I'm sitting in the Alaska/Horizon terminal at LAX right now. It's almost 10:30 am and I've been here for about an hour. Why am I sitting in this terminal? Good question. Generally, I make it my policy to avoid this airport as if it were a rabid, plague-ridden rat. Normally, I only enter the LAX zone when picking up/dropping off passengers or when flying to an international destination.

You see, LAX is not a friendly place. But I can handle unfriendly. I do live in LA, after all. LAX is not efficient. But I can handle inefficiency. I did take the 405 to get here. LAX is big and overcrowded. But I can handle big and overcrowded. I am a member of a rather large church.
Do you know what the problem with LAX is? It is the perfect storm of all of those things in combination.

)

Besides that, I live within 15 minutes of the wonderful, the relaxing, the friendly Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. So, why did I drive an hour into the heart of LA to fly out of the worst airport known to man? Because the stars aligned and decided to torture me.

Ok, that's a slight exaggeration. But things did work out just right. This time it made sense for me to fly out of LAX and I'm flying for a very good reason. J just happened to be attending an orchestration seminar near the airport and there just happened to be a perfectly timed flight for which I could use my miles. But more importantly, I'm flying up to Seattle for my Grandma's 84th birthday party!


(Williams Family Reunion 2006)

I don't see my Grandma nearly as often as I'd like so I am very excited to be going to her birthday party. I plan to get lots of pictures and write a post about my wonderful Grandma after tomorrow night. Stay tuned. This should be a great, classic Williams event - which means lots of food and lots of pictures of people eating food.

Alright, back to waiting for my flight, but before I sign-off, I have to tell you one more story. I've just moved to a new seating area for the 4th time since starting this post. Why? Well, this time I moved because I was sitting on my suitcase at one of the "power poles" (I don't think that's what they're called, but they are poles with several outlets on them for charging computers, cell phones, ipods, etc.) continuing to write this post while charging my lappy, when I felt someone staring. You know that feeling, right? I look over my shoulder and sure enough. A small Japanese man, who shall henceforth be known as Mr. Miyagi....



...was standing about a foot away from me, reading my post. Hm. I made eye contact with him, with a "can I help you?" expression. Mr. Miyagi looked back at my computer and then at the power pole and then back at me. I closed my computer and began the process of gathering my things to move, yet again. In hindsight, I should have written this paragraph while he was still standing there. After all, if you're going to readsdrop, you should expect to be blogged about. Maybe that was his plan all along...

I had just posted my Wednesday post and started getting ready to go to bed when I walked into the kitchen and caught a glimpse of the front yard. What did I discover? The sprinklers that I had turned on at about 10 o'clock were still on at about 12:40 o'clock. For you musicians out there, that's 2 hours 40 minutes....about 2 hours too long. We'll see if this slight over-watering seals my lawn's fate or helps insulate it from those dang'd Santa Anas that blew the
roses right off my rose bushes today.



Here's the sad part. This is not the first time I have left the sprinklers on for a silly amount of time. In fact, the shock of an unbelievably large water bill nearly knocked the memory of the time I left the sprinklers on ALL night right out of my head. Nearly.
You'd think I would have learned my lesson....

We met our Bible Study at The Burrito Factory in Santa Clarita last night. I have a few comments.

1. Burrito Factory? - those 2 words should not be together. It's not nearly as appetizing as the Spaghetti or Cheesecake Factory.
2. Do you see that sign up there? I know it's a little hard to read, so I'll type it for you:

"Catering
6 ft-3 ft Burritos & More"

6 ft-3 ft? Are you sure that's how you say that? So, if I understand correctly, my options are 1. 6 ft-3 ft burritos OR 2. more. Hm.
3. After reading the sign, I immediately understood why it was placed over the bathrooms. Anyone who consumes more than a foot of burrito is gonna need a bathroom in the very near future.

...and I thought, "Well, sometimes that extra line at the bottom of the letter 'I' is just way too much....especially if it's icy."

Autumn is officially here and so is my Autumn theme!



More importantly, today is my Mom's birthday! I respect and admire my mom for so many reasons. She is a godly, kind, generous, thoughtful, and deep woman of integrity.



Happy Birthday, Mom, I love you!

What do you think - is it time to give yetanotherblog a facelift? Maybe something a little more Autumn-y?

A. Yes. I can't get enough of Fall and your myriad of Fall-themed posts.

B. Please....green is an all season color, don't waste your time.

C. Wait, you think I actually care? You could use Crayola Mac n' Cheese for all I care.

Are you A, B, or C? Give me your answer in the COMMENTS.

If there was ever a case for a name change...

Ok so I've got several posts I'd like to write over the next several weeks. Here are some previews-


IT'S MY FAULT: THE ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
APPLE AND THEIR CUSTOMERS



ADVERTISEMENT IDEAS THAT SHOULD HAVE DIED
IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM



THE BEST MARIACHI ALBUM COVERS



Stay tuned...

