RE: Groceries, meals, and dishes pictures (oh my!)

There seems to be some general confusion as to who's going to feed us what and when once we get to the Cottage. So, in true administrative fashion, I called Ma and here's how it's gonna go:

1. Lenka can have Wednesday. Let's face it, none of us is brave enough to stand up to her.
2. Ma will happily provide breakfast for us all, provided that your definition of breakfast = cold cereal, a bagel, and perhaps a banana or two. Think "continental".
3. Instead of schlepping lunch meat and the like all the way from AZ, Ma is going to bring along $150 in grocery money. If the meals you are planning include a cooking portion, bring your grocery list and we'll spend Ma's money first!
4. If the meals you are planning DO NOT include a cooking portion (i.e. you're researching where the nearest Subway is), give us all a heads up. I think that it is only reasonable for us to each pay for our meals out, but advance notice of such plans gives us the ability to come prepared with either cash or a back-up plan.
5. Edited to add: One more thing -- what size picture does everyone want? I'm putting my vote in for 4X6's (but I haven't gotten my frames yet, so I could be persuaded...)

In the interest of full disclosure, my meals will be as follows:

• Tuesday night: Something on the grill (Burgers? Hot dogs?), some sort of pasta salad (carbs for Wednesday morning!), possibly some corn on the cob, and some sort of fruit (watermelon if I can find it).
• Saturday morning: Breakfast, Continental Ma-style
• Saturday lunch: Ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, and some sort of salad. Since check out time is 11am, I'm inviting you all to the park. I'll let you know which one when we get there.

WHOOP WHOOP!! ALERT!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!

SHIELDS UP AND TO YOUR STATIONS!!

THERE HAS BEEN A SEVERE SECURITY BREACH ABOARD THE BLOGSHIP PROXSEMADENI!! ******

And here's how I know... After having not visited the blog for some time now, so as not to torture myself wtith the inevitable guilt of seeing those awesome weekly training schedules, and knowing that they were falling on deaf eyes with me, I finally decided that I could avoid it no more. So I read Sis' most recent blog and noticed that as usual she has done a marvelous job of organizing and planning for our upcoming trip. (I'm so totally excited, by the way!!) And as I read and imagined how much fun we're going to have, I noticed a small error on her part. No big deal, really, she had just mentioned that I had asked to do the meals for Thursday, when in reality, I clearly remember having dibs on Wednesday. I thought that was odd and certainly didn't want the rest of you to be mis-lead, so I decided to clarify the situation by responding to the blog in question. BUT FIRST, I did the responsible thing and went back to the former blog in which the meal dates had been listed, just so that I could quote the date of the blog as proof of the error.

AND THAT'S WHEN I REALIZED THAT SOME ONE, OR SOME THING, HAD HACKED INTO THE SYSTEM AND CHANGED MY DATE TO THURSDAY!!

HORROR, HORROR, HORROR!!!

RUNN, GRAB YOUR CHILDREN AND GO FAR FAR....

Ok, so she was right. I had originally called Thursday, but if it won't cause any problems for anyone else, I'd really like to change my day to Wednesday. I'm bringing some frozen stuff and really don't want to have to re-freeze and then thaw it back out on Thursday!! If it IS a problem, then I invoke the rights of the BIGGEST SISTER to override any sibling objections. If Mom has a problem..., well then..., I GIVE, she scares me!!!



A couple more things that I wanted to mention to one and all:



1. First, Susan once again, the check is in the mail!!! (well, it will be tomorrow anyway)

2. Jaq, I'm going to go ahead and pay the pet deposit. I know that you're most likely NOT bringing Ms. Diesel, and there's a more than likely a good chance that we're not bringing the big black disaster aka Jiro, but just in case we wind up changing our minds, it'll be taken care of. Susan already checked and we can get a refund if we show up canine challenged.

3. ON 3 NOW, everyone say CHEEEEEZE!!!! DO NOT FORGET THE FAMILY FOTO'S!!! That means individual photo's of Jaq & Joe too!! I'm not saying they have to be professionally done, but DO try to get a good quality picture that shows us, YOU!! It really is time for some updates!!

