The Captain is my Co-Pilot

Bridal Adventures... You're Invited!

2012-01-17T17:23:00.005-07:00

I spent days pouring over invitation websites, shocked mostly, that the price per invitation could reach as much as $5! I explored options at craft stores, where you can buy the kit and print your own invitations, but none of those kits really had a design that would match my venue or look. I pondered hiring a graphic designer, but for such an intimate event, I really couldn't justify the cost.

So, armed with an idea I mocked up a few months ago, we embarked on the only do-it-yourself project I plan on braving. This weekend, we made the invitations. I bribed Bridesmaid with breakfast to get her to come over. New Daughter didn't really have a choice but to help.

precision hole punching!

After a couple of trips to Michael's, and one to Joanne's, we completed all the invitations in one day.

Now, if the envelopes I ordered will arrive, we may be able to mail these!

Bridal Adventures... Hair's to You!

2012-01-02T19:59:00.004-07:00

There are a lot of pieces that need to be put together to obtain your perfect wedding day look.

I've got spanx, makeup, jewelry and some cute shoes. By wedding day, I may need a little fake tan. But, I know I will definitely need some help with my hair. Tonight Bridesmaid & I ventured

out to have a hair trial.

Since I'm still mired in the "growing out" process, we did Bridesmaid's hair:

In the end, we were both happy with the results so Kristina will be our wedding day stylist.

Bridal Adventures... Putting your Best Face Forward

2011-11-19T16:23:00.005-07:00

I'm not a Do-it-Yourself type of bride. I'm not going to spend hours making my own bouquet. I'm not going to spend months hand writing tags to go on favors. I'm not going to stress on my wedding day about all the things I have to do. There's a whole army of professionals out there that can do all of these things better, and faster, than I can.

I've decided to hire a professional makeup artist, too. That means I can sit on my ass and drink champagne while she makes me pretty. She does airbrush makeup, which basically means she will spray paint my entire face. I met with her this morning for a "trial run". This way we both know what I want come wedding day, and I'm familiar with how she works.

Hooray for fake eyelashes!

Finished product!

A "Thank You" to Hatch, New Mexico

2011-09-06T19:52:00.004-07:00

Dear Hatch,

Thank you for growing such wonderful chiles. In red or green, hot or mild, your chiles never disappoint. They are wonderful over eggs in the morning. They are excellent in a tortilla for lunch. For dinner at night I just want to stick my whole head in a bowl of this goodness and lick it clean.

If only they were in season for more than a month. :::sob:::

My pot of chicken green chile, gone too soon.

Registered

2011-06-24T16:21:00.006-07:00

We stood in front of glass shelves displaying crystal vases and sterling silver candle holders.

"Do we need any of this?" I had the store issued scanner in my hand.

"This is kind of pretty". He picked up a heavy crystal picture frame with two openings.

I looked over at the price list, which was almost completely hidden from view.

"That costs three hundred dollars".

And we both backed slowly away.

In the towel section an enthusiastic sales associate walked us through the various options, everything from washcloths to bath sheets. He leaned over a display of their highest priced towels and said "You might as well register for these, when else in your lift will you spend $50 on a towel". I immediately pictured all of my friends laughing as they read my registry and saw $50 towels.

We were also encouraged to register for multiple sets of stemware ("the good stuff and the stuff that can be broken at parties"), china, and more pots than we would need in 100 years.

I did manage to wrestle the scanner away from Todd before he could find the barcode for the $200 margarita machine, but somehow he scanned an apron with chickens all over it while I was distracted.

The store we were in carried a large selection of Fiesta Ware, but had almost no other "casual dining" options. We'll need to go to a different store and find some plates we both like, since everyone know that Fiesta is way too heavy to be useful. :-)

Observed on the First Day of Summer

2011-06-23T18:01:00.001-07:00

Ahhhh, feels so good!

Observed in the Parking Lot

2011-06-07T18:13:00.003-07:00

I guess this means my next car will not be a yellow Camaro. The plate is already taken.

Feeling Inspired

2011-05-10T21:32:00.002-07:00

Observed on the 101

2011-05-03T20:34:00.001-07:00

My future car?

Cadillac SRX, plate reads 'LILCHIK'

HA!

Crackin' Up

2011-04-12T17:05:00.003-07:00

The only victim of my move:

Wouldn't you know, it was my ONLY FiestaWare plate.

