Tag Archives: Fun

Is egg nog supposed to grow hair on your chest?

Fun

I haven’t always loved egg nog, but I love it now.  I am not sure when it started…I suppose it just grew in time (sound any like Elizabeth on Pride and Prejudice?).  When I was a kid, my parents (mostly my Dad) ate sardines and buttermilk and scrapple and egg nog.  It all just seemed like stuff that wasn’t supposed to be ingested.  But in time, the lure of the egg nog alone won me over.

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I am not much of a drinker regardless of what some of my posts may suggest.  My entire family has been sick for the last hundred years or so…or maybe it’s just been the last 3 weeks.  Anyhow, I was in Rite Aid the other day picking up motrin (which is absolutely magic on fevers) when I spied with my eye, a bottle of Evan Williams egg nog.  I got a little giddy when I saw it because I figured I would be a better connoisseur of egg nog having tried every variety I can find.  And yes, before you ask, I do have high hopes of being a world famous egg nog master…more on that later.

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So, I hauled my bottle of spiked nog to the counter where the cashier lady quadruple wrapped my bottle in bags so no one on the outside world would know they sell whiskey and such there (I guess).  I gently cradled my new baby in my arms and buckled him into the car for the trip home.  Once home, I cleared the top shelf of the refrigerator and carefully placed the bottle to let him chill.

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Later on  in the evening, the moment of truth arrived.  I prepared my finest dixie cup and attempted to open the bottle of nog.  Mr Williams must have had a much stronger grip than I have because I could not open that bottle for the life of me.  I can’t imagine the terror that must cause someone who…uh…really needs egg nog.  Anyhow, I finally found the proper tool to disengage the lid and I poured out my portion and took a sip.

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In my opinion, Mr Williams produces one of the absolute nastiest things I have ever tasted (and remember, I have licked a lot of bells!)  As you know, a dixie cup is not very large, but I could not bear to finish my sample.  Down the drain it went.  And by the way, I happen to have a good deal on a partially used bottle of nasty…any takers?

Ok…sorry, I thought not.  If you want to read something more useful, take a look at a post I wrote over at Not Dabbling in Normal…

The rodent war of NW PA

Family, Fun, Nature, ,

My Grandpa is a pretty amazing man.  He never cured any mysterious diseases or won a Nobel prize, but he is just clever and patient and a lot of fun…and he ended the Rodent War of NW PA.

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I grew up in northwest PA where the chipmunk is the region’s mascot.  You see, it is woodsy where my people are.  There are miles and miles of trees and not a stoplight or fast food restaurant to be found.  Critters sort of run the show there.  When I was growing up, we had a bit of a problem with squirrels in the house.  My parents used extreme prejudice in the removal of over 30 in one year…inside the house…in their bed, in the bathroom, the living room…everywhere in the house.

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So folks in the area live a sort of uneasy coexistence with rodents.  Everyone has squirrel problems and war is declared regularly.  Actually, they are more like regional outbreaks and minor skirmishes, but tell that to the people on the front lines.  Anyhow, most rational people know that they should be cautious as they go to sleep at night.  The squirrels are relentless and merciless.

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Anyhow, my Grandpa, the pacifist, sought to end the chaos of war in the area so he extended the olive branch to a local chipmunk, a local tribal leader and the spokes-rodent in the area.  Slowly and patiently, he enticed the chipmunk closer and closer with sunflower seeds.  In time, he was able to feed Edgar Snyder, the chipmunk out of his hand.  He named the chipmunk Edgar Snyder after the locally-famous ambulance chaser who had really annoying ads on tv.

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Anyhow, Edgar and Grandpa struck up quite a friendship and a relationship based on respect and trust.  Edgar would eat from friendly people’s hands.  Once in your hand, Edgar could be moved around by gently lifting his tail and shifting his backside.  As long as the sunflower seeds lasted, he was happy to stick around.

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I was fortunate enough to witness this beautiful thing they had together first hand…literally.  I fed Edgar and asked him to send my best regards to his rodent friends.  In time, it was apparent that my Grandpa had broken the rodent wars of NW PA.  The truce lasted for some time and prosperity returned to the land!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Awesome, Fun,

OH. MY. WORD!  This weekend we saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert in Charleston.  I have seen some pretty cool concerts but nothing compares to the concert these folks put on.  Their concert was full of light and lasers and fire and sound and fire and more fire!  It was the most visually overwhelming thing  I have ever seen!

