The Countdown Begins.......

One Down, 387 To Go...

• G'ma and I made reservations for our 40th anniversary trip. Amazingly enough, it's for Walt Disney World in Orlando FL. Hence the countdown...
• WDW has a special place in our heart. G'ma and I spent our honeymoon down there in 1972, during it's first year of operation. We have tried to make a trip down there every five years or so. (Not often enough for me, but cooler heads prevail!)
• We have been to two of the Deluxe hotels, the Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian Village, as well as Fort Wilderness, the campground on site. Additionally, we have been down there off site for a "Make A Wish" trip for the Ace of Spades. This trip, we will be 'roughing it' at Fort Wilderness in the new rig, 'The Phoenix'. We will be traveling down with our friends, Tom, Mars and Mike in their fifth wheeler, and Barb (the Nun) will hopefully join us down there to do WDW right!
• Our best trip down there was nine years ago for our 30th anniversary. We spent ten wonderful days on site. When I made the reservations for that trip, I mentioned it was our 30th, and the agent made sure we got one of the best rooms at the Polynesian Village. It was on the ground floor right by the water front where we could watch the Light Parade every night! We spent three days down there by ourselves before our kids came down with their kids and friends. We hit all the right places and saw all the right things. (Note to all: when you make plans like this a year in advance and mention to the girls; "you might not want to be knocked up for this trip, because I want to hit EVERY attraction with y'all", you can bet one of the no impulse cheerleaders would not listen. One of the princess', (I won't mention Sarahs name), was wondering why she was always sick on the rides......DUH. After the three days in the PV, we moved over to the Wilderness Lodge. The WL is a MUST DO for any Disney visitor. It's the best!
• In an effort to make sure everyone had as good a time as possible, I made an itinerary revolving around one thing per day. Everyone was asked to, (or ordered to, depending on who you talk to), attend one family function a day. Some days it was a meal, other days an event or show. I made little 'tickets' with all the pertinant information so no one would forget the event. All in all, it worked very well. There was some concern about being on a tight schedule, but in the end, it went very well.
• That's one of the secrets about having a good time at WDW. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SCHEDULE. The sheer number of things to see down there requires you to make a plan and stick to it as close as possible. Of course, a good plan always allows for the "fudge factor". You cannot plan too many things in one day. You have to leave room to relax and take in as much as possible.
• The second big secret about a good trip is DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE MONEY YOU ARE SPENDING! It's expensive. All good things are. I do not plan of leaving the kids any money, that's for sure!
• I am excited. I have already ordered my Birnbaum book. It's not printed yet, but Amazon.com has my credit card on file, and as soon as it's available. I will be getting one of the first! (Open open open.......)
• I will update y'all with plans as the year goes on....
• Oh well...back to work......(how many more days?)
• Bump

1111 Days

• This post is dedicated to my younger Daughter, Sarah Kristen

• One Thousand, One Hundred and Eleven Days Sober. Your Mom and I are very proud of you and glad you have been able to fight the demons that plaqued you, even for that short time.
• I started a post at 1000 days, but because of the location that we were in, I lost all of the information before I could save it. It was witty. It was sappy. It was painful. Anyone who writes likes this, off the cuff, knows that once you put "pen to paper", you cannot duplicate it no matter how hard you try. The following is an attempt to do just that.

• In the last 1111 days, you have been divorced. Moved into your own house. Hurt your back. Lost your Grandfather. Wrecked another vehicle. (You get the picture). Life's been a bitch lately. Yet, you have remained strong through all of this and not strayed back to the sauce.
• We, (your whole family), are happy you know you don't need vodka to be the happy, bright, smiling, (for the most part), daughter/sister/mom/aunt that you are. Your laugh and your sense of humor is infectious and reminds me of my Aunt Bobbie. She was as devious and twisted as you and I are.

• In the blog I wrote 111 days ago, I touched upon the "misplaced kids", the wrecked Jag, (horror of all horrors), the dumbass enabler you were married to, and a couple of other points. Since that was the "Painful" part of the last post, I chose not to remember all of the language. You remember it, and that is one of the reasons you remain sober to this day.