Observed on Dunlap

2011-03-30T17:42:00.002-07:00

Joey, have you moved to town?

top this!

2011-03-18T21:32:00.003-07:00

After a few evening of being treated to the deliciousness that is a pepper cheese cruncher, I have become obsessed with one of the toppings:

They make everything more delicious!! Salads, bread, tortillas!!

I don't know how I ever lived without them!!

Something Blue

2011-03-15T19:32:00.005-07:00

L O V E!

If only I were not the same height as Todd, I would wear these under my wedding dress.

Rehearsal dinner perhaps?

If you have an extra $995 and can walk in 6.25" heels, you should invest in these.

Musical Interlude

2011-02-27T16:45:00.007-07:00

Tuesday brought the release of the first album I had ever pre-ordered on iTunes.

Unfortunately, I must have pre-ordered it wrong since I didn't get on e-mail on Tuesday telling me was ready to be downloaded. Oh well. I just logged on and bought it. Love it.

Tuesday also brought 311 to town. I had bought tickets to this for Todd, even though I really had no idea what kind of music they play. It was a good show, and I woke up the next morning to this on my counter:

Upon closer inspection I noted this:

So, (Serafina Holt), who wants to come visit that weekend? I'll take you to a Spring Training game, too. :-)

I'm a Bileber!

2011-02-16T18:16:00.006-07:00

Over the weekend we painted our nails with the Justin Beiber nail polish collection.

Then we went to the mall in our Justin Bieber t-shirts.And we saw a pretty entertaining movie. There were a couple of scenes when he didn't have his shirt on & I briefly thought I was watching kiddie porn, but besides that, the kid is kinda cute!

I actually came home & downloaded his album. The shame.

beating Facebook to the punch (sort of)

2011-02-07T16:20:00.005-07:00

I wanted to post this here first, since all 5 of you loyal readers are family members, but you can't slow a good social network down, and you may have heard this news on Facebook already:

WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!

Todd proposed on Sunday. He couldn't wait until Valentine's Day as he had originally planned.

In real life the diamond is not this blue... I have a blue case on my phone I think it's reflecting in this pic.

We have not set a date. Honestly, I don't think we will set a date. I think whenever we're ready, we'll just go to Vegas.

But, we'll have a killer party when we get back. And all of you should buy us a present. :-)

If you're interested: 1.33 carat, hearts & arrows cut.

Inherited

2011-02-05T09:56:00.003-07:00

Look what I found on my doorstep yesterday!

Thanks Mom!

Connected

2011-01-15T11:41:00.005-07:00

What do these three things have in common?

Car keys............ an oh-shit handle ...................... and a beer?

You need all three of these things if you're going to give a 16 year old girl her first driving lesson.

It also helps if you can find a parking lot without a lot of curbs for her to run into.

Christmas Spirits

2010-12-05T19:22:00.007-07:00

The elves came over on Friday night:

Tonight I'm left with this:

Observed at the Booze Barn

2010-12-05T19:15:00.002-07:00

Really, that's the small size?

Let there be light!

2010-11-18T19:55:00.005-07:00

Shedding new light on old favorites......

And saving dad from doing some manual labor...

Observed this weekend

2010-10-03T08:21:00.004-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, not to much has been going on.

But I did run across this the other night. Apparently liquor companies are now making candy:

And a new gym opened down the street:

Does what happens at the Indian casino, stay at the Indian casino?

2010-09-11T16:11:00.004-07:00

I has some really funny captions for each picture, but with Blogger's wonky formatting I can't add them. Oh well! But this was my Friday night.

Useless Room- Update 2!

2010-09-07T18:08:00.005-07:00

Progress has been made! We have paint and some shelves!

Our custom paint color, matched down at Lowe's........................ (I think it came out great!)

I wanted something different from your regular shelves, so this is what I picked......................

I've wanted this lamp from Target for months, but I never had anywhere to put it, until now :-) ........

Observed in my Office

2010-08-22T19:11:00.001-07:00

This is one way to kill any semblance of productivity I had on a Friday afternoon.

Observed at the Booze Barn

2010-08-17T21:31:00.002-07:00

Is it really necessary to have a 2' wide strip of raised concrete dots outside the Booze Barn? I cringe every time I roll a cart full of wine, 12-packs, and other glass-encased alcohol goodness over this monstrosity.

The Uselesss Room- update

2010-08-13T18:54:00.004-07:00

We have a desk. It needs some paint, but it's a desk.

Well, I guess technically it's not a desk...

Observed in my Office

2010-08-04T18:41:00.002-07:00

From my handbag a day calendar..... "Tubular suede evening bag with Rhinestone cap. France, 1930's."

Every time I looked at it I wanted a mocha.

Observed in the Sunday paper

2010-08-02T19:43:00.002-07:00

An example of the dumbing down of our culture:

Ratty plaid shirt & sweat pants as "dressy".

Observed at the library

2010-07-27T18:15:00.003-07:00

It has been about a year since I've visited our local library. In that time they have completed a major renovation. Needles to say, I was surprised to see the renovation required removal of most of the books.

Some pics of our new library:

Observed at Fry's

2010-07-24T11:36:00.003-07:00

Whats the point of buying organic if it's wrapped in plastic?

Observed in the parking lot of the hippie market

2010-07-21T20:01:00.003-07:00

Political statement?

Environmental statement?

I'm not sure....

Observed in my backyard

2010-07-19T19:09:00.003-07:00

I think I spy a penguin!

The Useless Room

2010-07-11T18:14:00.009-07:00

We have a room that is completely useless. It's just off the living room & currently houses some glass display shelves left over from the 80s. I believe it was originally intended to be a dining room, but our dining table won't fit in there if we have all the leaves in it.

I finally convinced Fred to let me paint it & convert it into a library. He insisted on OK'ing a paint color before I did any actual painting. Funny, I just happened to have a sample of the color I wanted....

He's agreed to the paint color, but I have yet to actually do any painting.... It's too hot to open any windows to air the house out... I've instead been spending time on eBay purchasing more useless junk for our useless room.

Friday Night Scavenger Hunt

2010-07-10T00:01:00.006-07:00

I found this in the mailbox today:

Then I managed to locate this:

I opened it to see this:

And this is my gift:

These are the first items I will furnish my new library with!!!

Observed on my desk

2010-07-01T19:16:00.003-07:00

Thanks to my magic of iOS4 I now have a picture wallpaper on my phone. Here is what I looked down & saw today.

Observed in the break room

2010-06-29T20:14:00.001-07:00

Observed on Broadway Rd

2010-06-24T19:04:00.002-07:00

Really, is this the best name they could come up with?

Observed at Fry's

2010-06-16T18:13:00.005-07:00

These cups look so familiar!

Today is flag day.

2010-06-14T18:59:00.004-07:00

I know this because the boy scouts decorated our neighborhood with flags.

I can't believe there's not an app to blog from my phone. I had to fire up the laptop just for this.

Table for Two

2010-04-24T18:15:00.005-07:00

Sometimes staying in is better than going out.

Obviously, the help didn't bother to iron the tablecloth today.

Fred brought me out an ice bucket so I don't even have to go inside for a refill. :-)

Tonight's Menu:

T-Bone

Crab Legs

Baked Potato

Cupcake

We're keeping it simple.

Italian Easter Cookies?

2010-03-23T18:27:00.003-07:00

As my quest to bake my way through all of the lemons on our tree continues, I decided I would like some lemon cookies.
I ran across a recipe like this in a number of places. Most people referred to it as a holiday cookie, some specifically referenced Easter. I have no recollection of ever eating this cookie, but I gave it a shot.
I specifically wanted to try this recipe because it called for minimal sugar. Fred has been eating a lot of lemon meringue pie lately, so I thought something with less sugar would be good for him. I got kind of confused by the directions on how to shape the cookies, so I just formed balls & flattened them a bit.
I ended up with round, kinda flat scones. I'm pretty sure I followed the recipe correctly, but I did not end up with something I would deem a cookie.
Oh well, better luck next time.

Observed on Warner Rd

2010-03-07T08:48:00.004-07:00

Do you think she meant to order HOTTIE?

late bloomers

2010-02-06T17:25:00.004-07:00

I was surprised that the Arizona Republic defines January & February as prime picking season. But, the break room at work has been filling up with lemons, grapefruit, and oranges that people are trying to get rid of, so I guess this must be the season.
I put on the proper protective gear: flip flops, sunglasses, and a T-shirt. Then I made sure I had a frosty beverage handy to prevent dehydration. I remembered when Fred bought this house the previous owner said the oranges on the big orange tree are the best in March. So I started with our smaller orange tree. I picked everything off it. I looked at the lemon tree, but I only picked enough to use in a cake this weekend. I think the lemons will be OK on the tree I until I figure out a way to use all of them.... Doesn't seem like we have as many this year so I hope nothing is wrong with the tree.

