All Good Things Start With "S"

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.

Opposites Attract

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.

Ruiz Reunion 2008

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!

Chance Encounters

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.

Loving the Love List

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

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?

Ode to March

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.

Girl Scouts are Evil

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

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.)

LOLcats

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.

Flypaper for Freaks

Chocolate Chip Cookie, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

Dan and I went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner last night. As we sat down, an elderly lady came up to our table and put one of those "Be Ripe Back" and "Until Next Thyme" cards on our table. She said it was in case we wanted to get up and get more food. I thanked her, as polite as always, while Dan gave her a wavering look and pondered if she was senile.

Me: She must not have had one at her table and took it off our empty one. It was nice of her to bring it back for us to use.
Dan: Yup. Or maybe these things happen just because I'm with you.
Me: What's that supposed to mean?
Dan: Weird stuff happens to you all the time.
Me: That's not true! Name one weird thing that happened to me in the last 24 hours!
Dan: It's a good thing you added the 24 hours disclaimer.
Me: OK, fine. Name something weird that's happened to me in the past week!
Dan: The woman at the bookstore.
Me: That was 8 days ago. So there.

Dan kinda shook his head at me and laughed it off. We continued to eat our salad in relative peace. Finally, we had both finished the salads and I wanted a cup of chili. Dan grabbed some pasta and immediately went back to the table. I stood in line, waiting for cornbread. Which I never got. Fie on you Sweet Tomatoes.
As I was giving up on the cornbread, Dan came up to me and asked if I got chocolate chip cookies.

Me: Chocolate chip cookies?
Dan: Yes. Did you take chocolate chip cookies over to the table?
Me: No...I've been here the whole time. Why?
Dan: You'll see.

I returned to the table to find two small chocolate chip cookies on my napkin. When I asked Dan where they came from, he shrugged. We looked around, and saw that the crazy lady who gave us back the card had a bag of them in front of her.

Me: That was nice of them.
Dan: They're probably poisoned.
Me: No, they probably realized they couldn't eat a dozen between the two of them and decided to share.
Dan: Why give you two of them and none to me?
Me: They probably expect me to give you one.
Dan: Or maybe you just attract crazy people to you and I repel them away.

I bit into a cookie as Dan freaked out that I was going to die from arcenic. When a smile hit my lips from the yumminess that is fresh baked cookies, Dan relented and ate the second one.

Me: Aren't you glad I shared?
Dan: I don't understand why these things happen to you. From now on, I'm going to bring a camera with me everywhere so I can document all the weirdos you attract.
Me: OK, first off - you'd have to be in the womens' bathroom because that where the weirdos seem to always want to touch my hair. And secondly, I married you, so what does that say about your weirdness level.
Dan: I am king of the weirdos.

Why I Don't Accept Unsolicited Advice

Nursery Bedding, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I went to the bookstore last week to pick up a new book. (Versus buying one I already own of course.) While I was there, I picked up a magazine that had been left lying on a table just so I could look at the picture of the world's cutest child, who was poised on the front cover with a sun hat on. A pregnant woman shuffled over to me. That sounded rude... A pregnant woman waddled over to me. (There, much better.) She excitedly asked me "do you have kids?"
Alarmed by the fact that a stranger was talking to me, all I could do was shake my head no. She continued her animated one-sided conversation about how she's expecting her first and she's already on maternity leave even though she's not due for 3 more months and how her husband is in the middle of preparing the nursery and how it's a darling shade of pastel blue with crisp spring green accents and tiny frog details. She then turns back to me, as if suddenly realizing that I have been giving her a skeptical look this entire time because I am not entirely sure that she isn't about to pull out a baby bottle from her ginormous purse and beat me over the head with it. "Have you picked out your future nursey design?"
Kepp in mind, I never once said I wanted to have kids.
"Um...no. I figured I'd wait until I was pregnant before I started preparing for a baby..."
She looked at me as though I just announced that I don't give birth to my young, I eat them with tarter sauce.
"You HAVE to pick out your nursery theme now! It will give you good vibes when you and your husband are trying. And it's like mental baby dust."
"Baby dust?"
"Good luck dust, like pixie dust, but aimed for your womb."
WHOA WHOA WHOA! Stranger discussing my womb! I don't even discuss my womb!
"Uh...well, we're not really trying yet...we'd kinda like to..."
She waved her hand at me as though my ramblings were not important in the grander scheme of things. "You should really start preparing. At least pick a few designers you like." She then mentioned a few different baby bedding designers, all of which had cutsey names like "Annie Gracie Lacey Designs" or "Bumble Butt Bedding." Then, with one hand on my shoulder, she told me that it was SO nice to meet me and that she wished us the best of luck and a sprinkle of baby dust.
When Dan and I start trying for kids, if I blow glitter in his face it'll be symbolic of baby dust, not a general mood killer as he tries to wipe blinding glitter out of his eyeballs.

