Paul Lambert

My dear friend of many years passed away today after a long physical battle. I will remember the good times like this day at Navy Pier in Chicago in 2002. Paul is second from the left and always reminded me that it was acceptable to act 12 at any physical age in life! Please keep his partner, Bob, and our Ohio friends in your thoughts during this most difficult time. Paul had a great run and I'm drinking a vodka and water tonight in his honor. Cheers to Paul - you are free friend!

LAMBERT Paul E. Lambert, age 73, died at home on January 31, 2008. The son of the late Eugene and Iola Lambert of Grove City, Paul attended the Ohio State University, was posted in Germany as a member of the United States Army, and went on to 36 years of service with Columbus & Southern Electric/AEP. Paul is survived by his daughter, Christy and her husband, Mark Asbach, West Chester; his partner of four decades, Bob Jackson; his brothers, Gerald (Teri) of Orient and Larry of Columbus; his sister, Beverly Lambert of Grove City; special family friend, Elinor Madory; and his beloved companions, Rambo and Prissi. A member of the German Village Society and the Buckeye Boosters, Paul leaves a very wide circle of loving friends who cheered the OSU Buckeyes and the Grove City Greyhounds with him, and who will treasure always the memories of great times, wonderful parties, and remarkable friendships. A funeral service will be held at SCHOEDINGER STATE STREET CHAPEL, 229 E. State St., on Monday, February 4 at 1 p.m. Entombment at Green Lawn Cemetery Mausoleum. A musical celebration of life will follow at the German Village Meeting Haus, 588 South Third Street, from 7-9 p.m. Friends may call on Sunday, February 3 from 1-4 p.m. at the Schoedinger State Street Chapel. Friends who wish may contribute to The German Village Society or the Capital Area Humane Society in Paul's memory. Online condolences may be sent to www.schoedinger.com. "Sign the online guestbook at www.dispatch.com/obituaries"

Published in The Columbus Dispatch from 2/2/2008 - 2/3/2008.

Being unlaid

So...the pending last day of work this Friday has been postponed. I've been "unlaid off" if you will. A few of my remaining team members and I are needed for a little longer and we've received a 90 day extension! To sum it all up...we're still laid off, but we have a little more time to feel the pain.

This Friday!

Who's a Big Buck Hunter?

Go Michael Go

Proud Papa

My baby girl beams as she shows off her third place team ribbon and 12th place individual medal which qualifies her to move on to the regional "Power of the Pen" competition. The top 40 students from 15 schools in the local competition get this honor.

She was one of approximately 90 students competing last Saturday. She trained for several weeks and then wrote a short story using surprise topics provided in each of the three 40 minute rounds. I'm very proud of my little creative writer and wish her luck in the regionals! Of course, she's too young to read this blog, so I've privately praised and encouraged her for the next round!

I like turtles

I didn't discover this on my own, but I have to share it here. It makes me smile and I can't stop watching it. Thanks to Glitter Girl for finding it!

Cork DC

The new bar is open.

~ I deleted the Verizon BS. Usually typing #end after the message tells Blogger to suppress it - not sure why it didn't work this time ~

Dog in a bag?

This is Vergie's other cousin's pet carrier. I believe this one lives in a trailer. I guess this is a "Cat in a bush?"

New Phone!

I am a huge fan of Verizon's speed. I decided yesterday that, while I love the Pinky Delicious, I could not live with T9 texting. (It had nothing to do with the masculine color of the phone.) I ordered the Samsung SCH-u740 black double flip phone and my friends at Fed Ex dropped it off with our doorman today! The phone was activated in minutes and, with Verizon's Backup Assistant, my address book instantly restored. I am ready to go!

I highly recommend this phone. My sister and brother both have it and give it high marks for features, reliability, and durability! The Samsung is smaller than a Motorola Razor and I'm once again ready to text and mobile blog with the full querty keyboard!

Recognize This Man?

This pic came from one of those mass sent junk emails that we all receive showing the latest "inspirational" posters. I thought perhaps this was my Theatre Actor friend? Hmm...

Case of the Tuesdays

Solly's got a shout out in today's 'Top Stops' section of the Express.

