And while you're pondering things....

Two Truths and a Lie

1. I saw Abe Vigoda in a cafe in Prague
2. I went to Sunday school with Amy Carter
3. I climbed to the top of one of my campus buildings while slightly less than sober

Can you tell me which is which?

If your life were a movie...

Who would you pick to play you and the other people in your life?

Me: Claire Danes - I know, I know wishful thinking...
Andy: Keiffer Sutherland (I cheated and asked him though...) although I could do some more wishful thinking and say Ewan McGregor....

I can just hear you reading this now sweetie and saying "HEY!"

Oh um...excuse me

Andy and I went out to dinner last night. It was a lovely little Greek restaurant, and it gives you a very homey feel. Perhaps a little too homey. I was in fact so comforatble there that for five seconds I forgot that we weren't eating dinner at home.

In that 5 seconds I belched. Rather loudly. After we both finished dying of laughter, the waitress came over and asked if we wanted anything else. I personally was quite through for the evening.

Movie review

We recently borrowed 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'Boogie Nights' from a friend of Andy's.

'Waiting for Guffman' was about the funniest thing I've ever seen. It's a fake documentary on Blaine, Missouri, and the small town's sesquicentennial play. The whole time we're laughing our heads off, thinking this is the most absurd thing I've ever seen, part of me is remembering that Fourth of July play I was in when I was 8. Unless you've seen a small town's celebration or been in a church play you don't realize how dangerously close they come to the truth. There are people out there that take this kind of thing seriously! Which of course helps in it's absurdity.

'Boogie Nights' just plain stunk. I was sick of the thing half way through and with about 30 minutes left I got out of the room as fast as I could. I could not watch one more minute of it. It was about the most disgusting, depressing, sickening piece of crap I have ever watched. I don't understand how it could possibly be considered a good movie. It had all the art school tricks. It tried to be a deep movie. But I thought it was just plain gross. The only redeeming thing (if you can call it that) about it at all was that it was about porn. Huh huh...porn. Sorry folks, in case you hadn't guessed, I hated the thing.

I guess you have to have bad movie experiences to make the good ones stand out more.

Project project who's got a project?

I've been itching for things to do lately. I want to repaint the basement. I want to put in a closet organizer in one of the closets down there and turn it into a camping storage space. I want to finish the lights in the kitchen. I want to refinish the deck. I want the front porch repainted, so we can hang the new house numbers and put in the new light. I want toro lights around the patio in the back yard. I want half a million other things to do to the house...maybe because things have been so slow at work my focus has been on home improvement lately.

I think I'm going to wear poor Andy out.

Baby Shower Number 2

I got to go to my second ever baby shower on Saturday. It was just as much fun as the first one. Good food, good people, good games. I actually won one this time!

And of course lots of adorable clothing and toys for the new baby.

Good stuff all around. Looking forward to playing with the new arrival once he makes his appearance!

Just call me Soupy Sales

I've always been a bit on the clumsy side. I tend to drop things, especially if they're delicate and breakable. Well, today I think I reached a new height in my clutziness.

I was making soup from a packet. You know one of those that comes with the beans and seaoning, just needs broth and meat added? Well, things started out ok. I was boiling my water and broth, just time to add the creamy soup base (better known as powdered milk). And for some reason I decided to shake the package before opening it.

POOF

Powder everywhere. All over the counter, all over the appliances, all over the floor, and all over and in my shirt.

I just moaned. Andy called from downstairs "what's wrong?" and came up to see what was the matter. If nothing else he had a very good laugh (and so did I eventually) and the dog had a delightful time licking everything within his reach in the kitchen.

The soup turned out fine.

Talking to myself

Out loud unfortunately. And not always when I'm alone. Making me wonder if sometimes if I've just thought something to myself or did I actually just say that?

CONGRATS!!!

To Greg and Robin, proud new parents of a baby girl!

CONGRATS!!!!

To Lindsay and John on your brand new baby girl!

You can pick your friends...

I was driving home from work on Friday and glanced up into my rear-view mirror and stared. There was a woman in a mini-van behind me. About 30-35 ish. Picking her nose. I don't mean scratching it. I don't mean rubbing it. I mean the full-out, 2 year old, full finger up the nose, wiggling it around, booger picking disgusting type of picking her nose. I don't think I've actually seen anyone over the age of 3 do this. So what did I do? Called Andy immediately on his cell phone to describe the full situation.

Quiet lately

I've been a bit quiet lately, had a lot errands and things to take care of and work has started picking up a bit so I haven't had much time or desire to blog.

I've been trying to scope out some Christmas presents but so far have only succeeded in buying things for myself.

We went to our favorite store last night. You got it, Restoration Hardware. One of these days I swear I'm going to go work there. In any case, we had some gift certificates, the audio cabinet that we've been drooling over went on sale, and they've just started a Restoration Hardware credit card (heaven help us) where you got 10% off your first purchase with it. We also came home with a fireplace screen (I would put in a picture but the website doesn't have one, sorry.)

So our basement will be fully kitted out. Just need to paint it now.

Restraint

Those of you who know what's been going on the in DC Metro area may have noticed that I've not mentioned the shootings that have been going on. I've been hoping it was one of those things that would go away if you ignored it. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.

A woman was killed last night while loading packages in her car with her husband. The police have linked this latest killing with the other 10 instances. Making her the 9th victim of this madman.

The thing that makes this so downright frightening is that people are trying to go about their everyday lives and some idiot decides they have the right to play God. I hate them for making me afraid when I get my paper in the morning, when I fill my gas tank, when I take my dog outside. I hate letting them win.

Playing with my food

I'm back at the office today. Having a light lunch of crackers, Chicken and Star soup and some ginger-ale, thanks to the Wednesday/Thursday stomach issues.

