Games We Play

Pholph’s Scrabble Generator

My Scrabble© Score is: 27.
What is your score? Get it here.I found this scrabble thingy on some clever person’s blog and it got me to thinking about games.  As children we learn lots of games like dodgeball, tag, hangman, etc. and we learn concepts that we will use in our everyday lives such as taking turns,  following rules, and strategies to win.  We also learn about choosing teams (or not being chosen ), cheating (don’t tell me you never cheated!),  and how to handle losing.  I was more proficient with the word games like hangman than the physical games (I hate dodgeball, though I did like the movie.)  

As the oldest of five, games were a big part of my childhood.  It wasn’t hard to find someone to play War, Old Maid, Battleship or Operation.   Even as adults, we still love a rousing game of Dominoes or  Phase 10.  Of course, the children must be asleep and the loser drinks after every hand.. WE are a naughty bunch!

 Anywho… here is Auntie’s Inquiry… Do you have a memory ~happy or sad~associated with a game?? And what was your favorite board game??

Well, off to play the “corporate” game.  Play fair!!

Friday’s Fab Four

I was trolling through Blogland yesterday (instead of working..oops!) and came across quite a few people doing a list of Thursdays’ Thirteen. Auntie is far too ADHD to list 13 so I thought Four would be a nice number.  So here are

FOUR FABULOUS FACTS ABOUT AUNTIE:

1.  I love SUMMER!! Love it, love it, love it! I love the heat. I love the humidity.  I must be part reptile or something. I have been in Florida in August and love it!  Wheww, I’m sweating!!

2. I play the lottery every week. I am of the mind that you can’t win, if you don’t play.  I know that  many see the lottery as throwing $$ at the government but I feel that most of the time they are sticking their hands in my purse without my permission. At least, when I play the lottery, I get to choose my own numbers.

3.  When I was a little girl, my favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz.  Perhaps it was because I missed my big break into show biz. You see, I was cast to be Dorothy in our kindergarten’s rendition of OZ. However,  2 weeks before the big show, my appendix burst and I was out. My understudy, the teacher’s daughter, took my place.  I have been told she did not do the role justice.

4.  I am a fabriholic. Yes, I admit I love to fondle fabric, cut it up, and put it back together.  It is an obsession. I’ve been a quilter for almost 10 years and have a closet full of Fat Quarters that would make you swoon!!

Speaking of Fab Four, as a girl, my favorite was Paul.  I had a crush on the English ~ including Jack Wild and Mark Lester of Oliver fame.  So Auntie’s Daily Inquiry is: Who was your favorite of the Fab Four? and your favorite tune!

BTW, the Snippet from the Shower yesterday was ” My Boyfriend’s Back”.

 Have a FABULOUS  Friday and a wild weekend!!!

Hairspray and babies

The other night, Horny Toad and I went to see the movie musical ”Hairspray”. Yes, I was able to drag HT along since he loves MUSIC, as you all know, and he loves all things 50’s and 60’s. When we go to the movies, I defer to HT on the seating.  He wants to be sure and centralize himself in relation to the speakers for perfect sound quality.   Just as the movie has begun, this couple comes in and sits behind us and they have a baby. Now I love babies as much as the next gal, heck, I even had a baby once.  And if this was a Disney or Pixar movie, then heck, the baby is welcome. But not here, not now! (I thought in my head with my movie whispering voice).  Well, I looked at HT and he at me and we decided that moving was the thing to do.  After settling into our second choice of seats, we became engrossed in the movie which was very good, I must say!  (Two thumbs up!!) But then the baby starts crying, people start squirming and staring, and the baby is still crying. And yet, Mom and Dad apparently don’t hear the baby crying, and crying, and crying.  Until, thankfully, a grandmotherly type woman kindly points out “excuse me, but your baby seems to be crying”  and asks them to take the damn baby out of here, it is crying! ( that is Auntie speaking, not the nice lady) which they do.

When did it become acceptable to take your baby (  and your dog, see previous post) everywhere with you? (Parents, they are called babysitters ~ young, sometimes attractive teenagers who care for your children while you go and have a good time with other adults.)  And when you ask the parents to remove the crying baby/screaming toddler/barking dog  from the social situation in which they do not belong (and quite frankly, if you asked said baby/toddler/dog, they don’t want to be there either!) , the parents give YOU THE LOOK, as if you are politically incorrect.  Ohhhhhh, (this is a big Auntie sigh), I fear for the demise of adult social interaction!

