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Las Vegas!

Mr. Bruises and I are in sunny, Las Vegas for the Suzuki convention. I will be sure to find all kinds of interesting things to share with you all when I get home! We are going to the Criss Angel Mindfreak show tonight.

Update on Chip

I've been asked for an update on Chip. He is still thriving and really seems happy! He moved into his triple decker condo a week ago and loves exploring all the nooks and crannies. He loves his wheel and this really cool little wooden house I put for him to nest in the bottom of his cage. Each time he hears my voice, he pokes his head out.

He is actually litter trained. He uses a litter box in the corner of his cage. He loves to nibble on my hand, he never bites. He is quite fast and doesn't like to leave the safety of his cage.

He's been dining on a variety of nuts and grains and I found him a nice, fresh chestnut in the yard. He also has taken a liking to Fruit Loops. I am sure his little, wooden house is filled with them.
So, Chip is doing well. I am totally comfortable with my decision to keep him out of harms way.

I live with a joker!

Travis is such a jokester. I swear, he does things just because he knows he will give me a chuckle. Take this photo, for instance. This is what I saw when I looked down to make sure I wasn't going to squash an animal or animal part in the Lay-Z-Boy, when putting down the foot rest. He's such a goof ball, but he is "MY" goofball!

The Bus Stop Saga Continues

Some people have thick sculls. Some people have no common sense. Then you have this person. It's been three weeks since the school bus stop was moved from the front of my salon. It's been one week since a rouge bus driver was informed a SECOND time that the bus stop had moved. Yet today, I go to work and the grandmother of the kindergartner has the child at the bus stop. Please look how she is parked. The white vehicle CAN NOT get into our parking lot because she is parked in the middle of the entrance.

When I pulled in and looked at her, she gave me a look that was all "go ahead, say something, I dare you". I chose to just look at her and shake my head in disgust. I then went into the salon and took photos of what a jackass she is. I then made ANOTHER call to the school district and then I called the police. The police will be coming at noon tomorrow to confront the ladies, whoever shows up.

I just can't believe the balls of some people. What disrespectful people. I wished I knew where they lived because I would totally go and block their car in so they couldn't drive to the bus stop.

If you can drive your kid to the bus stop and sit and block an entire parking lot for 15 minutes each day, why don't you just drive your kid to school? It's just down the road. It would save you like 14 minutes each day and you wouldn't piss me off every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

I will be poised, with my camera tomorrow when you are confronted by the officer. I sure hope you cop the same attitude with him that you did with me!

Ford City Urban Legend

I first laid my eyes on "Grunt's Leg" in the early 80's. I was a teen and my friends would talk about it. I didn't believe them, so they took me and showed me.

On the first telephone pole, at the lower end of Third Avenue, in Ford City, is where it is. It is right at the very tippy top. When I first viewed it, it still had parts of the tube sock still attached.

Urban legend is that it belonged to Grunt, a local character that could be seen on any given day, sitting on a keg of beer in his driveway, which was next to Sheetz. I've been told that he has since passed away. The story is that he was drunk one night in the 70's and someone took off his leg, climbed the pole and nailed it at the top so he couldn't get it back. I would assume that he got a new leg.

Through the years, I would take visitors and newcomers to the area to see the leg. It is funny how some people, who have lived here their entire lives, don't even know it's up there and has been for over thirty years.

The next time you are in town, you should try to find it. Take a picture of you pointing up at it and send it to me! I would love to start a scrapbook!

Best Shirt Ever!

At the bout on Saturday, Hissyfit, of The Slumber Party Slashers, had on the best t-shirt I've seen in a long time. I first noticed the hands on the front that looked like they were cupping her "girls"
I then noticed the saying on the back. Great shirt Hissy!!

Paybacks are a B*tch!

So, the whole "Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" thing coming back to bite Mr. Bruises in the ass. I told him that I would be playing my card someday and that day will be very soon!

Mr. Bruises hates the fact that I have a tattoo on my foot. I've been wanting to get another tattoo for sometime now, but haven't because I didn't want to disappoint him. Well, the whole Camilla thing made me realize that I can do what I want.

At the bout on Saturday, I spent $20 on the 50/50 raffle and got a chance for a $250 Jester's Court tattoo done by Hannibal Refter. I stated when I was handed my ticket that it was the winner! Well low and behold it was!

I was so excited that I jumped up and screamed. I then ran right across the derby floor, while Queen of the Derby was going on. QOTD is a knock down, drag out, last girl standing battle for the barbed wire crown. It' wasn't until I saw the deer in the headlights look on Big F'n Ref's face that I realized I can really close to losing my life!

