Anyone home?

Dearest Internet Amigos and Amigas,

Husban-dito and I are preparing to leave on our annual road trip shortly and I just wanted to take care of some housekeeping before we depart.

Posting and commenting will be sporadic at best during the next many days.  I don’t think internet service is offered in the wilderness.  Please do not miss me too much.

While I’m gone you will be responsible for a HOMEWORK assignment.  That’s right bloggers, it’s already July and time for our next Blogging Challenge.  This idea is courtesy of Connie over at Loose Lemons and requires a bit of effort on your part–maybe like 3 minutes, tops.  You can do it.

TAKE A PICTURE OF THE CONTENTS OF YOUR FRIDGE and then post it on your blog on July 21st.  I’ll be back by then and will remind you.  Please, don’t clean up or hide your junk food behind some freshly purchased fruits and veggies–we’re going for HONESTY here.

Enjoy the next few CWG-free weeks–but not too much!  I’ll miss you!

XOXO

CWG

Things are getting a bit hairy…

The last several weeks have been so hectic and I’ve been such an absent wife that Husban-dito and I had the following conversation recently:

• CWG: Hey, you look different!
• ‘Dito:  (eye roll)
• CWG:  I can’t put my finger on it…(staring intently at ‘Dito). Wait!!! You’re growing a BEARD!!!!!!
• ‘Dito: (eye roll)

It should be noted that the beard was several days old by the time I noticed it, hence the mad eye rolling by ‘Dito.  In my own defense, lest you think me unobservant and/or blind, Husban-dito goes to bed super-early and gets up at the ungodly (for CWG) hour of 5 am. 

I’d been so busy during the ‘beard harvesting week’, coming in late each night and stumbling into bed in the dark.  Husban-dito was already gone when I got up each morning, explaining why I missed it!

The beard isn’t a new thing; Husban-dito usually grows one when we take our annual road trip each July.  I can only imagine that he’s getting a jump on this year’s beard, starting a few weeks early. 

So, what do you think of the beard?  We spent last Sunday at my sister’s–Ant and I mainly played with my beatnik* nephew who told Uncle Ant his beard looked like a muskrat. 

All the while, Matt worked his little-kid magic on Ant–look at that wistful stare!  Can my mother dare to hope for grandchildren from Camp CWG? 

I think Ant was actually brainstorming a money-making scheme so he can retire and get corporate sponsors to set us up for life. 

*Disguised to protect the innocent.

Thriller: The End of An Icon

In November of 1982 when Michael Jackson’s Thriller was released, I was eight.  I remember buying the cassette tape with my family while on a day trip.  We played the tape in the car and even my parents were groovin’ along to ole’ MJ.  The songs were instant classics.

Then the release of the Thriller video came to MTV.  We had to make a special trip to my grandparents’ house because we didn’t have cable television.  The video was like nothing we’d seen before and when a VHS of “The Making of Thriller” was released a few years later, we rented it from the library on numerous occasions.

My sister and I were such fans that we even bought a Thriller computer game for our Commodore 128!  The game was loosely based on the video and the objective was to escape the backyard of the haunted house.

G. and I roller skated in my basement to P.Y.T.and the other songs on the album. Michael Jackson was an icon of my generation and I got to stay up late to watch him moonwalk at the 1983 Grammy’s.  He was inimitable.  Even Husban-dito had a red leather Michael Jackson jacket.

By 1986, I had given up MJ for Wham! and Duran Duran, but to this day I have several MJ songs on my i-Pod, including my all-time favorite, Rock With You. 

In 1995, I saw him live at the MTV Music Awards at Radio City in New York and the man could still dance.  Even though he looked much different than the MJ I grew up with, his performance instantly transported me back to my childhood.  I stood up and cheered as he moon walked across the stage.

I won’t comment on his perpetually changing look or the lawsuits and charges brought against him.  I just want to remember the MJ of my childhood, the guy who made black penny loafers and white socks fashionable, the guy who inspired me to dance like a zombie.  I’ll miss that Michael Jackson.

The Sideshow: A Trip to Walmart

Husban-dito and I reluctantly ventured to the local Walmart last night to return a mini-bbq grill I bought for last month’s camping trip. 

Last night’s visit just reinforced how much I hate Walmart.  I hate the little yellow smiley faces on the “Price Rollbacks”.  I hate the fact that the check-out and return lines are always 15 people deep.  I hate the smell of greasy french fries that permeates the air, wafting from the indoor McDonald’s.

But worst of all?  The other shoppers.  WHERE do these people come from?  Do they bus them in from circus sideshows?  Seriously. 

In 17 minutes, Husban-dito and I spotted three mullets, one fullet (female mullet), one person wearing bedroom slippers as shoes, two people wearing pajama pants as outerwear, one man in a stained wife beater-style tank shirt, and one fellow in basketball shorts and dress shoes.

Now, I’m not a snobby fashion maven by any stretch but I don’t parade around in undergarments or bedroom slippers outside of my house.  I understand that Walmart offers good pricing, but slippers should be left at home.

Is the Walmart Sideshow a nation-wide phenomenon?  I know that the Walmart near my parents’ house in Florida is a freak show because when things are dull around the house, Mom and I go there for entertainment.

So, have you ever been to your local Walmart?  What’s the Sideshow factor?

A Friendly Reminder: 16 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY…