Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Now I know where I get it...

Wedding post to come...promise!



But first, I thought I should give all y'all a glimpse into my life. I've had a few moments, of...uh...let's just say "less smart" moments in my life. I remember a mere 10 or so years ago, being SO bothered by ditsy people. People who just didn't think things through. Oh, the irony. I am the queen, leader, 1st place winner of the that entire collection of people. All hail Queen Ditsy. Yep, that me. I tell you you this to bring awareness to this growing problem in America, and I'll start with some examples.



First: a few months ago, my less-than-amused Bug Man husband was none too pleased with me about having to fork over $500 for a new garage door. You see, I learned EARLY one morning that backing out of the garage BEFORE opening it is in fact a bad idea. Oops.



Next: A perk of my father-in-law working for Delta Airlines for 30someodd years is that his children get flight benefits for life, and their spouses... endless buddy passes. It's great, really it is, ok, who am I kidding. The idea of it is great, unfortunately, if you don't have a lot of flexibility in travel times, it can be a bit of a pain. The super-good perk of it, though, is that if you do get on a flight and it's relatively empty, you can be put in first class. Aw, the life of a first class passenger. I left one day for SLC, hoping to not only get on a flight, but to sit in a first class seat, so I could later brag about it. Sitting there...waiting...they call my name! YES! I'm on! SCORE! OK, I called Tony to let him know I got on, and he asked if I was in first class. I dunno, how do you tell? He asked "What's your seat number?" My reply? Uh... One, Oh, E. Tony: babe, you mean TEN E? Yep, I'm a genius.



I've been trying to come up with a valid excuse for my behavior, and there just isn't one. UNTIL today... my mother called me at work, while she and my dad were driving to Oregon, and I learned that such behavior is genetic.



You see, my dad's car needed to be serviced before the trip and so my mom took it in. Called him and asked "lube, oil and filter, right?" Dad says yes, they hang up. She calls back a few minutes later "synthetic oil?" Dad says whatever the manufacturer recommends. Got it. Third phone call "You'll never believe what I did!" At this point, I'm not gonna lie, I'm thinking she put windex in the oil or something like that, but no, she confesses "I got the wrong car serviced." That's right, she took HER own car in, instead of my dads. I feel so much better. Thanks mom.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The beginning of the end and a PSA

Labor Day to me is a monumental holiday as it marks the beginning of the end of hideous, horrible, hot, hated heat. Don't get me wrong, it's still quite warm, even over 100 degrees, but...the end is near! It was actually nice enough to step outside of our air-conditioned caves and get some fresh air. We BBQ'd at the park with friends. It was lovely. Good ol' BBQ food, and some Phillipino fair too. Hmmm, here we have some Lumpia. They're like tiny little egg-rolls. Wonder Baby ate about 43 of them. And he stood here and patiently waited for a 44th.Pamela skipped the food and went straight for the s'more cookie (more on that later.)Here's Marc, he's the grill master. Bug-Man .Here's Marvin, he's Dianne's husband. Dianne is my friend and co-worker. If you ever have a chance to work with her...take it. She's a laugh a minute. There's a filter that most people are born with, some people's work better than others, but let's be honest, Dianne didn't stand in the "filter" line in heaven. She was too busy standing in the "pretty" line. She's pretty. Filtered, no. You just NEVER know what Dianne's going to say next. That's what we love about her. Well, that and she'd give you the shirt off her back, or do anything for you. Here she is, loving Wonder Baby to pieces. Dianne and I have grown to place with each other of not just finishing each others sentances, but KNOWING exactly what the other is trying to say, when we just can't quite articulate.
She just always know's what I'm trying to say. Here's Marley. He was the smallest little guy there. And Scout, taking a little break at the watering hole. Between Ramsey, the sheep dog, and Scout the moose, poor Marley was soaked by the end of the day. That's the problem with being the shortest dog in class.Wonder Baby has a little fetish with dog dishes. He loves to splash in the water, or help Scout by placing her food in her water dish. Helpful...right?Wonder Baby was trying to have fun with Marley, but Marley was happy in the security of Pamela's lap. Auntie Dianne and Auntie P were keeping Anthony quite entertained. He was laughing so hard at these two.This little guy, Kyle, was so cute with Anthony, he played and played with him. He was showing Anthony how to blow the "fur" off the dandilions, and how to ride his scooter. Here are some of the boys, doing boy stuff.
And Wonder Baby trying to keep up.Ok, so on a more serious note... Here's Kylie, and below her sister Abigail. These two little, emphasis on little, girls were hit by a car a few weeks ago. Yes, you heard (read?) correctly, HIT by a car, the car, no, the SUV ran OVER Kylies legs (who weighs 60 lbs, at 10 years old) and then HIT Abigail, who is a mere 38 lbs before coming to a stop. By only an amazing miracle are these two ok, apart from deep bruising, a fractured collar bone, and lots of scrapes and bruises. I know they were being watched out for. They are in great spirits, considering what they've been through. SO... here's your PSA for the day: (in a calm, loving tone of voice) please I beg you, put all your focus back on the road. So many times I am distracted by phone, radio, billboards, baby, you name it... and this was a huge, big fat, giant, reminder to refocus myself whist driving.