As I was coming back to my seat, Mr. Bruises had that horrified look on his face when he realized that his payback day is coming. I took a picture of it to record it in history. This is the moment that you realized that Paybacks. Are. A. Bitch!

Battle Royale!

Last night was the Championship bout, Battle Royale, for the Steel City Derby Demon's second season. The Bitch Doctors and The Wrecking Dolls were prepared to fight until the end for the coveted SCDD Championship Trophy aka "Stanley's Leg. As I walked in, that is the first thing I saw.


The leg was constructed by Refholio. It consists of skate parts that have played a part in SCDD history. The skate, for instance, was BB Basher's skate that broke during The Saint Patrick's Day Massacre, March 17, 2007.
After oogling all over the leg and taking it's picture, I got my second heart palpitation of the evening. I saw that Hurricane Heather was not only in uniform, but skating! I. Love. Heather. She has been out the entire season with a shoulder injury and actually had surgery. I was so excited to see her skate again, but worried, when I noticed that her OTHER shoulder is now bandaged. Seems she injured it during a practice last Wednesday.

It was an exciting bout. It was back and forth, back and forth. It was the kind of bout that makes you a little sick to your stomach. Bodies were flying everywhere. At one point, Big F'n Ref, straddled over CC DeKill, of The Bitch Doctors, who fell. We all wondered if he got smacked in the "goodies" just a little. Later, Ally McKill, of The Dolls, did the same thing. I guess this is a testament of CC being able to fall small, since Ally is TINY! It was great entertainment for the crowd, they loved it!

Speaking of the crowd, I hear that we had a local celebrity in attendance. Pittgirl, author of The Burgh Blog, tweeted:

"Just left roller derby. In a word, insane. In another word, mayhem. Loved
it."

I am so glad you made it to a bout, Pittgirl. I knew you would love it!

Both teams fought until the very end. Quite a few got injured, you could tell they were putting everything they had into it. The Dolls never gave up, fighting to the end. The Bitch Doctors were victorious. They once again, played very well as a team. It's like they are all totally in sync with one another.

Congratulations to The Bitch Doctors on their second championship win. Congratulation to The Wrecking Dolls for really stepping it up and putting it out there this season, you did amazing! Congratulations to SCDD for a VERY successful second season! I. Love. You. ALL!

Travis' new past time

Now that the crate is out of our living room, it seems so much bigger. The boys, now, have access to the large, picture window that we have.

Travis loves to poke his head through the blinds and bark at random things. It could be our neighbor Punkin' walking to the mailbox, the UPS man, the chippie that lives under our carport or anything else. He just loves to look out of the window and bark.

Added to my list of daily duties now - cleaning nose print art off of the windows!

The Bus Stop Chronicles

There are numerous school buses that stop in front of my salon. My salon has been open for four and a half years now. As the years have gone by, the parents bringing their children to the bus stop and picking them up have gotten out of hand.

Last year, it was really starting to get bad. They would block the parking lot, litter and on some mornings, just lay around and bullshit into the afternoon, sometimes to the point were customers of the isurance agency next door had to STEP OVER THEM.

This year, their behavior hit the maximum of annoying. The first week of school was two days in when the salon was open our normal days of Wednesday through Saturday. That Wednesday, at noon, the parking lot was blocked so that neither my client nor I could get in. At 3:00 that day, we witnessed a truck pull in behind every car in our full parking lot, pull forward and back up NINE times to let people into or out of the parking lot.

The next day, I literally got dirty looks when someone had to move to let me into MY parking lot and did the same to my client. That was it. I called the School District and the bus company and officially had the bus stop moved to down the street. It is a small intersection with PLENTY of parking.

Well, one mother, who has a kindergartner that is the only child on one bus kept coming to her normal spot and the bus driver would come to her. Now this wouldn't be an issue if she parked like a normal person and every other car - vertically. No, she parks horizontally, blocking three of the five spaces we have and hindering the ability for people to get in and access the other two spots.

So, yesterday, I very nicely asked her if she could move her car and she totally copped an attitude with me. I am sorry, bus stop people, but you are literally "guests" on the property that I pay rent for. Please respect that property and respect me.

So, I promptly informed the bus company and the School District that the A-9 bus is not complying. So, bus stop people, take your cars, your beer bottles, Mountain Dew, Pop Tarts, Sheetz Schmuffins and move your ass to the intersection of Main and Manor Drive. Oh, and leave your attitude in your car.

