4 out of 7

I have exercise four nights this week as opposed to sitting on my butt! That's the most in a long time. My pants may fit for a while after all.

Computer Kitty

This is a picture of Jasper, our computer kitty. He likes to sit in his bed when one of us is using the computer. He likes to watch the monitor when Angelo is playing video games.

Lake Tahoe

We had a fun time on our trip. We drove up in our '66 mustang. This is the longest trip we have ever taken in that car. We went over 600 miles each way in a car that was already 12 years old when Angelo was born. It took us twelve hours each way and cost us $309.81 in gas. The trip up was relatively uneventful - just long. It was really cold the whole weekend and it rained a lot while we were there. Here is Angelo as a cold person...

The cold weather was kinda nice because it was relaxing. We stayed in a hotel right on the waterfront. Here's a picture of Angelo pointing to our room...

We got massages and I found the best scrapbooking store ever up there! It was great. My and mom and I had a hay day. We take this trip every year at this time and go somewhere in California to meet up with other mustang owners that are on the Vintage Mustang Forum. I call these Angelo's "online" friends. We had fun seeing everybody. It was a good time. There were 11 mustangs there so about 25 people.

My parents went on the trip too since they now have an old mustang that actually runs! My dad has about 6 old cars parked in his front yard but this is the first he can actually drive! My dad did all kinds of work on the engine compartment in preparation for the trip. Here he is electrocuting himself or something...

One morning we went and ate breakfast at IHOP. When we were in there someone opened their car door into the driver's side of the mustang causing a giant chip in the paint! This is a very grievous offense. When my husband discovered it all the air left his lungs and his faced turned very red...Son of a...This was not just a chip in his paint, but a chip in his soul. *tear*sniff*

The trip back was rather eventful. We left Sunday morning and it was raining pretty hard. See...

The road out of Tahoe is very curvy. It rained the whole way down and that's when the swearing began (see earlier post). Coming down the mountain we figured out that the window seals leaked. Not just a little, but a lot. Note: Splashing water on a windshield in your garage a couple of times does not simulate an actual rain storm. Water was leaking in through the front windshield and dripping down to the floor boards. This didn't make my husband very happy. So he pulled the car over at one point to get towels out the trunk when he discovered that there was a bigger problem. There was no gas cap affixed to the vehicle. GASP! He came back into the car dripping wet and told me that he had left the gas cap at the gas station in Lake Tahoe! At this point we were an hour down the mountain! So we continued on the civilization and when we got to semi-civilization we starting looking for a Kragen or Napa parts store. We finally found a place where he was able to purchase the following gas cap for $19.77 thus preventing water from running into the gas tank.

This story has a happy ending. We called my parents who were still up in Tahoe and they went and checked at the gas station and were able to recover the missing cap! We made it home just fine after these few incidents. All in all we had a fun adventure!

Alan Greenspan...

...or beloved character actor??? I love this picture on last week's cover of Newsweek!


It made me do a double take. "Who is that on the cover, which actor died?" It looked like one of those trite goodbye covers to me. But no, it's Alan Greenspan, the man who was at one time the most powerful man in America. He's not dead by the way, apparently he's promoting his new book. I can't believe they chose that cover. It's so warm and fuzzy. I love you Grandpa Greenspan.

Uncle Pappy Smear

So today was a day that every woman looks forward to. I got to go visit the doctor for my "woman test." The dreaded pap smear. That phrase is so cacophonous and horrible sounding - so I guess it fits perfectly with the actual procedure! For the record, I do believe that no medical test should contain the word "smear" though, that's just gross. The procedure went as well as can be expected. My knees didn't unexpectedly snap together like a bear trap on the poor nurse like they wanted to so that was good. The "smear test" was administered by a nice nurse named Nancy. Nurse Nancy was very friendly and we actually had quite a jovial conversation considering the circumstances. (She was talking to my nether regions most of the time.) During the other exam (rhymes with freast) we talked about my job and she asked if I had met any famous people in my job and as I was explaining how I had met Will Ferrell while he was filming Anchorman in San Diego I realized Nurse Nancy was feeling me up. I had never associated Will Ferrell with my freasts before but from now on I probably will. So all in all it was a good time. I now count Nurse Nancy as one of my dearest and closest friends. I feel like she knows me so well, perhaps even better than I know myself.

Our Trip to Lake Tahoe!

We got to spend this last weekend in Lake Tahoe for our annual Meet in the Middle Mustang Cruise. We get together with other Mustang owners every year in a different place. This year was in South Lake Tahoe. We had a great time. It was cold and rainy but it was very relaxing. My mom and dad came too with their Mustang.

