Tour de Belleville 2015 (191/365)

”Hoo doggies!”
Jed Clampett, The Beverly Hillbillies

TIME: 8:13 PM
PLACE: Downtown
SUBJECT: Start of the Tour de Belleville

It’s the 2nd Friday in July.
That means it’s time for the annual bike ride through the city streets.
The theme this year was the “Belle Villey Hillbillies”. (Clever, no?)
This year, we (the 5 of us, along with my Dad, Brother and nephew) made sure we were at the head of the crowd.
We finished the 15 miles in about an hour and 20 minutes.
Then it was time for a beverage.


The streetlight caused shadows to be cast by the metal outdoor table.
It looked like I was wearing fishnet knee socks.

Diving Right In (163/365)

TIME:  7:20 PM
PLACE:  The pool
SUBJECT:  HandsomeHusband

We celebrated MB’s birthday at the pool from this evening with a party for him.  We had 18 classmates along with family to toast the birthday boy.  There was pizza, ice cream, cupcakes and lots of swimming. 
As you can see, HH even did some diving. 
Impressive!

Christmas Eve (359/366)

TIME:  9:27 PM
PLACE:  Dad’s house
SUBJECT:  StellaDella and her Kindle Fire HD

SD received the “best present ever!” from Paw-paw…a Kindle Fire HD.  Now maybe she’ll stay off of my phone and my laptop. 

It’s The In Thing (256/365)

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

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

TIME:  7:28 AM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  What my son wore to school

This is what MonkeyBoy wore on his feet to school today.  When I questioned his fashion sense, DramaQueen quickly jumped to his defense – apparently this is what all the “cool” kids are wearing these days.  Really?  Because I surely can remember fun of our elders when they would wear shorts and dark dress socks with sandals.  It was so un-cool.  Now?  It’s the in thing.  Strange days, my friends.  Strange days.

Spot The Difference (153/365)

"The world is like a broken wrist that healed the wrong way, and will never be the same again."

Frances Hardinge (Fly by Night)

TIME:  12:30 PM & 9:22 PM
PLACE: Riverchase, Fenton, MO & living room
SUBJECT: My legs and my wrapped wrist

Did you see the difference?  A broken left wrist – more specifically, a closed fracture of navicular (scaphoid) bone of wrist and distal radius fracture.  Nice. huh?  Unfortunately, I don't have a fun story to go with it. I was at Riverchase (a recreation center) in Fenton, MO and was walking back to my lounge chair, hit a slick spot where the concrete slopes into the water and down I went. Luckily my sister (an ER nurse) was with me and got me into the SSM St. Clare ER right away. I'll see an orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Good news is it's my left wrist - I'm right handed - AND I've got Percocet!


(”X” marks where the dreaded slippage occurred.)

Horizontal Stripes (087/365)

“Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes with plaid is easy.”

Albert Einstein (German born American Physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

TIME:  3:46 PM
PLACE:  My bedroom
SUBJECT:  Stripe shadows

We are supposed to get ANOTHER 3-5 inches of snow late tomorrow afternoon – which should all melt by Wednesday and then we are supposed to get up to 71 degrees on Saturday.  Nutsy!  ~*~*~  Anyway, I forgot to put the memory card back in my little camera and could not take my weekly photo at the parking lot at work.  When I returned home I went upstairs to change into sweats and noticed the shadows coming in my bedroom window.  I decided to try to get all artsy with my shot today.  You know what they say about wearing horizontal stripes…I hope they don’t make me look fat.

Mowing The Lawn (089/365)

 
SpongeBob: “What is it about summertime that makes us so happy? The firefly-lit nights, the intoxicating aroma of a charcoal briquette, the hypnotic sound of a lawnmower running over a flip-flop?”

"Krabby Land." Perf. Tom Kinney. SpongeBob SquarePants. 3 Apr. 2004

TIME:  4:09 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  HandsomeHusband & lawnmower

The first mowing of 2010 took place this afternoon.  The two girls were assigned the task of picking up the toys in the yard, but we still had a couple of causalities.  Mr. Elephant and Mr. Alligator, I am so sorry that you were run over and chopped to bits…what a tragic way to meet your demise.

