Klick Here

www.klick-here.com

2008-11-05T11:26:00.001-08:00

Klick-here.com, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

OK, so my previous announcement built up some excitement. This will be kind of a let down because I could not get the new site to look as graphically awesome as I wanted. Graphic design and I do not mix.

Well anyway, the news is that Dan bought me a domain! Yay! Please change your blog rolls and readers to the new site. http://www.klick-here.com

It's open yes, but I am still working on revealing a cute new design. Consider this a soft opening.

...that's what she said.

Almost Done! That's What She Said.

2008-10-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

"Sara, your blog has been so strangely quiet lately. What gives, yo?"

Well dear Reader, I'm working on a project that requires quite a bit of my time.

"What sort of project? A lovely novel or perhaps the cure for some sort of disease?"

No, Reader. Those are both completed and stored away for a rainy day. This current project is so fan-freaking-tastic that I have to keep it under wraps until I am finished with it.

"You're stumped on some part of it, aren't you?"

You don't know me.

Klick Anniversary

2008-10-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

I sat down, anticipating writing a heartfelt, emotional blog about my darling husband and how much I love him. But I found myself at a loss for words. I spend so much time on this blog making fun of him and while it's all in good fun, it's how our relationship is. I can't describe our married life any better than I do daily on here. He makes me laugh, says silly things just to hear my chuckle, he can be a turd but he always remedies it with shoulder rubs or by scratching my back. Our life is fun together and as cliche as this sounds, I love being married to my best friend. We are not perfect, but he tries his darndest to make our life together perfect.
The love of my life has put up with me for 2 years now. 730 days of married life and he is not sick of me yet. Thank you Husband, for putting up with me when I sing theme songs and commerical jingles. Thank you for only rolling your eyes when I make fun of you on the blog. Thank you for silently smiling instead of making fun of me when I say something dumb. Thank you for teaching me things and expanding my view of the world.
Thank you for being you.

Love,
Your Wife

Tag It Like You Mean It

2008-10-20T22:42:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary but because Dan is a turd, he is making me wait until after midnight to celebrate. *sigh* So instead I shall post 7 fabulously entertaining facts about myself. I was tagged by JB at La Belle Ecrivaine. Her blog name is awesome, even though it took me over 5 minutes and 2 translation programs to figure out what it meant. I'm not making it easy for you guys. You have to google it yourself.

Anyway, 7 Things About Me. Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I am allergic to everything weird. No nut allergies, no reactions to wheat or lactose. Instead, I am allergic to cucumbers, raw potato and mosquitoes. And I randomly get hives if it's too hot, cold, humid or dry outside. I need to live in a bubble.

2. I used to work at Disneyland and still adopt my Disney phone voice. I've tried to break myself of the habit but much like a two fingered point, Disney has brainwashed it into me.

3. I get into food phases. I will have a phase where all I want to drink is Baja Blast from Taco Bell. Or Tampico. Or water with lemon. The only thing that has never phased out? Diet Coke. Because Diet Coke is the schiznit.

4. I am half ninja. No, seriously. I am half ninja and half Mexican drug lord. Watch your backs.

5. I want Martha Stewart to be my best friend. I figure she'll give me some great organization tips, bake me a molten chocolate cake and then we'd hang while chatting about peonies. I love you, Martha.

6. I often say things just to annoy Dan. He knows I'm doing it on purpose so he doesn't let it bother him but that doesn't ruin the fun for me. Tonight, I spent a good portion of the car ride home from our date singing the only line I know from the theme of The Lion King. Our conversation went like this:
Me: Ooh! The Lion King is in town!
Dan: It's at Gammage. It'll be expensive.
Me: Nants ingonyama!
Dan: It's the professional tour, and I think it's the actual Broadway cast too.
Me: Bagithi Baba!
Dan: Are you even listening to me?
Me: Sithi uhm ingonyama!

7. When I get excited, I talk really fast. When I'm super excited, my voice gets high pitched. When I'm full of caffeine and super excited, it's hard to understand me. Throw in talking with my hands, and I become a lethal weapon.

I tag The Noisy Plume, Tartraz, Thoughts and Biro Sketches, Astro Squirrel Bait, Clever Girl Goes Blog, I Hate So Much and Often Wrong Never in Doubt. All of these ladies are wonderful writers and I'm sure they will entertain us with their lists. Plus, I'm hoping they are all susceptible to peer pressure and blatant butt kissing.

Sara Should Rhyme with Awesome

2008-10-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Dan: What's with the rice?
Me: What do you mean? I like brown rice.
Dan: You only like brown rice? Why does it have to be a color issue with you?
Me: Yes, because I discriminate.
Dan: I always knew you were rice-ist.
---

Me: I have a job!!!
Dan: You've always had a job.
Me: Yeah, but now I have another job that pays me to go to Michaels!
Dan: This is going to be an issue.
Me: Oh look, Pier 1 is hiring.
Dan: But you have a job.
Me: I have a job!!!
Dan: You set that up just to yell excitedly about your job, didn't you?
Me: You don't know me.
---

So yes, you read that correctly. Yours truly has been hired at Michaels. The pay kinda sucks, the hours are shitty, but I get an additional discount and can mentally shop as I ring people up at the registers. I mean...I can be a twice contributing member of the working middle class.
I also had a fun evening at a gay bar with some old friends that I hadn't seen in awhile. I didn't realize it until after we left, but I was the token straight girl. Eff. At least I got free booze and met some great people. I should go to gay bars more often.
Our kitchen sink is clogged. You'd think this wasn't exciting to me but it is. Why? Doing dishes is like a dangerous stunt. You have to carry them to the laundry room without dropping any, wash and dry them without a lot of counter space and then cart them all back to the kitchen to put away. All while having kitties weave around your ankles. I live on the edge.
I started selling a few stamps and other craft things on Ebay. I won't brag about how much I've earned, but let's just say Dan no longer rolls his eyes at me when I bid on stuff. Well ok, he still does. But he at least leaves out the loud sigh.
Met up with Cory and Mandy at Dave and Busters. I always seem to forget how much fun I have there until we go back the next time. Plus I love winning and I rock at games that require no more skill than dropping coins down chutes.
I bought a pack of Monster energy drinks from Costco. Wheeeeeee!
I'va had more than one person this week ask me my advice on recipes and cooking. Yeah, I'm now a renowned chef. Bam youself, Emeril.

Not Always a Happy Ending

2008-10-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

Since it's the month of our anniversary, I have been taken a little more notice than usual of love stories. I'm a sucker for sappy romances.

Sadly, I recently heard of a major love story coming to an end. I don't know how to accurately describe the emotions in my heart right now. It makes me think, if they can't make it as a couple, how can any of us expect to spend the rest of our lives with a soul mate?

Read the full story here

How can we ever expect to find eternal happiness with a millionaire 54 years older than us with a penchant for multiple women? So sad.

By "Save" you mean "Continue Shopping," right?

2008-10-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

My mom, as lovely as she is, is kinda like the Harbinger of Doom. I Googled the phrase so anyone who wasn't familiar could see what it means. I received all sorts of World of Warcraft links back. Figures.

She works with stock trading and often sends us emails with financial advice. The past few have all basically had the same message. Head down, batten down the hatches, prepare for the end of days. But the worst message she had for us? Stop shopping.

Uh, Mom? ...you've met me right?
---
On a similar note, the job hunt is not going well. Everyone says I'm either overqualified or that there are teenagers who are willing to work for much less than I am.

I'm already being pushed out by the youth. I never imagined it would happen to me at 26.
---
Dan and I aren't terribly worried about our financial state, but we are doing our part to save as much as possible right now. We used to go to the movies every week, but now we are each going to pick one movie a month that we really want to see and the other person gets absolutely no veto.

October's Pick - I can already picture myself singing along. I {heart} cheesy pop musicals.

November's Pick - I wish I could lie to you and say I'm going to see Daniel Craig play Bond, or perhaps the vampire movie based off the super popular books. Nope. Gonna see a Disney flick again. Hey, it's the only time in my life when Dan doesn't get to veto my movie choice. I'm milking it for all it's worth.
---
Also as part of our financial savings plan, we are cooking. When I say "we" I actually mean "we!" My mom says you can tell that times are tough when *I* start cooking.

How true.

So yes, we've spent quite a bit of time in the grocery store and even more so in the kitchen. Last night was sliders, which were just as yummy as a hamburger but were better because they were small and cute. Everyone knows cute food tastes better.
---

And to close out this post, a cute picture.

Can you tell I miss drinking Diet Coke?

Excitement

2008-10-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight, thus far...

- Got home around 3 and immediately took off my nice interview clothes and changed into lounging clothes.

- Fell asleep for a nap. A four hour nap...

- Woke up to a blow to my skull. Saw that Dan had managed to turn himself around 180 degrees somehow, with his head at the foot of the bed and his feet trying to give me a concussion.

- Cursed him and tried to wake him up so I could give him a guilt trip. He snored through my poking his forehead and barely lifted an eye lid when I shook him, pretendeding there was an earthquake. Geez, the boy can SLEEP.

- Gave up. Surfed my favorite blogs.

- Tummy started growling in anger over being unfed, so tried to rouse Dan again. Failed miserably.

- Settled on sourdough pretzel bites for dinner.

- Worried about my lack of a well-rounded meal so topped the pretzels off with Tampico. That counts as fruit, right?

- Watched the Tivo'd VP debates.

- Watched 'Til Death. Used to love that show but they revamped it. Now it's getting deleted from my Tivo subscriptions.

- Tried to wake Dan up a 3rd time because there is a lot of good TV recorded and I get yelled at if I watch The Office or Ugly Betty without him.

- Considered watching them and then lying to Dan when he wanted to watch them later.

- Worried about the cost of divorce if he woke up mid-Office scene.

- Had a craving for something sweet so I drank more Tampico.

- Wondered if people would not know what Tampico is, so Googled it. You can find the homepage by following the link, but really you should all be familiar with Tampico: drink of the gods.

- Fed the cats. Tried to get them to play with me but they were more interested in the food.

- Ran out of things to do and contemplated going back to bed even though I'm really not tired. It's 10pm on a Thursday night, I have a Tivo full of good shows, a list of cards to make and yet I find myself eyeing my pillow. I live a whirlwind life.

Quick Recap

2008-10-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

This past week...

- I chopped off 10 inches from my hair. That's right, T-E-N inches. Most importantly, not a tear was shed.

- Elinor's bridal shower happened on Saturday. I love this girl, she's so easy to talk to and a blast to hang out with. I got her a bunch of bathroom things and wrapped everything in yards of tulle. Sometimes my girly side sickens even me.

- My coworker had a baby shower and I was the official gift buyer and wrapper. My coworkers humor me and I love it.

- I have a job interview tomorrow. It's probably a jinx to talk about it here, but if all of you cross your fingers for me, at least some of that luck should float my way.

- I have 28 recipe pages collected for my sister's graduation gift. Not all of them are mine; I made a bunch and then swapped them out. The ladies at splitcoaststampers amaze me with their creativity and talent. I'm very lucky that I can snag tiny pieces of artwork from them.

- I ripped off a part of my toenail. It's way gross and makes me sad, because Fall heels are arriving in stores.

- We are getting more and more details of the trip nailed down. We will be visiting Kent, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Reading, NYC, and D.C. If any of you know of a scrap/stamp store in any of those towns or in any surrounding towns, please let me know. I have to plan my shopping destinations out to make sure there's time to hit every single one.

- Dan and I discovered that we disagree on something political. I automatically won the debate because I am awesome of course.

- We stopped drinking soda. I am not a very nice person without caffeine. Dan doesn't care because he's at work by the time I wake up.

- I haven't stopped drinking "water." I use quotes because "water" is defined as "Monster energy drinks."

- All sites with "blogspot" in the address are now blocked at work. The IP guy needs a hobby other than making my job boring. Thank (insert favorite deity here) for Google Reader.

- I've had our TV on almost constantly while at home. Taking a test for an online course? Doing crafts? Playing Sims 2? There is some sort of Fall TV show on in the background. The Office was hilar as always.

- I have 3 lists. One has all the shows I'm recording on the first Tivo. The 2nd is all the shows I'm recording on the other Tivo. And the 3rd are shows that haven't made it onto the Tivo schedule yet due to conflicts or not starting until late October. I ran out of Tivo space and I own 2 Tivos. Sad.

- It's October! I get to start decorating for Halloween! And the week before Thanksgiving, the Christmas decorations are coming out. Only on the interior of the house of course. Don't want the neighbors to think I'm nuts.

Husband has Finally Learned

2008-09-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Dan: Gah! This was the worst chocolate chip cookie ever!
Me: That's a scone you dork. You're supposed to warm it up and eat it with butter or preserves.
Dan: Well I ate the entire thing before you told me this, so I still think of it as the worst chocolate chip cookie ever.
Me: You're lucky you're cute.
---
Me: *typing this blog*
Dan: *looks over* You're typing about the scone? You suck.
Me: There was something else you said today that made me laugh. What was it?
Dan: (sarcastically) Oh yeah, 'cuz I'm gonna tell you. Like I'm going to ever talk to you again. Turd.
---
Me: At the shower, someone asked me if you cooked. I told them you had to, because I don't and otherwise we'd eat out every night.
Dan: You cook!
Me: No I don't.
Dan: You made the lasagna for everyone.
Me: That was your birthday and a special occasion. Name one thing I've made since then.
Dan: ...drawing a blank. Maybe I'm doing you a disservice.
Me: How so?
Dan: You're a wife. Wives are supposed to cook and clean and bring me beers when I'm watching football.
Me: Well if you're going to play the sexist card, you're a husband. You should do the yardwork and take out the trash.
Dan: I do the yardwork! I "do" it by writing a check to a landscaper so he comes by and mows the grass. Now bring me a beer.
---
Me: Did you see Tartraz's post about her new office?
Dan: Yup.
Me: Isn't it cute?!
Dan: No, because if I say yes, you're going to want to redecorate.
---
Dan: In my Sims game, you take a helicopter to work. That's so fitting.
Me: What do you mean?
Dan: You're high maintenance.
Me: I'm not high maintenance! You're high maintenance!
Dan: I'm gonna high maintenance your face.
Dan: ...Don't put that in the blog.
---
Me: Can I buy some refills for our air freshener?
Dan: No. You'll pick dumb scents.
Me: Ok. Can I buy a new belt? My pants are too big and they keep falling down.
Dan: No, because when I agree, you'll say "instead of spending money on a belt, I'm going to buy air freshener refills."
Me: I need a new husband. Mine's wise to all my tricks.

My Eyes, They Burn!

2008-09-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've had a very productive day, and for once I mean that without sarcasm.

Someone once told me sarcasm was the dumb way to defend yourself when in an uncomfortable situation. They are wrong because I am awesome. Clearly.

Anyway, I went out and applied to various retail places for a weekend job. I want to earn a little spending cash and this crafting hobby of mine is rather expensive. I won't get as many eye rolls from Dan if I'm bringing home more bacon.

Why does one bring home specifically bacon? What if someone is a vegetarian? Do they say "bringing home the soy product?"

Many of the places I applied to gave me very suspicious looks when I turned over my application. Why would someone want to take a drastic pay cut to work part-time in retail? The manager at Michael's understood the lure of "employee discount." Unfortunately their wages were lower the mental number I had in my head that would make it worthwhile to take another job. So, I applied at quite a few other places. I'm now stressed about it. What if they don't like me? What if they think I'm over or under qualified for the position? What if they think the required apron will not look good on me? Oh the pressure.

I took a quick lunch break and then applied to a few more places via the internet. Did you know that big box companies feel they can judge you by 85 standardized questions? In all fairness though, they weren't 85 original questions. They asked about how I handle stressful situations at least 4 times. Do you think they did that on purpose? Stressing me out by asking me the same thing so many times, my eye twitches?

---
I was hitting submit on my final online application when I heard a strange commotion outside in our backyard. I tend to view myself as a fairly brave person, so I headed outside on my own to investigate. With my cell phone in hand. And BBQ tongs.

When danger calls, I grab BBQ tongs. Dummy.

Upon stepping outside, I saw nothing. The commotion continued though, so I cautiously walked to the middle of the backyard where I could finally tell the noise was coming from our neighbor's yard. Part of me wanted to turn, thinking it was none of my business and I shouldn't snoop. But the bigger part of me wanted to make sure there was not a child or defenseless animal being mauled by a rabid dog.

I climbed onto our planters that line the back wall and slowly lifted my head. The image on the other side was so horrible, so revolting that I hesitate to share it with all of you now.

My neighbor's parents are visiting them. They are at least in their 70's...and still physically attracted to each other.

Filed under "Things One Should Never Have to See."

Shopping is an Art

2008-09-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

Dan and I have decided to take a trip to PA for Christmas. We want to meet his newest nephew and my sister is graduating from Kent State on December 13th. Because the timing is so close, we decided to make a long trip of it instead of paying for 2 flights in a 2 week time span.
So far, our travels plans are as follows:
Fly to Ohio
Go shopping to kill time because there's nothing else to do in Kent.
See a graduation ceremony.
Go shopping for Christmas wrapping paper.
Celebrate an early Christmas with my family.
Go to New York.
Go shoe shopping.
Go to D.C.
Go souvenir shopping.
Go to the Baltimore Aquarium (kudos to Baltimore now that my bestie has decided to stay here.)
Go Christmas shopping.
See where Dan grew up.
Go antique shopping.
Oh yeah...and we're going to see family and celebrate the season and all that. But most importantly, we will go shopping in states that I've never shopped in before.

Anyone have "Do Not Miss" stores you wanna fill me in on? I suppose you should offer cultural tourist attractions as well. As backup in case the stores are closed.

Writers Block, a.k.a. Dan

2008-09-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, Dan said something that had me crying with laughter. I can't remember it anymore. When I asked him what it was that had me cracking up, he refused to tell me because it was inadvertantly making fun of him.

So, this stupid blog post? Completely his fault.

Babies on the Brain

2008-09-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

A friend is about to have her baby, so I forced Dan to go to Babies R' Us with me.

This was my second time there in 2 days. The first time, the registry was not working and they kept insisting to me that my friend didn't have a registry there. Or maybe I didn't know how to spell her name correctly. Yes, I would buy a gift for a woman whose name I didn't know how to spell. Moron.

