Now that your unpacked and got to test drive the area for a bit, encountered some locals and yokels, and hopefully some actual people that moved to the area from your home town or state its time to list the likes you have of your new or semi-new, or heck if the area is your native home than by all means and ways list what you like! Y'all got it? Well here goes!
Weather! You like or not!
Year round flowers!
Long springs!
Longer Autumns!
Shorts year round! For the hearty ones that is.
Variety of sub divisions to chose from!
Snow is a neat event versus a ho-hum not again event!
No rust on older cars! Amazing if your from the Northeast!
Can fish year round without cutting holes in the water (ice) for us North Easterners!
Pretty country side is usually only 5 minutes or less from where you live anywhere in the triangle.
People R People. No matter what they say!
Day trip to Mountains!
Day trip to Ocean!
And in a lot cases no trip at all to the many lakes, ponds, river, and streams that spot the area!
Good food can be had by all and more is always welcome irregardless if they are called viddles or pickins!
Out away from the city lights the sky at night explodes with the many stars that fill the emptiness of space with the occasional flying star to catch a dream or two on!
Groceries can be cheaper but we all have to eat!
Sure it takes time to get use to this place, remember the place you came from was called home and that is never a easy place to replace! But give it time, explore the area and get involved and this place too will be your new home not only in name but in feeling!
May the triangle, RDU, RTP, Crossroads, the Quay, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Apex, Raleigh, Durham, Zebulon, Oxford, Mossisville, Franklinton, Youngsville, Chapel Hill, Henderson, ...seems like I am forgetting somewhere.
...????......Oh yea! and Cary, be with you!
Oh Tarheels! I forgot to number the above as I did say I would count thy ways!
Weather! You like or not!
Year round flowers!
Long springs!
Longer Autumns!
Shorts year round! For the hearty ones that is.
Variety of sub divisions to chose from!
Snow is a neat event versus a ho-hum not again event!
No rust on older cars! Amazing if your from the Northeast!
Can fish year round without cutting holes in the water (ice) for us North Easterners!
Pretty country side is usually only 5 minutes or less from where you live anywhere in the triangle.
People R People. No matter what they say!
Day trip to Mountains!
Day trip to Ocean!
And in a lot cases no trip at all to the many lakes, ponds, river, and streams that spot the area!
Good food can be had by all and more is always welcome irregardless if they are called viddles or pickins!
Out away from the city lights the sky at night explodes with the many stars that fill the emptiness of space with the occasional flying star to catch a dream or two on!
Groceries can be cheaper but we all have to eat!
Sure it takes time to get use to this place, remember the place you came from was called home and that is never a easy place to replace! But give it time, explore the area and get involved and this place too will be your new home not only in name but in feeling!
May the triangle, RDU, RTP, Crossroads, the Quay, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Apex, Raleigh, Durham, Zebulon, Oxford, Mossisville, Franklinton, Youngsville, Chapel Hill, Henderson, ...seems like I am forgetting somewhere.
...????......Oh yea! and Cary, be with you! Oh Tarheels! I forgot to number the above as I did say I would count thy ways!
Wake Forest, Gosh its a pretty nive place to live!
Posted 03-09-2009 at 08:59 PM by dansdrive
Wake Forest, NC. located in Wake County NC. Some call it Wake's Forest of the Triangle....Ok maybe that's just me. But if you come from the North East, Wake Forest seems to fit. It has some rolling hills and many farming areas.
It has a small town feel but close to Raleigh, you could be down town Raleigh, depending on time of day in about 15 to 30 minutes. You can be at the Virginia border in less than an hour.
It has old Historical homes and some new subdivisions. It certainly worth a look see if your looking and seeing the area. It has transplants from New Jersey, New York, and many other NE State and Mid West and California and....well you get the idea people from all over this great country now calls Wake Forest home!
C'mon down, over, left, or right and check it out you may just like what you see.
It has a small town feel but close to Raleigh, you could be down town Raleigh, depending on time of day in about 15 to 30 minutes. You can be at the Virginia border in less than an hour.
