it went tick, clank bang and boom

It seems like every time I try to make an effort to get back to this blog the universe has another plan.

The other day I picked up my laptop to check on comments and see what was going on with some of my blog friends and I heard this noise... It sounded like a pebble was stuck in the fan of my laptop; then within minutes it progressed to a much louder sound more reminiscent to pots and pans being banged around inside my computer.

I remember thinking to myself, this is not good. So I took a chance and turned it off and then back on again while silently praying that it would actually work.

Hallelujah, it was actually ON and there was no sound!

That's when I noticed the white letters displayed on my screen "the main fan has failed - in order to not harm your system this machine will shut down automatically in 15 seconds".

Sigh....

I do not care to use my husbands desk top (that's his space)  and my smartphone is really not all that functional for writing blog posts. It has more to do with the fact that everything is so darn small and I'd just rather not squint or use a magnifying glass.

Needless to say my poor computer had to go the computer doctor (Russell) to be fixed.. and now thanks to him I'm back in business.

What do you do when your computer goes on the fritz?

Things that ha ha ha happen when you travel

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You're going away on a trip; maybe it's spontaneous or a planned family vacation. Chances are you will be in an airport, or a hotel or both long before you'll  reach your ultimate goal.. that beach chair with a rum drink slathered with sun tan lotion.

In those places teaming with people anything can happen, you can bump into a neighbor, your high school gym teacher, your bunk mate from that summer camp thirty years ago. But I have come to the believe the most amusing things actually happen on those chance encounters with virtual strangers.

Here's what I mean....


THE PLANE- STINKY MAN

You're sitting on a plane you get all comfortable, put your book in the seat back in front of you,  get your ear buds ready in case chatty Susie sits in next seat, you buckle up AND.....then the person next to you slips off their jacket and you GAG; holy crap doesn't this person know what deodorant is?  Of all the stinking luck!!

THE AIRPORT TERMINAL BAR -MY LIFE STORY GUY

You're waiting for your flight and go to the bar for a beer and a burger. You're reviewing  in your mind how you made it thru security without event.You did not get felt up by a big very serious unattractive person...it's your lucky day....THEN  the person next to you says hello, you nod politely. Before you even take two sips of your beverage they're already ten years, two divorces and 140 alimony payments into their life story!  Can anyone say INDIGESTION?

BAGGAGE HANDLER-MARIO ANDRETTI
You ran to the last gate because that's how it always is when you have a connecting flight.It is NEVER the first gate when you're in a hurry. They're just about to close the cabin doors but they let you in regardless. You're huffing and puffing as you plop in your seat then you glance out the window and apparently you're not the only one behind schedule. Mario Andretti baggage guy comes speeding across the tarmac luggage for the flight you've just gotten off in tow. As he's approaching you spot you're uniquely patterned luggage at the top of the heap. YIPPEE you think to yourself, a bit red faced you check to make sure you didn't actually yell that aloud. Right at that moment your attention is drawn back to Mario who begins to whip his truck more directly in the planes direction and as he turns your luggage hurls in the air and lands like a ton of bricks on the black surface.Say it all together now LOST LUGGAGE.

HOTEL-COUGAR,I DON'T THINK SO!
Your twenty something SON has two tickets to a concert and he asks you to go, A friend admittedly his first choice didn't care for this band but your happy to go anyway.You get a great place to stand by the railing overlooking the stage and not to far from the bar. The music is loud and the beer is cold and wet. When the concert is over and you both hit the fresh and air two words become a clear possibility.....DRUNK DRIVING. You glance to the left and VIOLA there is a very large and respectable hotel chain within walking distance from where you're standing. As you're checking in the front desk attendant asks you carefully avoiding full eye contact "Madame would you and your (throat clear) like one bed or two?"

Do you travel? Most people who do have a story.

Why not share it with us.

A vacancy in my house has been filled

I couldn't even begin to fill you in on all the stuff that happened during my blog break in one post.

But I'd love to tell you a bit about what and who was keeping me busy during those many months.

I will say this, it was interesting having a whole family move into our house.
It was actually kinda nice for my husband to have his daughter back here in the US after over a twenty year absence.
Now I won't lie to ya. I am giddy to have my house back and Bill and I love our space.

And we also love that our gas bill isn't huge anymore!!

My stepdaughter Barbara really is a lovely person. I'd like to think we became pretty close over the year + she was here. I found her to be a loving and attentive mother and wife. And we enjoyed an easy relationship agreeing early on who should do what and when in the house and I think made things run smoothly. And boy can this woman iron.

Her husband, George was gone working most of the time but God bless the man although very high strung which the opposite of me, we did have the same taste buds. When I got into the kitchen picky kids be darned or happy with mac n cheese and chicken nuggets,. He and I would always agree on food, how much spice, how much garlic, love of citrus,  what cheeses are the best and the wine, we even liked the same wine. And who doesn't like a man who is wonderfully respectful to your mother, he called her Ya-ya.

The boys, Nickolas and Andrea's, well I don't have to tell you they were adorable and just crawled into a space into my heart and my heart just aches with missing them since they've been gone. The are ten and fourteen and were my very special cookie maker and watcher of Supernatural buddies respectively. sigh....

Shortly after they moved out an orphan kitten showed up at our door. My heart just sang because this sad little fellow was looking for a home, isn't it lucky for him we had a vacancy?!

My friends, meet Eightball.

Brushing the cobwebs off this blog..

I was looking at the date of my last post and couldn't believe so many months had past since I'd been on this blog. When I wrote my last post When Life Trumps Blogging it was my intention to take a bit of a blog break since life was a bit crazy. It seems however time has really gotten away from me.

Believe me, life is very much back to normal and has been since the summer when our family/ house guests moved out.

To be honest I've just gotten out of practice writing and very lazy, hence no blog activity.

As I write this I can't help but wonder if more than a handful of you are even still checking this blog. I appreciate the comments and emails I've gotten over these past months weeks and days. It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway I missed you all and I appreciate your friendship! I look forward to catching up on what is new in your lives now that I'm back.

Leave a comment and say hi.
If you want tell me what's new.
I'd love to hear from you.