Friday Funnies

CRUNCH ! it's clear that this vehicle will need a lot of help. 

It was seen inside the parking garage at our apartment building this week, unsure if the damage happened inside or on the road.

Meanwhile, here's a car owner who has found yet another use for duct tape.

Enjoy Your Weekend Everyone & Stay Cool 😎

Twice Good Family News

Last year was a big year for family celebrations with weddings in the spring and fall. Our two nieces, sisters Jamie (left) and Julie (right) were married in NJ.

Coincidentally, both grooms share the same first name, Michael. Another very happy  coincidence is that both couples will be welcoming girls and both in the same month of this coming October. 

Jamie and Mike have chosen the name Savannah Marie for their daughter. Julie and Michael will welcome Autumn Rose. The name Rose has special significance in our family. It was it the middle name of my late mother. And, Rosa was the first name of her mother, thus a great grandmother and great, great grandmother are being remembered. 

This past spring, Jamie completed her nursing degree at a NJ community college and has been preparing for her state boards later this year.

Meanwhile, my brother and his wife (Anita & Tony) after welcoming new son-in-laws last year will become first-time grandparents twice within the a year.

We're looking forward to meeting both our great nieces sometime during the upcoming holiday season. Julie, Michael and Autumn Rose will be spending Thanksgiving with my brother, his wife and us in PA. We're thankful for that upcoming celebration.

Any good news upcoming in your families?

Case Closed !

The case of the missing case has been solved. 

Here's what happened. In a post last week, I told of a small camera case that wasn't really lost just misplaced somewhere in our apartment. The question was why is it that something is always found in the last place we look or after a replacement is bought. 

Thanks to fellow bloggers who commented with their own tales of misplaced items, some yet to be found and others found after they were replaced. Bloggers AC, Linda, Nil, and Doris said it had happened to them. Bloggers Robin, Denise and Connie told of finding items they hadn't realized were lost in the first place. Another blogger, Baili, was concerned about a comment that a ghost may have borrowed the case. Grenville asked me to explain that any ghost here is friendly and would never play such tricks.

Yes, it was in the last place I looked only I'd never looked there at all. Looking there first sure would have saved a lot of time !

Replacement Case

Yes, the case was found after a new one was ordered and received last week and it's basically the same as the old case, just slightly larger. The new camera it will be used for also arrived last week and fits well in the case. 

Here's what happened — two SD cards and an extra battery were ordered with the replacement case and would be stored in a box for photo accessories. This box had never been checked in all previous searches (and there were many). Opening it to store the new accessories, the mystery was over — the missing case was inside.

Found  Case!

Having two identical cases wasn't a problem. Grenville needed a larger case for his point & shoot digital camera.

Now he has one — the no-longer-missing case (left). 

This was definitely an inside case (sorry for the awful pun). Losing misplacing it for a while was quite fortunate for both of us.

If anyone else has misplaced something, check the last place first or order a replacement. You could find your missing item too. 

Finally, here's something I neglected to do that might have helped, praying to St. Anthony considered by many Catholics (and others too) as the patron saint for finding lost items. Here's a variation of a popular prayer: 

“Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please look around. Something lost that must be found. (Say what needs to be found three times). Thank you Saint Anthony.”

Traditionally, a prayer might be beneficial when accompanied by a donation to a church or charity. By no means is this to suggest that saints deal for favors. It's just polite to thank anyone (even a saint) because when a friend helps, you naturally say Thanks.

St. Anthony was a Catholic priest and friar in the Franciscan order. The story goes that he became the go-to saint for lost things after a novice in the same Franciscan Order, who had tired of the religious life, left and stole St. Anthony's volume of the Book of Psalms (psalter). After Anthony prayed for its return, the novice not only returned the volume, but returned to the Order.  

Friday Funnies

Most of us are familiar with the phrase, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
But, what happens IF the bridge is right in front of you, or at least a portion of it?

Enjoy Your weekend, Everyone.

(Forecast is for a cooler one here in NH than last weekend)

All in the Family

Summer is once again wedding season in our family. Last year the celebrations were on Beatrice's side of the family when two nieces were married. A couple of weekends ago, we joined Grenville's family to celebrate the wedding of his first cousin's son in CT.  

This happy event was a great time for us to see all three grandchildren together. 

Grandpa Grenville was all smiles too. Grandson reaches attain teenager status in December and granddaughters are 8 and nearly 3 years old.

Grenville was also happy to spend time with daughters who are shown with their children. The last time the family was all together was in December, thankfully not too long ago as the grands are growing up very fast; of course, the adults are not.

Lots of smiling faces all around despite a very hot afternoon (the photographer usually  isn't in the picture). 

Oldest daughter and boyfriend, and younger daughter and husband.