Pajamas (034/365)

 
“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.”

Groucho Marx (American Comedian, Actor and Singer, 1890-1977)

TIME:  9:35 PM
PLACE:  By my computer
SUBJECT:  Pajama pants

Oy, what a day.  At work today, my PC froze up, then the monitor would not work.  So I switched out the monitor…still didn’t work.  Called the outside computer vendor we use and they came by the office and took the unit in to see what’s up.  Here’s hoping it’s just the video card.  Apparently, 2010 is not looking to be a good year for me and computers. ~ This evening was the wake for my Aunt.  I just hoped I could get through it without falling apart and I did fine.  I arrived at the funeral home about 4:30ish.  HH brought the kids with him in a seperate car.  DQ, MB and SD found the food spread in the lounge area and were thus occupied.  HH took the two younger ones home a little after 6 and DQ stayed with me until 8pm.  I will be going back tomorrow for the procession to church for mass and then to the cemetery.  It will just be me, the kids are going to school and HH will be going to work. ~ When I returned home tonight, I changed into a huge sweatshirt and my comfy PJ pants.  I put my feet up and am sitting at the computer to relax a bit before I head off to bed.  Goodnight.

Film-Noir (351/365)

Norma Desmond: ... All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.

Sunset Blvd. (Gloria Swanson-actress. Written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman Jr.
Billy Wilder-director, 1950)

TIME:  10:20 PM
PLACE:  Bedroom
SUBJECT:  My legs and new shoes

OK, I’m embarrassed to admit that I bought these Jessica Simpson shoes today.  Oh, and those fishnet tights too.  I was doing some Christmas shopping and also trying to figure out what the heck I am going to wear to a Holiday concert we are attending tomorrow night.  It is at Powell Symphony Hall with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.  I saw these shoes at Macys and thought they were pretty cute.  I had a black leather skirt at home and I thought that the the shoes would go well with the skirt, some tights, a dressy camisole, a black blazer and a scarf.  I tried it all on but I’m still not sure.  I’ll have to sleep on it.

Tights And Leggings (322/365)

A bone to the dog is not charity.  Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog. 

Jack London (American, author, 1876–1916)

TIME:  7:57 PM
PLACE:  DQ’s bedroom
SUBJECT:  SD’s & my legs

This is what I wore tonight to the charity event. (Brown “Me Too” boots ($6 @ Goodwill), white tights - no, my legs are not THAT pale - ($5 @ Wal-mart) and tan corduroy skirt ($3 on clearance at Wal-Mart).  Not pictured is an orange cami and a white hoodie (Old Navy).  SD is in the background wearing leggings from Target.  Her shoes are from Payless)

The event went well.  For a donation of a toy or $20 per person, we get to sample food from around 20 different restaurants.  There were gift basket raffles and the County Animal Shelter held a drawing for 2 dogs and 3 cats.  DQ purchased a ticket for one of the cats but thankfully unfortunately, she did not win.  I’m stuffed and it was for a good cause.  All donated gifts and proceeds will go to local needy families.  I like that fact that it is a local charity.  Due to the economy, our charitable contributions are not as much as they have been in years past.  But this is one event that we definitely keep in our budget every year.

Pigpen's Sister (165/365)

 
"I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world."

Frances Goodrich (1891-1984), U.S. screenwriter, and Frank Capra. George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), It's a Wonderful Life, to Mary after the dance (1947). George says this, or a variation of it, a lot in the first part of the movie. additional scenes by Jo Swerling. Based on a story by Philip Van Doren Stern.

TIME:  4:35 PM
PLACE:  Little League Field - Bantam diamond
SUBJECT: StellaDella kicking up dust

I don't know what she likes to do more, falling down each and every play or kicking up dust running for the ball.  Whenever she made a move on the field today her feet were dragging.  She was dragging them so she could watch the dust puff up around her.  Whenever her team was on the field, she would fall down in the infield dirt on each and every play.  Her teammate would be on the other side of the infield making the play and SD would fall down.  She would be nowhere near the ball and down she would collapse in the dirt - she did it in empathy for her teammate I guess.  Sigh.  She has just 2 more games to play until the end of her T-ball season.