Seven on the 7th! Happy Birthday Junie!

"Seven on the 7th" is a phrase that Lisa coined as a leadup to Junie's Golden Birthday! This year her party was held on the big day itself at Cool Waters, a water park run by Milwaukee County.  The day started with a full 7 hours of College for Kids at UWM, where Junie took a treat to each of her three classes. Then we picked up the kids, braved horrendous State Fair and Brewers traffic, and headed to the waterpark!

 The party started with ninety minutes of good ole fashioned waterpark fun, as we sent the kids out to enjoy the water on a gorgeous summer day!

Here's a pic of YaYa, the other half of our "Bookends"!

 Some of her friends from school:

Smiley and LuLu mastered the obstacle area:

 Lisa's stepsister's daughter joined in the fun!

Here's Junie and her bestie Temps!

Me and my girl!

 YaYa trying on Grandma's shades:

Ignore the big guy in the picture:  here's me after going down the tube slide with Junie! I went down the slide with three of my four (YaYa declined my offer, probably because I had turned her down earlier when fixing up the party area)

At 6:30 dinner was served

Only Junie was allowed to have pizza, and we put a candle in it and used it as to sing "Happy Birthday" :)

Then, while waiting on desert, Junie opened her gifts (note: my sister, her Godmother, had mailed her a gift and card earlier in the week)

 At one of his classes at UWM Smiley hand sewed a silver pillow and puppet for his sister! Man was she thrilled!

 Here are her other spectacular gifts:

Then it was on to our gifts for her. No, her facial expressions are not for the camera. They were spontaneous.

This one was just from Daddy :)

Then the big gift. Paid for, as was the party, through the hard work of Mama Bear. 

 Yup, she got her very own tablet and headphones. For months she's been moping that "Everyone has electricity [electronics] but me!" - what a great kid quote - so now she has some "electricity" of her own :)

She had one more gift to open (her maternal grandmother's)

And then it was time to tidy up while the kids enjoyed one last hour in the pool!


 Here's the treat the park provided (the stuff inside we put together) before heading home.

Once home, Junie used me as a punching bag: 

And I took her with me on a late night (well, 9:30) run to the grocery store as a special treat. She commented on how she wasn't used to seeing stars in the sky, given her bedtime, which was cute. 

Oh, btw: Lisa made a great dessert for the party, a blue pudding "sea" with a graham cracker crumb "beach" on which a Teddy Graham sat on a blanket made of a sour strip, all beneath the blessed shade of a cocktail umbrella and with a life preserver floating nearby. 

 Unfortunately, the heat of the day and the traffic jam that delayed our arrival at the park caused the project to go wonky, and Lisa threw them all out rather than give them to the guests and have them think she couldn't pull off a great dessert. These pics are the last glimpses of the treat - and please, keep in mind they are far from what they looked like at their peak.

So there you have it. My Junie - aka my Lump, my Ginger, my Bookend, my baby doll angel cakes honey bunches of oats is seven. I can't believe it. I'm actually near the point of shedding tears here, so I'm going to sign off now.

Happy Birthday Baby. May you celebrate a hundred more!

Amen

"The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did when he was twenty has wasted thirty years of his life." -Muhammad Ali

Just back from Junie's 7th Birthday Party! Happy Birthday baby doll angel cakes honey bunches of oats! We love you!

Just got back from going to the driving range with Socialist. Good fun (esp since it was on his dime). Gotta work on my slice.

At Random

Just got back from a nice ~1 mile round trip walk to At Random, where we partook in a small, 60 oz rum punch called the Tiki Love Bowl, complete with flaming top and a story about wishing on the flame like a birthday candle. I would describe it better but there is a slim chance that I may be slightly inebriated.

I Have a Fit

Horribly busy day, full of running here and there. I'm exhausted. Then to top it off I I had a clerk at the Milwaukee Public Library go off on a power trip like she was auditioning for the boss in Office Space. Rather than say something I'd regret, I turned on my heels and walked out the door. Seeing as its my neighborhood library it's gonna be a bit awkward when I go back, but whatever. I don't have the patience for fools today.

