Too Good to be True!

Today for lunch, John and I tried a new sandwich place in SLO…The Giant Grinder. As some of you know I am quite the sandwich coinsure…ok I’m super picky…BUT sandwiches are one of my favorite foods. I don’t just settle for crap sandos either... like Subway, (although when I’m trying to eat healthy and save money I do go there. I mean Jared is such a charmer, how can I avoid that place?).

I read about the grinder in the paper. (Here is a better article than the one I read). It said it was family run business that was trying to bring the East Coast style sandwiches to the West Coast. It sounded pretty interesting and definitely something I'd like to try.

So John and head to the tiny shop and it’s totally packed! We actually had to wait about a half an hour for our sandos, but one good thing was that a small table did clear up so we were able to eat there. (I think there are 6 seats total in the place). Let me just say that the sandwiches were TOTALLY worth the wait!! They were SO good. I decided to order their turkey sandwich to see how it compares to the other turkeys that I get. I did alter the order slightly by getting it without peppers, but this sandwich also came with oil, salt, and pepper. The sour dough roll was super fresh and tasty, and the meat was sliced nice and thin. Just my style. Even John liked it with the veggies on it!!!! Granted it was only lettuce and tomatoes, but that says more than you can imagine! He got the meatball sandwich and it was just as good. The tomato sauce was really flavorful and the bread was toasted perfectly…hard on the outside, and nice and soft on the inside.

My sandwich reminded me of a deli that used to be in Fortuna a LONG time ago. Now I need help from you Fortuna readers to verify that there was an actual deli where I remember. It was kind of sketchy inside and had a ton of dark wood, and had booths inside. I remember going there multiple times with my mom having great sandwiches with the really skinny shredded lettuce. It was located on main street on a corner...the corner across from Green’s Pharmacy, and I think Redwood Bootery. I can’t remember what was on the other corner, but I think the other corner was the same block as John's Club. However now on that corner it’s a newer building (20 years old) and I think Allen Baird had an office in there? I think it was on the same street as Diana’s was on too. Is this ringing any bells??? For you youngsters, can you ask your parents?

I feel so lucky to have yet ANOTHER great restaurant in SLO. It's just hard to imagine that there are that many good places to eat around here in such a small radius. I never dreamed of living in a place that would have 3 good delis. Are you kidding me? I must have already died and gone to heaven!

So now to all you local San Luis County peeps…go get yourself a grinder! You will not be disappointed. I would advise calling in your order if you go during lunchtime. That seems to be the smartest move. I would link to their website, but it’s not up and running. They have the address just no site…maybe they need a designer…who will work in trade…free sandos for life? I’ll take it!

Somthing Smells Good!

Here is the apron I made for my mom for Christmas. I know I said I was going to post these AGES ago, but I haven't had much time due to Guitar Hero. (I swear that thing is like the black hole). I think she was pretty excited about it, even if it was a pretty easy project.

Here are the aprons I made for Rebekkah and her daughter Sydney. These were a lot of fun, because I thought fabric was so cute. I was really wingin' it with Syd's apron since I didn't have a patter, but luckily it looked good on her. (I know...I know...I should have posted the photos of her in the apron, but it's almost my bed time, so you peeps need to take what I'm dishin' out!).

(I did not make the chef hat, but I did add her name to it.)

Hodgepodge

This is what my weekend consisted of...
homemade breakfast burritos. Can you tell which one is mine and which one is John's?

I also had my sewing day with Jen and Sam. Here are the fabrics I used:
We actually got a lot done today. Even Sam got to work on her own project (instead of teaching us the whole time). Jen even finished a cute child's apron and two book totes. As I was telling my mom about them she brought it to my attention that I did not get a photo of any of her finished products! They were really cute too. Jen and Sam are both great house guests. Every time they leave there is never even a trace that people were over! Let me tell you that we make quite a mess with all of the eating and sewing we do. I definitely don't think I am as good of a house guest as they are, so I guess it's a pretty good thing that I'm the host!

