Urban

Even though we were only in San Francisco for one night this weekend, I knew I wanted to try and get my Exposaroonie Challenge shot during that short time frame. So, after a late night out with friends for a 30th birthday... I made myself get out of bed at 8am so I could head out (alone) on the streets of San Francisco in hopes of finding the perfect shot. 

My challenge submission for the Urban Architecture challenge was this one.... (PS... I didn't realize I had something on my lens until later. So you'll have to deal with the spot in this picture. Blame it on lazy, tired, lady who forget to wipe it off ..... )

I just couldn't resist the sharpness in the edge of this building. However, I did realize that photographing architecture is flipping hard ... for me anyway. I just wasn't able to accomplish my vision and what I wound up with, I didn't like - for the most part. This is something I want to try and work on. Until then ... here were a few other shots from my walk ...

OMG Internetz!

****Edit**** Thanks guys! I made a decision .... Option B with some accessories. I just can't pull the tights off. They aren't me. I'll be comfy in the pants. Thanks for all the comments though... and encouragement! 

Help me please. Please? 

After work, we are headed back on over the hill to San Francisco for our friend's 30th birthday party. It will be a little swanky, but jeans are acceptable. And soooo I need help finding appropriate attire... because I SUCK at it. 

I have a minimal clothing selection.. at least when it comes to fancy attire. So, you are left to choose the lesser of 3 evils.... I'm sorry. 

The options: 

Option A: 

Eggplant, silk dress from Gap

(Keep in mind.... I'll be in SAN FRANCISCO... land of 55 degree weather. Brrrr)

Option B:

The Grey skinny pant with shirt dress thingy and heels ... comfortable but casual.. heh.



Option C:

Shirt/dress as Dress and hot pink tights. However, this isn't really an option... because I don't think I could fully go through with it. Also, i don't think I pulled the look off properly... I should have shopped around a little more and maybe gone with tights that were not as bright as the sun... maybe.



Look at how much leg shows!



It isn't really THAT short. I promise. I have a 36" long inseam = a lot of leg. 
And if you really like this option .. tell me, but if you just want to see me make a fool of myself ....... 

Oh, and if you have a fun going out shirt to wear with grey skinny pants or dark skinny jeans and you happen to be on Geary St this evening in San Francisco, feel free to drop it off at the Ambassador hotel at the front counter and let me know, k? 

I made a poll of there on the left**... go vote... please. My husband is refusing to make a decision.

**update: I tried to make a poll, but effing blogger kept telling me to go to hell ... so leave a comment instead. Sorry. 

Because I'm a Slacker...

WAAAAY back on July 11th, we had a friend in town, and friend out of town, and some friends over for dinner. I took some pictures, until my 2nd glass of wine kicked in and I said screw it (actually, I continued taking pictures, but I might as well have just said screw it because .. well... they were just as in focus as my eyeballs were after one too many ....)

I really have nothing witty to say about this night. I'm going to be honest with you though, the only reason I'm posting them here is because it is hell trying to get people to figure out Flickr. *Sigh* Who am I kidding? I should just upload to myspace or .. I guess the big deal these days is facebook, no? This is where I shout out to my Real Life Peeps ... Are you reading this? Because I don't know, and it would sure be helpful to know... because then I know how much crap I can talk on here wont have to bore you with the same old stories (when I do find time to meet up with you). So, open up the comments section and leave me one... k?

Crystal was out of town, spending her first night ever away from Squidge.... so I got to feed her! 













You stay with us....and we put you to work!





And then I take your picture ...

The One Where I Inundate You with Photos

Ashley and I wandered about Little Italy and Chinatown this morning, before I left San Francisco. Seriously, these are my two favorite neighborhoods... ever. Mostly for photographic reasons, but also because Chinatown makes me a little nostalgic - and I like that feeling. 

And Of Course .... 

There are also more on my flickr site, if you are so inclined.

The Heather Armstrong Experience

I'm not going to lie... the main reason I wanted to go to blogher was to see Heather Armstrong from dooce.com. Suck it... I'm into mainstream. I don't care. 

I've been faithfully reading dooce since 2003-ish. Bottom line...Heather is a huge inspiration and yes, role model for me. That doesn't me that I want to one day make a living as a blogger, because I don't. 

