Yada, Yada, Yada....

huh?

2009-08-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

So I had a weird experience this morning. My husband had the day off after being out of town working for several days including the weekend. So, I got up at my normal time and started getting ready. The hubby was awake, but still in bed. I casually asked what he thought he might do today. He replied that he had a vastly full day of very important things that MUST be done today. I sort of feel sorry for him and ask him what he feels is so vital that he can’t have a day to do nothing! He replied that there are bills that need to be paid online, he needs to file some papers, and do laundry. Hmmm…. not exactly what I would call a full 8 hours, but hey, I didn’t work all weekend. So, feeling generous, I remind him that he paid all the bills before he left and that none came in the mail while he was gone. Item one – check. That I did laundry two days ago so he would really only need to wash what he brought home. Item two - check. Man, am I being helpful or what?! He will be able to read, watch a little TV, and whatever it is guys do to relax, right? Seems my thoughtfulness didn’t land.

Worse than that, he started with “why are you shouting at me?” Shouting, WTF?! Was I shouting? No, no I don’t think so. I thought I was being nice. Hmmm, failure to communicate. I tried to say, no, I am not shouting and I just want to help you have to do less. I already took care of the laundry; don’t waste your time rewashing what I already did. We have all these hand towels that nobody ever uses that we leave hanging up. We normally wash them once a week just in case someone decides to use them… don’t wash those again. I think “all better”. Oh no, this time he says that I am “attacking” him. By this time I am completely baffled and starting to get a little pissed. I proceed to tell him he is a big baby and should learn the difference between helpful and hurtful and that he is an over sensitive ninny. Let me just tell, that didn’t help matters! Not the right answer.

Somehow we manage to just forget. Several years of marriage will do that to you. We just get tired of arguing and decide we’re over it and move. There was no real resolution. But I will tell you, I will not offer to take away tasks so that he can relax anymore. Let him wash the damn towels twice next time! Lesson learned.

HELLO

2009-07-14T16:50:00.001-07:00

I realize it has been a little while since I have posted anything. I really don’t have a good reason. I guess nothing has struck me as blog worthy. I have gardened, painted a room, and continued on toward the Master’s Degree. Nothing really note worthy.
With the lack of a nice transition, I am just going to plow ahead like I haven’t a missed a day! For my husband’s birthday I got him a subscription to NetFlix. He immediately signed up for like 100 disks that is an old TV show he watched back in Germany in like the mid-eighties. It is a Vietnam War show that I had never heard of. I don’t mind war shows though so I gave it a try. It’s call Tour of Duty. Ever heard of it?

I doubt it. Anyway, I very quickly became obsessed with the show. I love the cast! Well of season one…. some changes in the second season that I just can’t get used to.
I have become completely obsessed with the LT. He is so freakin cute. Check him out:

Kind of HOT right. Well the pictures aren’t great, but they are from the 80’s so cut me a break here! You would have to watch the show to see his attitude and then you would love him too!
Well in my stocker-like obsession, I decided to google the show and see if it ever even aired in the US. Well, it did. I found out that my hunk was born in Cleveland, OH! WOW, I am from Ohio. I also found out that he is very OLD. Well, for me anyway. This is him in 2005….

Not really the same : ) I NEVER should have looked! But you may know him as Stephen Caffery who was in All My Children in the 70’s and then apparently has been on CSI: Miami and several other shows.

The moral of the story: Let the hot guy on TV BE the hot guy on TV! Being nosy gets you nowhere!

Eavesdropping

2009-05-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

I realize it’s been awhile since I have posted anything, but I guess I just haven’t had anything say. Imagine that?!

Anyway, I was eavesdropping today and heard a conversation that I just had to share. These two men were sitting in a restaurant (no this isn’t a joke) and talking about how they BOTH lost their divers license for a year. They BOTH lost it for drinking and driving. Now, there aren’t a lot of things I am really against people doing, but drinking and driving is one of them. These two men were going on and on in the booth next to me talking about how it was not their fault! You can see why I had to keep listening to find out just who’s fault they thought it was. Well, nobody ever said. But they both agreed that the thing they got pulled over for had nothing to do with all the drinking they had done. One guy had crashed his motorcycle and felt pretty strongly that this was someone else’s fault and had nothing to do with the fact that he was drunk, driving a motorcycle, and had only one good eye and one glass-eye. The same guy said that he was planning to drive AGAIN THIS TIME. Apparently, he had lost his license not once before, but twice before. He had also been caught for drinking and driving twice in between and had been let off. He was fighting this DUI too and was planning to keep driving because he was not going to let the government tell him what to do. Both men went on and about how unfair this was. I was sitting there silently telling myself not to get involved, these people were not talking to me. I actually had to get up and leave after the man said something like if everyone would just ignore the punishment after losing their license for drinking and driving the courts would stop doing this! I knew I had to leave before I got myself into a fight with two grown men!

deep thoughts

2009-04-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

I have this habit of checking out the trashy mags while waiting in the check out line. I noticed the other day that Jennifer Gardner, who I love, said something like "I am so married. Nobody will ever flirt with me again". It struck me. I never thought of some beautiful person who is married to some other beautiful person as feeling that way too. I often think about being married, forever. That's a long time! Don't get me wrong, I love my husband. I couldn't have picked better. But don't you sometimes think man, I will never have another first date or first kiss? I will never have those butterflies in my belly about someone new again. That's kind of sad. It certainly makes me feel old!! I try to remember that I also will never have a boyfriend cheating with my "best friend" or a valentines day without someone to share it with. I have traded in superficial relationships for someone who really cares and knows more about me than I do. But really, that doesn't stop me from being sad about ever having this big romantic encounter! OHHH.... I know, a little deep for Easter Sunday when I should be very thankful for all the wonderful things in my life. Maybe it's all the ham and candy! I should take a nap like everyone else : )

Friendship Award from Needsleepy

2009-04-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Thank you Needsleepy! Your the best! I am supposed to post this poem with my own picks:

The Friendship Award is given to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to those bloggers who must choose at least 5 more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

My picks:
1. Life in Chauncealot
2. 52 Weeks in Korea
3. Chasing Cars
4. Life in the Slow Lane
5. Life the way I see it...

SPRING TIME!!

2009-03-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

I do NOT have a green thumb. Or the time to try. I was so excited when some pretty flowers (maybe Tullips) came up already this year. The family we purchased our house from had spent some time planting some really pretty flowers and bushes around our house. We were hoping that if we didn't touch them, they would just come back. And they did!

There were tons of these pretty flowers in many different colors in front of our house. I noticed in the morning before I went to work. I was so happy, I took this picture. I wanted more, but was running late for work!

