Silliness

Pirate Baby was sick over the weekend with a sore throat and cough. He has passed it on to me now, so I've been sick today.

He was being extra silly, playing with his blankie, and he kept making me laugh. I grabbed the camera so I could share how cute it was.

Enjoy!

Wedding Season

We have two weddings in our family this year - less than a month apart from each other. The 2nd one I mentioned recently - my father-in-law's wedding next month.

Last night though, was the wedding for Surfer Pirate's "surrogate" brother - the one who talked us into moving to Northern Middle of Nowhere, ND. He and his fiancee made it official last night in a beautiful ceremony.

It reminded me that I'm a big sap.

The last wedding I went to was for some friends of mine in Montana - just days after my first miscarriage. I was there because I loved them and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. But I was sad and very focused on my own problem while putting on a happy face for them. Before that, the last wedding I had attended was... Mine. So this was the first chance I'd had to relive the love and sentiment of a wedding.

I cried little happy tears a LOT this weekend!

Surfer Pirate was a groomsman, so I sat without him during the ceremony and the dinner, but that didn't change the emotion of the whole thing. The pastor did a wonderful job talking about how marriage means that you put the other person's needs and wants before your own (something I know he personally does - his wife is a friend of mine). I sat in the church looking at my sweet husband (or rather, the back of his head), thinking about how well he takes care of me and what a good man he is. I thought back to our wedding day and how Surfer Pirate looked at me that day and how much in love we were. I thought about how much we still love each other and the great life we've made together. And I thought about our two friends and how far they've come together and how happy and peaceful their wedding felt.

But my two favorite parts of the wedding were seeing Surfer Pirate in his tux, and the dancing with him after dinner.

I really wish I could show you how good he looked in his tux, complete with PINK tie and vest! If you knew him in person, you would know how insanely opposite that is for him. But he loves his surrogate brother and was willing to put aside his own issues with being that dressed up (and wearing pink) for him. It was very selfless and sweet and OH MY GOODNESS did he look amazing! (My facebook friends have probably already seen the pictures, and B, I'll email you some pictures so you can see too.)

And the dance! I had looked forward to dancing with my hubby. We haven't had a date night in forever, and there aren't many options of places to go around our little town. The first dance was, of course, the bride and groom, then they had a wedding party dance that was hysterical! There were 3 flower girls and 3 ring bearers, but two of them had already gone home - all day of pictures and preparation + no naps = crabby children. But the remaining 4 stole the show - especially the boys! One of the boys had already introduced everyone to his special Stomp Dance* earlier, and the whole bridal party participated for the first part of the song. Then, the kids took over the floor, the boys doing fun break-dancing and there were even cartwheels! Soon, we were dragged out to the floor for the Chicken Dance (which I've never actually done before) and the Hokey Pokey. Normally, I wouldn't have been a part of either of those, but Surfer Pirate's surrogate dad is so incredibly funny and everyone was having so much fun that it was easy to let go of your own embarrassment and just have a great time!

*aka: jumping up and down really hard

We needed to leave early because Pirate Baby is coming down with a cold and Surfer Pirate had some things he needed to take care of for his health, so our surrogate sister arranged for the dj to play Our Song (it's also her song with her hubby). So I got to slow dance with my gorgeous husband and then we even ended up staying on the floor for the Anniversary Dance. They let us dance to that song briefly, and then asked everyone who had been married more than 5 years to continue dancing while the rest of us left the floor. Then they kept adding time until there were only 3 couples left. The one couple had been married for 33 years (I think - might have been 34), and the other two couples had both been married for 36 years!

It was all a very sweet and romantic night. I was reminded of how wonderful my marriage is and how grateful I am for the life I live with my wonderful family (both related and non-related).



And I also found out that our local baker makes AMAZING cake. Mmmmmm... cake...

Pizza!

I make homemade pizza fairly often. I can make them in about the same time it takes to heat up a decent quality frozen pizza, so why not? Plus, every member of their family gets their own personal pizza with their own choice of toppings.

Pirate Baby has already shown a love for the pizzas - devouring the first one I made for him.

I made more last night, but he didn't quite finish all of it. That meant he got to have it for lunch today. So we sat at the table eating our leftover pizza together. Every. Single. Bite. that he took, he looked up at me with big eyes and nodded. It was so cute I had to grab the camera.