Anyway, as I was a little creepily stroking the ultra plush fake fur swadding blankets, I announced to Dan that I was ready to give procreation a go.

There was a beat of silence.

I'm sure his brain was spinning, trying to figure out a way to gently ask me if I had lost my mind without it seeming like he was crushing my ovary-produced dreams. Then, a slight flicker of hope appeared in his eyes.

"Are you saying this because you want to buy cute baby stuff?"

You know me well, Husband. You know me well.

Go Ahead and Google Me

2008-09-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

I logged onto Analytics today and saw that the following search terms brought visitors to Ye Olde Blog.

bests talking parrot
Ariel Tweto finally kissed
maniacal druggie
elephant dung

...the only one that makes sense to me is Ariel Tweto because she is hilarious and was a much loved blog topic. Seriously though, elephant dung?

I clicked over to my blog to do a search on the page for either the word elephant or dung. Nothing popped up until I noticed the ad on the bottom. "Natural herbal remedies containing real elephant dung."

Awesome. Klick Here is synonymous to pachyderm poo.

Viva Las Vegas! (You know you're mentally singing it!)

2008-09-14T04:16:00.000-07:00

Insomnia is helping out my time management skills. Now that's been almost a full week since we returned from the joint bachelor/ette party, it's time to recap. I can't give details because what happens in Vegas...well, you know the phrase. So here's just a glimpse of the things we learned while partying.

Lesson Learned: When you get put in an awful room next to the elevator that doesn't even offer room service, you will be willing to pay a minimal upgrade charge. Bonus, Dan used his sweet talking awesomness to get us a 1100 sq. foot suite at New York New York. I took lots of pics but won't bore you with hotel room photos.

Lesson Learned: No one in Vegas thinks twice when you wander around with a drink in each hand.

Lesson Learned: White tiger cubs are so cute, I will begin talking in baby talk in public. Thems so cutey wootie!

Lesson Learned: Things that are small are instantly cuter.

Lesson Clarified: Even one day old dolphins are cuter, which seems impossible since dolphins are pretty freaking cute to begin with.

Lesson Learned: FAO Schwartz employees let drunks wander through the toy store with beer/margaritas in their hands. We are excellent role models.

Lesson Learned: When I tell people that Dan and I aren't big drinkers, I am lying to them and myself.

Lesson Learned: Robo people always get the chicks.

The One Where I Get All Political

2008-09-12T09:28:00.001-07:00

voteforchange.com, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

It's been a crazy week. Vegas, friends moving, friends sent to the hospital, new Fall TV, stamping swaps to finish, watching The House Bunny in order to write a critical review on costume design, contemporary fashion and the preconceived stereotypes society has for sororities. (Yes, actual paper topic.) I had lots of blogs planned, but just haven't had the time to sit down and write them. Because I am a forward thinking member of society, I decided that now would be the perfect time to ignore my work and stand on a soap box.

However, I try to be as PC as possible at all times. I don't like discussing politics with people I don't know because I know politics, much like religion, can be a touchy subject for some. Still, I feel it's very important to use my blog as a way to reach out to people and take a stand.

Go register to vote.

There, I said it. It's out in the open.

Being a leader for change is HARD.

Eff Baltimore

2008-09-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Dan: What's wrong?
Me: My best friend in the whole wide world is moving to Baltimore! This stinks. Who lives in Baltimore? There's nothing to do there but sing the lyrics to Hairspray.
Dan: Maybe she'll be happy there.
Me: It still stinks!
Dan: Do you want a milkshake to cheer you up?
Me: You think a milkshake will improve the fact that the closest girlfriend I have is moving across the country with her hubby and 2 kids? You think a milkshake will keep me from missing the only person who understands me as much as you do?!?
Dan: ...it's a chocolate milkshake...
Me: Deal.

Jess, if you're leaving me I will have to console myself with frosty, chocolatey treats. When you come back for a visit and I weigh a gazillion pounds, you have no one to blame but yourself. And Wendy's, for making such delish Frosties.

Kudos to Katie

2008-09-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

When I was in college, I started out my freshman year with a wonderful roommate from California. She had moved to AZ with her boyfriend and had the lucky pleasure of being my first roomie.
Katie, aka Astro Squirrel Bait (what do you bait a squirrel with? NUTS...heh heh, love it,) and her boyfriend Sam became two of my favorite college roommates. Yes, her bf was a roomie too. It was weird if I came home and he wasn't there and I missed them both if they happened to leave for a weekend. Katie introduced me to soda, (which I didn't drink before college,) late night TV reruns of the Golden Girls, the wonders of owning a Mac and online shopping. I lived a sheltered life before she entered my world - don't judge.
Anyway, when I decided to pledge a sorority, Katie made fun of me like any true friend would have. But then the draw of sorority life got to her and she decided to pledge a different sorority. I made fun of her too of course, because that's what friends do.
We decided to stay roomies for a little while longer until we were told that we had to move into the sorority dorm, but luckily her room was just one floor below mine. Needless to say, I bothered her daily. Mostly with cakes baked in the microwave, stupid Mac questions and complaints about how dumb boys are.
Katie, my brilliant science-loving, kitty-owning geeky friend who still likes shopping, is pregnant with her first child! She's 11 weeks along and I couldn't be happier for her and Sam! Please head over to Astro Squirrel Bait and send her a little congrats, because this chick means more to me than she'll ever know! I have so many happy college memories that involve her and Sam and I am overjoyed that they've decided to start producing a little Squirrel Bait!!

Old as...Old Things

2008-08-31T09:11:00.000-07:00

I feel super old, which is sad because I'm only 26. Classes started last week and I was supprounded by youngin's on campus. These little 18-year-olds who were so super excited about everything. So thrilled because Look! Over there! A cute boy! And over there! Pizza slices for a buck! And over there!?! A free tshirt when you sign up for a credit card!!!
I went to meet some friends for drinks and say goodbye to one who is leaving on a 2 month backpacking trip to Europe. While it sounds exciting, he's staying in hostels. Like, no mint on a pillow hostels. You couldn't pay me to stay in one. I watch movies, I know what happens in those places. Plus, where would I store my bengay? We old farts have to think about these things before long trips.
Another was telling me that he bought a company with his brother. I know people who are business owners. I'm still trying to work the system so I never have to work another real job in my life. I'd prefer to be a lady of leisure but Dan says that's not gonna happen. My next pick is professional lottery winner. I'm still trying to figure out where to send my application to.
Finally, a third was telling me about her decision to try fertility drugs. When I asked why, she told me that age was a factor and they were concerned that the clock was ticking too quickly to allow them to have the 3 kids they wanted before she hit 40. Not only is it weird that I have friends who are having babies and/or thinking about babies, but it's weird that I have friends who are worried that they might not be able to have babies. My biggest concern as of late is whether or not I'm going to be able to have a dollar slice of pizza and still fit into my jeans.

To combat this age worry, I started thinking about the young and stupid things I did. One that pops into my head was the time my sorority sisters and I got into a war with some frat guys. We all filled water balloons with shaving cream, with the intent of having a balloon fight outside. Somehow, the war started in the frat hallways, which as the balloons were flying made everyone scramble into dorm rooms. The fighting continued, with no regard to personal property. Once peace was restablished, the guys had pledges clean up the mess. At the time, I didn't feel bad. That's what pledges were for, right? But now I think back to those poor guys who were on their hands and knees with towels, sopping up the remnants of our quick battle. I feel badly for how I treated them.

Well, that didn't help my age worry. Instead it made me feel guilty. No more self therapy for me.

Oh Bugger

2008-08-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

When most people get a mosquito bite, that's the end of it. They get one. One measly little nip from a winged thing that leaves an itchy bump. A bit of anti-itch lotion on it and it's forgotten about.

With me, when I get a mosquito bite, I get more than one. 5 this time, 7 last time. (Although, optimistically, this means I'll get only 3 next time. That's how it works, right?)

These bites turn into welts, which quickly turn into large lumps the diameter of a softball. Last time I could barely walk because the bite on my knee made me unable to bend my leg. This time, the bite on my hand was so swollen it was painful. I took a lot of Benadryl, which means I got a lot of sleep, and kept ice on my hand for 3 days straight.

The biter is still floating around our house somewhere. I only know because the b-word just flew by my head. Good news is Dan did some research and learned that only pregnant females bite you and they only eat once. Bad news is that now I know that mosquitos can live 100 days. And there's a pregnant one flying around our abode, trying to lay her eggs.

I immediately checked every sink and shower to make sure it wasn't clogged and flushed every toilet for good measure. There will be no standing water in this house for the next 100 days.

There is however quite a bit of standing water outside, due to last night's downpour. Anyone want to volunteer to come over and drain these mini ponds? Perhaps pour some bleach into them? I'd ask Dan but he's currently in class. And going out there to do it myself seems like I'm asking for trouble.

I'm a prisoner in my own home. Because of a bug.

Open Letter to TV

2008-08-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Fall TV Lineup,

I admit, sometimes I have you on just as background noise. I don't pay as much attention to you as you'd prefer. I'm sure this has caused some hurt feelings and tension but I am only one woman. I can't watch everything all the time.
My Tivos are getting lonely. They sit empty, pathetically suggesting reruns of Full House. While I love me some Uncle Jesse, I can only handle so much of the Olsen twins in one sitting. The Olympics were a fun distraction but now? Now I'm not even fast forwarding through the commercial breaks, because it helps the entire experience seem to last longer.
Please hurry back. I know we've had some hard times but really, you've been away for long enough.

I've missed you.

With Love,
S

Marriage is All About Balance

2008-08-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

I often tell people that Dan is mean. This typically happens right after I've asked him to buy me something, such as a trained snowy white owl or a zebra, and he says no. However, when I sigh and exclaim to anyone who listens that Dan is a mean turd head and that I am the nice one, they give me strange looks.

Today, I was trying to think of something to blog about while watching Tivo'd episodes of Jon and Kate + 8. (Is anyone else but me obsessed with these kids?! Too adorable for words!!) And it hit me- I should blog about our new space!

Most of you know, my parents are packing up and moving to California. Tomorrow actually. However, they were supposed to have left a month ago so all of their stuff has been in boxes and Dan and I took over their house. Yay for living rent/mortgage free! They used to have a media room with 2 plush couches, a comfy arm chair, a small table to wrap gifts on and an elliptical. However, when the furniture was lugged downstairs in preparation for the move, we took the area over.

We only have one couch because people who live in apartments do not buy two couches. So we moved it in but then had a whole lotta space left over. So a gigantic L shaped desk came in from my sister's room which I turned into my computer desk/craft desk. Two folding card tables came in because one craft desk is obviously not enough working space for a single human being. A partition I bought when my local scrapbook store went out of business went up and all my things are displayed on both sides of it. My lovely papsan chair came in, placed beside my desk so when I wanted to peruse idea magazines, I could kick back and get comfy. It's a perfect space.

My Side of the Room

With as much time as I spend crafting and Dan spends playing WOW, we decided to move his computer out of the office and into the media room as well. I wouldn't give up any of my side of the room, so Dan put his desk to the left of the projector screen.

Dan's Side of the Room

OK, so maybe Dan *IS* the nice one...

Be Like the Ghostbusters

2008-08-19T10:54:00.001-07:00

Mia's Slime Pit of a Backyard, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Want to do your good deed for the day? Mia from Often Wrong, Never in Doubt has a great new house. She and her dear hubs have put a lot of work into it, including chasing away the bums that had taken residence in the once adbandoned abode.

While they've done a whole lotta work on the house itself, they've been kidna avoiding starting on their backyard and I can see why. Her endearing nickname of it is The Slime Pit and without having seen it in real life, I can tell from the pictures that it's the set horror movie directors dream of. I can picture The Thing rising from out of the pool-ish structure and causing havoc among the residents.

So please head over to the link below, register to vote and then check out Mia's entry. (Fastest way to find her entry after registering is to use the drop down menu from "go to" and searching for Mia's name.)

http://azstarnet.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?PageType=VOTING&ContestID=2112&SubmissionID=139005&IncrementNumber=1#SubmissionDisplay

Not only will you be helping out Mia, but you will be bringing joy to her adorable pomeranian, her scary cat and her husband Danny. Everyone knows the best husbands are named Daniel.

Like that? A plug for someone else still turned into something cute about Husband. I deserve a present. Preferably something shiny.

Culture, in the Most Brainless Way Possible

2008-08-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

In keeping up with my current "Sara is a pop culture zombie" theme, I give you movie reviews.

Movie #1 - Pineapple Express. I didn't know what the title had to do with the movie, and for some strange reason I never asked. Apparently, it's the name of the type of pot that the characters smoke throughout the movie. Learn something new everyday. I went into the theater, expecting a few chuckles and a lot of eye rolling. However, the movie was hilar. (Short for hilarious. Yes, I am that cool.)
Keep in mind, you are reading this review by someone who never tried pot. I really do mean never, I'm not just trying to thwart any drug narcs who may be keeping tabs on me. I don't know how it feels to be high more often than not, I don't like the smell of pot and I have never seen a real pot plant. Husband informs me that the pot comes from dried flowers, which in the movie look like giant furry bananas. He assures me that they really are tiny flowers, but I prefer to think of them as furry bananas.
Anyway, I have a point. This movie was great. Much better than anticpated. I probably didn't understand most of the drug references, but it was funny to me because the two main characters were the exact stereotype of druggies that I have in my head. And to see them running around like idiots made me laugh with relief because I, thank goodness, am not a dirty pothead with drug dealers trying to shoot me.
Plus I love comedies where people fall down. Seth Rogan falls down a lot in this film.

Overall:
Reason to Watch It - Danny McBride, especially saying "Thug Life."
Reason to Watch It - Seth Rogan getting attached by a giant mosquito and screaming in a fashion much like I would.
Reason to Skip It - Seth Rogan looks so dirty, you can almost smell him.
Reason to Skip It - His relationship with his gf is weird and a little too pedophile. I think she's 21 in real life, but she looks 16.

Movie #2 - Tropic Thunder. OK, this is not so much a movie review as a blatant holla out to Tom Cruise. Yes, I said Tom Cruise.
He plays this producer scum who is beyond funny. The images of him "smacking it" to Flo Rida will make me laugh for weeks. The fiercely overgrown chest hair that he absentmindly twirls with his finger, the gold bling he has hanging around his neck...I chuckle just typing about it.
Oh yeah, and other stuff happened in the movie that was funny. The End.

Overall:
Reason to Watch It - Tom Cruise, no joke. I have a newfound respect for this man.
Reason to Watch It - Danny McBride again. This time, talking about being a caterer.
Reason to Skip It - Matthew McConaughey. I seriously think this guy is overhyped.
Reason to Skip It - Ben Stiller. Another actor I could live without. Although he wrote and directed the movie, so maybe he's not that bad after all.

Where's the Pole?

2008-08-14T16:05:00.001-07:00

I Heart Wipeout on ABC, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Because Dan and I are educated, mature individuals, we decided to watch Wipeout. Don't judge me.
This show is almost as awesome as yours truly. The first 5 minutes, Dan was cracking up at the 12-year-old humor from the hosts, and I stared at him wondering how I managed to marry such a dork. And then? Ariel Tweto appeard on screen.

Love. Her.

She was an energetic 20-year-old from Alaska who had never been kissed and shared this fact in the first 5 seconds of her screen time. She was fiery, held her own against the male athletes and came in 3rd place. But the best part, the part that had me laughing so hard I was crying, was the scene from above. The point of this obstacle was to grab the pole and vault over to the large red ball and stay put without wiping out and falling in the water. She reached the top of the launch pad and procceded to do a little potty dance. As she hopped around, she yelled out "where's the pole??!"

...you mean the large, 20 foot pole right in front of you?

So instead, she just ran right past the pole and tried to make it to the ball. She failed of course, but was hilarious in her attempt to do so.

Words do not do this scene justice. Check out YouTube if you'd like to laugh your butt off. Providing your employer does not block YouTube access from work like mine does. Seriously, how do they expect me to keep my spirits up if I'm not allowed to laugh while at work? Dictatorship.

Midnight Memories

2008-08-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of time tonight catching up on old blogs and now a million posts are running through my head. Inspired by some of my favorite blog authors. Inspired by new authors I stumbled upon. Even inspired by a photo I saw when I googled "cat in hammock."

Yes, I googled "cat in hammock." Official Cat Lady right here. I need a badge for my blog.

Anyway, Blogging Barbie's post about her Ken made me think of some of my exboyfriends. Some of them might read this blog from time to time, so I won't outright criticize them (much) but sometimes? When I'm doing something mindlessly and thinking about old times or friends? Sometimes I think "what was I thinking?!"

I think it's healthy to realize that my ex's were so wrong for me. A psychiatrist might disagree. This is why I don't go to a therapist and pay them to argue with me. Dan will do that for free.

When we moved out of our last apartment, I purged a lot of crap from our closets. Magazines that I swore I was going to cut recipes from. Books I hated the first half of but told myself I'd give it another chance someday. Candles I received as gifts that made my nose wrinkle up. All the stuff we didn't want went either to Good Will or the dumpster. Including my box of mementos.

The box was full of random things that reminded me of good times with a few of my past loves. Including, but not limited to:

An envelope made from different colors of Duct Tape. Inside was a heartfelt letter from my first love, telling me that he'd miss me when I left for college. It was a sweet gesture, but...Duct Tape? Seriously?

A calendar from 1999. Given to me in 2003... the idea was cute. He had written important dates on it and little messages about the times we spent together. Too bad I was dating someone else in 1999 and had considered him just a friend that year. He claimed it was because he realized he liked me that year. I think it was really because he found it at the bottom of his closet and didn't want to ruin his cool 2003 Castles of the World one.

A Care Bear. Now, I loved Care Bears when I was younger. I had one video tape of it at my grandparents' house and it was the only thing I was allowed to watch. But this one was given to me when I was 20 years old. And it was Bedtime Bear. Did he think I was afraid of the dark?

A piece of paper with the age-old question "do you like me? Check yes or no" written on it. It made me laugh when he passed it to me. It also got me reprimanded for laughing in the middle of class.

