I sent an email to T the other day - and I've been told that I have to post it here as to allow other people to share in the stupidity of others:
I gotta wonder how people get through their day to day lives not having a brain cell in their head?
This girl calls me up and says "yeah, is this the place that takes PG & E bills and stuff?"
and I said "nope, sorry"
and she goes "are you sure?"
and I said "uh, yeah I'm very sure"
and she goes "well, I think you might be wrong, are you new there? Because I was told there is a copier place on grand that takes bills and you're a copier place on grand"
and I said "I've worked here for 8 years and I can guarantee you that we do not take bills here. I believe the place your looking for is called Dave's Copy and Fax"
and she goes "oh...allright...and you're not a part of that company?"
and I said "nope - they make copies, we sell and repair copiers"
and she goes "well can you give me their number please?"
and I said "we are not affiliated with them...I do not have their phone number"
and she ACTUALLY SAID "you don't? oh, well...do you have a phone book?"
and I said "you know, how did you get OUR number?"
and she goes "I looked it up in the yellow pages"
and I said "well, if you look a bit further UP, you'll probably see Dave's Copy and Fax listed"
and she goes "I just closed the book, if you could look it up for me that would be great"
and I said "unfortunately, my yellow pages is in someone else's office...and I'm quite busy...I'm sorry, but you're going to have to look it up yourself"
and she goes "oh, well good job on the customer service - I won't be leaving any bills with YOUR company!"
and she slammed down the phone...
Oh girl, I laughed and laughed and laughed....hahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Holy crap, I am so amazed at some people's ability to be complete DUMBASSES!
Monday, November 21, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
gobble, gobble...
I know I need to finish the vacation thing - but I had to jump in here and tell a funny story first...
I decided we needed to roast our own turkey this year, on top of what we'll have for Thanksgiving. So far, for the last several years, my brother has preferred to BBQ the turkey - which comes out good, but it's nothing like a regular ole roasted turkey. Hubster and I are more traditional when it comes to stuff like that...and my family is always trying new recipes and all. So we decided to have our own little thanksgiving meal sometime before Thanksgiving.
We purchased a 13 pound turkey, and I had it defrosting in the fridge for a couple of days, and decided yesterday that I needed to get that sucker cooked.
Now, we have one of those Ronco Set it and Forget it rotisseries that has been dubbed "The Raging Inferno". Hubster's parents bought it, but when they used it - it got so hot that they thought their cabinets were going to burst into flames. They only felt safe using it in the garage...and that just became inconvenient, so it sat in a box being unused...until I came along - and hubster and I became the perfect ones to inherit the Raging Inferno.
We've used it quite a few times, and while it does get hot - it's not enough to make me worry...and the food comes out DAMN good. So of course, I decided to rotisserie the turkey!
So yesterday, I get home...grab the turkey out of the fridge...and proceed to take out the INNARDS. That part gives me the heebies, so I did it quickly...throwing the INNARDS into a bowl to throw away later, and I rinse the turkey thoroughly and set it on a huge cutting board to start prepping. Between the time that I moved the turkey from the sink area, to the opposite side of the kitchen, all 3 cats had jumped up and grabbed the bowl of INNARDS...knocked it onto the floor...and one grabbed the liver and ran off...the other grabbed the neck bone and was trying to drag it across the kitchen floor...and the last one was trying to figure out how to bite through that little bag. I couldn't believe how FAST they grabbed all that stuff! I swear sometimes I wonder if they have super powers that I don't know about.
I wrestled it all away from them...cleaned up the floor (EW)...and put it in a bag for the trash while they sat looking at me all forlorn. I did let Hubster give them the liver later...liver later...hmm, say THAT 3 times fast.
ANYWAY, so I've got the turkey on a big board...I massaged it with garlic and salt, (the cookbook said MASSAGE, so I did...no happy ending though) crammed it full of onion and more garlic...pinned both ends closed...which is a very strange thing to consider...I pinned the NECK HOLE and BUTT HOLE closed. Yeah, anyone feel like eating turkey NOW?
Anyway, I put the turkey on the spike thing for the rotisserie, and realized that the legs and wings were going to be flailing about, and we can't have flailing wings. So I pinned them down as best I could...and put it in the rotisserie. Well, first time around, the pins fell out and the wings flailed and sizzled against the heating rods in the back. I stopped the rotisserie, and took the turkey out. I had used all the string to tie the legs together...so I was out of string...but knew that I needed to tie it all up somehow. So I went searching, and found the next best thing...KITE STRING. hehehe
I'm sure that if anyone was watching they would have cracked up at the contortions I was bending into while trying to tie up a slippery turkey with kite string ALL BY MYSELF. (and yes, I hummed that song while doing so "all byyyy myyyyyyyseeeeeeeeelllllf")
I had that sucker bound and gagged by the time I was finished...it was like a turkey straightjacket by the time I was done.
Which is funny because on the side of the machine, it says it can do a 15 pound turkey, an ours was only 13 pounds. I guess I got the wrong BODY STYLE of turkey? hahaha
So into the rotisserie it went, for about an hour...until I started hearing a sizzling noise and seeing puffs of smoke from the top. I noticed that one of the wing bones was catching on the heating rods. I messed with it a bit, but I couldn't get it to not hit the rods...my turkey was too fat. It was really HOT, and I even tried cutting the bone off completely - but to no avail. I ended up using two forks to pry the wing under another string hoping to bind it tighter against the turkey so it wouldn't hit.
I must be a genius because that actually worked...although it kept slipping out from the string, and I had to babysit it (set and forget it, my ASS) for most of the time it took to cook. The main problem with that is that I realized when I was stopping the rotation, it would seriously COOK THE CRAP out of the opposite side of the turkey, while I was futzing with the stupid wing.
I told Hubster that the turkey would either be really good, or it would spontaneously combust in the Raging Inferno and we'd be eating Taco Bell.
All in all, after the HOUR it took to destring and depin the damn thing....it turned out FANTASTIC...and was worth all the trouble. The meat practically fell off the bone...and was juicy and taste...I made sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows, and stuffing. Yum-may!
Course, it was 9pm by the time we ate dinner, but oh well :)
I decided we needed to roast our own turkey this year, on top of what we'll have for Thanksgiving. So far, for the last several years, my brother has preferred to BBQ the turkey - which comes out good, but it's nothing like a regular ole roasted turkey. Hubster and I are more traditional when it comes to stuff like that...and my family is always trying new recipes and all. So we decided to have our own little thanksgiving meal sometime before Thanksgiving.
We purchased a 13 pound turkey, and I had it defrosting in the fridge for a couple of days, and decided yesterday that I needed to get that sucker cooked.
Now, we have one of those Ronco Set it and Forget it rotisseries that has been dubbed "The Raging Inferno". Hubster's parents bought it, but when they used it - it got so hot that they thought their cabinets were going to burst into flames. They only felt safe using it in the garage...and that just became inconvenient, so it sat in a box being unused...until I came along - and hubster and I became the perfect ones to inherit the Raging Inferno.
We've used it quite a few times, and while it does get hot - it's not enough to make me worry...and the food comes out DAMN good. So of course, I decided to rotisserie the turkey!
So yesterday, I get home...grab the turkey out of the fridge...and proceed to take out the INNARDS. That part gives me the heebies, so I did it quickly...throwing the INNARDS into a bowl to throw away later, and I rinse the turkey thoroughly and set it on a huge cutting board to start prepping. Between the time that I moved the turkey from the sink area, to the opposite side of the kitchen, all 3 cats had jumped up and grabbed the bowl of INNARDS...knocked it onto the floor...and one grabbed the liver and ran off...the other grabbed the neck bone and was trying to drag it across the kitchen floor...and the last one was trying to figure out how to bite through that little bag. I couldn't believe how FAST they grabbed all that stuff! I swear sometimes I wonder if they have super powers that I don't know about.
I wrestled it all away from them...cleaned up the floor (EW)...and put it in a bag for the trash while they sat looking at me all forlorn. I did let Hubster give them the liver later...liver later...hmm, say THAT 3 times fast.
ANYWAY, so I've got the turkey on a big board...I massaged it with garlic and salt, (the cookbook said MASSAGE, so I did...no happy ending though) crammed it full of onion and more garlic...pinned both ends closed...which is a very strange thing to consider...I pinned the NECK HOLE and BUTT HOLE closed. Yeah, anyone feel like eating turkey NOW?
Anyway, I put the turkey on the spike thing for the rotisserie, and realized that the legs and wings were going to be flailing about, and we can't have flailing wings. So I pinned them down as best I could...and put it in the rotisserie. Well, first time around, the pins fell out and the wings flailed and sizzled against the heating rods in the back. I stopped the rotisserie, and took the turkey out. I had used all the string to tie the legs together...so I was out of string...but knew that I needed to tie it all up somehow. So I went searching, and found the next best thing...KITE STRING. hehehe
I'm sure that if anyone was watching they would have cracked up at the contortions I was bending into while trying to tie up a slippery turkey with kite string ALL BY MYSELF. (and yes, I hummed that song while doing so "all byyyy myyyyyyyseeeeeeeeelllllf")
I had that sucker bound and gagged by the time I was finished...it was like a turkey straightjacket by the time I was done.
Which is funny because on the side of the machine, it says it can do a 15 pound turkey, an ours was only 13 pounds. I guess I got the wrong BODY STYLE of turkey? hahaha
So into the rotisserie it went, for about an hour...until I started hearing a sizzling noise and seeing puffs of smoke from the top. I noticed that one of the wing bones was catching on the heating rods. I messed with it a bit, but I couldn't get it to not hit the rods...my turkey was too fat. It was really HOT, and I even tried cutting the bone off completely - but to no avail. I ended up using two forks to pry the wing under another string hoping to bind it tighter against the turkey so it wouldn't hit.
I must be a genius because that actually worked...although it kept slipping out from the string, and I had to babysit it (set and forget it, my ASS) for most of the time it took to cook. The main problem with that is that I realized when I was stopping the rotation, it would seriously COOK THE CRAP out of the opposite side of the turkey, while I was futzing with the stupid wing.
I told Hubster that the turkey would either be really good, or it would spontaneously combust in the Raging Inferno and we'd be eating Taco Bell.
All in all, after the HOUR it took to destring and depin the damn thing....it turned out FANTASTIC...and was worth all the trouble. The meat practically fell off the bone...and was juicy and taste...I made sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows, and stuffing. Yum-may!
Course, it was 9pm by the time we ate dinner, but oh well :)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Vacation Continued...
We left off at the Spruce Goose in McMinnville...which by the way was a really cute little town as well. My only concern there would be jobs - but it's a very quaint farming town - gotta love that.
