Happy Birthday To The BF!
A day late. Still from the middle of nowhere Illinois. Thursday AND Friday night out of town? Oh yeah. We came here for Jeep modifications and it’s just one problem after another. Hence the two night birthday bonanza. (And he says we never do anything together with just us!) 42 years old. I guess this is the birthday you will definitely remember! If you add 4 plus 2 together, that’s actually MORE than there are things to do here! And we did all of them. Yesterday. I’d like to say I’m joking but its kind of true. What’s worse is, we didn’t even get to town until 11:30 am and then we spent an hour at the shop. THEN we did all the tourist stuff and went to dinner by 5:30 pm. (Technically, everything closed at 5 so we really didn’t have a choice there.) But on the upside, the restaurant that we went to is actually a “thing to do” so you can kind of see what I’m talking about. Tonight we can just drink and chill and hope to god we get to leave in the morning with our Jeep. Oh wait, I mean our “pizza cutter.” That’s for the Jeep nation. Apparently what we will be driving home, (IF the Jeep gods allow us to actually get a wheel alignment done without any more issues), is some kind of Jeep joke with little tires on a lifted truck. I dont know. It’s too much pressure. Listen up all you Jeepers: WE HAVE BIG TIRES AND COOL WHEELS DAMMIT! We just don’t have them together, in the same place, and available for install, until next week. Just one more problem on the pile of problems. So don’t judge too harshly if you see us tomorrow heading north on 57 back to Chicago. We know. We already know. At least we get to drive a really big loaner vehicle, for free, and spend another night of good quality time together, for free.
Seriously though, this gave me time to figure out this posting thing from my phone. (Hopefully successful if not looking a little crude. We didn’t bring a lot with, so this is it.) Despite all these little setbacks, we are still having a good time! No fighting! Fingers crossed for the automotive angels that better be looking out for us in the morning, or there’s gonna be big noise from the bottom of Illinois around noontime.
Happy birthday Jeff! I love you! There’s no one else I’d rather be trapped with, in this southern cow poke town, than you! XOXO
Now let’s go get some alcohol before they roll up the sidewalks and turn off the lights. Later.
100 Miles Away From Somerset, Pennsylvania
I’m told somewhere in West Virginia, near Parsons.
And here is Parsons. 12:30 pm by the clock tower.
Virginia. That sign says Mitchelltown. Looks about perfect weather out there too. That’s all I have for now.
I think I’m going to go drink a beer, dead head my flowers, and sit for a spell in the backyard while waiting for the rain and my children to arrive. I did actually leave the house today to go get some stuff I needed, and when I came out of the store, a guy was looking at my Jeep and offered to buy my tires and wheels, if I was thinking of going bigger, and selling the ones I have now. I am and I will. He left me his card. Chatted with my brother (also a Jeep owner but like, seriously Jeeped out with lifts and tires and winches and heavy duty trail capability) and he said sell them. Sell anything a buyer will buy. Especially when the stock stuff is still new and good. You can really get your money’s worth. I love being part of this whole other world I had no idea existed. There’s probably a slogan or something too that I don’t know about. Jeep Nation. I’ll post later if I can. Gotta finish up some work. Watch for motorcycles! Later.
Trippin’ On Father’s Day
Somewhere between Ohio and Pennsylvania. No more info given except to say that he stopped for a few to let the GPS catch up and then back on.
Random pics. I like this one too. I like the color and all those poles. Everyone is coming in but no one is leaving.
Last shot for the night. Destination. Of course I don’t have a name of the town. I texted but you know these motorcycle gangs, they don’t stop to answer a text message! This was at 7:30 pm Saturday night, his time. The BF is an hour ahead. Who knows what wondrous things he has already seen today while I have been sitting in my backyard drinking coffee. I’ll post as I get em’. Meanwhile enjoy this beautiful Sunday. Father’s Day! Honey, if you read this, I love you and thank you for being an awesome dad to the kiddies. They love you tons. Be careful as always. Stay safe.
Our weather here is gearing up for storms later. Hot cha cha cha.
Watch for motorcycles! Later.
Argh! Two More Months Of Life Slipped On By
And it’s summer again. Almost. We are still undecided here in the Midwest. But the calendar says June 14. And the temps don’t lie. Well, they do, but we ignore that flaw because we love it so. I don’t want to bog this day down with a lot of past dwelling so let me update fast and we can carry on from this moment. I’m only hitting the highlights, so to speak, and moving on. First, the darkness.
Death has touched ground too much this year and I have had 6 opportunities to say goodbye to some lovely family and friends in the last 6 months. That’s really all I’m going to post about it. No disrespect to anyone, but I can’t trust my wordiness, and I don’t like carrying a heavy heart very far. All were loved, and all will be missed.
