Thursday, August 27, 2009

My 100th Post Party!

This is my 100th post! I know, I can't believe it either! In honor of my 100th post, I am throwing a little party. For your reading pleasure, and then later so you all can mock me and make fun of me, I have listed 100 things about myself.

Please stick around after the list because I have an award to pass on, as well as something fun to giveaway! My first giveaway ever! I hope you enjoy the party!

100 things that you probably had no interest in knowing but I am telling you anyway:

1. I am the self-proclaimed best parallel parker in the world.
2. Uptown Girl by Billy Joel will always be on my top 5 list of favorite songs.
3. I once danced with Leland to I Believe in Life After Love by Cher at a gay bar in New Orleans. Until a guy pushed me out of the way and started dancing with Leland.
4. I am the middle child.
5. I chased Leland for 6 months before he agreed to date me.
6. I broke my tail bone 3 times.
7. I love public speaking. Put me in front of a million people who want to (or have to) listen to what I have to say and I would be giddy with delight.
8. I am a Polish girl.
9. I have 4 tattoos.
10. I love Harry Connick, Jr….
11. …and Memphis Belle.
12. I don’t believe in sending greeting cards. I think they are the biggest waste of 3 dollars ever.
13. Though I will send out Valentine’s Day cards to everyone I know. Everyone likes getting a card on Valentine’s Day. If you want me to send you one, email me your address and I’ll add it to my list!
14. I love brownies.
15. I suck at doing yard work.
16. I was a Girl Scout for an embarrassingly long amount of time,
17. but I loved every minute of it.
18. I love reading about fisherman, whether it be Alaskan crab, Maine lobster, sea or small lake, I think it is so interesting.
19. I love to sing out loud with the windows down and get strange looks from people in other cars.
20. I have a BA in English from Roosevelt University in Chicago.
21. I was the first woman in my family to graduate from college.
22. I once went to San Francisco simply because I wanted to have dinner at my favorite restaurant. I live in Illinois.
23. I’m really good at the game Battleship.
24. I will not play the game Cranium. Every time I play it, it ends in a fight. So I stopped playing.
25. I love the TV show Friends. I am married to Monica. Though I would compare Leland to Monica, he never believed how similar they were until I got him to sit down and watch all 10 seasons with me. Now he sees what I am talking about.
26. I bruise like a peach. A little thing like a whack from the dog’s tail will leave a bruise that will last 10 days.
27. I’m solar-powered. I do not function well on cloudy days.
28. I love wine. All kinds of wine.
29. I have worked with animals for 12 years.
30. When I’m at my day job, I hardly do any work at all. I am quite the slacker who spends most of my time blogging.
31. I play piano.
32. I love the water so much that I think I was a water mammal in a past life…if I believe in past lives. I still haven’t decided.
33. When I see water, I have to drink it or touch it. If I hear water, I have to see it, drink it or touch it. Just typing this is making me reach for my water cup.
34. One day I’ll have a pond in my backyard so I can swim on every single beautiful day.
35. I am very opinionated. So opinionated that sometimes people don’t want to talk to me.
36. I have expensive taste but don’t have the money to support it.
37. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is my favorite book.
38. It is because of this book that I am no longer a “yes” girl.
39. Now I say “no” so much that plenty of people think I do it on purpose just so I can be disagreeable.
40. I hate having plans on Sundays. Leland and I like to have Sundays free to do whatever we want and not have to worry about other commitments.
41. My favorite holiday is apple picking in the fall with my family. Though I am only 28, it has been a family tradition for 30 years.
42. I make the world’s best chili. Just ask Leland.
43. I love to bake and then give away the yummy treats.
44. I was a “good” girl for most of my life. I didn’t do the typical teenage rebellion until after high school.
45. I participated in the Breast Cancer 3-Day. It was awesome and I would do it again if I knew I would be able to raise the required $2200 for a second time.
46. I love the Archie comic books.
47. And was upset to find out that Archie is proposing to Veronica.
48. I love getting the wave from other motorcyclists when I am on my bike.
49. The first concert I went to was New Kids on the Block when I was in fourth grade (I think).
50. I also went and saw them with my sisters last October. It was fun but super cheesy.
51. I have a weird obsession with veins. Maybe it’s because of all of the blood draws that I do from working with animals. Whenever I see someone with veins that pop out, I have to fight the urge to poke it. Leland has awesome jugular veins, and since he is really the only person whose veins I can poke, I poke it all the time. I like the way they bounce.
52. I have a very hard time keeping plants alive. Indoor or outdoor, if they need a lot, or even a little attention, it will most likely die.
53. One of the reasons Leland’s parents no longer talk to us is because I killed some of their plants. I did not do it on purpose.
54. I always wish on stars.
55. I pretty much always cry at movies, unless it’s super funny. However, even a silly RomCom will make me shed a tear or two. I am a sap.
56. Leland and I just watched I Love You, Man and I actually teared up at the end when Paul Rudd and Jason Segel were professing their love for each other. I am a sucker for a good bromance.
57. My favorite RomCom is Love Actually. It always puts me in a good mood.
58. I steal postage stamps from my work. I have been doing it for 8 years and have no plans on stopping.
59. Taking a shower is a dangerous thing for me to do. I slip in the tub at least once a week.
