Spring Showers

My new layout!

In wishful hopes of spring arriving, I've done a spring showers template.

I'm ~so~ ready to ditch my coat and socks and layers....but it's not like that's the first time I've said that.

House of Flying Daggers

My husband and I went to the movies this afternoon and saw House of Flying Daggers. It was really good, I thought! I especially loved the play of color in the movie.

It's weird how the brain gets used to reading the subtitles and after a few minutes into the movie you forget that you're listening to a different language and sitting there reading the dialogue.

I'm sick off popcorn....

But it sure was nice to go out for a date!

Sunny and Blah

It's chilly, but so nice outside today! I just bought some new denim capris that I'm hoping to wear soon if the weather will just warm up. My husband is teasing me with plans of a trip to Hawaii in the Fall...I hope...SO hope we can go! And we're progressing with the plans of remodeling. It's an exciting time!

However, with this antsy feeling of wanting spring to arrive and pending vacations... I want a new look for my blog.

I want some color. I want shapes and boxes. I want something new.

I'm not sure what I want exactly yet, but it will come to me...I'll just keep thinking!

Strange

Although quite comical, it's very strange that my little one likes to snuggle with my keyboard gel wrist support more than any other toy she has.

So Much For That Idea

I've been really busy with company visiting. My mother in law is keeping us on the go and I have to say, I'm becoming very spoiled! From breakfast out every morning, to a cocktail companion in the evenings, to having a Starbucks giftcard left for me on the dining room table...I'm lucky!

One thing that was going to be a real treat while my mother in law was here visiting, was my ability to get out and have some "me" time without having to haul the munchkin around with me...

HA!

For some strange reason, my little one has become g.l.u.e.d! to me. She doesn't want anyone else to hold her. I can't be further than two feet from her most of the time, even in the same room, without her having a melt down!

My goodness! So ...so much for the idea of "me" time!

4am

At 4am a year ago, today, my water broke.

And life has been extraordinarily different since then!

Thank you to everyone who's helped make the first year of my munchkin's life so wonderful.

It's amazing how fast time flies by.

Thank you for driving me to the hospital so early in the morning.
Thank you for cracking jokes and making me laugh.
Thank you for watching over me and making sure the doctors and nurses were doing a good job.
Thank you for holding my hair back as I was contracting and throwing up at the same time.
Thank you for offering to get me McDonalds. I know I was mean and told you just what I'd do with that McDonalds if you kept talking about it, but I really did appreciate the thought.
Thank you for giving me my epidural at 1.5 centimeters.
Thank you for doing my epidural shot so nicely that it didn't hurt.
Thank you for the itty bitty ice bits to help with the intense thirst.
Thank you for talking to me on my cell phone in the labor room.
Thank you for giving me oxygen when the baby and I needed it.
Thank you for holding my hand.
Thank you for flying into town to help.
Thank you for cutting the umbilical cord and giving our daughter her cute bellybutton.
Thank you for spending two nights with me in the hospital.
Thank you for sleeping in a chair.
Thank you for sending me flowers.
Thank you for calling.
Thank you for coming and visiting me in the hospital.
Thank you for making me laugh when I was still in so much pain.
Thank you for being healthy.
Thank you for watching over all the tests that were being done on the baby.
Thank you for telling me I looked wonderful when I know I looked like hell.
Thank you for bringing me food that wasn't hospital food.
Thank you for taking pictures.
Thank you for everything.

But especially, to my daughter, thank you for being the most precious thing I could have ever hoped for to grace my life. Happy 1st birthday.

Honeydew, Where'd You Go?

At breakfast this morning, as we sat amongst the crowd that had gathered to dine out on President's Day, my daughter started acting rather strangely.

She had eggs and pancakes and dry cereal and crackers...

She had potatoes and toast...

She had honeydew melon...

Each in small quantities.

But then she became quiet and focused and when I looked over at her sitting proud in her highchair, she was smiling at me with a rather unusual plumpy look to herself.

The tables of people around us, took notice, and smiled as well.

I felt like everyone within sight figured I must only feed my child when I take her out, for she had decided to stuff as much food as she possibly could, including the large piece of honeydew melon... into her shirt.

It's as if she were a human version of a squirrel storing up for the winter.

So I sat there, feeling very silly, fishing for pancake bits, and potato bits, and the slimey gooey piece of melon, and the egg and crackers, and toast...

All the while she's laughing and finding the whole situation to be very comical.

I promise! I do feed my child at home. I'm not sure what she was thinking when she felt like she needed to stash it all away into her clothing.

Goodbye Five Inches

I didn't waste any time in taking advantage of the arrival of my mother in law.

After my husband went dashing out the door this morning, because he was running late to work; my mother in law, myself and the munchkin bundled up and headed out to enjoy a leisure breakfast at the nearby, breakfast cafe.

I was even treated to this morning as my mother in law picked up the tab. Thank you again!

After breakfast, I got the little one all bundled up in her stroller and we had situated ourselves back out into the cold...I headed straight for the beauty parlor, waved goodbye to my daughter and 'Grandma' and surrendered myself to the sanctity of the salon.

I decided to try a new place this time. And it was nice because the hair stylist I got was fantastic...not only in her ability, but with the stories she told.

I sat and relaxed as she gave each strand of hair on my head personal, undivided attention and I listened as she ranted and raved about all of her different friends and their going-ons in their life regarding babies and relationships and strict family rules and desires and hopes for her future and on and on and on...

When I stepped away from the chair I had been so comfortable in, I noticed a pile of hair lying on the floor...

Good riddance! Goodbye five inches...

My hair has bounce and life and style back into it now...I feel so rejuvenated!

More Snow

It snowed last night. Not a lot, but enough to make me cranky.

My mother in law will be here in a few hours, and I'm trying to finish up a few things around the house. The place won't be perfect, nor close to it, but it will be acceptable and she's not really a stickler on us having a perfectly kept place. She's very helpful when she comes to visit, which I'm so thankful for.

She's not a big fan of snow either and asked for warm weather for her visit...comical that it snowed the night before her plane flies in. I really wish the weather would have been warm for her.

She'll be visiting for ten days, so maybe some warm weather will come still...

Tempted

We went out to McDonald's today before running to the grocery store.

I so very much wanted french fries...oh the torture I endured just walking into the establishment.

Not three steps in and a woman walks past me with an entire tray filled with french fries... an.entire.tray!

So my husband and I step up to the cashier and are greeted with, "What can I get you?"

My husband says with a snicker, "We'd like a tray of fries, please..."

The woman was a bit confused and I neverminded what my husband said and started to order...

"I'll have the five piece chicken strips please..."

"The meal?"

"No, just the strips..."

My husband says, "Oh just get the meal...it's okay..."

(He hates to see me suffer... and I really am suffering!)

I continue, "...oh ok. The meal, please....no, just the strips...no, the meal...no! really, just the strips...yes, just the strips..."

The woman says, "it doesn't really matter, the five piece chicken strips come with a free drink and free fries today anyways..."

So needless to say, despite my efforts to not order them, fries...hot, salty, beautiful fries, were placed upon our tray.

And I'll have you know...I didn't eat a single fry! I let them sit on the tray...neglected, and lonely ....without any fry adoration....without any sweet nothings whispered to each delicate morsel of fried potato splendor...

It was hard to do.

I came so.close.to.caving.

I came so.close.to.giving.in.to.temptation.

I even asked my husband, "So, how would one repent should they give in to what they gave up during Lent..." as I eyed that gorgeous red container that was holding the layered sticks of potato goodness.

"Lots and lots of praying...go on, why don't you just eat them...I got you ketchup and extra salt packets just like you like...."

"No, I...am...not...giving...in....Didn't Jesus ever falter?"

"No."

"Hrmph. I really want those fries. I won't eat them though..."

And I didn't eat them.

A Thirsty Night

I'm incredibly thirsty. My friend, The Artful Blogger, has given up _____ for Lent. And I'm going to try to explain this tremendous thirst I have without saying _____.

I'm all out of _____. My husband had to run out on an errand, so I'm really really REALLY R-E-A-L-L-Y hoping he stops and buys me some _____.

But I'm not in a picky mood. If he bought me _____ or _____ or even _____, I'd be happy....Thrilled!

In fact, I'm so thirsty, I'd even drink _____....actually, no, I wouldn't, because of Laura. Tonight, we both suffer!

