So, I was going to do this great, insightful post in which I’d have something important to say about human nature and technology and patience and maybe even cheesecake (though I can’t quite remember now how I was going to slide that one in). I’d have been funny, of course, and sweet, but also a little racy because it’s Wednesday and I want you to know you can count on me to rev you up for the last half of your workweek.
But…
I STILL have not packed the clothes or food for our vacation. (In fairness, it isn’t Wednesday as I type, it’s Tuesday night. But it’s almost 10 o’clock and I have hours to go before I sleep.) All day, I’ve been starting the packing process and then not doing it. I did clean the kitchen, even scrubbed the outside of the dishwasher and the trash compacter. I brushed Lexi (removing enough hair to make a whole other dog if I were more crafty). I worked on a writing project, washed my hair, wrote letters to the president and both my senators, picked tomatoes, watered the plants, did laundry, emailed, tweeted, and played on the blog.
Only thing I didn’t do was actually prepare for the trip. So that’s what I need to do now, and the wonderful blog post I had planned for you will have to be postponed until a later date. It will be worth waiting for, though. Promise.
In the meantime, Karen From Mentor suggested I invite everyone to pop in here and write notes while I’m gone. She said, “Put up a photo of an empty bottle…..then we can fold our messages and stick them into the bottle and float them out to you on the ocean….covered in our tears from missing you so much,” which is definitely one of the best sentences written in an email to me EVER!
So, here you go! (I know this bottle isn’t quite empty, but I love the picture.)
Help! I'm a message and I'm stuck in this bottle!
See you when I get back! I’ll be the one looking tan and refreshed (though you may have to squint… and tilt your head a little… and finally just close your eyes and imagine it, in order to fully appreciate a j-tan.)
… Show of hands. Who ISN’T singing the Sting song right now?
LOL Judy.
I love you.
I’m going to go off and compose an EPIC poem about how much I miss you already.
And maybe I’ll add a line every day while you’re gone.
In your honor I won’t put in ANY punctuation and make ALL the sentences run on sentences.
I’m singing with sting….
P.S. I loved that scrubbing the outside of the dishwasher helped you get ready to go on vacation.
Cause god forbid the outside of the dishwasher is smudgy while you’re gone….how would you ever be able to relax???
(said the pot to the kettle…..)
Hugs you baby and says HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!!
Hope you have a wonderful unwind, but write down all the funny things you think of while you’re in the wild.
(Now, if all my other blogger friends would go on vacation at the same time, I might be able to get caught up on reading posts.)
The first stanza of my EPIC poem about how much I’ll miss Judy while she’s on vacation…..
(bear with me guys….I’m a sucker for redheads)
Through copious tears
J allayed my fears
although away
to splash and play
she will return
sporting deep sunburn
:0)
Message in a bottle. Day 1 of your vacation:
Oh Judy, you will be missed sooo much. My days will see a void of unknown depth. My soul will ache a million sorrows. Please return swiftly on the wings of angels!
Message in a bottle. Day 2 of your vacation:
The clock moves excruciatingly slow in your absence. I am at a loss to understand myself or my place in the universe without your words finding their way to my inner being. I am hoping someone will guide me through this shadowy haze.
Message in a bottle. Day 3 of your vacation:
Things are better this evening. One of your friends, from ZS, directed me to their blog. Their words were able to allay my fears and provide solace during a troubling period. Those that had posted were helpful , fun and insightful. They even invited me over for Margaritas and to play a game a called Caption That!. I feel fulfilled!
Message in a bottle. Day 4 of your vacation:
Who the hells Judy, again?
Your planning and packing sounds a lot like what I do if I go away even for a few days, except I’m already packed a few days before we leave. I always forget things so that way I can add them when I remember something else I didn’t already pack :P
Will miss you a lot, but don’t worry for us, we’re adults, we’ll find something to make time fly.
