A Cake & A Sign (152/366)

“Gainfully unemployed, very proud of it, too.”

Charles Baxter, The Feast of Love

TIME:  5:03 PM
PLACE:  Gregg’s Bar & Grill
SUBJECT:  Dad’s retirement cake

Dad’s work had a get-together this afternoon for his retirement – which is officially tomorrow!  Geez…he turns 70 and thinks he can just stop working.  Well, all I can say is that he just better be frugal in his golden years so he doesn’t spend all of my inheritance.  Ha!  Enjoy Pop!  And remember, when you get bored, I’ve plenty of projects for you to work on at my house.

 
TIME:  6:11 PM
PLACE:  The bathroom of Gregg’s
SUBJECT:  A hand washing reminder

This sign may have been up just as long as Dad has been working.

Comparing (151/366)

“Property as compared with humanity, as compared with the red blood in the American people, must take second place, not first place.”

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), U.S. president. Campaign address, September 18, 1912, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson, vol. 26, p. 177, ed. Arthur S. Link.

TIME:  8:28 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen & MonkeyBoy

MB’s touch screen on his cell phone died an untimely death Monday.  He could not access anything.  So, we made a trip to the phone store this evening and he is now the proud owner of an Android based phone.  They were comparing phones and his sister was showing him what apps he *needed* to have.

Fences Between the Fields (150/366)

“Hit the ball over the fence and you can take your time going around the bases.”

John W. “Jack” Raper (American, journalist, 1870-1950)

TIME:  8:10 PM
PLACE:  Away ball diamonds
SUBJECT:  Field easement

MB's team had to forfeit their game this evening because we didn’t have enough players.  The other team lent us a man and the two teams played an unofficial game anyway.  I sat here, on the third baseline, which also happened to be the first baseline for the adjoining field.  I was constantly having to keep a “heads-up” with the foul balls from both sides.

Memorial Day (149/366)

“I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.”

Benjamin Harrison (American, 23rd President of the United States [1889–1893]. 1833–1901)

TIME:  7:13 PM
PLACE:  Walnut Hill Cemetery
SUBJECT:  Penny on tombstone

There are many reasons for leaving a penny on a tombstone…one of them is as a token of thanks.  There were many pennies on the tombstones of soldiers that surrounded the Civil War monument in the cemetery.
~*~*~
Today would have been Mom’s 70th birthday.  I also visited her grave this evening - I forgot the forks though.

Pollen & Petal Hair (148/366)

"Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn't room for any other thought."

Sophia Magdalena Scholl (German, Student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. Convicted of high treason, executed by guillotine. 1921–1943)

TIME:  7:42 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Dianthus ‘Firewitch’ Cheddar Pink

I didn’t realize that these petals had hair-like growths on them.  They kind of remind me of my legs before I shaved them for our pool excursion today.  Oh, I’m sorry…was that more than you needed to know?

Pool’s Open (147/366)

Ernie: I'm gonna build an Olympic-sized swimming pool and fill it with pina coladas and a college sorority.

Mousehunt, Dreamworks SKG, 1997.

TIME:  5:46 PM
PLACE:  Pool
SUBJECT:  Pool

It’s officially summer.

Setting (146/365)

“Can you see the sunset real good on the West side? You can see it on the East side too.”

S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders

TIME:  8:01 PM
PLACE:  Shopping center
SUBJECT:  Sun

Not much time to take a photo today.  But I loved the color of the sky and the big yellow sun as it was setting this evening, so I quickly took this before we walked into the store to buy MonkeyBoy a new pair of swim trunks.  The pool opens up this holiday weekend – summer is starting!

Barbed Wire & Crescent Moon (145/366)

“A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.”

Sophia Loren (Italian film Actress, b.1934)

TIME:  8:33 PM
PLACE:  Ball fields
SUBJECT:  Barbed wire & moon

MB had a game this evening.  They ended up in a tie – they can’t start another inning after 8:15 pm – which was better than a loss I suppose.  Note to self:  Next time, don’t forget the bug spray…the mosquitos are vicious this year.

A Taste of Honey (144/366)

“The only reason for being a bee that I know of is to make honey.... And the only reason for making honey, is so as I can eat it.”

A. A. Milne. Winnie the Pooh. Methuen & Co. Ltd. (London). October 14, 1926

TIME:  7:09 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Fresh honey

HH’s friend - and best man at both his weddings,  Arthur K. - began keeping bees recently.  Last week he brought us a mason jar of his honey harvest.  It’s good stuff.

A Book and a Butt (143/366)

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies," said Jojen. "The man who never reads lives only one.” 