That being said, I was a little peeved when I went all day Friday with out seeing her. I even over heard other girls gossiping about how Heather wasn't going to do a book signing this weekend. I was kind of irritated. I felt like the little kid who was so excited to finally go to a baseball game and possibly meet his all-time favorite player, but in the end, the player was a complete dick and totally snubbed the poor kid... leaving him in tears with an unsigned baseball in his hands. 

This morning, Ashley and I attended the Break-Out Session: Pursuing Your Passion, hosted by Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl (a personal friend of Heather Armstrong's). That panel actually turned out to be my favorite of the weekend. Where the rest of the panels came across as slightly unorganized and not overly informative (for me at least). Maggie's panel was funny, organized, and very interactive... in the good way. During the session, someone stood up and casually referenced Heather Armstrong and that she probably wasn't here because we'd all pester her to death. At that exact moment, this twangy voice chimed in with, "Um, actually...." and I shit you not, the ENTIRE room turned around and looked past me. I followed suit and started to turn to look towards the back of the room when I soon found myself staring straight into someone's crotch. I moved my eyes up towards their face and found myself looking at Real. Life. Version. of THE Heather Armstrong - sitting DIRECTLY behind yours truly. Di-rectly behind. 

Heather laughed and said, "See, I AM a real person." But she didn't say it in the most jokingly way. Instead, it sounded as if she were proving a point. 

At that moment, I felt the intense need to just play it cool. I turned around, continued with the panel, and tried my damnedest not to twitter, "OMG effing @dooce is RIGHT behind me, and I may have farted." 

The panel continued on, and I was very good about not turning around to stare at Heather or Jon. I tried to laugh at the jokes, twitter regular tweets, and casually bitch to Ashley about whatever may have been bothering me at the moment ( whoever it was who was iPhoning with the keyboard click on... you effing annoyed this shiznit out of me). At the end of the panel, everyone got up to leave and I made the conscious decision not to pester Heather with a picture request. She was ridiculously intimidating to me.  I was just scared shitless that if I did approach her, she'd let me know how much I was bothering her with that pimple on my jawline which she was unable to stop staring at during the panel ... and that was so horrendous, she may have vomited a little in her mouth... and OMG, did you smell that fart? 

Just then, some crazy woman hopped over and stood right in front of Heather asking for a picture for her friend, blah blah blah. I'm not a 100% certain, but to me, it looked as if Heather was none too impressed by said over enthusiastic woman. There was something about the way Heather's voice sounded when she introduced herself at the panel and when she succumbed to crazy blog-fan-lady that really turned me off. Throw all of that in with the lack of a book signing at Blogher and the fact that Heather was no where to be found for 1.5 days... and I was a little upset.  Maybe she was just having a bad morning? Maybe she was hung over?  There had to be a reason. Everything I've ever read about other people meeting Heather has always been about how wonderful and gracious she is. This, this was not the Heather I had expected and I was a teeny bit crushed.

This evening, we attended the community keynote featuring both Heather Armstrong and Stephanie Klein. Heather turned out to be a pretty damn good public speaker. She answers questions fully, speaks properly, and almost never says, "um". She mentioned that someone had threatened to poor hydrochloric acid on her, to reveal her inner robot because she was not a real person. She also mentioned another blog that referred to her as a mythical hobbit. This time, she didn't sound like she was proving a point, but more like she was a little hurt by everyone's negative opinions of her lately. In the end, she came across as the awesome person I always thought she would be. I was relieved. 

As Ashley and I were heading out of the hotel, she spotted Heather in the hallway chatting it up. Ashley pushed me to go have Heather sign my copy of her book. I hesitated a moment before I finally decided to just go for it.

I can only sum it up in dialog... 

Me: "So, I've been trying to leave you alone all weekend, but I just couldn't resist out of fear that I might regret it. I'm sorry."

Dooce: "What? WHY!?"

Me: "Because I know it is probably totally obnoxious for you." 

Dooce: "N......"

Me: (Thrusting the book in her face with a pen) "Oksocanyousignthisbook? I know you aren't doing a book signing......but...."

Dooce: "Yeah, I know. I'm not doing it because of a reason that I am not talking about right now...... So, where are you from?"

Me: (with a wee bit of hesitation) "Um ...... Reno." 

Jon (her husband) walks closer and chimes in: "Awesome!"

Dooce: Says something in twangy accent that I can't quite comprehend, but has something to do with Salt Lake City people liking Reno, I think.

