Our Neighbor the Voyeur

This is why I stopped blogging in 2009, I go along smoothly, blogging every day and then BAM; I start posting only sporadically. Life gets in the way. Such is the case ever since we got back from vacation. Things fall by the wayside. I can pinpoint it to a certain moment in time and a certain activity I've been obsessively engaging in. Genealogy!

Yes, I've been bitten by the genealogy bug. The site of those cascading boxes set my heart in a flutter. The joy of it! I've put all life to the side, including that which pays the bills; my writing. I sit all day and night filling in little boxes in my pedigree chart. In fact, I want to be doing it now. It sounds corny but I can't begin to tell you how exciting it was when I found my great great grandparents. Who knew genealogy could be so darned much fun!

We finally got our TV back Thursday night. I felt like I came to life again once we plugged that pleasingly large black device in the surge protector strip (which by the way doesn't protect against surges caused by lightening, so we found). When I pressed the red button to turn it on I swear my heart fluttered. Life is good again.

Speaking of life; the hubster and I were spied on this morning by a neighbor, looking in our windows. I'm talking literally sitting in front of our townhouse, staring in at us. Even when we made eye contact he (or she) wouldn't turn away. Yup, it was a bunny rabbit. This little guy stared in at us for close to twenty minutes. It would seem he found us fascinating. Maybe he wanted to see how the human reacts in their natural habitat. I can now say I know what the animals in the zoo feel like when we spy on them. It also makes me wonder how often the woodland creatures stare in at us.

A Love Story

Have you ever been in love? I have. I'm talking a deep, obsessive, gotta have it, love. I'm talking love...with a toilet seat. Sad but true.

 

I've lusted over this amazing toilet seat for the past nine years. Finally, in 2009 when we moved to Louisville I created my perfect bathroom in the guest room bathroom. All I needed was my beautiful, amazing, oceanianic toilet seat. I bought the matching shower curtain, toothbrush holder, rug, matching wall decors, even a fish themed night light. I went into the store to buy my awesome toilet seat...It doesn't come in the elongated shape that all three of the toilets in my home have.

Damn it.

But one of these days, I tell ya, one of these days I'll have my stupendous blue, ocean themed toilet seat. One of these days!

Life Without TV

Breaking news today; blogger returns from the land of the dead to post again! Okay, maybe it's not been THAT long, but it feels like forever. Seems I caught a bit of a cold on our trip which didn't hit me until Monday, when we returned home. It was probably due to being drenched in Manassas VA on the civil war battlefield.

 

The week hasn't been uneventful. Monday afternoon we had a doozy of a storm here in Louisville which seemed to be centered over our condo community. There was one clap of thunder that scared the bejesus out of me. I actually jumped when it hit! And with good reason because apparently it hit the ground somewhere in our condo community. It fried my beautiful flat screen TV. (insert frowny face) Some of my neighbors lost their TVs as well. And other neighbors had their automatic garage door openers fried so bad that the entire units need to be replaced. The bitch of it is I had turned the TV off. I guess that's not enough anymore. And the surge protector clearly didn't help a bit. It's costing us $300.85 to get it fixed and we won't have it back for at least a week. I'm going insane without TV. Yeah, both of our bedrooms have TVs in them. But its not the same. I'd have to actually walk up the stairs and then sit on the bed to watch TV. Its just not the same.

So with no TV in our living room, I've set my favorite laptop up in here and have been spending the week doing genealogy. I never knew it could be so addictive! I've especially become addicted to 'Find a Grave.' Who knew the dead could be so much fun!

 

No Comments From Me

Why yes, I am going crazy. And it’s blogger that’s making me that way. It seems that I can’t see nor comment any comments currently. It’s partly due to the cruddy internet connection at my mother in laws house and partly because I brought the crummy HP instead of my fabulous Dell. I didn’t want to take a chance on anything happening to my super-duper laptop so I brought the one that no one in their right mind would want to steal. So somehow, between the crappy laptop and the crappy internet connection, I can’t see or respond to comments.

Sorry.

Good news is we’re leaving tomorrow. Yay!!! Why am I thrilled about going back home? Have you ever tried to spend a week of your vacation with your mother in law? LOL. Don’t get me wrong, we get along great and I do truly love her. Its just that I don’t to stay around anyone longer than three days, other than my husband.

