When you ignore something long enough...

I love it when you ignore something long enough that it actually fixes itself!

Our refrigerator is one that has an ice and water dispenser on the door. A few weeks ... okay, like, two months ago ... the water dispenser went on the fritz. The light indicating you had selected the water to dispense would go on and off. Sometimes it would be on, you'd put a glass under to get water, and it would disappear, and no water would come out. After a few days of this, the green light indicating it was working properly disappeared all together.

Because I don't have a wife to take care of such things, I ignored it. Just for a day or two, I reasoned, until I had the time to deal with it.

Then I went to Phoenix, then Vegas, then Michigan, then Dallas, then Jackson Hole, then Kalispell, then Dallas, then Emerald Isle... and, well, you're getting the idea.

In my defense, I did get out the refigerator instruction manual and try several of the "trouble shooting" suggestions. I changed the water filter. I held down all the buttons or 20 seconds to try to reset. I emptied and cleaned the ice dispenser. So, see, I did something.

But I just hadn't gotten around to calling a repair person. (In general, I don't like calling repair people. Mostly because they intimidate me. They're, as a rule, smarter than me. And they make me feel really dumb for having to call them for relatively small tasks that I have just no clue about.)

Then, this morning...

The green light reappeared! I saw it when I first went into the kitchen this morning. But I just ignored the green light. I didn't want to fall for its teasing! If I put a glass under, and it disappeared without water - well, I didn't want it to ruin my mood since I was headed out for a jog.

But, just now... well, I put a glass in the door.

WATER!!!

I even tempted fate. I hit the button for ice.

ICE!!!!

Wait, wait. Can I get water again? Hit the button for water, and...

WATER!!!

OMG! I succesfully ignored a problem so long that it fixed itself! My luck has changed!!

Now, if only the diswasher would follow suit...

An exhausting Saturday!

Walked 18 with Mike and Jason this morning on the Medal of Honor course at Quanitico. I'm not a Marine. Therefore, I do not think I was intended to play this course.

I swear, we walked all 18 holes UP HILL the entire time. It was exhausting! But, I played well. For me, at least!

Had lunch at the Hernandez's (fantastic burgers, crunchy salad, corn on the cobb and - of course - an amazing desert! Apple bunt cake with homemade caramel sauce!).

David and Lauren are back and picked up Sadie, and so now Goldie is, of course, sleeping. I think it'll be an early night for me, too.

Delicious

I try to treat myself well.



So when I found out that I would be home alone tonight (Mike's got a fantasy football draft), I started planning. I planned a lovely date with myself (and the two dogs). And, if I do say so myself, it's going along beautifully.



I've cooked myself one of my new favorite meals to make, which is a spin on a Cobb salad. Okay, there's not much "Cobb" about it.



But let me back up. First, my appetizer:




Then, my entree salad:




It's Boston Bibb lettuce with a red wine vinegar dressing, sauteed onions, roasted corn, and bacon inside an avocado that I've baked with Parmesan cheese on top. I've added some salmon on top, too.

Add some Pinot Grigio, and it was quite a lovely dinner if I do say so myself!

MMMMMmmmm is pretty much the only way to describe it!

Finally, just because the last picture went over so well, here's another of the girls going to bed last night:

Knock on wood

Sssshhhh... the world must not know that I'm awake yet today. Nothing bad has happened this morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I do want to take a moment to thank all of you that have written to me with your stories of dealing with cockroaches. I find it hysterical that none of you would post them as comments, because you didn't want others to know you had cockroaches in your house at some point. So even though the evidence isn't up here on the blog, it's good to know I'm not alone!

Other people's stupidity

Can you see the signs on some of the objects in this store? They say, 'For Sale.' But it's a retail store. Isn't everything for sale? Making fun of this makes me feel better. :-)

Playing in sprinklers

OMG! This is not my week of mornings! Let's recap:

Tuesday: dog puke

Wednesday: cockroaches

Thursday: sprinklers

As I write this, I'm sitting at my desk with wet pants. Not just damp. Soaking wet, from the knee down. Wet shoes, too.

Is it too early to spike my coffee?

Here's what happened: We have the exterminator coming today. We also have David and Lauren's dog, Sadie, while they are on vacation. I come up with the idea to drop the dogs off at David and Lauren's on my way into work so they aren't there while the pest control is happening. Then I can pick them back up on my way home. Sounds good in theory, right?

So I get the dogs and drive to their house. Interesting fact - it's raining. Also interesting fact - I'm afraid of alarm systems. This is relevant here, because all morning while getting dressed, I'd been asking Mike, "what's their code again? Do I hit anything after I punch in the numbers? How about when I leave? How do I know if I didn't get it in time?"