Me: I may have stumbled on my words with a nervous giggle and something about slot machines at the 7-Eleven, seriously, could you ask for more?

As Heather posed for my picture, she wrapped her arm around me and commented on my glasses. Holy. Sweetness. Batman.

In the end, Heather Armstrong was friendly, not intimidating or judgmental, and actually, she  seemed rather appreciative of my fawning over her.  I... can now rest peacefully.

Blogher Day 1 Update

Have yet to grab my swag for the day. Made it up the stairs, alone ... Was totally overwhelmed and right away, started freaking out about who I was going to eat breakfast with? Omg my blog isn't about ANYTHING!

History: I usedto get crazyanxiety whenever I just went to a friend's house. The last 3 years, I have grown tremendously and have gained so many new experiences that some where along the way.... My anxiety diminished quite a bit.

Honestly, I didn't think I would have a problem here. I wasn't anticipating a problem, it kind of just snuck up on me ... While I was alone and vulnerable. 

Now , I am posting via email on my iPhone coming to you from the bathroom on the 1st floor. After a good cry inthe stall, I think I have been in here for about 30 minutes or so now ..my legs are asleep. I know it sounds so easy to just sweep all of these feelings under the rug, but for me.... they are choking me... crushing me .... taking over. Maybe in a few minutes, I'll grow a pair and head upstairs.... However, the starbucks down the street might just be calling my name instead... Yep, that is right... I am a quitter.

Blogher 2008 Day Negative 1

Technically, tomorrow is the first day of blogher... but there were a few cocktail parties to attend this evening. So... we attended. 

While I am too tired to actually write anything, I'm not too tired to share some pictures.... 

This last one, was taken while Ashley and I went off in search of stairs, because the elevators were taking too long .....

Tomorrow, the games start at 8! ... Yowzers!

Pie Tid Bits

(Stolen from Sarah, Katie and Jennie!)


Things You Should Know About Me When We Meet at BlogHer:


1.) Hi, I'm tall. Like six feet tall. I'll probably wear flats the entire time, so as not to look like the transvestite who invaded Blogher.

2.) Like Sarah (we are apparently a bunch of bitches in denial) I can look mean. Like Jennie, I am supposed to wear glasses, and most likely will ... but if you see me with out glasses, I am not wearing contacts. This means I'll probably be glaring away trying to make out the blur in front of me. In high school and at parties in high school, there was a lot of, "Bitch.. who are you glaring at!?" and then there was a lot of me hiding in the corner, trying not to look at anyone but refusing to where my glasses because they were never cool. 

3.) I will say anything. I don't have a filter, and tend to get overly excited... ask Crystal, Lorie, David, Ashley, or Colleen.... they have all experienced it first hand. I'm also not the most articulate person... but I like to think I can pull it off pretty well ;) 

4.) When I'm tired or hungry... don't take anything I do or say personal! Sometimes, I'm just cranky. Often times, I have hermit crab tendency's .... but I'm trying to come out of shell more often these days. 

5.) I'm really nervous about calling Jennie tonight ... what do I say, "Hi.. it's Emily .. you know, EmilyPIE!?" Very rarely do I actually say "EmilyPie" unless I'm referring to the website... sure, it used to be a nickname ... but I hope I can get away with introducing myself as just "Emily" 

6.) ... I'm kind of goofy. But not goofy in a "cool" way .. goofy in an "OMG... does that girl KNOW she is making a fool of herself?" way ... and yes, I do. Thanks. 

7.) If you see Ashley and I walking around with a giant Blow-Up doll...please remember the blow-up doll's name is Coh-Lean ... not Call-lean :D ... just sayin.

8.) I'm secretly excited about finding my picture on someone else's Flickr account after the fact! So take my picture please! :D

9.) The Lovely Colleen just reminded me, I'm not a hugger. I prefer to stand back and nod my head and smile..maybe a hand shake. I tend to "man-hug" ... wide arms, not too close, and the impersonal, flat-palmed pat .. twice ... and I'm outta there. I don't linger. I hate the idea of lingering, so much that I probably try and get out of the hug quicker than I should.  

10.) One last thing, I'm no fashonista. Deal. I prefer jeans when I can get away with it... and the not too tight shirt.. and my hair? It will be in a pony tail! No new Blogher wardrobe here... but that doesn't mean I'm not going to make a wee little stop in H&M while I'm in town (if I don't, I'm in town next weekend too ... but husband will be in tote, sooooo)

11.) Since I wont be crashing at the hotel, I'm contemplating leaving the laptop at Casa de Forrette's and just bring my iPhone, a paper notebook (so 20th century, I know) and pen, and of course, my camera. 

