Long Time No Blog

This is going to be one of those meandering posts without any point whatsoever. So be it. LOL

Sammy is doing his best today to ensure that I don't get to sit and do anything. In fact we may be buying him a throne and a crown so he will have a place to sit while he barks out his demands.

"I have poopins!"

"Give me almond milk."

"Turn on baby songs."

"I need a band-eed."

We went on vacation at Angels Camp, CA from July 20th to 24th. I'm posting a picture of a convenience store that was close to the RV park where we stayed.

It was just like being at home. Do dishes, cook, do more dishes cook, cater to the kids, etc... I need a vacation from my vacation.

My gluten-free compilation is finally finished. I mail the folder to the dietician today to look over.

Yesterday was as hot as you know where. After running errands in my non air-conditioned car, I was wilted. I took off my bra and flopped on my bed. The house was a disaster and I was too tired to care.

This was the point at which some boys from down the street arrived to play with Azure. Oh goody.

They went in the back yard and ran around with the dogs. Boots got overexcited and nipped a kid. I didn't see the incident. I think he was trying to grab his toy and nipped the kid by mistake. But this little boy had what looked like scratch marks on his body, three of them.

The kid wasn't too upset. I was. I washed the marks with anti-bacterial soap, locked the dogs in the yard and let the kids continue playing in the house. They actually tried to go in the yard again and I told them heck no!

I also sent a note to the boy's parents telling them what happened and that Boot's shots were current. I included my phone number so they could call me. The father called and said since he was an EMT he had to report the dog bites by law or risk losing his license. Actually this isn't the case. He is only liable to report this stuff if he is treating somebody in a professional capacity. This doesn't apply to his private life.

But whatever, his wife wanted copies of the shot records. I dug them out and took them over.

Now we are sitting and waiting for the police to show up. Pray they don't sue.

Yesterday was also Jasmine's seventeenth birthday. I'm the mother of a seventeen year old. YOUCH! Where does the time go?

Well it's time to exercise and do all those fun chores I have. I hope to get on later and peruse everyone else's blogs. First I have to arm wrestle the kids for the computer.

Oh Where Oh Where Has Miss Carolyn Gone?

Here's the scoop. I e-mailed a local hospital that offers nutrition classes to see if they wanted somebody to teach a gluten-free class.

They e-mailed me back. They thought it was a good idea. They need to check with the dietician, who is on vacation until the 23rd.

Yikes! I need to get my crap together.

I need a lesson plan, a really good hand-out and to test all my recipes. Some of my favorite recipes I don't measure so I need to figure out what those measurements are.

Can you say stressed, but in a good way?

I am also hanging out my shingle to be a gluten-free consultant for people who want to start the diet. Sounds fancy, huh?

It may be at least two weeks before I'm back. But I will be back. You guys are stuck with me.

Wish me luck!

Breaking Benjamin/Three Days Grace Concert Review

I never did report on our concert experience.

The concert was at Konocti Harbor Lodge in Kelseyville, CA. In order to get tickets in the front, we were required to purchase "Sunset Barbecue" tickets. These were in addition to the concert tickets.

Before the barbecue, we grabbed wristbands so we could drink. We were required to show id. I didn't have mine with me but the guy gave me a wristband anyway. He jokingly commented that he could tell I was "just past twenty-one."

I told him that he must work for tips.

Drinks weren't provided with the barbecue, at least not the kind we were having. The barbecue was fine for something that is served buffet style. They had a salad bar and steak and salmon, my personal favorite. There was also apple and peach cobbler for dessert served with vanilla Haagen Daaz ice cream.

Our room was within walking distance of the concert and the barbecue. We didn't choose it that way. It was the only room left, probably because it was a wee bit pricey. After I read reviews online of the other rooms there, I was glad we ended up with the one we did.

I do want to add that I forgot a shirt and bra there and I have tried to contact Konocti via e-mail and heard NOTHING back.

