Stolen Material

A positive thing about my neighborhood. The kids actually ask you if they may pet your dog. The kids are running around unsupervised at all hours of the day, however, they do actually stop to ask if they may pet your dog. This baffles me.

I am pleasantly surprised by this occurrence. However, how did it come about? I mean if one does not tell their child that playing in between cars and behind cars is dangerous (among numerous other things). How did they learn this little tidbit of information? My neighborhood never ceases to amaze me.

Business Common Sense

If you are going to have a business card, spell your name right. If you have not spelled you name right, do NOT cross your name out and hand write it. That is sloppy and makes me think you do not care about your business. Furthermore, when you got the business cards for free, go ahead and order more with the correction.

I Love a Good Thank You Note

I am not going to say much about this at the moment. However, I love how it was delivered. Obviously placed in the box last night, by our "quiet" neighbor. The postman just placed it our lock box, without it going through the system (notice that there are no cancellations on the stamps).

Some things that puzzle me about the note. Is it a thank you for our future cooperation? If not, why wouldn't a plain piece of paper do? Why was it placed with outgoing mail, rather than placed on our door? Why is it a note at all? Why didn't he just come over and voice his concerns. We have owned the house next to him for five years. We never really talked (more than a hello), but also never really had problems before. Furthermore, I am fairly certain he knows our names.

Lastly, I doubt that any/most of it is true. Did you write a note for the neighbors who had a loud party until at least 3 a.m. on Saturday? Also, why are you seeking quiet enjoyment in your basement?

27 July 2009

Residents of

Please (underlined 3 times) be considerate of your neighbors and stop playing your stereo so loud. It is causing my home to shake and walls to pound and is interrupting my right at quiet enjoyment.

signed
address

Nicely put.

Since you like Neighbor Posts...

Our next door neighbors intrigue us. We have one, which Brian thinks might be a serial killer, who hasn't yet discovered his calling. (By the way, even though you got a fence, we can still see you sunbathing from our window.) I think he is probably just a shy, nice, single man; who just happens to never friends or family over. The neighbors on the other side are well, strange. They also like to do little things to get on your nerves.

For instance. Once we park a car, it remains in that spot until we use the car again. By use the car again, I mean to go somewhere, anywhere. I do not mean by waiting for a neighbor or family member to leave so you can now move your car to that particular spot you were eying all day. Sitting at your window, watching cars all day does not make you cool. Parking your car right up against your other cars, also does not make you cool. The fact that the other people in the car have to get out before you park, means you are parking too close.

Don't think we don't know that it was you who put the trash on our doorstep, after we put it out for pick-up. Was it too close to your car? What does putting it back on our doorstep accomplish?

Last but not least, we did not weed our flower bed for it to become a resting place for your gardening tools. Just like, we did not mow our backyard, so the neighbors can pee in it. If it is going to be like that, we will no longer mow, trim, weed, or otherwise take care of our yard. Oh and we will also no longer be considerate of you having to get up at 4 a.m. I don't know why we ever were. I mean clearly, you have always had our best interests at heart.

Another Note for My Stalker

I sometimes update my whereabouts on Facebook. Not all that often though. Also beware, sometimes it is where I have been, not where I will be. At those times, you will just have to use your regular sleuthing.

Fine Ignore Me

When looking for a restaurant to dine at, I suggest going before everywhere has closed. 9, on a Sunday, has proven to be a not so good time to find a suitable restaurant. So we ended up at Bob Evans. We haven't been to a Bob Evans in years. I quickly remembered why.

First off, we were the only ones in the restaurant. Not surprising, but a little strange. The hostess brings us to our table. It includes the weirdest highchair/booster I have ever seen. We have Caedan trained pretty well as far as restaurants are concerned. But he did not seem to like his combo chair too much. However, he sat in it, to start anyway.

Our waitress comes over and takes our drink order. She brings them back and we ask for a few more minutes to decide. Well, she doesn't come back. The manager finally says, "She has taken your order, right?" Umm, nope. Pretty easy to forgot your only customers, so I completely understand.

She finally takes our order. As we are waiting, Caedan grows tired of his "highchair" and so we have him sit on the booth seat. By the time our food finally comes he has decided that the spoons make great drumsticks. They do, of course, which makes it even odder that our waitress could forget about us again. The manager had to ask her to get us refills. Loud toddler with "drumsticks" equals forget about us again? I would figure she would just want us out of there as quickly as possible since 10, closing time, was fast approaching.

Sine Bob Evans cuisine, service, and atmosphere were beyond stellar I can see us returning many times in the future.

True Love

I think my son is one of the most clean conscious toddlers around. He hardly ever gets food on him while eating. I say hardly, because he always manages to get dirty at Grandma's house. I think it is one of the rules. Even when feeding himself, he is peculiarly careful.

Well today we reached an all new level of clean. He asked for the napkin. Once I gave it to him, he proceeded to wipe his mouth after each bite. It was pretty funny. Cloth napkin in one hand, spoon in the other. Afterwards, he wiped down the table. I need to get his "un-paper" towels for his kitchen. Then we shall really see some cleaning in action.

