

Neener Neener - I'm right - you're wrong! The moral of the story kiddies, is never doubt your Mamma :


http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070117/news_1n17weather.html

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070119/news_1n19snowxol.html

And I like this blogger's take on it:

http://thefeldmanblog.com/2007/01/18/malibu-snow-residents-puzzled-when-unable-to-snort/

So, since you live about 2000 miles closer to this than I do, how can you have not heard about this? Or more importantly, how much is this going to raise the price of avocados?!

Rambling, Rocking

David headed back to Iraq on Monday after a couple of weeks of leave. I'm still waiting on blog posts about his & Liubinka's new four-legged family member, as well as seeing some of the video he shot with his new toy (a digital video camera). I hear he had a lot of catching up to do while on leave, so he'll get a pass...but only a temporary one!

Amanda is going to dog sit here for the weekend while I head to Kentucky with Brian & Co. to visit his grandma. Grandma hasn't been doing too well lately. I hear she's stubborn, independent and did what she felt like doing instead of what doctors told her she had to do (sound familiar?) to get/stay healthy. So after falling for something like the 57th time she has been in some sort of extended care facility and has been less than thrilled about being there and losing her independence.

I think Amanda will bring some or all of her puppies, making for a big ol' doggie sleepover. She will have to try to tame this pack into submission on her own - Steve has to work all weekend and will not accompany her. I don't think the dogs will give her too much trouble once they realize who is in charge of the treats.

The cold weather is making my skin dry out to the point of being itchy and painful. I never thought I'd say that given that I have battled a greasy face and varying degrees of acne all my life. Stuff changes as you age.

Lastly, on a note that's completely, absolutely unrelated to anything I just wrote, I have to share this video of KT Tunstall performing Black Horse and the Cherry Tree. The song was released last year, I believe, so you may have heard it. I bought it from the iTunes store a while back without knowing anything about the amazing way the artist put it together, because it just rocks. Even if you don't like this genre you have to give her props.

Labels: , , , , ,


Saturday, February 03, 2007

Frozen Poop is Easier to Scoop!

No snow here, but it is a very frosty morning out. Frozen grass, frozen ground, frozen dog poop!

Two of the country's foremost experts on the duration of winter (General Beauregard Lee and Punxsutawny Phil) agreed yesterday that we will have an early spring. This is good news, however government meteorologists disagree. Something about El Niño dissipating. Not sure who I should trust: the government or a couple of celebrity rodents.

Groundhogs aren't the only ones getting attention on February 2nd - at least not around here. Zipper the Bichon, as well as Christina the Lovely (Brian's eldest) were born on the 2nd. I don't know about Zipper, but I heard Christina celebrated by working at Chick-fil-A until 10:30 p.m., after which her dad treated her and her brother and sister to ice cream cake before sending them all to bed. Brian said the daily floggings were withheld in honor of Christina's birthday.

Labels: , , , ,


Thursday, February 01, 2007

Snow Jam '07

I've come up with a simple algebraic formula to more accurately predict snowfall in Middle Tennessee - a x b /c = n. Take the amount of inches predicted by your favorite network news meteorologist, multiply it by the number of spastic people in the Kroger milk isle, divide it by the number of even more frantic women searching for shopping carts in the parking lot, and the answer is two. Two as in the seemingly only two snow flakes that actually fell. Sound like Atlanta to Y'all? Sorry you didn't get a snow day out of it Daniel - I didn't either! Well, we are out of trashbags and they are predicting snow again tonight. Gary's turn to go shopping!

Labels: , , ,