more storm pictures, across town where it was REALLY bad....

Y'know, maybe this city is in a worse part of Ohio than I ever admitted, huh? These pictures are from the west side of town, where, yeah, the damage really WAS the worst there!! And, keep in mind, this was classed as straight-line winds, not a tornado! The clouds in the picture up there are in a town about 20 miles east of us.

Got my other book today from the lady in Nebraska on eBay. She really is a seller you can trust, it's a 1945 hardcover, in perfect condition, the cover isn't even faded or anything! She buys stuff from estate sales...now THAT would be a job for me! Hmmmm...must think about that...

All right, I have some really obnoxious opinions at the moment....good or bad, they're mine.

Like I've been thinking about selling stuff on the internet lately, the biggest problem I have is...well...what I have enough of to sell is....books...yeah, that'll happen...(snort).

Honestly though, guys, those frikking infomercials I've been watching in the middle of the night, well, they got me! Just for a couple days, though! If you see the ad for SMC, well, honestly, I really don't think it's quite as good as Tom Bosley says it is...he is a trustworthy face for a commercial, though..."If Mr Cunningham says it, it must be true"! No, I did sign up to get the starter package of stuff, let the guy on the phone talk me into signing up for the silver plan, which is frikkin $40 a month for a year!! But that was on August 1st...I thought about it a few days, and thought 'you know what? I don't need them...I can do eBay, and not have to pay them that!' Its big draw for me was that it's a drop/ship place, where people order what they want from you, you send the order to SMC, with the address to ship it to, they ship it, you get money, but a lot goes to SMC...and they're already charging you 40 bucks a month! God, how could I have been so stupid?? Well, who knows...it may work for some people...it's not for me, though. So. I tried to call and cancel on August 6 (you have a 30-day free cancellation period). I was on hold with about 8 different people for about 4 hours, until finally the last guy gave me the direct number to the cancellation department...I got there...then all it was was a recording, telling me none of the reps are authorized to cancel anything over the phone...it gave me one address in California to send the package back, + another one that I had to send a letter to in a different city, saying why I wanted out! So I UPS'd the package back today, and mailed the letter today, too, and,well, we'll see. Geez...thank God I didn't order the 'Super Colon Cleanser' stuff or anything!

I do have one very complimentary thing to say about something else I bought...'The Swivel Sweeper'. I got it within a week or two, it was only $20.00, and it is EVERYTHING they say it is!! My muscles would be okay for my regular sweeper, but, my balance is way too bad to even think about using that! But this is really no heavier than a broom, but it's a vacuum, with a rechargable battery!! So...pats on the back to them!!

Now for just one more question...everybody's all used "It's not you, it's me" when breaking it off with someone....has anyone heard, in so many words, "It's not me, it's you." when being dumped on your ass? Just wondered...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

some pictures...

These pictures are one the next street over from where I live! And, actually, the other end of town was what got the worst damage!
No wonder I heard chainsaws all day Friday, huh??
I was out riding all over this part of town yesterday, and, well, look at it. The grass is finally green, and the flowers are perked back up...but is this what it takes, for heaven's sake??? I didn't go down to the other end of town, basically cuz I had to go to the store & bank here, and that was enough, besides taking all these pictures!
The next night, after the storm, I found out exactly how totally juvenile I am. If you've ever seen the show "Blind Date", well, you'll understand here. A girl and a guy were out on their first blind date, and the first place they were was a bar. They were sitting there drinking, and talking, and all of a sudden, she burped so loud! Even louder than me!! Then they both laughed about it for awhile, having a contest. That was really funny...but then, when they were walking out to the car, she says 'oh, i gotta fart', and she bent over and let one rip! A LOUD one!! I laughed my ASS off, loudly...not so, her date...he did not look amused! Although he played along fairly well...until she decided to show off her skill by peeing standing up into the bushes, like a guy! Such talent! lol! After the date ended, he said he's not gonna go out with her again, he's afraid he might need to take a pooper-scooper!!
I'm looking forward to getting another book off ebay tomorrow, it's another 1945 vintage from the same woman I got the first one from, and it's also by the same author, she's hilarious!
Well, I have some laundry & stuff to do, so I better do it....I s'pose...
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

yay!! cable & lights are back!!

Now, just take a look at how smooth this frickin' road is!! This is the road I had on here the other day, and, like I said, it's not like it's a new street or anything, for heaven's sake!! Why are we not using brick for streets now?? That's a serious question, if anyone knows...I know it would take a lot longer to build them, but, you don't see them shut down all summer for repairs!

And, I don't know...it's a really neat flower thing in someone's front yard, but doesn't it kind of look like a 'memorial', or something? (well, without the garbage cans behind it...). But, otherwise, it's pretty...

Yesterday, well...the weather in this town wasn't a 'tornado', but we had the most damage anywhere in Ohio...I'm going to get some pictures posted on here in the next few days, whether I get out and take 'em, or I have to take them from the paper...trees are down all over town. Big trees, like, 'smash your house roof cuz it was uprooted' size!' There was one woman in her car on her street going home, killed by a tree falling on her car, but her boyfriend in the passenger seat wasn't even injured. I pray for her family & friends, she was only 22.

