Thunder and Lily

Lily knows when a thunder clap is going to hit. We figured this out last night after she charged across the living room, dove under my chair and hid behind my feet. And then KABOOM!
We were rather impressed.

We couldn't figure out why she was having such a frantic scramble to get herself as hidden as possible. But then the thunder hit and it made perfect sense. We just didn't' realize she could hear it coming.

Here are a few pictures, I am not thrilled with the moon pictures but it was such a beutiful cloudy moon that I tried to at least capture the feel of it. And a few of my cuties.

The things you hear and see at the mall

Last night I took a training group to Mall of America. We use the mall for a "real world" look at stone and tile floors, how to identify what is on the floor and how you would maintain and or repair each floor type.

After dinner I wandered around the mall for a while.

First stop, and no surprise, DSW

The following conversation was taking place between 4 teenagers.

Girl 1: Like these shoes are totally cool
Girl 2: I would SO borrow those
Girl 3: Yeah, like you're talking about borrowing shoes and you haven't even bought them yet.
Girl 1: I don't even know what I am doing with these shoes. (she has 3 pairs in her arms)
They are like, so not my size, I don't even know what I was thinking.
Girl 2: Yeah, like what size do you wear
Girl 1: I don't know, like 7 or 71/2
Girl 2: So, like, why are you buying 8's?
Girl 1: I don't know, like, I don't even need them.
Girl 3: Ok, like these shoes are so ugly, they should be like 9 dollars
Girl 2: Or like 7 dollars they are so ugly
Girl 1: So, like, why do you have to be a size 8? I mean, it would be so much easier if you wore a 7.

You might be wondering where girl 4 is in this conversation, she was sitting on the floor digging toe jam out.

And then I banged my head against the nearest wall.

Then wandering back toward where I parked I walked past a store that sells wind-up toys and magnets. Three boys are standing there playing with some sort of fart toy

**Fart sound**
Insert stupid boy laughter
**Fart sound**
Insert more stupid boy laughter

I shook my head and walked on. Unfortunately on my way back I passed the same store with the same three boys still standing there:

**Fart sound**
Insert stupid boy laughter
**Fart sound**
Insert more stupid boy laughter

So then I left and called Girl J and told her I missed her. And that she really needed to be there with me tonight.

WWC

This weeks weekend word challenge is Urban and Country

Urban

Country

I've got a pickle for you to eat - it's big, long, and juicy

In other words, we went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival this weekend.

And we had a blast.

We went puppy free for the first time in ages. It was a little odd not having the dogs but on the other hand we got to see more and worry less. And it was SO crowded. We have never seen the festival as crowded as it was this weekend. Holy Cow.

But here are a few pictures from the festival. Nothing too exciting. I missed the chance to take a picture of the Un-Captain Sparrow. The guy did a fantastic job of capturing every last detail of Captain Sparrow. Only he was, how do I put this nicely, he was the Un-Depp in looks. Where as Depp takes the Sparrow character off the charts for sex appeal, this guy sort of, well, hit rock bottom. And then some. But, bless his not so sexy heart, he really did an exceptional job on the costume.

Scorks/Sporks what's the difference?

Fire Eater aka Johnny Phoenix

The lovely assistants - yes, he bound himself in the hardest things to escape from known to man: Bra, Straight Jacket, and chains - since he a bra on he figured his assistants needed them as well. These were willing volunteers pulled from the audience

Old Tortoise Traveler

Setting the example

I overheard a fascinating conversation today on the bus.

3 high school boys were talking about smoking. Cigarettes and other things. They talked about pot and where and what versions of it is legal.

One of the boys asked his friends if he still looked like he was on something.

They told him, yes, a little.

But that wasn't the interesting part.

The interesting portion of the conversation was about their parents smoking. And how they justify it because its legal and an "adult thing". And that the kids shouldn't smoke because it's bad for their health.

The kids were talking about how it's not justified just because they were adults. That they were killing themselves at the same rate as the kids were. And that legal or not, it was not good for either of them.