So we left McMinneville and headed over to the coast. We kept seeing signs for the Tillamook Cheese factory that said "Free Samples", and since hubster and I not only love to eat...but hell, free samples? we're THERE...especially since it's cheese. I'd probably be skinny if I didn't love cheese so much. So of course we stopped, and they had a MEASLY sampling station. We got to taste about 3 different kinds, and that was IT. But then we headed upstairs where they had observation windows into the packaging room, and it was SO COOL. I swear, I could have stood there and watched that for hours. I always liked watching factory stuff on tv...like Mr. Rogers used to do..and now that tv show unwrapped on the food channel is one of my favorites. I'm fascinated with the process of it all...not sure why, just one of my quirks I guess. Anyway, it was really cool - but we decided we'd better leave or we'd gain ten pounds from all the cheese and ice cream and goodies they had there.
When we left, it was raining - which kinda sucked because it was Thursday morning, and it ended up raining until Saturday morning.
Anyway, we had a nice long drive over to the coast and then headed up Hwy 101 to Astoria, Oregon. Now, here's the thing about Astoria...it's a beautiful place...gorgeous historic victorian homes....very green...right on the Columbia River and next to the ocean....for those who might remember, it's where Goonies, Kidnergarten Cop, and Short Circuit were filmed....but the weather is crappy. We were actually really interested in possibly living there until we read many, many times that they average about 240 days of gray per year. Also? they get about 69 inches of rain. That's twice what we got here last winter, which was an abnormally WET winter. So for weather wimps like us coastal Californians...we'd probably end up with seasonal depression in a place like that.
I still really liked it though....and I guess we're lucky because if it had been beautiful and sunny, then we probably would have completely fallen in love with the place and moved there immediately.
Except for one thing that I found extremely annoying. What is with the street signs, but no streets?
We were looking at map, so we could find the Goonies house, and we were supposed to turn on 38th street, but we went too far, so we saw a sign that said 41st street, and I said "hey hun, you could turn around here" and we pulled into someone's DRIVEWAY that backed up against a hillside. What the hell? So we shrugged our shoulders and flipped around, only be confronted with a sign on the opposite side of the street a little further down that said 40th street. ONLY THERE WAS NO FLIPPIN STREET...it was either turn left and run into a hillside...or turn right and end up in the river. We just didn't get it....it was all very hysterically funny.
Astoria has a "Column" that is a very historical landmark - it's really beautiful and supposedly offers great views of the surrounding areas...so we drove up there to see it. Since it was raining, we were the ONLY ones up there...and it was starting to get dark, although you can't tell from this picture, I lightened it up so you can see the detailed artwork on the column...it's really beautiful:
We thought it would be closed, but then I noticed this...
Ahem...OPEN DOOR!
So guess who had the bright idea to CLIMB the column?
Yes, that would be me...who was wearing a long skirt and flip flops, great idea K...
It's just one long spiral staircase...hubby and I keep looking up to see if we were almost to the top, and I swear, it grew taller the farther we climbed. Regular stairs wouldn't have been SO bad, but walking in a spiral? yeah, that SUCKS. It was almost 200 stairs that we climbed...yowza
Anyway, here's the view - across the river is Washington...
It was super windy and cold, and um....WET...up there, so we didn't stay long...
But look at our tiny little lonely car from way up there!
So we get back down to the bottom...and I swear to you, going down was MUCH harder than going up. My legs are shaking uncontrollably, and my knees felt like they were going to collapse - I got to giggling because it was the kind of shaking you couldn't do anything about, you know? Partly adrenaline, and partly my muscles screaming "what the hell! Who's idea what THAT??"
So we went to get dinner, and headed back to our hotel...with the JACUZZI TUB. Yes, our room had not only a fireplace, but a big triangle jacuzzi tub right next to the bed, and perfectly angled to see the television. Hubster's DREAM hotel room, I'm telling you. Also, it was just below the Columbia Bridge and we had a nice view... despite the GRAY
How cool is it that we both sat in that tub with a fire going, jets bubbling to soothe our sore muscles, and watched SURVIVOR all at the same time?
The next morning we headed to some breakfast place..can't remember the name...but I had CRAB BENEDICT...yes, I'll say it again - I had CRAB BENEDICT. That would be CRAB meat on an english muffin with Hollandaise covering it or otherwise known as "Heaven on a plate" because hubster and I didn't really say much during breakfast, we were too busy stuffing our pieholes.
We headed out of Astoria, saying goodbye to all the lovely homes, and continued on hwy 101 until we came to a bridge that would take us over to Washington where we needed to catch the I-5. We were only in Washington briefly and then before we knew it, we were in Portland. Looks like a very pretty city, with the river running through it, kinda reminded us of a smaller version of San Franscisco for some reason, but we didn't stop for any long periods of time. We both had already decided that Portland was pretty much out of the running based on how much rain they get, and how big the town is. Hubster has no desire to live in a big city again...and I've never lived anywhere but here, and I'm more of a small town kinda person anyway. Perhaps sometime we might go back and look at some outerlying areas - but for now, I think the weather of Northern Oregon has us scared off...hee!
The strange thing we noticed as we were heading out of Portland, and other cities as well...was the large amount of hitchhikers. Alot of them were young kids, and we kinda wondered if they were hitchiking south to warmer weather? We had no idea, it was just a guess....but we've never SEEN so many people walking on a freeway like that....and it wasn't just Portland, but all over the middle and northern Oregon places we visited.
As I was driving back down I-5 toward Eugene, hubster was taking sky pictures...
Still raining...and we drove through some major downpours. Hubster was extremely nervous that I was in the driver seat...especially when I would shout out "damn honey, this is a SQUALL!" over the pounding of the rain against our windshield.
Anyway, by the time we got to Eugene, things had kind of let up a bit - and we decided to drive around and check things out because we really liked the area. Again...
Tree covered streets, people!
Love it...
Oregon State University is there, so we definately wouldn't want to live on THAT side of town, strictly based on the huge masses of college students walking everywhere, but it really is a pretty place. We stopped and got a paper, so we could check out house prices...and although we still haven't looked at it, we both have a feeling that it's gotta be pretty pricey to live there. Probably more so then Medford even...we really don't know, but it's a guess. Very nice town though, big...but has a small town feel to it.
Still more to be continued....
So we left McMinneville and headed over to the coast. We kept seeing signs for the Tillamook Cheese factory that said "Free Samples", and since hubster and I not only love to eat...but hell, free samples? we're THERE...especially since it's cheese. I'd probably be skinny if I didn't love cheese so much. So of course we stopped, and they had a MEASLY sampling station. We got to taste about 3 different kinds, and that was IT. But then we headed upstairs where they had observation windows into the packaging room, and it was SO COOL. I swear, I could have stood there and watched that for hours. I always liked watching factory stuff on tv...like Mr. Rogers used to do..and now that tv show unwrapped on the food channel is one of my favorites. I'm fascinated with the process of it all...not sure why, just one of my quirks I guess. Anyway, it was really cool - but we decided we'd better leave or we'd gain ten pounds from all the cheese and ice cream and goodies they had there.
When we left, it was raining - which kinda sucked because it was Thursday morning, and it ended up raining until Saturday morning.
Anyway, we had a nice long drive over to the coast and then headed up Hwy 101 to Astoria, Oregon. Now, here's the thing about Astoria...it's a beautiful place...gorgeous historic victorian homes....very green...right on the Columbia River and next to the ocean....for those who might remember, it's where Goonies, Kidnergarten Cop, and Short Circuit were filmed....but the weather is crappy. We were actually really interested in possibly living there until we read many, many times that they average about 240 days of gray per year. Also? they get about 69 inches of rain. That's twice what we got here last winter, which was an abnormally WET winter. So for weather wimps like us coastal Californians...we'd probably end up with seasonal depression in a place like that.
I still really liked it though....and I guess we're lucky because if it had been beautiful and sunny, then we probably would have completely fallen in love with the place and moved there immediately.
Except for one thing that I found extremely annoying. What is with the street signs, but no streets?
We were looking at map, so we could find the Goonies house, and we were supposed to turn on 38th street, but we went too far, so we saw a sign that said 41st street, and I said "hey hun, you could turn around here" and we pulled into someone's DRIVEWAY that backed up against a hillside. What the hell? So we shrugged our shoulders and flipped around, only be confronted with a sign on the opposite side of the street a little further down that said 40th street. ONLY THERE WAS NO FLIPPIN STREET...it was either turn left and run into a hillside...or turn right and end up in the river. We just didn't get it....it was all very hysterically funny.
Astoria has a "Column" that is a very historical landmark - it's really beautiful and supposedly offers great views of the surrounding areas...so we drove up there to see it. Since it was raining, we were the ONLY ones up there...and it was starting to get dark, although you can't tell from this picture, I lightened it up so you can see the detailed artwork on the column...it's really beautiful:
We thought it would be closed, but then I noticed this...
Ahem...OPEN DOOR!
So guess who had the bright idea to CLIMB the column?
Yes, that would be me...who was wearing a long skirt and flip flops, great idea K...
It's just one long spiral staircase...hubby and I keep looking up to see if we were almost to the top, and I swear, it grew taller the farther we climbed. Regular stairs wouldn't have been SO bad, but walking in a spiral? yeah, that SUCKS. It was almost 200 stairs that we climbed...yowza
Anyway, here's the view - across the river is Washington...
It was super windy and cold, and um....WET...up there, so we didn't stay long...
But look at our tiny little lonely car from way up there!
So we get back down to the bottom...and I swear to you, going down was MUCH harder than going up. My legs are shaking uncontrollably, and my knees felt like they were going to collapse - I got to giggling because it was the kind of shaking you couldn't do anything about, you know? Partly adrenaline, and partly my muscles screaming "what the hell! Who's idea what THAT??"
So we went to get dinner, and headed back to our hotel...with the JACUZZI TUB. Yes, our room had not only a fireplace, but a big triangle jacuzzi tub right next to the bed, and perfectly angled to see the television. Hubster's DREAM hotel room, I'm telling you. Also, it was just below the Columbia Bridge and we had a nice view... despite the GRAY
How cool is it that we both sat in that tub with a fire going, jets bubbling to soothe our sore muscles, and watched SURVIVOR all at the same time?
The next morning we headed to some breakfast place..can't remember the name...but I had CRAB BENEDICT...yes, I'll say it again - I had CRAB BENEDICT. That would be CRAB meat on an english muffin with Hollandaise covering it or otherwise known as "Heaven on a plate" because hubster and I didn't really say much during breakfast, we were too busy stuffing our pieholes.
We headed out of Astoria, saying goodbye to all the lovely homes, and continued on hwy 101 until we came to a bridge that would take us over to Washington where we needed to catch the I-5. We were only in Washington briefly and then before we knew it, we were in Portland. Looks like a very pretty city, with the river running through it, kinda reminded us of a smaller version of San Franscisco for some reason, but we didn't stop for any long periods of time. We both had already decided that Portland was pretty much out of the running based on how much rain they get, and how big the town is. Hubster has no desire to live in a big city again...and I've never lived anywhere but here, and I'm more of a small town kinda person anyway. Perhaps sometime we might go back and look at some outerlying areas - but for now, I think the weather of Northern Oregon has us scared off...hee!
