Happy

Happy Birthday to me!

Twinkie cake anyone?

Twinkie cake anyone?


Yesterday was Jason's birthday bash at the dock. This year we made sure the kayaks were inflated before it started so no time was wasted. I bought over 300 water balloons. We put the jet ski in and our friends brought their three seater, which according to David is a 1000 times better than ours because you don't get pounded by the waves. We are both walking funny today. Our ski is more for the younger crowd. They like flying through the air. I am proud to say I got up to 23 mph, but stopped as soon as I realized. I went out with my friend Renee. I was only going 8mph when we fell off. Fortunately, I made David by a step for the ski which made it super easy to get back on. Unlike last year when they almost had to call the coast guard to come and get me after failing to get back on 5 times in a row. Mental note, buy three seater. After falling off and taking on a lot of water, me not the ski, I somehow overcame my fear of falling off again. We were out for a good 45 minutes.

The party was a huge success. The kids spent most of the time on the kayaks and playing with the water balloons. There was also fishing, balloon rockets, Nerf tag, and the bean bag toss (not corn hole). So busy we almost forget to open presents. It was so hot the cupcakes melted. I eventually decided to put them away. It wasn't until I put them away that people wanted to eat them. Evidently this was my error. I did not announce they were fair game. J mostly received money. Other gifts included: nerf tag, scooter, baseketball, squirt gun, football cards, and football card bookholder.

Jason requested I make Twinkie Cake for the family party. I asked him if he was sure as not everyone would like it as much as we do. He insisted. So the night before the party I was making homemade frosting and baking yellow cake. It came out beautifully. It tastes even better than twinkies if you ask me. ;) Speaking of which, there is a small section left from the party I will be eating as soon as I am done here. Ironically, Jason did not want any the day of the party. I will split the remainder with him today. I put little candy football on it because everything around here revolves around football.

The party began to wind down around 9pm. Devin picked up the hundreds of broken balloons in the yard. That earned him the rare "Good Job" from David. Renee, Jared, and Jake stayed the longest. Renee wanted to see the lake at night so we took a cruise. The lake is flat at night. Just outside the channel, the coast guard stopped us. The children were all nervous. They thought they were going to arrest us all. I just laughed. I explained that they were just making sure that every boater is doing what they are supposed to. The only people who need to worry are those who are doing something wrong. I imagine we were a pleasant surprise for them that night. We rarely drink in everyday life and we never drink when boating whereas the majority of boaters are sloshed. I don't envy them. The guys were very polite and funny. They gave us a slip to show we passed inspection and went on to the next boat. It is good to know they are out there.

By the time we got back in we were hungry. Ate some left over pizza and then our company left. David went below deck to set up the beds when he noticed the fumes. He left the restroom window open while cruising. There wasn't enought time to air out the cabin as it was 12:45 am, so we came home.

It was a good day.

The Simpsons movie website

The Simpsons movie is coming out on July 27th. They advertised that you can make an avatar of you as a Simpsons character, but the site is so busy that it is impossible to upload a picture. Yes, instead of reading for soc, I spent most of my day trying to get on the site. I haven't been this excited about anything Simpson related in over a decade. I'm hoping that in a couple hours the traffic will subside. I will post the picture as soon as I get it.

$1 a game

Bowling alleys must be hurting this summer because they are offering games for $2.50 on Saturdays and $1.00 on Sunday evenings. They still get you to spend $3.00 to rent shoes but it is a heck of a deal. I was surprised to see the parking lot was almost empty. How could people pass this up?! We had a great time. I did really well the first game but then got progressively worse with each game that followed. Jason did much better than he has ever done averaging 55. Devin and David improved with each game. Devin bowled 104 the last game. That is his highest score to date! I was very proud. By the 7th frame of our third game the alley was packed and it felt like an oven. I was very impressed with the young people surrounding us. There were several teenagers and young adults who were very polite and well behaved. I always think of these moments when people complain about kids today.

