On the Road Again

Leaving Georgia tomorrow.  Blech.  There'll be lots of tears, I'm sure.  But I am SO EXCITED about my return trip!!  Right now, it's scheduled to be 4192m.  The first part will be visits with family and friends, but after Chicago it's mostly stops from roadsideamerica.com.  I want to see a Faceful of Crotch in Kalamazoo, a jar full of severed fingers in Bowling Green, OH, the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, IA - it's going to be AWESOME!!  I'm hoping for fabulous pictures, but you know any internet connections will be hit or miss, so until then, take care!

Wes Man's Diner in White, GA

Ok.  Ok, ok, ok...  (If you know me, I think I have a habit of saying that when I'm excited about something but not real sure how to start.)  The website roadsideamerica.com is the reason that I've stopped at several of tme locations that I have on this trip so far - the giant Van Gogh, the Underground Salt Museum, Museum of Funeral History...  In White, GA there is a diner with an old truck out front.  The truck is repainted EVERY DAY with a new message.  EVERY DAY?!?  It's been painted over 2000 times.  The doors are painted shut.  Anyway, I called to confirm that they were still doing it, and yep, they just needed to know what I wanted to say on what day!  How cool is that?!  The message is usually "Happy Birthday", which explains the top line.  My family and I debated lots on our message, but finally decided we didn't want to single out Erich, because we do, in fact, support ALL of the troops, and Erich probably wouldn't want that anyway.  So here's what I asked for -

(the Foulkes are our friends from Manchester)

There are a TON of before pictures on my dad's camera...the only shots on my phone are from after the meal, when I put on this FABULOUS (but not necessarily flattering) neon orange t that says "I Got My Name On Wes Man's Truck".

The boys wouldn't put their new shirts on; Rowen said his was 'scratchy'.

Before we went, Mom asked me to go online to check out the menu?  ...sigh... (head shaking)  Umm, Wes Man's Diner isn't the sort of place to have a website?  But I went anyway and found loads of reviews, and not a single one was negative.  One said they had very VERY good sweet tea, and that was all I needed.  I got a meat and 3, and ALL of my 3 were fried!!  I got fried green tomatoes, fried corn and fried mac-n-cheese (c'mon...I HAD to try that?!).  Food was good, neat atmosphere, and of course the truck...  It was worth the hour drive.

Came home and Blaise and Wally and Jo went fishing.  Rowen and I played with the worms.  Ok, I watched Rowen play with the worms.

Wally and a HUGE fish!! (comparatively speaking)

We were describing what we saw in the clouds, and I SWEAR (and everyone agreed with me) the little blob of cloud in the top middle of this pic looked like the Marine emblem.

The British are coming!!

Ok, so actually the British are here.  Our friends Wally and Susan are here from Manchester.  It's a LONG story.  I became penpals with their daughter, Angela, in the 4th grade when my mom met her grandfather while they both worked for the airlines.  Now our families are all intertwined.  Erich and Jo are now better friends with my former penpal and her husband because they have kids the same age.  She and I still talk occasionally, but not as much as we should.  But isn't that the way it is with everyone?

Anyway, we've been having a fabulous time and drinking too much.  I can't think of anything specific we've done...

Today we went to feed geese with Jo and the boys, and then went to their final swim lesson.  Before that we went on a neat walking trail, and after that, we went to Empire Grill, where I had a hotdog with sauerkraut, onions, mustard, ketchup, and HOT jalapenos.  It was awesome.  Just realized that I don't have a pic of Wally and Susan yet!  I must remedy that.

Geese on walking trail.  We weren't prepared for them and had no bread.

Rowen takes off his shirt whenever he can.  He CRACKS ME UP.

Lake where we intended to feed geese, so we did have bread.

My awesome hotdog

NATIONAL HOLIDAY MY A@#$!!