Our small tree had enough oranges for one pitcher of orange juice!

This is not how I remember campus dining...

2009-12-05T19:44:00.003-07:00

A sample of this week's lunch offerings from Engrained:

Redbird Farm's cage free chicken breast, provolone & prosciutto on toasted ciabatta roll with hand cut garlic fried. I distinctly tasted olive oil from Queen Creek Olive Oil in the ciabatta.

Leek potage with roasted cippolini onion and half a cheddar pesto panini.I am impressed.

breakfasting

2009-12-03T12:53:00.002-07:00

I feel like I'm eating frosting straight out of the Betty Crocker container. There is no possible way this is good for you.

Borrowed

2009-11-15T16:30:00.004-07:00

Grandma & a 1936 Dodge

a rum ball recipe with no rum?

Joey- you will have to send over the Gallo rum ball recipe, I beleive it calls for 5 gal of Bacardi. :-)

Observed on Rural Rd

2009-10-26T21:04:00.003-07:00

Mom- Is that you?

I blame it on the football.

2009-09-11T12:41:00.002-07:00

The other day I found myself flipping through a rack of sweaters at the mall. I stopped at one that was an arresting shade of red and felt the fabric. Warm, thick, wool. It felt luscious. I picked it up, intending to head towards the dressing room. I made it no more than two steps when I remembered it was still over 100 degress outside. The sweater went right back on the rack.

I did it again last night, surfing NFL.com I picked out a cute new Raiders hoodie I had to have. Before clicking 'buy now' I looked out the window. Yep, still 100 degrees. I closed to NFL.com window.

I do this every year. Every year about this time I get sick of sun dresses & flip flops. But I love sun dresses and flip flops! Why do I yearn to bury them in my closet?

It's all the TV's fault. I see sweeping scenes of midwestern campuses as the announcer talks about the promise of fall in the air. I worry about if a Southern quarterback will be able to make it through an early December game right outside the beltway. I wonder how it is that every year, without fail, the Raiders get scheduled for a late December game in the Northeast.

So even though I was outside this morning cleaning the pool in my bathing suit, once I'm inside it's 80 degrees, and that is fall weather.

Your daily pussy.

2009-09-03T10:52:00.002-07:00

Another quiet day here.

I have never met felines who are more curious about water. Everytime I go in the bathroom at least one of them follows me in. Found this one in the shower the other day, then the sink.

Your daily pussy.

2009-09-02T18:18:00.004-07:00

Things are quiet around here.

Wake up.

Scoop cat litter.

Nap.

Feed cats.

Nap.

Swim.

Eat.

Sleep.

Your daily pussy.

2009-09-01T18:59:00.003-07:00

I have been housesitting since Sunday and this is the first time this cat has come out of hiding.

He's fat.

Permanent Vacation

2009-08-27T15:44:00.005-07:00

Let's face it, if you're unemployed, single, and have no children or pets, you really have no reason to get out of bed in the morning. No one will miss you at the office, no one will want you cleaning the house all day, and there will be no big brown eyes at the foot of the bed begging for a walk.
I could conceivably stay in bed for 2 days at a time. I have already developed a penchant for late night shows & sleeping until whenever I feel like getting up. I have no routine, I'm not exercising, and I have little ambition.
In an effort to act like a productive member of society I have decided I need to get out of the house everyday.
Today me & Cosmopolitan have taken up residence in a club chair at Steve's Espresso. I feel better already since I'm not the one here wearing orange jeans and cat-eye sunglasses nervously bouncing my leg.
The guy to my right I think is homeless. He rode up & parked his bike in front of the window, then ordered a coffee, sat down with a newspaper & fell asleep. Every time my phone beeps with a text message he opens his eyes & glares. Hey man, we're not at the library. Now that I look at him he has gold rings on each hand & an ipod. Is that the face of homelessness in America now?

Drink: Iced triple mocha; Eat: Mini cinnamon roll, made in house, from scratch

I decided to get out of bed today.

2009-08-26T13:31:00.001-07:00

This is what I found outside.

Hello Lover!

2009-08-13T15:22:00.002-07:00

It's the little things in life that make me happy.

The box said pink, but I think it's more of a lilac. What should I name her?