Now if I could only teach him to clean the bathroom. We would be all set then.

Sweet Sleep

Sleeping like a baby took on a whole new meaning at our house today. Poor Caedan was taking an early evening nap when Brian came home and started to cook dinner for us. I guess we haven't cooked dinner too often lately because somehow Brian forgot to put olive oil in the pan. Well, enter smoke. There went trying to do things quietly will Caedan slept.... He woke up screaming as the detectors went off all through the house. Hopefully, he is too young to be traumatized for life because we decided to cook dinner. Maybe he will learn to associate the smoke detector as a call to dinner, as my sister did.

I think sleeping like a baby is a misnomer anyway. Babies sleep terribly! They are always teething, cranky, or in some other way not sleeping. No worries, sure. But sleeping, no.

Warehouse 13

I am afraid that it is happening again. I will become hooked on a show and it will disappear. The likely answer is that I am the only one whoever watches the show. Granted, Warehouse 13 has some kinks it needs to work out, but it is a pretty decent show. Well, as far as summer tv is concerned.

As I told Brian, it has everything I look for in a show. He immediately said oh a new vampire show. Ok, so maybe not everything, but pretty close. Government conspiracies, secret service, picture phones, the unexplained, tie-ins with history, and more. It is everything a girl who doubled in Anthropology and Art History could dream of in a show. I am awaiting my heart breaking as it quickly goes off the air. In the mean time, let the party begin!

On another note, when is the new season of The 4400 ever coming back? Please? Anyone?

Weekend Plans

Conversation between Brian and I.

Brian: What do you want to do this weekend?

Me: Umm, not sure, what about you?

Both of us think...

Me: Oh wait! Rosehill Museum is having a Civil War re-enactment encampment this weekend.

Brian: You couldn't have had more boring things in one sentence.

Yea, it was meant to be.



In case you are wondering, here is a brief description:

About the Event
In July of 1863 Rose Hill Manor was a first-hand witness to the effects of the Civil War. Join reenactors and living historians from across the region to view what military life was like on the grounds of Rose Hill during that time.


Activities
The Children's Museum will offer tours, demonstrations, and crafts. Activities include live, living history reenactments, and demonstrations on the grounds including a church service, military exercises, flag signaling, and battles at 2:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

For My Sister

As my sister reminded me; I do love ghost tours! She might have pointed this out, from a place of anger, since she was/will be forced to go on a ghost tour during family vacations. They are the perfect vacation event. It combines many of my favorite things. For starters, they happen at night. Summer nights are a nice time to walk around and enjoy the outdoors. I am not so much for exploring cities in the hot sun. Secondly, ghost tours are the perfect combination of city history, unexplained occurrences, and that little tiny voice in your head going we won't see a ghost, but it would be cool if we did.

Another awesome thing about ghost tours is the fact that they are often run by shady, but nice characters. These are people you wouldn't want to walk around with during the day, let alone at night. However, they do have a unique and intriguing point of view. These people also tend to make tours anything but boring. I also highly believe that they would never be hired by daytime tour companies, for various reasons.

It is important to choose a ghost tour company carefully. The ghost tours that try to lure you in with old-fashioned candles, outfits and other props are all fluff and no substance tours. I will reiterate, you want that crazy guy (or gal) that you would never associate with in real life.

Some places I have been on ghost tours:

- Charleston, SC
- Savannah, GA
- Frederick, MD
- Gettysburg, PA

Just remember, if you want to vacation with me, expect a ghost tour and learn to love it.

Odd Wish List..

I have a fascination with conspiracies, odd occurrences and ancient cultures. Here is a list of things I would like to find out more about, maybe not first hand for some. This is list isn't all inclusive, but a good representation.

- The Bermuda Triangle
- The Pyramids
- The JFK Conspiracy
- The Moon Landing Controversy
- Atlantis
- El Dorado
- Free Masons

There are a ton more things I like to think about in my spare time. Maybe someday I will have some answers.

My Ironic Pet Peeve

This weekend I saw two awesome signs. The first, was a sign at the Frederick Hospital Parking Garage. We watched the fireworks from the top of the garage. The sign stated the speed limit. However, I found the speed limit to be quit odd. 3 1/2 mph. Hmm... Not 3 mph, not the normal 5 mph, but the well researched, I am sure, 3 1/2 mph. Odd.

The next sign was located at the local music store. We followed Brian there, so that we could go have cookies afterward, yes I am on the about the same maturity level as my son. This sign caught my eye:

Maybe I am just a stickler for professional looking advertising, but this sign really bothered me. If you cannot spell and don't know what contractions to use, have someone else make the advertisements. However, if you must complete them yourself and they are later proof read by someone who knows more rules of the English language than you, please RETYPE the sign. It is tacky.

I don't know which would have been better, leaving the sign as is or writing in the corrections. My gut reaction is, leaving the wrong sign. At least that way, people who also don't remember grade school English will be none the wiser. I have to also believe that the target audience for this drum set, a toddler or preschooler, would also not know the rules. The parents who would purchase this set, probably also would not know the rules. Therefore, next time take your chances and leave the mistakes or better yet, reprint the flyer. How much effort does that take?