4. Mom, I think someone mentioned you doing the breakfasts, and even though it would be extremely hard to actually get to visit with you without having some hot, fresh from the oven, famous Halene Semadeni, cinnamon rolls with our coffee on a balmy North Carolina morning... I'd really like to put my vote in for just doing the sweet roll & coffee, or cold cereal, milk and coffee, or leftovers AND COFFEE!! It seems to me that no one needs to have to get up early enough in the morning to MAKE breakfast. And that way everyone can kinda just wake up and wander in at their own leisure!!! Of course, if you just WANT TOOO....

5. Here's the biggee!! I've saved it for last because I'm afraid that it'll get me voted off the island, and I'm sooo looking forward to this get-together!! Here goes...

MOOOOMMM, SUSIE's TALKING SMACK!!!!

Here in the south, they say "IF YUR SKEERED, SAY YUR SKEERED!!" well, I'M SKEERED!! After all that smack about the 5k, I realized that I'm probably not going to make it. I think I could, but I really don't want to have to hear the stories for years to come about all the colors my face would go through while I tried to keep oxygen flowing to my lungs, and the sounds of joints cracking and moaning... so I've decided that I'm going to register for the 1 mile fun walk. Actually, I probably would have tried to stay the course, except that Roger actually volunteered that he'd probably enjoy walking the mile with the group. He wouldn't even consider jogging the 5k, so ONCE AGAIN, I picked him over you all!! He's just THAT good!!!

ANYWAY, that's all the input I can think of for tonight. I do want to say in all seriousness... I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS TRIP AND I'M COUNTING THE DAYS UNTIL WE GET TO HUG NECKS AND JUST SOAK UP THE PROXSEMADENI!! LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!

On your marks..........

Just a few housekeeping points:

• Our final payment to Oakland Cottages for our July reservation is due on June 3rd -- just a little over 2 weeks away. Each family owes a total of $405, less any payments that you've already made. This amount does not include any portion of the $90 pet fee.
• Will our furry friends be joining us? Lenka & Jacq, let me know so that I tell the folks at Oakland Cottages what to expect!
• KP Duty: 'rah signed up for Friday's meals, Lenka called dibs on lunch on Thursday (we're gonna give her breakfast and dinner that day, too. We're just generous that way). I'm covering Tuesday's dinner and breakfast and lunch on Saturday. Jacq, you and Ma get to fight over who's responsible for getting us fed on Wednesday!
• Everyone who is running needs to register to participate. You can do this a couple of different ways:

  1. Sign up at active.com From their website:

  This is the 14th Annual Kiwanis Firecracker 5K Run and 1 Mile Fun Walk. It is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of North Buncombe. Proceeds are used for scholarships to college for Seniors at the local high school. We thank you for your support!
  -Firecracker 5K Run: $15.00
  -Firecracker 1 Mile Fun Walk: $15.00
  -Late Registration From Jun. 20 until July 2: $20.00
  -T-Shirt guaranteed to persons who pre-register by July 2, 2007.

  2. Email me and ask me to email Rona and ask her to send you a registration form (which will have the necessary instructions on it).

  3. Email me and ask me to sign you up through active.com.

  Please understand that if you ask me to do this, you are giving me permission to intial a waiver of liability (with your initials!) and to provide active.com with information such as your address and your birthdate. This is standard information that they need to verify that participants know what they are signing up for and to keep their noses clean in case of injury, etc. during the event. This information is also requested if you choose to request a "paper application" from Rona instead of signing up online. You will also need to add the $15 registration fee PER PERSON to the total that you owe! Kiddos in strollers do not need to register.

• Don't forget to bring a copies of your family picture! What size did we all agree on?
• Yes, you can sign up for the 1 mile walk. If you want to be a sissy baby and spoil all the fun. By all means, walk, weenie, walk. We'll see you at the finish line.
  
• Let's remember that this is a family event, something intended to include everyone and make us all feel closer as a group. But if someone wants to start talking smack, I'll be happy to school you on the Fourth. I'm just sayin'.
  

That's all I've got... please add if you think of anything I left out!

P.S. Check out the countdown clock over there -------------> in the sidebar (actually, it's up at the top, but I can't figure out how to do an up arrow.). Cool, huh?