Home Again

We're home again. I'm glad to be home. Long Beach was tough but fun. I'm glad we went. The funeral was.....I don't know how to describe it. The whole first day and a half seemed so surreal. Here I was with people I am related to that I haven't ever met or see very rarely. We went to the viewing. It seems so unnatural to me to be standing in a room with a dead person.  I know it's what a lot of people need, closure and all that, but it just gives me the heebie jeebies. There was, of course, an air of sadness around everything. For me, the sadness was more that my grandmother is gone, and I don't know her story. Also, I have all this family I don't know. I hate it. I mean, not just far off family, but also my cousins that I really don't know and I just hate it. I hope to change that.

We worked hard to make the trip fun too. We went to a couple of scrapbook stores, bought Sees candy, shopped at Nordstrom (of course), ate at In & Out Burger (um hello? YUM!!!), checked out the Queen Mary (but didn't pay the $25 per person to actually get on it), saw where we used to live, and attended the Disneyland. Really, it was a lot of fun. Disney was AWESOME! I've been there a bunch of times before, but this time was super fun. Chris hadn't been since he was 5 and didn't really remember it. He'd never been on a true roller coaster, so we started out with the Matterhorn. Love the abominable snowman! Chris had to take a few deep breaths as we started out, but in the end he loved it.

We tried Space Mountain, but it had a 45 min. wait. That seemed like a lot to me. So, we got a fastpass. That is the best system ever! We got an appointment to come back between 1:10 and 2:10 and only had to wait 10 min. They'd just finished redoing it, and it's definitely better than ever. We HAD to do the Big Thunder Mountain. Always my fave ride, and really still is. Chris agreed. Pretty darn good ride. He was really happy none of them go upside down. For some reason, that really isn't necessary at the Disney!

We couldn't go to Disney without Pirates of the Carribean! Love it. They have changed it a bit. No stars on the ceiling and barely any fireflies around, but still loved it. We also went on the Jungle Cruise. Easily, hands down the cheesiest ride ever, but love it! We've always gone on it and loved it. Thankfully, the boat driver's cheesy jokes have improved immensly over the years. We also rode the teacups...twice. I don't know that I'd actually been on the teacups before. But, we went once and Bob took pics of us and then I decided it would be cool to take pice while we were on the teacups, so we went on it again. I got an awesome pic of Chris.

We spent just enough time in the California Adventure for me to coax Chris onto the Tower of Terror. Turns out he'd never been on a freefall ride before. Huh. Who knew. WOW! It was an awesome ride. It even had me screaming and closing my eyes. I'd go on it again in a heartbeat. Chris, on the other hand, not so much. As we were getting off, I asked him if he'd do it again. He very quickly answered NO! I don't know why, but the whole thing struck me as funny. Maybe it was just the way he said it, but I was giggling at him for a while! Guess I'll be going that one alone from here on out!

Mom HAD to have a couple of frozen bananas. It really isn't a trip to Disney without frozen bananas. We had churros. Oh my yum. I don't understand why, but you can't find churros here. We used to have them with school lunches in Cali, and they're nowhere here. Oh well, that made the ones we had all the better. 

As we were leaving, Chris mentioned that the Disney folks do a fabulous job at getting you to part with your money. We bought a TON of stuff. Bob had a caricature done of me and Chris that is super cool. On top of that, we bought Christmas ornaments, princess stuff for Chris' neice, a hat for me and a santa hat for Chris, those cute little things that go on your radio antennae, postcards, a coffee mug, a wine bottle stopper, a mickey head bottle opener, and of course, ears with our names on them.  And then there was the food. Oh my, the food was expensive. We spent $16 on hotdogs at the California Adventure. In Disneyland, we spent over $20 for 3 slices of pizza and some bread.  Churros were $2.75 each, and I bought a cookie (that was the best oatmeal cookie on earth) for almost $3. No wonder you can get financing for your Disney vacation. You think I'm kidding? Check out www.disneyland.com and you'll find it.

I can easily say, I can't wait to go again. Next time, I think we'll go to DisneyWorld. Chris has never been there (I've been 3 times). Maybe for the WDW marathon in Jan. 2007?

The very last thing we did was go to Ikea. I LOVE IKEA!!!! We made it through the Ikea in 40 mins. And, that was with eating breakfast. It was the cheapest meal we had the whole trip. Under $7 for all three of us. Good thing, considering all the $$ we spent on food at the Disneyland! Actually, our very last stop on the way to the airport was the In & Out Burger. Oh my, are they good.

By the time we got to Denver for our 3 hour layover, I just wanted to be at home with the puppies. But the puppies had to stay at the kennel one more day. We got home after they closed. Yesterday was the best ever. We went and picked them up at 7 am. We were definitely more excited than they were. And, we now know why they suggested we have them give the babbies a bath. But, at $23 a piece, we said thanks, but no thanks. If I was sitting still yesterday, Mimi was on top of me. They are so sweet.