60. I used to have really bad road rage. I have gotten over it, but now I have serious parking lot rage.
61. I have an unhealthy obsession with brownies.
62. I am addicted to books. I cannot go into a book store without spending at least $50.
63. I love the way books smell. Whenever I pick up a book I immediately flip it open and stick my nose in it. If there was a cologne that smelled like books I would make Leland wear it.
64. I used to have an aquatic turtle that I called The Flo. She was the most expensive pet I have ever owned.
65. Tulips are my favorite flower,
66. though sunflowers come in at a close second.
67. I was a fighter when I was younger. I threw more punches in high school than most people do in their lives.
68. Over half of those punches were thrown while I was wearing my cheerleading uniform.
69. I have only punched boys who picked on me or made inappropriate comments toward me.
70. I once poisoned myself with Rhubarb. At six years old, I had no idea the leaf was poisonous. To this day I cannot eat rhubarb.
71. I am a fruit snob. I only eat apples I pick from the tree and only eat oranges if they are shipped to me from a grove in Florida.
72. I like apples but hate apple pie.
73. I don’t flush the toilet after every time I pee. I flush it about every third time. Doing this shaves $120 off of my water bill every year. Good for my pocketbook and the environment.
74. I have been to several Jimmy Buffett concerts.
75. One year my breasts were featured on buffettboobs.com.
76. It was the year I went to the concert with my parents. No, they weren’t there to see me lift my shirt.
77. It bothers me when people ask me questions they already know the answer to. For instance, when I’m working at the animal clinic and my manager asks me if I’ve checked the blood pressure on Rocky yet. The answer is clearly no because I have not initialed the treatment sheet yet and you have been watching me take x-rays since you asked me to do it. If you want to remind me to do it, then simply say “don’t forget to get the BP on Rocky.” Easy enough.
78. It also bothers me when people ask me to teach them how to ride the Harley. I have only been riding for 2 months and am not qualified to teach anyone. Besides, I really don’t want you to wreck my bike. If you had your own bike to learn on, that would be a different story.
79. When a telemarketer calls at work, I like to put them on hold and see how long they will wait. The longest a telemarketer had waited was about 17 minutes.
80. Yellow was once my favorite color simply because it seemed that it was no one else’s favorite color and I felt bad for it. That’s right, I took pity on the color yellow. It grew on me and now I actually really like it though my favorite color is now green. Any shade of green.
81. I also took pity on orange Starbursts. Orange and yellow were always tossed aside for the red and pink and since I was already being nice to yellow, I decided orange would be my favorite Starburst. Again, it grew on me and it actually is my favorite now.
82. Leland and I once drove to Philly to get a cheesesteak sandwich. After hours of driving and getting sick, we headed home without ever having a cheesesteak sandwich.
83. My dog Bacchus, aka The Bachman, is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. He is the best free thing I ever got. A breeder I work with at the clinic gave him to me because he is a genetic reject. He has an under bite and his back feet angle out a little.
84. He was named after the Roman god of wine and merriment.
85. He is the happiest dog in the world and I honestly think he can bring world peace.
86. After Katrina, I volunteered at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX. It was one of the centers around the area the evacuees were sent to. It was one of the most emotional events of my life.
87. While I was there I met a woman in her early 20’s whose husband abandoned her and their 3 kids right after the storm hit. I still wonder what happened to her.
88. I really like globes and maps. Don’t ask me why, I just think they are very cool.
89. Sick dogs have covered me in poop more times than I would like to admit. It’s just part of the job.
90. I was a typical girl of the ‘80s. I wore long dangly earrings, lots of blue eye shadow, tight rolled jeans, brightly colored socks and I wore my bangs standing straight up. The pictures are hilarious.
91. I love getting the mail. Though it usually contains bills, which I don’t love. But occasionally I’ll get some fun coupons or a catalog to flip through. And sometimes I’ll even get handwritten letters or cards. Remember those?
92. If I could do anything in the world and money wasn’t an issue, I would go to Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris.
93. I am awesome at blog stalking people.
94. I don’t like having dust on my hands. I’m okay with any other type of shmutz, but dust dries out my hands and makes them itchy. I would much rather have them covered in oil and grease.
95. I have never listened to a book on disc. I love stories and read all the time, but I like to be holding the book in front of me. While I’m driving I would much rather rock out to some music.
96. I read so much that I made myself near-sighted. This may not have happened if I listened to books on disc.
97. For my day job I work in sales. Fastener sales to be exact. To make a living I sell nuts and screws. Not very exciting. Though I do like that the boss leaves me alone and isn’t in the office very often so I can do things like write this list.
98. I am planning a trip to Hawaii approximately one year from now and I am hoping to go swimming with sharks while I am there.
99. I have never seen a sunrise.
100. I talk with my hands all the time. Even if I am on the phone. Lee once saw me riding on the back of my neighbor’s motorcycle talking with my hands. I know no one can see me, but I cannot help it. Sometimes I even talk with my hands when I am talking to myself.