Anyway, I thought the movie was good and asked HT what he thought. He did not like John Travolta as Edna Turnblat and found him a distraction. He didn’t think the costume or makeup was very good and his acting horrible! ( Really, HT, what did you really think?) but he loved the music and thought Queen Latifah was awesome.

Sooo, here is today’s SNIPPET FROM THE SHOWER:  ” if I were you I’d take a permanent vacation, hey la , hey la!!  Given the above this should be an easy one!!

After the movie, HT and I got ice cream and were discussing possible actresses to play  Edna Turnblat. We both came up with Mama Cass, but alas, she is no longer with us!

So, Auntie’s Daily Inquiry is :  Who would be the actress to fill the big shoes of Edna Turnblat?  As you know, historically, this role has been a man in sheep’s  woman’s clothing.

Have a musical day!!

Synchronicity In Real Life

Horny Toad and I were able to catch The Police in concert the other night. Big Flashback to 1980 something when we saw them in Montreal.   Just as awesome!   Anyway, on my way to the Fun Spot this AM, I was deja vuing (?) and listening to Synchronicity and everything went according to plan! Now the weird part is mornings are usually a jumble of misconnections, disruptions, stops and starts but today  none of that.  Everything was synchronized!!  I arrived at the watering hole* for my rocket booster*, drove right in, ordered, picked up and was on my way.  The road to the Fun Spot was traffic free!  My favorite parking spot ~just waiting for me to pull in.  Of course, once inside I could not listen to Synchronicity and the day promptly took a nose dive.  However, for that short period of time ~Awesomeness!  I think I will play that song every morning and see if I can acheive synchronicity  on a regular basis. There’s magic in that music!

Auntie’s Daily Inquiry- What was your favorite concert ever???

Have a SYNCHRONIZED DAY!  and a Wild Weekend!!

Frowny Faces at the Fun Spot

Yesterday, I returned to the Fun Spot* (see Auntie’s Isms) rejuvenated and rested.  My desk looked like an overstuffed file cabinet had vomited all over it. So everything was back to normal! Except for one thing ~ I had done a huge report for the Big Boss before leaving for my getaway weekend. It was now back on my desk with a frowny face on it! 

  Yep, you read that right, an actual frowny face drawn on the front cover of the report.  I was totally taken aback! What did this mean?!!?? I have worked for  BB for 12 years. This is an extremely small office so we know each other fairly well. But this was the negative emoticon I had ever received. I was on my way to his office when I stopped to answer the phone. It was BB’s wife. She asked to speak to him but first asked what type of mood he was in.  I told her about the frowny face.  Apparently I was not the only one receiving negative reviews. She had received a “thumbs down”, the second cousin to the frowny face, for dinner last night. 

When I finally got to ask him what improvements were needed on the report, he said to ignore Mr. Frowny Face and return it to him for another look.

When I got in this morning the report was on my desk with a smiley face!!  All is well at the Fun Spot.

Songs from the Shower:  Yesterday’s snippet was from NRBQ also known as New Rhythm and Blues Quartet.  They had a hit in the seventies~ Riding in My Car. That snippet was from a favorite of the band’s followers called I Got a Party in my Head.

Today’s Song from the shower is an easy one and will tell you where I was last night! The snippet is every move you make, I’ll be watching you.

And finally, Auntie’s Daily Inquiry:  Have you ever received negative emoticons at work??

Have a SMILEY FACE day!! 

POOCHES, PARTIES & PIG’S EARS

Well, I am back from a long weekend in Gloucester, Mass which was spent with Horny Toad, my sister and her DH at their vacation rental. We had a wonderful time sitting around, drinking lots of wine, and enjoying the scenery that is New England, drinking lots of wine.  The only complaint ~  too many damn skeeters! I think I was the buffet for the Gloucester contingency this weekend.   But like a true Girl Scout that I once was, I applied toothpaste to the really itchy ones which helped the itch but definitely not a fashion statement.

To my surprise, while I was away, I was THE BLOG OF THE DAY on That’s My Answer.  I am surprised and embarrassed that my humble blog was chosen! Had I known I was going to have company, I would have cleaned up my humble blog!  Thanks to all who visited while I was away and a special thanks to Indigo for choosing me!

