I'm on the fence about it

Update 8/31 – 9/6

Dawne and I took the pups to the dog park one night and as I was pulling out of the parking lot, I saw Zach pulling in (with a lady friend). 

Me (shouting from the car): Yo! Zach!

Zach: Oh great, can I borrow a dog?

Me: Casper, get out of the car.

Maureen has, ever since I’ve known her, rewarded her students somehow for doing really well on their AP’s.  In the last couple of years, she has promised a dozen Brookies for anyone who gets a 5 – and she send them to the students at college because she is a remarkable teacher.   Usually only a couple of students get 5’s because it’s hard to be perfect on such a difficult exam, so she’s been promising two dozen brookies.  Welp, this week, she ended up having to bake 48 dozen brookies!!

It was the first days back at teaching for Sleepy Hollow High.  Stacey and Mo teach math at the same high school, did I mention that?  Did I also mention that, while both of them are incredibly intelligent and caring teachers, they also have very different personalities.  They are also BFF’s.  Which is probably why, when they found out that they were sharing rooms, Mo was all, WHOA! WHOA! WHOA.  I think it was mostly because Mo didn’t want to anger Stacey with a clutter of coffee mugs.  I have enough best friends who are far more organized and clean than I am ( ahem, Dr. Rach, ahem) that sharing a desk or any other main space would freak me out too.  I’m just not neat.  My mom would use the word slob, but I think that’s too intense – true, but far too intense.  I hope they are still friends at the end of the year!

And for no other reason than ha!

I’m sure I did some stuff this week… I remember my lawyer sending my HOA a letter saying that I could finish up the interior of my place.  And I remember working a bunch which is boring.  So we’ll skip to Friday, when I met Kelly and her parents at the dog park.  When we got there, Kelly and her dad, we’re sitting on one of the fences waiting for me.

Kelly’s Dad: I was thinking about walking around today, but I'm on the fence about it.

Oh and Kelly found me a 4 leaf clover because she’s one of the magical people.  Her mom told me that Kelly, when she was little, would be sitting on top of a horse and would look down and say to her mom, “There is a four leaf clover.” And her mom, peering down at the spot, much closer than Kelly would search the ground while her frustrated little girl would say, “Mom! It’s RIGHT THERE!”

I had sent Zach and Kelly some trip options for this winter.  One of the trips included two days in China for an extra $200.  I got an email from Zach saying, “Can we go to Turkmenistan instead? “ I didn’t want to say no when I had never even heard of the country.  There were a lot of interesting, and a little bit scary, facts that I learned.  Mostly, I thought it would simply be too much to travel there.  But I also read that bottled water is frowned upon, so I was totally out. And I read that there wasn’t wi-fi so Kelly was out.  When I brought it up to her parents, he dad said, “You know, North Korea has wi-fi.”  After the dog park, we headed out for Mexican and Margaritas.  Zach met up with us and watched us eat.  It was swell. 

The following day, we went to the dog park and then picked up Zach to head toward the outlet malls.  Zach forgot his wallet.

Zach: I don’t want anything.

Me: Zach! Your parents are going to buy you anything you want!

Dawne: It’s true.  We will.

Zach: Remember in Smallville when superman proposes by crushing coal into a diamond?

Me: I'll never forget it Zach.

After the outlet mall, we headed up to Ray’s cabin to play some games.  We played a new one, in which I asked everyone to name characters from Halo, and other than Zach and Jordan knowing Chief and Cortana, no one knew anything.

Me: I would have accepted green robot! Why don’t you care about my life!?

Ashley: We care.  Please, tell me about this Halo thing.

We left after dinner because it is kind of a hike back to the house. 

Me: Are you okay leaving?

Zach: We were nature adjacent for long enough.

Kelly's mom refinished this awesome dresser and then Kelly put it on Craigslist for a profit.

Me: Your profit or your mom’s?

Kelly: I’ll split it with her.

Honestly, I’m not sure who said these things, but it definitely happened at Shana’s BBQ.  It was a really great time.  I got to see Alicia, Laina, Mo, Anderson and his Doctor parentals, and I got some awesome homemade jam from Jamie!

Person: I had a dream that I had a tattoo of a potato

Another person: Mashed or baked.

Shana?: Sometimes when I'm reading something sci-fi I put my Enya station on and it's magical.

And then the weekend ended, and so did this update. :P

It's An Exclusive!