The strange thing we noticed as we were heading out of Portland, and other cities as well...was the large amount of hitchhikers. Alot of them were young kids, and we kinda wondered if they were hitchiking south to warmer weather? We had no idea, it was just a guess....but we've never SEEN so many people walking on a freeway like that....and it wasn't just Portland, but all over the middle and northern Oregon places we visited.
As I was driving back down I-5 toward Eugene, hubster was taking sky pictures...
Still raining...and we drove through some major downpours. Hubster was extremely nervous that I was in the driver seat...especially when I would shout out "damn honey, this is a SQUALL!" over the pounding of the rain against our windshield.
Anyway, by the time we got to Eugene, things had kind of let up a bit - and we decided to drive around and check things out because we really liked the area. Again...
Tree covered streets, people!
Love it...
Oregon State University is there, so we definately wouldn't want to live on THAT side of town, strictly based on the huge masses of college students walking everywhere, but it really is a pretty place. We stopped and got a paper, so we could check out house prices...and although we still haven't looked at it, we both have a feeling that it's gotta be pretty pricey to live there. Probably more so then Medford even...we really don't know, but it's a guess. Very nice town though, big...but has a small town feel to it.
Still more to be continued....
New Toy
I will be posting the rest of our vacation sometime today - but in the meantime, I had to point out my new toy!
Look over at the sidebar, right above "currently reading" and you'll see a little box that says Where Are We...
If you click on that, and enter some basic information - I'll be able to see where everyone is reading from! Kinda cool :)
Look over at the sidebar, right above "currently reading" and you'll see a little box that says Where Are We...
If you click on that, and enter some basic information - I'll be able to see where everyone is reading from! Kinda cool :)
Friday, November 04, 2005
See? I TOLD you I would continue...
Okay, so from Crater Lake...we headed through the opposite end of the park and after driving many, many, many miles - we ended up in Roseburg, which is where our friend Kathy and her mom live.
We settled in for the night, watched an old movie (The Egg and I) and ate Abby's Legendary Pizza and fell asleep in the most soft and wonderful bed EVER. Kathy gave us her room and slept in the guest room because her bed is a king...and oh my LORD was it the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. Hubster and I woke up in the morning at about the same time, and I heard his muffled voice say "you're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming from this bed". hee!
After we FINALLY got up and dressed, we decided to go to a drive-thru wild animal safari that was about 10 minutes away. Only problem was, we wanted Kathy's mom to go too, since she'd never been...and she was at Walmart. So we piled into the car and stalked the Walmart parking lot until we caught a glimpse of her backing out of a space. We whipped around and followed her out of the lot and down the street to an intersection. We joked about how she had NO CLUE that we were behind her...and then somehow...I talked Kathy into getting out of our car and jumping into the passengers side of her mom's car. You know, to scare the poor woman to death.
So of course, Kathy gets out of our car, and the light immediately turns green...her mom takes off STILL not knowing that we're behind her...and Kathy hauls ass running into the MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION pounding on her mom's window to stop....
Meanwhile, Hubster and I are laughing so hard, we're about to pee ourselves.
Her mom stops, Kathy gets in, and we proceed back to Kathy's house....where I am prompty told that I am a BAD INFLUENCE because Kathy would NEVER have done anything like that before - especially at a busy intersection with tons of people watching.
I was still laughing about it and told Kathy it was a very proud moment for me.
ANYWAY - onward to the wildlife safari!
At first glance, this might LOOK like a giraffe in the middle of the road in front of our car:
and it is...they were so close, it was amazing!
As you can tell, I love me some giraffe's...and lions...love them kitty toes!
and THESE guys? It took every OUNCE of common sense not to just run out of the car and try to snuggle with them...I can't even explain how cute they were... check out the one that's face down in the water. He actually blew bubbles and did the motorboat thing, but I didn't catch a picture of it - I was to busy screaming "awwwwww! Hubby can I have one! I want a bear!"
We also saw Cheetah's and Tigers and Emu's and Camels and Monkey's and Snakes and all kinds of Deer and Elk and Zebra's and a Bald Eagle and Buffalo, etc, etc.
The one thing that was hiding was the HIPPO - I so badly wanted to see the hippo
Anyway, I would post all those pictures, but that would take FOREVER - so if you really want to see them, email me and I'll send them to you. Otherwise, use your imagination! hehe
From Roseburg, we then headed up I-5 through all kinds of towns...and once we got to Salem, we went East over to McMinneville. Which is a tiny little farming community that we fell in love with. But our sole purpose for going there was to see this:
You can't really tell from this picture, but this is the Evergreen Aviation Museum that contains the SPRUCE GOOSE...
It basically fills the ENTIRE museum, with smaller planes placed around underneath the wings. It's positively HUGE...
This is the Tail - which is actually 8 stories tall!
This is INSIDE - the cargo area of the Spruce Goose - pretty darn cool lookin:
I wandered around taking pictures of various planes, and then I realized that hubster wasn't behind me...guess where I found him?
IN THE KIDS SECTION PLAYING...
More to come later...
We settled in for the night, watched an old movie (The Egg and I) and ate Abby's Legendary Pizza and fell asleep in the most soft and wonderful bed EVER. Kathy gave us her room and slept in the guest room because her bed is a king...and oh my LORD was it the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. Hubster and I woke up in the morning at about the same time, and I heard his muffled voice say "you're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming from this bed". hee!
After we FINALLY got up and dressed, we decided to go to a drive-thru wild animal safari that was about 10 minutes away. Only problem was, we wanted Kathy's mom to go too, since she'd never been...and she was at Walmart. So we piled into the car and stalked the Walmart parking lot until we caught a glimpse of her backing out of a space. We whipped around and followed her out of the lot and down the street to an intersection. We joked about how she had NO CLUE that we were behind her...and then somehow...I talked Kathy into getting out of our car and jumping into the passengers side of her mom's car. You know, to scare the poor woman to death.
So of course, Kathy gets out of our car, and the light immediately turns green...her mom takes off STILL not knowing that we're behind her...and Kathy hauls ass running into the MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION pounding on her mom's window to stop....
Meanwhile, Hubster and I are laughing so hard, we're about to pee ourselves.
Her mom stops, Kathy gets in, and we proceed back to Kathy's house....where I am prompty told that I am a BAD INFLUENCE because Kathy would NEVER have done anything like that before - especially at a busy intersection with tons of people watching.
I was still laughing about it and told Kathy it was a very proud moment for me.
ANYWAY - onward to the wildlife safari!
At first glance, this might LOOK like a giraffe in the middle of the road in front of our car:
and it is...they were so close, it was amazing!
As you can tell, I love me some giraffe's...and lions...love them kitty toes!
and THESE guys? It took every OUNCE of common sense not to just run out of the car and try to snuggle with them...I can't even explain how cute they were... check out the one that's face down in the water. He actually blew bubbles and did the motorboat thing, but I didn't catch a picture of it - I was to busy screaming "awwwwww! Hubby can I have one! I want a bear!"
We also saw Cheetah's and Tigers and Emu's and Camels and Monkey's and Snakes and all kinds of Deer and Elk and Zebra's and a Bald Eagle and Buffalo, etc, etc.
The one thing that was hiding was the HIPPO - I so badly wanted to see the hippo
Anyway, I would post all those pictures, but that would take FOREVER - so if you really want to see them, email me and I'll send them to you. Otherwise, use your imagination! hehe
From Roseburg, we then headed up I-5 through all kinds of towns...and once we got to Salem, we went East over to McMinneville. Which is a tiny little farming community that we fell in love with. But our sole purpose for going there was to see this:
You can't really tell from this picture, but this is the Evergreen Aviation Museum that contains the SPRUCE GOOSE...It basically fills the ENTIRE museum, with smaller planes placed around underneath the wings. It's positively HUGE...
This is the Tail - which is actually 8 stories tall!
This is INSIDE - the cargo area of the Spruce Goose - pretty darn cool lookin:
I wandered around taking pictures of various planes, and then I realized that hubster wasn't behind me...guess where I found him?
IN THE KIDS SECTION PLAYING...
More to come later...
I give in
I've been telling myself for the last week that I needed to post an entry...but I've been so swamped with work, and trying to get laundry done, and oh yeah - sitting on my ASS reading and catching up on my "shows", that I've been putting it off.
The problem with me these days is that I ordered a bunch of books off Amazon, and they arrived the DAY before we left for vacation..which led to me devouring my first book, thus causing a mad last minute packing frenzy and half assed cleaning of our house before we left for our trip. Hubster walked into the house on Friday, and saw me snuggled on the couch with my stack of "goods"...groaned and said "you know, I HOPE I'm gonna get to talk to my wife on this trip instead of watching her have an affair with her lastest novel"
And yet who do you think is the one who ended up with his nose in a book while I was DRIVING??? yeah, that would be him...
I don't know how he does that without getting sick...especially with ME driving!
So anyway - I'm currently on my FOURTH book in 2 weeks - and I still have laundry and unpacking to do.
If there's one thing I'm good at, it's being lazy!
I must say that hubster and I DID NOT end up renting an RV like we wanted to. Partly because the cost of gas would have been outrageous for all the miles we were driving...and partly because hubster is easily seduced by a hotel jacuzzi tub. I also am easily seduced by those little tiny bottles of shampoo and lotion...you KNOW I throw all those suckers into my suitcase before leaving. I also take all the coffee, tea, cotton balls, earplugs, and shower caps. YES I TAKE THE SHOWER CAPS....not that I ever use them, but I PAID for them so they're coming with me.
Those hotels are just lucky that I don't take the toilet paper and kleenex too...
Hubster's parents didn't like the idea of us driving our own car, and insisted that they rent us a car instead. So we got to drive a cute little cranberry red Mazda 6 on our trip - which was cool.
Some of the things we did on vacation:
Take ALOT of pictures from the car window. This is us crossing the Bay Bridge on our way out of San Francisco on Monday morning...
This is hubster trying to protest my picture-taking and yet burp at the same time...he's a sexy beast isn't he?
as you can see, his protesting didn't prevent me from posting this picture on the INTERNET...
The drive from San Francisco to Redding was incredibly boring - surprisingly boring actually. We amused ourselves by discussing who gets to name towns, and why someone would think it's a good idea to call a place WEED, California. The only conclusion we could come up with was either some unimaginative hippies who got some good stuff there...OR, that maybe the explorers who found the place weren't very impressed.
And here is where we started heading into the "TREES glorious TREES!"
That up there on the right is Mount Shasta....still in California at that point.
Our first stop was Ashland, Oregon - which was a BEAUTIFUL place. But it's very expensive to live there. We stopped and had some lunch, and spoke with a realtor who gave us information about surrounding areas, including Medford - which is where we were really interested in.
We then drove to Medford and proceeded to search for some of the houses for sale...not that we could buy anything just yet, but we were curious to see what prices were like, and what KIND of houses money could buy.
We drove by some really cute houses in really crappy areas...and then started finding more and more places we liked. I then found my "dream street" - "Queen Anne Place" (I'm SO not kidding about the name)
We're talking TREE-CANOPIED streets here people!
