Saturday, October 29, 2005

Thank you again for the reminder of why I don't have kids

My cat, Berkely, is high. Has anyone ever seen a whacked out cat? If I knew that incessant vomiting wasn't going to follow I might be laughing a little harder right now. She just ingested Clorox. And reveled in the five minutes (or more or less...I don't know) she had in the sink all by herself with the glorious clorox while I forgot that this was one of those times I had to keep a close watch on her. Does everyone see now why I don't have kids? I would go certifiably insane if I had to 'keep a close watch' on them 24-7...which I've heard is true. The kids would get down a whole bottle of clorox before I remembered about it. Then I'd be charged with neglect and known throughout the world as the worst mom on the planet. No thanks.

For now I'll just be a cat mom and deal with the occasional slip up and stupidity on my part of leaving hazardous materials out for them to eat. Then I'll watch them be high and clean up their puke. And pray to everything that by the time we decide to have kids I'll have more of a mom instinct.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

The old pissy guy behind me waving his hands and flipping me off is the best...

Even though I am in front of him, a car is in front of me, we are blocked on all sides and we. are. not. moving. Apparently that is MY fault. Who knew? Thanks, dude, for giving me a reason to laugh out loud for most of the rest of the drive home. Much appreciated.

Monday, October 24, 2005

The biggest downfall to having a cold...

I can't handle cold medicine. I take it and I feel stoned. I would probably get a DUI if I was pulled over if I have cold medicine in my body. I cannot walk in straight lines. I can't see straight. I can't focus. I feel woozy. My hands shake. I get hot. Then cold. Then hot. Then cold. This is not uncommon. Every time I get a cold I face the biggest dilema: to take or not to take cold medicine and if so, how much? Today I opted to take it simply because I knew I'd be in meetings all morning and if I didn't take it I would have snot all over my face, have blodshot eyes, and be sneezing on everyone at the table. So, I took it. The full dosage. Against my better judgement. I had the conversation with Tim this morning that I thought I should only take ONE tylenol cold instead of the recommended dosage of two because it's supposed to last 6-8 hours. He didn't understand why that would matter. Well, at least I proved him right. I totally feel like I'm on drugs right now. Definitely not how you want to feel when you are at work and you have to look somewhat competant. At least I can breathe.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

It has to happen at least once a year...

I have a cold. Given to me by Tim. Nice gift. I want to know where the switch is that automatically turns on the second you get a cold to make your nose gush like a waterfall. Then I will proceed to turn it off along with the sneeze switch and the sore throat switch. Luckily the achy body switch and fever switch have remained turned off and hopefully will NOT turn on. Turning those two switches on is like pure torture. I always feel like I'm dying when I have a fever and my whole body hurts. I can handle a little cold.

By the way, has anyone heard of Airborne? People at work have told me about its wonders and we got some. It has like 1500% vitamin c, 1000% vitamin a, and tons of other vitamins and minerals (including echinachea which I usually take by itself to conquer the yearly cold). I bought some and took some...we'll see how well it works. I have to believe it will do some sort of good judging by all the good things it has in it!

Friday, October 21, 2005

One of the moments where we look at each other and think "Oh hell-this is either going to be one of the best or worst things we've ever done."

After meeting with our mortage officer the other day, listening to him speak in tongues, and then proceeding to sign away our life, I am still in a state of incoherence because of the foreign mortgage languages my head is still trying to process. One of the biggest moments of the day was when Mike the Mortgage guy nonchalantly said, "Assuming you pay off the mortgage in 30 years, don't refinance, and don't move, you will have paid a million dollars for this house at that point." That seems absolutely crazy to me. Granted, it's really not that much money in the grand scheme of the housing market-especially in 30 years-but considering the fact that we are 23 and 24, respectively, and in our first jobs, that sounds like a whole freakin lot. But hey, since we will have a house now, our payments and interest rates are reasonable, and we'll gain equity, we decided that signing a huge lump of debt into our names is bound to be beneficial. So, into suburbia we go...willingly but not fully knowing what we could be getting ourselves into. Such is life, eh? Life seems to be full of these blind jumps: marriage, buying a house, accepting a job, possibly in MANY YEARS having a child. Every experience has its own risks but in my experience (at least with marriage) the benefits have so far outweighed the risks. So, we will continue plunging. What fun is life anyway if you never take risks?

Monday, October 17, 2005

Weekend Update

We spent this past weekend in Orange County with Tim's family. We went to see a big cross country race that Aaron (Tim's brother) was running in. It was a lot of fun running all over the park to see him at various points in the race and he did really well, too! He got his best time ever: 17 minutes 15 seconds. He was fast! I wish I could run that well... On Saturday night it was really too cold to do anything so we just put on sweaters, hung around, and ate chili. And no, you cannot laugh. 65 degrees out is FREEZING to us now. It honestly felt like a December day in the midwest...weak, I know. Kind of funny though how you get acclimated to a certain climate so quickly. Anyway, being that it was cold, we stayed in. Beth and I were sent out to rent a movie for all of us to watch. Since Tim, Mark, and Aaron have been extremely depressed since the Yankees lost to the Angels in the playoffs, we thought we'd cheer them up by renting "Fever Pitch," (the movie about a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox, aka the Yankees biggest rival). I think they felt better after watching it.

