Return of Pond Log

The other day, I was upstairs getting ready to shower when I did my standard look-for-interesting-birds-out-the-window peek. And then I ran to get the camera!

No birds today, and you can see why! Logic dictates that this is the same alligator that we saw swimming the other day, but this one really looks smaller to me. So who knows? Maybe we have a bunch swimming through the area. Anyway, obviously I wasn't getting a good picture from upstairs because of the screen. So I ran downstairs and took the next picture from inside the house, but with the screen door open.

Scott, helpful chap that he is, was in the living room at the time and offered to go get a better (closer) picture for me. If I gave him my pants. See, Scott was wearing boxers and unlike our neighbors, chooses to keep his bits hidden from view.

So I gave him my pants.

There he was, walking out of the house in my multi-color (but mostly pink) striped pajama bottoms. I would've gotten a picture, except he had the camera! Sadly, he got less than five feet from the back door when the gator slipped back into the water.

While bad news for future photos, it's good news for us. This thing is still as wild as they come, and it's not going to be sniffing around for burgers or cats. At least not this year. It's cool though, getting to be all nonchalant about an alligator just a few paces from the back door. It's certainly not anything I ever expected when I was growing up!

Forced Perspective?

No, no optical illusion here. The cat in the front really is that much bigger than the one in the back!

Actually, I took the picture because I thought it was rather freakish that these two were laying in nearly identical positions (aside from their tails). Meanwhile, Milo was laying on the back of the couch yelling at me for leaning over him to take the picture.

Tweet Little Movie Reviews

Since I’m not really great at movie reviews, but seem to be watching a fair number via HBO and HBO On Demand, I thought I’d take the chance to share a few mini-reviews with you. Each is Twitter-length (140 characters) or shorter, not including the movie title.

Marley and Me
OMG I can’t remember the last time I cried so hard. The trailer/commercials billed this as a comedy! Great, but BOO false advertising!


Get Smart
The movie was as enjoyable as the TV show! Complete with explosions, plenty of LOL moments, and The Rock, it’s a comedy I’d watch again.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
2 hours of my life I’ll never get back. Not funny despite some A-list cast. Michael Douglas should’ve retired after The American President!

Moulin Rouge
Saw it before, own the DVD, still love it. And I cry every time I watch it. And did I mention the music? A+

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Cute family movie with colorful cast including Tucci, Breslin, and Joan Cusack. Watch it with a kid, not quite enough to bother adults with.

Temple Grandin
Just watched 'Temple Grandin.' If you don't have HBO, find a friend who does and borrow their living room for 2 hours. Totally worth it.

(I really did tweet that last one)

I saw this morning that Changeling popped in to the on demand listing, so I'm sure to watch that some time soon, despite the fact that it stars that husband-stealing baby-collecting Angelina Jolie. Has anyone else seen any movies recently worth a 140-character review?

Pond-Log

Scene: Saturday afternoon, Jamie is on the couch watching TV while Scott is preparing to season his new grill (a process which requires burning a lot of charcoal for a long time, and which has no burgers at the end).

Scott goes outside to... do something involving the grill, and promptly comes right back in.

SCOTT: I draw the line at men sunbathing in the "back yard"

JAMIE: Is it Kirk? (our nickname for the guy who lives next door. the one with the pit bull, who sings 70s prom music at the top of his lungs, and slams his door all the time because he apparently doesn't understand physics)

SCOTT: (shaken) I don't know who it was.

JAMIE: Is he out on his chair?

SCOTT: He's on a lawn chair spread-eagle.

JAMIE: So? Go back out and finish what you are doing.

SCOTT: No way I'm going back out there! I saw testicle once, NEVER AGAIN!

JAMIE: You saw ball?!?!?

SCOTT: He's got his knees up, his legs spread, and his shorts are baggy!

A few minutes later, someone shirtless walks past our window having a conversation with someone we can't see. Scott peeks out and tells me the gator is back in the pond.

JAMIE: Take my camera and go get a picture!

SCOTT: No! There's still a half-naked man out there!

JAMIE: But I'm not wearing a bra. By the time I get decent, it'll be gone.



All that to say this photo would've been so much better had there not been a rogue testicle behind our house: ...and the sunbather wasn't Kirk. It was some guy we'd never seen before. Apparently there's renters on the other side of Kirk. I'm assuming that's who it was.

DISCLAIMER: this might not have been the exact conversation...but all the relevant bits (heh heh... 'bits!') are there.

Easter Pie

I still haven't mastered the art of the beautiful crust, but who cares?

This isn't really an Easter pie. I made it last month, but never published the picture. (the pie, of course, was eaten) Anyway, happy Easter. Have a Cadbury (caramel) Egg for me!

VISA: Secured

You know your credit card has good security features when you make a big-ticket purchase and they are calling you before you even leave the store to make sure your credit card is still in your possession!

Actually, we made two big-ticket purchases. We finally bought Scott's Man-Grill (when you see it, you'll understand the title). And we finally replaced our slow-beyond-comprehension PC.

The grill is assembled. (I won't tell you about the DRAMA of going into Lowe's to find it's out of stock, and then finding out it's in stock, and then finding out it's not really in stock, and then finding out it's in stock but not put away correctly, and then finally getting it and forgetting to use the $25 off coupon in my purse, and then finding out it wouldn't fit in Scott's trunk...or back seat, and then having to rent a pick-up truck for the 20 minutes it took to drive round-trip and unload the thing! That part is better left unspoken.)

But since I'm still in the painstaking process of saving old files to CDs and jump drives, the new PC is still in the box. But it's so new... and the flat-panel monitor is so pretty...

sigh, sometimes it's so hard being a grown-up!

I burned two final music CDs with random tunes taking up space on the hard drive (don't tell me that's what makes the computer slow. la la la, I can't hear you over my pretty new monitor), I burned two photo CDs, and after I save my 2010 (the year, not the number) photos onto the jump drive, I think the last step is to go through folders and look for things I want to rescue.

You know what I'm not going to be able to rescue and it breaks my heart? The 8 "I VOTED" stickers stuck around the edge of the monitor. That's 4 elections' worth! My Obama sticker... my Obama primary sticker... my John Kerry sticker... my John Edwards primary sticker... (hey - I'm 2 and 2 - it could be worse! and when you include Scott's stickers, our winning percentage is even higher!) There are 7 other stickers on the monitor, too. Each is a different Chiquita banana sticker. My favorite says "place sticker on forehead. smile." Words to live by, right?

So, enough of my sentimental journey through stickers. I've got an exciting new box of stuff to play with!

A Whole New Hair...

I got my hair cut two days after my birthday. I think I scared the stylist because I was trying to go basically from nearly shoulder-length bob to very short and very layered. I showed her three pictures, and she gave me a slightly longer version of the photo with the longest hair. She kept looking at me and saying "you sure?" I seriously had to promise her I wouldn't cry. So I left with not what I really wanted, but I was ok with a transition cut.

This picture was taken immediately after leaving the salon. Obviously, it wasn't worth advertising, "hey! new 'do!" And though I enjoy the look of it, the fact that even straight out of the salon I couldn't get a good picture leads me to believe it's not the best look for me. To me, this cut just looks like I'm in the awkward growing-out stage between short and long hair. So now I really think I want to go shorter.

Below are three looks I'm considering: porn star hair, Grey's hair, and lizard hair.