So I'm a little worked up anyway.

I pull into the driveway, and leave the dogs in the car to open up the front door and deal with The Alarm. While I'm playing with the key in the door... wait for it... the freakin' sprinkler system comes on. And the freakin' sprinkler sprays right. at. the. door. Where. I'm. standing.

The key is stuck, I'm freaked about the alarm, and I'm standing in a steady stream of water!!

I swear, where were the cameras?

I finally get the door open, and the alarm doesn't go off. Now I'm really freaked out. Is it a silent alarm? If it's a silent alarm, how do I know if I disarmed it? OMG, is someone in the house right now? Why the F&%# am I wet!!??!!

I take a deep breath and try to think rationally. (Which is hard to do, by the way, at 7 a.m. in the morning, before coffee, when you're wet in your work clothes.) I can hear their bird chirping, which means they probably have a neighbor coming over to feed it. So the neighbor probably also has a fear of The Alarm, and just didn't turn it back on.

Okay, that's dealt with. Shoot. The dogs are still in the car. Out in the car, beyond The Sprinkler. I stand inside the glass door looking at The Sprinkler. I have to go through it to get the dogs, go through it to bring the dogs in the house, and go through it to get back to the car to get to work.

OMG! This is so totally not my week!

At least the sprnkler was a rotating one, so I could time running out of and back into and out of again, the house. Dogs finally get safely inside.

Now I have to decide if I turn The Alarm back on. It wasn't on when I came in. What if it was never set, so the neighbor wouldn't have to deal with it? If I set it, what if the neighbor doesn't know the code? F&%#. This is totally not my week.

I'm finally in the office now, with wet pants. I decided that after this morning - and week - I totally deserved to treat myself to a bagel with peanut butter and a really big coffee:

Sigh. I'm afraid of what's in store for tomorrow morning.

Do I really want to tell you this?

There's a reason I haven't posted yet today. I'm not sure I want to tell you all this.

It's a little embarrassing.

It's a lot embarrassing.

I'm afraid it'll make you think less of me.

But I suppose I need to be candid with you. You all know I'm not perfect anyway. (You didn't know that? Okay, just kidding. I am perfect. This must be someone else's fault.)

My house has cockroaches. Two of them.

I promise, I'm not a bad homeowner! I clean the house every week!

(Okay, so it's not me that cleans the house every week. But that's just a technicality. That the house gets clean is the main point here.)

Our houseguest came down this morning to report the sighting of two roaches in his room. EEEEWWWWW.

And since, after this houseguest leaves, we have another one staying with us in September, I need to take care of said roaches. Wouldn't want the Better Business Bureau citing my new B&B for pests, now would I?

So I scheduled Terminex. Not just to come out and spray. Oh, no. I signed up for a YEAR'S worth of pest control. They're going to come every three months to search out these suckers. In no way do I think this is over the top. I mean, this could be a fluke, random two cockroaches. OR, it could be mommy and daddy with babies waiting in the wings!! EEEEEEWWWWW.

The morning got even better when we were driving to work, and I noticed a big chip in one of the car door windows. Probably happened on the drive back from the beach last week.

So all in all, it was a spectacular morning! Hey, at least there was no dog puke!

Scientific explaination for the love of bacon

In the second installment of "does this count as a post from Mike?" he called me excitedly just now to tell me about this study: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26391940/.

Before you even click on the link, here's the lead sentence:
"Adults who struggle with a sweet tooth or battle a lifelong craving for bacon may have something more than weak willpower to blame — at least those with a history of chronic childhood ear infections. "

Sweet tooth and bacon. In one sentence. Good Lord.

Miscellaneous

Enough about the beach already!!

Spent the weekend decompressing from "vacation," catching up on house stuff, and visiting with friends. Met Joe and Jess for dinner on Saturday night, and we heard all his stories of his night spent on an aircraft carrier. Yes, you read that correctly - an aircraft carrier.

He got to go out on the USS Eisenhower, complete with flying on and off it, eating with the crew and officers, touring the whole place, and watching flight operations. He told us tons of stories, all of which were just amazing! Here's a taste from an e-mail he sent out, with some video clips:

"We saw flight operations form a number of different vantage points, including what seemed like way too close for a civilian. Watching planes get shot off a deck from up close is an amazing thing. It’s loud, hot and frenetic. At least to me, it looked like there were people running in all directions doing all sorts of things. Of course, I learned this was a well-scripted ballet that every member of the team takes incredibly seriously. There is no joking around on that deck, because multi-million jets—oh and human life—are at stake. Here are videos of a launching <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_NY1Utwxc0> , from another angle <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnLl8ovfFzg> , and a landing <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N_rZfYjY2Q> . "

In other news, I had a rough start this morning. We're watching David and Lauren's dog, Sadie for two weeks, and I woke up this morning to the sound of her puking on my bedroom floor.