The groom's parents, (lower left) were all smiles at the reception as were other family members, including ourselves. 

It's long been held that weddings and funerals are times when families reunite. If that belief holds true, we much prefer the happier occasion of these two life events.

Last Place You Looked

Why is it that when you've lost something it's invariably found in the last place you've looked. Why can't that be the first place?

Know why things you’ve lost or misplaced are always in the last place you look?

Because after you find them, you stop looking. But what about losing something important and feeling relieved when you looked in the “last place,” and it was there?

I'll admit it's happened to me quite a few times.

Last week, I somehow misplaced a camera case and it's someplace in our apartment.

Here's the scenario. I planned to upgrade an older point & shoot digital camera, which was stored in a small case. The camera was removed from the case, photographed for eBay sale, and put in its original box (yes, I save them). The case was not being sold but would be re-used with a newer camera. The camera sold last week; it was time to locate the case.

Despite multiple and repeat searches over the past several days, it's nowhere to be found. (The picture at left is a similar sized model.)

Grenville helpfully asked where it was last seen. My reply was that if I remembered, then it would have been found.

I'm certain it was last seen in the apartment. According to helpful Grenville it will be found after a new one is bought. (He's most likely correct.)

Before writing this post, another search was made and the case is still missing.

And, it wasn't the only thing misplaced recently. The last missing item was a small external power bank like the one shown here. 

Multiple searches came up empty until I searched a small luggage tote. Apparently, it was packed for our cross-country trip and forgot about because it hadn't been used.

Apple has a find my iPhone feature. Why can't there be a find my anything I lost feature and why hasn't anyone developed an app for that yet?

According to online sources, the range of things lost daily is staggering. One insurance-company survey revealed that the average person misplaces up to nine objects a day. Many of these items are later found, what isn't recovered is the time lost searching for

them. 

As for my missing camera case, there's always the remote (but unlikely) possibility that it staged its own disappearance, perhaps in conjunction with occult forces.

Sounds far fetched, I know, but Grenville swears there's a ghost named Abby, sharing our apartment. 

Maybe her camera needed a case?

What about you — ever misplace something that you found again or maybe never found ?

Friday Funnies

Which title do you prefer ... Doggone, It's a Dogs Life or Hot Diggity Dog? 

Since it's summer time, how about the “dog days of summer"  as it's going to be a hot weekend one here in New England.

Many people use those words to mean really hot weather, but the phrase has nothing to do with actual dogs. Instead, it refers to the "dog" star, Sirius (not the satellite radio company) in the constellation Canis Major, and its position in the heavens. When Sirius rose with the sun in late July, ancient Greeks and Romans called this the hottest time of the year.

Stay cool, everyone and enjoy Your weekend.

Look, Who's Celebrating

Today is a very special day — it's Grenville's birthday 🎂🎈🎉

Happy Birthday 🥂wishes to my husband, Patrick, the MOST special person in my life.

Friday Funnies

We dined at many places on our extended road trip, as previous posts have described. However, this photo can truly be labelled "road" food.

Not exactly sure "why" it was there or for how long. Thot of plate, food, fork was exactly as seen in a supermarket parking lot where we stopped for a purchase in Alabama (Sometimes, a fun shot just happens.)

Enjoy Your weekend, Everyone.

All Good Things End

Sooner or later it's been said. And so has our southern U.S. road trip which started from NH in mid-May and ended back here just before July 1. 

Over the course of nearly 6 weeks we traveled through PA, OH, KY, TN, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, VA, NJ, NY, CT, MA, and back to NH. (Unfortunately, Grenville neglected to set the trip odometer, so doesn't know the total mileage traveled.)

This year, we visited only one state capital (KY) as compared to five visited on last year's NH to OR excursion. On this trip, among other things, we visited 3 historical forts, an underground waterfall, a 1,200 foot underground cave, an incline railway, the largest military museum, a vintage car dealership, the second operating U.S. cyclorama, a historic train station, an icon from a U.S. World's Fair, museums, and many small towns.

The best part of this year's road trip was meeting up with family, including 4 cousins and a niece in 5 different states, some of whom we hadn't seen in a few years to a few decades.

We caught up with long-time friends including Grenville's former Navy buddy, neighbors, co-workers and neighbors from NJ and VA, where we lived and worked. We reunited with blogger friends once again and enjoyed a first-time meeting with a new blogger friend.

I had fun posting about sites seen and foods sampled along our travel route. As always, your comments and feedback were greatly appreciated. It was nice to have "passengers" along for the ride — everyone was so quiet.

As much fun as we had on our trip, we're glad to be home, at least until the next one. Until then, we have several upcoming family events here in New England to enjoy.

How has your summer been going?