That being said... I seriously can't wait to meet you guys...and to meet new bloggers I haven't read before! See you ladies tonight! 

Being the Married Woman That I Am

....Or, The One Where it is Obvious that I need to just Shut Up and Grow a Pair

First, let me just say that my husband is in NO WAY making me feel weird about anything. It is all me, and my crazy little head. he has been completely supportive (at least since the purchase of his PS3) of all of my blogging endeavors and my opportunities to branch out and make new friends.

This Thursday, I'm going to put my big girl panties on, drive off in our fancy new car and head to The City. I'm going to crash at Casa de Forrette, and hopefully, I'll be able to maneuver my way through San Francisco's public transportation system All. By. Myself. At least for part of the trip.

I'm going to attend a conference with 1000 other bloggers! There will be nervousness, meet ups, learning and sharing. Personally, the whole idea of Blogher is my idea of heaven on earth! I seriously can't wait.

That being said... as Thursday draws closer, I'm starting to feel a teensy bit guilty about gallivanting off to frolic in The City with my new found friends while my poor husband is stuck at home. He assures me he'll be just fine playing PS3, walking the pups, and maybe even heading to Tahoe with friends.... but I'm still feeling the guilt. I know, I shouldn't..... but I do.

And while I'm on the married woman subject... can I talk about something with you gals (and guys .. please, your feedback would be awesome). Am I the only one who feels that when you go out with out your husband, that there is a fine line between coming across as the bitchy married girl and sending the wrong signal? It isn't really possible to go to bar in a shirt that says, "I'm happily married thank you. Save your flirting for someone else." I mean, the ring doesn't stop em... mentioning the husband only makes the guys angry and get defensive. I can't really explain it.. and I'm not really going out but maybe a few (by a few I mean one or two) times a year with out my husband... and mostly for that purpose. I don't like dealing with the men. Thankfully, I shouldn't have to deal with that this weekend... but ladies... feel free to share some stories or advice here.

Woot Woot

Guess what I am doing? Submitting my Exposaroonie Challenge picture... BEFORE the last minute! Woohoo!

Yesterday, I drove to Bridgeport, CA to 2nd shoot a wedding with the fantabulous KT Merry! I was trying over and over to come up with a picture from the wedding where I could incorporate the exposaroonie photo challenge..... Framing! This is the one I've decided on:

Are you going to participate in this week's challenge? It's a special one.... a Guest Challenge... go check it out!

And.. just for fun, one more picture.... 

Appropriateness

Seeing as the new iPhone's went on sale today, I thought I'd keep with the Apple theme, even thought I'm partaking in the new iPhone-goodness (because the new plan is STEEP and my old one works just as well.. even though the FREAKING CAMERA doesn't work and the damn thing freezes every so often.... too often. Oh yes, an iPhone love/hate blog is long overdue).

I've been an iPod own since about 2005-ish. Currently, between the two of us, Brandon and I own a 30GB iPod, a shuffle, and two 8 GB iPhones. With all of these mp3 playing devices about, you'd think I actually gave a shit about music. Umm, no. really, I like all kinds of music.. as long as I know the words to the song. Seriously. I tried some new campaign at the first of the year, where I'd buy new music from iTunes every few weeks and post it about over there, on the left, under myTunes section. Yeah, that failed a few months ago. 

Truth be told, my music playing devices don't really get that much use. When we hike, Brandon and I go together, and talk. I can't stand listening to music and shutting myself out from other people when they are around me. At home, I don't hook them up because my music BORES me. The same shit over and over... all 15gb of it. In the car, I just get lazy and listen to the radio because my music... it bores me. 

I guess it really isn't my music, per say, but my lack of organizational skills. My iTunes isn't set up properly, my songs aren't all labeled, rated, album-artwork-ed, and I have ZERO playlists. Who has time to sort that shit out? I've actually organized my music about sixteen-gazillion times, but always forget to back it up ... and inevitably, the computer crashes and I loose everything. Then, it is back to that one DVD of music we got from a friend way back when ... and we start the whole thing over again. 

