Author: The Jody

Thanks to my friend Jane for pointing out a little something I think my niece should have. I think everyone should have Romance Novel Barbie!

Heard on the news this morning that the people who are in charge of saying this sort of thing (FEMA? Duracell?) have told folks in the mid-Atlantic states to stock up on batteries, non-perishable foods, candles and portable radios, cause the Hurricane is headed their way. I was thinking I’d still be able to use my “Y2K / 9-11” supply of bottled water and Beefaroni. Did folks throw out their portable radios and duct tape? I kept mine. I even have a solar one, so I don’t need batteries. But I’ve had it for several years now. I don’t need to run out and buy one.

Plus, I’m sure that by the time we get anything from this storm up here, it will just be a tropical depression (“Aloha! Have some Wellbutrin!”) and I’ll be pissed because I’ll have spend a fortune on candles and have no reason to light them. So maybe I’ll just take my chances and not stock up on batteries and candles. I figure if the electricity goes out, I’ll just go to bed earlier than normal.

See, I have an emergency plan!

1. Eat Beefaroni.

2. Go to bed early.

I offered to take Junior to the Air Fest at Fitchburg Airport today, but he declined for reasons that made me give him a knuckle sandwich (apparently he doesn’t realize how much mommy loves planes). But that was his choice, and I realized that at $8 per adult plus a small bloody fortune to buy tickets for the carnival rides, I was better off with him saying now. It’s kind of a tight week for stuff like $40 worth of carnival ride tickets, you know?

So instead I enticed him with a moonwalk/bouncer, and we headed up to Marshall Farm. Now I can’t say enough about the local businessman who saved that farm from being turned into house lots. When the owner of the farm died two years ago, the stories going around last year were that they had to sell it. His parents, the previous farm owners, are in their 90s and just didn’t want to have to handle it. I’m sure their hearts weren’t in it anymore at that point.

Imagine my sheer joy when my dad told me that not only was it not closed, but the new owners were making all kinds of improvements. The U-pick is still there, although some of the open land that I don’t think had apple trees, has been sold to a developer, and it looks like most of the houses are up, but you can barely see them from the barn. They’re putting a deck on the barn for eating outside, they’ve removed some of the kitschy country-store decor stuff and added a deli and small bakery, and now there’s a petting zoo. They had the old fire engine hay ride out in the apple orchard, and they had two moonwalks (one a slide). So for $4, Junior got to do the moonwalks as much as he wanted for the whole day. We didn’t eat the BBQ, but it was there. For $8, he could have done the moonwalks, petting zoo and hay ride all day as much as he wanted. Not a bad deal, really, given that at plenty of places it’s $2 for 5 minutes in a moonwalk. I’ve got evidence for you, too:

Now this is an almost 500k avi file, and I took it with my digital camera, so there isn’t any sound, and it sideways because I don’t have software to edit it, but there you go.

Of Bennifer! They are calling it a rumor. I love all the excitement. Better still, we’ll only have to go through a month of break-up headlines before pictures of the happy couple will stop filling magazines and entertainment news. We may be able to resume a J-Lo-free life.

MAY, I said. Hey, I’m nothing if not a realist.

Okay, so heads up – next week’s People cover will have the traditional “torn down the middle” photo of the happy couple.

Was it all a fake-out? We’re all just dying to hear if Bennifer gets married today! Wooo!

No, really, it’s kind of gray and rainy here, and I’m not sure we should go to the Air Show, because I’d hate to pay the entrance fee only to have to leave because of rain. So what to do today? Wait to hear news from California, of course.