 

We’re going to take our time going home and don’t expect to hit Louisville until sometime Sunday afternoon. I got my fill of crabs in Maryland though so all in all it was a successful vacation. (I rate beach vacations on how much blue crab I get). I also got my favorite sandwich in the entire world; a Southside Deli sub sandwich; east coast style. I overate so much that I oink now! Nonetheless, it’s back on the road tomorrow and back on the diet starting Monday!

Tagged

 

It’s no secret that the hubster is one of the biggest fans the Redskins will ever have. (Or as I call them during football season—the Deadskins.) That’s why I was so shocked that he didn’t buy a tag for his new truck when we were at the Fan Store at FexEx Field in Landover last Monday. I was beginning to think there might actually be hope for him.

 

But yesterday when we went into one of the many sports stores here in Ocean City MD, he finally bought a Redskin tag. It seemed the Fan store in Landover didn’t have one that he liked. Fortunately (or is that unfortunately) West Marlin Mall in Ocean City did. So this morning was spent putting the new tag on his pick-em-up truck.

 

After he was tagged and ready to go we climbed aboard the USS Dodge Ram and set about enjoying our morning. This is our last day here, as we plan on heading back towards Louisville in the morning. So we wanted to take a last look at the Boardwalk. First was another stop at Thrashers French fries by the Inlet. If you’ve ever been to Maryland’s Ocean City, you know the joys of these pieces of fried potato. Drenched in apple cider vinegar and liberally sprinkled with salt, they’re the perfect beach food. The hubster and I both grew up with these fries and miss them desperately when we are not back home for a visit.

 

Since we’d started lunch at the Boardwalk we decided to go whole hog (no pun intended) an ventured further down the boards to Piezano’s for a couple of slices of pizza and a birch beer. I don’t know what it is about east coast pizza, but it can’t be beat. You just can’t get this kind of pizza in the Midwest. It’s the same thing with east coast subs. You can’t get that kind of sub in the Midwest.

We finished our junk food boardwalk lunch by scarfing down a couple of donuts from The Fractured Prune. Thank God they didn’t have this donut shop when we lived here because first off we probably wouldn’t have moved and secondly we’d both be bigger than sumo wrestlers. But holy moly these donuts were the kind you’ll find in heaven! They fry them when you order them so you’re getting the freshest donuts you’ll ever eat.

Coming home for a visit isn’t all about the Redskins and seeing how much food we can stuff in our pie hole, but that sure is a lot of fun! Although I don't think it will be so fun anymore when I step on the scale next week and find those three pounds I'd lost before we went on vacation.

 

 

 

Tripping

Despite running into road construction almost every ten miles, we enjoyed the trip to Maryland. We went through the mountains and took our time, enjoying the scenery. We even made a few side stops.

 

We spent a good part of Sunday driving through the Allegheny mountains. I can’t begin to describe how deliciously cool the mountain air felt as we drove the USS Dodge Ram with the sun roof open and the windows down. 

 

You really feel close to God you drive through such beautiful scenery.

 

We spent Sunday night at a Hampton Inn in Front Royal Virginia. Front Royal had quite a bit of action during the Civil War. It was also the place where some of Mosby’s men were captured and seven of them hung. What horrified me was that after the men were hung, the townspeople took chunks of wood from the tree they were hung from, as a souvenir. What a morbid thing to do. When we went through the Confederate museum in Front Royal, we saw several of these chunks of display. And yes, I can definitely tell you there was paranormal activity in that museum. Everywhere I looked I saw the transparent faces of battle weary men staring back at me in that museum. I try not to tell the hubster when I see spirits because I think it freaks him out. But that’s another story for another time.

 

On Monday our relaxing trip took on a more stressful aspect as we encountered bad weather and heavy traffic. The day started out peaceful enough. We spent the majority of it tromping around the battlefield at Manassas VA. It was a cloudy day, but the rain seemed to be holding off. That is until we got out in the middle of the battlefield, with no tree's around, no shelter, no umbrella, no nothing. Then the skies opened up and boy howdy did it pour…and pour…and pour. There was nothing to do but walk in the torrential rains toward the visitor center—which was half a mile away according to our drenched map.