And those older victorian style homes...that I LOVE. We actually saw little kids jumping into piles of leaves in their front yard, and people walking their dogs on this street.
We drove 2 blocks down and found an brick elementary school - I swear, it was unreal how picturesque this place was.
I even accidentally captured a weird artsy kind of picture...check out the rays of sun...
After driving around Medford for quite a while - we headed up to Grants Pass to see if we could find a place to sleep for the night. We ended up getting there after dark, and found a place by the Rogue River. We could HEAR the River, but we couldn't actually see it until morning. When I woke up and walked out onto our balcony, this is what I saw:
Pretty huh?
We then headed into a historic little place called Jacksonville...which is currently my dream town. I'm a dumbass because I didn't get ANY pictures of it. I was so enthralled with the trees, and the houses, and the LAND, and the sweet little town, and trying to figure out how we could possibly afford to live there...that I just plain forgot that I had a camera in my hand. Yes, it was THAT CUTE.
From there, we headed out of town, and into MORE TREES...on our way to Crater Lake, we were surrounded by State Park the entire way there. This is pretty much what it looked like the entire way:
COWS!!! (just hangin out in a FOREST...am I the only one who thinks that's wierd?)
The problem with me these days is that I ordered a bunch of books off Amazon, and they arrived the DAY before we left for vacation..which led to me devouring my first book, thus causing a mad last minute packing frenzy and half assed cleaning of our house before we left for our trip. Hubster walked into the house on Friday, and saw me snuggled on the couch with my stack of "goods"...groaned and said "you know, I HOPE I'm gonna get to talk to my wife on this trip instead of watching her have an affair with her lastest novel"
And yet who do you think is the one who ended up with his nose in a book while I was DRIVING??? yeah, that would be him...
I don't know how he does that without getting sick...especially with ME driving!
So anyway - I'm currently on my FOURTH book in 2 weeks - and I still have laundry and unpacking to do.
If there's one thing I'm good at, it's being lazy!
I must say that hubster and I DID NOT end up renting an RV like we wanted to. Partly because the cost of gas would have been outrageous for all the miles we were driving...and partly because hubster is easily seduced by a hotel jacuzzi tub. I also am easily seduced by those little tiny bottles of shampoo and lotion...you KNOW I throw all those suckers into my suitcase before leaving. I also take all the coffee, tea, cotton balls, earplugs, and shower caps. YES I TAKE THE SHOWER CAPS....not that I ever use them, but I PAID for them so they're coming with me.
Those hotels are just lucky that I don't take the toilet paper and kleenex too...
Hubster's parents didn't like the idea of us driving our own car, and insisted that they rent us a car instead. So we got to drive a cute little cranberry red Mazda 6 on our trip - which was cool.
Some of the things we did on vacation:
Take ALOT of pictures from the car window. This is us crossing the Bay Bridge on our way out of San Francisco on Monday morning...
This is hubster trying to protest my picture-taking and yet burp at the same time...he's a sexy beast isn't he?
as you can see, his protesting didn't prevent me from posting this picture on the INTERNET...
The drive from San Francisco to Redding was incredibly boring - surprisingly boring actually. We amused ourselves by discussing who gets to name towns, and why someone would think it's a good idea to call a place WEED, California. The only conclusion we could come up with was either some unimaginative hippies who got some good stuff there...OR, that maybe the explorers who found the place weren't very impressed.
And here is where we started heading into the "TREES glorious TREES!"
That up there on the right is Mount Shasta....still in California at that point.
Our first stop was Ashland, Oregon - which was a BEAUTIFUL place. But it's very expensive to live there. We stopped and had some lunch, and spoke with a realtor who gave us information about surrounding areas, including Medford - which is where we were really interested in.
We then drove to Medford and proceeded to search for some of the houses for sale...not that we could buy anything just yet, but we were curious to see what prices were like, and what KIND of houses money could buy.
We drove by some really cute houses in really crappy areas...and then started finding more and more places we liked. I then found my "dream street" - "Queen Anne Place" (I'm SO not kidding about the name)
We're talking TREE-CANOPIED streets here people!
And those older victorian style homes...that I LOVE. We actually saw little kids jumping into piles of leaves in their front yard, and people walking their dogs on this street.
We drove 2 blocks down and found an brick elementary school - I swear, it was unreal how picturesque this place was.
I even accidentally captured a weird artsy kind of picture...check out the rays of sun...
After driving around Medford for quite a while - we headed up to Grants Pass to see if we could find a place to sleep for the night. We ended up getting there after dark, and found a place by the Rogue River. We could HEAR the River, but we couldn't actually see it until morning. When I woke up and walked out onto our balcony, this is what I saw:
Pretty huh?
We then headed into a historic little place called Jacksonville...which is currently my dream town. I'm a dumbass because I didn't get ANY pictures of it. I was so enthralled with the trees, and the houses, and the LAND, and the sweet little town, and trying to figure out how we could possibly afford to live there...that I just plain forgot that I had a camera in my hand. Yes, it was THAT CUTE.
From there, we headed out of town, and into MORE TREES...on our way to Crater Lake, we were surrounded by State Park the entire way there. This is pretty much what it looked like the entire way:
COWS!!! (just hangin out in a FOREST...am I the only one who thinks that's wierd?)
And finally, Crater Lake...yay!
For those of you who don't know - Crater Lake is actually the inside of a volcano. The inside of it just collapsed, and after centuries it collected enough rain water and run-off to become a lake. The water is so crystal blue, there is no way to capture it on a camera.
Another fact about Crater Lake? It gets COLD up there...as demonstrated:
To be continued....I PROMISE
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Gotta Love Him...
Proof that Hubster must have been sleepy when he had breakfast this morning...
When I called to tell him what I found this morning he cracked up and goes "I didn't put the milk on top of the fridge did I?"
HAHAHAHAHA!
Friday, September 30, 2005
Pillow Talk...
Hubster: "You don't even have a pillow...here, use this one"
Me: (scoots over and grabs the pillow) sings.."put your head on a pilleeeeeeer!" (of course with a honky tonk twang)
Hubster: proceeds to sing "it helps the medicine go down! the medicine go dooooowwwn, medicine go down!"
Me: "uhhh, what are you doin?"
Hubster: "I'm singing along! isn't that how it goes?"
Me: "ummm, well...I was singing a country song and you busted out with some Mary Poppins...what's up with that?"
Hubster: "oh...well....it SOUNDED like it would go..."
We looked at each other and smiled...and of COURSE started to sing "Put your head on a piller, it helps the medicine go down! the medicine go dooooooown, medicine go down - just a head on a piller help the medicine go down! In the most de...light...ful....way!"
Good lord, we're singing Mary Poppins in bed - FUH-REAKS!
of course it just now crossed my mind that I should probably ask how in the heck hubster even KNEW the words to Mary Poppins. Does he watch it with the cats when I'm not home?
Me: (scoots over and grabs the pillow) sings.."put your head on a pilleeeeeeer!" (of course with a honky tonk twang)
Hubster: proceeds to sing "it helps the medicine go down! the medicine go dooooowwwn, medicine go down!"
Me: "uhhh, what are you doin?"
Hubster: "I'm singing along! isn't that how it goes?"
Me: "ummm, well...I was singing a country song and you busted out with some Mary Poppins...what's up with that?"
Hubster: "oh...well....it SOUNDED like it would go..."
We looked at each other and smiled...and of COURSE started to sing "Put your head on a piller, it helps the medicine go down! the medicine go dooooooown, medicine go down - just a head on a piller help the medicine go down! In the most de...light...ful....way!"
Good lord, we're singing Mary Poppins in bed - FUH-REAKS!
of course it just now crossed my mind that I should probably ask how in the heck hubster even KNEW the words to Mary Poppins. Does he watch it with the cats when I'm not home?
Thursday, September 22, 2005
K Doolittle
Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk working (shaddup, I really was working) when I heard a "THONK!" coming from my bosses office. I instantly knew what it was...and I ran over to the window.
I saw a really tiny little bird laying downstairs on the ground. His neck was all twisted and he was laying on his back...I thought for sure he was dead. But then I saw that he was still breathing. So I ran downstairs with some kleenex in hand and picked up the bird. He kind of flopped over and lifted his head to look at me. I was shocked that his neck seemed okay...and I pet him and held him. It seemed like he was really disoriented, and just knocked himself silly.
I put him in a box and proceeded to call several people trying to get advice about what to do. T told me to call the wildlife center, and reminded me that I shouldn't touch the bird because if it's a baby and the momma bird smells human, then they'll abandon him. So I started to freak out...thinking that I'd ruined this bird's chance of going back to his family. I left a message for the wildlife center, and left him in the box to rest.
Finally, before I left work - the wildlife place called me back and reassured me that touching him with my bare hand wouldn't do any harm...that birds really don't have a sense of smell...whew! She told me to hold him in a flat hand and see if he would fly away.
I held him up by the tree outside, and he just kind of hunkered down in my palm and closed his eyes. He obviously wasn't ready to fly.
So we put him back in the box...sealed the lid - and poked holes in the side. I put some water and some birdseed in the bottom of the box...and left him in a dark and quiet place overnight.
He was SO tiny and so cute...I really hoped he'd make it....
I saw a really tiny little bird laying downstairs on the ground. His neck was all twisted and he was laying on his back...I thought for sure he was dead. But then I saw that he was still breathing. So I ran downstairs with some kleenex in hand and picked up the bird. He kind of flopped over and lifted his head to look at me. I was shocked that his neck seemed okay...and I pet him and held him. It seemed like he was really disoriented, and just knocked himself silly.
I put him in a box and proceeded to call several people trying to get advice about what to do. T told me to call the wildlife center, and reminded me that I shouldn't touch the bird because if it's a baby and the momma bird smells human, then they'll abandon him. So I started to freak out...thinking that I'd ruined this bird's chance of going back to his family. I left a message for the wildlife center, and left him in the box to rest.
Finally, before I left work - the wildlife place called me back and reassured me that touching him with my bare hand wouldn't do any harm...that birds really don't have a sense of smell...whew! She told me to hold him in a flat hand and see if he would fly away.
I held him up by the tree outside, and he just kind of hunkered down in my palm and closed his eyes. He obviously wasn't ready to fly.
So we put him back in the box...sealed the lid - and poked holes in the side. I put some water and some birdseed in the bottom of the box...and left him in a dark and quiet place overnight.
He was SO tiny and so cute...I really hoped he'd make it....
This morning, I peeked into the box and he hopped around and chirped at me! So I took the box downstairs and took the lid off. He looked at me and turned his head to the side as if to say "huh? I'm free? I can go now?"
He kinda cruised around in the box, and I reached down to pick him up thinking that he'd fly away - and he did! He flew up into a nearby tree...sat on the branch and chirped and chirped. He flew around from branch to branch, chirping all the while. I could just imagine him telling his friends "hey guys, you would not BELIEVE what I went through yesterday!"
I gotta say, that whole experience was pretty darn cool :)
And something weird? My friend Ani rescued a bird yesterday too - same darn window THONK happened to her. What are the chances?
