I think I've given Tammi of Tammi's World (the ex-road warrior) a run for her money the last few weekends. Two weekends ago, I drove to MN with Beloved Husband. I clocked in almost 700 miles on the road. This weekend, I logged over 600 miles driving to northern WI to pick up my grandmother and take her to a cousin's wedding over 100 miles away from HER house. UGH!

I discovered two things during my driving extravaganzas. First, I like to drive fast. I really do. I figure I 'cruise' well at 80 mph. I can handle up to 90 - 95. However, I really feel like I'm crawling if I go anything less than 80.

Aside from just the pure joy of speed, I discovered there are another couple of reasons I like to drive fast.

First, it really makes me aware of what I'm doing. I'm constantly scanning the highway for state troopers or deer crossing the road. When I kick back and do the speed limit with the cruise on, I really don't pay attention to the road like I should. I get lost in my thoughts and don't pay attention to the road like I do when I am traveling at high speeds.

Second, if you are on a long journey traveling a major highway or byway, you usually end up with a pack of similar drivers/cars. They become like family to you. Occasionally, you may hit a few rough patches of slow driving, then one of your group will have to take the initiative to maneuver out of the bog via the other lanes. Soon everyone follows. Voila, you end up with a new 'leader of the pack'. However, it is always the same group of cars. You recognize them…

"There's the blue MI car." Or "There's the zippy red car from IL." When one of the cars actually turns off to their final destination, you feel a loss, like one of your family members is leaving.

Finally, it's nice because you really reduce your chances of getting a speeding ticket. Everyone is looking for cops and, hopefully, at least one of the demon drivers has a radar and will slow down ahead of time. Also, a cop can't pull over everyone at once so the larger your "pack", the less chances of you being the one ticketed!

Heh. I had the nickname of "rocket" during a brief period that I was involved in downhill skiing. Guess I like my whole world to be in the "fast lane"!

While in MN, I was given a feather pillow to sleep on. I can't remember the last time I used an actual feather pillow. Beloved Husband doesn't like feather pillows that can poke through and stab him.

I couldn't believe how comfortable it was! My head just sank into the pillow. Comparatively, all those foam pillows, etc. are as hard as a rock! I fell in love with the feather pillow.

Upon our return home, I immediately went out and purchased a feather pillow. I have never slept better.

So what's the general consensus? Real feathers or fake stuff, like styrofoam for pillows? Anybody know of something as soft as feathers, but without the threat of being poked? (Get your minds out of the gutter!)

Well we left last Thursday to visit relatives in MN. We didn't get home until late on Sunday. I have lots to share with you...

On the drive up we just managed to stay about ½ hour ahead of all the tornados/bad storms swirling around. Made for some really neat skies as we drove. I just read we set a record in WI - 28 tornados touched down on Thursday. Awfully glad we were driving away from the bad weather!

We found this VERY cool war memorial in Richland Center, WI. Despite the bad weather, we had to stop and take pictures.



All you could see was a "sea" of American flags. It was amazingly beautiful!





And they had this M60 A3 tank parked there...



Every flag had a soldier's name printed beneath it. If you ever get a chance to stop and view this memorial, it will take your breath away!

"The Dress"

Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement - not even her parents' nasty divorce. Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear and would be the best dressed mother-of-the-bride ever!

A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new young wife had bought the exact same dress! Jennifer asked her to exchange it, but she refused. "Absolutely not.
I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it." she replied.

Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, "Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day."

A few days later, they went shopping and did find another gorgeous dress. When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, "Aren't you going to return the other dress? You
really don't have another occasion where you could wear it."

Her mother just smiled and replied, "of course I do, dear. I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding!"

Ugh. I think I will periodically share with you the joys of the people I am forced to spend 40 hours with a week. Maybe I will be able to keep my sanity if I share...MAYBE.

Let me start with the BLONDEST blonde I have ever met. She is the stupidest and laziest person I have ever had to work around. (I say work around because because Lord knows she doesn't do any real work.)