A Denny's menu. We were kinda dating but hiding it from everyone because of stupid high-school drama. We would meet up late at night at a Denny's far from our houses just so no one would see us together. After a few months of this, we decided to go back to being just friends. We made this decision at Denny's, and he stole 2 menus for us to keep as reminders of our time together, since there were no messages, photos, zilch. In case you're wondering, not much has changed on the Denny's menu since then.

A Transformer. The guy thought that being a child of the 80's, I'd go ga-ga over it. I wasn't allowed to watch tv as a kid. So...thanks for the weird car robot thing. It's...different.

A post card sent to me when he was on vacation in a different state. The post card was of an ugly naked cowboy in a bathtub. Classy.

An empty plastic container. It once held my 2 favorite flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans, but had long been eaten. And written in tiny, perfect script around the outside was a poem he wrote me. First line - "Dear Sara, you're so fair-a."

So, when you compare some of these things to the cute things my dear hubby gives me, you can understand why I felt no need to keep the mementos. Although, one of my favorite things that Dan has ever given me is a china hutch. Maybe my tastes have changed.

Excitement is in the Eye of the Beholder

2008-08-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't guessed, I'm back. My eye is healed(ish) and I can type once again without having to rely on spell check to distinguish between...well, everything I type actually. I don't spell very well.
Anyway, lots of exciting news! I finally talked Dan into expanding our family! No, no little Klicks running around. And no more kitties. (Dan's not that stupid!) We decided that we are going to get a puppy! In a few months at least, to give us time to get settled into our new routine - more on that later - and so that we don't have to house train a puppy in my parents' place. I'm worried about tinkle on their expensive rugs. We fell in love with an adorable Chug - chihuahua pug mix - at a local rescue event. He was so cute, I even agreed that Dan could call him Budwiser. Get it? Chug Budwiser? I will call him Buddy of course, because Budwiser is a dumb name for anything that doesn't get served cold and foamy.
I'm not a beer drinker, but didn't that sound cool? I have bar street cred.
My parents are all packed up and ready to move off to CA. I'm ready to claim their walk-in closet as my own. It will be nice to practice playing home owners by taking care of my parents' house while they're gone. While using their money if something breaks of course. Playing house only goes so far.
While we are not paying rent, we have decided that I will cut back on my hours at work and go back to school. I could work full-time, but not at my current job which is a stereotypical 8-5. I might get a 2nd job just to fill in the hours but we'll see how bored I am. I want to work at a scrapbook store. Dan wants me to actually earn a paycheck, not just sign one over to my employer.
Dan is also looking towards changing career paths. He was originally going to school and only sticking it out at his job until he was done. But now that he's logged 5 years into the company, he's realized that he actually likes his job. He likes the change and the pace of the industry. Plus he has all the responsibilities of a higher position right now, so he figured he might as well apply for the actual job title and get the salary that comes with it! It's exciting to see him passionate about this job again, because for a very long while he felt like he was just spinning his tires.
Enough updating. Isn't it strange how exciting news can be boring on a blog? I should have made up a story about how I saved a child from a collapsing bridge while filming a movie with Brad Pitt. Eh, not believable. Brad's not doing films right now. Haven't you seen his new bundles of joy? The man's got his hands too full to do movies.

Shoulda gone with Will Smith.

Insert Pirate Joke Here

2008-08-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

Me: Think of a pirate name for me.
Dan: A pirate name? Let me think about it for a minute.
Me: I'm going to use Sara the Formidable. CAPTAIN Sara the Formidable!
Dan: Sara the Formidable? *snort* That's a stupid pirate name. It sounds like a butt pirate name.
Me: You sound like a butt pirate! Haha gay joke!
Dan: You're so loving.
Me: I know.

Me: Let's go see Mama Mia!
Dan: No, let's go see X-Files.
Me: But it's my turn to pick!
Dan: No, you posted online for everyone to see that you've gotten an unfair amount of picks. Now it's my turn.
Me: That's not fair!
Dan: You're not fair.
Me: You're a dork.
Dan: You're a turd.
Me: You're a turd polisher. That's right, you polish turds.
Dan: That didn't make sense.
Me: You don't make sense!
Dan: What are you, 9?
Me: That would make you a pedophile.
Dan: Pedophile? Oooh...big word for a 9-year-old.
Me: Gina says she wants to be a fly on the wall for our conversations. I think they're pretty normal though.
Dan: Yup. Everyone has these kinds of conversations.

Yo ho yo ho, A Pirate's Life for Me!

2008-07-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

I've been missing from the blogging world for more than a week, so here's a quick recap of what's been going on in Casa de Klick.

By "recap" I mean, "excuse for not blogging."

- Got another weird eye infection. I have been to 3 different eye appointments with 2 different doctors. Both cost me a lot of money and neither has made any improvements. The last appointment ended with me wearing an eye patch.
- I've been wandering around the house saying "yaaar, I'm a pirate!" Also bumping into things a lot, but I think I've hidden it from everyone so far.
- I made Dan take apart a large desk that was trapped in my sister's room and move it into the media room. This space is slowly being turned into a new revamped craft space. More on that once everything is neat and tidy and I have time to take a picture. Probably next week.
- I've been trying to type up all my favorite recipes into my computer. Very hard to do when you're Captain Sara the Formidable.
- We unloaded the rental storage unit and I got dehydrated. Dan says I was talking in gibberish, but really, how is that different from everyday?
- We're (very very) slowly unpacking all the boxes that were in there. Even I am amazed at the sheer number of kitchen gadgets we own. And sets of dishes? I plead the 5th.
- I bought a new papasan chair cushion. My love for this chair passed a one year anniversary, so I thought it was time for a new cushion. The best part is that I got it on clearance. I love Pier 1 sales.
- I am sad that one of the highlights of my week was buying a cushion. I need a hobby.
- I found out that an old friend from high school is having her first baby. She's having everything eco-friendly and organic! I'm in awe of the lifestyle she and her fiance live and the dedication they show towards not only the environment, but also the future of their child.
- Dan kinda joined this informal poker league. Every month, someone hosts and provides snacks. I've started planning my nicer snack menu like mini cheeseburgers in puff pastries, pita chips with cinnamon apple salsa and mini pink champagne cupcakes. Dan keeps saying no, but I think the 30 other guys will love it rather than the boring beer and pretzels.

OK, I'm having trouble typing and it's frustrating so I'm going to wrap up this post. Hopefully next time I blog I will have 2 working eyes. Or a talking parrot and a peg leg.

Happy Birthday Husband!

2008-07-17T10:27:00.001-07:00

Dan, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Today is Dan's 27th birthday. In honor of it, I decided to post 27 things I love about him. Be prepared for a mushy post.

1. When I started calling him “Husband” on day 1 of our marriage, he called me “Wife.” Now on day 635 of our marriage, he still lets me call him Husband and still calls me Wife.
2. He claims that puppy dog eyes and whining don’t work on him, but we both silently know the truth.
3. He lets me stick my frozen toes underneath his leg to warm them up.
4. When I’m feeling sick, he draws me a bubble bath before I even have to ask.
5. He’ll stop whatever he’s doing and come turn on the ceiling fan for me because I can’t reach the pull cord.
6. When I whine that a video game is impossible to beat, he calmly looks up a walkthrough online and gives me hints on how to beat it.
7. Even when we’re on a budget, he encourages me to buy more craft supplies.
8. One year and 8 months into our marriage, he asked me if I’d still marry him all over again and gave me a gorgeous topaz ring that I had been searching for.
9. He knows I hate driving, so he does all the driving when we go places together.
10. He pretends to be surprised by the gifts I give him, even if he was the one who ordered it.
11. He watches girly reality shows with me with only minimal complaints.
12. He does all the cooking and gives me backrubs when I have to cook.
13. He makes me laugh, although it’s not always on purpose.
14. If I was busy at work and couldn’t check my favorite blogs, he calls me on my way home and gives me an update.
15. We take turns picking which movie we’re going to. It’s been my turn for the past 2 years.
16. He pretends to know the lyrics to every song on the radio and sings along. He is very rarely correct but still makes a gallant effort.
17. He goes with me to hang out with my high school friends, even if he’s bored as we reminisce.
18. He looks really cute when he’s mad at a video game.
19. He brings home flowers for no reason and fills up my gas tank so I don’t have to.
20. He gives minimal protests when I insist we need to buy something to improve our quality of life. (I.e. new laundry detergent, another set of dishes, a kitten.)
21. We have a budget for gifts, which he allows me to ignore if it’s A) a big event, B) needs special new wrapping paper or C) is a cool gift that is perfect for the recipient.
22. He lets me turn on the pop radio station when we’re in the car, even if he’d rather listen to CNN.
23. He tells me things he thinks are compliments, but come out funny. (“Sometimes you laugh like a chipmunk.”)
24. He gets sympathetically embarrassed for people and turns bright red during "Best of the Worst" on American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance.
25. When I can’t get comfortable at night and wiggle around trying to find the perfect sleeping position, he doesn’t complain as I take over his side of the bed and leave him clinging to the edge.
26. He teaches me new things, or at least tries. And when I tell people I’m not as high maintenance as I used to be, he doesn’t laugh too hard.
27. He lets me make fun of him on this blog. A lot…probably more than I should. But he still loves me, regardless.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband and best friend. "I love you the mostest!"

Love,
Your Wife

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2008-07-15T08:15:00.001-07:00

cartoonstock.com, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Good: I've lost weight.
Bad: My clothes are too big and are falling off.
Ugly: My clothes are falling off while I'm at work, causing me to flash a little more skin than I'd like.

Good: Husband enjoyed his new present.
Bad: Our version of quality time this weekend involved total silence from us, cussing from the video game.
Ugly: I was laughing at some of the background conversations/commercials. If you've ever heard a commercial in the Grand Theft Auto games, you know why this is a bad thing. Let's just say I was not P.C. this weekend.

Good: My dad got a new job.
Bad: My parents are moving back back to Cali Cali.
Ugly: This has cause numerous California themed songs to get stuck in my head. Including, but not limited to, Do You Know the Way to San Jose.

Good: Mama Mia! is coming out this weekend. Everyone knows I love a good flamboyant musical.
Bad: I have to allow Dan to play his video games non-stop for the rest of the weekend in order to talk him into going.
Ugly: We made this arrangement prior to planning on emptying the storage unit and moving furniture on Saturday. He's going to be grumpy at the movie...

Good: My local Circle K is having a sale on my favorite energy drinks. 2 for $3
Bad: This caused me to buy more energy drinks than Dan would approve of.
Ugly: I am talking fast and my typing is shoddy, at best. The first time I typed this sentence, it read "I am tlaking fast and m ytyping is shody at bests."

Battle of the Sexes

2008-07-11T00:14:00.000-07:00

Conversation Between an Old Friend and Myself

J-Dawg: So what have you been up to lately?
Me: Not much. We have 3 cats, which I shouldn't start off the conversation with but it's the truth. I've become a married cat lady. We're saving to buy a house. I took up rubber stamping as a hobby. I am hooked on Tivo. I still like pb&j sandwiches with a side of sharp cheddar cheese.
J: Still talking to your old roommate?
Me: Yeah. She lives in CA still so we don't see each other that often.
J: What about that guy who was masquerading as your BFF?
Me: Masquerading? Why do you say it like that? We were besties for long while. But I got married and his gf at the time hated me, so we lost touch. We still see each other from time to time but it's not the same.
J: I say masquerading because everyone knows members of the opposite sex can't be platonic best friends.
Me: That's such an ignorant thing to say. We were friends because of who we were as people, not because of what gender we are.
J: Ask anybody. J-Dawg knows his uncomfortable sexual chemistry. Men and women can't be just friends.

This led to a rousing debate about the matter, which includes both of us ragging on each other's past relationships. I'll leave that bit out because frankly, Husband doesn't want to hear that I ever dated anyone else. And J would kill me if I told the story of his tryst with the girl who ended up being a crack dealer. Let's just say it involved handcuffs and not in a good way.

I think it's completely possible. I've had a few male friends that I was never attracted to and vice versa. What are your thoughts? Can men and women have a completely platonic relationship?

Testing Testing

2008-07-10T14:52:00.001-07:00

Dan's gift, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I tried blogging this photo from Flickr twice now. And while it said that the posting was successful, as soon as I clicked over to the blog the post was gone. This is my final try. If it doesn't work, these words are unnecessary, yet I continue to find myself typing them

If all of them worked and you've read the same post twice plus this post complaining that you couldn't read the first two, then ignore me. Not that I need to tell people to ignore me. That seems to work out fine enough.

And if you haven't seen the first two and this is the first one that's worked, then here's the basic topic of the posts:

Lookie lookie. Sara got Dan's bday gift delivered today. So she wrapped it and will leave it at work where he has no access to it. Mwah ha ha ha hah!

That evil laughter is a sign of true love.

My Hair's a Hot Mess

2008-07-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

My haircut, while I blogged about it for days and days in anticipation, did not go as spectacularly as planned. Don't get me wrong, I love it. It's only about 4 inches shorter, but it has lots of layers so it feels shorter on my head. There's a few guys reading who don't understand. Women will get what I mean. It just feels lighter. It naturally does a little flip and unless there's high humidity (like there has been for the past 4 days,) it hangs in nice smooth waves with a bit of curl at the end. If there is high humidity, (see previous bitter parenthesis) it takes 2 hours with a blow dryer and a round brush to avoid me looking like a poodle. I do not have that kind of time to devote to my hair. Instead, I put it up. After reading the weather forecast for the next week, I have decided that I should invest in head scarves.
The stylist didn't want to give me bangs or go more than 4 inches shorter. She said that women who tend to do such a dramatic change often regret it, so unless I had my heart set on going super short, she would prefer if I allowed her to give me more of a Jennifer Aniston style. Because I'm chicken sh--, I told her to do it her way.
Best advice I ever got. Even over the time a sorority sister told me to always take an empty knock-off purse to parties and keep my stuff in my pockets because someone will inevitably need something to throw up in and purses are normally the first thing that gets sacrificed.
Next time I get my hair cut, I plan on going a little bit shorter and getting bangs, but not as drastic as the ones I had originally planned on. Baby steps people, baby steps.

Dan's just glad I didn't cry.

And in case you're wondering, I took the picture of Clay Aiken with me to the salon.

Missing Martini

2008-07-08T16:05:00.001-07:00

Goodbye Planschange.blogspot.com, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I have a confession. I check Martini's blog daily, sometimes twice daily if she hasn't posted before I leave work. Single+Cats=Sad was one of my top 5 favorite blogs to read. She was a single girl, living a completely different life from me and her blog was fascinating and funny.
If you’d like to know the full story about her recent disappearance from the bloggy world, go to Lady Luck’s blog... http://changingmyluck.blogspot.com/
Basically, someone forwarded her blog to the guy she was dating. He was upset that she blogged about their personal life and he read statements from her that he didn’t like. Throwing a tantrum was only part of the reason she left though. She didn’t want whoever sent him the link to send it to others in her life. It was a public blog, yes, but it was also a form a personal therapy. She never mentioned names, never gave specifics. But she gave all of us insight into her world, which was a nice break from my normal boring life.
I’ll miss reading her blog. She was the 2nd of my all-time Top 5 favorite humor blogs that had to delete her posts. Please Tartraz, SO@24 and rs27 – Please promise me you won’t stop blogging!

I nearly clung to my computer screen. I think I’m already showing signs of separation anxiety.

Goodbye Communication

2008-07-07T10:44:00.001-07:00

XBox Kitty - from gamepro.com, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Dan is impossible to shop for. Everything he wants costs a butt-load of money or is impossible to find. Plus, if you ask him what he wants as a present and specify that it needs to be realistic in price and obtainability factor, he will respond with something boring. Like a new computer mouse. Or a gift certificate to a restaurant. Or perhaps a gallon of paint that he can watch dry.
This year, i was determined to get him something with wow factor...well, as much wow factor as I could afford. I looked into getting him a new cell phone but he can't decide which one he wants. I looked into getting him a new watch, but the ones he likes are either the price of a large TV or they are ugly. I researched getting him a hot shave and massage package, but the only places that have that kind of stuff are too frilly for him to feel comfortable in. I even looked into getting him the stupid mouse he wants, but did you know there are over 30 different mice at Best Buy? And that doesn't include the ones that are made specifically for laptops or that come with a keyboard. The Best Buy employee seemed offended that I was not impressed by the 9 programmable buttons. Really? 9 buttons on a mouse? Does anyone else think this is excessive?
Luckily, Dan mentioned he wanted an XBox 360. He doesn't trust the average Ebay seller, so he didn't want me to get one from there - he wanted a warranty from a big box store. I was going to buy it off Ebay anyway and just hope he never asked me which store he got it from. Last night, he was on Ebay and saw one going for a ridiculously low price with only 35 minutes left on the auction. So I told him to bid on it, thinking he would complain that there was no warranty. He was so excited about how cheap it was, he didn't care about the warranty! I nearly fainted with shock!
We won the auction, but I told him I refuse to let him have it until his bday on the 17th. I'll probably cave because I get really excited about giving gifts, and he'll get it the same day it arrives in the mail. Wrapped and with a coordinating gift tag of course.
When I bought him a PSP for Christmas, I knew I had shot myself in the foot. He was so into the PSP that he didn't speak to me for days. Now I've bought him another game system... Goodbye other foot.

Pay it Forward

2008-07-06T20:53:00.001-07:00

I know I promised to choose a winner on Wednesday. I know it's Sunday. I blame being on a week-long vacation. Or maybe I should have blamed Dan for picking the winner too slowly. Yes, that sounds better. I blame Dan.

Before I announce the lucky winn-ah, I'm going to let the audience know what she's won! By way of a convo between Dan and I in Vegas...

Me: I need to find a gift for the blog candy winner. Keep your eyes peeled.
Dan: Ooh! What's more "Vegas" than this?!?
Me: That's a magnet with a pin up girl in a martini glass...
Dan: I know! Completely tacky Vegas!
Me: Most of my blog readers are female.
Dan: And that's what makes it funny!!
Me: No. Look for something else.
Dan: Does this mean collecting the little fliers for prostitutes that they hand out on the street is a no-go?
Me: We are not giving away free whore fliers as a gift, Husband.
Dan: OK, how about this? It's a bottle opener. With a can opener so that you can open some mixers. And it has a knife! Just in case someone tries to steal your booze!
Me: *snort* It has a knife? In case your bar brawl gets out of hand?
Dan: Hm, yeah. But I think the knife is for looks. It's rounded. I'm trying to cut my finger and it's not even scratching the skin.

