Workin' for the Weekend!

We mostly stayed close to home this weekend, working on the house, doing homework, and just kickin' it. We also watched "I'm Not There." I can see the pull, but mostly, "It's Not For Me."

My husband continues to chip away on Bathroom 1. This weekend he got all the backerboard for the bath area hung, AND all the sheetrock (paperless, thank you very much). The paint chips were under consideration, but we decided to go with the one in the upper left...the fleshy colored swatch. It has a shiny metallic sheen, and will look sort of pearly.

Plus, a visit from the paint fairy!

While my husband was working hard, I baked this lovely turkey, and unloaded 4 boxes of kitchen stuff from the garage. All told, I loaded, ran, and unloaded the dishwasher SEVEN times this weekend. Heavens!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Da Bomb.

It was a very exciting day at the Idaho Water Center. A bomb threat at the Ada County courthouse had all these people hanging out in our courtyard!

Later in the afternoon, this gang of kids came to practice their bike tricks. One kid can ride his bike (forward) while sitting backward on the handbars of his bike. We think his friend might be taping an audition for America's Got Talent.

We hadn't seen our friend the roller-skater-with-shopping-cart-partner in quite a bit, but he did make an appearance in early September. Leading us to believe he's a college student returned after the summer.

Who would have imagined that a plot of concrete would have provided us such entertainment! I would never have guessed!

Both in for Another Year!

Our 8th anniversary celebration was such fun! Charming company! Tasty dinner! Lovely gifts!

My husband presented me with this lovely bauble! He was looking for "something kinda Idaho-y," and this beautiful inlaid mother-of-pearl in a gold setting fit the bill, as he thought it looked a little like rocks under water. I'm down with that...Idaho is among the top states for number of rivers. (That red thing on my head is the bow from the gift, not an actual accessory I was sporting.)


After our dinner at the Cottonwood (mong chong for her, prime rib for him) we had my husband's fave -- pecan pie! Plus a cappuccino!

Only for the fanciest of occasions do I bring out the plaid wiener dog purse...who appears to have sprouted a chicken from his head. He was coveted by all hostesses at the restaurant. Really! Stop with the stares, people! Git yer own already!

My husband was offered the opportunity to get his prime rib bone-in. Which means Miss G got one big anniversary gift her own self! She was simply tense with excitement!

And yes, we both re-upped for another year! Whoo-hoo! Catch you back here next September 23!

Anniversary No.2: September 23 / 8 Years of Wedded Bliss!

The second anniversary in one week! The excitement! Here are the 3 addendums to our vows. OK...most were created by me.

1. When an orange is peeled in proximity, the peeler must pass over one slice of orange. Who can resist the smell of a freshly peeled orange? I just want one slice!!

2. A can enter my husband in any contests or drawings she sees fit, without explicit permission. Not feats of strength, but chances to win trips or concert tickets.

3. We each have to agree to only 1 year of marriage at a time.* Forever seems like a long time, but 1 year is bite-sized and doable! We learn each year on September 23 whether the other has decided to re-up for another year. The suspense! I really think there's an excellent chance we're gonna be in for the 2008/2009 season!

Here's a pic of us at said hitchin'. It's still on our photographer's Web page, so I have quick access to it. :) (As is one of me in my bathrobe. Nice.) You know, 8 is big-time lucky in China...and we are celebrating our 8th anniversary in 2008. Seems extry lucky! Happy anniversary to us!

* Years of marriage must be consecutive. No signing up for another year 3 years from now.

Anniversary No.1: September 22 / 5 Years at CH!

FIVE years. Can you imagine? It's the longest I've been employed at one place...well, OK...by one company, anyway. I had 4 years, 9 months at ING, tho at the time of the downsizing it was generously rounded up to 5 so I would be eligible for vesting.

In honor of this occasion, I got to pick a gift from the online service anniversary catalog. Let me see...the binoculars? The crystal salad bowl? The electric weed-whacker? Hmm. Nope. After much musing, I decided to go with the pots and pans. Especially because the jewelry offering amounted to a dyed-gray pearl necklace or a watch. No thanks. And the color of the finish on this fine gift? It's champagne.

AND I'm now 80 percent vested in my 401k...at least whatever of it survives the new depression.

But MOST importantly, today I acquire the ability to rack up 5 more vacation days each year...(earned as you go please -- we can't just give 'em to you all at once. Jeez.) Whoo-hoo! Maybe I'll use a day or two and my new pots and pans to whip up an omelet, or perhaps some mashed potatoes.

Thank Heavens I Took That American Poetry Class...

Monday night we attended the Boise individuals finals Poetry Slam competition at Neurolux Lounge...where I was spontaneously asked to be one of five judges! Imagine! The pressure! The honor! The applause! As the judge next to me said, "What am I, Paula Abdul?"

