Another innocent victim

…of Buster’s compulsion to chew

He got them off of the coffee table while I was napping. Tsk, tsk. Please note that the earpiece should be a solid brown and smooth; a sharp contrast to what is shown. He also got one of the lenses. I can't imagine that would feel good. oh well.

My long-loved glasses are joining the ranks of several other loved items from our home:

My cell phone charger (note the teeth marks and electrical tape needed to return functionality):

My ipod cord, beyond repair:

And Stas’s beloved slippers/shoes. I had already repaired them once, but this time I'm waving my white flag of surrender.

Sorry for the wanting photo quality; blame it on the camera phone.

Surprise, surprise!!

Yesterday when I got the mail, I flipped through it, pulled out the bills, and set aside the rest in a soon-to-be-thrown-away pile. (I can never quite bring myself to put the junk directly into the trash can.)

A few hours later Stas asked what had come in the mail that day. Logically my reply was “bills & junk.” After a little encouraging, Stas convinced me to go through and open up all of the junk.

This brings us to one particular item of “junk” mail. Now why did I question the legitimacy of this particular item? Well let me explain:
-The return address was from Omaha, Nebraska
-The name on the return address was simply “Sweepstakes”
-The envelope was stamped and not metered like most junk mail.
-My name was spelled wrong. And not even my married name, my maiden name. It was addressed to “Julie Best”. I mean seriously, it’s only four-letters long. If they can’t even get that right, then I really don’t care what the Sweepstakes has for me.

As I examined the contents, I became increasingly curious. The envelope held a single sheet of white paper with plain black text. Hmm, that’s odd. Normally junk mail has tons of enclosures and excessive colorful ink. The sheet was a flight itinerary, odd. As I reviewed the text on the page, these are the things that stuck out to me:
-Both Stas’s full name and my name were spelled correctly (in contrast to what was on the envelope).
-The airports selected were Philly and DFW; totally where we would want to fly to/from.
-The dates of the flights were exactly when we might be able to travel aka when I have off of work.
At this point I was thinking that these “Sweepstakes” people have some really good marketing research software. Software which is so good it kind of freaks me out. A lot.

And then the light bulb turned on – this was for real! Surprise! Stas, the most bomb-dot-com husband of them all, had booked the tickets a few weeks earlier and had been keeping it a secret from me. He even had my family in on the deal! The “Sweepstakes” letter was his fun way of letting me know. He is so creative. He made up the return address and misspelled my name just to mess with me. That’s my man! He had wanted to wait until the very last minute to tell me about it, but using his better judgment he decided to give me a two week heads up. Thanks babe, my obsessive-compulsive need to plan everything thanks you for the two week notice. And I say THANK YOU for being so thoughtful. And of course I love you.

I am so thrilled to be going to Texas. I haven’t been “home” since Christmas 2007; that’ll be sixteen months I've been away!!! Needless to say, I am excited to see mis padres, my sister & her family (including my new niece!), hopefully D & his family, to share with Stas the Omni experience, to eat at Costa Vida, Uncle Julio’s, & Sonic, to escape the eternal butt-freeze of PA, and to maybe see some more of our favorite people! I just can’t wait!!

Isn’t my husband the bomb-dot-com?

Sweet, sweet justice

{Short version} A cop passed by me with flashing lights to give a rude driver speeding ticket.

{Long Version} This morning after reversing out of my parking spot, as I was shifting into first gear I glanced in my rear view mirror. Whoa! Where did that car come from? In the short time since I checked my mirror prior to reversing out of my spot, to when I was shifting into first gear this car had sped around the parking lot and was waiting impatiently for me to go. Seriously, the lady’s face looked very disgruntled. I could tell from a quick glance that she was not having a good morning and was angrily waiting on my slow self to get out of her way. Fair enough.

I proceeded to shift into first gear and exit the parking lot. No sooner had I pulled out and I was being passed by that same car!!!! WHAT!?!?! To save a ridiculously detailed description of my road, I'll just say that if she could hold out another twenty yards it would have been perfectly safe to pass as the road turned into a four-lanes. Anyway, I was just pretty peeved about her lack of common road courtesy. Come on!! I don't drive slow, and we were so close to where the street widens that if she had waited just like thirty seconds then she wouldn't have had to force herself between me and the median!

