Write on, Yo

happy campers

 

this was our view from our fancy air mattress.  under the trees, under the stars, ringing in a new year.

hotdogs and bacon burgers.

me with matt.

matt writing his name on his cup.

 

perfect dinner.

the fam.  getting fire ready.

 

yes, that's wine in a plastic cup.  it's very good wine.  in a plastic cup.  don't drink wine out of plastic cups, unless it's cheap wine and you don't care.  it didn't taste like plastic, but it didn't taste right.  still...dude, we drank wine while camping.

we brought a couple bottles of wine with us, and plenty of marshmallows.  for birthday dinner, we had carne asada.  the boys (our nephews, 12 and 14) had marshmallows for breakfast.  who was i to say no to them?  it was my birthday weekend.  there were marshmallows for breakfast.  we played uno, checkers, yes, we even played twister!  we played gin, speed, and uno again.

i made chocolate cupcakes and brought frosting and candles.  we never got to the cupcakes.  s'mores were all the rage, and that was fine with me.

my sister took our two nephews for a FOUR MILE HIKE on saturday while phill and i headed "to town" to get more propane and more lanterns and batteries.

we talked to our nephews about ess ee ecks.  i don't know who brought it up.  i think matt mentioned having to go to sex ed class.  jon said he'd been a couple of times already.  we told them to be careful because there were a lot of diseases out there.  matt asked "like ibs?"  i thought, irritable bowel syndrome, and asked what ibs was.  he said "itchy ball syndrome."  i said yes, like itchy ball syndrome.  the next day jon was walking around the campsite without shoes or socks on.  i hollered after him to put shoes on.  and matt and phill were standing near me.  i stage whispered to mat "because there are things in the ground.  like gonorrhea!"  his eyes got big.  he looked at phill.  phill said to ignore me.

the boys are so much fun.  i've said it before, they are so much fun.  and i feel so lucky to get to pick on them and love them and help them.  mostly to pick on them.  they have such a great sense of humor.  their mom said they had SO much fun.  they were so relaxed when they got back. 

we are definitely doing this waaaay more often.  more pictures to follow.  full of twister and, well, i'll post my favorite pic now.  okay, two of my favorite pics.  alright.

melissa sleeping on saturday morning.  with her sunglasses on.

phill driving to the ranger station to complain about our neighbors who were throwing axes at trees and playing country music LOUD, and chopping down said trees.  nevermind that the area is recovering from losing 90% of its trees.  these people were idiots.  seriously and truly.  they were the rudest campers i've ever encountered.  the rangers came by three times to tell them to keep it down.  finally, around 1030 the rangers put out their fire and told them to go to bed!!

my boys.  

regrowth

the hike was thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisss long!

janelle, kelley, caron... proof that i played twister.  in the dirt.  AFTER turning 31.  notice my hand bracing myself on my leg?  so old.

don't spray bug spray in your BEER!!

up, up, and away!

proof that mel's car was in the wilderness. 

i forgot to add a title before i started writing this, so now the link is going to be something ridiculously long. like phill's...

As stolen from her.  Is that a sentence?

Accent: I don't have one.  But I keep a mean SoCal Girl accent in my cupboards, I do a good redneck one, and if you get me drunk enough, I'll bring out my Russian/Irish/French accent.  In one.

Breakfast or no breakfast: Coffee for breakfast during the week.  I am up for any kind of breakfasty place on the weekend, though.  I lurve me some brunch.

Chore I don’t care for: Dishes. LIke doing laundry though.  Not a fan of the folding.

Dog or Cat: I lurve puppy breath.  I love how they play and get exhausted and just PLOP when they've had enough.  I will take my puppies (all named Indiana) to Katrina's house every weekend when we have Waffle Sunday.

Essential Electronics: I can't think of an essential.

Favorite Cologne: Phill's neck.

Gold or Silver: Silver. Gold is for teefs and Mr. T.

Handbag I carry most often: My REI one.  The orange with the swirlies.

Insomnia: Only if I'm freaking out about something.  Like something being planned involving 19 people showing up at the same time at the same place.  And then it gets ugly.  I end up in a sobbing heap.  I love naps.  I saw a license plate frame today that said "I'd rather be napping."

Job Title: Data Analyst.  I mine for data.  Fish for it in data buckets.  Throw life jackets into data pools.  And then I add formulas, and change fonts and colors.  And put it into graphs and charts.  And then I give it to people.

Kids: None.  Sort of one.  Kinda.  Halfa one?  He has one.  I just steal her paint brushes.

Living Arrangements: Ever evolving.

Most Admirable Trait: I'll answer the phone whenever you call.  I'll drive anywhere for you.  If I like you.  I will make you cupcakes.