Tower of Terror

So I gotta tell you about the elevators at work. You never know what's going to happen when riding them. Today one of my co-workers was in an elevator and the elevator refused to go to our floor. He pushed 15 on the panel and the elevator went all the way up to the top floor. So he pushed it again and it sent him careening down to the first floor again. So he pushed all the floors around our floor and it finally let him off on the 12th floor so he had to walk up 3 flights of stairs. The funny thing is that my other co-worker had the very same thing happen to him on Monday! He got out on the 16th floor- lucky. Whenever you're taking a ride in the elevator you have to kinda brace yourself because it stops so fast sometimes. You can always tell the new people who are riding our elevators because they have scared looks on their faces. Not us veterans, we're used to it, it barely phases us anymore. Sometimes it takes forever to catch an elevator. You can hear them rushing by but they won't stop. Sometimes the doors will open and the floor of the elevator will be about 6 inches below the office floor so you have to step out carefully. I have literally seen people jump out of the elevator! I also carry a granola bar in my purse just because I fear that at some point I might be stuck in the elevator and have to wait to be rescued and I know I would get hungry. Luckily, the fire department offices are in our building, that brings me a little comfort. Sometime when I step in the elevator I look around at the people who I am in there with and evaluate whether I would mind being stuck in the elevator with them. That's really weird. We joke that our office is ten minutes from downtown because of the elevator ride.

My competition...

...is a '66 Ford Mustang. My husband loves mustangs, especially the one that lives in our garage. He got it in 2000 and has had lots of fun with it. Like the time he sanded all of the paint off of it just to paint it the same color again (he swears it's a different color). This year's project has been to replace the whole interior. Here is a picture of him replacing the carpet...

And this is a picture of him hurting himself (I don't know what happen.)


Nice...rear bumper.

So this is the thing that takes up a lot of his time. This whole summer he's been working to replace the carpeting which should reduce the amount of mus-stank (that's what I call the engine-y smell that seeps in from the engine compartment), new seats (which are suppose to be more comfortable), headliner, and window seals so that it doesn't leak when it rains which should eliminate the swearing he did whenever that happened. He's done a good job with it. He did all this work in preparation for our trip up to Lake Tahoe to meet up with other old mustang owners. (and by "old" I mean both the cars and their owners.) It should be a fun trip and now much more comfortable.

I don't like sushi...

The building I work in is located in the middle of Downtown San Diego. Today I went out to get some lunch. As I was walking to Quiznos I walked past a homeless man who was sitting on a busy sidewalk hold a sign - "HUNGRY! Can you spare any change for food? God Bless." As I was walking by, a guy had pulled a food carton out of his bag and leaned over to give this homeless person some food. Just as I was thinking how nice that was of the guy, the homeless guy shakes his head and goes, "I don't like sushi, I've tried it and I don't like sushi." The hilarious thing was that the homeless guy was sitting right outside a popular sushi place! Dude, if you don't like sushi maybe you should park yourself down the block at the Wendy's! Apparently he wasn't THAT hungry. What's that saying...beggars can't be choosers...

One of my favorite movie quotes...

is from As Good As It Gets:

"Sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here." I say this quote almost weekly at work. Crazy people make so much more work for the rest of us.

This one's for Janet...

Magic!

So the shoes that were left in the middle of floor on Monday magically appeared on my shoe rack! I have a bad habit of leaving shoes around the house and my husband hates it! Most of the time he just puts them away for me without saying anything. (Most of the time I don't do it on purpose.)

Would You Rather...

So this is a fun game my roommates and I used to play in college. They were playing it this morning on the radio and it brought me back to those good old days. So here are a few for you to answer... (You have to answer one way or the other, there is no "neither" answer.)

Would you rather hit every red light for the rest of your life or pass gas every third time you sneeze?

Would you rather be able to fly or selectively hear people's thoughts?

Would you rather have three eyes (all on your face) or one leg?

Would you rather only eat your favorite food for the rest of your life or never eat it again?

Would you rather marry the love of your life and be with them for one day or marry the second best and spend a lifetime with them?

(Here is my favorite "would you rather" that I ever made up)
Would you rather poop your pants on a date or throw up on your date?

Headbands for Airbands

So yesterday was an irritating day. As many of you know I work with the young women's program in my church. Yesterday perfectly exemplifies the weird things I do for this calling. We have been asked to put on an "airband" for the youth conference this coming weekend. So I got off of work an hour early to pick some stuff up for some simple costumes that I was putting together. I went to Michael's craft store and found most of what I needed rather quickly. The only thing they didn't have were plastic headbands. What the freak? It's a craft store - I think that is an item they should carry! So I went on a mission to find some bulk headbands (I needed 20 of them at a decent price.) So I ended up going to like six different stores! I had come straight from work and was wearing some high heel shoes. Big mistake. So long story short it took me over 3 hours to find some stupid headbands. By this time my feet hurt so bad. I was sure that when I removed my shoes I would find that at least two of my toes had worn off. And these were my comfortable shoes! I have decided that you just can't walk in "pretty shoes" for long periods of time. You must wear them on days when you will only be participating in short bursts of walking - not for marathon headband finding missions. By the time I got home I was in a foul mood and had a monster headache. So here is a picture of my poor shoes which are still laying in the middle of the floor 24 hours later.

I despise you shoes!

Here is a picture of what I made with the stupid headbands. It took me over 3 hours to track down headbands and about an hour to make 20 horns and halos. Go figure.

