Celebrating the 4th

This land is your land, this land is my land.... celebrate however it feels good to you!! So far, I have gone from idyllic contentment to being a pariah.

This is the idyllic part. I ventured down to my parents summer place yesterday. I loaded up on newspapers and grabbed the computer and drove 65 miles southwest of the Chicago burbs, to the middle of a little forest in the middle of a cornfield and plopped my butt in a chair. I didn't move for several hours. Neither did any of my family members (sister pictured above on the left). The weather was perfect. The company was perfect. The conversation (or lack thereof) was perfect. We read the papers and chattered about how we hope 'War of the Worlds' flops at the box office. All of us believe in 'better living through chemicals' and have no use for the garbage flowing from the movies 'star'. Our fondest wish is for him to suffer a psychotic break and require the use of psychotropic medications. heh heh heh... If there is anything we can do to help the cause, let us know!! FREE KATIE!!! Although, BB had what is probably the most correct view of the whole sad situation. She is half his age and many times removed from his earning power. She's selling out for $$$ and fame. Not a bad deal.... dump the old man after a few months or years (after you are established, of course) and find someone real.

But, I digress. The food fest was already underway when I arrived at lunchtime. Mom had made custard... perhaps my mostest favorite homemade dessert ever!! I wolfed down a fair share. Munchies continued with Hershey's Nuggets with Macadamia nuts, Peanut M&Ms, the little carmel thingies with the white stuff in the middle. Washed it all down with pop. Eating continued with Swedish Meatballs for dinner (Christmas leftovers). They were totally fab! Took a tiny breather from eating to do dishes and then got into the heavy stuff.

Kay brought a new game for us to play called Sequence. Easy to look at, hard to do.... will keep the Alzhiemer's disease at bay for a looooong time, that game. The munching started with peanut M&Ms, Nuggets and carmel thingies... then my sister found the Fritos. To which we **had** to add cheese dip. And then I found the saltwater taffy. And then we gave up and moved the chocolate to the table. (Standing up to grab it off the counter was too much effort!) And we ate and ate and ate. (BURP) We were bad, but it sure tasted good.

We were going to be good today, but I discovered the mini doughnuts this morning. I ate so many that I couldn't finish my breakfast. I think I have consumed my calorie allotment for the week. Oops.

So, I decided to do some penance... hahahaha-sounded good, didn't it??!! Actually, I decided to try an experiment. In this day and age of high gas prices, and given the fact that I drive an SUV, I decided to do a gas mileage experiment. On the way to BBs house, I drove 55 miles per hour while on the expressway. 15 whole miles. OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!! I was passed by every vehicle out there. EVERY vehicle. And I am sure I was cursed by most. I felt like a pariah. I *WAS* a pariah. The speed limit was 55 on this road. I was the only one even close to 55. After 10 miles I was totally convinced I was going to be pulled over for impeding traffic. But, I learned a little about my truck. At 55, I average 24.5 miles per gallon. At 65, it's about 19mpg. Which, if I were to take a 2000 mile highway trip is a difference of about 24 gallons of gas. Or, at $2.25 per gallon, about $54. Which translates to a savings of 2.7 cents a mile or about 40 cents per trip to BBs house.

It ain't worth it. Next time I'll eat Macadamia nut Nuggets and travel with the pack.