Remember in high school or college when Friday would hit and you would get that anxious anticipation of doing or going somewhere fun? That's the feeling that consumes me once a week when the monotonous work week is finally coming to a close. I find myself sitting at my desk almost nervously watching the clock waiting for 4:30 to hit (or 4:27ish because that's close enough) so I can mentally give everyone the finger and jet.

This weekend started off trying to find a place to get a drink that wasn't packed. After this particular week, I really needed to unwind. With the impending big game on Saturday tons of out-of-towners flooded the city.  We checked out three places before finally deciding to hit the Oread. Surprisingly the flood had not spread there yet and we got a table easily at the Bird Dog. If I had not already agreed to watch my nephew later that evening we would have taken part in the bourbon tasting event they had scheduled. Ironically, that is probably the first time Blake has ever saved me from a major hangover.

Saturday we meandered around Nebraska Furniture Mart and Cabelas until my feet hurt before heading over to Shawnee to some friends' house for a watch party. They had the biggest flipping TV in what they called the "Man Cave" and when Dan whispered, "I told you it was huge," I couldn't help but snicker and say, "THAT'S what SHE said!" Their nephew is in the process of opening a brew pub and brought some of his home brewed pecan stout. It was darker than what I normally prefer but it tasted really light without the usual aftertaste of a dark brew. It was very impressive but at 14% alcohol I thought I'd better stick to my Boulevard Wheat. I predict before the year is over I'll get to assist with making some home brew. I've heard it's a very delicate process; more so than making wine and finding the perfect concoction intrigues me. I never in a million years thought I would be interested in brewing or that I would develop a taste for it. I'm guessing my friends won't call me a Beer Snob when they are drinking home-made, FREE beer at my house. Huh?

I didn't know you could play the air keyboard!

We had to have a mini jam session with our breakfast this morning to Don't Stop Believin'. It think it kicks ass that both girls have this song in their iPod and know all the words. Rock on!

What Are You Trying To Say?

Approximately once per week I open my email and cringe. I'm talking the kind of reaction when a tiny audible "oh nooo" slips out before I can stop myself. Sometimes I let the email sit there unopened until I reach a point in my day when I'm feeling more tolerable. Since that rarely occurs, most of the time I just take a deep breath and click "open." This dreaded email is not spam but communication from my daughter's coach. Her team practices all year round so we are continuously bombarded with poorly written information. I chalk this up to the guy being a Mizzou graduate. Apparently they don't teach proofreading or grammar across the state line to the East.

He found us a hotel with a...."Great pool area with big hot tube". and it's... "just down the rode from the mall." (I really don't want my child playing in a hot tube).

"Jordan said you have talked about hitting lesions for her."

That's not my child's name and do we need to get some sort of cream for this?

 Seriously, no spell check?

"So if you are budging - plan on January." 

"Here is the Princes email -"

"For the Monster Bash the girls are dressing up like their favor ate Disney princes." 

I think this second sentence sum it up pretty well. 

"This is the building they built for the Chielf's training camp.  I am a graduate of MWSU." 

Pass Me the Wine!

This has truly been one of those "Are you @#%*ing kidding me?" weeks. I have a co-worker who believes the world revolves around her and her alone. Hellooow, have we met? Clearly this lifeless twit doesn't know that I can be a big ol' bitch too. So this week after putting up with her bullshit for the past 8 months and trying my best to get along, my claws came out. There aren't a whole lot of people that I would make this statement about but if she were to get hit by a bus tomorrow, I'd make absolutely no attempt to pay my respects. On second thought maybe I would just so I wouldn't be under suspicion for driving the bus. On a brighter note, my special friend Dan is coming home tonight from being away on work and has informed me he is bringing back wine and cigars. It's been my experience that time cures most turmoil. I guess if that doesn't seem to be working I'll start working on a CDL and start cruising her neighborhood.

If You Need a Chuckle....

Thank you to my beloved, warped sense of humor friend for introducing me to one of the funniest damn blogs I've seen in a long time. It's called Catalog Living. The creativity of some people amazes me while I kick my own butt thinking, "Dang it! I wish I would have thought of that!" Check it out if you get a chance.

"Hey mom, I need glow sticks for the dance tomorrow night."

Glow sticks??

Yep, to go with the florescent tape. Duuh.

These two neon mummies wrapped themselves from head to toe.. front and back and headed out to get their groove on. The girl with Gen is her friend Mary and in case you were wondering, no, her glasses aren't broken. She wears tape on her glasses to express her inner and outer nerd.

Yesterday marked one year since Dad passed away. Mom had been anticipating this day all week and was mentally preparing. When I called her to check in she was multi-tasking to preoccupy her mind. For me it was just comforting to have someone close to me who (without being prompted) first thing yesterday said, "hey.. I know what today is and I'm here for you."  That's really all I needed and I described that early morning a year ago a little bit just to set the scene.

