Rebecca Homecca

I don’t feel like I’ve caught up from having company this weekend yet, and we are gearing up to head out of town for the weekend. I’ve been trying to get laundry done, and get the house picked up.

My mama taught me it’s no fun to come home to a messy house after being out of town. And it’s true.

It was a crazy week at work too. Month end and all that. Because I took tomorrow off, my month ended a day early. No less work to get done though!

We are going to visit the in-laws at their new place down in Ohio. I am super excited to see their new house. (Literally new, not new to them but a total wreck, like our “new” house was) We will also get to visit my SIL June and her family. We don’t get to see her and her kids too much, so that is always fun. See how they are growing up and how different they are from last time.

My BIL has been staying with us for the past week helping around the house. We will be dropping him off down there. He was able to get some hard labor done while we were at work. It’s nice to come home and have something done.

Probably won’t have another post until we come back. Then I will have lots of Ohio stories to tell.

Despite our best efforts to get the bathroom completed before we had company for the weekend, we ended up not having a door.

Not like that is important or anything.

We went looking for doors and could not find what we wanted, so we ended up special ordering. I would rather have what I want for the rest of my days here, than settle just so we can have a door for company.

Besides, we were getting our Redneck on anyway. It was a Nascar Party afterall.

So, in true redneck fashion, we hung a shower curtain in the doorway. Doesn’t do much for sound, but at least no one can see you.

I kind of lost count but I think we had a dozen or so people here all weekend. Friday we went to the baseball game, which was fun. Saturday was the party. I had a taco bar. I had fajita meat and taco meat in crockpots, nacho cheese dip, and all the fixins. I also made jalepeno poppers with peppers I got from a farm stand. Apparently they were slightly warm. Last time I made them they lasted about 5 minutes. This time, there were leftovers. Some poor suckers shoved the whole thing their mouth and immediately regretted that decision.

We also had prizes for various categories. Everyone picks driver numbers, and if your number comes up you win a prize. We had things like “First to Go out”, “First to have missing Hood or Fender”, etc. I also have a “Crash Bag” with small prizes that you get if your driver causes a caution. Hubs and I are judge on the who in that scenario.

We also tried a new breakfast spot while they were here. When deciding where to go, we offered up the gas station or the bar. Those are the 2 places near by that have breakfast. We went to the gas station. Actually, it is a deli & restaurant attached to the gas station. It was pretty good, but they did not have room for our big group. We had to eat outside on picnic tables. Never had breakfast outside a gas station on a picnic table before.

Also despite MY best efforts, my BFF Jen’s baby did not come out. I kept telling him to, but I guess he wasn’t done baking yet. I thought maybe the poppers would do it. I also offered her $500 to name the baby Alantrammell (all one word for the first name). She has a nephew or something named Alan and thought that was too close. So I went to $350 for just Trammell. Still no go.

Come Sunday people left at various times, and once everyone was gone, I laid on the couch and did not move until it was time to go to bed. All that big fun makes me tired.

and Billy Idol looks exactly the same.

Well, not exactly but mostly. Blonde, spiky hair, fist in the air, what more do you want?

We went to the Def Leppard concert last week and REO Speedwagon was supposed to open (I bought a new lighter and everything) but after the concert was postponed like 12 times, they were no longer on the ticket.

So Billy Idol filled in.

And it was awesome.

But now on to Def Leppard being the best rock band ever. Should you try to argue, and tell me that no, Poison or Bon Jovi are the best rock band ever, let me remind you of one simple fact:

The Drummer from Def Leppard’s only got one arm.

That my friends, is what we call a trump card.

Also, how can you argue with lyrical magic such as this:

Yeah, but are you gettin’ it? – Armageddon it!
Ooh, really gettin’ it? – Yes, Armaggedon it! (Armaggedon it) I don’t know entirely what this means, but it sounds pretty sweet.

Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria
Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?
It’s such a magical mysteria (Hysteria) Good use of the word mysteria, no?

Oh, look what you’ve done to this rock ‘n’ roll clown
Oh Oh, look what you’ve done (Photograph) I just had to give a shout out for the phrase “rock n roll clown”

Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin’, keep a-rollin’
Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin’, rock’n'rollin’ (Rock of Ages)

And of course, the best song of all, Pour Some Sugar on Me contains gems such as these:

Livin’ like a lover with a radar phone Is that like a cell phone?