I'll try to get some pictures up soon, but they're all on Chris' laptop with him at the office. Grrrrrr.

I've had an Elvis sighting!

Oh, wait, no....that's just a Mimi! Mimi and Scooby got to wear costumes while they helped hand out the candy at Bob's house. Let me tell you, they hated every minute of it. Every stinking minute of it. Scooby was a bumble bee and Mimi was a unicorn (although her costume was missing the corn...uni or otherwise). Their costumes consisted of a jacket and helmet (think aviator cap with slits for dog ears), and the jacket was doable, but apparently the helmet was just too much. More than any self respecting dog should have to endure. I got dirty looks until well after the costumes had come off. But oh, they were so darn cute, it was totally, 100% worth it. And Mimi totally looked like Elvis when she was in just her jacket. Too stinkin' funny!

So, yesterday was Christopher's birthday. He's a ripe old 28 now. I the time between his b-day and mine because it means I'm only 1 year older than he is. Bob and I threw him a surprise  party, and it was a rousing success. He said he had a clue a couple of weeks ago, but by the time we got to Bob's house, he was totally clueless again. The look on his face was priceless. He was rendered speechless (which these days is less and less common). It was just a fabulous party. A  bunch of our friends came and we were both shocked that most of them brought presents. We quickly noticed a pattern to the presents....alcohol and chocolate. I guess everyone knows his love of the chocolate and recently flourishing beer snobbery (and love of a good glass of wine). In fact, the always awesome Rachel brought cold beer. German beer at that. Oh my, it was good. And, his friend Eric saved the day with the perfect present of Star Wars Episode III. Chris told me flat out starting the day before his birthday that it was what he wanted, but I got him Tiger Woods 2006 for the Xbox instead. Good move Eric & Alyssa!

All of a sudden the leaves have turned here. I don't know where it came from, but I didn't see it, and then BAM, day before yesterday, all of the trees were just gorgeous. Too bad I haven't gotten any really good pictures this year. We're having seriously high winds right now, and all of the leaves are blowing away. I guess there's always next year! I did get this good one at the condo next door to ours! I'm not a super big fan of fall. It means the short days of December and January are just around the corner. But, by the same token, I love fall. The colors are MY colors and I LOVE Thanksgiving. Love the food, love the shopping the morning after, love it all. Then, there's Christmas. We were at Target today and they already have out ALL of their Christmas stuff. Oh, how I love Christmas. I love the whole season. The amazing church services, the wrapping and giving of presents, the trimming of the tree, the apple cider, the love of family. Oh, I LOVE it! 

On a completely different note, we are currently puppyless, and it is totally killing us. We are flying out in the morning (well, in a couple of hours really) for LA (actually Long Beach). My grandmother died and the funeral is on Sat. It should be interesting. I haven't spoken to my father since I didn't invite him to the wedding. Could be very interesting. Plus, Chris has never met him. We had to take the puppies to the kennel today since we're flying out so early, and it was seriously painful. Chris was really worried about leaving them where we did (new place, long story), but they turned out to be super nice, maybe even better than the place we usually go. When were at home in the yard, we noticed one little puppy toy by itself outside. It looked so sad and lonely there by itself. But, the puppies have doggy daycare two of the days. Eight hours of playing outside with other dogs. They may not want to come home. I don't want to know what the bill is going to be. It was really rough on me taking the dogs in because they've been a supreme comfort to me the past week. I wasn't close to my grandmother; hardly knew her. But, it's always sad when someone dies, and then there's the trauma of not knowing what's going to happen with my father - what he's going to say, if anything. They've done lots of the cuddling. They are our babies.

After dropping the babies off, we stopped at Target to pick up an extra large bottle of the Excedrine Migraine (I think I may need it this weekend) and we noticed everything on sale 4 for $1 in the Dollar spot. WooHoo!!! Everything in the Dollar Spot was $.25!!! And, they had these cutie little stuffed animals (see pic of the lonely little toy). So, we stocked up.

Oh, I forgot to mention.....in an effort to brighten up our Californian un-adventure, we're going to Disney. It's Bob's b-day present to Chris. Tickets to Disneyland. He hasn't been since he was 5 and Bob and I haven't been for about four years....since we went after my grandfather's funeral. Are you noticing a trend here?