8/24 - 8/30

Maureen was still in town, but unfortunately, I had to go to work.  Dawne & Aunt Pat took her to the club for a spa day.  When I got back from work, my cousins from Seattle, brought my cousins from Chicago, Billy, Colleen & Daphne to the house.  We had a little BBQ.  It was far too brief, but as I was sitting there, laughing and enjoying their company, I realized sitting in one room we had 4 sets of siblings from one family - and what that reminded me of was, we really like hanging out with each other. At this point in our lives, there is no obligation - even holidays have options.  But on Monday, 4 sets of siblings chose to be together - and we had a most enjoyable time, which is pretty special.  Far too soon, I needed to drive Mo to the airport, but man, did I have a great time while she was here.

The pups have continued to be incredibly diligent about keeping the ducks the hell off of our water.  Casper gets into the thick of it, and then Percy either gets down in the trenches with him, or he decides to guard the pool water from above.  So protective.

Plus, it was uber lovely to have a week of awesome before kind of a brutal week of work with insane hours, all of which required me to be on my game.  One evening, I was out at work with a bunch of partners and co-workers, and one particular comment made me laugh real hard.

Co-worker: Many of you are in relationships with people who are only in relationships because they can't do any better -  that's a thing right? Yeah, my wife is super angry with me right now. 

Not that I can complain, it was a very productive week, plus look, someone made me a cookie:

On Friday, when I was finally able to come home before midnight, I also got to see the fam a bit. 

Lucas: I have very good news. [At Red Robin] Buzz Clucks and Mac and cheese is finally a menu item.  If it came with a cherry coke it would be called the Lucas even though I can't eat it any more.  

Lucas had told this sweet kid that he would help him with screen printing shirts.  Basically, he told him he would screen print a bunch of shirts for him.  Originally, he thought he could use the screen print at the teen center, but the teen center was closed unexpectedly.  So instead Lucas was left to do them himself.  Lucas didn't actually have a screen press, so Uncle Ray and Lucas had to build one from scratch.  Scratch being an old dresser that they were going to throw out but instead used for parts.   Once it was made, Eliza and Arda stayed up all night doing one two of the prints, but apparently, the design that the kid (who was not helping) wanted was 4 color.  Dawne and I volunteered to help Friday night, despite what a long week it was.

Jordan: I'm going to go to bed early.

Me: Whoa, didn't you get the memo? We're screen printing tonight.

Jordan: R.H.I.P.

Me: Excuse me.

Jordan: Rank Has It's Privileges

Me: um, yeah, are we talking about the hierarchy of how much we love your son here? Because we're all tired but some of us love him enough to lose some sleep.

Jordan ended up staying up to watch TMNT while Dawne, Lucas and I made the shirts, I guess that helps.

One of the shirts had red on it, and even though you could barely see the red, ink, it was technically unique.  Apparently, when Arda was helping he kept calling any shirt that had a mistake an exclusive.  And let me tell you there was many a cause to exclaim, "This shirt's it's an exclusive!"

On Saturday, Lucas had his big show.  Not one he was playing, but he had organized the whole event which was pretty cool.  That evening, he packed up all of his stuff to prep for a nice road trip with Eliza down to school.  We had one last dinner at Subway, after trying to pick up his car from the dealership / getting his oil changed, and being totally denied.  Man, I'm going to miss that kid. 

Kelly and I went to the Sounders game with Dr. Rach's tickets on Sunday.  I scored rock star parking again, only this time, I skated passed some cops to park for free behind an SUV.  And because I'm so tiny, I totally got away with it, for free even.  The game was hoppin' because we were playing Portland.  I don't know if you can see it in the pic, but one guy on the Portland team is so Portland, it's scary. 

And that wraps up another issue of the life of me! Thanks for reading, Buddy!

I can put your first born in my purse.

8/17 - 8/23

I sure hope I can give this week justice even though it's been forever since it happened.  Mostly, because what I do remember was laughing, a whole lot with my sister.  She's the funniest of them all.  But she didn't arrive until Tuesday night, so let's back it up to Monday. 

Zach asked Kelly if she would help with a profile pic photo shoot.  Kelly suggested a picture by the gum wall.  Zach had other ideas.