On a lighter note, I have a new vehicle! If you have visited here before you may know that I kind of loved my Maxima.
In a comfy, stable, but still kind of fast and sexy, way. Well, 200,000 thousand miles just wasn’t in the cards for the old girl and she decided to give me a random Wednesday off of work when she pooped out in the middle of the road while I was driving her in to the job. Too much to fix this time and we had to let her go. Cursed and blessed. Because I found my dream machine. Catch me I’m falling, swooning and flushing, batting my eyelashes, getting all hot and sweaty, because I am in love love love with this mere automobile. Meet my new main squeeze, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Used, but so sweet, and only 18000 miles.
Isn’t she beautiful? I hesitated at the edge for a split second and then jumped in anyway to the Jeep pool. The dealer said I would love it. He was right right right. I have been driving it for a month and it feels like it has been mine forever. When I walk out of work and see it in the parking lot, my heart skips a little beat, I swear. Typed, that looks, and sounds, sad, I realize, but I don’t care. My heart for a Jeep.
I still waste entirely too much time playing these stupid stupid phone games that I get absolutely nothing for in the real world except satisfaction of reaching the maximum level possible and the knowledge that I did not spend even ONE cent of my own money to get here. Level 70. Tiny Village. You kill me. But I love you so. I have a job. I have money to pay my bills. I’m fairly healthy with a birthday coming up that I’m not exactly jumping for joy about, but I’m alive right? I lost 10 pounds since I saw my doc in April! That alone makes me happy. My clothes fit! And my B/P is going down number by number with each little weight loss. My skin still turns into kind of a mess every few weeks but these are the things we live with. Stay out of the sun, don’t drink alcohol, (don’t drink a lot of alcohol), eat as healthy as you can, exercise, get some sleep. That’s pretty much the whole trick of it.
The kids. The kids are out of school. Again. I have a Junior and a Sophomore now. 16 and 15. Both driving. Both taller than me. Both beautiful. And both not too shabby in the brains department. Healthy and seemingly happy as of this moment. Also, spending the weekend with their dad. Father’s Day and all that. This is the first time I have been totally alone in this house, for a whole weekend, and overnight, for like, a million years. One. Million. Years. It. Is. Wonderful.
But Lisa, you say, don’t you have a boyfriend? Where is he? How can you be totally alone?
Well, let me enlighten. I still have a BF. He’s fine. He’s fabulous. He supports my crazy. And there’s no shortage of that around here. I always find the extra level. I’m blaming it on age. He’s younger (that’s right, that’s how we do it) so I have to blaze the trail. It’s hard, to be sure, but it’s less hard now; now that I got that Jeep! Woop. See what I just did? Turned it into a Jeep commercial. Shameless.
Anyway, the BF just left for another one of his motorcycle trips (hence the alone part) and this time I’m gonna document it. It’s a week long, and I won’t even say where. One, cause I don’t really know exactly, (East towards Pennsylvania and then South to Tennessee/Alabama/etc…I believe), and two, I don’t need to know because he’s going to take pictures every time he stops and I’m going to post them. We are all going on this journey together. Gather round and follow us down. I’ve been up since 5 am so I’m really proud of this day. And it’s only 3:30! I have a shit ton of work to catch up on but I think I can handle it with all this breathing room I have. Even if it is only 48 hours worth. The house is neat and quiet. Most of the laundry is done. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. The flowers are blooming. The air is fresh and clean. It’s like a damn country song over here. I even got a flag in the window. And a Jeep in the driveway. And the boy’s GMC out in the front. If I had a lake in the backyard to skip a stone on, I’d really have it all. Well, ain’t that America? I will do my best to share what the BF sends back to me every day. It’ll be a small vacation for all of us. For free. Let’s go!
Park Forest, Illinois. 6 am. Packing and getting ready. He’s driving alone today. Meeting the rest of the traveler’s in PA later tonight.
Plymouth, Indiana. 7:30 am. Gas, water, food stop. Since there is no picture sent with the message I’ll just use this here map to kind of show the way. (Internet Map CREDIT: Map Of The United States by FreyFox. Thank you!) It’s silly, but it’s meant to be. It’s also a good map! Take a look all around, then look to the East. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Upper Sandusky, Ohio. 11:30 ish. Fun fact: All you can eat KFC! But it’s more than that! It’s a KFC, Long John Silvers, DQ, and a gas station. I’m at home eating leftover noodles with butter. I do like this picture though. It never seems like other states are as crowded as Illinois. Hmm. Pondering time.
Carrollton, Ohio. 2:30 pm. Not much to see. Let’s flip it around.