I found their discussion about their parents habits fascinating.

What we do as adults really does matter. And the example we set for the next generation is very important.

So, in a day and age when image is everything. When entire motivational drives are based on keeping up appearances. Where money is everything. And accountability is nothing. Where adults refuse to take responsibility for their actions, or their kids actions for that matter. Where the world revolves completely and selfishly around them. And so many people are strictly looking out for themselves. It's a little scary to think that this is the example we set for the future generations.

What are we setting these kids up for?

I know what I am saying is no great revelation. But I guess I've never heard it out of the mouth of babes.

"Mom, Dad, you're setting a shitty example for me."

I'm not saying that kids shouldn't be held accountable for their actions and choices. I'm not saying that they could choose all on their own to smoke or not to smoke. I am not in any way saying that they shouldn't have some level of responsibility.

I guess, honestly what this entire post is about, is that what we do matters. And what we do does set an example and have an effect on the younger generations.

And I wish we took that responsibility a little more seriously as a society.

Just stuff

Girl J and I try to walk every day. It's always fun and we manage to entertain ourselves quite well. The perfect example being yesterdays Dino Walk. And I love Girl J for being as goofy as she is.


Last night I had to go to Target to get a couple of cards and some bread. I wanted to find a sympathy card to send my aunt. Some of the cards made me tear up, while other's sort of cracked me up. Had anyone been paying attention to me in the card section they would have thought me quite manic.


It was the cinnamon scented care and concern card that really got me laughing.


Or maybe it was the series of cards that were over the top emotional. The "You are a beautiful woman, physically attractive, but also you are full of inner beauty and light. And I love both the outside and the inside beauty..............." As we said in the 80's: "Gag me with a spoon"


Then I wandered over to their holiday section. Some evil person had turned on a very annoying halloween item and it played the theme from The Adams Family OVER and OVER and OVER again. And we couldn't figure out what got turned on to shut it off. There were three of us trying to find the source and turn it off.

And then I almost fell over when I walked down one isle of the holiday section. To my left, trick or treat bags. To my right, christmas stockings. I can only say WTF????

It is now 12:50 and I have yet to finish drinking the coffee I got this morning. Where did my day go?

This morning I went down to the skyway to make a phone call. I tried to find a quiet corner in which to do so. And as I rounded the corner I went from standing upright to flat on my butt.
I have no idea what happened in between. But my knee really hurt. So with a great deal of grace and dignity I stayed on the floor and made my phone call. Because, I meant to do it that way.

Tomorrow is Friday. Thank Jeebus!

Dino City

In honor of the Science Museum of Minnesota turning 100 years old

Dino's on Parade

WWC

Change

Color

because she colors my life with love and happiness

Newt on the Loose Day 8

I decided that Sunday was pajama day.


Coffee, everything bagel and puppies make for a perfect morning.


Finish reading a book


Hmmm, what to do first?


Pull apart the rest of the fridge


Clean and scrub.


We went from having NO room in the fridge to having: milk, oj, lemon juice, syrup, 1 jar of jam (instead of 9 moldy ones) cheese, ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, teriyaki, 4 dressings, chicken stock, beef stock, butter, and nail polish. That's it. And a whole lot of empty shelf space.

FABULOUS!


Then it was upstairs to clean up the bedroom.


1 hour to pick up, arrange, and put away shoes


5 minutes to pick up clothes, hang them up, or put them in the laundry basket


5 minutes to sweep floor


5 minutes to wash floor


5 minutes to change bedding


Bedroom spacious, clean, fresh smelling and shoeless.


Scrub down bathroom upstairs.


Housework finished. No more for the day. I'm done. Gonna relax.


Play around on computer. I had burned a bunch of digital photos on to a disk since the files were all on my work computer. So I slowly sorted, labeled and filed lots and lots of digital pictures onto the home computer.


Took shower - got myself all soft skinned and good smelling.


Choose cute but sexy outfit.


