This BLOG SUUUUUUUCKS!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

PROJECT: CAWLEY PHOTOS!

These are all the pictures I took when Grandpa passed away in 2003. I put captions on the ones that grandma wrote on the back of the photo. If a caption is missing and you know who it is then feel free to email if you know who is in the picture and I will put it in there for the W.W.W to see..... This is an ONGOING project so I will add more pictures each night or so. GOOD LORD Grandma took a TON of pictures!!!!! Dare I say, Japanese tourist= Grandma Cawley!!!!! I just sit back here in my back room with a beer, my Grandpa McBride's heater, my music on the iPod and just start scanning. Why am I doing this!?!?!? I was inspired to do this after witnessing my mother and her sister's 'NOT SO GOOD' attempt to scan the pictures that Cece had...... GOOD LORD!!! Ladies over 60's TRYING to be tech-savy!! NOT GOOD!!!

Oct 1972

Dec 1971

OCT 1972

Katie, Pat, Chris Mackowski, George Kuhn, Bob

Bob & Mary Cawley

Mark Parmeter

Cece, Katie, Patrick, Bob

Mark Parmeter, Margaret Wolcott

Faye Slavin

Kevin, Kenny Slavin, Bob

Pat, Mike and Andy 1973

Patrick, Michael, Andy, David Matheny 1975

Mike and Andy McBride late 1975

Pat and Andy. Pat's 14th birthday 9-12-1975

Robert Andrew McBride 1973

25th anniversary party 1/27/70 given by our children!

Peg, Caroline Cawley, Gruinnip? Marg Wilcott, Pat D?

Kenny Slavin, Pat, Lela Ressler, Kevin, Gil Brinn, Don Lee

Bob, Mary Cawley, Pat, Becky Cawley

Faye, Joe, Clara

25th Anniversary party 1-27-70

Margaret Wolcott, Gen Soplop, Harriet Parmeter

Pat Davis, Mary Fran, Paula

Shower for Katie at Brinnier's

Katie, Margaret, Becky, Cece (before she auditioned to be a GO-GO dancer for Laugh In) Shower for Katie at Peg G. Jan 1969

Katie, Ron, Pat, Jamie+Kevin Kevin's graduation June 1972

Shower for Katie at Peg G. Marilyn Lee, Gen Parmeter, Harriet Parmeter, Peg Bednar

Shower for Katie at Bonnie Brinnier

Bolivar Country Club Bonnie, Cece, Mr. and Mrs. McBride, Fred Howell

Stricklers House South Bend, IN

June Strickler +Bob Cawley

Cawleys +Stricklers LakeMichigan

Sarah Strickler at the lake

Faye Slavin + Mary Cawley (Katie and Ron's wedding)

Mary+Bob Cawley (Katie's wedding 2/15/69)

Shower for Katie at Peg Guinnip's. Mary Cawley, Pat Davis, Peg Guinnip, Suzanne Torre, Peg Bednar, Harriet Parmeter

Shower for Katie at Peg's Nancy Cawley, Barbara Cawley, Katie, Clara Stilson

Ron + Katie 2/15/69 (Tom Cawley + Steve Kockler in the background)

Katie + Ron McBride Cece Cawley, Andy Ranpulla

Cece+ Michael +Matt+ Norene Ferris March 7, 1971

Micheal + Tony 1st Birthday

Michael + Katie 1st birthday March 7, 1971

Patrick's 9th birthday Sept 12, 1970

Katie's 24th birthday Jan, 1 1971

Cece, Patrick, Michael + Matt Ferris 1st birthday 3/7/71

Pat and Mike Christmas 1970

Cece, Katie, Tom, Nancy and Kevin

30th Anniversary Jan 27, 1975

Katie and Robert Andrew 1973

Michael 1970

Michael and Matt Ferris 1970

Kevin's 17th birthday Feb 14, 1971

Kevin, Michael, Pat, Nancy, Katie 1971

Stricklers + Cawleys

Jamie and Kevin's Wedding Sept 19, 1970 Kevin Cawley, Steve Yehl, Jerome Wolcott, Patrick Cawley, John Lyons, Joe Wolcott, Dad and Rosamond

Cece

Cece + Kevin Schaffner Cawley

Bob Cawley, Bob Strickler, Martha Strickler 1958

Dad and Michael 1970

Patrick and Michael 1970

Cece + Michael + Kevin 1970

Mom, Nancy, Patrick, Michael Oct 1970

Katie feeding Michael + Aunt Cece 1970

Patrick + John Sherwood 1970

Christmas 1953

Patrick

Christine (2 years old) and Jennifer (6 months) Dec. 1971

Nancy + Kevin

Cece + Patrick Spring 1962

Cece + Pat + Nancy + Lorrie Sept 1963

Thanksgiving day at Mom and Dad Ebert's Christine Cawley 16 days old

Christine Louise Cawley Nov. 1970 Age one

Katie, Nancy + Pat 1965

Mike McBride Christmas 1970

Michael McBride Christmas 1970

Shower For Katie at Bonnie Brinnier's

Tom, Ellen, Jayne, Katie 1952

Patrick, Kevin, Hugh McD + Muggins 1965

Mom (Our old red barn behind her)