Enjoy!

More Progress!

When I was online house hunting from my living room in Montana, I had seen our house on the listings. I thought it was an interesting looking house, but it was listed as a 3 bedroom, so I didn't think it was the house for us. But then Surfer Pirate got talked into looking at it and knew it was the house for us. He told the sellers we wanted to buy it before I'd even seen it!

Good thing I trust his judgement.

When I said to him "But it's a 3 bedroom, we need a 4 bedroom", he told me that there are two adjoining rooms. There were doors that separated the rooms, but the sellers didn't need 4 bedrooms. They had opened it up and used it as one big room.

The doors have been sitting in my basement ever since. I've been meaning to put them up all this time, but there were always excuses why I wasn't getting the job done. My guest room and nursery have been open to each other for going on two years now.

This morning, I was awake at 3am for who knows what reason, and then I couldn't go back to sleep. My mind was plagued by the realization that I have guests coming next month and my guest room was a disaster! Trying to straighten it and get it ready was tough because there were piles of books all over the room for my pre-bookshelf sorting project. Pirate Baby couldn't be in the room with me while I worked on it because he could get hurt. And I couldn't work on it during his naps because he's not the heaviest sleeper anymore.

One way or another, I had to get the doors put up - the sooner the better.

So this morning, after everyone had eaten breakfast, I went to work. Lots of heavy lifting to get one of the doors upstairs (I'd already moved one up a few weeks ago) and into place. They don't need hinges, they just wedge in next to each other nice and tight. I went to work with my hammer and a stray board (so I wouldn't damage the gorgeous wood) and knocked those puppies into place!

They still need the molding put back in around them for a little extra security and to cut off the little bits of light that leak around the edges. But for now, they're in, they're pretty, and I've already had the chance to work on the guest room a little while Pirate Baby was taking his naps today!

So here's Pirate Baby's bedroom with the new door/walls:
And I can't post pictures of stuff in my house without doing them tour-style. The cradle above was built by my dad when my sister was a baby. He refinished it for me before Pirate Baby was born, along with the two rocking chairs in that picture. (I LOVE that they all match - and that they look so good with my woodwork!) The child-sized rocking chair was my cousin's and then my sister's.
Pirate Baby's crib (obviously). It was a gift from a dear friend in Montana who had decided she didn't need it anymore now that her kids were growing up. The dresser/shelf in the picture below came with the crib.


On to our bedroom. The picture above the bed was a challenge for many years for me. I bought it completely matted for only $5. But framing this large piece would have been well over $100. I finally just made my own frame - much cheaper, and I made many more frames after that. (This frame was my first real building job.) The small dresser was in pieces in my dad's house when he bought it. He eventually put it together, finished it - replacing several missing drawer pulls, and gave it to me.

And of course, Captain Kitty is being a camera hog.
This dresser and mirror used to belong to my grandparents. Interestingly enough, it's the same finish and drawer pulls as the one on the other side of my room (my dad gave me the other one first. I was stunned when I saw how perfectly this one matched!) The painting above it is one I did in high school, and I made the frame for it as well. And if anyone wants to buy me a flatscreen tv to replace the old-school beast on the dresser, I wouldn't complain.
We have a cute little cherub who sits in the corner and brings love to our bedroom.
And of course, our pirate flag. Some people would find it creepy to sleep with those red eyes staring at us, but we love him.
And I have to show off my heart quilt that I made many years ago. I have another one just like it that I did in purple and green.
Shoot. I just realized I didn't take a good picture of the stained glass window in this room. I'll have to do that another day.

Meanwhile, on my last "house tour" post, I left a little teaser about the... um... interesting features on my house.

Above the bay windows in the dining room and master bedroom, there are two little overhangs on the roofline. They also have a little extra detail hanging from them.

Why yes, my house DOES have two flesh colored penile details.

Fertility symbol? The world may never know.

You know you live with a small child when...

There are toys all over your floor

Projects sit unfinished all over your house

Dishes from last night still aren't put away, and more wait to be done

Your child has been "reorganizing" your dvd rack

Toilet paper bought 2 days ago hasn't made it to the bathroom yet, but is already open!

Your cell phone goes missing for hours on end
(this is after I found it, obviously)

And by mid-day, your son is still in his pj's but he's enjoying his first grilled cheese sandwich.