Originally, I wanted my sister to come out to Seattle so she could hang out with my new home.  I figured, 6 weeks after I bought it would be plenty of time for me to move in.  That was before I was introduced to the HOA from the depths of all that is evil.  I had to accept that she's only be able to see the partly finished version before she got here.  I moved on and decided to plan a little something for every single day so we had options, but not that we had to do everything on the list.  See, I'm growing!  My plan involved going to see Tangled at Marymoor with Becky and Jared.  That was until we got a better offer from Rach: Sounders tickets.   Our day was dog park, Blazin' Bagels, calling my laywer about the HOA problem, and then swim time.  We tried going in the kayaks, but I literally tipped us before we even got away from the shore.  Then Mo asked me to row as little as possible b/c she was afraid I was going to tip us again.  Meanwhile, Lucas was practically doing Yoga on the long board.   We went in the pool afterwards, and Maureen was the ultimate niece by helping Uncle Ray fix the waterfall. 

Uncle Ray: Thanks.

Me: I didn't do anything. Well, I guess I did fly my sister in to help you - that's something.

Then we showered up, and went to meet Becky for drinks at the Malt and Vine.  We were talking about the HOA/condo sitch, and how worried I am about my neighbors not liking me before I moved in.  Mo and Becky told me to just put some lawn chairs out front, drink some beers, throw the cans on the ground, and really live it up.  And when people ask, just say, hey, I tried to improve the value of the place, but you didn't like that direction. And I don't plan on moving for a long while.

I also mentioned that we were going to go over to see the condo the next day, and that I could see Maureen sticking up for me while we're there.

Mo: Just say, "I'm not going to take it, seriously but if my sister sees you on the street she's going to kick you *ss.

Becky: Yeah! West side story that sh*t!

Then Becky told us about a crazy neighbor lady who, was going to the bathroom on other people's lawn.  And when it started to be a real problem, she spoke up.

Becky: She was basically like "I'll claim that sh*t!

Me: Literally.

Maureen's eldest, Patrick, is an alter boy so he a lot of masses he has to attend. 

Mo: Just the other morning, he was in bed and I heard him call out, "When's my funeral mom?" So I told him at 11.  That's not disturbing at all.

We left Becky to drop the pups off at home and then head over to the Sounders game.   We stopped at the "Little Store."  That's actually the name of it.  We picked up a couple of energy drinks and some Rainer beer (because I told Mo that was a local beer - I mean it is, but it's not our finest brew) and put that all in the cooler we pre-packed with ice.  When we got to the stadium, we got rock star parking, like right next to the hot dog stands.  It was amazing.  I put the top down, put Salt-N-Pepa Pandora on, and "tailgated."   After a couple of beers, we were ready for the game!

Me: Can you put my keys in your purse?

Mo: I can put your first born in my purse.

I got a new Sounders shirt (Mo was wearing my jersey, because yeah, I own a jersey.)  We got another beer and headed to our seats.  Did I mention that we got the tickets from Dr. Rach? And that she has season tickets? So we were like 5th from the field?  Yeah well I didn't tell Mo either.  As we were walking further and further down the stairs, Maureen stopped to say, "ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!? WE CAN FEEL THEIR SWEAT FROM HERE!!"

Other comments included, "This is closer then I get to sit at my kid games." "I can't believe we were out in the car drinking instead of watching them practice!" And to other people around us, who also have season tickets, "Can you believe how close we are? This is awesome!"  And, "Did you know churros with an o means diarrhea?" Okay that last one was not related to the others, but it was said.

At half time we went back to get some garlic fries.  While we were in line, we were "joking" with some ppl in the other line about seeing if we got to the front first because one of their friends was in our line.  When they started winning, Mo, hilariously whispered, "Where's my gun?" and then when they actually won, "That's it, let's break his limbs." That escalated quickly. 

And then the Sounders won in overtime and it was incredible, and we got out super quick because of our great parking. 

Lucas: These are so good take one take one!! They basically taste like msg, salt and stick.

Me: Yum!

The following day, we drove to city hall, and Mo helped me get everything that I needed from the city for my place.  It was really awesome having her here because I was a percentage of paranoid and scared, and she was able to listen with a reasonable ear and understand that they were actually being incredibly helpful.  After a really successful trip, we picked up Lucas and go grocery shop.  See, Kevin decided he wants to be vegetarian, but he hates vegetables.  We vowed to teach Mo 5 new recipes that didn't look like vegetables but were actually really good for him.  So we made Dr. Rach's butternut squash soup, garlic mashed cauliflower and these vegetable filled, Indian version of empanadas (obviously I can't remember the name.) Everything was delish, and then we watched Twilight. 