Kovalez-Hopkins!

[happy face!] This fall Sergey Kovalev will face off against Bernard Hopkins in a light heavyweight unification title that should be EPIC. I know, I know - I talk about this stuff, no one cares, no one listens; more fool you. A Kovalev-Hopkins bout will be the boxing equivalent of the Red Sox- Yankees squaring off in the LCS at the start of this century, or the old GB-Dallas clashes. It's so damn good I just might shell out the money for the PPV.

Watched the 1980 Shaevers-Cobb bout, then Marriage at  First Sight,  then  #DanceMoms, now watching NBC's #FoodFighters

Guardians of the Galaxy

I took Smiley to see Guardians of the Galaxy tonight. It was sci-fi just the way I like it: epic, fun, and free of any of that "science" stuff. 

Some points: 

1. Way too many previews - perhaps 15 or 20 minutes worth. Blech. Of the trailers we saw I'm eager to see Interstellar and the new Annie. 

2. Grade school classmate Jim Knap was at the movie with his family. Good to see him!

3. I liked the movie, but I think it falls short of the hype I've heard from people here on FB. The top Marvel movie of all time? Nuh-uh. For me, it doesn't even crack the top four. 

4. Total cost for two tickets and two popcorns? Zilch, courtesy of the Marcus Theatres rewards program!

My Thoughts

I like T & A and legs and abs and . . . well, *everything* on a woman just as much as any other man, and I have no general objection to pornography.

What I *do* object to is the inclusion of half-naked women in areas that should have nothing to do with sex. The moronic "rock girl" promotion on 102.9; the "Fox-y" daily bikini model on Fox Sports feed, the Corona girls at every boxing match sponsored by Golden Boy, the House of Harley Davidson's insistence on not only using scantily clad women, but tying their product directly to the strip club next door. 

Do whatever you like in bed to whatever willing partner you find, within the confines on the oaths you've taken. I couldn't care less. Look at all the porn you want, it doesn't bother me in the least. If your product is about sex, or about the human body or its appeal, pimp it out. Fine and dandy. 

But if your product isn't about sex, don't use sex to sell it. It diminishes the value of human sexuality and, frankly, makes me not want to use your product.

Completely off any topic I've brought up here, but this is the single best online comment ever (saw it on CNN.com)

The American Civil War was NOT about slavery. It was about:

States rights ... to keep slaves

Economics ... based on slave labor

Political division ... about slavery

Territorial expansion ... and the expansion of slavery

Northern infringement ... on the South's ability to keep slaves

Government representation ... to have more Southern senators to defend slavery

Railroads ... so the South could export slave-picked cotton easier

Social differences ... about the morality of slavery

Wait, I'm beginning to notice a pattern here...

Ebola

BREAKING: Columbus, Ohio, woman who recently traveled to west Africa is being tested for Ebola as precaution, public health dept. says. (ABC)

We had an old washer sitting around in the basement for the last year, because Socialist had dreams of fixing it and splitting the profits. Since that obviously wasn't going to happen, I decided to get rid of it today. Lacking anyone to help, and with our dolly MIA, yours truly lifted it up the cellar stairs and hauled it to the alley with pure brawn. Lu was suitably impressed. "Remember girl," I said. " Fat I may be, but strength, strength is NOT my weakness." [I'd been waiting to use that line for like six months, since I coined it one night at work LOL]

As a follow up to the assassination of the US General in Afghanistan today - 15 others were wounded, including a German General. Tensions are high (obviously) and an AP photographer has reported being shot at ("warned off") by troops at the base.

Sharknado 2: The Second One

We just finished watching "Sharnado 2: The Second One", a rip-roaring, star studded romp through a NY ravaged by sharks, tornadoes and a corpse-like Tara Reid. Great fun - I smell an Emmy!!!

