This really didn't happen!

I got caught speeding again yesterday. I thought for a minute I would be able to talk my way out of a ticket, until the officer saw my dog in the back seat........

New Costco; Shopping with Evie

We have a new Costco 1 mile from out townhouse! They have some nice wine there and we were lucky enough to find some Cameron Hughes Lot 75 there today.

Evie came with us and here she is getting buckled into the Honda...


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Nana washed the cart with de-germ before she would let me put Evie in it.




And here is a little video...

Nana is ridiculous with Evie. Yesterday Evie was cuddly with her and Nana was all gooey. Today all she did was say "Nana" with her arms forward asking to be held and loved on and, BINGO!, Nana buys 12 apples just to get one 'cos Evie asked for it. "Ooh, look" says Nana, "you can see her teeth when she does that" (biting open-jawed at the fruit). I mean, she's not the first kid to have teeth, right?

Now, you wouldn't catch me being naff like that.







Naahh........you wouldn't catch me!

Most of them came.....

The Martin's came to Houston this past week-end. The cousins always are so excited to be with each other it is a pleasure to see.

Here is Colin playing in the train room.



This video is one I took when they had just arrived and Colin and Graham were in hiding in the train room.


Here Paige and Graham are dressed to go to a wedding. They were looking forward to dancing and eating wedding cake


Before bed, Anna and Colin were given the choice of 1. swimming and showering outside or 2. showering inside and going to bed.
Which do you think they chose?




Colin can sing....


Anna can sing.....

What a faux pas

Excuse my parvenu title (and the use of that word too) but I read a terrific article at Born Again Redneck that prompted me to be a bit daft. It is an essay from 2002 by Jay Nordlinger about the pretentiousness of people who use foreign city names instead of the English derivation - like Leghorn for Livorno, Torino for Turin etc.
And I decided to do a little of it myself.

Anyway, I saw a video on the Drudge Report and it reminded me of my chagrin at La Guardia airport in 1968. I know that's a long time ago but this is how I remember the details;

I was working at LGA and it seemed like all of NYC was trying to get to Washington D.C. for Robert Kennedy's funeral at Arlington.
Vice President Humphrey, who was running for the presidency, was waiting to get on a flight in a crowded gate area so I invited him into the PSM office so he could have a little privacy. (Of course I regaled him with my numerous fishing trips to Ely, Minnesota).
I left the office and outside met the new president of AAL George Warde. He had recently taken over the job from GEORGE Spater........Anyway Warde wanted to go in and make a call so I took him in and introduced him to the Vice Pres as George Spater. Oh my Gosh. They talked for a while and when Warde came out of the office I apologised for the blunder. "Don't feel bad", he said, "I was more embarrassed by the fact that I just subpoenaed him for unpaid campaign debts" (VP Humphrey had rented a 727 from AA and owed money for the rental.)

Anyway, here's the clip that reminded me of the event.



Can you imagine the horror that went through this guy's brain when he realized his error?

I wish I had a pair of shoes like that.......

We visited the Walkers for an hour today. The serviceman for the alarm system showed up and you will hear the bird sounds of the alarm system on one or two of these videos.

Evie was outside when we arrived and she had on some new shoes.

Later she picked out a snack and you will see her eating that. She climbs stairs well and can come down backwards unassisted from 15 or more steps up!
The last two vids show off her squeaky shoes and Graham and Paige and Evelyn on the 'Swirl of Life'.

Oh My Gosh

Went to the orthopaedic Dr yesterday. After years of hip pain, I was finally resolved to get it looked at and fix both if needed. If not both, at least the more bothersome left one.

The assistants took multiple x-rays and asked lots of ????
The Dr manipulated my legs and hips and showed me the results of the x-rays.

Your hips are OK he said. What you have is a mass of muscle that is joined by a ligament to the hip and it needs to be stretched out. I can give you a steroid shot and some other meds but I think you can work it out with heat and stretching. Do this stretch - he showed my an unattractive pose that stretches the left glute - and call me in 6 weeks. If its not better we'll do the steroid shot. This guy is an old Ag with a good sense of humor and friendly approach. We were very comfortable with him and, after he gave us the good news our opinion skyrocketed.

I am happy with the news. I really didn't want to have an invasive operation but since I have suffered for years with hip pain I was prepared to do it. He said the muscle mass is all on account of my not stretching enough before I exercise.

Off to the gym now. You bet I will stretch.

After School Snack

Nana picked up Paige after school and asked her if she wanted a snack before she went home. "Yes," she said. "Some Cheshire Cheese would be good"

So here is the cheese and here is PK doing a little colouring and Nana beaming at her granddaughter's skills.