Thursday Thoughts

YEAH! Kellie was finally voted off last night! Now they can get the actual competition going without all that distracting stupidity. What was up with the judges apologizing to Katherine? She wasn't that good. I wonder who's paying them to do that?

The grandparents have been here the past few days and the kids have loved every minute of it. I haven't had to raise my children ever since they got here. No baths, no making of dinner, no sleep rituals. I actually had free time, didn't know what to do with it, but there was free time. So this must be what life is like with a nanny......AH, to be Britney Spears for a day.

I had to go in this morning to get my handprints taken. No I didn't commit a crime, they are doing some sort of Mother's Day project at Jacob's school. We had to come in early to get it done. I have to say, as much as I have loved JACOB'S school experience and his teachers, who are absolutely divine, I have hated MY experience there. I have never been around so many pretentious and snooty women in all my life. And I belonged to a sorority for goodness sakes! The other mothers say nothing to me. If I say hello, they turn the other way. I actually had one lady push me out of the way today as I was signing Jacob in so SHE could sign in. I just stood there, dumbfounded. I have nothing to add to a conversation about weekly botox injections and facial peels, which I hear are a bargain at 125 bucks a pop! My kid wears no Tommy Hilfiger. We don't have the deluxe Rainbow playset and wouldn't have room for it if we did. BUT, I have a kid, same age as theirs who likes to play with their kids, so for that reason only WHY can't they make the effort? I would love to have some of those boys over to play this summer, but they didn't even come to his awesome birthday party, why would they come to my small house in the subpar neighborhood? It's very frustrating for me and I am glad I only have to go see those people seven more times.

Well, we are going to the lake this afternoon. The weather is supposed to be horrible, but I hope to put my temporary nannies to good use and veg out in the recliner with this, this and this. Have a great weekend!

American Idol Tuesday

Here's the lowdown on tonights performances.

Katherine: She sang a Whitney Houston tune, and not that well. I couldn't keep up with her and it was extremely pitchy. Randy was right on when he said she stood up there trying to act bigger than Whitney but couldn't pull it off. I think she was shocked that they didn't like it, it was almost hard to watch her take that.
Elliott: He can sing. That's all there is to it. They really make him up better each week, he is having that Clay Aiken transformation going on before our eyes. I am interested to see how far he goes.
Kellie: I fast forwarded through most of her performance. I just cannot take her hick routine another moment. Apparently I am not the only one. What was up with that high note? Was she trying to yodel? No, dawg, that was just not good.
Paris: I couldn't hear the song for all the head shaking. What was up with that?
Taylor: He started off rough, redeemed himself at the end, but still, he could've done better. It was too big a song for him too.
Chris: Amazing how he can put a rocker spin on every song he sings. I liked it and he looked fine in that jacket.

Tell me your thoughts......or am I the only loser tivoing this show?

Adam at 15 Months

Adam was 15 months old yesterday. How can it be that he has been here 15 months? My little baby is slipping away from me and is becoming more a little boy every day. Here are the things about Adam at 15 months:
* weighs about 18 1/4 pounds, still facing backwards in the car seat..poor dude
* He is 29 inches tall, or around there, too squiggly to get a good read.
* He is wearing 9 month clothes, finally, but can still wear his 3-6 month stuff.
* Still wearing size 2 diapers
* His hair is getting longer and it looks like it *might* be red.
* He can run. fast. away from you in large crowds. and laugh about it as he goes.
* He is sleeping through the night, although with us stretched out sideways while we cling to the side of the bed.
* He loves to be outside, this is the best way to calm him in any situation. You have to face the full out tantrums when you bring him inside though.
* He can sign: more, eat, bottle, please, daddy, mommy.
* He says no words...just a series of signs, points, and grunts. Amazingly, he is easier to understand at 15 months than Jacob who was saying about 20 words at this age.
* He no longer naps. At all.
* He can play tag with his brother and loves that
* He loves writing utensils, I suspect because brother does, he likes to "write" on things
* He has a toothbrush fetish. If you can't find yours, you can be sure he has run off with it. He likes his teeth brushed, I think he is the only kid who does.
* He climbs on everything. He knows how to push a chair to the counter and climb onto the counter and steal Easter candy. I figure it's only a matter of days before he scales the refrigerator to get to the good snacks.
* He eats all table food...in fact if the table were food he would eat it. He eats, and eats, and eats. I think he will be one of those competitive eaters you see at Nathan's hot dogs every fourth of July.
* His favorite food is bananas and he must have one at every meal. This confirms to me that he must be part monkey. He got that from his dad.
* He has a tremendous sweet tooth. If you have cake, cookies etc. you have to leave the room to eat it or he will scream a blood curdling scream until you are forced to fill his open mouth. He also gets this from his dad.
* He is the cutest, sweetest little boy. I think he gets that from his Mom. LOL

It's Sunday.....