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Sleepless Nights
Last night, our kitties were baaaaaaaaaaaad...
They decided to do the relay race stampede up and down the hallway at midnight - which sounds like a herd of elephants on our wood floors..and of course we couldn't have lightfooted cats...noooooo - we've got the 15-20 pounders HARUMPING up and down the flippin hallway.
I got up a couple times to whisper "HEY! You three....SHUT.UP.NOW" - mainly because we have a friend staying in the guest room, and I'm sure she was kept awake by the galloping buffalo in the hall.
I would herd them back into our bedroom where they would wrestle and bump into walls and eventually end up chasing each other back down the hallway.
FINALLY - things quieted down....hubster was snoring...Tweak was in his bed next to me...and I was ALMOST asleep....and then I hear the thump-thump-thump-thumping of Jackson and Tiny running once again down the hall...my eyes pop open - and suddenly I see two furry things fly up onto the bed RIGHT by hubster's head...and proceed to jump onto our headboard. They knock over a book and a hair band while wrestling RIGHT ABOVE OUR HEADS. I'm whisper-shouting at them...and hubster is still snoring away. I finally get Jackson to jump down, and I leave Tiny up there. I lay down just as Tiny decides to peek out the window behind our bed. He then decides that the 2 inch ledge of the window is actually big enough for his butt..which it's not...and JUMPS onto the ledge. Of course he falls...grasps onto the curtains and flails his legs around...which in turn, knocks over EVERYTHING on our headboard. Hubster and I get hit the head with water bottles and books and glasses and even a LAMP....
Tiny finally jumps down and runs off - leaving hubster looking bewildered, and me laughing so hard that I've buried my head into my pillow.
It was a minute and a half of pure commotion...
Hubster goes "what just happened?"
Through my laughter, I made an attempt to explain it, but he just shook his head and said "geez, those cats..." and rolled right over and went back to sleep.
I looked down at the end of the bed, and Tiny and Jackson were sitting next to each other on the footboard and looked at me as if to say "whuuuuuut? what'd we do?"
They decided to do the relay race stampede up and down the hallway at midnight - which sounds like a herd of elephants on our wood floors..and of course we couldn't have lightfooted cats...noooooo - we've got the 15-20 pounders HARUMPING up and down the flippin hallway.
I got up a couple times to whisper "HEY! You three....SHUT.UP.NOW" - mainly because we have a friend staying in the guest room, and I'm sure she was kept awake by the galloping buffalo in the hall.
I would herd them back into our bedroom where they would wrestle and bump into walls and eventually end up chasing each other back down the hallway.
FINALLY - things quieted down....hubster was snoring...Tweak was in his bed next to me...and I was ALMOST asleep....and then I hear the thump-thump-thump-thumping of Jackson and Tiny running once again down the hall...my eyes pop open - and suddenly I see two furry things fly up onto the bed RIGHT by hubster's head...and proceed to jump onto our headboard. They knock over a book and a hair band while wrestling RIGHT ABOVE OUR HEADS. I'm whisper-shouting at them...and hubster is still snoring away. I finally get Jackson to jump down, and I leave Tiny up there. I lay down just as Tiny decides to peek out the window behind our bed. He then decides that the 2 inch ledge of the window is actually big enough for his butt..which it's not...and JUMPS onto the ledge. Of course he falls...grasps onto the curtains and flails his legs around...which in turn, knocks over EVERYTHING on our headboard. Hubster and I get hit the head with water bottles and books and glasses and even a LAMP....
Tiny finally jumps down and runs off - leaving hubster looking bewildered, and me laughing so hard that I've buried my head into my pillow.
It was a minute and a half of pure commotion...
Hubster goes "what just happened?"
Through my laughter, I made an attempt to explain it, but he just shook his head and said "geez, those cats..." and rolled right over and went back to sleep.
I looked down at the end of the bed, and Tiny and Jackson were sitting next to each other on the footboard and looked at me as if to say "whuuuuuut? what'd we do?"
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
The Ugliest Thing...
Last year, around Christmas-time...hubster and I started gift searching for some married friends (I shall call them D and N) who live up in the Bay Area. We went to local store known for oddball finds, and low prices. We were in the housewares section and kept finding some of the UGLIEST items. We were laughing over a ceramic high heeled shoe, that was covered in porcelain filagree and gold paint, and commenting on why anyone would buy such a dust collector...when it suddenly dawned on us, that we should find a really hideous gift for our friends. And thus started the "Ugly gift that never dies" game.
We looked at the price tag on the shoe, and decided against spending the $8 and headed over to the clearance section. Which is where...for $2...we found the perfect item.
Behold, the ugliest teapot you ever did see...
We looked at the price tag on the shoe, and decided against spending the $8 and headed over to the clearance section. Which is where...for $2...we found the perfect item.
Behold, the ugliest teapot you ever did see...
Of course we bought it...and proceeded to buy them a REAL present as well because we just couldn't actually be THAT mean.
We lovingly wrapped up the teapot, as well as their other gift...and brought it with us to the Bay area where we spent the holidays with hubster's family.
We met our friends at Starbucks, and left the real gift in the car. Sitting down to chat with our coffee, hubster immediately presented the gift. They opened it carefully and proceeded to bring forth the teapot in all it's glory. I think I may have heard a gasp from other people at the crowded cafe, as the bright colors flashed around the small room. Hubster and I could barely contain our laughter while waiting for them to comment on our generous gift. D politely says "wow, it's....really...um....colorful!" - Meanwhile N was grinning wide-eyed...I could almost hear her brain thinking "good GAWD where's the nearest dumpster?" Hubster and I burst out laughing and when they realized it was just a joke - we went to get their real present out of the car.
Fast forward to several months later - D and N come to visit us. We had a lovely weekend full of relaxing and fun...yet, when they left...we mysteriously found THE TEAPOT sitting on the dresser in our guest room.
I emailed N the next day and told her that she sucks...and we both agreed "Let the games begin"
Fast forward to now - where I've had the teapot sitting on my file cabinet at work (BIG conversation piece, lemme tell ya). D and N just happen to be traveling in a foreign land...and little do they know, I have a way to find out exactly where they are staying.
Soon, they will find out that a lovely surprise has been Fed-Exed to them from the other side of the world...
We're kinda hoping they leave it there, so we can go back and get that ugly ceramic shoe...I'm sure it must be on clearance by now!
Friday, September 02, 2005
Mord Wix-up
When my mom and my aunt were younger...I think my mom was about 11 or 12 - which means my aunt would be around 14 (I think), they shared a funny incident that has been told in our family ever since.
Apparantly, they shared a room when they were younger - and their dresser was positioned right by the doorway, in such a fashion that if any of the drawers were left open, the person entering the room was sure to trip over it.
One day, my mother was rummaging around the bottom drawer...and was so caught up in finding what she was looking for, that she LEFT THE DRAWER OPEN.
My aunt proceeded to walk into the room, and immediately banged her shin really hard on the drawer.
Now...my aunt is a very precise and dramatic person with an amazing vocabulary. She was so filled with RAGE that her little sister had left that drawer open without ANY THOUGHT...that she stood there shaking with anger and gritting her teeth.
At this point I imagine my mom sitting on the bed with a drawing in her lap...eyes bulging...and her mouth hanging open while she waited to see what my aunt would do to her.
Anyway, when my aunt was finally able to stop shaking with anger long enough to get words out - she screamed out...
"YOU FUPID STOOL!"
Which has become a life-long family saying ever since...and we laugh and laugh about it. Anytime someone does something maddening or frustrating - we always bust out with the Fupid Stool saying.
Which brings me to today. Hubster and I had to go to DMV this morning to take care of some business...and we stopped for lunch at a local deli. We were sitting there eating, and he was looking through a car catalog pointing out all the cars he wanted to me...he started to have a sneezing fit, and yet was still talking about cars inbetween sneezes. He was describing in detail about a particular car, still sneezing...when he said...
"it's even got the tindows winted"
We looked at each other and busted out laughing.
When we got back into the car, I laughed again and said ...
"tindows winted...HA! you fupid stool.."
Apparantly, they shared a room when they were younger - and their dresser was positioned right by the doorway, in such a fashion that if any of the drawers were left open, the person entering the room was sure to trip over it.
One day, my mother was rummaging around the bottom drawer...and was so caught up in finding what she was looking for, that she LEFT THE DRAWER OPEN.
My aunt proceeded to walk into the room, and immediately banged her shin really hard on the drawer.
Now...my aunt is a very precise and dramatic person with an amazing vocabulary. She was so filled with RAGE that her little sister had left that drawer open without ANY THOUGHT...that she stood there shaking with anger and gritting her teeth.
At this point I imagine my mom sitting on the bed with a drawing in her lap...eyes bulging...and her mouth hanging open while she waited to see what my aunt would do to her.
Anyway, when my aunt was finally able to stop shaking with anger long enough to get words out - she screamed out...
"YOU FUPID STOOL!"
Which has become a life-long family saying ever since...and we laugh and laugh about it. Anytime someone does something maddening or frustrating - we always bust out with the Fupid Stool saying.
Which brings me to today. Hubster and I had to go to DMV this morning to take care of some business...and we stopped for lunch at a local deli. We were sitting there eating, and he was looking through a car catalog pointing out all the cars he wanted to me...he started to have a sneezing fit, and yet was still talking about cars inbetween sneezes. He was describing in detail about a particular car, still sneezing...when he said...
"it's even got the tindows winted"
We looked at each other and busted out laughing.
When we got back into the car, I laughed again and said ...
"tindows winted...HA! you fupid stool.."
Monday, August 22, 2005
A stranger who made my day...
I left work this morning at around 10am and headed off to run some errands for work. One of my stops was at the local bank to make a deposit. The bank has 3 drive through lanes...one that is right by the teller window, and two with the tube/suction things.
The first lane by the window had 1 car waiting...lane #2 had a car being helped...and I pulled into the third lane and waited behind a woman who was being helped. Just after I pulled up - a man in a truck pulled into lane #2, and just as the car in front of him pulled away - a young lady came running out with a sign that said "please use other lane". I assume they were having some issues with the tube/suction thing. The man looked a bit peeved, but backed up and pulled into line behind me.
We sat there, and we sat there....I farted around with the radio for a bit...and realized that we've all been sitting there for quite a few minutes, and nobody moved. Lane #1 still hadn't moved - and neither had ours...
Well right then, I noticed that the woman in front of me was talking very animatedly to the teller through the call box. I figured perhaps there was something wrong with her account or something...so I rolled down my window like a good nosy person. Only she wasn't talking about anything bank account related.
This woman had turned into chatty kathy and was talking about a baby shower that she'd gone to that weekend...she was giving the teller ALL the details about this baby shower....and I"m sitting behind this woman thinking "are you kidding me? does she not realize that she's got 2 people behind her?"
To my disbelief, the teller then asks if the pregnant woman knows what she's having...and more conversation ensues about the baby thing.
I VERY BADLY wanted to honk my horn - but I didn't have the gumption to do so - and instead I revved my engine really loud hoping she would take the hint...
