For Sunny

Update from BGSME! (last post)

For any of you that were concerned for my health based on my last blog entry declaring my love of Oreos and sweet treats, I received my annual physical results in the mail today:

Thyroid - normal
Hematocrit - normal (so I'm not anemic)
Cholesterol - normal!
Creatinine - normal (kidney function)
Glucose - normal

YAY for me! Healthy as a horse! I'm going to go have a treat to reward myself. . .

Best Grocery Store Moment Ever

We are at the grocery store and as usual get separated. When we are reunited I notice Kelly has a little something extra for himself in the cart.
Me: "Oh good now I can get myself a treat! Where is the cookie isle?"

My treat would have to be sweet of course - I crave sweet treats. I need sweets. I think I get that from my Grandpa Brock.
As luck would have it, the cookie isle was right in front of us!

Me: "Let's see what do I want?. . . " (as I reach for the Double Stuf Oreos)
Kelly: "Noooo, those are so bad for you please get something else. . . Like Fudge Stripes!

Ok I would entertain this idea. . . but. . . I really wanted Oreos. So I picked up the Fudge Stripes and decided to compare to see just how much worse Oreos are. AND THEY'RE NOT!!!! I couldn't believe it! Oreo's have less fat AND less Saturated fat! Everything else is the same! That white stuff is even more magical than I thought! Here all this time I thought it was basically crisco mixed with sugar!

Me: "SWEET! I'm getting the Oreos! They are better for us after all. . ."
Kelly: "I seriously don't know how you are alive."
Me: "It's in my genes."

Thanks Grandpa! XOXOXO

The Grudge

Rated D for Disgusting. This post may not be suitable for all audiences. Nausea discretion advised. The below is a true and accurate account of the horror that ensued in the bathroom of our old apartment as I recall. Nothing has been changed to protect the innocent - I wasn't even wearing rubber gloves and wish I had been wearing a mask or better yet a hood.

We FINALLY moved. Not back to ID but closer to my work. YAY! More about that later. I witnessed the most disgusting thing of my life while we were cleaning our old apartment after our move. If I may preface this with THERE IS NOTHING I HATE WORSE THAN CLEANING HAIR OUT OF THE DRAIN OF A BATHTUB. Seriously. Especially when it is not mine! In a "would you rather" game everything beats this for me. (Again, for the faint of heart you should stop here trust me) Two years ago we moved into our apartment. It was not as clean as I felt an apartment should be when someone new moves in but most of the things were things I am just particular about. The drain in my bathroom wasn't the best at draining but it wasn't like water pooled in the bottom of the shower - just a little lately. Everyone loses hair in the shower and am I the best at not letting it go down the drain? - no. But I don't let it all go down. AND when I clean the shower I always clean off the drain. And I use Drano when needed. So there was that to begin with. Also, I always thought my bathroom smelled weird. Was it because I don't always like to use the fan and it gets too humid? Was it because I feed the cat in there? Does my dirty laundry smell? Who knew? I reasoned it away with all of these explanations. We spend 15 minutes a day in the shower and like an hour more getting ready and going in and out of the bathroom every day. I didn't take a lot of time to question what was really going on. Last Saturday I found out. Now from this point forward a lot of the details are fuzzy because my defense mechanisms blocked a lot of the memory. But I started with my bathroom and planned to work forward through the rest of the house. Cleaned the sink - check! Cleaned the toilet - check! Cleaned the mirror - check! Shower door - check! Ok almost done! I get down on my knees to clean the bottom of the shower and there is some hair wrapped around (hold on I have to take a moment here to gag - it's all coming back to me. . . )


. . . . . . Ok. . . wrapped around the drain. I couldn't get it off so I went to get a flathead screwdriver. That worked fine. And what possessed me to do more I don't know. Maybe because I used to clean the drain in our sink growing up and there was always more there than what met the eye. But never more than what two girls could yank out with curlers and brushes in a couple weeks time. Still gross mind you. Gross enough to make it my least favorite thing to do. Nothing, NOTHING in my childhood or at any other time in my life thus far could have prepared me for what I pulled out of that drain. I got it part way out and started screaming. Kelly came running. I kept pulling. The smell hit me and I started dry heaving. Again the details start to become fuzzy. It was as big as the actual Grudge! (I would not be telling this story if it wasn't!) It was wet and moldy and chunky. (Reliving this is almost too much). Kelly's reaction was Ohh. OHHH! As a look of disgust and horror crossed his face. "What is that?!" I am still wretching, trying to get away from it. Begging, pleading my husband with "I can't do it! Oh my gosh - it's so gross! Ack ack! My eyes! My soul! "Please go get a plastic bag!" Gag gag! He runs away. "NOOOO!" "Save yourself!" "Come back! Don't leave me!" It's lying there in the bottom of the shower ominously. It may have moved on it's own, I'm not sure. I lost consciousness for a moment. My hero returns and valiantly scoops it up with the screwdriver into the bag, ties it off and disposes of it. All we could do was hold each other after that. We survived the Grudge. I told him few times have I ever loved him more in our marriage. He looked at me funny but that is how much it meant to me that he saved me from having to finish the thing off.