Run over to a different Herbergers to see if they have the dress I just bought. Wanted to try one size smaller since the one I got fit with a little room to spare. No such luck. BUT they offered 20% off coupon for each item you brought in for Goodwill. The coupon was good on fragrances. Which NEVER happens with department stores. Coupons are never good for fragrances or make-up. My scent had a free gift offer going AND they had a special packaged box with a cologne, lotion, and body wash for just $3.00 more than the cologne normally costs. The free gift included another lotion and body wash. HOT DAMN!


They didn't have my dress there but they did have a really cute ruffly black sweater that was on sale plus my additional 20 off.


Then, as I was paying for my cologne the phone rang. The hubster had arrived.


Yippee!!!!!!


Off to the airport.


Pick up hubster in cute and sexy outfit, smelling freak'n incredible.

Get home and we make dinner. Steak, corn on the cob (Which I got at the farmers market the day before - it was freak'n incredible) pasta salad.

Yes, believe it or not, dinner was the first thing we did. We chatted about his trip and watched Rear Window. The puppies and kitties really missed their daddy so the cuddle fest was very important to them.

Soon after though, the cute and sexy outfit paid off.

Oh yeah, the hubster is back.

***she says as she smokes another cigarette

(j/k I don't smoke but if I did............)

I will close with cute pictures: The first is Caleb and Socs this morning. The second is Lily doing her squirmy worm with me. She loves to jam her head between the couch and my back and squirmy worm around.

Newt on the Loose Day 7

Sometimes we have an absolutely perfect day.

A day in which from start to finish it just feels good

The heart smiles

And the head doesn't think too much

Girl J and I had one of those days

A perfect day with a perfectly wonderful friend

First stop: Minneapolis Farmers Market

Which by the way, at this time of year is full of vendor man candy

We lost our train of thought more than once trying to decide what to buy

Corn, strawberries, grapes, zucchini, tiny bananas, kiwi, and more

And I bought a rock

Well, it is a rock that had little feet and a beak added to it so it looks like a bird

It's beautiful and unique

Then we went to Rosedale Mall

Macy's shoe sale

Got the red shoes that we fought over Thursday

So now we both have a pair of super fun shoes

And Girl J found a pair of Born sandals for 20 bucks.

That felt like little pillows for your feet

And I got a pair of sassy red plaid peek-a-boo heels by Tribeca

We got them partly because my name is in the brand

Then Victorias Secret

Girl J wanted another pair of capri's - most comfortable pants EVER

Then on to lunch

Big Bowl - very yummy

Herbergers

HUGE sale - additional 80% off all clearance - no shit 80%

We found Lil A the CUTEST prom dress. And snapped it up

She doesn't have a dance to go to any time soon but when she does. She'll look like an angel.

And we found her the cutest little denim skirt with pink flowers on the pockets.

And while wandering around I found a knee length formal

And tried it on for shits and giggles

And cried

And walked out of the store with it

Because we know that when I need to find a formal, I won't. And I sure as heck won't find one on sale, that looks fantastic on me, and is elegantly beautiful

I'm sure we will go to the symphony at some point.

It will be perfect for it

Then we wandered the mall

And stopped in a bridal store -it was a brown dress in the window that caught our eye

And saw the most beautiful wedding dress - off white with a small band of light green across the bodice. And the back below the pearl buttons where the train began to flow down the back they put that same green silk. It was just exquisite.

So Girl J tried it on because the clerk said she was dying to see someone in it.

And she looked incredible. And we both choked up a bit.

How many brides find the perfect wedding dress on the very first try?

They wouldn't let us take pictures but I assure you, you would have choked up too if you could have seen her in it.

More mall wandering

Then we hit up a big thrift store

Followed by a trip to Girl J's old neighborhood.

She lived in a big old beautiful house on the East Side

Unfortunately the drug dealers won the neighborhood

Which is sad considering the houses are big and beautiful and at one time quite grand

Then we headed for home

After Girl J headed back to her house I played with the pups for a while

Then went to JoAnn fabrics.