[RELAX, Lauren, she's fine. Threw up once, but was completely fine and peppy once I took her outside, and she ate all her breakfast.]

All in all, it's not a huge deal - it happens, right? Dogs, babies, heck, I've cleaned up many a roommate's puke in college. There's no hard feelings - I know the dog would rather not be throwing up, too.

Still... [said with all the love I can muster because I know Lauren's reading this]... this dog barks at everything. A door opens, she barks. A car drives by, she barks. You cross your legs watching TV, she barks.

And Sadie has no problem telling you she needs to go out. She's always running up to the door and scratching at it. (This, I actually find to be a good trait.)

Both of those examples to say - the girl knows what she wants and needs and asks for it.

So, I couldn't have gotten a little warning that she was going to puke this morning?? Since when has Sadie suffered in silence?

(Sigh) I'll just have some more coffee. And I'll post this cute picture so you know that I'm not really mad at the dog.

(by the way... that's the very first picture taken with my new camera!!)

My gold medal

I've been waiting for this photo from Amy to blog about my gold medal.

Elizabeth, in honor of the summer Olympics, was giving out medals all week. She gave them out for winning games in the pool, or to Aidan for his birthday.

I received one on Sunday night for cooking. It cracked me up.

And there are tons more beach photos! I know some of you might be interested, so...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=epdoz7z.7uuglk0j&x=0&y=pl4phb&localeid=en_US

Beach photos

Thanks to Aunt Rita for the photos from the beach!


(Good news! I got a camera today! I supposed I moaned enough - don't kid yourselves, Mike didn't read the blog to get the hints, I had to just ask and ask and ask! Bought one today, and, are you ready for it... it's red! Tee hee hee! Of course, since I got a camera, Mike somehow conned me into agreeing that Madden '09 should be purchased on the joint budget. I know I was had. But, sometimes you've just gotta let it go. Did I mention the camera is red?)


Beach photos...

Here's Terry handing out the Repsychled t-shirts:

Samantha modeling her's:

The entire family:

The "artistic" photo:

Patrick and Samantha in the hot tub:

Tim and Katheryn:

Katheryn:

Dinner:

More photos to come when Amy sends her's! And next year I'll be able to take my own!

Emily Post would be proud

In my living room, there are three books on the coffee table between two bookends. There are only these three books - no others are stacked on other living room end tables or cabinets.

That shows you how important these three books are to me.

One is a picture album of my recent trip to Italy.

The second is The Bible.

And the third is Emily Posts's Etiquette book. Not sure which edition, but it's been thumbed through for about seven years now.

The last one is essential in my life. I consult it on presents, on hosting a dinner party, on conversation guidelines. Everything.

So naturally, last fall, when a friend told me she'd been invited to a very shee-shee wedding, but was confused because there was no RSVP reply card in the invitation, I went straight to Ms. Post. And found to my delight that very proper wedding invitations do not include a pre-printed reply card (I won't tell you her thoughts on asking people's choice of entree!). Instead, one should hand write a reply back to the host of the wedding, giving your intent to attend or decline in the third person.

Here's an example:

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Smith

invite you to the wedding of their daughter

Jane Smith

to

John Doe

the 11th of October, 2003

at 5 o'clock in the evening

What you're supposed to write back is:

Mr. and Mrs. Michael and Maureen Petron accept with pleasure the kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Smith to attend their daughter's wedding on October 11, 2003.

As you can see, I was giddy with finding out this etiquette tidbit. A little upset that I didn't know it before my wedding (I had both a reply card, and I asked for choice of entree!), but excited to know the proper thing to do in case I was ever invited to a fancy enough occasion where there wasn't a reply card.

Yesterday, the day came!

In my "box" on our home desk, sat an invitation to a wedding reception in Nashville. The envelope was open, and inside was only an invitation and a directions slip. I was thrilled! I knew we were planning on attending the event, and now had a reason to show off that I was in the know on how to respond!

So I took out a piece of personalized stationary, and penned a response. Smiled the entire way to the mailbox.

Then last night I told Mike how excited I was that I was able to use my proper etiquette on the response!

(Is anyone yet seeing where this is going?)

To which he replied, "What are you talking about? I sent in the reply card to that wedding weeks ago. I was just tired of it being in my box on the desk, so I put it in yours."

What!?!? Let me count the things wrong with this situation!!