Breaking Up is Hard To Do

2009-07-29T23:56:00.004-07:00

By the time I graduated from college I had moved in with & subsequently broken up with two different boys. The “breaking up” portion of these relationships usually entailed begging friends for help moving & dragging all of my worldly possessions around in the back of a borrowed pick-up truck.

So, I made a promise to myself about nine years ago. (Crap, has it been that long? I’m old!!) I promised myself I would not move in with another man until I was married. I was over moving.

I broke that promise I made to myself, accepting a beautiful platinum & sapphire ring as a substitute for an actual marriage.

Recently, I have discovered that you make promises to yourself for a reason!!

Today I am living in a friend’s guest room. I am moving all of my furniture into storage as I wait out the lease I accepted letting a couple live in my condo.

I think to myself that I knew better than this, the whole time, I knew better.

Markie reminded me this weekend that I needed to switch around my bracelet. I need to have the open end facing out, to indicate my heart is open. Yeah, like I have time to worry about that. It's one of those things things they sell to tourists in the Caribbean. Obviously, Markie's heart is always open, especially late at night.

you know you live with a packrat when.....

2009-07-16T15:30:00.004-07:00

You find this in the back of a cabinet.....
And realize it's 10 years(!) past it's expiration date....

now hiring

2009-07-15T08:38:00.003-07:00

Actual excerpts from help wanted ads:

"If you could include a photo that would be great as I get so many responses and it is easier for me to put a face with their resume."

"we are not interested in a person whose dog eats their homework or gets sick frequently enough that the person misses work. We hold ourselves to a high standard of commitment to our customers and expect the same from the person applying for this position. With the economy as tight as it is, we are not interested in excuses.
Therefore, if you tend to oversleep, have a broken alarm clock, have frequent deaths in the family causing you to attend frequent funerals for persons who were deceased years ago, have a chronic illness that typically acts up at 8am on Fridays, have frequent car accidents, have a day-care solution that fails every week, or you are a pathological liar; you need not apply. Have a nice day. "

"I am looking for someone who lives a fairly unscented (in regards to man made fragrances/chemicals) lifestyle or is interested in developing one."

I'm pretty sure I won't be sending my resume off to any of these ads.

Reorganizing

2009-07-10T18:36:00.003-07:00

At Fred's request my center of operations has been moved down a floor.
We are still trying to figure out where everything goes, so everything has it's own space....
Right now this is my view. No lake, but much more sun.

Observed in the Arizona Republic

2009-07-09T14:33:00.002-07:00

I want a mimosa tree!

Observations at BevMo

2009-06-23T17:33:00.002-07:00

If you are too lazy to make your own simple syrup, I probably don't want to be your friend.
On a side note- gainful employment is bad for both my attitude & my blogging.

Gardening 101

2009-06-06T23:25:00.004-07:00

So I wanted an herb garden. How hard can that be?
Step 1: Gather all ingredients: pots, seeds, soil, wooden pot stand that Fred made in high school, gloves & hat, refreshing beverage, and gnome.Step 2: Put hat on & wonder if trying to grow anything at 100 degrees is a good idea.
Step 3: Wonder why you had to buy 10lbs of potting soil when you really only needed 3 cups. Think Lowe's is out to get you.
Step 4: Curse when you realize you bought the only bag of potting soil that doesn't have the proper equipment to just "slide open".
Step 5: Plant & pray.
I'll keep you posted.

a little bit of West Virginia

2009-06-05T19:56:00.001-07:00

Because like pepperoni rolls, they just don't make tomato salad West of Parkersburg.

breakfast

2009-06-05T08:30:00.002-07:00

Today is National Doughnut Day.
Today is also my last day of unemployment. Back to the grind on Monday.

Dressing the Part

2009-06-04T16:20:00.003-07:00

I had been blaming my lack of physical activity on a lot of things- chiefly among them a job that kept me busy for 8 hours a day.
Since that excuse is now null & void I decided to begin working out. Since the weight room here is under construction I decided to swim some laps. Here is how it's going:
Day 1- Lost right contact lens before completion of lap 1. Bikini bottoms not staying on as I swim. Accidentally moon pool full of moms & kids after swim practice.
Day 2- Bought goggles. Couldn't find the top that matches bikini bottoms that fit. Not mooning anyone, but very much looking like crazy person.
Day 3- Bought one piece suit. Feel like I should be able to swim better than I actually do.
Day 4- Imagine swim team moms are mocking me & thinking their 5 year olds can out-swim me. Really, they can.

lazy days of summer

2009-06-02T13:34:00.002-07:00

It's hot already. Me & the dogs hide in the house most of the day & soak up the A/C. The dogs are getting so lazy they didn't even notice the visitor we had napping out back yesterday afternoon.

