Psst... It's Me...

HoliRay

Claudia's stuck in her loaner car somewhere between here and Houston. Crazy Texas weather! Speaking of crazy...

Look who has decided to visit me after six years..........it's my cousin Noel. As you can imagine, this is her time of year. She's visiting from Brooklyn where apparently they still love big red X-mas lights. All I've been hearing for the last six hours is "One Italian family has 350,000 red lights... and that's just in the backyard" or "People just love me. It's not Christmas without red lights." "Why don't you just let me try......if you don't like it we can remove the red paint. I'm telling you, once you go red you'll never go back." Blah blah blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin......just not in December. What was I thinking inviting her to visit?

Six years ago, I vowed never again. I decided to invite her to a party I was having. It was just supposed to be family. A quiet little affair. You know low wattage type of thing. She's shows up with 249 of her friends. They're all the same......red, bright and loud. Those crazy c-16 bulbs scared the heck out of the minilight side of the family. One of the minis burned out and that was it......half the tree was in the dark. Then what do you do? It's impossible to figure out which one freaked out. Can't take the lights down. Can't fix the string. Nightmare. Then the big red ones think it's all funny and they try to scare the other minis. Half the neighborhood went down that night. Kids crying, dogs barking, I think they even caused a fire. Total bedlam. I vowed never again. Who knows what this visit will bring.

What about you? Who in your family is blacklisted? Give me some dirt. Help me feel better about myself. I'll tell you what, I'll read your whacky stories and for the one I like most......I send you a cool ornament for your tree. It's in the little red and white box under my tree.......bet you'll never guess what it is. It's a "mystery." For those of you who have been hanging around this joint for a while, that was a clue.

No chance of Claudia showing up anytime soon, but still I'm outta here. I need to find a stiff egg nog.

Psst. It's Me...

DemocRAYcy 

Psst.

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

I'm the real Maverick..

Just look at my boots!

Had to throw that in there.  Hey, it's finally here.  Election day.  I can't believe I've been watching 4 hours of CNN per day for nearly two years.  I know more about David Gergen and John King than anyone should.  When you're watching John tomorrow with his Magic Map watch how he flings the states up and off the screen.  I don't know why, but I want to slap him when he does that.  Claudia thinks he's neighborly.  I've never had a neighbor like that.

David Gergen on the other hand, now he seems like a neighbor.  Only your neighbor could have that bad of a comb-over.  He probably mows the lawn in a jump suit with white socks and black dress shoes.  Probably wears safety goggles too.  That makes me crazy.  Oddly enough though, if I had to pick just one pundit to listen to it would be him.

I voted early, because I don't have a job and I could.  I just kind of hang out and I'm good with that.  At any rate, I'll be camped out in front of CNN hanging on David's every word and lunging at the TV every time another state gets flung out of sight.  I've got dinner being delivered and I'm going to sit in my PJs and boots and soak it all in.  Good luck to all of you that will be standing in line soon.  I'm going back to bed to rest up.  Vote well, all.

Ray out.

Psst... It's Me...

Count Raycula

Blah, blah, blah... I've come to see your blahg.

Before I forget, I'm supposed to tell everyone (as if you didn't know) that it's Free-for-all Friday.  What a "pain in the neck!"  All this finding the hidden HLAs in my picture, and talking about random stuff.  It's driving me batty.  Is it too early for a Bloody Mary? 

I kill me.

But seriously, Halloween......how cool is that?  This is the day that millions of people start out giving each child that comes to their door a couple of pieces of candy from their 20 pound stash and by the end of the evening are doling it out by the double handful to every kid parent and dog that walks by.  There are of course a few thrifty souls who secretly fear having to lock the doors, turn off the lights and hide in the closet till the last roving band of barely costumed, bowl dumping, pumpkin smashing, hormonal teens flee the scene of the crime.  Which are you?