When I came home later that evening this is what I found:

How sad is that?! Nothing left! Lots of pretty green stems. Barn those deer and bunnies! They eat everything!! I am so glad I didn't put in the effort to plant those. Imagine how upset I would be then....

Crazy Idea

2009-03-12T06:18:00.001-07:00

Myself and two of my co-workers decided we would agree to give up caffeine for 90 whole days. What a terrible idea! I am like three days into it and am finally not feeling like a crazy person. The first two days I felt like I could fall asleep at any time. I was so grumpy to everyone! At one point my husband begged me to just “go have a coke”. Which ended in me telling him how unsupportive he is…. I think I actually said “would you tell a drug user in detox to go use something to make them more bearable”? Like this is the same thing…
The first two nights when I came home from work I had a nap right away. I had great difficulty focusing on homework. I sat there for 20 minutes looking at words on paper, but could not focus on what they might actually mean. By 7 PM both nights I had a splitting headache. The good news is, I slept like a baby both nights and woke up feeling wide awake and great. But by 9 or 10 that morning, I would be dragging like crazy.
I really didn’t think I drank that much caffeine to begin with, but jeez, I guess so. I haven’t really craved the taste of coffee or coke (my drinks of choice) since the first day. I have always drank a lot of water, but now it’s pretty much all I have. On the plus side, I am a lot less hungry.
People have said how great I will feel after a few weeks of no caffeine… less tired… less grumpy… I don’t know, but I will just go back to feeling “normal” as in before I decided to take all the good stuff away..

yummy cake

2009-03-10T08:21:00.001-07:00

I made this really funny cake that I just have to share. I have an uncle Kenny that we have always called “Cat”. I guess because he grew up in the 70’s and often said someone was a “cool cat” or a “sly cat” when he was younger. To this day he calls people “cat” as in “that cat needs a hair cut”. So, for his 60th birthday/ retirement party I made him a kitty litter cake.
Isn’t it cool?

The kids loved it! They just thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. The best part is the guests ate every last bite of it.
It was super easy to make. Just a couple of cakes all broken up and mixed with vanilla pudding. And of course, tootsie rolls for poop! It was a lot of fun to make too. I would highly recommend this cake for Halloween or for someone who just really likes cats.

You know you live in Appalachia if….

2009-03-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Driving home from work yesterday I got stuck behind an accident. It looked like a deer jumped out at the car in the right lane. That driver swerved into the left lane, but there was already a car there. So they were taking up both lanes. I had to wait about 5 minutes (yes, this is a traffic jam where I live) behind the cop. The cop was standing in this little ditch off the left lane next to this poor deer. The deer was on it’s back with all four legs in the air. He did not look good. It was pretty obvious it was dying. The cop just stood there next to it. Then I noticed this really old guy with white hair and a long white beard. The cop was actually guarding the deer from the old guy! The old guy started shouting at the cop “just shoot it”. The cop was saying I can’t, I can’t. At this point I turned down my radio and rolled down my window because the scene in front of me was so much more entertaining!
So the old guy is really getting worked up. I mean the deer really was in pain. So the old guy gets mad and says “well give me your gun; I’ll shoot it!” (there a large amount of profanity that I won’t share). Of course the cop says he can’t do that, right. Well that really makes the old man mad. He starts shouting like crazy about how he paid for the bullets in that gun with his taxes and how the cop wouldn’t have a job if it weren’t for him! The cop really looks upset and like he’s not sure what to do. He just keeps saying “I’m sorry sir, I can’t do that. And I can’t shoot it”.
I was cracking up laughing. I thought the old guy was going to explode. More cops came to the rescue and cleaned up the scene enough for me to get by. So, I had to leave. I really wanted to stay and see the rest of the show, but I thought they may not like that seeing how they already had one crazy person to deal with.
Later that night we drove in town right past where the deer had been. It’s not there anymore…..

Men are such babies…

2009-03-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

The worst finally happened. Dirk has a COLD. You would think the man is dying! He has a cough that does sound pretty yucky. But it is a COLD! He came home from doing some things on Saturday morning and went right to the couch. I had a Tupperware party to attend (oh joy) and when I got home like 3 hours later there he was still on the couch. Whining about how he was hungry, but didn’t want anything “heavy”. We have no soup in can that he was willing to eat. I ended up making the man homemade chicken noodle soup, pouring his glass after glass of juice, and adjusting the heat over and over to suit his whims. Why am I doing this you might ask. Because it is so much easier to just do it than let him keep whining!! Now, it really wouldn’t bother me if I received the same treatment when I am sick. But oh no. When I had a small out patient surgery I came home and made dinner! I often hear “suck it up”. He gets to cry around of two days and do little else. At one point I said something about his needing to remember this when I am sick. Later he said, “you realize you’ll never get this back don’t you?”. Oh I could have poured the soup on his head, but he already ate it.

My mom and I went out to run some errands and I got some extra strength cough medicine that is for night time. My mom noticed and reminded me that Dirk doesn’t like to take drowsy medicine because he doesn’t like “medicine head”. I offered that she go take care of him if I can’t knock him out. He is much easier to deal with when he is sleeping it off in the bedroom. Where is he now? Sound asleep since about 9 last night! Thank you Nyquil.

Small things in life

2009-02-25T07:32:00.001-08:00

I have a few odds and ends that I have been thinking about for a few days, but just haven’t had time to blog about.

First, just a funny story I have to share. I was driving to work the other day and listening to the radio in the car. The song by Patti Smith, Because Tonight (Belongs to Us) came on. For some reason, I love that song. I have no idea what the woman is saying half the time, but I love it anyway. For once, I thought I might try to actually understand what she’s saying, boy was I wrong. I could have sworn she says “loves is a pancreas” and “can of tuna, can of tuna, can of tunnnnaaaa”. Ummm no. I figured they weren’t the right words, but I just couldn’t hear anything else! As soon as I got to work, I looked up the words. Turns out she says “love is a banquet, on which we feed” and “Can’t hurt me now, can’t hurt me now, can’t hurt me nooowwww”. Hmmm. I so don’t hear it.
While we are on the topic, a few weeks ago my husband had the radio up loud (which we almost always have). He was singing rather enthusiastically. He was so into it that it took me almost the whole song to realize he was saying “paved paradise, put up a f****ing lot”. I said WHAT?? No, no, no. “put up a parking lot”. His face fell and he said, “man, I’ve been signing it wrong for 20 years!”. He was heartbroken.
Another funny (shorter) story happened late last night. We had been playing a NASCAR video game. I really HATE racing games. But he likes them. So, I try. Well, I had tapped his bumper to push him into the wall, which I think is freaking hilarious. I don’t care about winning, but causing a wreck is too fun. Dirk told me “all gambling is cancelled”. I said WHAT? He said yep, cancelled. It took me several minutes before I busted out laughing. “All bets are off”? Yep, he meant all bets are off…. All gambling is cancelled. Too funny!

