just loyd a. house...

so i drive past camp nelson nation cemetery twice a day... and i have for years now... the other day on the way home i decided that for this veteran's day i would meet and thank a new vet... not just my cousin matt who is currently serving in the army... not just my dad who served 25 years in the coast guard... not just my gramps who earned a purple heart during wwii... not just a facebook post that says 'have you kissed a vet today?'... although i will do all of those things... but meet someone new and thank them... so i went today and met loyd a house...

i parked my truck and wandered about until i ended up in front of loyd... i know nothing about this young man except what is on his headstone... which, by the way, is not a smooth marble as it may look... it's actually very coarse... i sat there for a long while in the silence and stared at loyd's final resting place wondering if he was married, had any children, where he served and how he died... i wondered if he had any family that still came to visit him... i wrote him a thank you note and was on my way...but not before i snapped a few more pics... i have to admit that i have never visited a cemetery before... but i plan on going back and meeting more vets... it was a beautiful and peaceful experience and one that i recommend to everyone...

just emergencies...

we are taught from an early age how to deal with emergencies...
- tell the nearest adult
- call 911
- duck and cover

and as an adult we are taught how to deal with 'adult' emergencies...
- first aid kits
- flashlights
- radio

me - well i have my own emergency kit...


for whatever reason, gramps bought a six pack of rhinelander a while ago... i think because it was cheap... well he didn't like it... so of course, he gave it to me...

"big Rhonda's home for wayward beers"

i drank 3 of them one night after i already had a few other beers... not too bad... but then - i tried one as my first beer of the night... let's just say that it tasted like the zoo... it is ass nasty... so there is one rhinelander in my fridge right now... because "big Rhonda's home for wayward beers" is a no kill shelter... it has made a home on every shelf in my fridge... it is my emergency beer... there just in case i need it... luckily i haven't had to sink that low yet... but at least i know it's buried back there somewhere...

just wordless wednesday...

just wordless wednesday...

just 289...

so there's this place we hang out... maybe you've heard of it... the pub... you can have your own mug... it's $25 and here's what you get - half priced wings (for life), free dinner on your birthday (for life), special mugclub outings for ONLY mugclub members & most importantly - your very own mug... it is YOUR mug... you can decorate it any way you like... you can put ribbons on the handle (like mine)... you can put butterfly stickers on it (like aunt sue's)... it is YOUR mug...
well, last week, we lost one of our own... it happens... you hear about it all the time... you just don't think it will happen to someone you know...289 went down in a blaze of glory... he was dropped by one of the bartenders at the pub... it was ruled an accident by the police and no charges have been filed...

tonight, we gathered to memorialize 289 and all he has done for our friend LAC... he was a good mug and always there for LAC when she needed him... the world has lost a great mug...we'll miss you 289... hope you are enjoying mugclub heaven...

Our lager,
Which art in barrels,
Hallowed be thy drink.
Thy will be drunk,
(I will be drunk),
At home as in the tavern.
Give us this day our foamy head,
And forgive us our spillages,
As we forgive those who spill against us.
And lead us not to incarceration,
But deliver us from hangovers.
For thine is the beer, The bitter and The lager.
Forever and ever,

Barmen

just wordless wednesday...

just wordless wednesday...

just music...

part one:

i listen to npr... all. the. time. on the way to work... at work... on the way home from work... on weekends while cleaning the kitchen... all. the. time.

so when i switched it over to 92.1 on the way home it was a weird moment to say the least...

part two:

at some point in my 3 months in college i happened upon a book that i may or may not have stolen from the morehead state library... it was a book of poems... but not JUST poems... poems that were songs... i stumbled upon one that happened to catch my fancy... years later i realized that it was actually a song by blood sweat and tears...

I'm not scared of dying,
And I don't really care.
If it's peace you find in dying,
Well then let the time be near.
If it's peace you find in dying,
And if dying time is near,
Just bundle up my coffin
'Cause it's cold way down there.
I hear that its cold way down there.
Yeah, crazy cold way down there.

And when I die, and when I'm gone,
There'll be one child born
In this world to carry on,
to carry on.

Now troubles are many, they're as deep as a well.
I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell.
Swear there ain't no heaven and I pray there ain't no hell,
But I'll never know by living, only my dying will tell.
Yes only my dying will tell.
Yeah, only my dying will tell.

Give me my freedom for as long as I be.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me,
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally.
Oh I want to go naturally.

Here I go, hah!
Hey Hey!
Here comes the devil,
Right Behind.
Look out children,
Here he comes!
Here he comes! Hey...

Don't want to go by the devil.
Don't want to go by demon.
Don't want to go by Satan,
Don't want to die uneasy.
Just let me go naturally.

and when I die,
When I'm dead, dead and gone,
There'll be one child born in our world to carry on,
To carry on.
Yeah, yeah...




i have loved it ever since the first day i read it... i have said SO many times that i want it to be played at my funeral... imagine how happy i was when it was the first song i heard on 92.1 on my way home tonight...

just days...

jen said - 'you should put more of what you write on big Rhonda's world...' then i made her read this... she said 'i hate you'... so...


i miss you everyday... some days more than others... but everyday - i miss you...

12/11 - your birthday... when christmas 'officially' begins... we still do the tree and decorate your house... we try to do it on your birthday but sometimes we have to do it another day... dad still sits in his chair and gives us the ornaments to put up... johnny and i still fight over who gets to put up which one... johnny still bitches about losing all of the ornaments he had made while mine survived... of course, because i'm the favorite... we have new ornaments that we have made over the past few years... dad doesn't let johnny put up some that he made, you can imagine why... every few minutes taking a pause to tell a story, reflect on the past, sigh, sometimes we cry, then fight over whose turn it is to do the lights... on 12/11 i am sad for my family...