The talking ensues - and hand gestures - and giggling - and exclaming...
Lane #1 hasn't moved either - so I assume that there is only one teller helping both lanes, and these two are so busy yapping it up that nobody is going anywhere...
I was starting to lose my wits...and the anxiety was building at the GALL of this woman...and I was JUST about to finally tap my horn a little...when I heard a car door slam.
I looked in my side mirror to see that the man behind me had gotten out of his truck. He strolled up to the woman in the car behind me....leaned over and pushed the call button on the call box...and said very loudly:
"Do you think the two of you could shut the f*%k up so the rest of us can get on with our day?"
and he turned and walked towards me back to his truck. I was cracking up and said "THANK YOU!" as he walked by.
The woman in the car in front of me looked absolutely HORRIFIED and hurriedly drove away.
I pulled up - and noticed that the woman who was at the teller's window was being reprimanded, and another woman stepped into her place to help myself and the people in lane #1.
I was so glad to see someone do what I've always wished I had the guts to do....that stranger-man totally and completely made my day. I'm still laughing!
The first lane by the window had 1 car waiting...lane #2 had a car being helped...and I pulled into the third lane and waited behind a woman who was being helped. Just after I pulled up - a man in a truck pulled into lane #2, and just as the car in front of him pulled away - a young lady came running out with a sign that said "please use other lane". I assume they were having some issues with the tube/suction thing. The man looked a bit peeved, but backed up and pulled into line behind me.
We sat there, and we sat there....I farted around with the radio for a bit...and realized that we've all been sitting there for quite a few minutes, and nobody moved. Lane #1 still hadn't moved - and neither had ours...
Well right then, I noticed that the woman in front of me was talking very animatedly to the teller through the call box. I figured perhaps there was something wrong with her account or something...so I rolled down my window like a good nosy person. Only she wasn't talking about anything bank account related.
This woman had turned into chatty kathy and was talking about a baby shower that she'd gone to that weekend...she was giving the teller ALL the details about this baby shower....and I"m sitting behind this woman thinking "are you kidding me? does she not realize that she's got 2 people behind her?"
To my disbelief, the teller then asks if the pregnant woman knows what she's having...and more conversation ensues about the baby thing.
I VERY BADLY wanted to honk my horn - but I didn't have the gumption to do so - and instead I revved my engine really loud hoping she would take the hint...
The talking ensues - and hand gestures - and giggling - and exclaming...
Lane #1 hasn't moved either - so I assume that there is only one teller helping both lanes, and these two are so busy yapping it up that nobody is going anywhere...
I was starting to lose my wits...and the anxiety was building at the GALL of this woman...and I was JUST about to finally tap my horn a little...when I heard a car door slam.
I looked in my side mirror to see that the man behind me had gotten out of his truck. He strolled up to the woman in the car behind me....leaned over and pushed the call button on the call box...and said very loudly:
"Do you think the two of you could shut the f*%k up so the rest of us can get on with our day?"
and he turned and walked towards me back to his truck. I was cracking up and said "THANK YOU!" as he walked by.
The woman in the car in front of me looked absolutely HORRIFIED and hurriedly drove away.
I pulled up - and noticed that the woman who was at the teller's window was being reprimanded, and another woman stepped into her place to help myself and the people in lane #1.
I was so glad to see someone do what I've always wished I had the guts to do....that stranger-man totally and completely made my day. I'm still laughing!
Friday, August 19, 2005
Still on the road again...
So back to the topic of "Road Trips"...
Hubster and I feel like we really need to find somewhere to live that is outside of California. Some people might understand that, and some may think we're insane to be leaving friends and family for something completely different then what we're used to. But after MANY (and believe me, SOOOO MANY) discussions on the subject, we just really feel like moving out of the area, and the state...is the right decision for ourselves and our future family.
We've talked about many different areas, and of course we still have alot of options to talk about and explore - all for many different reasons. But for right now, based on location - weather - jobs - and landscape....we're leaning towards Southern Oregon.
We have a vacation coming up in October, and we're again - heading out on the road without any specific plans. Just us, a map, and the road ahead....up into Oregon territory to see how we feel about several different areas up there. We both try to think things through practically and responsibly, but in the end..most of the decisions we make, are based on our GUT FEELINGS about it.
You know how people say "when you KNOW...you KNOW"?
Well that's how we felt when we got married (and everyone thought we were INSANE)...both times we've been on the lookout for a new home to live in...any big purchases, such as cars, furniture, etc....anything that's kind of a big deal...in the end, our gut feelings always win out. And we both know that we have to be in AGREEMENT about those feelings, or it'll never work.
So anyway - we really have no plans about where specifically we're going...I mean, we know certain towns and places we want to go - but nothing is planned out as far as staying anywhere, or having a schedule for anything. We've talked about driving back down through parts of Idaho...we've also talked about driving up to Seattle. Who knows - we'll know when we know, right?
We're both really excited about it - and we've talked about renting a car for the drive, so that we don't put so many miles on our car, or have to worry about mechanical problems that WE have to fix....yada, yada, yada..
But then last night - plans changed.
Hubster called me yesterday and asked me to look up information on renting an RV. My heart kind of skipped a beat when he said that because I can't believe we didn't think of that before!
WE've always talked about wanting to buy an RV someday and just traveling all over the place....all over the US, Canada, Mexico...anywhere we can DRIVE.
So how great would it be to give it a shot for this upcoming trip? Especially when we have no idea where we're going or where we'll end up.
So I looked into it - and for about $700, not including gas (which will be outrageous, but would be ANYWAY) - we can rent an RV for the entire week. Not only will we not have to pay for hotels...or a rental car...but we'll also be able to buy food and prepare it ourselves, rather then having the expense of eating out for every meal. The RV has a shower, toilet, stovetop, fridge, freezer, and microwave...it'll be like camping - only not really camping.
This is so right up our alley - and we both keep thinking about our last Road Trip and how much fun we had.
This will be different because it could possibly involve our FUTURE - but at the same time, it's very exciting to think about and we're both very curious how we're going to feel about the areas we want to see. It could be a definate "hell no", it could also be a hesitant "maybe" - and it could also be a wide-eyed look at each other with a smile that says "this is it".
On to making more great memories...
Hubster and I feel like we really need to find somewhere to live that is outside of California. Some people might understand that, and some may think we're insane to be leaving friends and family for something completely different then what we're used to. But after MANY (and believe me, SOOOO MANY) discussions on the subject, we just really feel like moving out of the area, and the state...is the right decision for ourselves and our future family.
We've talked about many different areas, and of course we still have alot of options to talk about and explore - all for many different reasons. But for right now, based on location - weather - jobs - and landscape....we're leaning towards Southern Oregon.
We have a vacation coming up in October, and we're again - heading out on the road without any specific plans. Just us, a map, and the road ahead....up into Oregon territory to see how we feel about several different areas up there. We both try to think things through practically and responsibly, but in the end..most of the decisions we make, are based on our GUT FEELINGS about it.
You know how people say "when you KNOW...you KNOW"?
Well that's how we felt when we got married (and everyone thought we were INSANE)...both times we've been on the lookout for a new home to live in...any big purchases, such as cars, furniture, etc....anything that's kind of a big deal...in the end, our gut feelings always win out. And we both know that we have to be in AGREEMENT about those feelings, or it'll never work.
So anyway - we really have no plans about where specifically we're going...I mean, we know certain towns and places we want to go - but nothing is planned out as far as staying anywhere, or having a schedule for anything. We've talked about driving back down through parts of Idaho...we've also talked about driving up to Seattle. Who knows - we'll know when we know, right?
We're both really excited about it - and we've talked about renting a car for the drive, so that we don't put so many miles on our car, or have to worry about mechanical problems that WE have to fix....yada, yada, yada..
But then last night - plans changed.
Hubster called me yesterday and asked me to look up information on renting an RV. My heart kind of skipped a beat when he said that because I can't believe we didn't think of that before!
WE've always talked about wanting to buy an RV someday and just traveling all over the place....all over the US, Canada, Mexico...anywhere we can DRIVE.
So how great would it be to give it a shot for this upcoming trip? Especially when we have no idea where we're going or where we'll end up.
So I looked into it - and for about $700, not including gas (which will be outrageous, but would be ANYWAY) - we can rent an RV for the entire week. Not only will we not have to pay for hotels...or a rental car...but we'll also be able to buy food and prepare it ourselves, rather then having the expense of eating out for every meal. The RV has a shower, toilet, stovetop, fridge, freezer, and microwave...it'll be like camping - only not really camping.
This is so right up our alley - and we both keep thinking about our last Road Trip and how much fun we had.
This will be different because it could possibly involve our FUTURE - but at the same time, it's very exciting to think about and we're both very curious how we're going to feel about the areas we want to see. It could be a definate "hell no", it could also be a hesitant "maybe" - and it could also be a wide-eyed look at each other with a smile that says "this is it".
On to making more great memories...
On the road again...I just can't wait to get on the road again...
A couple of years ago, hubster and I took a "Road Trip" for one of our vacations. We had reservations for one night at a bed and breakfast up in Mendocino county, and the rest of our vacation was completely unplanned. Since we couldn't decide what we wanted to do - and didn't have the money to go anywhere fancy anyway...we decided to just get in the car and DRIVE. We wanted to go wherever our hearts desired...as long as we agreed anyway - which is never a sure thing.
So we took Hwy 1 all the way up to the bed and breakfast, and stopped along the coast wherever we wanted, even stopped at Fort Ross which was pretty cool...we saw so much of the coastline that we've never seen before, and it was beautiful and very relaxing and peaceful to not have the pressure of HAVING to be somewhere at a certain time.
That vacation was by far, the best one we've ever taken together. We thought for sure that being trapped in a car for that long together would take it's toll and we'd inevitably have arguements or bicker about stuff. But we didn't...we even got lost quite a few times...and managed to laugh it off and say "oh well!".
We traveled up the coast to Mendocino county, ...stayed at the bed and breakfast and enjoyed the peace and quiet of NO television, and ate some of the most fantastic food ever. The next morning, we both sat on the deck that overlooked the ocean and read the newspaper, and didn't say a word to each other for about 2 hours. It was such a relaxing time that we didn't feel the NEED to talk and keep constant chatter going.
We left there, and drove back down through the redwoods and all the tiny and quaint towns scattered about Northern California...over to Old Town Sacramento (commonly known as Old Sac, which sounds dirty and I always giggle when I hear people call it that). We drove through town, and discovered a RIVERBOAT hotel that was docked on the Sacramento River (which was pretty cool...but not as cool as I thought it would be). We dropped all our stuff off in our tiny little room, and then cruised all through town and found a basement music store that had all kinds of funky stuff in it...and walls and walls of records. And I mean VINYL records...
