It's that time of year! I'm going to the beach! Gulf Shores, Alabama to be exact.
It's our annual ABC trip down to the "dirty souf" to soak in the sun,relax, and hang with some pretty awesome women. We had so much fun last year and came back a little hung over, a little sun-burned, a little tired, and a whole lot happier for having done it.
We leave Thursday morning and will make the 6-7 hr trip down to the gulf with a couple of stops on the way. We cannot pass Chilton County without stopping for something with peaches in it as that is what they are known for.

Then when we are just about to the gulf we stop off at Lulu's @ Homeport(Jimmy Buffet's sister)for some great food and libations. This place is always packed. It's great though to sit next to the water drinking a cold beer and feeling the balmy breezes pass by. I wouldn't miss this part of the trip for anything.

Friday will be spent on the beautiful sand listening to the water and RELAXING. I can't wait for that part. This past year has been a doozy and I need the break to let loose and have some fun.

On Friday night we will once again hit the Florabama! On the state line of Alabama and Florida, this famous roadhouse boasts a laidback environment free from judgements and worries. The people that frequent this place are a mix of preppy college kids,bikers, seniors, 30-somethings and everything else. I have never seen such a diverse group of people in one place where the smell of stale beer,salt water, and smoke has a calming, accept everyone effect on people. This place is so much fun. Our role in this? Cougars. Oh yeah.


On Saturday we will hit the beach again and most likely recover. lol

Another Alabama institution we will visit is a restaurant called Tacky Jack's. Seafood galore housed in a three story shack on the water. AWESOME!


And finally, no trip to Gulf Shores would be complete without some tacky crap from Souvenir City. Hahahahaha Sweet!

With all of this fun though I am giving myself a few guidelines based on last year's excesses.
1. I shall not drink vodka on the beach. Direct sun, extreme heat, and vodka does not a good cocktail make. Lesson learned.
2. I shall wear a hat as to avoid burning the top layer of my brain.
3. I shall reapply sunscreen every 30 min. no matter what the SPF is rather than looking at my watch in a vodka laden stupor shouting "hey! I'm red!"
4. I shall not reveal my legal name to anyone. On Thursday I will be AKA Lola.
5. I will drink more water.
6. I will take more pictures and cherish every single moment that I am away so that I can cherish every single moment to coming back.

I can't wait for 5:00pm Wednesday! Hurry! Hurry!

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These are movies coming out this August. So excited!

He's Just Not That Into You- In theaters August 1

Read the book. A virtual dating bible for women.


The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor In theaters August 1
Brendan Fraser-Always had a crush


Journey To The Center of the Earth-3D In theaters August 8
Brendan Fraser AGAIN- YUM and it's in 3D, and I have a 10 yr old. boy.


Fly Me To The Moon In theaters August 22
Again-3D lol


Swing Vote In theaters August 1
This looks interesting and different, but it's a Kevin Costner movie so look at parking your butt for at least 3 hrs. lol Ok, that was mean.

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Anyone who knows me knows that when I go to the movies I have to be there ON TIME in order to see the previews. I LOVE to see what's coming out next. So I was doing some research and found some movies that look really interesting and that we will most likely be seeing this year. I will start with movies in July.
Check it out! You might find something you like!

JULY 2008

Diminished Capacity In Theaters July 4


Dark Knight In Theaters July 18
Wow!


Mamma Mia In Theaters July 18
Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, ABBA music, Enough said.


The Stepbrothers In theaters July 25
Looks hilarious!

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As we were driving home...

Me: *Burp* Ohh..hehehe... excuse me!

Colin: That was an upchuck!

Me: A what?

Colin: You know, the kind of burp where your food comes up a little.

Me: It was. It tasted like spaghetti. Haha. Gross.

Colin: Ewww...

Mom: How did you know that??

Colin: Because I do. I just know it. I know which burps are which.

Me: So you're like the burp-ologist?

Colin: Haha! Yeah!

Me: The Burp Master, Master Burper?