Best case in point so far...

Ms. Blonde, lets call her 'Chrissy', has to leave the office every morning to go get gas station coffee. (Mind you we have more than one coffee maker at work, but she just wants an excuse to get out of the office.) During this little diversion, she has on occasion locked her keys in her car.

Last week, she comes back from her morning break noticiably flustered. She had on a short sleeved shirt and told me to "Look at my arms...they're all scraped up!" I really didn't see anything, but nodded, prepared to ignore whatever came out of her mouth - as usual.

HOWEVER, this story was too good not to pay attention to and to share with y'all...

Chrissy related, "I locked my keys in the car again. But I was determined not to have to call my ex or a locksmith. I had the windows cracked a little so I thought maybe I could angle my arm in to get to the door lock. Well, I tried on my side, but just couldn't get in - thus the scraped arms. This older guy comes up to me and I look at him and think 'there's no way he's going to help, his arms are bigger than mine!' The guy stops and asks if I am having problems. I said 'yes', and explained the situation. He walked over to the passenger side of the car and stuck his arm right in and opened up the door! I had no idea that window was down further than the driver's side window!"

The joys of a 9 - 5 job! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The Packers first pre-season game last night showed lots of promise. The final score was in Packers over the Chargers 10-7. This is the first pre-season game I have watched in a long time that just filled me with excitement! I will try to break it down for you into the good points, bad points, and the drama.

Let's start with the man himself, Brett Favre. Brett is a beloved quarterback to all for many reasons. One of the biggest is that he is never satisfied with himself. He always feels there is more he could have done. After last year's disappointing season, he decided he really needed to get in better shape.

Shortly after the season ended for the Packers, he went out and hired himself a personal trainer. He went through a lot of core exercises, strength and conditioning, and has now come to the Packers training camp in his best form ever. According to the announcers, when he started with the Packers approximately 15 years ago, he came in weighing (albeit well) a hefty 252 pounds. He has trimmed down to a lean, mean 212 pounds, his lightest ever for football. He definitely looked faster on his feet and better able to scramble. He played almost the entire first half, finally happy to leave after he completed a 23 yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver. He then jumped into the waiting arms of his sorely missed last year center, Mike Flanagan.

He then called it a night. Favre completed 9/10 passes for a total of 91 yards. Not a bad start to the year at all!

Aaron Rodgers is going to have to work hard to impress me. He is the 'golden child' quarterback the Packers picked in this year's draft. I didn't see anything to exciting in his passing game. He went 2/6 with a total of 7 yards. However, he was able to scramble out there pretty well. He had more yards rushing (10) than he did passing! The announcers related that in training camp, Rodgers teased Favre by calling him "Grandpa". Favre followed this up by winging one of his supersonic bullets out to a receiver, turned to the 'new kid', and told him, "I'll Grandpa you that." I get the idea that Favre is not too excited by the "golden child" either. In a taped interview he stated that he it was not in his contract to coach Rodgers. This just doesn't sound like Favre to me.

Personally, I'm still a fan of Craig Noll and would really like see him given a chance.

The Packers defense under new coach, Jim Bates, I think is going to surprise a lot of people this year. On the third defensive play, we created a fumble, recovered the ball, and ran it in for a touchdown. It was ruled an incomplete pass, but I could see the Charger had control of the ball and made a move before the fumble. Either way, this is just something the Packers did not do last year. I saw defensive men jumping to tip the ball. I saw one Packer grappling with a receiver, trying to rip the ball out of his arms. And the hits! My God, you could HEAR how LOUDLY the Packers were punishing those Charger receivers. I really think the defense is going to come together this year under the new tutelage. Only two negative factors were we still had a tough time stopping the run, and Al Harris, who is supposed to be our best and most seasoned DE, got badly beat a few times.

A promising newby is Mike Montgomery. He is a defensive tackle and plays special teams. He had a brilliant evening. He led 5 tackles and had 1 sack. Look for his star to rise in the upcoming season.