1. Mike replied to a wedding invitation?? Since when does he do things like that??

2. The invitation ended up in my box because he wanted to clean out his... by filling up mine??

But SSSOOO the worst:

3. We already replied to this wedding and now I sent a silly note in the third person that's going to make NO SENSE to the hosts whatsoever??? They're going to get my note and think I'm crazy!!

Ms. Post might be proud, but I'm just embarrassed!

The end of the summer?

I'm back from the beach. And that poses a bit of a problem.


See, way back in June when I started this blog, I said its mission was to keep you up to date on our summer travels. I even listed the trips out, starting with Minneapolis and ending with Emerald Isle beach.


And now I'm back from the beach.


So, that's it, right? Does that mean the Anticipated Best Summer Ever is over? Do I need to make a determination right now as to whether this actually was the Best Summer Ever? (OMG, so totally) Does it not matter that a mere two days after Labor Day I'm headed to Chicago? Then Nashville a week after that? Then back to Chicago and to Las Vegas before September is complete? Don't you want to hear about those trips, too?


Should I say The Anticipated Best Summer Ever refers to the weather and not dates, since it's still hot in Washington, D.C., in September? Should I start a new blog and risk losing the Luddites who worked so hard just to find and follow this one?


Not a chance.


I am thrilled and ecstatic and honored that so many of you read these posts. Even those of you who don't leave comments, and just lurk through the blog as a reader. That's okay! Thank you for reading, and thank you for caring!


So for you (Really, it has nothing to do with me, or my ego. It's for you.), the blog will continue. And Mr. Webster himself has provided the perfect reason why.


Look it up. "Summer" that is. Of course it's a season. But it's so much more.

Summer is also "any period of growth, development, fulfillment, or perfection."

If that doesn't sum up what the past three months have been for me, I'm not sure what could. I started out this "summer" with the commitment to throw caution to the wind. To be more spontaneous. To say "yes" to opportunities that didn't fit my normal m-o.

This summer's Mo decided it was time to grow, develop, dig deep inside and decide how to be. Who to be.

This summer's Mo found that she really, really liked who she discovered.

And that, my friends, is not over. That "summer" is not book-ended by particular trips. That "summer" doesn't even need the trips to continue. It just needs an open mind, and an open heart.

It just needs a chance to continue to grow and develop.

Because heaven - all all the people there within - knows I haven't reached that perfection part yet.

Repsychled

Back in the car, on our way from Emerald Ilse, NC, to Alexandria, Va. The trip should take about six hours.

We had a great time at the beach, loved seeing the kids and how much they've grown! Elizabeth is so mature at seven! She loved playing mom to Katheryn and Samantha! Unfortunately we didn't get to see too much of Samantha (and Patricia and Aunt Rita), since they didn't get in until about 4 p.m. yesterday.

But that was one night where all five siblings were together! Terry had a great surprise in store, with the revival of the "psyched" t-shirts. The psyched t-shirts started back in 1993, right after Terry graduated from college. He had a big weekend-long party at our house in Orefield, with my parents playing host. When each of his friends called to get directions, they all told my dad how "psyched" they were to come.

So my dad had t-shirts made up saying "Psyched in Orefield." When the party happened again the next summer, it was "Psyched 2." The parties and t-shirts continued through "the drive for five."

Now that we seem to be setting our own annual beach trip and party, Terry had t-shirts for us all made up: Repsychled.

!!!

Fantastic. We put them all on last night and got some photos on the beach. As soon as Aunt Rita e-mails me the photos from her camera (another hint, hint to my husband that I need a camera), I'll post it up.

I'll have more posts about the beach to come, when I get photos from everyone. My camera gave you a taste of it, but there's more to come!

"Favorites"

I snuck up behind Mike and Elizabeth, playing "favorites." As in, "what"s your favorite color? What's your favorite thing to wear? What's your favorite movie?" Evidently they were at it for about 40 minutes! This photo is taken through the glass door - they are out on the porch.

Then Samantha joined in the fun.

Cool dudes

I hope you don't all mind these quick photo posts! This is Terry and Francis.

Katheryn

They aren't all this good!

kickball before dinner

Half the people in this picture are supposed to be grilling. Hope my chicken isn't burning!

Morning in Emerald Isle

Don't tell the kids that Aunt Maureen snuck out on the deck with her coffee!

Beach detour

Starting the beach trip with a round of golf. With all the golf I've played this summer, you'd think I'd be better!

Road trip

Good morning!

It's 6:23 a.m. on Saturday, and we are an hour and 23 minutes into our trip to the beach! We're on I-95 South, driving through Richmond, Va. Only 244 more miles to go!

Lots of cars on the road, but it's not slowing us down yet.