Life is good.

Love

Sweet image found here.

My father-in-law is getting married.

That's probably not terribly exciting news to the rest of the world, but to our family, that's incredibly significant.

You see, my father-in-law has a very prominent tattoo on one of his biceps that says "Never Again". The tattoo has been a reminder to him that marriage wasn't a good thing, and it's not something he wanted to repeat. My mother-in-law has a lot of issues, and she made his life very difficult many years ago.

So you can imagine our surprise when he announced that he was getting married now - decades after ending his first marriage! He's truly, utterly and completely in love! To listen to him talk about his fiancee, you would think he was a twitterpated 16 year old kid!

The wedding plans have been progressing and we received the announcement in the mail last week. I went online to find out on Google Maps where the church and open house are going to be. They're in my hometown, but not in an area I know very well. I was surprised to find that the open house is being held just blocks away from where Surfer Pirate was living when we were first dating. That has brought up a lot of sweet memories from those early days when WE were the twitterpated couple who used to make everyone gag with how in love we were.

I was snuggling with Surfer Pirate this morning telling him my thoughts on the subject and thinking about years from now, being the old couple (like the one in the picture up there) holding hands and still being so much in love.

Those sweet thoughts of love have been floating around in my head all day, and it reminded me of another memory from when we were a brand new couple.

Twice a year, my church holds a General Conference. It's a series of church meetings held over a Saturday and Sunday that's broadcast on tv (and the internet now) for our members all over the world to be able to watch. I've always looked forward to it because of the great spiritual lift it gives me, as well as the fact that twice a year I get to "attend" church in my pajamas! In April 2008, when Surfer Pirate and I were dating, we had just undergone a change in our church presidency because our prophet Gordon B. Hinckley had died. Our new president Thomas S. Monson gave the sweetest talk at that conference, and it was a great opportunity to show Surfer Pirate who the new leader of my church was in a memorable and entertaining way.

* To give you an idea of what a fun talk it was, he told the story of how during a time when his wife had to be in the hospital, she left a note for their children that said "Dear Children, Do not let Daddy touch the microwave, or the stove, or the dishwasher, or the dryer..."

Anytime since then, if I've needed to clarify to Surfer Pirate something about President Monson, I just remind him of that talk. He will usually smile because he knows exactly what I'm talking about. And even though he has no interest in my church, he's always been very supportive of my church attendance and activities. I know that watching President Monson's talk has helped shape his opinion of what a good thing it is for me.

Anyway, with all the memories of that sweet time at the beginning of our romance floating around in my head today, I decided to look for that talk on Youtube. I highly recommend that people watch it. I know a lot of my readers aren't members of my church and may not care at all about what those beliefs are, but I recommend watching it because of the way he talks about his wife. You don't have to share my beliefs in order to see how very important she is to him. Just months after this talk, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, and it's such a sweet story of how deeply they still love each other after all that time.

You can see the video here.
(Anyone want to teach me how to post a video from Youtube on here so I don't have to link everything? I can't figure it out.)

If Surfer Pirate and I are blessed to both still be alive in 57 years, I want us to be like that.


...of course, we'll also be the ones sitting on our front porch in our matching rocking chairs holding hands with a rifle next to each of us so we can threaten kids to stay off our lawn.

In the Air

I could be doing Stupid Criminal Saturday today, but I'm just not interested.


... because today feels like SPRING!!!


It's still only in the 30's, but the sun is out and snow is starting to melt. We took advantage of the sunshine and warmer air and went outside to play today. Pirate Baby was excited to run around in his walker with his bare little feet.

Feeling Spoiled

This kitty heaven really is someone's house! I've been a fan for years! Check out their website here.

When I grew up, most of my family lived several states away from us. But I did have one aunt and uncle who lived just minutes away from us.

My aunt wanted a little girl more than anything.

She had a boy. And then another boy. And another boy. And another.

No girls.

So my sister and I were her girls.

(She's also a fellow kitty lover, so that picture above is really appropriate.)

For our birthdays, she started a really fun tradition. She would take us out for some one-on-one shopping time. I know there was a price limit to our shopping trip, but I don't remember her ever saying how much. In my head, it was hundreds. Obviously, it wasn't that much in reality. I would get to buy anything I wanted and look as long as I wanted in different stores. Sometimes, we'd go to the mall. After shopping, we would eat on the upstairs level of our mall's McDonald's (yes, our McDonald's had two levels). Sometimes, we would go to - my favorite - our big downtown department store. Wherever we went, the best part was getting to be the center of attention for that day.

