Category Archives: the boys

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

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I do.  And it’s a fucking long ass drive!

Even longer when you have a dog on your lap the entire time.  And even longer still when you drive past those cattle farms.  And well, even longer than longer still when you can’t turn on the AC in the car, and you have a dog in your lap, and you’re afraid that you’re going to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, crossing over some mountain range.

But I’m not complaining.  Honest.  The time with the hubby was great.  The pupster was on his best behavior.  And thanks to having the little guy along for the ride, I was assured plenty of potty breaks.  Yay!  Overall, a great first half of a road trip.  Tomorrow we’ll actually get to stop and take pictures if the mood strikes us.  The wild flowers and poppies were in the glory all over the hills.  All those yellows, oranges and purples mixed in with the green…such a pretty sight.

I did learn that the little guy does NOT like the smell of cattle farms.  Poor thing actually turned to smell his butt thinking he had an accident or something.  He was mortified and then tried to jump into the backseat to escape the stench. Now, if you’ve even been unlucky enough to pass by some cattle farms, you know that there is NO escaping the stench.

He wasn’t a huge fan of the garlic farms either.  He should just be happy that it wasn’t freshly tilled garlic.  Then again, there’s always tomorrow since we plan to drive down the 101 to head home…right straight through Gilroy, home of the Garlic Festival.  Maybe I can talk the hubs into at least tasting some garlic ice cream.

So the hubs is off hanging with all the other Bruuuuuce fans.  I haven’t received any texts (then again, he’s live tweeting for his website), so he must be having a great show.  And of course, I enjoyed my bubble bath.  Luxury is a hot, hot bubble bath (in a tub you don’t have to clean), while drinking a skinny caramel macchiato and listening to the iPod (I won’t ruin this luxorious image by telling you what I was actually listening to – LOL).  Heavenly, I tell ya.

So now the pupster is hiding under the bed (still).  He’s afraid that I’ll be picking him up and taking him into the bathroom for a bath.  Goes to show you how often I take baths at our place…the dog automatically associates filling a tub with his getting a bath.  Poor thing.  I’m sure he’ll be fine by the time the hubs gets back.

On that note, I think it’s time to veg out in front of the TV.  We get movie channels in this here high quality hotel 😉  Or there’s always Jon & Kate Plus 8.

Later Y’all!

Birthday Season Begins Here in LA Blogger Gal Land

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Yes, I said “Birthday Season” and yes, I capitalized.  You see, we have eight birthdays between today and the first week in May (me! yay!) and yes, that’s only the beginning.  There’s easily another 5 or more to get us through until September.

But two of the three most important men in my life have their birthdays this week…

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Happy 9th Birthday Charlie Man!!! Hope the salmon was yummy.

And then toomorrow it’s my husband’s birthday. He’s not really into birthday celebrations (hello, my birthday celebrations typically last a week!) so there won’t be any swell gifts. Instead, I’ll get his car washed and then take him out to Palate Food + Wine in Glendale for dinner.

I’ve heard good things about Palate so it should be yummy. It’s one of the Patina guys setting up shop over on car row in Glendale. Not where you’d expect to see a fine dining establishment. I hear the building is an old meat packing place or something similar with some pretty funky decor.

The best part…they have an entire room just for CHEESE!!!!! Oh.My.God! Can you imagine!?!?! It’ll be heavenly! And a perfect way to start off Birthday Season. Bring it!

Which of course brings me to a question though…what do you get your hubs for his birthday or anniversary? Do you do the gift exchanges, or are you more the nice dinner or vacation type instead?

My House is Just Too Quiet

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quiet_loud

A couple weeks back, my favorite radio station changed format.  They went from non-sucky, non-screaming, totally hillarious talk radio and turned into yet another crappy ass, Top 40 station.  Around that time, I moved my radio from where it was in the kitchen, around to the otherside of the apartment – I figured I wouldn’t be listeming as much, so why did I need it nearby now.  So basically, without my favorite day time radio show and without my radio nearby, things have just been too damn quiet.

Now I know what you’re thinking…why can’t I just listen to music onlilne?  I could.  I guess.  Thing is, I like to have multiple tabs open on my computer.  This means I tend to suck up my computer’s whatevers.  Add to that keeping my Tweetdeck open and active and well, I tell myself that I’ll somehow manage to bog my computer down so much that it will be super slooooooow.  Yet in reality, I know that’s so not the case.

Of course, since the hubs is away this week at SXSW listening to, recording and shooting a gazillion bands, it’s even quieter still.  The only regular sound we’ve got going here is the non-stop dog barking (oh my god, he’s going to kill me if he can’t get quiet and stop barking at the neighbor’s dogs).  And well, between the silence and the non-stop barking, I think it’s becoming just too much for this poor soul to take.

Thank goodness I’ll be heading out shortly for cupcakes.  I love MeetUps and I love cupcakes.  That will give me some time away.  I’m just ready for the hubby to get back home tomorrow.

And now in honor of this very post, I’ve opened up el iTunes and I’m jamming to some ABBA.  Much better! Not so quiet now…The winner takes it all….

Home Alone

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When you’re home alone, do you do things differently, or notice that things freak you out more than usual?