...I've never attempted to be an Olympic athlete....or a regular athlete. I'm pretty sure I'd be included in this video.



von JMART

You might want to set down anything you're holding....especially if you're holding a hot beverage.





von PAPA

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

That was my first reaction. Check it out, though. It's pretty cool....and revealing. My most common word is "something" - nice. I think I need some quality time on thesaurus.com.



(I can't figure out how to get it to show up bigger, so you'll have to click on it.)

We've been working hard on a new budget all day and decided we needed a reward. Why not go see a movie, right? (We went to see 2 other movies this week, because...uh... it's summer.) Tonight's movie was Kung Fu Panda and let me just say... OH. BOY.
I don't think I've laughed out loud in a theater that much
since, ummm, Nacho Libre. HA-larious.



I'm not sure how much longer it's going to be in theaters, but if you're looking for a reward after a hard day's work or if you're wanting to celebrate summer, go see this movie. If you're going to go see the movie, let me know 'cause I might join you.

Click here to watch the preview

At any rate, it's definitely going to be a part of our
DVD library as soon as it's released.

Ok. So we went to see "Batman: The Dark Knight" this evening. It was a great movie...generally clean, great directing, fantastic editing and sound design, good music, great acting. But the real story is that we had another star sighting tonight. Now it wasn't Christian Bale or Morgan Freeman, but it was still pretty fun. Do you know the name David Koeschner? I didn't know it. He's one of those guys that you see and go,

"Hey! It's that guy... from that movie...OH what movie was it?! He was funny. He was kinda goofy. Man, I just saw it too!"

You might know him from his most recent role in the movie, "Get Smart" as Larabee. You might also recognize him as the character Todd Packer from "The Office." He typically plays a goofy side-kick kind of role and is usually pretty funny.



Tonight, he arrived late for the movie with about 10 other people. We went to the Arclight in Sherman Oaks and if you've been to the Arclight before you know that when you buy a ticket, you're actually buying an assigned seat. It's not hard to find your seat in the theater. There are ushers all around who insist on showing you to your seat even if you already know where it is. For some reason, Koecshner and his pals weren't able to find there seats for about 8 minutes. They stood around talking with 4 ushers looking confused and not being subtle in the least. The reason I noticed him was that I was getting annoyed at his group for making so much noise. As they walked toward me, I looked at them to see what in the world could be so difficult. He stopped right in front of me to talk with his lady-friend (yes, in front of me, blocking the screen....nice. Good thing it was only the previews) as I looked up with a look on my face that said "Hey Buddy, the seats are numbered. It's simple - look at your ticket then look at the seats..." I recognized him as an actor. I was pleasantly surprised, but still a little annoyed.

I love tea. I also love coffee, hot chocolate and apple cider. But there's something special about tea. It's classy, sophisticated and tasty. Some of my favorite tea makers include Republic of Tea, Tazo, Lupicia, and Brodies.

Two of my recent favorites include:



&



Presentation is a big selling point for me. Not that I buy everything that looks good, but I'm more likely to buy something that is presented well than something that may taste as good but doesn't look it.

Check out this presentation...





AND it tastes great too!
(no, Tea Forte did not pay me to do this post, but if any of the higher-ups from Tea Forte happens to see this post, you can email me for my address)

So after the left side wisdom tooth fiasco, I scheduled an appointment to have the right side done....both the upper and lower....in the same appointment...both teeth out at once....both. If you didn't pick up on it, I DID NOT have both teeth out in the same appointment. While sitting in the chair, waiting for the novacaine to kick in, it became clear that the receptionist did not schedule enough time to take care of both teeth and I was going to have to come back yet again for #32.




Are you following my story? I had all four wisdom teeth out...in four different appointments....with four different rounds of novacaine...and four separate recovery times with four different sets of gauze. Sigh. After I was finally finished becoming less wise, it was time to go for a cleaning and get on a regular schedule. Sounds easy, right? I was very relieved to be at this stage, not that I enjoy have a hygienist floss my teeth so hard can feel it on my brain, but I was glad to be done with "extractions."



After a normal cleaning procedure that I'm pretty sure included sand paper, I had a set of x-rays taken. Are you familiar with the new x-ray doohickies they're using these days at the dentist? They use 10 inch steel rectangles with sharpened edges that they ask you to bite down on "all the way." The hygienist trots out of the room pushes the "x-ray go" button and talks to another hygienist about the latest Brangelina gossip while the steel punctures the roof of your mouth and your eyes tear up.



After this lovely experience, the dentist came in to tell me my teeth were in perfect condition and needed no further work besides regular cleaning were the healthy equivalent to a 90 year old who hadn't brushed since her 20s. Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but I did need about $1000 worth of work. That's a $1000 co-pay. That work included several fillings, a crown replacement, a new crown for a tooth that had a
crack in it, and a partial crown.