It has old Historical homes and some new subdivisions. It certainly worth a look see if your looking and seeing the area. It has transplants from New Jersey, New York, and many other NE State and Mid West and California and....well you get the idea people from all over this great country now calls Wake Forest home!
C'mon down, over, left, or right and check it out you may just like what you see.
Total Comments 1071
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Jeepers and Cadillacs too....I only told part of the story in my last post about the Falls Dam area. I totally forgot to mention the visitors center section.
As one heads down the road or path from the parking area on Falls of Neuse they are presented with a fork in the road and as all followers of Yogi Berra's Yogi-isms one must take it! So I did......
It winds back to a couple of building one is a must for middle age fellows, you know the ones that keep going and going and the other is the actual center. There is also observation areas to look out over the lake and a walkway that protrudes out over a steep slope so you can see the area below you in case any wild life is wandering around and out over the lake. Really a nice touch!
So if you get that way and walk to ride stop by the Visitors Center itself for a fun time!
....and thats my thought for today. To be some showers rolling through the area this afternoon some maybe heavy.....not sure exactly what that means other than the rain drops being large and 'heavy' the thunder being strong and 'heavy' and the lightning being 'light' or better said, 'lite'....anyway be careful if you are out and about!
Happy Hump Day!Posted 07-29-2009 at 05:01 AM by dansdrive
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The Corner of Retail Drive and Rt 98.
The Steak House that almost was.
The concrete slab and pipes that signify the sign of the times.
The empty neglected space that should of held the promise of rib-eye and fillet of something!
But what will they do with that space?
Maybe, just maybe it should be given a name.....
Here goes:
1. The steak that almost was.
2. The steak house that is very rarely done!
3. I got a slab do you?
4. Take the money and run.
5. I'm poured....how about you?
6. I have more pipes sticking out of me that you! na na na na!
7. I'm a vertically challenged building!
8. I'll have a parking lot with that slab, Thank-you!
9. Waiting for the tumbleweed to roll by before I finish!
10. I reckon 9 is good enough being the space is not finished anyway......
Drive by and look at the steakhouse that almost was!
That is my Wake Forest site of the day!
Happy Thursday!Posted 07-30-2009 at 05:09 AM by dansdrive
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Back in the Tar heels State! Vacation is over and only a memory or as they say just a day dream away!
Back from the Keystone State and the Empire State or as some say the Empire Strikes Back state! See Politics for why they call it that!
Anyway it was a fantastic visit, days below 80 and nights in the upper 60's to low 70's. Its sitting out on a porch or deck and just enjoying the cool breezes of a summer night. Its seeing friends and family again and remembering days gone by and debating what the future days will bring. Even got introduced to a new yard game. It basically a bean bag game they call Corn-hole-e-o! The people that introduced us to this game even had the song that went with the game. Many an hour was tossed around playing that game in the star filled nights along with the tossed bean bags!
Even had time to drop the old fishing line in a lake or two. The fish weren't biting but we were sure bitting on the good upstate NY Italian food and picnic lunches!
Just a great time was had north of Wake Forest, NC. Just a great time used to rejuvenate life's batteries to hopefully continue winding our way through the many paths life will lead us.
Reality slip back into our lives on the way home when our rear tire blew out and we had to spend the night in southern PA until a tire place opened the next day. But hey we were all save and sound and it was the perfect excuse to extend our vacation one more day!
Well as they say in the Pennsylvania Dutch country about transportation.......Whewwww that transportation stinks..........literally! lol Happy Wednesday!Posted 08-12-2009 at 05:38 AM by dansdrive
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Well,well,well....and most times this means a deep subject is about to be said!
But not this time. Some rain in the forecast today, tomorrow, and the next day....and well Sunday looks favorable at this time! Need the rain.
On a reddish note.....got my first red tomato the other day from my 12 foot tall tomato plant! Biggest darn tomato plants I have ever seen! But the red tomato is no more....went right into the salad! It was an 'Ole Boy' I believe or a 'Big Boy' plant but in my salad it was surely a Ole Boy that was good!