Well, Adam and I are skipping church again. I know the congregation is starting to think Derick and I divorced and are probably trying to set him up with other women at this point. It's just too hard right now with Adam. He won't stay in the nursery at all, is in the middle of a clingy phase where only Mama will do. If I take him to the service with me I end up out in the hallway before the sermon even starts or, worse yet, outside in the Texas heat pacing back and forth the entire time. I would rather stay home and listen to Joel Osteen in my jammies while mopping the floor. I like Joel Osteen...he puts a nice spin on things, he's easy to understand, and his sermons are short.

Anyway, I need to stay home and get my house cleaned up so I have a good excuse today. My parents are coming to visit tomorrow afternoon. My dad has business meetings in Houston this week, so they are staying here a few days and then we are all heading up to the lake for the weekend. We haven't told Jacob they are coming so it will be a nice surprise for him. He hasn't seen his grandpa in a year so I know he will be so excited. He is still missing Bryce so much, I think this will be a good distraction for him. Of course, he is using his sorrow to his advantage....he pulls out the tears and lets us know when ice cream or a new rescue hero would make him feel better about Bryce moving. He's a little con man I am afraid.

I think I mentioned before that my husband was "thrifty". In actuality, he is CHEAP. Imagine my complete surprise when he pulled off on a whim into a furniture store and bought a kitchen table within ten minutes. Hallelujah! Our current table is twelve years old, falling apart, and has marker marks all over it. I don't even think the resale shop would take it and I know a garage sale isn't in it's future. Derick wants to keep it for a craft table which would be great, if we had a CRAFT ROOM, but since we barely have room to move in this house as it is, I think my old and trusty table is going to be seeing the inside of the garbage truck real soon. Of course, we still have a few weeks with Old Table as New and Shiny Table won't be coming until at least June. They reel you in and get you all psyched for new furniture, take your money and THEN tell you it isn't in the warehouse.

I leave you with this photo of Adam with my "grandparents". They were our neighbors growing up and since we lived so far from our own grandparents they kind of took us in as their own. They consider my kids to be their first great grandchildren and love them like they actually were. Today is their 60th wedding anniversary.

The Best Toy in the World

I have many fancy EXPENSIVE toys at my house. My mom and dad wanted my brother and me to have the BEST of everything but you know what? Toilet paper is where it's at! You can spin it on the roll or carry it with you for lots of fun on the run. Did you know that there are 240 sheets on one roll of toilet paper? I counted them just to be sure....nothing gets past me, no sir.




Toilet paper also makes a nice snack when your mommy is ignoring you while blogging, oops, I mean cleaning my house and preparing healthy meals for me.

The Long Goodbye

Here is Jacob and his buddy, Bryce, on his third birthday. Aren't they cute? Bryce was Jacob's first friend. His family is from WV and they moved down here about a year after we did. His dad and my husband both worked for the same company, both in WV and here in Texas. We were so alone here when my parents moved away and we were thrilled when Bryce's family moved not long afterward. Jacob was three months old, Bryce was nine months old. I went to high school with Bryce's mom and I loved so much having someone here, so far away, who knew the same people I knew and what I was talking about when I lamented the loss of ridge running and pepperoni rolls. It was like a little bit of home came with us and it was nice. We got together as often as our schedules allowed with five children between us. They rode out Hurricane Rita with us and were there for comfort when we got the news about Laura. They were the first, and only, ones to come see baby Adam at the hospital just hours after he was born. Bryce's dad got a great job opportunity in Memphis and while we are happy at what that will bring them, we are so sad they won't be right down the road anymore. We met up for one last dinner last night and choked back tears, but it was nice and we survived it. It became painfully real this afternoon when Bryce's mom and sister stopped by to drop off their new address and say good bye one more time. Jacob packed his favorite things (some train tracks, a matchbox car, his markers, some paper, and his sandals) into a bag and wanted to move with them. We had to drag him out of their car. He has been sobbing all afternoon with the tears of a child who just doesn't understand change. I am sad for him.....goodbye friends, it was fun while it lasted.