Our street doesn't have any trees down that I can see, but down at rhe end of the street, & on the next street over, I heard a lot of chainsaws and sirens, I guess our whole town was without electricity til 1 am. And the weird thing is that the power was all on all through the storm, and for about 3 or 4 hrs after, it didn't go off til 8 or so last night! And then, I was in bed reading, 'True Tales of the Unexplained'...(with a flashlight, of course!)(has a story in it that actually did make me feel uneasy, it talked about a guy who called up a demon to get his girlfriend back, and it...well, he & she had a hard time getting rid of it, even with a priest & other paranormal people...and he & his girlfriend did end up getting married in 1978!), all right, I digressed horribly there...but anyway...I had the tv on in the background for noise (I HATE quiet when I go to sleep!), all of a sudden, the cable went off at about 2 am. Okay, that was a bunch of crap, too, but, I had been reading with a freakin flashlight most of the day, I can live without cable. About an hour later, I heard really loud clicking out in the living room! I couldn't even imagine what that was! So, I got up and took my walker out there, and was standing there looking around...then started walking toward the front window, then I realized it was coming from a shelf under the tv! It was the remote for the digital cable box, and I figured, ok, it's just reprogramming the menu or something...so I went back to bed, figuring the cable must be gonna come back on soon...uh-uh! Never came back on til I woke up today! Phhhtthhht! Welcone to central Ohio in August! At least it's down to the high 80's today! So I've talked to Mom today, she didn't have any problems out in the neighborhood she's in, it's fairly 'new', like 20 years old, compared to ours (maybe, I dunno, 65, 70), no trees, no overhead power lines. Then I called Bro, cuz he & his family live on a country road in the middle of 8 acres of woods! So, he says 'I heard you had bad weather there yesterday...' I said "Where are you?" Turns out, he & a few of his buddies were on a motorcycle ride, had been for a couple days...they were in North Carolina, just getting done with lunch!! Geezz!!

Okay...I'm goin to bed.

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

sick...

This is one of the two brick streets in this town...and I just had to get this picture because the street looks so old (& I'm sure it is!), but everything around it is so new! I'm just weird, I think things like that are neat.

And this is half of a big house, with a big lawn, also that the guy who lived there didn't like kids on it...so why in the hell would you ever build a house like this across the street from an elementary school?? Heck, I remember when he was having it built, one of my friends & I were big into bike riding, and we were following the bike route signs, went by here while they were putting it up, & stopped and went over by the grass to watch, and I think we actually saw him give us the evil eye. Evil enough for us, anyway...we were outta there! (7th grade. Didn't take much to scare us then!)
I've just been really lethargic lately, and I guess it's cuz it's hotter than hell out. Like 100 with the heat index. No, we're not like AZ, for heaven's sake, where you all say "It's 105 today...but it's a dry heat!! Well...we're in Ohio, and it's a miserable, heavy heat, that sometimes you can't breathe through. No, I like it when it's anywhere up to the lower 80's...after that, forget about it!!
So, I'm really glad I got the book "The Egg and I" last Friday in the mail. I'm about 2/3 through it, laughing my ass off at it..especially at their neighbors, Ma & Paw Kettle! Then I got an email from the woman I bought it from, in Nebraska, and she said she didn't want to be presumptious, but she found another book by the same author in that estate sale, if I was interested, she had just now put it up. So, of course, I went & bought it first, then wrote back & told her thanks!
Joe's just as "out there" as me...no wonder we're friends. He called the other night at 2 am (which was okay...I was just sitting here watching "Cheaters"!). He said he'd just gotten home, he'd been out walking all night cuz he couldn't sleep, went all the way to the Harding Memorial, then came home. Said when he went by my house, he thought about coming to the door, but figured if he did, it would probably be the one night I'd already gone to bed! We used to hang out around the memorial and all the cemetaries out there, especially the one with the haunted ball on top that was in a book of true ghost stories. I don't think we saw any ghosts, but, I think we were probably drunk, and maybe just bumped into them and said "hiccup...'scuse me." Yeah...actually sounds plausible...
Those 2 little girls that sold me the flowers back around Easter have been back a couple times recently. I'll be in the poorhouse if they don't quit! Last week I bought some food, and a lighthouse picture for the midget football team they're cheerleaders for! But I HAD to! I LOVE lighthouses!! (the Texas toast was a bonus, ya know?). Actually, I used to be big into midget football too, when Tif used to cheer for them, and I used to ride in the truck with them in parades & stuff. Tif almost got a dog last night, a lhasa apso. Sounds cute...but she went to pick it up at a lady's house, & wasn't at all impressed with the dog or the way things were around there (I'm trying to say 'gross' tastefully....is there any way?). Then she found out she didn't have registration papers, or couldn't find 'em, no shot records, etc. I'm very proud of her for making a truly hard decision for her!
Just a thought about the GOP candidates...I like Mitt Romney (everybody says, yeah, but he's in the religion where they can have as many wives as they want! So....how many guys would choose to live with 2,3,4,5 wives? Most of them can't even handle one.....sad but true...But Mike Huckabee sounds pretty interesting too...maybe it should be Mitt & Mike?
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

sleepy...