In case my siblings decide to read this post, you'll appreciate this... I woke Mike up this morning with an ode to Aidan: "when are we going to the beach, can we go to the beach, are you going to the beach, will you take me to the beach, when are we going to the beach, can you point to the time on the clock we're going to the beach, when are we going to the beach...?"

We miss you

Brakes on a plane

I need to back up a few days for this story. I realize I Twittered about this. I Facebooked it. But I didn't Blog it. Can't you people keep up?

I flew back from Dallas on Wednesday morning, scheduled to arrive at Reagan National Airport (DCA) at 1:15 p.m. Only about an hour into the flight, the pilot came on the intercom to inform us that the plane was being rerouted to Dulles airport, about 45 minutes from Reagan.

He even explained why we needed to be rerouted. It seems an indicator light on the plane's braking system showed that the brakes weren't working at full capacity. And anyone who's flown into Reagan before knows that the runway is only about a mile long, and that the pilot must slam on the brakes as soon as he hits the ground in order to keep from rolling into the Potomac River.

So when the pilot tells you the brakes don't work properly, and there's a chance we'd all be swimming if we continued on to Reagan, you don't really argue with the man.

We landed at Dulles, I took a cab to Reagan, where my car was parked, and got home at just about 3 p.m.!

Anticipating the beach

I'm back in DC, at the office today. So that means nothing fun and exciting to blog about! Instead, I'll anticipate the weekend...!

Driving to Emerald Isle, NC, on Saturday morning for the Fleming Family beach trip! We'll stay from Saturday morning until Wednesday morning. Not a full week, but, believe me, a few days with all five Fleming siblings, three spouses, their six kids, two aunts, some in-laws, and a baby-sitter or two, and that's all you need.



Case in point:



(BTW, I love this photo - I think it's hysterical. Some people say Mike looks mad. I don't think so! I think he looks exhausted. But I love the kids - Francis and Elizabeth are so completely comfortable, probably watching an afternoon video. No one is paying attention to anyone else in the photo, they are all just ... being. I love it!)

Okay, back to this year's trip. Here's where we'll be staying:




You can read the house's description here.

Sara's done a spectacular job of assigning rooms, and keeping track of who's staying, when. I love that we have our own pool. I'm not a huge beach person (I'd much rather be in a spot like my banner photo... on a deck in the middle of the woods, near a lake ... instead of on the sand.)

Probably two rounds of golf while we're down there - one before we even arrive at the house on Saturday, and one with Terry, Sara and Frank on Tuesday.

Can't wait to see all the kids ! I hope Amy brings her camera like last year and captures the week so spectacularly again! (most of the photos on this blog were taken with my work camera that I "borrowed." But it's being used for a legitimate work usage now, so I can't take it with me. Too bad my husband doesn't read this blog to see the big fat hint that I want a camera. Sigh.)

Okay, that's a brief teaser on the upcoming trip! I'll post more about the preparations tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Happy 30th Birthday to Mike!!

Previous post, explained

I'm in Dallas. Having dinner solo at Brio, but OUTSIDE. In AUGUST. In TEXAS. (that should be reason enough for a blog post, right?)

Arrived after a long day in our Dallas office, doing more filming for the marking video I've posted about before, and some meetings. Arrived starving. And as you know, that's never a good state for me.

I let my waiter know (very nicely I'm sure) that I was starving. (It took a while between being seated and him coming with the menu. Like, a full two minutes.) The meal was delicious, which probably anything would have been at that point.

Only bad part about this story is that the waiter insisted on calling me "ma'am." In my book, I've got at least until November to be called "ma'am." I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, at one point, I was slowing down eating. Oh, I'm also on my laptop the entire dinner. So, I slow down eating, and he says, "can I clear that for you?" To which I respond, "NO!... I mean, um, I'm still eating."

I was hungry.

So, I finish eating, and order more wine. I am by myself, afterall, and have nothing else to do with the evening!

He brings the wine. Then, a few minutes later, he brings this little cappuccino cup filled with something. He sets it down, and says, "I thought I'd bring this for you. It's an orange creme brule. It's a little sweet. Because you looked sweet."

I. SWEAR. TO. GOD.

This kind of thing doesn't happen to me, so I thought all of you should know about it. It's probably going to end up being a highlight of the summer! Ha!

What would you do for a good tip?

See the post to follow for why this picture is hysterical!

Dessert, part 2

Eating the delicious dessert described below!

Dessert!

Chocolate peanut butter brownie, with four scoops of peanut butter ice cream, three scoops of vanilla ice cream, gooey chocolate pecan sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. Mmmmm...

Giddiness ensues!

Posting from my new laptop! Yippee!!

