And this is what love sounds like...as he kisses the trooper's ass

This is the canned speech that a State Trooper will give you if you are caught speeding on the freeway near DisneyWorld in Florida:

This is what you look like driving home after removing your nose from up a Florida State Trooper's ass after getting a speeding ticket:

Ah Babe! I knew it was going to happen and I knew if I said anything about your driving it would make things worse. 

Okay, readers - do any of you have any road rage stories you can tell to help make Walt feel he isn't alone?  Or partners/wives/friends - do you have any stories that will help me feel like I'm not alone?

I always wonder what has posessed him when he gets like that.  What is he thinking?  Does anyone else get as annoyed as I do about getting tossed around in the car turning corners, passing and going over bumps and speedbumps?

Copyright 2012.  You may not publish or reprint this article without the permission of Chardale Irvine.  Thank you.

They're really not much for smoochin' - Yeah right!

On our second day in St. Pete's we spent the daylight hours reenacting the scene of where & how Carla (Dalton) and Chad (Harold Chadwick) met and had a tour of the city.  First we went to The Crab Shack for lunch. This was where they first met. Carla was a hard sell for starting a relationship.  Ya gotta give Chad props for persistence.

When they met Carla was caring for her terminally ill mother. They dated a few times during the snowbird season.  He went back to North Carolina twice with no indication from Carla that there was any hope they'd get together. Finally during the 3rd snowbird season Carla and Uncle Hugh (Harrison) were at The Crab Shack and Chad happened to be there.  After dinner Carla went over to his table and talked for a bit - then came back to the table with Uncle Hugh.  Later Uncle Hugh went over and talked to Chad by himself.

When Uncle Hugh got back to the table he asked Carla just what it was that was keeping her from being with Chad.  "I'm too busy for a relationship" continued to be her response.  Apparently, Uncle Hugh wasn't buying it and was very impressed with Chad so he kind of nudged her to reconsider.

To make a story short they ended up together.  Awhile after Grandma passed away Carla finally moved in with Chad and the rest is just a lovely story of two soul mates who finally found each other.  Chad says being with Carla is like being on vacation all the time.  They have developed an ESP with each other.  They do such a good job of taking care of each other, laugh a lot and are fun to be around. There is just an unpracticed, unforced ease about their relationship.

Here Chad and Carla reenacting there first kiss:

This a pic of their first condo together 12 years ago called the Ashbury Arms in St. Petersburg, FL

And finally, here is a pic of hubs Walt with his mom Carla and Chad at the Crab Shack in St. Pete, FL 2/18/2012

The Baby Bibs Are Here!

Am visiting with the inspiration for the start-up MyMomsBibs - www.mymomsbibs.com  The company is owned by the daughter of Carla Dalton.  Carla was frustrated with the poor fabric quality, scant size and poor design of bibs that were available to be purchased.  So she designed her own pattern and started making her fabulous bibs for grandkids, great grandkids and friends.  She made them out of plush terry cloth with a velcro closure at the neck. 

Her daughter has taken her mom's pattern and transitioned it into a business.  Right now her focus is on branding the bibs for sports teams.  The company officially launched about a month ago. She has Nebraska Cornhuskers bibs available for sale now and is working on others. I am hoping she decides to sell some that have basic baby designs on them (crossing fingers behind my back).

Anyway, I thought I'd put a plug in for her business.  These are kick ass bibs - nice, plush terry cloth; smooth and comfortable cotton binding around the edges and neck and a velcro closure that baby won't be able to pull off but is easy for Mommy or Daddy to undo when taking it off and they are big enough that they cover the whole front of the baby, clear down past the belly button. They stay nice through multiple washings too.

I have ordered some for my new granddaughter Cadence.  They are a bit big for her now, she is only 3 months and they are better sized for 6 months and above.

Check out bib website!  Again its www.mymomsbibs.com Be sure to watch the video where Carla explains how and why she came up with the pattern.  She is such a sweetheart!

Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine's Day 2012 - Hubs went over the top with his gift.  It wasn't expensive but it hit the mark as one of those gifts that will always be remembered.

I volunteered to publish a phone and address directory for the Twelve Oaks RV Resort - where we are staying in Sanford, FL while Walt works nearby.  I volunteered in early November with the intent that I would publish by mid-January.  I ran past my January schedule because my fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue was really bad the whole month.

There I was on Feb 12th with it still not done.  All the data had been collected by a group of volunteers and a draft document had been edited and proofed.  The draft document was on a flashdrive because I had started it on Walt's computer when mine was broken.  He fixed mine so I was in the process of moving the project over to my computer - thus the flashdrive.

The week of Valentine's was the "Gauntlet" week as I counted down the days before our trip to Tampa, FL to visit the in-laws, Carla Dalton and Harold Chadwick (Chad) and then a two-week trip to CO, WY, UT and KS to see the kids and grandkids.