I was given a hand-held board with numbered flip cards, allowing me to offer, for the rest of the lounge patrons, a score -- sort of like they do for Olympic gymnasts...OK, back when gymnastic judging made sense, anyway.

Five competitors each presented 4 poems in 4 rounds, for judging on both the poem itself, and their presentation. I automatically gave extra points to those who had their poem memorized, and were not reading it from notes. Presentation is everything. The competition was tough, but my fave won, and will represent Boise at the individual nationals.

Later, the "draw," if you will, world champion slammer Mighty Mike McGee performed. Among his offering was his Soul Food, which weaves a tale of his participation in an eating competition with the devil...who sounds a lot like Sean Connery. Mike was not competing, but I'd have given him a 9.2. With an extra point, on principle, for his Mitch Hedberg T-shirt.

Street Fair!

Friday night we celebrated the last day in Nampa by walking down to the Hyde Park Street Fair after work. Back in the day, the Fair was actually held in Hyde Park (13th Street), but after outgrowing that space, it was moved to Camelsback Park. Guess it never occurred to anyone to change it to Camelsback Park Street Fair.

We were stunned at the transformation by the presence of 120 vendor booths, food, and music, which were pretty good, for local bands. Here's the park normally (back when the Seattle fam was here!)

Playin' Around Lucky Peak Reservoir!

Last weekend we celebrated the last weekend of my vacation with a little day adventure to Lucky Peak Reservoir, about 12 miles from our house. After a hot day of hiking, I was up for a swim. Well, OK, I'm always up for a swim.

We hiked to this far edge of the reservoir.

Miss G, who usually leads the pack, learned on this particularly hot day that following allows her to hike in shade. :)

The high desert is a rough environment. Miss G was just hoping this wasn't once a dachshund.

School Checklist: On to PAGE TWO!

I have officially passed a milestone in my edja-muh-cay-shunal endeavors. I was able to turn the list of requirements over from Page 1 to Page 2. (Much to the chagrin of my coworkers who have had to examine this now-turned-over page). There are only two pages, people!!

Coursewise, I have completed 10 courses, 10 to go. Except not really 10. Really, 8 with a big ol' paper at the end...that will take 2 terms. That I have to register for. So 10 "registrations" left.

Timewise: 15 months down, 18 months left. Except I have a whole month off next summer.

So, can I say, "halfway done?" Sorta. You know what? Let's just say yes. :)

No Work, No School. All Good.

FOUR days off. Can you imagine the luxury? Sandwiched between two weekends, and I had NINE whole days. Man. Did you miss me?

What I did: After Day 3, I stopped sleeping 14 hours a day, tho still mustered a nap 8 of the 9 days. I read 8 magazines. I ran. I cleared a ton of stuff out of the DVR. I watched a couple movies, including Mamma Mia! I lurked around discount and thrift stores, securing this fab-o black leather coat we located. [Girl gang: I'm still up for matching pink leather if you're in!]

What I didn't do: I didn't read any books. I didn't empty any boxes from the garage. I didn't go get a library card. I didn't organize the music on my Zune. Really, I didn't do anything of value on my to do list. Eh. Whatever.

Here's to You, Class of 1988!

This past weekend was my husband's 20-year high school reunion! Imagine! TWENTY years! Logistics were not in his corner, so he was not able to attend the big soiree, but I did my best to create a reunion-like evening:


We went to dinner, tho really, it should have been a crappier restaurant, to tell the truth. At the table, I attempted to show him a fake tattoo I was sporting. I suggested maybe we drink too much, and then I could talk on and on about myself for hours, lamenting the wrong turns and 'the one that got away.' Maybe we could each excuse ourselves from the table and meet in the back by the pay phone to make out. Perhaps later we could get a hotel room...

But we didn't do any of those things. Instead we drove out to the BLM office to measure how far that bike ride really will be. We had the windows down and the sunroof open when "My Best Friend's Girl (Friend)" by The Cars came on. He turned it up REALLY loud and we drove around being really obnoxious. While the song isn't necessarily time appropriate, the band certainly was. As evidenced by my husband's....uh...gear...in this picture. Here's to you, Class of 1988.

A New Job!

My husband has secured for himself NEW gainful employment! Hooray! No more drives to Nampa!

Starting on September 15, he will be a full-time permanent employee of Ciber, working as a federal contractor at the state office of the Bureau of Land Management...or "the bureau," as we refer to it.

We aren't sure which land he'll be managing, but he'll work just 6 miles from our house. To start off on the right foot, we went and picked up some new shirts. Few things are as nice as a new shirt. Hooray!