And finally, the presidential address. I know, I know. I am not supposed to talk politics. And I won’t. I promise no mention of policy. Just the freaking hilarious things I saw last night. I loved that show. It was better than a sitcom. First, did you see Nancy wiggling around in her seat?! The woman could not sit still! Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy she is excited and all, but jeez. I think Joe was getting a little upset about the up, down, up, down. That speech would have only taken 20 minutes if Nancy could stay in her seat. I could not stop laughing at her rocking around like a little girl.
I also found it pretty funny when Obama said something about not leaving a large debit behind for future generations. For the first time all night, the Reps clapped something crazy. I believe there were many catcalls as well. Obama even laughed at that. Then he said something about the debit that he inherited from the last administration and the Dems had a chance to clap like maniacs and make a few catcalls of their own. When he said something about not spending money in Iraq, I heard several groans from the Rep side followed by a standing O on the Dem side.
As I was watching, I was really wishing I had the computer out so I could type away. I had so many things to say and of course I can’t remember it all today. But the back and forth across the aisle often happens at these things. I always think it is too funny. I was also surprised at the wide variety of facial expressions by on the Rep side. They were not shy about showing their discontent with the President. I saw John McCain stand up to applaud something while making snide comments out the side of his mouth. The Rep response afterward was terrible!! Like watching paint dry. Why do they let that guy from LA talk?! I had no idea someone from LA could be so dull!
Politically, I was pretty happy with the speech. Obama is a great speaker and I agree with nearly all of his politics. But I could not stop laughing. I hope everyone got to see it.

slowing to a drizzle here

2009-02-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well ladies, this is my last hot guy alert. I had a lot of trouble picking my last guy today. For one, everyone seems to have about the same taste and are taking all the good ones (Will Smith was my first pick today). As I am sure you have all noticed, my picks are not solely based on looks alone. I mean they are all good looking, but for me HOT only comes with some kind of attitude (sweet guy, bad boy, whatever). So I made my pick today based on a nice body, cute guy, and BIG attitude. He is Russian born and moved to the US as a child. Most of you know Max as a dancer. Which is true. He started dancing at about 3. What you might not know is that he broke his leg as a child and was told that he may never dance again. We know differently now! You also might not know that he owns several dance studios in New York and is one of the creators of a non-profit agency in New York that supports and trains young dancers. I am sure you have guessed by now that I chose Maksim Chmerkovskiy:

He is so freakin' sexy when he dances! But it's something a pic just couldn't get. It's all that attitude. Hot, right!
Happy Friday!

Thursday night- the best night

2009-02-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

Today I have lucky number 4 on my HOT GUY ALERT. These have been in no particular order BTW. But in honor of Thursday night I have chosen a hot guy that also falls into the bad boy category. He started as a model from my home state of Ohio and has been in several movies that I have never seen and The Wedding Planner. Most recently he has starred in Grey's Anatomy. I have chosen

Justin Chambers. Too hot huh?

Some fun facts:

Justin and his wife Keisha have five children. From oldest to youngest, Isabella (b. 1997), twins Maya and Kaila (b. 1999), Eva (b. 2001) and Jackson (b 2002).
Was discovered by a modelling scout on the Paris subway.... subsequently represented Calvin Klein in fragrance campaign
He has a twin brother named Jason. He and Jason have one older brother and two older sisters.
He is from Springfield, Ohio.
1 of 5 siblings of Irish and German extraction.
Wife Keisha is a model agency booker that he met while he was modeling with Calvin Klein.

I will enjoy watching some Justin Chambers tonight. I will be back tomorrow with my newest hot guy.

2009-02-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

Before I get to the Hot Guy Alert again, I first have to apologize for being so slow. I just can’t seem to blog everyday. I don’t have it in me. My excuse? I work a regular full time job and by regular I mean I travel all over Ohio a couple times a month to visit kids. I have to be available if one of them does something wild and crazy which seems to happen a lot. Anyway, I am also a Master’s student… so between work, school, friends, family, and Dirk I don’t have a lot of time. But enough of my whining…
Since I missed yesterdays Hot Guy I have two today. This is getting pretty hard for me. I mean there are plenty of cute guys, but HOT. I have trouble making the commitment!
First is David Beckham. You might notice that I do not have any pictures of him playing soccer. I know he looks good sweaty, but he sucks at soccer. Everyone seems to know except us silly Americans. But he looks good while playing so whatever. I didn’t bother looking any info up on him. We all know he move LA in a sad attempt to get the soccer community going in the US. And that he is married to Posh, has some kids, and is more of a model than an athlete.

Second is Colin Ferrel. I noticed I might have a type… what do you think? Anyway, he is a hottie from Ireland. Again, sexy accent and bad boy image. I really loved him in S.W.A.T. I like him as the good guy.

Well, I will attempt to do better at keeping up. But I have no idea who I will pick for my next one. Stay tuned – only three more to go!

My HOT GUY ALERT - Robbie Williams

2009-02-16T13:55:00.001-08:00

I was tagged by Needsleepy to participate in her “It’s Raining Men” blog. I am supposed to post some pictures of someone (a celebrity not a RL person) that I think is super HOT. I have to say I knew exactly who I wanted to post right away. I’m not sure if I would say this is the hottest celebrity I have ever seen… I mean there are a lot of them. But, I chose Robbie Williams. Anyone who knows me at all knows I adore him.
Most of you have probably not heard of him, so let me tell you a little…
He was first in a Boy Band. Yea, lame, I know. The band was Take That. He was young and they started in the early 90’s. Rumor is he left the band first because of lots of arguments about image and what not. He left in ‘95. He released his first solo album in ’97 and has been going strong ever since. Now he is like in his 30’s, I would guess. And is so SUPER famous in all of Europe. He actually moved to LA to be AWAY from the media. Crazy huh. It was like the only place on Earth he could go and not be noticed. Needless to say, I was excited about him being here. Though, I’m not exactly sure why. It’s not like I have ever been to LA. But anyway, I guess I was hoping for a North American tour… which ever happened. Sadly…. Anyway, he is back in the UK now. Oh yea, he is a Brit. So the sexy accent only adds to his mysterious allure.