One of by absolute "To Do's" this week was to get that damned Directory published and printed.  On Tuesday, Feb. 14th, Valentines Day I wake up ready to finish it.  I go to get the flashdrive and it is nowhere to be found.  I texted Walt to see if he knew where it was.  I waited an hour = no answer.  I try to call and the call goes right to voicemail.  I go to call his work phone and find it is not in my new phone. And then my Phone locked up so I had to reboot it. While the phone was rebooting I thought I would Google his work phone number. While doing that the battery in the wireless mouse died and caused the computer to freeze.

Are you kidding me?! Walt's phone, my phone and the computer at the same time?! What the Hell! Spent the next hour getting things back online. The day is nearly over now. I finally am able to reach Walt on his work phone which is when he first discovers his cell phone isn't working. I ask about the flashdrive. And - then - he tells me it isn't in the RV and he can't get it back to me until after work on Valentine's Day.  He took it "somewhere" for the "secret" Valentine gift he is working on.

In 4 years that we have been in the RV I have never used a flashdrive.  The one time I do use one he takes it away and doesn't tell me. At this point I deflate. One full day wasted. Two days left to do what I planned to do in four. Whatever.

I worked on the rest of my list the next day, Valentine's Day and picked him up after work.  We drove to the little grooming shop in Sanford where we get Bruno groomed, next to the coolest Dog Park on the planet. We went inside and they handed him a big white envelelope, a CD and my flashdrive. He wasn't expecting the envelope.  They said he had won the drawing for an 11x13 print of one of the photos.

Inside was the cutest picture of Bruno posed for Valentine's Day.  I started crying!  It was SO cute and sweet. (Flashdrive and Directory leave my brain temporarily). 

Here is one of the photos and a pic of Walt holding the print.  Doesn't he look happy?

We went to dinner at our favorite little authentic Mexican Restaurant in Sorrento, FL The El Paso Market and Restaurant and had a lovely meal - on Valentine's Day.  I won't go into details about what a bitch I was later on when I started working on the Directory as it dawned on me that I was going to need to stay up until it was done - deep into the night.  The neighbors said they didn't hear us but, um, I'm pretty sure they were just being nice!

Copyright 2012 - Chardale Irvine.  You may not publish or reprint this article without the permission of Chardale Irvine.  Thank you.


I

Derby Run Dog Track in St Pete

So hubs and I are in Tampa, FL visiting with my mother-in-law Carla and her partner Chad.  We went to the Derby Run dog races last night.  Before we went in that building I could have told you that I had been to the dog track once before but would not have been able to remember where, when or who I went with.

We walked in and I thought, distinctly, "This looks very familiar".  We go up the elevator and when we walk out of the elevator I could see the track was lit up and I thought "How pretty and WOW - this seems really familiar".

We go to our table.  We go through the buffet line.  We eat.  We watch several races and visit - A Lot.  Then my butt was falling asleep so I got up to walk around.  I went into the Women's Restroom and as soon as I walked in I remembered the guy's name who I went to the races with - Michael Felt.  I remembered when I had gone to the races - back in about 1991 when I came to Tampa to visit him while he was staying at his Mom's in Tarpon Springs.  And - I remembered that we had gone to a dog track.

Back at the table I am describing all this to hubby and in-laws and they are looking at me strangely.

Really?  I have been to the dog track twice in my 51 years of life and end up, by chance, being invited to the same exact track 20 years apart?  How random and coincidentally weird is that?

Copyright 2012 - Chardale Irvine.  You may not publish or reprint this article without the permission of Chardale Irvine.  Thank you.

There Is A Gorilla Loose in Las Vegas

Gorilla Face


There is a small white rock rumbling around in my change tray in my car.  It has been there for a year.  Why do you have a little rock in your car? you ask.  The story:  Last January in 2011 we were staying at the Hitchin' Post RV Park in Las Vegas, NV while hubby worked at Station Casinos.  Dear Dad came to visit.  We were sitting out back of the motor home in the sun, soaking up the warm desert rays.  It was so bright Dad was leaned over staring at the ground. 


"What would you say if I told you I spotted a gorilla in this park?" Dad asked.  It was such an odd, off the wall question that I stumbled around saying this and that, trying to figure out where he was going with this - always alert for the "Gary Trap" that he loves to lead people into.


There was no trap. He handed me the little rock and asked me if I saw the gorilla.  I stared at it for awhile, turning it this way and that and finally the face emerged.  The face of a gorilla.


I pick up the rock every now and then and it always takes time and effort to finally see the gorilla face.  Once I finally see it I wonder how I could not see it. 


I was going to give the rock to the 10 year old grandson but I just can't make myself let it go.  It might never happen again that a tiny gorilla is hiding in a pile of gravel.  It is such a small gorilla that if it gets lost it will be lost to the world forever. The decoder - my Dad - is not always going to be around to find me a new one.

Nope - the gorilla rock is staying with me.  Maybe I'll leave it in my will to the 10 year old grandson.


Copyright 2012 - Chardale Irvine.  You may not publish or reprint this article without the permission of Chardale Irvine.  Thank you.