Funny Friday Felines: Because Funny is the Best F Word #blogging #atozchallenge #fridayfunny

FUNNY FRIDAY FELINES!! (Now those are some good F words!)

My favorite F word has always been FUNNY, so rather than try to come up with a post about what I think is funny (which I thought about trying to do before I realized just how twisted my sense of humor is), I thought I would just share with you a few Friday funnies.

These are all writer themed jokes and funny images with a FELINE theme.

Enjoy!!

The Clan Takes Boston (Part Deux)… Still just kinda :P #beantown #travel

I promised you all last week when I started to give you a peek at my family trip to Boston in late February that I would return to post the rest of the excellent family adventure.

Welp, here I am. (You were waiting with baited breath, weren’t you?)

Best bet is to start where I finished off on the last posting, right? Right.

The Salty Dog… where anything can happen…

We had a nice lunch there and then the family decided to head out for a bit more exploration. We also wanted to be sure the restaurant we had prebooked a reservation at (Union Street Oyster House) was really within walking distance. As soon as we got outside, my youngest daughter, Shelby noticed a vendor selling silly balloon hats outside at Quincy Market. She, of course, HAD TO HAVE ONE!!

Okay, how much are they? She tells me, four dollars. Welp, I have no cash, so I truck over to an ATM and pull a bit out and tell her, “Sure, you can have one, but you have to wear it.”

So, Shelby sits herself down with the vendor and he makes her a wonderful “Very Shelby” hat.

As you can see in the photos, it was a rather blustery afternoon and Shelby, besides being cold, is trying like heck to ensure her cool new hat is not going to fly off her little head at any moment.

She even managed to gather herself a little crowd of curious passersby (Shelby is quite good at that).

Here you see the glorious finished product, the Most Fantastical Silly Hat of All Time!

Tada!!

Once Shelby was properly attired in her fancy new hat, it was time to continue our walk to the restaurant. This went without a hitch as the place was indeed just a short walk from the hotel on the other side of Quincy Market.

Once we’d assured ourselves of this fact, we decided to head back to the Market area and take a walk down the second row of shops. As we traversed, it became clear that there were far too many cool places to poke in for a drink (more a draw for Pete and I than the girls, but still). Not to mention shops full of interesting souvenirs and knick knacks.

My eldest daughter, Casey decided she needed the lobster beanie… (yes, she is 17 and yes, it looked silly — absolutely I made her wear it all the way back to our hotel. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a pic of this fancy lobster hat, but trust me, it is exactly as you would picture it might look. While I was there I also grabbed a T-shirt for my son (who didn’t take the trip with us). Purchases made, we decided to head back to the hotel to relax for a bit before our dinner reservation.

On the way back to the hotel, we came across one of those board things with head cut outs and I had to make the girls poke their little faces in it so I could get their picture.

Well worth it, right? Sometimes my daughters are just too cute and accommodating.

So back to the hotel we go. I spend the next hour or so taking pictures out the window at the view from our room, while Pete relaxes and the girls head up a few floors to check out the hotel’s “arcade” and “family activity center”.

I don’t have a heights thing, so when I had booked the room, I asked for a high floor.

Definitely worth asking. I had not expected the amazing views we got from our bedroom window.

See? Unbeatable. It looked even more amazing at night, to be frank, but I am not capable of taking night pics without blurring them beyond hope, so you will not be getting to see that view. I guess you will just have to go to Boston for that one 😛

So evening comes and it’s time for dinner. So the gang heads back out into the Boston evening. We make the short walk to Union Street Oyster House, which Pete has been excited about since we left New York. And dinner is on him, what could be sweeter? Not much, I can tell ya.

The dinner… didn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations on any front. The food was fine, but super expensive for what you got from a portion and taste standpoint. The tables were small and you sorta felt packed in. I can’t remember what Pete ordered, but I had the American Bouillabaisse, Casey ordered a steak and fries, and Shelby had Butterfly Shrimp. My meal looked GORGEOUS!!
The taste was pretty good too, frankly. I was a bit disappointed in the amount of lobster contained in the meal, being it cost $36.00 for the bowl and only had half a lobster in it. But, overall, tasty vittles.

