Wow....IKEA sells 20 foot hot dogs for 50 cents!

I actually got my hubby off the couch today and we actually DID something nice. We have never been to the IKEA store yet and we've heard about it. Actually, it was built in an area where I grew up eons ago. Way back in the olden days it was all farm land there....Canton Township....along Ford Rd. We lived on this dirt road where there was a little gas station at the corner where I would wait to catch the bus for school. And down the road was the other corner where there was a 'mom & pop' store where my girlfriend caught the bus. She lived down that dirt road. Well, now there's a big huge gas station on the corner instead of the little store, and on the opposite corner is the IKEA store. Dirt road gone.....tons of stores, strip malls, restaurants, you-name-it along the route our little school bus use to take. Where my g'friend's house use to be is now a parking lot across from IKEA. I found it a bit depressing cause I can still "see" in my mind the way it all use to be.

Anyway, so today we drove out to the IKEA store and explored, cause it truly is an adventure. A very unusual store and layout. We got lost and had trouble even finding our way out!! We kept walking in circles. I kept saying "Haven't we been here before?" They have these arrows on the floor and we were told to 'follow the arrows'....kinda like the zoo where you follow the elephant prints along the walkways...haha.

As we finally found the exit, there was this really HUGE humongous sign overhead advertising a hot dog for 50 cents with a picture of a hot dog, and it actually said *NOT ACTUAL SIZE....LOLOLOL...I mean the picture of the hot dog had to have been 20 feet long. I mean, what idiot would think that it could possibly be the actual size of the hot dog you would be getting for 50 cents!!? We were laughing so hard. I left my camera in the car or I would have taken a picture.

They have a nice restaurant there, but since the picture is deceiving and their hot dogs are a puny 8 inches or so, we decided to go elsewhere.....(haha)

So we left and went to this bar & grill across the street and had a late lunch and a couple of brews. I played the Keno but only won 2 bucks....(Hey, enough for 4 hot dogs at IKEA!!)

So that was our nice day....how was yours?

Cheeseburger Parade pics

Also Mini Sue Parrot pics

A few Cheeseburger Pictures

Here I am all dressed like a flamingo

The Cheeseburger Bus

Flamingo roosting on a lamppost

Back home......

I finally got back from Caseville today. The Cheeseburger festival was FUN, FUN, FUN! I am always amazed at how many people are in little town of Caseville during those 10 days. My husband said that he read that Cheeseburger in Caseville is now rated #5 in the major events in Michigan! This year it was webcammed across the internet. At the last big concert in the park Saturday night, they announced that Cheeseburger is so big that the astronauts on the Enterprise were watching the concert by webcam that night!!....how cool is THAT??!!

I am so very bummed by the pet costume contest thought.....grrrrrrrrrrrr! Mini wasn't even in the 10 finalists, and she was a parrot for christ's sake with a cheeseburger on her.....VERY CHEESEBURGER. So who do they pick?? The dogs with the cutest KIDS presenting them. There was 2 sets of "Bride and Groom" dogs and the kids were all dressed up as bride and groom too and even had little 3 year olds tossing petals in front of them as they walked the "red carpet".....What the hell does a bride and groom have to do with Cheeseburger?????. Then they had a non-canine catagory so they had to pick a couple of cats for that. The one cat was being pushed in one of those pet strollers and you couldn't even hardly see it. The other cat the "little girl" was literally dragging it down the runway. I think that only one dog actually had a cheeseburger themed costume on. There was this one little puppy that was one of the finalists that I thought was so damn adorable. She was wearing a little purple dress and when her owner held her up and bounced her up and down so everyone could see her, she looked like a little hand puppet!!....how cute...

Everyone around us raved about Mini and her cute parrot costume. One guy even wanted to take a picture of her. At least she fit the cheeseburger theme. I think next year I'm going to find me a little kid and dress him up and have him show her off....then she'll win!!

OK....so enough of the sour grapes.....

The parade of fools was spectacular. The parade was 1 1/2 hours long. It's amazing of the ideas people come up with. One float had this huge flamingo with a real guy dressed as a scuba diver on a bongy cord thing floating and bouncing through the air. Another float had a huge cheeseburger with a flamingo inside and a sign that said "HELP"...HAHA.....Another float had a flamingo on a rotisserie going around and around. Lots of flamingos, cheeseburgers, pirates and parrots.

And REAL PARROTS, too.....We saw several people walking around with real parrots on their shoulders.

By Monday, 8-20....we were pretty much cheeseburgered-out. The town was totally dead. The stands were being taken down. By Tuesday, the flamingos on the lampposts had flown south til next year.
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Hubby left by Tuesday and I decided to stay through the weekend and come home today. I went to the Eagles a couple times with my friend. I went shopping in Bad Axe. Basically just relaxed and got some things done. I spent some time at the condo after my son and his girlfriend left.....they were there too for Cheeseburger week.