Big Plans

Today I had hoped to bake German Soft Pretzels. No such luck. I'll have to try to tackle that endeavor tomorrow hopefully.

I did get out for my walk, albeit short because of the cold temperatures. Picked up some challah bread , chocolate brownie bread, and wheat bread. Each loaf is small... so really my kitchen isn't being invaded by bread loaves.

And now, I sit here, contemplating the cooking of dinner, and just feel very tired.

I've felt tired all day.

And it's Friday night...and I'm out of soda. That, dear Internet, is traggic.

But I'm making Big Plans for my husband and I to go out on a few dates next week, as my mother in law flies in on Sunday which means she'll babysit and we'll.get.to.go.out.alone!

Greetings citizen! This is an EQ2 CSR. How would you like your pizza?

A friend who knows I keep on top of the gaming goings-on in the world, emailed me this link:

Hunger pains interrupting your game?

The world is a scary place when all you have to do is type /pizza while gaming to have it delivered hot, right to your door!

And a bit of concern....

As a game I've been reading about for a long time now has it's community very worried that it's all a hoax...lacking recent screenshots (and none of its avatars), charging bank accounts for pre-ordered games in absurd amounts (have yet to see proof though), difficult refunds for those who wish to cancel their pre-order, and no user interface screenshots, and apparently it's due out this month for purchase and download, yet open beta hasn't started? I'm still a believer that the game is real and will be a good one...but it does seem a bit suspicious....

It will be a blah moment if the game comes of nothing. I've been following it for over a year...it's got some great ideas...ideas that EQ2 is now looking to implement per John Smedley's statement.

I wonder....I really wonder....will Mourning be released soon?

Doggy Bliss

Here he is, my American Bulldog, in his squishy bed snuggling with his new best friend, Piggy. He's also lounging in his new harness collar...comfy cozy!

He's probably wondering if it's dinner time and thinking that I'm looking awfully suspicious with my camera like it might be his 'bath time' or something of the sort.


Copyright Insanity Infusion

Well No, But You Can Bring Him In

It is cold outside and lightly snowing, but the sun is out and that's all that mattered to me after being couped up for a couple days due to the rain, rain, and more rain.

We bundled up and went out walking to run a few errands.

I admit, I was fahhhreezing at first, but after awhile I adjusted to the temperature and then didn't pay it much mind.

On my walk home, I decided to stop by the Dog and Cat Store. They don't sell actual animals, but more like all the wonderful and neat things one could want for their pet.

As our dog's collar is half broken, I thought I'd get him a new one.

Our dog is an American Bulldog and quite large. Approximately 95 pounds really.

Okay, truth be told, I was just having a mushy-I-love-my-dog moment today.

I bought him new dog food, dog treats, and some chicken jerky for dogs at the market.

Then I went to the Dog and Cat Store...okay? It was a moment!

So there I was trying to finagle the stroller through this jam packed store, actually having to move merchandise out of the way in order to roll the baby stroller around...

I made it to the back of the store where they had the dog collars.

I decided I wanted to try a new style of collar, and get our dog a harness chest strappy type of collar. It something that goes around his chest and hooks together around the back of his shoulder blades. He really does mind well and I thought with his age, he'd be mature enough to not have an icky collar that goes around his neck.

So now it would feel like a gentle nudge on his burly chest instead of a gasp-choke around his neck.

I must have rummaged endlessly through the whole lot of them, and wasn't having much luck in finding an extra large one. Finally the sales clerk comes back to assist me. We get to chatting about animals and I'm trying to explain to her the size of my dog.

"I don't really think a 'Large' will work for my dog..."

"Oh yeah, a 'Large' would be too big I'm sure..."

"Uh, too big? This is an 'American Bulldog'..not an 'English' one..."

"Oh...right!"

We both continue looking.

"So, if I bought a 'Large' and it didn't fit, I could return it right?"

"Well, actually no. Our store policy is that anything you buy can not be returned or exchanged. I mean, we have to be careful with all the diseases that animals can carry."

"Oh, hmm okay...."

"But, if you want, you can just bring your dog in and we can fit him in the store."

Now, there I stood thinking...

'I can't return something. But I can bring my nearly 95 pound dog into this cramped store that doesn't even have enough space between things for me to roll the baby stroller and you'll TRY ON THE ITEM here in the store..on the same supposed animal that might be carrying a slew of nasty diseases....you want me to bring my massive dog into your overstuffed store where he could not only slobber on anything and everything, but in the chance that he had some disease (which he doesnt mind you) he could not only taint the item that he's trying on, but taint EVERY ITEM in the store...??? Just what kinds of diseases are ALREADY ROAMING in here from other animals that you've let in to try things on...because you DON'T ALLOW RETURNS because of DISEASES!'

but I said,

"Oh that's okay...let's keep looking for an 'Extra Large'.

We finally found one and I went on my way.

Talk about a silly store policy if you ask me!

Oh, and on my way out I just had to get him this super cute fluffy blue pig stuffed toy...because despite his big and somewhat scary appearance...he's a snuggly teddybear.


Lounging in the yard, trying to nap and ignore the camera.
Copyright Insanity Infusion

I Just Realized...

As we finshed up dinner tonight and I was wrapping up the leftovers, something came to mind...

We haven't bought plastic wrap in eight years.

Thank you Costco.

No Matter How It Seems

It's raining outside and just gloomy and bleh out there...

How am I supposed to go for a walk if it's so icky out?

The other morning when I took the munchkin out to breakfast, I got to thinking.

In a restaurant full of people, I looked around the room. I watched people engaged in conversation...some listening, some talking, some laughing, some wiping tears from their eyes.

It's easy to become absorbed into all the going-ons of your own life and the headaches and hassles and joys and smiles of the ups and the downs that we each face.

But for a moment, I sat there and looked beyond my own life.

Each and every person there around me was working through events in their own life...events that make them stressed, make them cry, make them worry, laugh, rejoice.

If you ever take time to really look at the expressions on peoples' faces, it can be an overwhelming experience. I sat there recognizing the sparkle of excitement that twinkled in the corner of some eyes, the dimness of distress in others, the empathetic understanding of expression resting upon the faces of some and the yearning for sympathy on others.

It was a heavy moment for me to sit and see all that and realize in such a tangible way that the world is full of issues of all kinds.

Everyone is working through something...no matter how magnificent and put together they seem.

Oh! No! Not My Mocha!

My husband walks through the door from work today and says, "I'm really sorry. I stopped by the coffee shop to pick you up a mocha, but it was closed."

"Closed? Oh, because it's Valentine's Day?"

"No...because they are ...doing...construction..."

"Construction!!?!? You're kidding?"

"Nope...construction...looks like they are really changing things in there...and they won't be opening..."

I cut him off, "...construction...geesh...I should have just given up mochas for Lent! I can't believe they are closed for construction..."

"...they won't be opening until...." he tries to continue.

"...I mean, they are closed..that's just tragic...what am I going to do without my mochas...I mean..."

"...opening until the 16th..."

"Oh my gosh, not till almost the end of Lent?!?! The 16th of March?!"

My husband snickers, "...February 16th."

We head out to dinner and have to walk by the Starbucks on our way.

I chime in again, "Well at least it's only a couple days... whew! I can't believe you had me thinking it was going to be closed for ~EVER~..."

"Oh yeah, well they are really changing things...they've got all kinds of clothing racks in there..."

"Clothing racks??? Whoa! I wonder why in the world they have clothing.racks in there??!...Really? They have clothing racks in there??"

"No," and he snickers again.

My Valentine is very much a smarta$$.

Fortune Cookies

I just heard on PBS that Fortune Cookies don't exist in China...that that's an American creation?

True?

It Had To Be Written Part 4 In Conclusion

“So, what do you think? Maybe since we’re married now, we should really splurge and spend one hundred dollars more a month on rent than what we’re paying? You know…get a fun, neat-o place?”

“Oh yeah…definitely!”

We hopped into the SUV after a horrible night’s sleep and were determined to find the best apartment out there.

We bought a big soda and a paper and set out on our mission.

After a full day of looking at places that were one hundred dollars more than our apartment back home, we concluded that life was going to be very, very different in the ~big~ city.

Disheartened, discouraged, and tired…we drove thirty minutes out of the area to find a better hotel to stay at and to try to get some good sleep before we set out again the next morning in hopes of having better luck in finding a new apartment.

Two more days were spent searching. By the end of the third day we found a first floor of a home available for rent. Twice what we were currently paying and honestly it was a gutted home.