You will still have to wait until I unveil my project...even though the person I am making them for has been having some serious computer issues. It might take me a bit more time to finish my project though because I'm waiting on getting another material for it. A computer printing material...so exciting!

During the afternoon, John got the following photo from his brother-in-law:
That is right! It was snowing up in Humboldt today! I couldn't believe it! I was so jealous I wasn't there. (Yes...I think Maddy is holding a bowl of snow).

After we were done sewing I got online to harass my mom about not sending any snow photos, but she already had! Here is one photo of their back deck.
Isn't it beautiful? I told her she should take some more photos and use one for her Christmas cards next year. Then she sent me a cute video of their doggies in their first snow ever!

My mom was very excited about the snow, and even made sure I could hear the snow crunch when she went outside to measure how many inches they had gotten. (1.25 inches). However about 2 hours later I got a call from her and she was NOT that excited since they were currently without power. Who knows when their power will get turned back on...hopefully by tomorrow!

This past week on one of the really stormy days, John and I headed downtown to check out the creek. (We often do that when it rains alot, since we are very sheltered and get really excited when the weather is not 75 degrees). Once again the creek did not fail us and was really full. More like a mini river if you ask me. I took the following video as proof. I know this may not be that impressive if you don't know what the creek is normally like...but normally there is barely enough water to call it a creek.



Three years ago on New Year's Day it was another really rainy day so we headed down to the creek, along with Molly A., to check the scene. Let me tell you that we were not disappointed! I think just minutes before we got there a huge tree had fallen:
Thank goodness Molly had her cell phone which allowed us to capture this historic moment. Just as we were about to leave a cop/park ranger showed up with some yellow caution tape. I totally thought of calling the Tribune to break the story, but decided against it.

Since this is quite the hodgepodge of photos, I also thought I would include this one:
John's bro-in-law sent this to John a few weeks ago while they were out at their cabin. I guess it had been raining there and he was able to sneak up upon this baby deer and capture it. Here is his apprentice posing for the shot. I thought it was pretty cute as you can tell his dad told him exactly how to hold the deer down.

And lastly...my sister sent this gem of a photo from her wedding:

I think the dude's expressions in he background say it all.

Mini Horse Security

One of my favorite shows that is actually airing NEW episodes right now is Rob and Big (on MTV). Now if you have not had a chance to get to know Rob, Big Black, Meaty, and Mini Horse, I HIGHLY suggest you tune in. New episodes are on Tuesday nights at 10 or 10:30pm...I'm not sure. I'm sleeping at that time! Cut me some slack…you know all of my TV watching is done via my DVR (greatest invention EVER). You know they should really rename it…ATRE…Awesomeist Technology Device Ever. Then they can rename the ipod too to iSATDE…Second Awesomeist Technology Device Ever.

Anyway the last Rob and Big episode hit a little too close to home when all four of them, (animals included), took a road trip to Santa Rosa…and of course passing through SLO County!! Their quest was to enter Mini Horse in a Mini Horse Competition. You heard me right. There is actually a large mini horse community that holds showing competitions! What is WORSE is that was held in Santa Rosa! I was so embarrassed. Granted that isn't Humboldt County...but pretty darn close…especially when growing up, SR was the 'big city' we'd get to visit to shop at Macy's and eat at Chick-Fil-A and Tony Roma's.

On their way up north they stopped in Pismo for the night and also went dune bugying. Right when they started brodying out on the dunes John and I looked at each other at the same time and said 'Why haven't we done that?' It looked like SO much fun.

I am pretty bummed that our paths didn't cross when they were in town. Could you imagine? I could have asked them if they needed a tour guide for the trip since they were headed up to my old stompin' grounds. I mean I could have at least shown them where the mall is!

The show proceeded to get funnier and funnier, with them stopping at a Spa in Napa and taking a mud bath. Now we knew there was no way BB would be able to fit into that small tub, and the poor dude totally didn't! He kept trying to squish his way in there, but all he was doing was pushing the mud out of the tub. Let me tell you that I felt sorry for the clean up crew for that room.

They finally made it to SR with all the serious mini horse competitors. It was really interesting to see their costumes along with one hard core lady who was even wearing a vest made out of a horse material.

At one point they were told by one lady on the DL that Mini Horse needed a haircut because he was lookin' pretty ghetto. Once Mini Horse got a makeover, and the two dudes put on their bling cowboy outfits they were ready! I won't tell you how it ends, because you really have to watch it for yourself if you get the chance. You know MTV will rerun it about 500 more times before next Tuesday.

It is truly amazing how each season of the show has gotten better and better. I am afraid that this could be the last, because in the clip below Rob says how Big Black recently got married.

Check out this clip if you have a chance. It's about 9 minutes but pretty funny, and will also give you a good idea if you would enjoy the show...which I know you would!

2 Legit 2 Quit

I have a legit excuse for this week entry. I spent 1.5 hours in the fabric store tonight...hence taking my blog time.

Jen, Sam and I are having another sewing get together this weekend and I'm actually making something that requires more than one kind of fabric! I am very excited, however I had no idea how overwhelming it would be to pick out 9 different fabrics and have them all go together. I seriously almost walked out of the store twice because I was so frustrated, and after all that I don't even like the fabrics I got. But I knew that if I walked out of there after THAT long without any fabric that would be pretty sad, and pretty nuts-o. I would tell you what I'm going to make, but I can't as the person I'm making it for may be reading this, and I do want to keep it a surprise. So you'll have to suffer...sorry suckers!

2 Vids

I found another preview to the premiere of LOST next week! For those of you who have not seen this show, I highly suggest you view the recap in my previous post...because it will definitely get you up to speed so you can watch it next week!


I also found a small interview/preview on my sister-in-law's latest movie 21. It's based on the true story of a group of MIT students who learned to count cards (thanks to their teacher). John read the book, and really liked it. Check it out and see what you think!

College is Awesome

This weekend Jen, her hubby Joel, Sam and John and I went out to Vallartas to have a late celebration for Jen's b-day and an early one for mine. I was really surprised at how crowded it was since I thought most of the college kids would have gone to the snow for the three day weekend. Unfortunately I was wrong.

In a booth next to us was a group of girls who were all getting pretty loud since they had a few 60 oz. margaritas at their table. We were thankful when they left, but when they did a group of guys filled their seats. They came over from the bar and one guy had his very own 60 oz. drink.

All of the sudden I see this guy out of the corner of my eye trip over a chair...stumble..and then face plant right on the ground...barely missing another chair with his head! It happened in such slow mo that I totally thought the guy was kidding, but he wasn't! Everyone just kind of looked around and started laughing. I mean have you ever seen someone trip and fall down in a restaurant before?

Jen and Joel had the view of the bar and they both said they saw him downing his own 60 ouncer pretty quickly. I guess he didn't realize there was alcohol in it until he stood up! What a rookie.

A little while later after we got our food we noticed some more commotion coming over from the college dudes booth. We look over and Mr. Good Balance is totally passed out!!! So of course his buddies proceed to take inappropriate photos of him the dude. At least we didn't see any nudity.

Then all of the sudden I find Jen and myself posing with Mr. Party Animal!! How the heck did that happen?
I think I mentioned how I wanted to try to get a video of the dude, because it was too funny to pass up, when someone suggested that we should get a photo with him! As you can see his buddy was totally embarrassed to pose with us.

Ahhhhh to be in college again.

Photo Time!

This past weekend John and I headed up to Ukiah to visit Rebekkah and her family. Well actually I hired John out to help Adam work on their back bedroom remodel. I know I'm such a nice wife....I mean honestly...I never even thought of the fact that I'd get to hang out with Rebekkah and Sydney and eat bon bons, while the two dudes were in the back sweatin' it out!