Here are my attempts to take a lovely picture of Shelby (reminding you she refuses to take “normal” pictures). Yes, she is a trip… (to where, I’m not quite sure)

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel for the evening. The girls headed back up to the arcade with a pocket full of quarters and Pete and I relaxed in the room.

This is when I started talking pics of the room and Pete decided to don the “Fabulous Silly Hat” and prance about the room in his tightie whities and toast me in each and every pic. Here’s an example of what my room pics all look like. (Some areas blocked out to keep things G-rated – but you get the idea).

Is it any wonder I am as strange as I appear sometimes? I mean, look at what I put up with 😛 Love that man of mine… really!

So, after some fun with wine and silly hats, we retired for the evening. The plan: get an early start, grab something for breakfast and be at the gates of the Aquarium at 9am opening time. Why so early?

The penguin feeding at 9:15am. Gotta be there for that! Plans made. The evening was a bit rough for me. Not sure if it was the wine or that gorgeous bowl of boulliabaise, but I had to get up about an hour after going to bed to empty my stomach into the fancy toilet. Wee… there goes that $35 dollar meal… Once I was on empty, my tummy felt great. A quick teeth brushing later, I was back in bed and feeling sooooo much better. Fell right to sleep, and had a quiet rest of the night.

We managed to get up on time, but Pete was having some muscle issues, so I took the girls across the street to Dunkin Donuts to grab a quick breakfast before we went and dragged Pete out of bed.

We managed to do that, but also managed to miss the penguin feeding.

Oh well, stuff happens. We got to the Aquarium at about 10am and got our tickets.

Right behind the ticket booth is the tank where they have the harbor seals, so we beelined there to see them swimming back and forth (upside down – though I have no idea why).

Shelby LOVED these guys. If she could have, I have no doubt she would have climbed right into the big tank area with them if the wall surrounding them wasn’t so high. The tank was neat because you could see them above and below the surface swimming.

We managed to drag Shelby from the tank to actually go INSIDE the Aquarium, but didn’t make it more than a few steps before we found a penguin statue where we had to take another picture of the girls. In this particular picture, we find Casey giving us her best “ghetto pose”. She looks so intimidating, doesn’t she?

Yeah… I know. She tries, really, but I don’t think Casey could be “bad” even if she had a lifetime to practice. Pete calls her “a saint” for a reason.

After the photo op, we finally made it into the actual Aquarium. I took oodles of pictures while we were there, but I will spare you the loin’s share of them, because, well, some of them are only exciting to me.

Instead, I will just share with you a few of my absolute favorites. You can thank me for that later. 😀

When you first enter the Aquarium, you are greeted by a massive tank of penguins… like the entire bottom floor of the place surrounds the massive penguin tank.  Let me tell you, I could have spent the ENTIRE day right there. That is how much I love watching the little suckers. Here are just a few of the snaps I grabbed of the little cuties:

It wasn’t until I started going through these pics that I actually realized how many I took of penguins. Probably about a third of all my pics… oops 😛

Once I managed to drag myself away — or rather the family managed to drag me away from the penguins, we explored the rest of the three floors of aquatic exhibits. We saw everything from Atlantic Salmon to … I can’t think of an aquatic exhibit that ends in Z… but you get the idea.

Shelby was a bit disappointed they didnt have a manatee or any dolphins, but she adored hanging in the back pool with the seals and sealions. And I did manage to grab a few cool pics of the little cuties.

This little fuzzy guy was probably my favorite. He just seemed so laid back and unimpressed with everything going on around him. Shelby’s favorite was the sealion she said was named Zoey. I am taking her word on that one, since she was glued to the presenter doing the talking during the presentation, so she would know. I gotta admit, she was a cutie too.

The family and I spent the next four or so hours wandering around in the Aquarium and then we found the Giant Ocean Tank…

Let me tell you, a person could spend the entire day staring into that thing and would probably never get bored. Between the giant sea turtle, the massive sharks, and the stingray… not to mention the parrot fish, groupers, angelfish… well, you name it and it was probably in that tank someplace. I took another million pictures of the tank, though some came out, and others didn’t. It is hard to take a picture through glass with no flash and actually get it to come out. But, in this effort, I got some amazing pics of my girls in the glass reflections.