Thank You... the end.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Rocky Mountain High

Harry: I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this. Lloyd: I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of it, man.
Sorry, that's what I think about everytime I drive up to the mountains. I know we're not actually in The Rocky Mountains, but who can resist an opportunity to bring Dumb and Dumber into a blog post?
A couple of weeks ago, my fantastic husband took a Saturday off, GASP. That happens ever-so-rarely so we took full advantage. Summers are hot around here, no secret there. End of August is usually about 100 degrees-ish. This particular Saturday there was excessive heat warnings all over the place, so we decided to ESCAPE that nonsense. While 110 in town, lovely Mt. Charleston is a DELIGHTFUL 75 degrees. Yes, a 35 degree difference. I was surprised there weren't a million people up there. We'll just call it our little secret.
We drove up to the ski resort (coming from Salt Lake City, Utah, which boasts the greatest snow on earth, I can't help but laugh at calling it a ski resort) and parked and had us some lunch. He's hot. Like a fine wine, gets better with age. Just kidding babe, I know you don't age. Note to self, don't ever let anyone take a photo of you a. eating b. from below you. I'm just sayin'. Just some good ol' Subway sandies. We've vowed to be a little more preparred for our next mountain adventure, which will include a home-made picnic. Someone was very thirsty. Don't worry Wonder Baby, we'll wait for you to finish that Coke.Done? Ok, moving on. This was right where we parked. We knew nothing of the trails, length, difficulty, etc, so we got out the jogging stroller and took off up this trail. It was funny. ROCKY, and funny to watch Wonder Baby's cheeks jiggle. He laughed a couple of times at the jiggling, then he wasn't so sure what to think about it. We didn't make it too far, before we ditched the hiking, for something a little more stroller friendly.Look at that view. Trees? In Vegas? Who knew?Scout loved it. Behind Tony is one of the trails and half pipe for the ski resort. Any of you Utah skiiers/snowboarders planning a trip to Vegas now, just for the stellar boarding? No? Come on...LOOK at that half pipe. Ok, we'll come there. Twisted our arms.Please note the little kid RUNNING towards us. I though his parents were maybe up ahead of us and he was trying to catch up with them. We were stopped lazily on the trail and as soon as he approached I turned around and said "you can pass us." He looked at me and said, "do you know if there are bathrooms up here?" ME: "Uh, probably not. Try the campground or ski area?" Kid: "Ok, thanks." Then he ran in the other direction. Was he trying to reach us just to ask us that? What the heck? So, after our "hike" we drove back down to Lower Lee Meadows. Seriously, that's all it is. A meadow.See?So, we took shelter under this shade tree, and I proceeded to teach my child how to dig in the dirt with a stick.Good mom, aren't I? Well, he tired of that pretty quickly, so we spent the rest of the afternoon following Wonder Baby while he wandered the meadow. He climbed, put tree bark, pineneedles, rocks, sticks, probably ants, any other mountain meadow findings in his mouth. Was fun! Like I said, next time... WAY better prep. He loved climbing on all the fallen trees and logs.Scout love to sniff, sniff, sniff. Like any good dog would.Then, when the log got boring, we opted to climb what other than...his stroller. Who needs nature when you have your stroller?See? We do exist in the same photo... not very often.The End.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Wedding Teasers...

I'm a sucker for a wedding. When I got married, I spent all my spare time working in a bridal salon because I had to surround my self with all things wedding. Funny enough, those bridal store peeps became my Las Vegas family. So, of course when Katie called to tell me she was engaged, what did I do? I politely told her congratulations and then dropped the polite-ness and started ordering her around. "You WILL fly to Vegas to look for a gown." "You WILL have your shower at my parents house." "You WILL let me boss you around and do everything I say." "You WILL let me do your invitations." You get the picture right? Are any of you considering not being my friend anymore? I swear I did all of this "ordering" with a smile. and maybe a whip.The funny thing... she willing submitted. She should know by now, my bark is bigger than my bite. She let me come to her fitting, and I got some great pictures, but for fear that Levi, Katie's fiance, is a dedicated blog reader (man, I crack myself up...) I can only post teasers. He cant see her in her full beautiful bridal-ness now... 2 weeks before the big day. So, I can only leave you these teasers. Sorry. Wait, just wait until I get to do full posting of all the full bridal-ness in all her bridal glory. She looks SO beautiful. And the wedding... it's gonna be so nice. I can't wait. I'm a sucker for a wedding. See, it even makes me repeat myself. She even asked me to be her "Matron of Honor." That's the nicest gesture, and that's the type of position where I can carry a whip and order people around, right? I'm gonna get my hair done, and a nice mani/pedi, put my pretty dress on, then start ordering people around. Bwa ha ha.
So, with only two weeks away, please don't leave me because of all my wedding rambling. I have a lot more, A. LOT. But it's going to be SO worth it. So... come back real soon, k?