Home Alone

Granted, I also live with a will-bark-at-anything dog and a scaredy cat cat, but between the two, there’s a lot going on.  Last night, right before I fell asleep, I heard a strange sound in the kitchen.  It almost sounded like the back door opened.  Mind you, nothing from ether of the boys, so it must’ve all been in my head.  Then again this morning, another odd sound.  And still nothing from the alarm boys.

So it got me thinking, when you’re home alone, do you freak out a little more easily?  I notice I’m more willing to lock the door than I am on any other, typical day.  Last night, I actually even wondered why we don’t have additional deadbolts on the doors – something that isn’t even a concern on any other night.  I also notice that I’m more likely to close the blinds and windows.  Which of course is crazy because it’s really not any different than any other day or night.

So I ask you, do you do anything differently when you’re home alone?*

*Like maybe not announcing to the blogosphere that you’re home alone?

Stuff Like This Totally Makes Me Cry

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I’m often moved by the plight of homelessness. More often than not though, I’m not really prompted to DO something. I give on the freeway off ramps when I can – water, money, food. I always smile to let the folks know that they’re not invisible. I donate our food to local foodbanks (which reminds me that I really should go through our cupboards already).

But whenever I see an indigent person with a dog, it just breaks my heart. So much so that I’ve gotten in the habit of keeping dog food samples (from my local pet shop) in the glove box so that I can hand them out. This picture, and the caption, just brings me to tears.

funny dog pictures

Excuse me, I must go love my boys and feed them a couple of cookies right now.

Get the First Aid Kit Ready, ‘Cuz Mama’s Gonna Cook

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Those are the very words that just came from my husband’s mouth.  This would be quite funny, as I’m a pretty decent cook and baker, but sadly, I have the wounds to support this statement.  Let me recap for you…

Thanksgiving Day

  • I broke one of the Reidel wine glasses because I wasn’t thinking, plain and simply.  I put a stoneware casserole dish on top of the glass in the drainer, so it really wasn’t a surprise – though that didn’t mean I didn’t curse.
  • I dropped half a dozen eggs on the floor.  Mind you, I needed each and every one of those eggs.  Luckily, since it was for cooking later and they’d need to be broken anyway, I salvaged the cracked ones.
  • I was opened a can for the corn casserole and thought it would be smart to put the trash into the can and sliced my finger something fierce.
  • I went into the one and only pantry (apartment living sometimes sucks!) and was looking for my can of creamed corn for the casserole and managed to knock over the fish sauce and spill it all over me.  Thankfully, I was wearing an apron.

Friday

  • I helped my friend out in her shop.  It was my job to mix the dry oil sprays.  I managed to get scented oil into my wounded and unbandaged finger (that I sliced just yesterday – see above).  Not related to cooking, but still hurt like a mutha!

Saturday

  • All was good since I didn’t cook at all.

Sunday/Today

  • Spilled grease all over my own work space in the kitchen.
  • Nearly dropped the dirty frying pan…on me!
  • Noticed the handle to the can opener might be too near the fire.  I pick it up, meant to smell it to see if it smelled like it was melting and burnt my lip!!  Seriously, it’s a nasty burn.

There were other various incidents this weekend, but to be honest, it’s all just one big injury-filled blur to me.  So yeah, since I plan on making some cookies to ship to my dad this year, I think I might be better off if we do dig out that emergency kit.  Or maybe I should just cheat and buy the pre-made cookie rolls from William Sonoma and call it a day.

Nothing Beats a Good Snuggle With the Boys

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We got home late last night, after midnight.  By the time we went to bed it was 1:30 or so.  Before we could even think about settling down, the cat demanded that we give him the attention he felt he deserved.  Of course, by the time we went to bed, he was meowing up a storm to let us know that he wasn’t yet ready for bed.

We woke up far too early this morning, around 8:30 or so.  Again, more loving with the cat.  We headed out to breakfast (Mexican, yum – you don’t quite realize how much you miss certain flavors when you’re away).  Then it was on to pick up the pupster.    The cat saw us walking up the walk together and let out two big meows and ran to the door.  As soon as we walked in the door, the cat was rubbing up against the dog welcoming him home and trying to snuggle with him on the couch.

From there it was back to bed for this bunch.  All four of us fell back to sleep for two hours or so.  I woke up so hot from having both boys snuggled up so tight.  Well that and the fact that it’s 90+ degrees out.  Why the hell is it 90 anything in the middle of November???

I feel a bit better.  I’m not as congested as I was.  There’s hope this might not turn into an infection yet.  Then again, half of LA County is on fire and the smoke and ash in the air is insane.  So who knows.  I’m just thankful we didn’t come home to any fires in Griffith Park.  That would have just been too much.  We’re still waiting to hear from my BIL to find out how he is.  There’s a mass amount of fire activity over in his neck of the woods and he’s just up the hill from all of it (with his exit on the freeway being closed on and off).

This has to have been one of the world’s most boring posts. To make it up to you, here are a couple videos from our trip around Dublin. If you listen closely you can hear the tour guide (see, I did get some Irish for you CurlyWurly).

More of our bus tour, this time covering the only remaining “old wall” of the Dublina and the Guinness area (I talk a bit through this one a bit, repeating what the tour guide says). Guinness bought up tons of acreage in the city and then took a 9000 year lease on it all. Wow.

PS – it’s not easy to shut off the Flip when you’re wearing gloves