Back when I was in college, I had a root canal and crown procedure done that was possibly the worst dental experience of my life. I went in because my tooth was hurting. Four hours later I was down a tooth and up a notch on my pleasant feelings toward the dentist. Eight years later this crown was causing me pain and my current dentist determined that it had a "spur" and would need to be replaced. This procedure wasn't nearly as bad, but certainly would not make it into the pleasant category. This new crown did not feel right. I kept telling them it didn't feel right. They kept checking it and saying it was fine. Over the next several months the crown would bother me off and on. By the Fourth of July, it was constantly bothering me. Of course, the dentist isn't open on the Fourth of July, which was a Friday. They're also not open on Saturdays or Sundays. By Saturday evening, I couldn't take it anymore. The pain was almost as bad as the infection in #16. I called the emergency number and spoke with my dentist who called in a prescription for mouthwash because he suspected there was an infection. I was told to use the mouthwash and come in on Monday. I guess the mouthwash worked because by Monday the pain was much less severe and the infection had disappeared. The conclusion was that the crown was never placed right my teeth had migrated and my bite was off. When your bite is off, it can put pressure on your gums and cause bruising. Essentially, I nearly died of tooth-ache again because my gums were bruised. Did you know you could bruise your gums? Now you do.

I'm gonna have dentures by the time I'm 30. No really. Every time I go to the dentist, I get bad news, not to mention expensive news. I'm convinced that I'm called to a life of the ridiculous when it comes to my teeth. I went to the dentist faithfully every 6 months growing up all the way through college (right, Mom?). I've always had a sweet tooth, so I had some cavities here and there, but nothing major. Granted, once I got married, it took me a while to figure out how to find my own dentist and then remember to make appointments, but I faithfully brushed
and not quite as faithfully flossed.


(Yes that person is flossing that cat's teeth. Why? I have NO idea)

Once we finally found our own dentist and arrived for our first appointment (yes, we had our first appointments together, ahhhh) the saga of "Lisa's Rotting Mouth" began. I knew that my wisdom teeth were going to need to be removed, what I didn't know was that my chin stuck out funny and every tooth in my mouth needed work that was going to cost me a million dollars and my right arm. What I also didn't know was that my husband, who had not been to the dentist since the late 90s had teeth in such nice condition that the same doctor that insulted my protruding chin threw a little party for him and his pearly whites.... I'm pretty sure the hygienist brought out Martinelli's and confetti.



After that experience I was hesitant both emotionally and financially to begin any of the work I needed done. Besides, I'm a world-class procrastinator. If I were a super hero, that would be my power. I can see it now.... I'd be sporting a bed sheet around my neck because I would have put off buying a cape. Anyway, some time elapsed.....and by some I mean a lot....before I got up the courage (a.k.a. got new insurance and found myself in dental pain) to find a new dentist. The first order of business was removing the wisdom tooth that was causing me pain. The plan was simple and over several appointments -

1. Remove painful #17 (lower left wisdom tooth)
2. Remove #1 and #32 (right side wisdom teeth)
3. Remove #16 (upper left wisdom tooth)
4. Fix a filling/add a filling
5. Get onto regular cleaning track.

Sounds ok, rIght? Not exactly a trip to Disneyland, but do-able. Believe it or not, it was de-railed shortly after step 1. The removal of the infected and painful #17 gave me only temporary relief (basically just until the novacaine wore off) because the infection had spread to and was having a party in #16. Of course, this being my first wisdom tooth experience, I assumed this was normal "post-procedure" pain. By 2 days later the pain was so intense I actually thought I would be the only person in history to die of a tooth-ache. (I could feel and hear cracking as if my jaw was falling apart. Shudder.) After a phone call with my brother-in-law, who happens to be a dentist in Texas, it became apparent that this was not normal pain and that I needed to call my dentist right away. Dr. Jennie was so gracious to be woken up at 6:30 am on a Sunday and agree to meet me at the
office soon after. I have never been so relieved to have a tooth yanked out of my mouth and I sent Dr. Jennie flowers for saving
me from death by tooth-ache.

...to be continued...

I'm officially out of space at our house. I've gotten rid of all I can, I've re-arranged, re-organized and re-thunk. I'm in the midst of figuring out a a new way to store/display my teapots and the vases I have no room for. I thought about putting in some sort of book shelf or buffet, but the room is too small. I thought I would just put up some wall shelves like so...



...and I do like that look, but the walls in this house don't like to hang on to heavy objects and I'm afraid this would happen:



After a good amount of time on Google looking for innovative and unique ideas for storage, I stumbled on this beauty:



So, because I'm a glutton for punishment, I decided to take it on as a new project. I'm anticipating that it will be pretty simple to put together, but I thought the same thing about the curtains. I don't expect that my project will turn out exactly like the picture. In fact, I already have ideas for a couple changes. I'll keep you updated on my progress...

