February High Five

Beach by Bobbi Brown

If you want to have a flashback to your childhood, spritz on a shot of this fragrance and you will be channeling your teens. It smells like Coppertone suntan lotion with a hint of citrus and vanilla notes. It's my favorite spring/summer scent.

Ahhhhhh.....PF Changs Lettuce Wraps, one of my favorite-est things on earth.

Arbonne NutriMinC® RE9 REpair, Corrective Eye Crème. Just started using this skincare line and I LOVE this eye cream. I have used eye creams in the past and they we so-so, but this stuff rocks out the fine lines and dark circles.

I need to make a shout out to the dude (I didn't get his name) that helped me today at Ikea. I am ordering my kitchen cabinets and he was very, very helpful and answered my stupid questions while trying to work the auto cad kitchen designer computer thing. I was totally clueless and he never once yelled at me (unlike the stupid guy from Norton/Symantec that yelled at me and then hung up because I could not understand his accent, JERK!).

OPI Kangarooby, a deep ruby red that looks fabulous on my freshly pedicured toes.

Alo-frigging-ha

Oh yeah baby! We are Hawaii bound..........................! Well, not until November, Thanksgiving week to be exact but still. I have something beside China to look forward to!!! Booked our trip today. We are going with my sister-in-law and her family plus Grandma Gold and Grandpa Talkslikeaduck. It's going to be a blast. We will spend 9 days in Oahu on the North Shore surfing, hiking, biking, surfing, kayaking, eating, surfing and deep sea fishing. Mahalo!

Greetings from Typhiod Island

It's sucky here on my island. While visiting here you will experience:

• Fever
• Sore throat
• Body aches
• Coughing
• Runny nose
• Sneezing attacks

So far only three have come down with it and the fourth is hanging in there. I am feeling a bit better and have been going into work despite hacking up a lung to all of my fellow officemates dismay. The show must go on.

Yesterday I got flipped off. It was great. I was taking the boys to school, quite early and yeah, I was driving half asleep, and my 'game' was a little off. I switch lanes and I accidentally cut off some guy in a cheesed out BMW. If I cut me off I'd be pissed to, but not to the extent of this guy. He flips me off. Not just flipping the bird, but a biting the lower lip, furrowed brow, evil in his eye flip off. He pulls up next to me yelling. I didn't look at him so that pissed him off even more. Geez, SOMEBODY was having a crappy morning. This got me thinking, what is it with the flip off? It's a finger, a middle one. What gives? I know there is a history behind the middle finger that I was told once but can't remember. How can one finger pack such a statement? I mean what was better that flipping your parent off behind their back when they said No You Can't Go To The Movies With Amy. (Darcy, our Social Worker, if you are reading this I REALLY did have a normal, great childhood). It just made you feel sooooo good! I can't remember the last time I flipped someone off. I'm sure it was Mark.

Whens the last time you flipped someone the bird?

Lame ass question of the week

I ran into a friend of a friend and we were exchanging some idle chit chat when she said "I heard you are rescuing a little girl from China" Wow, last time I looked I didn't realize I was a firefighter. I told her "No, but we are adopting a baby from China" Some more chit chat and she says "I have always wanted to adopt but I would be afraid I wouldn't love it as much as my own children". First of all it's not a stapler, it's a BABY! I know crap goes with the territory, but it still chaps my bum. ARGH!

The flu has nade it's way through myhousehold. Three out of four of us have come down with the creeping crud. Conner is the only one not to get it and I'm just waiting for him to walk in the door with the glassy eyes and a body that is on fire.

Gag Master Flash

Monday I got my braces off after a year and a half of having these dental torture devices put on. I am so happy to have them off. I can now eat without stratigically placing a napkin over my mouth, bite into an apple, and talk to someone without offering them a rain slicker and umbrella. Its great, however, NOW I have a retainer or the 'gagger' which I have decided to call it. UGGGHHHH. Why was I born with the gag reflex of a heroin addict going through withdrawl. Right after my ortho appointment, I had to stop by the market (o.k. AND the drugstore to pick up some Crest White Strips), to pick up some things. When I was checking out the checker struck up a conversation about the sourdough bread I was buying. When I tried to speak I would muster up 3 words and then "HHHOOOORRRKKKK". Luckily my trusty companion Reed had my back and told her I just got my braces off and was not used to my retainer yet. Cut to 4 days later and I'm getting used to having this thing in my mouth without gagging. If this is what morning sickness is all about all I have to say is NO THANK YOU and Thank God we adopt.

Someone school me on Star Wars

I watched Star Wars with the boys yesterday, it was the 3rd one (I think), the one with the Sith in it. After the first five minutes I was lost. I just couldn't get past the fact that Luke Skywalker and Princess Leah were siblings. Wha? Any way... I loved Star Wars when I was a kid. I remember standing in line for 2 hours to see it when it first came out. It was pretty hot that day and we stood in the sun for it seemed an eternity. My best freinds mom even threw up and passed out from the heat (we later found out that she was really hungover from the Molly Hatchet concert the night before). Anakin, was Lukes son? Or father? I'll never get it. I give up. I'm just going to stick with Napoleon Dynomite.