Speaking of special teams, we managed to down a punt at the 3 yard line! Hopefully, we will see an improvement in this area, too.

The drama of the evening came in the last quarter. Nate Kaeding is the kicker for the Chargers. You may remember his "infamous" name. He could have won a play-off game during regulation time for the Chargers VS. the Jets, but blew the kick. In overtime the Jets defeated the Chargers to take them out of the play-offs last year.

So poor Nate's last play in his head from last year is a missed field goal. So, last night, in the pouring rain, on a windy night, he got to try and redeem himself. However, for some, redemption is lost.

First field goal attempt a 45 yarder. No good. That's okay, Packers turn the ball over and Kaeding gets a second chance - 44 yards. Oops! Wide to the other side. That kid just can't get a break. Packers turn ball over again, this time on downs. Chargers go back down the field. Okay, one more chance....48 yards...sorry, Charlie, George, Nate...whatever your name is...I think its "Mud" now, maybe you better go back to Arena League.

AND, to add just a little more salt into the wound... Finally, the Packers got the ball back and did something with it. The score was 7-7, 4th down, and we are 53 years out from a field goal. Longwell, the Packers kicker, looks at the pouring rain, windy conditions, and (according to the announcers) tells Coach, 'I can do this' and trots onto the field. He lines up, gets ready to kick the ball; Chargers call a time-out.

They're going to 'ice the kicker'. Yeah, great move. With the extra time, the equipment guy has time to run onto the field and clean off Longwell's kicking shoe from the mud and grass that has accumulated. THANKS Chargers! Longwell lines up again and kicks the ball just far enough to get it through the goal posts. Packers take the lead, and eventual win, 10-7.

All 'muddy' boy can do is watch and hang his head in shame.

So for the Packers, I would say it was night with a promising future; however, for Mr. Kaeding, he may find himself looking for a job in a very bleak and uncertain future.

WHEN WOMEN HAVE HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK

1. I have absolutely no idea where my purse is.

2. I believe that dancing with my arms overhead and wiggling my butt while yelling "WOO-HOO!" is truly the sexiest dance move around.

3. I've suddenly decided I want to kick someone's ass and honestly believe I could do it, too.

4. In my last trip to "pee", I realize I now look more like a homeless hooker than the goddess I was just four hours ago.

5. I drop my 3:00a.m. submarine on the floor (which I'm eating even though I'm not the least bit hungry), pick it up, and carry on eating it.

6. I start crying and telling everyone I see that I love them SOOOO much.

7. I get extremely excited and jump up and down every time a new song plays because "Oh my God! I LOVE this song!"

8. I've found a deeper/spiritual side to the geek sitting next to me.

9. The man I'm flirting with used to be my 5th grade teacher.

10. The urge to take off articles of clothing, stand on a table, and sing or dance becomes strangely overwhelming.

11. My eyes just don't seem to want to stay open on their own so I keep them half closed and think it looks exotically sexy.

12. I've suddenly taken up smoking and become really good at it.

13. I yell at the bartender, who (I think) cheated my by giving me just lemonade, but that's just because I can no longer taste the gin.

14. I think I'm in bed, but my pillow feels strangely like the kitchen floor.

15. I start every conversation with a booming, "DON'T take this the WRONG WAY, but…"

16. I fail to notice that the toilet lid is down when I sit on it.

17. My hugs begin to resemble wrestling take-down moves.

18. I'm tired so I just sit on the floor (wherever I happen to be standing) and take a quick nap.

19. I begin leaving the buttons open on my button-fly pants to cut down on the time I'm in the bathroom away from my drink.

20. I take my shoes off because I believe its their fault that I'm having problems walking straight.

Got this via email today. WOW! I can easily identify with at least half of these.

I'm especially fond of #4 and #10!

Popcorn CHECK!
Liquor CHECK!
Remote Control CHECK!
Green and Gold
Apparel CHECK!


Are YOU ready for Packer pre-season starting tomorrow night?

Do the "Happy Dance" football is back!!!