• That all being said, between you and the rest of the Girls' prodding, I will try to post more often. Someone needs to entertain them with you!

• Congratulations Sarah. Your Mom and I got your back!

• Gotta get back to work! Bump

Happy Birthday To My Wife

• Today is Christines 60th birthday. She joins the rank of other "Mature" folks like:
• Albert Einstien
• Leonardo DaVinci
• Susan B Anthony
• Clara Barton
• Louis Pasteur
• Plato and Socrates
• Obviously, I think very highly of my alleged better half.
• Best of all, she has put up with me for about 45 years......
• Happy Birthday Christine... Bump

Happy Mothers Day

• As I said in my "Facebook" post; Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there. And you all know who you are!
• With both of our Mothers gone, G'ma and I rely on our "Little Mothers" to come over and make the holiday whats its supposed to be. Bex and Sar came through as they always do. This year, the fun factor was increased by the fact that significant others also brought their little humans to the house. Aunt Lu and TG brought their kids over to help celebrate with us. No matter what we say, or how we act, we love having the kids over to the house, (as long as the Moms are there)! When I looked out at the boys running around in th front yard, it reminded me of the times I went to my Grandmothers house, all those years ago, (YES I CAN REMEMBER Back that far Girls!).
• Yes, we were 'blessed' with a beautiful day. The weather yesterday was as great as it gets in Michigan. Not too hot, not too cold or windy.
• I know all my Moms like steak. So, I actually was proactive and got with the men in my daughters lives, (actually, I got with the girls), and let them know what I was going to do for dinner and asked that they bring something to add to dinner. I made it a point to make sure that BUYING things, as compared to MAKING things was absolutely acceptable. TG brought potato salad and PS brought strawberry shortcake (with French Vanilla Ice Cream; the ONLY way to make it, BTW). I went to Costco and picked up Filet Mignon and Mushrooms from Ninos. It goes without saying that dinner was a hit with EVERYONE, especially the Moms, since they did not have to do A N Y T H I N G . (I made sure the men took care of thier kids so the moms would not have to).
• Let me tell you all something about Costco. If you dont already know this, you can buy Filet Mignon for a price that some stores charge for ROASTS!. ($10.99 a pound last week). The quality of this meat is unbeatable. As long as I can afford it, I will eat no other steak!
• I wish Lu's parents could have made it. I hear that they are 'good people'. (Hi Sha-Mom. HMD!)
• I was glad to read Sarahs post and hear her say what I thought I saw yesterday.
• I think I did okay for Moms Day this year.
• Well....back to work!