My sister and I don't make a habit of dwelling on things like that, at least when we are together. I'll say "hey, did you remember?" and she'll say "yeah" and that will be the extent of the conversation. That's pretty much how it went yesterday in the car on our way to the KU game as I was putting on hand lotion. Suddenly she burst out with, "Dude! What is that?" I told her I had gotten some hippie lotion around Christmas time from the Merc called frankincense and myrrh. She said, "Ugh. Well you need to throw that shit away cause it smells like puke, skank, and old lady!" I have to admit, she's right... it really does smell awful. So instead of continuing to live in denial, I pitched it in the trash when I got home. Leave it to Bon to know how to subtly change the mood.

Overzealous Energy Miser

As I was writing my previous post last night about how much I loathe cold weather and snow I may have been slightly influenced by how chilly it was inside my house. Not much, but eh maybe a little. Even with a fire going and the heat from the oven the house was still colder than usual. Before turning in I decided to check the thermostat.... 61 degrees? What in the holy hell? So I hit the program button and nothing happened. The whole system had been shut off! Then it hit me. Yesterday was a snow day for the girls so they were home. I got a text from Gen late afternoon asking if they could go down the street to a friend's house. I told her to make sure the the lights and the heater (as in SPACE HEATER) were shut off before they left and she took that to mean the central heat.  I swear I don't understand her thought process sometimes but believe me she DOES know the difference now!

61 degrees.... I despise winter....

SnOMG

If I had my way I'd never live anywhere that even remotely had a chance of getting snow. I really hate it that much. Oh people say things like, "Look at how beautiful it is?" and "I just love to watch it snow." Those people are truly sick individuals and should seek help immediately. In the past two day I have managed to get my car stuck not once, but TWICE. Apparently I am going to need more than four squirrels under my hood in order to conquer the steep hills in this town after 5 inches of snow. I know, go figure! I think an investment in a sturdy sled and a pack of Huskey dogs might be a smart idea.

"Come'on Baby Light My Fire"

I have been helping a friend do some tiling, painting etc. to get everything in tip-top shape for him to put his house on the market this Spring. Over a four year span he has accumulated a 12 foot high brush pile at the edge of his property that I helped contribute to with timbers from my yard. I mentioned that after the first snow we should light that baby on fire. The conditions were perfect yesterday; no wind and the roof of the house and out buildings were still wet with snow so we called in a controlled burn to the local fire department (hoping it would stay that way), doused it with diesel fuel, and lit a match. Whoooosh! We couldn't get within 10 feet of it for the heat and as this huge tee-pee of timbers and brush burst into flames a wave of panic hit me; "What the hell do we do if this does get out of control? Throw snow on it like a dog diggin' a hole!" 

Thankfully, it was uneventful for us however a family of rats were tragically displaced. He also may end up losing a tree we hadn't expected to be in the way but other than that nothing major. After a couple hours we realized this was not going to be over right away and thought about calling the fire department back to tell them we were done.

"Dispatch."
"Uh yeah, I called in a controlled burn and just wanted to let you know that I'm done."
"Sir, is the fire completely extinguished?"
"Um no. I'm just calling to tell you I'm done."

We did leave to go watch the KU game and I'm pretty sure dispatch hasn't been called because that pile is still smokin'.

Fetch Me My Tiny Car

Okay, maybe Hazel isn't wearing a fez but I sent this picture to Gen and said, "Look! Hazel is a Shriner!" Her reply was, "What's a Shriner?"

Oh Deer...

These guys are NOT sauntering along an open field beside a back country road... this is on the KU campus in the middle of the city... at the back of our parking lot.

Since Christmas, weekends have been ideal for experimenting with the new griddle Santa brought me. Pancakes have gone from nonexistent to plain to sassy blueberry and I love being able to throw down all our grilled sandwiches at once. How did I live without this handy gadget before?! This griddle has also given life to some new inventions such as the pancegg. Upon viewing the elusive pancegg you would swear it was just a harmless pancake. However, imagine your surprise (or in my case, horror) when you cut into it and find an over easy egg! I can't say I'd ever be a fan and I sincerely doubt we could ever get McDonald's to market it on their value menu. Call me weird but eggs with syrup just don't ring my bell but then again some people love sausage wrapped in pancakes so I suppose it's not too far fetched. I bet our chances would improve it we could figure out a way to put it on a stick! I have GOT to start keeping my camera in the kitchen to document these experiments if we ever hope to pursue a patent.

The Soup Diet...

(Cue the music): "dum, dum, duuuuum!"

