Today is a rather thoughtful day for me. My dad, who if he was still here, would have turned 67 today. Of course I miss him terribly, but I wish that my boys could have known him, and have him be a part of their lives. Since I only had a sister growing up, I would like to think that my dad would have had a wonderful time with my guys.
Dad was always very strict while I was growing up, and my mom was the proverbial marshmallow. If you wanted to do something, I always knew not to ask dad. We were taught manners, and how to behave in public. I personally think that is in short supply these days, if what I see in public is any indication. Were one of us to throw a screaming shit fit in public, there would have been hell to pay, and not another chance to go out again for quite some time.
Always a hard worker, dad had many things that he had going at any given time. He had 4 gardens every summer, growing everything from cukes, tomatoes and squash, to potatoes, onions, lettuce, beets, and everything in between. He was very mechanically inclined, and did his own car repairs, repairs on lawn equipment and anything else that had an engine. I was taught that you had to work for the things that you want and need, and not wait for it to be handed to you. (another thing in short supply these days)
This is a tribute to my dad who I loved dearly and miss daily. He was a good dad, and great role model. If you are out there somewhere dad, Happy Birthday, I love you always.

Surprisingly, after my meltdown on Wednesday, taking Ryan to school on Sunday turned out better than expected. We headed home from camp on Saturday night to make sure we got a good night's sleep and an early start, since he had to check in between 9 and 12. We made it down to Portland Hall by around 10 and got his room key and an escort to find his room. It is on the second floor, and already warm in there. Since he was there ahead of his roommate, he grabbed the bed by the only window and started bring in his things. A trip to the Maine Mall for some forgotten bed pillows and lunch at the Old Country Buffet and we were all set. By the time we returned, his roommate had arrived and we found out that he is also taking the Plumbing and Heating courses. That was such a nice surprise, and made Ryan feel much better about living in a dorm room with a stranger. He seems to be a nice kid, and I am sure they will get along fine. That was a big concern of mine, was the roommate situation.
We finally headed back to the campground and arrived around mid afternoon. A visit with Chris and Nancy, and we were talked into playing Ladderball. What a fun game! I had never tried it before and after I was paired with Rodney, we had to finally step down as the champs so others could play.
Sheri had made reservations at a restaurant that we had never been to before called The Sedgley Inn. What a lovely house that was converted to a restaurant. Dinner was fantastic! Sheri and I had the Surf and Turf, beef tenderloin skewers with huge sea scallops, Rodney had the prime rib, and Gary ordered the duck. He was nice enough to share a piece of his entree with us since we had never tasted duck before. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It tasted like beef. it was really delicious. I think we have found a new restaurant that we will go to for our special occasion meals out. It was a very lovely meal, and a memorably evening with great food and great friends. I look forward to more evenings like that in the future.

You know you are having a bad day when:

-You haven't gotten a decent night's sleep in the last two nights and you are grouchy as a hibernating bear

-Lack of sleep necessitates a trip to the doctor's office to pick up some samples of sleeping pills that your cheap-ass medical insurance won't cover for shit. The co-pay is ridiculous

-You stop at Shaw's to pick up a few things and they try to charge you more than the sticker on the chicken says it costs with their oh-so-important card having been used

-You attempt to put said chickens on the rotisserie of your grill, finding out the chickens from hell are too heavy and they won't turn all the way around.

-Calling in reinforcements and resorting to removing the metal rod from the asses of the chickens and cooking them with the indirect heat method

After all was said and done, the chickens were fabulous and we completely devoured one and we have one leftover for some tasty sandwiches. My philosophy is cook once and eat twice.

This has been a tough week for me. I had a meltdown on poor Sheri while we were chatting on aol, I am more upset than I thought I would be with Ryan leaving for school on Sunday. He is after all my baby (all 6 feet of him) and I will truly miss having him around. I am glad that he is pursueing his education and will be able to have a good job when schooling is done. It's just that having children in the house with you for the last 24 years, and then all of the sudden they have gone, it's going to take some adjusting for me. I know I will be okay after awhile, and he is only moving to Portland. Tomorrow will be moving day, and I am trying to tell myself that I can make it thru without bawling again. Wish me luck.