Yes, that's right ladies and gents. The lucky blog candy winner has won a bottle opener/useless weapon! You're welcome!

Congrats to Jillian!

Lovely Plume, please email me your address so I can send you this wonderful "treasure."

Google Encourages Me

2008-07-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

I decided to check Google Analytics to see how much traffic comes to my blog. Instead of having Dan pick a PIF winner or instead of blogging about our vacay...

Me: Huh. According to Google, there are 12 search phrases that are googled that bring traffic to the blog. Your name was googled a few times and it led to it.
Dan: What? I want to google my name! ...the blog is the first link. I'm also apparently a top executive. And Erica's blog comes up. And something about Kristin Chenoweth. I'm on here 2,810 times. At least I'm not a sex offender in any of these.
Me: Erica's blog? She mentions you by your full name?
Dan: I think it's from a comment you left once.
Me: Oh
Dan: If I eliminate all foreign language entries there is...crappy. Only 183 entires. But I'm still not a sex offender!
Me: Heh, more search terms that link to the blog are "LFO Summertime download," "Paula Abdul" and "Katy Perry hairstyle."
Dan: If you google your name, comments you've made on other people's blogs come up. You spend a lot of time on blogs.

If you only knew, Husband. If you only knew.

Pay it Forward

2008-06-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

JB had a Pay it Forward contest. I won prizes and that makes me happy because who doesn't love winning prizes!? I got lots of Canada goodies, which is neat because I don't live in Canada and it would be weird if my local Target decided to start selling Canadian souvenirs.

... I've totally lost at least 2 readers with my rambling.

Anyway, I have decided to pay it forward! So, leave me a comment about your favorite spot to visit. Be it a different country, a different city or even just over to your best bud's house, where's your favorite place to go?
"But Sara," you may ask, "why did you pick travelling as your comment topic?"
"Ah, that's simple dear readers," I will wisely respond, "it is because Husband and I will be off travelling this weekend in the lovely City of Sin. Viva Las Vegas!"

When we return on Tuesday, (ok it will probably be Wednesday by the time I blog,) I will put all commenter's names in a hat and Husband will choose one as the lovely recipient of something from Vegas!

Anyone who doesn't win, you should blame Dan.

Bad Date Bandwagon

2008-06-26T09:48:00.001-07:00

Bad Date, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Erica at Tartraz recently posted about bad dates. I suggest you head over there and read hers, along with some of the comments that were left. They are beyond funny.
With that post in my head, I decided to post about my own bad dates. I’ve had a lot, which seems totally unfair because I am a fairly normal person and should not attract weirdoes. Here are the 4 dates that were so bad, they weren't given a 2nd chance.
(Yes, I've had awful dates where I gave them another chance. "Fool me once...")

#1 – Told me he lost over 100 pounds playing Dance Dance Revolution. Proceeded to take me to the movies an hour before the show started just so he could show me his DDR skills. When it came time to see the movie, he asked if we could go to the next showing because some other movie-goers had just challenged him to a DDR dance off. Spent another 45 minutes perched on an ATV ride, flirting with a guy who was babysitting his little sister. His 10-year-old little sister. Who was challenging my date (and winning.)

#2 – Decided to double date with roomie and her bf. He told me he does impressions, “which everybody loves.” Showed me how he sings and dances like the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and Ricky Martin. Then he spent all of dinner fighting with roomie’s bf that Cher was better than Aerosmith and making comments about women’s shoes.

#3 – Went to a beach party with a bunch of his friends. They were already drunk when we got there, so my date started pounding back shots. I didn’t drink (cheap whiskey,) so I sat on the beach and watched them try to drown each other in the ocean and try to play drunken volleyball. Walked over to a nearby convenience store and bought a magazine. After killing an hour reading the magazine and having no idea which drowning idiot was my date, I called a friend to pick me up. My date called the next day with a hangover, asked me if I had fun and wanted to know if we could get together again the following night. Hadn’t even noticed I left without him.

#4 – Took me to a bar that was half full of bikers and half full of cowboys. Met up with his friends who regaled me with stories of the “good ol’ days” with my date’s ex. Then went to his place to watch a movie, where his mom was sleeping on his couch. The mom’s boyfriend came over, irate that a gay couple bought the house next door. Told us that he needed to get the pool equipment he installed for the previous owner’s back because, totally not kidding, he didn’t want the pool equipment to “go gay.” My date and his mom’s bf hopped over the fence with shovels and flashlights to steal the pool pump back and kept making gay-bashing comments. When I told him I was leaving, he replied that I should hang out with his mom til he was done and then we’d have a sleepover. And they say romance is dead.

Any bad date stories to share? Even if they were bad dates with your current spouse/significant other, share with us! We promise not to tease them about it. Well, we promise not to tease them to their face. Blog comments are a different matter.

Panic

2008-06-26T08:53:00.001-07:00

photo by Vera Lye, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I've been stressed all week. If I could write that in squiggly capital letters, I would. That's how stressed I am.
I'm getting my hair cut on Monday which I am partly supah-dupah excited about and partly terrified about. (What can I say, I am a complicated woman.)
What if my ridiculously expensive stylist makes me look like a llama? (See above photo for an example of said llama.) What if he hacks off my hair in some artistic expression that I don’t get? What if he has a fight with another stylist and in his mounting anger, clips off a major chunk of hair from the center of my head? That can happen! I watched Blow Out, I KNOW THESE THINGS CAN HAPPEN!!
Dan will be distracted while playing poker on Monday. Will I arrive with a face full of joy and a sexy, stylish cut that makes heads turn? Or will I arrive in tears, demanding he let me buy a hat and threatening to lock myself in our hotel room until it grows back out?
My emotions are like Russian roulette, especially when it comes to my hair.

Puppy Dog Eyes

2008-06-19T12:12:00.001-07:00

from thefunnydogs.com, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

This post is really to answer Wegrit's questions, since I can't post blog comments from work. (Down with The Man!) It's also because I know you all find my opinion on animals terribly exciting.
---

I often see a cute animal and before my puppy dog eyes can melt their way into Dan's heart, he says no to the idea of a new pet. I'm currently rooting for a pet bird, duck and/or chicken. Look at how cute baby chicks are! Yes, they grow into chickens fairly rapidly, but chickens are still cute. I should know, seeing as how I grew up in a city with no chickens around and am therefore an expert on all things fowl. I'm not even sure I've ever seen one live. But nevertheless, I want one as a pet!
Our conversations tend to go from me asking if we can take in foster kittens for the shelter, to asking if we can get a puppy, to asking for a salt water fish tank, to asking for a pretty parrotlet (small parrot that looks like a lovebird but is 3x as pricey,) to asking for some outrageous animal. Varieties include but are not limited to a monkey, pot bellied pig or chicken. I've even asked for a miniature pony but he doesn't even dignify that with a response.
It originally started as a form of reverse psychology. If I ask for a horse he'll let me get a bird! Lesser of two evils!

Apparently Dan has caught on and has now learned to just say no to everything. Sometimes before I even ask the question.

P.S. To the lovely Plume- you take ballet, I'll take tap and then we'll teach each other our fabulous skillz! (Like that? SkillZ. I am so street cred worthy.) It will be like getting two types of classes for the price of one! Bargain shopping!

Marriage, Klick Style

2008-06-18T11:08:00.001-07:00

Opposites-Attract-Poster, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Someone at work today told me that Dan and I seem perfect for each other. I repsonded with assurances that we had our differences too. She asked for an example and the only thing I could come up with? He likes salt on his food while even mashed potatoes can be too salty for me sometimes. OK, not a good example, but I don't do well under pressure! So I started a list...

Me - Sees the toilet paper getting low. Grabs a spare roll to keep in there for when it finally runs out.
Dan - Waits for it to run out, then puts a new roll ON TOP OF THE EMPTY TUBE.

Me - Sends random acts of kindness cards to friends/family.
Dan - Can't remember when his goddaughter/neice's birthday is. Or even how old she is.

Me - Has total faith in our high-end washing machine.
Dan - Has to make sure everything is turned with the right side out, all buttons are buttoned and all zippers are zipped.

Me - Has strangers approach to tell me the weirdest stuff about their lives.
Dan - People eye him suspiciously. Even my parents' dog barks at him, and he has seen him everyday for the last 6 months.

Me - Thinks 80 degrees is not an appropriate temperature to sleep in.
Dan - Loves snuggling up under the comforter, even in the middle of the summer.

Me - Belives that no one will attempt to steal our car in the middle of the day from in front of our house in an upper-middle class neighborhood.
Dan - Will go back outside to double check that the doors are locked.

Me - Only excited for mail if I'm expecting something.
Dan - Getting the mail is the highlight of his day. Even if it's all bills, he just loves getting mail.

Me - Wants to redo our bedroom to give it a fresh look for summer.
Dan - Can't figure out why we have more than one sheet set.

Me - Attention span of a gnat.
Dan - Will get so engrossed in WOW, may not respond to calling his name, phone calls or a bomb exploding in the same room.

So there. Now I have plenty of examples to show that yes, while Dan and I have a great marriage, it's not PERFECT. Perfect would mean he lets me get a pet chicken.

MMMBop Was Already Downloaded

2008-06-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

My iPod was in serious need of a rehaul. I logged onto iTunes tonight and spent a few hours searching for new music. I walked away with the following new playlist:

LFO - Summer Girls. Yes, I finally caved and bought the song.
New Kids on the Block - Summertime. Because the summer of 2008 will be defined by this song on MSN. Just you watch.
Legally Blonde - Ohmigod You Guys. This reminds me of my years in the sorority dorm.
Paula Abdul - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow. I'm not ashamed to say it.
The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up. Dan says the lyrics are "I want to have groupies," not "I want to have boobies" like I think it is. He's probably right. But my version is better.
Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl. I needed my inspirational song to be on my iPod.
Estelle - American Boy. I have been addicted to this song lately. Especially now that it's been on SYTYCD.
Whitney Duncan - When I Said I Would. It was a freebie download of the week. Country, kinda boring. But it was free so who am I to complain?
Lindsay Lohan - Bossy. Again, not ashamed to admit it.

If you have any real taste in music, you have probably never heard any of these songs. But if you're like me and love cheesy pop, then you should download them too! Or share your favorite cheesy pop song suggestions with me for the next time I go in search of new downloads.

World of No

2008-06-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Me: Can I take tap dance lessons?
Dan: No.
Me: What?! Why not?
Dan: You're 26.
Me: Don't you want to be one of those proud husbands who sits in the auditorium, watching his wife tap her heart out and videotaping the entire grand routine?
Dan: No. I would be willing to be a parent who was taping a routine. But to be a husband with a wife in a child's tap dance class would be weird.
Me: But think about it! It would be great exercise. It would give me a hobby. I wouldn't feel like we never go anywhere. I'd make new friends!
Dan: ...who'd all be the same height as your knees.

When you get married, they don't tell you that your husband will stifle your creativity. Or that he'll ruin your chances of becoming the next big superstar on So You Think You Can Dance. Consider this my warning to all the unmarrieds- learn to tap dance now.

Confession

2008-06-11T15:09:00.001-07:00

Thanks Wikipedia, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I missed the original New Kids on the Block craze. I was only 12 when they broke up. I couldn't understand why my uncle gave me a NKOTB tape for my 12th birthday. Now that I'm older I realize that it was his attempt to be cool, but it was a few years too late.
Fast forward 14 years and the group has reunited. I'll admit, I was one of the first to make fun of them.
"Shoulda been renamed Old Men on the Block!" This was normally followed by my own hysterical laughter because I crack myself up.
So when the radio stations started playing "Summertime," I just rolled my eyes and tuned out. But then my ears perked up at the catchy beat. And then I started listening to the entire song. Now I turn the radio up when it's playing. Ironically, I love them because they remind me of L.F.O.

On that same music theme, I have another confession. I read on MSN that most people have a secret song they sing in their heads to psych themselves up. Stuff like "I Will Survive" or the Rocky theme or "Don't Stop Believing." Keeping this article in mind, I decided to use whatever song got stuck in my head when I was having a low moment. I listened to the radio non-stop for a few days. I browsed iTunes. And then, it hit me. I heard some bad news about a friend's pet and just as I was feeling sad, a song came on the radio. That song has been stuck in my head for days now.

"I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry. I'm not sure it's what MSN meant by "inspirational theme" but it stuck in my head and gets me humming along, even when I'm in a bad mood. Which as been a lot lately. Dan is "lucky" enough to get the brunt of my grumpy moods. I'm sure that immediately after reading this, he'll start singing Katy Perry to me non-stop.

In Lieu of Something Funny to Say

2008-06-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Lots of random thoughts today, so here we go.

Overheard at work today : "I called him and said 'good news is I found your golf ball. Bad news is so did a rattlesnake.'"

Our cat, who has hundreds of dollars worth of toys under every piece of furniture, plays with the water dish. Bats it around with his paws and we cannot for the life of us figure out why. Same cat that drools. Maybe he's just inheritantly weird.

I've decided to talk to my boss about going to four 10-hour days. I'm there from 7:30-6:00 most days anyway lately. Might as well get a day off out of it. And some spare time to go to classes or work part-time at a scrapbook store.

I've been fighting major emotional funk lately. I'm close to tears over everything. EVERYTHING. I just cried at Design Star.

Dan talked me into getting a hair cut that will cost about 2 months of cell phone service. This is how I put value to things. How much does it cost in comparison to my phone and/or Tivo?

I am uber excited for Vegas now that I know I will be visiting Cristophe. That's right, one name. I'm already impressed. Dan is excited because it means he gets to play poker without me looking bored. Win-win situation.

JB asked what diet I'm doing. Herbalife. Well, kinda. My nutritionist altered it a bit for me so that I wasn't forced to take all the suppliments they suggest and so that I could have a real meal once a day, instead of their suggested lean protein the size of a pea and steamed veggies, more steam less veggies. Thus far, the shakes are yummy. And the pie they suggest making is like a peanut butter french silk pie but it's all sugar-free health stuff. Yum.

Denise Richards annoys me more than Spencer and Heidi. But I cannot tear myself away from this tv.... help me

Has anyone else noticed that babies seem to be everywhere? Everyone is pregnant or just had a baby. Even the men, it seems. Are Dan and I the only ones who are not with child? I probably shouldn't have gone to see Baby Mama. Hindsight is 20/20.

Friends for Life has been overwhelmed with kittens in the last few days. I am not dumb enough to try to talk Dan into adopting another one. I've matured.

I'm still trying to talk him into a puppy. Baby steps people. Baby steps.

Movie Mania

2008-06-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

We saw a lot of movies this weekend. Don't Mess with the Zohan. Baby Mama. Princess Bride 2. White Chicks. We also went to the bookstore where I browsed some of the finest literature our world has to offer. What did I end up buying? "The Undomestic Goddess" by Sophie Kinsella and a book about animals that is sure to make me cry. Plus I fell a little in love with Robert Downey Jr. because of a scene from the MTV Movie Awards. This was not a good weekend for brain usage...I think it's getting moldy from lack of intelligent thought.

On the up side, the weekend wasn't a total loss. This marked a full week of being on this new diet and I've lost weight! And I've only attempted to kill Dan once because of low blood sugar! Signs of improvement, people! Whoo!

I'm Getting My Hair Cut

2008-06-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've decided to get my hair cut, so I've been searching online for pictures of hairstyles I like. Generally, I want longer and layered. Like a mix of Eva Longoria and Jessica Alba. But also?

I want Clay Aiken's bangs.

I've hit an all-time low.

Sara Syndicated

2008-06-02T14:07:00.001-07:00

advice_2, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I have decided to start an advice column. Something witty and sassy and full of advice for people who are clueless about their lives. Not because I feel my advice is awesome or even kinda in tune. But because I feel that if someone does the exact opposite that I tell them to, they will generally live happier lives.

Example -
Somehow, I remained friends with a few exboyfriends. We're not the greatest of friends anymore but at least there's no animosity. At least, not from my side. Can't speak for them of course. Anyway, one of those exes felt I was a good person to ask for relationship advice. Why? Simply because I'm married. Not because they value my thoughts or think that my relationship with Dan is on par to the love stories of the ages. Nope, just because I'm the first person they know who's gotten hitched and hasn't gotten divorced.

Ex: I need help dealing with this girl I'm seeing. She is acting weird. We were dating casually and everything was fine and then BOOM! She turns crazy. Why is she suddenly nuts?! Why can't I find a girl who's not psycho?!
Me: Well what did you do?
Ex: I didn't do anything!
Me: This is kinda off topic, but I saw this great quote once that said the only common factor in all your failed relationships is you.
Ex: You are really not helping.
Me: Sorry. Trying to make a joke. Um, well did she say something weird prior to losing it? What major thing happened right beforehand?
Ex: She called me her boyfriend and I choked on my drink.
Me: You are such a doofus. No wonder she's acting funny. She thinks you don't want to be her boyfriend.
Ex: But I don't want to be her boyfriend! I just want to be her bedfriend.
Me: Just end it. Find someone new who won't get so attached unless you're ready and willing to commit.

He ended things. She keyed his car.

"Da Bomb," "Awesome" and Other Words The Describe Me

2008-05-31T00:24:00.001-07:00

I'm not normally one to brag, (who am I kidding?!) but lately I can't help it. I've been receiving a number of emails and messages telling me how great I am and how much you enjoy my blog. This is both a good and bad thing. Good, because it will get me to write more often, now that I know someone other than just Dan reads the blog. Bad because I'll get an ego and proceed to strut around the room with my chest puffed out. Probably while ordering myself a trophy. And while saving blind nuns from runaway buses, because that's how awesome I am.
I know I've been silent pretty frequently, both on here and with comments. I have been a silent stalker on all of the blogs, reading everyday about the exciting things you all are doing. But my own life right now? Dull as...something totally dull that starts with d. The phrase normally involves the word "dirt," but dirt is my nemisis sometimes and thus I don't find it dull. I find it aggravating. Especially when it's coating my car in a grimy dust cover.
Sorry, tangent.
Anyway, there is absolutely nothing exciting happening to me right now, which is weird. I don't have a single funny story or interesting event that has happened to me this week. Dan and I have seen very little of each other due to long work hours and appointments and different schedules, so I don't even have funny conversations to replay. Maybe I've hit a rut, both in my life and in this blog? It's so frustrating to feel like you have so much to say but at the same time, nothing intresting to say.
Oh, except for the fact that I started a new diet, met a woman who I want to be best friends with even though she lives in Illinois, started visiting a chiropractor who believes in torture, celebrated a friend's birthday, seriously considered quitting my job and hung out with Dan, my high school sweetheart and another friend from high school at an Irish biker bar.

