Highly Entertaining....

how i spent my first wedding anniversary,

... by Melissa O. Why did I not do a little research before trekking the fam an hour away from the campground to spend a "fun-filled day" together at Six Gun City????? Traveler rating: Mount Washington: Six Gun City: "A total waste of money!!" cutiesmom, Woburn, MA  Jul 7, 2007

I visited Six Gun City this past weekend with my 3 and 7 year olds and my mother and was horribly disappointed!! It cost us $56 dollars to enter the park (the 3 year old was free and my Mom got the Senior Citizen discount). In my opinion it was a total waste of money. It was very deserted (and we visited on a friday of 4th of July week), the staff looked bored and wasn't very friendly at all. My kids tried to do the log boat ride where they paddle themselves and couldn't quite get the hang of it so I asked the attendent (a young girl) to show them how to do it and her response was "I only work here, I've never paddled a boat." Then we purchased a big pretzel for $3.00. It was hard as a rock (at 11:00 am) and there was some type of nasty old tasting oil slathered on it. I wouldn't even let me son eat it. We took a ride on the rollar coaster which was small and rickety but not too bad - the kids liked it. We then went to the bumper kids boats (my children were both too small to drive and the the 3 year old was too small to go on the bigger ones). There were 5 kiddie bumper boats and only one was working. The attendant told us that they forgot to charge the other 4 so only one child could go on at a time. We were also told that there would be a show every 10-15 minutes. In the 45 minutes we were there we did not see one show. My children were too small for the go carts so we didn't even attempt them. All of the little "businesses" in the town were dull, dirty and empty. I remember as a child going in to each one and seeing a demo and having someone explain what each one was all about. There was not a single person working any of them. It was a very sad experience as I had my kids all pumped up with stories of Six Gun City from when I was little. They actually asked to leave!! We spoke to management on the way out and sadly they basically told us too bad!! It had a ton of potential they just need more enthusiastic employees and some fun fresh ideas. Seriously, this was the ghettoest (yes, I know that is a completely made-up word) place in the universe. Not the country. Not the world. The universe. When I asked my friendly neighborhood NH native, Jenn Shurkus if she knew about the TRUE condition of Six Gun City, she told me that she was well aware of the ghetto-status I had personally discovered. Gee, thanks for the warning. Granted, I asked for the info AFTER we had spent an hour there, but as my bff, I would think that she would have cautioned me about places NOT TO WASTE MY MONEY AT when she knew I'd be heading to NH. Sheesh! What am I paying her for, anyway?? We did make the most of it, though. I swear if KP and gang had been with us, the day would have taken an entirely different turn. There would have been whooping and tom-foolery and surely some sort of youtube video material. Surely. We arrived at Six Gun City (or "two-cap-gun-dust-bowl", as I like to call it...) after driving through vast nothingness for an hour. RED FLAG #1. An hour after they opened, our car was the third in the parking lot. RED FLAG #2. We paid the $18+ admission to a girl who didn't even look at us, didn't say hello, didn't tell us to have a great day. RED FLAG #3. Ok, so now we all know that I have no idea what the true meaning of a "red flag" is. Apparently, I am blind to the color red, and am a sucker, to boot. We made the most of the day. We had a bit of fun. There was a dead rat in one of the ponds that the less-than-enthused teenage employees standing watch at the water slides knew about, but didn't care enough to fish out. Griffin told me that he never wanted to hear the word "ghetto" come out of my mouth again. We waited 20 minutes for popcorn chicken. I hope it was chicken. Good thing the brochure for two cap gun dust bowl Six Gun City looks appealing, or they wouldn't even have dead rats visiting.   The day wasn't all bad. We ate dinner at my now-favorite restaurant, Delaney's... and our waiter was originally from Dennis, so it made from pleasant conversation. Dinner was followed by a trip to the book store (for Bob), CVS (I needed shampoo), and mini golf. The mini golf place was a bit out of the way, but so beautifully maintained... it looked like my mom had set up shop with her gardening tools and green thumbs. After mini golf, we made our way to the "ice cream sundae buffet"... fantastic!! You order your ice cream flavor and all you get is the ice cream in a dish.. you make your own sundae at the topping buffet!!! **sweet** Chocolate chip ice cream with half hot fudge, half strawberry topping, mini chocolate chips, reeces pieces, and crushed oreos with real homemade whipped cream. Yum-o! The night was made complete as I FINALLY finished HP#7.. how romantic! I got my Harry Potter fill, Bobio flipped through a truck magazine, and G read a couple of chapters in his Eragon book. So, no fireworks on the Anniversary night. Lots of being over-tired and sweaty from a long day. Lots of sleeping. Much like the same night, one year ago. Hey, at least we're consistent, right??

bless the broken road...