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: I was totally mean to my little sister.  Until she had enough and started hitting me back.  And sitting on me and punching me.  Then I left her alone.  Hi, Mel.  Lurve you.  Cupcake?

Overnight hospital stays: I went into the hospital around 230 am once.  For to watch the birth of my god daughter.  Not that I watched.  I brought magazines.  And I looked at the ceiling or the wall while holding a foot and a knee.  I think I was in the hospital for pneumonia when I was months old.

Phobias: Butterflies.  No joke.  I hate them.  I am terrified of them.  And moths.  And I don't like dragonflies that much.  Or those flying daddy long legs fuckers.  I also hate crossing train tracks.  I always think the arms are going to be broken and I'll just drive through SPLAT into a train.  Or trolley.

Quote: We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.  Arthur O'Shaughnessy

Reason to smile: It differs daily.  A good cup 'o joe.  Finding a good post I forgot about.  The perfect comments.  Leaving the keys with the most awesomest guest bloggers on the face of the planet.  Fresh sheets.  The sky after a storm.  Cold weather.  Sleepy Sunday mornings.  A freshly washed car with  fresh quarts of oil and a full tank of gas.  A spanking new mug.  Because I only have 37 mugs right now.  And I'm not exaggerating.  There might be more.

Siblings: Technically, two sisters. One that I love dearly, and another one who blahblahblah.  I don't know what to do with her.  My gut tells me that she'll never change (years and years of the same behavior), but I'd like to have an older sister again.  Or once.  We haven't spoken.  I told her I blocked her email address.  And I did.  She said she was sorry for whatever it was she did.  Nevermind the 8 million emails that went back and forth to her explaining everything.  But blahhblahblahaaa--goodness.  I have a few others that I've adopted, or that have adopted me.  One is in Eastern Europe, and the other who works down the hall from me.  We're on the same M&M schedule.  And we both make fun of each other's thighs.

Time I wake up: 6am, then 720am.  Unless Ramona Quimby is with us.  Then 610 am and IT'S TIME TO PLAY.

Unusual Talent or Skill: I can change my pants while driving.  True story.  No one's ever seen it because no one's brave enough to sit in the passenger seat while I change my pants while driving.  That Allstate commercial with Barack Obama?  Oh man, I jumped out of my skin when "Mr. Change My Pants While Driving" drove by, CHANGING HIS PANTS WHILE DRIVING!  There's some other stuff, but I don't write about some things in a public forum.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Olives. Tomatoes raw. I will try everything at least once, but considering my toddler food habits, it’s surprising I don’t hate more.

Worst Habit: I bite off my split ends. I bite my nails. I roll my eyes a lot.

X-rays: Mouth, like 80 times this past year.  Once after I had a titanium screw drilled into my jaw.  I gotta get a hold of that.  Once of my ribs a few years ago, my knee in high school.  Do MRIs count?  I had one of my uteral area.  The End.  Wait, morphine ROCKS.  Percodan sucks.  Can I get a morphine mocha?

Yummy Stuff: Salt.  Sushi.

Zoo Animal I Like Most: PENGUINS!  Oh, wait.  That's Sea World.  Crap.  It'll have to do.  I don't like the zoo.  It smells like zoo animals.  Especially on a humid HOT day.

Thanks to anyone who got to the end of this.  Click on the links where I love myself in a public forum.  This whole thing started at me looking for a post about SF, in honor of blogher.  Maybe I'll keep looking for it.

Did you see the posts that Christy posted and that Katrina posted and that The Hen posted?  I lurve them.  And I've never even drinked with any of them.  I haven't posted my feelers about how awesome they are.  Seriously, I had my feelers touched.  Y'all touched my feelers and made me all tingly inside.  And I still owe pictures to all the stalkers in the hizzle.  You know, of the camping weekend BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZAAAAA!!

Peace out, y'all.  I'm off to bed.  Longest post ever.  That's not true.  But I think this is the postest with the mostest links to myself.  Can't find the SF post.  I think it's in a journal somewheres.

PS--hahaha!!  i never got to the vegetable one and the worst habit one.  i meant to go back and change them, but the originals stuck, from the place where i stole it.

