Backseat Driver (198/365)

TIME:  8:03 PM
PLACE: Jeep-High School fields
SUBJECT:  Oreo

It was time to pick up MonkeyBoy from soccer practice.  She watched me from the living room as I gathered my keys and purse.  I opened the back door, turned to face her and gave a small nod.  She ran through the house and was out the door like a shot.  Can you tell she loves car rides?

Smells (159/365)

TIME:  8:24 PM
PLACE:  Across the highway
SUBJECT:  Oreo’s head out the car window

DramaQueen is spending the night at a friend’s house and needed a ride.  Oreo was laying down in the living room and saw I was leaving.  I nodded at her; she quickly jumped up, pushed her way out of the door and ran to the car to tag along.  I rolled down all the windows so she could do her sniff, sniff, sniffing of all the good smells to be smelled as we drove along.

Car Wash Blues (020/365)

TIME:  1:45 PM
PLACE:  Car Wash
SUBJECT:  Rotating brush on windshield

I was in church this morning (did you feel the ground shake?) for MonkeyBoy’s Confirmation Rite of Enrollment.  Afterwards, we went out to lunch then, HH kindly drove the Jeep thorough the car wash and after that, he even filled up the tank for me.  Whatta guy!
~*~*~*~
Shout out to my bro John in Cali – he turns 47 today!

Frosty (313/366)

Twas warm—at first—like Us—Until there crept upon A Chill—like frost upon a Glass—

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), U.S. poet. 'Twas warm—at first—like Us (l. 1-3). . . The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Thomas H. Johnson, ed. (1960) Little, Brown.

TIME:  7:02 AM
PLACE:  Jeep window
SUBJECT:  Frost

I am so not ready for this.

Puddle (249/366)

“It does not make sense to put a puddle created by a truck tire during a rainstorm in the same . . . category as the Everglades,”

Dave Wilson

TIME:  6:10 PM
PLACE:  Parking lot
SUBJECT:  Reflection of Jeep in puddle

We had more storms this morning.  Once again the sun came out in the afternoon.  MonkeyBoy’s soccer game ended in tie.  Can’t complain.

Yes, I Watered Today (180/366)

“If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?”

Stephen Wright (American Actor and Writer, b.1955)

TIME:  8:12 PM
PLACE:  Front sidewalk
SUBJECT:  Planter

I watered the flowers in the front planters this evening. 


TIME:  4:04 PM
PLACE:  The Jeep
SUBJECT:  The temp

It was a little toasty today….the same is expected for tomorrow.

Salty (014/366)

Reg: Welcome to the Salty Spitoon. How tough are you?

"No Weenies Allowed." SpongeBob Squarepants. Mar. 2002. Television.

TIME:  2:30 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  Jeep tail light

Obviously, I did not join the extremely long line at the car wash to rid my Jeep of the road salt it gathered as a result of Thursday’s winter storm.  Maybe tomorrow.

Snow On The Car Roof (341/365)

“There may be snow on the roof, but there's fire in the belly”

Proverb quotes

TIME:  8:09 AM
PLACE:  Driveway
SUBJECT:  Snow on the car roof

We woke up to just a slight bit of the white stuff sticking to outdoor objects this morning.  It didn’t stay, thank goodness.  I am sooo not looking forward to winter weather.  Who wants to move to Rio with me?

Scouting For Food (323/365)

“The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American, Poet, 1807-1882)

TIME:  9:42 AM
PLACE:  The Jeep
SUBJECT:  MonkeyBoy, Boy Scouts & food donations

As part of fulfilling their Boy Scout Promise to help other people at all times, MB’s Boy Scout troop participated in the annual Scouting for Food collection program.  Last weekend they distributed bags and this morning they collected the donations and delivered them to a local food pantry.  I helped by driving MB and 2 other Scouts around a section of the designated collection area for our troop.  The part the boys enjoyed the most?  Riding in the open hatchback of the Jeep and hopping on and off to collect the bags.

Chip In The Old Windshield (277/365)

Gus: [looking at baseball cards] We've got statistics! I got 30 homeruns!
Richie: I got 11 foul ticks!
Clark: I got 20 eyes-closed strike outs, 5 broken windshields, and 6 dead birds! I'm freakin' awesome!

Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Heder, perf. The Benchwarmers. Dir. Dennis Dugan. 2006. Sony Pictures. DVD.

TIME:  2:50 PM
PLACE:  Driveway
SUBJECT:  Windshield chip

In the game of rock vs. windshield on Saturday, the rock ended up the victor.  As did the glass repair place this afternoon, where I handed them over a check for $40.  They repaired it by filling the chip with a resin.  It’s barely noticeable.  I figured I’d leave the insurance company out of this one…our rates will go up soon enough when DQ starts driving next year.

Hot (192/365)

"Summer has set in with its usual severity."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English, poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher, 1772–1834)

TIME:  4:16 PM
PLACE:  The Jeep
SUBJECT:  Temperature

We reached the magical 100 degree mark today with a real feel of 123 degrees – Ho-ly cannoli!  Yeah, it was just a little bit warm outside.

*disclaimer* – even though the car was in “Drive”, I was not driving at the time this photo was taken.

Car Ride (125/365)

“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear”

Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist best known for his weekly newspaper column. b.1947)

TIME:  5:58 PM
PLACE:  The Jeep
SUBJECT:  Oreo

DramaQueen needed a ride to the ball fields to watch a (boy)friend play baseball this evening.  I decided to let the dog ride along for trip – she just loves to ride in the car.  On the way to the ball diamond, we stopped to pick up a girlfriend.  When DQ got out of the car, Oreo jumped into the front seat and watched intently as DQ walked to the front door of the house.  When they returned to the car, the dog was beyond happy. 