I think we will be bowling on Sundays for as long as the deal is on. I am seriously thinking of buying my own ball and shoes. While I do not think it will improve my performance, at least I know where they have been.

The Godfather trilogy aired!

Over the past couple of days AMC has aired the entire Godfather trilogy. For those of you not familiar with my previous Godfather post, I am a fan of all three movies. Usually they only play I and II. It makes me crazy. I was pleasantly surprised when David was slipping through the guide and found them all. Today we caught the third half way through. The final scene, when Mary dies, still covers me in goose bumps. David looked at me and said,"Are you crying?! Geezzzz." I was NOT crying....I was sobbing. No other scene in the trilogy can do that to me. And yes, it now gets three stars! Ha! Proof that someone is reading my blog. :)

The Long Hot Summer - "just skittish Mr. Quick..."

The Long Hot Summer - store scene

little sticks everywhere

CD player, party, and uncle


Well, the dealer finally fixed my cd player. There was a moment when I thought it still was not functioning properly, but then I realized the reason I couldn't go to the next cd was I had not put them pack in the player. Sigh....

Saturday we went to our niece's first birthday party. The dark clouds loomed the entire day. Our youngest niece, Casey's baby girl, is the most adorable creature. She smiled and laughed. She escaped under the present table as her parents were working their way through the pile. There she played with a ribbon and giggled as Jason danced like a goofball for her. She does this cute little army crawl on the grass. She does a normal one on the carpet and floor. After crawling on the grass after her I see why. There are little sticks everywhere. One dug a little hole in my knee. She's a smart cookie. The party was at my dad's house in the booneys. The kids played football, baseball, and with the Super Soakers. Devin decided at one point to put pop in one of them. Grrr....I love seeing my family. They are very easy going and fun to hang out with. L didn't know what to do with her cake. She rubbed most of it on her dad. By the end, her face was completely covered in frosting which really ticked her off. Once she was clean she enjoyed her presents. She especially liked her new car. Laura gave her her cell phone. So while I pushed her around the yard she excitedly held out the phone. Casey's friend brought over her mini pony. The kids didn't seem to care. I thought it was cool. Laura, home for the summer from college, brought her boyfriend and best friend Lyndsey. I had never met her friend before. She is very nice. Learned a little bit more about her boyfriend Chris. He seems very down to earth. Jessie was up from Athens. The boys adore him. I think Jason tackled him on sight. He is great with kids. By the end of the day we were too tired to go down to the boat so now I owe the boys back to back weekends at the boat.

Today is a lazy day. We are beat from yesterday.

Side note: My Uncle has stage III colon cancer. He starts chemo soon.

My cd player is channeling Linda Blair

The CD player in my car is a girl. At times she is sweet. So accommodating that she sings my favorite songs with little coaxing. So moody that she will end the song abruptly and spit it out without warning.

My cd player needs replaced. I brought it to the dealership's attention two months ago. They forgot to order it the first time I mentioned it, which I was not aware of until I called to see why it was taking so long. They assured me that this time it would in fact be ordered and they would call me in two weeks. A month later, I called them. "It will be in tomorrow," Steve said in a chipper voice. They said it would only take 35-45 minutes to put in. I was there today for an hour and twenty minutes only to find out that the radio was sent with brackets that wouldn't fit. They tried to make it work but one bracket could be removed and the other was not supposed to be removed. And so a new player must be sent. They called tonight to let me know it will be in tomorrow. The guy who called promised to call as soon as he set eyes on it. Keep your fingers crossed for me. My girl is channeling Linda Blair.