Umm, guess how I spent my 4th of July?!  Yep, more MANUAL LABOR!!  Yesterday it was windows and dusting, and today it was the toilet and bathtub.  Sigh.

We did go to O'Charley's for dinner, and I had another fabulous hamburger!!  What's up with me and the hamburgers?!  It was good.  Then we went to (drumroll, please)...BRUSTER'S!!!  And I got...birthday cake.  I know, I know, but it's my FAVORITE.  Then Jo and I took the boys to see fireworks.  When we went for ice cream, we saw people already parked in a lot across the street, and we figured they must know what they're doing, right?  Right?!  Well, it was ok.  There was just so much light from the street lamps, and the fireworks were behind the shopping center, so sometimes we didn't get the full effect.  I'm not trying to complain (swear); I'm just saying that as far as a fireworks' "experience", it wasn't awesome.  It was fun to hang out with Jo and the boys, though.  She and I put up camping chairs in the back of the truck and sat while the boys ran around - I don't know that I've ever done that before!

At Bruster's, they used to leave chalk out all of the time, but people drew and wrote nasty things, so now you have to ask for it.

Rowen is our artist.  He said this was a ghost angel.

Next door to Bruster's is a Sears, and Blaise was trying to convince us that he really, really needed this.

Eat your heart out!!

"See, Rowen wants it, too!!"

Our view from the Kroger parking lot.  I swear there's a firework going off, but you can't see it for the lights.

So Rowen drank a bottle of blue Gatorade HOURS before this picture was taken, and he had the COOLEST BLUE MOUSTACHE!!  I wish I'd thought to take a picture earlier.

Today...I took the boys to the dollar show ALL BY MYSELF.  I know, I know...  It was "Marmaduke", and I bought them popcorn AND a drink.  Hey, that's what favorite aunts are supposed to do!  It was fun.

Quiet Sunday

No Kodak moments today.  Well, I'm sure I could have found something...

Church, Sunday shopping, finished a book, Mom and I watched Chocolat.  Oh, she did make a FABULOUS dinner of grilled pork chops and zucchini.  Omg it was good.  AND I got the giggles in church BAD.  Bad, bad, bad.  If I hadn't been penned in the middle of the pew, I would have left to get it out of my system.  It was the darn guitar player!!!  I've been looking up too many movies, I guess.  Did I tell you I added another quote?  I think I did - the one from Animal House?  Yeah, well, this lone guitarist in church reminded me of the musician at the toga party in the movie.  Singing "I gave my love a cherry"?"  And as John Belushi is walking by, he stops, ponders, then grabs the guy's guitar and smashes it against a wall?  Yeah, that's what this guy makes me think of.  Normally, not so funny, but in church?  Yeah, I almost LOST it.  Good times.

Neighborhood Show

I LOVE fireworks!!  Love, love, LOVE them!!!  Someone in my folks' neighborhood invited us to bring chairs to their lawn and watch them set some off.  My reaction?  Yawn...  They were AWESOME!  I had no IDEA that a private firework show could be so amazing.  I took one picture at the very beginning, really just to see if I could.  I didn't take more because I didn't want to watch the show from my camera.

Lesser of Two Evils

Ok, so while I was lugging the shop vac up and down stairs, Mom was outside - in the midday Georgia heat and humidity - working in her garden.  Maybe being inside in the a/c was the best option!!

Anyway, Mom has NEVER had a garden before, and this is her load from today.  I ate a handful of the little tomatoes as a side to my chili!

Ok, so Mom did all of the work of nurturing and harvesting these vegetables, but I think I need some credit for this photograph... I told her we should send it to Southern Living!!

Oh, and she added a quote to the pillowcase - "When I was 5..."  Erich and I (but mostly Erich) were horrible, mean children, and we used to make fun of her stories!  Good times...