But other than that, totally boring week.

All Good Things Start With "S"

2008-05-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

I am such a bad blogger. I blame Dan. Not for a particular reason, but just because I can.

Anyway, it's been a busy week around here. Lots of "s" activites.

Stamping - I've become hooked on rubber stamping. I spend more time than is healthy on Splitcoaststampers.com reading tips from women who are way more talented than me, learning about new products and getting inspiration.

Shopping - This new hobby leads me back to my favorite hobby of course, shopping. Rubber stamps are expensive! Plus you *need* the extra stuff. Glitter and ink pads and paper and all kinds of embelishments. I've found myself talking in...

Slang - The website I spend too much time on, splitcoaststampers, has a special sort of slang for all things scrapbook related. Embellies (embelishments) SU (Stampin' Up) etc. This makes me talk in slang too. I feel so geeky. I'm typing to these women the same way I used to when IMing in high school.

Sisters - I have a big sis from one of the stamp groups I belong to. I know a little about her, but have no idea what her real name is or what she looks like. She sends me lot of presents and beautiful cards and other fun stuff, including chocolate. Mmm...chocolate. I also have a little sis, who isn't as chatty as my big sis. I sent her stuff, but no word yet on if she even got it!

Saving - as in "saving the animals." We had a fundraiser on Wednesday, which I somehow became the organizer of. The weather was awful and the American Idol finale was on, but we still managed to raise over $1000 from the people who showed up. The money funds a surgery for a pup that needed to have a leg removed due to a tumor. Dogs bounce back fast - within 24 hours of his surgery, he was playing with other puppies!

Searching - for a house. It's hard to house hunt right now. We don't know if we're moving or not - it's all based upon whether my parents sell their house or not. But we've started our search and found some great deals in Mesa, Gilbert and Maricopa. The ones in Maricopa are too cheap to ignore, but they're also a good hour at least from work. *sigh*

Sentimental - An old boss of mine passed away. His memorial service was on Friday, which I couldn't go to because of work. But a large part of me wouldn't have wanted to go anyway. I last saw him before he got sick, nearly two years ago. I didn't want to go see him like that. I wanted to be able to remember him as being healthy and strong. I wanted to be able to remember him as being the straightforward man who treated us like his family.

Serious - We went out to Best Buy today to buy Father's Day gifts. That's right, we're getting our required holiday shopping done in advance, we are so responsible. And I told Dan he could buy a new TV because the color in ours flickers and you have to literally hit the tv to fix it. But guess what? HE SAID NO. I'm considering taking him to a psychiatrist, but he said - and I quote - "No, I'm going to be an adult here. We don't need a new tv. Ours will work find for a little while longer."

Scheduling - We're planning a vacay. To Vegas again because I was outvoted. Don't get me wrong, I like Vegas. But we were just there in October and I would have preferred to go to World Wildlife Zoo as our vacation. Apparently "Glendale isn't a vacation Sara. It's 20 minutes away." Whatever.

Seeing - movies. We saw Ironman, Narnia and Indy. I had voted for Baby Mama and Made of Honor. I was outvoted. I'm not quite sure how I always lose the vote. There's only two of us in this marriage.

Sweets - We enjoyed delish cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory this week. And we picked up some fresh peaches from a local farm. Plus we bought peach salsa, which I almost drank from the jar it was so tasty. Plus we have Diet Mountain Dew Code Red in our friedge, which is one of my favorite sodas. My tummy has been happy lately.

Stalking - I just spent the past 3 hours reading my favorite blogs that I've missed all week! Dan's been good about reading them and giving me an update during my drive home from various meetings and volunteer stuff. But it's just not the same as when I read them myself. Probably because I imagine different voices for each of the blog's authors and Dan won't mimic those voices for me. He's no fun.

Gah, I don't like doing update posts. By the time I get around to them, I've forgotten all the funny things I've sad/seen/heard this week. Except these conversations...
Me: My hair is so freaking frizzy because of the humidity! I can't live anywhere humid. I've changed my mind about moving.
Dan: I've changed my mind about listening to you.

Dan: *while playing a video game* What am I doing? Why am I collecting these, they are worth nothing!
Me: You talk to yourself a lot.
Dan: It's better than me punching you in the face.
Me: *typing*
Dan: Are you blogging about that?
Me: Maybe.

I'm glad to see that a busy week and a lack of sleep do not stop us from domestic violence jokes.

Sad Face

2008-05-14T15:29:00.001-07:00

stamps, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Me: Hi Husband.
D: Hi Wife!
Me: I'm calling you because I'm sad.
D: Sad? What happened?
Me: I went to that new rubber stamp store in Scottsdale. You know, the one I haven't been able to stop talking about for days because the pictures on their website show it having tons and tons of stamps?
D: You went to the stamp store? Why aren't you at work?
Me: I was. It's my lunch break but I'm heading back now.
D: You went to a rubber stamp store instead of eating lunch?
Me: ...if I tell you yes, will you be mad at me?
D: Yes.
Me: Then, no-ish
D: Sara!
Me: You aren't supposed to get mad! I'm sad right now! You're supposed to be sad too!
D: *sigh* I'm sorry that the rubber stamp store didn't have any cute stamps when you went there INSTEAD OF EATING LUNCH.

I chose to ignore the sarcasm. It's a trend that has worked for me so far.

Sugar Overload

2008-05-13T15:22:00.001-07:00

Sugar Overload, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Sprinkles Cupcakes opened in Scottsdale last week. The one in California is mucho-popular. Even Oprah loves them and we all know that if you don't like what Oprah likes, you have no soul.
On Mother's Day, we decided to brave the crownd to get my mom some cupcakes. We drove up to find a line snaking it's way right out the front door and around the corner of the building! I wanted to turn back, but Dan insisted that the line would move quickly.
For the record, he lies.
We stood in line for an hour. When I gave him my whiny face about 10 minutes into the wait, he responded "think of it as Disneyland. Only, you're waiting an hour in line and instead of a ride, you're getting cupcakes. That you have to pay for." For whatever reason, any analogy to Disneyland makes everything better to me. Dan uses this to his advantage.
We returned home, drenched in sweat, backs aching and in a slightly giddy mood from having escaped alive. Even if the cupcakes tasted like animal poo, I was planning on making everyone eat them and ENJOY THEM because I waited in line for an hour for freaking cupcakes.
They were yummy. Touche Sprinkles, touche.

Fuzzy Naval, Fuzzy Memories

2008-05-13T14:49:00.001-07:00

martinis, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

After the reception, we decided to go to the Yard House with a coworker and his wife who live near us. You know that phrase, "one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor"? With me, it's one martini, two martini...and then it gets pretty fuzzy after that.
I should have known better. The last time I had a drink was in March. I'm not a big drinker since I tend to prefer the expensive drinks. Now that Dan and I are married, I'm apparently not allowed to accept drinks from strangers, and martinis that cost more than free are not in my budget.
Afterwards, I realized that I became old and boring. I wanted to go home and go to bed and it was only 11ish. Just a couple of years ago, I was heading out to the bars at 11! Is it possible to go through a pre-midlife crisis? Because I now have this urge to go out every weekend just to spite myself and fight my premature aging.

I {heart} Weddings!

2008-05-13T14:37:00.001-07:00

Wedding Shower, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I am so behind on my blogging, so apologies in advance for those of you who have me on a blog roll. There will be a couple of posts in a row.

First off, Erica at Tartraz got married. If you don't read her blog yet, you are missing out. She's on her Honeymoon, but spend this week catching up on old posts so you know the hilariousness of her life. Anyway, she had a gorgeous reception which I sadly don't have pictures from. It's Macy's fault. They left the stupid security tag on my dress and I didn't notice until we were already running late so in my haste to change back into normal clothes so we could rush to Macy's on our way to the party, I forgot to grab my camera. Stupid Macy's. If I hadn't gotten my dress for $20, I'd boycott them altogether.
It was very neat to go to her reception and see all the blog characters in real life. I was most excited to see Talia in person! I didn't think it possible, but she looks even cuter in real life! Her momma was not only pregnant with the second baby, but was also a bridesmaid and the caterer! That woman is amazing! (Almost as amazing as the food!)
The wedding was beautiful, the weather was perfect and Erica and Zach looked so happy! I haven't known them for very long, but you could tell that they were in love and perfect for each other. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Tartraz!

Spreading the Blog Love

2008-05-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

JB is having a contest! Head over there to win a fun prize - all you have to do is leave a comment. Then again, I entered because I love presents. So...don't win, ok? Let me win. But still go check out her blog.

Opposites Attract

2008-05-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Me: Am I allowed to tell the blogging world that you were a pot head?
Dan: No. Well, I guess. But you can word it better than that. Tell them I made some unfortunate decisions in my youth. If you put "pot head," I will tell the world that you used to draw your feelings and weren't allowed to watch TV.

Blogging world already knows that Husband. Ha!

So, Dan and I were total opposites in high school. He was someone who "made some unfortunate decisions in his youth." I lived in a naive world where I firmly believed that no one in our school did drugs. Except that one rich kid who had too much free time and had sex with his girlfriend everywhere on campus. And the football team did steroids, but we lived in Scottsdale so everyone knows that doesn't really count.

Anyway, as we were headed to a birthday party this weekend, (not as popular as we sound. It was for a 3-year-old) we had a discussion that we would have never spoken in high school. Or college for that matter. I was too goody-two-shoes and he was too busy trying to be invisible. If I had met him before I did, he probably would have been invisible to me. I chose to date the guys I was best friends with or the bad boys. (Inward groan for my own unfortunate decisions.)
My friends and I went swing dancing on Tuesdays. We played pool on Friday nights at my house. We played games that didn't involve drinking and never went skinny dipping. We were wholesome, which sounds like a bad word now that I type it.

Lucky for us, Dan and I started dating after his pot head days. And he's actually lucky I didn't know he was a pot head when we first met, because there would have been no way I would have gone out with him. Or tried to set him up with Elinor...which is what I did first...

I was just now sitting here typing and trying to think of a way to finish this blog.

Me: I've known you for...47 months.
Dan: Yes.
Me: We shouldn't have gotten married so fast! We barely knew each other!
Dan: Yes. You are lucky I didn't turn out to be a serial killer. I could have hurt you and buried you in the basement. Which would have been impressive, considering we don't have a basement.
Me: Yes, Dear.
Dan: Don't "Dear" me! I'll punch you in the face. Give you a black eye.
Me: *typing all this down for the blogging world to read, as evidence in case I mysteriously disappear someday*
Dan: Don't type that. People don't think spousal abuse jokes are funny. They wouldn't get our sense of humor.

Blog post - reminiscing moment? Check. Conversations with Dan? Check. Reference to how lame I am? Check. Domestic violence joke? Check.

Made in 1982

2008-05-02T20:41:00.001-07:00

OK, you know I'm a good friend when I alter my blog for you. Cory, anonymous users can now post comments. If I get weird comments from perverts, I will assume they are from you.

Back to the real post. I couldn't think of a single thing to blog about so I asked Dan for inspiration...

Me: I can't think of a new post. We don't do anything exciting.
Dan: You got mugged by a freaking pregnant woman! What do you mean we don't do anything exciting?
Me: I already blogged about that. Besides *WE* didn't get mugged. *I* got mugged.
Dan: Yeah, but who did you call?
Me: ...Ghostbusters?
Dan: na na na na na na When there's something strange, in the neighborhood...
Me: Hey, I need a topic!
Dan: Can't think of one. Oh, by the way, I was reading that blog on your blog roll, All Things Cupcake today. I check it every once in awhile.
Me: *smirk*
Dan: What?
Me: Nothing, go on. You read the cupcake blog.
Dan: Right, I was reading it and it had a $900 cupcake chair and a link to the company that makes them. There was some really cool stuff! Like a Lite Brite table where you can move the pegs. And a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot table!
Me: Wow, you are a dork.
Dan: Go look at the website.
Me: *sigh* Fine.
...
Me: Holy crap they have gummi bear lights. I want them! And a button candy bench!?! Mine!

So, all you children of the 80's, go to this site. You will not be disappointed.

Wow, that was a long blog for just one link. Sorry, no refunds for the time spent reading this post.

Stay back, I'm part ninja

2008-04-30T09:12:00.001-07:00

mugger, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I was mugged last night, by a person who looks very similar to the picture above. If the picture above was a skinny, pregnant woman. But other than that, they are identical.

I was coming out of my favorite store when a woman approached me. She was sobbing and at first I thought she had been attacked and needed help. She was shaking and kept saying over and over again, "I'm sorry. I just found out I'm pregnant and I don't know what to do. I'm hungry. I'm so, so sorry." That's when I noticed she was carrying a knife and I froze. (Way to go, Killer Instincts. You play possum at the worst moments.) She told me she was sorry, but she needed my purse. I handed it over (wuss) and was mentally trying to figure out how to ask her if I could at least keep the memory card from my camera. But she didn't even reach for the camera. She took out my wallet, which was sitting on top, and opened it. She grabbed the cash I had and then thrust the wallet back at me. Had no interest in my credit cards, the checks, the various gift cards or even my buy one, get one free iced coffee coupon! She shoved the wallet back at me, still crying, and apologized again before taking off running.

I'm fine. It could have been much worse and she obviously needed the money much more than I did. I was a little freaked out, so I went back into the store. They offered to call the cops but doing a mental count in my head, I think I only had about $7. Besides, if she was in that much trouble, i didn't want to cause her any more stress.

I called Dan after being escorted back to my car. A few minutes after telling him the story, I felt better and we started cracking jokes about it. Yes, I laugh in the face of danger.

Dan: I'm just glad you're ok. Do you want me to drive down there and follow you home?
Me: No, I feel better now. I'm glad she was a tiny pregnant woman instead of some scary guy.
Dan: It figures that you would get mugged by a pregnant woman. It's not like I can even play the manly man and go down there, figure out who the guy is and kick the crap out of him.
Me: Yeah, it would be bad if you beat up a girl. Wait a minute. How do I know that you didn't plant her there? To keep me from going to the scrapbook store unsupervised?
Dan: I guess you'll never know.

News Report

2008-04-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Husband bought a new car, an '08 Sentra, fully loaded. It has leather and too many techno gadgets for me to figure out. He bought me an energy drink and the new mint M&Ms in return. I view this as a fair trade.
---
I found a new doctor and I love her. She didn't violate me like my last one did. And to combat my evil allergies, she prescribed me allergy meds and cough medicine which hasn't kicked in yet. I am fully expecting to not wake myself up with horrid coughing tonight. Thank you cherry flavored codeine. It could take up to 6 months to get rid of my cough though. Mother Nature is trying to kill me.
---
Dan is the best husband ever and found Core'dinations cardstock for me! He proceeded to buy 4 packs worth. I had planned to have him take a picture of me with my excited bug eyes, but decided to spare you all the horror of that sight. You're welcome.
---
Max has begun to drool. Does anyone know why a cat drools? Or more importantly, how to get him to stop? This trumps him throwing up on my leg. That was at least a one-time thing, but this droll is starting to seep into my skin.
---
This concludes your "Sara has been feeling a writer's block lately so she's doing a cop-out post" update.

I've Got a Pulse on the American Public

2008-04-24T09:26:00.001-07:00

Goodbye Carly, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Last year, we decided to have an American Idol pool. I won tons o' cash. This year, we decided to do the same thing but it's been much more fun because there's no clear winner. I had a winning streak for the first few weeks, which came to a screeching halt when I decided to actually watch the competition instead of just Tivo-ing thru most of it. So after picking the wrong person to get voted off two weeks in a row, I went back to my original method. Kinda. I voted for Carly to leave partially because I don't like her and partially because everyone else was picking Jason and Brooke.
What can I say? Some of us are just in tune with society. ("Society" being "16-year-old girls who vote.")
I didn't like that she had a record deal before getting onto American Idol. I didn't like her snippy comments to the judges and Ryan. I didn't like how she talked back to my BFF, Simon. I'm very glad to see her gone. And I'm glad that now I've won over $60.
---
On other reality tv news, Greg has left Beauty and the Geek. Sad, sad day in Sara-land. I love him. He's a self-proclaimed "Gaysian" and has the best personality. He was super cute and my favorite, but was sadly paired with someone who didn't get along with any of the other people in the house. I cried when he was kicked off, because he was so hurt by it. I love you Greggy! Move to AZ and we'll be BFFs. Along with Simon when he's in town, of course.
---
And last bit of tv news, (geez, I need a hobby) So You Think You Can Dance is coming back in May! I get a little obsessed with this show. It's amazing what these dancers can do, and I love that many of them go out of their comfort zone to put on really spectacular performances. Plus there's a lot of eye candy, so that helps too. ...love you Husband! Please don't restrict me from watching!

Not a Good Sign

2008-04-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

My cat just threw up on my leg.

It's been that kind of day.

My Mom Wanted Me to Marry a Doctor

2008-04-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

I have a totally geeky crush. David Tennant.

Most of you are Googling his name to figure out who he is. And for those of you who are as dorktastic as I am, you're giggling over his shirt...
He plays The Doctor in Doctor Who. It's a BBC series that plays on Sci-Fi too. I was sad when I found out that Sci-Fi decided not to purchase the rights to the current season. I even researched how expensive it would be to add the international channels to our current cable lineup. Just as I was trying to figure out how to ask Dan for the outrageous price jump, Sci-Fi announced a Doctor Who marathon to kick off the exciting premiere of the 4th series.