Resolution Update 2

MonsterLoCarbCan, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

I had this today. I am ashamed, but it was needed. Dan's snoring was so bad last night that the kitties were meowling along. ("Meowling" is a mix of meowing and howling. Our cats can't seem to meow normally.)
Anyway, in order to function, I needed this! Although it's nice to know that my coworkers are concerned...

Erica: I thought your resolution was to not drink those.
Me: Shhhh...no more talking.

Candace: Caffeine huh?
Me: Yeah, I could barely keep my eyes open. I was craving it.
Candace: OK. I won't tell Dan.

Dear hubby will never know that my New Years resolution was broken only 12 days after making it. Because his resolution should have been to read and comment on "our" blog at least once a week, and we know that it'll never happen.

Head Bopping Madness

Most of my friends have definitive taste in music. They tend to shy away from the "pop" genre that made the likes of Britney famous. I, however, adore it. The upbeat tempo, catchy lyrics and general bubblegum feel of the songs make me happy.

While we were moving, I had L.F.O's "Summer Girls" stuck in my head. Any takers? L.F.O. (or Lyte Funkie Ones for those of us in the know,) had 2 albums out and maybe 3 hit songs in total. Jennifer Love Hewitt dated one of the singers many years ago and he wrote one of their singles about her. ("Girl on TV" for you trivia buffs.) Anyway, "Summer Girls" was a smash hit. (kinda. In the one-hit wonder, only played at pool parties, sort of way.) I have had the song running through my head non-stop for the past 2 weeks. The bad part is that I can only remember a few lines...
New Kids on the Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when a girl stops by
For the summer. For the summer.

Award winning prose, it's not. And "summer" is pronounced "summah." But it's catchy and engraved into my memory cells. I want to buy the single off iTunes but something about buying a 90's pop hit is making me want to find it on sale instead. Yes, I am too cheap to pay 99 cents for this song.

This lead to me remembering other 90's pop faves. The Spice Girls have reunited. (I put myself on the waiting list to buy tickets to their concert but didn't get them, much to Dan's happiness.) I am planning on downloading a bunch of their old songs, as well as their new single. I also listened to B*Witched and the Cardigans. Aqua and A-Teens were other sure head boppers. All in all, I found about 20 singles that would make a great mixed CD. Something about the entire situation makes me feel like a pimple faced teenager again, listening to these songs and giggling with my friends about which boy we thought was cute. (None of them, by the way. Boys have cooties.)

This blog probably made me lose even more street cred. Oh well, someday you'll all be jealous when I get onto one of those tv game shows and win thousands of dollars. In the summah, in the summah.

Resolution Update

It's been 5 whole days and I have not had an energy drink or Starbucks. Sobe Lean Energy drinks do not count by the way. They are a necessary source of Vitamin C.
While I'm on the topic of Vitamin C, it seems like everyone is in some stage of a cold. They are either getting a cold, currently have a cold, or are getting over a cold. Dan's cold turned into walking pneumonia. Rod's became a sinus infection. Erica sounds like she's dying. I have been resisting the urge to spray Lysol in everyone's faces as they talk to me. Seems rude somehow.

WOW

When I was making fun of Dan...I mean, telling heartfelt stories about him to my sister, she asked what WOW was. She has never heard of World of Warcraft, which doesn't necessarily mean that she lives in a cave. It just means that she is not married to a geek. So here is a thorough description for those of you who have never heard of it. (Which would be weird because I make fun of it a lot.)