I went to the show and saw that movie "Chuck and Larry". It was okay. It had some funny scenes, but a bit too gay for me. I certainly wouldn't let a child see it.

So I decided to spend Labor Day weekend here at home. Then I'm going to Niagara Falls and pay my respects to Bill and see if I can get together with his daughter and hope she will let me go in the house one last time and take more pictures. I need the closure.....for Bill and the ancestral house.

Well, off to bed. God I miss SOAPNET! I don't get it with my cable. And tonight is the second week of "Who wants to be a Soap Star", and I missed it....booohoooo!!

OH>...Guess what I had for dinner tonight??.....A CHEESEBURGER!!!

CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE (CASEVILLE)

Didn't do much today except watch soaps all day. The tree guys were out in the backyard most of the day. They still have some cleaning up to do tomorrow, but tomorrow I will be out of here....

......FOR CASEVILLE!!......

Hubby said he will probably show up by Saturday. So guess I will spend the first big day of 'Cheeseburger' week by myself. Well, I'll be with friends hopefully. Saturday at 1:00 is when they will have the pet contest that Mini will be going to. So I hope it's not too hot and she performs well. I'm going to take some little treats and try and get her to dance in her costume, so she'll be "Mini Sue, the dancing parrot"!!...LOL

I went shopping at Parisian and bought a cute top to go with these black capri's I have. I also went to 3 stores trying to find a larger megabite memory card for my digital camera. Right now, it only has the one that it came with and I can only take about 35 pictures. The only ones I can find are too large for my camera. They have them on ebay but I'll have to order one after I get back....bummer!...I wanted one now....

I got an email from my army son's wife and they are suppose to be back to get the rest of their things out of the house on Monday....and we'll be in Caseville. I told them that this would NOT be a good week. We are on vacation. My hus hasn't been up there since 4th of July cause of all his crappy therapy. Oh well....I wish they were coming the following week. Then we'd be home....Or this week would have been good cause we're here. But NOT Cheeseburger week!! IT's the biggest week in Caseville and we look forward to it alllllllllllllllll year. And my youngest son and his g'friend will be there. I got all my caribbean tropical clothes. I got my parrots. I got my flamingos. I got my margaritas. I got my Jimmy Buffett music. I got my cheeseburger hat....haha

CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE (CASEVILLE)

I like mine with lettuce and tomato
Heinz 57 and french fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer
Well good God Almighty which way do I steer for my
CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE!!!!

Rain, Rain,,,,,,GO AWAY

OK....Yes....we need the rain, and we should have gotten it in the beginning of the summer. But not NOW. It rained on Sunday while we were trying to have the last day of the garage sale....Luckily we had this big carport thingy to put things under and it did stop off and on, but it ruined things anyway.

Now today the tree guy was suppose to finally come and clear up the mess of that fallen branch off our crushed fence, and cut down a dead tree, and half of a half-dead tree and do some other tree work and he had to cancel cause it's RAINING! I am fuming.

Besides, also....all this rain and heat is making everything so damn muggy....it is unbearable. Last night I felt like my sheets were wet. Our stupid central air does not work very well upstairs and I have this attic fan running all night which was just bringing in more mugginess. I told hubby that by next year I am putting in a window AC at least in the bath where it will face the back of the house. The downstairs is cold and about 1/2 way up the stairs you can feel the heat....it's ridiculous. I know we need to put more insulation in the attic, but hubby can't do that sh*t anymore, and I sure as hell ain't doing it.

Anyway, the garage sale was okay. I made a little over $100 cause I didn't bring everything to my son's house. I think total we made almost $300. We could only have it on Saturday and Sunday, and the rain ruined Sunday. I took a few things to the consignment store yesterday to sell. And I am still going to try and sell some things on Craigslist.

OK....."CHEESEBURGER IN CASEVILLE" WEEK IS COMING!.....It starts Friday and runs 8-10 - 8-19. My son and his g'friend will come up by Sunday or Monday. I am hoping to be out of here by Thursday at the latest.

I feel bad and guilty though. Bill had told me that when he died he really would like me to be there. I told him I would. They are having the memorial service for him on Aug. 14, and I can't be there. I thought about driving there for it....but I would have to drive back from Caseville on Sunday.....drive to Niagara Falls on Monday, attend the service on Tuesday and drive back....and then drive back up to Caseville on Wednesday for the big parade with the family. That is way too much driving....cause it's almost 5 hours to get there. And I'm thinking about going to NF's in September like I planned and just visit him in the cemetery and that way I can stay a few days. My son's g'friend said she would go with me if she can get a few days off work. So I might do that instead. Actually, this may be the last year Americans can cross the border without a passport, so I probably should this year anyway. And then I am hoping that I can call his daughter and go to the house one last time and take more pictures before it gets sold.