PPS--did you see all the capital letters i used at the right times?  like a true grown up.  like a 31 year old.

beach cruisers and surfwax

i love the smell of beach. i love the way it clings to you when you step outside in the morning. i love the morning fog down the street, hanging between the trees. it makes me want to ditch work and ride my beach cruiser. i could ride my bike to the bike shop that's been there forever. holland's bicycles. get some new tassels for the handlebars. maybe a fancy basket. their website states "Please stop by, say hello, and browse. Everyone is welcome; including children with ice cream cones, cats, dogs, and folks in swimming suits and bare feet."

i used to live here. there. whatever. i went to middle school and high school there. the schools have changed, my what an upgrade. the library is bigger and better (oh, the library! i could fill my basket full of books!). the hills, the one way streets, the golf carts, the cops pulling bicyclists over for not stopping at stop signs. the old houses. the long, narrow houses typical of the area.

the view over the bridge in the morning, or at any time of day makes me feel lucky to live in this town. petco park, planes landing, sail boats, downtown, the mountains. it totally makes me want to ditch work. and it gives me such a different perspective.

i liked high school here. there. whatever. wendy changed her clothes on the side of that street, in the bed of her truck after surfing. some guy walked by and scowled at her. i said, "what, it's a bathing suit?" so it probably wasn't a bathing suit. she was changing into her cap and gown. graduation.

trevor asked where i was that afternoon. i could have helped paint his bike for the parade.

sneaking out of the house to hang out in the park a few blocks away.

riding my bike down the street with no hands, the smell of sea air hitting my face almost made me cry.

surfing in november wearing a wetsuit that was too big. surfing in the afternoon after school... starsky and hutch on the living room floor in a grandmother's house that smelled of beach. surf racks. surf wax.

running the sand dunes with the rest of the volleyball team. proud of myself and my body. i was first to the lifeguard station.

star park and a pipe made in woodshop. desiree, ashley, and me. one of them is a photographer in san diego. i wonder what happened to the other one.

everywhere, everywhere... on beach cruisers.

later on, life off the island, it was still home.

dinner at beth's house. my first grown up dinner with people that weren't grown ups. she made some sort of pasta. with dried tomatoes. we sat on the patio on her roof. it was cold. i didn't like the dried tomatoes. i didn't like the wine. we were invincible.

going to ben's house in the middle of the night... wendy and i painted on his bedroom window with red lipstick. there was probably a picture of a penis. and a flower.

her mom would make us cookies and save some cookie dough. even though we were less than ten miles away, going home seemed so far away. going "to the island", so grown up.

haha... wendy and the license plates. i was too scared to do it. three of them? or four. take that, bitches.

it's not home anymore. it's forgotten my name. ghosts sit in coffee shops, stop at stop signs, ride their bikes to the other side of the island. ghosts see through me, wave at others behind me.

and now, beach cruisers and surf wax. still. were we ever that young?

20 Reasons Why I love Yo (everyday leading up to and) ON... Her BIRTHDAY!

1. She's a LADY and she says so.
2. She understands my Ramona Quimby references.
3. Because I like when she spells lurrrve .
4. And ded.
5. ...And dahlink
6. Because she makes A-cup cakes.
7. And drinks Lactaid - which I always forget is so delicious.
8. Because sometimes she's a flake. but not in a mean way. and she gets it when you have to be one too.
9. Because she makes the best coffee in the land
10. And she makes it FOR me when I get distracted during the measurements
11. Because she has lots of lip gloss and coffee mugs
12. But mostly because she shares them
13. Because she's a data guru/excel genius.
14. And also the official webmaster of my Myspace page and blog.
15. Because she doesn't just Listen - she Understands
16. And never Judges
17. Except people we hate. And then it's fine.
18. Because she knows about love. Like - Real Love
19. And Real Friends
20. And Mostly because she's the wittiest person I know. and the Bestest Work Wife in the world.

Happy Birthday Yo! I love you more than I hate camping.

Love Always, BFF, 143, BYOB,

Katrina

the linguistical visionista behind your webmasterly blog yolandalessfridays.blogspot.com (obviously I don't know how to make a link since you are my webmaster and you are obviously on BS = Birthday Sabbatical) originally inspired by you and your 9/80 workweek.
=====
Katrina can be found here.  Where her blog address is named a little after Yolanda.

Let's go with Yo...

Apologies to any normal readers of Write on, Yo....the star of this show is having a birthday mini break...and she asked me to send her apologies!

I thought Yo deserved a really spoiling birthday treat...but what to give her? After a great deal of thought....it had to be a trip to the circus!

Come on everyone, let's go with Yo....to Giffords Circus...

The show has a cockerel theme this time...

The trapeze girl is great fun...I want her boots...

The Band are original bunch with distinctly Spanish flavour...

Tweedy the clown is in fine form...lots of broom gags...

Does the percussionist realise his girl is really a boy?

Nell and her horse are hot to trot...

Nell likes us to be close to the action...

Hope none of you are alllergic..

Nell Gifford has a break with the children...

The guys on the Russian beam are something else...

Tweedy appears in a new guise for the finale...

Too quickly the show is over...I hope you enjoyed the show...shall we run away and join the circus?