Mom and Dad , Katie Rehearsal Dinner before Kevin and Sandy's wedding 11/1977

Mary Nuttall, Eileen Rehler, Virginia Crahen, Celestine McLoughlin, Eunice Schill Roth, Mary Jane Heenan, Jane Seitler, Gen Nenno: Class of 1938

Mom, Nancy, Kevin 1954

Mary, mom, Mark 1960

Dad, Cece, Katie in front of Griffith house 1949

Mary Parmeter 1942

Nancy and Jim Margeson 1973

Cece & Andy McBride 1975

Kevin & Lance Shaner 1956

Cece + Katie Wellsville St. 1949

Mike, Andy, Martin, Ben (Aug 1978 @ Aunt Cece's house)

Mary + Bob Cawley (Cece + Doug Root's wedding 1975)

The Cawley Children Cece, Katie, Nancy, Tommy, Pat, and Kevin 1965

My 3 Grandson's: Mike, Andy and Marty (Nov. 1975)

Cece, Aunt Kay, Grandma, Baby Paul?

Robert Joseph Cawley

Faye

Cece 1961

Tom, Pat and Dad

Bob and Mary Cawley 1980's?

Tom Cawley and Ron McBride Doug and Cece's wedding 1975

Dad and Tom 1949

Katie Cawley 1952

Kamp 1988

Dad & Tommy in Eldred Summer 1949

Andy & Mike McBride 1975

Cece + Dennis Haught Jr- Sr. Prom 1964

Katie + Cece 1967

John Messer +Peg Richardson Hilltop

Peg Richardson and Mary. Cuba,NY

House on Plum St. 1940's

Ron &Kate McBride Oct 1971

Pat, Katie, Cece, Dad Spring 1965

Mom's birthday @ Joe's in April of 1957

The Cawley Gals 1972

The Parmeters Family 1938 'I received my fur coat for Christmas, My freshman year at Mercyhurst.

Bob Cawley

Katie, Clara Stilson, Mary Cawley Christmas 1970

Notre Dame Stadium Dad, June, Bob, Cece

Katie & Ron McBride, Cece Cawley, Nancy Cawley, Bonnie B.
Feb 1969

Mary and Bob Cawley 1966

Winter in our back lawn 1970

Faye, Paul, Catherine, Mary. Easter 1965

Dad, Cece, Katie, Pat 1965
Oh and I have NO idea what's on my mom's coat!

Mama, Faye, Joe?, Mark? Catherine, Baby Mary 1921

Mom and Dad, Barbara L?, Jane Wallen, Mary, Jake G?, Catherine, Preston, J Detzel?, Ted Franz. July 4th 1942

Dad, Pat, Cece, Katie, Tom, Nancy, Kevin Easter 1963

Back Yard Fall 1986

Bobby, Kenny, Joe, Dick, Tommy 1950

Grandmother and Grandfather Cawley at home in Eldred

Bob and Mary Cawley 1980

Katie and Cece 1949

Cece, Katie, Tom, Nancy 1953

Grandpa Cawley and Andy 1973

Mom and Dad, Ron, Mike Oct 1970

Pat, Vicki, Jenny Christmas 1981

Margaret Cawley Wolcott

CAWLEY REUNION + PICNIC @ SHAAFFNER'S CAMP

NO DATE GIVEN

Lois Loop, Mary Hughes Cawley, Rosamond Cawley, Leanna McDermott, Eva Eberl

Mary Hughes Cawley, Bob Cawley, Hobby Cawley, Margaret Cawley Wolcott

IN THE BACKGROUND

Jody Wilcott, Becky Cawley, Katie Cawley

Cece, Katie+ Pauline Tierock's 2 girls

Joan Cawley Emerson, Leona McDermott Cece, Katie + Pauline Tierock's girls

Bernard Cawley, Margaret Cawley Wolcott, Bob Cawley, Joe Wolcott, Randall Cawley, Terry Cawley, Jay Appleby, Jim Cawley (Lying down)

Bob, Cece, Katie, Tom, Nancy, Kevin, Dick & Joan Emerson, Jamie Cawley (IN BUFFALO)

Cece, Katie, Tom, Nancy Cawley

Katie and Ron's wedding day, the Cawley family Nancy, Kevin, Cece, Bob, Katie, Tom, Pat, Mary

HA!!!! TAPE (Helping keep your glasses together since Feb 15, 1969!!!!)