WHEW!!! That was hard. Okay, enough about me! Now it's time to celebrate YOU!!!!

First an award to pass out, then a giveaway!

The award was passed on to me by Vodka Logic.



"What is a Superior Scribbler? One who employs mad skillz to communicate in this crazy, crazy world. Who pontificates, explains, memorializes & entertains. Who has a funny bone & is not afraid to use it. Whose cyber-crib we return to again & again, because it just feels right."

Below are the "rules" of the award.


**Each Superior Scribbler I name today must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

**Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

**Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.

**Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor.

**Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

I read lots of blog because they are all pretty fansmashingtastic, so choosing 5 proved to be tricky. The 5 I chose are:

Mandy's Life After 30

Steph in the City

Life As I Know It

Mean Girl Garage

Ever Thine. Ever Mine. Ever Ours.

Please check out these blogs! They are so fun to read!

And finally...

The Giveaway!

Because I love all of you so much I will be giving one lucky winner this:



A Fandango Gift Card for $25! All you have to do it leave a comment on this post and I will draw a name on Monday.

In the past few months I have seen my blog get more and more readers and it is so exciting for me that all of you want to read it! Thank you so much for all of your love and support! Here's to another 100 posts!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Phone Call

In A Letter to my In-laws, I told you about the relationship, or lack there of, that Leland and I have with his parents. Last night, he called his mom.

It was a pretty uneventful conversation. Instead of dealing with any of the issues that are between them, they more or less just caught up with each other. When Leland told her he has been talking to his brother, she said, "Well I don't know why you're doing that, he's brainwashed." Really? And how do you know this? You haven't talked to him in 20 years. It seems to me that you don't know him at all so how in the name of goddess can you have an opinion on him? You may be feeling threatened, thinking that Leland's brother is trash talking you. But that hasn't been the case. Though they do talk about you, all The Brother says is that Leland should do what he wants and what he is comfortable with. And really, if he has been trash talking you, would he be so wrong? You have given Leland enough reasons not to like you or want to talk to you, don't worry that The Brother is making things worse. I don't think that's possible.

Wouldn't any normal person want her sons to reconnect? Leland's reconnection with his brother has been one of the most positive things that has happened to him. It's hard for me to imagine that Leland's mom can't be happy that her sons get along, talk on the phone and love each other.