Manual Labor

I am SO NAIVE!  So gullible!!  Such a SUCKER!!!  I should have KNOWN that my parents' extreme generosity of late would come with a price...  I just got done shop vac-ing the stairs.  My parents live in a SIX STORY HOUSE!!  Ok, not really, but it FELT like it.  :)  My mom - who thinks she is hilarious - asked me why I didn't want a picture of that?  Hahaha...ha...ha...

And that, actually, is the highlight of my day.  Mom made chili for dinner, which I'm excited about.

Additions to the Pillow

This pillowcase is getting OUT OF CONTROL.  I could cover a bed spread with all of the things I've thought of!  I've added

• GET OUT!
• SHUT UP!
• Go crazy with the Cheez Whiz
• These are all things that he'll recognize as coming from me!
• Nothing is over until we decide it is!  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? - Animal House

Went to Douglasville with the folks.  We went to Sam's.  I need a *new pair of Birkenstocks, and was hoping I'd find some there, but no luck.  Ate bar-b-q and drank sweet tea, so that was a good thing.  Came home and unloaded, and the folks wanted to run back out.  I opted to stay home, and ending up scaring myself silly by watching some ghost hunter shows on the Travel Channel.  In one of the episodes, they were in a house that belonged to a slave trader, and I SWEAR a door opened all by itself!!  The folks were gone about 2 hours, and while I normally would have been happy for the peace and quiet (!!), I seriously almost called them to see what the heck was taking so long!

*I am NOT a shoe person, but it never fails - when I'm with the family I ALWAYS end up getting some.  I think I went home with 4 new pairs over Christmas?  (Granted, 3 of them were new to ME, but still...)  I've got 3 new pairs so far on this trip, and still looking for the Birkenstocks.

The Forgotten

My folks have a ton of movies that they've never watched, so last night I flipped through them and suggested we watch "The Forgotten".  Have you seen it?  Do you remember it?  Came out in '04, stars Julianne Moore?  Well, it was GOOD!!  I thought it was just your run-of-the-mill thriller, but OMG there was a twist!  Anyway, there came one point where I SCREAMED OUT LOUD.  I don't think I've ever done that before.  It was hilarious.

The night before, I spent the night with Jo and the boys.  We played Pictionary.  I teamed up with Blaise and Jo teamed with Rowen.  Well, Pictionary is a very stressful game, what with the timer and guessing and all.  Anyway, at one point, Rowen looked at me and said, "You're very loud, Aunt B".  I'm sure I wasn't making things any easier for Jo; a board game is how they get ready for bed, and here I am yelling "BAM!!" and getting them all riled up.  Well, we finished the game, and Rowen decided he and I were going to sleep together - great.  Apparently, Rowen is the WORST to sleep with due to his kicking, punching and talking.  Well, I insisted we go to the biggest bed there was, PILED pillows between us (that was Jo's suggestion to lessen the bruises from his *jimmy legs), and settled in.  And then he starts talking.  And talking and talking.  I finally got rid of him when he complained about his scratchy pillow.  I swapped with him, but he said mine was even scratchier!  So he decided that we were going downstairs to sleep on the floor in Jo's room.  SOMEHOW, I convinced him that that was a GREAT idea, but I should stay upstairs...  :)

*Seinfeld reference.

Ok, so I'm so far behind on this thing, I'm just going to get caught up NOW.  That means you won't get all of the normal details...