Bobby Cawley

Mary Parmeter

Bobby Cawley

Alice Edger?? 1939

Suzanne, Nancy, Bill Slavin Spring 1945

Bob Cawley, John Pyle: Mansfield

Cece in Linda Blisse's side lawn

Mom + Tommy 1949

Bobby, Cece, Katie, Tom, Nancy: Summer 1953

Kevin and Sandy's wedding 1977

Giffith house on Wellsville St.: Cece and Katie 1950

Suzanne and Ron McBride

Thursday, December 01, 2011

DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I'M A 'THINKING MAN'!

It's ART & CRAFTSPALOOZA at casa de McBride! What do you get when you combine old stuff you have collected over the years, spare parts that you have in your garage, a coffee table with a glass top and some MAD 'redneck skills'?????? A SWEET @$$ coffee table that's what!!!!!!!!

The only thing missing is Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables... I also constructed some 'other' stuff BUT that's as much as I can say because I plan on giving it to some people for Christmas.......

Speaking of the BIG GUY's BIRTH, wanna see all of my decorating??? DON'T BLINK CAUSE YA MIGHT MISS IT!!!!!!

HA!!!!!! It consists of a wreath on the door a ceramic tree and this YEAR a new edition! A Christmas tree I found while cleaning out a closet.

Not much else is afoot at Casa De McBride, I tend to hibernate during the late fall and winter..... MMMMMMMMMMM my couch!!!!! Where was I?!?!?!?! OH YEAH, I hope everyone was like me and ate WAY TOO MUCH turkey on 'GOBBLE GOBBLE DAY' (Thanksgiving) and then relaxed by a fire that your little nephews and cousins helped ya build!

I won't be talkin' to ya until January so I wanna wish all of you a FELIZ NAVIDAD
and as always WISH all the people that say they 'LOVE MY BLOG' but haven't acually read it, MERRY FREAKIN' CHRISTMAS!!!!

Oh and I want you to consider this my Christmas card to you! 95% of them include a letter telling you all that has happened in the last year. If ya want to know what I've been doing the last year click here!

How easy was that????? Just click on the link and WAA LAA, All the info you EVER wanted to know!!!!!! Sorry this is so short but I have a deadline to meet! I gotta send it to Amanda, my proofreader, so she can look it over and 'suggest' any corrections so I can post it by Dec 1st. Keep it real and DON'T be FAKE!!!!!

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

The STEPS PART DEUX

If you (actually read my blog) last month, you knew that I caught a nasty head cold and didn't finish them.Well I did MORE but I didn't finish them and the more you read, the more you will know why. Now the 'Andy homeowner tip # 144': A little pressure washer (1600 PSI) is a MUST!! It's great for cleaning and other stuff.....

I would like to thank Gary Singer for showing me how to prep a surface before you paint it. Cars/steps, same thing right?? And this is all I have done.....

I STILL need to get wood for the steps and put the railings back BUT I haven't and this is why, FIRST OFF, this is a great example of cause/effect...
Here we go, READY?? The saga began when I had to have my roof replaced in the summer, I have a truck full of old roofing, I live not too far from a dump/recycling center. WELL!!! One of the attendants (I affectionately call him 'SMOKE STACK' because he is quite the smoker) there told me that as long as I only unload a 'wheel barrel' of shingles that they are cool with it. SOOOOOOOO every time I went to the dump I unload some shingles. I'm in no rush, KRIPES! They are in the back of a truck I HARDLY drive.... WHOOPY RIGHT!?!?!?!

Well a few weeks ago another attendant who is freakin Wilford Brimley's twin!!! Yell's at me "HEY WE DON'T ACCEPT ROOFING SHINGLES AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, EAT YOUR OATMEAL"!!! Kidding about the oatmeal part. After a HEATED exchange of words, I STILL have a load of CRAPPY shingles. SOOOOOOOOOO, Plan 'B' consists of me HOPING the truck (the fuel pump is about to stop working) can go about 15 miles to the Mecklenburg County one and PAY to have it all dumped out! SON OF A!! I HATE spending money! So to recap, the steps are not done because:

I can't get the wood until I empty out the shingles
The dump is only open when I am at work
The fuel pump on the truck is about to stop working.
Not liking the whole 'SPENDING $' thing.

Yeap, I'm sooooooooooooooooo dragging my feet on this BUT there are other things going on too... LIKE:

No I ain't dying, quit being so morbid, but I cleaned out a closet and found quite a few items that I have kept for years. Mostly NASCAR, stuff from when I worked in radio, beer advertisements and other goodies. Some of it I just put back in the closet, gave to friends, took to the metal scrap yard for $ (That's what HICKS do) or put on Craig's List.

Hey, I have about 6 of these Richard Petty posters and if ya want one then I will send it to you. KRIPES! I might even frame it for ya! Big Lots has frames on sale this week!!! WOO HOO!!!

Here's the rules:

I MUST like you!
You pay for shipping and handling.
You answer: what TV show and episode was Randy Watson the police officer in?

I added to my 'Anne Conroy-Baiter' collection, I bought a painting of hers a couple years ago and I just got this one.