 

I took our blow dryer in the visitor center and did my best to dry is off with it, but we were pretty much beyond repair at that point. And when the busload of 50 teenage girls arrived and all started pouring into the bathroom, we knew it was time to leave. After a full day at the battlefield we headed to DC and to the part of the trip I dreaded. FedEx Field in Landover Maryland, home of the Redskins—namely to the fan store at FedEx Field. 45 minutes and $100 later we were back on the DC beltway in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic. Eventually we exited off the Beltway and made our way down Route 50 in Annapolis and along St Margaret’s road to Cantler’s Seafood. Nom, nom, nom!

 

At Cantler’s we stuffed ourselves with some of the finest and freshest softshell crabs you’ll ever eat. Add in the corn on the cob, shrimp, scallops and rockfish and our pie holes were working overtime. Stuffed, we left for the last leg of our journey that day and crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into Maryland’s Eastern Shore aka home.

 

Originally from the lower shore of MD, we were headed to Ocean Pines MD and the hubster’s mothers house, where we’d be spending the rest of the week. She lives two miles from the Atlantic ocean and resort traffic can be a bear, so we didn’t reach her house until 10pm. A long day to be sure. But now we were ready for a week of fun at the shore!

 

Have Truck Will Travel

The day started out on a dismal tone as we walked through rows and rows of SUV's. What I liked he didn't and what he liked I didn't. But we were determined to leave with a new vehicle one way or the other.

We settled on a Dodge Journey It wasn't what either of us wanted and was more of a car than a SUV, but it had only 9K and was a 2012 and had heated leather seats. Heated leather seats! That's pretty hard to pass up. I know we get mild winters here in Louisville compared to a lot of other places, but we still have some mighty cold days. And sitting on leather seats on a 40 degree day makes for a frozen backside. But I digress. Before we pulled the plug and signed on the dotted line, just for grins and giggles we decided to look at pick up trucks, despite determining we couldn't afford one. The hubster sat in a burnt orange Dodge Ram 1500 SLT extended cab pick up truck and a look of sheer joy spread across his face. We took it for a test ride so he could see the folly in getting such a large vehicle. Okay, it did ride like a dream. And I have to admit it felt pretty darn good being so high up and looking down on the ants, I mean cars. Having all that glorious room to move around was pretty swell too. But the gas mileage. Dear God, the gas mileage! Folly, sheer folly.

After taking the truck back to the lot, we took the Dodge Journey out for it's test drive. After all, that was the vehicle we were going to buy probably. We even drove it home to get the title for our Pathfinder, so we could do the deal as soon as we got back to the dealership. A funny thing happened at that point. The nosiest neighbor in the entire community saw us pull up in the white dodge journey and alerted the rest of the neighborhood that we had purchased it. She even described it in full detail to those who hadn't seen us pull up in it. (That turned out to be a hoot later when we came home in a different vehicle. Neighbors were asking us where the white car was. LOL) Later, when the hubster went into the back room of the dealership, I told the salesgirl that even though he loved the pick up truck I was certain we'd be going with the dodge journey.

 

We walked in the "talk turkey" room and sat down. We'd already run the numbers on both vehicles and with the truck being $100 more a month, I knew he'd make the right decision and go with that Journey. Sure, it wasn't my favorite vehicle, but it fit in our budget and it made sense. Lower gas mileage, lower payment, smaller vehicle so even I could drive it. Since it made so much sense, I knew my practical husband would choose the Journey. After all, we've been married 19 years and I know him like the back of my hand. "Which vehicle will you be purchasing today?" the salesgirl asked. My husband smiled wide and said, "The pick up truck." I tell you, I almost fell out of my chair. Is he crazy? The gas mileage! I'll be having nightmares about 15 miles to the gallon in my sleep tonight. But oh, how well it drives. The comfort. The spaciousness. The gas mileage.

Guess we'll find out tomorrow how horrid the gas mileage is because we're taking our first road trip in it. We're leaving early Sunday morning for Manassas Virginia and the Civil War battlefield there. Then we'll trek on down to the eastern shore of Maryland to Ocean City, where my mother in law lives and spend the rest of the week with her, coming home next weekend. We're thinking about making a few other side trips on the way home to other Civil War sites and a few haunted locations, but aren't certain yet which ones. Even though we both were born and raised on the eastern shore of Maryland, there is still so much we haven't seen. But, no matter where we ending stopping, we'll be driving there in comfort thanks to the USS Dodge Ram.

So if you pass a fine looking burnt orange Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4 door extended cab with Kentucky temporary tags, be sure to wave.

See you on the road, happy trails!