Another Milestone for Adam

Well, Adam is finally off the sauce...the boobie milk sauce that is. He just kind of gave it up, hasn't asked for it in two days and I am okay with that. I truly expected there to be some sort of ceremonial last feed or something, but I can barely remember feeding him last. I really did not think we would go 15 months, especially at the beginning when it was so painful and so hard. I am proud of myself for sticking to it, even when I wanted to throw in the towel. I enjoyed that part of Adam's babyhood, but I am ready for it to be over. If he can eat salad with a fork, he can drink milk from a cup, am I right?

Life's a Beach

One more holiday down for the year. It turned out allright, better than I had anticipated seeing as how my husband was on death's door, but let's just say I am glad there is a five day work week. At one time Derick was looking into working four days every other week. I shudder to think. We are back to normal here and I couldn't be happier. I like Monday. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but he definitely wouldn't make it as a stay home parent and I had just about hit my limit with his health complaints. He honestly did wonder if he caught the bird flu BUT it didn't keep him from bowling with his buddy on Saturday afternoon or helping same buddy replace a water heater all Easter afternoon.


Anyway, we did make it to the beach on Friday and it was wonderful, crowded, but wonderful. This was the first time for Adam and it was so much fun to watch him experience the two things he loves most in the world, dirt and water, in the same place. He has absolutely no fear. He would tear off for the surf and crash head first into the water, but just come up and head back for more. We got a lot of exercise chasing after him. Jacob actually went in the water! This is big for him as he is AFRAID of large bodies of water. He had a blast "riding the waves". It was a nice way to spend the day.

We had a pretty full weekend...Easter egg hunts, church services, dinner with friends Saturday AND Sunday....I am craving some down time today. I love DOING, but just being is highly underrated. I am soooo glad it's Monday.

Happy Easter!

My attempt at beautiful Easter photos...these were the best I got. No, I am not kidding.

Good Friday!

I was so excited for a three day weekend, thinking I would have all this free time to relax and sleep late. Uh, not so much. It is beginning just like every other day except now I have one more person to wait on. Adam is doing much better, thank you all for your good thoughts and wishes, but now my big baby husband has decided he has "it" and is still in bed. So much for lounging in the hammock with my library book. What WAS I thinking? I shouldn't knock the husband, but it is so funny how as soon as he finds one of the kids is sick, he is also. In January he was just SO sick, he must have caught something from Adam, yet Adam had an ear infection that wasn't contagious. It is so typical that when I told my mom yesterday that Adam was sick she asked if Derick was sick too. Now he may actually feel badly, but I am starting to think it is more stress related as in "OH Dear I have to spend three days with these kids, what will I do" rather than full out sick. So it looks like I have a full weekend ahead of me...probably not the beach and egg hunts and showers alone as I had pictured, but fetching water and taking temperatures. I leave with you with this lovely picture of me and my sister on Easter Sunday 1973...we were the same ages, almost, as Jacob and Adam. Have a great Easter all !

Thursday Thoughts

We planted a garden yesterday. An extrememly small garden, but nevertheless, a garden. We have green beans and nasturtiums. This is what Jacob chose. He wanted tomatoes but I have never been able to grow them here so he settled on the pole beans. I doubt any of it actually survives, much less bears fruit, but we had fun digging in the dirt and spraying the dog with the hose so it made for a fun afternoon.

I used to love to garden when I lived in WV. We grew mass quantities of all kinds of fruits and vegetables and all we did was throw seeds in the ground and water it every day. I cannot get anything to grow in Texas; I have tried for the past five years and still nothing survives past June. What I wouldn't give for a homegrown tomato.

Adam is sick AGAIN. He started running a fever yesterday afternoon and it was up to 104 by bedtime. I can't tell that anything is wrong with him so I guess it is just a virus. He was so miserable all night long. He and I were up from 2 until he finally conked out at 5:15. I am a zombie today and, of course, Adam won't nap so I can't either. I find it very interesting that my breast fed baby is sick typically every 8 weeks and my formula fed baby has been sick a total of five times in his five years.