Not surprisingly, she never asked about me. She never asked Leland how his wife is doing. He wasn't surprised either. Though the conversation was civil, and his mom said "I love you," and "I miss you," naturally this was just a baby step. The next phone call will have to start dealing with the problems. Just knowing that his mom loves him and misses him doesn't solve any of the problems. Nothing has been worked out. Leland was worried about making this phone call and it wasn't even the hard one to make. The next phone call, or phone calls are going to be the difficult ones. He'll have to talk about his dad, the way they have been treating him, the way they have treated me. I am sure there will be yelling, I am sure there will be crying and I am sure that when it's all over, I will like them even less than I do now. Though I am trying to keep an open mind. Trying.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Wow. That's A Personal Question

I remember when Leland and I were dating, everyone would ask me when we were going to get engaged. I really didn't know how to answer that question, so I would sort of sidestep it and maybe just reply with "Soon." Around our 3rd or 4th year of dating, it seemed all of my friends were getting married. At every single bridal shower and bachelorette party, someone would ask me when it was going to be my turn. Well, how the hell am I supposed to know? If I knew when we were going to be married then this would probably be my bridal shower. But I didn't know. I knew it was eventually going to happen, but I also knew that Leland did things slowly and it was going to take a little longer than I liked. Every time someone asked me that question it made me feel bad.

When Leland and I got engaged, I was so happy people would stop asking me when we were going to get married. I was elated. Now everyone knew it was happening and they could leave me alone. Little did I know that happy feeling of people leaving me alone, of not having to constantly be badgered, of not having people intrude into my personal business was going to be short lived.

I am married now. And you all know what comes next.

Babies.

Now people are always asking me, "So, when are you going to have a baby?"

Again, I don't know how to answer this question. I was at a baby shower on Saturday and I knew I was going to be bombarded with a ton of people asking me the question. I tried to prepare myself as much as possible. I asked my mom, sisters and friends for advice. What do I say?

Do I just say "Wow, that's a personal question," and walk away?

Or do I say "We're having too much fun right now to even think about that."

Or maybe I just leave it at "When we are ready."

Possibly I should have said "When it happens, you'll be the first to know."

Naturally, when I was at the shower and the question was posed, I froze. I didn't know what to say. All of my preparing went out the window. Though I knew it was coming, I was surprised that so many people thought it was an appropriate question to ask. It is not an appropriate question to ask.

There are so many factors that come in to play with having a baby. Things like time, finances, personal development, relationship development, even biology. There are tons of women who decide the time is right but then have trouble conceiving. Why would anyone ask that question knowing that not all women are uber fertile? There are a ton of reasons that can make it difficult for a woman to get pregnant and a ton of reasons to make it difficult for a woman to stay pregnant. Why don't people think about things like this before they ask the very personal question? Not only is the question personal, but just asking it makes me feel small.

I am so happy for my friend who is pregnant with twins so please just let me be happy for her. I know there are a lot of people who must "keep up with the Jones's," but I am not one of them. I would much rather just keep up with myself. And right now, a baby is not in the near future. Please don't feel bad for me because I am not pregnant. I am happy with the way my life is, I am happy with all of the fun things Leland and I are doing that keep us so busy. I know a baby is in our future, but right now I am happy with it being the two of us.

And trust me, when it does happen, you will all be the very first to know. Until then, please stop asking.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Catching Up On Awards, Part 2

As promised, I am entering Part 2 of my awards ceremony. I have two awards to accept and pass along today.

The first award is the SWANK award, given to be by Atomic Lola. She made this one herself to honor all of the swanky blogs she reads.



I read lots of swanky blogs, but the SWANKIEST of SWANK include:
Vodka Logic
Technical Support
Skinny Bitching
My Net Finds
Carma Sez
Housewife Savant
Hot Piece of Sass
Navigating the Quarterlife
The Domestication of the (Once) Single Girl

Get grabbin' and pass it on to the SWANKIEST blogs you know!
... and don't forget to show it off on your blog.


Award #2 was given to me by Skinny Bitching. She had awarded me this fansmashingtastic award:



The only rule with this award is to list your top 5 addictions. Here are mine:

1. Snuggling up on the couch with Leland. I cannot stop doing this.

2. Wine. I love wine. Lots and lots of wine. There is a store close to my house that I just recently discovered called Vino 100 that is going to be getting a lot of my money in the near future.