Observations at the 99 cent store

2009-05-28T18:35:00.001-07:00

If you use the 99 cent condoms, you will need 99 cent pregnancy test.

PS- Why don't computers have a cent button?

pink slipped

2009-05-26T14:46:00.004-07:00

Image from flickr user : trulysomething :: RedToque Photography(Swamped..wi's

the sweetest thing

2009-05-21T18:46:00.003-07:00

So on Saturday morning Fred went to Lowe's and came back with the best thing ever...A fruit harvester!!!Fred demonstrates.

So on Saturday I picked all the lemons off the tree, and as many of the oranges as I could reach.
I juiced about 100 oranges to make mimosas with on Sunday.... Still have hundreds more to go.

Observed on the Food Channel

2009-05-16T19:59:00.002-07:00

Ummmm, isn't that what all her shows are about?

ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-05-15T22:05:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning:
I go to bed tonight:
10" of hair will be mailed to locks of love tomorrow.

The problem of having a lake-front estate:

2009-05-03T09:06:00.001-07:00

Sometimes ducks get into your pool. Then your dogs bark like mad & run in circles around the pool. At 8am on a Sunday.

PS- Sorry for the poor pic quality of late, I had to send in my digital for service so I've been using my cell phone cam.

Observations at Target

2009-05-01T20:09:00.006-07:00

When did Shag carpeting come back? While looking for a kitchen rug I ran across this piece of heaven.

OHHHHHHH... can't you picture it now? One great furry gray & silver rug to break up the monotony of our white carpet & black furniture? I did not put it in my cart since it would probably exceed the amount of color allowed in this house. BOO.

But awaiting me around the corner was this beautiful rug.
(Yes, I was now in the children's furnishings section?)
OHHHHHHH.... maybe I could get away with it in the bathroom? It does come in smaller sizes that would be bathroom appropraite.... Alas, I left it on the shelf as well. BOO.

One last observation: If you feed your dogs bacon every Sunday, they will not eat bacon flavored dog treats. Don't waste your $2.39.

Observations at Bashas

2009-04-28T19:04:00.001-07:00

What could you possibly need this for?
Why not just use real butter?

Baking Blind

2009-04-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

My lemon tree seems so much happier after I pick fruit off of it. It stands up much straighter.

So yesterday I picked a bunch of lemons. I took some to Lynn to make into Lemoncello, and then I went into the kitchen with a few.

waiting for stiff peaks to form

I think my meringue could have been poofier, but overall I am satisfied with my first attempt at lemon meringue. Next time I will not cook the crust as long. The boys in the office ate it all, tho.

Observations at Fry's

2009-04-05T09:58:00.001-07:00

Don't run into the big pole in the middle of the wine aisle.

Observations at CVS

2009-04-01T17:27:00.004-07:00

Among the birthday cards, cards for your wife, your dad, and your grandmother, there is a small section labeled 'TROUBLED RELATIONSHIP'. I'm guessing if you should be shopping in that section you don't care that it's your partner's birthday.
In the pool toy section there is an inflatable tube with a 6-pack cooler built in. The picture on the box shows a smiling 6-year old with some bottles of water sticking out of the cooler area. I'm guessing that's really not their target market.

Back to the Grind

2009-03-24T17:49:00.004-07:00

I was back in the office at exactly 7:00 Monday morning.

I wish I could have been drinking cerveza on the beach.

Or, watching March Madness from this sports bar.

Tonight after work the dogs were happy to go on a stroll around the neighborhood. As we past one house I could hear the tinkling of a water fountain from the courtyard beyond their gate. I glanced over & saw a small sign on their gate 'BEWARE KILLER FROGS'. I wonder if you can call Frogbusters for that?

Vacation

2009-03-12T17:03:00.004-07:00

Tomorrow we head off. 2 nights on Isla Mujeres & then 7 days at the Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort. That should be just a little relaxing. I have been packed since Tuesday. Fred looked at me and said, "You can't wait to get out of here", and it's true. And he has begun to mope... what will he do without me for 10 days? Most likely the same thing he was doing for the 45 years before I moved in....
Sorry I'm a bad blogger & haven't posted in nearly a month. But I promise you Facebook is not killing the blog. :-)
I plan on running my office March Madness pool via the internet while I'm gone. Can't wait for beach, booze, and basketball at 9am.