  ... that led me straight to you.

Celebrating one year. 4 seasons. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 minutes.

Everything is good. Everything is right. Everything is just how it should be.

I am thankful. I am at peace. I am living and breathing and knowing that this is my life.

It has been a long journey. The road has, indeed, been very broken in places. It might not be paved in gold, or without bumps and sharp turns, but it is a good road, and it is taking me where I need to be. I am traveling this road with the people I love. My family. My friends. My world.

Rascal Flatts - Bless The Broken Road

I set out on a narrow way many years ago Hoping I would find true love along the broken road But I got lost a time or two Wiped my brow and kept pushing through I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you Every long lost dream lead me to where you are Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars Pointing me on my way into your loving arms This much I know is true That God blessed the broken road That led me straight to you I think about the years I spent just passing through I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you But you just smile and take my hand You've been there you understand It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true Every long lost dream lead me to where you are Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars Pointing me on my way into your loving arms This much I know is true That God blessed the broken road That led me straight to you

Happy Anniversary to my sweet caress, to the one who lets me be me and doesn't try to change anything about the person he chose to live his life with. **love you**

peace out, yo

Yep, the fam is all packed up and heading for five rain-filled days camping in New Hampshire.

Fan-flipping-tastic.

At least we have the pop-up instead of having to tent it, and if we choose to bail early we're only out the $27 daily camp rental fee.

We have a few ideas to keep us busy, including a trip to the theater to see the new Harry Potter movie (good thing we decided to "save it for a rainy day"). I've read to page 360 in the new book.. will most definately finish by tomorrow, I'm sure. Stowing away a few Jodi Picoult books, too, just for good measure. G and Bobio are also cramming in some bookage to the packing list, we'll see how that goes ;)

Cameras? check.

Batteries? check.

Chargers? check.

Wish me luck, folks. We're scheduled to return on Tuesday, but if the weather is as crap-tastic as the forecasts predict, we may be home a heck of a lot sooner.

Oh, and don't worry about Belle. She'll be safe and sound at Nan's. We had a long talk about Nan living on a busy road, surrounded by lots of woody conservation area. That means Miss Buttons is NOT to run out into traffic OR the woods... coyote bait, for sure :(

If you're in the inner circle, I'll be available on the cellular. Oh, and Jess... quit the freaking out. It's not like you're getting married in a month, or anything ;)

because i have nothing better to say

... and i have to leave to bring Griff to camp before heading to the store then teaching a class... AND because PEOPLE HARASS ME when i don't post every day :P

one of my very favorite movies, ever. enjoy.

f*ing technology

Okay, no pics to share of the weekend birthday festivities because for some reason the compact flash is not reading on my computer. Bleh. Far be it from me to actually figure out what the real problem is, so you'll have to deal with a griffin's-tenth-birthday-recap-photoless-post.

Good times, people, good times. Three different families= mine + Bob's mom + Ben's fam. Everyone got along fantastically. We sat and munched, watched the kiddos in the pool, ate cake, opened presents, and chatted some more. Belle couldn't stand the excitement of having so many people to shower her with attention. So many laps to sit on, so little time.The weather cooperated nicely, it was actually a bit cool to begin with, then the sun showed up in full force at about 3 pm. It was a good day.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that my baby is 10 years old. So much has happened in the last 10 years.. so much to mold and change me into who I am today. Although it wasn't always peaches and cream, I wouldn't trade what I have now for the world.

I am a mom. I am a daughter. I am a wife. I am a worker. I create. I love. I live. I laugh.

How about you??

because i can

   

... and because I still am on a  high from Tuesday night.

Oh, John Mayer. How you have rocked my little world. How you have given my interesting things to talk to people about, and how you have made me squeal and giggle with delight as I recount the events of the "John Mayer Experience".

Oh, by the way, did I mention that we sat  in the third row at the JM concert on Tuesday night??

Oh, you already knew? I guess it doesn't hurt to remind you, does it ;)

Seriously.. I'm already jonesing to make a mini book with the fantastical photos I took... I seriously wish I knew how to use the photo editing tools that I know are hidden somewhere on my computer so I could crop out heads and ....

