i give my friend shawn a hard time on a very regular basis. (to be fair, he deserves it most of the time.) i tease him about how he uses his spare time (usually for buying/selling/trading car parts, or throwing rakes on random houses). anywho, he has something very important to say and i wanted you to read it. so, without further ado...
me
this is mr. husband. he is "resting his eyes" in his new chair. a chair that we actually have no room for. i'm. not. kidding. if you look closely, you can see the arm of the sectional couch touching the back of the chair. his chair is pointing directly at the tv. (so he can be ready for the boston game tonight. ) anyway, to the right and back towards where i was standing to take the picture, there's another straight couch against a wall. followed by a chair and ottoman. it's like a hotel lobby. in. our. living. room.
so, back to the chair. ah, the chair. mr. husband has been longing for this chair. pining for this chair. for years. and the other day, the doorbell rang and there it was on the front porch...waiting to enter its new home. you see, mr. hubby is a people person...so much so that people (who were customers at his old job who are now customers at his new restaurant) buy him things...like leather recliner chairs that swivel. mr. hubby is amazing at what he does. it's a gift. if you don't believe me, come to the restaurant and see him in action. by the time you leave, you'll think he's pretty awesome too.
the chair was a token of thanks for the many things that mr husband has done for mr man and his family over the past several years. what a thoughtful gift. what a generous gift for my generous husband.
me
we used to live next door to some real crazies. if you don't believe me and really need a good laugh, read this .
the truth is that they're awesome neighbors and we miss them bunches. they are what neighbors should be like. i'm really glad that we still chat.
have a good weekend.
me
for what you are about to read. i'm not kidding. i cannot believe the ridiculousness of the entire thing...the man, what he was accused of doing, the fact that it was in court.
these pictures are from a few weeks ago. sammysosa is very into scavenging and digging and cupboards. he cracks me up.
we've (and when i say we i mean me) gotten into a very bad habit of letting him wander around during breakfast. (i'm tired of listening to him screech about sitting in his highchair. he likes to toddle around and play while he eats his breakfast. whatever.) anyway, he was carrying his yogurt around eating it without a spoon. as you can imagine, he was making a huge mess. i grabbed a spoon and helped him finish eating the yogurt. when he was done, he kept making the sign for more while saying it. i spent the next few minutes explaining and showing him that the container was empty. he gave me one of his looks, walked over to these cupboards, reached all the way to the back, pulled out a piece of toast and started eating it. i could almost hear him saying "naner naner naner". don't fret...the toast was from just before the yogurt...it hadn't been there for days or anything. although, captain adventure did bring me some toast a few afternoons ago, "mahm! here's sammysosa's toast. it was in little mother hen's shoe". so i guess we need to keep track of each morsel from now on. that or i could actually start putting him back in his highchair.
at my cell phone company, (i don't want to name names here, but their initials are v.e.r.i.z.o.n.)
i understand what you're saying when you tell me that my account is password protected for my "safety". and that if i don't have my password, you cannot talk to me about my account for my "safety". however, do you understand what i am saying when i tell you that i don't know my password that you put on my account for my "safety"? or that my husband, the all powerful "account holder" doesn't know it either? if neither of us knows our account password that was put on our account for our "safety", and you won't talk to us about our account without our "safety" password, then i believe that we are at an impasse. i don't know how you expect us to pay our bill or discuss our account if we don't know that password (for our safety). if you have any suggestions, please comment through this blog. you'll have to know the password before i can talk to you about this topic though. it's for your safety.
your completely exhausted and disgusted customer,
me
my requirements:
seven years ago today i was in bed sleeping when the phone rang. it was my sister. i could hear the panic in her voice. she told me to put the news on and started telling me the story of how a plane had just flown into one of the twin towers. i can remember watching the news unfold and seeing the building on fire...thinking what a horrible accident it was...praying for the people involved.
our two month old daughter woke up around the same time and i took her to the kitchen with me as i started a pot of coffee. we went to the living room and i turned the news on and sat down to nurse her. as i sat there watching the news wondering how a plane could hit a huge building, across the screen i watched the unimaginable become reality...another plane running into the other tower.
my throat tightened. my eyes welled up with tears. i felt nauseated. as i watched, it became very clear that these events were no accident. as the day progressed we would all learn that these events were part of a master and devious plan set in motion by people who we would never know, who never knew us. that was (and still is) a very difficult idea for me to wrap my head around.
as i sat on the couch sobbing and holding our newborn baby, i thought "my God. what have we done? what kind of a world have we brought our daughter into?" i called my friend molly and we cried together. we were both still on maternity leave with our baby girls and decided that we wanted to spend the day together. our husbands both had to work that day and we didn't want to be alone with our girls.