We only lived there a year, and it was a very interesting living experience, but in comparison to all the other places we looked at, it was a gem. We had looked at so many places where I wouldn’t have even taken my shoes off in….places with shag carpets full of cat urine and landlords that swore they smelled nothing while my husband and I turned blue in the face from holding our breath….places that really made you pause and think, “What the –BLEEP-was this person thinking when they put an ad in the paper to rent this place out FOR.THIS.PRICE…it’s not worth a penny in rent!”

Still though, by the end of the third day of searching, we had had enough and wanted to get back to our quaint little …clean…apartment in our sweet, beautiful city.

We obviously still needed more time to adjust to the idea of leaving our west coast sanctuary and moving on to the big city, so we signed the lease papers and planned on moving back out in a month. Oh how we planned on relishing that month back at home.

I was still sick with my sinus infection; however it had improved and wasn’t as bad as it had been.

We packed up our things and started on our journey back home.

We didn’t want to rush this time. We wanted to enjoy our drive back and took the north route home as we had a ‘pit-stop’ of sorts to make.

My parents had ordered a buffalo head to don on the wall in their home. To save in shipping costs, they asked my husband and I to reroute our drive back up through the ranch that housed the gigantic head and pick it up in our SUV for them.

“You want us to pick up a what??”

“A buffalo head. It’s on a neat ranch …the same ranch where ‘Dances With Wolves’ was filmed….”

“I never saw that movie, but sure, we’ll pick it up for you…will it even fit in the back of the SUV?”

We did in fact reroute in order to pick up that buffalo head.

It was MASSIVE to say the least. And there I was, trying to pay for the buffalo head and a woman rather larger than myself…a woman who could probably bareback ride a buffalo easily and tame that beast into submission…a woman that actually ~scared~ my husband…quoted me a different, more expensive price on the buffalo head than what I was quoted by my parents.

“Um, excuse me, but that’s not the price I was told.”

The woman and I go back and forth a bit, and my husband is nudging me to just hush already and buy the damn buffalo head so we could go before this woman decided to flatten me like a pancake….but we pay the higher price, have them put the humungous buffalo head in our SUV which barely fit mind you and looked like a huge dead person covered up by a blanket, and my husband also threw in some buffalo jerky to smooth over the argumentative nature of yours truly.

Off we went again. Cruising down the interstate, nibbling on jerky, listening to tunes, blowing my nose, sipping soda and carrying on good conversation like, “My gawd I thought she was going to kick.your.ass!” and “Dude, she looked like a man… what.was.I.thinking.arguing.with.her?!!?” all with this blanketed mound of furry buffalo head filling the back of our ride.

If you’ve ever driven on the interstate in the States, then you know there’s a whole variety of billboards put up with advertisements for your viewing pleasure. A lot of them like to say things like, “Last restaurant in 38 miles.” Or things of that nature. We kept seeing a lot of billboards for this truck stop/diner that supposedly served THE BEST BUFFALO BURGERS IN THE WORLD.

We finally approached that truck stop/diner and again, this would have been another time where some intuition would have been nice…truck stop != best burger in the world.

Half the truck stop is a diner and half is a market where you pay for gas, buy snacks, fill up on fountain soda, use the washroom, or browse any of the other random items available to buy.

We sit at a table right along the dividing edge of the diner/market. So our table’s edge matched right up with a sunglasses rack.

We place an order for the largest buffalo burger they had on the menu and had planned on sharing it. I mean..here we were…buffalo head in the car…in a greasy spoon diner….might as well try THE BEST BURGER IN THE WORLD according to the billboards.

We’re sitting there nibbling on the burger, when a woman in ~bright~ turquoise shorts prances in….mind you one could spot these turquoise shorts a mile away from sheer size and brightness…and comes directly to the sunglass rack.

Apparently, while we had just sat down to eat our lunch at that point, she had already well begun processing hers….

As she stood there, looking at the glasses, her bum cheeks nearly resting upon the ledge of our table…she rips THE BIGGEST fart. Loud, wet, sticky, and in the humidity of the summer air I felt like I nearly had to scrape it off our table just to be rid of it.

My husband and I sat there…lifeless…in shock…dumbfounded…

The woman twirled a 180 and then walked out.

Still, we sat there motionless, our jaws wide open in horror…

We couldn’t believe it! We watched her sashay those turquoise shorts right out of the truck stop/diner and not a word of ‘excuse me’ was ever breathed from her lips…

After a good while we regained our composure, finished our meal as best we could, and went on our way again.

Shortly after, we both began feeling sick. My husband much more sick than I. He loves to drive, but began feeling so sick that he just couldn’t bear to any more and asked me to take over.

We stayed in one hotel during our drive home…as my husband was so sick that we just wanted to get back as soon as we could. That one night in the hotel was spent with my husband so sick…sicker than I’ve ever seen him in my entire life….curled up in a ball, nearly in tears, almost begging for death.

Again, this was probably another instance where we should have gone to the hospital.

We made it home, and in a day or so my husband began to feel better.

We were watching the news only to see that there was a HUGE E. coli breakout and that THAT’s what we had gotten! I, only mildly, but my husband so severely….

We sat there in our living room and laughed….

“Skunked, sinus infection, broken wedding dress, trashed car, hotel nightmares, apartment nightmares, E. coli….”

“Crazy $h!t isn’t it?”

“Bad omen?”

“Nah, if we can make it through all that and sit here and laugh, then we’re good to go…”

And about a week later, an envelope arrived in the mail.

Inside contained pictures from the Rugby Team that they so graciously took while trashing our SUV….pictures that I still to this day have not seen… and all my husband will say is…

“Trust me on this…you.don’t.want.to.know.”

Given everything else that happened with our wedding and honeymoon…I think he’s probably right and …I.don’t.want.to.know.

The End.

Part 4 OTWS and Laundry

Today it rained, and rained a lot. I'm feeling a bit under the weather flat out sick with the flu.

I'll start on Part 4 of 'It Had To Be Written' soon.

I spent most of the day just being blurgy and trying to get laundry done. In efforts to combat the ickies that are going around, I also remade all the beds with clean sheets and fluffed all the pillows.

Now if I could get my tenants to stop hammering, maybe the pounding in my head would come to an end. I honestly think they must be assembling wall to wall bookshelves or something.

It Had To Be Written Part 3

We set out the next morning fairly early to start our trek across country. The suitcases were tossed in the back, we’d accumulated all our ‘wedding’ cash we got in envelopes, had our huge soda in hand…to share mind you, after all we were newlyweds, and me with my big box of tissue since I wasn’t any better yet from this horrid sinus infection.

There wasn’t a heck of a lot to see on our drive in most the states, albeit a leisure drive wasn’t what we were after. I recall taking a picture of the nation’s ~largest~ thermometer, us stopping to read several ‘charts-y’ types of signs, and snacking at little restaurants along the way.

Our mission was to reach our destination so we put in good hours driving each day. My husband actually did all the driving and let me sit contently in the passenger seat blowing my nose endlessly.

Our first night in a hotel was interesting to say the least. The toilet in the room wouldn’t stop making this terrifying gurgling noise, which by the way was not tucked away into a room of its own. The room set up was more along the lines of, ‘Oh look…a bed…and.three.feet.away….a toilet. Hmm, well that’s convenient.’ Except for it was so noisy that that combined with my imagination, I figured for sure some evil creature was going to crawl out of the tank and gobble us up.

The temperature in the room was just shy of where Satan must keep his thermostat set to, and undoubtedly broken.

My husband and I sat on the edge of the bed, tissue box in hand, sweating, and looked at each other as we were being serenaded to by the toilet.

“It’s hot as hell in here. I’m dying.”

“Yeah, no kidding!! Here. Let me try to fiddle with the thermostat.”

Now, my husband is really quite good with most things, but as I sat there watching him take the thermostat covering off the wall and poke and prod at all the wires while blue sparks were flying off into the air…I was concerned.

The last thing I wanted was one of those wild blue sparks to make it to the toilet, infuse into that commode creature and start it dividing and multiplying like we all knows happens if you’ve seen any scary horror flicks.

It was too hot to sleep. I still couldn’t breathe very well. The toilet was gurgling loudly with the creature stirring from within. And I was worried about blue sparks.

Romance at its best…let.me.tell.you.

We had one normal hotel stay the next night, to which no real intense memories stick in my mind, and then another full day of driving to bring us into our destination early evening the next day.

