Coolest Shutters EVER

While driving up to NY last week, we stopped to get gas. Sitting in the back of the van, I glanced over and saw this house.

I began to giggle. It was so very cute to begin with, but the shutters, OH, the shutters!!!

EVERYONE should have polka dots on their shutters. EVERYONE!

Nanuk the Neighbor

We have a new neighbor and he came a-knockin' this past weekend. He lives in the brown house right across the street.

His name is Nanuk and he is a husky. A husky puppy. So, he's about the size of a normal full grown dog... His life ambitions are to race in the Iditarod and break into my house. 

Actually, this picture was taken after he succeeded in sneaking into my house behind me and I lured him back out with a cracker.

He's downright adorable. To quote my friend Nancy, "he's so cute it's gross. not bad gross. gross like puppies playing with baby chickens are gross." She said that about my son, but I think it applies here.

(Sorry for the blur - he never stops moving and I didn't have the camera on the right shutter speed for this.)

And he's such a beautiful dog!

I love blue husky eyes. Don't you want to just hug him?? It was nice to meet you, Nanuk!

P.S. I have bacon. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* I cook with it all the time.

Carpenter's Shopping List

I guess he couldn't find any paper.

Baby Gym / Internet Cafe

Before I begin, I want to clarify that I am not a computer geek. I may know what a processor looks like, but that is purely a byproduct of living with a computer geek. I am not a computer geek. I am a sane, rational person. My husband is the opposite - a computer geek. A plaid wearing, bearded lumberjack of a computer geek with a 5 year old's sense of humor. Most definitely not sane. Sane people don't set 6 computers up in their wife's kitchen and loose Skynet on the world. Or draw dinosaurs everywhere they go. Gosh, I love him. Although, he may be on to something. Maybe sane people should draw dinosaurs everywhere. Hmm.

Anyways.

In a house occupied by a computer geek, 11+ computers (I'm told he needs them for gaming and parts), and miles of wires, you really have to start your kid early so he can keep up:

If you look closely at the above photo, you will see that Joseph is reading his favorite blog and looking forward to rolling around on squishy braided rugs at his Aunt's house. It's part of his morning work out in the baby gym.

The kid will probably start building his own computers any day now. Don't worry. He'll play sports too. And be a stud muffin.

Wait? What's that? Is that a NEW laptop? Don't you people have enough computers already?!?

I know, I know, but my old laptop recently croaked (stupid black screen of gloomy death) and I was without a laptop at home. You don't expect me to go from room to room without a laptop, now do you? Then I wouldn't be able to chat to my husband at work, listen to music everywhere, or google important things like "how to build bunkbeads," "peach cobbler recipe," "which baby teeth come first," and "why is Harry Potter 7 Part 1 coming out in flipping November."

The new laptop was actually a birthday present from my husband. It's a netbook, it's pretty, it's light, it's compact, it follows me everywhere, and it's AMAZING!!! Thanks, Love!

Check out that maniacal gleam of happiness!

Yesterday was my 24th birthday. Sorry. Birfday. I had a terrific day. I spent the morning with my baby and husband, ate tasty coconut cake for lunch, and went out for Thai food with my sister-in-law Theresa (Stephen had to work late :( ).

Theresa had never had Thai food before and I'm glad she liked it. We've decided to have an ethnic restaurant date once a month to try new foods. I go a little crazy eating only American food for long stretches of time.

The coconut cake was a sneaky surprise. Stephen and Theresa got together at her apartment after work and baked it for me. Both of them hate coconut, so it was very sweet of them to bake me a cake that neither of them want to eat.

All of that is mine! Mmm. Cake. Stephen did the icing. Can't you tell?

Thanks guys! It was delicious and I really enjoyed my birfday!

Now I'm off to have cake for breakfast.

Onesie Fail

Happy Chinchilli Day!!

credit

Chinchilla. What a great animal name. Who doesn't like the word "chinchilla"? Bad people who kick puppies (and chinchillas). Only bad people could dislike such a warm fuzzy word. Just look at that thing!!! I want a baby chinchilla. Can I have one, love? Can I?? PUH - LEASE???

Why do I suddenly find chinchillas so appealing? Because I stumbled upon these:





I don't know how long these commercials have been around and I don't much care for Vegas. But I spent a decent amount of time cracking up on the floor after watching these.

So, love, I am going to take a vacation from the dishes and laundry for a few days to celebrate the all important Chinchilli Day.

Of course, if you are a bad person who kicks puppies and don't like chinchillas, you could always celebrate Jolly Roger Day or Mungo Day. I especially like Mungo Day.