Check these out. (pay close attention to the expressions on their faces).

This one is Shelby checking out the giant octopus (in the top corner of the tank, stuck to the glass). She is just enthralled but the big guy.

In this one of Casey, I don’t even know what it was she was looking at, but I just love how I captured her complete amazement at whatever it was she was looking at in the Giant Tank.

The last is Shelby again, this time she is checking out the massive shark, also in the Giant Ocean tank.

I just love seeing my girls so engrossed in something that is also so educational.

So, as you can see, the gang had quite an excellent time in Boston and especially at the New England Aquarium.

If you are from the Northeast, and have never been there, I would highly recommend it. It is the perfect day trip for anyone who has kids that love ocean creatures as much as my girls seem to.

Thanks for stopping by. I would love to know what you think about the trip or any of the pictures posted in either this or last weeks Part 1 of “The Clan Takes Boston”.

Happy Friday, everyone!

The A to Z of Me (Rebecca Hart): What Makes Me Tick? #writing #author

So, I saw this little list of A to Z’s on fellow Inkspell author, Stephanie Lawton’s blog today and it looked like fun, so I stole it (thanks, Steph!) from her (and she apparently hijacked it from another Inkspell author, Brooke Moss).

Maybe this will give you all a little insight into my personal sanity issues 😀

Here we go…

A. Age: I’m one of the oldies, I guess, though I never much considered myself as being old. I am a very young, and somewhat immature 42.

B. Bed size: KING — I have to have room to poke at least one foot out from beneath the covers to be able to sleep properly. Not to mention, I snore when on my back, so my boyfriend, Pete needs some extra space for when he has to push me over on my side to keep me from sawing wood so loud he can’t sleep. Sexy, right?

C. Chore that you hate: Laundry. The pile never seems to get any smaller no matter how many loads I do. In addition, my “High Efficiency” washer eats one article of clothing per load. (Yes, it is as inefficient as it sounds)

D. Dogs: Gotta have em. We have always been a dog family – since I was a child, so when I grew up and had my own place, one of the first things I did was get a dog. I’ve had a few over the years, but our current dog is a very adorable beagle named Digger.

E. Essential start to your day: Coffee — and usually more coffee.

F. Favorite color: Green — of any type. Just love the cool, natural feel to the green hues. That and what self respecting irish lass doesn’t love green?

G. Gold or Silver: I’m not one of those ladies that loves jewelry (or chocolate for that matter). I have always been a bit of a tom boy. But, I guess I would pick gold, since my boyfriend’s favorite hobby is gold prospecting. (Yes, people still actually do that)

H. Height: 5’10” – A tall drink of water, as my pop would say. I take after the Brennan side of the family on that one. It didn’t serve well at HS proms and dances, as I would always have to take off my shoes so I wasnt taller than my dates, but it was great for playing volleyball in HS and later, in college.

I. Instruments you play: Absolutely none. My sister, Chris and I made up names for bands with a friend growing up, even though none of us played any instruments or could really sing. Does that still count?

J. Job title: Impatient, soon to be published novelist. In the real world, I am a full time IT geek for a state agency.

K. Kids: I’ve got three. My son, Steven is out on his own at age 21, but my two daughters, Casey (17) and Shelby(11) still live with me at home… and usually find a way to make me giggle every day.

L. Live: I was born and raised in Upstate NY, and currently live in a small (rural) town named, Cambridge. You know, where it takes a ten minute drive to buy a gallon of milk and the air smells a bit like cows when the wind is just right.  Ahhh, country living…

M. Mother’s name: Catherine (everyone calls her Cathy). My mother rules… that is all 😀

N. Nicknames: I have had a few over the years, some good, some not so much. Most of my friends call me Becca and the ones that don’t call me Bex

O. Overnight hospital stays: My appendix burst when I was a senior in HS, so I spent about a week in the hospital then. I also don’t dilate, so I had overnight stays for C-sections for all three of my children. Yay me 😛

P. Pet peeves: Mean people, anyone driving less than 5 MPH under the speed limit when I am on my daily commute.  Oh, alright, I’ll be honest — anyone who drives 5 MPH under the speed limit if they are in front of me, period.

