Karaoke comes to DeMotte

Last night Reut, Michelle, Ploth & Stacia came way out into the country to visit me in DeMotte.


We started out watching some golf and playing some euchre. Then we headed to Gentleman Tom's Hideaway. Now this totally sounds like a strip club... But, it wasn't. It was a restaurant/bar. This is where we had dinner. But, before dinner, they brought us a basket of crackers and some of the best cheese dip stuff EVER. It was like Cheese Whiz only better. So delicious! Over the course of the meal, Ploth managed to have the cheese on crackers, fries, chicken strip, onion ring & pork chop. They don't call him Jabba for nothing!


After Gentleman Tom's, I attempted to find the Kniman bar. As you can see from the prior post, that was not a success...


So, we headed to Holley's in downtown DeMotte. There was a band playing, so there was a cover of $2. A cover in DeMotte? The band was pretty good. The place was packed. Reut & Ploth discovered some game in the back that they kept stuffing dollar bills into. They never won and I am a little afraid to know how much they spent...


Reuter had been hankering all night for some karaoke. So, we headed back to my house and set up the karaoke machine. And thus was the beginning of the end!


Ploth & Stacia serenade each other. Mich takes a stab at it. Notice Darby in the background like "WTF?"

Things get romantic between Ploth & Reut. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife!

What showmanship...

The night ended at about 2:30 am after some boys vs. girls "Karaoke Roulette". I am surprised my windows didn't shatter!

Thanks guys for coming to visit me out in po-dunk! Hopefully you can come back sometime when it is warmer and we can do some outdoor stuff!

So, this is where the Kniman Bar is...

The red dot is where my house is. Obviously, the D is where the Kniman Bar is... And the neon green dot is where I turned and gave up looking for it. SO CLOSE!!!

10 Year Reunion ~ UPDATE

Yup, the lameness continues.

I have been ranting to people about this all week. Lee & Jamie have gotten it via email, and my mom got to hear it over the phone. Now you all get to read it on my blog. That same girl is starting to push even harder for family-friendly reunion stuff.

Here is her actual post:

I think we should make 2 days out of it... Different activities during the day (cookout, golf, picnic, tour of West Side, etc.), and one night can be a night without kids (Harry's or whatever), while the other evening can be a family friendly Rat Trap!

1) A tour of the high school. (Um, I remember what it looks like, thanks!)

2) A FAMILY FRIENDLY RAT TRAP. (First off, since none of my readers went to my high school, a Rat Trap is a dance that we used to have after the home football games.) Is she serious? Rat Traps in high school weren't exactly family friendly. Half of us were hammered (guess which half I was part of) and there was usually a lot of grinding. I can't imagine it being fun at all if you took away the booze & raging hormones and added children. Sounds like a lame wedding in a dry county.

3) Making two nights of it also sounds like overkill. Most people probably won't get in until late on Friday and will leave sometime on Sunday. Not to mention, I am guessing a full day with our classmates will be enough.

I just can't get over it. I wrote her back and was like ", only like 10 people in our class even have kids." We can't cater to the minority. Hopefully I didn't piss her off.

Plus, as I said before, leave your kids with your parents and let loose. Geez. I'm starting to wonder if they cut the embilical cord after she had her baby!

Dear Lee,

Where in the heck are your drill bits?

I found your drill right away. I looked in the drill's bag. Nothing. I looked in your toolbox, nothing. I looked in another case and found a second drill, but still no bits. I pried open the little plastic container that had a picture of drill bits on it... Empty. Then I found a THIRD drill, but still no drill bits to be found.

How many drills does one man need?

And how are you using three drills with no bits?

The last 10 years has been a blur

I must have been drunk a lot...



Anyway, I just got the first email about our 10 year high school reunion. It is still a year away, I was in the class of '99, but it is time to start planning. Since I like to have my nose in everything, I volunteered to help plan it. My other reason for joining the planning committee was because, um, I was concerned. The rest of the group isn't exactly what I would call a party crew. I want to make sure this thing is FUN.

My suspicions were confirmed within hours of volunteering. There are five of us on the planning crew. We were sending emails back and forth just letting people know where we lived and how we could help out. And I got this response:

I'm pretty excited to be helping out with the big reunion. Hopefully I can come up with some good "family" activities.


