Review time again.....

Review time again...

I always seem to be doing a post like this. Either I was lazy or I just didnt have the time to keep up with things. I claim a little of both.

So lets go back in time to a couple of weeks ago. Yeah its been that long. Saturday the 9th in fact. Today is Cami's birthday party at the camp. Nothing major was planned. Just have a nice day and eat cake. She doesnt get that opportunity too often. Shes not allowed too much sugar because she becomes Mr. Hyde.

Grandma got her a few things. She got some new school clothes and school goodies like folders and notebooks. Mousie did really good at picking out cool clothes for her. Her friend Krystal came over to hang out with her and they played. She got her more Hannah Montana stuff. I got her a new Hannah Montana purse. All in all it was a pretty good day.

Sunday the 10th was her party up to her other grandparents. They had more cake there and she got some toys and gift cards that she needs to use but she said she is waiting for a movie and a Cd to come out. Camp Rock and the Jonas Brothers.

Monday the 11th was her actual birthday. We had plans to go to Lake George to Six Flags and/or take a cruise on one of the big steam boats. It didnt quite work out that way though. It was raining and thunder and lightning and all the other crappy stuff that comes with it. You would think that we were used to this by now. So instead she had a surprise trip to the mall.

You may not think that going to the mall would be a big deal to her since shes there all the time with grandpa. Well this was to a different mall. Didnt matter to her. She just likes the mall. But she had no idea what particular place she was going to. One of her favorite places. Build-A-Bear. We both love this place. Its alot of fun. Trust me.

Shes been wanting a specific bear. The High School Musical Bear. Its a special edition bear and it comes with a dog tag. So she also picked out a cheerleading outfit to go with it. Of course I picked out a bear as well. The bear I got this time is also a special bear. With the purchase of this bear, a portion goes to the literacy for low income areas fund. Which is pretty much where we live, so I guess I did my duty.

On Tuesday we went to the dentist so that I could make an appointment for some much needed work to be done. Not sure if anyone knew or not but I swallowed a gold crown twice now. Its really not fun to retrieve it. But its also a thousand bucks that I cant afford for a new one. I had no choice but to accept an appointment for the following day because I want to get this stuff done before school starts. After the dentist, we went to see my sister and my neice.

On Wednesday we went to the dentist again in the morning for my xrays to be done. Yeah thats always alot of fun. When will they make this process a little easier and alot less painful? Those things really hurt the hell out of my mouth. Especially the ones on the front. Bite down on this while it cuts through your gums. Oh yeah, dont move. So I didnt move while the tear slowly slid down my cheek. Nah, it wasnt all that bad. But it was still enough that it bothered me. So the dentist comes in to check things out and to let me know what work needed to be done. Stuff I already knew. If I didnt then I wouldnt have been there in the first place. He said that since its been nine years since I was there, my teeth are in remarkable shape. Ive been a good girl with taking care of them. But I think I scared him a little bit when I told him about my crown.

After the dentist visit, we went to the fair. This is something that I have done every year for all of my life. I have always gone to this fair. Cami has a good time going there too. We get there and its lunch time so we go get something to eat. Then its play time. My father loves to play the game with the quarters. You put one in and hope that it moves the tray to knock more down. They will sit here and play this for hours. In the meantime, I have someone who is very anxious to play some of her own. So we went off and played some games that she liked. She won a few stuffed animals and one being a huge dog. She did really good.

She loves the rides but I am very leary about her riding them at the fair. These things have been put up and taken down so many times that you never know when a screw will go missing or loose. So Im not thrilled to do this stuff. But she wanted to ride the bumper cars really bad. She has never been on them because she was always too small for them. And its realy not fun to ride them with someone else, let alone and adult. Nothing like being overcrowded in a car with someones elbow whacking you when they turn the wheel.

So she ran up to the little sign that says you have to be this tall to ride this ride. And sure enough, she was well over the height limit this year. I wasnt sure how well she would do at this but I let her get the tickets for it anyways. She went in and she was a little more excited than I expected her to be. She enjoyed this ride and she knew what she was doing. She reminded me of a little demon behind the wheel in downtown Boston traffic.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e21/BrowderChick/altamontfairandamanda037.jpg

After all that we decided to walk around for a little while and go see the animals. She loves this part. Her favorite are the cows. Once you get her in with them, she nearly refuses to leave. She wants one so bad. But its not like I can keep one in the back yard. So shehas to see every one of them and at least pet most of them. She s not afraid of them at all.