We tried one hotel after another. Apparently there was a plastics convention going on and every hotel in the area was booked solid.

I finally decided to stop at a pay phone and call several places to cut down on the fruitless driving.

“Hi, do you have any available rooms for tonight?”

“Uhh yeaaahhhh…”

“Oh wonderful, can I please have you hold one for me. I’m not sure how long it will take us to get there..but we definitely need a room!”

“Uhh holding one for you isn’t needed….we’ll have a room for you.”

“But…but there’s the convention going on? Every hotel in the area is booked solid!...but you promise you’ll have a room?”

“Uhhh yeaaahhhh….”

Maybe it was the fact that I was still suffering from a bad sinus infection, or maybe it’s because we hadn’t had good sleep in awhile, or maybe it’s because we had been in the car for so.many.hours, but the idea that his hotel might not be a real ~score~ didn’t sink into my head.

It was dark by the time we arrived at the hotel. My husband and I walk in to the lobby to check out a room. There’s a group of men sitting at a small table in the lobby playing poker. No one is at the desk.

We stand for a good few minutes thinking that perhaps the desk clerk has stepped away. Five minutes has passed and there’s a break in the poker hand. A man stands up from the table…

“You here to get a room?”

“Yes, I called earlier.”

“Uhh yeaaahhhh…I remember.”

We got our room and started back to the car to gather our things and settle in for the night.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad?”

“Let's just get our things and get into the room…chat later…now do what I say…”

I think, “Geesh! Bossypants! Crankyface!” but I oblige.

What I didn’t know at the time was that there was a group of …hmmm ~less than friendly not-nicey-types~ who were scoping out all of our items and hollering at us that we ‘needed to empty all our $h!t out of the car, for whatever we left they’d gladly help themselves to during the night’.

Again, my husband isn’t the passive type, but I’ve found over the years, if I’m with him…he’d rather just get me to a safe spot and keep things on the low down than cause trouble in the risk of something happening to me. When he’s alone or with the boys…oh the stories I’ve heard…eeks.

We get all our stuff inside. We’re on the first floor.

We both plop down on the edge of the bed and let out a sigh, “We made it! We’re here in the big city!”

As I look up from where we are sitting, I notice a mirror hanging on the wall at the end of the bed. And from that mirror, I can get a good clear shot view outside. Our curtains were rigged so that they can’t close all the way…and the mirror was hung so any and all who stood outside our room would get a good view right into the room…right at the bed.

We finagled chairs and whatnot to keep the curtains closed fully over the window.

At 3am we were awoken by housekeeping. Three women were standing outside our door having ~the biggest fight~. We laid there in bed thinking, “….my gawd…where the hell are we and what have we gotten ourselves in to….”

The next morning would start our search for 'home'.

More to come...

It Had To Be Written Part 2

Copyright Insanity Infusion

We kissed and headed back down the isle to stand in the reception line so we could personally thank each and every one of our 200 guests.

Meanwhile, I’m still cranking out a temperature of 102 the entire day.

The reception was lovely, although I was feeling pretty crumby and couldn’t breathe for anything.

We wanted to get an early start on our honeymoon, since we had a three hour drive up to our apartment (Yes, we ~did~ live together before getting married…however, my husband’s sister lived with us. Somehow that made it all okay with the parents…because we all know that having your sister live with you who was also dating and partying would definitely curtail any wild ideas that might cross your mind.).

My husband had given the Best Man specific orders that our SUV was ~not~ to be trashed in any way due to the urgency of the long drive. We had plans of swinging by our apartment, grabbing our suitcases, and then hitting the road for our cross country trip.

We were going to be moving 2200 miles away and our honeymoon was to be spent finding the new place we’d call “home”.

So we left the reception after saying our goodbyes and headed back toward my husband’s parent’s house to retrieve our SUV and start on our merry way.

Apparently in all the hoorah of shaking everyone’s hand and thanking them, we didn’t seem to notice that my husband’s devoted and loving rugby team was very late in showing up to the reception.

If you know anything about ruggers, you know that they …by breed…are crazy. (I absolutely love the sport and the characters drawn to the game, so I mean that in a most affectionate manner.)

Anyway, we arrive back at where our SUV had supposedly been tucked away safely only to find that it was nearly unrecognizable. Toilet paper, masking tape, Silly String (you know, that string that you spray from a can), ribbon, string, beer cans, whip cream….was all donned upon the vehicle.

I’ll spare you the profanities that my husband uttered. Our Best Man swore he tried his best to keep the car’s location secret. But this mess had to be tended to before the SUV was even drivable. One of my husband’s cousins is a miracle worker when it comes to anything about cars and electronics… which came in quite handy, because the Silly String would not come off our car.

As I stood there thinking, “Oh my gawd, our car is ruined!!” and tears were welling up in my eyes….my husband’s cousin began creating some concoction from regular household items that would safely strip the string from the paint without ruining the paint job.

As my husband and his cousin were just finishing up the cleaning and washing, which was approximately three, nearly four hours, after we left the reception, a carload of friends drive up from the reception.

It was still warm outside as the evening air hadn’t really started to set in yet.

The driver waves to us and loudly snickers about the SUV mishap as he drives the horde up to the house, and his wave and comments were met with my husband taking the hose and spraying large amounts of water into their car.

Needless to say, my husband isn’t the most docile of people when irritated.

That carload of friends decided they should get going and headed off in their soggy, cloth interior’d car…

Only to have the same ‘nerd’ friend who raised his hand during the ceremony peek his head back into the house saying, “Oh oops, here’s a wire hanger of yours I accidentally took with us….sorry!”

He closed the door and they drove off again. We had to laugh…of all the things…whew, thank goodness we got that wire hanger returned!

By the time we finally left, we were exhausted…I was still sick and couldn’t breathe…my husband was cranky…it was late…traffic was bad…and we had a three hour drive just to get to our apartment.

More to come…

Number Crunching

The day started out with great big peek-a-boo eyes meeting mine letting me know it was time to get my rear in gear!

It's amazing outside...warm, sunny, blue skies...simply divine.

We walked to our favorite little breakfast restaurant and the wait wasn't long.

We were seated in a spacious booth and the food was hot and my soda never-ending.

We came home and rolled up our sleeves and finished.our.tax.papers!

How refreshing to know that that horrible task is ~done~!

And I don't think my husband could have met my glee with any better words than, "Let's go get coffee!" as we high-fived in victory.

It Had To Be Written

I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Oh man, you should write in about your wedding and honeymoon...you can't make that stuff up!"

So in the efforts of getting it written down...I write to you, Internet...my wedding and honeymoon story:

My husband and I were married in a Catholic church.

No matter how I pleaded with him to elope ahead of time, there had just been too much preparation done with the church, flowers, photographers, dresses, guest lists, reception plans...I'm sure if you're not married yourself, you know someone who's gotten married, or at least seen a wedding on TV to get some idea of what I'm talking about here.

I have to back track a couple days before the wedding…

I had my 'hair rehearsal' scheduled for later on in the day. This was well before the munchkin was even thought of in my life. I had plans of sleeping in and then a little shopping before the hair dresser appointment.

At around 5am, my dog (bless his soul-the little guy died of Cancer) at the time was defending the house at the ranch and felt it was crucial to bark his brains out at a nearby porcupine. I laid in bed, tossing and turning, trying my hardest to ignore this incessant barking.

It was June, so I had my bedroom window open as well which didn't help with the noise at all. I fumbled out of bed in my t-shirt and sleeping shorts and stumbled to the window..."Quiettttttttt!"

My commands fell upon deaf doggy ears, because no matter how much I hollered he just continued on.

Grumpy and still quite tired, I went outside to call my dog off this furry creature that was probably just trying to gather it's morning coffee in the best way porcupines can and here my dog was probably annoying the living hell out of it.

So I call and call and finally my dog comes trotting back to me with this goofy look on his face. A good half hour of time has passed now, and I'm really ticked off that my sweet dog has been so naughty, not to mention woken me up far earlier than I had planned..."Bad dog!"

As I was in mid swing to smack his furry hiney, the stench reached my nose. For it had not been a cute porcupine at all! My dog had been barking at a skunk. But by the time my groggy brain had processed this newly discovered information, it was too late. My hand had icky, wet, skunk juice all over it...as the only reason my dog finally came running back was because the skunk had had enough and let my dog know it by graciously spraying him.

