Just Me!

This time of year I always remember the song we used to sing in Mrs. Jones' class. If you were in that class, you distinctly remember what song I am referring to!

These days, Halloween doesn't really mean that much to me. We did dress Jack like a devil and took him to a costume contest, only to realize that the pet costume world is VERY competitive. Needless to say, we did not win, but it was fun to see our little guy dressed up, even though he hated every minute of it! I think this holiday is more fun for the kids that get dressed up and definitely not for the parents. Our nephew, Tyler, is dressing up as Ace Frehely of Kiss. The costume has been major work for Susie, his mom, and Pete's mom, Leslie (who made the costume). But, Tyler is loving every minute of it because he has the coolest costume of them all! I have also included a pic of him as well.

Halloween is just another day for most of us. We're all here at work, sans costumes. But, for what it's worth...have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I found this today and thought I would share it with everyone. After I created my personalized map, it told me I have visited 16 states which is 31% of the United States. We need to do some more traveling, right Pete!?! :)



create your own personalized map of the USA

This is a picture of me (second from left), my cousin Lindsay (far left), my sister Tandy (center), my cousin Jaime (second from right) and my sister's roommate Traci (far right and our new adopted cousin). We are at my cousin Josh's wedding reception. It was a wonderful evening! It was great to hang out with my family and all have such a great time together.

This weekend made me think a lot about my cousins and how we are all growing up. It made me think about how I long for the carefree days when we used to play "Red Light, Green Light" or "Red Rover" in Poppy's front yard or the time when Jaime and I ran and grabbed one of my uncle's cigarettes after he threw it in the yard. We tried to smoke it, but didn't like it at all! I remembered the time Josh broke my arm when he missed trying to hit a baseball, all the birthday parties in the park, the Christmas get-togethers and all of the hard times we've had. So many things have happened to our family since the days of "Red Rover" which is why it was so nice to see so many of us together this past weekend. Unfortunately, even with as many that came, there were still a few that weren't there and that makes me sad. I don't know what reasons they had for not being there, but I just wish we could all remember that this life is so short and really, when it comes right down to it, in the end all you have is family.

"Look at this photograph. Every time I do, it makes me laugh. How did our eyes get so red? And what the hell is on Joey's head?"

Over this past weekend's long drives and drunken evening, we discussed this topic many times. What possibly could Nickelback be alluding to?? I guessed that it was a coonskin cap, Tandy's guess was a frying pan and Traci was convinced it was a lampshade. We even called Scott and asked if he knew, but he had no idea.

So, when I returned to reality yesterday, I decided I would find out just exactly what in the hell is on Joey's head. My investigation of course started at Google, my most favorite website. Sidebar: Google is a wonderful tool...if you want to know about anything, anything in the world, type in www.google.com, enter your topic, click search and you will be given a plethora of websites to research the topic. Ok, back to Joey's head...Google brought me to several Nickelback websites. I did some searching on those websites but never could find anyone that came out and specifically gave the answer to the burning question. There were several people who seemed to have the same inquiry, but no answers. So, I found myself at a Nickelback forum. I decided to post my own question to the millions of Nickelback fans that seemed to just be hanging out waiting for someone to ask them a question so they could show off their knowledge of the band. After I posted the question, I had an answer in about 4 minutes. I was told it is a champagne holder, kind of looks like the Stanley Cup. I was very appreciative of the info, but found myself wanting more. Could it be that there was a picture somewhere that could satisfy my need for knowing about Joey's headpiece?? I wrote back to my new Nickelback friend and asked if he knew if there were any pictures out on the internet that would show this particular picture. He wrote me back, in about 2 minutes, and posted a picture, the one you see above. As you can see, it's not very easy to see what is on Joey's head, but at least the question has been answered.

Well, today is the day I will lose my "blog virginity" and submit my first post. I have read some other blogs and have decided that I would like to join the blogging community. I do not know who will be interested in reading what I have to say, but I will go ahead and write stuff anyway!

I looked up the definition of blog because I was not quite sure what it was or how one would define it. I found:

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.

I will do my best to represent my personality on here, although I am not completely convinced that can be done with words. I am not saying my personality is too complex, I just think it's hard to convey certain emotions in text.

Anyway...to all of those who are stuck reading this...enjoy! :)