3. Reading. Need I say more?

4. Baking on the weekends. I like to get up early (sort of) and make lots of yummy treats.

5. Sweet corn. During this time of year I cannot get enough of it. Sometimes my entire dinner will consist of sweet corn.

And the award goes to......

Yellowdog Granny
Mean Girl Garage
Ever Thine. Ever Mine. Ever ours.
Eat, Bitch & Whine
Atomic Lola

Please check out all of these awesome blogs!

I still have one more award to post so stay tuned for Catching Up On Awards, Part 3, the final chapter.

Thanks so much for these awards ladies! It is always exciting to be recognized by peers and it rad to know that other people like reading my blog!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Catching up on Awards, Part 1

In the past two weeks I have been given so many awesome awards. I'm so sorry that I have been completely unawesome in acknowledging them and passing them along. I have no excuses for my rudeness and I hope those of you who thought to give me the awards will forgive me!

The award I want to mention first comes from The Dutchess as Rose Tea Cottage.


The Dutchess awarded this in recognition and appreciation of the bloggers role as followers and daily commentators of Rose Tea Cottage and for having vision, knowledge, charm and humour on their own blogs. Thank you so much Dutchess.

Kathie at My Net Finds has quickly become one of my favorite blogs to read and she has presented me with this next award.

She made this award for the special bloggers who take the time to not only read posts, but also leave comments, respond to comments, form blog friendships with and support others, answer blogger questions, etc.....the ones who are a real "gem" in the bloggy world. The bloggy world wouldn't be the same without you!

The only rule for this award is that to accept it, display it proudly on your blog for all the bloggy world to see your greatness and/or pass it on to other bloggers as you see fit.

I pass this award on to:

Ever Thine. Ever Mine. Ever Ours. She always makes me laugh and is so honest. I know she's there to listen whenever I need her.
Carmasez Though I think she has already received this award, but she has become such a great friend I couldn't leave her out.
Intense Guy I love his blog. He is so funny, yet more real than any other blog I have encountered. I always look forward to his newest post and consider him to be a good friend.
Keeper of the Skies Wife Betty was one of my first followers. She has an amazing family and is totally ok with the fact that I think her husband is hot!
Living Different My very best blogging friend. I heart her mucho and am so thankful that something as awesome as blogging brought us together. I wouldn't have met her without it.

I have 3 more awards to pass out! Watch for Catching up on Awards, Part 2. I may just pass an award your way!

Monday, August 17, 2009

A Letter To My In-laws

Leland and I have not spoken to his parents in over a year. We haven’t seen them in over two years. There is a lot of bad blood between us and though I have been so happy not having them in our lives, I know it hurts Leland every day. Sometime this week or weekend, Leland will be calling his parents. Since I can’t be on the phone with him, I wanted to have my chance to say what I think needs to be said. Here is the letter I wrote them that I will never be able to send.

Dear Edward and Dawn,
Though we both have tried to talk to you on numerous occasions, neither of us actually got to do any talking. Your yelling, screaming and placing blame has gotten us nowhere. We still haven’t had a constructive conversation and Leland still hasn’t had a chance to deal with Edward trying to kill himself. I know it happened two years ago and it is possible that you have both dealt with it and moved on, but Leland hasn’t. And not being able to talk to you about it just makes it worse. Harder even.

You left Leland two weeks after Edward tried to kill himself. Two weeks after Leland spent an entire night looking for his father in the woods because he told a neighbor he was going to kill himself next to an oak tree. Two weeks after I had to help Leland take a shower because he was so hurt and upset, scared he was never going to see his father, his best friend, again. Two weeks after Leland found Edward’s gun missing and a suicide note in its place. I know Leland is a strong man, but you had to have known what going through all of that would do to him. Even the strongest man in the world would have a hard time handling all of those emotions. I know you were doing what you thought was right. I know you thought spending 6 weeks in the Florida Keys was just what the doctor ordered. We were both actually very excited you were going. But we both thought we would be able to talk about that night that forever changed our lives. Leland thought he would have a chance to talk to his father about how he felt. Leland thought he would have the chance to try and understand why his father put him through the worst experience of his life. Leland never got the chance.

Instead, when you returned you were more concerned about your dead plants and the mess our dog left in your house. A mess we are almost certain you made up because we checked the house before we left it. You were more concerned about your plants than you were about your son. I still have a hard time believing it.