Bump-ster

Almost Time

• It's Tuesday. The second busiest day for me here at work. I should be doing invoicing.
• BUT. Tax season is over, so our friend Mars will be ready soon. Tom will be glad to get his wife back, no matter what he says. When you own several H&R Block offices, I can only imagine how frantic her first quarter is! Tom's been retired a couple of years now, and I think he is enjoying being away from his local school system. At least, HE SHOULD! Just so you know; there are people that have 2236 days left BEFORE I CAN RETIRE!
• BUT. Both of the Nuns are back in Michigan and I am sure they are itching to go. The Nuns. (None in the morning, none in the night!) Barb retired about a year and a half ago and just spent a couple of months in Florida with her 95+ year old Mom. (Bless your heart Mrs. D!). Dr. D is one of my 'partners' when we play cards. She hates to lose ALMOST as much as I do. So; we don't do it often! Gina retires in June. I'm pretty sure she can't wait to get away. You gotta love the nuns. (Yes, they were!) But, Barb, just so you know, there are people that have 2236 days left BEFORE I CAN RETIRE!
• BUT. I know Joe and Mick are ready. They both told me so last week at the Charity Dinner. (Relay for Life. Just do it.) Joe's retired. (Notice a pattern?) Talk about being glad to be away from a career. Imagine working for the Detroit School Board for 32 years or so...... Good for him. Mick is semi-retired. Her health issues tend to get in the way of a full time teaching career. I imagine that as much as she loves teaching, she'll be glad to "retire" soon. And Joe, just so you know, there are people that have 2236 days left BEFORE I CAN RETIRE!
• BUT. I know G'ma and I are ready. G'ma retires from her school district on June 10 after over 27 years of teaching. That is A LOT of years with little humans (aged 3-4)! I am proud of her and happy for HER retirement. And G'ma.....
• G'ma and I are ready. I went to the storage lot and brought the trailer home last Friday. Could not wait to see the trailer behind the new truck. OK, it's not new, (2008), but it's new to us. The 'Pot-Stirrer' blew the engine in his truck, so in an effort to "Take One For The Team", I sold him my Hemi Ram. And since we have wanted a diesel for some time now, I just felt; might as well go big, or go home! So, now we have a Ford F-450 quad cab dually 4x4 in the driveway in front of the trailer. It is a big truck. (You know what they say about men with big trucks.....big gas bills!) We are going to have a great season this year. At least nine trips around this Great State. One trip will be up to the Mackinaw area for a family wedding. I cannot wait for that trip. G'ma will have to learn how to drive the truck before then if history holds true for me and weddings!
• Our first trip of the season is the weekend after Easter. We hear Frankenmuth calling us. Who cares what the weather is when you don't REALLY camp. All of our rigs are like hotels on wheels. Queen size beds. Showers. Surround sound entertainment! Don't get me wrong. We love the outdoors. Some of us even like to excersize outside and everything! I like to get away. Relax. Sit by a fire at night and bullshit. We really do have a great system. Each family usually cooks one meal during the weekend. It's either breakfast or dinner. Some of us like to experiment. Some of us like the good ol' BBQ, but with real good meat! The meals are never boring...
• I want to blog about these experiences. The good, the bad, the ugly. (OK. the seven of them are the Good. I'm the Bad, AND the Ugly). I want to get used to writing about life experiences like this. I hope people will enjoy these little tidbits. We'll see....
• Back to work....Sigh.....

Welcome

Welcome to my page. Most of you are here thanks to my favorite middle child, Sarah.

First of all, I have to thank her for her help in setting up this page, as she is apt to say, "The only taste I have is in my mouth".

My intention with this page is to get used to putting thoughts to word. G'ma and I are planning to travel a lot when I retire in six years, and I will want to keep a blog on our travels. In the time between then and now, I will log on occasionally to rant about camping, Nascar conspiracies, women drivers, crappy weather, rotten kids, how much I miss my boys and other scintilating ideas.

My family will tell you that I am a big dreamer and schemer. True and true. Guilty as charged. Deal with it. G'ma has had to since 1967 when we first met. But many of my dreams have come true, and most of them due to my marriage to G'ma. In future posts, I'll put into words many of those dreams and how they came to pass.

I think Sarah was right. Writing this post may help me a bit. My mind is seldom truly at rest. In todays society, more and more people fear losing their jobs. More and more people take less time off, vacation time or sick time, than ever before. People are truly afraid that if your place of employment thinks you can afford to take time off, that you are not truly commited to them.

Whatever......I need to get back to work...

Hijacking Kicks Ass

Guest Blogger: Sarah, from Complications of a Perfect Life What's the best thing about having my dad's login information for his blog? Being able to hijack it and post on it if I wish. Which I did, so I am. I'm also imagining him sitting at his computer, leaning back in his chair, chuckling to himself and muttering "oh...you little wench...heh heh..." Yup. Oh and also: adding little snippets to his blog like the tiny description just under the title. I'm so fucking proud of myself, it's nearly pathetic. Or starting his blogroll, with only mine in it. Yup. Me: laughing hysterically on the inside because this is the most fun I've had in weeks. By myself, that is. Anyways, welcome to Bump's Dumps, written by my Dad, The Bump. Don't bother changing your password, dad, I won't do this again. Unless asked, of course. I think it looks pretty good, though. If you need any help or suggestions, me and the rest of BlogLand is here, just ask! So? Any good suggestions for my old man? Any writing/blogging tips for a newbie? It's been so long, I can't remember what kept me going and inspired in the beginnnng... Just life, I guess. Good luck, Your Favorite Daughter (...the other one. asshole...)