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Ok…back up…what is Trans-Siberian Orchestra for those of you who are uninitiated?  They term their musical style as Rock Opera…with Fire!  I really liked the fire!  We had pretty great seats close to the main stage but the performance really takes place all across the floor of the arena.  Snow fell from the sky and smoke rose from the floor (which had me concerned once I saw fire also come from the floor).

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There are lasers and light EVERYWHERE and the sound was just right…loud but not so loud that the audience lost the lyrics and music.  My ears were ringing for 24 hours afterwards which was also just right.  There are no bad seats for a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert!

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Before the performance started, a few members of the group came on stage and presented a check to Mountain Mission for their food drive.  It was a pretty great gesture and was received well by the crowd.  The concert started as a narrator began telling a story of a man he met who had a story of a child far from home on Christmas.  The narrator’s voice was deep and booming and gave me chills as he told his story.  The orchestra (which, by the way, had  WV strings players) played along with the electric guitars and an absolutely fantastic drummer.  The story was told in narration and song and was absolutely fantastic.

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I can’t really say enough about this concert and my pictures surely don’t do it justice…it was amazing!  If you ever get a chance to see them, you MUST go!

 

Halloween!

Family, Fun,

Not much to say…the pics speak for themselves.  We trick-or-treated last night and got way too much candy.  Isaac was a dementor (the soul-sucking beast from Harry Potter) and Abigail was an Indian Princess (feather, not a bindi).  Emily actually got her to stay still long enough to braid her hair!

Without further adieu…

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(not good for human/dementor relations…)

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(poor kid…the dementor moved his nose to where his eyes belong…at least they made up!)

Pumpkin fun

Family, Fun,

We finally managed to get to the farmers’ market yesterday to buy some pumpkins to carve for Halloween. It’s a tradition afterall, where brothers and sisters gather around the dining room table and fight with each other and their parents while wielding sharp knives. It’s a tradition that goes way back, before the crusades in fact!

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Anyhow, the kids design their own faces and prepare their pumpkins by scraping the insides. Our brave warriors could not handle the feel so donned rubber gloves for the task. Isaac is getting much better though. Last year he very nearly threw up. Although the gagging was a bit funny to watch, I don’t really miss that. Anyhow, they got the guts out and I separated the seeds from the fibers and meat.

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Emily helped the kids transfer the pumpkins’ facial patterns to the orange beasts. We gave the kids their safety knives for pumpkins and turned them loose.

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In the meantime, I set my pumpkin down beside some ingredients. I was planning on cooking a bit. When I walked back into the room, I was able to snap this shocking photo of my pumpkin:
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We test-lighted the pumpkins and had a mostly good time hanging around, watching Mo, our cat try to steal pumpkin seeds, and sing our favorite Halloween songs…ok…I made up that last part.

Over the years, I have carved some pretty fun pumpkins at the place I used to work. My co-worker (who shall remain nameless to preserve her privacy) was a genius on this and did most of the work I figure. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these too:

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Yoda…I put a motion detector inside of him and wrote a computer program so that any time there was motion in front of Yoda, he played a Yoda voice clip from one of the movies!

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A Magic 8 Ball pumpkin to determine our estimates for when our projects would be complete!

And so I don’t forget, I also did a post over at Not Dabbling in Normal if you’d care to check that out too!

Water Rocket Fun

Fun, Tinkering,

I am sitting here at Panera (yes…again…I know, I should go to work some) looking out at the dark rain clouds rolling in and wishing that we would get a bunch more days of nice weather.  I have always loved Summer.  I sort of dread the coming of Winter and Fall.

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I was thinking about some of  the things that I love about Summer and water rockets came to mind.  I think it sort of mixes water, heat, adventure, a little danger and an explosion of sorts.  How can I not love it?!

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When we lived in TN, we decided to make a water rocket to keep us all cool and give the kids something to chase.  You see, a water rocket shoots water all over the place and anyone nearby gets soaked.  It also launches pretty high up in the air and someone has to go and recover the fuselage.

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So, what is a water rocket you ask?  Simple…it’s a 2 liter bottle with 3 inches of water in it.  Add some compressed air and off she goes!  I glued some pvc pipes together in an “L” shape and added a bicycle valve and stem to the back (drill a hold in a pvc cap and insert the stem…seal with silicone).  All you do is put 2-4 inches of water into a 2 liter bottle and carefully hold it upside down on the open end of the pvc pipe.  Add compressed air via the tire valve at the other end and you’re in business.  As the air builds, the water starts to leak signalling that it’s time to let go!