Losing Bill was more than just losing a very dear old friend....it is also losing a part of my family history. Once Bill is gone, going to the house my great-great grandfather built and lived in with my great-grandmother Annie will be gone to me forever. OR maybe I can just go there and meet the new owners and maybe get to be friends with them, too and still go visit!!!!!.....haha

Never Put off what you can do.......blah, blah,blah

I am such a procrastinator......I try to plan things and if just one thing interferes with my plans then I just cancel the whole damn thing and postpone it....and I put off things, and put off things, and try to plan the perfect week or weekend or time and if it ain't perfect, then I postpone til it is.

I called my friend, Bill, in May and told him I was going to drive to Niagara Falls and see him earlier than last year (July). I was so excited cause I wanted to see him and I had this feeling that it would probably be the last time I would see him. But then fate fucked everything up and my husband had to have his shoulder surgery the week of my plans (May 21); so I postponed until June. Then June came and husband had to go back into the hospital for some procedure and more therapy; so I postponed until July. Then 4th of July came and went and then son came home for his 10-day leave; so I postponed my trip to Niagara Falls to see my bestest friend, Bill. August is busy with garage sales and Cheeseburger in Caseville 10-day festival; and then Labor Day......so I was going to call Bill and tell him I would come see him in September.

Today my son, his girlfriend and I had a garage sale at his house. Her parents came over and I met them for the first time. My husband came over later and met them. While we were in the driveway husband tells me, "I have some bad news".....I was like "WHAT?".....he only said...."Bill".

I was yelling NOOOOOOO...and ran into the house.....I only hope that my son's girlfriend's parents really understood the situation....she said they did. When I was able to go back outside, they had left.

I have been crying all day....I called his sister in Niagara Falls, CA and talked for an hour. Bill was my friend....he was 93 years old.....he had bought my great-great grandparent's house in 1956. I met him on a geneology search about 4 years ago when I went to the house and he was there and I said "Do you live in this house?", and he said "Yeah, I OWN this house", and I said, "Well, do you know that I drove all the way from Detroit just to see your house?"....and he said, "I know who you are!!!...You're a Lovell!!", and he came out and gave me a tour of the house, took me out to dinner and I've been going to Niagara Falls once a year to see him ever since.

Bill Greenop....you were the most interesting person I have ever met....You made me happy....you made me LAUGH!!....We spent Canada Thanksgiving together with our Turkey TV dinners and Pie!....I loved sitting on the balcony watching the fireworks over the Falls listening to your stories of your life....such an interesting life! I love you Bill Greenop....Grumps!! Grumps may be gone, but NEVER, NEVER FORGOTTEN.

What are the odds???

This was weird and freaky!

Yesterday I had the radio on and that song "Rock On" comes on(Hey kid, rock and roll...rock on, oooh my soul) and just as I pulled into the driveway, the part that goes "....still looking for that blue jean, baby queen, prettiest girl I ever seen, see her shake on the movie screen, Jimmy Dean (James Dean)" is playing and that's when I turned the car off.

So I get in my car today, turn it on, the radio comes on and I hear "....Jimmy Dean (James Dean)"......!!!!!! I couldn't believe it....at first I thought, "damn, is there a CD playing?", but no cause I don't even have that song on any CD. It was the radio. Picked up at the exact spot in the exact same song that was playing when I turned it off the day before!!! Now what are the freaking odds of that????

RIP Miss Cleo

Yesterday I finally buried my mother's cat....FINALLY! Her ashes have been sitting on my table upstairs for what?...a couple years now. I got tired of hearing her meowing at me every time I walked by....haha.

So what I did was dig a little hole at my mother's gravesite and poured the ashes in. So now she can rest in peace with her 'mom'.

Today I drove to my youngest son's house and took a ton of garage sale stuff there. His girlfriend is going to have a sale this weekend and her, me, and her mom are bringing stuff over to sell. We have TONS of crap.....so I hope people come and buy!

My son bought this 1963 Mercury Comet from some guy for only $600 and he put it on Craigslist and some guy out near Grand Rapids drove to his house tonight to look at it and bought it for $2000!!.....another great car profit...

(I told my husband maybe we should start flipping cars for profit)

(I'd be happy if he'd just get the Stealth that has been sitting in my garage for 2 years up and running)

I've been working on and sewing up a costume for my little dog, Mini Sue, for the pet contest during Cheeseburger in Caseville. She has been a parrothead hula girl for the last 2 years. So I bought this white dog t-shirt and a bag of parrot-colored feathers (green, blue, red, yellow) and I sewed every damn feather on that t-shirt by hand, may I add....and she is going to go as a parrot! She'll still wear her parrot hat and I also bought this thing that will go around her neck and I sewed a little stuff cheeseburger (dog toy) on it. OHHHH, she will be the most adorable little dancing parrot ya ever seen!!! I'll take pics of course.....later...