I went to a funeral tonight for a nice man that I worked with for about 4 years. His name is Mike Petrick and he looked like a cross between Santa Claus and a ZZ Top band member. He was a large pleasant man who had a happy disposition. He rode a Harley in his younger years, but once he had to give it up, his free time was devoted to the races, the Packers, and his friends at the local bar. For Mike, that bar was Sparky's in Cudahy. And that's where his retirement party was held last July. The place was pretty full of the locals who all knew Mike. Apparently, he had a Sparky's family besides his real family. It was a good time but then everything we did with Mike was a good time. We saw him at festivals, his favorite being Summerfest, he enjoyed every opportunity for a good time.
Not long after Mike retired, he had a heart attack. It took a long time, but he recovered from that event and changed his life. Before the heart attack, he ate Fritos every day, along with a variety of things that were not healthy, but he changed all that to recover. Even though he cut back on some of the things that were bad for him he still had the races and the Packers games. On the day he died, he was heading to Racine to watch the races with his friends. He blacked out behind the wheel of his car and hit a tree. The paramedics were called and he was coherent but on the way to the hospital he had a massive heart attack and died. The doctors think his defibrillator fired which made him black out at the beginning of the heart attack that killed him.
One of my fondest memories of hanging out with Mike was at The Wicked Hop where we had many after-work parties. Mike was fond of another co-worker, Raquel. In the course of the evening, he bought her one of every type of martini that was on the drink menu. Since there were so many, she shared them with me. It was a crazy night, and by the end of it both me and Raquel were on Mike's lap while he pretended to be Santa Claus.
The funeral was a little different than most. There was no clergy so his sister spoke first, stating that she didn't know about Mike's relationship with God - that was between Mike and God so she was going to talk about his life, then Mike's niece read a poem, his best friend spoke, followed by Mike's brother. The service ended with the Lord's prayer. After the service we got balloons, there were 64 of them, one for each year of Mike's life so some of us had to share since there were so many people there. We then headed to the parking lot to release them all at the same time, followed by a shot of Jack Daniels. It felt like an appropriate end to honor a nice man. It's too bad he couldn't been with us longer, his gentle nature will be missed.
I checked the paper for the trick or treat time for our area and I was surprised to find that my town (Oak Creek) and neighboring South Milwaukee both have trick or treat on Sunday, October 25th from 4 till 6. Every other town in all of southeastern Wisconsin will do trick or treat at varying times on Saturday, October 31st. What a concept, trick or treat on halloween!
I imagine the dumb asses on the Oak Creek celebration committee thinking about how trick or treat is always the Sunday before halloween. How ridiculous when halloween actually falls on a weekend! So every surrounding town will bring their children to Oak Creek for double the fun, yes, some kids will trick or treat twice.
At least it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the temperature mild considering it is October is Wisconsin. Jeff and Bailee sat on the front porch and handed out candy. I bought my usual giant bags of goodies. The difference this year was as expected, I almost ran out. Most years, I break out that last bag and have most of it left but this year there was just a handful left. I'm sure my prediction was right, the kids from other burbs were in the neighborhood. In fact, I'm sure of it since my sister brought her kids over from their Milwaukee home.
The neighbor's daughter (who lives in South Milwaukee) brought her son over in costume. Jeff asked her why she wasn't handing out candy at her house. She said South Milwaukee changed their plans and moved trick or treat to the 31st like everyone else. So there's another group coming in from another area. Geez. Dumb Oak Creek city planners.
Even though I didn't get why it was early, I have to admit, I'm glad trick or treating is over for another year.
I imagine the dumb asses on the Oak Creek celebration committee thinking about how trick or treat is always the Sunday before halloween. How ridiculous when halloween actually falls on a weekend! So every surrounding town will bring their children to Oak Creek for double the fun, yes, some kids will trick or treat twice.
At least it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the temperature mild considering it is October is Wisconsin. Jeff and Bailee sat on the front porch and handed out candy. I bought my usual giant bags of goodies. The difference this year was as expected, I almost ran out. Most years, I break out that last bag and have most of it left but this year there was just a handful left. I'm sure my prediction was right, the kids from other burbs were in the neighborhood. In fact, I'm sure of it since my sister brought her kids over from their Milwaukee home.