In reaction to being smacked on the toosh, my dog leaned up against my legs as to say, 'I'm sorry I didn't come, I love you!"...which would have been sweet and I would have cuddled him, however, his furry side was also completely covered in skunk juice, which he rubbed up against my bare legs!

The next thing I find myself doing is standing in the shower at 5:30am pouring tomato juice all over my arms and legs. Useless information (yet quite valuable in particular instances): Tomato juice cuts the smell of skunk juice. This ~definitely~ was not how I had planned on spending my morning.

I sneak in a few more minutes of sleep after my shower and then get ready for some shopping with my mom before my hair appointment.

As the day progresses though, I find that I’m not feeling so well ~at all~.

A fever sets in.

I’m back in bed, shivering and cold, yet roasting with a 102 degree temperature.

Needless to say, the hair appointment got canceled.

By the next day, which was the rehearsal dinner and meeting most of my husband’s extended family for the first time, I had a full on sinus infection from a reaction to the skunk spray.

To this day, I don’t understand why I didn’t get medication for it. I’m sure there would have been something I could have taken to make it better…but I try to take as little medication as possible and I don’t like going in to the doc or hospitals…so maybe at that time, that’s what I was thinking? But it was honestly, the worst sinus infection I’ve had in my life…I should have gone to the doctor. Period.

The comings and goings of my fevers continued, but I kept as cheery as I could during the rehearsal dinner and the wedding rehearsal at the church.

I partied at our favorite local pub with our bridal party and friends until the wee hours of the morning, and then chatted with my maid of honor until we were too tired to talk any more and at some point fell asleep.

Up at 7am the next morning to get my hair done. Fever is still going.

My hair dresser wouldn’t listen to me, and I was entirely crabby….

Moving along in the story…

Everything was getting prepped at the church.

The photographer was busy taking pictures, despite the late arrival of the flowers.

The choir was rehearsing, despite that being the one request my Father-In-Law had asked ~not~ be done.

The church filled, and it was now time for the wedding party to proceed down the isle.

My mother had made a serious effort to remind me over and over about the bridesmaids holding their flower bouquets upright and not flopped over so that the pictures wouldn’t be ruined…

“Ok ladies,” I say, “Now remember! Hold your bouquets like t h i s not like t-h-i-s.”

And with that second ‘this’ I demonstrated with my large bouquet…what a flopped over bouquet would look like. Little did I know at that time though that my bouquet was actually in two separate parts, so when I tipped it over, the stem part that I was holding remained firmly within my grasp, but the beautiful flowers went flying out onto the floor.

The music had already started. The church had everyone seated quietly waiting with great anticipation to see the Bride.

Only… ~the Bride~ let out a scream. I’m just glad I didn’t yell “Oh $H!T!”.

But when you drop something, what is your first course of action to take? Naturally, to try to catch what’s falling. So I lunged. In my wedding dress. And with lunging, I broke the most important snap I had…the one that was holding my dress up…

It had broke… while I was lunging… and screaming… in a church… that was filled with people waiting quietly for me to walk down the isle.

I remember hearing my wedding coordinator say in a very determined voice, “Now! Someone get me a safety pin NOW!”

And with that, my dress was pinned up the best it could be.

My bouquet was pieced back together.

And on the wedding party marched.

The ceremony started and at some point during it, my husband leans over to me and whispers, “Pull your dress up!! The priest is checking you out!”

I’m trying my best at this point to keep my composure and not start laughing.
When we could finally sit down, my focus was still distracted with our Best Man making faces at me trying to get me to lose it….and I misjudged where my chair was.

Thankfully my husband was watching, and readjusted my chair just in time or I would have landed flat on the floor in my half broken dress in front of all.those.people.

The priest who married us changed.the.ceremony.on.us.

It came as such a surprise to myself and my husband to be sitting up in front of 200 people and have the priest just up and change the ceremony!

He started quizzing the bridal party, “What does marriage mean?”

Everyone was hoping that they wouldn’t be called upon, but everyone was also hoping that the Best Man, who was very hung over wearing a Pepto-Bismol stained tuxedo, would not be called upon either.

Of course, my mind starts swirling…what would I say if he turned to me….

I think everyone’s mind in the wedding party was thinking that…

“What if he asks ME!?”

The nerd of the bunch, the one who had never had a girlfriend, one of our groomsman, actually raised his hand to answer….

My maid of honor was a gem and gave a beautiful answer about God and Unison and lots of other things that were fogged out of my conscious thought because I was still so worried I would be asked next…

Upon later discussion, I asked my husband what he was going to say had he been called on…and leave it up to my husband to be…honest…”I was going to say ‘Unprotected Sex!”…and my response, “I was going to say ‘Having a Good Sense of Humor’.”

More to come…

Computer Issues, Broken Glass, and Pizza-Oh MY!

Today has been one heck of a busy day!

My husband managed to break his computer last night...which meant I got to reinstall his OS today and get him back online.

The little one managed to break a big glass all over the hardwood floor-She's okay!-which lead me to sweep and vaccuum endlessly.

And for No-Meat Friday, I was slaving away in the kitchen making cheese pizza!

My husband took me out for a nice night walk and a hot mocha though to make up for my hectic day...Ahhh...it was so lovely out!

But now, my wild child is dragging her PC mouse around the room and beating the living hell out of my husband's PC tower...so I suppose since I spent all day fixing it, I should keep her from destroying it.

I've Concluded

I've concluded that the only thing that would satiate this 'snacky' feeling would be a mocha.

A hot, steamy, delectable, sweet (but not too sweet), mocha.

A mocha that I could sip casually and enjoy out in the chilled, night air under a blanket of stars where I could see my breath each time I exhaled a sigh of mocha satisfaction.





I so know I'm being a horrible, coffee-lush, role model for my child.


And this...





...would be good too.

But first, my mocha.

Mmm.

I'm a Jerk.

So my husband gave up eating Junk Food for Lent.

Tonight, I've eaten two Butterfingers and a few pieces of other candies...

Right.in.front.of.him.

And I was too busy enjoying them to see him whimper...

Yes, I am a jerk.

Now, what else can I go rummage up to eat....I'm in a snacking mood today...

Ever since seeing the BAGS UPON BAGS of fries at the market...

Sigh.

New Ideas!

I'm absolutely thrilled! I've been so stressed lately with the idea of moving. The house we're in is awesome. I love it. But should we be blessed with an expanding family any time soon, it would mean the walls of our house would become a tad snug.

We've been talking with our realtor in the chance that we stay in the area. That's what we're banking on now...staying in the area. We went and looked at that beautiful row house last week.

The thing is...

I don't want to leave this house. I just want more space.

I don't want to move from this exact location. We got in to this house at a great time. Mortgage rates were amazing. One family was looking at buying, their financing fell through, we jumped at it-it just worked out perfectly. I, we, couldn't ask for a better location.

We already have plans of remodeling the kitchen. We've already remodeled the bathroom.

And then I woke up in the middle of the night the other night with an idea....an idea that kept me from falling back asleep for quite some time...an idea that I met my husband with before he was ready to join the waking world...an idea that has.me.so.giddy!

Since we're going to be remodeling the kitchen and giving me lots of new cabinets and counters and appliances...I won't really have a need for the pantry that sits off to the side of the kitchen. It's sort of a cabinety pantry. Currently it houses the toaster, microwave oven, and our dishes. Oh yes, and the gigundus bag of dog food.

My idea is that we rip out that unneeded pantry and put in stairs. Yes! Stairs!! And finish off our walk-up attic. It's a huge attic. Just holding boxes right now...that I'm long overdue in sorting through.

It already has electricity wired, lighting wired, cable, windows, floor boards...I think it even has bathroomy type pipes... my gawd we.could.put.in.a.bathroom.up.there! So basically, it's all cosmetic work that needs to be done (aside from the bathroom fiasco that my Father-In-Law will probably hate me for).

I am thinking Master Suite, bathroom, and then Computer Room/Relaxing Area with built in storage/shelves, and cabinets. Oh yeah! And! A walk in closet in the master suite!

And the best part, is that my husband is so stoked about my idea that that's all he can think about!....which in turn is driving me nuts...but...

I'm.just.so.excited!

I Used To Be A Barista

I went for my normal walk this morning...to the bank, and then to a few other places. I needed to change my mailing address for one of those states-y types of paperwork in which you need a notary to verify who you are before you sign it and mail it in...