The Damned

We just finished watching "The Damned", a horror film about a family that releases a little girl from a dungeon in a former inn, only to discover that there was a very good reason for keeping her locked in. An above average horror flick and worth a rental. 

In freaky deeky news, right about the time things got crazy during the climax a loud crashing sound was heard from the pantry/kitchen - this, despite the cats being in sight and the kids asleep. When I investigated nothing was amiss; the doors were locked, the shelves in order, the floor clear of anything that looked like it fell. Good luck falling asleep tonight.

The Single

I've wanted to see "The Signal"since we saw the first preview months ago. It's a "thinking man's" sci-fi film about a group of friends imprisoned by the government after they are exposed to an ET, and falls firmly into the "Oriental [Theater]" genre. Consider me disappointed. It's intelligence is surface deep, it's reveals are childish, and at times it's so confusing I thought my IQ must have fallen off a cliff before sitting down to watch it. Fail. Avoid it if you can.

James Brady

RIP James Brady, the Press Secretary wounded in the 1981 attempt on President Reagan's life.

Twitchy

Ack. Very twitchy again today. Can't sit still, can't concentrate; like a late in life, 48 hour onset of ADD. Maybe I'll head out for a walk or to the driving range . . .

On Warren Spahn

From BTF: 

"In the spring of 1942, a 20-year-old left-handed pitcher who wound up having no decisions in his four appearances with the Boston Braves that season was pitching in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. At one point Boston Manager Casey Stengel instructed the young pitcher to brush back the batter, Pee Wee Reese. He refused.

Stengel immediately dispatched the pitcher to the minors, to Hartford of the Eastern League.

''Gutless,'' Stengel said of him.

The next year, 1943, the pitcher enlisted and found himself in Europe with the Army's combat engineers in World War II. He participated in the savage Battle of the Bulge and the seizure of the bridge at Remagen, and when it was over, First Lt. Warren Edward Spahn was awarded a Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound and a Bronze Star for bravery and a battlefield commission.

''I said 'no guts' to a kid who wound up being a war hero and one of the best pitchers anybody ever saw,'' Stengel said. ''You can't say I don't miss 'em when I miss 'em.''

A Century Ago Today

Today marks the 100th anniversary of Great Britain entering WWI, and for all intents and purposes the death of their Empire. I do not think the latter is automatically anything to celebrate (nor the war itself, obviously) but RIP to all of her soldiers who perished in the conflict.

Two Movies

We just finished watching two movies. The first, "The Last Days" is a Spanish film about a world suddenly afflicted with agoraphobia. Society crumbles as people are marooned where they stand, unable to venture outside and dying of starvation in their homes and businesses. Amidst the death of mankind, Marc must travel the sewers of Barcelona to return to his love. I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was original and well done. 

The second, "Goodbye World" is another end-of-times thriller, this time set on a northern California farmstead where a group of yuppie friends hunker down as the power grid collapses in the wake of a terrorist strike. The group is strangely lackadaisical about the end of the world, with nary a tear or an expression of concern to be found. Even so, it was a fun movie to watch and worth your time. 

Both are on Netflix :)

A Measure of Insignificance

600 game in on my Scrabble app, I have a record of 393-202-5 (65%), with 11 bingos. I tried moving up from "normal" to "hard" difficulty, but after a few games where the computer literally led off the game with three consecutive bingo's, I said "F that".

BOLO

This is a former classmate and longtime friend of Yaya. Prayers and BOLO 0be on the lookout) appreciated.

Most current picture I have of Wisper, who's been missing since yesterday afternoon. Please, call police if you see her.

Wisper, the girl that was missing, has returned home after being gone for nearly a day. Thanks to everyone who helped out in any way - it's good to see that it's all hands on deck when a kid goes missing. As to the thought that its upsetting that she seems to have left on her own, uh that's the BEST CASE SCENARIO out of all the options, isn't it?

Sad but True