I'm really quite frustrated with my lack of playlists & organization. I want to use my iPods, I just don't have any motivation right now. Instead, all my music, and duplicate songs are just sitting there, on my hard drive, not being cared for. I'm about to just throw my hands up into the air and ..... wait for it .... go back to CDs. For Realz, Yo. 

Am I the only one with this problem? Ugh. It makes me want to scream! Every time a road trip comes up ... I tell myself, I'm going to sit down and make some playlists dammit. Every time, it never fails, I say screw it to playlist making and just suffer through the drive. 

Any tips? How do you maintain your collection? Where do you find the time? 

Why can't we just buy a decent music collection all playlist-ed out for exercise, sexy-time, road trips, etc.? ... but for, you know, about $300 ;) 

See You Next Week?

I'll be at Blogher, most likely glued to Ashley's side... afraid to leave my comfort zone - surely she's cringing as she reads this! I get in Thursday evening and am staying Casa de Forrette. 

I'll have my camera in tow, my non-mac laptop, my comfy shoes and a sweater. I seriously can't wait! 

Here is where I ask for the final count, who else will be there? I need to make my list of folks I want to meet ;) 

Oooh... and do you know which keynotes and what not you are attending yet? I haven't a clue! Yowzers.... 

Somehow, He's Just fine

Thanks for all the concern, well wishes and prayers for Thor! All that good mojo helped. Thursday night was a bit stressful for me. Come to find out now, not only was I told my dog might die, but I was also PMSing a week early (thanks Aunt Flo, thanks). We were supposed to head to Bakersfield Thursday night so that we could spend the 4th of July at a party with some friends, and then spend the rest of the weekend just hanging out. The trip wasn't overly important, but we (really) like hanging out with these friends... and we only see them a few times a year. Though, not that anyone's counting, we've actually seen these friends quite a bit already this year! 

I'm not going to lie (to you), I may have manipulated the vacation story a little bit to see if I could get the good for nothing vet tech's permission to travel with Thor. I may have said we were visiting family for the holiday ... to make it a little more meaningful sounding than just, "Dude! There's this party... with BEER!" Alas, the vet tech hadn't a single word of advice other than, "Well, of course we are to tell you to play it safe, but in the end, it is up to you." 

That last part... gave Brandon all the power he needed to make up his mind. I, on the other hand, was a little harder to convince. Sure, Thor looked fine. They said he did well and gave us some medicines and food instructions. But I'm a rule follower by nature. Seriously, ask Crystal about that time I freaked out in Bangkok about walking down Khao San Road with an open wine cooler. Or ask the Tacoroonie crew about the many near-breakdowns I had because OMG, that is PRIVATE property! 

Later that evening, Brandon insisted on packing up and heading to Bakersfield. He said Thor would just sleep in the car like usual, and he'd be able to rest at the house we were staying at. Ok... Ok ... I thought I could go along with it. 

Then..... there was that scary poop incident. After that, I stormed up to Brandon and stated, "I am NOT going."  He tried his best to calm me down, saying we knew he'd have that problem... but look at him, he's much happier now than the day before ... he's feeling better, blah blah blah. 

Still, we got into the car and headed west on the 80. We drove for about an hour with me freaking out in the passenger seat. Every time I'd turn around to look at Thor, sleeping quietly in the back, I'd burst into tears and blubber about not wanting him to die because of us. I may have even used the line, "You just DON'T understand!" And possibly, "I'm glad it isn't ME who is sick! No telling how careless you'd be then!" 

Honestly, I was quite the bitch. Brandon on the other hand, remained calm and never once got an attitude back at me. And, after an hour of driving and putting up with my crap, he reluctantly turned around and drove silently back home.

We had an early evening, as I passed out from exhaustion with swollen, dry, red eyes. Thor slept through the night and woke up with a little spunk in him. He wrestled with Finnegan and played with toys. When it came time to feed him, he gobbled his boiled chicken and rice meal right up! We actually, had to feed him 3 small portions before noon... and he kept looking around for more. 

Around noon, Brandon took Thor to the park across the street to see if he'd drop another deuce... but nothing happened. Thor did get so excited and ran circles around Brandon, playing like he normally does at the park. This, I took as an EXCELLENT sign. So when Brandon responded with my, "I'm bored" comment around one with, "Wanna go to Bakersfield?" I said sure. 

So, we went. Thor was great. He drank his water and ate his food like a champ. But, he didn't go poop until Monday night! Truthfully, until I actually saw that poop, I didn't really beleive that he was on the mend. But, it was a nice poop. And last night's poop? It was even better! 