Of course my bank's notary was not there today, and the other woman there who has her stamp, is in the process of getting a new stamp because she got married and has to have her new last name on the stamp. I told her if she would have just stayed single she would have made my life easier!

So then I walked to a nearby drive-up bank. I walked into the little lobby, waited five minutes, only to be told I'd have to walk further to the main building to find a notary.

As I kept walking, I passed a Law Office and next door is a UPS store in which I needed to go into anyways.

I thought, "...do I go into this strange looking law office..surely they must have a notary..or do I try the UPS store where I have to go anyways in the liklihood that I'll have to backtrack to the law office or reroute to the main building of the second bank..."

I decided to try out the Law Office. Sure enough the secretary is a notary. But a crotchety, old, secretary. As I laid out my paperwork and driver's license and Mastercard (you know so she could see clearly that I am who I claim to be)...she says, "is your license your current address?"

I've moved several times so of course it's not my current address.

She has to hassle me and ask me why it's not my current address for a good ten minutes.

Finally, I leaned in to her and said, "It's really rather complicated as to why my address isn't current. I walked here, I live close, I live at this very address on this paper, do I need to go home and get you a piece of mail before you'll stamp this???"

And she smiles and says, "No. That's fine. I'll sign and stamp this for you."

Now, I wonder...why would you go about wasting my time hassling me through a good length of questioning if only to end up signing and stamping my paper anyways?

So I go to the UPS store to buy the box I needed next, only to see upon entering a large sign that read, 'NOTARY'. Great. "I could have just come here," I thought to myself.

I told the owner of the UPS store and his sales clerks the headache I just went through next door and they met my story with laughter, "Oh yeah..you should have just come here! He (meaning the owner) would have notarized your paper without any hassle! But that sounds just like her nextdoor!"

And they all exchanged looks and continued with their chuckling.

If only I had been the wiser to start.

After that fiasco, I decided I needed a mocha.

I headed in to the Starbucks and ordered my usual and followed it up with some regular coffee 'house' chit chat. Asked how much their travel thermus held and the barista and myself complained that a thermus that only holds a 'tall' amount of coffee is ridiculous...

I finished up my chat with her and headed over to the barista station where my masterpiece was being created in all of its coffee glory...

The barista behind the machine was extremely happy and cheerful so I said, "Gosh, you must have gotten a good night's sleep last night...you're so energetic!"

"Oh yeah!! I'm in a great mood! I don't have to work today!"

"No work? But you're at work, no?"

"This isn't work! This is just fun!"

And honestly, I had to agree with him, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I used to barista a few years ago...and let me tell you, I had the honor of giving a woman her very first caffeinated drink!"

At this point, the guy was a bit shocked to hear that a woman who had never touched caffeine would step into a coffee house, "Oh wow, I bet she was zooming!"

"To say the least, but not even thirty seconds after she was handed her first mocha, she begged for a second!"

Truly, I am not even exaggerating there.

"And after she finished her second drink in a relatively fast manner, she asked for a third! But, I refused to give her a third...told her to wait a bit and if she really wanted another one later, I'd buy it for her..."

The guy chuckled, and that woman came back later thanking me for denying her a third. She said she had such a caffeine rush she was hurting later on.

So the guy asks, "So...what "house" did you work at?"

Like I'm part of some Starbucks Family. But actually, I didn't work at a 'Starbucks'...

"Oh, I barista'd at The Daily Grind Cyber Cafe. It was a lot of fun, but it's been a few years now since I've worked there...I'm doing different things now like being a Mommy full time and would rather just come here and chit chat and drink."

So a 'few' really meant 'nearly a decade', but what does he care?

"No way!! You barista'd there?!"

This response was nothing I expected.

So I guess, I was a barista....in a really cool place...but I just worked there for the interaction with people and the good times and craziness it brought to my daily life.

And for the yummy coffee know-how I kept after leaving that job...for which my husband thanks me.

Harboring Viruses

Lunch was a lot of fun, even though my husband wanted us to wait until he got home before we left. Hunger and adventure prevailed and we went early.

My daughter was such a sweetheart. The man bussing tables, whom is usually working at this little restaurant whenever we go, was dazzled by her. Mainly because every single time he walked by our table, my daughter would stop what she was doing and offer him whatever it was that she was holding...her fry, her water bottle, her canteloupe, her cute little piggie toy, her red plastic phone...you name it. He was busy trying to clean things up, but you could tell he was just melting with all the attention she was giving him. It's funny how some strangers she just adores, and other strangers she won't even look at and even other strangers make her cry instantly. Makes you wonder what she sees that we don't.

While we were nibbling on the hottest, freshest, biggest heap of fries you'd ever laid eyes on....a couple sat down next to us-a table over. In an easily heard voice, the gentleman says, "Well, I should go wash my hands ~again~! This is the type of place where you just touch alllllll kinds of germs!"

The woman doesn't say anything.

Then the man stands up and starts walking toward the restroom. He pauses a few steps away and returns with, "...and! Don't you touch ~anything~ while I'm gone! Viruses just harbor in things like that, that, that, and that [he's pointing to several things on the table individually]!"

And then he proceeds to walk off.

I just had to look. As soon as the man was out of sight, the woman touched every single item he warned her against. I wanted to laugh out loud. It was so typical. But then, after she got done touching everything, she took out a little handy wipe packet, ripped it open, and then scrubbed each and every one of her fingers.

When the man got back, they both wiped down their table area with another wipe. The man also laid out vitamins on his napkin.

It was odd, I tell you, very odd.

Meanwhile, my daughter was lifting up the plastic table cloth, tugging at the squishy padding underneath and licking the particle board table. While I think that's gross and stopped her right away, I hate to think what the sight of her doing that did to that poor couple...

carne vale

Fat Tuesday...Mardi Gras...

Eat and eat well...for starting tomorrow, I'll have given up something I love and also won't be eating meat on Fridays.

I decided that this year, I'm going to give up something I eat and something I do during Lent.

I'm giving up...french fries. The mere thought of that makes me want to eat them until I'm sick...so today, no doubt, I'll be eating fries. This will really be a challenge for me...McDonald's fries are soo good..but you're not supposed to give up something that is easy to give up...right?

And then I'm giving up MSN Messenger during Lent. So, dear friends, today is my last day for being on IM for awhile. It has been a comfort for me even though I don't have much time to chat...it's like company while I'm busy during the day. It's definately hard for me to give that up. I'll chat with you on March 26th... Otherwise, there's email!

I'm taking the baby out for lunch today, if I can get my toosh in gear and the laundry finished. Then my husband and I are going out to dinner tonight, his choice of places to eat until we're stuffed. And maybe making a stop on the way home so I can pick up some McDonald's fries...

So, Internet, indulge! Earn your beads!! Have fun, eat, and be merry!

Bye Bye Sunshine

Blah!

It's icky outside. I was teased with a sprinkling of beautiful weather, and now...

Now, it's just ick outside.

Cold and rainy.

Our neighbors are moving. They had the moving van here this morning. What was obnoxious though, is that they rented a dumpster to throw out a lot of their stuff while they were packing things up...you know...weed stuff out so that it's not boxed up for the next place..makes sense.

But! This morning, they put their dumpster in our driveway. In.Our.Driveway! Not to the side...but smack dab in the middle. Excuse me, but last time I checked, people had driveways because they had vehicles that they needed to ~drive~ on it either coming to or leaving from the house.

We rolled the dumpster back into their driveway, and I haven't been back outside to look for it's whereabouts now. Probably better that I haven't looked. But pray for my neighbors if I end up going for a walk later and that damned dumpster is back in the middle of my driveway.

Corned Beef Hash and Skipping

I figured I'd do my husband a favor this morning, since he was out late and still very tired when the munchkin and I woke up, by going out for the morning so he could sleep longer without baby interruptions and normal household noises.

We walked up the street for breakfast. I'm not a big eavesdropper, but seeing as how the baby can't talk yet and I'm not into talking to myself out loud, I couldn't help but over hear the conversation of a couple who had just sat down at the table next to me.

"What are you going to order?" the woman asks.

"Hmmm, I think I'm going to order the corned beef with eggs. I really have a taste for that." he replies.

"Oh look. They have the 'Blue Plate Special'. You should order that."

"Yeah, that looks good, but I really want the corned beef hash."

The waitress arrives, "Can I take your order?"

The woman speaks, "Yeah, I'll have the pancakes and he'll have the Blue Plate Special."

[Note: the Blue Plate Special wasn't any healthier...]