Here is John on day one. He was SO excited to be using the very manly automatic drill screw gun thingy. Like I know the name? All I know is that I'm sure he will want to get one for our next home improvement project. Keep dreamin' buddy.

Even though I know the dudes just thought us ladies were dinking around all day we really did work! I was able to help Rebekkah get ready for Lil' Smore. We first went through a ton of baby clothes that she had saved and picked out all the uni-sex colored items. Let me tell you that from now on, if I have a friend who is having their first baby I will only by them uni-sex colored items, so that way their second child will be able to wear them as well! Rebekkah is totally going to be set if they have a girl though. She has so many cute clothes left over from Syd.

Another project I helped with was making a list and gathering items for her hospital bag. I was really shocked at how much you need to have! I thought all you needed was a few outfits for the baby and maybe some clean underwear for the mom, but no way! I mean you really do need to be prepared for all situations. I mean what if the labor is REALLY long and the dad started to smell a little ripe? You've got to pack some deodorant for the dude! I'm sure he doesn't want all the nurses to be caught gasping for air on the birth video.

Here's a cute photo of Syd and Rebekkah:

After a hard day at work Adam made us some sweet mojitos. Here is John enjoying his. Oh and what is Syd doing you ask? Well she is measuring John's baby!! (She was just measuring Rebekkah's right before).

That night before we went out for some awesome Indian food I had the Steinbucks pose for a family photo. Another project Re and I worked on that day was finding a baby book. We got one similar to Syd's and in her book it has a place for a family photo before she is born. So hopefully this photo will make the cut in the baby book!
(I actually have another good one where Adam is holding Syd, but I think she looks super cute right under the belly.)

Normally when we pay a visit I have to bring Syd a gift. Well now that Lil' S'more is on the way it's even easier to buy gifts. That is right it has to be gifts. You know I can't leave Syd out! So here she is in her sweet new pjs that we got her. I think she's braking into the robot right here...and the dudes thought we were just goofing off? I mean having a revival of Dance Party USA is totally important! She's totally skilled.

Day two of work...Syd checking out the scene, and John looking very productive.

A little later we continued our photo shoot. Rebekkah took 14 photos of Syd and I, and this was the best one. Ok there is one other that is kind of good, but this is my fave...AND it has NOTHING to do with the fact that my eyes or open and only have one chin. If you are lucky, I will post all 14 of them on ofoto and then you will be able to see why it's so hard to get the Kyd to sit still.

Before we hit the road we had to get one last belly shot. I mean who knows if I we would be able to get this photographic opportunity again with Re having a basketball under her shirt. You really cannot pass up these moments.
I really had a great time with her and it felt really special to be able to help her prep for the baby. It's really hard to live so far away during such an exciting time. I really should have helped her prep for Sydney too. I don't know what I was thinking. Oh well. Every time I get to visit with Rebekkah I always feel so thankful to have such a good friend in my life, and one who has been there for 20 years! I am hoping and praying that I will be able to make the 6 hour drive up north once she goes into labor (in hopefully 6 weeks.) I know it will be a once in a lifetime experience and I can't believe I'll (hopefully) get to be a part of it.

The baby is already starting to drop and she was having a ton of braxton hicks as well! Oh! And I also got to feel Lil' S'more moving around!! There is nothing I like better than to feel that. Granted it's pretty creepy at the same time, but more fascinating than anything. It also makes me feel closer to the baby. Like getting to touch it before it's born. We were trying to figure out what body parts we were feeling, and I think I had located the butt. It was a pretty firm area. Hopefully it wasn't it's head!

Anyway...like I said before, I'm extremely thankful to have Rebekkah in my life, and to even let me be a part of hers and feel up her belly. We may head back next month depending if they need more help with the back room. You know that is my priority!

One last shot of Syd...it's the only photo John took of the kyd and one of the best ones all weekend. FIGURES!