When I was 16 years old, my aunt received the best news! She was pregnant with a girl!! I was so excited, you would think it was MY baby! Ironically, they moved out of state when my sweet little girl cousin was only a few months old. It was really sad, and I've missed them terribly.

And then I became an adult, started my own family, and life moved on.


Then, this December, shortly before Christmas, I got a surprise present!

In it were several beautiful things from my aunt! She had sent me some pirate theme things and some dragon theme things. (How she has remembered I was born in the Year of the Dragon, I have no idea!)

I got this really cool Pirate Ship necklace

And this gorgeous sun-catcher

And this amazing Dragon pin with Pirate elements

There was also a really nice guardian angel pin, but I couldn't get a decent picture of it.


Monday was my birthday. I've been very spoiled by my family, but I knew about everything I was getting.

Except for the two packages that showed up in my mailbox by surprise that day! My aunt sent me more stuff!!


Inside:

This adorable baby dragon necklace

This fun pirate pin

And this book*

So I feel exceptionally loved and spoiled by one of my very favorite aunts. I kind of feel like that young girl again - going on special shopping trips with my aunt.


*And no, Aunt L, I've never seen this book! I'm excited to read one that you love. Thank you so much for the sweet gifts! I love you, and miss you and I can't wait to have your newest grandbaby join me as a fellow Dragon Baby!

Smart Boy

Normally, Major Stede has a sixth sense about dropped food. A tiny crumb of soft bread could fall on the plushest carpet eight miles away, and he would hear it and come running to scarf it up.

If I even TOUCH a plate of leftovers or a pan that has little scraps of food from last night's supper in it, he's right there to make sure he gets first chance to eat it. The saddest thing in his world is when I walk past him to scrape a pan into the garbage.

But apparently he's learned one very important truth.

When Mom is eating Milk Duds and one falls on the floor, don't even THINK about going after it, because she will kill you!

He stayed very still in that position you see in the picture while I tracked down the rogue piece of chocolatey caramel goodness.

Don't mess with Mom's Milk Duds.



*And yes, Mom follows the 5 second rule. Except in the kitchen. I don't mop often enough to trust that.

One Year

Once upon a time, my mom was a young college student who fell in love with a funny and sweet man.

Life being the way it is, things happened that separated them, and they went different directions in life.

More than 30 years later, my mom received an email** that would change her life. This sweet man from all those years ago had gone looking for her and had found her through their college alumni association. They emailed back and forth for years, visited from time to time, and just generally became best friends.

**Edited to add a correction from my mom. That first contact was a phone call, not an email. She didn't sign up for an email account until after that first phone call - so they could email each other after that.

As time passed, they realized that the love they used to have for each other was still there and was growing day by day.

Then, in 2000, 38* years after they first fell in love, they decided to get married, despite the fact that his work kept him in Washington (state) and hers kept her in Montana.

*I think that's the right number. You may need to correct me on that part, Mom.

They spent the majority of the first two years of their marriage living apart. One of them would travel to be with the other during Christmas and summers, and any other time they could. They racked up a LOT of frequent flyer miles in those days!

Eventually, Mom retired and moved to Washington, and they were able to really start their life together.

As time went along, he gradually changed from "My Step-Dad" or "My Mother's Husband" to being "My Dad".

After a few years, they bought a house together, and were inspired to buy one that was all on one level in case something were to happen to one of them.

In the fall of 2005, that Something did happen. Dad's heart basically decided it didn't want to be in one piece anymore. It was touch-and-go for a long time whether or not he would even be able to live through it. The survival statistics of his heart issue and follow-up surgery were scary. He lived, but, in the time it took to rush him to the hospital and get into surgery to repair the damage, he lost enough blood flow to the lower half of his body that he would never be able to walk again.

Doors were widened and ramps were added in their otherwise, wheelchair friendly home, and Dad was able to go home. Dad stayed cheerful and optimistic as he learned how to do the things he loved even though he didn't have use of his legs. He eventually even found a place where he could continue his beloved salmon fishing while remaining in his wheelchair!

