Taking a trip

Every year my son and I pack up our stuff (everything but the kitchen sink) and head up to our camp. We leave the last Saturday of July and stay (hopefully) for a week. Returning on Sunday. We look forward every year to camp week. I have been going for 33 years, and my son has been going for ten.

Every year, I write out a very thorough list of what needs to come and what we need to buy. I feel like Santa as I make my list and check it twice, then three or four more times to be on the safe side. I always manage to remember everything on the list. I pack up our car and confidently drive the 45 minutes to the camp.

Then I spend and hour unpacking everything and wondering "Why? Why did I pack so much stuff? We aren't moving here permanently." As I open the windows, dust away the cobwebs and put away the food I always find 2-3 things I forgot to add to my list.

Is this an obligatory part of any trip or just my trips? This year I forgot shampoo, conditioner, body wash and my sons Nintendo DS charger. Of all the things to forget.... So just as we were settling in we jumped into the.car and off we went to Walmart to pick up these few items. Last year it was toothpaste, ketchup and batteries. I guess it is just part of the joy of taking a vacation. Does this happen to you or am I really the only one? Have a lovely week.

Inflatable swim toys

My son and I like to swim. My son isn't very proficient yet so we always take along a tube and/or float for him to use. Why is it that if the float is an animal the opening/valve is always put in a compromising place? Hmmm? Anyone?

For his birthday my son got an inflatable turtle. He was thrilled. So I was thrilled. That is until I had to blow it up. Talk about awkward. When I was done I looked at the turtle all inflated and realized that it had a huge smile on its face. I wonder why......

Is it just me or does anyone else think that the makers of these toys are getting a good laugh with each new batch they make?

Short And Sweet today...

A friend of mine texted me this morning that she was stripping......

Then followed it up with "the floor"

I teased her about it and we laughed. I then had this conversation with a mutual friend.

Enjoy the self depreciating humor

I'm such a lightweight.

Im not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I such a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. I mean I guess it's good in some ways as it shows that I don't drink often and that's good. On the other hand, it's bad because it's just plain embarrassing when I drink.

Take yesterday for example: my son and I went to a friends house to visit and swim. It ended being an all afternoon/ dinner visit. We had a great time but when I was offered and accepted a half glass of wine all bets were off. My friend M was prepping a salad she asked me to watch her almost 2 year old son. Then she gave me the wine..... Now in my defense I hadn't eaten much all day and was out in the sun all afternoon.

I had forgotten how much work it is following a toddler around for an hour. ( don't get me wrong, he's adorable and I enjoyed every minute of it) but as I followed the active child around I sipped my wine. As he showed me around the pool looking for frogs I had to stop him because just walking half way around the pool made me dizzy as all get out. (what does that phrase even mean?)

I remember getting a drink at my sister-in-laws bridal luncheon and I was only 1/3 of the way through it when I had to stop because I was already flushed and would have to drive home.

I had one of those frozen premixed drinks a couple of nights ago. I only drank 1/2 (other 1/2 is still in my freezer) and while talking on the phone I couldn't stop giggling. It was embarrassing.

So I can't decide if it is better or not that I'm such a lightweight. What do you think?

Handbags and purses

I know a lot of women who are obsessed with certain items. Namely shoes and handbags. These two seem to be some of the most popular. I have to admit I've never been that interested myself.

If I have a passion, it's for gadgets (sadly I don't have a lot as I can't afford them, but it doesn't stop me from coveting them) anyway, I have this aunt who is a..... Well..... Let's just say she has a shopping problem. Don't get me wrong, I'm so not complaining as I can and have ended up on the receiving end of some of her castoffs.

Aunt K has a deal with my uncle. If she buys something new, she has to purge something to make room. All I have to say K is purge and buy to your hearts content. (just remember me when you get to the purging part)

One of the things she likes to buy is handbags. So, every so often I get a call asking me if I want new purses or if he should bring them to Goodwill. Really? Do you have to ask? I don't say this because I am obsessed with purses myself, but because even I want to change it up sometimes and I don't have the money to buy nice bags myself.

Now here's the rub, on the rare occasion I have bought myself a new handbag NO ONE has EVER complimented me on it. However, whenever I switch to one of K's bags everyone raves about what great taste I have in handbags.