I. Am. In. Love.

In love with Sci-Fi. In love with this show. In love with David Tennant. I want to lick my tv screen every time the show comes on the screen.

Yummy.

Ruiz Reunion 2008

2008-04-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

The blog was quiet for a little while. It was because Dan, my father and I were on our way to Stockton, CA for the family reunion. It was 4 days of eating, talking, eating, laughing, eating and even more eating.

My dad is the youngest of 11 and when my Uncle Junior turned 60, they turned it into a family reunion as well as a birthday party. They had so much fun that they decided to do it for everyone's 60th. This year was my Uncle Donald's 60th birthday, as well as his vow renewal and Dan's first reunion as part of the family. So of course we had to go. Mom stayed home. She claimed it was because she didn't want Michelle to be home alone for 4 days, but in reality I think it was because she wanted to be home alone for 4 days.
I didn't realize it until afterwards, but in this picture the bottom row is right to left, oldest to youngest while the top row is the opposite - left to right oldest to youngest. My dad is the tallest guy standing and he's directly behind his eldest brother. They all have D names - Domingo ("Jr.") David, Danny, Dante, Douglas, Delano ("Ray,") Dolores, Donald, Delpha, Della and Del (my dad.)

I'll admit that I was not excited about it. It had been 10 years since I had seen all of the family together. (There were reunions, I just didn't go.) I am close to a few cousins and 3 of Dad's siblings, but do not really know the rest of them all that well. I was wary of having to introduce Dan to family members that I did not know. Things worked out though because they all assumed I would not remember their names. Although, maybe I should be insulted...
We stayed with my Uncle Donald - the birthday boy - and his wife and youngest daughter. This is their family group shot because I don't have a shot of the entire Ruiz family on my camera, and this is the only family where I know all of their names. (They are the second smallest family, second only to ours.)

The first night, we missed a dinner at one of my aunt's houses because Dan and I had to work on Thursday. Friday was the vow renewal, held at a local community center. There was awful food, overpriced drinks, loud Mexican music and a lot of drunken dancing. It did not set a good tone for the rest of the weekend. But it was fun to catch up with everyone and to try and link all of them to each other. Mostly so Dan would know how they were related, but also in part to jog my own memory.The next day was the Suns vs. Spurs game, which was a big rivalry. Obviously being from Phoenix, my Dad is a Suns fan. Even has season tickets. Most of his family is from San Antonio, so they were all Spurs fans. We ate pizza and watched the game and even I got into it, which is saying something. Sports and I are like...well, there's no better analogy. Sports and I don't mesh well. The next day was the picnic. Did I mention already that the high was in the 60's all weekend? And that everyone told us it was going to be 80+ and beautiful so we didn't bring jackets? Yeah...I was cold. Luckily my aunt brought a ton of extra sweatshirts, so I snagged one and sat in the sun all day. I felt like someone at an old folks' home. There was more eating and more talking and lots of picture taking. I caught up with the relatives I hadn't had a chance to talk to yet that weekend and Dan was comfortable enough to spend most of the day away from my side, bonding with my male cousins. (Golf claps - that was a huge step!) He was one of 3 white guys at the first function and the only one at the last function that was actually related by marraige. He was day-glo white in a crowd of Mexicans, but he stood his own. I'm so proud of him! And even better, none of my overprotective cousins/uncles threatened to cut him! Not that I really think they would..well, maybe not...
OK, last real informative blog for a little while. No more events until Tartraz's wedding and Mother's Day. Onto frivolous posts!

Help Me Win!

2008-04-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

I have been hunting for a blog designer for awhile. I finally found one that I fell in love with, Delicious Design Studio. Coincidentally enough, she also runs All Things Cupcake, which I have been a tad obsessed with lately. Yes, I've climbed aboard the cupcake wagon because they are oh-so-yummy and oh-so-cute!
Back to the point, Dan said I could purchase a blog design, but we have to wait awhile. We've been doing a lot of travelling, plus there are a ton of bdays/weddings/babies being born recently, so most of our funds are going towards gifts and such.
Out of habit, I went to check out the Delicious Design Studio blog, in search of more of her work that I can use for my inspiration towards my future blog design. Imagine my thrill when I saw she's having a contest!
Please click on this link and help me win a free blog design! Or the second place prize, which is a free blog header! She'll track the number of visitors to her site and whoever sends the most her way, wins!

Flattery, Insults-Same Thing

2008-04-14T09:49:00.001-07:00

Googled image "Cheating Husband", originally uploaded by Klick Here.

There's a gas station that I frequent almost every morning. I have a fountain soda addiction that is akin to coffee drinkers' need for caffeine. Anyway, this gas station is exactly one mile from the one I used to work at. I could probably get cheaper, if not free, sodas from my old workplace, but it's a mile out of my way and I will more than likely be late for standing around and chatting to Carrie, the manager. Thus, I go to a gas station where I don't know the employees.
So today I walk in and there is a guy standing next to the fountain soda machine, watching the news report on the tv screens above it. He glances at me and does a double take.

Guy: Hey, didn't you used to work at that other gas station down the street?
Me: Yes. It's been awhile though.
Guy: Yeah, I remember you. You were always so nice to me. And you have a great smile.
Me: Thanks, that sweet of you to say.
Guy: You never seemed to be unhappy at work and I saw you almost everyday.
Me: *uncomfortable, because I don't remember ever seeing this guy before* Ah, well yeah it was a fun job. I basically got paid to stand around and chat with my friends.
Guy: Cool, cool.
Me: ... *getting my soda and preparing to hurry away*
Guy: ... So, do you want to go grab dinner sometime?
Me: Oh, I'm flattered, but I'm married.
Guy: So? I am too.

At this point, a woman who has walked up to get a drink bursts out laughing. She actually pats me on the shoulder as she walks away, still laughing. I thanked him but told him I was happily married and not willing to cheat on my husband.

The guy shrugged, as if I was the weird one for not wanting to ruin my marriage.

I immediately came to work and told Gina, who pointed out that I should be flattered that he remember me after 2 years. But then she also pointed out that I should be insulted since I obviously look like a (bad word) who would cheat on her husband. What does one wear to put out the message "not a cheater?" Do they make t-shirts for that sort of thing?

Pudge - Controlling the Weather from the Big Ocean in the Sky

2008-04-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

It was a sad day today. I feel a little silly posting about this, especially since other people have lost pets and family members recently.
My favorite pet fish, Pudge, passed away today. He was an old fish and a good fish and he will be sorely missed. It's kinda ridiculous how choked up I get over his death. He was a fish. Never spoke. Never hugged me or purred or barked. Never so much as smiled. But I bonded with him. I'll miss the way he wiggled whenever I walked up to the tank to feed him. I'll miss telling the story of the time he got a piece of gravel stuck in his mouth and Dan had to pry it out with a paperclip. I'll miss lying on my bed, watching him swim back and forth when I'm sad. I'll miss quoting Lilo and Stitch to Dan and saying "Pudge controls the weather." He was a tiny feeder goldfish that shouldn't have lived more than a week, but fate brought him to me and we have lived together for almost 3 years.
In all truth, I fell in love with Pudge. I will miss him and the fish tank looks so strange without his 7 inch span swimming around. Dan said we could get another companion fish for Nemo so he doesn't get lonely, but I don't think I'm ready to replace Pudge yet. Truth be told, I don't think I'll ever be able to replace him.
Goodbye Pudge. I'll miss you.

Sara = Productive

2008-04-10T12:13:00.001-07:00

From Ikea, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Dan: How was work today?
Me: Fine. I picked out the glass cabinet I want in my future scrapbook studio. And I designed the layout of the room. Pending window placement in our future home of course.
Dan: ...
Me: No comment?
Dan: Nope.
Me: Not even to say "surprising" in a sarcastic tone?
Dan: Nah. It's expected.
Me: You can't even joke about it being surprising?
Dan: No. Expected.

I think I need a new husband. This one doesn't humor me anymore.

Chance Encounters

2008-04-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

I had to stop at Babies R Us today to purchase a gift for Dan's sister. While there, I happened to bump into an ex-boyfriend. Same guy who did illegal things to me/my stuff and required a restraining order. "Awkward" doesn't even describe it. He had the nerve to treat me like *I* was the psychopath ex!
Looking very nervous, he introduced me to the girl he was with, who was obviously very pregnant. Didn't specify her relationship to him though, which struck me as odd. She asked us how we knew each other and after a slight pause and no help from him, I replied "oh, we went to NAU together." This satisfied her and I took the next pause in conversation to wish them both good luck and scurried towards the baby clothes.
Of course, I then came home and complained to Dan that my crazy ex thinks I'm the crazy one and looked afraid of me.

Me: "Then she asked us where we knew each other from and I didn't want to tell her the truth. I just said we went to NAU together."
Dan: "You should have started off the conversation with '[ex's name] I think this violates the restraining order against you. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to step back 100 feet."
Me: "The restraining order was only for 60 days."
Dan: "So? He'd have to say 'that was only good for 60 days.' Either way, he has some explaining to do after that."

Leave it to my husband to find the humor in my past stalker.

Only Took Me 20 Minutes

2008-04-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

This may come as a shock to some of you, (ok, none of you) but I stink at computer stuff. The minimal things I know how to do, I discovered by accident and they're probably not the correct way to do things. I just don't have the patience to read instruction manuals. This ironically bugs Husband, who reads every manual that he comes across. Seriously. Car manuals, video game guides, cook books, appliance manuals. Every. Single. One.
Suzy from Inky Rubber made this watermark for me. I think she took pity on my computer illiteracy. She claimed it would be a piece of cake to add it to my photos of cards and other scrapbooked items. Oh Suzy, how you underestimated my technological stupidity.
It took me 20 minutes to figure out. Fonts to me are like free porn to a teenage boy-I know how to get them and where to squirrel them away so I can play with them later. That part was super easy. The rest of it? Not so much.
I finally figured it out thanks to Photoshop's help log and multiple searches. (What do you mean "just work, darn it!" isn't a valid search?!) And it turned out to be way easier than I was making it out to be. Turns out, when she said "drag and drop," she meant "drag and drop." I thought there'd be a trick somewhere...
I decided to save up and not post any stamping projects until I had a site dedicated to just them. That means I have a lot of crafting and photographing to do. So until then, you get to see a watermarked photo of my pseudo-niece Sierah just because I think she's cute.
If you're interested in purchasing a custom designed watermark, contact Suzy at Inky Rubber! She is not only a Photoshop pro, but she has some adorable stamping projects on her blog! I've been stalking for a few months now and mustered up the courage to ask her to make me a watermark. I'm so glad I did! Thanks Suzy!! I love it!!

Shopping Block

2008-04-08T16:07:00.001-07:00

coredinations, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Every once in awhile, I will hear of a product that strikes my fancy. I quickly become attached to the idea of holding this hot little product in my hands, no matter the cost. Dan says I get obsessed with finding it, whatever it is. I prefer to think of myself as dedicated, since "obsessed" has such negative connotations.
So recently, I was blog hopping and found a post about Core'Dinations paper. It is hardly a secret that I love scrapbook supplies. Plain, colored cardstock is my favorite, especially cardstock with a whote core. But this stuff? This fantastical cardstock that takes my breath away? It is black and has a COLORED CORE.
It takes very little to excite me.
I have set out on a quest to find this cardstock at a reasonable price. Every scrapbook store in my area does not carry it. Many had never even heard of it. (Amateurs!) I even called stores on the west side of town that I had never been to. That's dedication.
I started searching online. The only two places I could find it for less than $11 a pack were sold out. I finally decided I was willing to pay $12.50 plus shipping for this cardstock of the scrapping gods but alas, they too were sold out. Everywhere else that sells it-based in Australia and doesn't do out of country shipping. I know because I checked. That's dedication.
So now I have to learn patience and wait until it is no longer back ordered or until my local scrap stores get their acts together. It's kinda funny how Dan always tries to teach me patience and fails miserably. Yet a pack of cardstock will teach me what Dan can't.

Off to Babies R Us!

2008-04-03T15:38:00.001-07:00

door knob lock, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

It looks like we will be buying a few baby proofing items soon. No, not for the pitter patter of little baby feet. It's for the pitter patter of kitty claws.
Our cats used to make me chuckle with their ingenuity, or sheer stupidity depending on how you view it. We have to use a gallon of water to keep them out of the cupboards. We had to switch all the door knob handles to keep them from opening doors. We had to put Dan's desk in the closet to keep them from pulling on the wires. It was a constant battle to keep our cats from outsmarting us.
This morning, I opened the door to the office to find them missing. They had opened the other door from that room leading into the hallway and were downstairs, merrily tormeting the dogs in the backyard by sitting on the inside windowsill and flicking their tails towards them. It is rather funny to see how worked up the dogs get, but I'm afraid they'll get a concussion from throwing themselves against the windowpane over and over. We now have to buy baby proof door knob covers, which seems like an invention from a desperate parent. By the time we have kids, our house will be the most secure home on the block, thanks to our stupid/genius cats.

Busy and Buzzing

2008-04-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

The blog was strangely silent for a long while, mostly due to many events happening in a very short time span. But we're back and ready to blog!
March 20th marked my descent into adulthood. I turned the big 2-6. I am officially closer to 30 than 20, which I thought would worry me but hasn't phased me yet. The 20th landed on a Thursday, which does not lend itself to late night partying unless you are young and carefree. And since I am now 26, neither of those adjectives seem to describe me. So, we spent a fairly quiet evening at home with plans to celebrate that weekend. During work, we celebrated with chocolate raspberry cake. Later that day, Dan brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a copy of Enchanted, which I have declared to be my new favorite movie. He then went home to make my favorite dinner, proscuitto bruschetta and lasagna.

Unfortunately, I took only this photo of him cooking. By that time, he was basically done with the appetizer. I was hungry, it smelled yummy, and my camera was quickly abandoned in favor of food. But in case you were wondering, it was delish. We filled up on appetizers and saved the lasagna for future lunches/dinners.
That weekend, we gathered with some old friends to celebrate. It was fun to see all of them again. We haven't been together like that in over 4 years. We started at TGI Fridays for dinner with. Then took a trip to Bevmo which was an amazing place. I'm not a big drinker, but even Dan and I were amazed. We returned home for drinks and had quite the little bar going, especially since only a few of us drink. I had a rather large cherry martini, which is my favorite, and nursed that all night. Oh yeah. I'm a party animal. Dan and the others had a fair amount to drink. I'd even say Dan was slightly drunk by the end of the night.

Easter was spent with the Klick side, feasting on large amounts of food and celebrating my birthday even more. They got me a mint chocolate ice cream cake, which is one of my favorite desserts. (Hersheys with almonds is my absolute favorite, in case you were wondering what goodies to surprise me with.)
That week, we left for Ohio. Amy's gymnastics team was competing in the MAC championships and we were going to do our best to yell and scream and basically distract her while she competed. Never understood why there was cheering in gymnastics. Anyway, we fell in love with the town and the house prices and I told Dan that if he didn't let me move there and live in a big Cape Cod home, it was obvious he didn't love me.
...still in AZ. So he must not love me.

It was an awesome vacation and action packed. We decorated their locker room to surprise them. Every gymnast's family decorated a posted to hang up. We found the world's best BBQ place and brought home a quart of the sauce. I tried to drink it, Dan stifled my freedom. We fell in love with Sheetz convenience stores and discovered that "warm" in Ohio was 45 degrees. It was a great break from the work week and so neat to see where Amy lives.

It also helps that they won first place. Go KSU Flashes!

Loving the Love List

2008-03-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

I've really gotten into the blogging world in the past few weeks. A friend from 20 Something Bloggers had a link to She Likes Purple's love list. It was beautiful and heartfelt and insightful. I was inspired to create my own love list...

I love the smell of Fall and crisp air. I love the sound of a crackling fireplace. I love the sight of snow against vivid evergreens and sparkling blue rivers. I love the chirping birds that awaken the spring. I love the sight of fresh cut flowers on a kitchen counter. I love the smell of apple cider warming on the stove. I love the smell of fresh cut grass drifint in through open windows. I love Arizona sunsets.

I love clutching a shoebox that has a new pair of shoes inside, waiting to be opened, tried on and introduced to the world. I love shopping at stores that offer paper bags, so I can give them to the kitties to play in. I love wandering Hallmark for no particular reason. I love shopping by myself so that I can take hours to decide without feeling rushed. I love browsing antique stores.

I love craft shows and art festivals. I love the zoo. I love spending hours in the Sea World penguin exhibit. I love the idea of owning an exotic cuddly animal. I love chatting over an iced chai latte, or relaxing by myself sipping Tazo teas.

I love sitting in my leopard print chair, my feet tucked underneath a purring kitty, while reading my favorite blogs. I love wandering the book store, trying to find the next perfect book to spend hours pouring over. I love sitting and flipping through brainless magazines, gathing ideas for my next creative project or overly ambitious decorating scheme. I love Diet Mountain Dew Code Red. I love fountain soda, which tastes completely different depending on where you get it from. I love Tivo and it's miraculous fast forward button. I love carbs.

I love cheesy musicals. I love having the same 52 songs on a playlist and listening to them everyday, all day. I love watching dance shows, both in real life and on tv. I love getting my hair done. I love daydreaming of the past and dreaming of an amazing future. I love discovering an entertaining website or blog. I love the feeling of a freshly washed towel right out of the dryer. I love snuggling under a blanket and taking a nap on cool winter days.

I love lilies and the smell of gardenias. I love climbing into a freshly made bed. I love having more pillows than neccessary to prop myself up when reading. I love sobbing over sappy movies and tv shows. I love getting my hair done and the smell of obnoxiously expensive shampoo. I love spending too much time in a bubble bath and needing to rewarm the water multiple times. I love losing track of time as I am scrapbooking. I love finishing a difficult blog and the accompaning feeling of accomplishment.

I'm a Blog Sheep

2008-03-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

OK, so everyone on MySpace an the blogging world seems to have done this already.

As always, I'm a tad late... So here goes.

Go to http://www.photobucket.com/
Type in your answer to each question in the search box.
Copy the html and paste for the answer.

