Summer is on it's way!

I live in a very wet climate. The motto is, "if it's not raining, wait 5 mins." And it's so true. Even though it's almost May, I am still wearing sweaters and coats and my umbrella is not too far from my every reach. I am dreaming of summer. The rain makes the earth so vivid with color. Every flower, every patch of grass, every hill is alive with color. And there is plenty of daylight to enjoy it (the summer sun usually sets after 9pm).

I am dreaming of bike rides, camping trips, picnics on the river, farmer's market cheese and bread, days that last forever, and our one year wedding anniversary. It's been an amazing year! And I can't wait to see what next year holds for us!

Summer is a magical season.

And then I said..

I am a good cook sometimes. Sometimes I burn things. Sometimes I read "preheat the oven to 350" as "preheat the oven to 450". Yeah. Sometimes that lasagna that is suppose to cook for 1 hr, stays in the oven for 2 hrs. Yeah, I feel like a bad female sometimes.

Laura (frustrated with dinner): Honey, I burned the dish! I am such a horrible bitch.
Brenden (furrowed brows): Babe, don't talk like that. {Pause and smile}, you're a wonderful bitch.

He gave me such a laugh. I love that guy.

Last Night's Events...

We waited until the cover of night. We walked briskly, ashamed and embarrassed, heads down, intent on the mission. Sighs of relief and high fives signified our success in not being seen. We had finally thrown out our Christmas tree.

My Mouth is Watering Already

Just a little over a month before I fly out to San Diego. I am already planning on gaining ten pounds.

Stop #1: FISH TACOS

Stop #2: Double cheeseburger, animal style.

Stop #3: More fish tacos or maybe a Carne Asada...or both!

Step #4: Little Italy!

My stomach just growled.

So fitting.

The "American Dream" is nothing more than a marketing lie. And if these hard times aren't an indication of that, this poster (from the Depression Era) should be:

Why?

I love design and I am all for uniqueness and originality. But this is the most awkward design for a house I have ever seen. Atrocious.

Quote.

From "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson (who climbed K2 and built several schools in Northern Pakistan)...

"If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, to improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate women." (page 209)

Paranoid.

While flipping through the tv channels last night, I came across an interesting show on TLC, "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant". A documentary-style show about several women who gave birth without ever suspecting they were pregnant. I thought it was an urban myth. I guess not.

The first half of the show featured grossly overweight women (hence not noticing the baby belly) and had a history of abnormal periods. Ok, not me, I am ok.

But the second half of the show featured healthier women who had (what they thought were) normal periods throughout the whole unknown pregnancy. Crap!

Despite the lack of any prenatal care, all the babies survived and grew into healthy children.

I took a prenatal vitamin this morning. Yes, I am paranoid.

Vintage Smoking Ad

Just love the blue suit, yellow sneakers, and bow tie.

10 Years and Still the New Kid

I got an email today: "We forgot to send you the 10 yr high school reunion invite! We are so sorry! "

I am not offended. It's actually kind of funny. I still feel like the new kid that everyone forgets about. I never really got "into" high school. Maybe it's because I attended 5 different ones (*counts* Wheaton Academy, Centennial High School, Community Christian, Bakersfield Christian, and Des Moines Christian)...yep, 5! As soon as I got comfortable with people, I moved. I opted not to go to prom because everyone was a stranger to me.

Don't worry, I made up for it in college. And I will be going to that reunion!

The Funniest April Fools

My dad is a jokester. I can't tell you how many times I fell for his April fool's jokes. How many times can a kid believe that she is moving to Hawaii? More than I'd like to count! But his all-time best joke was played on the head of security at his hospital (my dad worked as a hospital director before he retired).

I believe April fools landed on a Saturday that year and my dad woke up early to phone one of his employees about an unusual event.

"Monkeys! There are rabid monkeys loose in the ER!" He yelled into the phone. "Get there and lock the area down NOW!" Us kids held our months to stifle the laughter.

His employee sped all the way to the ER, frantically parked in a no-parking zone, threw open the doors and yelled "WHERE ARE THE MONKEYS?"

Classic. I love my dad. And that's no joke!