Image from Flickr user Domini Nair.

boxed in

2009-02-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

There is a wonderful mailman here. He walks in shorts year round and wears a hat with the neighborhood's logo on it. (Yes, this neighborhood deemed itself cool enough for it's own apparel.) He has a pocketful of dog treats & a new corny joke everyday. However, when he goes on vacation the substitute carrier does not have dog treats, jokes, or even a faintly pleasant demeanor. She will not deliver mail here because of the dogs. We will not get mail for a week or so at a time, then when the regular guy comes back from vacation we receive all that mail rubber-banded together. And the dogs will receive a week's worth of treats.
And what if one day I need to run form the authorities? I don't want them to know where I live.
So, I got a PO Box today. This may be fun, going to the post office once a week to see what treasures lay in my new bronze box. The dark paneling & the smell of musty paper there remind me of a library. And you always have fun at a library, right?

The Hallmark Holiday

2009-02-14T18:41:00.004-07:00

I drove by Fry's on Friday & laughed at the "Valentine Express" they were setting up their parking lot. It was a refrigerated semi decorated with red balloons & a big tent. They were hawking flowers, chocolate, cookies, cards, and anything else they could paint red & decorate with a heart. Nothing says romance more than 1 dozen roses fresh out of the back of a semi.
It became less funny when I trudged into Fry's this evening to purchase my own flowers. At least I had the dignity to enter the store to make my selection.
That folks, is irony.

spoiled rotten

2009-01-27T17:05:00.003-07:00

more victims of bad storage. :-(

Weekend Update

2009-01-25T09:15:00.004-07:00

So yesterday we rented a U-haul to move all my furniture. I was hoping for one load, but it ended up being two. All went fairly smoothly, and we had all the stuff in the garage at the new digs in a couple of hours.
Me & Fred have two opposing viewpoints on how things should be done. I thought we should unload truck & deposit furniture items in the room where they will be going, cleaning & arranging to be done at a later time. Fred wanted everything unloaded & left in the garage, to be cleaned & brought in the house at a later time. Doesn't that just drag out the moving process? Whatever. It's his garage. That's what we did.
Fred also has an un-natural aversion to throwing anything out. Why, why on god's green Earth do we need a 10- year old leaking refrigerator? We do not have anywhere to put it. It will not fit in the garage, it will not fit in the house. Someone saw I was moving & came buy & offered to buy the fridge! But he insisted on loading it in the truck & moving it here. Right now he's in the garage with a sledgehammer removing shelves so he can fit the fridge in..... We're also not throwing out 100 plastic Raider cups, steak knives from K-Mart, a green shower curtain from 1980, a 52" big screen that weighs 100lbs, 2 glass shelving units that are good for absolutely nothing, an encyclopedia set from 1972 or a VCR. As a compromise he is letting me throw out the toaster that catches every other piece of toast on fire.
Last night we did manage to slowly move some things into the house. The basement bedroom (formerly the 'junk room') is now an actual guest room! What you can't see in this picture is the hallway behind me is filled with spare Dodge parts.... Maybe we will move those to the garage, and store them in that nice refrigerator.

Baking

2009-01-21T19:52:00.003-07:00

Blueberries are on sale this week for $1 a package + my new lemon tree = Lemon Blueberry Cake

still moving.....

2009-01-16T23:06:00.009-07:00

I've been working & going to the gym all week, (Cancun vacay coming fast), so the whole 'moving' thing has been relegated to weekends. Well, it's been relegated to Saturdays since we watch football on Sundays.
Tomorrow will be another day filled with feelings of hopelessness & dis-organization as I try to cram more of my worldly possessions, and all that other shit I have, into the back of the car.
Being able to rent the condo out seems a distant fantasy because every time I go over there the 'to do' list grows. Carpet, cabinets, door knobs.... at least Handyman Ed fixed my leaky kitchen faucet so I'm not having to pay that ridiculous water bill anymore....
At the new digs we haven't quite determined where everything will go.
Tonight's view of the master bedroom 'sitting area':
Someday that will be a beautiful spot to relax with a book on a nice chaise lounge, instead of laying on the floor surrounded by dirty t-shirts..... Just don't expect that anytime in the next 6 months.

found

2009-01-14T21:03:00.003-07:00

When you move you find all kinds of things you forgot you had. I found bottles of wine languishing in the back corner of my bar. Some I had put away for a special occasion, others, well, I'm not really sure where they came from. Unfortunately for me, storing wine upright in a condo with the A/C set on 80 is not optimal storage conditions. I threw 2 bottles out tonight before I just decided to drink this Chardonnay that tastes like rat piss. Besides, Fred might be alarmed if he comes home to more than 2 empty bottles.