I asked her if she had any 'dogs playing poker' and I am sure she rolled her eyes when telling me "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NO." So I went with 'option 2', it's Main St. in Allegany, NY. My cousin Jeff Margeson is an artist too and is painting a self portrait of him in a clown suit! I sooooooooo cannot wait to put that up..... Not sure which room I'll put it in yet......

AND now the continuing saga of 'I might be a red neck but I don't want the inside of my house to look like I am one'. There is UMMMMM not sure what you call it but it's a closet right above the air conditioning/ heat inlet and it needed some fixing up. This is due to when they built the house they put a freakin' door knob on it. As a former co worker, she is putting the final touches on the apocalypses, would say "this was UNACCEPTABLE and needed to be corrected right away!!!!" So with some paint my brother gave me, an extra handle and some caulk I bought from Big Lots, I got the JOB done!!! What do you think??

So if you, I know ya are, asking yourself "where in the 'WIDE WORLD of SPORTS' does Andy get his ideas of saving money?" WELL I give you 'exhibit 'D': this is my aunt Nancy and my uncle Jim. To save money, probably because they didn't have any, she wore my mom's wedding dress and their FREAKIN' reception was at my grandpa and grandma's house!!! HA!!! They cut their wedding cake on my grandma's kitchen table!!!! Oh and FYI, it's still there....

This is BY FAR is one of the best pictures EVER!!!!!! AND If you were wondering, this was back in 1973 and they were married until Jimmy left us in 2000 and produced 3 kids, 2 out of the 3 are good guys, the third well you decide!?!?!?!..... So the moral of the story is spending 'CHO CHO for CO CO PUFFS' amounts of $ for a wedding does NOT mean it will assure you a long one.......

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO delayed in this BUT I got some new neighbors. They moved in June. YEAP way delayed I know. After being told 6 years ago from Greg and Donna, the previous owners "we are going to put up our house for sale." They did it this previous summer and it sold. I haven't met them but I'm betting that he likes to drink beer just like I do so I'm pretty sure we will get along just fine.

Let's see, what else happened?? OH! My wild and wacky sister-in-law AND THE BEST ONE EVVVVVVVVER turned ummmmmmmmmmmmmm 26... When I say 26 I mean 40! WOO HOO!!! Mike, my brother, had a party for her. I was invited because they had to fill the RED NECK quota and my brother knew that I would GLADLY take the leftover beer. I went wearing my SWEET overalls so Mike and Liz's friends would say "OMG! Who's that simpleton in the overalls?" and Mike would have to say as he rolls his eyes, 'That's Andy my brother."

That's all for this month and I'm sorry if there are misspelled words or HUGE grammatical errors but my proof reader was not available. Probably because she was busy getting her kids ready to 'trick or treat'.

Saturday, October 01, 2011

POP'S 'STRESS LEVEL'

There are not too many things I am good at but RILING UP my father is something I EXCEL at! A great example of this is 'project front porch'. Let's set it up shall we: The front porch needed to be painted and a few other things so about 5 months ago I started 'prepping' it by taking a pressure washer to it and started stripping the old paint.

AGAIN! I am NEVER in a rush to do anything…… My thinking is, ‘It will it get done, It may not be today or tomorrow but, AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, it will get done…..’ OK back to the story, So one day when we were all at casa de PAPA/MAMA McBride, my brother, who’s never had an item that he hasn’t TRIED to give to someone, mentioned that the workers left a couple 5 gallon buckets of white paint from when he had a CHUCK E CHEESE put in his house and if I wanted them…..

I think my exact words were “H to the E to the double L YEAH!”. Ya gotta spell certain words out when there are ‘little ears’ around. I thought, I can use it to paint my front porch. At the same time I was feeling GIGGITY because of my SCORE, Pops pipes up and asks if it’s 'exterior' or ‘interior’. My brother says, “I think it is interior”

and Pops says “Then Andrew, you can’t use it on your porch.” And my reaction was, “KRIPES! If it’s free then I’ll MAKE it work on my porch!” This caused my father to look at me in disgust and say “ANDREW, NO YOU CAN’T USE IT!” and a few choice words were in that statement as well. My mother get’s in to it and says “Now Ron, It’s Andy’s house, he can do what he wants to it. Pop’s quit arguing and went back to eating some SWINE, Mom made YUMMY pork loin. I and the rest of the folks at the dinner table were witness to a ‘tactic’ that has been in force since Feb of 1969,

where pops will get riled up and mom will say something to relieve the stress of the situation and he will go back to what he was doing……. Ain’t gonna lie to ya, I have been well aware of this for the past 38 years and I have used it to my advantage a time or two.

Back to the porch, I went and picked up the paint at Casa de Mike and Liz McBride and ONE of the 5 gallon bucket was for INTERIOR and the other, well I'll let the picture do the talking.

I immediately email pops and told him that he can calm down now because it's for EXTERIOR use.... I think this lowered his blood pressure to 'normal' for a 60+ year old man.