The neighbor's daughter (who lives in South Milwaukee) brought her son over in costume. Jeff asked her why she wasn't handing out candy at her house. She said South Milwaukee changed their plans and moved trick or treat to the 31st like everyone else. So there's another group coming in from another area. Geez. Dumb Oak Creek city planners.
Even though I didn't get why it was early, I have to admit, I'm glad trick or treating is over for another year.
I joined the Facebook phenomenon and it's pretty amazing. I have connected with people from my past which is really cool. Especially when I get to catch up with ex-co-workers and out of town family. It's become a great way to keep in touch. I even learn new things about the people around me.
With some of my friends, the acronym TMI (too much information) certainly applies. Whether they are heading to a movie or to a restaurant, it's posted. Going shopping is posted. Having a cold is posted. Then there's those friends who have to repeat the news. Like OMG Michael Jackson is dead, or President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize! Geez. So it's not all good all the time, but it's never all that boring either.
Facebook has games. I started with FarmVille then Cafe World and I am hooked. It's like having a virtual farm and run a virtual restaurant. I get to arrange the livestock and plant the fields. I get to cook in the restaurant and decorate it as I like. It's such a silly waste of time but I can't help myself. Plus I get to see what my Facebook friends are doing on their farms and in their cafes so there's competition. A little like keeping up with the Jonses.
I hope I get over this gaming thing soon, it's taking over my crafting time. Maybe I should harness the Facebook energy for some crafting good. Anyway for now, it's fun so look for me there and maybe we can be Facebook friends.
With some of my friends, the acronym TMI (too much information) certainly applies. Whether they are heading to a movie or to a restaurant, it's posted. Going shopping is posted. Having a cold is posted. Then there's those friends who have to repeat the news. Like OMG Michael Jackson is dead, or President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize! Geez. So it's not all good all the time, but it's never all that boring either.
Facebook has games. I started with FarmVille then Cafe World and I am hooked. It's like having a virtual farm and run a virtual restaurant. I get to arrange the livestock and plant the fields. I get to cook in the restaurant and decorate it as I like. It's such a silly waste of time but I can't help myself. Plus I get to see what my Facebook friends are doing on their farms and in their cafes so there's competition. A little like keeping up with the Jonses.
I hope I get over this gaming thing soon, it's taking over my crafting time. Maybe I should harness the Facebook energy for some crafting good. Anyway for now, it's fun so look for me there and maybe we can be Facebook friends.
10 Guilty Pleasures:
1. Soaking in my hot tub.
2. Fabrics, lots and lots of fabrics.
3. Legacy Chocolates www.legacychocolates.com .
4. New scarves, purses, and shoes.
5. Downloading from iTunes on a whim.
6. Sunbathing in my hammock.
7. Reading books on my Kindle2 - and downloading new ones.
8. Being home alone.
9. Margaritas.
10. Sharing a bottle of wine and a good conversation.
http://www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday/
I am in a creative rut, or maybe it's sensory overload. I went to the fabric store to buy some white fabric. Just white cotton, nothing more. I left the store with over $100 worth of fabric, 5 solids and 11 prints. It was just crazy. The stuff was jumping out at me, with plans in place to use up many of these as soon as I got home. I couldn't wait to get going.
Something happened by the time I got home. I looked at the big stack and didn't know where to start. I sorted, folded, sorted again. It just wasn't happening. I will put it away until tomorrow and hopefully I can just hit the ground running.
Something happened by the time I got home. I looked at the big stack and didn't know where to start. I sorted, folded, sorted again. It just wasn't happening. I will put it away until tomorrow and hopefully I can just hit the ground running.
10 Things you Want but Can't Afford:
1. To retire.
2. An inground swimming pool.
3. A Mercedes-Benz.
4. A new wardrobe.
5. A Harley-Davidson V-Rod.
6. A vacation home on Maui.
7. A trip to Italy.
8. A trip to Tahiti.
9. A log cabin in Door County, WI.
10. A fireplace in my kitchen.
http://www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday/
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