they only lived an hour away, so she packed a few things and drove to our house. we spent the day together praying, crying, and holding our girls, wondering how anyone could commit this horrific act of hatred.
every time i think about that day...how i felt...what it was like to watch the events unfold on television, i think about the people who were directly affected...the people who died...the people who had loved ones die...the people who watched it happen...and i say a prayer.
where were you?
i have very fond memories of childhood family vacations. someday i want to be able to take trips with our kids...when mr. husband has a job that doesn't require him to work seven days a week & when we actually have money to spend on taking a vacation. until then, i'll just pine away and day dream about the times we spent getting to our vacation destinations when i was a child.
i can remember planning and packing for days...wanting to have just the right clothes, toys, and snacks in the car with us. usually the day before our trip started, we would make a special trip to the grocery and my sisters and i would each be able to pick out our favorite snack to take with us. i could probably guess right and say that i picked chicken in a biscuit crackers (i loved those!). but i would bet money on the fact that my baby sister chose funyuns. she LOVED those things. picture it -- driving in a van with 5 people. windows up. shoes off. open mouth breathing. baby sister opens a bag of funyuns. the stinch was practically unbearable. after their first appearance, dad declared them contraband for any and all future car trips...along with corn nuts, anything that was cool ranch flavored, and blue suckers*.
my dad has family in florida and when we were younger we visited them a few times. one year my mom's family traveled with us caravan-style. my parents had borrowed a friend's van (which by the way had carpeted walls and a refrigerator) for the trip. my sisters and i, my parents, my grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousin all rode in the van. my mom's sister and her husband followed us. we had CBs. we were so rad. (i know...you're jealous.)
anyway, my dad worked an overnight shift and when he came home in the morning, we left. he drove first. he drove for hours without incident. we stopped for gas, got out and stretched then when we were ready to leave, my mom's brother took over driving. we hadn't gone five miles when our dad started yelling at our uncle. he had fallen asleep. while he was driving. on an interstate. going 80 miles per hour. with our entire family in the van.
i have no memory of my uncle driving on anymore family vacations...until a few years ago when my family went to new york for a wedding. again, my dad started the drive and when my uncle took over, my sister looked up from her magazine just in time to see his eyes drooping and his head bobbing. he is no longer aloud to drive anyone in our family to any destination whatsoever.
most of the vacation memories i have follow this same pattern...preparation, fiasco after fiasco during the trip, and vague-ish memories of the actual vacation. you know what, though? i wouldn't change it for anything. i loved our trips together. even with crazy half-awake drivers, stinky food, us (kids) against them (adults) warfare. it was fun. it was the only thing we knew. i can't wait to have the same kind of vacations with our kids.
me
*as we were driving (over a bridge if memory serves), my dad happened to look in the rear view mirror and almost wrecked the van. "oh my God, she's cyanotic!" we were all like, "what?! who's cyanotic?!" well, it turns out that baby sister's blue raspberry sucker had turned her entire mouth (including her lips) BLUE. he thought she was choking. and, thus, the "no blue sucker rule" was born.
i'm taking a break from here. i'm still reading and lurking, but i'm not posting right now. life is too hectic right now. i have lots to say, but no time to say it. i'll be back.
until then, be nice to somebody. get an A.
me
hi there. i know. i know. it's tuesday. but i'm tired. i need a break. so i'm taking one. maybe i'll try to get it together for next tuesday. we'll see.
have a good week.
me
hi there. happy tuesday! welcome to trivia tuesday. i know you know the rules, but here they are anyway: no cheating. no googling. just answer using your own brain power. i know. scary. come on! you can do it. you have until i go to bed to answer the questions. i'll post the answers wednesday morning.
the theme: the eighties
1.who was the leader of the good transformers?
optimus prime
2. what was the name of punky brewster's dog?
brandon
3. what was angela's son's name in who's the boss?
jonathon
4. what was michael jackson advertising when he was nearly killed?
pepsi
5. what was ALF's girlfriend from melmac's name?
rhonda
6. what was the name of arnold's fish on different strokes?
abraham
7. on three's company, what was the name of jack's restaurant that he opened and was head chef at?
jack's bistro
8. The jeffersons was a spin-off from what show?
all in the family
9. what star of the breakfast club was also part of the original cast of the facts of life?
molly ringwald
10. what actor was famous for the line "nanoo nanoo"?
robin williams for his character mork from oirk
here's a fun game from crista's kitchen creations . she did a post on it a few days ago.