So each evening I paint a section while listening to the 1600 songs I have on my iTouch and eat sunflower seeds..... They are YUMMY IN MY TUMMY!

Oh and FYI, in some of the pictures you may have noticed some paint on the brinks. Let it be known that it was not me! That is from when someone, who shall remain nameless, painted them when I first bought the house 6 years ago.

I'm sure you also noticed how bad the steps were. KRIPES! I couldn't walk barefoot on them because they were full of splinters and the nails were sticking up.The poor things were NEVER treated before I bought the house, there were NO gutters so water just poured off the roof on them and beat the poor little things to death..... I want to apologize to you because I got a DANG head cold the last week of Sept. and to be honest with ya, the LAST thing I was thinking about was working on the steps to my porch..... My days pretty much consisted of going to work and then coming home and taking a shot of NyQuil and passing out...... So the steps look like this....

HA!!!!!!!!!! You can soooooooooooooo see where the gutter is bent up pretty bad, that was a result from me falling off my roof! I will tell you that little story some other time! OH AND don't worry, I just suffered a few bruises and an equally bruised ego!!!
LET'S SEE, What else happened?!?!?! OH YEAH! My carpet had become 'loose', like that CERTAIN girl in high school that we ALL KNEW about, in some areas and the company that originally installed it came out and tightened it up for, WAIT FOR IT................... FREE!!!!! I like that PRICE!!!!!!

AND!!! If ya thought I was a FULL FLEDGED REDNECK from L-TOWN (Lancaster), I'm about to give you some more proof.... One of the tires on my car was always loosing air, YEAH! I check the air pressure weekly! Can you say 'ANAL'!?!?!?! Anyways, I have the tools to jack up the car and take off a tire find the leak and plug the hole...... SEE I told you I'm a redneck! I then threw in a DIP and drank a BUDWEISER in my driveway, Did I mention I had my shirt off too?

That's all I got for ya this month, Fly low and beat the radar......

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Being that it's been 10 years (9/9/01) since my little stint in WI., I decided to repost this for ya, If you've already read it when I posted it last year then I will need ya to put on your 'BIG BOY britches' and suck it up until next month when I promise I'll have a new entry for ya, CROSS MY HEART! I did add some BONUS info (it's in red). I'm like an old CD ya had when you where a kid except it has bonus features! HA Remember when 'BONUS tracks' meant, CRAP not good enough for the album?????

Sorry y'all but I haven't done too much to casa de McBride this month due to having been stricken with S.A.R.S/swine flu/malaria with a little touch of scurvy... Which in turn, caused me NOT to stretch and work out every morning. The result- a pulled muscle in my back AND tearing a tendon in my hand trying to overcompensate for NOT being able move around. Plus being told by a fine young lady up in WI. that WYLIE,

~~a pupper that I thought more of then most people on this Earth, is now playing in the big playground up in the sky.~~ So there won't be any pictures of the stuff I have done to the house. So if you're just in it for the pictures, well come back next month because I feel like typing some stuff that I have NEVER said nor will I mention again. I usually have to be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, drunk to talk about WI. but I'll make an exception to the rule on this one. YOU ARE SO LUCKY! I figure that with her gone, a chapter in my life is now closed. Plus I want to type it so I can remember it when I'm in the nursing home. FIRST OFF! It was OUR decision to move up there. I just quit a job that SUCKED ( I was SOOOOOO going to put the former employer's site on here BUT I really don't want to be sued), I only lasted there 6 months before I had enough. I think we needed a 'change' and moving someplace would help achieve that. She was from West Bend, WI and, again WE, decided to move up there. So with the help of her brother Dan and their dad, we packed up a U haul and away we went. I was well established in Charlotte and it was vise verse up there. The dynamics changed because she was born and raised there and had a circle of friends and a core family. I remember that it was a very hard place to get a job because, let's face it, WI. is not the most GROWING economy in the USA. With in a month of us moving up there I landed a job I KNOW I was over qualified for but hey! It was a freakin' job. It was a 2nd shift job in a print company. HA!!!!! I sooooooo remember going to the bathroom and taking a nice long nap in one of the stalls because I was so bored..... SLEEPING on the MAN'S WATCH!!!! Another CLAIM OF FAME of mine is that I got this lady FIRED and told her "Darlin' when YOU realize that YOU are just like us, JACK S@#T then we ALL all will be better off"! Don't say YOU have NEVER wanted to say that to someone. I also helped out her dad on a few of his jobs, he was a contractor and he taught me some cool stuff that I STILL utilize today. She worked at Chilis in Milwaukee for a little bit but eventually worked for her mom at a mail/shipping place. It was a very cool set up and it was a very friendly and a family atmosphere. Her brother worked there too and he had a SWEET German Sheppard, Greta and Mary had Wylie. They were part of the Mail Drop. Customers loved seeing, petting and giving treats to them..... We lived with her dad, Peachy, in his HUGE house, It had its challenges but in all everyone was happy. He lived in one end and we lived in the other. It was cool because I loved the small town atmosphere and I felt that we all looked out for each others best interests. She did her best to try to make things work between us but I think we both saw that the end of us was near... She and I only lasted like 6 months while we were up there. I think it all can be summed up with the help of Bob Dylan and the last verse of 'Tangled Up In Blue' "We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view." I moved out into my own apartment and was BOUND and DETERMINED to make a go of it MYSELF for at least a year so I could say to people "I DID IT!" My apartment consisted of stuff that people gave me which was pretty cool. BARE MINIMAL was the key phrase. KRIPES! I think my bed consisted of a mattress on the floor. I felt pretty alone and realized when I pulled into my Grandparent's drive way in Mansfield, OH that my closest relatives were 450 miles away from me! That's far!!! I ALWAYS dreaded going back to WI. when I was seeing family in OH. or NY. I HATED I-90 west because it meant I was going back to WI.. I made some GREAT friends up there including the Haver clan