George R.R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

TIME:  11:50 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  The book I’m currently reading and Jack’s rear end

I’ve been reading and just noticed the time. I need to take a picture and quickly before midnight!  So here is the book I’ve been engrossed in right now - “The Heretic’s Daughter” by Kathleen Kent.  It is about a woman, Sarah Carrier Chapman, who writes her granddaughter about a time during the Salem witch trials when she was nine years old.  Sarah’s mother was accused of sorcery.  To protect her children, asked Sarah to tell the judges that, yes, her mother was a witch in the hopes that while condemning her to certain death, it would save Sarah and her brothers.  It’s a good read.

Quitting Time…Finally (142/366)

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”

Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

TIME:  5:25 PM
PLACE:  Work
SUBJECT:  Clock

This was my first day of “10s”.  During the summer, I have opted to work from 7am to 5:30pm on Mondays and Tuesdays: I’m off on Wednesdays; and then work 7am to 5:30pm on Thursdays and Fridays.  This way I can have at least 1 day off a week to do something with the kids or get stuff done around the house (yeah, like THAT’s gonna happen).  I think I’m going to like Wednesday’s off because I only have to work the 10 hours 2 days in a row.  Today, I had officially clocked in at 6:55am so out I went at 5:25 this evening.  Yeah…I made it!

We Reminded Him (141/366)

“We know we're getting old when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded of it.”

Anonymous

TIME: 12:56 to 1:02 AM
PLACE:  Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  Yard art

My godchild and I returned to Dad’s house early this morning to decorate his front yard and car for his birthday.  We used Post-its, crepe paper, and 70 plastic forks.  Why forks in the lawn?  I have no idea.  It was something my mom and her siblings did to each other on their birthdays.  I should have filled his car with black balloons like I did for his 50th.


To make it up to him, I made his favorite birthday pie – strawberry glazed – and took it over to him this evening.  I hope I’m still in the will.

Birthday Dinner (140/366)

“A family with an old person has a living treasure of gold.”

Chinese Proverb
(Sorry Dad, I couldn’t resist)

TIME:  8:24 PM
PLACE:  Andria’s Restaurant
SUBJECT:  Shayne, Dad & StellaDella

Officially, Pop’s big 70th birthday is tomorrow (May 20th), but we took him to dinner tonight to celebrate.  We being me, HH and the kids, my oldest brother and his family and my sister and her family – 14 of us.  They even gave him a small cake with a candle to blow out.  He proceeded to cut it into the tiniest pieces I’ve ever seen so we could all have a bite.  After, we went to get ice cream and brought it back to his house to eat it.
 

For such an old man, he looks good! *wink* Love ya Dad!
~*~*~
(My godchild and I visited his front yard after midnight to decorate. Photos to follow!)

Go Speed Racer, Go! (139/366)

“Shake and bake!”

Ricky Bobby, Cal Naughton, Jr., Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Sony Pictures, 2006.

TIME:  7:29-8:37 PM
PLACE:  Belle Clair Speedway
SUBJECT:  At the stock-car races

I volunteered to help at the “Battle at Belle-Vegas” that my work sponsored at the Speedway this evening.  We signed people up for a raffle (Cardinal baseball tickets) from 5-7pm then we were able to stay and watch the races.  I was given extra tickets, so DQ, SD and several of my cousins joined me.   We were able to sit in the enclosed VIP viewing tower.  The speedway gave us t-shirts and also served us chicken, beef and shrimp kabobs, baked potatoes and water – it was all good!

 
They had late models, midgets plus 600cc micro sprints.


It was still loud inside the tower! 

Of course only I would go to the races and come home with a picture of stacked milk cartons.

The Graduates (138/366)

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)

TIME:  6:49 PM
PLACE:  Junior High School
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen (center) and friends

8th grade graduation this evening.  She wouldn’t let me take an individual picture of her.  And I had issues taking pictures during the ceremony.  I did, however, manage to catch her walking back from getting her diploma…


She looks so happy.  Congratulations DramaQueen…I’m so proud of you!

Grease Is The Word (137/366)

Bob Shelton: You guys know what Greasers are? White trash with long, greasy hair.
Ponyboy: You know what a Soc is?
Bob Shelton: What?
Ponyboy: White trash with mustangs and madras.
[spits at Bob]

The Outsiders. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. 1983. Warner Bros. Pictures.

TIME:  7:51 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  MonkeyBoy and his hair

MB’s class read “The Outsiders” in his Language Arts class this last quarter.  They had the option of dressing up like a “Greaser” or a “Soc” today.  MB chose to be a “Greaser”  It took a ton of pomade to style his hair and I bet it’s going to take a ton of shampoo to wash it out tonight.