Now first off, we don't have that many people in my grade with kids. We are from a class of 136 and about 60 of them are my Facebook friends, so I know. We probably have maybe 10 people in the entire class with kids.

Second off, stick the kids with your parents and let loose for once. Jeepers. Maybe I am way off base here, but I thought reunions were for comparing your life success to others and getting drunk.

So, YOU'RE WELCOME class of '99. I will do my best to make our reunion not lame.

GO DEVILS!

Another classy move from the Bachelor

(Medical sales, is that anything like pharmaceutical sales?)

Matt was sitting there telling her how he felt like she was more interested in hanging out with the girls than hanging out with him. Things were clearly not going in a good direction. So, what did she do? Did she confirm that she was there for him? No, she opened up her dress and showed him her boobs. All class all the time!!

Our DVR

We got Comcast cable when we moved in to our house. And OF COURSE, we got a DVR. Well, the DVR that they brought had obviously been used before. And even more obviously, the person that had used it was gay. Seriously, it was FULL of like the Ellen Show and some show called 'Coming Out Stories' and some other interesting titles. Needless to say, those got deleted pretty quick. I can't stand Ellen! And I need all my space for great shows like The Bachelor: London Calling!

Best holiday ever!

Happy Beer Day!!

75 years ago today they began to allow 3.2% alcohol beer to be sold. This was near the end of prohibition. Thank goodness I wasn't around in those days. I guess with the 3.2% beer you just need to drink twice as much. Phew, I'd be peeing a lot!!

Oh, and later in the article, we have the lame-o party poopers:

"It is the product of choice for underage drinking," said Michael Scippa, advocacy director for the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog group.

Um, I think that is probably a good thing! Do you prefer the underage kids test their limits with hard liquor?

Interesting article. I suggest checking it out!

Note: this picture has nothing to do with the article. Lee just happened to send it to me and I thought it was appropriate.

Oh yeah, I have a cat...

I realized, (and then Mich confirmed), I never mentioned that Lee & I got a cat! Her name is Darby, and she is a Bengal. Bengals are cats that are bred to look "wild". They are decendents of normal house cats and the Asian Leopard Cat. Some of them are really amazing looking!! Darby had one litter of kittens and then was retired at the ripe old age of 1. (Why can't I retire early like that?) So, Darby was available for the cost of her shots & spaying. Darby's "working name" is the Roller Derby Queen of Fractal, which I thought was a sign!

I didn't post about Darby right away because at first she did not adjust well to Norfolk. She spent most the first week under the bed and she wouldn't eat! I was concerned we were going to have to take her back to her former home.

One day, though, like someone flipped a switch, she turned into the best cat! She is super friendly. She loves to play and jump in the air after things. She is also a big fan of sleeping on your lap while you watch tv, or sharing the bottom of your bed. And now that we are in DeMotte, she is a HUGE fan of bird-stalking out the windows!

A quick random post

Yes, I am still alive. I haven't blogged much between the move and not having internet for a little while. So, here is what's going on in my life:

• The move was rough. After driving 14 hours, we got to DeMotte and were locked out of our house. DOH! I wanted to drive down to my mom's house, but Lee said he was done driving for the day. So, we broke into our garage, cleared out the Jeep, located all our blankets & pillows and slept in the Jeep. Not the best sleep of my life, that's for sure!
• It is freaking quiet here!!
• Tuesday was my first day going into Chi-town for work. The commute is not bad at all! Well, when you only do it on Tuesdays & Thursdays, that is! It was great to be back. I knew my way around. The parking guy remembered me. He goes "Where have you been?" "Um, I lived in Virginia for a year." "A year?!?" I guess he didn't realize I had been gone THAT long! I got to have lunch with Ploth, Mich & Reut at the Train Station. And on my way to the car, I randomly saw Friedman. It is nice to know people!!
• Our cat is obsessed with all the birds here. She wants SO bad to be outside hunting them. I discovered a dead bird on our back porch this morning, so I am wondering if my cat telepathicly willed it dead from inside the window...
• Yesterday I drove Lee to the airport. Depressing day. He is going to be out to sea for the next two months visiting Scotland, Belgium & Canada. Then he has to stay in Norfolk for two months. August 17th, we are finally free from the Navy, and I CAN'T WAIT!

So, that's what is going on in my 'hood.