The porn star hair belongs to one of Tiger Woods' luvvahs. I saw the picture attached to this article and first wondered if it was a wig, and then wondered whether I could pull off that look. Obviously, my hair is WAY less thick than hers. I did a Bing search to see whether there were any other photos of her (clothed...) and found another angle, my guess is from the same day (again, because she's clothed) at the LA Times blogs. If you check out the last photo above the poll, it's sort of messy and sad...a look that I can definitely achieve. I'm just not sure I want to achieve it!

Up next: Grey's hair!

This is one of the new cast members on Grey's Anatomy this season. She's also sporting a shaggy pixie-ish cut similar to porn star hair. Since I watch Grey's every week, this image (or one similar) pops in my head every time I consider going shorter. This picture isn't that great. But hey - watch the show and you can see it in all its moving glory!

And finally, we wrap up with lizard hair.

This is Anna from ABC's remake of "V." I said something about her hair to Scott and his response was something like, "oh, you want to go that short?" I got the impression he was a little terrified of that particular prospect! And no, I am pretty sure I don't want hair that short. Just the same, I thought I'd include it here as an alternative to what I'm really considering.

Obviously, no haircut is going to give me a skinny face and a pointy chin. And I wasn't planning on going auburn again. But I really do think I'm going shorter, and most likely within 2 weeks. The current 'do is 4 weeks old now, and the bad part about layers is that they don't grow nicely at all!

So any opinions from anyone? You're not allowed to criticize when it's on my head, but you can do so now...

And Here We Go Again...

Once again, I find myself the victim(?) of peer pressure in the form of NaBloPoMo. So I thought I'd pick up in April where I left off in February - in the back yard!

Spring has brought a new batch of birds out back, and I'm hoping that my NaBlo partner in crime (or any of the rest of you) can help me with some identification.

First up, my newest fascinating bird. I think this guy is a little blue heron. Really, it's the only identification I can think of that makes any sense. I realize it's difficult to see in these pictures (taken at dusk some day last week), but he's inky black, with a blue sheen. He's not spotted here every day, but he's definitely a regular at the fishin' hole.

To the best of my vast bird knowledge (and ability to compare photos on the internet), this little guy is a black-necked stilt. Guess where he gets his name... c'mon... guess! The stilts tend to be out in pairs, and are often there at the same time as the guy above. I took some pictures of them together at sunrise last week, but alas, without the flash, they were just too gray and blurry to hold on to.

I left this last photo a little wider than normal to show off the lovely purple weed-flowers that the lawn guys choose to not to anything about. They're pretty, if slightly unruly.

In my pre-research mind, any bird that looks like this is a sandpiper. I know that they aren't the same, but my personal genuses seem to break down into egrets, ibises, herons, snake birds, ducks, and sandpipers. Oh, and all non-water birds. That's the craziest thing of all. I never see normal woods-dwelling birds around here. Scott's bird feeder has been summarily ignored. On the bright side, our little stilt friends are insect eaters. Of course, there are still more mosquitoes out back than you can shake a citronella candle at, but think how many more there would be otherwise!

Tomato Soup Shouldn't Be This Hard

I realized something recently: tomato soup, when not out of a can, is really freaking delicious! There are two restaurants at Disney (one to which we will not return thanks to their dismal service) that have sublime tomato soup, and I've been inspired to try my hand at it.

Side note: my desire to make soup from scratch centers around the first time I made chicken pot pies from scratch and I realized that sauteing onion, celery, carrot, and garlic makes your whole house smell like you are cooking from scratch. I don't know why people don't do that when they are selling a house instead of baking brownies!

So I searched "Sanaa tomato soup recipe" and "Turf Club tomato soup recipe" online to no avail. Turf Club's tomato soup is really just sort of normal tomato soup, served with a giant blob of goat cheese in the middle, and with toasted baguette slices all around the bowl. Sanaa's is more like a bowl of delicious roasted tomato with none of the other crap. Theirs has chunks of paneer cheese, which is this weird non-melting cheese the consistency of tofu. Sounds gross, but it isn't. But that's neither here nor there, because I can't find either recipe.

Scott and I searched all of our cook books last night, and found a whopping two tomato soup recipes. One had mashed potato flakes (because nothing says 'cooking from scratch' like adding a product that's more sodium than calories) and the other had chicken stock. I passed on both.

I finally found a recipe online for tomato-basil cream soup that's simple enough that I know I can handle it. And it starts with onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. Sadly, it ends with 3 cups of heavy cream. I suggested substituting milk, but Scott doesn't like that idea. We may compromise with half of each.

And I need to email Disney to ask for the other two recipes.

Open Letter to Lindsay Lohan

Dear Lindsay,

I commend you on your decision to never work again. I can only assume that is your plan, given your $100 million lawsuit against E-Trade. It must have been difficult, being famous before puberty, though I imagine the money you made off the Disney movie machine probably would have allowed you to retire at 25 and live a modest, comfortable life. Your unfortunate stints in rehab, your partying, and your mooching family members probably drained a lot of your funds. I sympathize.

But you, rather than making a B horror movie or a TV show or a porno, have decided frivolous lawsuits are your ticket to the Promised Land.

"Many celebrities are known by one name only, and E-Trade is using that knowledge to profit," [the lawyer] said.

"They used the name Lindsay," Ovadia said. "They're using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn't they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody's talking about it and saying it's Lindsay Lohan."

The ad in question uses the phrase, "that milkaholic Lindsay." That's it. THAT'S worth $100 million in pain and suffering to you? Frankly, I wonder how many people out there don't know at least one person named Lindsay besides you. And while I agree with your lawyer's assertion that the use of the names Oprah or Madonna (or maybe even Angelina or Britney) may have been a legitimate mis-use of celebrity, I don't agree that you have the same single name recognition. I've heard your referred to as "LiLo" and "La-Lohan," but never just "Lindsay."

I'm sorry to see that this is how you have decided to spend your adult years. Some young stars who go through a wild phase come out clean and respected on the other side. Perhaps you should reach out to Drew Barrymore for some advice in this area. But best wishes on your retirement. Try to stay out of rehab - I hear it's a budget buster!

Sincerely,

Jamie
(who also has single name recognition...at least on this blog)

BWoF Update

So...today marks the halfway point of Jamie's Birthday Weekend of Fun. So far, it's been... well... fun! I don't really want to stop and analyze too much, but for now I'll just mention that Katie and I went to see the Little House on the Prairie musical, and it was a wagon train wreck. We had a lot of fun with the snark and sarcasm though! And on my actual birthday? Crappy lunch, followed by a cold but incredibly rewarding trip to Animal Kingdom where I snapped this photo:

I'm not sure anything makes a completely amateur photographer happier than snapping a picture like this one.

...and then we had ice cream and Chinese food for dinner.

More to come on the BWoF as it develops (or after it develops)!

Pie and Pettiness

(I was going for a clever play on 'Pride and Prejudice' but I think I failed)

So...I gave up publicly complaining about my job for Lent. Not really. I'm just trying to cut back because complaining doesn't do anything but allow me to mire in misery. And you know, that's no good for anyone. And today I'm not going to complain about my job, but it might seem that way!

