Our birthdays

Tonight we were talking about all the PJ drank on the sandbar this weekend.

I said "Kip! We need to have a PJ party for our birthday this year! We can all drink PJ and wear PJs!"

He said "I don't own any PJs. I sleep naked." I almost fell off my bar stool.

As The Swing Bridge Turns

As many of you may know of the constant drama at Topsail... Kipper summed it up best last night with-

"A stiff dick has no conscience."

That music...

Last night I was sitting at the bar with Kip (this is how all of this starts out), and some tourists came in and put money in the jukebox. Well, this isn't your classic jukebox, it is an internet download based jukebox. It was still on the volume from the night before, extremely loud. Nathan2 immediately grabbed the remote to turn it down, because Kip hates it being too loud.
"I just don't understand why they want it so loud that you can't talk!"
"Kids these days can't hear anyway because of those stupid things they always wear in their ears."
"Back in my day, I loved music, I still love music. I love all kinds of music. But this boom, boom, yelling shit... Who can listen to that? (He was referring to Dream On by Aerosmith)"
So, a few more "loud" songs came on and he asked for it to be turned down a bit more because of the "Boom, boom, yelling shit."
Then the next song that came on, was a country song that I am fairly certain came out in the 1950's if not 1960's. Next thing I know, Kip is over there singing at the top of his lungs.

So really, it is like this-
If Kip likes the music, it can be loud. If he doesn't like it, it shouldn't be on at all.

A sad Kip story (Charlie and Rose)

The last time I saw Kip's wife, Miss Annette was January 19th at our birthday party.

Charlie and Rose were playing. (They're Kip's favorite band).

Well, Miss Annette was the bell of the ball. She looked wonderful, and not like someone who had such a short time left to live (that knew it).

The other night, as usual, I was sitting with Kip at the bar. My Dad was sitting on the other side of him. He started his story-

"Charlie called me last night. Rose isn't doing very well. You know she was diagnosed with breast cancer? She had a double mastectomy and is eat up with it. Our birthday was the last time she played."

Then his eyes welled up with tears (I pretended not to see it, but I couldn't help it). Then my eyes welled up with tears. Then Dad's eyes welled up with tears. So, I'm sitting at the bar bawling. With the realization that Miss Annette's farewell party was apparently Rose's too. That, and my Grandmother Rosie died of breast cancer.

So, we all just sat there and cried. It was good. We needed it.

Say a prayer for Rose. She is a beautiful woman, with a beautiful voice. Say a prayer for Charlie and Kip too. They're lucky to have each other as friends.

So I was sitting beside Kip at the bar the other night, and we were discussing drinking and driving. *disclaimer* It is VERY bad, but most the people at Topsail do it at one time or another.

I asked Kip "Kip, have you ever gotten a ticket?" "Just one. I was at a bar up in Surf City, and they were doing that stupid 'click it or ticket' thing. I was going around the block to a different bar, and had forgotten to put on my seatbelt. They gave me a citation." "Kip, how have you never gotten in trouble for drinking and driving? How long were you police chief?" "I was police chief for six years. Then I was mayor for twelve."

And... There boys and girls, is how not to get a ticket. Hold public office for eighteen years, and no one will bat an eye at you.

Kip Get's Even (Circa 1940 something)

I'm telling this story as I have heard it, at least twice now. The most recent time being this evening.

Kip got a tattoo with a woman's name on his arm. The next day, he got a "Dear John" letter from her. He was then shipped off for four or so years (in the Navy). He got her name scribbled out, which you can still see quite obviously now.

When he got back to town, apparently she was still interested in him. So, he got his car, and picked her up for a date. He said he took her to the cemetery to make out with her, as he had done in the past.

This particular time, he got her out of all of her clothes. He then, pushed her out of the car, in to the cemetery, and drove off. He said she was quite pissed (of course)!!

All to get even, for her breaking up with him, the day after his tattooed her name to his arm.

His other arm has an AWESOME tattoo of a sailor girl. He also has the hibiscus flower on his left hand, and of course, the bird on his right arm with the womans name scribbled out underneath it.

Last night...

I was sitting at the bar beside Kip. Both of us in our respective seats.

He was asking about my day.

I told him I'd had my nails done and my eyebrows done. Then I mentioned that I was REALLY excited because the girl that did my eyebrows, does facials, and can get rid of the white bumps under my eyes.

He said "What white bumps?" and looked at my real hard. Then he said "Honey, nobody sees those white bumps. They aren't looking at your eyes. They're looking at your tits!" "Thanks Kip."

Kip's Wife

Miss Annette was the sweetest southern lady you would have ever met in your life.

She passed April 9th, just two days before I got home from Europe. Kip was ok with it, except he kept complaining about all of his family being around.

I was sitting at the bar April 12th, the night of her wake. I had just asked the bartender "What time is Miss Annette's wake?" She said "Six to eight." The current time I was 7:45. She didn't have the words out of her mouth, and I turned to see Kip enter the bar. Knowing good and damn well the wake wasn't over, and he'd just left, I sat there in my seat, and he sat in his. I asked God to give me the right words, because I didn't really have any. It was the first time I'd see him in almost a month.