Top Shelf - Case of the Tuesdays
"Ease the post holiday weekend return to work blow with a chuckle at Solly's where local comedians are on stage, looking to make you laugh. Oh, and there's beer, too."

BWI

We are safely on the ground. Dags makes a face as Mary tries to steal a kiss.

Ready to Roll

Are you shocked? We have 4/7 travelers ready to roll at 8:40. Amazing what you can accomplish when going to bed by 3 A.M. Here's a pic of our pimped out ride. It is ready to take us to buy Amish Cheeses and Balognas. Very fun!

Gamblin' Mommas and Semen Guns

We laid low today. A visit to the farm gave everyone an opportunity to check in on the baby calves, watch Dad milk the cows, and visit the family homestead. They made fun of all my Parent's old photos of me and my baby brothers. Vergie refused to milk a cow and Rita Jean named three of the newest babies. Whitney gave him permission to do so last night. He chose "Blanch, Rose, & Dorothy," but they already have a Rose so his second choice was "Promises." Fortunately these were from the dairy side of the operation and will not end up at the end of anyone's fork. Vergie did pose for this photo with the semen gun (a tool for artificial insemination.) Unfortunately, it was too cold to operate any farm machinery or run around on the quad runners. There is always the next time!


Thanks to Baby brother for making his famous OSU Chili and Baby Lisa for serving up some fine shredded barbecue beef sandwiches along with assorted other treats for dinner. We closed the night by teaching Mom to play Black Jack. She finally went home at 12:30. I'm crashing out while the others are teaching Vergie to play Euchre. Fun times. We plan to get up at 8 AM tomorrow and leave by 9:30 to make some Amish country purchases. Worst case scenario, we leave at 11:30 to catch our afternoon flight home.

Remember...for those of you stuck back in DC...we plan to hit Duffy's for $1 beer cans around 5 PM on Monday night. Hope to see you there.

Good Morning!

It is too cold outside to ski so we are staying inside. At maximum zoom, you can see Tea Bag, the roaming goat, over at the old house. We've just finished a breakfast of tasty treats (Thank you Baby Lisa.) We've started on the mimosas and are deciding what to do today.

Guess Who?

The party is not over, we are just taking a break.

maybe in the next 15 minutes

We have decided by popular vote that we should start to go to bed soon. Three have now fallen out and the rest of us are playing poker with the Hooter's cards. One of them is signed (courtesy of Baby Brother) and it is the wild card. Nobody has decided exactly what the wild card means in this version of Holmes County Hold 'em, but it hasn't come up thus far so we don't have to fight (yet.)

Robert and I took a ride in the 'Gator. We decided that it wasn't bad to drink and drive if you are staying on the driveway and the field (it has four wheel drive.) After we got so far, we had to turn the lights on (no we weren't exactly lost) and drive back to the house. We sorta fooled everyone else when we told them that Mom just pulled up the lane to see what we were doing (she does live next door.)

We've taken the knife away from Randy, but are serving up the morning meaty treats after trying to include them in the game. Sometimes you just can't be completely inclusive and you have to eat the meat.

Vergie just doubled down so I have to go now and see what that means. It sounds dirty.

Don't fall asleep

....we thought this fun would end with college a year (or many) ago, but it continues. Remember how the first one to pass out got covered in makeup or had their fingers dipped in warm water? Well, it is 2008 and mac photo booth is the latest weapon. She fell asleep first, and must suffer. I thought it was rude, but succumbed to peer pressure and had to post. For her own protection, I am posting at low resolution. Just a reminder kids, you are never too old to have fun! Work hard by day and embrace EVERY night.

We also heard that Chimney Fall Cat and Chimney Fall Mike have been seen dancin' at the pRat. Hmmm....

jail

Time for fine viddles

Leaving columbus

We made our last pit stop at The MaHalfway house where someone found a friend.

Breakfast #2

A big giant DC thank you to Jack and James for throwing an impromptu brunch for 20 peeps at their home.

The first breakfast

At Tee Jaye's, it's all good eatin'.

Trollmont

We are closing out the night at Le Tremont. God save us.

Somewhere Else

Vergie thought it was a trick and there was another surprise stop. Nope, we just went to Somewhere Else (Nightclub and Showbar) - Hope the show isn't over.