Colin: Professor of Burpology?

Me: You could get your Ph.D and write a dissertation on Northern Gases.

Colin: *laughs*

Me: You could get booked for entertainment like a D.J. Except you'd be the B.J. ...Uh...NO...nevermind. Haha

Colin: Why? What does B.J. stand for?

Me: Uhhhhh...

Colin: Is it Burp Judge?

Me: Yes! Yes it is.

Colin: Hahaha...B.J. Cool.

Me: *laughs* Oh geez. *Burp*

Colin: Good one Mom.

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...a sunny day.

...sleeping in.

...friends who care and don't mind helping you one bit.

...a child that loves you no matter what you look like.

...a car that gets you where you need to go.

...a green tea latte from Starbucks. Yum!

...a movie that makes you feel good inside.

...fitting into your clothes.

...blackberry lemonade.

...making someone feel good about themselves.

...being sore from working out because you know you did something good for yourself.

...playing Wii with your friends.

...cuddly, loving cats.

...hearing your favorite song on the radio.

...your child throwing his arms around you at night to whisper I love you.

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Happy 10th Birthday Baby! I know, I know! You are NOT a baby in the literal sense, but you will always be MY baby.
I can't believe you are a whole decade old. Ten years ago you came into my life and turned my world upside down, but upside down is a good place to be.
You were born at 6:30 AM on a Wednesday. Wordless Wednesday. There were no words that could have adequately expressed my joy and fear that I was your mom. It was the most beautiful feeling ever.
How you finally came into this world speaks volumes of the person you are. I have to come to understand that over these past years, especially this last one. You were a week overdue and nowhere ready to leave anytime soon so I had you evicted. *You try lugging around a kid for 9+ months and see what you do. haha* After 15+ hours of labor you were still not ready so you were delivered into this world by c-section on the morning of June 10. Believe me when I say you had a cush ride; Probably the reason you didn't want to leave. Ever since then it has been a struggle for me to finally realize that if ever there was a motto of your life it would be this, Colin:In His Own Time.
Sweetie, this past year was a rough one for both of us. Most parents figure that by the time their kids are past the age of 2 that things will be rainbows and sunshine, but they are not. This is not a criticism in any way shape or form, merely observations from my point of view. You have changed so much and I was beginning not to recognize the boy I had known. You grew so much this year emotionally and physically. Having gone through this with you I am remembering my own childhood at this age when you are beginning to not want to be a kid, yet you are still not ready to begin being grown-up. It is definitely the transition from your childhood into teen adolescence, and it is hard.
This last year you had trouble in school and we struggled to understand what was going on. We went to a couple of doctors and you were finally diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. At the time I was relieved to figure out the source of the problem, but disheartened to learn that you had to deal with this. I educated both of us on the subject so that we could handle this with the least amount of stress as possible. I have learned a great many things about you this year and I will say this: Your A.D.D. is NOT who you are. It is what you have. Challenge? YES! Dirorder? NO! If anything, I have seen you handle this with a sense of humor and self-deprication. You have had your moments of pity, but I did not allow you to wallow in it because I won't let this be an excuse for not doing or getting anything you want in this world. I'm sorry if you thought I was mean. I was only trying to be strong in your moments of weakness.
Throughout this whole thing I have learned that you cannot be rushed into anything for it will only make you plant your feet firmly into the ground. Only when you are ready will the changes be made. I have learned to guide you rather than push you, and it has made a tremendous difference. I get it now. I get YOU now. In your Own Time. You will get there on your own timetable and not by anybody else's. And that's ok. It's ok baby. From birth you have had your own timetable and no one but you can change that. I dig that. In a world where everyone is rushing around trying to get to the destination, you are enjoying the journey. I admire that so much. You inspire me to slow down and take it all in. There is a great big world out there to get to know, and you will. You will.


