Another Reason to Heart Sonic

Sonic, which we all know is a primary source of good in the universe, will give you a coupon today good for a 99 cent Sonic Chiller!

Now go forth and chill!

Thanks to my sister jennifer (another primary source of good in the universe) for the heads-up!

It's Not You, It's Me.

I have love, love, loved - fanatically loved - the alarm clock I have. It alternates between showing the time and then the outside temperature on the ceiling All Night Long. Some people might be annoyed at a neon red light flashing on the ceiling all night. But somehow - to me, it's become a sign that all is right with the world, and that there IS an outside world, obviously, because it has a temperature.

Except.
I have done something to the clock, and I can no longer convince it to accept my current time zone. No matter how many times I reset that dang thing, after about an hour it changes itself back to Nairobi time. Not even kidding.

3 nights ago I woke up in the dark of night and drowsily looked up to check the time, which was flashing 9:oo AM. It jolted me awake because I was supposed to have met my running partner Kami at 6. But clearly it was still dark, and even at 6 am it's not dark these days. So I slowly put two and two together....
well, it was more like I slowly figured out that I was back on Nairobi time, and then subtracted 8 hours off what the clock said, to figure out the time. Then I stared at the ceiling wondering whether Nairobi has daylight savings time, and contemplating the fact that I was up at either 1 or 2 am, or maybe it was midnight, and why was I lying here practically having to do CALCULUS in bed?

And that right there, was when my love affair with my clock began to go downhill. (and I think I even heard Gwen Stefani singing Don't Speak somewhere off in the distance.)

Because clearly any clock that forces me to do MATH in the middle of the night is NOT a keeper.

And anyway, these kinds of long distance relationships are much too hard to maintain.

Notes to Self on The Brain's Business Trips

The last few times The Brain has been out of town for business, I've made some notes to myself to help me cope better in the future.

Sometimes the notes look like this:

• $@*(#)@@#$%&*(%#^

But mostly they are helpful things, like:

• Don't let the kids make curfew extensions. This can only end in tears.
  

and

• Make sure to wash the bed sheets before he gets home.

Because for me, coming home after staying in a nice hotel for a couple of nights would be hard enough. It would be completely un-doable with dirty sheets.

I would be happy to come home to homemade cookies, though, so that's another note I have.

• Make cookies. The house will smell great,
  

And as most wives know, a great smelling house covers up a multitude of other oversights. (*cough* Forgetting to get the trash out on trash day *cough*)


Anyway, I think keeping this little notebook has made me a leeeetle bit better wife. Maybe.


The Brain will be home tonight (YAY! ) so I've jotted down a few notes I've made from this time around:

Notes to Self:

• When The Brain is gone, there will be a spider in every room in the house. I don't know WHY you keep thinking this time it won't happen. There's no point in going into denial, you're just going to have to kill them. There's also no point in calling Lizzie to help, because she will scream in your ear and grab your shirt every time the spider moves a leg, and everyone in the room will dissolve into giggles, and in the meantime the spider will be making it's way to the next room.
• Where it will pretend to be a new spider.

• Also when the Brain goes out of town= not a good time to start a scary novel. You already know you are a 'fraidy cat, and yet you insist on reading until you get sleepy, which you never will, because you will be laying awake at 2 am wondering what that noise was, and if the creepy shapes are coming in to get you. This is never a good idea.
• And yet you keep doing it.

• *Packing for girl's camp is not your forte'. Yes The Brain got all the equipment out and ready before he left. But you forgot to ask how the backpack should be packed. Google is your friend, but if you had any forethought at all, The Brain would have happily done it for you before he left.
  
• And I bet it wouldn't have taken him an hour to do it, either.

I think there were a couple more things, but they were on the paper where I may or may not have spilled my water in the middle of the night in a possible panic that I might have heard a spider on the ceiling. Heaven knows you can't be too paranoid about that kind of thing. (Because what if there really IS?)

Maybe my thoughts from this time aren't as practical as some of the earlier entries, but I think they're important things to remember nonetheless.
(You can see how those 4 hours of sleep last night have really kicked in and helped my thinking stay crystal clear, right?)

So this afternoon I'm washing sheets and baking cookies. YAY!

And next time he starts packing his suitcase, I'll be out picking up some bug spray, a drowsy Nicholas Sparks book, and some Rocky Road Ice Cream.

Because Rocky Road Ice Cream is the key to making the whole system work. Srsly.

It's Sort of a Love/Hate Thing

The Brain is currently trying to figure out ways to get out of being the president of our HOA. He's currently in year 4 of a 2 year term. So if you're a mathematical wiz, like me, you'll eventually be able to figure out - he's been up for replacement for 2 years now.

Basically, he can't get anyone to take his place. He can't even get anyone to come to an annual homeowner meeting, let alone be willing to take over his gig. Last year only two people who weren't on the board showed up to the annual meeting... and one of them was me.

I've been telling him it's because he's doing too good a job, and I think the only way out at this point is for him to plan his own demise.

The only question is - Should he make people begin to hate him slowly, or all at once?

He's thinking he should start sending out fines for ridiculous infractions, like mowing your lawn between 7 at night and 7 in the morning, which technically would be against the rules, but....

I think hey, if you're just out to make people mad, at least let's get some good out of it. I want to fine people for every time their kids break the tops off my flowers because they cut through my flowerbed instead of using the sidewalk.

Or if he REALLY wants a big turn-out at the annual meeting, maybe take around flyers to advertise it, and put in prominent writing at the bottom:

We will be discussing the dues increase, which will be used to send the board members on an annual Hawaiian retreat.