And finally found the perfect fabric to re-cover chair cushions with. Once again, when you give up looking you find the perfect thing.

Also picked up cat food and a few groceries.

Going to make a special dinner for the hubster when he comes home

Watched the new series Torchwood on BBC America - it's a most excellent spin-off from Dr. Who

I talked to the hubster and to my folks

And fell asleep thinking about how incredibly perfect the day was.

Newt on the Loose Day 6

Ahhh, I awake to Mozart. Not barking Lily.

Good idea to move the brew time back a little

Puppy pile outside

Cats munching

Jeans on - casual Friday one day a month. Gotta love it.

It's cold

What the hell?

Not ready for winter

No hubster to keep me warm

Grrrrrrr

Work

Yippee! It's Friday

See ya! I'm outta here

Asta Lavista Baby!

Get home

Make dinner

Curl up with pups and watch Sci Fi all night

Talk to dad

Dad "So, we're going to see your Aunt tomorrow."

Dad "She's doing ok, she knows that the best thing for Uncle Glen was for him to pass on"

Dad "Oh, crap, I didn't tell you did I?"

Newt "No, no you didn't, but that's ok. I knew it would probably be this weekend."

Dad "I'm sorry honey, "

Newt "It's really ok."

Get in to long discussion about family, funeral, if I should go out there.

Hang up

Stare out kitchen window

Go play with puppies

Quick call from Hubster

Tell him about Uncle Glen

Call my Aunt Betty and Uncle Phil

Talk for 3 hours

We talked about mourning and how it is so different for people. And that all four of us, my aunt and uncle, my dad, and myself are very very private in our emotions. And prefer to grieve alone. And how some people can't handle that and think that it means we are shallow.


Fall asleep after midnight

Miss hubster...........

Newt On the Loose Day 5

I gotta change the time on that dang coffee pot

Fall out of bed

Get puppy pile outside

Feed screaming kitties

Coffee

Ahhh, coffee, almost human

Shower, dress, hair, make-up

Dang it - I gotta head for the bus soon

Where did my morning go

Where?

Who stole it

Lock up puppies

Pathetic sad faces make me hate myself

Bus ride

Work

Macys with Girl J

Highlight of my day

Of course new shoes

After big fight with Girl J over who buys them

See, they had two pairs

But could find only the left one of one pair

So we argue over who gets them

And probably annoy all the women in line behind us

Then we go buy matching denim dresses

Because they were buy one get one free

And they were cute

No, we won't wear them at the same time

We just have similar taste

Finish work

Head for home

Puppies everywhere

Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom

Make my mac and cheese with cauliflower

Watch Scrubs

Then Simpsons

Share Mac and Cheese with puppies.

Lily tries to dive bomb into the pan

Yes, I ate it right out of the pan

I can do that, no one to stop me

Toss the rest of it

It doesn't make for good leftovers

Talk to Dad

My Uncle is dying

But my Aunt has been going through the grieving process for weeks now

She is just thankful for their 61 years of marriage

61 years. That is so unbelievably incredible

Chat on-line with friends

Get into pirate talk with Will

Start to think about sexy pirates

Talk to hubster

Head to bed

Lonely bed

Big and empty

Big empty bed with no hubster after pirate talk

SO NOT FAIR

No hubster and all hot after pirate talk

Must go to sleep

Must go to sleep

Ummmm pirates..................

Newt on the Loose Day 4

Lily starts barking

The coffee pot brewing sets her off

I have to change the timing. 5:45 apparently comes sooner downstairs than it does upstairs. So I wake to frantic puppy barking rather than Mozart.

The alarm clock goes off - can't ignore the puppy barking anymore

I know, bad mom

I wish I could capture the image of the puppy pile that heads out the door. It is literally one scrambling mass of fur, legs, and wagging tails. They have no patience to exit in a nice orderly fashion, simply scrambling over, under and on top of each other is better.

A relatively uneventful day

Miss the hubster

He's meeting up with his best friend Willy for dinner

I went to Mall of America to see if they still had something I wanted to send to a friend.