So as I am fuming over this driver's poor choices, I see blue and red flashing lights in my rear view mirror. Oh shoot. I typically watch my speed pretty closely on this road, as another member of my household got a speeding ticket on this street in the morning hours, but this day I was a little distracted by my disbelief in the lack of good driving behavior. Yet, before I can even check my speedometer (is that the real word for it?) the officer of the law proceeds to demonstrate proper passing etiquette as he speeds ahead of me. Well guess who he was after. . .

A bit further down the road I see this nice officer and my impatient neighbor pulled off to the side of the road. Hmm, I guess it pays to chillax on the road rage. Sucker!!

Siamese Crocs

No seriously, Siamese crocodiles!

Cardigans

The time has come to buy a new cardigan. I've actually been looking for a new cardigan for about a year and a half now. Unfortunately it seems that I am either somewhat picky, or not looking very hard.

I have two cardigans. The first is a heavier weight-single button style. Anyway, I bought it at Gadzooks in the Fall of 2005. Needless to say that a Gadzooks-quality $20 sweater is way over due for replacement. It is covered in those balled-up fuzzy things. And honestly I feel a little embarrassed when I wear it to work (or anywhere), because it looks pretty pathetic. Oh, and there is a bit of a hole in the shoulder. This sweater I leave at work, because I assume that everyone there has already been numbed of its sad state. But, alas this post is not about this sad cardigan (but this one was. Up-date, I tried to get that sweater, but they didn't have my size).

My other cardigan is quite well traveled, having accompanied me on my two most recent (okay two out of my just three) trips to Europe. Anyway, so I wear this thing everywhere: work, church, casual, hanging out, doing dishes, you get the point. It was purchased by my loving mother from her local Walmart many moons ago. Yep, that's right. My favorite cardigan is from Walmart and has gotten some serious mileage. Just this week I wore it three days in a row, which is typical. So back to the point.

This morning, just before leaving work, I did something I rarely do. I looked in the mirror, after getting dressed, and I just so happened to try and fix my hair when I found this:

Alas, there is a near-hole in my favorite cardi!!! And how long has it been there? Sweaters don't get that worn overnight! (Oh, don't mind my weird-o lips; they just do that when I'm bummed out.)

So now I am at a loss, trying to figure out what to make my next woven investment on, and how long I can pretend that the near-hole (and eventual hole) is not there. Anyone seen a fabulous multi-functional sweater?!? And so what if my life revolves around keeping warm--it's cold people!!

Memories in my sweater:
In Provo by our Christmas Tree 2006 ---- My BYU Graduation Dinner 2007

Christmas 2007 in Texas ---- In Virginia July 2008

Red Square in front of the Kremlin Moscow 2008 ---- In my heart attacked Kitchen Feb '09

B-a-n-a-n-a-s!!

Yesterday I ate four bananas. I ate FOUR bananas without even trying!! Lately I've been averaging 2-3 bananas a day, but yesterday set a new record. I had one with breakfast, one as a morning snack at work, one with dinner, and the last one of the day just before bedtime! What a delicious little food. I am so glad they are in season right now!

Special thanks to Gwen Stefani for writing a song to help me spell this delicious item.

I'm a survivor.

At least for now. I've survived another round of cuts. Keep your finger's crossed that I'll be able to make it another year or so.

Thin Mints & Independence

So I was so, SO excited when I came into work this morning and saw that the Girl Scout cookies that I'd ordered had finally arrived! Not one to wait for the perfect opportunity, I opened them right up enjoyed a few delicious morsels of my favorite cookie, the Tagalongs: a perfect combination of crunch, peanut butter, and chocolate. Mmmmmm good!!



Then, not to be unfair, I took out the box of Thin Mints. As I pulled out the tube/roll of cookies and indeed, it is notably shorter. Hmm, strange. Turns out my suspicions are correct! I guess even the Girl Scouts of America of feeling the stress of tough economic times.

In other news, today is Texas Independence Day! In 1836, 173 years ago today, the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed in Washington-on-the-Brazos! Interestingly enough, the Texans weren't just being prideful, under Mexico they were denied among other things:

• freedom of religion
• the right to keep and bear arms
• trial by jury
• no public education

Oh yeah, and that whole military dictatorship under Santa Anna business. Anyway folks, Happy Independence Day!!