both Andy and his brother Scott made life easier on me by having me over for dinner and family parties. I will always remember watching the 2000 election with Scott not knowing WHO WON and drinking coffee the whole time and ANDY/Deanna and their kids were saints to me!!!! BUT I knew I had to go back under the Mason-Dixon line. I kinda just hung around but I'm pretty sure that I had a nervous break down while watching the Bills and Vikings game. Don't ask me why then, maybe a Doug Flutie sack triggered it. I just fell apart mentally and my boss and friend told me to go see a Dr. because he and others were worried about me because I just wasn't the 'happy go lucky' guy I was usually. SURE enough the Dr. said I was depressed and prescribed Paxil and some sessions with a counselor. FUN STUFF let me tell ya. I remember being so pissed that I had to take an effing drug to be 'normal'. Then and now, I still think just talking to someone was more effective then the DAMN anti-depressant I was on. The whole time I was thinking about my 'exit strategy' so I could get back home. Andy H. was gracious enough to give me a job at his machine shop so we thought it would be cool to tear apart my 65 Mustang and redo it right (when you're a teenager, ya tend to do stupid stuff to cars) because we had the tools to do it. WOO HOO!!!

We were in the middle of that when I decided it was time, having my brother and sister-in-law say that I can have her slightly used boat helped make my decision even easier.

Plus I will never forget my Grandpa Cawley, after I told him I was thinking about moving back, saying "Andy I really think you should do it, It would ease your mom and her sisters minds to know you were back in a happy place in your life."

So we hastily put the Mustang back together just enough for me to put it on a trailer that I could tow with my good old truck, said good bye to a few people, tried not to cry like a baby and on Sept. 9th, 2001 I pulled into Charlotte. I was going to unpack that day and the 10th with the intention of looking for a job on the 11th. Well we all know that EVERYTHING changed that day. ANYWAYS, A few months later I got a job at Wells Fargo and that's where I have been ever since. My Mustang is still in the same condition it was when we put it back together so I could haul it back to Charlotte.

I want to clarify that it's SOOOOOOOOOOO easy to look back at a situation and say "I would have done that differently" KRIPES!!! Hind sight's ALWAYS 20/20. It was an experience, a chapter in my life, I learned some valuable lessons from it that I will ALWAYS uphold:

I will NEVER live with a girl before marriage, You are freakin roommates and there is nothing stopping you from saying "I'm done and outta here." With marriage (the one thing I think it's good for) you both know, "HEY I'm in it till 'death do you part' so WE need to resolve our issues and remember that we are in it for the long haul."
Teepee's are pretty spacious and cozy.
"KRIPES!" and "What the crap?" are pretty funny sayings and I STILL use them to get a chuckle out of people.
I will NEVER live from pay check to pay check. having no money BLOWS! Call me a chick but I love security that comes with knowing I have $ in the bank to cover any emergencies that might come up.
Bluegrass music is some pretty good stuff.
Hey! I'm pretty good at welding aluminum.

I think in the end we are both very happy in the way our lives are now. Mary has her husband who adores her and two little babies and a great family to support her. I have a life of being a single guy that names his power tools and is happier than a pig in poopy to play out in the yard with the goal of SOMEDAY being awarded the 'Lancaster County Yard of the Month". I view WI.=FAILURE. I'm not bitter, angry or calling anyone the ANTICHRIST, ~~but I might work with them and as far as I know they never lived in Wisconsin.~~ NATAS, (satan spelled backwards) moved on with her plans for the apocalypses, I MEAN, went to another department on August 12th. I just don't want to relive it. I know that will upset people I became friends with up there but that's how I feel and I have no desire to ever go back up there to visit. Too many bad things. Call me an 'A' hole but that's how I feel. So there ya have it, This is MY version of what happened. Others might be different and that's groovy. As for me, You will NEVER hear me talk about this again and if you ask me then I will simply direct you to this and it will tell you all you need to know. AGAIN! Please DO NOT think that I am ANGRY at people or events in the past, I'M NOT TRUST ME!!!!!