I've been doing absolutely nothing all week, just hanging around here, riding around, (eating chocolate), buying eBay books...'normal' stuff like that...ha!
I put a couple pictures on here from the day we went to the family reunion at my cousin's house in the middle of July. Bro & his wife and 2 of their daughters gave me a ride up there, about an hour north (actually, in my mind, that's the area of Ohio that I belong in! northwest!).
Anyway, niece A took her dog, Winnie, a Yorkie, and she is the most adorable little dog I've ever seen! I think she's a cousin of Bro & his wife's dog, Emmy, who was also 'imported' (however you do that?) from England. But Emmy wasn't 'invited' to the reunion...yeah...like I think anyone invited Winnie...but just look at Winnie! She is ADORABLE!! Oh, and spoiled too...A is almost 30, and not dating, married, nothing, she's the first one with a master's degree, and is a school guidance counselor (& I'm sure she must be good at it!). The next youngest niece is working on her master's in psychology, should graduate in a year or so.
So, when Winnie got bored with sitting in the front seat in "Grandma's" lap, looking at me and A laughing and having fun in the next seat back, she totally launched herself over Bro's wife's shoulder and landed directly on my lap! Now that's talent, I'm telling ya! I was holding her & petting her, and looking at her, and all of a sudden I realized something....and asked A, "Do you actually cut her bangs??" A said, "Of course!". So that's why A has no kids...
The other picture is a chest of drawers that's in the living room at K's house, and I totally love it! K & I (he's my cousin, a couple years older), were sitting there talking, and I noticed it, and asked him where they got it, it's beautiful...he looked at it, looked back at me, and said, "I don't know." I said K, it's gorgeous! How can you NOT know? I got a 'look'...then he said 'I'm a guy! It's just furniture, for God's sake. Women know about that stuff, I don't!' Turned out his wife's mom is into antiques, and gave them that when they got this house! Sheesh! He cracks me up, though. We've always been close....when I was a kid and Mom & Dad took me to Cedar Point every summer, we always stopped and took him, so I had someone to ride the rollercoasters with, cuz they didn't want to ride them! And Mom's sister & her husband & kids (K being the youngest) lived in a town that was right in the middle on the way there, heck, their house was right on the main street, so we went past it anyway!
I'm just purposely not writing about Mom at the moment, just cuz there's weird stuff up, and I'd rather not think about it (I'm really good at 'the Avoidance technique'...anybody who truly knows what's up with me right now, knows that!! (and I'm rather proud of my expertise, if you will!).
I went upstairs the other night, cuz I was really bored with all the books I have down here, so I was digging around in all the closets & drawers up there for other old books, and it was amazing all the stuff I found! I found my baby scrapbook from when I was born, with all the cards I was given...JUST FOR BEING BORN! haha! And various and sundry other papers & stuff. But the books! I found one hardcover from when I was 10...I know that because I opened the front cover, and right there on the inside cover was written by my mom, "London, 1974"...and I think that was one of the things we got at Harrod's, which was Mom's favorite place in London! (myself, I was partial to Hyde Park & Trafalgar Square! I LOVED to feed the pigeons!). But some of the best stuff I found upstairs was a bunch of The Far Side cartoon books from the mid-80's!! Oh my God, I sat in bed & read all those til about 4 am, dying laughing!! I'll probly be back up there tonight, I still have the back attic room, and about 6 or 8 deep drawers!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

rainy Friday, too...

This is the house I grew up in, again. I'm just so totally amazed at the craftsmanship in this house, all the little drawers & cupboards up in the attic (the blue rooms, and God knows how many other rooms in the attic & basement & the first and second floors!)

And the stained glass window is on the landing between the first and second floors.
This house was a happy place to grow up in. And I'm thinking a lot about it today, because Mom was going to come over & pick me up so I could go see her cancer doctor with her, and listen to what he's saying, because Bro & his family & I have talked a lot about stuff like this lately, because Mom just hasn't seemed quite 'right' lately, as far as her memory, her hearing, and it's getting to where we're all wondering if she should still be driving, even if she does only drive in the daytime...
This really sucks. I always knew that I'd have to face this part of life before my friends, being that my parents were about the age of grandparents when they had me.But, Mom's appointment was at 11 am today, I tried to call her at 10:45 to see if she was on her way, and she was still there, just getting ready to leave to come & pick me up...she said she'd had to bring in the mail first and look at it...huh! So she got here right at...11 am. She was at the door when I opened it, and I said, "Why don't you call them & tell them you're on the way?". She did, and they said no, it'd be too late if you showed up now, let's change it to Monday at 10:30 am. We agreed to that, and then we just sat here and talked about books and stuff...she's the one that taught me to read when I was about 3/4, and took me to the library a few times a week, and bought me a book almost every time she went shopping! (which was, mind you, a sport for her!). I mentioned the fact that I had just received a book off eBay called 'Atlas Shrugged'. And she totally threw me for a loop by saying, 'oh, that's by Ayn Rand, isn't it?' That's so odd!! She said she never read it, but she knew the name. She is where I got my memory power from, I guess. I also want to check on eBay to see if I can find the book, 'The Egg & I'. I know Mom has that book around in her house, probably in the basement, and I don't want her to do the stairs. Anyway, if anyone's looking for something light & hilarious to read, this is for you! I read it for the first time when I was about 6 or 7, and I STILL love it!!
Bro called me today, and I told him we hadn't gotten to the doctor today, but I had her make another appointment for Monday. He kind of sighed, because we're both finding it difficult to deal with her, but, we love her...it's just....hard.Then Bro said he'd talked to Psycho last week, and Psycho said he's having a hard time too, which is kind of a surprise to us, cuz Psycho's so unbelievably close with her! But we're also both glad that Psycho still lives in this town, and isn't married, or has a girlfriend, or anything, and he and Mom are so close. Because I can't drive, and she lives too far across town...Bro has his construction business to run, in this state, and all the way out to California. Bro said he, Psycho, and I have to get together next week to decide if we're going to put her in a retirement home, or something. It's our opinion that she probably ought to be somewhere like that, she is 84 years old, and lives alone, and Psycho works down in Columbus, so he's gone all day. So if I'm not around for a few days, I have an explanation...
Droops!
Libby

...rainy...for the next 3 days??

This one picture on here is the old hitching post that's still in front of the Harding Home out by the street. How cool is that?
And the other one is a picture of just an awesome big house down the street a couple blocks away from where I grew up!

I went out riding around today on my scooter. It's amazing how much I pay attention to what the weather is going to be like for the next few days, now that I don't drive a car. Huh...you don't know what you got til it's gone...oh well, I have even more now than I did, does that make sense? It started sprinkling/raining on my way home from the Family Dollar store (I love that store, #1, it's so cheap, and #2, everybody that works there or shops there when I'm there is so unbelievably nice!). And the only thing I could think of was.. "I probably should have mud flaps on here!" Maybe I could find some Yosemite Sam ones...but, I will NOT get the ones that have a naked woman sitting on 'em!!

Anyway, I got all kinds of stuff there today. I'm almost ashamed to say...Goobers, Raisinettes, Hershey bars with almonds, Snicker bar with almonds, peanut bar, Andy Capp's hot fries, etc. I can't keep going, I'll totally humiliate myself. And everything was only like a dollar or two. But at least I made it home before it was full-out rain! It WAS thundering, though! I backed the scooter into the house like I always do, luckily, I keep it in the back of the house, in the laundry room, there's indoor/outdoor carpet there, not my thick gray carpet! It was kinda wet, so I was drying it off, and all of a sudden realized I hadn't been so 'meticulous' with a vehicle since my RX-7! I damn near detailed it!! haha!

