Happy 9th!!

Happy anniversary to Colegate Pump and Aaron.

It's no wonder your marriage has lasted with teamwork like this:

Congrats guys!

But I was just trying to be Eco-Friendly!!

In an effort to ‘do my part for the environment’ and ‘stop the melting of the polar ice caps’, I decided to grow only native plants in our yard…

… Well, that or our home improvement fund went bust and we can’t afford plants until August.

It just so happens that the only plants ‘native’ to our yard are… weeds.

That news worries me because I struggle to keep them alive. Who can’t grow weeds?!?!

*I meekly raise my hand in surrender*

Maybe I can bring back the popularity of rock gardens.




As I trounced to my car this morning, I was slapped in the belly by a baby tree (the only thing LIVING in our yard) that – I swear – grew 3 feet in less than a week and is taking over our sidewalk. Had I pulled the darn thing when I first saw it wouldn’t have been a big deal but now I need a shovel and it just so happens… I don’t own one.

Now I hear ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ by Guns N’ Roses blaring in my head every time I leave or come home.

I guess I realized our yard problem when we first bought the house but obviously the problem has grown (or not - ha ha!) over the last month as we have received several business cards for landscapers stuffed in our door. Either a.) Our neighbors are trying to give us a not so subtle hint or b.) News of our yard is circulating in the landscaper underground network as a potential cash cow and everyone wants a piece.

Probably both.


Come over sometime. Listen to Axl Rose with me!

Woman vs. Mall…

Yesterday was a rough day. We’re overcoming some interesting ‘opportunities for solution’ at the office. I ate 12 Hershey Toffee Nuggets as a therapy of sorts. Unfortunately the only ‘therapeutic effect’ was an upset tummy.

When all else fails, I see my therapist… Mrs. Westfield Mall – her office is in UTC and she specializes in the ‘Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale’ method.

She’s there for me when I need her.

Comforting, loveable, expensive…

I rarely go to this mall and quickly found myself lost. There were 4 exits out of the GIANT Macy’s store and only ONE of them led to the mall. Thankfully I was able to use the skills I learned from ‘Man vs. Wild’ on the Discovery Channel to escape the store using plastic hangers and a few straight pins.

Chris got a raise last week. I kinda spent it. Or three months of it anyway.

I feel GREAT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy birthday to Cole! I'm not sure how old she is but I tell everyone she's 26.

Have a good one!!

Shooooooot!! What terminal?!?!?

Wednesday was an interesting day for sure.

I got out of bed around 4AM, carefully manicured my curls, put on a nice outfit, slipped on my high heels, packed my work bag, and escaped the house just after 5.

A middle aged man sat next to me on the flight with a stash of drink coupons hell bent on spending all of them before reaching Las Vegas. I’m not sure how many drinks he had by the time we landed but he successfully used all his coupons and successfully drove me nuts. His ideal of respecting ‘personal space’ grew fuzzier with each passing Baileys shot.

I escaped the plane and made my way to the bathroom to make sure I looked presentable. Why is it that after every plane trip, passengers tend to look like they spent the entire flight under those annoying water misters at Magic Mountain? I swear my hair didn’t look that bad when I left! Although not a fan of Star Trek, I’m thinking of investing in the research of those transporter thingies from the show. I don’t care if my liver doesn’t make it, as long as my hair arrives stylishly coiffed.

I rented my car, and headed to the meeting – even though I had more than an hour to drive 5 miles. If there is one thing guaranteed about Las Vegas, it’s that the whole city is constantly in a state of construction – detours are everywhere. After 4 closed streets, 5 u-turns, and 2 missed freeway onramps, I finally got to my meeting 10 minutes before start time.

After the meeting, I met up with a co-worker from our corporate office for lunch and hastily made my way back to the airport. I missed the rental car exit, got lost again, and proceeded to throw innumerable hail Mary’s and a ‘please God let this be the right way’ after every turn.