The chalkboard wars!

We have a chalkboard that hangs right by our basement door. It's original purpose was to write messages or keep track of things we needed to buy. Through the years, Mr. Bruises and I have gotten into a couple of wars on it, where I would write something, then he would and back and forth.

The most recent one has to do with Camilla. I originally wrote that "Girls and Gays drive Mini Coopers" and it went from there. Please don't think I am hating on gay men. I love gay men, I would actually marry a gay man if I could. I have just never met another man, who owned a Mini that wasn't gay.

When the Comcast guy came to switch over our cable and Internet last week, I noticed that when he went to leave, he paused. I then realized that he was probably inspecting the chalkboard. To a perfect stranger, can you imagine what a sight this was?

The best dessert ever!

If I had a dollar, for every time this summer, someone asked me for the recipe for my dessert, I would be rich!! My dessert can be made numerous ways. I learned it and adapted it from a recipe that Kylie's dad Bruce makes all the time. Thanks, Bruce Shaffer!

It's quite simple to make. You need two boxes of instant pudding, any flavor, milk, graham crackers and Cool Whip. The dessert I am making today is using regular graham crackers and coconut creme pudding. My other favorite is pistachio pudding and chocolate graham crackers. You can make a low calorie version by using sugar free pudding and two percent milk.

Line the bottom of your dish with graham crackers. Do not adjust your computer screen. YES, Rhonda owns purple Pyrex. Shocking, isn't it?

Mix the two boxes of pudding as directed on the box.

Pour pudding over the graham crackers.

Add another layer of graham crackers.

Top with Cool Whip and graham cracker crumbs.

Chill for a couple of hours. This is the end result. The graham crackers take on the moisture from the pudding and Cool Whip and it turns into a creamy cake-type consistency. YUM!

I'm a failure

I'm a failure, a rescue failure. No, the chippie I rescued, one week ago today did not die. In fact, it is doing wonderful! A little too wonderful! Thanks to my great love and care, it is now, not afraid of people and worse yet, has no fear of cats.

This little guy doesn't stand a chance in the real world now. He would be a Scooby Snack for one of the neighborhood cats in a matter of minutes now. So, I've purchased the Taj Mahal of critter cages, which will be here on Friday and he is going to join our family.

I feel horrible that he's a wild animal and will now be domesticated. I would feel worse, though if I found his little headless carcass once a cat was through with him.

Scarehouse 2008

Last night was the orientation for Scarehouse 2008. I got to see some old friends from last year and there are lots of new friends to be made. Some current friends are working there this year too like Maida Steel, BB Basher, Encore and Tia, my Derby Demon mentoree. This season is going to be a lot of fun.

Hurricane Heather will be in the new area Delirium 3D. She looks even more outrageous than ever. Maida Steel will also be in that area. This is an awesome new addition to the haunt and they made some nice changes to the other two haunts at the site.

They have revamped the customer service department, which I am a part of. We have comprised "The Broad Squad" and we will be doing everything to make sure that every guest is well informed and has the least wait time possible. Double D, shown here by a really cool painting, will be at the ticket booth, once again, this year.

I will be reprising my role as Drewcilla the RIP girl. I will be selling the RIP Passes, that allows you to skip to the front of the line. There will be limited passes available on Friday and Saturday nights. For $17, you get into all three attractions, $25 gets you all three attractions and NO WAIT! Last year, there were nearly three hour lines at some point, it is totally worth the $8 extra dollars.

Just so you know, I don't get a commission or a kick back for every RIP pass that is sold. My paycheck isn't affected if you choose to upgrade or not. So, if you are offered one of the limited RIP passes, you may want to take advantage of it and not waste a big amount of your evening waiting in line.

I got to tour the haunt last night without a lot of the extra stuff on. That was good for me because I don't do haunts very well. It was still scary with the lights on.

Katy Perry may have kissed a girl, but "I" licked a clown.......and I liked it!

Slumber Party

Travis and Riley had a slumber party last weekend. We had our friend, Tammy's dog Lexie Saturday until Wednesday. The boys always love when Lexie comes over. When Mr. Bruises and I go away, the boys go to Lexie's house.

It was quite entertaining, each evening watching the high-jinx happening in the living room. There were countless games of tug, chase and a few other fun games

Like the "Bunny Hop". No slumber party is complete without doing the Bunny Hop. Here, Riley tries to get it started, but no one else seems to jump in.

Then we have the "Bitey Face" game. My boys are good with this game and look so ferocious when doing it. Lexie isn't too into that game, so she just watched.