We scoured and hunted around for a long time in that store...and walked out with several Led Zeppelin albums, and a few others for only $50. We were holding well over $150 worth of vinyl in our hands, so we felt darn good about that...and we talk about going back to that store all the time. We then went wine tasting and did some more shopping, and spent the evening drinking champagne and looking out at the river and into the streets of Old Sac (hehe) and then headed down to enjoy another PERFECT meal at the Riverboat Restaurant.
The next morning, we woke up and said "so...where do you want to go today?" - and after hitting up the train museum in town...he headed back on the road and just DROVE, not knowing really where we were going...and decided to just keep on driving until we got to Reno. Neither one of us had ever been there, so we figured "why not?".
The drive up to Reno was SO BEAUTIFUL....and we even encountered snow going through the mountains. The scenery was so breathtaking and NEW to us that we just marveled at everything...and chatted and laughed the entire way.
Reno was actually quite disappointing - we found it to be dirty and old and just not what we expected...but we stayed at the Silver Legacy which is probably one of the nicest hotels in town. We gambled a bit and toured through several casino's. The next day we went to the automobile museum in town which was AMAZING. Hubster was enthralled with each and every vehicle, and insisted on taking pictures of everything possible.
We then left Reno and headed back through the mountains...and stopped at a "family fun center" where they did inner tube sledding. I was THRILLED, and had to talk hubster into going with me because he initially didn't want to do it...but we had SUCH A BLAST tubing in the snow. We're not small people, so we got some serious speed going down that hill, it was great.
After that, we headed back down through Northern California's Gold Country. We found a hotel in Placerville, and the next day we actually went DOWN INTO an actual working Gold Mine. I think we were about 1400 yards down...it was a LONG way...I thought for sure I would feel claustrophobic down there, but I never did. I think I was so fascinated by the whole thing that I never thought about how closed in we were. The tour leader your typical stereotype of a miner. Long white beard, hard hat...suspenders...and short. Very nice man, and he knew his stuff!
Anyway - that afternoon we headed back to SF to stay with hubster's parents and we were both sad to have our trip end.
All the little stuff in between...getting lost...or finding an oddball place to stop and eat...laughing at something we saw, and just being so easy going about WHERE we went...was all so much fun. I know we both look back on that vacation with really fond memories. We saw alot of things that we'd never seen before, and went alot of places that we've never been before.
Part of me wishes that I could make a video of everything in my head from that vacation. I'm afraid that those memories will leave me someday...or afraid that I will forget how it FELT to be just the two of us laughing and smiling while driving on all those unknown roads...
More to come...
So we took Hwy 1 all the way up to the bed and breakfast, and stopped along the coast wherever we wanted, even stopped at Fort Ross which was pretty cool...we saw so much of the coastline that we've never seen before, and it was beautiful and very relaxing and peaceful to not have the pressure of HAVING to be somewhere at a certain time.
That vacation was by far, the best one we've ever taken together. We thought for sure that being trapped in a car for that long together would take it's toll and we'd inevitably have arguements or bicker about stuff. But we didn't...we even got lost quite a few times...and managed to laugh it off and say "oh well!".
We traveled up the coast to Mendocino county, ...stayed at the bed and breakfast and enjoyed the peace and quiet of NO television, and ate some of the most fantastic food ever. The next morning, we both sat on the deck that overlooked the ocean and read the newspaper, and didn't say a word to each other for about 2 hours. It was such a relaxing time that we didn't feel the NEED to talk and keep constant chatter going.
We left there, and drove back down through the redwoods and all the tiny and quaint towns scattered about Northern California...over to Old Town Sacramento (commonly known as Old Sac, which sounds dirty and I always giggle when I hear people call it that). We drove through town, and discovered a RIVERBOAT hotel that was docked on the Sacramento River (which was pretty cool...but not as cool as I thought it would be). We dropped all our stuff off in our tiny little room, and then cruised all through town and found a basement music store that had all kinds of funky stuff in it...and walls and walls of records. And I mean VINYL records...
We scoured and hunted around for a long time in that store...and walked out with several Led Zeppelin albums, and a few others for only $50. We were holding well over $150 worth of vinyl in our hands, so we felt darn good about that...and we talk about going back to that store all the time. We then went wine tasting and did some more shopping, and spent the evening drinking champagne and looking out at the river and into the streets of Old Sac (hehe) and then headed down to enjoy another PERFECT meal at the Riverboat Restaurant.
The next morning, we woke up and said "so...where do you want to go today?" - and after hitting up the train museum in town...he headed back on the road and just DROVE, not knowing really where we were going...and decided to just keep on driving until we got to Reno. Neither one of us had ever been there, so we figured "why not?".
The drive up to Reno was SO BEAUTIFUL....and we even encountered snow going through the mountains. The scenery was so breathtaking and NEW to us that we just marveled at everything...and chatted and laughed the entire way.
Reno was actually quite disappointing - we found it to be dirty and old and just not what we expected...but we stayed at the Silver Legacy which is probably one of the nicest hotels in town. We gambled a bit and toured through several casino's. The next day we went to the automobile museum in town which was AMAZING. Hubster was enthralled with each and every vehicle, and insisted on taking pictures of everything possible.
We then left Reno and headed back through the mountains...and stopped at a "family fun center" where they did inner tube sledding. I was THRILLED, and had to talk hubster into going with me because he initially didn't want to do it...but we had SUCH A BLAST tubing in the snow. We're not small people, so we got some serious speed going down that hill, it was great.
After that, we headed back down through Northern California's Gold Country. We found a hotel in Placerville, and the next day we actually went DOWN INTO an actual working Gold Mine. I think we were about 1400 yards down...it was a LONG way...I thought for sure I would feel claustrophobic down there, but I never did. I think I was so fascinated by the whole thing that I never thought about how closed in we were. The tour leader your typical stereotype of a miner. Long white beard, hard hat...suspenders...and short. Very nice man, and he knew his stuff!
Anyway - that afternoon we headed back to SF to stay with hubster's parents and we were both sad to have our trip end.
All the little stuff in between...getting lost...or finding an oddball place to stop and eat...laughing at something we saw, and just being so easy going about WHERE we went...was all so much fun. I know we both look back on that vacation with really fond memories. We saw alot of things that we'd never seen before, and went alot of places that we've never been before.
Part of me wishes that I could make a video of everything in my head from that vacation. I'm afraid that those memories will leave me someday...or afraid that I will forget how it FELT to be just the two of us laughing and smiling while driving on all those unknown roads...
More to come...
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Being Domestic?
Most people who know me...and know me well...know that I'm not much for decorating. Things don't usually match, I don't usually have much on the walls of my house..and when people ask me what my "theme" is for certain rooms...I give them the "you're insane" look. Sometimes when people talk a certain decor or theme for a room - my eyes glaze over and a bit of drool comes out of my mouth.
I also can't stand the color Pink, and for the most part...flowers are just not my thing.
I know, I know...my mother must be so proud right?
Anyway - a couple weeks ago, we were at Amanda's house - and she had a new IKEA catalog sitting on the coffee table.
For the record...hubster + me + our checkbook + IKEA = TWO BROKE FOOLS WITH TOO MUCH FURNITURE and a bad case of the "I WANT'S"
So of course, the first thing we did was flip through the catalog and dissect every page. As always, we found all kinds of things we WANT...but don't NEED. And then....we found something we DID NEED! Okay, so we didn't NEED it - but we sort of did, in a roundabout way.
Anyone who decorates would say that we needed it alright?
Hubster found a duvet set...with matching curtains that he LOVED. He showed the page to me, and much to my own, and most certainly Amanda's shock...I loved them too.
They had flowers on them...
(so does this happen as we get older? Because I'm a bit frightened that my house will eventually be full of flowered things, and crocheted doily's)
I'm sure that wherever my mom was at the time...a little light shone down on her - with a tiny angel's chorus background singing "Hal-lelu-iah!"- because HER DAUGHTER liked something with FLOWERS on it. Not just any flowers mind you...little tiny blue and PINK FLOWERS.
I still can't believe it myself.
So, after spending all day Sunday with the family in the Bay Area. We were off for the long drive home. Which just HAPPENED to go right past the IKEA in Palo Alto. Yes, we caved...and we headed into the Sunday crowds of IKEA to find our precious bedspread.
We made our purchase - and after finding out that the dining table we wanted was out of stock (I TOLD you we'd be broke fools with too much furniture) we headed home.
The curtains at IKEA come really huge...ours were 118 inches long and each panel was 58 inches wide. They do that to accomodate any window size...and each curtain comes with fusing tape, so you can iron a hem.
Which is PERFECT for people like me who can't sew. And I mean, I really can't sew....
I once tried making a pair of pants in Jr. High and accidentally sewed the pockets onto the LEGS...and I don't mean just the legs...but the BOTTOM of the legs. I don't think I've seen my mom laugh that hard in YEARS...tears rolling down her face, the whole deal...and the entire time she was laughing I was trying to figure out how in the hell I had sewn the pockets down where my ankles should have been.
SO yeah, K DOESN'T SEW!
Anyway - I busted out my iron...and measured and cut...and hemmed...sort of....I even DOUBLE hemmed so the edges wouldn't be all raggedy.
And now...drum roll please....
(I never realized how hard it is to take pictures of CURTAINS with sun shining through them - perhaps I'll give it another try at nighttime)
At any rate, Hubster and I have a bedroom with MATCHING curtains, and bedspread. We even have decorative pillows that match the bedspread. Pillows that are not for sleeping...but just to match the bedspread. Hubster is under strict orders that he is not to drool or get any hair gel remnants on our NEW PILLOWS.
I even took it one step further and used some of the extra material left over to make a coverlet of some sort for the cats. Basically since they sleep on our bed during the day...it's just an extra sheet of material over the bedspread - that I can easily throw in the wash when it gets too cat-hair laden....and yet, it MATCHES.
Oh my...does this mean I'm turning into one of those "domesticated types"?
Am I going to start wearing an apron and making casseroles? Will this cause me to...God Forbid...MAKE MY BED EVERY DAY??? Lord help me...
While I was taking pictures - Tweak was running around on the bed all bug-eyed...sort of like an Amish person who doesn't want their picture taken because it'll "steal their soul" or something...
so here is the obligatory, psycho-bug-eyed-hyperactive cat picture:
I also can't stand the color Pink, and for the most part...flowers are just not my thing.
I know, I know...my mother must be so proud right?
Anyway - a couple weeks ago, we were at Amanda's house - and she had a new IKEA catalog sitting on the coffee table.
For the record...hubster + me + our checkbook + IKEA = TWO BROKE FOOLS WITH TOO MUCH FURNITURE and a bad case of the "I WANT'S"
So of course, the first thing we did was flip through the catalog and dissect every page. As always, we found all kinds of things we WANT...but don't NEED. And then....we found something we DID NEED! Okay, so we didn't NEED it - but we sort of did, in a roundabout way.
Anyone who decorates would say that we needed it alright?
Hubster found a duvet set...with matching curtains that he LOVED. He showed the page to me, and much to my own, and most certainly Amanda's shock...I loved them too.
They had flowers on them...