Editors Note: Can you find Joanne in this picture? They did have a show and there are excellent pics to post for the trip summary!

Club D

We had a fab dinner at Cap City, just picked up Dags/Mary at the hotel (they had a later flight) and now we are planting ourselves at Club Diversity!

Rita Jean in an ambulance

Nobody is shocked here...

Party Time

We checked in to the Westin, got a diva room upgrade, convinced them to refund Mr and Ms Chimney's non refundable room, and now Sister Disco is putting on her eyes for dinner. Make sure you check out her blog as she is documenting the adventures too.

We are off

The first pic from every trip is to remember where we parked

Blast Off!

Friends! The Ohio trip is HERE! We will blast off in a couple of hours. Unfortunately Mr. & Ms. Chimney have fallen out early due to an unexpected winter illness and there will only be 6 peeps representing DC. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, I am confident we will still have a spectacular time!

Watch for the special trip "photo op" pics to appear later tonight! My mobile blogging may be somewhat limited as my fancy PDA went blooey and won't get a signal. There was no time to order a new phone (and I'm not entirely sure I want to right now with the pending unemployment days as a lady of leisure.) Fortunately, Sister Disco just got a new chichi phone so I borrowed her old LG Chocolate. Pink LG Chocolate that is. I know, so masculine. Regardless, I'm learning to T9 text with a 10 key again. I miss my full keyboard after only one night of use. This pic may not be me, but it is exactly how I feel when pulling out this Barbiesque communication device in public.

Dating in Philadelphia

Apparently dating in Philly can be very interesting. According to this recent AP story at SFGate.com titled, "Mailing Cow's Head to Wife's Lover," a man did just that. He got years of probation and community service, but the strange delivery of a bloody severed head worked. According to the article, they subsequently reconciled.

Lookout Amish Country - we leave for Ohio tomorrow! Maybe we can collect some random severed animal parts in case any of us have relationship issues in the future. Oh my gross. I know.

If you want to see something totally off the charts, click over to Gawker.com and check out the Tom Cruise video. He's a crazy crazy Scientologist.

2 Days!!!

The Chimney will be falling into Ohio for our trip in two days! We leave on Friday with eight confirmed DC travelers and 2-4 more joining us for the "farm" leg of the trip to visit the Mansion. There are tons of people joining us in CMH for the Club Diversity visit and many signed up for skiing on Sunday to Snow Trails. Stay tuned for mobile blogging from this site, Chimney Fall, TimmyCam, and SisterDisco.

Since Mr. Michael will be snowboarding, expect to see pics like the one above of him and pics of everyone else in the lodge at the bar. The Ski report ranks ski conditions at this resort a 10 right now, but the forecast for Sunday is in the single digits with highs in the teens. It might actually be TOO cold to ski. We'll have fun regardless!

Off to work! Only 11 more days of that!

My Next Car

I love these cars! I have followed them for years and anxiously awaited their arrival to the US. Fortunately, this is the year. The Smart fortwo and fortwo cabriolet will be sold in 2008! I realize it may not be conducive to driving to Ohio, but neither was the Vespa. I made that trip in September for the rally! Check out this review or the Smart website for more information! I know...it's kinda gay, but you can park anywhere (even perpendicular to the sidewalk) and they are super affordable. Cute Cute Cute.

Here's a picture of Timmy by one in Greece. I think it is just the right size!

Drunk \eyond belief

Had fun with a big girl....that was fum She wanted the latin guy and do did I but i have a boyfriend so i have to go home

Tattoo

That's the name of the club. We waited in line (I don't do lines) to get in and they are playing cheesy 80s music, but it's on K St so I guess we're cool?

R E S P e C T

we tried to eat at hank's, but there was a big line so we are eating off the dollar menu. Faster return to the bar so this is better. RJ wants fries but I say N to the NO

CVS (update)

Laura asked me to keep her updated on the pristine condition of the new U St. CVS. Since there are no tire tracks, it appears a handy has wrecked a wheelchair right into the handy pole to open the door.

Randy and I started at 4:30 for happy hour since I really haven't had a chance to cocktail since the 30th of Dec. Solly's was fun and now we're off to Nellies for $3 Snow Queen (after a smokie treat stop at CVS.)