So much in my parents' lives were a challenge, but they got through it together with love and humor and a very touching close friendship. My mother, the retired teacher, started her new "career" as a home nurse, taking care of Dad's needs. Mom became a master in wound treatment as they dealt with the things that would come up from Dad's physical challenges, and was even able to teach a few nurses a thing or two about how it was done!

After a while, the continuous strain on Dad's heart got to be too much for his body. The lack of blood flow through his body affected his lungs and his brain. Oxygen tanks provided some relief for his troubles for a while, but eventually, he just couldn't take anymore.

One year ago today, February 26, 2011, Dad went Home to his Father in Heaven.

My parents didn't have an easy married life. In the 10 1/2 years they had together, over half of it was spent dealing with his health issues. But those more than 5 years were a gift. Statistically, Dad should have died in 2005. Instead, they were able to spend those last few years together, strengthening each other with their love and respect.

I feel privileged to have known him and greatly blessed to know that he loved me as if I were his own flesh and blood.


I love you, Dad. And I miss you so very much. You truly were our family's patriarch and leader. You loved us, took care of us, gave wonderful advice when needed and provided humor through all of it. Thank you for loving my mother.

Of course...

In the process of cleaning the dining room, I came across a pile of old catalogs that were on Surfer Pirate's desk.

One of them was a seed catalog I got last spring.


I started flipping through it, dreaming about the garden I'm going to plant this year.



I could almost see all those little seedlings sprouting out of the gorgeous dark soil we have here.


I could almost taste the vegetables I'm going to grow and smell the flowers that I'll plant.


I went online to order a new catalog from the same company, and searched for several other catalogs to order.


Perennials, roses, all different kinds of vegetables - even unique and rare ones.


I was SO excited for the coming of spring and the chance to get started planting.


And then I found out we're supposed to get a really nasty blizzard this weekend.



Figures.



All the pictures on this post came from Gurneys Seed & Nursery Company.

Progress... or, A Tour of My House

I thought I would take some pictures to show what I've been up to the last few days. I'll start with my big project for the day - our mudroom. Of course, being a mudroom, it will never be spotless, but we won't even discuss how bad it had gotten. I spent a bunch of time in there today cleaning and straightening. The room isn't heated with the rest of the house because it was an addition, so that's where the space heater comes in. The other things you see in the room are my old bench (with boots on it that will go under it once I've had a chance to vacuum in there tomorrow), the clothing rack where we hang Surfer Pirate's uniforms and jackets, his hamper for dirty uniforms, some boxes (mostly hidden behind the other stuff) containing paperwork that I don't dare let get lost in my basement, a bag of dog food, Pirate Munchkin's snow boots and Surfer Pirate's work boots. I'm not sure why our pickup outside is reflecting lights that make it look like it has eyes.


Next up, the dining room.
The piano and the table are the biggest improvements. They were both piled with papers and random stuff. I'm the 4th generation owner of that piano. It's a player piano, but the player part doesn't currently work. The blanket chest to the left of the piano was my sister's. It contains... what else? Blankets. On it is Pirate Baby's car seat (yes, at 14 months old, he's still little enough to fit in an infant seat), his coat, the box of hats and gloves for Pirate Munchkin, and my diaper bag. To the right of the piano is my quilt rack with two quilts my sister made on it. The one on the left will be going on the guest bed. The one on the right is going to eventually hang in my stairwell where it can be displayed and will help cut down on the echo in there. Next to that is the rocking chair my mother used to rock me in when I was a baby. (Between them is a photo sorting project I'm working on.) To the right of that, but not in the picture is my long table where my Dragon has his big bay window view. (I need to take a picture of that one of these days so you can see how spoiled he is.) On the table is a puzzle Pirate Munchkin is working on and Surfer Pirate's western hat that I need to clean. On the chairs are my coat, Pirate Munchkin's coat and snowpants and my in-process filing project.

To the right of the last picture, OH LOOK! Another project! (Some sewing things I'm working on.) The cabinet in front of the window used to belong to my grandparents. It was a stereo cabinet, but my grandfather modified it. Grandma used to keep magazines in it. Next to that is the DVD rack that I designed and built. (Yes, we love movies at our house.) On top of that is a tea cup and tea pot that were my sister's and a porcelain doll that my dad bought me this year for Christmas (don't ask).