• I haven't had a good night's sleep since I left Walla Walla, and for awhile there I was having some WEIRD dreams.  One night I dreamt that Condoleeza Rice and I were BFF's, and another night I dreamt that I adopted an ugly baby who was really Jack Black, but Erich and I were the only ones in on the joke.
• Mom and I were in my car.  I was driving, we were talking (duh - Mom and I are ALWAYS talking).  I was turning into a gas station (still looking for GA postcards) and all of the sudden WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM!!!  We both screamed and she grabbed my arm...I had run over these white bubble lane dividers.  They are HUGE, and I think Hot Tamale is shaking now, so I've got an appointment for an alignment tomorrow at 8am.  Blech.
• Rowen is taking art classes this week, so one morning Mom and I took Blaise to hang out.  First stop?  WAFFLE HOUSE!!!  As we were waiting to place our orders, he said he was going to order waffles, but if it had been lunch, he would have ordered grilled cheese.  (head shaking)  Oh dear sweet Blaise...  I explained to him that the BEAUTY of Waffle House was that you could order whatever you wanted, WHENever you wanted!!  So he and I both had grilled cheese for breakfast.
• Then off to swimming lessons.  Blaise is somewhere in the below picture.  I'm thinking I wouldn't have taken a picture of him hanging on to the wall, so that's probably him in the middle of the pool.
•  Rowen at swimming lessons CRACKS ME UP!!!  He's in a class with a bunch of babies who scream and cry.  When it's his turn?  The boy stays underwater as long as he can, and one leg usually comes popping out...  He's a pip!  (I'm reading Janet Evanovich, and the grandmother in the series always says that, so it's my new thing.)
•  My dad teaches a night class on Tuesdays about an hour away, so Mom and I went with him and they took me to Five Guys for dinner.  O...M...G.  I'd just recently heard of them.  Best burger EVER.  As you can see from the below pictures, I pretty much got every topping option available.
• Dad went to class, so Mom and I found downtown Newnan.  It has a cute square, and I stood in the middle of the street to get this picture! 
• Yesterday, Mom took Jo and I for a...pedicure and manicure.  Now, you KNOW this is not my thing AT ALL, but this summer is all about doing things that I normally wouldn't.  They did the pedicure first, and it was TORTURE.  I hate for people to touch my toes.  UGH!  It's giving me the shivers just thinking about it.  The girl doing my feet barely spoke English, and I barely speak Vietnamese, so that didn't help.  The best part of the whole experience was the massaging chair. 

I got the boring pink!!!  Mom just couldn't handle anything else.  I love Jo's metallic silver/blue.  I learned that Mom would rather me get my nose pierced than wear crazy nail color!!!  She might regret telling me that...

Mine is the pasty white foot.  I just had her put clear polish on so I won't have to mess with them again once the polish starts to chip!!

•  I did an extreme makeover on Dapper Jack.

Before...

After!!

• I was all excited to spend quality time with Blaise and take him to the used bookstore yesterday morning.  That apparently was NOT his idea of a good time.  We ended up at a crazy discount store, and I was trying to get him to laugh by trying on football helmets with him.  This one was an XL, and I still had a moment of panic when I didn't think it was going to come off! 
• We're trying to think of anything we can to send Erich.  Somehow, we thought of a pillow case, and we all would sign it with fabric pens.  Well, the boys weren't excited about that, but Mom said maybe if I got it started, then they'd see what we were trying to do.  Well, I didn't know what to do?!  I started with the "HELLOOO!!" along the border, because I know he LOVES when I do that (not), and then I did the stars and moon FREEHAND (I am very proud of that), and then someone suggested quotes, and that was all she wrote...  We picked out some of his favorite movies, and if we couldn't think of quotes from them, then I went on imdb(DOTCOM) to find some.  I think it turned out pretty good!  It's got
• You can kick me outta here, but I ain't quittin - Officer and a Gentleman
• May the FORCE be with you AND Do, or do not. There is no try - Star Wars movies
• Toe pick! - The Cutting Edge
• Carpe diem - Dead Poets' Society (among 100 other things)
• Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. AND As you wish AND INCONCEIVABLE - The Princess Bride
• Go the Distance - Field of Dreams
• Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory...lasts forever. - The Replacements
• Surely you can't be serious - Airplane!

And then just some random ones

• You can stand on your head for that long!
• Trust me. I'm a doctor.
• No place I'd rather be, nothing I'd rather be doing.
• There is no tomorrow.

I think it's neat and had fun making it.  He'll probably think it's cheesy.  :)

Ok, that's all I've got for now.