After a round of games, the boys take a nap and spoon. Lexie never did spoon with them. She did lay with them in my office. I would never have my camera in there when I looked down and saw that the entire floor was DOG. Each time I would get up to get my camera, they would follow me.

A Successful Rescue!

I have rescued so many chipmunks through the years. There was the on that fell into the garbage can and was in there for who knows how long. Then there was the one being terrorized by the neighbors cat and was trapped between two windows. Then there were the other three that I wrestled from the same cat. Once bit by a cat, there's nothing you can do, their saliva is poison. Needless to say, none of the chipmunks I have rescued have ever survived. I always felt some comfort, in knowing, though, that they died comfortably in a warm place, on a soft fluffy towel instead of in a cat's mouth or a hawk's beak.

Yesterday, as I was heading to the store, I saw a baby chipmunk on the road. I stopped to let it scurry, but it didn't. It was soaking wet and all curled in a ball. It let me pick it up and didn't struggle. "Here we go again", I thought. So, I turned the car around and found a nice box, a fluffy towel, some of Rudy's food, a small milk cap of water and I took Jeffrey's basking lamp from his aquarium. I got the little critter all comfy and headed back on my way to the store.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and found the chipmunk up and around and eating! It was so lethargic when I left. I am pretty much sure that I have had my first successful chipmunk rescue. I will give him a few days, to make sure he is alright, then I will release him back where I found him.

Goldstock 2008

We packed the car and headed to Goldstock on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend. I used my mother-in-law's station wagon. It was perfect for the boys, they had the whole back.
About three and a half ours into our nearly six hour drive, I noticed this in my rear view mirror. I had to take a photo, which I promptly texted to a few friends. Kylie asked "Where's the rowdy one?", I informed her that he was sleeping.
We arrived at camp. Everyone says that Disney World is the happiest place on Earth. I think Goldstock is. This was our cabin, we occupied the right side. Our bed was right by the window and the boys loved laying in bed, barking at everyone as they walked by.
Travis was entered in the Olympics. His first event was the Obstacle Course. He did very well, he wouldn't take three steps backward for me, but he did all the jumps, ran through the tunnel, which was constructed from a golf cart, and he did sit in a hula hoop for three seconds.
Next event, Sassy Walk. Travis HAS NO sassy walk, so we decided to help him, Auntie MJ gave all the dogs pink and purple fluffy things to wear around their neck. We borrowed Riley's and put it on Travis' nether regions. Style Points (dollars) were collected and inserted into the fluffies. He looked like a little stripper, all he needed was a pole.
Next was Righteous Retriever. This amounted to me holding Travis at one end and Pam holding his favorite ball at the other end. When they said go, I had to release Travis and he had to retrieve his item and bring it back to me. If he retrieved any other dogs item he would be DQ'd. Well he ran to Pam, got the ball, and turned around and ran back to me. A foot from me, he took off running with a group of puppies. It was mass chaos. It was a good 45 seconds before someone finally crossed the finish line. Travis came in third, earning him a bronze medal.
Finally, the swimming competition. I had taken Travis to the lake the day before and he swam for the first time. He was a natural. I even got him to jump off the dock a few times. Dock diving for puppies was not allowed this year. When it was time for Travis to swim for the Olympics, he took two steps in and just watched the other dogs.
He did have a blast swimming with his new BFF Bailey. Those two could have swam all day.

Riley, on the other hand, still is a cautious swimmer. He would only go in to his belly. You could actually see him be all like "Oh my, my belly is touching, yucky!" I would throw the ball out real far for Travis and while he was out in the water, I would throw the ball a short way in for Riley so he could retrieve it without Travis stealing it.
This is the only picture I was able to get of both of my boys in the water together!

Travis was so much fun to watch. He would get out so far, until he could barely touch, then he would take this big leap, kind of like a dolphin and then swim like crazy.
After campaigning all day for Sweetest Boy, Travis was taking a nap. Riley attended the Live Auction with me. I thought he was sound asleep under my chair, but when I put the camera down to take a photo, I found that he was checking out all the people behind us.
On the last morning, those of us still at camp had breakfast together and posed for a photo. One thing I like to do is encourage people to take a "goofy" shot. They are always so much fun. Here is ours!

On the way home, I saw this in the rear view mirror.
Once we were home and said our greetings to Daddy and Kallie, there were two golden throw rugs on the floor. They were two pooped pups!! I know they are dreaming of Goldstock 2009, I know I am!