1. What is your relationship status?

2. Who is your celebrity crush? (Not the PC guy, obviously. Well hopefully that was obvious to you all.)

3. Who is your favorite band? (It said "band" so I couldn't list my BFF, Britney Spears.)

4. What is your favorite movie?

5. What kind of pet do you have?

6. Where do you live?

7. Where do you work? (None of my original answers came up with search results. "Office" will hafta do.)

8. What do you look like? (But with a burrito in my hand and a sombrero topping off the look.)

9. What do you drive?

10. What's your favorite TV show?

11. Describe yourself.

12. What's your name? ("Sara" was photos of random girls. Most of them wearing very little clothing. This seemed more reader-friendly.)

13. What's your favorite candy?

Not So Newlywed

2008-03-14T12:17:00.001-07:00

Wedding Pic Closeup, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

The company I work for has a sister company. I know a few of their employees fairly well. Many I know them by sight but could not tell you their names to save my life. Most I have never met. There are the few who I see almost everyday but don't know much about. For awhile, our conversations consisted of them asking me how wedding planning was going. Then the awkwardness hit once I was officially married. What do we talk about now?
I get the question "how's married life" quite a bit. How am I supposed to answer that? "Awesome. Now that we're married, his farts smell like roses."
I normally make a joke about how I'm getting used to his snoring and how our divorce could be the result of him stealing the covers repeatedly throughout the night. They smile and nod their heads as if yes, all married couples have the exact same situation occur every evening. And yes, their husbands' farts smell like roses now too.
I received the weirdest question today though. When I was talking about a courier and her costume wearing bird, (long story, don't ask) someone told me that when she got divorced, she bought a bird too. And now that she's remarried, she got rid of the bird. She'll only buy a new one if she gets divorced again. Then she says "you got married a little while ago, right? Is he your first husband?"
I gave her a funny look and answered yes. I was shocked and unfortunately couldn't think of a snappy response like "well, only in the eyes of the state" or "first and second, actually." She then says to me, get this, "your next husband will probably be someone totally opposite of him. That's how it's been for me and all of my friends."

Ah. Glad to know that you think my marriage is doomed.

I've decided to avoid conversations with my kinda-cowker-but-not from now on. She makes me give her funny looks which will inevitably lead to wrinkles.

Do you noodle?

2008-03-12T14:21:00.001-07:00

From Cabelas.com, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Jillian at The Noisy Plume mentioned Noodling for Catfish. Being the city girl that I am, I immediately jumped onto Google thinking that it was going to be hard to figure out what it is since "noodling" had to be a slang term for something. Nope. Noodling catfish is real and pretty popular according to Cabela's website. The point of noodling is you go to an area of water where catfish lurk. With nothing. No equipment, no safety precautions, nada. You stand there in the water and stick your hands into dark crevices like caves, spaces under logs or rocks and hopefully a catfish will chomp on your hand. You then grab the sucker and yank him up out of the water. Sounds simple enough, except most people probably won't tell you that sometimes it's catfish lurking under there, sometimes it's things like snakes, snapping turtles or beavers. You're basically playing Russian Roulette with your fingers.

Couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

This led me to realizing that not only am I city girl who believes Motel 6 is camping, but there are quite a few other things I am confident to say I will never do. I know, I know. "Never say never," but seriously? Can you imaging me noodling catfish? Exactly.

Things I Will Never Do:
- Noodling catfish. Or any kind of aquatic creature for that matter. (Jillian - is noodling other freshwater life possible, or can only catfish be noodled?)
- Deer hunting. I am not against it as long as people are using the meat. I could just never get myself to aim a gun at a deer and pull the trigger. I'd be too concerned that Thumper was going to come out of the brush and attack me for killing his friend.
- Race car driving. I drive 5 mph above the speed limit. I pay attention to the limits posted in parking lots. Fairly safe to say I will never be comfortable going that fast in a vehicle.
- Become CEO of anything. I would have too hard a time firing people, so I'd keep staff members that were tanking my company.
- Teach elementary school. I play favorites and I think it would traumatize little children if their teacher obviously preferred another student.
- Be on Fear Factor. Gross.
- Be an actress. I get stage fright.
- Cook elaborate meals. I can't bring myself to touch foods that are squishy, which basically eliminates all raw meats and a lot of veggies. It's a good thing Dan does all the cooking. (Except my White Trash Dinner, which could be my favorite meal and he thinks is disgusting.)
- Be a rapper. No explanation necessary.
- Run for any kind of office. I don't like being the center of attention, having photos taken of me and I can't make decisions. I would be the worst candidate ever.
- Admit that Dan is right and I am wrong more than twice. It's already happened once, so he only gets one more this lifetime.
- Learn to juggle. I've tried. I even had to do it as part of a final for a theatre class. Let's just say I did not get an A on that final.
- Be a trendsetter. The latest fads always look funny on me. Tried the short nails with black nail polish...my sister told me I looked too emo. Tried on bright candy-colored shoes. Couldn't figure out what to wear with them. Tried dark, smoky eye shadow. It looked like I lost a fight.
- Go on a trip without some kind of plan. David is going to Europe for 2 months without any kind of set itinerary. The idea of that makes my eye twitch.
- Relax. I've tried cutting out the caffeine. I've tried not eating sugar. I'm just naturally neurotic. But I've accepted and that's the first step.

Puppy Love

2008-03-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

On behalf of the Arizona strays who are taken care of by Friends for Life, thanks for the moolah.

The auction was on Saturday night and it was amaz-za-zing. (Benchwarmers reference, anyone? Am I the only one to latch onto stupid movie quotes?)

Anyway, we fell just short of our $45,000 goal after expenses, but hopefully with the donations that were sent in that week to the PO Box, which have yet to be tallied, we will have made our goal. In the meantime, here are the almost final numbers:
$41,500 - amount raised!
$600 - final winning bid for a custom made dress by Yours Truly.
$1,700 to $3,400 - Amount of raffle tickets entered for East Valley Scrappers Guild stuff. Thanks Ladies!
154 - number of paying attendees.
34 - Volunteers helping with setup, cashier tables, item runners and Doggy Dates.
7 - Number of dogs brought along that were up for adoption.
1 - Number of adorable black lab puppies that I wanted to take home with me.
0 - Number of puppies that Dan let me bring home.
$200 - winning bid for my parents' Suns tickets.
$6,350 - amount raised by surprise items. Some attendees were so into the auction, they offered up items from their dinner tables! Rounds of golf at an ultra-exclusive course, personal tours of the Diamondbacks facilities, artwork done by Ron Burns, a 3 night resort stay from any one of over 100 resorts.
10+ - number of strangers who upon hearing my name remarked, "Oh, I recognize your name!" I felt like a kinda celebrity.
4 - number of times I had to use a lint roller to get pet fluff off my black pants. (Hindsight is 20/20.)
1 - number of items I was tempted to bid on. John Travolta autographed a painting done by a former shelter dog, as well as a framed photo and a Hairspray poster. Winning bid was well over $1500. Dan would have been upset with me...
500+ number of items up for bid, ranging in winning price of $30-$3000

So all in all the event was fantastic! Next week, we'll be here, handing out info about Friends for Life and selling t-shirts. F4L is one of the 4 non-profit groups that Petfest gives free exhibit space as well as a portion of the proceeds. So please, come bring little Fluffy and Fido and visit us! You can help Dan keep me away from the adoption area. I think he volunteered to go just to prevent me from bringing home another pet...

Whoa, past midnight. Going to bed now... I need to break my internet addiction.

Conversations with Dan

2008-03-10T15:30:00.001-07:00

Dan is Finding Nemo, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

On the Lotto:
D: We won 5 dollars!
Me: How much did you pay for the ticket?
D: ...10 dollars.
Me: I don't think you understand how the lottery thing works.
D: That's it. I'm not buying you anything pretty with my winnings.

Love Notes:
S - You are a nut. That is all.
Love, D.
P.S. Where are we going for dinner?

On Pop Culture:
D: I know this is going to sound strange, but can you get on Ticketmaster at 10am sharp and try to get a pair of tickets for the Hannah Montana concert?
Me: ...I don't know what to say to that.
D: Remember the news report from last night? Tickets on Ebay are going for thousands of dollars!
Me: You'd want to rip off little kids?
D: It would be a life lesson. Don't listen to Disney pop music or you'll be poor.

On Baby Names:
Me: If we ever have twin girls, we should name the second one McKenzie Anne Klick.
D: "The second one?" What would the first girl's name be?
Me: Pomegranate. Her middle name too. Pomegranate Pomegranate Klick. Rolls right off the tongue.
D: Yeah, right off the tongue and into a strip club.

Our Cats are Magic!

2008-03-06T13:07:00.001-08:00

Oscar, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Oscar has a bad habit of opening cupboards. After stumbling across a completely empty package of treats, we decided to hide them in other places. That didn't deter him, because he continued to open the cupboard under my sink and pulled out all my ...ahem..."womanly products" to play with.
This led to us filling a gallon bottle up with water and leaving it in front of the cupboard. As fab as our cats are, they don't have super-cat strength, so we were not worried.

Famous last words. ("We were not worried" that is. Not "super-cat strength." Although those would be neat last words. Anyway...)

So, I arrive home, discover more...ahem..."items" lying around, and I assume that the gallon of water had been moved and Someone had forgotten to move it back. Note that Dan's other name is Someone, because I never forget anything. For reals.
I go to put the water back, and it's already there. Hasn't moved an inch! And there's no possible other way to get into that cupboard, nor do I keep those things anywhere else.

Houdini cats!

Baking 101

2008-03-06T09:48:00.001-08:00

Not my wedding cake, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

So, Katie posted a comment on the previous post which made me think that my baking skills deserved a blog post. She is referring to a cake that I made in the microwave while living in the sorority dorm. She made non-stop fun of me, even while we sat in the hallway, eating it straight out of the pan. Because that's the kind of friends we are.
I even made a few birthday cakes for various people. My then-boyfriend's roommate had never had a birthday cake made for him before, so he got the first one. He claimed to like it, but then again who wouldn't like my cooking? I also made a few for some sorority sisters who had bad breakups. I was the Betty Crocker of Mountain View.
I had visions of making a multi-tiered cake, complete with delicate sugar spun flowers. Like the picture, but with round cake pans. By the way, the cake in the picture is not my wedding cake but happens to have our initials on it. I googled "cake" and that was the first image on the list. Cake karma.
So anyway, I had these grand ideas and not enough people to bake for. And then I moved into a room with a pot head, a nympho and a stereotypical California beach bum. My cookware was quickly trashed. I never replaced it, mostly because I was a poor college student and also because I had a meal plan.
But, in honor of those first few microwaved cakes, here is my microwavable cake recipe.

Ingredients:
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 can of chocolate frosting

Mix cake according to directions on box. Pour into microwavable cake pan. Bake according to directions on cake pan. Let cool. Spread with chocolate frosting and enjoy.

You're welcome.

I Married a Weirdo

2008-03-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

Me: Can I bid on rubber stamps on Ebay?
Dan: Have I ever said no to you?
Me: Yes, loads of times. What about when I asked you if you'd buy me a trained snowy white owl like Harry Potter's?
Dan: I only say no to unimportant things.
---
Me: What are you making me for dessert?
Dan: Nothing.
Me: No seriously. I need something for dessert.
Dan: Here. Have a box of brownie mix.
Me: Will you make the brownies?
Dan: From a box mix?! No. I only make brownies from scratch.
Me: Fine, I'll make my own brownies. I'll make mint chocolate ones.
Dan: Gross. Mint and chocolate together is gross.
---
Me: I'm updating the blog with conversations. Remember when the other day I told you our marraige was a sham? What were we talking about?
Dan: I don't remember.
Me: Hmmm...I guess I do say that a lot.
Dan: Yeah.
---
Me: Remember when you threatened to punch me in the face? What was that for?
Dan: I dunno. I say that a lot too.
Me: *begins typing*
Dan: Hey! Don't put that in the blog!!

(For the record, he does say it a lot. But we are in a non-violent relationship. As long as you don't count the time where he accidentally bashed his head into my face and gave me a bloody nose. But I promised him I'd never mention that to anyone so, shhh Sara. No more speaking.)

Gina is My New Best Friend

2008-03-03T12:57:00.001-08:00

Mmm...Starbucks, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Dear Husband,

Gina went and picked up Starbucks just now. I have a venti iced chai latte sitting on my desk.

But, I grabbed you a cookie from the office, so you can't be mad at me. That's how this relationship works, right? Bribery?

Love,
Your Wife

Ode to March

2008-03-03T09:55:00.001-08:00

Sunny Happy Flower, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

It's finally March. This month is my second favorite month. (December, a.k.a. Christmas Month, being my supreme favorite.) This month is National Craft Month, which means that all my favorite stores are having awesome sales. Not just awesome, multiple word awesomeness. Awe. Some. It's also the month that the first day of Spring appears, bringing with it warmer weather and pretty flowers and an excuse to buy sundresses. That happens to be a holiday in Japan. Thanks, Wikipedia. And finally? It's my birthday month. Save up your pennies people, because Sara likes presents.

This month will be chock full o' fun too. Ren Fest is back and Carrie is working over there on Saturdays. We want to go visit her some weekend, once it warms up a little and hopefully on a weekend without rain. The charity auction for Friends for Life is also coming up this weekend. I'm excited to see all the auction action. And the weekend after is Petfest at West World. Dan and I are volunteering to sell t-shirts and hand out info packets about Friends for Life. It means that we'll see a bunch of cute pups wandering around and hopefully we'll find some cute gifts for our kitties. Because cats need materialistic validation as much as we do. The weekend after that is my birthday weekend, which means I expect to see all my friends and drink pina coladas or visit World Wildlife Zoo. (And as much as I joke about liking presents, no gifts please. Our closets runneth over.) And finally, the last weekend of March will be spent in Ohio, visiting my sister and seeing her compete in the MAC gymnastic championships.

So yes, this will be a month for Monster and Starbucks. I know I had the resolution, yadda yadda, but seriously? How do people cope without caffeine? Boggles the mind. It makes me talk faster, which in a way makes me more productive. And I wish it made me a clean freak, but I think you need meth for that.

Furry Tails Can Come True

2008-03-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I am volunteering with Friends for Life. They're a non-profit animal shelter in Gilbert that focuses primarily on strays that are surviving on the streets. We adopted two of our kitties from them.

The major thing in the works right now is our annual charity auction, which will be held on March 8th. We typically raise about $45k from this one event, which is enough to keep the shelter running and all bills paid through the summer. I donated a custom dress. My parents donated some Suns tickets. The scrapbook guild I belong to rallied together and donated a total of 3 dozen cards, 7 photo books, 4 premade scrapbooks, a notebook and 2 photo frames. Plus we've had tons of other donations for things like jewelry, artwork, vacation packages and sporting event tickets. In total, there are about 150 lots of items that are going up for bidding.

Tickets are $80 each, (tax deductible!) and include dinner, dancing, entertainment and of course, the ability to bid on some fabulous items! We only have about 40 seats left. The event will be a lot of fun, the money will go to a good cause, and you'll get to see me! (I'll be the one taking everyone's money at the cashier table. My previous retail experience is finally paying off.)

"Cool" is My Middle Name

2008-02-28T19:26:00.001-08:00

Paula_Abdul, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I will admit that I am a victim of pop music. Love. It. I like the boppy beats, the brainless lyrics. I love the music videos with lots of flashing lights and lip synching.
When we were at a super bowl party, we all saw Paula Abdul's performance of "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow." Everyone there was about 10 years older than Dan and me, so when they started making fun of her I kept my mouth shut. But secretly? I became a little obsessed. And when she called into John Jay and Rich this morning? Fell a little more in love with song.
Don't get me wrong, I still think she says some very weird things on American Idol and I made fun of her the entire time "Hey Paula" was on TV. But her new song? Her catchy song that basically just repeats the chorus over and over? I keep calling the radio station to request it. They ignore me, so I'm going to have to purchase it on iTunes. Heck, I'm going to probably purchase the entire Randy Jackson CD when it comes out.
I've officially lost all street cred.

Happy Birthday Amy!

2008-02-27T12:56:00.001-08:00

Taken by Tom Cammett, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

It's my little sister's birthday. She turns the big 2-2 today. It's so weird, realizing that my little sis has not only been old enough to legally drink for a year, but that she's also about to graduate college.

Highlights About Amy

- She is spastic. High strung. Whole lotta energy. She's a gymnast at Kent State University in Ohio, which means she willing throws herself at inanimate objects.
-She's a psychology major. If you knew her, you'd think this was funny.
-She's about 5'2" but for some reason seems even shorter than that when you're standing next to her. She is also mistaken for a 16-year-old fairly frequently. While it ticks her off now, she'll love that in 15 years.
- She's 4 years younger than me. We weren't very close in grade school because we only went to the same school for one year. But we get along much better now. I haven't had to pull her hair in years.
-She hates bugs. Some of our favorite stories of her involve her abandoning her car on the side of the road because there was a spider in it, or trying to use bug spray on the entire exterior of her house.
- She can laugh at herself, which is good because she can be a pretty big klutz.
-She's adopted and dyed her hair for my wedding so she would look more like the rest of the family. (Note: I did not have a Bridezilla moment. She decided to dye it herself.)
- She's so tiny that she wears jeans from the kids' clothing section. This makes me hate her. (Joking... Kinda.)
-She's been dating her wrestler boyfriend, Kurt, for longer than Dan and I have known each other. And total side note, but Kurt stole my birthday present idea for her, which means I have less than 24 hours to think of something else. Stupid Kurt.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Amy! We hope it is fun and memorable and that you get lots of goodies! (And hopefully you go somewhere other than Sheetz for dinner tonight.)

