Ok Ok. I remembered my login.
There are so many times I think to myself "I should put that on The LC", and then just don't get to it. Since those times are usually stored in my short term memory most of them have vanished, but I have managed to hold onto a few.
Wendy's Ads : Very Very Bad.
As a Columbusite (Columbian? Cow? Follower of Christopher? Ok, let's call it like it is and just say BUCKEYE!), I have an affinity with Wendy's, which was founded in my hometown and is still based in the next burb over from mine. Granted, fast food has changed dramatically since the old days when it was all fresh cooked and made to order (!), but sometimes you can't help a spin through a drive through. Anyway, since Dave Thomas died, the company has been struggling to keep its identity strong. The newest tactic is this talking Wendy head, who pontificates about how Wendy's isn't fast food. STRIKE 1. They have a commercial now that heralds the fact that their chicken sandwiches are made with all white meat, and talking head Wendy comes on to say, and I kid you not, "Because if it's not all white meat, it's a gray area, and I don't like gray areas in my chicken." Seriously. Forget STRIKE 2, we're taking this one straight to YOU'RE OUT!
Lightning Strikes
Here in The LC, the land is roughly 70% woodland, and at our house that jumps to about 99% woodland. Literally it is as if our house was built somewhere else, and dropped in the middle of the woods, blowing away the trees under it and for about 10 feet in every direction around it. The trees are about 80 feet tall. This makes for an awesomely great place to be during violent thunderstorms. This month we have at least one a day, and twice have encountered lightning strikes on the land. The first time, it hit our well, and as a result it blew:
- One of two garage door openers
- The house alarm system
- One of two air conditioner units
- Our cable and internet service (for a week!)
- The well pump
The second time, which sounded like the house literally exploded, we only lost our phone service. It is the most rattling experience. And Jake freaks out whenever we have storms. So not very cool. Luckily, when we move to the farm we will have lightning rods on the house, barns, and even the trees near the house are cabled to ground lightning strikes.
Flipping Out
I can't say enough about this show. You have to just watch it. It is my life.
Is there Room at the Inn?
Honestly one of the reasons I haven't been on the blog is because I have been spending every waking moment on facebook entertaining guests this summer. 51% has cycled his entire family through this summer. First his sister came by herself for 10 days, then his parents came for a week, then his mother came back for 2 weeks over the 4th of July, then his dad, sister, and neice and nephew came for a week. The last one was particularly fun, because we decided to all spend a night in our NYC apartment. Yes, 6 people plus a 100lb dog in our apartment with one bed. And I'm not talking a bed like the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Swim Swim Swim
We put in a pool at the farm and had them install it quickly so that it would give all our guests (see above) something to do. Plus we wanted Jake to be able to swim this summer as he only got a month of swimming in the Hamptons last year. We got it done and have been spending a ton of time there. We are still waiting for the stone for the top and the finish landscaping around it but a pool is a pool. Even 51%'s mom daned to dip her toes in.
Eric and Asaf and the Never Ending Rainstorm
Once we cycled through the family, I had exactly 4 hours to prepare the house for Eric and Asaf, who were coming to experience a summer weekend away from the island of fire. It actually turned out that I had 6 hours, as they got lost in spite of their gps.
We spent a couple of hours in the pool, where Jake took to Asaf as if he were the Dog Whisperer. He completely disregarded Eric, though. After we went swimming, we had to go home and prepare for The LC's version of a white party. It was a benefit event, complete with silent auction, cocktails, and a hat contest. There were even some of our resident celebrities, including Laura Linney, Larry Kramer, and Topher Grace. Eric and Asaf got scolded for PDA. (you see only one of us took the white attire truly to heart, including the summer must, white bucks)
we have no idea who this woman is.
The next day, we took them on a hike to the top of Steep Rock. The hike up was easy, and the view as beautiful as ever, but on the way down a mother of all thunderstorms trapped us. What started out as a nice walk in the rain quickly became a serious matter. We were like Helen Hunt in that flying cow movie, except we weren't in a car, but in the middle of the woods. Jake was freaked, 51% was relatively calm, Asaf was visibly upset about getting wet and having a 2 hour drive ahead of him, I was trying to keep my contacts from washing away, and Eric was upset that his favorite shirt was soaked. In fact, I think he took it off and threw it in the river.
This was before the storm:
After we got back to our cars, we said goodbye to the guys and went home to find our driveway had washed away. At least no lightning strike!
Don't Stop the Music
On heavy rotation this summer:
- Nouvelle Vague (perfect dinner/drinks/stargazing music)
- Adele (love her. went to see her in NYC a few months back)
- E=MC2 (enough said)
- Kenny Chesney (OLD stuff, not the recent stuff)
- Lots of Bossa Nova type stuff - good background music for all the guests.