Icy Monet View (054/365)

Tai: Do you think she's pretty?
Cher: No, she's a full-on Monet.
Tai: What's a monet?
Cher: It's like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess. Let's ask a guy. Christian, what do you think of Amber?
Christian: Hagsville.
Cher: See?

Murphy, Brittney, Alicia Silverstone, and Justin Walker, perf. Clueless. Dir. Amy Heckerling. 1995. Paramount.

TIME:  8:26 AM
PLACE:  The Jeep
SUBJECT:  Ice on window

We must have had some rain last night, and since it was so cold, everything this morning had a layer of ice on it.  We still do not own an ice scraper (now it’s so close to spring, I just don’t see the point in purchasing one), so after the car heated up a little, I rolled the windows down to try and remove the icy coating.  The window went down, but the ice remained vertical.  It made a nice little Monet-type filter as I looked out of the window.  The black outline on the right side of the photo is the rear view mirror.

No Thanks, We’re Going Straight (002/365)

Guy #1: Do you need directions?
Guy #2: I'm all set. I have the address, a GPS, and a GPS override.
Guy #1: What's a GPS override?
Guy #2: My wife.

Joke, Unknown

TIME:  7:24 PM
PLACE:  In the Jeep at US-50 intersection
SUBJECT:  Garmin

We went to my sister’s for my niece’s birthday party this afternoon.  Yes, we know how to get to my sister’s house, but I wanted to use our new Garmin to see how it works.  It’s original calculation had us going a way we don’t normally go (major highways), so it had to recalculate a new route based upon our preferred drive.  The same thing happened on our way home.  After I took this picture, we went straight ahead at the intersection instead of turning right as the Garmin lady told us.  Yeah, we’re rebels.

Happiness Is A Warm Seat (287/365)

 
“Happiness does not consist in things, but in the relish we have of them . . .”
                                                                 
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld, prince de Marcillac (French, author, accomplished 17th-century nobleman, 1613–1680)

TIME:  7:42 PM
PLACE:  The Jeep
SUBJECT:  Heated seat button

Last week, while running some errands with MonkeyBoy, I pushed the button for the driver’s side heated seat.  It lit up, then went out.  No heat!  MB tried the passenger seat.  His side worked.  I pouted.  In my world, heated seats make the colder weather a tad more tolerable.  I NEED them to survive in the winter.  So I scheduled the Jeep in for service today.  They fixed it quickly and even better, it was covered under warranty – no charge!  Now I can enjoy a warm rear end as I go to work, run errands and chauffer the kids around.  Pure bliss.

That Frosty Mug Taste (170/365)

 
[the whale groans]
Dory: Okay, he either said, "move to the back of the throat," or he "wants a root beer float".

Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds, U.S. screenwriters, Andrew Stanton, director and Lee Unkrich co-director, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), Finding Nemo (2003).

TIME: 7:39 PM
PLACE: Inside the Jeep, at the A&W restaurant
SUBJECT:  HandsomeHusband's free root beer float

A&W Restaurants celebrated their 90th anniversary today and to celebrate they were offering free root beer floats to every customer.  HH is a big root beer fan,  so after dinner we all piled into the Jeep and drove to the nearest A&W to partake.  Well, HH partook.  I have never cared for root beer so I got a hot fudge sundae instead as did DramaQueen.  MonkeyBoy and StellaDella just wanted vanilla ice cream cones.  Poor HH - it ended up costing him $11.  If only we all liked root beer floats!

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me (124/365)

 
"Elwood Blues: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
'Joliet' Jake Blues: Hit it."

The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, John Landis - director, 1980)

TIME: 4:15 PM
PLACE: Dashboard of the Jeep
SUBJECT: HandsomeHusband's Sunglasses

I think I missed the one-third point of this Project 365.  By my calculations, that point occurred on day 121.6667. *wink*  Wow, I find it hard to fathom that a third of this year has already come and gone.  Time is just speeding by...Guess that's what happens when you turn 42!  

I spent quite a bit of time in my car today.  Driving StellaDella to school, meeting up with my sister at Kohl's to spent my $10 certificate, heading to an appointment, running to the grocery store to pick up fixings for dinner and for what I need to make for Teacher's Appreciation Food Day on Thursday, then I pick up SD, go home to let the dog out, back out to pick up DramaQueen for her doctor's appointment and finally head home for good.  HH had left his sunglasses on the Jeep's dash and there they were, staring at me the entire time I was in the car.  About 4 blocks before we arrived home, I snapped this picture.  It seemed appropriate.

#%$^&%* Retaining Wall! (057/365)

 
“Did you hear about the psychic who was involved in a fender bender?
He had an auto-body experience."

Unknown

TIME: 12:02 PM
PLACE: The back driveway
SUBJECT: Very scraped up bumper

This little mishap actually occurred last night as I was backing out of a parking space after DramaQueen's basketball game.  There was a retaining wall on the other side, it was dark, and DQ was crying and upset about the way the game went down (very aggressive play and they lost).  I was a trifle distracted and misjudged how far back the retaining wall actually was - It obviously was closer than I thought.  I got an estimate today - $528.21 and it will take 2 days to fix.  Ouch.  It's scheduled to go in on March 9th.  Sorry honey!

Headlights (007/365)

"I replaced the headlights in my car with strobe lights, so it looks like I'm the only one moving.”

Stephen Wright (American Actor and Writer, b.1955)

TIME: 8:45 am

PLACE: The Backyard

SUBJECT: Jeep

Snow was swirling in the air as the kids were getting ready for school this morning. A light dusting covered the car. Soon the sun came out and melted it all away. The kids were disappointed.