Thank goodness the man spoke up, "Uhhh actually, I don't want that. I want the corned beef hash with eggs."

The waitress changes the order and leaves with a little look of sympathy for the man.

The woman then proceeds to ridicule the man for drinking decaf tea.

No wedding bands that I saw. I think the man should run for his life.

I tuned them out and continued on with my own breakfast banter as my little one made eye contact with everyone she could.

I didn't want to head home just yet after breakfast, because I wanted to give the old man at home a good solid two hours of sleep.

So, we went and browsed magazines at Borders. And then what better to go with my new fancy schmancy cookbook magazines, than new bubble bath! Off to Walgreens to see what variety they had. I didn't need something fancy...just something new.

We're browsing the bubble bath isle, when this man walks by and says with a rather in-your-face "Hello! How you doin'?"

"Oh, fine, thank you."

And he keeps on walking. I think nothing of it. Then about 30 seconds later, the same man comes rushing back into my isle from the same direction he left...stops two feet from me and hops three times. He then leaves the isle.

I'm thinking, "Um, okay. Weirdness."

I continue on with my find.perfect.bubble.bath search.

About thirty seconds later, the same man comes back from the same direction...skipping toward me, stopping two feet away, hops three times, and then leaves.

I'm pretty freaked out now, and thankfully Walgreens has mirrors along their back wall at an angle so you can see the entire store. I'm watching those mirrors as my heart picks up pace a bit and seeing if the guy is just standing around the corner or if he's off doing something else. I'm also looking for any employees that might be close.

I'm still looking through bubble baths, but I figure I should head over a couple isles to the nailpolish and lipsticks because there's no reason a man would be in that area. Then I could see if this man perhaps wasn't all there mentally or if he was really being a weirdo toward me.

He seemed to be busy doing something else now, so I ventured back into the bubble bath isle. After picking out some nice new polish of course!

As soon as I get back into the isle, the same man comes skipping back toward me from the other end of the isle. Stops a couple feet from me, hops, and then leaves.

Thinking, "Don't let this freak you out. He's probably just not playing with a full deck."

Then I hear him say something to a young female employee at the end of the isle I was standing in.

Thinking, "Oh good. He's busy with someone else now, so he won't be freaking me out any longer..."

Only she responds to his comment (I couldn't hear what his comment was specifically.) with a smile and a tone of familiarity.

Then he says to her, in the ~most~ normal of voices, "Ok, so when should I be back then? I was thinking around two o'clock. Does that work for you?"

She replies, "yeah, two sounds great! I'll see you then."

And he leaves the store.

So there I stood. Completely dumbfounded. What the hell was all that skipping and hopping about? Mister, if you ~by some blogging miracle~ read this, don't.do.that.to.people.it.freaks.the.hell.out.of.them!

Thank Gawd I'm Not Blonde

While there's no doubt in my mind that blondes probably have more fun. I'd hate being the brunt of so many jokes.

This blonde joke just passed my way and it cracked me up so much I HAD to blog it.

A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little
red sports car, and was pulled over by a woman police
officer who was also a blonde.

The cop asked to see the blonde's driver's license.

She dug through her purse and was getting progressively
more agitated. "What does it look like?" she finally
asked.

The policewoman replied, "It's square and it has your
picture on it."

The driver finally found a square mirror, looked at it and
handed it to the policewoman. "Here it is," she said.

The blonde officer looked at the mirror, then handed it back
saying, "Okay, you can go. I didn't realize you were a cop."

Two Spirals

Naturally, you know I have to comment on how.nice.it.was.outside.today! I didn't even need a coat! My husband washed the SUV. The baby went out without a hat on. I didn't even wear socks!

I've had 'moving or not moving' turmoil stirring inside me lately. To humor me, we went and looked at a very nice historic row house a couple blocks away from where we live now. It's been for sale for awhile now and it was just listed with a new price.

The house is old, but been remodeled. It's got potential for adding on and more remodeling and it's got so much character! Two beautiful wooden spiral stair cases, and a long flight of wooden stairs as well. Three story home with a basement as well that could be finished off. Unless the coding for where its at though allowed additions to be built on, I don't see us jumping at it. I wan't an extra bedroom. Who doesn't these days?

There's the most perfect little nook where I could have my computer with a beatiful window. The master suite is a large loft with bathroom and a roof deck perfect for sunbathing in the hot weather or intimate cocktails with my husband on a late summer's night after those not of adult beverage age have gone to sleep.

But who knows...

Maybe we'll move. Maybe we won't. Maybe we'll move locally. Maybe we'll move to Mars.

We took our realtor out for coffee after he showed us the house, and his wife ~the sweetheart that she is~ had made our daughter a handmade blanket, pillow, and pillowcase.

But tonight, I'm relaxing with the munchkin-alone. I made us a yummy chicken taco dinner with fresh tortilla chips. Sipped a beer with my meal. Watching Chocolat. Sipping A&W Diet Rootbeer. Snacking on Almond Roca. Snuggled up in the new blanket.

And Blogging.

And happy.

More To Come Later...

...but for now I thought I'd share this post that really made me laugh!

~Thanks Scott at 'Creation'

Nine Honks

It's AWESOME outside today! So warm! and the next couple of days it's supposed to be ...brace yourself... SIXTY! And who says wishes never come true?

So needless to say, my walk was amazing. But it ~is~ Friday and people are nuts on Fridays. Within an hour's time, I heard nine people honk their horn angrily, three people screech their car, and four people accelerate and zoom around other cars. One woman honked, yelled, screeched, and zoomed from within a parking lot as another car pulled in from the busy street all because she was trying to pull out and turn around to go back into the very same parking lot and the car pulling in delayed her from doing so for...oh...10 seconds at the most.

I saw an older woman that I haven't seen since the nice days of Fall walking around. She has to use a walker and it usually takes her a good bit of time to get around. We stopped and chatted awhile about the nice weather and how we definately weren't going to complain at all if it stayed this warm till Spring. At the end of our chat, she thanked me. Thank me? Thank me for a friendly conversation? That's silly. It makes me sad sometimes when older people think you're doing them a favor by giving them your time. While some older people are cranky and obnoxious, so many older people are full of great stories. She certainly didn't need to thank me for our chat.

On a really exciting note, my daughter has figured out how to give kisses and hugs!

And tonight...I'm hitting the pub!

My Blog Flashed Before My Eyes

It was really nice outside today. I spent over an hour walking and taking in some fresh air and sunshine.

On my way out, I met up with the wife tenant of mine. We chatted about a variety of things, but what really struck me as funny was when she paused and said,

"uhh...you can't...

...hear us can you?"

And inside I laughed, remembering all the comments I received on a previous post.

I reply, "Hear you?"

"Yeah, you know...

...like hear us...

...talking?"

I'm sure I smirked. I must have.

"Oh! Nah, not at all. On occassion...we'll hear the TV...

...or.your.music."

And she had nothing to say in return.

Subject changed.

I chuckled for quite awhile about that on my walk.

My heart also went out to the husband tenant. They are a very nice couple and quite often the wife tenant makes us cookies and leaves them on our back doorstep. Apparently husband tenant asked wife tenant to stop making the cookies because he was putting on a few extra pounds around the mid section. I really adore the cookies she makes and we all know my food addiction issues, so I had to put the heavy on my husband, "Oh my husband just CANT BELIEVE your husband asked you to stop making those DELICIOUS cookies!"

She smiles and replies happily, "Oh well I'll be making them again soon! After all, the cookies are healthy for you (healthy yes, calorie free no) and even after I stopped making them he was still getting that extra cushy around his waist! And do you know what it was from? Not the cookies! The beer he was drinking. So he's not drinking beer now."

Poor guy. It's a dark day when your wife takes away beer priviledges for the sake of a school girl figure.

We Tried

Copyright Insanity Infusion

So my husband came home from work tonight and asked what I'd like to do for dinner. He said he really didn't care what we did...eat at home..eat out..whatever worked for me, worked for him.

We'd tried this chinese restaurant up the street when we first moved in to the neighborhood a couple years ago. We thought it was awful. About a month ago, in passing, we agreed that we should really give it another try.

So, after we go back and forth several times with, "I really don't care what we do for dinner..." I said...

"Why don't we go get some wonton soup and a couple dishes from the chinese place up the street..."

"Oh you are so creepy-strange! You freak me out! I have been thinking about that chinese place all day long!"

I guess, sometimes, when you've been married to someone for a long time your minds are just in synch.