Then she went to the area where they have all the baby chicks. They have them set up like a little carnival with ferris wheels and all sorts of where shit in cages. But the baby chicks are so cute. Some are yellow and some are colored different colors. Like we all havent seen a blue or a green chick before. They also have a heat dome where you can watch them hatching. Of course she finds this amusing and has to stick her fingers in the cages and see if they will peck at her. When they didnt, I told her that she wasnt sutritious and delicious. She wasnt amused at that line.

Im pretty much exhausted and I want to head toward the gate. She wants to go to the little school house. She checks that out every year. Its something she takes pride in I guess. When the school was actually in service, someone way back in her family went to it. So all the names are on the wall and all that stuff. She found a few people with her name and yes they were relatives.

After this, its time to leave. I grabbed some of the chicken dinners to take home from the bbq pit. That is also something we look forward to every year. Then we headed to the gate to leave. I dont know about you but Im exhausted just thinking about it all again. By the time we got home, I pretty much dropped her off and went to my class.

Thursday we had plans to go to Diva Beads so that she could make something for herself for her birthday. Just as we were getting ready to leave, my father calls and he wants to go to the store to get some things. He also wants to finish up her school clothes shopping. Ok. We can do this because it is more important at the moment. We got all that done and then she was able to make her necklace. We hung out with Amanda for a while and she made a really pretty blue and green butterfly necklace.

Friday was a lazy day. So was Saturday and Sunday we spent the day at the camp. Jada and Adam came to visit and she played with them all day. They are Mousies grandkids.

So all in all it was a decent week. A very busy one at that. Stay tuned for the next post. Im currently working on that one. You will be amazed at what Cami did.

We Aint In Kansas...

We Aint In Kansas.....

This post took place on August 2nd.

This is a very important date at the camp. Two things are happening today and we need to get our asses moving early. But I will tell you thats not what happened. Cami once again pulled an all nighter. Well she did sleep for a couple of hours but that was short lived and she was up for a while. I think I finally fell asleep at about 3am.

I will tell you a little something about what was going to happen before I tell how how it happened. One of the ladies at the camp was having a birthday. When we had the Christmas party, I heard my mom ask her what colors she liked. She said she liked different shades of blue. I knew what she was doing. And I was correct when she asked me later if I would make something for Sally for her present.

This is not a bad idea because I really like her and shes the sweetest and coolest lady. She was turning 70 but you wouldnt know it. But this was a difficult piece to make because shes not an overly feminine woman. Shes a jeans and tshirt lady. But I know she likes silver. So I went through hell and high water to think of something she would like. I finally came up with a byzantine link bracelet with some sodalite and blue lace agate chips. This was a really nice piece of jewelry. Problem is, I never got to take a decent picture of it. I will have to ask her to do that for me so that I have a copy of it.

Well anywho, this is how the journey went. We got up a little later than I planned. Not too much but it was enough that it put us behind schedule for that morning. It was also Kids Day there and so far, we would miss about an hour or so of it. This did not set well with Cami but I told her that she needed to be up in time to go. That didnt happen though. But as I was getting out of the shower, I heard thunder and knew we wouldnt be missing much of anything.

Sure enough, as soon and I pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road, the rain started. Piss and moan all the way there about how Kids Day was not happening because of the rain. Good thing I have a stereo with loud speakers. Nah, I really didnt do that to her. In fact, it was her idea to put a CD in. This was the only way I was going to keep her happy for the trip. It wasnt so bad but I really didnt need to listen to Miley Cyrus. Over and over and over and over and over...... She also did a remake of Cindy Laupers Girls Just Wanna Have fun. There was only so many times I could stand that song when Cindy sang it. Now I have to live that all over again. Oh the horror.

I couldnt wait to get there so I could turn this off. There are a couple of songs I liked but she had two favorites that werent anything I wanted to hear. We got to the camp and of course its still raining. Kids Day was canceled. So we headed on to the trailer and decided to wait out the rain. She went inside to watch tv instead. It was like a repeat of the week before with the flooding on the road. Only thing we didnt have was the hail.

About 1pm we headed to Sallys campsite for the party. We got there a little early in case they needed help with anything. I gave her the bracelet and she loved it. Yay!! I was thrilled and alot of people liked it as well and they want to see my other work too. I told them to stop down to moms later or next week when I was there and we would check things out.

