You can't pay less without PA!

I love the obscure bargains. So the Pocono vacation was somewhat redeemed by a visit to Odd Lot Outlet in Bushkill, PA.

Visit the Poconos and get souvenirs from other attractions. Besides these Gettysburg offerings they also had "Ohio" mugs with Amish buggies on them.

Who doesn't need a bird scaring bargain?!

I would've bought America: The Tree but it was a bit pricey.

Golfun

Yesterday was the 21st Annual Fr. Gilbride Golf Classic - the Chanel Golf Outing. It was a good time I played with Kev, Jill and Joe (a teacher and alumni of Chanel.) We had a great time and finished next to last (only b/c one team didn't turn in a scorecard.) For next year, Joe's talking about making team T-shirts.

Once again, it was incredibly strange not having dad there. Dad used to be in charge of the outing and got me involved even before I went to Chanel. I've continued to serve on the committee. I did take the driver from dad's bag. I remember someone gave it to him as a gift years ago - before everyone had graphite shafts. And I remember watching him use it without much luck. Golf was always my time with dad. So with his driver in my bag it's like he's always riding with me in the cart - probably complaining about my driving.

Friday was dad's birthday so I've been thinking of him a lot lately.

The golf committee did establish the Kaz Cup. It's the new trophy that will be engraved with the winner's names and be kept in the trophy case at school. It's a nice tribute. My dad loved seeing the alumni enjoy themselves.

That dog usually smells bad

Last nite at about midnite Chloe (Mariella's dog) got skunked. And not really knowing what to do, we let her back in the house. (Big, stinky mistake.) Mariella thought she was hurt so we drove to the emergency vet clinic. They wouldn't let us in the door. Well, they let me in the door but Mariella and stinky dog had to stay outside. They sold us a spray and some shampoo. They told me that she'd be fine. But we had to get the skunk oil off of her to stop the stench. So Mariella went and gave her repeated baths while I ran out for destinkers. It was after 1:00 am so not much was open. I found a Sav-A-Lot that was open 24 hours. And the clerk told me that I was the second guy in there who's dog got sprayed that night. What can I say? It's gaining popularity.

Chloe got her skunkiness on the sofa cushions, so we may be looking for a new couch.

The Internet recommends a concoction of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish detergent to get the smell out of hair but Mariella didn't feel like going platinum so we looked for alternatives for her stinky mane. You can replace the HP with vinegar but I don't know what that would do to hair. Also someone recommended Murphy's oil soap but again, I'm not sure that's approached as a shampoo. So we read about people swearing by tomato juice. We didn't have any. So poor Mariella had to shampoo with ketchup.

We've been febrezing like mad but it still smells. We're boiling vinegar and water on the stove which sounds gross but trust me it's a dramatic improvement. My truck still smells a bit so I'll prolly have to have it cleaned.

A direct skunk blast is probably the worst thing I've ever smelled (and that includes the five star dishes (and former Party Time employees are the only folks who'll know how bad that was)). It's so pungent. It burns your nostrils. So I'm not sure how badly I stink. But what else is new?

Dominique Moceanu and Mike Canales Announce They Are Expecting!

That's the first headline in the daily email I get from a DBusinessnews: Cleveland Metro Edition. I know that she's a former Olympian and probably did some endorsements but where does this fit in as business news? Her husband's a doctor. I'm happy for them but I doubt I'll call a departmental meeting on this one.

Build me a bike

One of the highlights of the trip for me was meeting Mikey from American Chopper. He's hilarious on TV and super nice in person. He was chilling at some random carnival with a buddy when we ran into him. He was nice enough to pose for a pic with Sammy and I.

Lazy to the extreme

Found at a Wal-Mart.

Seriously?! You can't shake the bottle? The only good sign is that it's on clearance.

Arcade Fun

Henry's pretty good at Dance Dance Revolution. He even likes to choose his own song. The first time he chose a song called "Little Bitch" and that's when Mike stopped letting him choose.

Mary and I got pretty good at the one game that required you to stop the lights in a special area. We hit a jackpot and won 400-some tickets. Which we converted into a bevy of ninja figurines, glow-in-the-dark rubber ducks and a single army guy.