Love,
Sara and Dan

I Demand a Recount

2008-02-25T08:03:00.001-08:00

Disney's "Enchanted", originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I was only excited about one catergory from last night's Academy Awards. "Best Original Song." It's no secret that I adore flamboyant musicals and Disney and happy, catchy tunes that can make people's eyes twitch. Enchanted was a fabulous mix of all three.
3 of the major songs in the movie were nominated - "That's How You Know," "Happy Working Song" and "So Close." While I love the first two, sung by Amy Adams, my favorite is "So Close," sung by Jon McLaughlin. It's sappy and sweet and is sung during a scene when Patrick Dempsey is wearing a prince costume.
What's that noise? Oh. That would be my heart fluttering.
I Tivo'd through most of the award show, pausing to listen to John Stewart's jokes and to see my favorite actors presenting awards. I don't think I listened to a single acceptance speech though. The only time I was transfixed was during the performances of the 5 songs that were nominated. Amy Adams sang "Happy Working Song" beautifully of course, unfortunately without little animated pigeons and cockroaches prancing around her. Kristin Chenoweth sang "That's How You Know." Now, I love Kristin Chenoweth. I've been a big fan since Wicked, liked her bubbly character in Bewitched and absolutely adore Pushing Daisies. But I just didn't like her singing the song during the awards. It should have been Amy Adams up there. Not only to keep the original feeling from the song, but also because Amy Adams has the fairy tale princess vibe while Kristin Chenoweth is more...well, Glinda the good witch. OK, off my Cinderella soap box. So Close was performed by Jon McLaughlin and had Amy Adams and some dude who was definitely not Patrick Dempsey dancing around. Boo. I wanted to see Patrick Dempsey dancing again.
A song from Once won in this catergory and I was thoroughly depressed. I've never seent he movie, so maybe it was a great fit for the film. However, in the 3 minutes it was onstage, it didn't grab my attention. If Enchanted couldn't have won, I thought the song from August Rush, with a solo done by a little girl who has more talent in her tiny pigtail braid than I do in my entire body, should have won. All in all, I turned off the tv feeling very bitter. I would not make a good Oscar nominee. I would be the one mouthing swear words as the camera caught my reaction to the winner announcement.
Oh yeah, and some other awards were won.
This ends Sara's Academy Awards recap. You're welcome.

The husband speaks...

2008-02-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

So Sara decided to tag me. Don't think of it as innocent as it seems though, it's really a test. She says that I won't respond to a post on "our" blog, but not responding would bring pouting and possibly some crying down the road. You win this test of wills wife, and frankly you will probably win all of them for the rest of this marriage. It's OK though, I think that is the way it is supposed to go...

So on to my response, although I really don't think I am a very interesting person.

1.I am horribly addicted to World of Warcraft (yes WOW for all those in the know). Now before you go ostracizing me from civilization I do have some compelling arguments supporting my addiction. Hand eye coordination... everyone wants to be able to catch flies with chopsticks like Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid. Social interaction... sure I never really know who I am talking to, or if they are accurately representing themselves, but at least I'm not talking to myself. It is a lot more stimulating than watching television, or if you are really good you can do both at the same time. OK that's it, I'm out of arguments...*sigh*

2.In December of 2002 I moved to Arizona. I spent 21 years of my life in Pennsylvania, and it took me 2 weeks to decide to move out here. There is still a large percentage of people that I grew up with that have no idea what happened to me. It's been 6 years and I still haven't talked to anyone from PA...well except for my family.

3.I'm married to a Japican...that one is self explanatory.

4.I over use elipses ...

5.I use a varied assortment of obscure phrases such as : putting the cart before the horse, getting caught between a rock and a hard place, don't count your chickens before they hatch, six in one half dozen the other...and so on. Please don't ask me to explain any of them as I fail miserably at explaining them.

6.With the exception of my current job, I have never spent more than a year at the same job.

7.Did I mention that I am addicted to World of Warcraft? Seventy-six days played and counting, and for those that don't know...that's 76 days of gameplay, that's right 1824 hours...loooooooooove you Sara.

24k Goldfish

2008-02-19T13:41:00.001-08:00

Pudge, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

My fish are slightly spoiled. I used to roll my eyes when Dan would make fun of my attachment to feeder goldfish. But then I decided to take a photo of my fish and their new moss balls decor. (*snicker* I said "balls.")
This made me realize that I spent $5 on each moss ball for the tank. And there are two of them. Plus I had to buy additional plant weights to keep them from floating, which didn't work by the way. On top of that, the house has a water softener and you can't use soft water in fresh water fish tanks. No idea why exactly, it has something to do with Chemistry and we all know how well Chem and I get along. So anyway, we have to buy gallons of drinking water for our 10 gallon fishtank which houses two feeder goldfish that I won at the State Fair. This is in addition to the fact that we had to buy a new tank for them, because their last one developed a brown algea that would not die. We also had to toss the decor, so we spent a large chunk of money at the pet store on fish supplies right after we moved. Again, for fish that cost 10 cents each.
If I didn't love Pudge and Nemo so much, I would understand why Dan makes fun of me for my fish obsession.

Girl Scouts are Evil

2008-02-18T14:00:00.001-08:00

Effing cookies, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

This morning, at approximately 7:00am, I stopped at the grocery store. I had intended to return a DVD that Dan and I rented from the automated machine, but had of course forgotten it at home.
I didn't even stop my car in the parking lot, which is a good thing because devil children were sitting out front of my local Fry's.
OK, maybe they aren't "devil children" per se. But they were achingly cute little girls with pigtail braids who were selling boxes of cookies at 7am. Seriously? Who buys cookies at 7am?
The answer, my friends, is Someone Mean. A coworker of mine brought in said cookies to work today, leaving them out on the counter, with the packages open and the cookies themselves in plain sight! Had the boxes been closed, it would have been bad enough. But to actually have to walk past the cookies and see their peanut buttery goodness...well, it was pure torture. It got so bad that I started walking the long way around the building to get back to my office.
I was breaking out in a cold sweat everytime I knew I had to go to my boss' office, which is exactly in the opposite corner from me, with the kitchen and the Evil Cookies in dead center. I started to relax when lunchtime passed and most of the cookies were gone. I relaxed even further when a coworker forced one of the male coworkers to finish off the last cookie so she wouldn't be tempted herself. Then I received an email from a fellow F4L volunteer who told me that she had been suckered into buying cookies from her neice, couldn't eat them all herself and would be giving a box away to each of us at the next meeting. What kind would I like to place dibs on? And when I kindly thanked her but declined, she told me she wouldn't accept "no" as an answer. Thus, I will be the unwilling recipient of some Thin Mints next week. And will probably need to take a sick day after I eat the entire box... Stupid devil children Girl Scouts. It's a plot against me, I just know it.

Tagged

2008-02-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by the uber-talented Emily. I'm supposed to write 7 random things about myself that are hopefully interesting to read. I personally think I'm kinda boring, but I like talking about myself so this will work for me.

1. I am a Japican-half Japanese, half Mexican. Japican is a real word, look it up! Not in Websters of course, but in Urban Dictionary. Next best thing. (Dad's Mexican, Mom's Japanese, in case you were wondering.)

2. My immediate family has included myself, my birth parents, my adopted sister, the girl my parents were legal guardians of, a foster sister and five foster brothers. Not all at once and not while I was living under their roof, thankfully. Getting into the bathrooms would have been a battle.

3. I was not allowed to watch tv as a child. The habit of not watching tv continued until I was 18 and I became addicted to Friends. I was devastated when it ended. I still have a Tivo subscription to the reruns.

4. I play video games. Mostly PC games, but I do bite down on PS2 role-playing action games every once in awhile. Kings Quest? Played all 8 multiple times. Atelier Iris? Proud to say I beat all 3. Yes, I still think I am allowed to make fun of Hubby's WOW addiction. No one ever said life was fair.

5. I had an annoyingly preppy phase that lasted about 5 years. (5 years counts as a phase, right?) I was a yearbook editor in high school. On a golf team. Involved in more than a dozen extracurricular activities. I joined a sorority (AOPi!) My theatre friends still shake their heads at me for it.

6. I was dating someone else when Dan and I met. And I tried to set him up with one of my best friends. Not my best matchmaking skills, I will admit. Hindsight is 20/20.

7. I laugh at really dumb jokes. I had the same sense of humor as a 12-year-old boy. The funniest Super Bowl commercial by far was the Pepsi one with Justin Timberlake. Why? He got hit in the junk. Yes, I even laughed at rereading this post and seeing the work "junk." That is how lame my sense of humor is.

OK, I am tagging Erica, Candace, Jillian, Katie, Elinor, Chris and Dan. Although I'm fairly sure Katie, Elle and Chris rarely update their blogs. And Dan doesn't participate, even when forced. So I highly doubt I'll get a response from him either... (not so subtle hint for you, Hubby.)

Did Someone Say "Surprise Trip?"

2008-02-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

I didn't keep my promise about not harrassing Dan for the entire car ride. I kept asking him random questions. He didn't leave me at the side of the road though, so...kudos to Husband for not abandoning his wife on Valentine's Day.

We stayed in Greer, AZ. It's about 20 miles from New Mexico in Northern AZ.

When we first got there, there was snow on the ground, but it was mostly just ice. The picture below is from the balcony of our cabin, taken as soon as we got there. You can see the ground and the deathly piles of ice that nearly killed me. Twice.

This was our cabin, taken the next day after it had snowed. It was beautiful, had a fireplace and a strange squirrel decor theme. Check my flickr pics for a couple squirrel shots.

"Up to a foot of snow." Heh heh.

I was not dressed appropriately. My jeans actually froze. Dan was ok with just his fleece and gloves but I have a low tolderance for temperature changes. I was cold.

There was a stream/creek/river between our cabin and the main lodge where breakfast was served. We crossed a small bridge to get over there, and I tended to spend more time slipping and sliding than walking.

When we were leaving the next day, we had to clean the snow off my car. While Dan worked, I took a variety of photos. I am helpful.On the way back, the road was closed into Payson due to the snow. The cops made us detour through Globe. We were kind of upset at first. I wanted to go through Payson again and see how it looked with snow. I was sad that we'd have to drive through Show Low again and see the grey watery sleet that they called "snow." However, we hit the mountains and some beautiful foggy scenes.
The trip home took a bit longer than we thought. Between the snow, detour and rain coming into Phoenix, the drive took an additional 2 hours. But Dan let me go to Scrapbooks Etc. since we entered the valley down in Mesa. Technically it added to the total return trip time, but it added to the overall happiness of Sara. So, kudos to Hubby again.

This last picture is on here just because I thought it was hilarious. A topless club in Heber had a cow as it's sign. Yeah, I bet the girls there are quality.

Thanks for my surprise Valentine's trip Husband! I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to many more road trips with you in the years to come!

Dear Husband...

2008-02-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I make it so difficult for you to surprise me. I'm sorry I harrass you to the point of you wanting to tear your ears off. I'm sorry I pester you with questions until you crack and tell me my presents earlier than the holidays.

However, I am not sorry that I always find out. I have no patience. You knew this before you married me, and thus it's your own fault.

Love,
Your Wife

---
Dan is whisking me off on a wintery getaway as a Valentine's Day gift. He already told my boss that I'd be gone and has planned everything in advance. I don't get to know where we're going until we get there. I was considering harrassing him the entire car ride, but part of my Valentine's gift to him is that I won't ask him 4 solid hours of questions about our ending destination. You're welcome Husband. I love you.

LOLcats

2008-02-06T13:54:00.003-08:00

1161154607937, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

There is a website called I Can Has Cheezburger. (http://www.icanhascheezburger.com) My husband, Mr. "I Play World of Warcraft and Think Mythbusters is Comic Gold," has become obsessed with this website. It has pictures of funny cats and other fluffy animals, with humorous captions. The captions are in a specific style of...I don't even know how to describe it. A specific type of talking? A specific type of slurring? Anyway, see the photo for an example.
This website addiction has gotten so bad that Dan is now speaking the same way as the captions. Last night, when my toes were cold and I shoved them under his leg to get warm, he announced "ur under the covers, stealin my body heatz." And last week, when he caught Gucci nibbling on the power cord to his computer, he shooed her and said "shes under my desk, tryin to steal my internets."

Someone please ban this website. I have started thinking in LOLcats-speak as well and it's beginning to make my brain hurt.

Buddy List

2008-02-06T10:14:00.001-08:00

Amie collage, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I present for your intense viewing pleasure, my friend Amie. (Pronounced, Ah-Me") OK, her real name is Amy (pronouced...Amy,) but somewhere along the line her name was changed. I don't remember if it was by me, by her, or by a caffeine induced hyper moment. It has remained Amie for at least 7 years. And now that I realize that I've known her for 9 years, I am beginning to wonder how she managed to stay almost sane with me as a friend for so long.
Amie, even with as odd as she is, is my most normal friend. Which is either a very high praise for her normalacy, or a serious burn to all my other friends.

Things I Love About Amie:

- She is always able to make me laugh. Normally it's at her clumsiness, but that just means she doesn't even have to try to cheer me up. It comes naturally.
- She gets my jokes. If I were to discuss my imaginary roommate, she'd laugh. Everyone else would think I was weird.
- She plays it cool. Even when everyone else is making a fool of themselves, (see bottom righthand picture) she can sit back and just enjoy watching everyone look like a dork.
- She enjoys Buffy the Vampire Slayer and got me hooked. In fact, I am currently watching the reruns. Love. It.
- She gave up her dining room table to allow me to scrapbook. If that doesn't show love, I don't know what does.
- She gave me her opinion on the guys I was dating. I ignored it of course, but she didn't say "I told you so" when I realized what losers they were.
- She knows everyone. I should say that with emphasis. She knows EVERYONE. You go to a random restaurant in Blythe, and there will inevitably be someone there that she went to school with. Or that worked on a film shoot with her once. Or that took tennis lessons from her mother. Case in point, the winner of Crowned on the WB. Amber from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The inventor of those reflector thingys on the freeway. See what I mean? EVERYONE.
- She lets me paint random phrases on her wall when we're repainting her apartment. "Sara is the coolest" and "pink is this year's black" were rendered on her wall before she could stop me. She even let me take a picture of it before making me paint over it.
- She tells funny stories. Ask her about her run-in with the Canadian Border Patrol.
- She gets herself into funny romantic situations. When I was dating, I enjoyed hearing those stories. It made my love life seem downright normal.
- She has the coolest job. She sets up the Sesame Street museum exhibit in various states/countries. She works with Elmo, people. ELMO!
- She doesn't carry a purse. It's unfathomable to me because I have so much crap with me at all times. I want to be as low maintenance as her. Never gonna happen-9 years of friendship still hasn't changed my purse habit.
- She will let me bitter. We went to Sea World, sat right BEHIND the splash zone and got soaked. She had a waterproof jacket, I didn't. She still lets me gripe about it and it's been almost 7 years since that trip.
- She has blonde moments. And scrub moments. And she will let me tease her about both for the rest of eternity.
- She enjoys flamoyant musicals as much as I do. And we have the same conversation whenever Loathing from Wicked plays...
Amie: This song is just like us.
Me: What's that Amie? Did it say "loving?" Aww, I love you too!
Amie: No, it says "loathing."
Me: Huh, what? "Loving?"
Amie: Loathe! Loathe!

For the record, she doesn't really loathe me. I hope.

Amie still lives in California and I miss her a lot. Hopefully this blog will convince her that she should move back to Arizona to hang out with me. 115 degree summers, torrent downpours that flood the streets during monsoon season, snowbirds...what's not to love about Arizona?!

Oooh..shiny!

2008-02-04T10:24:00.001-08:00

from The Noisy Plume, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Because Dan is a sucker for puppy dog eyes, I got part of my Valentine's Day gift early. It also helps that I already knew he was buying it for me. I don't do subtle hints, I practically moved his hand on the mouse to order it myself.
The Noisy Plume does some lovely work with gorgeous stones and silver. I had my eye on this necklace from a previous post on her blog and begged her to put one up for sale. Lucky me, she did and she gave me notice that it was available! I immediately told Dan that I needed it. It arrived in a small white box inked with a pattern on the top, a small bit of twine wrapped around it and a tiny pink feather. I would have taken a photo of my wearing it, but my mom took my camera with her to Ohio this week. Thus, you see a stolen photo from The Noisy Plume's Etsy shop.
Thank you Jillian for this fabulous necklace! And thank you husband for not ignoring my whining for presents!

"Eye" am in Pain

2008-02-04T09:46:00.001-08:00

eyemeds, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I have another eye infection. Since this is the 2nd time in 3 months, my eye doctor sent me to a vision specialist to figure out what's going on and why.

Me: So...it's been dry and itchy. My vision is blurred. My eyes turn red and there's a lot of pressure by the end of the day.
Doctor Who Looks 12 Years Old: Hm...let me try this temporary orange dye. It will let me see the cornea of your eye.
Me: Is it bad?
Doctor: Yes. Let me try this green dye now so see the skin layer over your eyes.
Me: How's it look?
Doctor: Bad. Let me try this blue dye now so see how much pressure you have in your eye sockets.
Me: This stuff burns.
Doctor: Whoops. Spilled it all over your eyelid. That'll leave a stain for about 24 hours. Hm...are you sure you're not in pain?
Me: Yes. no pain. Just discomfort.
Doctor: You should really be in pain.
Me: ...uh, but isn't it good that I'm not?
Doctor: I guess so. Here, now let me rub this cotton swab over your eyeball.

I am not kidding. He rubbed a freaking Qtip over my eye. He then also proceeded to take a piece of orange rubber and randomly jab it along the top and bottom of my eyes, under my eyelids. This was after he flipped both eyelids of course. I felt very violated.

When the exam was over, he gave me the prescription meds and the normal Systane eye drops that I already had. In fact, I have about 10 bottles of it stashed all over the place. I then asked him what's causing my eyes to have this reaction.

Me: Do you know what's causing it?
Doctor: No. I also can't tell if it's dry eyes caused by an allergic reaction or if it's an allergic reaction caused by dry eyes.
Me: Ok...how long will it take to heal?
Doctor: I don't know.
Me: Ok...is there a way to prevent this happening again in 3 months?
Doctor: I don't know.
Me: How long will I have to be on these meds?
Doctor: I don't know.
Me: Glad we had this chat.

It's very frustrating to have my eyes bother me so much and not be able to do anything about it. I take that back, they gave me the medication drops to put in my eyes, which burn. It's sort of like having a poisonous lizard lick your eyeball. And they told me to put the Systane in every 15 minutes, without fail. I don't think he understands how short a period of time 15 minutes is! It's like...15 MINUTES! As you can probably guess, I have repeatedly forgotten. Like right now in fact. It took me about 30 minutes to alter the photo, load it onto Flickr and then write this blog. Not once did I use my eye drops. Sheesh.