One of our part-timers got another job. And frankly, I'm thrilled for her. The Restaurant has never been the perfect fit for her, and she's definitely had some trying times. Last Wednesday when she told me she was going to be leaving, I told her I'd make her a pie. And then we realized that due to my Birthday Weekend o Fun, the next day (last Thursday...c'mon...try to keep up!) would be our last day working together. Obviously I wasn't going to make a pie that night! So I told her I'd stop in another day this week and bring her a pie - half peach, half blueberry (and make an identical pie for me and Scott). And over the weekend, I bought a goodbye card for the other girls to sign.

Well, another of our part-timers had a family emergency yesterday and she couldn't work yesterday or today. She called the departing one and asked her to cover yesterday, and was told no. I sent her a text yesterday and asked if she'd be able to help out today, and she didn't even bother to respond.

You can tell a lot about a person in the way they work during their 'lame duck' period. In this case, I've decided that this isn't the type of person that I want to spend my birthday baking a pie for. It's obvious she wouldn't go to half the trouble for me... or even for a co-worker she really likes. In fact, at this point I almost regret spending the money on the card.

I did buy the world's largest bag of frozen blueberries, and did promise Scott that I'd be making him a pie. So I might still be doing that at some point this weekend. After all, what else are we going to do with the gallon of Breyers Vanilla in the freezer?

And Now It's Truly BATH-TASTIC!

Can you believe we're finally done? (except for touching up the ceiling and baseboards and replacing the faucet) Here's two pictures. There's lots more - before, during, and after - up on my Facebook page for those of you who are my friends there!

This picture shows everything we did: the lighting, the mirror, the towel ring, and the print. Oh, and of course the incredibly purple wall color! (I tried to tell you...)

And this picture spotlights the beautiful print we found and fell in love with at World Market. I voted to paint the frame white, but Scott voted to do a brushed nickel finish so that it would match the light. He was absolutely right. The print just pops on that back wall, and it's positioned so that it looks just as pretty reflected in the mirror when you're sitting on the potty or when you're standing at the sink as it does when you're looking at it straight ahead.

*tear*

I'm so proud of us! I'm absolutely beyond thrilled with the final project... so if you don't like it, please go easy in the comments.

Black and Blue and Purple All Over

It's a thing of beauty, in the homemade-and-therefore-doesn't-look-like-it-would-in-a-restaurant sense. It's tart and sweet. It can't possibly be bad for you - it's 4 cups of fruit (with sugar, shortening, and butter).

It's the Black- and Blueberry Pie!

It was supposed to be a blueberry pie. I made chicken pot pies for dinner yesterday, and had the dough for a single-crust pie in the fridge. And I also had a bag of frozen blueberries in the freezer (which had been bought for blueberry pancakes). Unfortunately, the recipe called for 4 cups of fruit and there were only 2 cups in the bag. So I used 2 cups of blackberries to round out the recipe.

The filling recipe was super-easy: 4 1/2 cups of blueberries, a squeeze of lemon juice, 5 Tbs of flour, and 1/2 cup of sugar tossed together and dumped into the pie shell. I also am slowly but surely improving on the crumble topping. The peach pie basically had a sugar crust on top. At least this one resembles crumbs!

I'll make this again, though with the correct amount of blueberries, and maybe with 2 crusts. Or maybe I'll wait until summer when I can get some other fresh berries to add. This is looking like it could be a contender for a holiday dinner or office potluck. And special bonus: it's purple! Scott said we should eat it in the bathroom.

And in case you were wondering, this picture is also currently the outside screen picture on my phone. That's how much I love pie!

...this concludes today's example of "This is Why I'm Fat."

A Comparison

Photo editing really isn't my thing. I'm a pro at cropping, and if you want one person's head comically placed on someone else's body, I can help you out. But actual editing for quality? Not so much! I gave it a shot this morning though. In an attempt to better my fish-catching photos (and to make one the correct shape for the desktop), I cranked up both the brightness and contrast. Below are the original and then my new version. Still, neither is good. I'm not even sure I like the new one better. Any thoughts?

Blown

Well, I missed the posting for yesterday. I was downstairs watching TV, and then I looked at the clock and it was 12:13 am. I never officially signed up on the NaBloPoMo site due to some technical difficulties early on, so there was never any chance I was going to win any prizes.

I've got another 3-day weekend right now. It's the weekend-o-painting, come Hell or high water. Nothing's gonna stop us now. We're livin' on a prayer. Purple or bust! Nope, that last one wasn't a song title or a cliche.

We're also going to see GodSpell tonight, so maybe I'll have something interesting to talk about tomorrow. I guess time will tell...

Better Late than Never

I took this picture of Harley on a particularly cold and dreary day a few weeks ago. You can tell it's cold because he's got no neck.

Anyway, here's your required post for the day. I'm not going to talk about anything else, because it will undoubtedly turn into a whine/rant, and no one wants to read that.

Hoping tomorrow brings better thoughts to my head...

It's a Cat Day Today

Milo and I have a common personality trait: desire to curl up in a comfortable spot for as long as possible. After all, who needs work when there's a warm comfortable place to nap?Meanwhile, Elph is more the dominant task-master type. Here she's either saying "don't forget to flush," or "this room should be painted by now...stop slacking!"

Poor thing...since she's smaller than the boys, she'll probably always be my little black kitten. Of course, you can see here she's definitely more cat now. And look at that puffy raccoon tail! She still has it! So cute!

And Here We Are Again

Happy V.D. I hope you all get the card/flowers/chocolates/whatever other commercial item you were hoping for.

As for me, I'm off to work. And then Scott is cooking dinner. Yep...just like every other day, only with better food!

(just one) Mission Accomplished

I did our 2009 tax return today. Of course, I couldn't file because the IRS now requires paper documentation to prove that we bought a house. Because apparently last year they didn't require any proof and - surprise, surprise! - people claimed houses they didn't own! So now I just need to print, attach copious amounts of paper, and send via certified mail.

My 'honey do' list today was much longer than just that, but I fizzled out early. I didn't re-texture the patches on the bathroom wall, or tape & tarp the bathroom in preparation for next weekend's painting extravaganza, or grocery shop... Today was pretty much an epic failure.

But boy, did I need the rest!

So now I embark on another four-day work week, followed by the aforementioned taping & tarping (now scheduled for Thursday while Scott is at work), priming on Friday, and painting on Saturday. Then all that's left is the mounting (heh) of the mirror, the new towel ring, and the artwork above the toilet.

Actually...

Here's a list of actual things that Scott and I did today:

1. Trip to Lowe's to buy paint, primer, and a new towel holder for powder room.

2. Removal of old towel bar, using sharp blade and new pry bar.

(also bought pry bar and mallet at Lowe's during #1)

3. Discovery of two perfectly rectangular holes behind old towel bar.

4. Discovery that builders installed vanity light without a junction box and that installation of new vanity light without a junction box is impossible.

5. Googled "install vanity light no junction box," and got great instructions from diynetwork.com on how to install a junction box.

5a. Curse like a sailor, throw brief tantrum.

6. Trip to Lowe's to buy wall patches, spackle, and aerosol can of "orange peel" wall texture to fix holes where old towel bar was. Also bought new junction box. The girl in the drywall section was quite helpful. The guy in the electrical section was dumb as a box of rocks. And he looked like the boss from Office Space. Luckily, there was a nice middle-aged customer who came to my rescue. Twice. I say "my" rescue because, as a man, Scott can't ask for help. So he disappears ("hey - we NEEDED a drywall saw!") while I ask for help. It's ok. At least then I get to hear the instructions first-hand and don't need to second guess later.