The rest of the garden is not good....picked a spot with not enough average sun light due to the wooded yard I have. Learned that gardens need plenty of sunshine and I knew that but got caught up in the moment and built a raised garden anyway. Oh well it was fun anyway and I have a few more tomato's to harvest once I get a step ladder set up to get them down!
So another of life's lesson on the road to old age I suppose. If your going to grow tomato's in an area with lot of large trees around blocking their sunlight than make sure you have a ladder around to harvest your investment!
Happy Thursday Folks!Posted 08-13-2009 at 05:16 AM by dansdrive
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Was off to Falls Lake fishing last night! What a beautiful evening, was overcast and a few periods of sun. There was the whisper of a few sprinkles being absorbed into the lake like water into a sponge. The Bass were feasting on the Falls Lake bugs on top of the water. They splashed and danced across the top of the water like MJ use to moon walk!
Hooked a few nice Bass in the 10" to 16" range and missed something. I know I know its always the one that got away, its the fisherman's out to a less than great fishing trip I suppose.
But I was using a crank bait, for those not familiar with the name, it suffices to say its a fishing lure that looks like a little fish with a large flat plate in the mouth area that allows it to drive deep in the water, it was running at about 10 feet of water when something, hopefully a fish grabbed it and decided it did not like me pulling on it. So it swam deeper and went under the boat and back out, than around the front of the boat and for my nautical minded friends, the bow of the boat. It took one last pull and it was gone! All gone! No big fish picture, no fish ear to ear smile by me, no you should have seen the fish I caught...all gone!
But it was still a thrill and it was still a fantastic evening to be on Falls Lake. Little to no boat traffic and the lake was like a piece of glass. The boat skimmed across like a knife over a warmed butter stick.
Oh and in my writing of my fish that got away story I forgot the best part of the night. In one of the back bays of Falls Lake we came across a herd of 5 deer grazing and playing in the water. They seen us but could care less. We watched the young ones jumping and splashing in the water like kids with there elders watching them. It was a great sight and one that helps me put into perspective the days trials and tribulations. They seem to melt away in moments like this and just floating around on a summers evening.
Its those moments I just pause and say awe!
Happy Friday and get out and experience nature this weekend!Posted 08-14-2009 at 09:42 AM by dansdrive
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Hey its Monday! Tip of the day: Don't be dull!
As the sharpener said to the pencil today; felling a bit dull are we! Well hop in I'm sure with a few twist and turns I can sharpen up your day!
If it was only that easy! Life is full of curves...some are nice sinusoidal and repeating and some are just plain choppy! The sinusoidal has peaks and valleys but you always get back to zero at some point and start the cycle a new.
Well that's where I am heading into the big move to upstate NY. Great opportunity and adventure but also sadness to say goodbye for awhile to Wake Forest! Trading the fantastic springs and falls for winter-springs and quick falls of NY State!
But I shall keep the Blog blogging and this winter I can even tabog I suppose! I will be checking on city-data for all the wonderful contributors and questions to laugh about, and think about, and even say I can't believe someone just wrote that! Gee-gads! lol
I be back to calling subs "Hoagies" and Pizza's "Pies". I have to get Insurance versus what I have in NC 'Inn Surance'. I may see a few accidents along the way and remember they are really just 'wrecks'. Ya'all's will be replaced by just 'them' or 'they' or maybe even 'us'. But no matter what or how we say it or where we arbitrarily live, people are people and I am sure glad I am one of them!
So yes its Monday and wishing all a terrific Wake Forest day!Posted 08-17-2009 at 09:47 AM by dansdrive
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Were has the week slipped away too? Time seems to travel like the week you spent on your last vacation at least for me it does. To bad it could not travel like the last time you were stuck in traffic on Capital Blvd or Rt 40 East at 5PM! Slow and steady! But the velocity of the days speed just means one must make the most of what they have!