I was kind of thinking about back (forever ago) when I was a cashier and produce manager at grocery stores around Ohio. A lot of the people that used to shop where I was a lot, used to be very 'huggy' people, and, yeah, I always used to hug them back, especially since I was usually the first person in the store they'd see (being as that's where the produce aisle usually is!). So, in conclusion to the long road to nowhere....have you ever wondered if you've ever shaken hands with/hugged someone who killed someone? That's gruesome, I know, but, some of the people I met in my public work...well, if ya saw them, you'd know exactly why I wonder sometimes. And I'm not talking about in a war, that's totally different.

I guess I was thinking about stuff like that because the other day when I got up, I came out here, and I know I'm the only person here, and I sat down at the computer and noticed the mouse was on the right (we have a cordless one, cuz I hafta use my left hand, it's the one ms hasn't gotten). I was the ONLY person here!! Yeah, my big gray cat, Truman, but, as far as I can tell...he has no thumbs!! haha! I finally gave up wondering yesterday, and called Tif, and asked her if she'd been here Sunday night/Monday morning while I was asleep, and she said yeah, their internet wasn't working, she need to use mine!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

i actually saw 2 old 'twilight zones' this morning!!

The house with the turret is just, well, a house, but damn, what I wouldn't give for one of those! Do you have any idea how much reading & writing I could do up there?? The house next to it on the right used to be just a big house, but the water company's office is there now...and it's still perfect!!
This is the triangle corner with a huge church in the middle; straight across the picture, on the left, is the office where my orthodontist was (I ALWAYS hated going there, didn't everybody who had to?.) My old house was halfway between the water company, and this church.

Okay...enough of memory lane stuff! I'm scared of what Monster warned about...falling in a pothole!

Scary Monster did give me some questions, I'm going to answer them here, and anyone else who wants 5 questions leave a remark in the comments that says "interview me" and I'll getcha...c'mon..I have a LOT of questions for everybody!!

1. What was your favorite TV sitcom when you were growing up?

Well, it has to be between 'All In The Family' (you knew that one, right?), or 'Family Ties'...I had/have the hugest crush on Michael J Fox!

2. If you could escape into one novel, which one would it be and what character would you be?

This is gonna sound weird, but I'd have to say "It" by Stephen King, and I'd be Mike Hanlon, I think that's him. He's the one of all his friends that stayed in their hometown, and, basically, that's me!! But, he was also kinda the 'hero' that called everyone and told them to come home again, It's back, & we need to get rid of it for good!

3. Three words that make you smile/three words that anger you?

hmmm...this is hard...

> Chocolate?

> Autumn

> ghosts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>You can't...

>Don't...

>No...

4. Is there a job that you would never do for any amount of money?

Well...maybe being a scuba diver for Roto-Rooter...but, everything else is on the table...

5. The world as you see it; good or bad; getting better, or worse?

Well, at the moment, it seems 'uneasy', as if it's getting ready to make a movement toward one or the other...but, sad to say, I think it's getting worse forever. Our parents used to worry about 'the Bomb', and they had "fallout shelters" in the basements of our schools, the kids used to have to practice hiding under their desks at school in case we got bombed. Since 9/11, nobody in the United States can say 'nobody'll ever get us!'. No, we're not "safe" now...but then again...were we ever, or were we just telling ourselves that? Or was it simply the fact that nobody in the U.S. had ever, ever imagined that there was anybody in the world that would die so they could kill another person?

Aw, geez, that was more thinking than I thought it would be! But, c'mon, you'll have fun!

Well, I think I'm all typed out. I know I had something on my mind to write about today, but I'll be damned if I can remember what it was...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

awake, again!

Okay, the yellow house with the red porch railings on the right of this picture is the house I grew up in, from age 2 - 18, and it's the one that had good hiding places for hide-and-seek! The brown house on the left was where 3 really nice old ladies lived. Helen (one of the 3), was the one that used to take me Christmas shopping for my family every year. The big thing I remember (besides the wrapping at her house later), was going to McDonald's for dinner afterwards, and getting a Big Mac! In the styrofoam container, remember those? The great big rock in the middle is a permanent fixture there, it's been there forever! Since way before those houses were built. Which was the late 1800's. The rock was used by the president who got the troops to enlist for the Spanish-American war! In the local history books, it said that president McKinley stood on the rock to recruit guys to fight. Who knows? All I knew was we always had fun playing 'King of the Hill' on it! And when they were building our house, it was originally supposed to have 24-inch thick basement walls, but the rock is so big & deep into the ground, they had to go to 20-inch thick! I was always afraid of the basement, anyway, until I stored my beer can collection down there when I was, like 15 + !


This huge white house was the beauty parlor right across the street. My mom used to go there once a week to get her hair 'done'. I don't know what they 'did' to it, it always looked the same to me! This beauty parlor is still there, and popular with the older ladies in town still. Jim (the owner...still owns it!), when I was little, had one of those little black jockeys as a lawn ornament out in this front lawn...hmmmmm...wonder where that went?
Okay, well, I haven't done much of anything today, just ate toast with crunchy peanut butter for breakfast, did my physical therapy exercises (retch!), ate a banana, took a shower, fed the cat, & took numerous naps between everything! No, I didn't go anywhere today. But I'm pretty proud of myself so far...I STILL have a 'family size' Hershey's chocolate bar with almonds out in the kitchen 'junk food cabinet'...+ a 'family size' Almond Joy....the reason for those quotation marks is, when you see 'family size', that means 'Libby size'! And I stay 108 lbs, no matter what...cool! Oops, I really hafta go...now I hear an ice cream truck coming down the street...see ya!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Saturday...busy day...hehehe

Here it is...the house up above the pond and fountain...mostly, the reason I took this picture was the three different shades of green of the trees you see. Yeah, I know, some reason, but, I'm nothing if not 'out there'! Besides, it's a digital camera, so there's no film to worry about wasting!