One year ago today...

Exactly one year ago today Angelo and I were wandering the streets of Torino, Italy. Our feet were hurting but it was okay considering the circumstances. I am almost done with the scrapbook from our trip. It has been so fun to make. I can't believe it has been a whole year!

9:11

So I slept in a little this morning and when I rolled over to look at the clock it said 9:11. I always seem to catch that time on the clock. This morning it was kinda weird though.

My Superman

So Angelo got some new glasses today. What do ya think? We're calling them his Clark Kent glasses.

TAEBO with Brother H., ahh, I mean, Billy Blanks

So I have been trying to ignore the fact that my pants have been getting harder and harder to zip up. The way I look at weight gain is that you aren't in trouble until you have to buy the next size bigger pants. Unfortunately that means that the pants I am currently wearing are screaming for relief from my thunderous thighs and backside. (The good thing is Dr. Oz from Oprah says that the dangerous fat is in your stomach, so I guess I have the "good" fat, and a lot of it.) So now I need to start exercising so I don't have to buy new pants. Actually I have been at that point for a while now. Two summers ago I reached this point and I went on Oprah's "Total Body Makeover" plan and I lost over 15 pounds. That was really good. I felt good too. Then I let the exercise regime go and I have now re-inflated to my size 2 summers ago plus a little more I think. Not so good. About 6 months ago as I was laying in my bed trying to go to sleep I felt my backfat roll touch another part of my back. That is not a good feeling. I giggled a little when it happen and then "cried myself to sleep on my huge pillah." I have been in denial for a while now but I have to commit. If not for me, then for my poor pants. So this week I started exercising again. I do aerobic with my TV. Today I decided to bust out one of my aerobic DVDs and I picked out TAEBO. So I put the DVD in and began my workout. Now Jen has already made this observation but it came rushing back to me as I was trying to throw my leg in the air. Billy Blanks has an uncanny resemblance to a member of our bishopric! (8th warders you know who I'm talkin' about!) So during the whole workout I couldn't stop laughing. To be honest I think it helped my abs get a better workout though.

Billy Blanks or Brother H.? It is uncanny.

(Seriously, this is a picture of Billy Blanks from the internet.)

Pear Early Month

So for lunch today I had panda express. Yum! As I was eating my fortune cookie I noticed it was a tad chewier than normal. When I pulled the fortune from the uneaten second half of the cookie I realized that I had consumed half of the fortune! More fiber! Sadly I will never know what my fortune was to be. All I was left with was this cryptic message about possibly having a pear early this month.

How old am I? That's right 12.

Here is one of my "cheezburger" pics. No, I am am not above using bodily functions as a punchline.

Cheezburgers

So I have discovered a website that I am totally amused by. It is the "I Can Has Cheezburger" site which is listed under my favorite sites. It posts pictures of animals (mostly cats) with funny captions. So Angelo and I amuse ourselves by creating and emailing these "cheezburger" pictures, using pics of our own cats, to each other during our workday. Here is a good one Angelo did:

Warm wishes...

So last night as I was putting postage stamps on some of my bills I realized that the gas and electric company was going to be receiving an envelope with a bright and cheerful Disney themed stamp afixed. All I could think was - Why? Why am I sending such warm greetings to a company that charges me way too much money to turn on my lights!? So no more! From now on when the postal representative asks me which stamps I want I will proudly say - "Give me the ones with the boxer!" Take that gas and electric company!

Potty Breaks

I have a strange relationship with the bathroom at work. It is a public bathroom with three stalls in it but the only people who use it are the 10 or so women who work on our floor. So often times I go to the bathroom and enjoy the peace and tranquility of being alone and the luxury of no one being able to call or interrupt me what with the stall door separating me from the toils of the outside world. So sometimes I linger a little longer than is necessary. Some people take smoking breaks, I take potty breaks. So just now I was sitting enjoy the quiet when the lights went out. The lights are on a motion detector sensor which is suppose to know when someone is using the facility. If no movement is detected for a certain amount of time it shuts off the lights. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened to me. So I sat there in disbelief for a few moments as I always do. (Somehow offended that the light didn't remember that I was still in here.) Then comes the inevitable flailing of the arms. If that doesn't work then I feel for the latch and open and slam the door to the stall and that usually will turn them back on. Well that didn't work this time. So I slammed the door a few times thinking that the vibration will surely trigger the motion detector. That didn't work. Thinking about that now I am lucky the door didn't fling back and smack me in the face! So anyway I had to get up, open the door, and waddle toward the sensor. (All in the dark mind you.) Once the lights were back on I hurried back to my stall. Sanctuary!

Here we go with the cats...

Here is a picture from this weekend. It was the hottest weekend this year. Luckily we have air conditioning but apparently it was just too much for the cats. What a life!

Everyone else is doing it so why not me?

So I have succumbed to the pressure. I have really enjoyed looking at friend's and family member's blogs so I figured - why not join the club? So here I go. My life isn't that interesting so get ready for a lot of pictures of my cats.