Friday, August 29, 2014

Another One Rides The Bus

I've finally gotten around to checking out Weird Al Yankovic's new album, Mandatory Fun, and my suspicions are confirmed: IT'S FREAKING AWESOME. The parodies are (of course) hilarious (Word Crimes and Tacky had me giggling pleasantly on the sofa), which is how I usually like my Weird Al. But then, I came upon First World Problems, and I was blown away--not a parody, but a very dead on Pixies style song, down to the Frank Black style shout-singing and the Kim Deal backing vocals. Amazing!


But the prize winner was an older video, another in-the-style-of type, combining two of my favorite things: palindromes and Bob Dylan impressions. I was pretty much laughing myself silly, and that made for a very happy me!


You're welcome!

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Free & Easy

Holy crap, I love TBT so much! It's like an instant blog post that allows, nay, DEMANDS that I spend hours going through my old photos. And looky here what I found:


My 24th birthday at Benihana! January, 2000. An yes, that handsome devil IS my brother Paul.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer

Somehow, I decided that work, starting second grade, and my extraordinarily busy life in general didn't supply me enough tasks, responsibilities or feelings of panic. So naturally I volunteered to coach Samson's soccer team this season. You know, because I'm totally bat-shit crazy.

The AYSO powers that be took pity on me and placed me as assistant coach. And that, my friends, is awesome because I haven't played soccer in nearly 30 years. But I can organize snack duty, plan pizza parties, and make team banners like nobody's business, so I think we're going to be OK.

Anybody want to sponsor a team of super amazing 6 year olds? You get a team plaque with your name on it at the end of the season!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Day One

Second Grade, meet Samson. Prepare to be rocked.


And yes, that is a tiger shirt he's wearing. Roar!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

No hat today for the tower.


Coming soon: My Cat Is the Cutest Cat in the World, First Day of Second Grade, and Getting Loomed Up.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Cold Blooded Old Times


Wait...what? WHAT? I comepletely understand "classic" but "oldies"?! Really? REALLY??

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Travelin' On

TBT: Bodrum, Turkey--May 2007


Little Green Bag

(Repost from 8/8/14 which I somehow accidentally deleted. D'oh!)


Well, it's not so little. And it's more aquamarine than green. But it is a bag, and I love it! It came in my first Stitch Fix box, and it's my favorite item out of the five very reasonable fashion selections that Haley, my stylist for this box, chose for me. Mind you, the choices were based on a hastily completed online form about my likes and dislikes, fashion and design-wise. Which can be (and was) easily boiled down into three things:

1. jeans

2. t shirts

3. comfort

The Stitch Fix people took this to mean something like:

1. skinny jeans

2. sleeveless blouses

3. adventure

Surprisingly, I ended up keeping all five items in the box, including the skinny jeans (yikes!) and a few definitely-not-my-normal-style tops. Chances are, if I wear these clothes as one well put together outfit, I will end up looking somewhat like an adult. I suppose that was my goal, so this is good. Technically. But it's going to take more than a bright green bag to get me out of my comfort zone of $5 Old Navy t-shirts. Baby steps.

While I was posing in front of the mirror with my bold and daring new bag, the kiddo informed me of his opinion: "I like your oldbag better." Fine, I said. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and I appreciate yours, six-year-old boy in army greensweats with a hole in the rear. "But I suppose you can use this one occasionally."

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

All You Need Is Love


That's right, love is all you need. 14 years after I fell madly in love with him and seven years after we tied the knot, we still have a seemingly endless supply of it--for each other, for our family, for our friends, for life, for our incredible luck and for our complete awesomeness. Happy Anniversary, Max--and here's to seventy more years of our love.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Gone Daddy Gone


Just like summer vacation, that bar of chocolate in the fridge at work that has been getting smaller and smaller every day, and my patience for road-hog-bicyclists, the tower this morning is pretty much gone.

In other news, I was showing off my fancy new jeans to Max this morning, anxiously seeking approval (I don't usually wear anything fancy or new), and Samson announces from across the kitchen, with a mouthful of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, "You look like a hippie."

Friday, August 15, 2014

Baby Got Back

Woah! I was SO into KPAUL yesterday that I completely forgot about Throwback Thursday! Yikes! Please accept the following as my late entry into the fabulous world of TBT:


Before I had glasses! So I'm guessing this must be early 1977. Which makes my brother Paul about a year younger than Samson and my dad THREE YEARS younger than me! DOUBLE YIKES!