So the question just begs to be asked: do I have terrible taste in handbags? A co-worker stated that I must. I pointed out that everyone loves the bags I pick from my aunt, so doesn't that count for anything? Apparently not for without ever seeing the full selection of bags I had to choose from my co-worker decided that my aunt K must just have impeccable taste and they were all fabulous.

Guess where I'll be shopping for ALL my handbags from now on? That's right... Come on aunt K, Emi needs a brand new bag! Get out there and shop till you drop and send me the cast offs. I'm not picky. Anything is better then what I can pick out apparently.

This is the bag I'm currently using with many thanks to my wonderful aunt K!

Sophie

As some of you may know by now, I have a pet hamster named Sophie. I got her for my son because we had tried to keep fish and ended up killing every single one of them. So, when he begged for another pet I, in my infinite wisdom, said sure. I let my son pick out the rodent of his choice. My first thought was that he made a fine choice. She was sweet, the pet store clerks assured us she was a very docile hamster who would be just great for handling. I was told by said clerks that she could very easily be trained to sit in our shirt pocket and "hang out" as well as be held quietly. This was good. This is what I wanted for my son and I in our pet hamster.

This, however, is NOT what we got. While Sophie does have a sweet nature and is very gentle (doesn't try to bite us at all) she is not quiet or stay still unless she is asleep in her cage. Which as many know is during the day as hamsters are nocturnal by nature. When she comes out to play she seems to think she is training for the upcoming Olympics. She is off and scurrying up our arms, leaping from our hands to the sofa if she thinks she can feasibly make the jump. She burrows into the couch cushions and under the pillows. We bought a little play pen for her hoping she would like to have another place to move about but turn your back for a second and she treats it like a hurdle and is racing for parts uncharted before you know what's happened.

Now hamsters need to chew and gnaw to keep their teeth healthy. So with this in mind I have bought quite the variety of chew toys for Sophie. She has her pick on any given day from 3-5 types of chews cause every woman deserves the right to variety right? Anyway, EVERY time I put toys in the cage, she takes them and hides them. Now mind you she won't put them in her "special place" until we are not looking. (like I really want to steal her apple stick or cheesy chew....). Anyway, with the treasures hidden away from view guess what Sophie would rather chew? The metal bars of the cage! Yeah, that's right. Do you have any idea how annoying that sounds in the middle of the night? Let me tell you: I get a little irritated. The first couple of nights I thought we might have prowlers in the house.

She even has a wheel, because the pet store clerk assured me that hamsters will run most of the night. Out in the wild they apparent run for miles. Not my Sophie. She uses her wheel like her personal throne from which she stares at me as if to shame me for keeping her locked away. She gives me a look as if to say: "Why don't you give me anything to chew? Look at my home. Do you see anything here? No toys, no food." (this immediately gets hidden as well)

I really don't even know what she eats because it seems like I throw out all the food when I clean the cage. However, I do know she DOES eat because she's getting quite pudgy if you ask me. She could use a night or two on the wheel.

So to sum up: I have an allergic hamster who apart from being gentle is NOT your typical hamster. Good grief. Happy pet owning everyone. Do you have a strange pet? If so, please share.

Ice cream.......it's not my fault!

I have a little problem. I'm addicted to ice cream. I like many different kinds. I love Ben and Gerry's. There are several flavors I love, but my all time favorite is Dairy Queen's vanilla. I don't know what it is about their vanilla but I could eat it all the time.

Now, that's a problem because I'm trying to lose weight and eating ice cream doesn't help. So I've cut way back. It hurts. It hurts a lot, but I'm drinking more water (most of the time) and eating more veggies. I'm trying, I really am.

I say it's not my fault because I decided to get a quart of vanilla the other day at work. I needed to splurge. I was hot, tired and crabby. (ok, I know that's just excuses, but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do.). So, back to it not being my fault- when I picked up my quart (I went through the drive thru) and left. When I got back to the house with my client I looked in the bag and with my quart what did I see? A spoon.

Now, a spoon says to me that it is a single serving. Am I right or what? I mean, you get a spoon with a blizzard, a sundae, even a banana split. These are all considered single serving items (whether they should be or not).

So what was I supposed to do? It's not my fault......