I'm driving a new (ummm..NEWER) car now. I've parked the Wrangler for a few months and i"m zipping down the highway in a Grand Cherokee. It's got a FEW more bells and whistles than my Wrangler (power windows...ABS...a roof...etc..)

The new Jeep also has a trip computer, which shows ACTUAL gas mileage as you're driving. If i'm cruising on the highway, it's around 25mpg. When i step on it...it drops down to about 8 MPG.

This poses an interesting problem. Now i can actually WATCH the gas leave my tank when i drive fast. If i'm stuck behind someone and want to pass, i ask myself "is it worth the 55 extra cents of gas to pass this idiot?"

Memorial Day weekend means FAMILY REUNION. Here's the backstory..

My grandmother (pictured below) is one of 10 kids. All of them had oodles of kids, and grandkids, etc.. so every year the entire clan descends upon a pavilion in upstate NY for fun and food.















here's our little part of the group. Dad, Christine and Roger, Mom, Ellie me and Gram (turns 103 this year, just in case you care!)















Ellie at the overlook, taking in the sights. If you look very closely, you can see the hill where my parents house is. It's that one with all the trees on it.















El and I at the picnic.




















Back at the house...we were assigned the job of "picking flowers for a bouquet". Nice work.

I slaved over this hot prize wheel ALL AFTERNOON! Ok, it's not the hardest job. But i DID line up all the Pepsi logos so they'd look nice when people came to see us.

Last night i was topping off the tank on the Jetta at the Sheetz on Oregon Pike. The guy next to me asked about my car, and we started talking about Jettas. This is the SECOND time i've gotten in random conversations with strangers at that Sheetz, and both times we were talking about my car.

Note to self: If i'm looking to make friends with people who drive Jettas, go to the Sheetz on Oregon Pike.

Tim (ellie's brother) came to town to visit this weekend, so we did ALL the tourist things! Strasburg, hershey, Washington DC...
















Tim and I are standing dangerously close to the White House. If you look closely, you can see the sniper patrolling the roof. (seriously, we saw him up there...mildly alarming)















At the Wall. I have this exact same photo from when i was about 15 years old. I need to dig it out and compare the two.















El and I pose in front of the Washington Monument and Capitol Building.















Inside the WWII memorial. Did i mention that it was scalding hot all day long? whew.















Tim and I walking along the mall.















Here's Tim, Ellie and Abby in front of the Sidewinder at Hersheypark. We didn't get on this one, but Tim did experience the Lightning Racer and the Great Bear. oodles of fun















Tim and El at the house.















just in case you forgot..i'm a pirate...arrrgggh.

Sign # 134 that i'm now a HOME-OWNER:

I see that it's pouring rain outside, and im actually happy, because i know that my grass seed needs it. All the sunbathers may now curse my name

Here's a bit of Hurley original artwork. I've titled it "the board". feel free to repost and discuss the greatness of my photographic/photoshop skills.

We don't really celebrate CINCO DE MAYO. nooooo... we waited a day and celebrated CINCO DE SUNDAY! (or SEIS DE MAYO...whatever you want to call it). It's so much better! There's no lines! No crowds!

Ole!'

Matt ponders the idea of parting on the 6th of May, instead of the 5th.

Jilly sports the sombrero and a strawberry margarita.

Here's the whole crew at the West Shore Hardware Bar. Matt, Jilly, Me and Jennnn

I've got this entire list posted on my myspace page at www.myspace.com/hurleyonkiss. It's been especially helpful this week

"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you". -- Woody Hayes

"If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience." -- Robert Fulghum

"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." -- M. Kathleen Casey

"If you're going through hell, keep going." -- Winston Churchill

"We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way." -- Author unknown

"A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn." -- Author unknown

"The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief." -- William Shakespeare, Othello

"The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work." -- Harry Golden

"I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders." -- Jewish proverb

"You have come into a hard world. I know of only one easy place in it, and that is the grave." -- Henry Ward Beecher

"Turn your wounds into wisdom." -- Oprah Winfrey

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." -- Frank A. Clark

"You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you." -- Walt Disney

"If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." -- Mary Engelbreit

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." -- Theodore Rubin

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." -- African proverb

"There is no education like adversity." -- Disraeli

"If you're in a bad situation, don't worry, it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry, it'll change." -- John A. Simone Sr.

"The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." -- Author unknown

"If you know someone who tries to drown their sorrows, you might tell them sorrows know how to swim." -- Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown Jr.

"Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds." -- Norman Vincent Peale

"Much of your pain is self-chosen." -- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923

"A problem is a chance for you to do your best." -- Duke Ellington

"Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive." -- Josephine Hart

"Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater." -- William Hazlitt

"The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism." -- Norman Vincent Peale

"Better bread with water than cake with trouble." -- Russian proverb

"When suffering comes, we yearn for some sign from God, forgetting we have just had one." -- Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

"Problems are the price you pay for progress." -- Branch Rickey

"When you're feeling your worst, that's when you get to know yourself the best." -- Leslie Grossman

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." -- Bill Gates, Business @ the Speed of Thought

The inner geek in me came out on Sunday as i dragged Ellie to the PA Railroad Museum in Strasburg. It was "less boring than she expected", so that's a good thing. Here's a batch of pics...i'm not gonna describe each one, because:

if you're not into trains, you won't care..

and if you ARE into them, you'll already know what they are.

Here's me, posing inside the cab of an engine.

It's springtime, that means our bushes have sprung to life after a long (not so cold) winter. There's no doubt, we have the best shrubs in our neighborhood.