Let’s say for shits and giggles, that you are right. You were right about Bacchus ruining your blinds in the living room. You were right that he pooped on one of your carpets. You were right that I intentionally killed your plants. Are these things really worth never speaking to your son again? Never being able to see the man your son has become? Never knowing your grandchildren? I don’t know why I am surprised by this because you have done it before. You have two sons. Two sons who hadn’t seen each other in almost 20 years because you disowned the first one when he was still a child. You actually have two grandsons you will most likely never meet. Please, if you answer any of the questions I have, please answer this one. How in the world does a mother disown a child at the age of ten, deciding to keep the younger one, and then disown the younger one after he becomes an adult?

I know you have never liked me, and to be honest, I never really liked you either. These past two years have been wonderful for me. I haven’t had to defend my relationship with Leland. I haven’t had to point out countless way that I support him to prove that you are wrong when you say I’m a freeloader. I haven’t had to listen to you accuse me of trying to trick Leland into getting me pregnant, even though I have never been pregnant. I haven’t had to listen to you tell my friends that you think Leland is scraping the bottom of the barrel by being with me. I haven’t had to act like I was happy when you gave me diet pills as a birthday present. I haven’t had to see you at all. My relationship with Leland has been better without you in it because now Leland doesn’t have to defend me all the time or run interference.

But for all of those times I was happy you weren’t around, there were just as many times that I was sad that you were missing out on Leland’s life. I was sad when you weren’t there to celebrate his promotion with him. I was sad you weren’t around to share in Leland’s happiness when he reconnected with his brother. I am sad that you still haven’t seen the tattoo that Leland got to commemorate his uncle Leland Charles Cook Sage, Edward’s brother who was killed in Laos and never recovered. I was sad that you weren’t at our wedding. I realize you weren’t there because we didn’t invite you, but I was sad that we were put in the position to have to even consider leaving you off the guest list, let alone actually do it. I am sad that you weren’t around when Leland learned how to ride the Harley and I am sad that Leland and Edward haven’t been able to go on a ride together.

Two years is a long time to miss. If this phone call doesn’t go well and you and Leland don’t figure out a way to work this out, know that Leland will be okay without you. Unlike you, he is surrounded by people who love him. His life is full of love and joy. And though it may take awhile for him to put all of this behind him, one day it will be behind him and he will stop trying to make things better. He is not alone, he will be okay, and you will have to spend the rest of your life knowing that you gave up on two children.

Sincerely,
Alyson

Babble

It's noon on Monday and I have been at work for 4 hours. So far I haven't done any work. I have been busy working on my office. I moved some filing cabinets, built an extension on to the desk and emptied out a ton of drawers, the contents of which are now covering my desk. I am sqeezing myself in to a tiny little clean area to type this. Hopefully I'll have it all cleaned up by the time I leave today.

Totally unrelated question:
Has anyone seen the movie Mulholland Drive? If so, did you enjoy it? Leland and I watched it yesterday and we weren't terribly impressed. We have been told by tons of people that the movie was really weird and that we just had to see it. So we listened. We both thought the movie was incredibly slow, and after watching for an hour, we decided to watch the rest in fast-forward. It definitely looked weird, and since we fast-forwarded a lot of it, we really don't know what happened, but the ending didn't seem to make any sense and all the random characters didn't seem to fit in anywhere. I thought about keeping the movie to give it another chance but decided against it. I put it in the mail back to Netflix this morning. Hopefully the next movie we get is better.

Tonight I have super exciting plans to make an easy dinner and lay on the couch. I woke up this morning feeling like I am getting sick. My throat is dry and sore, my eyes are all dried out and my nose won't stop running. I'm not totally at the sick point yet, but I feel like it's on its way. Bring on the Vitamin C.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Saturday Morning Randomness

It's 10am and I have already taken a shower, blow dried my hair and went to the local farmers market with my mom. This is huge for me. Usually I am still in bed or laying on the couch at 10am. I like this whole getting up early and actually doing stuff thing. Maybe I'll do it again tomorrow.

Now that I am home, I really need to get some chores done. Leland has to work this morning so I told him he would come home to a clean house. Well, at least it will be cleaner. When he gets home we are going swimming. Summer is winding down and I still have not reached my swimming quota for the summer. Hopefully this weekend will help me get it out of my system.