7. Scott patches holes in one wall while I cut a big circular hole in another wall.

8. Realize plumbing is close to the wall and that junction box is too deep and therefore won't fit.

8a. Curse like a (&$%(# sailor. Lament that we're stuck with ugly Broadway-style lighting forever.

9. Scott uses drywall saw to cut the back off of the plastic junction box while I watch two hours worth of DVRed TV shows. Yep...two hours. The man is dedicated!

10. Anchor junction box into drywall, install light fixture, and test out lighting.

11. Go to garage and do some test-runs of orange peel texturing on cardboard (and on the garage wall). Damn, it's cold out!

12. Eat dinner of chicken tenders and fish planks at 9 pm while mocking the Olympic opening ceremony.

13. Blog about day that was supposed to be fun but, like most home improvement projects, turned out to be frustrating.

I took lots of pictures today, but I'm saving them for a full before & after. Tomorrow while Scott is at work I'm definitely going to texture over the wall patches and tape off the baseboards and ceiling. I might prime, but it's likely I'll wait for next Friday and Saturday to prime & paint when Scott is there to help. Not that there's room for two of us in there at a time...

Spot the WICKED Fan!

We're not even going to discuss how long it took me to do this. And really, I'm sure Janette is sitting there right now thinking I ruined a perfectly nice bird picture just to make the point that I'M GOING TO SEE WICKED TONIGHT AND I'M SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY SIT STILL! (ok, the not sitting still part might also have to do with the Coke I have consumed this morning)

Anyway, about the birds. I thought these guys were cattle egret (egrets?), but now I'm not so sure. There were a whopping 11 of them out back today, in two separate groups. Whenever I see them, they are in the grass and not on the water, which fits the cattle egret foraging, but there's no red wash over the bill and no fancy plumage on the top of their heads. Any guesses? Here's one more picture, with a great egret for comparison:

Illuminating

So... remember this fixture that I had fallen in love with for the powder room? It's been replaced. I actually tried to buy the original this morning, but the website I had originally found it on (not the one linked here) wouldn't let me buy it. I took that as a sign that maybe the one we found at Home Depot for half the cost was the one destined to live in our bathroom.

I have 3-day weekends for the next two weeks, and am determined to at least do a dry-run of the new light install and the mirror install this week so that I can paint next week.

Sure, it's just the powder room. But I'm so excited to get it started I can hardly stand it!

Triple Feature

Here is yesterday morning's white ibis. Isn't it pretty? I feel bad that I'm sort of an egret snob - they just don't fascinate me. But these guys, with legs the same length as their beaks, are much more compelling to me.

I'm going back to the TV now. "The Secret of My Success" is on AMC, and it seems the perfect way to waste the rest of my pre-work morning. But before I go, here's another picture from yesterday. It's a triple feature - snake bird, cattle egret, and ibis. Enjoy!

Breakfast in the Backyard

Following this paragraph are four of the coolest pictures I've ever taken. I won't lie - the morning sun reflecting off the pond sucks. That means these are by no means the best pictures I've ever taken. But if you sort of squint, you should be able to follow along with the story without words. If the pictures really are that unclear, a) I'll be heart-broken because I think they're awesome and b) there's another paragraph at the end. I'm sorry that the entry is more graphic-heavy than I would usually prefer.

Ever wake up super hungry? Eyes bigger than your stomach? You're not the only one!

This morning I peeked out my blinds before getting in the shower and scanned the shoreline. I saw the snake bird, but already have pictures of one so wasn't inclined to run for the camera. To the right a little was a white ibis. Since I haven't gotten any ibis pictures yet, I got the camera and ran downstairs. It wasn't until I looked out the sliding glass door that I realized the snake bird had a fish. A big fish. (A catfish?) So I snapped a dozen or so pictures. The first two are the "before" pictures. I couldn't decide between the two, because the first one is such a cool action shot, and the second one really shows the scale of fish-to-beak. How does he hold on? The third picture is the one that gets captioned, "gulp!" And you can actually see the fish in the bottom half of the throat in the fourth picture.

Usually, all you see of a snake bird is its neck and head sticking out of the water. When they are on shore, I'm taken aback by their big goose-like proportions.

I really hope you liked these pictures. I'm still excited about them!

(as for the ibis, you'll see it tomorrow. stay tuned!)

Halftime

I'm watching the Super Bowl. OK, I'm mostly watching the commercials, but it's turned into a pretty good game. I decided that I most certainly did not need to watch The Who perform during halftime, mostly because I knew I needed to put something up here.

I have a great weather-related bird picture to share, but not until I have more time to edit and upload it. Maybe after the game?

If you're looking for me in the next two hours, I'll be that lump between the sofa and the green fuzzy blanket.

Wood Storks

(I think)
Wow...this is the first time in a while that I've seen more than one bird out behind the house at the same time. I'd like to believe this is because we removed the stinky dead bird yesterday and it doesn't smell so scary out there anymore. More likely it's the weather... or just a coincidence.

Anyway, according to my vast knowledge of birds (and this website), this is a pair of wood storks. Judging by the difference in neck feathers and the different coloration of their bills, I also think it's an adult and a juvenile (juvie on the right). It was nearly impossible to get a picture with the full beak because these guys were hoovering along the shore and rarely picked their heads up. Just after I took this picture, they separated and started walking in opposite directions. A few minutes later I looked again, and they were on opposite sides of the pond. They are definitely dedicated hunters!

Here's my one halfway decent photo of the whole bird:
I'm starting to yearn for being in New Jersey this time of year. Throw some birdseed on the snow, and you'll have all sorts of pretty cardinals and blue jays. Meanwhile, I have the bastard love child of a vulture and an egret in my backyard!

Where Have You Been All My Life?

There is a store...

at Downtown Disney...

that sells mismatched socks!

I admit, it's not the mismatched-ness that appeals to me. It's the plethora of funky, adorable socks. Ankle socks, knee socks, toe socks, mitten socks (ok, they call them flip flop socks), leg warmers... plus sock puppets, bags, and other accessories to match your mismatched socks.

The socks are also sold in packs of three (here's my favorite). So really, I could buy two packs and then have three pairs of matching funky socks. But I guess that goes against the point of the store. I managed to make it out without buying anything, mostly because the balance on my credit card is 2 months from being $0 and I'd like to keep my momentum going.

Impulse shopping: it only feels good until you get the bill!

In other news, it's yet another rainy day her in ParkHopperLand. Luckily, Scott snapped a few pictures of Harley yesterday afternoon when the skies were a little clearer. Here's the best one of the bunch:

I love the golden tone that the afternoon sun gives to pictures. Of course, I hate being out in the afternoon sun, because the angle of the rays makes me feel claustrophobic. (nope, can't explain it any better, but it really makes me nuts!) I guess it's a good thing Scott was there to take this photo for me!

Late! and Late-Night TV

Yesterday I left the house - no lie - 25 minutes late. I hate being late, and am generally chronically early. I ended up being 5 minutes late for work. Meh, there are worse things!


I might have made it on time, except as I was closing the blinds on the sliding glass door I happened to notice a single bird out there, and I just HAD to stop for a picture. Granted, I didn't go upstairs where I could've gotten a good angle. I didn't even go to the side of the door without the screen. So the picture isn't the greatest. But here you have it - a snake bird drying out on the shore after a morning fishing trip.