Being a vampire, I only get to see the after dark activities.  I've heard rumors that these "helicopter parents" - (look it up) are out their with the kiddies way before the sun goes down.  Frightening.  Do me a favor and let me know when you get your first little goblin at the door.  If they look tasty enough I may have to buy some good sunscreen.  While you're at it, make a post later tonight letting me know how many kids showed up and how much candy you have left over.

Make a post with all that info and anything else that comes to mind.  I'm sure they're dying to know.  Uh oh, sun's coming up and I can hear Claudia trying to decide which Halloween scarf to wear.  Got to go.  See you tonight.

Psst... R. Wattson, Here

School is cool!

Three days into the new school year and I'm loving life. Girls, school supplies, and all-you-can-eat-lunch lines. What more could you ask for?

Did someone say... "A giveaway?"

O.k., o.k. I know Claudia throws a bone your way every once in a while and if I'm going to get you to take me seriously about helping spread good ideas, then maybe I need to, "see the light" and offer up a prize too. I can do that.

But I have more than a prize. Check me out. Where ever you see me, you'll find the letters "H" "L" and "A" cleverly hidden . The letters might be hidden somewhere on me or somewhere in the surrounding picture... or BOTH. Wanna an idea of how many to look for this time around? There's a number next to my boot. That's the number of HLAs for which you should looking.

What? You still want a prize. Darn, you're a tough crowd. Alright. Here's what we'll do. I'm picturing a particular school supply in my head. You have to guess what it is... SPECIFICALLY. For instance, instead of guessing "pencil," you would guess "Dixon #2 pencil."

Here's how it'll go. We'll play hot or cold. You post your best guess and I'll reply either "hot" or "cold". Back and forth we'll go until someone guesses.

How's that for fun? Let Claudia try and top THAT today.

Psst... It's Me Again.

Pssst.  Me again.  Ray Wattson, here.  

It's been a while, I know.  I've had a busy summer.  After flying Claudia's coop, I camped out at Cassie's for a while.  She bought me the cool purple boots I'm wearing.  Check 'em out.  Go ahead, say it... You like 'em... you love 'em... you want a pair of 'em.  Too bad.  They're mine.  The closest you'll get is a pair of purple cowboy boot cookies.  That's provided you can get Cassie (or Stacie) to bake you some.

Cassie showed me a great time with her three kids, swimming at the pool everyday.  Much as I loved hanging out in Euless, it was time to go.  

You can't keep a good idea down.  I had Olympics to see and people to meet.  So, while you all were enjoying your Virtual Dinner Party, I was enjoying the real thing.  Since opening night it's been one party after another... rubbing elbows with Michael Phelps; rooting on Nastia and Shawn; leading the cheering section for Misty May and Ms. Six Feet of Sunshine; trying to keep pace with all the track athletes; and last night watching the diving (did you see me, Alden, and Amy on the Jumbo-tron?).

Anyway, the Olympics end any day now.  Kids around the country are returning to school and I have to  be back in the states by then.  I love the smell of crayons and new school supplies really boost my wattage!  After that it's off to Pennsylvania.  Rumor has it you all are meeting up in Philly the weekend of September 5.  Maybe I'll pop in for a visit.  

Oh, I almost forgot.  Today I bought a t-shirt while shopping the Beijing markets.  I figure I'll make Claudia proud and give it to one of the lucky readers smart enough to send Claudia a postcard for her Random Act of Kindness (RAK) box.  She'll like that.  In fact, if she was here, she would probably say, "Don't forget to remind readers to send in a postcard with their home mailing address."  I'll appease her.  If you've moved or you've never sent Claudia a postcard with your mailing address, take a second and send her one.  First of all, you could win a prize.  Second of all, maybe just maybe, she'll shut up!  Her mailing address is 4012 Harvestwood Court, Grapevine, TX, 76051.  

As for the lucky winner... Sue Kolkmeier!  It'll be on it's way to you just as soon as I get back from China.

Gotta go.  Claudia will be posting any time now and I don't want to take a chance she'll spot me.