Vicki Hamilton

My dad is a great guy. He works too much and plays hard. I’m glad that I “take after” him, except for the work too much part. I should back off a little from those long hours and make more time for family and friends.

One of my girlfriends is expecting a baby in August and I want to buy her some baby gifts. It is getting harder and harder to find unique baby gifts that will be useful and appreciated. But I am still searching.

Jenny started writing a blog and although it is not a day by day accounting of her pregnancy, it is a nice journal that she will be able to look back on and read, years down the road. I think that is really cool. I hope she keeps writing and adds some pictures of the baby after she is born. I think you can even export everything you’ve written and print it out as a scrapbook or diary. That would be unique!

I hope you have a Hoppy Easter, today. If the Easter Bunny finds your house, save some candy for me! I miss having little kids around to hunt for Easter Eggs and share their candies.

Today is Billy’s birthday. It’s a big one – the number of years ends with an 0.

It seems like just yesterday Billy was riding his skateboard down the sidewalk and jumping the curb. And breaking his arm.

We used to worry about Billy – what would he do to earn a living? Obviously he’s not destined to be a pro skate boarder – and that about broke his heart! Turns out he likes running wire and cable and is a mighty fine electrician.

Happy Birthday, Billy!

With my boss out of town this week, no one will miss me much if I take off a couple days of personal leave and go do something fun. I’m not planning an official vacation this year. I thought I’d have more fun if I just tacked an extra day or two onto a weekend here and there.

So I invited my sister and my nephew to go to Atlanta with me for two days of roller coaster thrills at Six Flags. My nephew doesn’t really like a lot of the scarey rides – he’s just 4 years old anyways. But they have a great little kiddie park area with trains and planes and carousels. She can stay and watch him and I’ll head off for the roller coasters – they are my favorite.

I got a special price online that get the three of us in the park for half price, so we can go for two days for the price of one. That way we can stay overnight and not have to rush back the same night after being hot and tired from the rides and crowds. Of course, her husband is being an ass about her being away overnight. But he can’t get off from work and for goodness sake, she’s with me, sharing a cheap room for convenience. And safety. And we’re taking her kid. It’s not like we’re going to leave a 4 year old in the hotel room by himself and go out drinking or anything. And she sure as hell isn’t going to leave me in the room watching her kid so she can go out drinking. I mean, get real!

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my car. I bought my Malibu brand new, off the lot, with everything I wanted in it except for leather seats, and I was able to talk the dealership into having aftermarket leather seatcovers put on it – at no extra charge!

But with the cost of gas going up and up, I’m starting to wonder if I really need to drive this car every day and every where. Since my house is only 5-6 minutes from the office, it’s a little too far to walk (especially in the summer heat) but it’s close enough that I’m thinking that a quick scooter ride to work might be fun and it will save a bunch on gas.

I’ve seen a couple really nice Vespa scooters and they don’t cost very much. They get really great gas mileage – I’d only have to fill it up once or twice a month, and it’s a tiny gas tank! Of course, my Dad will freak out – he hates motorcycles. But its not like I’m turning into a Harley rider or anything.

This weekend my sister has “reserved” the Lake cabin for herself and her family, so I’ve been told to find something else to do. Hmm. That’s a new attitude from her and her husband, and I’m not sure I like it. The cabin belongs to my parents and frankly I find it a little insulting to be told I’m not welcome there by my sister.

However, I am a good sport and “a big girl,” and I can certainly find something else to do this weekend. I’m thinking about a quick trip to Atlanta. My girlfriend is usually up for a Saturday night at the clubs in Buckhead. So we’ll see what kind of big city  fun we can scare up at the last minute!

Is it just me? Or is this a banner year for bugs? It must have something to do with all the rain we’ve had this spring, which we needed and will hopefully not have the horrible problem with a late summer drought like we had last summer. But good grief! The bugs are out in full force.

We got back from a weekend at the Lake and I found three ticks on me when I took a shower. Plus, I’m covered with mosquito bites. Even though I used the OFF! each morning, going out on the Lake and swimming and sweating as much as you do when you are out on the water, I guess the OFF! didn’t last nearly long enough to keep away the mosquitos.

This year Memorial Day comes early in the calendar year, but that doesn’t stop everyone around here from celebrating the first unofficial weekend of summer!

My parents have a little cabin on the Lake and we’re all heading down to Guntersville for the long weekend. I’m taking off work a couple hours early so I can go over to help my mom get ready. Mom and Dad and I will go down tonight and do the cleaning and set up to make ready for everyone else that’s coming tomorrow.

The cabin has been empty since Christmas, so we have to re-stock the pantry and the linen closet. We have to deep clean everything – there’s always a lot of dust and mildew to deal with. That’s what you get when you live by a lake and have the place closed up for 5 months.

My Dad will be busy cutting the little bit of grass and weeds around the yard and making the boats and motors ready for use. He also sorts out and cleans and repairs all the water toys and equipment, and all the fishing gear. We won’t see much of him until really late!

When my sister’s family arrives Friday night, we’ll have a nice big dinner and spend a couple hours down on the dock, and then Saturday we’ll all take turns driving the boats and water skiing, tubing, and fishing off the dock. I love this family tradition and it’s a great way to kick off our summer.