We bundled up the munchkin and headed out for a walk to the restaurant.

We ordered soup and a couple dishes: mongolian combination (which had a rather strange jungle prince thai twang to it) and a chow mein combo noodly dish (which was better than the first dish but not by a lot).

I actually had to ask for tea. I mean really, have you ever been in a chinese restaurant where you had to ~ask~ for the tea? I sure never have...it was always one of the first things that was brought to the table!

We sat next to a little girl and her father who were obviously on a 'night out without Mommy' and it was apparent that they didn't have many nights like this. The dad ordered a spicy dish, and only switched it to 'mild' when the waitress suggested that it might not be appropriate for his five year old daughter. And then he gave her a plate of meat to eat. He also insisted that she try something three times before deciding if she liked it or not...what ever happened to trying something once? AND what really bothered me, was that he got paged and LEFT.HIS.DAUGHTER.ALONE at the table in the restaurant while he went to the car to call the person back. He left his five year old in the restaurant alone.

But that whole episode was a tangent.

The food wasn't good. It wasn't good the first time. It wasn't good the second time.

As we walked out, I said to my husband, "BLEH! I don't like that place...."

He turned to me and answered, "Well, you haven't tried it THREE times yet...so you can't really say for sure..."

And with that said...he took me for coffee.

Lessons

In fourth grade, I was best friends with Norah O'Donnell. While I'd love to say we were still the bestest of friends, we lost contact long ago. When you grow up in the military, you move and you move often. As a result of this, you say goodbye to a lot of friends.

But when we lived down the street from each other in Korea, we had great times together and she taught me a lot of things that I still hold on to as an adult.

The smartypants that she was, she got to skip fourth grade and go right on to fifth grade, while I stayed in fourth. We managed to be good friends even still though. I would tell her about the boys in my class, who burped how often, and who threw up what on the carpet and how bad it smelled...and she would share with me all the cool and distinguished things that the big fifth graders were doing.

She taught me that it was important to include everyone to the best of your ability, setting differences aside.

In her class, they had a student that used sign language to communicate. So, as a class, they were all learning how to sign. We'd spend hours after school practicing the signing alphabet and other hand signs that might be useful in the classroom setting. I thought it was fun to learn what my friend was learning. We certainly weren't doing anything that fun in ~my~ classroom. But Norah was very excited about being able to be a good friend to this student and wanted to excel at her signing.

One night my parents insisted that I attend a YMCA Up-All-Night kids event on the post. Looking back they probably just wanted a night to themselves, but then, they kept saying how much fun I would have and "oh.my.gosh.you.will.meet.so.many.kids.anditwillbesomuchfun!"
I don't recall much about the night, other than putting to use the lesson that Norah had taught me.

There was a girl, off by herself, that no one was including in anything. This girl was younger than I, but could only communicate through signing. Not wanting anyone to be left out, I decided to put my signing knowledge to work. I had to spell most everything out because I didn't know much signing and at a young age, when you're not the best spellers, it was a challenge indeed. But we became friends for that night. Played games, chatted about likes and dislikes, and I left feeling like I had made a difference and that my new friend had made a difference in my life too.

Norah also taught me that rewarding yourself is important no matter how difficult it might seem at times. One Halloween we went trick or treating. I think we were both dressed up as Valley Girls. Ha! Like Fer Shure! Gag Me With A Pitchfork Already! But, she had broken her leg doing goodness knows what. And she still went trick or treating with me...on crutches. The.whole.night.

I have a hard time remembering to take as good of care of myself as I do of others, but I do try and that's all one can really ask of someone....that they try. Rewarding yourself is important.

Norah and I hopped on a military cargo plane with my parents for a quick trip over to Guam. As we were singing our hearts out to 'Islands In the Stream' with the jukebox in some greasy diner for all the world to hear, I learned that it's important to let loose and have fun no matter how silly you might look.

In the realm of time, life is short. I try to remember this and focus on what's important. Laughing and having fun are important. You can't, and shouldn't, work all the time.

And the last lesson that sticks in my mind, although not the last lesson she taught me I'm sure, is that when it comes to cookies...do all you can to get some. Especially if it involves adventure.

One of our friends knew a lady. It was about as vague as that. This lady lived ~somewhere~ on the Embassy. Our friend ~thought~ she knew where. And said lady would give us cookies if we could just.find.her.house. Because said lady told our friend, "Come by sometimes and I'll give you some cookies!" when her and her family had stopped by to pay a visit, this validated us trying.

With nothing better to do apparently, we decided to sneak on to the Embassy. Now, I'm not sure how we managed this really, because one couldn't just walk on to the Embassy. Let alone four lone kids. But somehow we talked the shuttle driver into sneaking us on to the Embassy from the post. We hid in the back of the shuttle and held our breath ...all in the name of a cookie!

I couldn't begin to tell you how long we roamed the neighborhood streets looking for THE house that homed the lady with the supposed cookie stash that we were going to devour on that summer day. But I will tell you we never found it.

As we were working our way back to the shuttle pick up to sneak back onto post, we passed an adult barbeque. I'm not sure what came over us. Maybe the fact that we were deprived cookies that we so badly wanted? Maybe just that it was hot and after all that walking and searching for cookie goodness, we were looking to cool down?

But we invited ourselves to this adult party. I made our grand entrance by grabbing a big plastic cup of water and tapping the biggest man I could find on the shoulder, "Hey Mister!"

As he turned, I greeted his surprised expression with all the water in my cup. I tossed it all over him. In hindsight, I don't know what on earth I was thinking. And with that, we all went running, grabbed more cups of water, tossed them and ran again for refills. And with that, all the adults did the same. It was Shorties against Talls and I'm not sure who was winning. I recall a couple of the adults emptying out their ice chest...putting all the beer and soft drinks aside. Then our poor, poor friend...not Norah or myself...was scooped up and set inside that icy chest of freezing water!

The escapade was brought to an end when a grumpy, old lady came waddling out of her quarters and turned off the hose we were using, "Do your parents know what you're doing? Stop this right now."

And with that, the party was over. We said goodbye to the adults and glared at the granny, then hopped on the shuttle and headed back home.

Cookies are important. And if you don't end up getting any...wreak havoc and have fun while doing it.

The lessons friends can teach you are so valuable.

I don't doubt that Norah is as much fun now as she was then. Norah if you read this...I hope you're having fun and thank you for those lessons!

Insomnia Is Horrible

I've been having trouble sleeping and last night took the cake!

I woke up at 1:50am and didn't begin to fall back asleep until 5:30am. Sigh.

A Thing For Fountain

My husband brought home Wendy's for lunch today. It was a nice surprise. And knowing that I adore fountain sodas, he gave me the only one left after he slipped and dropped the other one outside in the snow.

I don't know what it is about fountain soda, but I adore it!

Maybe it's the straw? Maybe it's more fizzy? Maybe it's because it seems fresher in the fact that the soda water and flavor are mixed right there at the machine at the time of dispensing?

In the summer, rare is the time you don't see my husband and I sharing a 44oz fountain soda. Okay, usually, we have those year round...who am I kidding...not just in the summer. In the summer, we usually have a few in a day.

We are caffeine addicts, true.

But there is just something about a fountain soda over a can or plastic bottle of soda....Mmm!

So, thank you for giving ME the fountain soda today!

So I'm Back To Daydreaming...

I'm fed up with the snow again. Fed up with the layers and cold weather...again.

I'd like to be living in this cute hut on the ocean...with a simple life to lead and my satellite internet connection.

How nice would it be to watch the sun set every night with a cocktail and quiet, intimate company to keep? Only to wake up to the soft crashing of waves lapping at the support posts to my hut and the clean, warm, air blowing in through my curtains letting the morning sunshine peek into my room.

A breakfast of fresh fruit from local trees, and then a refreshing swim.

Then I could go to work, doing something...maybe local work..a boutique of sorts to run? or maybe design work for companies world wide from my computer? or that little quaint bar I've always wanted to open up and manage?

Oh wait, can't forget to work in a few mochas into my daydream...

A mid-afternoon break out on my deck to work on my tan and sip an iced mocha. Mmmm.

Then to wrap up my day of work and plan a romantic dinner with cocktails beforehand.

Some soft music playing in the background and good conversation until dessert in the hottub on the back deck over the ocean and under the stars.

Followed by a hot shower and soft, clean sheets for a good night's rest.

Yeah, that would work for me.