Part of the exercise portion of my 2011 resolution includes getting my eating habits under control. I'll be honest; I've indulged a wee bit too much eating whatever the hell I want, whenever I want. Workout dude loves my cooking and we love the same foods so I've been doing a lot of cooking for him and the girls. Coupled with that is my new love for micro-brewed wheat state beer turning me into something of a "beer snob" according to my friend Al. Regardless, I wanted to get to get to a good starting point with a smarter diet starting this new year so I said, "Hey! Let's do the soup diet for a week to detox!"  If I ever utter those words again, somebody please slap me upside the head! Oh my gosh.. I have NEVER craved food so much in all my life!

The premise of the soup diet is you make this vegetable soup that has no calories so you can eat as much as you want for seven days and actually lose weight. Each day you have a strict diet of veggies, fruit, etc. and as long as you don't cheat, you can lose anywhere from 10-17lbs in a week. I was not trying to really lose weight but I wanted to do the diet as a way to cleanse my system and also act as a support system for someone else who really did want to lose some pounds. Good thing too because while he lost weight; I GAINED weight from sneaking foods not on the list. I even had a dream one night that a Sasquatch was in my house chasing me and mad because I wouldn't feed him. I think the Sasquatch was actually my stomach! I'm not a very sneaky food sneaker either. "Why are there popcorn crumbs on the couch? Were you eating POPCORN?" (It's a veggie, right? Corn? That's on the list). One night I did snarf down a glazed donut before workout dude was even out of the driveway. What a loooong week. I have never anticipated real food in all my life!

So now we are going to get into the habit of fixing more fish, chicken, and veggies to start eating better and more importantly SMALLER portions. As far as the beer, well... it does have wheat in it and that's a grain sooo as long as I exercise moderation that should be cool too. At least that is what I am going with until my scale tells me differently.

Finally Resolving to Make Resolutions

I realize I should have made my resolution intentions eight days ago. What can I say except I wanted to carefully think about them first. Yes, I said "them" as in multiple. I figure if I make several and don't follow through on one I have some on stand-by so I don't look like a total failure. Plus I have received some good resolution ideas from some friends that added to my list. So here goes:

1. So much of 2010 was about "moving forward." I want 2011 to be focused on forgetting the past & making  happy memories with new beginnings. So that's number one and he gets first up because he is the most serious of the list.

2. I have this cute little house now with tons of potential. This spring I want to transform the backyard into a little oasis perhaps even with an outdoor fireplace/wood burning pizza oven. Yep I'm planning big! This past fall I got to taste a pizza from an outdoor oven at one of the wineries we visited and the flavor was incredible. I like the idea of having that at my fingertips to spoil my friends and family with on a regular basis.

3. Along with my backyard paradise I want to plant a vegetable and herb garden. This one will be easy, peasy!

4. Travel. This year will be a year of taking more trips despite the 70-75 games Gentry's softball coach said they will be playing this spring & summer. *Ugh!* They want a canoe trip so I've begun researching that plus I just finalized arrangements to visit New Orleans in a few weeks. I also have a close friend who is craving a relaxing trip with lots of sunshine so we will see what we can come up with to help her out there.

5. Exercise. I did so well last summer during Dog Day's and I want to continue that into 2011. We've already started running again (despite the freezing cold temps that sting my lungs). I don't complain except for every time we go. I hate running but I love the way it makes me feel when I'm done. Plus, I'm going to really need this resolution if I get that wood burning pizza oven installed!

Okay, so that's my list for 2011. It isn't overly exciting on paper but hopefully all this put together will make for some interesting entries and pictures.

Hawk Talk

Every Monday night at The Salty Iguana Bob Davis hosts "Hawk Talk with Bill Self." This past Monday Bon and I were lucky enough to fall into a front row table situation right in front of Bill. Since we were sitting right next to the board, we were asked if we wanted to wear the extra headset. Blake took a turn but decided it was too loud.

Pics courtesy of B.W

I love this picture not only because Blaker is lookin' super cute in his Selby jersey but also the look on Bob Newton's face in the background. 

Blake made the final decision to ditch the headset when the food arrived. Soon I heard Bob chuckling in my headset, "Ah he's discovered Iguana dip... the nectar of the gods." 

Notice he is already sporting his autographed KU hat. This kid has more autographs than all the little boys at school put together and he has no idea yet how cool that is!

I will always have an admiration for Coach Self because he is truly a class-act guy however I feel differently or rather indifferently towards him after this week. Work-out dude is convinced it's because I got the digits. Nope, just an autographed picture that says "Happy New Year" from a man who is high profile yet simply human.

NYE 2010 - Crazy's On Da Town!

For Everything Else There Is...

New outfit... $100.00

Six course meal... $150.00

Tickets to a fabulous New Year's Eve bash... $40.00

Having a date who knows Bill Self... PRICELESS!

Happy New Year!