Maybe it's just me, but I think people would really show up to discuss that.

Eat More Chikin

In honor of Cow Appreciation Day today:









And if you REALLY want to celebrate Cow Appreciation day today, go to Chic Fil A, where if you wear a cow costume they will give you free food.
And they even give you the cow costume to do it with! Just print it off here.

Have you ever met anyone who didn't love Chic Fil A? I think Tim Hawkins sums it up pret-ty well.




And thanks to my friends at Be Different, Act Normal for the tip. And the costume link. And the video. I love that blog - you should totally go over and say "hi"!

Blogging about Blogging

I like blogging. A LOT. And I could list a hundred reasons why. Maybe someday I will (uh, yeah, don't hold your breath for that one), but what's actually spinning through my head today are some of the complexities bloggers face, and maybe finding out how you handle them.

One of the tricky parts of blogging - at least for me- is how to tell a story about people I know without making anyone look really stupid or bad. Well, except me. I'm resigned to the fact that I will look stupid in fully half of what I write... Which is probably more realistic anyway. But if I write a post and someone else comes out looking really dumb ( I mean, you know, unless it's someone that IS really dumb) I usually feel bad and I don't publish it.

Being "real" is a continual reality check for me. Too whiny and I think people begin to tune out. Too perfect, and you lose readers even faster. Be judgmental and people yell at you anonymously in the comments. Not that I really care what mental anonymous commenters think, but I am trying to curb my judgmentalness streak.
Where's the balance there? Do you really want to get to know a blogger? Or bottom line-- do you just want to be entertained? (Mostly by being able to think "Schwoo - glad that's not me!")

Also, how much information to share? Mimi asked me the other day why I don't blog about some of the funny things she does. GIRL! Do you not remember the yelling fit the last time I blogged about you???? She didn't. Fortunately, Lizzie did. So at least they can't label me the crazy one this time. Again.

I know other people struggle with this. C'mon. What are your thoughts?
Short AND long comments completely welcome for this one. (you know, as always)

Things Learned At The Family Reunion

• If you have an awesome brother who really really likes everyone to get up and going early in the morning? You may want to refrain from letting him be in charge of the award chart, lest you find yourself running from your warm bed to jump into the freezing water at 6:55 am every single morning because you are overly competitive about earning that dang "Polar Bear" badge.

• It is impossible not to crack up laughing when your 3 y/o niece is teaching you to play a card game, and she looks at you solemnly and states, "Weemembow. Nothing can stop the Bwack Knight."

• It IS possible to have too much chili.

• Even wearing 50 SPF sunblock AND having 2 hours of "shade time" in the middle of the day, will not stop the melanoma cancer cells from clapping their hands and shouting for joy when they see our family coming.

• Given the right conditions, your body can glance across the water just as many times as any rock you've ever skipped.

• It is quite possible to embarrass your daughters even if you know for a fact that there are other parents every bit as embarrassing as you within earshot. You know this, because the other mothers are your sisters, and are OBVIOUSLY more embarrassing than you.

Note to self: Do NOT use the word "Yay-uh" as a replacement for "yes" unless you are under the age of 25.

• It's entirely possible that at the end of the rainbow, you will find your family!

Photo credit again goes to my sister Jenny as she is always the one who takes the good pictures at family events.

Bookmark Days

It's interesting how we remember days that are bookmarked in history.

Early on a July morning in 1981, I got out of bed to watch a woman walk down the aisle to marry a prince. I, along with most young women in America, was fascinated with Lady Diana - who later that day became Princess Diana.

On a September morning in 1997, I got up early again to watch Princess Diana's funeral. She had hard times, but I think over all she was a good person, who tried to do a lot of good in the world.

I remember being pushed into a room to watch Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon, and though I didn't really know what was going on, I had a sense that it was very important.

I remember watching the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The verdict of OJ Simpson.

The fall of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad.

The Challenger explosion.

The Columbine shootings.

Those were bookmark days - at least in my life, if not for the world. And every one of them had an influence on my life.

(Strangely I don't remember anything about Elvis' funeral. I wonder if that's because it didn't have an impact on my life, or because I just didn't watch it. Let's face it, my mom was not a really big Elvis fan.)

I'm sitting here watching the coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral with mixed feelings. Is today a bookmark day? I mean, let's face it, the man was not exactly a saint. True, he had a huge influence in the music world, but it didn't seem like that ever gave him or anyone else peace.

Is this an event my girls will remember watching, like I remember watching Princess Diana's wedding?
And do I even want them to?

Is this hoopla for someone who was famous for being eccentric, reclusive, and downright strange impacting their lives in a way I would be happy about? We are talking about it as we watch it. About how the world has different standards of what is important. And what did this man do, really, that's worth all this fanfare?

And yet, we watch.*


*update*

*Well, we watched. Until 1:04pm mst when some congresswoman stood up and said that she was introducing a resolution on the house floor to proclaim MJ a hero. At which point, my kids got to see their mom walk across the room and flip off the tv - I mean TURN off the tv (though either one could have applied here)- and proclaim this whole thing a bunch of hoo-ey.
The take-away lesson was a bookmark day, but not in the way I expected.

(Seriously? A hero? I think the Catholic church has a good rule about waiting however many years before anyone is proclaimed a saint. Let's just give it some time and see if we feel the same way about it later, shall we?)

*updated again*
I went and read the resolution. It doesn't say hero, it says humanitarian, leader and contributor. Sorry, I went a little crazy-deaf there. Still wrong though, imho.