... oh, sorry. I got distracted by John Mayer on Good Morning America. Where was I?? Oh...

.... about the cropping of heads and zooming in of photos. Once a little bit of editing was done at the fantastical Wal*mart photo kiosk thing, the prints came out pretty fantastical. I'm thinking of making a few into poster sized prints, and walpapering my celing with them. Do you think Bobio would mind?? ;)

In other news... my baby boy turns 10 tomorrow. Really I can't talk about it without going into serious denial, so I think that's enough for now...

I wrote this at 150 Mass Ave...

... Thank you, John Mayer. Thank you for singing great songs and making your "o" face all night long, and for looking directly at JI more than once.

Thank you, John Mayer, for READING OUR F*ING SIGN when you only read one other sign from the Venezuelan girl who got an A for effort for squeezing in all the letters on her piece of cardboard. Thank you for making us pretty much famous infront of all the thousands of people (99% of which had wwaaaaayyy crappier seats than us) at the TD-Banknorth-Garden-Fleet-Center-Home-of-the-Celtics-Bruins-and-f*ing-John-Mayer. Thank you, John Mayer, for telling US that it was good to have low aspirations, that way we will always succeed... I knew the Yo Yo John Mayer / Read Our Sign combo would be fantastic.

Thank you, John Mayer, for having a fan club, of which Yo Yo Erin is a member, through which she scored incredibly fantastical tickets to your insanely *sweet* concert. Although you did not actually sweat on her as previously hoped, you did speak directly to us, acknowledging our presence and effort infront of hoardes of jealous concert goers (who had crappier seats, did I mention that yet??)

P.S. We will be making appointments to get either "3rd row 4 life" or "yo yo john mayer" tattooed across our nether regions. WWJD?? ( what would JOHN do??)

Thank you, 6 foot tall kid infront of me, for pretty much ruining my view of the show for most of the night with your gargantuan head. If you are over 5'8", you should be made to sit. If you're over 6 feet tall, you should have your own section where the person infront of you is seated on a little elevated pedestal, so YOU can see how it feels to be stuck behind someone with a ginormous head. (The worst part about it was that this a$$hat didn't even seem like he wanted to be there. No swaying or groovin' to the musical fantasticalness of Mr. JM. WTF??!!) Oh, and the kid beside him claimed to be the little bro of JM. Such a crock of crap.

Oh, and one more thing (for now)... Thank you, John Mayer, for singing an acoustic version of my favorite song (and yo yo erin's) especially for us at the end of the show... (be sure to note the voices over the video... can you guess who??)

a*musing

Yo yo yo!

Amuseapalooza week was a success... I think this pic explains it all ;)

Make and takes every day, building up the excitement for the *big* weekend release of all the new images... we probably are responsible for the dry bank accounts of quite a few ladies... but it's seriously NOT our fault!! Blame flippin' a*muse (and shurkus, she's at least half responsible for this whole thing, don't you agree??)!

So, since I'm a fantastical {colorful creations} employee and have to follow some silly rule about needing to wait two weeks before purchasing new store products (some lame crap about having to let the customers have first dibs on the goods...), I placed myself a nice fatty order for 22 new stamps. WTF!?!? I'm in serious trouble here, folks. I think I'm now a card holding member of this little a*muse-cult thing that has swept the country. I think I'm gonna need a 12-step program for stampers, or at least for those who buy stamps.

P.S. I think Erin is so happy in this picture 'cause she knows she's gonna potentially get sweated (I think I just made up a word) on by Mr. John Mayer on Tuesday night...

a bunch of crap

So pretty much I've been a crappy blogger lately.

Nothing interesting going on in life, nothing inspiring me to write. Finished my swap cards for the store. Ripped the back of my pants on the dumpster at work. Again. Met Jessica's sister at A.C.Moore to pick up wedding shower goodies. Went out to lunch with mom and Griff on Tuesday. Been sweating at the BBC the last several shifts. Got a new *free* phone from Cingular/ATT in the mail. Still can't figure out how to really use it. Tired of heat and humidity. Got my hair did at the new salon I've been going to... Stephanie pretty much rocks my hair-doin' world. No pictures to share. Maybe next time.

I think I want to be Tara Whitney. She rocks the camera like woah.

Better luck next time....

classics

Just FYI, some of my all-time favorite t.v. shows from my younger years :)....

Now just try to tell me that you aren't jonesing for a little 80's right now... I dare you!!