On the other side of the room is Surfer Pirate's desk. It's a one of a kind piece that came with our house, and I love it. On top of the desk (left to right) is the tank where our tarantula lives, the computer tower (obviously) and my old printer/copier/scanner/fax machine that I might manage to get hooked up one of these days (needed for the photo project), and the VW bus that I gave Surfer Pirate as a wedding gift.

I also have to show off a little of Surfer Pirate's collection. Obviously, he's a Packers fan. (The Unicorn will please keep her opinion to herself on this subject.)


My foyer is next.
(Darn puppies are camera hogs.) In the background there is a hand-painted piece made by one of my mom's friends. It has gorgeous tiny flowers painted in each of the letters. Please admire the pretty woodwork on my stairs and my beautiful bench. (Cielo means Heaven in Spanish.)


My living room.
(Hey look! Dogs again!) Our couch, complete with my sister's "Nap Quilt", comfy recliner, one of my pretty stained glass windows, a tub full of clothes that Pirate Baby has outgrown (one of these days, I'll get that back to my surrogate sister who was kind enough to let me borrow them - although I've recently discovered it makes a great footstool, so maybe later rather than sooner), and my antique stereo cabinet (actually works!) with the tv on it.

This is the center of my world. My Ikea chair (aka: My Throne) with my football pillow (and hey! More project stuff!), my laptop desk, sewing basket and Pirate Baby's rocking ship, all in front of my gorgeous fireplace, complete with lots of gargoyles. This is where the magic happens - where I come up with brilliant blog posts, search for Stupid Criminal stories, and spend way too much time on Facebook and Pinterest.


Since I've spent so much of the last few days deep cleaning the dining room and mudroom, my kitchen has gotten a little more neglected. I'll get pictures of it after I get it cleaned up. I also need to show you pictures of the upstairs. There are a couple of... um... interesting features on the house that can be best seen from up there. But right now, everyone else is sleeping. I don't think they'd appreciate it if I woke them up to turn on lights and take pictures.

One of these days, I'll get caught up on all my projects so they quit taking up little corners of my house. But for now, this is basically the standard of what my house looks like from day to day now that I'm back in my regular cleaning system.

I'm the Queen...

The Queen of AWESOME, that is!!

I had a super productive day, and I kind of amazed myself. This morning, my mommy group met, so I didn't even get started until the afternoon. Add to that the fact that Surfer Pirate came home from work this morning with the flu. Usually, when he's home, I get nothing done.

We'd had a really long weekend, and I had slacked off most of the time. My house had gotten scary, and I just needed to push my sleeves up and tackle it. So I turned on some good music and went to work.

First, the living room. It wasn't too bad. Mostly just some clutter and a few dirty dishes. I straightened up the room, making it all sparkly and pretty.

Second, I tackled the dining room. This was an intimidating challenge. That room has been my dumping ground over the last week, and my dining room table was literally buried under papers and random things. I put all the papers that need to be sorted into a box to go through on another day, and put away everything else. I've had a few trouble issues that I fixed today. The main one being Pirate Munchkin's winter gloves and hats. She has several different ones, and she likes to trade them out. But they end up being left on the table or the chairs, cluttering up a room I already struggle with. I put out a box for them so they have a designated spot (not on the table). Then, the really big improvement. I cleaned off my piano! I have not touched the piano in over a year, and it had gotten scary! The room looks MUCH better now.

And then the kitchen. I did some rearranging in order to make space for my wheat grinder and big bucket of wheat that my mom got for me. (Thanks Mom!!) The counter where I keep those looks much better now. Then I got to work cleaning dishes. I didn't finish them yet, but it won't take too long tomorrow to get them done. I also made my family a yummy supper.

I also got all of Surfer Pirate's work uniforms put together for him to take to work to be cleaned, as well as some other things he needs to take to work.


Last summer, I had put together a chore list for myself. I designated certain days that I did certain things around the house. I did really well with it for a few weeks, but I was over-doing it a little. Having a constant list of things I had to do triggered postpartum depression. I gave myself some slack and my moods calmed back down eventually. But I think I'm ready. I'm no longer nursing Pirate Baby, I'm not pregnant, I'm trying to get my energy level back up so I can start taking some weight off. This is a good time to get back into a routine of household items.

