Margann in da house

Hooray! She arrived exactly 24 hours before me, on Monday. Have to say Jeff was a little anxious about spending some one-on-one time with her, but after he texted me "Marg is chatty" I figured any lingering doubts he had about "what are we going to talk about??" had been dispelled. They went to the grocery store together and he pointed out these scotch eggs (which is kind of a running joke with us since WHO EATS THOSE THINGS?? (those things being hard-boiled eggs, wrapped in sausage, covered in breadcrumbs, deep fried, and eaten cold)). Maybe it was the jet-lag talking but Margann's response was "Mmmm that sounds good". And then she got two of them.

And then, to make it even worse, SHE SAID THEY WERE GOOD. She has to be lying.

Later, they bonded over "Blazing Saddles" and a shared love of burping in the middle of conversation.

Meanwhile, I was en route to the Birmingham airport, sitting next to two hilarious nerdy guys (love 'em!). I could not help eavesdropping on their conversations and was giggling the entire time I was not sleeping.

"Whenever I get on a plane, I imagine the Death Star theme music in my head."
"This safety video has great production values."
General frustration over not being able to enter "I AM BUTT" as a player name for the multiplayer games on the in-flight entertainment system.
Playing with the Maps feature of in-flight entertainment and saying "Heh heh (insert random silly sounding city name). (random city) knows how to party. They know what's up." This went on for a looonngggggg time. Yet, I kept laughing!!!! I'm easy like that. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why that game went on for an eternity....
"Oooh New Zealand. Let's see if we can find Mount Doom."

Basically, they were awesome.

Jeff picked me up from the airport at around 11am yesterday and we hung out with Margann and the dogs before I took him to the airport at 2pm for a flight to a conference in Dublin. As I was leaving the drop off area, thinking "oh man, I hope I make it home in one piece" since I was so tired (plane sleep does not count as real sleep, in my opinion), Jeff called to tell me he forgot his passport. Frankly, I wished that he would miss his flight and come home, but I was able to drive home and get the passport to him in time.

With Jeff gone, I introduced Margann to the delight that is a couple late-afternoon episodes of Friends. We walked the dogs (their third walk of the day, so unnecessary) just to keep ourselves from falling asleep at 7pm.

Today we ran some errands (hello, wireless printer! I'm so happy to have you in my life!) and made some sandwiches for lunch. I had a paper to edit for Kate looming over me so I plunked Margann down on the couch with some big ass headphones and an iPad loaded with Gossip Girl so she would just shut up for two seconds (hehe jk!! not really, but that's ok haha) and I could get it done.

Plato got jealous when he saw me taking pictures of the girls, so I kicked Sascha off the couch and gave him a turn.

Well, my eyelids are starting to feel like they weigh a hundred pounds so we're off to get some fresh air with the dogs before dinner.

Lookin' good for a 14 year old

Pictures like this prompt Jeff to say: "Is it weird that you look like Margann's much, much younger sister?"

Everyone tells me that's a good thing, but I keep wondering when I'm going to look like a grown-up. Today, I was trailing around behind Sherri in Nordstrom and kept thinking to myself, "these people would probably be shocked if I told them I'm less than 2 months away from my 25th birthday". I mean, you know a salesperson thinks you're young when they recommended shiny, barely there lip stuff at the makeup counter instead of actual makeup and then apply it for you as if you've never worn lip gloss before. (Actually, I kinda felt like I could have given her a few lessons in make-up application. No one is fooled into thinking your lips are bigger than they are when you apply lipstick on and AROUND them. Jeff's all "that's what I'm talkin' bout girlfriend".) I'm also sure that when I'm out in the driveway washing the car people think I'm doing a "chore" to get my "allowance" not that the car belongs to me and I've been driving for almost 10 years.

Oh well, I guess I'll just keep slathering on the sunscreen, hoping at least to avoid looking like a freakishly wrinkled twenty year old.

Back from Baylor

Hello! I'm back from Baylor, where my sisters officially exhausted me. Seriously, I felt like an old lady. And then I did an interval workout with Kate that made me feel like a super slow old lady. There were absolutely no opportunities to go to bed before midnight. Dangit! On the plus side: buffet breakfasts that included biscuits and amazing, amazing weather. Not humid at all, high 70s, with a decent breeze. I kept thinking "Wait a second here, this cannot be Texas. Texas weather is supposed to be UNBEARABLE." It totally wasn't though. Still, having the graduation ceremony inside was very welcome. The school looked beautiful, Margann looked beautiful, and overall it was a really great weekend.

First of all, I really need to get something out of the way and that is a slew of pictures of Kate. The girl is ALWAYS READY FOR A PHOTO-OP. You cannot point a camera in her direction without her giving the "Oh! You're taking a picture of little old mmeee?" smile. It is a talent I do not have and this is why I prefer to be behind the camera.