Cami was bored so we went for a little walk. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. Talk about a mixed blessing. It was starting to get hot and muggy though. We walked along the lake path that we like to go on. We checked out the beavers and the lodges and the mess they like to make. Seems that not much has changed except the person the owns the land on the other side of the swamp is filling it in and growing a lawn that he wants to reach to the lake. Long story there but hes claiming land that isnt his and there is a court thing going on between him and the campground owner.

We heard some bull frogs and saw some fish in the water. Suddenly she stops cold in the path and starts darting around like a crazy lady. Shes chasing something. Mind you that this is a kid that hates bugs and icky things. She bends down and picks something up. She opens her hands and tells me to take a picture quick. She caught a tiny frog. It was really cute and just sat there on her hand. So I took a few shots and we let it go back to the pond.

We walked back and of course she had to stop at every puddle to check for more frogs. We arrived back to the party and she found one of her friends. They wanted to go to the playground to play so off they went. I went and checked on them every now and then and they were having fun. The party was great and Sally was having a blast. Food, booze, friends and alot of great gifts.

I should also mention that Sally is a drummer in a band. They were setting everything up in the Rec Hall to play after the party. At about 4pm, we started cleaning up a little and Sally went over to start setting up her drums. I heard the sound of thunder in the distance and decided to go get Cami and start heading home before the rains hit. I hate driving the mountain roads in the rain.

I went to the playground and found her and her friend playing mini golf. They had a box with them and inside it was another tiny frog. Of course Cami said it was the same one from the lake that followed her there. I had to explain to her that it wasnt. That didnt go well. She realy wanted to take it home and I couldnt let her because it didnt belong in the city. So her and her friend released it in the woods there.

The thunder was getting closer and I knew it was time to leave. So we said our goodbyes and bailed out. I headed out of the camp and got on the main road. I saw flashes of lightning and I really wasnt in for the fun ride home. We turned on the road that would take us straight through and the rain hit. The thunder and lightning were really bad and then the rain came even harder. I had to pull over because I couldnt see to drive. It was like being inside a car wash.

I waited it out a little and got back on the road. Not a few miles down, it happened again. I pulled over again. Mind you that I wasnt the only one. I could see off in the distance that there was lightning striking repeatedly in one area. They say that it never strikes twice in the same area but this certainly was. I saw the clouds and I knew what that meant. I had to pull over again and this time there was a side road. I knew what was down this road and I knew that it was safe there. So I pulled in and a few other cars did the same. We waited it out in the thick trees. Im not sure if it was so dark because of the woods or the storm.

About 15 minutes later, the rain stopped. I pulled out and went down the road again. I pulled over again but this time I was taking some pictures of the clouds. Really low hanging. Mean looking and really dark. You can see the different layers and colors all together. This is not a good sign.

I continued on the way for about 15 more miles before the rain hit again. This time it wasnt so bad. I was already pretty much out of the winding roads and hills. I kept a watch on the clouds though. They were still looking pretty haunting. There is an area where the road runs along open fields and you can see some of the mountains in the distance. The sun was above the mountains making the low dark clouds glow. It was quite pretty. I pulled over to take a picture and when I got out of the car, I heard the thunder. I flashed off a few shots in different directions and when I turned to my right, I saw something I didnt want to see. I quickly got back in the car and bailed out of there as fast as I could.

A couple miles down the road I saw some clouds on the ground in a field. They were moving pretty fast but not touching the ones above it. You pretty much guessed what it was. I couldnt wait to get home.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/gammak/campsallystormfrogutica040.jpg

Happy Birthday to my little one....

Happy Birthday to my little one....

It seems like it was just yesterday that she made her appearance into this world. But it was 9 yeas ago. I cant believe how fast the time went and I really am sitting here crying. She has become my whole world. My every breath. I love her more than anything else on this planet. And there is no other like her.

Happy Birthday Cami. I love you with everything I have. I hope you have enjoyed the past weekend with your parties and I hope you have a fun day today.

All my heart....

You Drive me Crazy...

You drive me crazy....

This blog is way out of time warp. I was too lazy to write anything for a while. I have a few more that I have to finish and they will all be posted up. :D This one is from The last Monday in July.