The only news here is that we had a freakin' earthquake!!! Just so ya know, I'm NOT a big fan of the earth shackin' under my feet... OH and I had to get a new phone, apparently electronics do NOT like being put in a washing machine.... The new one does EVERYTHING! Kripes! It might even make ya breakfast, I have to check the manual to see how to do it.

Marking the 5th anniversary of living in 'L' town at casa de McBride, I will mention MONUMENTAL moments from the past 5 FREAKING years until 9-2011 and BEING it's the end of the 5 year FIESTA! I want to say thank the over 12K+ people that have actually read this stuff. Even the guys that send me the 'I'm the heir to a Nigerian Prince and all I have to do is give them my bank account # so they can put MILLIONS in it! AND ALWAYS remember that some things are better viewed in your rear view mirror....

Monday, August 01, 2011

BAM BOOM POW!!!!!

BUT! Before we get to that, I have a few more 'loose ends' from my McBRIDE WORLD TOUR 2011 to tie up: I was asked by a hottie at work how my tour was, I said it was groovy and all. She says 'but I thought you would have had more fun being you were on tour?" I kinda looked at her funny THEN I remember that she 'texted' while I was heading up to Ohio to see my Grandma McBride and my Nana and asked me where I was. Being a smart @$$, I replied back to her that I was on tour with Survivor and we were doing a gig at the Mansfield, OH Fair Grounds that night. She thought I was serious and told others that I was touring. FUNNY!!! I felt bad that after 2 1/2 weeks of her telling people that, I was only joking. She was mad but after I said she's got GREAT LEGS she forgave me. EYE OF THE TIGER BABY!!!!!!

I also neglected to tell y'all that I collected another 1000 frequent flyer miles to Heaven!!! WOO HOO!!! Well after the Kocklers took me to lunch at 'DA BEEF', Beef and Barrel!

Steve and I were on our way home and some UMMMMMMMM 'heavy set' (trying to be nice here) ladies needed some help because they were stuck on the side of the highway with a flat tire. It was three ladies and a sweet girl, Jessica, with some 'mental issues', basically in the old days she would be called retarded. THERE I SAID IT. Anyways, we put a spare tire on and I looked at the other tires and told one of the ladies, "Now promise me you will get a new set of tires because the set you have now are pretty bad.". She promised that she would and then Jessica gave me a big hug and said THANK YOU! Again folks, It's the little things in life that make your day.
Also, While I was gone 'Catholic Kate' (MOM), no I DON'T call her that to her face, and Big Ron (DAD)

came down to casa de McBride to clean it up so it would be up to 'KATE MCBRIDE STANDARDS'. Well when I got back after 2+ weeks, the house was SUPER DUPER clean and my freakin' bushes were even trimmed! GOOD GOD! BUT they 'organized' so well that there are items that I am STILL looking for. KRIPES! I finally found the remote to my iPod player AND I'VE BEEN HOME SINCE JULY 6TH!!!!!!!! AND don't get me started on the lid to my crock pot! That thing is STILL M.I.A!

Last but not least, I saw one of my 4th grade teachers (That's 1984, DO THE MATH KIDS! That's 27 FREAKIN' years ago!) Then she was Mrs. Sonneborn but made sure to tell me that she is Mrs. Stedman now.... She is as SWEET as EVER! GOD LOVE HER!!!!!! She made it a point to tell me that she vividly remembered having to pick up her son at my old house because he, how do you say?, 'stretched the truth' about being at someone else's house and was really at our house because my older brother was having a party! HOODLUMS!!!!

OK! LET'S START THIS MONTH'S ENTRY AGAIN!!

#####THIS HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY OKIE DOKIE?#####

BAM BOOM POW!!!!!

That was on Batman! Remember that???? Well that's what I thought I heard at 3AM one day, Well actually it was a 'POP' with UMMMMMMM well I can't describe it but it sounded like this, go to minute 3:33 of this video. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming OR a freakin' pipe burst! SON OF A!!!! I sure as heck wasn't going back to sleep, So I went out to the garage, threw on my Carhartt cover alls

and went under the house. AGAIN! THIS WAS AT 3AM IN THE FREAKIN' MORNING!!!! When I finally crawled to where I though the noise came from, everything was just fine! WOO HOO THANK GOD! No burst pipe or anything. All was well! I tested all the facets throughout the house and the water pressure was normal. I went back under there during the day and insulated the pipe (for safe measure) with some extra pipe insulator I had gotten at BIG LOTS over the years!

I also marked the main shut off just in case I EVER need too SHUT IT OFF!!!