Just focus on all the sun, fresh air and great view around you. AND remember everything, take many photos, make videos if possible and when you get home start sharing with us :D
PS: I couldn’t go anywhere if my house wasn’t shiny, I just couldn’t fully enjoy myself knowing there’s more work than necessary waiting for me when I get back ;)
Being new to this site, I don’t know if you’ve mentioned this before, but did you know that a herd of zebras is also known as a “dazzle”? It’s also known as a “zern”, but I prefer dazzle.
Dang, right when I was getting myself back on track to catch up on ZS, you venture off . . . on a much deserved vacation! Actually, this is great, I can go back and read the posts I missed. I had to smile (as Estrella no doubt did) when I read about your cleaning rituals before leaving for a trip. I dread to come home to a messy house — it’s sad enough when a vacation is over, one doesn’t need to be met with chores staring at them! Or ‘smudgy dishwashers’ as Karen mentioned ;-) I do the same kind of silly things when I leave, it’s as if I’m saying good-bye to my house and letting ‘it’ know I still love it ‘so be a nice, safe home while I’m gone ;-)’ hehe
I’m a little concerned about writing too many ‘miss you’ notes while you’re gone though — I don’t want you to be overwhelmed when you return! Although I also want you to know that what Bobby wrote (like the mischievous boy he obviously is) could never, ever happen — we will never forget our Judy in her absence!
Like Estrella, I will hope for a peak at all the great material you will no doubt be collecting on your trip!!!
Judy, I know your standards are high, but couldn’t you have given Conan O’Brien a chance to guest host? (But I just read on his Wikipedia page that O’Brien has a “priest stalker” — we don’t want any of that!)
I’ve gotten really spoiled with my daily dose of J-wisdom….. wonder how I’ll make it until your return. Have a great time…kiss all your boys for me!!
love ya!
Last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I saw Lexi grab the bottle in her mouth and whisk it away. No doubt to frolic on the beach with it, but I fell asleep and missed that part.
unplugged
only books for toys
j shares joys
with all her boys
I like mili’s idea of Lexi running off with the bottle…..cause then you’d never have to see the mean thing that Bobby said.
Miss you Lots and lots!!!
Can’t wait to see your “tan” but I think you should maybe settle for just being slightly more pink than usual and let it go at that….
*waves* and says hope you’re having fun!!!
Darn. I should have asked you to bring me a seashell.
Hey Judy, bring me a seashell will ya?
(I have this sneaking suspicion that long about thursday night you’ll find an internet connection)
which would be win/win…you could see that we’re behaving ourselves, and I’ll get a sea shell.
hee hee hee :0)
Have a gay ol’ time, judy. Say hi to the man and the boy for me. LJ.
P.S. Don’t forget to bring a towel.
Wherefore Art Thou Little Flame Maned Muse? I am so excited to read what your mind will have processed into art during hours of relaxation and play! Counting the days until you get back and awaiting some j-pearls ;-) via Zebra Sounds!
Hey Judy,
I’m really sad you’re not here today to see my Steve Martin bit. *sigh*
You’ll just have to giggle when you get back.
btw: my inbox looks funny….I think it has a virus or something… it’s lost a LOT of weight the last couple of days :0)
I hope you have a wonderful time – and that you come back with more of your clever, witty stories to tell. I swear, you’d make a great sitcom. And I mean that as a compliment! :)
OK boys and girls, its me, Judy, and its time to play Caption This. I found this great pic and thought I would toss it out to you — caption away!
(^~ .~^) (^~.~^) (^o.o^)
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
////////////////////////////////
)~~ <:o)~~ <:O)~~~ <:())~~~
/////////////////////////////////
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— I'm not sure whats worse. That I spent 10 minutes trying to make that picture or I called myself a girls name??
Oh I am upset — the spacing is different than when I made it! soooo unfair!
And you can’t even get Judy to delete it!!!!
Oh the gnashing of teeth and the rending of clothes!!!
(kharma just came and bit you in the butt for saying you wouldn’t miss judy …hee hee hee )
My guesses:
Is it stars and stripes? Or waves over miami?