And this house is the one that I moved into with Tif when she was 1 & 1/2. Our apartment was the one on the left here. If I was sitting on the porch, I was looking straight over at the Central Christian Church (Kings' mansion) across the street, and across the back lawn of that was the house with the pond! There were 4 apartments in this house, the 2 in the front, & 2 in the back, all 2-story apartments with attics. The guy that lived in the right side was really nice & funny, we got to be really good friends...even after he scared the crap out of me one night, by going out on his roof one night, and crawling over to my roof, and knocking on the window! Holy Mother of God, I doubt if I EVER was that scared in my life! Especially because I was in the middle of a good Stephen King book, and had just settled down in bed to read it...

He used to be good at doing the 'claymation' stuff, like the Mr Bill. Everybody used to hang out over there a lot, just because you KNEW you'd end up laughing all night! One time we were drinking Rolling Rock beer (ya know, the little bottles?), and one of his friends & I somehow redid our labels on the bottles, and, I don't remember what J wrote, oh yeah, I do...'Moldy Sock', but I wrote 'Rotting Cock', and we left them on the mantel for S! I think I had my 'college fun' without going to college! (I just worked my ass off instead...but always had fun doing it...). S & his one friend, J had just graduated from Purdue and had moved here to work at the phone company. After a while, S got tired of being 'Mr Corporate', and doing office/business stuff, and he quit there, and moved back up north to his hometown, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and went back to his family's cherry farm, to work there! That was neat, and smart to do it before he had a family to depend on him!

My attic on the third floor, that had the padlock on it when I moved in was a constant source of curiousity for EVERYONE!! Finally, K & Jc (2 high school friends) & I decided we needed to know why that was there, and one of us picked it with a bobby pin. Tif was asleep in her crib, so she couldn't crawl up (babies always have to hit the stairs first, ya know!). So we went creeping up there, cuz there was no stair light. It was creaky old wooden stairs, I remember that! When we got to the top, we looked around for a lightswitch, but there wasn't one, just a bare lightbulb hanging in the middle of the ceiling. We turned it on, and were looking around...it was big, with 2 or 3 big rooms up there, and they were asking "hey, can I move in up here?". Then we went over toward the stairs, and noticed the devil worshiping things painted on the wall...the most memorable thing was the realistic hand, with the palm out, and each fingertip had a flame coming out of it, and it had the #13 on the palm! I'm SO surprised that we didn't wake Tif up, thundering down the stairs, screaming! Once we got down to the second floor, I put the lock back on, and said "now...what were you saying about moving in up there??" I lived there for the year I'd signed the lease for, and, for some reason, nobody ever asked to be a roommate again. (Good, I never wanted a roommate! I had Tif!).

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

hallelujah! i got a whole 8 hrs sleep last night, and this morning...

...cuz 4am to 12pm = 8 hrs, right? I dunno, but it's sunny and in the 70's, so I'm doin' this before I leave!

Okay...these pictures are from the same corner...obviously, it's my favorite corner in the world, even including the other states I've seen, and London, and everything! The huge building (ok, Lucy, 'ginormous!) is the back of the Central Christian Church (formerly, Kings' mansion), the fountain is across the street at my back, bluestone manor is also across the street, right in front of the fountain, the house where the guy used to yell at us for being on his lawn is across another street, and....the big old white house is across another street (obviously, it's a corner!) has, forever, had a bigtime reputation for being haunted!! As a matter of fact, I wish so bad I still had the pictures Joe & I took in the windows 20 years ago! Because (back when I was single in the late 80's), Joe was my very best friend, and we saw that this house had a "For Rent" sign in the front door. Given, we were riding around town drunk (somewhat...no, Tif wasn't with me, she was staying at Grandma & Grandpa's that night). But, we seriously talked about renting it for the 2 of us + Tif. That would've been so fun! But, I guess it was 'childhood dreams' or something...we never followed up on calling the number. But we did get a whole bunch of, well, scary looking pictures in the windows...especially into the basement, which also had one of those outside cellar doors, which in themselves give me the creeps! And this big house is diagonal from the church/mansion. Which kinda feels creepy sometimes too! Cuz I rented an apartment across the other street from there after my first divorce (at age 19/20!) for myself & Tif, who was 1 1/2 at the time and just getting good at wallking! It was a 2-story apartment, part of a house, that was divided into 4 apartments. It had an attic, too, but that's another story! Suffice it to say...the attic door was always closed...and locked! It actually had a padlock on the outside of the door! I'll post a picture of the outside of that aparment later.

I don't know what it is, I just seem to 'attract' ghosts' or something wherever I live or work! Good thing I'm all interested in 'em, huh?

I dunno...I get caught up in thinking about 'then' when I look at these too long, and here I was gonna talk about politics...huh...go figure!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

2:02 am thursday...

Believe it or not...this fountain and trees and all this are in someone's 'backyard'. Off to the right, there's a huge octagonal house built up on stilts, and down the side of the hill to the pond and fountain. This whole thing is in, like, the middle of town...I used to walk by it with my friends on the way to high school!

All right...I started this post at 2:02 am last night, but...we had the worst storm last night, and the first lightning hit right outside the window at about 2:05am...so the computer got shut off immediately! (I shut it off, not struck by lightning!). Then I went in the kitchen and found the biggest flashlight I could find, and headed to the bedroom, turned the tv on, and was set for the night!! Good thing I thought ahead and got the flashlight...electricity went off about 3 am for a few minutes...the tv went off in the middle of 'All In The Family'! Bummer, man! (how '60's of my language! You can see I grew up with 2 brothers that were 11 & 13 years older!). But it was a great show, it was the one where Mike got pissed and said the wedding's off, walked out the door, and Gloria did her famous crying "Mwahh, whaaa, Ma, augghhh!". I think maybe that's why Dad reminded me of Archie, cuz I was a lot like Gloria, and Mom is just like Edith!! Oh, and, of course, 'Cheaters' came on after that...I hate it when the husband/boyfriend goes out on the wife/girlfriend, and the woman goes back. I think if the guy screws someone else, well, he doesn't need to worry about getting back together, unless he wants to live a 'sexless' life till he dies, cuz he won't ever get any here...