Yippee, they did.

Also stopped in Mac and picked up a new blush since the old one is down to two tiny little flakes.
"Blushbaby" is my color. I also picked up one of their bottles of pigment. I think as far as make-up goes these are a fantastic deal. They cost less than 20 bucks and you get so much of it that I doubt you could use it up in 10 years. And you can use it with lip gloss, on your eyes, or on your cheeks. It's a concentrated loose powder. I picked up "Rose" but I also liked their limited edition "Revved-up". The clerk was fabulous though and gave me a small sample of it to try. Small as in, probably a years worth. Bless her heart. They also have this fabulous eyeshadow stick. It's waterproof. You can wear it alone or as a base for powder eye shadow. It keeps the powder on your eye and enhances the color. It is one of the best products ever. I have "Beige-ing" which is very neutral and perfect for a shadow base.

Then on to target. Yep, went back to my favorite black hole. I decided that I wanted to make my favorite meal that I can only eat when the hubster is out of town so for that I needed cauliflower. I steam some cauliflower and mix it into a bowl of Velveeta shells and cheese and I am in heaven.

Finally home I vegged out with the pups on the couch. "While you were sleeping" was on so I caught the last 45 minutes. And of course, I cried. Even more than usual this time because the hubster is gone.

Then I flipped to the last hour or so of "The Truth about Cats and Dogs" and yes, I cried.

I guess if I want to complete the usual chick flick marathon I should pop in "Bridgett Jones" tonight, or "Someone Like You". Those are always good for a cry. Or "Two Weeks Notice" or "Notting Hill"

Then it was off to bed.

Cell phone in hand I hit the sack.

The hubster promised to call even though it would be late.

11:30 it finally rings.

Newt: "Hi Honey"
Hubster: "Hi Baby, I'm still hanging out with Willy"
Newt: "Cool, did you give him a hug from me?"
Hubster: "Yep, as soon as I saw him."
Hubster: "Just walked right up and gave him a hug"
Willy: "Uh, glad to see you too Hubster"
Hubster: "That was from Newt"
Willy: "Oh, well, in that case."

Then after the usual "I love you" "I love you too" "Goodnight" "Goodnight" "Ok, sweet dreams" etc etc etc we hung up.

And Newt drifted off to sleep.

Newt on the Loose Day 3

The alarm goes off

Grrrrr, I really don't want to get out of bed.

But hey, I'm alive.

Yippee for me.

Stumble down the stairs

Make coffee

Crazy puppy pile goes outside

Barking their fool heads off

Cats run around my feet begging for food

Mommy needs her coffee first.

Meow Meow Meow

Oh, for cry'n out loud, I'll feed you already.

Awww hell, might as well take a shower.

Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work I go.

Bus ride home, enter crazy man. Laughing and gibbering from the minute he got on.

I will attempt to paraphrase:

"Yep, torn the thing down! Catholics, there aren't any catholics in the south did you know that."
(maniacal laughter) Well, there might be one or two but there aren't ANY in Tennessee (Maniacal Laughter) "Hey, throw that book in the garbage, that's totally useless (Maniacal Laughter) Huh, look, they have their own little farmers market (pointing to the little tent an old farming couple set up in a currently vacant business parking lot) Hey, I bet the CIA is running it. (Maniacal Laughter) That's the problem, too many taxes. Minnesota taxes their people to death. (Maniacal laughter) Hey, when do we get to Wally-Mart? Yep, that's the problem, too many taxes, that's what Minnesota does. (Maniacal laughter) then he elbows the poor young kid sitting next to him "Am I right - I'm right, its the government, they are after us all. HEY - WALLY MART this is my stop (Maniacal Laughter) "No catholics in the south" - as he steps off the bus.

I swear you could hear the audible sigh of relief from everyone on the bus.

Then we watch him cross the street even though the cross walk clearly is letting you know the light is going to change. And he stops in front of a car and crouches and starts dancing back and forth like he dares the driver to hit him.......................