The weather really was cold, gloomy, and rainy in southern cal but it was awesome because it felt so much like fall. We actually hit a few pretty bit thunderstorms on the way back to Phoenix and today here it has been really cloudy and overcast with sporadic rumbles of thunder, wind and rain. It's kind of a neat change from the constant sunshine, though... it really feels like fall and I love fall! October is by far my favorite month of the year. I was a little worried that I would miss fall but I haven't...October is still my favorite month even in Phoenix!

Friday, October 14, 2005

I can't believe I forgot!

In addition to the list I made on my last post, we FINALLY got our wedding pictures! We didn't get all of them but we got our album, several loose photos, and our engagement picture negatives and proofs. The rest should be on their way (per a lengthy apologetic letter from our photographer). I really can't believe we actually got them! AND, they are really good...an added bonus!!

Thursday, October 13, 2005

A few jawdropping things that have occurred recently...

*I was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half this morning-a new personal record! But not something I'm proud of accomplishing...
*Tim has THREE doctor's appointments within the next month (the dentist for teeth, a physical because he hasn't had one for 7 years, and the skin doctor to check out his moles). This is astounding. I'm not sure he's seen this many doctors in his entire life. And that's not a joke. He hates going is the understatement of his life.
*Back to the car ride this morning...I was so bored, I pulled out old CDs from high school. I am publically admitting that I listened to the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears this morning. For the record, I can't believe I ever bought, much less LIKED either CD. Wow.
*I talked to my dad on the phone for over an hour the other day! Huh? Very cool but so unusual...
*We turned off our air conditioner on Sunday morning and did not turn it on again until today! It's been so awesome out here. It's not even bad today but they predicted 95 and we decided we didn't want to fry the cats...hopefully tonight we can turn it off again!
*I bought a shirt today at Target. And I like it.
*Emerson has not pooped on the floor for a REALLY long time. Like weeks.
*Tim and I have exercised consistently for the past week. We've played a lot of tennis and we've run/walked quite a bit.
*Mega peanut M&M's are awesome. I highly recommend them. I always think that nothing is as good as the original but these are great. And yes, they negate all the exercise I do now (that is not anything surprising).
*I like going to work. It doesn't feel like work.
*I tried to eat cows. TRIED. I still think they are disgusting.
*One last addition to the drive this morning: It took me an hour and 10 minutes to go what should take 20 minutes. Along the way, it was like a movie: I crawled at a standstill as the result of accident after accident (seriously) then finally got off to take the back roads. Bad idea. Old Faithful decided to visit Phoenix this morning. There was what I assume to be a water main break that was in the form of a 3o foot by 10 foot geiser directly in the path of me. Stupid Old Faithful. YOU SUCK.
*I haven't eaten ice cream for a WEEK. I haven't been able to not eat peanut butter, though.
*I made really good tacos the other night (Tim called it his reward for the trauma of making three doctor appointments).
*I really like Arizona.
*Tim answered his cell phone at work!
*I figured out an awesome new system of tracking our money and our expenses. I'm so excited about it...It's working amazingly well!!
*I missed Graceland the other day (something I really didn't ever imagine saying). College life sometimes sounds fun again...mostly, I miss my friends. I also miss the schedule...I think it is absolutely hysterical that I ever thought I was busy in college. Wow. 12 hours out of my day now are devoted to work and it often doesn't stop at home. Granted two hours a day are for driving but I count that as the work experience. People in college should definitely not take it for granted... they have it made!
*I decided that one of my new favorite things is orange-pineapple-banana juice. All of the health people always say not to drink juice but I drink shot glasses of it. And it's great. And I personally think they are dead wrong. I don't intend to give it to a kid but for my purposes, it's still fruit...at least the kind I buy!
*I've posted TWO DAYS IN A ROW. That is totally nuts. I'm done.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

I miss the old days...

when fall meant more money being spent on new clothes (BY SOMEONE OTHER THAN ME)than my young mind could comprehend. Back to school clothes shopping is definitely one of the greatest perks of still being dependent on your parents. Unfortunately, I do not fall into this category anymore. Sigh. Now that I am independent I have a hard time rationalizing spending hundreds of dollars at one time on new clothes...especially when I know that in a few months we are going to have to be boring and old and buy a refridgerator, a washer and dryer, furniture, and wood blinds. Seriously, what has my life come to? I can't believe I just publically admitted that I am thinking about choosing to buy boring old people stuff over a new fashionable wardrobe. I have GOT to reclaim who I am. So I must go buy some new clothes...if nothing else but for my sanity and a reminder that I am not boring and old. Besides, it is FALL! That's what fall is! New clothes season!

