Nine Phrases Women Use

Friday, September 11, 2009

Remember my last post? Well, I'm still reeling over the "Rogaine" incident......which led me to think about how my sweet, innocent, typical male, scatter-brained husband Chuck, not unlike most men, lacks understanding on what not to say to a woman. This isn't going to be a "pick-on-poor-old-Chuck" blog, so the Chuck Etheridge Fan Club can settle down, BUT, he, like most men, haven't yet learned what a woman "means" when she says certain things. You can't always take a word at face value when listening to us women; so for this reason guys, I'm going to help you out. Check this out and LEARN................

So there you have it. I couldn't have said it better if I had produced the video myself!! Some enlightened guy finally got it!

The responses I received from the "Rogaine" blog were quite interesting. They ranged anywhere from "I've never noticed the bald spot on the back of your head, Liz" to "I have some time this week and thought you might like to update your "Doghouse"; it sounds like you may be spending quite a bit of time there." Quite interesting, indeed!

He Said I Needed "Rogaine"........

Monday, September 7, 2009


Ok, listen up MEN! Don't EVER tell a woman they need Rogaine to help reverse the progression of hair loss. Chuck knows not to do this now, so let his little mistake help you avoid one.

Picture this: We're at Dairy Queen. I am wearing ugly lime green work-in-the-yard pants and my now short hair is up in a itsy bitsy tiny ponytail. I'm looking BAD. We are sitting in the car waiting on our order to be brought out to us when Chuck, out of nowhere, says to me, "We need to get you started on Rogaine". As I felt my head take a couple of extra Linda Blair-Exorcist-Type turns around my body, I heard the words, "What Did You Say??" come out of my mouth. With as straight a face as I've ever seen on Chuck, he repeats himself, "We need to get you started on Rogaine". Had he cracked even a slight smile on that face I was about to slap, all would have been well. But he didn't. He was quite serious. He's sensing at this point that all is not well in his universe and proceeds to "explain" himself. Supposedly, according to Chuck, I have a "bald spot" down the back of my head that he, innocently, thought needed some help. As, in his own words, "I was just trying to help" and "It's really not all that bad" were flying out of his mouth, he scooted further and further away from me. That was the smartest thing he'd done since we arrived at Dairy Queen!

As I tried to explain to him, I don't have a "bald spot" on the back of my head. I have a "part" that likes to separate down the back of my head and my hair picks a side and goes there. I also have a spot on the top of my head where the neighbors' garage door hit me when I was 10 years old and the hair grew back "kinky". Strange....yes; Bald....NO! Errrrrrrr.....

So men, let this be a lesson to you. Don't ever, EVER, tell a woman she needs Rogaine........even if she does!! Just ask Chuck!

I've Been Crowned Mrs. Eagle Point!!

Friday, August 28, 2009

There she is......Mrs. Eagle Point.......yep, its true!! I would like to thank my family, friends and fans for voting for me. What?? You didn't vote for me?? That's ok. You, just like me, probably didn't know about the contest. I think I was the only contestant. I'm so honored.....I only wish I had dressed a little better for the event......

It all started last weekend when our neighbor, Wanda (remember......my fellow-forkee with the alias name??) was 1st runner up in the Ms. Mt. Vernon Pageant here in large metropolis Mt. Vernon, Texas. She was just beautiful up on the stage and we were so proud of her! Well, I was over at her house the other night ooohing and aaahing over her trophy and I "might" have even been trying on a crown or two that she had won from prior pageants. Before I knew it, flashbulbs were going off and people were asking me to pose over here; then over there; it was fabulous. I felt like a white Oprah Winfrey when she won Miss Fire Prevention in 1971! Eventually, Wanda took her crown back and my reign came to an end..........or so I thought!

The next day, I headed to Dallas for the day. Upon arriving home that evening and coming through the front gate of our neighborhood, I glanced to my left at the bulletin board and imagine my surprise when THERE I WAS......Big As Life.......on the Bulletin Board next to the obituary for Buddy our deceased neighborhood dog! I had been voted Mrs. Eagle Point!!!

I'm so glad the contest didn't require me to do a "talent" or anything.....and I really wish I hadn't been trying on Wanda's brothers' hideous boots at the time of the picture, but hey, who knew I would be crowned Mrs. Eagle Point!??! Who knew there even was a Mrs. Eagle Point Contest??? Obviously, you didn't cause you didn't vote for me. I wonder if I get to eat for free at Dairy Queen now?? WOW!