Listen! red light, yellow light, green-a-light go!
Crazy little woman in a one man show
Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love
Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up Who else uses saccharine in their songs? Anyone?

Do you take sugar? one lump or two? I am not making this up, they are that good.

Becky Says: Def Leppard RULES!

A lot has happened since I last posted! I will not overwhelm you with the fascinating details of it all in one post. Upcoming topics to look forward to, may include, but are not limited to:

Who’s more awesome, Billy Idol or Def Leppard?

The Olympics are over, so now what?

I bought something at the antique store, always a riveting topic.

We had a bunch of people at house and there were snacks! and prizes! and big fun!

We did not have a door on the bathroom during all the big fun.

So, stay tuned for all that excitement, unless it is pre-empted by some other big thing (unlikely).

I have been obsessed with Women’s Beach Volleyball. Those girls are unstoppable! I don’t quote understand why they have to be half naked though. I mean, I get that it’s on the beach, but I don’t the brazil cut on the bottoms is necessary.

Also, I am completely mesmerized by how long Keri Walsh’s legs are. It’s freaky. Unfortunate turn of events with that face though.

I am hearing that all the ladies have a crush on Micheal Phelps. I am having trouble getting over his strange underbite. It’s not his fault, I have a thing about bad teeth. I am, however, increasingly amazed at how fast he can swim. As someone who only doggy paddles, I can appreciate that. It is kind of crazy though. It seems almost unreal.

In an effort to not make fun of someone’s face (I will not comment about that poor little snaggle tooth girl who sang that song and then couldn’t be on TV. Well, actually I will comment. Because the little girl they did have on TV was such a terrible lip sync-er they only showed her for like five seconds. So really, they could have put that other girl on)…er… where was I?

Oh, I know. Men’s indoor volleyball was just on. I don’t want to sound sexist, but seriously, boys should not play indoor volleyball. It looks stupid.  Dudes high fiving after a good bump, um, not. cool.

I really do love the Olympics, despite the tone this post has taken on.

But I digress…

Am I the only one that gets distracted by all the hair clips in the gymnastics?

Remember Mary Lou? She had that little hair cut and just let it fly? Those were the good ol’ days. I get the concept of the ponytail, but why all the clips? And if you need clips, is too much to ask that they match?

Well, our boy Phelps is on again. I get all anxious because I want him to get all the gold medals. Oh, that was just a prelim. Boring. I read recently about what he eats because he burns so many calories training. It’s unfortunate I am so lazy, because if I could eat all that it might be worth working out 30 hours a week. He eat like chocolate chip pancakes and stuff. That’s kind of obscene really.

I have not been on lately because we have been busy bees trying to get the bathroom done and some other small projects done in time for our Big Party (more on that later).

Last night I was up until 11 grouting the bathroom tile floor, at which point my arm died. It just curled up and said “NO MORE!”

I had to get up really early this morning, so I had hubs finish the cleanup so that I could get to bed. For whatever good that was. I could not sleep last night. I don’t know if it was the rushing trying to get the tile down, or the impending early morning meeting, but it just wasn’t happening.

I got up and snuggled on the couch with Marvin and watched a little TV. I was able to sleep for a while, and then woke up again around 4. I turned on the Olympics, thinking that would be benign enough to fall asleep to.

Girls gymnastics were on, and it was riveting. Bad idea. There was all this drama! China is ahead by one point, can our girls pull it off?

No, they couldn’t. Some girl fell right on her behinder.

But Wait! The Chinese could totally tank and we could still win the gold!

Yeah right. I’m pretty sure they start training those girls at birth.

Before I knew it the alarm was going off and we did not win the gold.

The kitty was confused as to why on earth we up at that hour. As was I. I made through the day until about 3 at which point I started to fall apart. I could not wait to get home and take a nap.

Which I did. And it was awesome.

The Olympics are on! I have been waiting all week for this. To prepare I have been studying Chinese Painting style.

Not really, actually it was a coincidence. One of my painting friends did do a painting of Micheal Phelps, however. Olympic Feva, it’s spreading.