And while we were in Massachusetts, we wandered over to Newburyport which is a old port town that has gone to the yuppies or whatever we are calling them these days.  The town has lots of shops and restaurants and we decided to stop for lunch. My sister has an Australian sheepdog which they take with them everywhere. Apparently that is the trend ~take your pooch everywhere you go.  And we had no problem finding a pooch friendly establishment,  a little outdoor cafe. While lunching, I couldn’t believe how many people had pooches with them  and some of them had their very own strollers!  It’s really amazing how some pets have become pseudo-children. We went into the local pet store, Pawsitively something or other, to get Lexie a toy for being good during lunch. A woman was actually buying her little doggie a Red Sox hat! Now I am a faithful member of the Red Sox Nation but I think that is taking a bit too far! Anyway, I did find a lovely twine covered cat nipped filled ball for my two kitkats and Lexie got a pig’s ear.  

SONGS FROM THE SHOWER:  I know it has been a few days but Horny Toad was belting it out today. This is a tough one. Although the band has been around for 30 years and did have a top 40 hit  back in the day, it seems to be more of a niche band. Anyway,  the snippet of the day is “I’ve got a party in my head, got a party in my head”.

And finally, Auntie’s Daily Inquiry: Where is your favorite place to party?? and do you bring your pooch??

Please have a semi-interesting day!

IT’S BEEN CONFIRMED, I’M A HEATHEN

Well, on Thursday, as you know, I was full of optimism for the upcoming weekend and thoughts of Marguaritas and  Merlot danced in my head as I left the Fun Spot that evening. I had a lovely dinner ( as I didn’t have to prepare it) with Horny Toad  and a 1/2 bottle of Merlot (Good call, Michele and Breadbox)  and prepared for my class on Friday.

I was really looking forward to the class. I had taken a class with this talented lady before and really enjoyed it.  And so, I arrived with my supplies and my obligatory rocket booster (extra large FV, light w/milk, two Splenda) and took my place in the class. I was making idle chitchat ( I really do that well, I must say!) when in through the door came the one person I did not want to see. I call her Motormouth or MM for short. You will all recognize MM from grade school, high school, or college.  She is the one who thinks she is the only person in the class and the instructor is there to answer her questions ( and hers alone) to assist her with any and all problems she may encounter( and they are numerous) and to listen to all of her relevant ( and irrelevant) stories.  She is also the one who takes up twice as much room as anyone else as she has brought a small trailer full of supplies ( I wasn’t sure what I would need so I brought everything!).

Now I am an adult and for the most part,  can dismiss people such as MM as needy, full of self-doubt, etc., but by the time the lunch break came, I was ready to jump in my car and go to Petco for a muzzle ( and there were others offering to chip in to cover my expenses!)

I wisely took myself outside for a few minutes to gather my thoughts (and search my car for earplugs) when who should walk out the door but MM herself.  We proceeded to exchange niceties, as we are acquaintances after all, and then she commented on how much she was learning in the class and how attentive the instructor was.  Well, Auntie has a threshold and it had been reached! I agreed with MM that, indeed, the instructor had been most attentive to her and perhaps now that she had dipped into the well of knowledge she could allow others to receive some of the instructor’s time and attention as we had also paid cold hard cash for the class( and I assure you it was said in the nicest way and dipped in sugar).  MM for the first time since I’ve met her was struck dumb (and it looked quite good on her). She literally said nothing and walked back inside. Auntie knew this was a bad sign.

 After the lunch break, we all returned and the remainder of the class was blissfully void of MM’s outbursts.  However, as I was packing up to leave, I was approached by another classmate who proceeded to tell me that, following our conversation, MM had promptly proceeded to let others know how I had aggressively confronted her and that I clearly wasn’t a Christian.  Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that MM is “born again”.

Now, I don’t have any particular feelings one way or the other on religion.  I was raised in an Irish Catholic family (nuf said) and I am of the mind that religion is a personal thing and to each his or her own.  But I don’t care if you are Buddhist, Christian, Wicken or Orthodox, we all must learn to co-exist and share.  Oh well, I’m sure MM went home and told God all about me.  And so, (Breadbox here’s the answer to your question) I went home and fixed a pitcher of Marguaritas!!  

Songs from the Shower:  T. Rex was the correct answer! You folks are old! (just kidding, no one is older than Auntie!) And today, the shower was eerily quiet! 

So finally, Auntie’s Daily Inquiry:  What do you think Heaven looks like? Obviously, based on the above, Auntie and the handbasket will be descending so just wondering what I’ll be missing!

Weekend Update

I know it’s only Thursday but one bright spot in my life is that I don’t work on Fridays so my weekend starts on Thursday night. WooHoo!!