So tomorrow, I'll get my list going again. One of my regular jobs has become Pirate Munchkin's job now. In place of doing that 3x a week, I can substitute going through the boxes in my storage room. It will be nice to start getting some organization going in my basement - tackling all the STUFF I have hiding down there.

I'm excited!

Stupid Criminal Sunday, February 19th Edition

Okay, so I know it's Sunday and not Saturday, but I saw this today and couldn't pass it up.

There are certain cars that many people find absolutely beautiful and desirable that I think are hideous and annoying. Lamborghinis and Porches are at the top of that list. I remember driving in traffic one day in my 1981 Chevy Blazer TANK and being stuck behind a Porche. Traffic was annoying me, as was the driver, and I thought to myself "I could just drive right over the top of that guy."

Add to that, I also can't stand people who think the rules don't apply to them - especially if that sense of entitlement comes from them having money.

So when I saw this particular article today, I gave out an involuntary maniacal laugh.

Porsche stuck in wet cement: Proof karma exists?

On Thursday, the driver of a Porsche 911 decided he'd take a shortcut around some construction cones and drove straight into wet concrete near Marina Green on Marina Blvd. in San Francisco.

"It was coned off," according to Bobswire, a user of the Paceline bike forums. "He was just trying to sneak in from a side street. [The] concrete looked solid." Bobswire reports that the hapless driver remained stuck in his car. "He didn't want to open the door and have concrete get in; the whole undercarriage and brakes will need to [be] cleaned or replaced."Whether the uncured pavement was concrete, asphaltic concrete, or just plain cement is up for debate. What's unquestionable, however, is that this is the best Lightning McQueen impression we've seen since Cars.

This makes me happier than I can even express. Nothing like destroying at $100,000 (at least) car just to get a shortcut through traffic. Dumbass.

My Spiky Little Baby

When Surfer Pirate and I were first married, we let our love of animals get a little (okay, a LOT) out of control. At one point, we had 3 big dogs, 3 cats, a snake, several mice (we were breeding them for snake food, but our breeding pair got to just be pets), a tarantula, and this adorable little guy.

He's a Bearded Dragon. And he's my baby.

First of all, just the idea of owning a DRAGON is a cool enough thing. But how can you look at one of these little guys as a baby and NOT fall in love with them??

First, a collection of photos of him so you can see just how sweet my little baby is.

Aww! Sweepy widdle baby!

Hungry boy.
(As time passed, I learned that wood chips for bedding and lettuce for eating are not good things for bearded dragons.)

Daredevil Dragon

First Bath - Mmmmm... water...

Big Scary Dragon!
He loves to go outside and be in the sunshine. He will sometimes try to run, so he has to have a leash if he's going to be outside. Just like a little kid, when he wants to be outside playing, the last thing he wants to hear is "Time to go inside." This is him trying to be big and scary so I won't want to pick him up and take him in the house.

Most bearded dragons will brumate in the winter. I had read enough after I got him so I've been prepared for it to happen. Babies don't usually have a brumation period, but as they mature, wintertime means dragons hiding and sleeping - especially when they have regular access to a window so they can see what the weather is like outside.

My boy is very spoiled with his own spot in our big bay window.

Last winter, he slept for a week or two at a time off and on. But I suspected that this year he would probably do a full brumation. Yep. Sure enough, around November, he started sleeping and hiding. It took him a few weeks to get fully settled, but then he settled in under his little fake plant and went to sleep. Loud noises would cause him to open his eyes for a minute, but mostly when I checked on him, he was sound asleep.

This morning, I had a wonderful surprise! He was awake, standing on his basking rock (a flat rock in his tank where he can soak up the rays) spread out and soaking up the sun!

Our little grocery store doesn't carry much in the way of specialty produce. Mustard greens are one of the best kinds of greens for beardies to eat on a daily basis, but I can't buy them for him here. So I've been growing some in a big pot on my windowsill. The plant has gotten big and beautiful while he was sleeping. He also really likes apples. So I made him up a bowl of mustard greens, Braeburn apples, "Dragon Chow" (my dad's term for the food pellets made especially for beardies) and a little dusting of calcium for his bones.


He's now just happily hanging out in his tank, enjoying the sunshine. I need to clean his tank tomorrow. It's full of dust and kitty hair (Brave Bonny thinks his tank looks like the best place for a nap).

I'm just so happy my baby is awake again! I've missed him!

Hi Mom!