On our way the G-store

Mo: What I want... 

Lucas: ... what I really really want.

Me: See, I told you he was awesome.

(Mo is notorious for inserting songs if she hears you say part of a lyric.)

Lucas was telling us that he had to go to the teen center to print posters.

Mo: Coasters? Is that a thing now?

Lucas: Posters.

Mo: Coasters. 

Later, when someone had spilled part of their drink.

Mo: See now if you had printed more coasters.

Lucas: Posters

Mo: Coasters

He left one on the counter for Mo to see:

Thursday evening, we went to Trivia at Norm's because that's a thing I do.  We met up with Matty and Zach there.  The company was great, our answers to trivia were not.  (It was the announcers anniversary and so he basically did trivia about him and things that he likes, like what is my favorite beer.)

On Friday, we went to the park again and then I had to go to work for a meeting.  I set Mo up to play Halo for the first time, (She said it made her sick so she ended up just doodling at my desk and shooting some BOOMco blasters at the wall.)  I introduced her to some of the people I like at work, and then we went to lunch down by the lake with Corrinne and her friend.  After that, we took a quick trip to Pike Place to pick up shrimp (it was pretty crowded, so that's basically all we did.) When we got back to the house, we ended up going in the pool and talking to Uncle Ray which was really lovely.  Then I took her to Crossroads for dinner (fancy!) and then we watched another Twilight movie (all throughout the movies, the dad, Charlie, drinks Rainer, BTW.) 

On Saturday morning, we met my cousin Raymond and Michele at the dog park and then grabbed some blazin' bagels.  Oddly, I never go to BB, but I went twice while Mo was here, and they were delicious.   When we got back to the house, Dawne and Jordan had gotten home, and the plan was to have a bunch of people over for a BBQ.  Some of my favorite people were able to come, Dr. Rach even brought Anderson for his very first swim!  Percy showed everyone what a good swimmer boy he is. Diana and Jason showed off how adorable Harper is.  Kelly brought a couple friends over.

Kelly (to Mo): These are my really good friend, Tony and....

We played Zach's Monster game, and I'm pretty sure Matty and Mo were ganging up on all of us, but Tony won anyway.

Zach: My special ability is...

Me: Oh Honey, these people aren't ready for special abilities. 

Sunday, I gave Mo our "50 things to do in Seattle" cards, and she choose a couple of hikes, many of which I had never gone on.  We took a couple of walks, Mo found a couple new trees (She's freakishly good at identifying trees.)  Percy, at one point, was trotting along, and when he saw a algae covered lake, he didn't recognize the algae and ran full force into the water without hesitation.  He was not happy about the surprise and ended up trying to dry off on the wood chips.  Perfect.  Then we met up with Dawne, Jordan, Marc, & Lynn at the park.  After, we met up with Allie at the house, swam, and then Mo and I snuck off to the relaxation station.  When I asked her what time it was, I totally didn't believe her because no way time had gone that fast.   That's how this whole week seemed to go.   Sunday evening I had booked the Whirlyball court.  I have never to gone, so a mini TNTC meeting was had sans dictator, Kelly. It's basically bumper cars meet lacrosse meets basketball. 

Becky: Like I need one more thing to suck at!

Becky: This is the funnest way to get whiplash!

I had so much fun, I can't even describe it!  Although, I had managed to get some serious bruises, lucky I guess! After, we decided to grab some dinner and the folks at Whirlyball told us the best place in town was a food truck.

Matty: Whatchyagwt?

Me: A dilla

Matty: Just in ques?

Mo was telling us a TBT of sorts, in that Kevin, when he was a baby, got caught in his crib and yelled, "I'm stuck!!"

Mo: No one wants to hear that those were your kids first words.

And there ya go- that was my awesome amazing week with my sis!

Table Dog

Update 8/10 – 8/16

Lucas’ girlfriend Eliza has a nickname for Percy that she uses exclusively, “Table Dog.”  He got this name by always being on the table when she walks into the house.  I don’t usually see him on the table, but I do know that he will get on the table in order to see me through the window, and on occasion, will move to the counter top to get a better view.  Mostly, I miss this “trick” because by the time I get to the door, he has jumped down to greet me, jumping oh so high and proceeding to shower me with such love and adoration that I am positive he will never be reprimanded.  I saw this doodle when I was downstairs – spot on. 