Well, it’s a gas station. I just thought I’d showcase the motorcycle since I was so bad about the last trip. The text received with the pic is: Back to the road…next stop will be destination. 3 more hours. I asked about time zones, but it was too late. You can’t keep these motorcycle people still for long. So that’s it for now. I will update as much as possible this week. Work will interfere but I have a late night ahead, to try and get ahead, and some days off in the near future. Maybe I will even get in some extra stuff. Birds and flowers and such. I got benches for the last three years. And some found money that I am about to lump into an all-inclusive-3 year total. I could potentially be up all night! Full moon too. You can stay with me if you like. Come and hang if you happen to be up. Leave a comment or just browse around.
And as a side note to the BF: You might not see this today or anytime soon, but be careful! Stay safe. I love you.
Watch for motorcycles! Later!
We Take A Lot Of These Shots Too
Driving. Somewhere between here and Kentucky. From the boy. That’s it.
And Meanwhile, Driving Down To Kentucky…
This was about 2 pm, Saturday, driving down, what I assume to be, I57, near the town of Mattoon. The kids are on their way to grandma’s with their dad. No one confirmed location for me, but the fastest way south is 57 from here. My daughter took this picture while it was happening. It’s a really good picture. Especially from a moving vehicle. She said it was only a funnel cloud when they saw it and she got a picture of it going back up. But I like this one. Very impressive. Then it hailed and rained so hard they couldn’t see and then it cleared. She texted, word for word, “It’s done now. Clear as a bell perfect now!” She sent a picture of the blind windshield but it’s just a grey square that kind of looks like smeary, foggy rain. This is the next picture she sent:
The girl takes good pictures. I almost feel bad that while the kids are driving through weather and tornadoes, me and the BF are at the liquor store buying all kinds of alcohol for the BBQ we are going to later, and then something for the rest of the weekend. Without children. Eh. Life. I took equally stunning pictures of the new wines I just bought to try out, and then later, post and share my opinions with you, good people. Let me end this with the last two pictures she sent me, because they are also really good, and she knows that I LOVE pictures of the sky and clouds. And you probably, secretly, like them too or you wouldn’t have kept reading! It’s OK. I thank you! Thank you thank you every day! It’s a peculiar world, this blogging, internet place; big and diverse, the way I like most things, but still managing to feel close and intimate, like we are all sharing this life through our words and images, the way we are taught that we could, if we lived in an ideal world. Hmm. Not one drop to drink yet, I swear it. Anyway, the sky…I’ll take the pics (or my daughter will), and you can look and move on. No one ever has to know. But we’ll know. Here is the first, with her comment, also word for word, “Look at that fat ass cloud.”:
And the last, below, is just one of the sky. I assume it’s off to the side. It’s very pretty for some reason. Good color/contrast and lighting I think. If I don’t get back here tonight, be careful all. Weather or not, Saturday in the summer can be tricky. Stay safe. Later.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves
This is my big “curve” shot. Following up on an idea from another site that is pretty cool, right here (thanks for the info and the comment reply!): CLICK THIS!
I always love a theme. I will waste tons and tons of time taking pictures of almost anything as you can see from this site. Anyway, I already had this picture taken from last Wednesday. My son is a permit driver now, so he drives the car and I can sit in the passenger seat and take as many pictures as I want of anything in front of us. I thought this looked cool. The kids thought I was crazy. “Orange cones mom? Really?” Yes really. I even posted it on Instagram. It got zero likes. But I don’t care. I take pictures for myself, mostly, and this site, and posterity, in the bigger scheme of things I guess. And at least one other person in this fabulous internet world ALSO thought it was a good idea! Respect.
UPDATE: I am learning so much lately about this whole blogging world. I see there is so much to participate in and be a part of. Here’s hoping I can follow simple instructions. I am re-titling this post and tagging it proper for this weekly challenge thing. This pic does not compare to the one on the main site, in fact, mine looks kind of cheesy now, but I’m doing it anyway! Thank you WordPress!
Desolation Row
Another one and a half months goes by…and here we are again.
That pic above is from the BF’s 2 week, cross country, gorgeous scenery, motorcycle trip I had previously written about, oh say, 4 or 5 months ago. (And perfectly illustrates the vast emptiness that can be found here in this rolling, hilly, disaster of a website as well.) He planned it, funded it, took the vacation time, rode it, and came back home. And I didn’t post a word about it. I had such big plans: tracking him across the country, mapping out the route on a day by day basis, posting all the cool pics he sent back…but no. I am a bad GF. Besides completely ignoring this site, I barely even went ON the computer, much less the internet for fun. I checked money and paid bills. Thank goodness for a system that allows you to pay anything instantly and at the very last minute. The checks I actually have to mail now, are always soooo late. I stink at maintaining the high level of entertainment and info all NONE of you expect. Oh yes. I see my numbers. I see my site visits. ZERO. But that’s cool. Nothing to see here anyway folks. Let’s just keep moving along.