And the picture of the house under the trees with the enormous yard is on the next block back...it's around the corner from the house I grew up in. The biggest thing I remember about this house? When my first best friend and I used to run around together, when we first started being allowed to go anywhere by ourselves (maybe 7 or 8 years old, and we both lived on this block!). Anyway, when we went around the block, we used to cut this corner, and walk over the grass...and OMG, did the man that lived there come out and yell at us ALWAYS! "GET OFF MY LAWN!!" Of course, we were scared off (the first time!). But, unfortunately for him, neither of our families moved until we were 18! And, she had 6 older brothers too! hahaha!

I had a 'shot hangover' for the last day & a half...that SUCKS so BAD!! But I'm good now...till next Tuesday night, anyway.

I can't wait till it quits being rainy and stormy out, cuz I haven't gone anywhere for a couple days...I'm out of candy bars! How can I live?? (snark!). I'm good on Twizzlers, I just need chocolate!!

Okay...I need to do laundry...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Tuesday...I got my ms shot a couple hours ago...

...and Tif gave it to me (in the left arm this week...I switch arms every week!), and her date was here with her, and we were all joking about something (or someone!), and I did the exact same thing I did when Tif & I went & got our bellybuttons pierced 8 years ago...I laughed while the needle was in my arm! Only Tif was 'attached' to the other end!!

And she and her date were "Quit laughing, Mom!" But I couldn't! So, here I am, laughing my ass off, and she's doing her best to keep the needle in my arm, and get the injection in! And, I might've laughed all the way through it, but when she was done, I realized how much my friggin' arm hurt!

Anyway...the first picture is this cute little house on one of the main streets downtown, and it's a museum. And the big brick house is the one on one of the main streets in this town (it's the one right across the street from the house I grew up in). And, you know what? If I could, I'd buy that house and move in!! I LOVE big old brick houses! I like the big brick one better cuz I have a much better chance of seeing a ghost there...well, maybe not...the other one is supposed to be very historical and all...I do know that my old house was close to the Underground Railroad, and all, and I found a few hiding places in there when I was a kid (great places for hide and seek!).

Tif took me to an appointment today, and I finally got to give her the bags of candy I've been getting for her everywhere when I've seen it...like the blue & white gummy sharks, and the stupid little wax pop bottle things with colored syrup in 'em. Thankfully, none of that stuff is anything I'd want! (good thing, or it would've been gone by now!). Also a good thing that she doesn't like chocolate (yet!). She's always liked anything fruity-flavored, like jolly ranchers & stuff like that. That's fine...I can get 6 candy bars and a bag of jolly ranchers, & I don't have to share my candy!! Whee! Hip-hip-hooray!

The other night I was up all night watching tv again, and it's like I'm watching the 'all 70's station'! I watched 'Three's Company', 'Good Times' (I always loved that show!), 'The Jeffersons', and 'All In The Family', which is great...everything Archie says is my dad!! I miss him...he's been gone a little over a year (Dad, not Archie!). Tif and niece B went up and put an arrangement on his grave a couple weeks ago, on the anniversary. I would go, but the 'family cemetary' is an hour north. (it's not ours, but Mom's whole family is buried there, going back for generations...even my great-grandma Libby!)

Well, time to go, Nancy Grace is coming on, and I can't miss that! I know...I'm hooked on tv...but I'm also reading while I'm listening/kinda watching...right now I'm re-reading 'Bias', by Bernard Goldberg.

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

July 15, 2007, after reunion

Okay...this is the front of the Central Christian Church, formerly, the Kings' mansion. What's really cool is that the King family lived here before they lived in the house I grew up in, and they're the ones we bought that house from when I was 2.

And, looking into the history of the area, this was originally their carriage house!

All this stuff is within about 10 blocks of where I currently live, and about 3 blocks from the house I grew up in, and 2 blocks from the Harding Home, which was behind the house I grew up in.

We had a really good reunion today! It was good enough that I didn't even realize that it was 6 or 7 pm when Bro said we were leaving, and we'd been there since 1:30! And, maybe, best of all...their house is so big, I never even saw Psycho, until I went past him going out to Bro's SUV to leave. He was sitting out in the garage talking to Uncle D, Mom's 'baby' brother (yeah, he's 70-something). No, that's wrong of me, I know...but...I'm nothing if I'm not honest!...we should all be so lucky to do that, right?

Anyway, it was really neat to see everyone again, I haven't seen everybody together, and all happy to see each other, ever! And there were a few people that I felt really stupid because I didn't recognize them right away, and I was really glad that Bro's daughter (niece A) was beside me so I could whisper "Who's that?". Duhhhh! That's awful!! I knew all these people WAY before she was born!! But it's a little bit different when the girl you're wondering about is about niece A's age, and she has 2 kids...it was one of my cousins' daughters! I could see it when she was standing beside me talking to niece & me, but until then...What's funny is that when we were all at Grandma's farm on Sundays, when Boo & were teenagers, this girl was about 5, and used to follow us EVERYWHERE, no matter how hard we tried to lose her!

All right, I know, this is getting confusing, so I'm gonna go and watch another of my favorite tv shows, 'Girls Behaving Badly'. I absolutely love this show! It sounds like it'd be x-rated or something, but it's not, it's a bunch of women in their early 20's just playing pranks on regular people, like one of them is dressed up in dodgeball clothes, and she runs up to a random person at a mall, hands them a rubber dodgeball, and yells 'Cover me!', and promptly throws her own dodgeball at a customer's head, and runs after it hits them. Then both those people look at each other, like, WTF?? This is gettin' good...one's in a porta-potty, yelling "Hey! Help me! I can't find the phone in this phone booth!!"