And since when is Riunite 'magic'?

Bounty!

2009-01-13T17:22:00.007-07:00

One of our orange trees now has fruit that is super sweet & really good. The lemons are still bitter, but use able. Going to cut into the neighbor's grapefruit in the morning to see if more theft is in order......

ed note: the grapefruit isn't ready yet. Had a very sour breakfast this morning....

Good Morning

2009-01-10T10:58:00.003-07:00

Right now I am drinking coffee in my new office/ den/ ?
This is my view:

Guess I can't get a very good pic through the screen. I guess I am part owner of the boat in the lower left corner. Bring some paddles & we can take it out.
Off to do more moving.

My brother is so getting these for his birthday!

2009-01-07T21:34:00.001-07:00

From Celebrity Dolls.

Pirates Fish & Chips

2009-01-03T09:51:00.004-07:00

So there is this new fish & chip place down the street that me & Fred decided to try last night. We were very dismayed to unwrap our take-out at home & find they are serving the exotic Squarefish. It is not one of our favorites. But Fred does at least believe it was mostly fish.

It's 12:30... do you know where your puppies are?

2008-12-16T12:41:00.004-07:00

How stinkin cute is this?
Free live streaming by Ustream

I have a feeling that Buddy is at home right now sprawled out on the leather couch, with a roaring fire. Possible he's eating a steak & smoking a cigar. Lily is most likely laying near the front gate (on cold, wet concrete) waiting for daddy to come home. Buddy is obviously the smart one.

In the Kitchen with Chicken

2008-12-15T19:09:00.006-07:00

So I was checking out this new Asian market down the street. In their meat case I come across some sausage labeled Longanisa. Since we all know how much the man loves Lunguica, I figured this should be similar, so I bought some.
Back from the store a quick google search tells me I've just bought a sweet Filipino breakfast sausage. Damn. I was thinking (hoping?) it would be spicy. And appropriate for dinner.
More googling tells me I should serve this with fried rice & eggs.
Fred, from the other room, "I've never had rice with eggs."
I frown, and improvise.

What we learned: This stuff makes a hell of a mess. I cooked it as I would Italian sausage & I was left with a black sticky mess in the bottom of the pan after browning. So black & sticky I thought I would need to buy a new pan. We think there must be honey in these? They are SUPER sweet. Since we're not really the "maple syrup" sausage type people, we will pass on these in the future.

Politically Incorrect

2008-12-09T07:48:00.006-07:00

One of the IT guys just logged on to my computer to do some upgrades for me.... This is what he saw:

I am a mess.

Giving the Gift of Good Times

2008-12-06T17:01:00.003-07:00

I love it when they come pre-boxed.

This makes me laugh!

2008-12-01T17:12:00.001-07:00

In the Kitchen with Chicken

2008-11-24T09:02:00.004-07:00

So I saw Paula Deen make a recipe the other day that did not involve 4 lbs of butter. It was a Pumpkin Apple Butter Pie. I had to try it.

The pie was good, but we decided for Turkey Day we will stick with the traditional pumpkin pie.

What I'm Drinking

2008-11-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

1. Pumpkin Porter, 2. Sunset Amber, 3. Wild Blue, 4. Pumpkin Spice Latte

Under the Weather

2008-11-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday feeling like my cold was coming back..... I decided I was obviously vitamin deficient, so I headed to the store to make up for that. So many choices.....

Or maybe I just have Valley Fever. Wonder how many Flintstones that will take to cure?

I have a Stalker....

2008-11-04T12:13:00.001-07:00

Dear Arizona Democratic Party,
Please stop calling. Please don't send anymore gray- haired campaign volunteers to my home. Please don't have Bill Clinton, Gen. Wesley Clark or Gov Napolitano call me anymore.
I know today is election day.
I know where my polling place is.
I know to complete both sides of my ballot.
I know to sign the outside of my absentee ballot.

Yours Truly,

I don't vote down party lines

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

Today's high: 92.
Won't your candy melt before you get home? For this reason I will not be trick or treating this year.