Well, enough about me........its time for a Murphy update. The poor little guy has been learning so many new tricks lately that he's getting his words confused. If I tell him to "shake", he rolls over. If I tell him to "roll over", he sits down. We have a little more work to do before making another YouTube video for ya.

UPDATE ON JOHN MCCAIN'S LEG: We still have not found the missing John McCain leg yet either. As you may recall, Obama originally confessed to removing the leg due to the cost of repairing it at John McCain's age, and now it appears he didn't act alone. An anonymous new witness came forward this week with a damaging photo that implicated Uno, the dog next door, as an accomplice to the crime. Here's the picture that was sent in by National Pet Inquirer Magazine showing Uno's involvement. He will be apprehended upon arrival in Mt. Vernon this weekend.

How Many Etheridge's Does It Take????

Friday, August 21, 2009

Take what, you ask......??

Last weekend, Chuck's younger brother, Doug, and his family were out to the lake for the weekend. You may recall, the last time we all got together in May, we had "The Flood". This time, the water stayed in the lake and we had a BEAUTIFUL weekend to spend playing in the water, horsing around on the jetski's, driving the Workhorse exploring creepy new paths in the woods and catching up on everyone's life. Super fun time!

But back to my question........How Many Etheridge's Does It Take..........

1) To fit on the tiny, tiny tube? The answer is 1. My nieces Tiffany (28) and Christy (25) both tried to get on the smallest tube EVER made to be pulled around the lake. They found out the hard way this was a bad idea. It was sure funny watching them discover this, though. Kinda reminded me of the time 4 years ago these two took the canoe out and got stuck in a swampy creek in some brush with snakes and water rats.....I won't go into detail, but I will say our neighbors are all still talking about it and its always a source of conversation when we're needing a good laugh.

2) To clean up the doggie diarrhea? Well, usually 1, but since Christy was about to "hurl" trying to clean it up alone (sorry Christy; I just had to mention this...), I'm going to have to say 2.

3) To teach Drivers Ed on the golf cart? This is easy; 1. Our two 2nd-nephews, Brandon (12) and Garrett (8), are both superb drivers! Their parents shouldn't have any problem letting them start driving the family car at 14. I'd let them drive me anywhere........well, almost anywhere........We had a blast exploring and making new paths in the woods on the Workhorse (golf cart). They drove us places that I didn't even know existed......

4) To wave down help when the boat died? Let's see; that would be 5. All five of us.......yep, the boat's battery died on the opposite side of the lake while fishing Sunday morning. We eventually floated over to a stranger's dock where we called for help and lined up, waving frantically. Eventually, help came in the form of Doug and Ray on the jetski with a new battery; that, by the way, didn't work either. Which leads me into my next question...

5) To maneuver the dead boat into the boat slip? 10. It would have been 11, but we couldn't wake Garrett up.

6) To get the splinter out of Garrett's foot from the stranger's dock while waving frantically? 4. Let's see, there was Scott, the surgeon aka his Dad; Liz, the nurse; Stacy, the comforter (also known as Mom) and Brandon, the distractor (the brother)...oh ya, I think Murphy and an Ipod Touch helped a little too!

We've Decided To Sell the RV & Buy a Hearse.......

Friday, August 14. 2009

Well folks, thought I'd update you on several things.

First, I've had many of you want to know the outcome of Senator McCain's missing leg. It wasn't easy finding the culprit, especially when one of the suspects just wanted to talk about "Health Care Reform" and "Change" all the time. But low and behold, I think we've got the right guy. Yes, it's true; Obama is the guilty party. He claimed the reason he did it was because of Senator McCain's age; it was easier and cheaper to just "remove" the leg as opposed to repairing it since he only had a limited amount of years left.

Now that we solved that issue, I've got to tell ya, its been a busy week! First, remember a few months ago when we had the "Hurricane at Lake Cypress Springs" (Check out the YouTube video at "MurphysMom1" for a reminder) and we lost the canvas top to our gazebo on the boat dock? Well, Chuck came up with a brilliant idea on how to replace it. He thought we should replace it with shingles and make a wood roof. Sounded like a good idea to me; until I realized it meant LIZ was going to be the roofer! Yep, thats right. I can now put "Roofer" down on my ever-growing resume. I've got to say; it looks pretty good.........at least until the next hurricane hits.