After we ate, we ambled over to the concert. We found our seats. The young man next to us looked at us nervously. I think he feared I was a narc. Or maybe it was just the - here come the old folks to ruin the party - look.

The first band was Red. We had never heard of them. They were kind of meh.

They did have lots of fans in front of us. One guy with long red hair, eighties style, was bopping his head up and down and shaking his hand in time to the music. He was holding his hand in a fist with his index and pinkie finger in the air. What does that sign mean anyway? In his case, I think it meant he lived in his Mom's basement and smoked pot all day.

But really that sign, huh? I know if you hold your thumb out at the same time it means "I love you."

Minus thumb maybe it means "I'd like to sleep with you but I don't want to commit."

After Red finished playing, Breaking Benjamin came out. They were by far the best band of the evening.

My husband mentioned they were "tight" and that the lead singer (Benjamin) hit all his notes.

They asked the crowd to jump up and down. I looked down at my chest. Nope, no sports bra. Due to chance of injury, I declined. Okay honestly I'm not the jumping up and down type anyway. Some people can jump up and down and look fine. I'm not among them. Instead I get that ever popular frog in a blender look.

The band appeared to be having a great time. The lead guitar player seemed to have a, "Holy crap I'm getting paid to do this" look on his face. If they were jaded, they were hiding it nicely.

Ben also threw lots of guitar pics into the row in front of him. (obviously the row in front since guitar pics don't fly that far.) His adjective of choice was "fuck".

He said things like, "Hey Kelseville how the fuck are you?" and "This is great fucking weather." It was too.

When they played their last song, one of my favorites, I jokingly told my husband "about fucking time."

Half of the fun of the show was people watching. There were some beautiful teen girls that I'm sure had no idea of how lovely they were. They were probably too busy worrying that the miniscule zits they might have had were the size of dinner plates.

There was a guy about ten years older than us one row in front. He had no butt so his pants hung straight down. My husband caught him playing air guitar. Snicker.

Back to my right was a young guy who danced the whole concert, going around in circles and pumping his arm. I caught sight of the reason for his merriment at one point. He had a small pipe with him.

My favorite character was the lady two rows up. She decided instead of standing in her chair, she would stand on the back of two chairs and DANCE. Only she was drunk. Her husband kept catching her before she fell and he was telling her to get down. I'd have paid to see her fall, snarky I know.

After Breaking Benjamin was done, out came Three Days Grace. It was obvious that the lead singer had indulged in some pharmaceutical therapy before he hit the stage. He seemed a bit off.

They weren't too bad. He did an Alice in Chains song, stating that he had grown up listening to them. I remember my husband listening to Alice in Chains around 2004-2005 when we were in our MID-TWENTIES! Hee hee. He did a good job on the Alice in Chains song, better than he did on most of his own songs.

I will say that I liked the song Pain better live. On the radio it sounds, pardon the expression, pussified.

The darker it got, the more people started dancing. They were either drunker than when they started or just loosening up.

We had a really good time. There was a four hour after party where the band members might or might not have shown up.

But we were old and tired so we went back to our room and went to bed. It was a good time.

The next band I want to see is the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But I'll wait until they come this way. And at least they are old like us.

I Screwed Up Big

It was brought to my attention that something I posted could be construed as racial depending on how you look at it.

Since I was wearing my oblivious blinders, I didn't catch it.

The offending item has been removed and I hope I didn't hurt anybody's feelings or upset anybody.

Sorry. :(

Conversations With My Husband

Me: I was waiting behind this guy pumping gas into his pickup today and he took FOREVER. He was really overweight but he must have been proud of it. His license plate read BRETT4X.

Husband: I don't get it.

Me: You know, 4X.

Husband: That stands for four by four.

Me: Oh.
********************
Me: I read in the paper that you can buy strawberry cocaine now. That way, when it goes down the back of your throat, it doesn't have a bad taste. I think I'll have to do a blog post on this, something along the lines of how spoiled kids are nowadays. Why when I was a kid, cocaine only had one flavor and you learned to like it.

Husband: Yeah, numb.