Well, Bucky got the boot last night. It really was his time to go, in my opinion. I really have no preferences, still, on who I would like to see win this year. I would just like Kellie to quit the dumb hillbilly schtick. She is making us country folk look bad.

American Idol Recap

What's going on with American Idol this season? It was one thing to have them do fifties tunes and broadway tunes a couple seasons ago. I can see where they might want to feel their range and all, but QUEEN? Whose idea was that? Don't get me wrong...I LOVE Queen. I think I have all their albums (do people use the word album anymore?), but did I really need to hear the contestants totally butcher my beloved songs? It was bad enough when they allowed David Bradford to turn Crazy Little Think Called Love into a swing ballad, but really now.....QUEEN? Here is my recap for anyone who is interested.

Bucky: I don't care for Bucky, he seems like a nice guy and I would probably sit down next to him in a bar and carry on a great conversation with him, but he cannot sing...at all. I love Fat Bottomed Girls, though, and was glad someone sang it.
Ace: I don't even remember what he sang, I just remembering thinking WHAT? He is so darn cute though, I wish he could entertain me more so I would want to vote for him.
Kellie: Bohemian Rhapsody is a great song. When Ryan Seacrest announced she was singing it I almost turned the channel, but she did better than I expected. It wasn't great by any means, but it could have been so much worse coming from her. That dumb hick routine she has going on is really getting on my nerves. I come from smack dab in the middle of Hickville, West Virginia and I don't act like that. I might like her more if she would quit that.
Chris: What was up with that makeup? He certainly doesn't need any and if I were him I would steer clear of the makeup people next week. Innuendo is a good song, but he could have picked something so much better, I figured he would choose I Want It All, would have suited him better.
Katherine: I love the song she sang when Queen sings it.
Eliot: Somebody To Love is one of my favorite Queen songs, I am glad he chose it, but it wasn't his best performance. Since he was in the bottom three last week, this may be his downfall.
Taylor: I think he had too much to drink at dinner. He tried to kick the mike stand down and totally missed. At least he has a sense of humor about himself and can laugh it off. He did pretty good though. I like Taylor, he is different and entertaining but I don't think he will be the American Idol.
Paris: I don't remember what she sang either, but I remember thinking she seemed a lot older than 16, I like her cute and sweet, not dark and serious. Do they have to run the wardrobe selections by the parents? If so, I cannot believe her mom allowed her to stand up in front of the entire country dressed like she was about to bring out the whips and chains.
My favorite songs...Killer Queen and It's a Kind of Magic didn't even make it. I bet Mandisa would have done one of those.

Beware...shameless bragging below

As I have mentioned before, Jacob is into the art thing the past couple of weeks. It is actually quite interesting for me to see as I couldn't even get him to pick up a crayon/marker until a few months ago. I was beginning to worry a little when I would see pictures hanging on the walls at school of elaborate drawings next to Jacob's three second scribble masterpieces. The first thing he does when he returns from school now is get his paper and markers and get to work. He can sit at the table for hours at a time. This latest project is a letter for his friend. He wanted to write about it last night as I was preparing dinner but I did not have time to spell for him so he did it himself. It says: "Wake Up, Bill and Ben" Can you see that? I am so proud of my big boy I can hardly contain myself! He did that ALL BY HIMSELF and you (well, I) can actually read it! I can't wait to see what he does next!

The Easter Bunny......

is a big scary monster apparently. Poor, poor Adam....they don't have memories at this age do they? I have to give kudos to Jacob, though, for trying his hardest to comfort his brother. It was worth it just to see that.

You Will Have to Drag Me Kicking and Screaming....

