RanDumb Stuff

Last week I played in a weekend Scrabble tournament in Port Richey. I took Friday off and got my dose of Vitamin D before the first games began at 6:30pm. This rack was for Blinky Blink who is my favorite engineer in the whole wide world. Ok, ok, so I don't know any other engineers but he'd still be my favorite. And who would have thought that engineers could be such good snugglers?! But I digress...

Back in February when I played in a one day tournament, my rating went from 908 to 992. Wow, 84 points!! I was seeded 17th in this tournament and finished 13th so my rating only went up 7 points to 999. I wanted to break 1000 so bad. Last time I was undefeated so I guess that accounts for the difference. Also, this tournament was an open tournament which meant I was playing all level players as opposed to those with similar ratings. My big play was "darkish" for 115 points - a double double. I almost won the prize for high play until someone played a word for 131 points. :(

Cindy Lou Who spent Saturday night with me in Port Richey and we went out dancing at the Crab Shack again where we are never at a loss for attention. It's a great little bar/restaurant on the Cootee River and the band plays outside. She waited for me to finish my games on Sunday morning and then we were off to Joe's for a boat ride on the river. Joe was happy to have Cindy along as the official waver. She was in her element. Born to be a queen on a float, that one is...

We left the river and entered the Gulf so Joe could show me the stilt houses. I had never seen one. There are about 10 or 11 of them and they are used for party houses on the weekends. He said they used to be real cheap but now sell for around $300K - that was not a typo. Amazing.

And last, but not least, the game board from my last game with Tom on Wednesday night. It was a great night because we played 4 close games each winning two. Then came the rubber match which doesn't happen very often. I took this game, too. And believe it or not, there are no phonies on this board. I'm never at a loss for words...

Music To My Ears

We've all got them - songs that remind us of someone. I heard one last night and I'd been thinking about writing this blog for awhile so now's the time.

True/Spandau Ballet: My son, Joe - MTV was in its infancy when he was born in 1982 and I used to "dance" with him in my arms to this song. This HAS to be the mother/son song at his wedding.

Welcome to the Jungle/Guns 'N Roses: My son, Tom - I don't know why this reminds me of him but maybe it's because he liked it so much when he was younger. In fact, he still dresses up as Axel Rose every Halloween. And he's 25 - LOL.

Stanger on the Shore/Acker Bilk: My mom

Your Song/Elton John: KB

Carolina in My Mind/James Taylor: Jean Pleasure Hill

Judy's Turn to Cry/Leslie Gore: Judy Parker Windhausen

Sherry/Four Seasons: My uncle, John - I wonder if he can still hit those high notes. I still remember his portable stereo with the detachable speakers. I would be the keeper of his 45s until he returned from Vietnam.

Nights in White Satin/Moody Blues: Dizi

Don't Say You Don't Remember/Beverly Bremers: Debbie Cavallaro

What's Up/4 Non Blondes: Diana Taylor - if you've ever been in her Mini Cooper with the top down, you're never going to forget this song.

Lady in Red/Chris DeBurgh: Garnet

Glory Days/Bruce Springsteen: Donna Williams - not only did we go to one of his concerts together but we have a cassette tape (yeah, it's old!) from the NYS Fair when we did the karaoke thing before it was even called karaoke!

I Love You Always Forever/Donna Lewis: Al Anderson - omg, you should see his blue eyes. You have to listen to the song...

Freebird/Wynonna Judd: Carol Nelson - you had to be there, that's all I'm going to say.

Auld Lang Syne/Dan Fogelberg: Victoria Champ - all she had to do was tell me how much she liked this song, too.

It's All in the Game/Tommy Edwards: My brother, Bill: My mom used to play this a lot when we were growing up.

Save a Horse (Ride A Cowboy)/Big & Rich: Cyd - this was one of the songs she wanted on our "Life is a Highway" cd that we made for our trip to Apalachicola last year.

Hate Me/Blue October: Stacey Phillips - I can't explain.

Stairway to Heaven/Led Zeppelin - Jeff Widergren

Battle for Everything/Five for Fighting - Scott McManus (the whole cd)

The list goes on and on. Curt and I don't really have a song because he's not a real music guy but I will always think of him when I hear "Lawyers, Guns and Money" by Warren Zevon or "Ballad of the Green Berets" because those are two of his favorite songs. And anything by Alice in Chains, The Allman Brothers, or AC/DC is always going to remind me of my brother, Tim. If you're not on my list yet, don't worry. It's just that we haven't made a memory yet. As for my friend, Tom (NYC Tom, that is!), I'm sure by the time we leave Little Italy next month that something will always remind me of him!

Just Another Day in Paradise

Between the West Point Founder's Day dinner on Friday night, a Yankees spring training game (where Cyd and I enjoyed front row seats on the first base line compliments of two fine young men on Dale Mabry) on Saturday, and going out with Cyd on the wave runners today, I think I had the most fun today even though I enjoyed my entire weekend. It was our test run to see if we could handle launching the wave runners and retrieving them at the dock when we were done. I think we can do it. And, if not, we'll just do what I would do if I ever get a flat tire on my bike - I'll wait for the first good looking guy who comes along to ask for help!

Works for us. We practiced on the Anclote River but now we're ready for the Gulf!