Hey, I know it's not the biggest news in the world, but if you wanted the biggest news in the world, you'd be reading the New York Times right now, and not some silly blog by me. This is just the biggest news in my world right now!

It's a Lenovo Thinkpad x61s.

And that picture... actual size!!!

Okay, not really, but pretty darn close to actual size. Yeah!

And in separate news of the day - cross your fingers for Mike. His application to sit for the CPA exam in Virginia was accepted. Now he just has to study (he doesn't quite feel the undergraduate level classes taken at Northern Virginia Community College prepared him enough!), and then take a whole bunch of really hard tests over the next year. Piece of cake!

Last post ever...

... from my current laptop!!

(Had you worried, didn't I? I know how much you've all come to love and depend The Anticipated Best Summer Ever. Seriously.)

Headed to Dallas bright and early tomorrow morning - actually, just early. It won't even be bright by the time the plane takes off at 6 a.m. And while I'm there, I'll get my new laptop!! Yah!

The new laptop was pretty much in the works for a while now, but then real movement came when I got the virus in July. Since then, my computer is so sssslllllloooowww. When I try to get online, it's like I have dial-up, it's that bad.

But tomorrow I pick up my new one! And you know what that mean? I need a fabulous new bag to carry around the new laptop! I have one in mind, and am going to go visit it tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if I walked away with it!

Golfed this morning with Mike, Jason and David at Cannon Ridge. Really hard course. So hard, it took a bit of the fun out of it! But good company makes up for that.

Just a short post tonight - I've got to pack for said trip to Dallas! More tomorrow from my wonderful new laptop!!!

True colors

Because some people have expressed concern that with my golfing, gun shooting, and mid-West travel this summer I am getting dangerously close to being considered a conservative, I offer:

http://www.editrix.us/2008/08/lesson-learned.html

It's funny, even if you are a conservative. Not funny if you actually like government bureaucracy.

You know you're paying someone too much when...

I had a golf lesson last night. (Not that you asked, but the golf lessons are going well. I have this problem where I'm hitting everything to the right. So last night we mainly just worked on that. Not entirely successful in the work, but improvement. I am a little upset at my new clubs, though. I don't think they are living up to their potential, and that disappoints me. If they'd just put a little more effort into it, I know we could be fabulous together.)

So, I had a golf lesson. I really like my instructor. He does have a tendency to give me too many things to work on at once, and we all know I'm not smart enough to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. But, he's patient and encouraging and knows what he's talking about.


Let's call him Patrick, because, well, that's his name.


So Patrick tells me a story about his personal life last night. He's lamenting, because he just yesterday bought his wife a new car. But she was driving today to Hilton Head to meet up with her family. And instead of taking her new car, she was taking his new car.


Because his is a Porsche.


(I don't actually know that this is the car he bought, but pictures make blogs so much more enjoyable.)


Let me stop you there - I know there are holes in this story. What kind of car did she get? What kind of Porsche does he have? Is her car not up to par (hardy, har, har) with his?


But forget those questions. Let's instead focus on - why is my golf instructor telling me about his two brand-new cars, one of which is a Porsche? How lucrative are private golf lessons if he's buying two new cars, one of which is a Porsche? Am I paying too much here?


(Disclaimer: I really am a nice person - I don't hold him purchasing the luxury vehicles [you have to assume her's is luxury, right? How could a woman let her husband get a Porsche and not get a luxury vehicle herself?] against him. Golf instruction is actually his second job, so clearly he works hard for his income. It sounds like a nice treat to himself. What I find amusing in the whole story is him telling me about it. When someone's making a commission off a service he's giving me, you'd think he'd keep how much money he was pulling out of my pockets on the D-L, instead of dangling it in my face!)

And an unrelated closer... it's Friday! A few more hours, and I'll be done with a boring week in which I spent all five work days at my desk! Yah!

Does this count as a post from Mike?

He just e-mailed me this:

http://incredimazing.com/page/Bacon_Flowchart

Just the link, nothing else in the e-mail. Because it speaks for itself.

Fashion advice from my husband

I know I'm not quite as fashionable as some of my girlfriends. And I know that I could be just a bit more fashionable with unlimited resources - but when you have to make do with styles several seasons old, well, you just make do.

It's also getting to the end of the summer, which means every time I walk into my closet, I feel like I've worn the same things over and over and over, and absolutely nothing appeals to me.

So like many of you, I try some new combinations, pull out an old shirt and see if a different belt or jewelry can bring it into 2008.

This morning I failed miserably. How miserably? So miserably that Mike - in all his fashion-forwardness - told me I looked like I belonged on a ranch in Wyoming.

And that's not the most upsetting part of the story. The most upsetting part is that he liked it. Didn't want me to change. Thought I wouldn't change, even after he said the phrase, "you look like you belong on a ranch in Wyoming."