My shower experiences are filled with trepidation now. I look down at the drain and shudder, trying to shake the memory of that awful day. I fear what could be in my new drain - I pray I never find out. Ignorance is bliss. Word to the wise - don't try and be an overachiever, leave the drain cleaning to a plumber. And let's just take a minute to pay tribute to those plumbers - we salute you.

Grudge - Die you evil monster!

UGH!

It is snowing again in Seattle! Please come back rain. . . It's not that I don't like snow. It's pretty, it tastes good - but it doesn't belong here. We got enough in November. Honestly what I am most frustrated about is that we actually planned for it this time. They said it was coming at 4 pm. So we packed our bags and planned to stay in a hotel if it started snowing. What fun! We were not about to spend five hours trying to get home again. Four pm came and there was no sign of it. So then we decided it was a media exaggeration. Seven pm still no snow. On the drive home it started sputtering. By the time we got to Burien it was sticking to parked cars and the grass. The flakes got bigger, started coming down harder, and there is no sign of it letting up. Now 2 inches have fallen. They are telling us it is supposed to start raining around midnight. I really hope they are right and it stays warm enough not to freeze. Seattle metro has put chains on all 1100 of their buses so maybe they will actually be on time tomorrow. Should be a fun day! I have my hat, scarf and mittens out in preparation.

Emerald Downs - the Post I forgot to post in September

9/14/2010 - We were given tickets to the horse races this last weekend. We have never been to a horse race so we thought it would be fun. I was concerned about not having a hat to wear but wasn't going to let that ruin our outing. (As a side note they actually sell big floppy hats there!!! Isn't that funny!) So we are off to the races (hahaha) - using our new phone technology GPS it is only about 15 miles from our house. It is actually a pretty nice race track. We thought we would take a little cash and see what the betting was all about just to really experience it. Nothing crazy. IT WAS SO FUN! First of all we didn't know what we were doing. So we talked to one of the betting takers - I'm sure they have a more official name than that but I didn't ask - and get the 411 on what to do. Apparently you need the race schedule that tells you what horse is racing in what race, with what jockey, their number and their stats. $2.50 we have our schedule and then they have a little racing guide that tells you all about racing and the bets you can make. So the first race we watch the horses walk to the gate and put our bets on four different horses to win and none of them did. That's ok because there are ten races. So the next bet we bet three different horses for a show bet which means we win if our horse gets first, second or third. None of them did. :) We sat the next one out to get our bearings and review all of our betting options. The most expensive bet was like $3 - we could do this all day! I picked a horse to practice after listening to the announcers talk about them and watching them parade by (there is a science to this!) I liked Sis's Sis Kelly liked Night Raider - my horse won, his lost. Next race I put money on Mizzen You for the win, she was beautiful, silver and spunky! and Kelly bet on Have'n a Wild Time. And they're off! Down the straightway and around the first bend Ghost Tree, Clarinet and Mizzen You. Here comes Private Fortune! They're making their way around the second bend. Mizzen You is making her way to the front! It's neck and neck with Ghost Tree! Oh boy what a race! It's going to be a close one ladies and gentlemen! Mizzen You is pulling ahead...Ghost Tree is not giving up! What a race. . . and it's MIZZIN YOU by a nose!!!! I am jumping up and down waving my arms and cheering like I've just won a million dollars (turns out it was $13.50). SO exciting! You will notice I didn't mention Kelly's horse. . . she was still making her way down the straightaway. . . and did not cross the finish line. She seemed to be ok but for some reason just didn't have it in her. she seemed stubborn anyway. We head over to the winners circle to celebrate with our girl! It was so fun. Kelly at that point decides he is really good at picking the losers so for the next bet he picked his first choice and then we picked a completely different horse to win. We did a show bet again on three horses and two of them placed. We decided we were way ahead so it was time to head home. We treated ourselves to some ice cream and called it a day!

Kelly

Reasons I love Kelly:

#1 - He is so funny
#2 - He still gets facial expressions that I know he had when he was a little boy
#3 - He is patient
#4 - He is really smart
#5 - He is an amazing and talented pianist
#6 - He likes my cooking but more importantly, he cooks too!
#7 - He looks great in a suit
#8 - He dances in the kitchen
#9 - He hates my driving but he still lets me hold him hostage in the car every day
#10-He is passionate about the things he does

Just a few of the many!