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Friday the 13th!

This is so awesome! This barn is in the alley right down the street from me, it's one of the things I walked past to school when I was in 6th, 7th, & 8th grade! And I never, ever thought about how cool it was to have a barn right in the middle of town, in the area of big old houses!

This is the 'Bluestone Manor', that was around the corner from the house I grew up in, and I always wanted to live here! (still do!)


Another shot of it....












I was out riding around with my camera for 2 hours yesterday, and it was AWESOME!!
Ya know what? I never realized how much I liked taking pictures of stuff I'm interested in! I took about 60 pictures in the 2 hrs I was out yesterday, and I had so much fun!! Yeah, okay, it might look weird to people driving past, but ya know what? I don't care! I've got a great camera with an enormous memory card, and a way to get around, and free time that most people don't have, so I'l take advantage of it!
I'm going up to Findlay Sunday, cuz my cousin Ky and his wife & kids are having a huge family reunion at their house...his sister & her husband & and kids and grandkids (!) and his mom (Mom's little sister) & her friend are coming up from Florida for the weekend! Now, that is really gonna be neat...this is the group of my Mom's family that I haven't seen since last year at my dad's funeral. It'll be great to see them at a happy occasion! Tif was supposed to take me, but she didn't get the day off, damn! But, Bro is gonna take me, and that'll be fun. He mentioned yesterday that he wished Mom & I could live together, he thinks that would be good for her. I do too, but, I know it wouldn't ever work, and he agrees with me, cuz Psycho has too much of a hold on her. He's way too jealous of anyone that talks to Mom, or spends time with her...it's really bad. He's a very big 'downer' for her, and only talks about his life, and how hard shit is for him "but I'll get through, Mom, I'll be okay..." How can you bitch about your life being hard, to your Mom, who has lung cancer?? He truthfully sounds just like Eeyore!!
All right, enough of that...time to get back to being Tigger!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

the first day i haven't gone anywhere!

I totally LOVE this house!! And after you see the houses I took pictures of, you'll see why I'm 'difficult'...why, you ask? I can not do stairs, but, if you'll notice, there's not a one-story to be found in this collection...

No, I'm sure there's a one story house around somewhere that I'll like (not that I'm looking or anything...), I just like the way a 2 or 3 story looks...I think it's for the aesthetical reason, that they just seem to look more friendly & solid!
It was a gorgeous day outside, wasn't it? The brick house is right across the street from the one I grew up in, and it's got kinda a 'haunty' reputation...looks like it's well deserved, huh?

I didn't go anywhere today, and that's weird for me lately! But I still had a good day. Cleaning, going thru stuff, I have a feeling my trash pile out by the curb next Tuesday is gonna be pretty big...I'm just tired of "stuff" that we don't need, don't want, most of the time we don't have any idea it's there, or where it came from!!
But I did do something kinda weird today...but it's seemed to work. I've been having a hard time getting the back door to shut without really slamming it, and it's hard to open too, cuz it sticks at the edge. Well, so after I thought about it for awhile, I went and looked under the sink and found what I was looking for...WD-40!! And, yes, I DID spray it on the wood edges of the frame & door! And that was around noon, and it's seemed to work...(I'll find out if I close it later for the night, and then can't open it tomorrow, I guess...).
I was sitting here reading other blogs awhile ago,when somebody knocked on the door...that was different, cuz my back is to the door while I'm sitting here. So I got up & turned around, and it was a guy (kinda geeky lookin') with a bunch of pamphlets & stuff. I went to the door, and he was telling me that he's getting ready to open an Edward Jones investment place in our area, so he's going out in the neighborhood, introducing himself & investments...We talked for a while, found out he also had gone to that little elementary school down the street (difference was, that was 20 years earlier than me!). But, how coincidental is this?? I had just been posting awhile ago, about how much I wanted to learn about the stock market & investments...and he is magically put in front of my door??? Freaky...but, he really is nice, and he's not a big brute-lookin' guy...as a matter of fact...I could probly take him, even with ms! So I gave him my phn # and he said he'll be in touch, and he'll explain a lot of this stuff to me...I said, 'But I really don't have anything to invest right now", & he said that's ok, he'll help me for when I AM ready!
Life's just been weird like that lately....
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Sunday....

It is SO hot here lately, and no rain til, maybe Tuesday? Grrrrr.....oh well, at least it's not humid like, when you go outside it feels like you're breathing through a wet towel over your face!

I had so much fun today, and it didn't cost me anything...how long has it been since you've been able to say that? I didn't do a ton of stuff, I guess, but, my day was SO freakin' FULL!!

Now that I'm in the habit of getting out of this house for a few hours a day, well, I'm sitting here thinking about how much time & how many years I wasted...NEVER, EVER gonna happen again! ...the one time a few weeks ago that I said that to Tif, she said "You can't do anything about that now (hey! that's MY line!), so forget you were that way, and go forward from here.". Damn, she's such a smart kid, how'd I get so lucky?

But I did spend some money today, not cuz I had to, just cuz I wanted to...lemme tellya how spoiled my 23 year old daughter is now...the last three days I've gotten her a little bag of gummy sharks, the next day, a pack of those little wax pop bottles with colored sugar water in 'em, and yesterday, I found a pack of 'Lik-M-Aid' at the Certified station...so, of course, I stopped over at her house to drop it off...she yelled "Thanks, Mom!" then immediately started saying "What are you trying to do, make me fat??" I just looked over at her date, and giggled, and told her to keep eating, cuz I'd LOVE to have her clothes passed on to me! whoo-hooo! Anyway...I have been everywhere in the last week, EVERYWHERE!! (well, ok, in this town, anyway). Seriously, I really wish this thing had an odometer on it...when I used to drive 55 miles north to work every morning, I used the odometer every time I could! To figure out gas mileage, to check if it really WAS 80 miles to Toledo, to know that it's exactly 100 miles from my parking space beside my old apartment to the Michigan state border...hmmmm...see how exciting I made life when I was trying to think of something, to think about while I was in the car for 2 hours a day...