Can you tell who this is?



J and I had lunch at the wonderful Aroma Cafe last week and happened to sit 2 tables away from Newman! He's a very distinct guy with a unique voice and....laugh- I was surprised that the wheezy Newman laugh is actually his real laugh.

J and I have talked about joining a gym for a while now. We both want to drop a few pounds before Resolved, so we decided to go check it out today after work. We printed out vouchers for a 3 day trial and
drove over to the nearest LA Fitness.

I don't know about you, but I always feel awkward about gyms because I feel very conspicuous working out with all those other people. There's something uncomfortable about doing an ab crunch machine while Joe-Giant-Muscles is standing there waiting to use the machine after you. At least with this gym there aren't any windows to the outside world so any passerby can see you sweaty and WAY too out of breath for
3 minutes on the treadmill.



Anyway, we walk in, probably way too tired to be working out, and expect to sign in and head to the locker room. Next thing we know, we're sitting at a desk with a guy wearing a tie asking us about our work-out goals and measuring our body fat percentage. "So, do you want to lose weight, or tone-up?" Well, we're at the gym aren't we? Geez. Some more questions, a tour of the gym, and an hour later we were offered an incentive for signing up today. We were so exhausted after that we looked at each other and simultaneously said, "did we just buy a car?" It was either that or a time share. Man a liv-in.



We finally got to do some actual exorcising for about 40 minutes.
Now I'm tired AND sore. Hm.

...it ends up in the Sacramento airport.

You may remember THIS post about the "decorative arch" project. Now, nearly 6 months later, the city has finished (I think) the arch.
Nice work, pals.



It's not a great picture, but you can see the idea.

I suppose a more technical title would be "Spanglish", but I didn't want anyone to be confused with my blog post and that movie.

This display was found downtown at the LA Flower Market on one of my many trips for the Dixon wedding. Thanks to Michelle and her good eye for catching this fun little nugget. Michelle and I have officially nicknamed the market "Flowers 'n' Plus" (that's for all you Master's peeps )



Look at all those DUCKS FIGURE, what a steal - 50% off on a SET/ 12!

Today marks 1 year since the first post here on Yet Another Blog...

In honor of the anniversary, I've recorded some sounds of our neighborhood - one block from Gordo's taco stand. Hope you enjoy...

Click Link for audio → R09_0018

The bird is still here. He's still pecking at the window. Apparently, he still hasn't figured out that it's a window, not a tree or another bird.



There is quite a bit of evidence that lets me know he's been here even when I'm not....he's left some gifts, if you know what I mean. He's also starting to damage the tint film on the window. There are little peck marks all across the window right at his beak level. This is not good, but no one here is sure what to do about it. Aside from putting up barbed wired along the window sill, which would really add to the curb appeal of the building, we don't have any ideas. Do you? 100 points to the commenter who comes up with a viable option.

Went to Monte Carlo Deli today in Burbank. It was really fun and I thought pretty yummy. My Italian co-worker, Diego, said the grocery section is very good and authentic but the deli is not....oh well.

The gelato was DUHlicious! I mean look at that gelato! C'mon!



This was a little disturbing...does anybody know what you would use clam juice for?

I've had a little friend at the window by my desk all day. He keeps coming by, standing on the sill and tapping on the glass with his beak. Does that make him a woodpecker? I thought woodpeckers looked like this...



...maybe he's a windowpecker. At any rate, he and a few of his friends have been around for a couple weeks bothering a guy in the office directly above me. I know he's been there because every once in a while for about 2 weeks now, the aforementioned guy in the office upstairs starts yelling and pounding on the window. At first I thought he was crazy or really stressed out, but now I see that this little windowpecker has been bothering him to the point of explosion.

Come to think of it, maybe it's not the window that the windowpecker is pecking at. Since our windows are mirrored on the outside maybe this little meanie thinks he's pecking at another bird...? Hm. Any bird experts out there that can shed some light on the situation?

You may remember when I posted this back in January. Again...my co-workers apparently have WAY too much time on their hands.


Basically it's a throwback from the past

They're done!! The kitchen curtains are sewn and hung....sewed and hanged? Don't look too close, they're definitely "home-made," but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

They are drape shades made with Manzantia Linen Damask from Dakota Cabin Quilts and white ribbon.

"When Irish Eyes Are Smilin' "


Be Thou my vision, O, Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Both waking and sleeping
Thy presence my light

Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one

Be Thou my battle shield, sword for the fight
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight
Thou my soul's shelter and Thou my high tower
Raise Thou me heavenward, O, Power of my power

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise
Thou mine in heritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only be first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art

High King of Heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven's joys, O, Bright Heaven's Son
Heart of my own heart whatever befall
Still be my vision, O, Ruler of all.