Maybe another day…maybe in a few more hours…if I stay up really late and use my time to be productive instead of sitting on the couch watching Sex and the City reruns over and over. That’s another picture from the trip that I really like. Lots of loose ends. Raw material. Big sky. It’s solid and unstable at the same time. Like this site. Like it’s owner. And now I’ve discovered this fab new game called Coin Dozer and Coin Dozer-World Tour that I can play on my smart phone. (See how I added that “smart” thing in there?, to ironically point out that I am participating in the polar opposite of anything that would be considered “smart”.) I am done for. I have sunk so low that I cannot even be bothered to form words (sorry Words with Friends–you are too hard on my few last functioning brain cells) or draw even the simplest of pictures (stick men, bow your heads in shame, Draw Something is also too difficult for my slowly atrophying brain to handle at this time), only you, Coin Dozer, are the thing keeping my mind from total mush. Like a bad melon. Drop coins on tray. Coins push forward. Coins barely move. Coins drop into prize area. Coins drop off side gutter. Get more coins. That’s it. Drop and roll. Nothing to it. I use up all my coins and I quit the game. When I come back in a few hours, I magically have more coins! I drop them all on the tray and quit again. So easy. So effortless. No stress. Takes about 5 minutes. I can switch back and forth between the two games (I hear that’s what some people do) but I prefer to just drop them all in one big load and come back later. I’m sure that’s a metaphor for something, but I am not going there. I’ve typed too much today already. Picture moment.
Anyway. This was just a quick hey and how ya doing until I can somehow get back on track with life. Again. It’s not bad, it’s just busy. And if I haven’t said it enough in the last 6 months, the shift I work sucks for social time. My schedule blows but I’m learning to adapt. Slowly. But things have been happening. I got a raise. The difference is literally in change…you know…cents. But it’s more. And I accrued 2 whole days of sick time if I need it! Nice. I never call off, but you never know. Winter is a coming. And I have managed to lose a nonfluctuating, solid, thirty pounds now, with a high/low weight differential of about 33-35 pounds total. And I have somehow managed to keep it all off. Even when I actually have time to eat food. Healthier choices, blah blah blah. I really need to add that exercise thing in again. Then I can really put up some numbers. But that kind of talk is for another time and place. BF vacation insert. Oregon. At the ocean. Just lounging.
Besides me, the kids are gearing up for school again. The boy is already back. Freshman year. Started Monday. Jumped right in. Full day with football practice for 3 hours after that. And then every day this week. And every day next week. And so on until football season is over. Adjustment. But he’s such a cool kid I know he can handle it all. The girl is on reprieve until next week. I do need to get her up and out of this house though because we need school supplies and some pants. Notebooks and jeans, notebooks and jeans, notebooks and jeans……Yeah! Notebooks and jeans! That’s a Target commercial. In case you were wondering what that was all about. High fives if you totally sang it in your head. Bonus if you sang it out loud!
I really need to finish here.
Since my last post even more crap happened that I have pics of, and words for, but no motivation to put into action.
A second water main break, two weeks after the first one, in my front yard. It’s just dirt now with a patch of grass.
Some fence damage from another, separate, tree limb throwing itself to its death on the same stormy day. It landed in the neighbors driveway. Rude.
Another tree in my back yard decided it had enough of all that “standing” and “staying rooted to the ground” type nonsense, and forced me to take her down professionally before she split herself in two and took out the neighbors garage and house and the main power lines to the block.
Now I have an entire 50 years and 60 feet of tree laying all over my grass.
And I paid $1500 for the privilege of helping out this lazy tree!
Gratuitous product placement. That’s one big chainsaw!
In action.
Debris.
Parameters. At least it all fit in the yard.
We had some real ugly weather around here too. And I posted nothing! Everyone who knows me, knows I love talking about that weather! 100+ degrees! Tornados! Microbursts! Scary ass lightning! I had a car break down. Stevie got trapped in a safety belt. The kids went on vacation. Madison, Wisconsin. Benches. Bugs. Birds. Racoons. Skunks. Opossums. Football. A car museum. The list goes on and on. Without looking at all the pictures I can’t even remember what we did, what I’ve already talked about and what I’ve missed. I will sum up safely with, probably not much. It’s all preview and hints and expectation. No substance. No meat. Speaking of meat, I really really really need to finish this “quick” post, because I also have to go “shopping” shopping too. Down to the last rolls of TP and some spoiled milk. I want to make a nice dinner tonight and possibly drink some wine. Dream big! Besides I think I have more coins I could be dropping. Here are some more pictures. Without comment. They really don’t need anything else.
Thanks for hanging. Now get out there and do anything else besides staring at your computer reading fluff pieces like this. Life is too short! 11 AM! I have got to go! Here is another random pic from the big trip! It’s a monument! Later!
just shy of pretty 