I think we owe our arcade genes to Dad. He was a virtuoso of the skeeball. And that's where we could always find him at amusement parks.

Opa

Found this shot on my phone. Now I've finally gotten around to posting it. We saw this food stand while at an Italian festival.

Vacation Poco-No-Go

Here are some scenes from my 9+ hour trip to the Poconos. It was supposed to take less than 6.

3 Bands @ the Ballpark

Mariella loves the Counting Crows. So I bought two tickets for their show a while back. The show was today and we learned this morning that the tickets were BOGO. So we scrambled and brought Mary but no one else was available. So we had an extra ticket that went unused.

We saw

Collective Soul - their love is like walter.

Live - who created the greatest rock song ever using the word "placenta"

and of course, the Counting Crows. Mariella liked them. I was kind of bored. And we had some douchebags next to us smoking. I had forgotten how much I hate the smell of cigarette smoke - since it's been banned indoors here.

It must've been Dolan's lucky day.

He sat next to myself and another president in the same day.

Elbow rubbing with the rich and famous

This is what it looks like when you park in the players' lot at Jacob's Field. I was attending an event for Lake Effect Radio. I was sitting down with my friend Rick when Larry Dolan sat down next to us.

Who's Larry Dolan?!

He's the owner of the Cleveland Indians! You've heard of them, right? We talked briefly about the Red Badge of Courage. Yes, the book. It turns out he and his wife read the book on a local radio show. I was giggling the whole time because I was sitting next to Larry Dolan. It was kind of surreal.

I also got Lenny Barker's autograph. Who's Lenny Barker?!

He's the only Indians pitcher ever to pitch a perfect game. C'mon people!

I just wish that Dad was around b/c he would've gotten a kick out of that story. He probably would have said, "Ooooooooooooooooh!"

Weekend Shopping

You've probably already figured out that I love shopping the close-out stores. Every experience is like an adventure in bargain-shopping. My favorite is still Marc's but Mariella and I visited a Deal$ yesterday and they might give Marc's a run for their money - even if that money is used to buy things WAY below retail.

Here are some of the off-brand treasures we found:

Mariella asked, "Why 51?" And I couldn't think of a good reason - maybe it's so you have a spoon for every state in the union and one when you go to D.C. aka Chocolate City.

Found this in the "music section" which is a small fraction of an aisle. I had never heard of King Pleasure. But I could've bought this whole album for the cost of one song on iTunes.

Another musical find: You know Lynyrd Skynyrd but have you heard of Skin Yard?

These alphabet erasers double as puzzles. They actually seem pretty cute until you realize the "A" wants to eat your soul!

Blue Blockers

Does dressing like a senior citizen mean that I'm ahead of my time? I bought these awesome specs at Marc's for $.88. Mariella hates them, which makes wearing them even more fun. I'm such the trendsetter.

More Maya & Zeke antics

We went for dinner on Sunday with Karen and family to the Rusty Bucket in Solon (try the wrap with the cucumber salad.)

Maya ordered milk. It came in a cup with a lid and I asked Maya (4) if she wanted a milkshake. I picked up her milk and shook it and told her that now it was a milkshake. She told Karen to keep the milk by her so I couldn't shake it. And when the waitress came by Maya ratted me out and told her that I made her milk into a milkshake and had the waitress tell me to stop it. What a snitch.

After dinner, I put both of my hands behind my head as you would when lying on a hammock. I looked over at Zeke (1) and he was doing the same thing. He put his arms down when I did. He thought it was hilarious. I forgot about it and did it again later and sure enough he was at the end of the table aping me again. What a nut.

Sarver's bachelor party

My buddy John is getting married next weekend to our friend Kyle (She's a girl.) So last Saturday was his bachelor party. We went and golfed at Turkeyfoot Lake - in the heart of pleasure land. Not a bad course. (I won closest to the pin.)

After that we went to his parent's beautiful home on the shores of Turkeyfoot Lake - it's much nicer than the name implies. We grilled out and went on the pontoon boat for a fishing derby. The boat I was on caught a grand total of 4 fish - including the lunker pictured below. And the other boat caught about 37.

Then we went back to the house and played poker. It was a good time but had you told me in college that was what Sarver's bachelor party was going to be like, I would've never believed you.

How much for the old ones?