And then yesterday I did something I never thought I'd do. I asked Scott to set the DVR for me for two episodes... on Fox "News" Channel... of the O'Reilly Factor. (there was a knock on the door this morning. I think it might have been the Florida Democrats coming to take away my membership card) In my defense, I only wanted to watch because Jon Stewart was the guest. It's a two-part interview, so the second half will be airing tonight.

I'm not sure I can stomach it.

Who watches this show? He spins stories worse than The Daily Show. He actually compared his show to TDS, which is ridiculous considering one is on Comedy Central and the other is on Fox News. If he thinks you're making a point he won't like, he just talks over you until you stop. And through all that, I really think that Jon Stewart won Round 1. Also? Either they taped that interview at 8 am or The Daily Show has much more forgiving lighting. Jon was looking old and tired.

After the Stewart interview, I stuck around for Dennis Miller. I thought I liked Dennis Miller. Turns out I must've had him confused with someone - anyone - else. He went on this yelling rant about Rahm and the whole "retarded" debacle*, and his fake indignity was just too much. I stopped and deleted the show mid-sentence. And after I watch the second half of the interview tonight, I'll do the same. I won't make that watch-another-segment mistake again. I'm worried that I'll have to exorcise the far-right demons out of my DVR after all this. For real, watching that show literally raised my blood pressure to a point where my stomach started to hurt. *shudder*

*Question to the group: didn't they stop calling mentally-challenged people "retarded" some time ago? Because "retarded" had a negative connotation? So if we're no longer using the word as anything but an insult, then why does everyone get so pissed off every time someone uses it? What's the difference between "retard" and "bitch" or "homo?" Sure it's unkind, but why does it get everyone's panties in a twist? Sheesh!

8 Days, 1 Month

There were no birds out this morning, so we're taking a brief pause from bird watching. Today we're going to discuss two big things I'm looking forward to!

Eight days from now, we've got a date night in Tampa... for WICKED! I cannot wait to see this show again, especially from our super kick-ass seats! Note to self: bring tissues.

One month from now... any takers? IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Thank goodness I won't be 30 anymore! We don't actually have any concrete plans. I don't even know for sure whether I'm going to take my actual birthday off from work (leaning towards yes). But I've got plans that weekend including a show in Tampa (with Katie, because Scott just doesn't want to see the Little House on the Prairie musical), dinner with friends (sorry Matt - it's dinner at a place without mac n cheese on the menu - I didn't think you'd mind the lack of invitation), and Oscar night 2010.

I'll leave you today with a picture taken at Gatorland last February. Their breeding marsh is a great place to see native birds. Snowy egret? I'm thinking so...

Rainy Day

It's pouring here at Casa ParkHopper. It's a tough day to get motivated to leave the house, especially when I know that leaving the house is going to require a stop at the gas station. Did I mention it's windy too? I have a half hour to go, so I'm hoping it clears up a little bit between now and then.

I did get some pictures of the one solitary bird at the pond this morning. He eventually gave up and headed some place less exposed. I can't really blame him! I couldn't pick just one picture, so here's two:

This is, to the best of my bird-spotting ability, a plain old egret. Though according to All About Birds, it's a great egret. You can find them all over the world...especially here in Florida where they live year-round.

In other news, it's Oscar nomination day today. Meh. I love the Oscars. In years past, I have taken the day off from work to watch the Oscars. This year I'm just not feeling it. The only movie I saw that was nominated for anything was Up. I'm against Avatar in principle. Really, I get that it was technologically amazing and that it sucks you in, but I just can't help feeling that its Golden Globe win and its Oscar Best Picture nomination were the equivalent of the voters taking a collective gasp and saying, "ooh shiny!"

According to Twitter (because that's the only news source I've looked at today so far) today is Groundhog Day. But I didn't hear whether good ol' Phil saw his shadow or not. Today there are no shadows in Central Florida...just puddles.

And that, my friends, is how you go full-circle. Many words, not much substance. That's why I gave you the bird pictures.

Thank You!

I'm pretty bad at peer pressure. In the comments of my last post, I suggested to wickedmess that we do NaBloPoMo for February. And then I got an email from her at 10:34 telling me she's in and 'don't forget yours.'

Yeah, I had totally forgotten.

So here's my just-under-the-wire post for tonight. I'm going to try to focus on my local birds this month (her suggestion)...at least until I run out of ones to photograph! Here's another picture I took on Saturday. This guy has quite a beak! I sure wouldn't want to make him angry!

...and if I do run out of bird pictures, perhaps I'll enthrall you with some Tales from the Stand Mixer.

Bird Watching

It's what we do!

And why are Kilo and Milo so fascinated? They're watching our new friend Harley fishing on the edge of the pond.

Why the name Harley? Well, mostly because I'm bird-ignorant and have no clue what type of bird Harley is. Also, because the feathers on his head look like a tied bandanna. Harley, it seems, is a biker bird. He weathered the gray afternoon out here today, mostly hunkered down against the cold rain.

Harley stops by fairly often, and is one of my favorite birds to watch. I am beyond fascinated with the way his (her?) neck curves, and the long crest feathers on the head.

In other bird news, Scott and I watched a snake bird the other day catch and eat a fish that was at least three times the size of its head. Those things have a flip-top jaw and necks that stretch like one of those egg-swallowing snakes. It was neat, but I found myself swallowing really hard - sympathy swallowing I guess - for a while after.

Eventually I'll figure out what all these birds are. There's always something new stopping by for a drink or a fish.

Helping Out

This Haiti thing is almost too much to bear. For me (and I guess for lots of other people), it's just too hard to watch much coverage anymore. My brain is doing that Zoloft thing - too much sadness = immediate need for change of subject. That said, I'm aware that we're not that far away from the site of one of the worst natural disasters in history.

Scott and I had the opportunity on Friday night to volunteer on the phones during the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon. After 2 1/2 hours of answering calls and taking tons of money (our call center alone took 15,000 calls!), our throats were raw and we were exhausted, but in a good way. And all the way home, we told each other about the crazy calls we had gotten. And most people seemed to not even mind that I wasn't a celebrity. I took donations for $5-500, and most were in the $10-30 range. I spoke to kids (with a parent in the background), and grandparents donating on behalf of their grandkids. I talked to people from Florida to Canada to California. They all had trouble getting through on the phones, and yet they were still happy to give me their money. It was really awesome.

The parent company of The Restaurant offered us the opportunity to make a one-time payroll deduction to the Red Cross last week. It coincided with 8 hours of holiday pay for MLK day, so I decided to donate my holiday pay. Of course, Red Cross isn't my favorite charity, so I gave $25 out of my paycheck and will be donating the rest to Doctors Without Borders on Thursday when I get paid for last week.

I know that I haven't done or given everything I possibly could. But I know that I helped. And if everybody out there helps just a little bit, then maybe those people down there will have water and food and safe housing soon.

Who Hasn't Almost Killed Their Kid At Least Once?

I read an interesting story in the Sentinel yesterday. Here's the highlights:

An infant in Pasco County was scalded because his mother reportedly tried to spray a spider off him with hot water...