Last night Leland went out with JD (the socially awkward idiot) and Rachel came over and hung out with me. I don't really know how the boy's enjoyed their night, but Rachel and I had a blast sitting in the driveway and drinking an entire box of wine. I know, super classy, but it was yummy and we had fun.

Off to get some of those chores done. Have a fansmashingtastic weekend.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

My Wolf Pack

While camping this past weekend, it seems all of our conversations came back to forming a wolf pack. If you have seen the movie The Hangover, you know what I'm talking about. If not, the weird character in the movie (every movie has one, right?) constantly talked about forming his wolf pack of buddies who will run with him forever.

Maybe it was because of the obscene amounts of beer bongs we did, or possibly it was all the fresh air going to our heads, but for the most part, all we joked about all weekend was the movie The Hangover and having our own wolf pack.

When we were sitting in the rain on Friday, we were all glad we were huddled together with our wolf pack.

While sitting around the campfire on Friday night, we were glad the entire wolf pack was doing beer bongs.

While peeing in the bushes, we were happy members of the wolf pack were there to keep us from falling over. When I say us, I really mean the women. It's hard to squat and pee after slamming six beers.

On Saturday, we were praising our wolf pack for making breakfast.

The wolf pack was also helping out other members of the pack after most of their camping gear got soaked in the rain.

On Saturday night while skinny dipping in the lake, we solidified our wolf pack. No, we didn't participate in any naked rituals, though I know one member of the wolf pack would have been more than willing.

The wolf pack includes:
Leland: He is the Alpha male. He is the glue to holding the wolf pack together. When we were thinking about moving a year ago, no one was afraid to admit that the pack would fall apart when we left.
Me, aka Yankee Girl, aka Al: I am the Alpha bitch. Though males usually lead wolf packs, everyone knows that I am the one to fear. I'm usually not a scary person, but I can be when one of the pack gets out of line. But mostly I just spend my time taking care of all of them.
Sexy D: He tries to be the loner, but it really doesn't work. His one liners keep us laughing and he is always willing to give anyone a hand and help out in any way. Including helping Leland carry my drunk ass out of the House of Blues a few weeks ago. His "go team" always makes me smile.
Rachel: She's funny, smart and super sassy. She's quick with Fragel Rock references and can quote movie lines better than anyone I know. She will always have my back. She isn't afraid of anything.
JD: He is the comic relief, the Shakespearan fool. He is a self-proclaimed socially awkward idiot and no one disagrees with him. He is generous and caring and would walk through fire for any member of the wolf pack.

I am so lucky to have friends who are totally rad.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I'm Back to the Land of Flush Toilets

I'm back from my camping trip to Buckhorn State Park in Wisconsin. We had a great time that mostly consisted of drinking lots and lots of beer and eating lots and lots of brats.

I signed on to Blogger yesterday and was so overwhelmed with all I missed. I am so out of the loop! I will get caught up this week and visit all of you.

And I will get all of my laundry done.

And I will get the house cleaned.

And I will get all of the camping stuff off of the floor of my garage.

I love taking trips, but I could really do without all the catching up that is necessary after the trip is over. Back to reality, flush toilets (thank goddess) and cell phone service.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

When Life Gives You Lemons....

...make lemonade!

Kathie at MyNetFinds has given me an award!



So, following these rules:

1.) Accept the award; post it on your blog together with the name of the person who’s given it plus his or her blog link.
2.) Pass the award on (or not, if you’d prefer) to other blogs that you’ve recently discovered.
3.) Link to your nominees within your post.
4.) Contact the nominees to let them know they've been chosen for this award.

Because I am awesome at breaking rules, I'm gonna pass this one on to blogs that I really enjoy reading and who tell great stories. So without further adu, I present the Lemonade Stand Award to:

Ever Thine. Ever Mine. Ever Ours.
Baby and Tot Tales
Intense Guy
Life of Lola
Living Different
Mean Girl Garage
Navigating the Quarter Life

On a side note, I rode the Harley to work for the first time! It was super fun, but now I'm having a hard time getting work done because I really just want to take it for a ride!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

And The Award Goes To....