Both the lyrics and the tune of this hymn are Irish in origin and
can be traced back as far as the time of St. Patrick in 433 AD.
The translation from Old Irish to English is attributed to Mary E Byrne
in 1905 and the text was first versified by Eleanor H. Hull in 1912.

Yes the blog has a new look. I realize that much of the good ol' U.S. of A. is still in the dead of Winter, but here in So. Cal., Spring has sprung! I thought it was appropriate to give the blog a fresh Springy look. After all, it has been adding to the plethora of non-sense on the world wide web for almost an entire year. It deserves its own little clean sweep.

Hope you enjoy the new look!

If any of you out there are fellow Rapidweaver users, you might want to check out this super cool resource - Multithemes

...to talk about espresso? Maybe I'm a coffee snob, or maybe it's because I'm from Seattle, but I've got to take a moment to point out a couple things. In all this talk about Starbucks closing
for a few hours today, I've been reminded that some people know neither how to pronounce espresso nor what it actually is. So let me help-a-brother-out....

According to dictionary.com

es·pres·so  (ĭ-sprěs'ō, ě-sprěs'ō)noun  pl. es·pres·sos A strong coffee brewed by forcing steam under pressure through darkly roasted, powdered coffee beans.A cup of espresso

Notice 2 things about the above definition.

1. It is pronounced E-SPRES-SO not EX-SPRES-SO or EC-SPRES-SO

2. The word refers to either a brew process or a specific drink.

-Fine ground, darkly roasted coffee beans brewed by steam to create a strong, shot of coffee called espresso

-When you order an "espresso", you will get a small cup with 1 or 2 shots of espresso brewed coffee

Americano - Espresso and hot water

Breve - Latte made with half and half instead of milk

Drip - Coffee brewed in a regular coffee maker

Espresso - Pure shots of espresso coffee, some people like to add cream or sugar.

Cappuccino - Traditionally - 1/3 espresso, 1/3 stamed milk, 1/3 foam. More commonly in America - a latte with much more foam.

Latte - Espresso with steamed milk and a small amount of foam

Macchiato - Upside down latte. Steamed milk, foam and espresso poured over top

Misto - Drip coffee and steamed milk

Mocha - A Latte with chocolate sauce or powder added

Sunday, February 10, is officially Shark Sunday on the Discovery Channel!!

From noon to midnight is nothing but Shark programming. Even Mythbusters is getting in on the action.

Oh. Boy.

Yesterday afternoon I grabbed lunch at one of my favorite lunch spots in Burbank. This place has delicioso authentic Mexican food and that's why I keep going. However, every once in a while this restaurant offers more than just delicioso burritos y tacos. Yes in the greater Burbank area a restaurant like this attracts celebrities too and if you're lucky, you'll be there when one shows up. Yesterday I was there at the same time as Alfonso Ribeiro. I must admit, I didn't know his name yesterday and I'm sure most of you don't recognize it now. You will definitely recognize his most famous character - Carlton Banks! Even now that nostalgic theme song is running through my head ("Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down....") Ah...good ol' plaid wearin', country club goin', 70s dancin' Carlton. Alfonso seemed like a pretty regular guy which makes his portrayal of Carlton even more impressive than it already was.

Thanks to Nick@Nite we can enjoy Alfonso's performance on this ground breaking show something like 25 times a week. But for those of you who aren't up that late in the evening, here is a special compilation of what really endeared us to Carlton Banks.

(Those of you who are angry with me for getting the theme song stuck in your head may not want to watch the following video - this song sticks much worse)

Nice work R & L

Nice work Bill Gates....Your talent is inexhaustible.



I bet they put the video together on a Mac.

I did it. I finally called the dentist and made an appointment. It's a long overdue appointment. I have alot of excuses for not making the appointment sooner- mainly I couldn't find a good time to be out of commission for several days....like planning when to get the flu. See, there is quite a bit that needs to be done - remove the last wisdom tooth, put in a couple fillings, touch up a couple fillings, adjust the crown, then go back for a good cleaning, probably a deep and painful cleaning. So what finally pushed me to finally make the call? My sweet little niece, Katie. She's 5 1/2 and oh so honest. Here's the story:

One evening, while we were at my sister's in San Antonio, my nieces were getting ready for bed. They had brushed their teeth and had come over to show me how clean they were. I asked them if their teeth were squeaky clean. They both began rubbing their teeth with their index fingers until they each got a faint little squeak. "Sure enough! Squeaky clean!" I said. "Are mine squeaky clean?" Katie replied in a straight tone, "No, you have plaque."

So, I'm going to the dentist before my mouth looks like this.

"Live every week like it's shark week."

I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions!

We did find the stench after all and I'm really embarrassed to say that it was a wet towel that was in the washing machine. Sigh. I thought the washer was empty since I had done laundry the day before. Oh well...

Nate - YES, Fritz knew. And he knew I knew he knew, and he knew you knew he knew. I kept asking him to use his superior doggie sniffer to find it, but he refused. I think he found the search entertaining.....or maybe he liked the smell. Hm.

