yankee or rebel?

Here's a quick & fun online test to help you determine how much of a 'hick' you are (or aren't).

Yankee or a Rebel test, click here

Me? I scored a 57% Dixie...barely in Dixie. Surprised? Guess I've got a little bit of 'hick' in me. In fact, when I lived on the East Coast 15+ years ago, I was often accused of having a Southern accent. I always told the peole who said that, "Then you've never actually heard a true Southern accent." Of course, they all considered anyone who was from Cincinnati (my hometown) to be a hick (these are the same folks who call it "soda" rather than what it is...POP!).

taking my motorcycle skills test next week...

Yeah, those of you who know me know that I've recently learned how to ride a motorcycle (and I bought one this Spring). In Ohio, you are permitted to ride once you pass your written test--you just can't have passengers or ride at night. Part two is a skills test (cone weave, u-turns, quick-stops, etc.). I called the testing agency this week to ask if there's any way to practice before I take the test. The guy says, "Not really." So I told him that I've been riding all summer and based on that, I asked him if he thought I could pass the test. He tells me that the cone weave will be the toughest part. He gave me the measurements and cone locations and suggested I practice it. So I did. It's not easy. And part of the reason is because my bike's not real small. I'd say right now I have about a 50/50 chance of nailing the cone weave. I'm pretty confident about everything else but honesty, the cone weave has me spooked a little. I'll post the results of my test next week.

words i've never been able to pronounce

Got any words that just give you fits? You know, words that no matter how hard you try, every time to attempt to say them, you never get it right. I like to mess with my four-year-old by asking him to say words like aluminum, spaghetti, and cinnamon. It's always funny to hear him butcher the human language. Well, if you ever want to have fun with me like that, just ask me to say ABOMINABLE or DEUTERONOMY and sometimes PARTICULARLY. I don't know why but I'll mispronounce those words at least as often as I pronounce them correctly.

So what about you? Got any words that kick your butt on a regular basis?

gotta try this sometime

Have you seen this? Apparently there's a lot of fun to be had with Coke and Mentos...

What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane. Click here to see it.

So, can drinking a bunch of Diet Coke and then eating a bunch of Mentos hurt you? Click here to see what happened to a girl who tried it.

kfc...does the 'c' stand for 'cockroach'?

I'm back from Florida...with a KFC story. When we're on vacation, on various nights we let the kids choose where we're going to eat. Well, believe it or not, my kids all love KFC. And we happened, one evening, to drive by one of those KFCs that has the buffet. The kids spotted it and guess what...two nights later we found ourselves eating there. A couple of thoughts:

1. Is the buffet typically that expensive? I mean, I think it cost the five of us about $36 to eat at the buffet. We're typically pretty frugal and for $36, bygolly, we can eat almost anywhere. But it's what the kids voted for. [FYI, the price for the adult buffet was something like $8.69--at least we didn't have to leave a tip :)]

2. About halfway through our meal, I headed back to the buffet (which, I must admit, was pretty solid. I mean, we all know that the Colonel makes great chicken. But also...does anyone do gravy better than KFC? And their coleslaw is the best. The chicken livers were a bit dry, but who's complaining...anyway...as I'm headed back to the buffet, I, for some reason, glanced under the table next to us. And based on my headline for this blog, you know what's coming. That's right...cockroach...big one. I thought it was dead and I wasn't going to make a big fuss over it. But when I came back, it had moved. So I lean in to Jenny and say, "Look under the table next to us." She glances that direction and then nearly pukes. She got mad at me for showing her. I said, "Would you rather not know?" She says, "Do something about it!" I'm like, "Like what?" So I go to the counter and I lean in to the lady at the cash register. I say, "There a big (and I showed her the size with my fingers) cockroach under the table next to us. Immediately she puts her hands up in front of her and says, "Uh-uh, I don't do cockroaches." So she tells a coworker. He comes to take care of the problem.

Now, at this point, I'm thinking, okay, just bring that dust-pan thingy on a stick over with a broom and sweep it into it and just get it out of our sight. Simple solution, right? No...the dude proceeds to STOMP on the roach...right next to where we're eating! How sick is that? I winced in horror and he turns to me and says, "What?"

And we're just supposed to keep eating, right?

Did I mention that the coleslaw was good?

i'm on vacation

Wondering why there hasn't been much blogging action lately? It's because I'm in Florida...soaking up the sun and building sandcastles with my kids. I'll be back on track sometime next week.