I'm addicted...

pensto pens. It's true. Actually, I always have been. Ever since I was a kid, I've had this unnatural love for Office Supply stores. Oh, the smell of the packaging, the feel of the new pen in your hand. Pure bliss. Lately, my pen lust has had a resurgence. Thanks to GlueStick Girl, I found these awesome looking set of 20 pens on DickBlick.com. Thanks to Ali Edwards, I've found that I LOVE .03 tip pens, and that these pens are was just the icing on the cake. I can't wait for the box to arrive.  Plus, those pens are not alone in the box. Mmmmm...I can't wait! So, what else is in the box? More pens! Okay, I'm not exactly sure what I ended up getting. I can't remember, and I can't access my order right now, but here's what I think I got. These Koh-I-Noor Nexus Studio Pens. The description of them says,

"These velvety fine line art pens are ideal for sketching, writing, drawing, and designing. These pens work perfectly with watercolors, and as a precision sketching tool. "

How Could I resist? No, really, How? I think Chris really wishes someone would tell me how. I'm pretty sure I got a set of these Itoya Nikko Permanent Pens. They write on all kinds of things! Here's what the website says: "These fine-point pens write on virtually any surface, including film, metal, plastic, glass, wood, and cellophane. " Once again, how on earth could I resist? AND, they're waterproof.

I also had a couple of things in my cart that I didn't end up getting. Not to worry......I will. I wanted some of these really cool looking Pentel Metallic Brush Pens. Look at what they say about them, "these tapered brush pens feature a pump button that maintains a constant flow of acid-free, water-resistant ink for uninterrupted creativity." Oh, so very cool. And, how awesome would they look on black paper? Definitely a need, not a want.

I don't think I ended up with these Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens, but right now I'm really wishing I had. So, good 'ole Dick will be seeing me again soon. Most of the colors come in a brush tip only, though, and I'm not so sure about the brush tip, so I guess I'll have to order a set of the black ones that come with one of each of 4 different tips.

I also HAD to pick up some acrylic paints. I ogled them when we went to the Dick Blick in Iowa City with Kristina and Eric, but didn't get them. Then, I got to try them when I took Shimelle's class at the CK convention here in Tulsa, and I LOVED them. (I'm alo something of an acrylic paint addict...I keep trying to find good ones besides Making Memories, which are $2 a bottle - and they're colors aren't that great anyway). Now, I MUST have them, and they're on sale right now so........I got the basic set. One each of Deep Red, Medium Yellow, Medium Blue, Medium Orange, Deep Green, Deep Violet and White. Did I need them? Not really so much, but I HAD to have them, and you have to start somhwhere, right? So, I have officially started my collection.

On a related note, yesterday I was helping my mom clean out her office. I was actually working  on my old office, which has basically been collecting dust since I moved out after Chris' and I got married. While sneezing my head off, I happened across a set of pens, and almost all of them still work. Yippee!!! They're by Stabilo, and I originally found them when I was living in the Netherlands and they quickly became my fave postcard writing pens. LOVE 'EM! And, if that wasn't cool enough, they're in this really cool roll up pack with little bungee cords that wrap around it. Heaven.

Sometimes it's so much fun to be a geek!

Finally

Finally, I'm starting to get my massive amounts of scrapbook stuff under control. I have a lot of stuff. No, really, I mean A LOT of stuff. It really is an obsession. I MUST HAVE IT ALL. This in turn creates the problem of storing everything. We got me a table from my fave store, Ikea, a couple of months ago, but storage was still an issue. So, last week, Bob and I went back down to Dallas. This time it was only for the day, but Mary came and hung out with us and it was tons of fun. We spent over 3 hours in the Ikea. Can you imagine? And, I spent a ton of $$, even though they were out of the two main things I went down for. I bought a HUGE bookcase and tons of jars, and already need more. How is that possible?

We got home around 10:30, and I conned my sweetest husband in the world to putting the bookcase together that night so I could get started on the organizing. I'm still not quite "THERE" but it's seriously getting better. Actually cleaning and putting things away when you use/buy them will help too. I can't telly you how many times I said, "Thank you," to Chris for staying up till midnight working on the bookcase. We both love it.

So Sweet

I have the sweetest husband. Christopher said is so stinking sweet, sometimes I'm not sure how I ended up with him. But God smiled on me, and I did, and man am I glad! Chris has been feeling pretty crummy with the allergies the past few days. He even had to stay home from work. Unheard of! Sunday afternoon, I worked on my crafty endeavors, and he "hung out" (read: slept) on the day bed while we watched football. Okay, while I watched football. The puppies must have known he was feeling crummy because they were all over him and constantly on the bed.....even Mr. Aloof and Independent himself, Scooby.

And, if you don't have enough proof that Christopher is super sweet, the other day, for no reason at all, he brought me flowers. He does that occassionally, and I love it. He gets me tulips whenever he can because I love them so, but he always gets me the best of what they have. Sure, they're grocery store flowers, but who cares? I think it's awesome!!!

Bad Influence

Donna Downey is a bad influence. I was catching up on reading blogs this weekend and happened to come across this on hers. I was intrigued.

Rome is found

I found the missing Rome book. Just now. How handy is that? Don't need, won't need it, but of course, I found it. Where? In the living room, on the floor, under a bag. Perfect! Perfectly typical. Maybe if I could get this house in order, such things wouldn't happen. But, where would the fun be in that?