I emailed POPS and Boike describing what I heard and what I did in my course of action and POPS threw out there a few thing that it might have been and my favorite was that it might have came from the gas line. I kinda chuckled at that and replied that if it was the gas line I can guarantee that I would not be here! KRIPES! They would have found little pieces of me in neighboring counties... This happened 5 months ago and I am happy to report that I have not heard any SNAP CRACKLE or POPPING since. So I got that going for me which is good.. Oh before I forget (getting old SUCKS) I HAVE to include this email I got from my friend Paul:

"Your blog should be required reading. If Oprah was still at it and she were to do a 'Oprah's Blog Club', I believe with all my being yours would be selected EVERY month. Not fair to the other bloggers, I know, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

I also believe that you should get a twitter acct. You'd have a gazillion followers and they'd be hanging on to every post. Here are just a few posts I could see you making:

1) OUTTA' BEER!

2) EFFING BILLS.

3) Dear Ladies, ANDY need huggy. CALL ME!

4) EFFING GD BILLS.

5) EFFING SABRES!

6) SLAP THAT @$$!"

WELL!! Your wish is MY command!!! Not gonna lie to ya, I kinda feel like this guy now.

HA!! You guesses it, THIS is my profile picture on there AND as of 7-31-11 I have a WHOPPING 5 followers!! One freakin' guy is trying to get me to join his 'PONZI SCHEME' and someone that wants me to check out their porn site!!!! Both sound pretty legit right? But Paul you said gazillion followers?????? Oh I also joined Google+. LOOK OUT WORLD WIDE WEB BECAUSE IT'S 'ANDY TIME'!! Getting back on track, I kinda wish that snow in the picture I have of me in the Carhartt was around because I would lay in it buck @$$ naked! GOOD GOLLY! To steal a phrase from a guy I met in Talledega, AL, MMMMMMMM DEGA!!! "It's hotter than the hubs of hell!" As you know, I tend to 'do without' when things stop working. Well about 2 years ago my A/C went out. My thought was "I'll hold out as long as I can before I have to spend $ to get a new one. Well, after this week, I'm seriously thinking about getting a new one because it has been so HOT but in the mean time, I had a little A/C unit for a window that I would put in when my nephew Charlie would stay over and I would remove it after, BUT I caved in and installed it for ME! The heat was just too unbearable.

I said that I was going to start tiling the bathroom floor in my last entry and BA DA BING! Sure it's NOT perfect but you have to really get on your hands and knees to see anything that's out of whack. I STILL have to work on trim and other stuff BUT over all, I'm pretty happy with the results.

Call me a FREAK but I went and saw Sade

She is on a list of ONE that I would pay to go see. KRIPES! She puts out new music and tours like every TEN years so I don't mind spending $! Steph went with me, She had no idea who she was BUT I told her that if she went with me that I, ANDY McBRIDE, would pay for everything!! WORD!!! Just because playing Jedi Mind Tricks RULE, I had bought an extra ticket for 'the girl I said has nice legs so I affectionately call 'HOT LEGS', BUT she said said she couldn't go. Can you say MISSED OPPORTUNITY!?!?!?!?!?! SOOOOOOOOOOO sucks for HER! Back to Sade, don't believe me that she RULES!?!?!? Listen to 'Cherish the Day'. If that doesn't 'HELP' you get some action then FRANKLY SIR, you need to give it up and join the priesthood......

And finally I want to help my friend who needs mine and the 10 people that reads this help. Her name is Felicia DUBE (DEW- BEE) and last year she lost her baby boy Carter to whooping cough. She is raising awareness through the March of dimes and if ya want to contribute that would be like so totally rad and she has told me that if she reaches her goal then she will wear the dress she wore to the prom! I bet her husband is saying "FOR ALL THAT IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD, PLEASE help her reach her goal so we can relive PROM 1992!!!"

I need to tell ya this little story so grin and bear with me OKIE DOKIE, I was a TRUE BLOODED Jeff Gordon hater and I ALWAYS screamed at the top of my lungs "PUT' EM IN DA WALL!" each lap. WELL!!! Felicia told me that he and his foundation did a TON of stuff when all this happened with her baby... PLUS his wife is really HOT! (GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY!) So now I think he's an alright guy and I save my "PUT' EM IN DA WALL!" scream for that clown Kasey Kahne!
AND ONE MORE THING! A friend of mine up in NY had a really bad house fire AND LOST EVERYTHING! GOOD GOLLY!

And if ya got anything to help them get back on their feet then then just email me or his brother Steve and we will send it to them..... GIVE TO LIVE kids!!!

Marking the 5th anniversary of living in 'L' town at casa de McBride, I will mention MONUMENTAL moments from the past 5 FREAKING years until 9-2011: This marks the first time I had to go up on a ladder and clean out my DANG gutters!! (Rolling my eyes) It was a real joy let me tell ya! Talk to ya later and remember that you better PRAY I never get a 'wild hair up my @$$' and get the ambition to climb the corporate ladder because you might be on the short list of people I kick to the curb when/if I become your boss.....