Anyway, last night I went to see Menopause the Musical. Ladies of the night sweats, if the show comes to your neck of the woods, go and see it! Who knew a hot flash could be amusing? Well, actually they aren’t but the show was fabulous!!  I went with three of my hot flash homies which really added to the enjoyment.

This weekend, Horny Toad and I are going to sip from the cup of culture. We are headed to Tanglewood in Northhampton, Mass for some Mozart.  He actually introduced me to classical music. He really is a musicologist.  I hear that there is a new show on the Boob Tube called “The Singing Bee“. Apparently you are given a snippet of song lyrics and you have to provide the remainder of the line.  I knew that eventually that the musical mess in Horny Toad’s head would pay off.  The latest contestant won $50,000!  Well, I’m off to sign up Horny Toad.  Maybe early retirement is in the cards!!

But before I go: Songs from the Shower:  Yesterday’s ditty was from The Traveling Wilburys. I don’t know if it’s Bob Dylan or Tom Petty singing that one but at any rate, a great album.  Today’s snippet was totally unfamiliar to me so I had ask HT who sang it. Here it is: I’m a jeepster for your love”. 

And finally, Auntie is sad she had no visitors yesterday and so will answer her own Daily Inquiry.  If I were a car, I would be a pink, hot pink VW Jetta with sunroof of course. Auntie does love the summer@!@

and Auntie’s Inquiry of the day: Should Auntie drink Marguaritas or Merlot tonight as a prelude to the weekend??

Until Monday, have a Wild Weekend!

Career Counseling with Boy Wonder

 I got a call from Boy Wonder yesterday. He is not at home this summer. He decided to summer at his apartment near school where he has found a job.  All good.  He will be starting his senior year in college in September and called to discuss taking an additional class.

BW: Ma, I was thinking of adding another class.

AA: Wow, great! Are you thinking of another marketing class??

BW:  No, I was thinking about Intro to Guitar.

Need I say more! Now, you know why we call him Boy Wonder! 

SONGS FROM THE SHOWER:  Yesterday’s melodic melody was Yakity Yak.  An oldie but a goodie.  Horny Toad’s offering today:  “Don’t it make you want to twist and shout when you’re inside out!”

Old old lady of the hills stopped by to say “hey” and kindly answered Auntie’s Inquiry. We “old broads” are in agreement that Michele’s blog is aces!  Thanks Old Lady for stopping by!!  If you have a chance check out the gorgeous pics she has of Orchids on her blog.

and finally Auntie’s Inquiry of the day:  If you were a car, what kind of car would you be??

Until tomorrow, Have a semi-interesting day!!

Ticked off Tuesday

On my drive to the Fun Spot*, I listen to several different radio stations. One has added a segment called “Ticked Off Tuesday”. The way it works is people call the radio station and get to rant about something that annoys them on the radio. That’s sounds like a perfect platform for Auntie!! I was very excited since I was ticked off this morning. I had stopped at my favorite A.M. watering hole (Dunkin Donuts) for the first rocket booster of the day (large French Vanilla, light w/milk, 2 splenda) and instead of FV, I got plain coffee. I wanted to call Rachel Ray to resolve this problem but I didn’t have her number handy so I call the radio station and the line is busy. However, I am the pillar of patience. I wait and call again. Still busy. A guy who is ticked off at one of the Yankees players is snivelling and whining (People, the Yankees season is over!). I call again, busy again. Again, busy, (Lady, no one cares about your garbage pickup time.) again, busy. And so by the time I get to the fun spot, the radio station has succeeded. It is Tuesday and I am totally ticked off !

On a lighter note, when I checked my blog this morning, I was greeted with my very first comment.  How exciting! and who was the comment from?? None other than Michele!  I have been a reader of Michele’s blog for some time now. Her blog is the envy of all Blogs. I hope when my blog grows up it will be at least a little bit like Michele’s.  Thank you Michele for gracing my humble blog with your presence!!!

SONGS FROM THE SHOWER:  For those of you who guessed Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, you are correct. Horny Toad recently saw Roger Waters in concert and has been on the dark side for a few days.

However, today’s song from the shower is a really oldie! and the snippet is from the middle of the song:  “no more, no more, ain’t gonna play rock and roll no more, no more, no more”. I am going to leave you with a hint, think the 50’s and doo-wop!

And finally a big HELLO!!  TO Becky 68 and Breadbox  who wandered over to my lowly blog courtesy of Madame Michele. 

Ohh, almost forgot, here is Auntie’s Inquiry:

What is your favorite blog to read??  (Please don’t be influenced by me in any way!!)

Until tomorrow, Have a semi-interesting day!!