(Just hope we have enough healthy players to put a team on the field!)

Went to a bridal shower this weekend.

(Yes, it does relate to the topic, and, no, it doesn't involve the 'Bride of Frankenstein'!)

The bride-to-be comes from a very large, very innovative family of 4 boys and 4 girls. They were constantly involved in theatre - acting, singing, etc.

When said bride-to-be got into college she went to many a Halloween party. I was enlightened with stories of her various costumes...

NEURON and SYNAPSE - she and a friend went as a neuron and a synapse. Apparently they had big cardboard heads with silver colored cones sticking out and the cones met in the middle.

ONE NIGHT STAND - she dressed up as a small nightstand...and there was "1" of her!

PMS - hair frizzed out with tampons and pads tied throughout, a black costume with a big slash of red felt going across it. Anytime a person came up to talk to her, she hissed, "What the hell do you want?!"

SERIAL KILLER - had a cardboard box around her with pictures from 'cereal' containers attached all over and little, fake knives going through the 'cereal' labels.

I bow to such creativity!

Anybody started on their costumes for this year yet?

"My butt is SO not that big." of Ogre's World.

(I really liked the answer "HARVEY!" by Madfish Willie of Madfish Willie's Cyber Saloon, too, but thought I might be a tad bit prejudiced!)




Here's your prize Ogre:



A flying llama so you can explore vast, unknown lands! Or just take a drunk llama flight! :)

Just got back from my workout at the gym. I tell you our club is just full of "gym dandies". Patrons who seem to think the club and the world revolves around them.

Case 1 Persona: All the workout tools are mine to throw about as I see fit.

How hard is it to put away equipment that you use?

I start out in a small women's workout area. Inevitably, someone has been there and left out a barbell, BOSU, and/or exercise ball in the middle of the area. Hard to work around and easy to trip over. So you end up cleaning up someone else's mess before you can even start your own workout.

These are the same folk who are strong enough to load up the weight machines with heavy weights, but can't seem to remember to UN-load the machines. Again, clean-up must be done before you can start your own work-out.

Case 2 Persona: I am the queen/king, let all others bow before me.

Often I go to said women's workout area after having down cardio. Although warm, I am covered in sweat and do not relish having the big fan blowing directly on me, so I turn it off. Someone will walk in a few minutes later and switch it on. They don't even ask if I mind - just turn it on.

DUH! I was here first. If I wanted the fan on, I would have turned it on! Often said person will then do some stretches for 5 - 10 minutes and then leave. Forget about turning the fan "off", like you found it. I'm still doing my workout here!

Also in this genre is I will get an exercise ball down and use it in between weight machines. I tuck it away in a corner so it will not get in anyone's way (unlike Case 1 Persona who leaves it in the middle of the area to roll all over the place). While I am away for 5 minutes, someone will take my ball and start using it. Said person could reach above their head to get a ball of their own, but mine is just more inviting, apparently.

RUDE!

Finally, what I find so hilarious is the etiquette most of the impolite "gym dandies" will adhere to. Posted all over are signs "Please clean off machines when you are done with them." Yes, folks, we are expected to grab a bottle of disinfectant, spray off, and dry off every machine we use.

Maybe this is required by law or something, but I find it totally ridiculous!

This is a work-out club. Funny, but I always thought "work-out" usually included sweat. I don't care whose sweat it is, mine, yours, his; you're going to get sweaty. This is not the place one goes to in order to make a fashion statement.

There is a reason every health club I have been in has showers! You're going to get hot and sweaty, you're going to pick up other people's germs. TAKE A SHOWER AND DEAL WITH IT!

Ah, now I have worked out my brain and my body; feeling much better now.

You are a pair of Polka-dot Boyshorts! Many people are often envious and jealous of you. You are original but not too bold. You will stay out of the spotlight and be productive. You may be reserved or quiet but not afraid to speak your mind when the right time comes. You may be viewed as a push-over but you are anything but!


Go here to take the test yourself!