After roofing the gazebo, I headed into Dallas to spend some time with Mom and Dad as well as get the gray covered up on my head. As I arrived at Mom and Dad's place, I panicked just a bit when I pulled into the driveway and saw a "hearse" parked across the street. Yep, you heard me right; a HEARSE. This hearse had a 7-11 Big Gulp sitting on the dashboard and clothes hanging over the windows. The rear license plate was from Oklahoma and the front license plate was from Texas. Dad said it had pulled up there the day before and he thought they were using it for a motorhome. I don't know whether to say, "Just like an Okie" or "Wouldn't you know they're from Texas". Crazy funny, though.

How many of you have a specific quiet time each day to talk to God? Well, for years, my quiet time, without fail, is in the shower each morning. Its the one time each day that I'm usually not rushed; don't have the phone ringing (however, Chuck does have a bad habit of bringing me the phone while I'm in the shower.......I've never understood that!!???) and I'm alone with just my thoughts and God. Well, during this Wednesday's talk with God, I felt an urgency or need or necessity to pray for "conscience". I pray this for me most every day, but this day, I prayed that He would give our politicians, as well as those who make it a daily part of their life to wrong others, a "conscience"; that they would feel bad or regretful for doing things they know aren't right. I didn't think much else about it, as many times I've had a "feeling" I should pray for something and not really know why.

Well, I had a Frosty appointment a few hours later. You remember Frosty.....she's my hairdresser. When I arrived at Frosty's salon, she wasn't ready for me yet, so I sat out in the hallway playing Crash Bandicoot on my Ipod Touch (great game, by the way!). It's important to note that I had also brought in my Laptop case as it was too hot to leave in the car. After a few minutes, she called me in and started the "getting-rid-of-the-gray" process. After about an hour, something told me to check on my laptop case. I looked down where my purse was and there was no laptop case. After restarting my heart, I realized I must have left it out in the hallway. Oh man, I jumped out of that chair and ran to the hallway and saw two women standing there with one holding my case. After assuring her it was mine, she proceeded to tell me that she was the manager of the large salon of suites that Frosty works at. She said she had seen a gruffy looking man walking around with my case for quite awhile. She thought it was odd as he just kept walking around but didn't appear to have business there, so she kept a close eye on him. At one point, he walked out the front door (with my laptop case) and a little bit later, came back in with it. She quietly followed him and saw him place the laptop case back where he found it and left the building. I had to restart my heart again after hearing that story. She even made the comment, "I guess his conscience wouldn't let him take it." That's when I remembered my prayer that morning. WOW! I have lost count of how many times I've thanked the good Lord since then for nudging me to pray for "conscience" just 3 hours earlier. And who doesn't believe in the Power of Prayer???? WHOA.........

We're gassing up the jetski's and boat; blowing up the tube and getting ready for a wonderful weekend on the lake with Chuck's family. Let's hope the water stays in the lake this time........

Senator McCain Lost A Leg

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

BREAKING NEWS:  Yes, I'm sad to say, its true.....Murphy's Senator McCain doll met with a tragic accident over the weekend which has caused him to be a paraplegic.......all the details are not in yet, but we are closing in on who might be responsible for this horrible injury.  We have attached pictures of the suspects.

My First House Forking....

Sunday, August 2, 2009

This weekend, I forked a house......ok, I know what you're thinking and shame on you!  Get your mind out of the gutter........I "literally" forked a house!

Remember back in the day.....WAAAYYYY back in the day.....when you got your kicks out of toilet papering your best friend (or enemy)'s house on Saturday night??   Unfortunately, I led a very sheltered life (no comment from those who really knew me WAY back then!!) and I made it through my teenage years without ever TPing anyone's house.  I felt I missed a vital part of my childhood; always regretted not doing that.  We were too busy streaking up and down Arapaho Rd in Richardson when I was a teenager (remember that, Jana??) to have the time to toilet paper someone's house.  

Well, we have a teenager living two doors down from us........uhhh huh.......can you see where this is going??  Yep, for those of you who are my age, I need to bring you up to date with Teenagers-2009.  They don't toilet paper their friends (enemies) houses anymore.  At least in East Texas they don't.  They "fork" their friends' houses.  I can't say I really understand it, and I can't say its actually more fun than toilet papering (since I led a sheltered life), but I had a BLAST forking some poor souls house this weekend!  My teenage neighbor (we'll call her Wanda to protect her identity.......there's a lot of Wanda's in East Texas) insisted we needed to fork someone's house.  She had a young friend visiting for the weekend which just made it all the more fun.  Of course, she REALLY had to twist my arm to do this.........