My house stinks. Literally...stinks. It's stinky, stenchy, odoriferous, dank, and whiffy! I have been trying to track down this smell for 4 days now and for the life of me, I CANNOT find the source of the funk. I've smelled everything close-up...even things that you shouldn't smell close-up. For example, I have had my nose about a centimeter away from the couch, the rug, the dirt in the plant pots, the Christmas tree water and Christmas tree skirt, the blankets, pillows, curtains, the cupboards, the pantry, the laundry, and the dog bed! I have cleaned the house from top to bottom, emptied all the trash cans, searched between the cushions and under the furniture. And still....no source. I had several working theories as to what could have caused the stank -

1. We had a Christmas party at our house on Wednesday, the stink showed up on Thursday...maybe somebody spilled something or a kid hid something in the house.
2. I spilled some water from the Christmas tree onto the skirt and maybe it has mildewed.
3. I mopped the floors with a mop-head that may have needed to be replaced.
4. Maybe something under the house got stirred up when John had to move some cables around the other day.

All of the above options have been explored (save going under the house again) and still no stench source. And to top it off, Fritz borked twice in the house when we got home tonight. Obviously, I'm left with only 2 options. 1. Bring in the special forces to find the stink, 2. Move.

Sign ups are now open for special forces, operation dank.

Some of you know that one of my hobbies is flower arranging. I've been into this little hobby since I was a kid and over the last couple years have had many opportunities to practice my skills. Every Monday I arrange flowers for the reception area and the bathroom for my work and every once in a while I get to do flowers for a friend's special event. Some of you have probably seen the photos on my blog under Fleur de Lis (clever name, eh?). I've recently added pictures from the arrangements I got to do for our family Thanksgiving celebration.

(< shameless plug >) I'm hoping to turn my hobby into something a little more serious that might even earn some extra income. So if you need flowers for any occasion feel free to give me a call or send me an email and I'd love to design an arrangement for you. : ) (< /shameless plug >)

...or make a bet that depends on the city to finish a project on time. You see, this summer our city began a "beautification project" on the main road that passes by our neighborhood. Among the updates classified as "beautification" are:

1. Narrow the road from 4 lanes to 2 then back to 4 then back to 2 so that it's as confusing as possible
2. New light posts
3. New benches and planters
4. Rip out the old mature trees, leave the street treeless for about 4 months and then add new young trees and plants,
5. A new "decorative arch" that spans Maclay Street at the city limit.

This arch has been the subject of much entertainment in our house. It started out as 2 matching metal frames and eventually turned into 2 matching mission style towers. Then the work stopped for a while. We assumed they needed to let the stucco set. Finally they added a rather industrial bridge-looking metal arch over the street. It sat like this for quite a while and J and I began discussing whether or not the arch was finished. J believed it was since it seemed all the elements were there, though somewhat shabby. I believed it wasn't because I hoped that they wouldn't leave it so shabby. Obviously the only way to handle the situation was to make a bet with the following terms: the city would do more work before Thanksgiving indicating that the arch was not complete and the loser will buy the winner a delicious treat from Cold Stone Creamery.

Thanksgiving loomed closer without any work done and I saw my yummy treat moving farther from my grasp. Finally Thanksgiving came and I had to face the fact that I lost the bet. Then wouldn't you guess this last Monday, the first normal weekday after Thanksgiving, the crew was out there again working on the arch! They gave it a nice new colorful coat of paint and added finishing touches.

It just goes to show you, never bank a Cold Stone treat on the project schedule of a city!

(That title is for GUS)

I LOVE this time of year. There's nothing like the Thanksgiving / Christmas season for so many reasons - reflecting on our Great Savior, time with family, foggy mornings, cool days (I wish that included snow too), shopping for the perfect gifts, Christmas music, Christmas movies (especially White Christmas), roasted turkey, pumpkin pie (Culinary Kyle's special recipe), apple cider, and Starbucks Holiday Drinks

Here are the holiday drinks in order of most favorite to delicious

1. Eggnog Latte - Eggnoggy Goodness!
2. Shortbread Latte - Like a waffle in a cup! (this is a new drink being tested only in the area between Sun Valley and Santa Clarita)
3. Peppermint Mocha - Chocolaty...Minty....creamy...DUlicious!!
4. Gingerbread Latte - Makes me want to go home and bake!

I've loved the Eggnog Latte since the first time I tasted it because, well, I've always loved eggnog. It was our family tradition to drink the first eggnog of the season after we finished decorating the Christmas Tree. if I remember right, Mom and Beth had milk or hot cocoa instead because they said eggnog was too snotty. Sorry if that ruins this holiday delight for any of you.