The sheriff's office reports that the 27-year-old mother saw a spider in the tub as she prepared to give her baby a bath. When she tried to wash it down the drain, it jumped on her son. She then grabbed the baby and put him under the running water to get the spider off.

The water was too hot, the baby got scalded, he was treated and released, and a Deputy came to the house to make sure the water heater was turned down.

When I relayed the story to Scott, and got to the part about them turning the water heater down, he asked "did they turn the stupid down too?" But really, I think this is the kind of thing that every parent has done at least once. Heck, I consider myself lucky to have made it to my third birthday! And actually, I think this mom and my mom have a lot in common. Obviously they're both afraid of bugs!

Scene: mother holding baby while standing on the patio next to their pool. A bee lands on the mother's arm, and her response is to flail her arm (dropping baby), and then run into the house and close the door behind her. The baby? She's still on the patio!

Another scene: parents washing the car decide to place baby's walker on a nice soft pile of sand in their front lawn (since the grass is so itchy). The baby is fussy pretty much from the moment they walk away. Parents discover a while later that the soft pile of sand was a fire ant mound and that the baby's legs are covered in bites.

See? All parents do stupid things. It's part of being a parent. And it gives their adult children something to blog about. C'mon...who else wants to share a "this is how my parents almost killed me" story?

(disclaimer: I'm only looking for funny stories)

My Hope for Late Night TV

I hope Conan makes a deal with Fox. I genuinely believe that the young viewers (you know - the ones advertisers covet) will flock to him and that Leno and Letterman will split the older viewers. But you know, I hope that enough people who were lukewarm on Leno before will be so annoyed with NBC that they watch Letterman instead.

Personally, I doubt I'll watch the Tonight Show any time soon. I know better than to say "never," but I don't intend to watch that show until Leno has properly retired and they've banned him from the building.

Warning Label

WARNING: This product may cause you to react violently. You should not drive or operate machinery until you know what it will do to you. You should probably avoid people, too. Just to be safe.

Coffee should have a warning label. Not one of those lame McDonalds "this product may be hot" labels, but one like they put on medications. The "you might lose your hair or bleed from your nipples" type of warning label.

After my one cup of coffee at Mimi's yesterday at breakfast (corned beef hash is good for the soul), the waitress offered me a cup to-go. And she brought out a cup slightly smaller than the large Chick-fil-A buckets-o-tea. So I added my 3 sugars and no cream and went on about my day. I nursed that cup of coffee for at least an hour, driving to the chiropractor's office, driving from there to run some other errands, and finally driving to work.

I know my brain was getting buzz-y about the time I called and left a really long voicemail for my mom. I was thinking, "woah...I talk FAST!"

By the time I sat down at work, I was in full-on jitters. It started out as "hahaha... caffeeeeeeeeeeeeine!" but shortly turned into (actual direct quote), "I CAN'T TYPE A CAPITAL F!" Literally. Every time I tried to type "F," my fingers were making "Gf." It took me 4 or 5 tries to get it right.

In school, they teach you that marijuana is a gateway drug. I wouldn't know about that. I can tell you for sure though that for someone who rarely drinks coffee, it's really fun to spend a few hours on an artificial high. I get the appeal. That's why I rarely drink it. And also why I rarely drink alcohol. It's fun to be a lightweight. That's why today I'm sticking with cran-apple juice. It's definitely more my speed!

Domesticity

Last night's dinner: chicken pot pie.
Dessert: banana tart.

What's the big deal? I freaking cooked all of it from scratch! Scott cooked the chicken and chopped the vegetables for me, but I cooked it! I sauteed, I boiled, I baked, and I made PIE CRUST! (yes, it was just an excuse to eat more pie crust, I admit it)

...and it was damn good. It wasn't perfect, but it was a great jumping off point. And I know every single ingredient that went into it.

The banana tart was sort of just leftovers - the pie crust scraps rolled out into an amoeba shape and filled with 2 will-be-rotten-tomorrow bananas tossed with some melted butter and brown sugar. It wasn't pretty, but I'm seriously trying to figure out why people don't eat banana pie!

Well, I should stop patting myself on the back so I can go unload the dishwasher. What gets cooked must be cleaned!

Making People Uncomfortable Since 1979

It's what I do!

Yesterday at work I had the same conversation with two completely separate groups of people: two acquaintances from the front desk, and two friends from The Restaurant. Basically, I was trying to rally other people to come and audition for a role in a show for a character who happens to be black. (Sorry, really don't know whether her lineage is from Africa) Of course, this is funny because none of us are black.

I pointed out to both groups (c'mon...when you have good material, don't you re-use it?) that I was just as likely to get this part as I was to get any Disney Princess role. And in my best squeaky little kid voice, I looked up and said, "Cinderella, you got FAT!"

This is one of those situations when, had I said "ugly" or "old," that I probably would have been met by a chorus of "no you're not..." But obviously I'm overweight. And though I thought it was funny (and Scott belly laughed when I recounted this story to him), apparently other people aren't willing to also acknowledge this fact. (true story - I just mistyped 'fact' as 'fat')

Anyway, I'm sorry I made anyone uncomfortable. I'll add Jokes About My Weight to the list of categories not to bring up in front of work people.

(I still think it was funny)

Team Conan

I doubt there's anything I could add to the Leno-Conan debate that hasn't been said elsewhere, but for what it's worth:

Jay Leno is pulling a Brett Favre. The difference is when Favre flip-flopped on his retirement plans, the Packers honored the commitment they had made to their replacement quarterback. That NBC is short-sighted enough to not understand that some day the young demographic that watches Conan will be the majority, and that people who can tolerate Jay Leno are dying off or just can't stay up that late anymore, boggles my mind. And even if they don't understand that, they should at least honor the agreement they made with Conan. And Leno should retire gracefully and go play with his cars.

Conan's statement yesterday exhibited what a class act he is. And it also reminded me that this is an incredibly smart (Harvard-educated) man who also happens to be funny. To tell the truth, I was surprised that he said he wouldn't do the 12:05 show that NBC was offering. I really thought that all of the players would just shift and make room at the table for Crazy Uncle Jay. I don't blame him though. When your boss makes promises he's not willing to keep, it shows you just who you're really working for. I don't think I'd want to work for NBC either, knowing the complete lack of character they are displaying right now.

If I actually watched any NBC shows, I'd consider boycotting. Moot point though - I pretty much stopped watching NBC when Friends ended.

Delicate Flour

I have 10 minutes until I have to leave the house, and I haven't yet packed dinner for tonight, so please pardon my brevity as I stop to pat myself on the back.

I made biscuits this morning - from scratch(!) - and in the process I started a new bag of all-purpose flour. Why is this noteworthy? Well you see, we brought a canister of AP flour when we moved that had been in the apartment longer than either of us could remember. It smelled a little off, so consider the shelf life of flour. I think it's maybe the second bag we've had since we got married. I finished off the old flour in my inaugural/experimental batch of sugar cookies back in the beginning of December.

And I finished off the new bag of flour this morning.

That's FIVE POUNDS of flour in just about a month!

That's eight or ten dozen sugar cookies for Christmas gifts and snacks, a few rounds of Amish friendship bread, two apple pies, and some other odds and ends.

Anyway, wow! Who knew a stand mixer and some counter space would completely change my cooking philosophy? I think the current five pound bag will last a little longer. But those biscuits this morning were awfully tasty...