In all fairness, no one worked the cap and gown quite like Margann. (Do I have to call her Margaret now that she's a college graduate? nawwwwww)

All three of us being together made it extremely apparent that they live in sunny California and Texas and I live in... Dorridge. I AM SO PALE. I am a sickly ghost compared to them. Taking gym classes with British people has really altered my perception of my "tan-ness" to the point where I decided not to apply the teensiest bit of self-tanner before the trip. Bad move. (Although even as I write this I'm looking at my arms thinking "Hey, I'm not so pale!") So, so pale. SMH haha (I had to say that because while I was with Margann this weekend someone texted her that and we had to google it to find out that it means "shaking my head").

We helped Margann clean out her room in the house she lives in. She is a nastay dirty person, people. Gross messy. Don't even get me started on the bathroom. Jeff would weep to see her treat a bathtub with such a cavalier attitude. You gots to cherish those bathtubs right, Jeff?

This is pretty much how the weekend went - the Princess, the Groupie, and the (Pale) Paparazzo.

We ended up taking three bags of her clothes home with us on Monday and she'll bring the rest when she flies to Portland tonight.  I think I have a lot of clothes, but I'm pretty sure Margann and Kate have me beat in that department. I did recognize a few things that belonged to me back in the day though.... but that's sisters for you.

I brought the sun

This ought to make Jeff slightly homesick.

Not TOO homesick though. He's currently (very happily) tucked in bed with the dogs. Apparently, they were a bit skeptical about suddenly being allowed on the bed. I'm sure it didn't take too much getting used to seeing as they have no problem jumping up there the second we leave the house.

I'm glad it is sunny instead of gray - it is definitely helping me get on Seattle time and resist the temptation of a "nap" aka going to bed really, really, really early without changing clothes or brushing teeth. My flight out of Birmingham was at 6am so I have been awake for... a long time. I had Qdoba for lunch (ha, suck it Jeff) and Sherri and I are going to my favorite italian restaurant, Assaggio, for dinner.

I ordered some Bensimon tennies that were waiting for me at Sherri's house. They're comfy and cute. Supposedly machine washable as well. I also got some chambray bermuda shorts from J.Crew but taking pictures of the lower part of my body was so not happening. Feet were hard (and, let's face it, lame) enough.

I'm driving down to Portland tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will hold so I can roll down the windows and blast MOViN 92.5.

Sunday stuff

So... in case any of you have forgotten IT'S MOTHER'S DAY. Phew. I totally saved all your asses.

It has been raining like crazy the last day or so. It started Friday night and the sound of the rain on the roof actually woke me up at 1 or 2am. It hasn't rained in over a month so I got up and opened the window just to double check that it was actually raining and not a massive leak.  Mmmm it smelled good. All you PNW people are like "if I never smell rain again in my entire life it will be too soon dammit". Seriously though, you can't deny the sweet smell of rain after it has been dry for a while. Also sweet: not having to spend half an hour watering the plants. My hedge is still very fragile so the lack of rain has meant that I've had to lug water out there every day. The plants dropped a ton of leaves at first (apparently laurels don't take too kindly to being transplanted) but they are showing a promising amount of new growth and I'm starting to relax. The wisteria has turned from a dead-looking pile of sticks to a forest on the wall.

The wisteria kind of took over the bird feeder so I moved it across the patio. Jeff caught this squirrel having a snack the other day. I was asleep and he really wanted to show me, but he didn't want to wake me up - Jeff is awesome!!!!

It stopped raining for a while today so we took the dogs to the park to play ball.* Plato had his usual reaction to temperatures over 60 and stood around panting half the time.

*Don't get me wrong. We are are soooo not fair-weather park goers. This reminds me of when we went the same dog park every day in California. We were part of the in-crowd that stood together in a certain part of the park. When people came on Saturday or Sunday with super-hyped up dogs we would shake our heads and sigh "weekenders...." If you ever have any dog park etiquette questions btw, I'm the one to ask. Number one sign of a dog park noob: freaking out if another dog humps yours.

The park is like a whole different place now that all the trees have leaves. An ice cream truck pulled up in the parking lot while we were there so we decided to partake. It was very good because eating ice cream in the park is fun. The ice cream itself was not good. I need to remember to have some Tillamook when I'm home.

I've been very busy packing today for my trip back to the states. Normally, I don't get too stressed about packing, but this trip is a little different because I'll be in Seattle and Austin/Waco so I need two completely different types of clothing. I know Texas is super hot right now, but I think I'll probably enjoy the warmth (without layers! what a novel concept!) for about 5 minutes before I start complaining. And the I'll be able to complain about the heat AND the excessive air-conditioning (and THEN I'll be able to go back to Seattle and complain about the rain!). I actually love going running in Texas because you sweat like crazy which makes you feel like you burned about 2000 calories in a 30 minute jog.