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By not making too tight of a fit between the bottle and the pvc (some people suggest a tight fit but that’s more dangerous), you run very little risk of having anything explode.  I added some duct tape to the tip of the pipe to make is a snug (but by no means tight) fit between the pipe and the bottle.  Air will leak before pressure will build up too high.

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Of course, the bottle flying off the end of the pipe could be dangerous so make sure it points upward and not at anyone/thing.  Other than that, a water rocket is an absolute blast and something kids and adults will enjoy.  As Winter sets in, consider the design of your water rocket for next Summer.  It will be worth the wait!

Going for Broke

Family, Fun,

Some friends had a birthday party for their kids at an “inflatables” place.  Basically, there is one big room full of inflatable Jupiter Jumps and slides and stuff like that.  The kids were having a great time for the most part…all except the smallest kids who couldn’t fit through “the Big Squeeze”, a tight spot in one of the inflatables.  Really, all they had to do was push their heads though and they would have been fine, but the little kids got stuck.

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(at the top of the Wall of Doom)              (Ready to jump!)

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(Isaac going over the Wall)

You see, there was a big wall they slid down to get to that part and the “Big Squeeze” was the other direction.  One or two kids could easily be sacrificed and left in the Gully of Fear, but there got to be a backlog so I went in to hold the “Big Squeeze” open so they could get through.

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Of course, I am a big stupid kid so I decided to continue playing on the inflatables.  Isaac and I raced through them, plowing down women and children as we went.  It was heap-big fun!  Of course, these things are really built for kid feet, not adult feet.  So, with my adult feet firmly attached, I plowed through one ride and met up with a kid-feet-size step to climb one of the walls.  My square-peg foot didn’t fit into the round-peg step and “the Legend of Warren (the goof-ball)” was born.

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(uh…girl…you have some cake on your face!)
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I hobbled my way through the rest of the maze, but I was pretty sure I had done damage.  Emily wasn’t around so I got 11 kids to carry me over to the party room where I could self-diagnose my torn up foot.  It might as well be broken…it’s blue and hurts like crazy.

Ok, enough about me…there was a party too and it was fun.  Happy birthday kiddos!

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(see…they even invited the crazy clown!)
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(the injuries)

Do you ever forget to act your age?  Ever pay for it?

I suppose the Big Squeeze should be used as a public service announcement also…folks, don’t forget your mammograms.

Limerick Thursday

Fun, Thoughts,

So, I am sitting in Panera this morning contemplating life and enjoying a Cinnamon Crunch (™) bagel. I have to go finish fixing up an unfortunate pickle/kitchen drain incident but I need some motivation.  I decided that a limerick might put me in the proper mood to do manual labor.  Most limericks are crude, and although I typically appreciate such humor, I will not share any of those here.  Instead, I will write an inspiring ditty to motivate and educate…

My house is so old that it creaks
Many of  its pipes have clogs or  leaks
so when disposing of food
check on his mood
for your husband’s blood pressure may peak!

Oh, oh…here’s another one I just came up with…

Never put pickles down the drain and cause the dispose-all  to strain
better to feed to the dog
than to cause such a clog
and make you clean up a pickley rain!

By the way, this is a limerick that makes me laugh.  Its author is unknown but hilarious I think:
There was a young man from Japan
Whose limericks never would scan.
When asked why this was,
He replied “It’s because
I always try to fit as many syllables into the last line as ever possibly I can.”

So, do you have any G or PG-rated limericks you care to share? Haikus are welcome too. Got any good plumbing stories to make me feel better?  Want to buy my house?

Toothless Wonder in WV

Family, Fun,

WV has a lot of bad statistics associated with it.  We deserve some of the bad press, but I think I have an explanation for one problem in the state.  You see, WV leads the nation in tooth loss. Apparently some 43% of folks in WV aged 65 or older have had all of their teeth removed.  It’s not widely known, but belts are outlawed in WV.  Older folks typically obey the law.  So, a person faced with a sealed beer bottle and no belt buckle with which to open it will naturally turn to the bottle opener God gave him.  Tooth loss among WV’s older folks simply a matter of the anti-belt lobby which is so strong here in WV.

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(Abigail came up with the post title, by the way…)

Among younger folks, I have a harder time explaining tooth loss.  My daughter lost (i.e. I pulled) another tooth last night.  She’s lost 5 teeth since March,  Only 1 of those has been replaced by a new adult tooth.  So, Abigail is nearly toothless here in WV.  What could possibly be causing such change in her?  Surely she isn’t getting older on me.  No, there must be something else going on here causing young people to lose teeth…