Jacob's school calendar came in the mail this afternoon. Any normal person might find this helpful and peruse it with some interest, but I dropped it like a hot potato and had to leave the room to compose myself. Jacob's first day of kindergarten will be August 16. That is four months from now. I am not ready. How did this itty, bitty four pound baby turn into a kindergartener overnight? I seriously do not want him to go. I want time to stop and leave me in this cozy place where I can hang with my babies day in and day out. I want to lounge in our jammies all day and eat lunch under a fort in the living room. Better yet, I want to go back to that place in time where I could curl up in the recliner taking in his sweet baby scent as we napped while watching old game shows on the Game Show Network because for whatever reason, "Let's Make a Deal" would calm his soul. I long for the days when it was him and me, alone in the house watching Nick Jr. and Noggin shows and taking naps together after reading book after book, "Just one more, Mama" he would say. I want to be able to carry him in my arms again. I have always known that I would have a hard time sending my kids off to school, but I never knew it would be this hard. I remember thinking last year at this time, "Thank God I have one more year with him at home, all the things we can do! It will be many, many months before I have to face SCHOOL" And here it is. I think I have dreaded this since the moment I brought him home. He was my one and only and I loved being his mom. Of course, it wasn't all wine and roses, we cried a lot, but I felt a strange sense of calm being at home with him all day. I am so stressed thinking about him being gone EVERY DAY, I can't even imagine what that will be like. I don't want to imagine that yet. I hope I can get through these next months without dwelling on it. I hope I can take it day by day and enjoy them as we have been doing. I hope no more calendars or other school propaganda come in the mail to ruin my day. I hope I am not that mom who collapses into a wailing heap at the kindergarten door, but I am pretty sure I will be. SIGH....it's coming, I can't stop it. I think I am going to sneak into bed with my first baby and see if I can find that baby smell.

Are You Ready for the Easter Bunny?

I realize we have another week until Easter, but I wanted to share this picture of Jacob when he was just about Adam's age. It was the first and only time he has been to see the Easter Bunny. I am hoping to take them up to the dreaded mall sometime next week, but if the line is long, we aren't waiting. Do you think they have call ahead seating like Outback?

Our Easters are really low key here. We have no family to visit and aside from church we don't do much. We tried to hide eggs two years ago, but it rained and we had to bring them into the house and Jacob wasn't into it. We didn't even have Jacob last Easter. He was in WV with my parents and got to hunt eggs in the snow. My dad hid coins in the eggs and he was just interested in the money and I suspect if we do it this year, it will be the same way. He likes money. Anybody have anything special planned? Any good Easter traditions we could steal from you over here?

Back to the Drawing Board

Jacob is really into the drawing thing now. We have gone through three packages of manila paper and two packages of construction paper just this week. He has now had to resort to sidewalk chalk outside. Our driveway has become the Island of Sodor complete with train sheds, a quarry, and Sir Topham Hatt. I just pray it doesn't rain soon. Jacob would be so heartbroken, he has worked so hard on it.


I did nothing on my Motivated Moms calendar yesterday except feed pets. After our weekly pilgrimage to the library, we had a picnic lunch and drew all afternoon. I felt very slothlike, but I so enjoy hanging outside with my guys. We even went to Cici's for dinner, Jacob's pick. I hate the place, but at least I didn't have to cook or clean up afterwards.

When I dropped Jacob off at school this morning I noticed there were birthday invitations in some of the cubbies. Of course, Jacob didn't get one. This is my biggest pet peeve and I intend to go in and talk with the director one day next week. It is just unfair in my opinion.

Laura

My sister's stepdaughter passed away in September. It wasn't completely unexpected; she had been sick her whole life and her parents were told from the beginning that they could expect about 18 years with her. She almost made it to 15. In the back of your mind, you know this is the reality, but when it happens it is still a shock. Laura spent her last four months in St. Louis waiting for a lung transplant. This was our beacon of hope for her and no one thought she wouldn't get one. She was top of the list and a child at that, we took it all in stride, she would get her lungs in the summer and get back in time to start high school in the fall. Her heart ended up giving out from the strain before that transplant came. We went to Florida right after Hurricane Rita to be there for the services and to try to comfort my sister and her family. I have to say it was one of the worst things we have ever had to deal with as a family.

Jacob was really close to Laura. He always looked forward to seeing her because she was just so good to him. I did not bring him to any of the services, I felt he was too young. We played air hockey in the church's fellowship hall during the funeral and watched as they released balloons...I think that will be a better memory for him one day. We had explained to him as best we could what had happened to Laura and that she wouldn't be coming back. I don't think he really understood what we were talking about and we thought it was best not to dwell on it and just answer his questions when they came. Well, six months later the questions begin. Most of yesterday was spent talking about Laura and I think he really needed to do that. He continues to talk about her today and I think it makes him happy to do so. He still believes Laura is coming back and will argue if you say no, but he does know she is in Heaven and he thinks that is cool. I found this picture to show him, I am going to send it off so he can have a copy for his room and I am also going to place one in his baby book. I hope that he can hold on to the memories he has of her as he gets older, yet I fear they will fade away because he was so young.