Finally home

Happy puppies dancing all around me

Alright, time to clean litter boxes

That will be the highlight of my evening. Goodie for me.

Time to heat dinner

Cheesy Jambalaya - god this is good stuff

Then the dogs and I couch potato it for the rest of the night. Flash Gordon, Eureka, and Eureka again. Love that show.

Chat with the hubster. Almost start to cry but I get a hold of myself.

"I love you"
"Have a good night baby"
"I miss you"
"I miss you too."
"Sleep well bubby"
"You too honey"
"I love you"
"I Love you too baby"
"Ok, I'll talk to you tomorrow"
"Ok, sleep tight"
"You too"
"Love you"
"Love you too"
"Good night"
"Good night"
"Bye"
"Bye"

And now it is time for bed.

Snore.......................

Newt on the Loose Day 2

Sophie the bed hog and I got up with the alarm.

Alarms suck.

We stumbled down the stairs, let out the frantic, insane, and barking their fool heads off puppies. Which, by the way do flips in their kennel while they wait for me to let them out.

One big dog pile stumbles out the back door and heads for the grass to do their thing.

Four screaming cats ran frantically to their bowls for breakfast.

The coffee is brewing.

I bow to the coffee gods.

Is there a coffee god.................

Pause while I google............................

(Nice elevator music plays)

And here are the websites to pick from:

Welcome to God's Coffee - God's Coffee™ offers your congregation the opportunity to enjoy delicious, fresh roasted, gourmet coffee and support your church's worthy cause

God Drinks Coffee: A Freshly-Brewed View on Prayer

The Temple of the Gods of Coffee - Welcome Oh worshipers of the Goddess Caffeina and her consort Juan Valdez

God's Communist Coffee - Product naming and packaging design is a complicated art.

Coffee with God - Christian Spirituality w/Edges - Coffee with God involves good coffee, dark coffee - something with character - Brazilian or Ethiopian or Tuscan, not Folgian. This point may seem irrelevant,.........

Apparently there is no coffee god. But it does have a history.

Anywho, the pups made it as miserably difficult as possible for me to leave in the morning. Being all cute and pathetic looking, wanting to snuggle and get pets. But I, the evil mommy, wrenched myself away from their mind controlling cuteness and went to work.

I got to talk to the hubster and he even sent me an email.

We talked about how we missed each other. Lots.

After work the pups and I had a fun time. We played in the yard, they helped me cook dinner. Which thanks to Kell was Cheesy Jambalaya. Yum..................

Then I finished watching "Stargate". The extended cut was actually pretty good. There was nothing in it that I wished I hadn't seen or detracted from the original's spirit. The theatrical version took out some of the military paranoia and need to shoot things. But having it back in the extended version wasn't too bad.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. In fact for whatever reason I had just started to doze off when I woke up, heart racing, in sheer panic.

"What if I die?"

"Who will feed my puppies?"

I mean, Sophie and Max can just chow down on my corpse, but Caleb and Lily are locked away.

"Oh god, my heart is racing, is that bad?"

"What am I going to do?"

Then when my sanity returned I realized I'll just email Jer Bear every morning and let him know I am alive. If the emails stop he should go to the house and take care of business. Pretty simple actually.

Problem solved..............well, as long as I make it to work tomorrow in time to email him.....................awwww hell.................well, nothing I can do about it now..............ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Newt on the Loose Day 1

At 8:15 Sunday morning I kissed the hubster goodbye.

He's off to a class in California. Sigh.................

First stop: Target
Going to do some fall cleaning

After being lost in the vortex that is target for about an hour and 60 bucks the poorer I headed home

Everything bagel for breakfast. Fantastic!

First up: the living room. Sort and put away hubsters magazines and papers.

Dust off piano. Sneeze.

Start vacuuming living room. Chasing after furry dust bunnies bigger than Lily.

Pick up dog bedding and blankets - go outside and shake them out.

Sneeze

Wash doggie stuff.

Sneeze

Shake out entry way carpet. Sneeze.