He is so freakin’ hot. If you don’t think so, listen to him sing. You will for sure change your mind! It’s the whole badass attitude and sultry voice. That’s why he is my pick for HOT GUY ALERT.
I hope everyone takes a second to post something about the guy you think is hot enough.

I'd like to thank the academy..

2009-02-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

Wow! Thanks NeedSleepy! If I were a little more like Maki over @ w/ Love, Sincerely - Posh Mom's Diary, I would have noticed your comment a long time ago!

Anyway, NeedSleepy gave out several awards that a pretty cool. I would have never found some of those blogs without it!

The less poo attempt

2009-02-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

I pride myself on trying new things. So, when Danielle comes to work one day talking about how she is trying to embrace her “inner-hippy” I thought hmmm maybe I should get in on that. I checked out her “No-poo” blog and decided to give it a shot. (For more info check out Danielle and Mason’s blog). The short story is that Danielle has found some information about how you should not use shampoo on your hair and gave it up as an experiment. Ok, I’m not all about that. I shampoo my hair every single day. I also blow dry and flat iron; all of which is on the no-no list.
You might be wondering why I would try this out. I used to have very thick full hair. In fact, I used to have to have it thinned when I got it cut because it gave me headaches. Not so much anymore. Every time I brush my hair like a pound of hair comes out. It’s so bad that Dirk has to use a screwdriver every few weeks to clean out our drains!! Awful, I know. I thought cutting back on the washes would help with the hair loss… otherwise I will be bald very soon.
I decided that I need to take baby steps to the no poo. For about two weeks I have only been shampooing about three times a week. The other days I either just kind of massage my scalp in the shower (water wash) or use just conditioner. I thought using just condition would make my hair so much more oily, but it doesn’t. It’s actually great.
I really thought this would be harder than it has been. The first time I didn’t shampoo it got a little oily. In fact my whole face felt pretty oily all day.

Kinda gross huh? I mean besides the terrible roots... I know, I need a little dye! And Dirk would not help me take pictures; excuse my attempt and photographing my own head! It was not easy.
By the end of the first week you could hardly tell anymore.
The good news is that I am losing way less hair now. My hair feels much more soft and healthy. The next step is to cut back even more and wash only once a week. Then cut out that shampoo at the wash. I will try to remember to take some more pictures so I can show you how it goes.

Wood burner mayhem

2009-01-29T15:24:00.000-08:00

It’s four o’clock and I am finally home from work! I walk into the house and what a surprise! Smoke came billowing out of the door. I’m not kidding. It was like a freaking Cheech and Chong movie. My first words “Damn Dirk”. Here he comes wondering out of the back office (where he has been playing video games) and says “is it smoky in here?”. Well yea, it’s smoky. It was so heavy, I could taste the yucky chemical taste.

I begin to panic and run around opening all the windows and doors. I swear he just stands there. So, I start shouting “What the hell, I mean seriously WHAT THE HELL!”.

Well, he had decided after more than a year to try out our wood burner for the first time ever. I guess it didn’t work.

He had the phone book out and open to a certain page and says call that guy. It turns out that guy is the guy we bought the house from. He realized at some point he needed help, but didn’t actually call for any. The smoke was actually coming out of our heat vents.

He says he has no idea what is wrong it other than the smoke keeps coming and the blower on the back won’t start.

I have been home about two minutes by this point and am calling “that guy”. Turns out he is in a meeting and will call us back. I call my friend Sheri (because she has a wood burner and right now is the closest thing to an expert that we have). Sheri tries hard, but isn’t sure what to do because 1. she can’t see our problem and 2. she has a different kind of wood burner. I feel like a big jackass for calling her : ) She does say that sometimes you have to open the ash tray to let the fire get hot enough to get the blower to work.

That seems to work. As far as getting the blower to kick on.

By this point, I have only been home about 20 minutes and am still wearing my coat and shoes from just walking in. The house is now like an ice box because all the windows and doors are open.

I begin to get really pissy all over again. I just kept shouting what they hell were you doing and why didn’t you fix this!! As I am walking around closing everything back up, I notice Dirk is still playing his video game in the computer room. I really wanted to rip the computer out the wall and throw it at him. He didn’t seem to think any of this was a big deal. Later he says that he tried for THREE HOURS to fix it and was tired of trying and fresh out of ideas.

It all worked out in the end. I talked to “that guy” on the phone for about 15 minutes while he explained all the tricks of making this thing work correctly. We still aren’t exactly sure how to use it, but the house is nice and warm again and, thankfully, smoke free.

I found out later that Dirk actually started the fire at like 1:00 so it had been burning about four hours and had not gotten hot enough (for a number of things he didn’t realize he was supposed to do) and the house was so full because he just let it run for about 20 minutes with the smoke pouring out.

Maybe this wood burner thing isn’t such a good idea!

Yucky Idol

2009-01-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

It is once again time for American Idol. I always knew it got on my nerves. I couldn’t really figure it out until this season started.
First, is it me or is this show on ALL OF THE TIME?? It’s on for hours in a row like three days in a row. That is just too much for me.
Second, I think it’s kind of mean to laugh at the stupid people. Don’t get me wrong. I do laugh at them. But it just really isn’t enough to amuse me for two hours at time. I know it’s lame, but I kind of like it once it gets narrowed down to the good signers. Last season though- all my favorites were voted off early in the season. So I didn’t watch at all.
I also don’t think Simon is mean enough for it to have any effect on me. I don’t think Ryan is funny and Paula….well…. not high quality TV.
Mainly my problem is that Dirk watches this crap (laughing out loud so loud I can hardly hear). Then decides that HE should try out for American Idol. He knows he can’t sing at all. Suddenly he thinks it’s funny to pretend that he doesn’t know he can’t. So, three nights a week I listen to his terrible off key singing. As I am sure you have all heard me say before he never knows the words to songs (See Danielle and Mason’s blog). I hear “pave paradise and put up a f***ing lot” (should be “parking lot”). Last night it was Amazing Grace for two hours…. He knows one line!
I can’t wait until American Idol season is over!!

German odds and ends

2009-01-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

My friends have been asking me to post a little something about my recent trip to Germany. I have been back for just over a week and still I just can’t figure out what to say. Basically this was a family visit, not a vacation. You all know what I’m saying. There was no site seeing or lazy days. It was pretty much what you might expect for a visit to a family members wedding. Lots and lots of decorating and meeting with Dirk’s old friends and family. Nothing too exciting. So instead of telling about the trip, I thought I might point out some of the things I had forgotten about Germany.