8/3 - the day you died... it was actually the morning... not long after midnight... i remember everything about that moment... the phone call... the rush to the hospital... i even remember the shorts i was wearing... i had to hold the pockets while i was running through the halls to get to you... they were the blue plaid shorts that i wore to gram & gramps' 50th anniversary party... i remember touching your hand and arm... the one that we couldn't touch when you were still alive because, even in your morphine coma, it hurt you too much... most of my friends now will never know you... i talk about you all the time but they will never hear your laugh or see your smile... they will only know that i hurt because you are my mom, not that i hurt because you are amazing... on 8/3 i am sad for my friends...

9/19 - my birthday... the day i miss you the most... on 9/19 i am sad for me...

just stumbling...

so i stumbled across this today and i HAD to share...

Why Can't I Own a Canadian?

October 2002

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim

just iron chef...

a special message for any and all vegans and vegetarians...

i know that this post will disgust you, and for that i apologize... but - i don't care how you vote... i don't care who you fall in love with... i don't care what kind of car you do or don't drive... and i don't care what you eat... you do what you gotta do and i'll do what i gotta do... much love...

so what do you do on a friday night when you are poor and hungry??? have some meatloaf iron chef style...

MEATLOAF!!!

amy and i were starving tonight and couldn't fathom the thought of waiting for a 1.75lb meatloaf to cook... so we decided to split it up and have a meatloaf cook-off... everybody knows that amy can cook... and i mean COOOOOK... but meatloaf has always been my specialty... we knew the judges(me and ames) would be tough but we were both up for the challenge...

i have to admit i was a little scared... i mean, come on, it's ames...look how cute it is in it's new chef outfit...

so mine was a mexican inspired loaf with salsa and chili powder...

amy's was a southern style bbq inspired loaf with garlic and brown sugar...
and of course, meatloaf's best friend - mac-n-cheese...
as much as i would like to say 'i won', i didn't... but neither did ames... her meatloaf had a better texture, but mine had a better flavor profile... i guess we both won, because this was a kick-ass dinner...

just mall security...

i think it speaks for itself...

shout out to bob and family...

thanks to all who helped in the writing of this... ames & jen for their wonderful wisdom and input... kari for writing it out so we could keep our hands free to drink more beer...

just "eryca said what?"...(a series)

this is eryca...

she's the drunk one... oh sorry - the drunk one in the middle... she's wildly inappropriate and hilariously funny all at the same time... so i've decided that i will try to keep up with some of the funny shit she says and post it here on a weekly basis...

i submit for you - the first "eryca said what?"

'if we would have known that you were going to be this stupid, we would have just smothered you at birth.'

god only knows what we were talking about at the time, but i believe that she put into words what we have all thought at least one point in our life...

just lust....

it's been 47 hours since i last touched my lips to you...

it's been 47 hours since i last held you in my hands...

it's been 47 hours since i breathed you in and you became part of me...

it's been 47 hours and i still reach for you...

it's been 47 hours and i can still smell you every where i turn...

it's been 47 hours and you still find a way to creep into my mind...

it's been 47 hours since my last cigarette...

what did you think i was talking about???

just football...

so i say 'go jets'
amy says 'go colts'
johnny says 'go breakfast at tiffany's...it's on today at 4'

i guess we all have something to look forward to on sunday afternoons...

just dad...

john, jay, dad, grampa (only by the dogs, but it still counts), big papa, pops, senior, chief...these are just a few of the names that john nicholas breier will respond to...right now i prefer to call him Superman...because my dad is fucking awesome!!!

dad was diagnosed with esophageal cancer a week before christmas...(damnit!!!)so with that in mind johnny and i went christmas shopping for dad...we found a pair of 'tighty whiteys' with the Superman logo on them...unfortunately they only had huge fat man and little boy sizes...but we knew then what we were looking for...we were able to find him a Superman t-shirt and LAC gave him a Superman pin to wear to the first doctor appointment...that way the cancer would know that he was gonna kick the shit out of it...

for those of you who don't know my dad, let me give you a brief description of him...imagine me - but with more hair and a slightly higher sperm count...i have been daddy's little girl since the beginning...i was such a tomboy growing up (i know it's hard to imagine) and i hurt myself A LOT...but i didn't run to mom, i ran to my daddy...and he somehow always made it feel better...in junior and senior high school he NEVER missed any of my basketball games...at age 19, when i came out to him and mom, he said 'sweet, now we can go to the titty bars together'...when amy and i had only been married for a month and it came time to make a decision about mom's medical care - my brother, my dad and myself sequestored ourselves away from the rest of the family...dad looked at me and my brother and said 'where's amy???she's a part of this family and has a say about this too'...we have spent countless hours together at the pub talking about nothing and everything all at the same time...pretty much the best way to describe my dad is 'fucking awesome' (as i've said before)

in the past few weeks i've found myself using words i hoped i would never have to use in my life...words like chemotherapy, radiologist and feeding tube...but these are the facts of life (and not the good kind with joe and tootie)...this is what my dad and my family are up against...but i KNOW how strong my dad is...and i KNOW the power of positive thought...and although i don't believe in prayer and religion - i'll take whatever we can get at this point...when dad told me he had cancer, as my hands were shaking so bad i couldn't even write, he told me 'i'll fight this like a mother fucker'...ummm duh...

some men become fathers by mistake...some fathers don't ever become men...my dad is a father and a great man because he WANTS to be...for better or worse, he is the reason i am who i am today and i couldn't imagine it any other way...

dad - i love you...i know you'll beat this...not because you have to, but because you want to...