Chapter 4: In Which Eeyore Loses a Tail, and Pooh Finds One (136/366)

"Dear, dear," said Pooh, "I'm sorry about that. Let's have a look at you." So Eeyore stood there, gazing sadly at the ground, and Winnie-the-Pooh walked all round him once. "Why, what's happened to your tail?" he said in surprise.

"What has happened to it?" said Eeyore.

"It isn't there!"

"Are you sure?"

"Well, either a tail is there or it isn't there You can't make a mistake about it. And yours isn't there!"

"Then what is?"

"Nothing."

"Let's have a look," said Eeyore, and he turned slowly round to the place where his tail had been a little while ago, and then, finding that he couldn't catch it up, he turned round the other way, until he came back to where he was at first, and then he put his head down and looked between his front legs, and at last he said, with a long, sad sigh, "I believe you're right"

"Of course I'm right," said Pooh

"That accounts for a Good Deal," said Eeyore gloomily. "It explains Everything. No Wonder."

"You must have left it somewhere," said Winnie-the-Pooh.

"Somebody must have taken it," said Eeyore."How Like Them," he added, after a long silence.

A. A. Milne. Winnie the Pooh. Methuen & Co. Ltd. (London). October 14, 1926

TIME:  8:13 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  A tailless Blade

We had an incident happen while the girls and I were camping the other weekend with the Girl Scouts.  Someone *cough* HandsomeHusband *cough* left the top off Blade’s cage.  Blade got out and ended up losing his tail.  We don’t know for sure if the cats or the dog were involved in the tail tragedy, but nevertheless, there is no longer a rear appendage attached to our boy.  The sad part is, he cannot grow a new one either.  Poor Blade.

Lion Face (135/366)

Suspended lion face
Spilling at the centre
Of an unfurnished sky ...

Philip Larkin (1922-1986), British poet. "Solar."

TIME:  8:03 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Lion’s head fountain

Yesterday I bought myself some miniature cattails to put in my water fountain.  Tonight, after cleaning out the tubing that directs the water through the lion’s mouth (I had a rather large blockage of dirt), I finally set up the new pump that I purchased a couple of months ago.  Now the soothing sounds of splashing water fill my front porch.

Mother’s Day Dinner (134/366)

“My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.”

Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker, American comedian and actor. 1924–2003)

TIME:  6:00 PM
PLACE:  Nobu’s in St. Louis
SUBJECT:  California & Cucumber maki
(taken with cell phone)

I was taken out to eat by the HH and the kiddos today in honor of Mother’s Day.  Sushi.  Then we went to Ted Drewes and got custard for dessert.  What more could I ask for?

Rescue Me (133/366)

“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”

Immanuel Kant (German Philosopher one of the foremost thinkers of the Enlightenment. 1724-1804)

TIME:  11:32 AM
PLACE:  Humane Society
SUBJECT:  Kitten

Our final Brownie Scout outing of the year was a trip to the Humane Society to complete requirements of the Pets badge.  Each girl brought a bag of dog or cat food to donate to the shelter.  The temptation to bring home another cat was strong, but I resisted.  It was really hard though…just look at that cute little face.

Pre-8th Grade Dance (132/365)

|
”These are my daughters, I suppose.
But where in the world did the children vanish?”

Phyllis McGinley, "Ballad of Lost Objects," 1954

TIME: 6:56-7:26 PM
PLACE: Home & at the Junior High
SUBJECT: DramaQueen and friends
(that’s her date in the purple tie!)

When did she grow up?  This is just not right.

Cora Bell Buds (131/366)

“An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life.”

Cora Lee Bell

TIME:  7:10 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Cora Bell buds

I’ve had these Cora Bell plants for years.  They were on the west side, next to the porch.  They thrived even during the teardown and reconstruction of the front porch.  About 2 years ago, I dug them up and moved them as they were hidden behind other perennials I had planted.  I was afraid that they wouldn’t survive the move, but they did.  They’re just beginning to bud.

So Don’t Do Anything Stupid (130/366)

“I said don't wear your mittens. They look ridiculous on the security camera.”

Mae "Maeby" Fünke. Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 5. Charity Drive (30 Nov. 2003). Television.

TIME:  7:54 PM
PLACE:  Target parking lot
SUBJECT:  “Security Cameras In Use” sign

I wonder if the security camera in use was taking a picture of me while I was taking a picture of the security cameras in use sign?  It seems like it would be a vicious circle.

In Short…Don’t Park Here (129/366)

“The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no parking in the white zone."