This year has also been a time for more in-depth questions about why your dad and I are no longer together. I can only tell you I am sorry. I can only explain things in ways you'll understand, but someday you will know that not everything goes the way you plan. People are complicated and lives get messy, but it does not mean for a second that you weren't wanted wholly by us. I am sorry we couldn't make it work, but we made YOU work. Your dad and I are the best of friends and everything we do is based on love for you.I know right now you are hyper-sensitive to the slightest raised voice between us or the hint of any animosity. We may disagree from time to time, but we will never, ever hate each other. Our love for you and respect for each other prohibits that. You will always be the best part of us.

Colininsky, even though this year was a hard one,it was filled with important revelations. Revelations that you are super smart and very witty. Your observations of things and your witty remarks show me a very developed intellect and a sharp, sarcastic sense of humor. I'm sorry about the sarcasm part. That was all me. Sarcasm is something that can get you in a lot of trouble if you don't learn to use it properly. Most people learn their lessons the hard way. You won't be any different. You caught on fast though and have made me laugh out loud at your sly jokes and your amusing takes on life. You are also learning to laugh at YOURSELF,which if anything, has been the hardest thing for you to get. I promise you though baby that it will get you through the hard times. I guarantee that having a sense of humor about yourself will be a huge advantage in your life. I have seen the glimpses of understanding in that department. Believe me baby, you will need it in this life.

The thing I am most proud of, however, is your capacity for love and compassion for people and animals. You love so hard it hurts. You can't even watch that ASPCA commercial with the In the Arms of The Angels song without crying and wanting to send every last allowance dollar you have. Your empathy for those who are hurting and in need is so wonderful. You are amazing and the world could use more people like you. I truly believe you will be a voice for those who don't have one. Your current life goal is to be a Veterinarian so you can help sick, injured and/or neglected animals. I know you would be wonderful at it.

Colin, we have many more years ahead of us before you become an adult and are ready to leave. You have already expressed an interest for your childhood to be over, but please don't be in a rush. You have your whole life to be an adult. Enjoy this short time in your life. I promise to make your childhood the best it can be. You have so many gifts to give to this world, but give it time. When it is finally time to grow up I have no doubts that you will, on your timetable, on your terms. You are my child. My love. My heart. My baby. Happy Birthday Son! I wish you many more wonderful decades. I love you always.

Love, Mom

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I took this idea from kidultery
The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favourite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favourite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your flickr name?

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My grandma just bought a house here and moved from California after living there practically her entire life. She lived in Redondo Beach for the past 40 years in an 1160 sq. foot house. You can't really have much stuff in a house that size. Or can you?
When the moving vans came one Saturday a couple of weeks ago, they spent the next hour bringing in box after box after box. We watched the house and garage slowly fill up as there seemed to be no end to the amount of stuff being delivered. Boxes everywhere were stacked up 5 ft or higher, and one by one over the course of the day each of the 6 movers took the chance to inform my grandmother of the very obvious understatement, "Gee lady, you have A LOT of stuff." Indeed.
We were literally inundated with stuff that hadn't seen the light of day in well over 20 years. All we could do was tell them to stack them up wherever they could as each room delineated for certain items eventually filled up and had us telling them "find a spot and set it down."


When the last box was in, the head mover came in to finalize the payment. On the contract it stated that their quote had been a firm one. She was to pay X amount of dollars for their services. The mover then stated that she was one lucky woman to have a firm quote because she was 4,000lbs over what they estimated. Ouch. That would have been another $2500.
The reason she had an extra 4000lbs in gross moving weight on the truck is because my grandmother NEVER THROWS SHIT OUT!. People, I wish I were kidding. When I started opening boxes I found spices from the 1950s, crackers that hadn't seen the light of day since 1987, Dinty Moore Beef Stew with a date stamp that read 03/08/85, oh and get this, an almost 30 yr. old unopened can of vegetable shortening. I promptly began throwing stuff out.