Hence, some are perpetually happy, care-free, and wide eyed for each new day! What it can bring is amazement, learning, loving, and caring! It can move like the speed of light or the lunch meat line at Walmart!
For others its doom gloom and the art of pessimism! The sky is falling the the earth below there feed is crumbling! A sunny day is nothing more than a pain in the eyes! Oh to the nay sayer I say! Oh to the sky is falling....hey someone has to build it back up! Pessimism makes the day move like sludge, like a snail in my Wake Forest back yard.
For the rest of us its middle of the road, our highs and lows are tempered by our own daily feelings and moods.
So how this week has slipped or dragged by has more to do with our own feelings than with an arbitrary clock on the wall. So make each day count one 'frown' or 'smile' at a time!
...and speaking of ticks don't forget to give your animal its flea and tick control!
Happy Thursday!Posted 08-20-2009 at 05:32 AM by dansdrive
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This evening decided to change the oil in one of my vehicles. Same old same old as far as the oil change went but as I took back my used oil for recycling I got to thinking why is it they do not take back the used oil filters? They to are filled with used oil but they go to the landfill. I think the recycling centers should have to take them back as well as the oil! Now to figure out who I can bring this up to so used oil filters can be recycled too!
Oil change was quick and easy. Oil and filter was $18.49! Same almost $20 by doing it myself one drip at a time!
Happy Tuesday!Posted 08-25-2009 at 09:21 PM by dansdrive
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WOW! I read they will build a Waffle House on Rt 98 just east of Crenshaw Hall subdivision. In the space where they tore some old homes down or on the spot where the old Gas Station and Bait shop was located. Nice spot for a Waffle House.
They just opened the one up on rt 1 north at the Southwest intersection of Rt1 & rt96. So waffles are a poppin in the area!
How sweet is that you may ask? Well I suppose to top that sugary answer one could just fruit it!
Got Syrup?
Posted 08-26-2009 at 01:40 PM by dansdrive
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What a wonderful day...not because we are getting ready for the big move but because I put somethings on Craigslist for ''Free" and met some of the nicest people!
Give something to someone for free and they will come! Try it sometime. People will want just about anything for free and it beats going to the landfill.
Made some peoples day this past few days and that is A-OK with me! Awesome!
Happy Friday!!!!
Posted 08-28-2009 at 08:49 PM by dansdrive
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New York! New York! Upstate style that is! Arrived to a string of outstanding weather. Brought north from Wake Forest as I like to say. Days in the upper 70s to low 80s and nights in the mid to low 60s. Pretty darn nice!
On the housing front...far from settled but closer to unsettled. This week starting apartment/home exploring in earnest or as some say starting to offer the most-est to get the least-est! Either way it must be done!
Did get some bass fishing in and the lake was crystal clear with lots of vegetation! Just as I remembered them. Nice and before to much longer I suppose I will be ice fishing on them.....gee-gads! Brrrrr!
But the winter will make coming back to Wake Forest all the sweeter next year!
Hope you weekend was Labor-less and your week ahead is filled with labor as its the only way to pay the bills! Ciao!Posted 09-08-2009 at 07:10 AM by dansdrive
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Actually as I sit here I can't help but reflect on the the approaching fall. When leaves colors which we all seen as kids still tend to take our breath away when we see them if we take the time to see them! When apple cider is as fresh as it gets and pumpkins as orange as an old '72 chevy I use to drive. a.k.a. the Pumpkin car!
There is a certain aroma to the air that clearly states fall. When traditional school kids hop on an off buses, when the pig skins fly through the air to the cheers and jeers of its spectators. Where summer sweat from gardening and weeding turn to lite sweaters and sweatshirts with our favorite teams logos uprooting the gardens tomato's, squash, and pepper plants too!
Time to reflect on this year we named 2009 as summer sets and rises over the apple orchards. It has been a crazy year, hasn't it? But taking time to reflect and look forward to fall and its brilliant colors and the thought of the coming spring surely allow one to accept the in between fate wecall winter! So take the time to experience fall and all its has to offer no matter where you live! Stop off and get that fresh apple cider and a farmers last vegtables of the season. Happy Fall!Posted 09-08-2009 at 09:43 AM by dansdrive
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Friday has arrived! Friday the traditional end of the work week. The start to where the saying come from like:
TGIF!