First, I guess I had forgotten what a LONG flight that is. Maybe I am getting older and just don’t travel as well, but this trip felt so much longer than before. It didn’t help that we had what felt like 50% children on the flight. I had a particularly sweet little boy behind me the whole trip that wouldn’t shut with the stupid “kid” questions. You know, how do planes fly, what if it cost a million dollars for a plane ticket, that kind of thing. Then he kicked my seat for most of the trip. Right next to this kid was a crying baby. Good fun. Not to mention, Dirk did not travel as well this time either. Those of you who know him, know that he is a tad high strung, right. The whole time he was like we only 3 hours to be at the gate, we better hurry! He was constantly checking his watch and telling me to hurry. I wanted to lock him in a bathroom and leave him there!

Some things I think my memory blocked out for good reason. For instance, how awful it is to have to depend on Dirk for information. I realize that is my fault, I could have learned more German. But I didn’t. So, I am pretty much stuck with whatever information Dirk feels I need to know. For more than a week I had no idea what we would be doing that day or the next day. I just went along… kind of fun now that I think about it. But not so much at the time. More German came back to me than I had expected though. I had forgotten that all Americans use many German words because we don’t have American words for the thing. Like Rouladen. This is like really large blinds that are on the outside of the house and can be moved up or down from the inside of the house. These things will black out even the brightest sun. They are great. But we don’t have these things. Rouladen is a plural word in German, but it doesn’t sound like it to American ears, so we call them Rouladens. I had forgotten how much I love those things. You can sleep anytime of the day.

I had forgotten a lot of really great things too. For instance, everything is an event. Coffee in the afternoon. This is a several hour event with nice china and fancy platters with the cream and sugar. Normally with really great cake. Dinner is also several hours long with lots of good food and desert and coffee. The plates are prepared as little pieces of art. You almost feel bad to mess them up.

Most of all I had forgotten how soccer is a way of life. My husband actually made me drive to the soccer stadium and has his picture taken because he is afraid he will forget what the stadium looks like. We have about ten different pictures of the place.

Isn’t he cute… He has been going to games at this stadium with the same group of friends since he was in diapers. Everywhere we went people asked about which team he watches now and how he gets updates on the Monchengladback soccer team… He hasn’t been home for two years and THIS is the first question people ask.

I had also forgotten how crazy driving is. It’s so much fun to drive on the autobahn, which is what everyone asks about. But those are just highways with no speed limit. Town driving is the hard part! The picture below is a road in Dirk’s hometown. And yes, this road is made for two cars to drive at the same time.

You see, cars can park pretty much anywhere they want. The black car right in front of us is NOT moving. So, if a car is blocking you and another car from passing on the street, one of you must pull behind the parked car and let the other pass. It’s very much like a game of chicken. There are also these “obstacles” in the road when you come into or leave a village. It’s almost like puzzle pieces that are used to make people slow down. I didn’t get any pictures, but it is the same idea of one car letting the other pass.

This is a photo of a “round about”. This is in place of a four way stop. The idea is that it moves traffic along faster. The cars in the circle have the right of way. So, if you come to a round about, you wait until you can get in and the go all the way around. If you want to make a left hand turn you go right around the circle until you get to you left side turn. Actually they do keep traffic moving faster.

The only thing from the wedding I wanted to share (because this is getting a bit long) is this cool heart painting. It is just a large canvas that had squares sketched in. Each guest used paint at the reception to paint in a heart for the bride and groom, who had the painting framed and hung in their new home. Pretty cool huh.

Otherwise the wedding was pretty much a wedding. It was a two day event with the legal ceremony, lunch at a restaurant, then cake and coffee at a second location on the first day. Then a large evening reception on New Year’s Eve complete with fireworks and champagne outside at midnight.

It was a pretty good trip and I am sure not the last. I hope everyone else had a great Christmas and New Years!

Who would you want to be?

2008-12-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

With nothing on TV last night, Dirk and I got into a really funny conversation that I just had to share. I’m not exactly sure how it got started, but Dirk mentioned that if he could be anyone else he would want to be Wolf Blitzer (from CNN). Dirk told me that if he could be Wolf, I could be Meredith (from Grey’s). Seriously, Meredith, the most troubled person in the world (I mean if she were actually a person anyway). No thank you. I think he was thinking of my mad crush on Patrick Dempsey.
Wolf in the Situation Room

I was like really out of everyone in the whole world you would be Wolf? Well, then he decided it need serious consideration, right. We went through several possibilities like Hugh Heffner, Dirk Diggler, and Pale (the soccer player, I can’t make the accent mark over the e) and Anderson Cooper. Even my own step father; his reasoning being that he thinks my step dad has an easy life as my mother does everything around the house and he has a good job that Dirk believes is easy and fun. So, I guess he was looking for lifestyle as opposed to actually being the person… He was looking for someone “cool” and exciting. Someone that had lots of power. After about two hours of considering all these people and telling me why exactly he DID NOT want to be them i.e. too much sex at work means you don’t want to for fun, too much work, too much fame, too gay, and so on. Believe it or not, he finally decided that he wanted to be HIMSELF. Crazy huh?

Well this got me thinking, who would I want to be? I went an entirely different direction. First, I thought who wouldn’t want to be Oprah?! Then I remembered her crappy childhood. Do I get to be her now and not have the past? I guess not because her past made her who she is. I thought maybe Reese Witherspoon. Silly, I know, but she has tons of money, cute kids, is passionate about her work, famous enough to go wherever she wants but not so famous she can’t live her life. The only problem is that pesky divorce. Although, I might prefer to have divorced Ryan Phillippe than to have never married him at all!
Aren't they cute??

I haven’t been able to pick just one person. I am trying hard to think of some really great singer (which I wish I could be, but as I can’t sing at all I guess that won’t happen), but a great artist with passion. And maybe a little crazy! I do still have Michelle Obama on the list. Pretty, smart, powerful. She can do great things in the next few years and I personally think she will…. I don’t know maybe Marilyn Monroe! More fun.

Here's your sign....

2008-12-12T13:20:00.001-08:00

I am very lucky and excited to be spending Christmas in Germany this year. My husband is German (yes like fresh off the boat German… does that work with Europe too or just southern counties??). Anyway, he has only lived here about two years now. So, we are happy to be going back to Germany for Christmas and his brother’s wedding, which we never thought would happen.
I suppose I should explain a little. I lived in Germany for three years. We met and married there. It is kind of funny to me that others are so interested and surprised that we go back to visit. Lots of people ask some really good questions about how things are overseas. Having traveled most of Europe while I was there, I also have lots of stories that I am happy to share.