My kitchen is under siege... by SKYNET!!! Hasta la vista, baby!!

"It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, we try to pull the plug."

photoshopped by the Professor's shooting buddy

"Skynet fights back."

Silly Roomies

All photos in this post were taken by Nancy Daly & Sarah Peaches Thomas.

The weekend with the roomies was full of fun shenanigans. They played bananagrams.
But such simple games were far too mundane.

Hey. I bet I can hold my arms up longer than you.
Am I making you uncomfortable? Hmm? Is my nearness making you uncomfortable? Maybe you should drop your arms!They also played the blanket game. A favorite from the college apartment. No pictures - but the game goes like this: Throw a blanket over Nancy's head, then throw pillows at Nancy as hard as you can while she wanders around the apartment bumping into things.

Oh, NO! The floor is LAVA!One time, I came home late from work to our college apartment and they had turned the entire apartment floor into lava. They had to throw me pillows to hop on so I wouldn't go up in flames. "Sexy, the floor is lava!" That's where you strike a "sexy" pose while standing on a pillow in the middle of the lava floor.

Would you believe me if I told you that none of us do drugs?

Meet Puffy. He's too cool for school.
And goes everywhere Peaches goes...
Be afraid.Be very afraid. HIDE!I made them waffles from scratch for breakfast. Nancy had no idea you could make waffles from scratch. She wanted to know where the box was. At first I thought she was kidding. But then she went upstairs and asked Mags & Peaches if they knew you could make waffles from scratch. What a weirdo.

It was always hard to watch them in the kitchen when we were in college. One time I had to show Peaches how to properly scrape a bowl with a spatula. It was too painful to watch without intervening.

VMI Cadets on Parade

We really enjoy sitting in our rocking chairs on our porch and watching town parades. Today it was the VMI cadets marching away from the battlefield.

If you look closely, you can see bagpipes in that band. It made my day :).

Magical Pot of Gold

According to this rainbow, the Magical Pot of Gold lies somewhere in Albemarle County, VA.

Or the leprechauns are messing with us again. Darned leprechauns.

Evening Ice Cream Run

My brother and sister-in-law came to visit us this weekend. They also saw our house for the first time. From bat chasing to chair mazing, we had lots of fun! We also spent Saturday evening walking around town and eating ice cream from the local ice cream stand.

Please pay close attention to the flavors offered. Also, some creepy guy is staring at you from that window...

Yes. Tiger's Blood is an option.

Thanks for a great weekend! We can't wait for apple picking!

Whirlwind Visit

All three of my siblings visited our house for the first time yesterday. They got here Sunday night and left Tuesday morning. It was a quick visit, but overall I enjoyed seeing them! It's been awhile since all four of us have been together.

All four of us in one place always makes for some interesting times...

So, without further ado, these are the punks that I'm related to:
Don't ask me to explain...We're all pretty confused by it.Classic sister face:My little brother, the youngest, is now 6'2" and very bony. When he sat on my lap, I thought my thighs would break in two. He also threw me over his very bony shoulder. Ouch. I miss the days when I could win fights against him...
In addition to growing about 2 feet in the last year, he now sounds like James Earl Jones. It freaks me out! He answers the phone and I don't recognize his voice. (note the cell phone hooked onto my dress - very fashionable)My youngest sister spent a lot of time reorganizing things in my kitchen, laundry room, and office.

Before, you could barely walk in the laundry room. Now, everything is lined up against the wall and grouped together with like items. She's a master organizer. THANKS!Then there's my middle sister. She took over making dinner. If you think I'm at home in the kitchen, you haven't met my sister. She made bratwurst and home fries. I helped, but mostly spent the time talking with her.

She makes awesome German home fries!

Cube and boil potatoes with lots of salt. Cut up one onion and as much bacon (or speck if you have it!) as you want into tiny pieces and fry them until the onion is carmelized. Add the soft potatoes, salt, pepper, and paprika. Make sure you let the potatoes get a nice crust by letting them sit still in the pan for a while and then scraping them off/flipping them. Trust me, it's awesome!

Bratwurst is easy. Brown the bratwurst (cut small slices so that they don't explode on you...), put it in a pot or slow cooker with sauer kraut, your beer of choice, and lots of salt and pepper.

Cook it until the bratwurst is no longer pink in the middle, then eat it with rolls and spicy brown mustard. It was excellent!

Overall, it was a good visit. We even watched The Secret of NIMH and the beginning of The Land Before Time. Good times.