I was at work, and realized that there was a team even/launch party in which Macklemore was going to perform.

Me, to co-worker: Going to random free concerts is my thing!

Despite that fact, I couldn’t get away from work to go to the work party, so I listened to Macklemore on YouTube instead from my desk.  Same diff. Adrien got to go though…

Um, I have a note about a “Local real estate party” but I also don’t remember attending said gala.  If I had more energy I’d make up a story here, but I don’t.  Maybe you could and write me back with it? J   I lost my wallet this week.  At first I didn’t look too terribly hard because I figured it would totally show up.  But then, I looked hard enough that it seemed as though it wouldn’t just magically appear.  I was also worried that I might actually need one of those three cards, so I started the process of getting new ones.  (I can say this because I’m so far behind in updates… I walked into a local deli/bakery two weeks later after I replaced everything and they said, “Oh! We were waiting for you to return!” and handed me my wallet.)  Percy walked over to Dawne with one of his favorite things in his mouth.

Dawne: Percy wants me to know that he's better than you.

Me: Why because he can find his wallet? He's a jerk.

I went down stairs the other day, and Lucas totally created a theme song for Zach’s kick starter in like ten minutes.  And it sounded amazing.  That kid, man.  Here is the first thing he put together (let’s say 2 min into the 10 when it was brilliant.)

https://youtu.be/TsiyxD_BM3M

Lucas and Eliza decided to put together a chart of food they like, and I’m going to share because I can. 

On Friday, I headed over to Laina and Mo’s for Mo’s retirement from the coast guard party.  And who was there? Anderson! (He brought his parents too.)

Shana’s mom, Jackie: Did you not bring him socks?

Dr. Rach: I forgot.  L

Jackie: His feet are cold.

Me: You're a great mom.

Shana: Don't listen to her.

Laina: She drinks.

Discussing going back to work after having a baby.

Jackie: I went back to work right away. I was going to throw her up against the wall. Shana is here today because her dad jumped up to save her.

The subject of “Alien Egg Dildo” came up while we were outside.  Some people thought it might not be appropriate to share the video on other people’s FB walls, and we weren’t even sure we wanted to watch it at all.

Mo: You're at my house.  We're watching the video.

I was uncomfortable watching this video at all, never mind with Shana’s Dad, so I just hung out with Percy. 

Saturday morning we got to have a lovely chat with Kathi made possible by Skype!

She’s been having a difficult time at work lately.  Mainly, that there isn’t enough work to do.  Or in Kathi’s words, “I’m reading the internet start to finish.”  As I’ve been in in her situation before (note this isn’t by far not my current situation) I had a couple of tips to entertain her while making it look like she’s working. 

Kath was telling us about “Wooly World.”

Jordan: Did it make you want to see Sean the sheep?

Kathi:  Kinda - I'm reading a book where the sheep are the detective because the shepherd got killed and they have to figure out who did it. 

I’m positive she was serious, but just listening to that description made me giggle.

Then we were talking about Lucas wanting to transfer to Evergreen in the spring. 

Jordan: Their mascot is the Geoducks if that is any indication.

Kathi: I wanted to find a new couple activity that we could do while we chat about our day but it turns out Puzzling is really exhausting.  After a while he said, “I'm not doing this sh*t.” So I ended up finishing it myself.  It was a really hard one.

Me: Oh yeah? As hard as the Campbell Soup can that it 60% white?  That was the hardest puzzle of my life. 

That evening, I was invited to Marc & Lynn’s French themed party.  Their daughter Ali did all the cooking and it was omigoodness delicious.  Of course I complained that one of the 7 types of cookies she made tasted more like Italian, but she gave it a French name so I assume she’s just really good at bluffing.  They had people playing music to really make you feel like you were on the streets of Paris, and there were mustaches for everyone, so we basically were in a different country.   We met a lot of lovely people but one couple in particular was super amusing.  They joked around about how he is extremely influential in Mexico.  I inquired about his profession.

Him: We were in the tequila business.

Her: It is NOT tequila.

She then proceeded to explain how tequila is basically dirty bath water compared the to the (insert type name here) that they made.  It was the most animated I saw her the whole evening.

As they were leaving.

Him: I'm going to read your blog.

Kelly: Tell your friends in Mexico!

https://youtu.be/z0h2MZ8P33I

Then I took Kelly over to my condo and showed her the place in mid progress.  Then she validated everything I had done, because she’s a great friend. 