Not Penny's Boat

Hey all! Sorry for the lack of exciting posts. My mom is in town, and I haven’t had much time to write because I know spending my evenings on the computer would not win me the Hostess of the Year award.

Soooooooooooooooooo what I have for you now is a LOST recap of all three seasons packed into 8 minutes and 15 seconds. It’s pretty good, and will definitely get you ready for the season 4 premier!

A to Zed of Me

So I got this in an email yesterday, and decided to post it here as well as forwarding it on in case some of you want to fill it out as well. So if you see this on here and want to fill it out for your blog too, feel free (Sarah and Brianne)!

1. A is for age?
30 (not fo much longer!)

2. B is for beer of choice?
Strongbow (does English cider count?)

3. C is for career right now?
Graphic Designer

4. D is for your dog's name?
Dog? Nice try.

5. E is for essential item you use everyday?
chap stick

6. F is for favorite TV show at the moment?
Amazing Race/Project Runway (Sorry it's a tie!)

7. G is for favorite game
Right now it's Guitar Hero!

8. H is for home town?
Fortuna

9. I is for instruments you played?
Saxophone, Piano, and drums. (Well drums were on a Smurf drum set. Does that count?)

10. J is for favorite juice?
Pineapple

11. K is for whose ass you'd like to kick?
YOURS! JK! Maybe the bank for not giving me more money?

12. L is for last place you ate?
Naples for dinner, and then gelato at Guissppie's

13. M is for marriage
4 years

14. N is for your full name?
Amber Louise Grundman

15. O is for overnight hospital stays?
One night for my thyroidectomy (hopefully it will be my only overnight stay)

16. P is for people you were with today?
My mom, and my co-workers

17. Q is for quote?
'I caught you a delicious bass' - Napoleon Dynamite

18. R is for biggest regret?
This is tough...maybe not joining a sorority in college? I'm pretty happy with most of my decisions.

19. S is for superstition.
Picking up pennies for good luck

20. T is for time you woke up today?
6 am

21. U is for underwear you have on now?
Underwear? What is that? I'm going commando! JK! Victoria secret is my preference.

22. V is for vegetable you love?
I wouldn't say I LOVE any vegetables….but I will tolerate mushrooms, corn, lettuce and even tomatoes.

23. W is for worst habit?
Procrastination (totally inherited)

24. X is for x-rays you've had?
teeth, foot, arm, back ( I think I had back x-rays taken for my scoliosis when I was really young, because I remember being able to see my poop in the x-ray, which I thought was so cool.)

25. Y is for yummy food you ate today?
Chocolate chocolate chip cookie from Shatz (in Ukiah)

26. Z is for the zodiac
Aquarius

30/20

The last time I went to the eye doctor was 7 or 8 years ago. It was local and I’ve actually had the same glasses since then.

A few weeks ago I saw my eye doctor in VONS. (This was not the first sighting I had of him there either.) He’s quite rememberable as he wears dress loafers with no socks. I know what you are thinking, and no he does not think he's Don Johnson.

So this last time I saw him in there I pointed him out to John. Like John even cared? He humors me though, as I still get excited when I recognize someone in public.

So we get in line and the Dr. gets behind me. John gets this real strange look on his face and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to send me a signal or if he was having some gas. I totally failed on my signal reading skills because on the way out John tried to tell me that my Dr. was our neighbor. Yeah right! I think I would have recognized him since I spy on all of our neighbors.

John is convinced that he is our neighbor who drives a blue Mercedes with a frame around the license plate that says ‘shaggin’ wagon.’ I kept telling him he was wrong, so when we get in the car he sees my doc walking to his car…so we follow him, as John is SO sure of himself.