Oh, and I have a huge crush on Anthony Bourdain. There is something about him that intrigues me. He's not that handsome, his earring looks stupid and what is he, a buck thirty ringing wet? I just love to watch his show on the travel channel. Maybe it's because we both have the same things in common we like to travel and we like to eat.

The God Damned Duck

I must introduce you to the God Damned Duck. Bloggy friends, The God Damned Duck. The God Damned Duck, Bloggy friends. Good, now you know each other. So here is the story of The GD duck. For as long as Mark can remember his grandfather Bopey (all the grandchildren called him Bopey, even better they called his grandmother Mummies, yikes!) had this duck on the hearth of the fireplace at their home, it was his prized possesion. When he was a toddler this duck was like a flashing neon sign that said "PLAY WITH ME". His grandfather on the other hand was dead set againts any of the children playing with The GD Duck. He would spend summers with his grandparents in Pasadena and always gravitated toward his grandfathers duck, just to look at it, give it a pet and say hello. His grandfather always said the same thing when he was 6 feet from The GD Duck: "Get away from the God Damned Duck!" (hence, the name). So of course this duck became Pavlovs dog for the grandchildren, Mark being the oldest grandchild, this duck became synonamous with his grandfather. This duck continued to move with them from Pasadena to Arizona and finally with them to Leisure World (aka: Seizure World) in Laguna Niguel. When his grandfather died, The GD Duck stayed with Mummies until her death 2 years ago. So now starts the sucky part. His grandparents had a will but they changed it several times, the last change leaving the his crazy Aunt as executor. Long story short she got hungry with power and put all of their possesions in storage and staged an estate sale and started selling off all of thier things. Anything we wanted we had to buy. However, most of the valuable items she kept for herself, including The GD Duck, which everyone wanted for some reason. After a court battle between the siblings, it came down to drawing straws at the storage unit, and winner gets the first pick of all their possesions in the storage unit. Mark's mom picked the largest straw and gets to pick first. She goes through box after box and what does she see? Yep, The GD Duck! She wrapped it up and gave it to Mark for Christmas. You should have seen his face when he opened it and the first words out of his mouth were "The God Damned Duck!". So now The GD Duck sits in the den. His legs have been severed from his body but with some epoxy and rubbing compound The GD Duck is looking hot! I inspected it closely the other day and noticed that it was handmade in Spain the company being Bidasoa. I mean it is really hideous looking, but I bet anything it is worth something even with the injury. Mark would not part with it though, not for a million dollars.

Seattle Slew

Seattle is a great city. Good beer. Good times. Here are some highlights:

At the top'o the Space NEEDLE

View from the needle

We watched the Seahawks game in the room

Gotta love room service and football

Happy New Year!

2007. Time flies when your having fun? I still can't believe 2006 is history. Is it me or do the years seem to fly by. I guess it's a good thing considering the waiting game we are playing, but STILL, man! This year I plan on doing a few things. I know it is a total cliche but I need to actually USE my gym membership not just pay for it each month, after the 'personal trainer incident of '06', I need to get back on the horse. The other thing I want to do is become more involved in our business. Right now I just do the minimum of what I need to do, but there is so much more that I can get involved in. I need to buckle down and get on the program. There, they are out in the open, so now I don't have any other choice than to do it.

Well to bring in the new year, my birthday, and Conner's 2nd straight 'A' report card, we are going to Seattle for a few days as of tommorrow. Conner, my rock star, loves everything Jimi Hendrix so we are going to the Experience Music Project, an interactive rock and roll museum and home to the Jimi Hendrix exhibit. We are going to check out the Space Needle, Pikes Market, The Underground tour and the Sci Fi museum and anything else we can pack in. The weather channel indicates that it will rain the entire time we are there (of course), but since it rarely rains in San Diego it will be pretty cool to stomp around in the rainy weather. So, until Sunday I bid a soggy farewell.

Dreams and Birthdays

Last night I had a dream that we got our baby girl. Except in my dream I went with my parents not Mark and we went to Paris to pick her up. We rented one of those little squished up litttle cars you see all over Europe and we all seemed to fit in it with her carseat and everything. The funniest part of the dream was we went to this shwanky hotel resturant to meet my parents friends for dinner, we park the squishy little car and walk into the lobby of the hotel to find their friends. We all look at each other and notice there is no baby, we run out to the squishy car and there is the little sweetie in her carseat looking for us and then she says in a grown up voice, "Took you long enough". Hmmmmm? Oh, and the significantly strange thing about the dream was on her 'dream' paperwork there was a date, 01-07-08. I can't remeber if this was her birthdate or what I just remember reading it on something and remembered it when I woke up. Strange, it may mean nothing but it was something I wanted to document at least.

Today is my birthday, I am 38. Yuck. I don't mind getting older, I just hate my birthday because it's New Years Eve. We went out to breakfast at my favorite place for german pancakes and them we went with the boys (HUGE mistake) to exchange/return some Christmas gifts. While at Best Buy the boys were messing around at the gumball machine and I went over to referee. Well, Reed decides to do some kung fu move while hanging on me, he trips and falls taking me down with him. So here I am laid out in the middle of Best Buy on my birthday. Yay. Is this a sign of what is to come for me in the new year?