Then Sunday happened, and I’m sure it was awesome.

Hella Gucci

Update 8/3 – 8/9

I received this package in “pristine” condition at work. 

Still getting used having painted toes…

Lucas: Every Time I look at my feet I'm like what.

Lucas making lunch: This is Hella Gucci. Gucci bread, Gucci cheese. It's not actually made by Gucci it's just an expression.

Lucas was rushing to make lunch and get over to Eliza's to help her with chores but got distracted. After seeing that he was running late…

Lucas: Maybe me helping to clean her room will be more symbolic than practical.

Lots of work got done on the condo this week – at lightning speed actually.  The tile went down, on a diagonal, and it looks beautiful!  Still needs to be grouted, but it made me really happy.  Also, I got my exploding kittens in the mail!

Zach was talking about stuffing a sack full of peanuts (I don’t know why) when I said that Lucas might having something to say about that plan.

Lucas: Yeah, goodnight sweet prince.

Zach: Siri deleted herself off my phone

Jordan: You really do have trouble dating.

Friday, I got my permanent crown put in. I had just barely gotten over the pain from the temporary crown, so this was extremely hurty. I also got some pretty awful news from my HOA, so I did what anyone would in my situation: I came home early and went to sleep.

On Saturday night I hung out with Raymond, having some adult beverages while his wife and daughters enjoyed Taylor Swift.  The next day, Raymond and his fam came over to the house. Ashley was commenting on how super cool her Uncle Jordan's MG is.

Jordan: When I first got that car, Zach was around 7. I told him to get in and is give him a ride.

lil Zach: I can't sit in the front seat because of the airbags. I'm too young.

Jordan: Airbags? This car doesn't even have seat belts.

Becky is the Best

Update 7/27 – 8/2

It was just me, Lucas and the pups this week.  Maybe D&J were at Gen Con? That sounds like something that they would do.  I tried to take all of the pups over to the park every day, and because it was so warm out, Nala was a big fan of jumping into the lake and then rolling around in the dirt.  Such a lady.  Percy was more of an observer of her shenanigans.

The pups also spent every day with Tess at daycare.  Here’s Casper getting all the folks at daycare to fall in love with him. 

A quick snap of Percy standing in the pool demanding that we go swimming. 

Lucas was playing around with an umbrella inside the house, including holding it over his head. 

Me: Oh honey you know how I feel about getting bad luck from superstitious things... I feel very strongly about it

Lucas: It's too late

Me: It's never too late to change your future, Lucas. 

I keep sneaking in throwback stories. Partially because I can't remember what happened, and partially because I spent much of these weeks so wrapped up in remodeling that I didn't have time for much else. So here's one that I thought of randomly. Back in college, I came home for the summer and had dinner with Maureen, her friend Sue, and Sue's boyfriend Dan. It was the first time that I had met Sue's future husband and I liked him immensely and immediately. I don't remember why, but for whatever reason Sue kept making comments as if she was embarrassed about something that Dan was doing. In response, and I'll never forget this, Dan put his whole hand into his mashed potatoes and ate them out of his hand. If only I had been able to take a picture of that classic moment. 

Shana asked me if this might be me using a pen name.  It wasn't, but I sure do think it would be a fun experiment. 

http://www.everywhereist.com/i-poked-all-of-my-615-facebook-friends-heres-what-happened/

This is my little buddy furiously ripping out the soul of the little chirping bird he got for Easter. ‪

Matt Bellasai is one of my new favorite people. 

https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedmatt/videos/948622565198621/

On Saturday, I was heading out to meet Kelly for a manicure when I asked Lucas if he wanted join. He did! 

There was a little girl there, around 5 or 6 who was getting her 5th manicure. I asked Lucas, "Did she pick the same color?" He picked a bold green.

Lucas: Getting ready for the sounders game.

Me: When are you going? 

Lucas: With Donna and her husband. 

(From Parks and Rec) 

Lucas and I grabbed some crepes along with these completely adorable cups of water.  (If you look closely, Lucas is wearing a Luke's Diner shirt from GG.) 

And then we had an impromptu party at the house and while I don’t remember much of it, I do remember having a really super fun time, which is what really matters.  Oh! Yes! Becky and Jared made the party perfect by stopping by to make us all Taco’s.  And right before she made me Taco’s, I broke down and confessed to her.  See, right after she spent an entire day being a super friend by painting my popcorn ceilings, I ended up having to take all the popcorn ceilings down because of all the other work being done.  Then I told her all my woes, and she forgave me and allowed me to eat dinner.  She’s the best. 