For the record, because you may be confused - while this summer, I have, in fact, been on a ranch in Wyoming, on this particular morning, that's not where I was headed. Instead, I was headed for my downtown office in Washington, D.C. And even when I was on said ranch in Wyoming, on a horse no less, I was still in designer jeans and a polo shirt that complimented my eyes, thank you very much. I hope you can begin to see why I didn't take "you look like you belong on a ranch in Wyoming," as a compliment.

And if you can't see that - find another blog to read.

(Again, in full disclosure, I admit the outfit wasn't my finest. Khakis that are just a touch baggy, a button-down blouse with blue and yellow checks, brown belt and brown heals.)

Calm down - I took it off!

Back to this morning. The scene went like this: I get dressed in the closet, and walk out just as Mike walks out of the bathroom. He sees me, says The Phrase, and I swing on my heals and walk back into the closet without comment. Just like that - no time to think it over - I knew immediately that I must change.

This, of course, upset Mike. Because he quickly follows up with, "but I like that outfit!"

I start picking through clothes.

He says, "But why won't you leave it on if I like it?"

I pull out another pair of pants.

"You tell me what to wear!"

I roll my eyes. It's 6:40 a.m., no coffee yet. Do we really need to discuss that I don't pull out outfits that make him look like he's headed to a ranch in Wyoming? That, in general, it's just a given that at any particular moment, I'll pull out a better outfit for him than he would have otherwise picked out himself? Do we need to point out that he still has flannel shirts and jean shorts in his drawers?

Case closed.

I changed. I came to work. I'm online shopping.

There's going to be an incident

I'm about to kill this woman.

Either that, or my dog's gonna kill her dog. And I don't mean that in a cute "my baby's tougher than your baby" bumper sticker kind of way. I mean, my dog is literally going to bite the head off this other dog.

Let me back up. Many of you know my adorable Labrador retriever, Goldie. Here she is:




Look how lazy! Look how cute! Look how she'd really not be bothered from her naps, except to eat!

But, that's when she's around people. Around other animals... well, let's just say she's not a dog's dog.

In fact, Goldie pretty much hates other dogs. She doesn't hate her cousin, Sadie, but I think that has a lot to do with Sadie always leaving uneaten food lying around that Goldie can then eat. (Just kidding, Lauren. Goldie loves Sadie because Sadie is a wonderful animal.)

So other than Sadie, I'm not really sure Goldie has other dog friends. She'd rather not be bothered. (oh! wait! Basset Hounds! Goldie has a fascination with basset hounds. Kind of like a guy saying he prefers blonds. Goldie prefers basset hounds).

That's why I keep Goldie on a leash at all times. We gave up on the dog park a long time ago. On walks, I cross the street when we see other dogs. When I'm out front, washing the car or planting flowers, I tie her up to a tree. I just don't want to take my chances.

So there's this dumb, crazy, idiot of a woman that lives up the street from me. Not in my little community, but the one next to ours. She walks her two dogs down South Early and lets them do their business on our common areas. (Strike number one against her.) For years now, she has let her dogs walk without a leash.

Actually, they have leashes, she just lets go of them so they drag on the ground.

On numerous occasions, when Goldie and I have been out front, they've run up my street and onto my driveway, sending Goldie in a tizzy. I've asked the woman several times to keep them on a leash, because Goldie just might hurt them. She looks at me blankly, and usually squeaks out, "oh. okay."

Just recently, she's begun walking her dogs in the morning, hitting the same street corner about the same time Goldie (on her leash!) and I do. Low and behold, her dogs are not on leashes.

So one of her dogs comes charging up to Goldie one morning. I don't think the dog had malicious intent. But what I can't seem to get through to this woman is that my dog does.

Just look how fierce:



I flipped a lid. Outside my community, at 6:15 a.m., without coffee. Flipped. A. Lid.

I screamed at her. I told her one of these days, my dog was going to bite into her dog, and I wasn't going to be responsible for it. Yelled that she needed to keep her dogs on a leash - and actually hold the leash! Then I stomped away in a huff. I felt I made my point.

Not so! The very next day she's back on the same corner, with the dogs, sans leashes.

I wish my looks could kill. I think this one came about as close to it as possible. I'm not sure I'll be so restrained if it happens again. Doesn't this woman understand I've been shooting guns all summer?!?! Now I really am a threat! Ha!

At the very least, Goldie is! I mean, would you trust this face:

On a kick

I'm sitting here at my desk, eating my turkey and cheese wrap, trying to make my blog cooler.