Basically, you play a little monster and you run around and kill other little monsters to gain experience points. And then when you reach certain levels, you can try to kill bigger little monsters. Sometimes the bigger little monster is so powerful, you need to gather other little monster friends and join a raid in order to successfully kill the bigger little monster. If you win, the bigger little monster will drop powerful little monster weapons and tools. He only drops one of a certain kind at a time, so if there is more than one little monster in your group who wants the weapon, you have to kill many bigger little monsters as a group a few times in order to get everyone what they want. And it seems to require that you wear a headset and swear to show off your manliness. Mostly because you can't get the little monsters to puff out their chests and swagger.

Karma - Not On My Buddy List

I often find myself giving people a witty, yet fairly correct life lesson. Normally in Dan's case, it's that I'm always right. Lately, it's been that karma does indeed exist.

Me: Move the bed over there.
Dan: (lots of grunting as he pushes our furniture around the room.)
Me: I think I'd like it centered more.
Dan: (more grunting. And a lot of wheezing. Have I mentioned that he has walking pneumonia?)
Me: OK, just push it back and that'll be fine I guess.
Dan: wheeze... you "guess?"
Me: Well, I like the idea of it being angled this way so the bathroom light doesn't wake you up in the morning. And so I don't have to get out of bed to turn off the light. But I think it messes with the flow of the room to have to walk around it to get to the bathroom from the door.
Dan: How often do you walk straight from the door to the bathroom?
Me: True. OK, leave it here. I'm excited to wake up one night and see you stumbling in the dark towards the bathroom. You'll probably slam right into that wall.
Dan: You're not very nice.
Me: True.

Today? I walked straight into a mirror that was leaning against the wall. I then proceeded to mutter curse words and take a step over, thinking I was walking towards my old closet. I ran smack dab into the side of the fish tank. Karma.
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I often shuffle my feet around the floor, trying to build up enough static charge to wound a small animal. (Hi, I'm responsible for 3 cats.) I attempt to zap Dan, who seems to miraculously absorb the shock without even noticing. As we were moving, I had so much static cling that the tree branch above my car managed to zap me through my head. And then today I was zapped by the windows around the office all day long. I think they are trying to kill me. Again, karma.

Blog Zombie

Dan and I decided tha tmoving immediately after the holidays sounded like the best idea ever.

We were wrong.

Dan is sick, I am losing my mind and the cats are enjoying playing in all of the boxes. Whether they were filled with breakables or not. So, there will be a post after the chaos giving full detail of our fabulous Christmas (I heart Hairspray,) our horrific move (I heart energy drinks,) and whatever fun event we plan for New Years (I heart sleeping.)

Goodbye Husband

Dan I sort of exchanged Christmas gifts the other day. I got him Guitar Hero. He now, and I quote, "rocks out with his (male chicken) out."
There is an awful lot of headbanging and heavy metal music around our place. I think it might be time for me to move out.

EDIT - Dan: "I was rocking out with my (male chicken) safely in my pants."

2ND EDIT - Dan: "Whoa, this game makes you hallucinate. Your head just got bigger. Now I know why druggies like this game so much."

One With Nature

Dan made me go to the Desert Botanical Garden with him.

I didn't want to go at first. I see desert landscape in the suburbs all the time. Why pay for it?

OK, after seeing some of the neat displays, beautiful wildlife and unique foliage, I was more interested. Almost enough to pay attention to the plants.

We saw a cute roadrunner. I took about 8 pictures of him but this is one of the few that came out clear enough to view. Fast little bugger.

A bird of some sort. Feathered, with a beak. You get the idea.

Dan worked hard and filled out his paperwork. He probably learned a lot. I learned how to use different features of my camera.

Early native americans made fences from cholla plants. And chicken wire.

I attempted to amuse myself by trying to bite him when he wasn't paying attention to me. You might say I have separation anxiety...except that I was only a foot away from him.

I also pretended to be a biologist while he worked. This was my serious face as I prepared to explain to him the fascinating facts of the rare creature we had just stumbled across.

Shhh...don't move. You may startle him. His latin name is drinkius upicus.

I'll admit, (but never to him,) that I had fun. Next time I want to go to Zoo Lights. When will that be assigned as a bio lab?