Life cant get any crazier than this. Well Im sure it can but this was a true test. My father wanted to take a trip out to see his siblings. We had planned this trip for a couple of weeks. I look forward to these trips because I like to hang out with them. I love my family.

The night before the trip, Sunday night, Cami was up most of the night. I dont know if she was too riled up from camp or not. My guess is that she stashed some sugar somewhere. It was about 330am before she fnally passed out. Now mind you that I have to be at my fathers by 9am. This means that I have to be up, showered and ready to go before 8am. Thats the time I have to wake Cami up and get her ready too.

So 8am rolls around. Im groggy as hell and I need a good jumpstart. I wont be getting that any time soon though because I have to get her ready. When shes tired and her medication hasnt kicked in, shes a viper. This means that its like dressing a rattlesnake in tight pantihose.

Shes showered and fed and getting her hair brushed when the phone rings and its my father wanting to know if we are awake. Hes good for that. Its the one lesson in life that I was taught by him. Always show up for something at least a half hour early. Either that or he will nail you for it. So Ive been so used to doing that. But I really hate rushing. Regardless of what it is or where Im going, I hate being rushed.

I gather up everything and we run down the stairs and get everything loaded into the car. This is a two hour drive one way and Cami doesnt have a CD player. This should be fun. But I packed her snacks and books and a video game. Off we go to grandpas house. We wnt be going over any rivers or through any woods though. Its only about 4 blocks.

We go in and get him and off we go to the gas station. He has one of those little thingys you wave in front of the winged horse and it lights up letting you fill up and get a receipt without using a credit card. So I got out of the car and went inside to get some caffine and snacks. Im still quite groggy and I need all the help I can get.

So I come out of the mini mart to see him sitting in the car with the passenger door open. He could not have pumped the gas that fast. So I asked him what was wrong. He said that the thing for his card wasnt working and that I had to pull to a different pump. I said ok and got in the car. I put the key in the ignition and nothing happened. Huh? I mean nothing. I turn it again and still nothing. Not even a dash light. Nothing. No click. No light. Nothing. Im freaking out. I check to make sure my car is in park. Nothing. I get out and check under the hood. Nothing. About half hour goes by and still nothing.

What the hell? This is really pissing me off. My father is telling me that my car is a piece of crap because now it wont start. Hes bitching because he will be late picking up my aunt. This is not even funny. My car refuses to start. But usually you can tell whats wrong by what ever happens when you turn the key. But nothing is happening. So I decided to call AAA. I start dialing the number. My father started to close his door and I caught a glimps out the passenger mirror of something. I nearly peed my pants. I could have shot him.

My car comes with a bunch of safety features. Like the doors will automatically lock when you put the car in gear. And they wont unlock until the car shuts off. You can unlock them manually though. Bot only the driver can. He hates that because he never waits til I shut the car off and hes always reaching for the handle and complains that he cant get out of the car. You would think that after three years of this he would remember that. But Im always conscious to pull into a parking spot and hit the lock so he can get out before I shut the key off.

But what I saw immediately made me have a blonde moment. Its one thing that I should have thought of checking. But being that Im not fully conscious til I at least have my caffine, I didnt think of it. When I was in the store, he got out to pump the gas. When he closed the door, what I saw in my passenger mirror was my gas cap dangling on the side of my car. He didnt put the cap back in before he got back in the car to wait for me to move it to another pump.

I was furious. My car wont start without the cap in tight. Why didnt I think of this before? I sat there so frustrated for half an hour trying to get my car started. And all this time it was the damn cap. So I put the cap in and moved forward to the next pump. It urked the hell out of me. The worst part was when he was pumping, I made sure that I watched him. When he was done, I put the cap in and closed the door. He gets in the car and starts laughing. I didnt think it was funny. He then tells me that my expressions were funny. I didnt think they were funny. But if you remember his raisin, then they must have been funny. I can laugh about my stupidity now, but that early in the morning with hardly any sleep, I wasnt laughing.

So I decided to just get this show on the road and left. We headed to the Thruway. I really dont like the Thruway but its the quickest route to where I need to go. So I get on the entrance ramp and start to pull into the ticket lane. He tells me to go to the EZPass lane. I dont have one and he does. I told him that its only for his car and not mine. He argues with me. There is no winning an argument with him unless you prove it. So thats what I had to do. I pull into the EZPass lane and the little yellow light is on. It wont go to green. He waves his little pass tag and it still wont go. It says to call EZPass. He tells me to just go on through and that he would call them. He very well wasnt going to do that with about ten cars behind me beeping the horn. This is going to be an impossible trip.