We pass by the aisle with his car and SURE ENOUGH he’s loading bags into the shaggin’ wagon!!! I almost died! I still argued with John, how that could not be our neighbor, and maybe it was another blue Mercedes. I told him we had to follow him home to make sure. So we pulled to the side in an empty parking space and turned off our lights and slid down in our seats. Totally not obvious. The doc drove by and we followed….one turn closer to home…another closer to home…and then he turns down our street!!! Can you believe my doctor has lived at the end of our street for the last two and a half years and I NEVER recognized him! What kills me even more is that stinkin’ 20/20 recognized him from just seeing him driving the shaggin’ wagon! I can never even tell if it’s a male or female driving that car!

What is worse is that we had nicknamed that neighbor the alcoholic because we’d see the car always leaving and coming back after quick periods of time, and once we saw the car parked at our local liquor store. I know that is a really weak reason to give them the nickname, but at least we didn’t call them the meth users or the little ‘ole whore house of SLO.

Fast-forward to today…I finally went in for an eye check up. (It had been so long that I wasn’t even in their computer system anymore!) I meet my doctor and tell him we are neighbors. I could tell it didn’t ring any bells, so I told him how I’m the neighbor who sun bathes nude in the driveway. Then the light bulb went off! Just kidding! He did say that he doesn’t see us that much, which is true, I mean we only really do yard work maybe once a month. Ok, maybe I only do yard work once a month. John does mow our lawns at least a few times a month.

I had a really nice check up with him, and once again his attire did not fail me. Collared short sleeved shirt buttoned to the top, (a-la Steve Sanders), docker style shorts, and loafers with no socks. No joke. It's like he's putting it in all of the sock wearers faces. His style is so unique that it makes me like him even more!!

I didn’t have the guts to ask him about the ‘shaggin’ wagon.’ That might have to wait for the next check up. Plus…do I really want to hear the answer?

Thanks for the Support

Dear Victoria Secret Employee,

I have a piece of advice for you. The next time you tell someone your store opens at 10am, make sure you know what the crap you are talking about. Just because you are pissed you have to break up fights between SLO housewives and college students all day, doesn’t mean you need to start sabotaging other respectable women!

Yeah that was me outside on Sunday morning at 10AM shivering in the cold watching you enjoy the calm before the storm. If you recall I wasn’t alone…and I even told the one young couple that you did in fact open at 10AM because I CALLED YOU THE NIGHT BEFORE TO MAKE SURE. That brought great joy to the female, and great distain for the male. Sorry sucka, no football for you.

10:01…10:02…10:03…we all see you in there…making eye contact with us, but not coming within 5 feet of the front door. Finally at 10:05 I take out my receipt from my return, and call you AGAIN. Oh and what do you way?

“Oh we open at 11am on Sundays.”

EXCUSE ME? Are you serious?

Lucky for you everyone waiting with me was nice enough not to break down the front door and maul you with that stupid stuffed 'Pink' dog.

All I have to say is that you better watch your back. You never know when someone may leave you a ‘package’ a-la Packard in one of your dressing rooms.

Sincerely,
A Disgruntled Shopper (who loves your merchandise too much to stop shopping at your store)

You Gonna Eat That?

Last night I made Jen some birthday cupcakes to enhance her celebration today. I was pretty excited to put on my faux pocket homemade apron, (don’t you always feel better when you look better?), and start baking. I really can’t believe that I actually enjoy baking. I guess it helps that the last few things I made didn’t taste like cardboard.

Everything went really smoothly…no spills…no burnt tops…and even the frosting went well! I couldn’t believe how much I was enjoying myself. I really felt like a homemaker. Dang this old age!!

I had two tins that each held about 9 cupcakes. I had stacked them and placed them sideways in a brown paper bag. I thought it would be much easier to carry one item vs. two…right?

I had a load of stuff to take to work with me, (including a cute Japanese calendar John got for me for Christmas). I loaded up my arms and the last thing I picked up was the calendar. For one split second I focused all of my attention solely on the calendar, and before I knew it the top container of the cupcakes slid out of the bag and landed on asphalt! I just looked at the bottom side of the container in shock!! How did this happen? I was totally dreading to have to pick it up…knowing all my hard work was probably ruined…and it was. It looked like a cupcake massacre had just taken place! There was nothing I could do but laugh. I mean what are the chances? I had so carefully packed them in the container…then in the car, to only take one step and have them smushed?