I gave him a big hug, and asked him what he was doing here. He said "Well, I got there, and she didn't want a wake. Then all these women come up blubbering and crying, and she didn't want that. So I asked the woman at the place to bring me home. She did. I checked my sugar. And HERE I AM!"

Kip had said his peace before she went in to her coma. He is doing well. He has his nights, but we are all here for him, and love him to pieces.

The last thing she said to me, January 19th was "Lisa, thank you for being such a good friend to Kip. Please keep doing that. He is going to need you." She was such a beautiful woman.

Rest in peace Miss Annette.

Rabbit Farming

Last night, I was sitting at the bar with Kip.

He was talking about how growing up his parents farmed rabbits.

"They had anywhere between 1,000 to 10,000. You could go to bed at night with 1,000 and wake up with 3,000 more than you had when you went to bed."

"Well what did you do with them?"

"We took them to market and sold them! I wasn't in charge of selling them. I was in charge of cleaning out the houses. Then taking all that shit and putting it on the strawberry fields. Then one time those people from the FDA came. Or, wherever they came from. They said the rabbits had spotted liver disease or something. We had to kill them all. We dug this big whole to put them all in. I was so damn glad to get rid of those rabbits."

Kip Being Kip

Robby hates it when I write a blog about him, but this is a Kip story, and it is too funny to pass up. I was at Castaway's a few weekends ago (it's a bar). Kip looked over and said "How is Rob?" I said "Robby?" He said "Yeah, Rob." I laughed. Said I didn't know how he was, I hadn't talked to him lately. Then, I said "You know Kip, he hates being called Rob." He said "Well, I've always called him that." I said, "Well, he doesn't like it." Kip said "I don't give a shit, that's what I'm going to call him."

How can you tell if your dying?

I wish someone could tell me. Because Kip has congestive heart failure. So on occasion his lungs fill up with fluid. Does this mean he is always dying? No. Does this mean that a few times a month he thinks he is dying? Yes.

When Miss Annette leaves town, it freaks him out. So, if there is any little thing wrong, he worries about it. Now, the man is one big stint.

Yesterday, we all put our life on hold for a good hour to ensure that Kip wasn't really dying this time (take note, Miss Annette was out of town). He couldn't decide whether to call an ambulance or not. Or if he wanted someone to take him to the hospital. I was up for driving him to the hospital, luckily, I didn't. The time I would have gotten to the bridge with him, the bridge was turned for a good twenty minutes. I would have had heart failure, and he would have probably decided it would be faster to swim across. Well, come to find out, he had worried himself again. So, instead, while I was sitting at the bridge. I called my EMT friend that I had just passed. He said "Call Kip and tell him to call the damn rescue squad. If they need to take them, they will. If they don't, they won't." (Everyone loves a voice of reason).

Later Melissa called to tell me he was better. "He took a Xanx." Kip. I love the man.

The Man & The Point

I fish out on the point quite frequently. A week ago, after leaving The Point, Kip called and asked Melissa where she was and what she was doing. She explained that we had just been fishing on The Point. He said he hadn't been there in a long time.

For those of you not up on Topsail politics and such, Kip owns The Point. There has been a big deal about it being sold or not sold. He owns to "the high tide line." Well, the high tide line changes constantly. Luckily, since it is the south end of the island, it has gained. A week ago Kip said he hadn't been down there in five years. Yesterday, I believe he said it had been a year. There is no telling really, but, based on the number of "GD look at this!" and "WOW"s I would believe it has been closer to five years than one. He thought it had gained thirty acres since he last saw it. He also enlightened me to what it was worth last time he checked. I was in awe then.

Kip told me about the camp that they use to have on Lea Island. He camped there in the 40's. It was a fishing camp run by his in-laws. I told him that I've always wanted to camp there, but have yet to do it. He said "A lot of the young kids do that!" He also explained to me the pilings that were in the inlet, use to be way back on Lea Island and that is where the unloaded the boats for the houses that were built there. We sat and watched the dredge dredging the inlet. Questioning why they were doing it now, because it is going to try to fill back in before summer.

He kept taking his beer caps and setting them up by my shifter. "Just in case." I suppose it was "just in case" we got pulled over, but you don't get pulled over when he is in the car.

The included picture isn't from yesterday, but last year. It is the same dredge though. Yesterday's pictures were not very pretty, it was a bit hazy. And honestly, I don't know where my camera cord is.

I've been told again to write a book...

I have many, many funny Kip stories from sitting at the bar with the man that turns 72 tomorrow. He says the funniest things, and tells the best stories. So, every time I get a good Kip story or quote, I will post it on here. He would die if he knew I was doing a semi biography on him.

My favorite things he has said recently-
"I like big women. They keep you shaded in the summer and warm in the winter."
"I don't eat oysters. What is the point in putting lead in your pencil when you have no one to write to?"