Turkey day went off without a hitch. The turkey was perfectly cooked and we all enjoyed a table full of great food and lots of laughs. Gary was around for the day yesterday and did a awesome job on the fresh french fries. Slushy adult drinks were flowing out of the machine and it was an all around great day.
I did go over to visit Sheri yesterday morning after rustling myself out of bed and she had quite a story to tell me to get my day started off with a laugh. It seems that Hannah had left a rather large poopie in the toilet in their camper. Although Hannah got the blame, I was rather skeptical, but rolled with the story anyway. Sheri proceeded to tell me that it was so large that it wouldn't fit down the opening in the toilet. It being a chemical toilet, there is only a stream of water to wash things down, not like the ones we are used to at home. Anyway, she said that she had come up with the idea of sprinkling it with some of the chemicals that are used in the tank to break down all the stuff that you don't want to think about again. I was given the update that the chemicals were doing their job and "melting" the uncooperative object. However, it wasn't working as well as hoped, and Sheri had to resort to grabbing a marshmallow toasting stick from their deck, and beating the obstinate poopie to a pulp. I know this because I was a witness from the dining table, and not an up close and personal view. I was asked if I wanted to view it for my very own self, but gracefully declined. Living with three males for the last 24 years, I have seen , smelled and dealt with all the crap I care to, without checking out someone elses stuff. I do have to admit that I was laughing quite hard and got my day off to an interesting start.
That is part of why I love camp so much, never a dull moment from any of us.

Here it is, another week of summer is slowly fading away. Rodney is on vacation this week and things have been fairly quiet as usual. Ryan is due to start school at the end of the month, and we are still working on financing his schooling. He was lucky enough to get a grant, but housing associated with the school is outrageously priced, and he will be staying in Portland Hall on Congress Street. Now we get to do the shopping thing to get him set up with all the things he needs. I think I would rather have a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Honestly, he is a difficult person to satisfy, and shopping is not fun at all with him. Doses of medicinal alcohol may indeed be needed before as well as after to make it through the event.
I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about him going off to school. On one hand, I am used to having him around for company and help if I need it, but on the other hand, I am looking forward to having the house to ourselves after having children with us for the last 24 years. The ability to run around in my birthday suit if it strikes my fancy (not very likely, due to shape of said suit), but just the thought is freeing. I am glad that he is finally starting on getting a career that he will be able to support himself in a couple of years.
Off to camp hopefully sometime tomorrow. We are cooking a garbage can turkey this weekend again, and firing up the slushpuppy machine. Party on!

So far so good. It's been a good weekend. We came up to camp on Thursday during the one stretch of hot and humid weather so far in the so called summer. It was waaay to hot to eat, so Rodney and I decided that drinking was the way to go instead. Needless to say, we were both under the weather come Friday morning, but things have smoothed out now.
Yesterday the campground was having a carnival food fundraiser and our group of friends headed down to partake of the food. It was great! They had a wide variety of things, including sausage subs (my personal fave), chicken nuggets, onion rings, fresh cut fries, popcorn, cotton candy and rootbeer. We all walked/waddled away feeling full and talking about what a great idea that had been, and hoping it will become a yearly thing.
Gary returned home from fishing and had placed in the money, so that was good news. They had treated us the night before with a killer tenderloin that Gary had cooked on the grill, I wanted to return the favor and have them over for a meal Sheri didn't have to dishes after. It had finally cooled down some, and we had dinner outside and enjoyed the evening. It really doesn't get any better than sitting around the campfire with friends, relaxing, and swapping stories. Most of the time at our campfire they are fishing stories that are just about worn out, but the guys still rehash their losses and the ones that got away stories with so much enthusiam, you just have to laugh at the amount of detail that accompanies each story.
Here at the end, my heart goes out to the people involved in the bridge collapse. I have a huge fear of just that happening to me at any time, so you people will all be in my thoughts. Have courage to stay strong.