Luckily Jen didn’t seem to mind, and everyone told me they still tasted good. I know I should have taken a photo of the remains, but I was a little too frazzled when it happened. Plus cell phone photos look like crap.

Happy birthday anyway Jen!!

Paper Anyone?

Are you all ok?? Did any of you drown out there this past weekend? It really rained a lot here in SLO, considering it rains maybe 5 days out of the WHOLE year. John and I just love it as we really do miss the rain. That is what growing up in Humboldt will do to ya. Unfortunately most of the rain as been in the evenings so we haven't been able to watch it...but it is great to listen to!

On Friday I was REALLY hoping that our power would go out, which it did!!!! AT 4:45pm!!! Can you believe that crap? I guess I can hope that it goes off tomorrow. We didn't loose power here at home all weekend. I think we were pretty lucky. I was ready though...all candles and flashlights were on hand. A few weeks ago we lost power for about a half hour, and I literally stumbled around to find the flashlight. I also received a gigantic bruise on my thigh from the stumbling around.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. I still think I'm unwinding from the madness in December. We had to make some returns at the outlets in Pismo, and I was lucky enough to be the one who benefited from them...a new pair of shoes and some shirts are now in my closet. I feel so bad shopping after Christmas though since I almost went into cardiac arrest when I saw my Visa bill.

Today has been a real productive day and it's actually made the day seem really long! I probably couldn't do it again if I tried. I worked on a freelance website (I'll post the link when it's complete), packaged up some items for the mail, helped make dinner, and just finished working on a treat for Jen. Monday is Jen's birthday, so "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!" I hope you like what I have for you.

I already gave her her gift which was a custom necklace from Lisa Leonard. (She's another blogger that I stock.) If you go here, and scroll down until you see 'The Original Necklace' design you will see the exact necklace I got her. Kind of weird that her model necklace had the same exact names as Jen's daughters. But sweet for me since I knew it would look good!

John and I have also been entertaining ourselves this weekend by watching season 2 of The Office. I think that is my favorite season...I mean can you really beat the Christmas party episode? Or the Injury? (Michael AND Dwight both need taming with a squirt bottle...you can't get any classier than that!) This Office drought is really killing us, but watching the old episodes has REALLY helped. I don't stay up late enough to watch the re-runs on TNT, but those of you who do, you better watch them, or Agent Michael Scorn will come to your house and shoot you.

FAKER!

Did any of you watch Beauty and the Geek this past season? Well in case you didn’t know, they decided to have a twist this year and have a team that consisted of a female geek and a male beauty. I thought the idea was pretty lame, but that lameness soon turned into ANGER once I realized how unfair the competition became. The male ‘beauty’ was winning (almost) EVERY SINGLE challenge, because he really wasn’t that dumb, and that he possessed male skills that the other females didn't have. Even in some of his interviews I was suspicious of him just acting like he was dumb.

I eventually became convinced that the new team were really actors placed in the show. But that theory soon went in the crapper when they took each other to their hometowns. I then realized that the female geek really was a legit geek, (after seeing her friends). We didn’t learn too much about the beauty except that he likes to take shots of tequila and he has this totally sweet dance move called the ‘Matrix’ where he does that one move from the movie in slow mo. SO GAY!

Anyway…I come home last night and John tells me that he taped me something on TV. He prefaces it with ‘Let me know who you recognize in this scene.’ Within the first half of second I see the beauty staring back at me!!!!!!!!!!!! I was totally irate!! I just KNEW he was a fake!!! Granted I think he had only one line in the movie, (Accepted, one of the worst movies made)…but still!

So I IMDBed him and you would not believe how many shows he’s been in! It’s so ridiculous!!! I wonder if the other cast mates even know about it! I think his profession on the show was ‘Model.’ How appropriate! They better not try to pull this crap with the next season.