Grandma: What are you doing?
Me: Throwing this stuff out. It's OLD.
Grandma: It's in a can, dear.
Me: Grandma, It's 23 yrs old. If you haven't eaten it by now, you probably won't.
Grandma: Why are you throwing the shortening away?!?
Me: Grandma! It's almost 30 YEARS OLD! Shortening goes bad after 6-8 months. You CANNOT USE IT. It says 1979 on the copyright!!!
Grandma: It's unopened, and I KNOW that I just bought that about a year ago.
Me: Grandma, NOBODY sells food stuff that old except bad gas station mini-marts.
Grandma: Put it in the fridge. It's still good.
Me: I'm not coming over for tacos anytime soon.
Grandma: Kids your age are SOOOO wasteful.
Me: Como say huh?


*I managed to smuggle the shortening into the trash and replaced it with a NEW can of Crisco. Taco night is ON! If she invites me over for Beef Stew though, I'm bolting!

Here is the offending item

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There is a whole lot of crazy being stirred into the pot lately. Most of it comes from work. We see and hear a lot of weird things.Please to read...

Me: Could you read the VIN# back to me please?
Woman on phone: Ok, 1...G...D
Me: Did you say B as in boy or D as in dog?
Woman on the phone: D as in Dick Cheney.
Me: Oh. of course.

*ooookay...lol

Guy who walks in the office: Hey there!
Me: Hi sir! Can I help you?
Guy: I just wanted to let you know, I just got off the phone with the White House,and my stimulus check will be here by next week.
Me: The White House?
Guy: Yeah. I'll be in next week to get some insurance.
Me: Uh...yeah.


Woman on phone: You guys need to take that at-fault accident off my record.
Me: Ma'am, I can't do that. You'll have to dispute that with the DMV.
Woman: What that?
Me: The Department of Motor Vehicles.
Woman: Why can't you take it off? You were the one put it on there.
Me: Ma'am, I didn't put anything on your record. What happened in that accident?
Woman: I bumped into someone.
Me: So you rear-ended someone? What were you doing?
Woman: Drinking a beer.
Me: Drinking a beer? While driving? Ma'am, if you rear-ended someone and had an open container of alcohol in your car it would be two violations, possibly three.
Woman: See? There you go again puttin' stuff on my record.
Me: Right.

"Go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here." - Melvin Udall-As Good As It Gets(1997)

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There comes a day when you realize you are old. Maybe not over the hill, but definitely not feeling your youth as you used to. It may not happen all at once, in fact, it kind of sneaks up on you in revelations.
Oh my F*&^ing BLEEEEEEEP, will they turn that loud shit down? Or, I swear if I see another stinking teenager text in line in front of me and foregetting to move forward!!!...so help me! Or, Geez, 9:00 PM already? I need to get to bed! Little things that add up to the big realization that YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER FELICIA!
Mine came as I was watching TV and the new promos for Beverly Hills 90210-The Remake- which is being promoted as SEXIER, MORE PROVOCATIVE, EDGIER. My first reaction was, "Gah! Like we need another show about sexier,provocative teens! What is wrong with these people. These kids today are..." And then it hit me. Our parents probably had the same reaction when the original 90210 came out.Wait. What? I'm an...a..a...adult?!? Crap! It was official. I was old.
I happened to catch an episode of the original 90210 on the soap channel, and I happily began to watch a piece of my youthful past. And you know what? Not nearly the same. I was bored and their situations, of course, had no relevancy with me now. At the time, it was LIFE MAN! The REAL DEAL! It's like the writer's were inside my head!
So, I'm sure that this new show will find it's share of new viewers from a new generation and possibly curious ones from mine;Time moves on. My teens and twenties are over, but I still think fondly of the shows from my past while watching the shows that pertain to my interests now like The History Channel, CSI, Nip/Tuck, Sex in the City,and the Discovery channel. I hear they are having a whole half hour devoted to how cotton gets made into blue jeans. OOOOOOOHHHHH! So excited! ~Oh man I need a much needed shot of youth. Now where did I put my Strawberry Shortcake videos??

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