Just a side note, I have two very funny questions that I have been asked. My own mother (who had never been out of the States at the time) actually asked if “they have cell phones over there”. Crazy, right. I mean turn on the freakin news would ya. She has now visited there and fell in love with the landscape and friendly people. The other question is forgivable because my niece asked it when she was like 8 years old. But she was always very fascinated by the time difference. Everytime she called she would ask what time is it there. Everytime she would say wow that’s so cool. Well, what she didn’t really get was that while it was a different time zone things happen at sort of the same pace. I got some American TV channels right. So, she was shocked when she called to see, I’m not kidding here, WHO WON THE SUPERBOWL!! How funny! I had a difficult time explaining that I was 7 hours AHEAD not 7 hours in the FUTURE! The American Superbowl had not taken place in Germany before the US!! You gotta love kids right! Seriously, I think she wanted to make some bets and thought I could win her some money!

Ok, so the real reason for blog was to tell you all that I have had what I think are hilarious conversations that go something like:

Brooke: Oh, I can’t go, we will be in Germany then.
Other: Cool, Germany. What for?
Brooke: (After all this time people get the shortened answer). Christmas with the in-laws and a wedding (as if I am talking about driving two hours upstate right)
Other: Wow! That will be a lot of fun!

This is almost always followed by ARE YOU FLYING? It kills me not to say, nope we are swimming. We’re leaving tomorrow so we can make it there on time. I know it’s kind of mean. I understand that many people don’t get to do a lot of traveling around our own country let alone any place else. But seriously, do people actually take boats to Europe anymore? Isn’t that called a cruise? Wouldn’t I have said we are taking a cruise? Are there even boat companies that transport people? I guess there probably still are, but can you imagine how badly one would have to hate flying to be willing to sit on a boat for that long? I am already dreading that long flight, but by boat? Seriously!
That got me thinking are there other options? I guess you could consider driving up to Canada then through the Barren Strait, over to Russia, and down. I am not sure if there is land connecting Alaska to Russia? I guess I will have to ask Sarah Palin. Can you drive it? How many hours would that take? Again, why not FLY?

I know I am crazy. But I have heard this question so many times, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I always think of Bill Engvol and the here’s your sign jokes… I just love those because they are so true!

Phone crazy

2008-11-29T16:38:00.000-08:00

I’m generally not one to criticize technology. I don’t know maybe I am getting old, but cell phones drive me crazy these days! I have had one for years. Actually, when I was 16 my mom made me get one of those old “bag phones” for the car. Her rule was that I had to have one to drive alone, but she would not buy it for me…. She was thinking safety, I guess.
Anyway, they have never bothered me before. I think the turning point started when I was station in Geilenkirchen, Germany. I was in a little grocery store on base that served several different nationalities. I was looking for something pretty intently. While doing my best to figure out if the item I had in my hand was what I really thought it would be (doing my best to translate the label), a nicely dressed Italian lady came up beside me. She was sorting through a shelf looking for whatever it was she was wanted. Well, she started talking in rapid fire Italian. I just stood there like ummm… I have no idea what you are saying. It took me several minutes to realize that she had one of those ear bud things in. Like a bluetooth or something. She had been talking on the phone the whole time. That was several years ago and maybe the first person I had ever seen walking around a store talking loudly as if everyone wanted to hear her conversation. I was a little embarrassed and very thankful that I didn’t attempt to talk back to someone who was not talking me!
These days people are ALWAYS on their phones. Seriously, why did people suddenly get so important that they think they need to talk on the phone like 19 hours a day? Why do people think that all kids need a phone, even if they are 10?
Texting also makes me a little crazy. I think it’s a great feature to have, don’t get me wrong. I just think it is widely overused. You can’t have lunch with someone without them spending at least some time either sending a text, checking one, or showing you something stupid someone else sent them. Some of my friends have taken to sending me forwards, as if it wasn’t bad enough to have like 20 of those things in my email box. I have more to delete now!
I have done a fairly decent job of keeping my silly complaints to myself. However, my sister and her daughter rode with my husband and I several hours in the car to visit my father for Thanksgiving. Her phone was going off nonstop! It didn’t help that her phone would start some song each time she received a message. So every few minutes this loud “LOOOOOVVVVEEEE” in some female voice would start. I have no idea what comes next because she always flipped open her phone really fast. Like the person on the other end was in some life or death situation that required her speedy acknowledgement of the message. Apparently she had several different conversations going on at the same time. One of those conversations (I won’t give you the details because I didn’t ask her if I could) could have been a ten second phone call. Instead, it was a forty minute texting spree.
I also get sick of hearing everyone’s favorite song. My husband and I were shopping in the mall today. A woman was next to us looking through some things. She was probably in her early forties and a respectable looking woman. When her phone started blaring Baby Got Back, I couldn’t keep from laughing out loud. Or dancing a little. She let it ring forever; we almost heard the whole song. And it wasn’t one of those that repeating the same line over and over. She then had a full conversation with her friend all around the store at top volume.
While I enjoy having my phone available, I don’t think that I am required to have it on and be accessible to everyone everywhere all of time.

I'm it!!

2008-11-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by fellow blogger Danielle and Mason! This means that I have to tell you eight random facts about myself and then tag eight other people. Whoo Hoo! So, here it goes:

1. I love to target shoot and play games like paintball and laser tag. The messier it is the better. I'm a great sniper.

2. If I really love a pair of shoes, I don’t care what size they are. I can’t feel my feet any more anyway!

3. I am addicted to reality tv. I love those stupid shows like The Amazing Race, Survivor, and Dancing with the Stars. I like to watch when there is a winner and a loser. Sad, huh? I also like the ones about rich people i.e. Tori Spelling and Denise Richards.

4. I really love to watch home improvement shows and then tell my husband all the things we need to do to our home. I haven’t yet started a project!

5. I like TONS of different kinds of music. Everything from The Doors, Sex Pistols, and Aerosmith to Dave Mathews and the Beatles. There is no era that I don’t like! Even those sappy 50’s songs…
6. I think Wolf Blizter can hear me. Honestly, I talk to him all the time. I LOVE CNN and politics.

7. I am terrible at remembering birth dates and ages. I can never remember my anniversary or how many years we have been married. I think marriage is kind of stupid anyway. How do you expect me to promise that I will want to be with the same person in like 45 years??? We focus on making it one day at time!

8. I can’t stay in the same place long. After about a year, I start wondering where else I can move and what kind of job I could have. It physically starts to hurt to be in the same place long. My husband says it’s the Indian blood in me, but the rest of my family has no problem living in the same place their whole lives. I think it’s a fear commitment.