The weekend begins here.
Follow the weeks road paved with great ambitions to the weekend where the pot holes are paved right on over!
F- Fried
R- Rice
I - In
D- Daylight
A- Always
Y- Yummy!
To be or not to be. Hey its Friday I B Be-in!
Have a wonderful and safe weekend! See more than you saw last week and a save a little for next week!
<SMILE> it keeps Dentist employed!Posted 09-11-2009 at 01:43 PM by dansdrive
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Jumpin ahead days...its Wednesday already! Do you know where Monday and Tuesday went? Why they went by way of the other countless previous Monday and Tuesday's I suppose. Long gone and soon to be forgotten.
Even more reason NOT to let a day go by without learning something new, talking to an old friend, making that call to a family member far away or just down the street. Take time to see today as the window to the future and not a reflection of the previous days, week, months and years....
Yes today is precious, it is a once in a lifetime event! It truly is, no day will be like today so get out and make today special! A whole host of people that know you and maybe never met you are counting on YOU to make their day a day to remember!
Happy Wednesday!Posted 09-16-2009 at 01:48 PM by dansdrive
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Hey Its Monday....means the weekend has come and gone. As quick as it went it disappeared. Tucked away in our memory bank like a safety deposit box in our local bank with the key...but...down the road in time we may forget where that key went but for the foreseeable future its just a memory!
The leaves up here in the Northeast are getting a touch of color to them and some are even falling. A lot of the geese are flying each day strengthening their wings for the long track to the south. Natures brilliance is just a cold day or two away but ever approaching in its methodical march toward winter.
But today its beautiful and that is what is important! Beauty lies in the heart and escapes from each of us in the strangest times and ways so be on alert for the great escape of inner beauty is just a smile or handshake or pat on the back away!
Enjoy your Monday because its almost in our minds safety deposit box!Posted 09-21-2009 at 02:20 PM by dansdrive
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Tuesday....the rains are coming so they say...light rains but still rain. Not quite fall here in these parts yet. Summer is hanging on as best it could and I for one appreciate that!
As fall approaches it reminds of years gone by when I was a child growing up in NEPA. Walking to school on those fall mornings and watching the seemingly endless v-formations of the migrating Canadian geese tracking south for the winter honking and honking like cab drivers in NYC!
But those thoughts soon faded and thoughts of winter months over took them....as winter was never to far away once the geese made their track south.
But winter as a child was fan-SNOWY-tastic! It always seemed to snow waste deep and shoveling was left to the adults! For us it was hit the hills around the neighborhoods with whatever we could get to slide. We scavenged the neighborhood on garbage day for the rare cardboard refrigerator box or appliance box! Not many people where I came from got new appliances so it was a real treat. That fresh cardboard would slide on snow like an Olympic Bob sled! We also used plastic sheets, plastic garbage bags or just the seats of our pants! Never seemed to get tired until our hands would be numb or our toes lost feeling and we had to go home. Toss off the boots and gloves and jackets and snow pants and slip our hands under the warm water to thaw out! Man they would hurt like he Dickens but the pain soon faded and after a bite to eat we were back at it again and again! Sliding down the hills in the dark made it twice as fun! We also built igloos and snowman and snow angels! We had endless snowball fights that always seem to end in a tie but we didn't care!
The neat thing about all that was no one ever really got seriously injured, no one ever really got in a fist fight, we played cowboys and Indians, war, cops and robbers, and none of us ever went onto commit crimes or became violent, no one ever thought about suing the people who owned the property we sleighed on and may have got hurt on. Just a simpler time back then!
So if you get snow in your parts of the country and your an adult take your children out sleighing and hop on for the ride, its a great way to be a kid again!