(oops, I said, "my blog." I mean "our blog." Oh, who am I kidding? Did any of your REALLY expect Mike to post a single entry up here? I bet he doesn't even remember his log in and password. I'm not even sure he reads this. In fact, yesterday's post about the flip flops was kind of a test!)

I'm not the most technologically advanced, so I'm very much relying on Blogger's add-on features - as opposed to knowing how to create and add this stuff myself!

So I've added a list of some of the other blogs that I follow. I figure, why should I be the only one distracting myself during the day with these? For those of you reading this who don't see YOUR blog posted to the right, let me know. I didn't want to post it without your permission. (see, right there, how old school that thinking is? You've got a blog on the World Wide Web for Pete's sake. Clearly, you want people to read it.)

It doesn't show, but I've been at this for an hour now! I figured out how to add a Twitter feature to the blog, but couldn't get it synced with my Twitter account... so the widget just sat there, instead of changing every time I posted up to Twitter. Frustrating.

But, I promise to take another stab at it soon! There's so much cool stuff out there to personalize these! If you've got ideas for me, bring them on!

Do you Twitter?

No? Please start.

What's Twitter? In my own words (meaning, not cut and pasted from the official description on the site), it's a way to get brief (litterally... 140 characters) updates on your friends. What they are thinking, what they are doing, a cool article they just read. Whatever. When you set up an account, you can follow others. You can even follow news sites, so you get updates on breaking news.

Follow me.

Side note... I fully realize that me getting into all this "2.0" stuff is probably what you all are going to throw in my face when I say things like, "I'm okay with turning 30. Really." Mike has his flip flops "the kids are wearing these days," and I have my Web toys "the kids are creating these days."

Back to Twitter: It's kind of like a status on Facebook (you are on Facebook, right? I'm not too old to be on Facebook, am I?). You can follow others by going to the Twitter Web site and seeing their updates, or my favorite, get the updates sent as text messages to your phone. You can even follow people you don't really know, so long as they have an open profile. For example, I'm following this woman I've never met before, but who has a really funny blog that Lauren told me about. If I thought her blog was funny, her Twitters are hysterical!

So, go, set up a Twitter account, and tell me about it, so I can start following you... I promise not to tell you you're too old to Twitter.

It's a tough life

But, hey, somebody's got to do it!



These were taken on the porch where I stayed in Kalispell, Montana. Sipping coffee after a great jog (3.5 miles in 33 minutes!) along the lake you can see in front of me.

Scroll back a few posts, even if you are up-to-date. I uploaded the photos of clay shooting!

The birthday debate

Most of you probably know that this is a big year for Mike and I. We turn... the big 3-0.

It's caused a lot of debate at the house, and with our friends. It's hitting Mike... well, a little hard. This is how hard: yesterday, he informed me he was going to purchase a pair of thong flip-flops, "like the kids are wearing these days."

That phrase has particular significance, because it took me years to get him to wear a pair of dark wash jeans, "like the kids are wearing these days." So for him to come up with flip-flops on his own... well, this is a serious situation.

I, on the other hand, really think I'm unfazed. Maybe I'm just kidding myself, but I'm okay with the birthday! I feel great, I'm having fun, we've got disposable income to play with - how's an age going to make that any worse? Can't it just get better from here??

But the big 3-0 has led to a debate... how to celebrate it! From the post above, you can guess that Mike's way of celebrating it is not at all. My way of celebrating it is a huge party!

His birthday is in a week and a half, and it's been like pulling teeth to get him to talk about it, let alone to find out if he wants to go out to dinner, stay in, invite friends over, or whatever! I think he's hoping that it slips by unrecognized. (so dumb. Doesn't he realize his wife has a blog? ha!)

I think we'll do dinner with his brother and sister-in-law on Saturday, and then do a joint party later this fall. Our big debate is whether to hold the party mid-birthdays (in October) or closer to my birthday (which falls on a Saturday this year).

As much as I'm "okay" with turning 30... I don't want to turn it earlier than I have to! But I also don't want a party on my birthday to infer that it's not for him, too!

What's your weigh-in? When would you like to join us to party??

In DC for a whole week!

I'm back from Montana, and Mike and Goldie seem to have survived without me! Unless, of course, you figure that Mike "had" to buy new socks to wear because he didn't have any clean ones, and the food that I had purchased and left in the fridge for him for the three days I'd be gone was rotting and stinking up the kitchen.

But, they were both alive!

Landed in DC late Friday night. I have some great photos that I'll upload tomorrow and post. We've spent the past two days back in reality - catching up with friends we haven't seen in a while, laundry (MORE laundry?? Seriously, is this what I do for a living?), etc., etc.

Isn't it much more glamorous to hear about travels around the country instead of my laundry?! Ha!