Frost (Doesn't) Bite

On may way from my car to the office yesterday morning, I saw frost on the grass. And I couldn't believe what I was seeing. So I stepped on the grass. It crunched under my feet.

I almost cried.

It turns out for a (it's-not-my-home-anymore-but-I'm-still) homesick NJ transplant, frost can be every bit as wonderful as snow. It brought back a flood of memories I wasn't expecting. While snow reminds me of sledding and snowball fights and other fun things, frost brought me back to waiting for the school bus and other normal every day activities.

And now that I've seen the frost again (they say there might be some tomorrow morning because there's not going to be wind tonight), I'm ready for some nice moderate 60-degree weather.

Uncontrolled Laughter

Scott's car wouldn't start this morning, so I got an unexpected wake-up call at 4 am to drive him to work. It wasn't such a bad drive - no cars on the road, and I got to pick the tunes. On the way, we happened to go past the "Mile 10" sign for the Disney Marathon (hmm... that might explain the early shift...). There I was in the car wearing my running pants (the poor things - they're the least-utilized athletic pants ever), a zip-up sweatshirt, flip-flops (don't judge - we park in the garage and I wasn't going to be outside), and unbrushed hair and I got all excited. "Quick! I'm going to get out and you can take my picture in front of the sign. We'll have to crop out my feet though, because of the flip flops." Yeah, because the footwear would be the only unrealistic thing about that picture! Maybe it's because I'm amped up on Coke and adrenaline, but I thought that was the funniest thing I'd heard in at least 12 hours. I chuckled about it all the way home. Scott, on the other hand, was not amused. I understand though. He's worried about his baby. He'll laugh tomorrow.

My only regret is that I didn't get the photo.

Perhaps now you're wondering what could have been funnier than that yesterday. I worked day shift answering calls yesterday, and was slammed. It was a long and stressful day, and towards the end I was pretty much praying for a few minutes of down time between calls so that I could catch my breath. I was talking to a man and was annoyed while booking his reservation because there was a woman close to him speaking at what I can best describe as bad-cell-phone-volume. As it turns out, they were in the car and she was having her own phone conversation. We got to the point where I was explaining to him why I needed a credit card number and what we would be charging, and all of a sudden Loud Woman says, "Have you asked for an enema? You'll feel better."

Loudly.

I paused, mostly out of shock, and the guy snorted. And once I knew it was ok to laugh, I couldn't stop myself. It was Sudden Onset Laugh Syndrome, the kind that comes when you try to hold it in, and then all of a sudden your eyes are watering and you can't breathe and all you can do is laugh. Through my laughter, I did hear him explain that she was talking to someone in the hospital, and cracking up while he explained to his wife that he was on the phone with a business. I apologized for my complete and total lack of professionalism, and managed to pull it together long enough to finish booking the reservation before hanging up and explaining to the office full of people why I was laughing so hard. While still laughing.

I don't really know if either of those stories is even funny to someone who isn't me, but hey - this is one of those blog posts I'll find a few years from now and most likely laugh again. Sometimes that's what matters most. Now if you'll excuse me, it's 10 minutes until I have to wake up. I'm going to not go back to sleep.

Another Post About the Future of My Powder Room

Please try to contain your enthusiasm until the end of the post!



Back during NaBloPoMo (November edition), I shared a photo of some paint chips and some other design choices we were considering for the downstairs bathroom. What I didn't mention was that we were skewing the bathroom theme a little towards Japanese. Really, it's not supposed to be like a Zen garden or anything (not that that wouldn't be cool...) - just simple and elegant, and really dark purple. Basically, the only addition to the room (after the light fixture, which has cool pagoda lines) was going to be a single white orchid (fake, obviously) in a simple container on the back of the toilet.



Did you catch the "was?"


Yeah...this is why Scott and I shouldn't go to World Market:


I guess it's not that far from the original design idea. Instead of a single orchid, now it's a single cherry blossom branch. With a very yellow background. I loved it. And Scott says he loves it, though I'm never really sure whether or not he's placating me. The print itself was cheap. I imagine framing it will not be. Have you seen the shape of this thing?!?

And though you can't tell from the pictures above and below (because of the fact that my camera does not like CF light bulbs), that print is going to look un-be-freaking-lieveable on the dark purple wall. (also, no, it's not going to live on the sink - that's just where the paint chips are stuck)

I think it's almost time to buy the light fixture and the paint and get cracking on project #1!

Volunteer Spirit

If you love the Muppets as much as I do, I bet you'll enjoy spending time on the website for Disney's new volunteer-and-we'll-give-you-a-park-ticket campaign. Plus, if you go, you get a nifty video for your own website. (and if you're really lucky, it'll actually play the video!)



I was reading through volunteer opportunities in the area, and I'm trying to set up some time to do office-type stuff for Harbor House. I'll let you know how it goes if I hear back from them.

2009: The Year of the Parkhopper

Here we are on December 31. It must be time for my traditional year-end mash-up post...

Take the first sentence of the first post of every month this year on your blog and put them all together.

It's a good thing I didn't make a New Year's Resolution to do a blog post every day, huh? Wii have been playiing wiith our new viideo game system a lot.

There's a link on the AOL main page today that I certainly won't be clicking:

Our purchase of a Wii was conditional. I've been peer-pressured into doing the May NaBloPoMo (theme: "sweet"), so Happy May! What to do with a mostly-full bag of mini marshmallows?

It sucks to have your 15 minutes of fame entangled with a tragedy.

I've once again been peer pressured into participating in NaBloPoMo. We're going to be hiring another full-time person into my office.

We're out of salt here at Apartamente de ParkHopper (as opposed to Casa ParkHopper, which is not where we currently live). I'm meeting up today with Laura and Richard for lunch. Scott and I pulled out of the garage on Sunday afternoon only to discover that someone had let their dog crap - twice - on our driveway and made no attempt to clean it up.

Happy New Year!! Stay off the roads tonight if you can. See you next year/decade!

Not Really...I'm Totally Lying

Scott and I are considering modeling next year's Christmas Photo after this family.

(do coconuts come in bigger sizes?)

Christmas Miracle?

Anyone who follows me on Twitter might have noticed the following tweet a few days ago:

Just informed TODAY by JCPenney.com that gift I ordered for @mob308 on 12/14 is no longer available. It took them 8 DAYS to figure this out?
9:15 AM Dec 22nd

I spent a day whining about there being a GIANT HOLE OF DISAPPOINTMENT IN MY CHRISTMAS to anyone who would listen. It didn't occur to me that there were tons of retailers offering free shipping upgrades on the 21st and 22nd and that maybe I could find a replacement elsewhere. In short, I was being an ass.

Yesterday morning, I went online and found a different item in the same genre, plus a sweet bonus gift (and something for myself) for less than the cost of the one item that JC Penney screwed me out of. They offered very reasonable 3-Day UPS Ground shipping, which meant that it wouldn't be here by Christmas, but that I would get it next week. That was fine with me! (The alternative - overnight shipping - was $20. Since it wasn't a "Santa" present for a small child, that wasn't going to be worth it to me.)