I have a headache aready and hes complaining that his pass wouldnt work. I tried to explain that to him. But he still doesnt understand why it wont work. Mind you that I still havent gotten my caffine intake yet. Im watching out my mirror for a cop to pull me over for being on the Thruway illegally. After about ten miles, I finally started to relax. Cami was just sitting in the back seat playing her video game and being so quiet. I almost didnt know she was still in the car.

About 40 miles to my destination, there is a rest stop area. I asked if anyone needed a potty break. Since I didnt have my caffine yet, I didnt have to go. But with him and Cami in the car, I figured that one of them would. Sure enough, he had to go. So I pulled in and parked the car. He got out and went inside. Cami got out and I opened my door so that I could stretch my legs and walk a little. I have a tendon problem in my right foot and it was killing me at this point. So I walked a little with her and then got back in the car. I drank about half of my drink and relaxed til he came back to the car.

He came back to the car and got in. Then told me that I should have parked in the handicapped spot so that he woldnt have had to walk so far. I told him that I dont have a tag to do that. He pulled out his. Well, shit. I asked him why didnt he tell me before that he had one. He said that he forgot that he brought it with him. Well it doesnt do me any good now does it? So I pulled out of the rest stop and went about my way.

We get closer to the exit that I needed to get off at and he takes out his EZPass thing. Here we go again. Its not like I had a ticket to give the person at the booth. So I go ahead and pull into that lane. Sure enough it says the same thing. He just doesnt get it. He needs to call them when we get a chance because I willbe damned to get back on there on the way home.

We start to head to my aunts house and I know the way. But he decides to put me on a different route. Good gawd, here we go. He said that my uncle takes this way all the time. I said ok as long as I dont get lost. We get onto this route and thats when he told me that although my uncle goes this way, he has never tried it. Ooook. Thanks for the info now. But I was able to find the right signs for roads I knew and found my own way there.

I pulled into my aunts driveway and I was so relieved to be able to be on solid ground. She came out of the shop and Cami gave her a hug. She gets in the back seat with Cami and off we go to the restaurant where we will meet up with my uncles for lunch. We had a great time there and Cami ate like a horse. She was shocked my one of my uncles filled a plate up with shrimp and ate it all. She sat there watching him do it. But she couldnt finish all her chicken nuggets so he ate those as well.

After lunch, my uncles went on home while we were going to visit my other aunt in a nursing home. Shes not doing so well. Well shes not in bad condition but she just doesnt want to do anything for herself. Cami made her get up and move though and she liked it. I guess I will have to get her to do that more often. But its such a long drive.

After that we decided that it was time to head home. I told my father that I wasnt going to take the Thru-way this time. He said he would get me to route 20. So he tells me which way to go and then we get down town. I know that if I get on the main highway there, I can get to the roads I need to be on. Nope. He takes me on a different way and tells me to go left here and to go straight and I will go right to route 20. About ten miles down the road, he then tells me....Oops. *smacks forehead*

We ended up on some really country back roads where all you see are rusted pickup trucks. Im watching signs and looking for things I would know. Its obvious that he is lost but I know alot of the back roads up in there. Dont ask me how I know though. I just do.

So I see a sign for a town that I know and decided that I could find my own way from there. I made a left when he said to go straight. Of course I argued with him. I know where I am now. I made it to the road I needed to be on and before ya know it, I was making the right turn onto route 20. Whoohoo. He wasnt thrilled that I knew how to find my way home.

One I got home, I was pretty much out of steam and passed out for a while. I was tired, cranky and bitchy. But over all it was a fun trip. :D

Inner Peace

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we
all could use more calm in our lives.

By following the simple advice I heard on a Medical TV show, I have
finally found inner peace.

A Doctor proclaimed the way to achieve inner
peace is to finish all the things you have started.

So I looked around my house to see things I'd started and hadn't
finished and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a
bottle of Merlot, a bottle of chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle
of vocka, a pockage of Prunglies , tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valum
scriptins, the res of the Chesescke an a bax a shocolets.

Yu haf no idr who fkin gud I fel.

Peas sen dis orn to dem yu fee ar in
ned ov inr pece