Q. Quote from a movie: Gotta go with one from my all time favorite movie. “Stay alive no matter what occurs. I will find you.”  Should I make you guess the movie?

R. Right or left handed: Right-handed, thought two of my three children are left handed.

S. Siblings: I’m the oldest of four children. I have a sister a year younger than myself, followed by a set of twins (a brother and sister).

T. Time you wake up: As late as possible. (About 7am on weekdays after 30 mins of snooze button abuse)

U. Underwear:This goes back to that whole tomboy thing.  I prefer wearing men’s boxers or none at all. (God, I hope my mother isn’t reading this)

V. Vegetable you hate: Brussel Sprouts and cooked cauliflower (love the stuff raw, though)

W. What makes you run late: My snooze bar, and the fact that sleeping rules.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Hrmm… some broken bones during the sports years. No major physical issues *knock on wood*

Y. Yummy food that you make: Pete tells me I am an expert cook as long as it comes out of a box. I would disagree. I don’t cook because, well, he is home (retired) and does, so I don’t have to. I am quite talented with homemade soups, and potato and macaroni salads.

(I have no idea what the hell happened to Z. I’ll make one up.) – ME EITHER SINCE I STOLE THIS FROM YOU, STEPH 😛

Z. Zamboni-related story: Holy cow, really?  ermmm… ZERO 😛 (hey, it starts with a Z, anyway)  I’ve seen one at a hockey game before. How’s that for a story? Oh, wait… happy ending… And my team won! 😀

There ya have it. 🙂 Anything revealed that you find shocking? Or spurred a follow-up question?  Feel free to toss it below and I promise I will answer them.

Happy Tuesday!

The Clan Takes Boston… Kinda. (part 1) #travel

As I promised earlier today, it’s time to share the deets on the Harko/Hart/Sharp (sorry, we’re a modern family) gang’s recent sojourn to the great and historically rich city of Boston, MA.

With my full-time job and my two daughters in school, we don’t find much time for “family vacations”. with my two daughters off from school this week, I decided to treat them and take the week off from work as well.

We discussed options for short trips (ones we could afford) and the Boston Aquarium came up as an option. Pete and I booked a room at the Marriott Custom House which according to Google maps was smack next to the Aquarium and Quincy Market. Plus it was better for Pet and I than a standard hotel room with two double beds, as it was a suite. Private bedroom with king and a fold out queen bed for the girls. Kitchenette for breakfast. I’m now thinking mini fridge and microwave. Rock on. I can make good coffee when I get up. Book it, baby!

We even had the forethought to make an online reservation (omg, I’m such a net geek sometimes) at the nearby, and supposedly famous, Union Oyster House, also within walking distance of the Custom House the night of our arrival in Beantown.

Now for the fun part, the actual trip. (Fasten your seatbelts)

The first thing I have to say about Boston, is this. Never, EVER, drive in Boston. I cannot even begin to explain the maze that makes up the streets of this city. Before I went, I thought, “How hard can it be? I’m from New York.” Welp… it was NOT pretty. Picture Pete driving, me looking at a pittance half marked piece of map we got off the hotel site in a maze of one way streets curving and merging from every conceivable direction. The girls did mention they saw two vagrants, and were disturbingly excited by this apparent coup. They went on to explain that we didn’t see them “because you were too busy yelling at Pete.” (In my defense, he had just almost run over a pedestrian taking his life in his hands by crossing against the light)

We literally spent an hour driving in circles trying to find State Street, only to finally find it but it’s a one way street leading away from the part of it we needed to be on. Are you freaking kidding me?

The gang was quite pleased to finally manage to find the traversable end of State Street and were able to find our lodgings at the Custom House. YAY!

I have to tell you, the place was GORGEOUS. Far beyond my expectations based on the website information. Turns out, a “resort” facility. As you can see in this first pic, it comes complete with its own clock tower. The green strip above the clock face is the lookout. More on that later.

 Our room was on the 19th floor and check in was a breeze. Valet parking. You had to pay extra for parking, by the way ($39 for the overnight). The lobby was beautiful, with a three-story domed ceiling. The girls nabbed a snap of that. Check it out.

Sweet, right? It was what I would imagine the inside of the White House dome might look like.