I came up with creative ways to package "future gifts" so that Scott would still have something to unwrap tomorrow. I came to the computer just now to do some creative photo editing, and went into my email to pull a picture from the original order. The package shipped yesterday afternoon, and I decided to check the shipping email and see whether it had really shipped, or if the company had done one of those "notified UPS to pick up package" things. Imagine my complete and utter elation when I saw the following:

Status: In Transit

Scheduled Delivery Date:
12/24/2009 (Updated)
12/30/2009 (Original)

What's completely shocking about this is that I've followed packages online before, and have seen a shipping company (I'm thinking FedEx) HOLD things in their local hub in order to not deliver before the promised date. To think that there was room on a truck and that UPS said, "hey - she didn't pay for the quickie shipping, but we have the space!" just absolutely blows my mind.

I'm not getting my hopes up too high... I'm betting that my package has the lowest priority on the delivery truck. But for now, I'm holding off on doing my creative packaging. I might not need it after all!

And so, I'd like to wish a VERY Merry Christmas to the UPS drivers and warehouse workers out there delivering Christmas to children (and grown-ups) everywhere! I'd also like to wish a Merry Christmas to the people at an internet retailer whose name I cannot reveal at this time. I'm a fan for life!

Dedication

I'd like to dedicate this Lovely Listing to Janette. See if you can figure out why!

Nope, it's not the tiger climbing the walls.

Nope, it's not the themed bathroom. (Actually if I were dedicating the listing to Scott, it would be for the bathroom. He likes turtles!)

Don't see it? OK, fourth picture down (has gravity-defying vines on the ceiling). See it now? All the way on the right? Dude! There's a ukulele right there!

Yep...that was the whole point of this entry. And now, 6 dozen unborn sugar cookies and two unborn apple pies are crying out for creation. Oh yeah, and Scott's gifts need to be wrapped. I think I'll start with the presents...

Perform!

Christmas morning: you've woken up early because you've programmed to do that your entire life. You've opened the gifts. You've eaten your festive holiday breakfast. Now what? Well, if you're reading this, then you probably know me. And anyone who knows me is going to want to turn on the TV to the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade.

"I am?" you ask.
"You are." I reply

The Encore Cast Choir was asked to help out with the parade taping. See, there was this little-known woman performing a popular Christmas tune, and they thought her performance could use a little star power. Here's a YouTube preview from someone who attended the taping:




Sadly for me, I was a little too slow getting my robe. I ended up in the balcony where there were no risers set up and very little lighting (and where this woman never even bothered to tilt up the camera to). So most likely, you won't see my smiling face on TV. But I really was there. And I'll be watching, looking for Katie and Melissa, who were on the risers, singing on national TV on Christmas morning.

Peace

For my entire life, Roy E. Disney has been the public face of the Disney family. For a long time, I thought he was Walt's brother. I didn't realize he was the "new generation" of the family business. Though he wasn't always in the spotlight, I think a lot of us took stock in the fact that we knew he was there, looking over the family name and business.

I don't really know anything personal about Roy, and so any clumsy attempt to eulogize him would fall flat. But his death really touched me in a way that caught me off guard. Maybe it's because I worry who will lead the revolt against the next power-hungry CEO. Maybe it's because there's one less person in the world who believes in the perfection his uncle demanded. Or maybe it's just because he was my Disney, and now he's gone.

I don't often talk on here about my time in the trenches working in the theme parks, but I'll break my rule in this case. When we were training as the opening team at the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream attraction, one of the trainers relayed a quick anecdote.

Roy walked the attraction before it was finished, and stopped in front of the recreation of Walt's office. He laughed and pointed at the chairs and made a comment about how many times he had sat "right there" and gotten yelled at by his dad or Uncle Walt.

I guess he was a bit of a trouble maker when he was younger. The story stuck with me because I couldn't wrap my head around what it must be like to see a room from your past stuck behind glass in a museum. Now it makes me smile to think that he kept watch over the family business for another 40 years.

Rest in peace, Roy. We'll miss you.

Top Ten

Apparently people who care about such things have recently realized that this month is the end of the '00 decade. To honor it, they have been making "Top _____ of the Decade" lists, because that's what people do. I was listening to the guys on SBK Live last night debating the top 10 movies of the decade, and only agreeing with one or two of their picks.

So here's my Ten Favorite Movies of the 2000's:
(in alphabetical order...because I can't pick a favorite)

1. Batman Begins
2. Chicago
3. Crash
4. Erin Brockovich
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Finding Neverland
7. Juno
8. Monsters, Inc. (which could have just as easily been Finding Nemo or maybe Up... I just couldn't pick one and didn't want the list to be so Pixar-centric)
9. Moulin Rouge
10. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Others that almost made the cut were Shrek 2, Traffic, and the rest of the Pixar movies.

The ones I've listed are the ones that I either own or wish that I did (looking for a last-minute gift? try #3, 5, 6, or 7), and that I would recommend that everyone see at least once. And with the exception of Chicago, which is more of a spectacle, these are movies that I really connected with. So what do you think? What are your top movies?

Update (12/17): I should have referenced my DVD collection before writing this list. I can't believe I forgot Saved! or Zoolander. Those two definitely should've been in the top ten, but I can't decide which ones get bumped.

Puddin'

Our second trip to Tampa for our season tickets to the theater (which I like to say because it sounds so gosh darn pretentious!) was yesterday. We saw a new show called Wonderland, which was good and bad, wrapped into one. Fabulous performances by the male and female leads knocked me on my butt, and I loved about half the music. I had trouble with the story not being flushed out enough, and the costuming seemed sort of half-assed for the magnitude of the story, but hey - it was a fun night out.

Instead of talking about the show, I'd like to tell you about the old lady sitting next to me. This woman was also next to me when we went to see In the Heights in October, so I'm guessing she's also a season ticket-holder, and will therefore be at every show we see. Before the show, Scott and I both noticed that she was holding her purse on her lap, and was eating something out of her purse with a plastic spoon. I think it was one of those pudding cups from the grocery store. And I think I smelled butterscotch. Of course, we're now calling her Puddin'. It totally fits!

Well halfway through act 2, Puddin' decided to spoon with me. Either her hemorrhoids were flaring up, or she was really cold... or maybe she just needed a nap. All of a sudden, she shifts her weight to her left hip (she's sitting to my left, in case you needed the visual), and presses her butt square against the side of my leg. I tried moving closer to Scott, but her butt filled in the empty space. I tried nudging her with my leg - a sort of "sorry to bother you, but you seem to be inappropriately molesting my leg in a way that's really creeping me out and BAD TOUCH BAD TOUCH BAD TOUCH" message, but she wasn't taking the hint.

So I went to my happy place and levitated outside my body for the rest of the show. What else could I have done?

Thankfully, Scott has generously offered to trade seats with me for the next show. Actually, he flat-out refused to trade seats when I asked, but I'm thinking he was kidding and will happily take turns cuddling the stranger. It's only fair, right?

Poop

(literally)

Scott and I pulled out of the garage on Sunday afternoon only to discover that someone had let their dog crap - twice - on our driveway and made no attempt to clean it up. We were both annoyed, but decided to leave it until it dried a little so that we could sweep it out of the driveway.

Imagine my surprise the next day when Scott told me that he swept the poop out of the driveway, and whatever animal it came from, it was most definitely not a domestic canine! The poop had chunks of fur and sections of intestine in it. He showed me this morning. I would've touched it, if not for the fact that a) it's dead animal, and b) it's poop. Still, you can't help but laugh about it!

The following photos have nothing to do with poop. But they were taken on Sunday. That makes them relevant to the post, right?