These are the eight people I have tagged:
http://luckysmiles.blogspot.com/
http://storytimewiththesisters.blogspot.com/
http://lifeintheslowlane-kendra.blogspot.com/
http://alwayschasingcars.blogspot.com/
http://lostandfoundinindia.blogspot.com/
http://croutonsblog.blogspot.com/
http://lifejustkeepsgettingweirder.blogspot.com/
http://breedemandweep-angie.blogspot.com/

Ok, so the tag rules are as follows: Each player starts with eight random fact/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag eight people and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’ve been tagged and to read your blog.

I SAID....

2008-11-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

Dirk and I have many communication issues. Primarily though, our problems result from his mumbling and my inability to hear. Together, this causes some MAJOR confusion in our house.
We are lucky enough to have a large enough home that we can’t always hear the other from different rooms in the house. Many nights, I am watching TV or working on some new “project” in the living or baking in the kitchen. Dirk can generally be found playing Soccer Manager or surfing the net at the back of the house in the computer room.
For some reason, Dirk finds this to be the perfect time to shout “Broooo, du uuuu av un minnnnn”. I shout “WHAT!” . Again, I hear, “ Brooo, du uuu av un minnnnn”.
I have to say my reaction is normally not the best. I sometime mumble to myself about what kind of idiotic thing is he trying to say. I figure that when I ignore him and nothing happens that it must not have been that important and if he really wanted something he could get off his butt and come tell me. I continue doing whatever it was that I had been doing.
Then I hear, “dammmmm, uuuu m….t… t..”.
By this point, I am tired of being interrupted. I stomp to the computer room and demand to know what the hell is so important that it needs to be shouted down the hall.
The next conversation goes something like:

Dirk: I asked if you had a minute. (The first sentence was supposed to be Brooke, do you have a minute)
Brooke: Well, I couldn’t hear you. I asked what.
Dirk: I said it again. Then you ignored me. I had something for you to see.
Brooke: Why didn’t you walk down the hall and tell me?!
Dirk: You missed it now anyway.

Now, I am really angry because there isn’t even anything for me to see. I can pretty much guess it’s not something I wanted to see to begin with. Most of the time, I stomp back to whatever I was doing. Only to start the whole process over again.

Sometimes the process is started by me shouting to Dirk. The problem there is that he ALWAYS answers and the answer NEVER makes any sense to me. Those conversations are more like:

Brooke: Hey Dirk, do you want cheese on your sandwich? (What he actually hears, I have no idea)
Dirk: Ummm….. what kind are you is it being? (I have no idea what he means)
Brooke: What?
Dirk: Well I just (words missing) ummmm up (Again no idea what he is really saying)
Brooke: You just have to eat what I give you if you can’t answer in English! Do you want turkey or ham?
Dirk: Yea…. (he seems to love to answer “or questions” with yes or no)

I tend to start mumbling about how he can eat what I give him even though I started the shouting. When I bring him the sandwich I generally get, “Oh, I said turkey and cheese with Mayo”. I slam the plate down and tell him to make it himself next time.

My Chauncelot Expirence

2008-11-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

I don’t know if anyone reads Life in Chauncelot by Danielle and Mason; if not you really should check it out. Danielle is the main blogger in the family and tells some pretty good stories about living in a well… unusual little town. A town that I happened to grow up in. So, I thought I might add some of my own stories from when I lived there as a small child.
There are a couple of stories that come to mind all involving “high water”.
When I was just about 7 years old, I remember the water coming up pretty high, but not high enough that we had to leave our home. So, my parents stayed in the house with my sister and I. We didn’t have to leave, but we couldn’t really go anyplace either as the water came right up to our front porch.
We were sitting on the porch with my several of my uncles and my grandfather who had rowed their boat over to check on us and make sure we had enough supplies i.e. water, batteries, and food. Across the street their was a young man that had lived their for as long as I can remember… and might still. I’m going to call him Tom. He was a pretty heavy guy at the time. Well, I guess he was tired of sitting in the house. So, he was climbing into a row boat and declared to my family that he was going to get some donuts from the “store” in town. We watched closely as the boat rocked back and forth while made his way into the boat. We continued watching in awe as he labored heavily to row the boat. The “store” is about a mile or so from the house. My family stayed on the porch waiting for Tom to return with his donuts. It took much longer than we expected; I guess he really wanted those donuts. When he finally returned with his donuts he was very proud of his accomplishment. In fact, he had already opened the package and had started eating them. But as Tom stood up to exit the boat, it began rocking pretty badly. Tom had to sadly stand by as the donuts fell from his hand and into the nasty flood water. Tom looked bewilderedly into the water as his donuts floated away. I am not proud to say this, but my uncles and grandfather thought this was the funniest thing ever to happen. One uncle began shouting “Hey Dunkin’ Donuts”! Tom worked his way out of the boat and back into his house…. Without his donuts. He has ever since been known as Dunkin’ Donuts.

The other flood memory I have is when once again the water came up. This time so high we had to go stay with my aunt and uncle “on the hill”. They had a lovely, but smaller home at the time. With all 10- 15 of us in the house and of course, all our pets, it got pretty crowded. I happened to have three ducks. Apparently, we ran out of space because somehow the ducks got out and went for a swim in the flood water. A neighbor several streets over found the ducks in her backyard. The good neighbor loaded the ducks up in her row boat and brought them back to me. I was so happy to see them!
I believe it was after this flood (I was about 9 at the time) I decided to “interview” the neighbors about how the flood effected them and what they thought should be done to prevent this from continuing to happen. I walked around town with my mom’s video camera and asked questions of the neighbors. Nobody seemed to mind that I was only 9. They answered their doors and answered my questions as though they might just appear on the news!