I rode back down toward the house I grew up in again...I do know that's about a mile. (scooter battery holds a 7 mile chg, I make sure I plug it in & charge it EVERY night!). And I took my digital camera with me, just cuz it was such a gorgeous day out, and I was going to be going by all the 2 & 3 & 4 story houses, so I was stopping every couple of houses, taking pictures of them, and all of a sudden started wondering exactly how long it would take before somebody had the cops get me because they thought I was a terrorist...I did get tons of great pictures, but I didn't get them off the camera yet.

Going around the block there, I was in front of the apartments beside the old house, and there were a few people sitting in front of one, they walked over, we talked for awhile, when I left, the lady said stop over anytime, they're always cooking out and having friends over in the summer, and I should just stop by. How cool are people?? Went a couple houses further, and here comes a guy up the sidewalk, and he stopped, we talked for a while. He was nice...albeit, I think, a little high or drunk, cuz he kept shaking my hand every 30 seconds or so...hahahaha! Came back this way, and went to the gas station for smokes. I was inside checking out the candy racks (just because they were there, ya know?), and I went by the pop cooler, and accidentally bumped the front. Immediately, I hear an older man say "Do I hear somebody speeding in here?". I said I wasn't speeding, but don't ask for my license, okay?

It's just amazing to remember how much laughter there is out there...and it's free!

Friday already...

Holy CRAP!!! OW!!!! It's too early in the morning to look at this!!


I bet this didn't feel too awful good either, but, of course, I personally wouldn't know...I'm a girl, so the first reaction I have is riotous laughter...

But, this poor little bunny almost makes me cry to look at it!!

I've been running around town on my scooter for the last couple days. I went the regular way down towards Tif's house the other day, then went the other way about 8 blocks down by my old house I grew up in, and all the other big houses down that way (geez, do I miss that neighborhood!). And it was kinda funny...it started sprinkling while I was out by the garage at my old house, and I remembered exactly where to stand so I didn't get rained on!! Wow!! A 35 year-old memory!! Then it quit sprinkling, so I took back off down the street, to the ice cream stand, cuz I wanted a couple chicken sandwiches and a strawberry milkshake...how-EVER...since it was the fourth of July, it was closed!! Grrrr....Oh well...I rode over next door to it, to the new mini-mart, that used to be a Lawson's, then a Dairy Mart. It's just a kinda little junk food store, and deli meats, and cigarettes, some frozen food...it's just the kind of place I like. Not so much for deli stuff, but, they have every kind of candy you ever thought of! I actually found a little 2/$1.00 pk of gummy sharks, remember those? Bright blue & white?? I never liked 'em, but Tif used to beg for 'em every time we saw them at a store when she was 2 or 3!! I told her last night that I found a bag for her again, when she called, and she was like, "WAHH-HOO!! I'll be over to get 'em in a couple days!!" heeheeheehee!!!
Anyway, they were kinda busy, and I'm glad to see that! I was pretty much laughing, cuz the owner is a middle-eastern man (looks like it, anyway...), and he and his wife were so nice to me! Every time I went around a stack of 12-pks of pop or a rack of chips or something, he'd run out from behind the counter, and move all the stuff, even though I said " You don't need to do that...", he'd just give me a huge smile, & say, "It's no problem!!" The funniest thing was....he was BAREFOOT!! haha!! I know a lot of people'd be yukkin' about that, but, it just kinda made him more human!!
So I spent probly $8.00 in there, on a can of peanuts, gummy sharks, candy necklaces, strawberry cookies, Take 5 candy bar, Fritos...all kinda stuff...holy crap! And, yes, it's gone already! Shut up! How long has it been since you've been in a candy store?? You'd do the same! Oh, and I got a can of Rockstar pop, but I haven't tried it yet...
I have a question...how do people get so behind on their income taxes, like, $35,000.00?? I hardly made that much when I was single!! And these don't look like 'rich people' either~! Just like the people that go on cruises, and they don't look rich, either! How does this happen? I've never gone on a cruise...or owed $35,000 to income taxes...and people that are single & keep having kids? One was all I could afford!
I was awake all night the last few nights, and saw lots of stuff on tv I haven't seen for awhile..."Good Times", "The Jeffersons", Cheers", "Roseanne"..."Blind Date", and, of course, my favorite...."Cheaters"!! There was a big black woman on there who was wanting to catch her big boyfriend cheating, and they caught him in a restautant with the girl he was cheatin with, and his girlfriend chased him into the men's room, and beat the SHIT out of his face with her shoe!! Then there was a white guy trying to catch his girlfriend cheating....he caught her having sex in the back of a car with a guy, the guy took off running, and went in a porta-potty...the boyfriend went up beside it, and just pushed it over!! The 'other guy' came crawling out of it while it was on its side!! OMG, was that FUNNY!! I'd love to bust someone with the 'cheaters' people, but I would never have the guts to...would you?
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

2nd post of the day...useless news...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287643,00.html

Monday...

You know, I usually put pictures of people doing stupid things on here...but, these won today!

If anybody's been watching the news this weekend, well, I hate to say it, but it almost seems like the 'jihadists' are making big steps toward the west, seeing that they've
easily gotten to Great Britain, & now Scotland. Thankfully, the British are on the case, and have arrested at least 7 so far.
In my opinion, these people don't seem like 'true AlQaeda' groups. The biggest clue for me would be that they actually didn't kill anybody, and the 2 guys driving the Jeep at Glasgow airport didn't stay in the truck and 'martyr' themselves. I actually would think that these are 'sleeper cells', that would like their groups to get admitted into the AlQaeda group. And, basically, I think, both tries were "failures" for them. AlQaeda seems like a 'franchise', that you earn your way into, don't you think? Unfortunately for most of us, they seem to be well-managed. At least more outside this country. I REALLY hope that our security is as tight as MI5 in England! High-fives to them all!!
BoUnCeS!! LibbY!