On Saturday, the vet's office called and left a message saying his test results came back and everything was normal. 

WHAT?! You tell me my dog might not make it. Charge me $800 to fix him. And then tell me everything looked normal? His vitals were fine, no blockage, his white blood cell count was normal and his enzyme levels were good too? 

I'm a little peeved. Had we had been able to get into our own vet on Thursday, I'm almost positive that the vet would have suggested the boiled chicken and rice diet, and maybe even given us the one medicine that he typically gives us (metro-something or other) for tummy ailments and sent us on our merry way for a grand total of $30. 

But no, I had to miss a day of work because some heartless vet gave me a doom and gloom speech during her entire 10 minutes with me... the rest of the time I spent with vet tech's who couldn't remember who  I was or who my dog was. 

For realz, Yo. 

(I really hate that phrase by the way.)

Oh, yes, but he is healthy and that is the most important thing ...... I get it. 

The Boston Patient

We picked Thor up yesterday, and paid our monstrous bill. We called our vet friend and told her about what the vet had done and she seemed a little put off by the fact that he was being discharged already. When I told her about the medicines they gave us, she sounded like she didn't approve. 

When we got home, I wanted to make sure Thor pooped, or at least had a good chance to poop because he hadn't all day. I stood outside, walking him around the lawn for a good 15 minutes before he finally found a spot worthy of his dump. I was expecting a bloody stool (judging by the blood on the butt thermometer earlier), but nothing could prepare me for what I saw. As he squatted, he shot out a stream of pure blood. Imagine the runniest case of doggy diarrhea and replace the poo with pure blood. 

He slept through the night and kept his water down (good sign). This morning, we fed him for the 1st time in 48 hours....a small dish of boiled chicken and rice. So far, he's kept that down as well (another good sign).  I'm nervously awaiting the next poop. Hopefully, we food in him now, it wont be as bad? Who knows. We are going to follow up with the vet tomorrow... so we'll see what they say about that.

Notice the pink bandage from his catheter? 

You're Lucky I Didn't Use Baby Talk

Poor little Finn-gins. He's a sad little puppy with out his brother. We walked, played and napped ... but he misses his big brother Thor and really wants him to get better so he can come home from the puppy hospital and play. 

Sick Baby Thor

Thor has been pretty sick the last 24 hours... so I took him to the vet this morning. Unfortunately, our vet was too full so the recommended another office to us. I took him in at 11:30am this morning and it they are pretty sure he has Pancreatitis. The plan of action? I am leaving him there for the entire day for a series of IV treatments for dehydration, antibiotics and anti-nausea.

We've called our vet's office and they said to trust the new office, they are doing what they should be doing and to just follow up with my vet on Monday because they want to know how the little guy is doing. We even called our vet friend and she said it sounds like they are doing what needs to be done.

However, I made the mistake of asking the question of what are the chances that he might not make it. The vet's response? "I'm not going to lie to you, it is possible."

So... guess who is a big ol basket case right now? Guess who wants to hear all your words of comfort and maybe even a "My dog had Pancreatitis once he bounced back JUST FINE!" ... anything like .. "My dog didn't make it " ... maybe you can just not mention for the sake of my sanity, umk? Thanks.

Ode to the Point and Shoot... again.

Last week, Colleen did a post about her poor, neglected point and shoot camera, which I could totally relate to. You may or may not know that a few months back, Brandon and I got a new little point and shoot to replace our older one which had finally kicked the bucket. 

Up until I read Colleen's post, I hadn't been able to figure out just HOW people went about their lives taking pictures and NOT uploading them immediately to their computers to share with others. Her post made me remember that wait .... Had I not uploaded my pictures from my point and shoot? Sure enough... I had a few months of snapshots on my camera. What better way to redeem my reputation with my camera than to share them with you

This was taken at Imperial while we were out with friends one night ... you may notice I just happen to be wearing the same shirt in this picture as I was with Colleen in this shot. What can I say, I have like 2 going out shirts.

Friends from that same night ..



Baby Squidge





And there were several of my favorite shots.... selfies!







Some of the lovely Taj!





Just minutes before our car was slaughtered by a deer (RIP Camry)



Brother-in-law Larry ... shining a super powerful flashlight in my eyes



These are a few from the Lava Bed National Park in Tulelake...



It's what I do ....