Facial

2008-11-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

After all that complaining about my husband and football season, Dirk did the sweetest thing. I had mentioned several times about two months ago that I was not happy with the way my skin was looking. I have also enjoyed going to the spa in Europe and getting facials. It has been several years since I got one. My skin looked like a teenagers bumpy acne with old lady wrinkles on my forehead. I will admit, I complained long and loud about the lack of spa’s in our tiny town. For my birthday, Dirk found a place that would do a facial. On one of those infrequent days off, I headed in to see what our little ol’ town had to offer. Honestly, at this point, I’d take anything!
I wasn’t expecting much from the hair salon that also does facials. I was pleasantly surprised though. I did have to wait about half an hour after my appointment time. As you might imagine, I had already decided this place SUCKS and I just want to leave and have my money back. Who waits half an hour?! I was in a mood by this time. The lady that came out to get me was very apologetic and did not make excuses, which is very uncommon.
She began by offering me water and coffee. She gave me a big fluffy robe and left the room so I could change. I’m not exactly sure why one needs to take off all of their clothing for something that only involves the face, but I’m down for getting comfortable. Keep in mind I have only been to a day spa. So, you normally have several hours of full body treatments, sauna, hot tub, and such before the facial part comes. So, I really didn’t know what to expect. I get to lay down on this super comfortable reclining chair that is heated! It was great. The lady covered me and my fluffy robe up with some light blankets that were also heated. I was so snug, I never wanted to get up.
After that, I had my eye’s closed and was so relaxed I was almost comatose. So all I know is what the lady said she was doing and how it felt. She began by washing my face with what felt like those facial wipes. Then layer some damp warm towels over my face to “open the pores”. I had seen my pores before I got there, they were pretty open! She then got out this loud power tool sounding thing and began “exfoliating”. It felt a lot like how one of those nail tools looks. It kind of tickled and I can’t believe it did much. But after a few minutes she was satisfied. Next, she got this huge lamp and put something cold and kind of heavy over my eyes. She explained that this lamp was going to show her under my skin. That sounds pretty gross to me, but she did it anyway. She said something about having some sun damage on my chin, but apparently it wasn’t that big of a deal. Then she did the weirdest thing. Something I have never had happen before.

This lady put some kind of fan directly on my face that I swear blew out the wind directly from hell. It was the hottest thing I have ever felt. Suddenly my face felt HUGE and sweat started pouring out. Then she just left it there! She kept asking if I was OK, but my mouth my so dry I couldn’t talk. Not to mention, I felt like my face was so heavy I wouldn’t move my mouth if I tried. I had to breathe this air that I really thought might catch my nose, throat, and lungs on fire. It felt like this lasted a lifetime. I couldn’t even guess how long it really went on.
When she finally took away the fan, my face felt so weird. Like I could feel every thing in the air passing by. It got very cold very quickly. Next, the lady said she was going to “vacuum” my face. At this point, I had no idea what she might do. Thankfully, she only used something that felt like silly putting to suction something off my face. She said it was unblocking my pores. It sort of reminded me of that slim that kids use… ya know, the stuff that looks like a hand and you slap it down and it smooshes back up slowly… just like that… all over my face.
I was just starting to relax again when suddenly the lady was poking the crap out of my face with this really sharp thing. I couldn’t really tell if it was her fingernails (I would hope not) or something like a dentist uses to scrap plaque. She poked that thing all over my face. I couldn’t imagine that after everything she did there would be anything left in my pores… they must have been worse than I thought.
She then washed my face with a towel with very warm water. I couldn’t help, but wonder lying there with my eyes closed (I had been thinking things a mile a minute this whole time) where she was getting such hot water and I didn’t see a sink back when I had eyes to see with and I didn’t hear any water running. I found out after wards that it was water from a crockpot sitting on the table! It did feel good though after all that poking.
Then she put on this really nice face mask. I have no idea what it was, I would Eucalyptus because that’s what it felt like. At this point, my face is kind of starting to burn. Then the lady did the best thing of all. While the mask was setting, she massage my arms from the elbow down and my hands with some yummy smelling lotion. This didn’t last nearly long enough!

After she washed it all off, she began to massage my face with this really hot oil. It was nice, but now my face was really beginning to hurt! It was starting to burn all over and all the rubbing really made it worse. There was so much oil! It was nice, but I felt like I was being marinated.
I was really happy when she washed that off. I had a jolt when she then put really COLD towels on my face. I guess to close the pores back up. By the time she put on some final lotion, I was so happy it was over. This was nothing like what I was used to.
I know that each time you get a facial you break out pretty back for a couple of days then everything should be all better, for a little while anyway. That doesn’t make it any easier to accept all that pain to be broken out again! The lady told me to do a mud mask once a week to “help keep those blackheads under control”. Now that made me feel better!
My husband told me the whole next week how smooth my skin was. The best was when he told me that he couldn’t see my “wrinkles” as much and my skin might be tighter. When I was about this, he quickly reminded me that it wouldn’t last long!
He even said that I have less blackheads. When I asked where they were before he answered “I don’t know, but you said the lady told you it would help with blackheads so I just figured”. If nothing else, I have learned that my husbands tries to do right and he listens at least sometimes!

The things we ladies do to look our best…..

When is football season over?

2008-11-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

So, I’ll be honest ladies. I thought I hit the jackpot when I first started dating my husband and he proclaimed that he did not understand the obsession of “American football”. He is German and often said that “football (soccer) is the only sport worth watching”. Well, I heard “you will never have be stuck watching football again”. I mean, I can stand soccer. It only lasts 90 minutes and there aren’t that many games on. I managed to smile my way through many Gladcach games. Those fans are sure entertaining to watch!

Imagine my surprise when a few months after we moved back to the States, my wonderful German husband took a liking to college football. I blame the Florida Gators. As it happens, our first year in Florida, the Gators won the Nation Championship. So, it began. All of you know what football season is like…… college AND pro… then basketball…. and of course soccer… both German and US league….

All of this is building up to my story from today. My husband was given some tickets to the Parents Weekend game for our local university. Having grown up here, I am not all that excited about sitting in the cold watching a very poor team lose to a team that is almost as bad. We often go to sporting events, but this one is just not for me. But, when my husband’s buddies got called out of town for work, I smiled and agreed to go. Just as I thought, it was freezing cold and our team didn’t score even one touchdown. After only three hours, we headed home. I did not complain about my freezing bum and hands the whole time!! I made dinner while he (you guessed it) watched another game on TV. We rarely eat in front of the TV, but it’s a weekend, right? The first thing I said when I sat down was “please don’t make me watch football while I eat!”. He assured me that there was only one minute left of this game and it’s very important that Penn State losses. I guess somehow we can about that because it would bump Florida up in the standings. So, I close my mouth and wait out the “one minute” which quickly becomes three. Finally though, game over and no arguing. Penn States loses, yea! I have been doing my best this far not to shout out that I have had enough football for one day. Low and behold, there is another game that is “almost over” . Well, this game is still not over when I have finished eating. Now, time to dishes, so much fun. I will give Dirk credit though. He did get up to dry the dishes. However, he couldn’t miss a second of the game. So, he proceeded to pick up a wet newly washed dish and carry it over so he could see the TV. Dry it. Walk back over to pick up another dish. And so on until the dishes are done. I casually mention that I might want to watch something with him… could we pick out a movie or something. I wanted to scream when he said the Gators are playing at 8! I mumbled something about having my fill of football for the day. Thus, my new blog.

As I sit here and vent, Dirk brought me a bottle of water because “I thought you might be thirsty”. Now, I feel a little bad about complaining. But can anyone tell me when football season is over???