Happy Tuesday!Posted 09-22-2009 at 07:17 AM by dansdrive
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Jump ahead days of the week! Its Friday...Fri-day I tell you! Dag-on-it Sheriff Monday on his trusty horse named Tuesday from Wednesday Street adjacent to Thursday's Bar & Grill....it be Friday, Sir! Sammy Saturday and Shania Sunday will be here before we are ready!
All named days of the week aside if I May. June and July....sorry could not resist slipping in the months with the day parody above.
But back to TGIF! Billy Ocean said it best in one of his songs, "Awesome". We all wait for this day. Day to end the work week, to hang up the tools, to store the shovels, to bid our coworkers a-day and book out of work like an Indy Driver on a straight away! VRRRROOOMM!
So all enjoy the upcoming weekend! Do something you never done before, see something you never seen before, (with or without a mirror!). Anywho the weekend is short so make it last a lifetime through a memory!
On this fine TGIF I leave you with one thought.......
Change begins with each of us and when used correctly can change the world between us!
Remember <SMILE> till your front teeth dry out!Posted 09-25-2009 at 07:15 AM by dansdrive
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Operational in upstate NY and in a word from Fred. Yabadabado! Long haul from NC to NY. Hit major rain and wind storm on Monday evening on Rt 85 above Lake Gaston Thought me and truck and all the belonging in the back of it was headed parallel to the road surface instead of perpendicular. But slow go through that mess and the rest went well.
All the road construction was in the State if PA. A new name maybe in order for PA. Perpetual Asphalting! Left lane closed, right lane closed, and than you from 45 to 55 to 65 and look for that wonderful Orange sign that says. Construction End!
What is missing in the NE is sunshine! Oh man clouds are a dime a dozen here. As winter approaches they will be a nickel a dozen too!
But safely here and we are grateful for that and today we are one day closer to being back in Wake Forest area!
Happy Thursday all!!!!!Posted 10-01-2009 at 04:14 PM by dansdrive
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Always a good perspective can be had by living somewhere else for a period of time, especially if you are questioning your own current living location. So moving back to NY for a work assignment has solidified why we moved out of NYS to begin with.
NYS as most all states was/is faced with State budget woes.....in a word 'shortfalls' in revenue. So to make up some of the shortfalls they raised taxes and fees. One that hit me directly was their out of state fishing license in 2008 it was $35 /Year. On Oct 1 2009 it went to $70 / year. Double. Maybe I will catch double the fish this year, than again maybe not! Many other fees have gone up or will be going up on Jan 1 2010. So I guess it is a way of the 'Empire' State striking back! A page right out of the Star Wars saga!
The land of the free has been replaced with the land of the fees! Maybe Wimpy in Popeye had a more wisdom than we gave him credit for. Maybe our response to these higher taxes and 'fees' should be we will gladly pay you tomorrow for the service you provided today!
One must ask when is enough ... enough?
OK stepping off the soapbox and onto the wonderful Wednesday ahead of us today. Today's reflection:
Take time to be friendly,
it is the road to happiness. (Author Unknown)
Have a great day!Posted 10-07-2009 at 06:16 AM by dansdrive
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Wednesday. Hmmm. Do you know where Monday and Tuesday went? I know they are just a daily calendar page flip away....
I had the pleasure of changing my Chevy Blazers Fuel Pump for the second time in a year this past weekend. Geee-gads! This time was quicker with all that experience I got last year.
But now day 3 and all is well...or is that pumping in this case? Anywho, anyone that tries that on there own please heed these words....
Frustration- abundant.
Gas - everywhere.
Completion-Bliss!
....and that's all I got to say about that!
switching tanks...ops I mean topics. The forecast in upstate NY is calling for 'SNOW' possibly over the next 5 days during the overnight hours.....flurries as it maybe its still the 'S' word 'NOW'! YIKES!
Oh well as they say in this game of life, your take the bad with the worse, the ears with the corn, and the stubble with the aftershave!
Enjoy your Wednesday and make it special....tell a perfect stranger Hello! Mind your manors and most of all compliment the ones you love!Posted 10-14-2009 at 06:03 AM by dansdrive