And to wrap up the week, here's another throwback to Laina and Mo's wedding complete with commentary from Ethan. 

That time I saw the Violent Femmes

Update 7/20 - 7/26

Still trying to catch up, so it's still a bit fuzzy, but I'm too neurotic to combine or skip updates, so just bear (bare?) with me.

Here's an awesome pic of Azalea (Janette's daughter) wearing her predicted future profession tee - Career College Student.

Someone: ... War

Lucas: Yeah, we shouldn't do that.

Zach: Did you just say we shouldn't have war?

Lucas: Yeah.

Erika and I were chatting and she told me that her babies are beginning to pick up on some of her phrases.  This is both fun and funny for me because they aren't quite getting the meanings and I am not the one influencing their discourse.  For example, Xavi was taking a bath and Erika decided it was time to get out and go to bed. 

Xavi: Mom! I was having a friggin' good time in there!

This reminded of the time back in 2011:

Maureen got a phone call during the day from the boys’ vice principal to inform her that Patrick was in her office because he said the F word.  Basically, the VP was very impressed that when Patrick came in, and she asked what he was in there for, he honestly answered, “For inappropriate language.”  Later, Maureen was talking to Patrick, explaining calmly that he shouldn’t use bad language.

Patrick: I know.  You shouldn’t even say things that sound like bad language.

Mo: Well, yes.  I guess that’s true.

Patrick: Yea, because I got sent to the vice principle today for saying “What the fuzzy?”

(Sorry to drop the F-Bomb on you guys.)

Dawne has been diligently keeping our ducks alive with Cheerios whilst the pups actively try to scare them off yelling, "GET OFF MY WATER!"

So this week was filled with removing all the carpeting in my condo to find a lot of mold and rot which is super fun.  Obviously, the project got a little more expansive.  I just wanted to put tile in and MAYBE paint! (This is what Dawne has had to hear me say at least twice a day and at a very high pitched voice. That's right folks, I am a delight).  As you can imagine, my week got gobbled up pretty quickly, and not by anything that was wildly amusing.    I did get a new vanity though, look how pretty!

Sometimes it's hard to tell who the parent is around here.

We all decided to do some crafts because Lucas bought those little melty bead things from IKEA for like 5 bucks. 

After seeing Zach go online and get an 8-bit image of Zelda.

Dawne: Are you doing the same thing?

Lucas: I don't copy anyone.  I'm doing Mega Man.

Dawne: Lucas is down there playing the piano when he has to leave but if I went down there...

Me: He’d be all, “Why are you making me feel bad about doing the right thing??”

 Side note… I feel like I messed this conversation up, but I don’t know how to fix it.  Welcome to the hell of trying to make updates from 7 weeks ago!  Kathi just sent me a note telling me that she and Hendrik couldn’t figure out a rail ticket from 4 weeks ago.   Which reminded her of “Serial” and not being able to remember what happened on a particular day a year ago… and the long and the short of it, is, it’s v. v. difficult.

Lucas: I’m bringing everything from Metallica to Beach Boys.

It's pretty typical for me to want to go to the dog park, especially on the weekends.  Obviously, having human company is even better, so a lot of texts start with, "Dog Park?"  Here is how they generally go:

Kelly: I was thinking about getting back in bed

Me: That's an option if Bev doesn't answer

Bev (Kelly's mom): I think we are. Piper is with us, idk what Kelly's plans are for today.

Me: Okay, well if you have Piper than we don't need her.

Here's a little video of Percy and Nala wrestling on the pool.   It's like a big waterbed of fun.

https://youtu.be/M-k3w5eJVjw

And here is some proof that pups do in fact see their reflection.

https://youtu.be/Wl1jTMS_j2U

On Sunday, I found out at the last minute that Violent Femmes were playing at Marymoor with the Bare Naked Ladies.  Back when I was around 6, Maureen & Cristi would drive me in the Chevette to pick up Deb & Chris to take us to Ben Franklin summer camp. On the way they would blast the Violent Femmes, singing at the top of their lungs and when Add it up came on, they made my friends and I all cover our ears during the cursing bits. That summer began my lifelong love of the Violent Femmes.  I was so excited to see this concert - they were totally everything I hoped that they would be.  The BNL were really fun too.