Trip down the Cuyahoga River

Saturday night we took a ride down the Cuyahoga River. You know, the one that caught on fire years ago. It takes us an hour to get there on the boat. It was sweltering. From the moment we stepped onto the boat we were dripping wet. The bimini top works but not for humidity. Once we got onto the lake, the wind gave some relief but little. It wasn't until David opened up the front window that the trip became tolerable. When we arrived, the bridge was just going down. Two trains and a half hour passed before we were able to enter the river from the lake. The first thing you see is Shooters. It is the one of the few businesses in the Flats now. It was hopping. Boaters often tie off to have lunch. We need to do that some time. The Nautica party boat was up a bit futher. Too early for her to be out. I was kicking myself as we passed The Q for forgetting my camera because rarely do you see the buildings of Cleveland so perfectly. The Main Avenue bridge has netting all over it. It has a metal deck so we weren't sure what was falling. David worked on that bridge 15 years ago. He said it falling apart shortly after it was redone. A product of the lowest bidder. The first thirty minutes there is a lot to see. There were some monuments to a poet and a log cabin to honor those who come in pursuit of happiness. Then you hit a curve. The graffiti marks the spot where industry came to die. The sea walls are falling into the water. There are cleats everywhere but nowhere to go once you tie off. You can see the skeleton of what had once been a very busy industrial shipping route. Defunct bridges and machinery rusted and covered in the surrounding foliage make us wonder if Cleveland is in fact dying. So much wasted waterfront property. A gold mine much like Lake County's underdeveloped shoreline. St. Ignatius must have their rowing practice there because we saw their marked trailer as well as colorful boasting on the bridge. We cruised for 45 minutes before turning back. Next time we intend to go further eventhough there doesn't appear to be anything to see. On the way back the sun was going down. The night seems to energize the city. The music from the Nautica Queen set the mood. Shooters had an 80 ft. yacht docked. It was a beauty. The Nicky D I believe. Must be nice. :)

One train over the bridge on the way out. Only minutes this time before we were on our way. The trip home was so smooth I almost fell asleep.

an ethics blog by my friend Jim



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Jarts

Every fourth of July we go to my mother-in-law's house for a picnic. There she has a pool and an assortment of yard games including bocce, volleyball, croquet, and Jarts. The Jarts game has long since be banned from being sold in the United States. My father-in-law still has it in the orginal box, directions and all. The price tag is still on it. Apparently it went of $4.99 back in the day. No one was harmed. We are very safety conscious. Truthfully, only two of the kids had any interest in the game. I think I am the only person who really enjoyed it. We have a dart board with plastic points. I wonder if they have a Lawn Dart game like that.....

Lawn darts
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Lawn darts (also called Jarts or yard darts) is a lawn game for two players or teams. A lawn dart set usually includes four large darts and two targets. The game play and objective are similar to both horseshoes and darts. The darts are similar to the ancient Roman plumbata. They are typically 12 inches long with a weighted metal or plastic tip on one end and three plastic fins on a rod at the other end. The darts are intended to be tossed underhand toward a horizontal ground target, where the weighted end hits first and sticks in to the ground. The target is typically a plastic ring, and landing anywhere within the ring scores a point.

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1 Banned from sale in the United States
2 Similar games
3 Other uses of the term
4 References
5 External links

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[edit] Banned from sale in the United States

Image from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission notice
While the tip may not be sharp enough to be obviously dangerous, when misused, these darts can cause skull punctures and other serious injuries.

On December 19, 1988, all lawn darts were banned from sale in the United States by the Consumer Product Safety Commission[1]. Shortly after, in 1989, they were also banned in Canada.[2] Lawn darts, used in an outdoor game, have been responsible for the deaths of three children, the latest being in early 1997 near Elkhart, Indiana.[citation needed]

Lawn darts remain legal for sale in the United Kingdom as well as other countries.

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Thinking outside the box - A mom blog

As a mom I have learned that there is a time to yell and a time to annoy my children as much as they annoy me. My method is not new. I got the idea from an episode of Newsradio where Dave acts crazy to make Matthew go away. It worked for him and so I decided to give it a go.

My children have a habit of begging after I have told them no. More recently, they have become whiney because they are already bored, eventhough summer just started. When this happens, I channel the aliens from Mars Attacks. "Naaak""Naak Naak!" I won't stop until they do. It drives them crazy. Yes, a bit unorthodox, but effective. We all have a good laugh and move on.