Shout out to my super crafty mom who:

A) Made the matching shirts/dress! 
B) Painted that super graphic on the living room wall!
and C) Took/Sent me this picture in the first place!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Rock Show

Oh joy of joys, KFOG is celebrating Paul McCartney's show tonight by calling themselves KPAUL and playing all Beatles, Wings & Paul McCartney music ALL. DAY. LONG. My favorite today so far was Say Say Say with Michael Jackson. Happy Morning Commute achieved!


Super classy, KFOG! I haven't even had to listen to 103.7's HD2 station, Sunny Radio, which is--of course--adult contemporary soft hits (AKA Soft AC. Yikes.) today. So thank you for that.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Don't Do Me Like That

Dear Jerk Store,

I'm sorry to bother you, but I think I received a delivery this morning that I did not order. It consisted of one super shitty commute, and included a complete lack of space and consideration from other drivers. I did not request the incessant tailgating, nor did I ask to be cut off repeatedly. I'm pretty sure I would remember if I had ordered the last-minute lane changers without signals. Please be sure to credit my Happy Morning account with one dozen drivers who wave "thank you" when you let them in, three boxes of awesome 10 at 10's on the KFOG HD station, and one box of every light between Alameda and 280 being green. I appreciate your support!

Sincerely,
Me

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Danger! High Voltage

Oh, happy day! I finally got the LC-A pictures from our New York trip developed and uploaded! Let us bask in the glory!


Sparklers on July 4th! Thanks, Uncle Paul! Not quite finished basking? Try this:


OK, enough basking. Back to feeling sad about Robin Williams.

Monday, August 11, 2014

New Sensation


A new regular feature for Extra Super Fantastic: Sutro Tower Monday. Yes, it's a bit of a cheat post, and I'm OK with that.

Thursday, August 07, 2014

Back In Your Life

Let's celebrate my triumphant return to daily blogging by taking advantage of the easiest post of the week: Throwback Thursday! IT'S ON A STICK!

Minnesota State Fair, September 2009

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Magic

I haven't kept up with the toddler TV scene, but back in the day of potty training and Go-Gurt, we watched a shit-ton of Disney Junior in our house. It was the heyday of Mickey Mouse Club House, Little Einsteins, and some sort of bastardized version of Winnie the Pooh. There were fillers like Choo-Choo-Soul (yes, is was like Soul Train for 3 year olds), and the power duo of Doc McStuffins and Sophia the First were just getting started.

The channel's theme jingle proclaimed "Disney Junior: Where the Magic Begins!" (It's towards the end of this promo video. Watch it only if you want it stuck in your head, too.) Whether or not the magic began there is debatable. What is not debatable, however, is the fact that this jingle has been stuck in my head for the last 5 years. On a daily basis. Luckily, the "Disney Junior" portion can be replaced by just about any four-to-five-syllable word or set of words. Observe:

"Turkey Sandwich: Where the Magic Begins!"

"Getting new shoes: Where the Magic Begins!"

"Pizza delivery: Where the Magic Begins!"

"Going to Mexico: Where the Magic Begins!"

"Throwback Thursday: Where the Magic Begins!"

This obviously has many applicable uses. For example, it is a fun and helpful way to encourage the kiddo to do his chores and such:

"Setting the table: Where the Magic Begins!"

"Eat your broccoli: Where the Magic Begins!"

"Doing dishes: Where the Magic Begins!"

And as I walked back to work from the local food truckery today with my Chimmichurri Steak Salad, I silently sang to myself  "Mission Dispatch: Where the Magic Begins!"

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Lucky 7

Seven things that I have been doing since my last blog post nearly four weeks ago:

1. Looking at a great deal of baby pictures of Samson, who will turn seven soon. Guh.
2. Disposing of the dead critters that my cats AND dog have brought me: 1. a mouse (inside the house! yikes!) and 2. a squirrel in the back yard. How on earth did Turkey Sandwich catch a squirrel? Seriously.
3.  Shopping for school clothes and school supplies and generally getting ready for second grade--WHAT?!--which begins in a few short weeks.
4. Celebrating my sister-in-law's engagement to a handsome and charming young man.
5. Complaining about my stupid lack of sleep due to the stupid exercise class that I stupidly signed up for and which starts at 5-stupid-30 in the morning.
6. Enjoying the ridiculously warm and windless weather that has turned our backyard into a place to be, not just look at.
7. Breathing yet another sigh of relief that my MRI last Friday was clean and showed no new growth in the area where that pesky brain tumor was removed nearly 5 years ago.

So, obviously, I've been way to busy/happy/tired/preoccupied/complainy to blog regularly. Or at all. I hope to rectify this situation by eating more chocolate on a regular basis. I don't know how that would help, but I'm confident that it will.