The hotel is also quite secure. You needed your room key to operate the elevator up. Smart and helped ease my concerns on the choice we had made sight unseen (basically).

I mentioned earlier we were on the 19th floor, right? Well, let me tell you, the view from the windows of the suite was killer! Here’s a quick menage.

Yup. Jackpot.

The room itself was just as impressive.  I would show you nice pics of that, but apparently I didn’t take any that didn’t contain my dear, Pete in his undies and Shelby’s Silly Balloon Hat (more on that later, too). This is the only one I managed free of rated PG-13 material. It’s the view of the room from its entrance foyer (yes, it had its own posh little foyer inside the door).

View from Room Entrance Foyer

Oh, there’s the Silly Hat I mentioned. I promise we are almost to that part of the trip. Patience, eh? 

Once we arrived in Beantown and settled out stuff, the gang headed out to explore Quincy Market and see if we could really reach the restaurant we’d made reservations at on foot. I did not relish the idea of more city driving. been there, done that.

Considering it was the dead of winter in the Northeast, the weather was wonderfully accommodating. A cold brisk wind, but certainly not the chilling temps expected in the region (like the rest of this winter has been). We toured a row of shops and indoor carts, not really paying too much attention. Just getting a lay of the land, as it were.

Pete was ready for a beer and I wanted some sort of snack, having only had sandwiches we’d packed for the drive. A beer sounded pretty good to me, too.

We headed into the Salty Dog Tavern. It seems we entered the bar side, so we were directed through the think kitchen area in the center (dish station, I believe) into the back where the tables were located. It was small but quaint, and the gang took a load off and had a bit of fun.

I didn’t tell you I had a normal family or anything, right? I should tell you all now — if you didn’t know this already — my daughter, Shelby is quite unique. She refuses to take a “normal” picture. So, you will not see one here.

Pete had a beer, but they didn’t have Corona, so I opted for a soda. The girls had sodas as well. We ordered a bucket of clams to share and Casey (who doesn’t eat seafood, really) had an order of fries. Pete added some Oyster Stew and I had a bowl of New England Chowder. I guess, technically, Boston Chowder in this case. ($65 for the whole kaboodle) Tasty vittles and the server was friendly and efficient. Casey and Shelby came up with a saying while we were there, though I couldn’t tell you now why. The Salty Dog, Where Anything Can Happen. (*shrugs* not sure – they’re kids, after all)

That’s all for now. I’ll finish up the fantastic clan adventure in another post tomorrow. I can’t be hogging all your time with my silly family slide shows.

If you have been to these places and have experiences to share, or just want to post a comment or question on the trip so far, just drop me a line. 🙂

Until, tomorrow… and the saga continues.

Children and Technology: The Truth About Social Media?

I had a conversation with my 11 year old daughter, Shelby about Hurricane Irene last night at dinner. What she had to say made me giggle, and showed me that while the information age is great for spreading information, sometimes we need to make sure the info picked up by our children is accurate.

Here is a snipit of that informative chat:

Me: Wow, 10 inches of rain is no joke.

Shelby: They even had to evacuate New Jersey, the whole thing. That’s alot of people.

Me: No sweetie, not all of New Jersey, just the Jersey Shore.

Shelby: (with a big smile): Oh, that’s okay. They are all in Italy right now, anyway.

So there you have it. My daughter, the holder of all important news. *giggle*

Happy Monday!

Friday Funnies

Once again, I find a great cartoon from the mind of inkygirl.com that really just tickles me. Thought I should share. 

Enjoy!

In a Nutshell: How I Feel About the Heat Lately in NY

I got this one at the office this week, but it suits how I have been feeling about the weather around here lately.  Enjoy!

Thursday Humor

Just a little giggle to get you through your Thursday. Enjoy!

Thanks to Inkygirl.com for the giggles!

Tuesday Humor: I Couldn’t Resist (Happy Tuesday)

A friend of mine sent this to me by email this morning and it really tickled my funny bone.  Thought I would share.

Take that Mr. Trump.

Thursday Humor

Thankfully, this is not what happens on my favorite critique circle at Scribophile. (shameless plug for the best critique site I have found to date)

Happy Writing and Critiquing!