These opening ceremonies are quite elaborate. My favorite part of the opening ceremonies is the athletes parade. I like to see countries with like 1 guy competing. Can’t help but root for him.

I could do without the commentary on the ceremonies, however. Save it for the games Bob.

I love the Olympics. It makes me feel very patriotic. I like to see Americans beat everybody. Except in basketball. I think it is goofy that we have professional players on the team. It should be for amateur’s only.

I know it is supposed to be about “world unity” and “peace” or some such thing. But All I care about is getting more medals than the Germans.

Ok, this China stuff has been going on for half and hour. Get the parade on already. I just checked NBC’s webpage and realized this thing goes until midnight. I should have gotten more snacks.

Those Chinese, they are good and doing things in unison. I think we might have a contender for Sychronized Swimming.

Do you think that dancer’s body paint was made with lead? Just curious.

Hmmm, re-reading this post I see how very free form my thoughts are today. Hope you did not get lost.

Go America!

We have dirt!

And no more pool of death water feature!

When we got the estimate, we joked that we may as well shred $1 bills and throw them in the hole. Because that is essentially what we were doing. Throwing money in a hole.

But I think the dirt will be better. It gets windy out here sometimes.

The dirt guy said he fills in as many pools as he digs holes for. Maybe people (us excluded, of course) need to buy a house with a pool if they want one, and buy a house with out a pool if they don’t want one. Just a thought.

But then what would the dirt guy do all day? He’s got bills to pay.

It would seem like there would be some sort of dirt network where people who are getting a new pool would give their dirt to someone filling in their pool. Like the personal ads, for dirt.

“Empty pool seeking dirt to fill the void in my life”

“Big pile of dirt seeking someone to hold me”

or something like that.

We had a primary election today in my area. I am always a little disappointed at the turn out for primary elections. Michigan is an open primary, so that means anyone can vote (although only for one party).

I am not aligned with any one party, but find it is important to show up at these things for other reasons.

Once we had a mayoral primary, and because he got more that 50% of the vote, he automatically won. Most of the city did not even get a say. I voted and still felt a little cheated that it did not go to regular vote.

They LOVE to sneak in ballot issues, millage increases and renewals, and other random things during primary elections. I don’t think this should be allowed. Primaries should be for that purpose only. All other voting issues need to wait until November.

If only I ruled the world…

Another important election this time around was County Sheriff. This is a pretty important position. Technically, it was a primary, but the way the candidates stacked up, I’m pretty sure one will be elected today. Most of the county will have not had a say. Not that they did not have a chance, they just didn’t show up.

The myth about primaries is that they are not important. I think the recent presidential race proves otherwise. Especially if you live in Michigan or Florida and participated in that fiasco parading itself as a primary.

Also, the other reasons I discussed above show that they can be very important. There are a lot of school issues decided during primaries. There are a lot of local issues decided during primaries. And for me, the local people are the most important.

For example, one of the people I voted for today was integral in getting a bunch of new bike trails in my area. That is something that affects my quality of life.

Sure, the president makes a lot of important decisions everyday, but how many do I feel personally? The national  economic plan is very important. But for my time, I’m more concerned about the new downtown business development that is going on in my town. Because that I will see everyday.

Becky Says: Go Vote! Everybody’s doing it! (If only that were true…)

You can tell this used to be a nicely landscaped lawn. However, those days have long since passed. Someone spent a lot of money on paving blocks and rocks. Since I don’t want that someone to be me, we are trying to salvage what we can before the bulldozer shows up. Today I spent the morning digging out pieces of stone for hubs to stack up by the garage. This was followed by putting rocks in a bucket and carrying them over to a pile by the house, about a million times. I got maybe a quarter of the rocks moved. It was in the heat of the day, so we decided to come in a cool off until later. I plan on getting back to my rocks after supper.

The worst part about this whole scenario is once we figure out what we are doing landscaping-wise, all these items will be moved again!

And so progress on the bathroom has been stalled again…

On an interesting note, I found a rock that looked exactly like a potato. Same shape and color, it even had eyes. I had to stop work to show hubs. You just don’t see a potato rock every day.