The first two things look like sleepy cats then the third like an owl with glasses….. so were you going for what’s new pussycat????
otherwise? no idea….but it was a valiant effort……and a GREAT use of ten minutes of your lunch break.
To Bobby’s credit I wouldn’t have had the confidence to attempt a picture with symbols — I’m quite challenged that way and never was good at such things, even at etch-a-sketch :-/ I do agree with Karen though that it is quite possibly the ‘Karma Police’ (get the RadioHead song)
I agree with Poeticgrin on Judy making a good Sitcom . . . or, rather, her writing . . . not her personally — imagine just plugging in Judy and watching her throughout the day. Not sure if ‘Poeticgrin’ has met Judy in person, but I’d imagine, as a guy , he wouldn’t be seeing her as a sitcom. She’s such a pretty lady — when I first met her, I’d never have imagined the amazingly funny ideas stirring in her mind. It’s almost as if she’s too pretty to be funny — although, that’s what they told Lucille Ball, I understand, when she first went in for an “audition” (or something of the sort — to an agent, etc.). She was a blonde at first and then went Red to be “more funny” as did Danny Kaye (from what I recall). Sounds like I’m from a whole different generation, but I love all that classic stuff/the classic actors.
Sheez, how did I go from Judy to Danny Kaye? Well, anyhow — I sure am missing her. We do need a picture for today but I guess we can’t post one here. If any of you are into great photos though, check out MSNBC’s Week in Pictures . . . it’s wonderful, although not always lighthearted —
http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/
The gist of the picture was three cats on a fence looking down at the passing mice —– it was pretty close too until it got posted and the spacing screwed me!
But its all in the interpretation — An emoticon rorschach test!
ooooh, I see the mice now.
and this line:
“until…. the spacing screwed me”
lol
What’s that Judy? Don’t say what you were thinking about that line onblog?
Oh ok, I’ll resist…..
(but just because you’re cute)
but I may email John Pruitt about it…. :0)
P.S. Carey? I love Lucy and Danny Kaye and Donald O’Conner too!
Oh, the humanity! There’s no Caption This! (Though I love your attempt at filling the void, Bobby.)
I just realized that last night I wrote a Judyesque post — at least in subject matter, but not nearly as amusing or poignant as our favorite redheaded blogger would’ve wrote it.
I listed a 100-year-old woman’s 18 tips for living a long life well. Feel free to visit The Bread Line and add to the list! http://tiny.cc/q51oZ
(Kudos to Karen from Mentor for already doing so without me asking first. She gets a gold star!)
Yeah Craig,
I get a gold star!
And it’s sparkly!
[smiles at Craig and runs off to put the star on her fridge.....]
Judy? Are you back yet?
How about now?
How about now?
OR Now? now??? No?
*sigh*
now looks like a nonsense word after a while….
I’m back! Holy cow, you guys are awesome. Reading all your comments was almost as fun as my vacation!
And an interesting thing… my daily number of views stayed fairly consistent even while I was gone, proving what I’ve suspected all along – people come here to read you as much as to read me. I love that!
Besides my awesome tan, three days on the lake (one without the boys who came back a day early) produced ideas for all of this week’s posts. I’m excited to get it all written down for you – but first, tomorrow, I’ll be beckoning the lovely!
P.S. Craig (et al), I did try to post a Caption This. Out in the middle of Lake Don Pedro, we had a signal, but apparently Chad’s super phone has limitations. We could see the post, but “Publish” wasn’t an option.
So close…
That’s okay. It’s a great post for this coming Friday. (Thank you Bobby for your valiant attempt to fill the void. You should send me your picture with the correct spacing so I can see your unaltered masterpiece!)
…wee-ohh-oh…
I’m with Darren. Just when you get a chance to come to visit Zebrasounds…no j. ohh-oh. Apparently I am craving some j-caffeine.
kid
Welcome back Judy!!! So glad you had a great time, you deserved it :) Can’t wait for your posts (but I’ll have to, my eyes are closing even as I type) so see you tomorrow. Hugs!