Airport “No Parking” announcemnent

TIME:  7:53 PM
PLACE:  Little League Fields
SUBJECT:  “No Parking” sign

This has to be the shortest “No Parking” sign I’ve ever seen.  I wanted to get StellaDella to stand next to it for comparison but she was too busy running around the infield of the neighboring diamond.  Kicking up the dust is much more fun than standing by a sign.

Lego Maniac (128/366)

“Size doesn't matter. When stepped on in the dark, a 2X2 LEGO brick causes the same amount of pain as a 2X8 brick.”

Unknown

TIME:  10:42 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  StellaDella’s newest Lego creation

SD has pulled out the Legos from the depths of the toy area in the basement.  She has been busy building creations like this one.  It looks like it means business.

I Like Turtles (127/366)

“All the thoughts of a turtle are turtle.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 - April 27, 1882)

TIME:  10:32 PM
PLACE:  Girl Scout Camp
SUBJECT:  Turtle

I guess our little talk with the girls worked.  They begged me to take them on a hike this morning before we left for home.  We took a different trail and ended up finding this turtle near the end of the walk.  He looks a bit grumpy though.  Kind of like the girls were yesterday.

A Fungus Among Us (126/366)

“Not ringed but rare, not gilled but polyp-like, having sprung up overnight—These mushrooms of the gods, resembling human organs uprooted, rooted only on the air.”

William Jay Smith (b. 1918), U.S. poet. Morels (l. 12-13). . . Book of Nature Poems, A. William Cole, comp. (1969) The Viking Press.

TIME:  12:59 PM
PLACE:  Girl Scout camp
SUBJECT:  Mushrooms seen on a hike

After we arrived at camp, we had the girls stow their gear in the cabins, ate lunch and then we went on a scavenger hunt hike.  We had to find and take pictures of several different items one might see on a hike.  My charges, the Brownies (ages 8-9) ended up being one of the whiniest bunch ev-ver!  They moaned & groaned & complained about being hot, sweaty and tired from all that walking.  The other leader and I had to have a talk with them about the proper way for Girl Scouts to behave at camp and how anyone who complained would not be receiving their hiking badge nor would they be allowed to camp next year.  They straightened up and ended up having fun despite the heat & humidity.

Pull My Tab (125/366)

“Another one o' them new worlds. No beer, no women, no pool parlors, nothing. Nothing to do but throw rocks at tin cans. And we gotta bring our own tin cans.”

Cyril Hume, and Fred McLeod Wilcox. Cook (Earl Holliman), Forbidden Planet, commenting on their arrival on Altair 4 (1956).

TIME:  5:26 PM (on Saturday)
PLACE:  Camp
SUBJECT:  Mother’s Day craft (or the end results of my late Friday evening and why I do not have an “official” Friday photo)

I was a little busy after work prepping for a craft for the girls to make at Girl Scout camp this weekend.  I admit, I did not take a photo.  *hangs head in shame* However, this is the result of my prep work…the girls filled cans filled with Hershey Kisses and decorated them for mom’s to pop open on Mother’s Day next week.  I got the idea and instructions from here.

I See Baseball Season Has Begun (124/366)

"The love of dirt is among the earliest of passions, as it is the latest….So long as we are dirty, we are pure.”

- Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden, 1870

TIME:  8:28 PM
PLACE:  Ball Fields
SUBJECT:  StellaDella’s dirty knees

Whatever she had on her knees, it wasn’t dirt.  It was some sort of soap-resistant type of matter.  Scrubbing didn’t even help.  *Sigh*  On the bright side, MB’s team won!  That’s one game more than what they won last season - they didn’t win a single game last year. Yippee!

In The Tall Grass (123/366)

“When spring comes the grass grows by itself.”

Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing (道德經), aka the Laozi, attributed to Laozi, Chinese classic text.

TIME:  8:07 PM
PLACE:  Yard
SUBJECT:  Oreo in the grass

Every time HH had time to cut the grass the past week, it was either raining out or the grass was still too wet from the rain to cut.  When he had other obligations, it was sunny & dry.  Now it’s so tall, it has gone to seed.  Oreo doesn’t like being in the yard when it is this tall.  I guess that’s because it tickles her behind when she does her business.

The Sponsor & The Confirmed (122/366)

“ You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
And a cross of gold”

Joel, BIlly, "Only The Good Die Young." The Stranger. Columbia, 1977.

TIME:  8:38 PM
PLACE:: Parish gym
SUBJECT:  My niece, Brandi and DramaQueen

DQ received the sacrament of Confirmation from the Bishop this evening.  She asked her cousin Brandi, my godchild, to be her sponsor and she agreed.  Brandi arrived home from college for the summer yesterday.  Perfect timing.