Arriving with a screech at the rental car return agency, I practically threw the keys at the poor lot attendant and took off running. ‘Katie!’ I screamed into my phone, ‘Can you please check me in online?!?!? I have less than an hour and I’m not even close to getting there!’

40 minutes before take off, I was just stepping onto the shuttle bus to the airport.

While running through the airport I was REALLY wishing my legs were more proportionate to a Barbie doll than a welsh corgi.

A mid-west family (very obvious from the “y’all’s” being thrown around) was blocking the hallway to the terminal I was in a rush to get to. Even though the airport uses this crazy system called ‘numerical order’ that you should be able to figure out by - silly me – COUNTING, the family stood unmoving blocking my way. ‘Where’s gate C16? Should we get a map? This airport is huge!’ they said wide eyed to each other. That’s when I pushed in between the two oldest of the group and said crisply, ‘Go straight until you reach the windows, make a right, C16 will be on your left’

‘Are you from here?’ She said with her thick accent.

‘California’ I said over my shoulder as I took off running again.

‘Ahhh’ they said – as if understanding my rudeness was an innate part of being a Californian.

I barely made my plane, the ticket agent was sure to tell me they almost gave away my seat. I didn’t really care that the take off was worse than flights from O’Hare or that the lady next to me kept resting her arm on mine… I was just happy to be going home.

Thank heavens it’s Friday?!?!

Why oh why?!?

Why is it that supremely good weekends are followed by superiorly BAD Mondays?


Saturday afternoon Chris won a $430 gas grill in a raffle (he wins everything – makes me hate him a little).

Saturday night we had a great dinner with the gang (Mike, Casey, Brian, Lani, John-E, Lindsey, Keira, Tara, Katie, Jenny, Jessie, Beth, and Zach) at Shoguns – congrats to John-E for finishing paramedic school!

At dinner while I was holding Little Miss Keira, she flashed me a gorgeous grin. She’s smiling now!

We had a great BBQ at our house on Sunday with Mike, Casey, John-E, Lindsey, Keira, Jessie, and Jenny.

Then Monday rolled around…



I struggle with Monday’s the most because a.) I hate waking up early after two days of snoozing until 7:30 and b.) I have to do the dreaded payroll first thing in the morning.


As if Monday wasn’t cloudy enough, it just continued a steady trod downhill…

I got an e-mail from a client asking why I wasn’t using their new system.

‘What system?’ I asked confused.

‘We’ve been trying to contact you for MONTHS about it!’ She snapped.

In that moment, I REALLY wanted to zing it to her and ask, ‘Oh really? I have no messages or e-mails from you. Did you just realize you forgot and are now under the gun from YOUR boss and are doing your best to push the blame because you know what...’ but dang this whole idea of ‘client relations’. You have to hold your tongue and keep repeating silently... ‘I am a professional, I am a professional, I am a professional’.

It’s my mantra.

Turns out, I need training on a new system in Vegas. And no, I can’t schedule it on a Friday or a Monday when I can make a weekend of it.

See you tomorrow Nevada.

Birthdays!!

Happy belated birthday Lisa (nobody told me!!)

and

Happy birthday dad! You're the best boss ever! Especially now that you're out of town... we've been partying at the office a lot!!

Personal Goal #1…

Yesterday Chris was approached by his boss and asked to prepare a list of his personal, financial, and business goals for his upcoming review.

When Chris excitedly told me about his upcoming review – excited because generally reviews are accompanied by raises (whew) – I asked him if he would like me to tell him what his goals are since I'm the one who decides them.

I don’t think he thought that was very funny.

But I prepared an outline and I’ll have the rough draft completed by this evening.



After work yesterday, Chris had to see a school counselor to review the classes he needs for admission to SDSU next fall. The counselor advised him to take 16 units this fall, 14 next spring, and 3 units over this summer.