Currently, I'm contemplating the fine line between having a well dipped cracker, a soggy mess, and bloop it's gone in my soup.

There also seems to be a definitive time limit of how long ginger-ale stays carbonated. I think it's about 5 seconds after the bottle's been opened.

No...NO! DON'T PUKE AGAIN!!!

If you remember my post from August 6th, I bet you're thinking I mean my dog. No such luck. It was me this time. Only at least I managed not to get any on the carpet. And I don't think mine came from eating a sock.

Stomach flu should be banned.

Baby Baby Baby

So...details about the shower...

It was a lot more fun than when I was 8. Yummy, noshy food, little roll sandwiches, brownies, fruit, veggies and dip...all that good stuff. We played some fun games, which seemed to be variations of the games we played at my bridal shower.

The clothespin game - you're not allowed to cross your legs or someone else gets your clothespin. The one with the most clothespins at the end of the party gets a door prize. The variation for the baby shower was you weren't allowed to say 'baby'. Imagine if you will how hard that was.

The crepe streamer game - the bridal shower version involves making a dress out of crepe paper. Baby shower version was cut off a length of streamer that you thought would measure most accurately around mom-to-be's middle. In other words How big is she?

We all got to ooh and ahhh over the cute little things she got. Some toys which I would've wanted to play with!

The thing that amazed me most was the certainty with which some of the guests declared their knowledge of the baby's sex. The couple's decided to leave it as a surprise, which meant most gifts were yellow or green, with an occasional aqua. One woman sitting nearby me though said several times "I KNOW she's having a boy. I'd be so surprised if it wasn't a boy."

Given that there's a 50/50 chance, why the certainty? Another woman said, "She looks like she's having a boy." HUH? She just looked pregnant to me. Maybe the family's just really really hoping for a boy. Or maybe there's some piece of motherly wisdom that they knew and I didn't.

In any case it was a lovely evening and boy or girl, I hope everything turns out healthy and happy for the new family.

Language

Having grown up in Maryland with family from Tennessee I've acquired a strange mish-mosh of accents. I've got the Maryland 'O' so that I go to the p'oh'st office. But I've also got that southern twang on some words. Specifically 'bacon', 'all day' and the words 'pen' and 'pin' are indistinguishable when coming from my mouth.

I think this also affects the way I hear certain words as well, besides amusing Andy to no end. Examples you say? Ok...

Laura's misunderstood song lyrics:
What I heard = what the song actually said
semi-tall kind of life = semi-charmed kind of life
casting deep via stares at my erection = casting devious stares in my direction
you're just like my can of barbasol = you're just like my Ken and Barbie doll

This type of thing is part of what makes me afraid to sing to songs out loud when someone else is in the car. Especially Andy, who'll crack up and ask WHAT did you just say???? Maybe I need to go in for some type of speech therapy.

Maybe just the regular kind...

And can we tell I'm bored at work today?

I had another strange dream last night, that apparently was very very funny. I remember laughing. I remember there was something about a little bar of soap that could talk. I remember Andy asking "What's so funny?" But mostly I remember being completely unable to answer him. I tried to explain that there was a funny bar of soap talking to me and all that came out of my mouth was gibberish or noises. He kept asking until finally I was able to get out the sound SHHHHHHHHHH! Which both of us found very very funny.

Courtesy of In Passing

"And I say 'Stop right there Mambo-Man'."

It was just TOO funny. If you check out the comments, there's a whole string of Whose Line is it Anyway references. It does sound like a quote from a terrific sketch. Or possibly something Monty Python-esque.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquistion! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.

Baby Shower Number One

Today's the day. Baby Shower Number One. Will let you all know how it went tomorrow.

Bitten by the Blogger Bug

I never really used to enjoy writing. I used to enjoy trying, but the results never quite turned out the way I expected.

I used to try and write poetry in high school and college. Some wasn't bad. One I wrote especially for the college Literary Magazine. I made it deep and dark and disturbing like the rest of the work in there. Once I was done, I read it through and it didn't sound like me, was nothing I had ever experienced in real life, and overall just felt like I had put on a mask and tried to recite some one else. That little poem got torn up and thrown away and I've never looked back.

So when I first thought about creating a Blog, I wasn't sure I would like it. Happily enough, I've been hooked, and for once I actually sound like I mean to sound when I write something down. Most of the time at least. Hope you all enjoy!

Yummm

We went out to dinner last night to celebrate and had a lovely time at a little place in Ellicott City, called Cacao Lane (Please ignore the description here, it doesn't do it justice. I just put the link in for the picture). The folks in the restaurant pronouced it "Cocoa" Lane, but that was the only flaw. The service was great, the food was terrific and the atmosphere was perfect for a romantic little dinner. We were put at the "seeder" table. At least we think that's what the guy said. It certainly wasn't "cedar." The table was right in the window so Andy thinks he meant seeder like "seeding the crowd" kind of a thing.

Well, whatever the guy meant it was a nice table. We got to look out onto Main Street of historic Ellicott City and watch the people go by. The group of kids sitting on a bench smoking. Two women desparately trying to carry an antique armoir to a car somewhere just out of sight. The dresser had been painted white, causing us to wonder who would have painted such a beautiful old piece?

Then we got a show. No, not in house. The police showed up across the street, investigating who knows what. The car lights flashing on and off gave us a lovely disco effect, which the waitress assured us she had them do just to celebrate our anniversary. But who noticed when the food was so good, and we had each other to look at.

If you're ever in the Ellicott City area I definitely recommend it as a nice restaurant to try. If you're lucky you might get the disco lights too!

Three years already!!???

It doesn't seem possible, but it's been three years already since I married the sweetest guy on earth.

Here's to many many more my love.