I am always so surprised when fellow bloggers give me awards. It is such an honor to know so many people think I write something worth reading. Thanks to all of you who have passed on awards to me. I have been given three awards that I need to mention and pass on. Since I am not tech savvy at all, it takes me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to copy and paste the awards and figure out how to add links. I know, I suck. But I'm trying.

In any case, I will try to get them all posted and awarded to others before I leave for my camping trip this Thursday. I'm gonna start with the oldest award first.



This award was given to me by two awesome ladies, Mel at Living Different and LuLu at Ever Thine. Ever Mine. Ever Ours. Both of these chicas are fansmashingtastic, have become great friends, and are just a few of the good reasons I use whenever people ask me why I blog. Check them out. They are worth the read.

Here are the rules:

1. “The Honest Scrap” award is not one to hold all to your self but it must be shared!
2. The recipient has to tell 10 true things about themselves in their blog that no one else knows.
3. The recipient has to pass along this prestigious award to 10 more bloggers.
4. Those 10 bloggers all have to be notified they have been given this award.
5. Those 10 bloggers should link back to the blog that awarded them.

So, 10 honest things about myself. I can't say that no one else knows these things, but I am fairly sure these will be new to most people.

1. I have never lived more than 5 minutes away from my family.
2. Chuck Norris was mentioned in my wedding vows...
3. So was Neil Diamond via the "forever in blue jeans" we added to the very end of the vows.
4. I love beer. I like girly, fruity drinks with umbrellas in them, but I love beer. Especially Dos Equis Ambar.
5. I was a cheerleader in high school. And not just any cheerleader, I was the klutz cheerleader. I was the cheerleader who somehow managed to get in the way of the entire football team and got trampled. This led to my first concussion.
6. Speaking of being a klutz, I fall UP the stairs on a fairly regular basis.
7. I make the world's best potato salad.
8. I have a crush on Corey from LA Ink. I would let him tattoo me everywhere.
9. I once cut the head off a dog. Years and years ago while I was working at an animal hospital, a rabies suspect dog came in. AS REQUIRED BY LAW, the dog had to be euthanized and the head had to be cut off and sent to the county for testing. I am an animal lover and never, ever want to do this again. Please, please, please vaccinate your pets.
10. I know every single lyric to American Pie. Every time I hear it I have to stop what I am doing so I can sing and dance to the song.

I've decided to pass this award to a few of the new blogs I have just started reading. Check them out!

Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History

(Dear Diary) Vodka Made Me Do It

Butterflies and Hurricanes

Skinny Bitching

The Dumbest Smart Girl You Know

Wines Constantly

Whisky on the Rocks

Thanks again to Mel and Lulu for this awesome award!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Time Flies




Today is my one year anniversary with Leland. I cannot believe it has been a year. I cannot believe that we have been together for 7 years total. The time has flown by and I have enjoyed every minute. Okay, not every minute. No one enjoys every minute. But I have enjoyed most of them.

Here are a few of the things I have learned in this first year of marriage:

1. Leland is right most of the time. Being the more logical of the two of us, this makes sense. However,

2. Do not, under any circumstances, admit that your partner is usually right. He will use this against you whenever possible.

3. No matter how many times I ask him not to, Leland will boil birdy remains on the stove in an effort to collect its skeleton. Said boiling birdy remains will make my house stink for hours.

4. Even men have "ugly" days. I always thought this was strictly a girl thing, but Leland proved me wrong. Because of his ugly day, I realized how annoying it must be for him when I complain about the way I look. I only had to deal with him on this day for 15 minutes and I wanted to smack him around. I can only imagine how he feels when he spends entire days with me while I'm down on myself. I'm now trying to keep my ugly days to an absolute minimum.

5. Everything is actually ours. Yes, I bought the motorcycle for both of us to use, but I never imagined that he would be the one to get the kudos for it. I know it's silly for me to be jealous whenever anyone tells him how cool it is, but it bothers me sometimes. This whole "what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine thing" is hard to get used to.

6. We can go out and have fun with friends, or take weekend trips, but I always have most fun with Leland when we are home alone, making dinner, drinking wine and dancing in the kitchen.

7. One year ago today, I thought I was celebrating the happiest day of my life. I had no idea that every day we are together would become the happiest day of my life.