I have a list of must-haves in my mind. Mostly anything from Banana Republic and JCrew are perfect...and in my price range. I really want some cute chocolate brown tall boots that I saw at Banana, some cute tiered skirts, a super cute berry 3/4 turtleneck from banana, and a cropped blazer that I am in love with. Oh, and I also need some new work shoes... JCrew always has great shoes. Hmmm... Oh yes, and I must have a new purse. Last time I was at Nordstrom I saw a really cute Kate Spade purse and I also saw a really cute Coach purse online... there are too many adorable things out there that I want! Now I just have to rationalize that I can spend money on all these things even though the boring old people stuff is still at the back of my mind... but everyone needs clothes, right? And plus, it's not really fall until you buy new clothes. So there, I've made up my mind. I must go shopping this weekend!

Thursday, October 6, 2005


Red rocks of Sedona.

Red rocks of Sedona.

Pictures and Procrastination

I have been terrible at keeping up with this thing... I'm assuming people read it but I don't really think anyone does...aside from my mom, anyway. Oh well, I guess the reason I started it anyway was for the benefit of my family being able to see how things are going so I'll keep trying to update. I guess it will be fun to look back on someday as well...

Anyway, the weekend of our anniversary we went up to the high country of Arizona. I talked to a couple of guys at work that are big hikers and they gave us hiking maps and one guy told me about the hike that he thinks is the best in Arizona. We went on that one on the way up. It's about 10 miles north of Sedona-through red rock canyons. We hiked about 6-7 miles but it was flat and easy and SO beautiful!

We stayed in Flagstaff and explored the town of Flagstaff as well that weekend. The town wasn't as big as we thought it would be and not really like the other mountain towns (like Vail, CO) we would have compared it to, had we not gone there. It was very much a college town with lots of unique people who were all about peace and love. Very cool...we had a great greek dinner at an all natural, organic restaurant-recommended by one of the aforementioned people.

On Sunday (our anniversary) we decided to be adventurous and hike to the peak of a mountain. The peak was about 9300 feet and we started at about 6500. So it was straight up hill the whole way. The whole hike was a little over 6 miles round trip but it took us 3 1/2 hours... the going up always is the worst. It's so worth it to make it up though. We went on a hike in the rockies a few years ago with some good friends from college so we knew what to expect on this hike. Fortunately, though, we weren't affected by the altitude on this hike. On the hike in Colorado, we climbed up to 13,000 feet so we were absolutely dying by the time we got up. We were dead tired after this hike too, but it was much more enjoyable since we didn't feel like fainting! It was a great way to spend the day of our first anniversary!

In other news, I've been pretty busy with work. I worked last Saturday and the reason why I am mentioning this is because that day was almost the last day of my life. I had to do an inventory observation. I won't go into the details but to say that I had to climb up 60 foot silos to measure the product inside. There were 8 silos. And the way I got up? Ladders. With nothing around them or below them but the ground and sky. I have never been so scared. And the worst thing about these ladders is that the rungs were only as big as my fingers. They were unbelievably small. So, fortunately I lived to tell about this but holy crap! That was maybe the most scared I've ever been in my life. Other than that I've been out at client's and working at nights and I'm going to use that as my excuse for never posting...

Actually, speaking of being out at clients, on Monday when I was working out at a particular client a stray kitten walked up. It hung around all day and no one else would take it home. So, of course, I just had to! I couldn't let the poor thing get hit by a car or anything. I took it home and locked it in the bathroom for the night-just in case it was sick I didn't want it to get near Berkeley or Emerson. Then the next day, I took it to be put up for adoption. It needs to get tested for Feline Leukemia and if it has that then it has to be put to sleep (that's like cat AIDS). I'm trying to talk Tim into letting me adopt it but I don't think he will... I really just feel so bad for it and it was so precious and cute. But I guess we don't need three cats, but really, what's one more? Ahh...I don't know.

So I guess that's all that's been going on...enjoy the pictures!!

Hiking in Sedona

Getting ready to go on the hike in Sedona

Tim on the hike in Sedona

Aww...a nice couple took our picture on the hike in Sedona.

Cool!

Big red rock of Sedona.

Flagstaff mountains.

Just coming down from Mt. Elden peak...leaving the beatiful aspens.

Flagstaff mountains

Getting close to the Mt Elden peak.

We made it! (and it was FREEZING up there...and windy! We're lucky we remembered to bring our beanies...and that we actually kept them!) The view was totally worth it though!

At the peak. The city of Flagstaff is off to the right.

Mt. Humphreys...the highest point in Arizona. Higher than Mt. Elden by 3000 feet. We had a great shot at it from Mt. Elden.

Close to the top of Mt Elden peak, we encountered more aspens which meant beautiful fall colors-totally worth the trip up.

Kitten I rescued. I love it so much. I so want to adopt her. She has beautiful blue eyes. Everyone tell Tim that I must have her!