(so does this happen as we get older? Because I'm a bit frightened that my house will eventually be full of flowered things, and crocheted doily's)
I'm sure that wherever my mom was at the time...a little light shone down on her - with a tiny angel's chorus background singing "Hal-lelu-iah!"- because HER DAUGHTER liked something with FLOWERS on it. Not just any flowers mind you...little tiny blue and PINK FLOWERS.
I still can't believe it myself.
So, after spending all day Sunday with the family in the Bay Area. We were off for the long drive home. Which just HAPPENED to go right past the IKEA in Palo Alto. Yes, we caved...and we headed into the Sunday crowds of IKEA to find our precious bedspread.
We made our purchase - and after finding out that the dining table we wanted was out of stock (I TOLD you we'd be broke fools with too much furniture) we headed home.
The curtains at IKEA come really huge...ours were 118 inches long and each panel was 58 inches wide. They do that to accomodate any window size...and each curtain comes with fusing tape, so you can iron a hem.
Which is PERFECT for people like me who can't sew. And I mean, I really can't sew....
I once tried making a pair of pants in Jr. High and accidentally sewed the pockets onto the LEGS...and I don't mean just the legs...but the BOTTOM of the legs. I don't think I've seen my mom laugh that hard in YEARS...tears rolling down her face, the whole deal...and the entire time she was laughing I was trying to figure out how in the hell I had sewn the pockets down where my ankles should have been.
SO yeah, K DOESN'T SEW!
Anyway - I busted out my iron...and measured and cut...and hemmed...sort of....I even DOUBLE hemmed so the edges wouldn't be all raggedy.
And now...drum roll please....
(I never realized how hard it is to take pictures of CURTAINS with sun shining through them - perhaps I'll give it another try at nighttime)
At any rate, Hubster and I have a bedroom with MATCHING curtains, and bedspread. We even have decorative pillows that match the bedspread. Pillows that are not for sleeping...but just to match the bedspread. Hubster is under strict orders that he is not to drool or get any hair gel remnants on our NEW PILLOWS.
I even took it one step further and used some of the extra material left over to make a coverlet of some sort for the cats. Basically since they sleep on our bed during the day...it's just an extra sheet of material over the bedspread - that I can easily throw in the wash when it gets too cat-hair laden....and yet, it MATCHES.
Oh my...does this mean I'm turning into one of those "domesticated types"?
Am I going to start wearing an apron and making casseroles? Will this cause me to...God Forbid...MAKE MY BED EVERY DAY??? Lord help me...
While I was taking pictures - Tweak was running around on the bed all bug-eyed...sort of like an Amish person who doesn't want their picture taken because it'll "steal their soul" or something...
so here is the obligatory, psycho-bug-eyed-hyperactive cat picture:
Notice the whipping action I captured with that tail...
Doesn't get much cuter...
Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk working, when I heard the stomp-stomp-stomp of little kid-feet coming up the stairs to my office.
I looked up and saw my neice Keeley's little shining face running towards me, all by herself. She had the biggest smile on her face and was holding something in her hand, high up in the air...so as not to smoosh it.
She gave me a nice big hug and said "Auntie, I have something for you!"
and she handed me this:
I looked up and saw my neice Keeley's little shining face running towards me, all by herself. She had the biggest smile on her face and was holding something in her hand, high up in the air...so as not to smoosh it.
She gave me a nice big hug and said "Auntie, I have something for you!"
and she handed me this:
Then she said "Auntie! Look in the pocket!"
So I did...and I found these:
Then she said "Those are your tickets!!! For you and Uncle! Open it up and read what's inside!!!"
So I did...and this is what it said...
I looked down at the sweet, smiling face - and she said "Can you COME? CAN YOU?"
and I said "of COURSE!"
and then she said "We're so excited Auntie, Abby and I are going to school and we're going to make lots of friends, and learn so much stuff!"
and right after that, my heart was so full that it burst into a million peices...
*also, is my sister-in-law just about the most creative and crafty person EVER or what?
Friday, August 05, 2005
Goobers and Nerds
When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I remember my mom making my dad a homemade anniversary card. Actually, it was more like a POSTER, if you will. She had purchased different candies and made a poem for my dad out of the name of the candy. Of course it was extremely clever and creative, but at that age, all I could think about was EATING that candy. Heh...
So hubster and I are heading to San Francisco this weekend for his neices birthday, and since we missed spending Father's day with his dad, we decided that we'd just bring up a gift this weekend. After deciding that we wanted to do something homemade and "from the heart", I mentioned my mom's poster. Hubster LOVED the idea, and so last night we ransacked the candly aisle at two different stores....went home and moved the coffee table...and spent the next hour brainstorming and laying out the card...
This is what we came up with: (translation is below)
So hubster and I are heading to San Francisco this weekend for his neices birthday, and since we missed spending Father's day with his dad, we decided that we'd just bring up a gift this weekend. After deciding that we wanted to do something homemade and "from the heart", I mentioned my mom's poster. Hubster LOVED the idea, and so last night we ransacked the candly aisle at two different stores....went home and moved the coffee table...and spent the next hour brainstorming and laying out the card...
This is what we came up with: (translation is below)
Considering it's so hard to read...this is what it says (candy names will be in parenthesis)
(LOOK!) It's an (M-AZING) Father's Day Card! You may think we're (GOOBERS) or even (NERDS), but (U-NO) this will make you (SNICKER). Dad, you are a (LIFESAVER) through all the (ROCKY ROAD)'s and there's (NUTTER BUTTER) than you. We always have a (WHOPPER) of a good time, because our (POP ROCKS)! We want you to (TAKE 5), do (ZERO) around the house, eat a (WHATCHAMACALLIT), and know that we love you (NOW & LATER). Mom says you are a (BIG HUNK) and a (HOT TAMALE), but we know you're a (SUGAR DADDY). With love from your (AIRHEADS), (SPECIAL K) and (M & M)
hubsters initials are M and M, so we thought that worked out well...hee!
We used double stick tape to stick all the candy down, and it's worked REALLY well. We're so excited to give this to him - and we had SUCH A BLAST making it and coming up with ideas. You should have seen us hauling through that candy aisle...we got to laughing because we figured if anyone was watching us, they probably would have thought we were from a really isolated foreign country...
"Look hun! POP ROCKS!"
"Oh my gosh, WE LOVE YOU NOW & LATER!"
"how about THERE'S NUTTER BUTTER THAN YOU?"
Trying to figure it all out in the store...pointing and laughing at all the different names.
We found one called "Krabbie Patties" - but couldn't figure out how to work that into what is supposed to be a NICE card. I also saw a box of "Nips" and said "well, we're not going to go THERE"
Hubster's dad will be on a year long sugar high after this...
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Hi, and welcome to moviefone...
Hubster always likes to answer the phone differently. Sometimes he'll answer with fake chinese talk...and people will hang up thinking they've got the wrong number, while he just cackles and puts the phone down.
Or sometimes he'll answer as a local restaurant - or pizza place. Or sometimes he'll just answer in a different voice...mainly just to mess with whoever is calling. The telemarketers mainly...hehe
Sometimes he'll say "Hi, and welcome to Moviefone...if you know the name of the movie you would like to see - please press 1"
(remember Kramer?? "why don't you just TELL me the name of the movie you'd like to see!")
and then sometimes people will press a button, and he'll laugh and say "I need a better system!"
One day, he called my brother AJ's cell phone and left a message that said "Hi, this is Dave Masterson from the local police department. We show that your vehicle was involved in a hit and run, and we need you to call our office immediately - thank you"
We laughed because we figured AJ would see the number we called from, know it was us, and just call to give us a hard time.
Now, the one thing that must be said about my brother is that he is always trying to call me at work and pull a prank on me that he's a customer. He's NEVER ONCE fooled me, and I always know it's him...so hubby and I felt that it was time for some payback.
The next morning, I got to work and received a phone call from AJ. We chatted for a bit, and then I mentioned hubster's phone call from the night before...AJ goes "wait...that was HIM?? Are you SERIOUS??? I was totally FREAKED OUT the entire night! I got up early and called the police department!"
I thought he was pulling my leg, but it turns out that he really did freak out and call them....
hold on one second..
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!
He said that he called and asked for a Dave Masterson - and they said they didn't have a Dave Masterson, but they DID have a Dave...HEE!
So AJ talked to him and gave him all his information (thinking that perhaps someone stole his truck and went joyriding or something). Policeman Dave checked his record and said it was clean, and he didn't show anything about a hit and run.
Poor AJ didn't know what to think, but he was stressing about it...
and for some reason, didn't even THINK to check his phone to see what number the call was made from.
AJ sounded kind of ticked off at first...but I was busting a gut halfway through his story....I was laughing so hard, there was NO WAY he could have not laughed. He finally laughed right along with me...and shouted to some guys behind him..."Dude, it was my A**hole brother-in-law!"
I would think about that throughout the rest of the day, and get the giggles every time...I can't believe he got AJ so good...
and you know, AJ has yet to try and prank me even ONCE since then...
Or sometimes he'll answer as a local restaurant - or pizza place. Or sometimes he'll just answer in a different voice...mainly just to mess with whoever is calling. The telemarketers mainly...hehe
Sometimes he'll say "Hi, and welcome to Moviefone...if you know the name of the movie you would like to see - please press 1"
(remember Kramer?? "why don't you just TELL me the name of the movie you'd like to see!")
and then sometimes people will press a button, and he'll laugh and say "I need a better system!"
One day, he called my brother AJ's cell phone and left a message that said "Hi, this is Dave Masterson from the local police department. We show that your vehicle was involved in a hit and run, and we need you to call our office immediately - thank you"
We laughed because we figured AJ would see the number we called from, know it was us, and just call to give us a hard time.
Now, the one thing that must be said about my brother is that he is always trying to call me at work and pull a prank on me that he's a customer. He's NEVER ONCE fooled me, and I always know it's him...so hubby and I felt that it was time for some payback.
The next morning, I got to work and received a phone call from AJ. We chatted for a bit, and then I mentioned hubster's phone call from the night before...AJ goes "wait...that was HIM?? Are you SERIOUS??? I was totally FREAKED OUT the entire night! I got up early and called the police department!"
I thought he was pulling my leg, but it turns out that he really did freak out and call them....
hold on one second..
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!
He said that he called and asked for a Dave Masterson - and they said they didn't have a Dave Masterson, but they DID have a Dave...HEE!
So AJ talked to him and gave him all his information (thinking that perhaps someone stole his truck and went joyriding or something). Policeman Dave checked his record and said it was clean, and he didn't show anything about a hit and run.
Poor AJ didn't know what to think, but he was stressing about it...
and for some reason, didn't even THINK to check his phone to see what number the call was made from.
AJ sounded kind of ticked off at first...but I was busting a gut halfway through his story....I was laughing so hard, there was NO WAY he could have not laughed. He finally laughed right along with me...and shouted to some guys behind him..."Dude, it was my A**hole brother-in-law!"
I would think about that throughout the rest of the day, and get the giggles every time...I can't believe he got AJ so good...
and you know, AJ has yet to try and prank me even ONCE since then...
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