The Shortbread Latte is a new discovery and is possibly usurping the #1 position of the Eggnog Latte. I've never been a big fan of shortbread itself, but the latte is deliciously mild and not too sweet and tastes like waffles. I love waffles. (If you are in the test area, you must try this treat and then let me know what you think of it)

The Peppermint Mocha is a new favorite this year. I'm not usually a big fan of mocha or peppermint, but the combination is particularly delightful this morning. My wonderful husband brought one to me after he had dropped me off at work and it has finally made my list.

The Gingerbread Latte is wonderful for the right setting. It tends to be on the spicier and richer side and I think would be perfect in a short instead of a tall.

Our friend Gus recently posted this and I thought it'd be fun to see how prevalent this actually is online. Here are just 7 of about 1,650,000.

group hug - "the idea is for anyone to anonymously confess to anything. it actually feels kind of good to know that someone will read it."

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman - "I’m a thirty-something ranch wife, mother of four, and moderately-agoraphobic middle child who grew up on a golf course in the city."

Confessions of a Mathematician

Confessions of a Turtle Wife - "A website for turtle wives and their significant others"

Confessions of a Post-It Junkie

Confessions of a Chess Novice

and finally

Confessions of a Blogger - "Confessions of a blogger is a blog novel (blovel or blogel) of my adventures. I'm des perrat, blogger and blogelist."

Ghost Riding


Water Dispensing Tab

...how odd criminal nicknames can be? I mean the names that are given to criminals before they had been identified. I'd like to know who comes up with these names and why. Some of them, of course, are down right chilling, while some are much more comedic than threatening. For example:

"Abbadabba" — Otto Berman, U.S. Mafia accountant

"The Alphabet Killer" — Unidentified American serial killer

"Apples" — Hugh MacIntosh, U.S. gangster

"Big Eared Du" or "Big Ears Du" — Du Yuesheng, Chinese gang leader

"Big Greenie" — Harry Greenberg, U.S. gangster

"The Boozing Barber" — Gilbert Paul Jordan, Canadian serial killer

"Fifi" — Fiore Buccieri, U.S. Mafia hitman

"The Hippopotamus" - Sergei Ryakhovsky, Russian serial killer

"Johnness" — Dominique You, Haitian pirate

"Stupid Marty" — Martin Bryant, Australian spree killer

"The Kissing Bandit" — Edna Murray (d.1966), U.S. outlaw

"The Queen of Mean" — Leona Helmsley (1920-2007), U.S. tax evader

The show I told you about a while back hosted by the great comedy duo Rhett & Link has been cancelled. (cue sad trombone "Wa wa wa waaa") The show was actually a bit of a disappointment and I think they saw its doom coming, but it is a little sad nonetheless.

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE.

2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
and can do the Carlton




3. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom




4. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock"




5. It was actually worth getting up early on a
Saturday to watch cartoons.




6. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.




7. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.




8. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.


9. You played the game "MASH"
(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House) 




10. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets
and were proud of it. 




11. You know the profound meaning of " WAX ON , WAX OFF" 




12. You wanted to be a Goonie.




13. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
(some of us...head-to-toe) 




14. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted. 




15. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the
only female smurf. 




16. You took lunch boxes to school...and traded Garbage Pailkids in the schoolyard. 




17. You remember the CRAZE, then the
BANNING of slap bracelets. 




18. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.


19. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets. 




21. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes. 



22. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?" 




23. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up" 




24. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates. 




25. You have ever played with a Skip-It. 



26. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that. 




27. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot. 




28. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac. 




29. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB" 




30. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class. 




31. You know all the words to Bon Jovi
SHOT THROUGH THE HEART. 




32. You just sang those words to yourself.


33. You still sing "We are the World" 




34. You tight rolled your jeans. 




35. You owned a bannana clip. 




36. You remember "Where's the Beef?" 




37. You used to (and probably still do) say
"What you talkin' 'bout Willis?" 




38. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you! 


(von MICHELLE)

This is for all of my friends and family who had birthdays this month:



Happy Birthday Danny, Audra, Ashley, Michelle, Chad, Mom W, Ethan, Darius & Ryan!!

My friend, who shall remain nameless, is a first year teacher at a local school. She did something the other day from the list of top 5 things NOT to do.

In her 3rd grade music class she has a little guy who cannot use his right arm or leg. My friend, in an effort to include him in the class' daily activities, asked this little guy to help her pass out the new books. As soon as she made the request and he began making his way to the front she realized she had made a big mistake that she could not back out of. Is she supposed to say "Never-mind, let's have someone who can use both his arms help"? Uh, No. Instead, she asked another student to help the poor guy take one book at a time to the kids. As if that wasn't enough of a snafu, she then tried to recover by asking him to help with "something he COULD do"... play pat-a-cake! Really!? Really friend!?