No Pants 2K8

Looking for something to do this Saturday? Whether you are in NYC, where it all began with the group, Improve Everywhere, or in Portland, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Adelaide (Australia,) Baltimore, Salt Lake City, or even our own Washington DC, tomorrow is the day to TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS and ride the subway!

There are Facebook groups for most of the cities. Click over to the Improve site for a quick link to all the events. The other links above show the local blog/media coverage of the events. I can say this definitely will be a chimney event, with or without the chimney fall members. What else is there to do on a January weekend with gloomy weather?

Happy Birthday Pat Benatar

Happy Birthday Pat Benatar (my hero!)

We had a fantastic movie night yesterday at M/C's house where we celebrated The Special Mexican's birthday. She's been rather busy lately with her new role so not much has been updated on her blog. Perhaps now that birthday festivities are over, she'll get back to posting.

The Chimney Fall Movie Nights Page has finally been updated with most of the historical information. If you can fill in the blanks or have additional information to add, please let me know. We have also added a "Reasons to Drink" widget on the Chimney Fall Home Page. No more making up excuses as the widget will legitimize our Chimney adventures! Today, however, we will drink to Pat on her 55th birthday!

Toya's Volcano

I emailed to check on Toya's safety with the recent news about the Tungurahua volcano near Quito, Ecuador. According to a 13 on Your Cell story, many have evacuated for fear it will blow. Toya said, "It's pretty far away from me, but if it erupts it's gonna be a bitch for everyone. The people that live really close to it are mainly farmers, so I'm in the clear." Thankfully she is a school teacher and isn't a farmer in one of the threatened hamlets. Talk about chimney...

Tim's Dad

We made it safely back to DC. Tim's Dad is stable and recovering from his heart attack. It looks like he'll be in the hospital for a few more days and then will be in a rehab facility (not the Lindsay Lohan type) for a few weeks. Unfortunately, he is too weak for surgery and we are hoping and praying that he can regain enough strength to keep going with such reduced capacity in his heart. He's a super strong fighter so we are justifiably optimistic that he will once again beat the odds.

This is Wrinkles, he is one of the two dogs that belong to Kylie & Madison, Tim's twin nieces. While in Ohio, we stopped at both of his siblings homes to give holiday gifts to the kids and hang out for awhile.

Here is Timmy and his newest nephew, Baron. He will be one on January 25th. He was very happy with the dump truck we gave him for Christmas!

I have always wanted to capture this nativity set in German Village (Columbus) but haven't taken the opportunity to do it until this year. Last night, as we started our trip home, we stopped for a quick dinner with the Columbus Peeps and happened to park in front of it. I guess if you live in the city without a yard, and are really religious, banquet tables will have to do for your display!

Fur Real

Tim's Dad is physically weak, but holding emotionally strong. They will try some meds to strengthen his heart over the next few days since he can't handle a surgery. Thanks to all the text messages and emails from friends checking in.

We let him rest this afternoon and went to lunch with Chandra's Mom then went shopping to finish up the Christmas gifts for the neices & nephew. We didn't plan to come for a few more weeks so we weren't done with the holiday shopping. This pic is for Iris & Dancin'

It's Skyline Time

We got to Cincinnati too late to get in the hospital to see Timmy's Dad, so we picked up his Mom and went directly to Skyline. A 5-way with extreme habanero cheese and a cheese coney! This alone is worth the 8 hour drive.

Popnightmare vs. Obama

I awoke to CNN where I fully expected to see confirmation of the Obama / Huckabee wins they predicted last night with the majority of Iowa caucuses reporting. What do I see instead? Britney Spears being wheeled out of her house on a gurney and TWO guests talking to the host about what this means for Britney and her kids. Only the "Popnightmare," as she is called on TMZ this morning, could trump the relevance of a black man winning the Iowa Caucus. Makes me SO proud to be an American?

Happy New Year!

Mike & Cat threw another fierce New Year's Eve party! Lot's of fun this year including an optional pajama party that started at midnight. Tommy from Pittsburgh dressed up as Baby New Beer, but Big Tom gets to represent the party with this classy photo in the stolen bonnet.