Tuesday Tidbits

You know you have to succumb to the kiddy music in the car when your child goes to school singing: "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die". No more Johnny Cash in the car for me.

I crack up every time I hear Jacob say "I'm just trying to be a better person, my name is Earl"

This is my new best friend! I am going to throw out the twenty others I have and commit to this one. Well, no, I could never do that, but this stuff is GREAT!

You know sometimes I think God will just do things for you, just because. I mean, He works miracles and all, but I have to think he was working for me because when I sat down last night to watch the Grey's Anatomy episode I had tivoed, I found that the Lost episode I missed on Wednesday was rerun on Saturday and this time my TIVO got it right! SO, I was able to watch my two favorite shows back to back....pure heaven. Is anybody else watching Grey's Anatomy? I started just to see Patrick Dempsey, so hot, but I think I love George now. Something about the way he jumped in there and helped Bailey birth that baby endeared me to him forever. I heart George.

As I was making Jacob's lunch for school today he came up behind me and hugged me and said, "Thanks Mom, you are the best mom I have ever had". That was so sweet and I should have left it at that, but I had to go and tell him I was the only mom he had and he said, "No, Kristan is my mom too". Kristan is my husband's sister, he has seen her only once. This hurt my feelings that he would think a woman he has spent 3 hours with his entire existence, could equal the woman who birthed him, feeds him, and wipes his butt. I explained to him that he only has one mom...ME, but he was still confused, after talking with him about it, it turns out that he watched Kristan make a meal and to him that is what moms do so she must be his mom as well...either this or he thinks my husband's sister is his other wife and that is just downright creepy.

Why can't men sit on the toilet to do their business? I am getting really sick of having to wipe down seats and floors every time I go into the bathroom. My only complaint about living with men.

Adam is flipping through my wedding album. He loves to look at pictures of people. He stops at each one and points to me and says "Mama". I wonder what he will do when he gets to the page with Kristan on it? LOL......Have a good Tuesday!

Is It Monday already?

The weather was BEAUTIFUL this weekend! That perfect kind of weather that isn't too hot and isn't too cold, no mosquitoes yet and the Texas humidity didn't creep up to dripping YET. It won't be long before we are forced inside from the unbearable heat so we took the weekend to enjoy it. On Saturday we pulled out the wading pool and let the kids (and dog) play. It was Adam's first time and he loved it. Whatever Big Bro is doing, he wants to be doing so it was all monkey see, monkey do but it was so much fun watching them play together. I laid in the hammock with a beer listening and watching my kids play, my favorite thing to do.

We went to a park here in town yesterday and walked the trails. We came home dusty and dirty and I couldn't help but think how different my life is now that I am surrounded by males. I never thought I would end up on my hands and knees in a park digging for the perfect rock or spending way too much time pitching those hard found rocks into a creek. I never thought I would have baggies full of rocks and cool leaves. I never knew that I would enjoy hunting doodlebugs with my son. I never thought I would be teaching my child how to throw a football and the cool way to wear a baseball cap. I never thought we would have to all bathe after a daily outing. I don't even remember what it was I thought my life would be like, but I like the one that was given to me, mud, testosterone and all. This is more fun than I could have imagined...Thank God for unanswered prayers!

Saturday Snippets

I thought this was a good picture of Jacob so I wanted to share it. It is so hard to get a good one of him these days, he is in some sort of phase where he tries too hard to smile and then he ends up looking like he is constipated or about to puke. We spent the morning outside having a yard sale. We cleared out a lot of junk and just returned from the resale store where we unloaded the rest on them. We will finally be able to park both cars in the garage again! I wonder how long it will take to junk the place up again?

As my husband was setting up for the big sale, he found a gold Lexus parked in front of our home with the drivers door open and the radio playing. He didn't pay it much mind at first, but it stayed for a while so he went over and found a guy passed out drunk, hanging half out of the car. He tried to wake him to see if he was allright without a response at first, but finally the guy came to, stared at my husband, mumbled something, and passed right back out. That's the way to sell your stuff! Step right up folks, please step over the drunk dude in the way. He did finally drive away but I wonder what he was doing there and where he had been to end up like that. April Fools Indeed!