I am all done with that song. If you don't know what song I'm talking about, count yourself blessed. I refuse to link to it on my blog, but if you must put yourself through the torture of having a song in your head that sticks worse than "It's a Small World" just go to YouTube and search for Chocolate Rain. From there you can enjoy many different video versions of the song including the parody - Vanilla Snow.

This song has been passed around via email among our friends for about a week now and I can't stand to hear it anymore. John came up with his own parody which captures my feelings exactly:

Choc'late PAIN!

I think I'm really gonna go insane.

CHOC'late PAIN!

If I listen to that stupid song again

Choc'late PAIN!

All versions of this song are really lame

CHOC'late PAIN!

Just a little bit of YouTube fame

Choc'late PAIN!

Makes me want to set something aflame

CHOC'late PAIN!

A splinter in my mind, that's CHOC'LATE RAIN!

This baby's laugh is as contagious as a yawn. By the end of it, you'll either be laughing or....well..yawning I guess.

If any of you out there love me, you'll want to know that I just found a great gift for me. Next time you feel like buying me something...here's what you can get

Rhett & Link
www.rhettandlink.com

They're like a cross between You Tube + Homestar Runner + Jack Black and that = entertainment. Here's just a sampling.

Grammys '07


Facebook Song

At the risk of sounding like a big nerd, I think the Discovery channel is great. Really great. One of my favorite things about Discovery channel is 'Shark Week' and I'm really disappointed to admit that I completely missed the most recent installment. But it turns out that I, along with the rest of you who revel in such quality programming, don't have to worry because there is a host of shark delights on discovery.com! Remember, I already admitted I was a nerd so don't judge.  I think sharks are so fascinating because they are at once beautifully graceful creatures and blood thirsty monsters. I suppose there are other animals in our world with those same characteristics like say lions, tigers and bears (go ahead...you know you want to say it). But it seems to me that, with all of those other predatory animals, it would be obvious if you were being preyed upon. Sharks are so freaky because you likely won't see them coming. Of course, in the movies, as the shark approaches you can see it's dorsal fin cutting through the water like a speed boat. Somehow I doubt if that really happens though.




One of the goals of 'Shark Week' is to dispel rumors and misnomers about sharks. For example, out of the 400 different species of sharks, most are not normally aggressive toward humans. According to discovery.com there were "only 62 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks on humans, 4 that were fatal" in 2006 in the entire world.  In fact, since 1926 there have been only 269 attacks, 7 of which were fatal, in the continental U.S.. Now I don't know about you people, but stats like that are not that comforting to me. The way I see it, all 269 of those attacks were on people who never expected to be part of that statistic, and I see no reason that would keep me from being a part of the same statistic. Oh and I feel the same way about theme park rides by the way (except for Disneyland rides because for some reason they feel safer than others...maybe it's the characters). I know that the chances of being involved in a horrible accident like this one in Kentucky are so slim that I actually have a better chance of swallowing a spider in my sleep this year. But that 1 in a million statistic exists because it does happen to ONE, and why not me? The way I see it, the only way to avoid being that statistic is to avoid that type of activity all together... but I digress. 




I always learn something new about sharks during this great Discovery channel 'Shark Week' and end up with a bunch of trivia that I get teased in merciless fashion for sharing. I'm convinced that sharks are not as freaky as Spielberg would have me believe, but I think I'll still stay out of the water just the same. Well, maybe not completely out of the water, just shallow enough to minimize my chances of an attack down to, say, 1 in a billion.  I like those odds better. Okay, I've gotta go. I need to catch up on this book I'm reading about the sovereignty of God.

When your source of air conditioning is a window unit and some fans and it's 103 degrees at 5 pm you gotta do something. So we did. We had been eyeing those inflatable pools online and had decided after the next payday we'd go for it. But then we just happened to be in Walmart and found a great pool that is bigger and less expensive than what we had been looking at. The Fourth of July being upon us, we sprung for it. And OH MAN! I'm so glad we did! RE-freshing!

FYI - I added a LINKS page to the right column where I have a list of the blogs I like to visit.

I'm a blerd. I admit it. I have indeed become a blog nerd. Probably because I have the type of job where I have to keep myself busy while sitting at my desk answering phone calls and I can only check for new items at Pottery Barn so many times a day. Of course, I love to check out friend's blogs and blogs from people I haven't seen in a while, but there are also a few discussion blogs that have made it to my bookmarks page. This week, I was super encouraged by Phil Johnson's post on Pyromaniacs called the Drying Brook. Since I cannot possibly improve on this post, I'll let you read it for yourself HERE.

Today was my 2nd celebrity sighting. When you move to LA you might think you'll be seeing celebrities around every corner. Or at least the ones in Beverly Hills and Bel Aire. When I first arrived I'd casually glance toward every limo and chauffeured car just in case a star was comfortably seated behind the elusive tinted window. Read More...

So....John and I have been in the website world for quite a while, but we haven't been good at keeping it up. Here is my attempt to re-join the webolution. Hope you enjoy!