Pull out jackets I probably won't wear this winter and stick in Space Bag.

Suck the air out - these things are SO damn cool.

Nicely hang up the rest of the coats.

Remove all items from entryway.

Sneeze.

Vacuum and wash floor.

Wow, much better.

Sneeze.

Start removing various living room items, dust, sneeze, repeat.

Dust and wash floors.

Put various items back.

What is that smell?

Pick up DVD's from floor and start to sort and put away.

Oh, god, the smell is worse.

Sniff Spiderman cover.

Don't need spidey sense to figure out Caleb peed on them at some point.

GROSS - EWWWWWWW - GROSS.

Scrub down DVD cases, throw paper covers away. Use cheesy inserts for cover so we know what it is.

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Ok, half of living room scrubbed down. Time for my date with the couch.

Start to watch Stargate - the directors cut.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Paw paw paw in face.

MEOW!

MEOW!

MEOW!

What huh? Alright sheesh, I'll get you some food.

Feed the kitties

Brush teeth

Take some Tylenol PM

Read a little snuggled in bed

WHAM! Book hits nose.

Throw book on nightstand, turn off light. Go to sleep.

Made it through the first 14 hours without hubster.

Random Friday

So last night we went to a gallery show that our friend was in. While we were there it started to rain. Biblical flood sort of rain. And all our windows were open at home.

On the way home we drove through massive amounts of standing flood waters.

We watched a truck fly past us at about 70 MPH only to watch him hydroplane across three lanes. He didn't hit anything, he was very lucky. But we laughed our asses off at his now top speed of 40. I can only assume he wet himself when it happened. See, you AREN'T invincible just because you have an SUV or a full size truck. In fact, driving across flooded roads is sort of like driving through a lake, you can't no matter how many wheel drives you have.

When we hit the exit to our house the rain stopped. In fact we noticed that leaves were still blowing about in the road. And under cars and trees the ground was dry. Fan-flipping-tastic!
We made it home before the storm hit. Who'd have thunk.

So we threw the pups outside and closed all the windows. Got the pups back in the house and then KABLAM! We got nailed with lots and lots of rain.

For once, the Karma Cow was on our side.

****************

The hubster leaves on Sunday for a business trip. Sigh. Cry. Whine. He wont' be back till late the following Sunday. Sigh. Cry. Whine.

****************

But it does mean I get to eat cereal for dinner

****************

I went to Candyland today and got 2 pounds of Lego Candy for our friend's kids. The hubster is bringing it to the girls for their birthdays. Legos you can play with, build things with, and eat. Does life get any better?

Of course that means I got some for us, and some dark chocolate caramels, and some dutch mints. Had to get the dutch mints.

*****************

Tonight I am going to make stroganoff. I have never made it before. Should be interesting.

*****************

When all is said and done I'll probably wonder why I just didn't get the hamburger helper version. Probably won't taste much different.

*****************

The peaches are most excellent right now. The hubster and I have had sliced peaches with cream(non-fat milk) every night. Yummy............

*****************

On the bus last night a guy was admiring my phoenix tattoo. We ended up having a discussion along with a couple other people about the differences between LA Ink and Miami Ink. We all prefer LA Ink.

*****************

Tattoos seem to be a way to bond instantly with people. I can't believe how many conversations have started up over ink.

******************

Thank God it's Friday. I'm not sure how a four day week could take so damn long.

******************

Tomorrow might very well be the type of day in which we never get out of our PJ's. I love those days. Well, we might get out of our pj's but................that would be TMI.

******************

The weather is supposed to turn cold and rainy. Part of me is sad. Part of me is looking forward to putting on comfy pj's and slippers.

******************

And my favorite outfit of all starts to work around this time: Shorts, tank top, hooded zipper sweatshirt, and slippers. Oh yeah baby! That is the best thing in the world to run around in.

******************

Ok, enough rambling..............on to the weekend!

Caught red handed

Girl J and I discovered one of our guilty pleasures that we never went public about.