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (i put them in green)
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1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (obviously you don't know me very well if you think i'll eat anything that wasn't cooked)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (no, but i've always wanted to!)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano (i'm too much of a wuss for that)
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
i remember the first time i ever had a bedroom all to myself. i was about 8 years old. before i left for a trip to stay with cousins, my parents asked me if i could paint my room any color what would it be? i told them either purple or blue. when i arrived home from my trip, they had moved me into a room by myself. the walls were painted a lovely shade of blue...baby blue. they had gotten me a new water bed too. i was in hog heaven!
well, little mother hen moved into her own room last week. we had been talking about it for months. she and captain adventure have been sharing a room off and on since he was a baby. but, she's seven now and started first grade last week and it is definitely time for her to have her own room. we moved sammysosa into the room with CA and LMH went to SS's room.
mr. hubby helped moving all of the big furniture and painting. we were able to do it in one day. she loves it! i'm really glad we decided to do make the move. we were really worried about how captain adventure would do with sammysosa. we thought of all of the naughty thing CA could do with SS in the room...climbing into the crib, trying to take SS out of the crib, throwing things into the crib, staying up until the middle of the night...you get the point.
so far, our fears have been unfounded. captain adventure has done really well. it took a few nights to get used to each other, but they love to be together now. sammysosa wakes up earlier than CA and starts singing and talking quietly to himself...he eventually gets really loud and starts yelling at CA to wake up. it is pretty cute.
little mother hen is so thankful for her own room. she loves being by herself and her attitude is getting better. she has been spending hours and hours up there just puttering around...rearranging her drawers, drawing pictures, stickering things. it's too cute!
i am so glad we finally decided to make the move. we're such wienies sometimes.
i have to apologize to you. i have been keeping a rather big secret from you for a long time now. mr. husband and our friend mr. chef have been in the process of buying a restaurant for the past several months. it is now official. they closed on the building yesterday morning.
i am so proud of both of them. they have put in hundreds of hours trying to make this happen and now it finally has. i am so confident in their abilities to run a fantastic restaurant and do it the right way. i can't wait to see them in action!
they have many hours of hard work ahead of them, but they have an amazing support cast in place...i've met them and they're awesome and loyal. mr. husband and mr. chef hope to be open for business sometime in mid to late september.
congratulations mr. husband and mr. chef!
p.s see below for tuesday trivia answers
welcome to trivia tuesday. you know the rules, but here is a quick reminder: no cheating or googling...you have until i go to bed tonight to answer the questions...i will post the correct answers along with the name of the brain of the week on wednesday morning.
the theme: seventies trivia
1. who was the first musical guest on saturday night live? janis ian
2. what group won the "best new artist" grammy in 1972? america
3. barry manilow was a producer/arranger for what famous vocalist? bette midler
4. what was cher's given first name? cherilyn
5. rod stewart's 1977 hit "the first cut is the deepest" was written by who?
cat stevens
6. what year did casey kasem's american top 40 debut? 1970 (and yes, crista, he is OLD)
7. what group won grammys for record, song, and album of the year in 1970?
simon and garfunkel
8. what was elvis' last movie? elvis on tour
9. what chuck berry classic did the beach boys use to help with a comeback in 1976? rock & roll music
10. what was the jackson 5's first smash hit? i want you back
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good grief! i thought this would be easier for you music buffs. (i mean, i couldn't have answered any of them, but i had faith in you!)
the big brain award goes to crista! good for you! you got 3 right.
joel, you got a big goose egg. good job for trying. A for effort.
coming up next week...80's trivia. thanks for playing!
happy tuesday. you know the drill. answer them to the best of your ability. don't cheat. you have until 11:00 pm tuesday (my time) to answer the questions. i will post the correct answers along with the highest scorer on wednesday.
this week's theme: presidential trivia
1. Which president purchased the Louisiana territory? (Thomas Jefferson from napoleon in 1803)
2. Who was the first president to live in the white house? (President John Adams.)
3. which president purchased alaska? (Andrew Johnson from Russia in 1867)
4. name the first president who was the son of a president? (the sixth president john quincy adams – son of the second president john adams)
5. name the second president who was the son of a president. (George w bush, son of George bush)
6. who was the youngest elected president? (john f. kennedy 43 y, 236d when taking office)
7. who was the youngest president? (Theodore Roosevelt, 42y, 322 d succeeding to the office upon assassination of president William mckinley)
8. which president ordered the combat use of nuclear weapons? (harry s Truman ordered the atom bomb to Hiroshima and Nagasaki )
9. name the president who served 2 non-consecutive terms: (grover Cleveland 22nd 1855-1889 & 24th 1893-1897)
10. who was the only president to be married while in office? (grover cleveland. on 6/2/1886 he married frances folsom)
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ok seriously. participate!
i would like to award this week's gold medal to