‘But we’re nearly halfway through July!’ I baulked, ‘When does she expect you to take this ‘Summer’ class!?!?’

‘Yesterday?’ He cringed.

He had to crash the class last night.

4 rough weeks lay ahead of him. So much for my bathroom ever being finished.

Like grams said, ‘There’s always a garden hose!’



This morning he got up early, shaved, put on a nice shirt, and sprayed himself with cologne.

‘Who are you trying to impress? Is there a cute girl in your class or something? Is that why you’re taking it?’ I asked.

‘Psh. I wouldn’t stay in this class for A girl. There are LOTS of cute girls!’ He said with a huge smile.


Apparently he’s still bitter about my ‘I make your goals’ comment.




I signed up for three culinary arts classes:

Basic Skills
Wines of the World
Realities of Nutrition

I’m still on the fence about the Realities of Nutrition class though…

I’m not sure I’m ready for someone to tell me that my daily supply of Ding Dongs, Ho Ho’s, and Hershey Toffee Nuggets are bad for me.

For those who hadn’t heard… I’m enrolling in a culinary arts program.

I’ll wait for the gasps to cease.

Go ahead. It’s expected.


Done?


I’ve decided that in my early to mid-twenties my inability to cook was fine - almost cute to some, but now as I stride full speed into my late 20’s, lacking the capacity just looks silly.

Well, that and I’d prefer my future child’s sole culinary experience to not originate from a microwave oven or a take out box.

Mom’s enrolling with me, which I’m half excited about, and half NOT.

Why?

Excited because it will be great to have some company AND… I can cheat off her.

Not excited because I’m pretty sure (cheating and all), my food will never be as perfect as hers and she’ll be the teachers pet… guaranteed!

Eh. While she’s not looking I’ll switch our food.

This should be...

...interesting.

I LOVE our house!

Next time I get frustrated with our house... I'll look at these pictures.

We weren't sure if we were going to be able to see the Santee fireworks last night but at 9:15 PM, we watched an amazing show front and center from our backyard.

Only mom and dad were there to enjoy it with us but we were happy to have their company.

All I have to say is...

Next year you better be here!

And...

not only did we see the Santee show, we could see the Granite Hills El Cajon show at the same time. It's hard to see in this picture because it's small so I circled Santee on the left and Granite Hills on the right.

Happy 4th everyone!!

Sure hon...

OK. Let's recap. I spent HOURS cleaning this mess:

I looked at this sink and said, 'Hey hon, can we get a new sink top? This one is super gross' (their stuff is on the sink. NOT mine)

'Oh, and a new light fixture. This one is older than me.' (Their gross stuff on the shelves. Not mine)

After some thought, we decided to replace the vinyl floor since it was curling at the edges and it hadn't been cleaned in years.

So Chris tore out the floor... and the toilet... and the sink...and the shower doors while he was at it - the same shower doors I spent hours cleaning....

'Hey babe' he said, 'The shower pan has some hairline cracks. I would like to replace that too before it starts to leak.'

'Only if the total 'damage' in the bathroom will cost us under $100 OK.' I demanded.

I come home from feeding a co-workers cat and this is what's left of my shower...

No seriously. He tore out the whole shower.

'But babe' he said in a matter-of-fact voice, 'It NEEDED to be done'

I growled.

'Hey babe' he said while staring at the shower handles, 'I would prefer to have one knob for hot and cold. I hate using two. I just need to tear out this one wall I swear.'

'OK hon. No more than $200 OK.' I demanded again - raising his limit... barely.

'You know babe' he started again, 'I would really like to make shelves in the wall with the tile. I've got to tear out all three walls to do that. Oh, and I'd like to replace all the 1/2" water lines with 3/4" water lines so we can get more water pressure in here. I love you'

I held my tongue before slipping, 'Riiiiiiiight...'

This... is now our bathroom...

Can't find me? I'm in the fetal position sucking my thumb under our bed.