Here's how it went down.  We got 144 plastic forks (we wanted more, but we ran out of money); not spoons...not knives, but forks.  We got a few other things too, but I'm not going to mention what that was......some might find it.....well....sordof.......uhhh.....possibly offensive, so we won't go there.  Anyway, we then proceeded to dress in black, put black camo on our faces; hop in my black car with the illegally tinted black windows and drive over to this "persons" house in the black of night.  "Wanda" thought we ought to do it at midnight, but I reminded her how old I was and that I planned on being in bed asleep at midnight....so we compromised on 10:00 pm.  

As we pull into the neighborhood and "scope" out the house, we work out the plan.  Since this was my " first forking" (quit laughing!!!), I was relying on my two teenage friends to walk me through this process.   We stopped in front of the house....saw a TV on in the front room....lights on in the back of the house.....Wanda tells me to turn the headlights off on the car.  Here's where Snag #1 happened.   They are on "auto" and I've never turned them off before.  They wouldn't go off.  I turned and turned the knob; the windshield wipers came on; then the interior lights came on.......errrrrrr.....the girls are squeeling & I suck at this stuff!!  I just knew my teenage friends wouldn't take me out with them ever again.  Finally got the lights off, pulled forward to the next house and turned the car off.  They reminded me not to slam the car door when I get out......which I successfully handled; when I hear two car doors slam nearby.  I quickly turn around to see Wanda and her friend slammed their doors.....were they just toying with me?????  I don't know. 

Anyway, with fork boxes in hand; other items I'm not mentioning in my pants pocket and shirt, we head to the front yard.  We didn't want to get too close to the house in case they had a motion sensor light, and we started forking the front yard (prong side down) all over the yard.  The unmentionables were hung from the mailbox and trees and lining the driveway.......WAY FUN!!!

Why forks, you ask??  Well, they say its because when the "fork-ee" goes to remove the fork from the yard the next day, it will usually break off and make it difficult to remove from the ground.  Seems a little odd to me, but hey, this is the same chick who chose to streak up and down a major street as a teenager instead of TPing someone's house.  My point being; some things are never to be understood...

As we ran back to the car, giggling the whole way and feeling invincible, we decided we need to get some pictures of our work as we pass by at 50 mph.  Wanda had camera in hand; flash on; car in gear as we drive past the newly forked house.  FLASH, FLASH, FLASH as we sped past..........TOO MUCH FUN!  

I can now mark "forking" a house off my Bucket List...........

I'm Really Not A Peeping Tom.....I'm Paparazzi!!

Monday, July 27, 2009 

Ok, some of you who hear this may be a little "alarmed"; may be a little "nervous"; who knows, maybe you'll see the humor in it.  But all I can really tell you is, this is SO Liz.....so here we go.......

Last weekend, our neighbors' adult daughter, (I'll call her "Monica"....you know, to protect her identity), had come to the lake with her new boyfriend (we'll call him "Chandler").  This was the first boyfriend that "Monica" had ever brought to the lakehouse that we knew of and I also knew that "Monica's" mom, "Rachel" and dad, "Joey" (again......protecting the innocent) had not yet met this nice young man.  So, seeing as "Rachel" and "Joey" were in Seattle for the weekend and having never met their daughters' boyfriend, you can only imagine how excited Liz (heck, why don't we just go ahead and call me "Phoebe"!) was when she was able to meet "Chandler" first......

Still following the story so far??  Try to stay with me here........

Soooooooo.....once I met "Chandler", I couldn't wait to get home and text "Rachel" and let her know that her daughter "Monica's" boyfriend was HOT.  I knew she would be excited!  So, that's just what I did!  We texted back and forth a bit and I tried to describe "Chandler" to "Rachel", but I had only seen him for a total of 20 seconds and was having a hard time describing him to her.  So I came up with, what I thought, was a great idea.  I promptly texted her back and asked if she wanted me to get a picture of him.   She never answered me.  So I texted her again.......still, no answer.  Well, I pride myself in knowing "Rachel" pretty well and know that she has much higher morals than me and would never obligate herself by saying "yes" even though she really really wanted me to get a picture of him.   So I took it upon myself to get a picture of "Chandler".  But how could I do it without him knowing about it??  Hummm.... maybe its the PI in me, but I figured out real quickly just how I was going to do it!