We both LOVE Spaghettios. The plain ones, the ones with meatballs, AND the ones with hotdogs. I have never found someone that loved all three like I do.

Yep, she caught me with the can on my desk. I normally turn the label around so that it looks like soup.

Basically I never came out of the closet because I was so tired of people talking about how disgusting they were. While trying to heat/eat them.

I never quite understood why people feel the compulsion to discuss how much they hate a food while someone else is trying to eat that very food.

Sort of like the Twinkie hecklers that used to hang out at the twinkie booth at the fair. And as we were taking our first bite and trying to enjoy our twinkiegasm they felt compelled to loudly comment on how disgusting they were.

So, come out of the closet with Girl J and me, what's your secret guilty food pleasure????

Finding home

September 2007 marks a historic moment in my life. 9 years ago I moved to Minnesota. I did so on a wing and a prayer. I took a leap of faith and jumped with eyes wide open into a new life. A life with a wonderful man who made my heart sing and whose very voice left me with butterflies in my stomach. This is now the longest amount of time I have ever spent in one place. And for a girl with wanderlust in her heart it means a lot. It means I have established roots that I don't intend to pull up. It means that I have created a life I don't feel a need to walk away from. It means that I have found home.

As timing goes we were watching a movie a week or so ago and there was a song in it that made me sit up and take notice. It's called Find Yourself by Brad Paisley. And it speaks to my heart:

When you find yourself
In some far off place
And it causes you to rethink some things
You start to sense that slowly
You're becoming someone else
And then you find yourself
When you make new friends in a brand new town
And you start to think about settlin' down
The things that would have been lost on you
Are now clear as a bell
And you find yourself
Yeah that's when you find yourself
Where you go through life
So sure of where you’re headin'
And you wind up lost and it's
The best thing that could have happened
‘Cause sometimes when you lose your way it's really just as well
Because you find yourself
Yeah that’s when you find yourself
When you meet the one
That you've been waitin' for
And she's everything that you want and more
You look at her and you finally start to live for some one else
And then you find yourself
That’s when you find yourself
When we go through life
So sure of where we're headin
'And we wind up lost and it's
The best thing that could have happened
‘Cause sometimes when you lose your way it's really just as well
Because you find yourself
Yeah that's when you find yourself

So thank you to Mike and Heather for giving me the encouragement to make that leap, and Thank you to Jerry, Sean, Sarah, Fred, to Jes, to Girl J, and especially thank you to the hubster for helping me to find myself.

Saying Hello from Miles Away

Saturday Girl J and I went to the Fair! We had too much fun! 10 hours of walking, people watching and eating. And more eating. And more eating.

First, there were the hats I made just so when we put them on we could hear Lil A say "You are NOT wearing those into the fair"

Then as we walked around we tried to find things that made us think of bloggers we love. So, if you look closely you might see a sign in the picture. I am not sure what was funnier, finding the perfect picture for the sign or the comments we heard as one of us held up the sign and the other one took the picture. And if you don't have a sign it doesn't mean we don't love you. We had more signs than perfect pictures.

This shot was for Scott and Jay - no sooner had we been lamenting no cute butts had walked by when this one crossed our path.

If you were only here for an installment of Mike Eats it - this would be one to sample.

Then we walked past the Democratic Party Pavilion. One of the booth ladies helped Girl J hold up the signs. And the guys got a great laugh out of Cynical Bastards name.
Well, and this one didn't need a sign: Bet ya didn't know your mom was running did you Jay and Kell? This one we took for Cynical Bastard - sorry, no sign though. Since we know how much you like to post the ladies - here is one of the fair princesses in butter.

This one was for dad. He loves Prairie Home Companion

And for Kell, it was a no brainer
Tink too (These were images turned into purses - they were SO cool.)

My favorite fair food: Deep Fried Twinkie

Macaroni and Cheese on a Stick
Pretty cow - I just loved the colors - she's a chocolate milk cow if I ever saw one.
Deep Fried Cookie Dough