By the way…anyone in need of a filled top had piñata? We never got around to hitting ours on New Years. :-( Now what do I do with it? Ideas?

Sabering in the New Year

Happy New Year all! I hope you all have a safe and sane New Year's Eve, and hopefully most of you stayed awake to see the ball drop! I've actually been pretty lucky and had the last four days off of work. Why no blogs you ask? I'll tell you why...because I am bloody lazy! Well that is part of the reason...John and I saw a few movies and we were also prepping for our third annual New Year's Eve Party.

Last year the party was a little too big for me to handle, so this year we invited less people, but then even less people were able to attend! Even though the group was smaller, it wound up being the perfect size.

Here's a photo of Molly, (the fondue queen), showing us the proper way to use the Chocolate Fondue Fountain. (Don't mind the crazy in the background).

Here are two crazy white chicks throwing up some gang signs. It's always nice to ring in the New Year with attitude.

So I do have a good photo of Steph and I, but this one made me laugh so, it won the blog position. I cannot remember what happened but I think Steph started to reminisce about the Flock of Seagulls and couldn't stop laughing. This was the result:

The main attraction of the night was some sweet Wii competition. First we had a few rounds of bowling. Here is Steph showing us her stuff:



Next we broke out the Guitar Hero. Biggi was a newbie, so as she is learning in the background, John decided to show us his sweet dance moves. It took me back to the days of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and their band member who was there just to show off his sweet moves. (He did not sing or play an instrument...just danced.)

After a few tries Biggi totally got into it! Check out the toe tapping!!

Look! It gets even better! We were totally impressed.

Then the master decided to show us his stuff by playing a Slayer song. Even though he was impressive and finished the song, the thing you must note in this video is Molly in the background who is practicing by playing the air guitar. She has got the skills!


As it got closer to midnight, we gathered outside as John was going to 'Saber' a champagne bottle. He recently saw a 'how to' segment on it on TV last week and was all amped to test his skills. Luckily for us the sword he used was a dull one that he had bought when we went to Spain in '95. I was hoping we wouldn't wind up spending the night at the hospital due to an amputation, which we didn't. Of course I had to get a video as proof, as I know none of you would not believe these skills if you didn't see it for yourselves. This takes TOTAL skill.

Molly with her commentary on the historic event:

Once we toasted in the New Year we decided to get on with the 'Re-gift Gift Exchange.' This actually a really handy gift exchange to have after Christmas. (Hans and Steph had to leave early to pick up Lucas, so John and Molly stepped in for them.) Here is Ken with the gift that was voted BEST gift of the night:
As you can see Ken was SO excited to received these sexy under garments (also note David in the background who brought them to the exchange), however his happiness ended shortly when John stole them from him for Hans. (Steph aren't you excited???).

Here is John with his sweet golf club cover, as you can see they were quite the buddies...which is good, because no one stole that gem from him. I'm thinking we might need to re-gift that for my dad next Christmas.

Here is Molly with her 'Urban bear.' This bear all threw us for a loop. You can't really tell how odd it looks from this photo, but it was a little disturbing.
Steph said she got it as a gift for Lucas, but it was really quite scary. We are hoping Molly's nephew will enjoy it on his birthday this year.

Sam was lucky enough to get Molly's gift, doesn't she look thrilled?

You know Molly is sitting back there thinking 'SUCKER! I bet you wish you would have stolen my bear now!'

After the exchange the night winded down. I mean some of those gifts were pretty hard to top!

I want to thank everyone for coming to my party, and I hope the rest of you all had a great Christmas and Near Year's. This year has got to be better than last year right? One nice thing is that the New Year always reminds of my anniversary of when I moved down here to SLO. 8 years and counting! Oh and I have another anniversary as well! It's my blog anniversary! I started this inspiring, tear jerking site about a year ago as well...so thank all of YOU for visiting it!