I grabbed my new camera (remember this...it'll be important later) and headed outside.  Since it was 10:30 pm, I knew I couldn't use my flash, so I placed it on a fast speed and went between the houses.  They had the wood blinds open in the living room, every light in the house on and were playing darts.  Unfortunately, there were these pesty shrubs in my way which kept me from getting close enough to the house to get a good picture.  As I scoped out how best to get a picture of "Chandler", I determined I might be able to zoom in between the slats in the blinds to get the picture I was needing.  I tried and tried, but "Chandler" kept moving and without being able to use my flash, the pictures were just coming out blurry.   Errrrrrrrrr............

It was about this time, that "Chandler" and "Monica" turned and appeared to be looking my way.  I talked myself out of the fact that they could see me since I was outside and they were inside with the lights on.  There wasn't any way they could see me, right???  WRONG!  This is where the "new" camera issue comes in to play.  Yep, unbeknownst to me, evidently even with the flash off, my "new" camera still has a "RED" light that comes on when you take a picture.  I didn't know that......they kept seeing the "RED" light from the camera every time I took a picture, albeit, bad picture.  So, as I see "Monica" heading to the front door, I quickly, very quickly, come up with my game plan.  I promptly toss my camera into the bushes and take my flashlight out of my pocket.   Isn't that what you would do???  As I proceed to explain to "Monica" that I was simply out watching the fireworks from the Boyz In The Band's house (I'll save that for another Blog), I feel, as only a women to another women feels, that she's not completely buying what I'm selling.  But she's acting like she is........

In an attempt to make this long story a bit shorter, my pictures came out blurry (see attached); turns out "Monica" knew I was taking a picture of her and "Chandler"; and I got busted. Dang........I hate it when that happens!

Just another weekend at the lake............

One Week Home & I'm Still Not Caught Up....

Friday, July 17, 2009

But I did get my hair cut....and colored!  YEA!  Geeeeezzz...the top of my head was starting to look like a skunk......had that little white stripe going down the middle.  It had been two months since I had it colored & my arm was getting tired from holding my hand over the part on my head....AND I was running out of hats.  The last time my hairdresser colored my hair in May (BTW, her name is Frosty......I'm serious..), she told me about this crayon-looking thing that people use in between hair colorings to color their roots.  Chuck got real proficient at working that little crayon on my part during the 6 weeks on the road......I wish I had gotten a picture of that!

Well, it's been almost a week since we returned home and I'm still trying to catch up.  I have piles and piles in my home office of paperwork....I have the JC Sound pile; I have the C & E A/C pile; I have the Chuck & Liz pile; I have the Mom & Dad pile; and I have the EPPOA pile (I'm treasurer of our HO Assoc & its Dues time).  UGH....AND, I had mail delivered to me while we were gone; 4 times!  I bet I have a total of 6 full sized trees of paper on the floor of my office.  Anyway, I'm starting to see a light at the bottom of the piles (which may very well be a "spark" from the fire I started earlier this week).....

It's been an interesting week.......

SUNDAY; the temperature in the house finally dropped below 95 degrees around 5:00 pm once we got Jon-Wayne Air Conditioning out there (I get such a kick out of that name.....Jon-Wayne A/C....I'm giggling as I type).  It was dreadful in there.  Turns out there had been a bad lightening storm earlier that week which blew our transformer.  Same storm burned down our neighbors boathouse!

MONDAY, ahhhh... this was a wonderful day as I got to see my Meals on Wheels friends.  I wish you guys could meet them....they may be old, but they are COOL!  Also, we saw a fiery accident on the highway which I video'd with my cell phone.  Check it out at www.YouTube.com and type in MurphysMom1 to see the raw footage.....and I do mean "raw"......please don't judge my lack of video abilities.....

TUESDAY; Errrrrrr......that's when I opened all 543 pieces of mail and sorted.  I believe that is the day I actually started the "spark" under the piles.

WEDNESDAY; HAIR APPOINTMENT!  Hallulujah!!  I told Frosty to go ahead and cut it off while she was at it!  I can always tell when Frosty thinks its time to cut my hair.  I've been going to her for 13 years now, so I know her pretty well....and she knows me even better.  She knows when, psychologically, its too soon for me to cut my hair.  She says, "Let's cut it next time; I have a full schedule today." But when she sees my hair and is disgusted by it, she says "To heck with my schedule; we're cutting your hair today!".  So this week, she was disgusted with my hair....so we cut!  