Last night I took this picture of Sascha laying on her back. This is always a funny position because her top lip hangs down and you can see all her teeth. She looks especially crazy in this pic though. (GoT fans -- we call her the baby direwolf).

Answer to one of life's burning questions

How long does it take Plato and Sascha to eat one carrot? Many of you have been wondering this and I'm happy to report that I've done some research and come up with an answer. To be clear this is one not-so-big carrot cut in half and shared between the two of them.

I present the answer to you in video form.









See also:

What are a dog's front teeth for?
If you are a dog, is it permissible to touch the carrot at any point during the eating process with your paw?
Does an exaggerated chewing motion indicate actual mastication is happening?

British Eventing Horse Trials

This past weekend, British Eventing Horse Trials were held at the riding club across the street. Eventing is a 1, 2 or 3 day event that requires riders to compete in dressage, cross country, and show jumping. I'm still a little fuzzy on the details, but according to Wikipedia the use of the term "horse trial" seems to indicate that riders compete in these 3 areas in a single day. Wait... now wiki is saying that if the horse trial is held over two days (which this one was) then they do dressage and show jumping the first and cross country the second. I'm confused!!! Oh well.

Apparently, eventing began as a sort of cavalry test and was introduced into the Olympic games in 1912. Until 1924, the Olympic competition was only open to male military officers in active duty, riding military horses. I think the thing that interests me most about eventing is that it requires riders and their horses to excel at very different types of riding. From what I've read, this has to do with the military history of the sport. Each competition tests the horse and rider on the ideal attributes of a military horse and rider. Dressage tests the obedience, rhythm, and harmony between horse and rider, which originally may have demonstrated the team's ability to perform on the parade ground. Cross country tests stamina and courage over varying terrain. Show jumping tests technical skill and athleticism.

Of the three, the cross country competition was the most fun to watch. I think that also may have been due to the fact that EVERYONE seemed to be having an off day in the show jumping arena. I understand that these pictures might be a little uninteresting since none of us actually know any of these people, but at least you weren't the weird person who actually went and photographed said strangers, right?

A test of bravery: the Wedding Log.

Hey look! I think this person actually made it over a jump without knocking a pole down! Way to go random person.

Warming up for dressage.

Adorable-ness.

An excellent day. Jeff was a little upset that there was so much watching of horses and not so much petting, prompting questions like "can I just stick my hand out and touch them when they go by?" which in turn prompted responses like "will you stop asking stupid questions" resulting in general grumpiness which was later confirmed to be the result of both of us being quite hungry.

What altar boys think

A couple days ago I was watching a National Geographic documentary on the Vatican. Part of the documentary included interviews with Vatican altar boys and scenes from their daily lives. The cameras recorded this particularly funny (at least I thought so) exchange after watching the pope stick his head out of his window for the Angelus prayer at noon.


Boy 1: What do you think the pope will do for the rest of the day?
Boy 2: No idea. Good question.
Boy 1: I mean, what does he do all day?
Boy 2: I hear he’s always busy with his books.
Boy 1: Always??
Boy 2: Yep.
Boy 3: That’s an exaggeration.
Boy 2: No, that’s what they say. Pope John Paul II was always on the road, maybe in disguise, but he is always writing books.

(Long thoughtful pause. Boy 1 rethinks ambition to become pope. Boy 2 congratulates himself on knowing everything there is to know about the pope.)

Boy 3: He must go to the doctor often.
Boy 2: Doctor? Why?
Boy 3: Popes always have some problem. I heard he also has one, but I never understood what it is.
Boy 2: No, no. I’m sure he’s fine.


Boy 2 sure knew how to give a great sound bite:

"Life here in the Vatican is really hard."

"We're so tired all the time, with all the masses and prayers."

"If we had more free time, it would be better."

"If I met the pope, I would ask him over for lunch."

They may be Vatican altar boys, but they're also just regular pre-teen (teenage?) boys. I can imagine them seeing this video someday and thinking holey moley who let me say that out loud and how did it get all the way to actually being on television...

In costume

Photographic proof that Jeff actually wore a costume last night. I haven't seen him dress up a single time since I've known him. Hopefully, that means none of you have seen him in a costume recently either... otherwise, we might have to have a little talk.

Apparently, the Man with No Name (rebooted for the 21st century... he now wears sunscreen and doesn't smoke) does not know how to use a camera because this is the only picture of me he took that was in focus.

Probably for the best. I was a totally badass Angelina Jolie version of Lara Croft if you can't tell. I have to make a formal apology to my lululemon workout shorts - they never expected (for good reason) to be worn anywhere except the gym.