Sometimes my crack hangs out.... and others feel the need to point it out, or like Larry did, photograph it so I can share it with you fine folks ..



This is me, again, chimping in a cave at the lava bed national park ... with horribly bad posture, yikes!



Thor, sleeping in the back seat of the Cadillac



These are the weeds of unusual size which are growing outside of our apartment. Any clue on what they might be? should I fear them opening up and snatching me up inside their little pod-like mouths one day?



Inside the Jetta on Sunday



The A/C had yet to cool the boys off from the hot Fresno sun yet ..

While I had the point and shoot out, I took a few more pictures of the new car - nothing spectacular... but they are up on my flickr account.

P.S. You'll Bawl Your Eyes Out

Brandon was out of town last night, which meant I was left to my own devices. One night away, I quite enjoy. Two nights away, I can handle but it gets old by night two. Three nights away, and I am just plain sad. Thankfully, this is just a one night away trip. This means that I practically jumped for joy last night when I realized I didn't have to compromise with anyone else on anything! Oh who am I kidding, I pretty much get my way no matter what. 

I reheated some turkey burgers from the night before, scooped out a healthy portion of pasta salad and green beans, and searched for the perfect chick flick on On Demand. I settled on PS I Love You. Perfect. There is no way in hell Brandon would consider sitting through that movie. My twitter buddies have been fallen victim to this movie one by one over the past few weeks, but I swore I wouldn't cry. Remember the movie The Notebook? Yeah, I didn't cry there. In fact, it was all I could do to NOT turn it off. LA-AME. 

Thirty minutes into it, and I was sobbing uncontrollably. It was the ugly kind of crying too, not, "Aw, how sweet, let me wipe my eye." Nope, I was sobbing, boo-hooing, sniffing up giant gobs of snot, and looking over at my dogs (who appeared to be a tad bit creeped-out by my behavior) and exclaiming, "Isn't this just SO sad? waaaaaaaah" My eyes were red, dry, and puffy by the end of the movie. I wore myself out crying.  I was ready for  bed. 

Unfortunately for me, my dog Thor, he refuses to sleep when Brandon is not there. When Brandon is there, he is the obvious Alpha Dog in our pack. Thor is so not an Alpha Dog. But at night, when it is just me, Thor seems to recognize that he needs to step it up a bit and hold down the fort. Every little shadow, creek and imaginary sound, he's on guard for. He'll sit on the edge of the bed and stare towards the door, letting out little puffs of a growl every few minutes. If I get him to crawl up near me so I can cuddle (yes, I cuddle my dogs, especially the big one. Little one is too boney!), he'll manage to lay down and let me pet him, but he is still on full alert - jumping at any little sound. This kind of behavior has been known to last all night. Last night, I was lucky. He stopped shortly after midnight and we all got a good night's sleep. I woke up this morning to find Thor laying with his head propped up on my back (I was on my stomach) and his belly and all four legs pointing straight towards the ceiling! Finnegan on the other hand, was curled up in a ball under the covers on Brandon's side. 

Tonight, Brandon comes home and the dogs will be back on the floor.  Things will go back to normal after an indulgent night of sobby chick flicks and dogs sleeping in the bed! Thank goodness, my eyes are swollen and raw and the dogs? They snore! 

Exposaroonie ... Vintage!

I took 10 minutes out of my alone time this evening to head towards downtown and snap a few shots of some old school signs that I could use for my submission for this week's  Exposaroonie Challenge. 

My submission..... 

The Runners Up .... 

[Insert New Car Smell Here]

And so, we've officially been VW owners for almost three full days now. So far, so good! We picked up our 2008 Jetta SE on Saturday. It's pretty neat-o as far as I'm concerned! But hey, we were going from an eleven year old car, to a brand spanking new car!

I haven't been motivated enough to take a real picture of it - mostly out of fear that I'd turn into that person who has picture after picture of her car on Flickr. But, I did manage to take this picture on Saturday with the iPhone.



With any luck, we'll be able to get tinted windows at some point... nothing ghetto fabulous... just a little protection from the High Desert sun.

I've been excited about getting up for work each day because I know I get to drive it. I can't stop thinking about it. It is a sickness. A sickness that I am quite enjoying.

Brandon is out of town tonight ...  I hope to get off my butt and make it downtown to get my vintage picture for exposaroonie. I also hope get around to a few of your blogs and possibly even reinstate my google reader!