I was able to spend the afternoon with Mom on Wednesday and we had such a lovely afternoon.  We ate pizza and ice cream and shopped a little; just like old times.  We talked and caught up and it was just a special, beautiful, very good day.  And to top the day off, I spent the night at my friend Carla's house.  It was so good to see Carla.  She and I used to see each other every week and we haven't done that in FOREVER, so we got fast food Chinese, sat in the living room and caught up on the last year and a half.   Awesome evening!  

THURSDAY: Locked myself in my office.........came out around 10:00 pm. 

FRIDAY: Locked myself in my office.......came out around 4:00 pm.  

And so here I am.  Friday evening......still have a few piles hanging around the office floor, but I needed to come up for air; and to Blog to my good friends.  I miss Blogging to you guys each day; taking you with me on vacation and having something happen during the day and thinking how much you would enjoy hearing about it.

Well, I guess we'll just have to head back out on vacation.........GET IN THE RV, CHUCK!!

Have a GREAT weekend, friends!

DAY 41: Mt. Vernon, TX - Home Sweet Home...

Saturday, July 11 - Mt. Vernon, TX

Well folks, we're home.  Yep, we pulled the rig into the neighborhood this afternoon around 5:00 pm and were greeted by happy neighbors who helped us get settled in.  Even made dinner for us (thanks Kim!!!!).  But first, let me tell you how the day went on the road....

We slept in a little this morning; our last morning of the adventure; and finally got on the road around 9:30.  We said goodbye to Wichita Falls and headed to Dallas to see Mom and Dad for a few hours.  Easy drive; Chuck slept most of the way (I think the lull of the engine just puts my boy right to sleep...).  At one point, he woke & decided to make a bathroom run to the back of the RV which usually isn't a problem; however, he picked the time I was about to turn from South to East.  Yep, I tried yelling back to him to "hang on", but he couldn't hear me.  I made a cloverleaf turn and heard some racket and a lot of "talking" coming from the back.  Couldn't tell what he was saying or who he was saying it to, but I think I have a pretty good idea.  Anyway, he finally made his way up front looking a little disgruntled and simply said, "What was that???"

I also find it interesting that we made it 6000 miles in the RV, 3000 miles on the motorcycle and never had to use my horn once.  I get into Dallas and I have to use it not once, but twice! People cutting me off everywhere.  One would think they would be a little intimidated by my size, but NO, they were daring me to hit them. Errrrrrrrr......Anyway, stopped and had a great visit with Mom and Dad and then headed home on the final 2 hour stretch. 

We get home to find the air conditioning is not working in the house.  Ugh......like its not hot enough......poor Chuck, he being an A/C guy, hot, tired, and having a lot of trouble walking today, was about at his wits end.  He and two of our neighbors were up in the attic trying to figure out what was wrong with the house A/C......He finally yelled down to me to call Jon-Wayne A/C (you got to love the name....only in East Texas); a local air conditioning company.  About this time, I inform him the bedroom side of the house isn't working either.  Fan is blowing, but nothing cool is coming out.....the thermostat said it was 93 degrees in the bedroom.   It was even hotter in the rest of the house.  So he grabs his gages and heads to the other side of the house to check the unit.  After quite a bit of time and checking everything, it was determined that the thermostat was left in the "fan" position instead of "Cool".  Oops.....

And if that wasn't enough, now the back A/C in the motorhome isn' t coming on.  The front one is working great, but can't get the RV bedroom one to come on.  That is SO not what he wanted to hear.......I think it was about this time that I said, "See, I told you we should have headed north!".  and he replied with, "Yes, I should have listened to you."  I asked for that statement in writing.........I'm still waiting for that.  Turns out, a breaker was flipped and it was as simple as flipping it back. YEA!!!

Anyway, we had such a great evening with our wonderful neighbors, Mike, Kim and their son Uno (dog); Troy & Becky (Godparents of Murphy); Steve and Kris and their kids Whitney & Bailey (dogs).  All of these great friends helped us be able to make the trip we did and be gone the amount of time we were.  Mike and Kim fertilized the yard while we were gone; Troy & Becky picked up our mail; mailed it to us and kept an eye on the house; and Steve and Kris and their son Dylan mowed our yard every week (sometimes twice a week) as well as fed and watched over our elderly dog Callie and our cat Kruger.  They even cleaned up our house while we were gone.  How many people have neighbors like that???  We are so blessed.

So you see folks, its always nice to travel and see places you've never seen before, but its equally as nice to return home to people who care about you, watch over you and love you.

Thank you to our WONDERFUL neighbors who always give 200% to Chuck and I.  We love you all very much...