Ink Me

Over at DragonDreamer’s Lair an Ink Me Tour was posted.  A chance for the members of the ALI Community to show off their ink.  I’m late as usual, but I still want to play!!!

Jenn and I each have 5 tattoos. We both want a hundred more too.

Our first tattoos we got in August of 2001. We were in Florida with Lyz and Joni and all went together. They made me go first since I was voted the most likely to chicken out 🙂
Mine: (right ankle)

A flamingo. Did you have any doubts?
Jenn went third after Joni: (left arm)

Jenn wanted the Minnesota Viking on her calf, but her sun poisening was sooooo bad that they refused to do it. So she picked this. She loves the concept of ying and yang. She always says that her and I are very ying and yang. It means more to her now than the day she picked it, it really kinda grew on her!

In January of 2003 we got matching tattoos to celebrate our wedding. It was our wedding present from Rodney. Well, not really, but we always joke that way. We used the money he gave us for our gift to purchase the tattoos. He is rather anti-tattoo. I like to tease him that I am going to get tattoos all over my face. Good times.
Mine: (right shoulder blade)

Jenn’s: (right shoulder bladeish)

Next was our Blue tattoos. We got them on February 20, 2008. I remember the date so exactly because it is my brother’s birthday and I called him on the way home from the tattoo parlor. We got them in Florida at the same parlor that we got the flamingo and ying-yang at.
Mine: (on my left ankle)

Jenn’s:(on her right calf)

Last we got two at the same time. June of 2008 I believe. We both got our wedding date on our ring finger. I don’t wear my rings to bed. I take them off when I get home from work. I often forget to put them on in the morning when I leave for work. So I thought this was a wonderful idea!! I also got three stars on my hand. They represent the stars in Orion’s belt. I’m having a love affair with Orion. We know each others deepest darkest secrets.
My hand: (Left had…the little line under the wedding date would be remains of the Sah More burn)

Jenn’s wedding band:(Left hand)

Jenn also got a tattoo on her right arm of the Celtic knot that means strength. I love it. “That which does not kill me only makes me stronger” has become her tagline.

We both have lots of dreams of future tattoos. I love it. For as much as I hate needles and hate the sight of blood I cannot get enough of tattoos.

Random Thoughts

• Chunky has been added to my list of inappropriate words.
• While my two best friends have a goal of losing weight, mine is to be able to touch my toes to my head.
• Periwinkle (aka pumpernickel) croutons are my favorite kind of croutons.
• Pink softball gloves are sexy.
• Tube tops without some form of boulder-holder is not appropriate for women of my size.
• Due Diligence is becoming an overused phrase.
• My two closest infertile friends have moved on from my place, and it leaves me kinda lonely.
• I think I just bruised my left boob trying to touch my toes to my head.
• I may change my goal of head-to-toe touch to being able to do a somersault better than Jenn and Lyz.
• Hm…my ponytail touches my toes…my head can’t be too far off.
• Don’t Google for pictures of toes touching head…it isn’t pretty.
• Speaking of websites…there is a chain sporting good store that should change its name because I type the name into the web browser and always end up gasping because the website I actually pull up is icky.
• Viparitapadangushthashiraparshasana is apparently a yoga position involving touching your toes to your head while laying on your belly.

S’mores…

Two things you need to know before I continue on with my story.

1-Several different people have made fun of the way I say that word over the last week.  Lyz and Chris, my boss, a co-worker.  I personally say Sah Mores. Apparently I have been saying the word wrong for 31 years and had no clue.

2-Before we went up to the cabin, I told Jenn I was going to eat an entire bag of roasted marshmallows all by myself.

Apparently because of the above two things the Sah Mores decided to enact revenge upon me.  Chris was the official Sah Mores chef while we were up at the cabin.  He would ask how many marshmallows and how much chocolate then get to work making you a masterpiece of a Sah More.  He was using a metal spatula to hold the bottom graham cracker and the chocolate near the fire so that the chocolate would get all melty and gooey and you didn’t have to bite into a hard piece of chocolate.

I am a two marshmallow, two chocolate bar Sah More kinda gal.  Chris made me a wonderful Sah More and then I decided I just wanted a couple of roasted marshmallows.  This is where it all went to hell in a hand basket.

I roasted my yummy marshmallows slowly at first and then set them on fire to get that loverly char on the outside.  When going to remove them from the fork I burned my hand.  On my ring finger and pinkie finger of my left hand is a cute little burn line.

I put my marshmallows on half a cracker to be able to eat them off of, using it kinda like a plate.  Somehow, please don’t ask how, and don’t blame it on drinking as I was completely sober at the time, I managed to stab myself in the face with the darn graham cracker.

I gave up.  But I wanted one more Sah More, so I asked Chris to make me one.  He got the chocolate all warmed up, put the Sah More together and held out the spatula for me to take my Sah More.  You know what I did right?  I grabbed onto the metal spatula that had just been living in the fire.

So, I am on a Sah More hiatus until I learn how to properly pronounce the word.  Or until they stop trying to kill me.

Remind me to tell you sometime about the piece of popcorn that caused me to almost have to have my finger amputated.

We only burned down half a tree, I promise.

Tuesday
We left CLAD’s around 3:30pm, after getting groceries, alcohol and drinks we were on the road by 4:30pm. I think this is the first road trip with have taken with CLAD where we haven’t had to turn around and go back home to pick something up! Go CLAD!!

Our ride was very peaceful. Lyz and I kept texting back and forth and then out of nowhere BAAM!! A hugeantic thunderstorm!!! We couldn’t see CLAD’s car right in front of us!! Jenn and Chris did awesome jobs driving us through the storm.

We got to the cabin, unpacked and ate dinner. After Avery and Delaney fell asleep we sat out on the deck and gibber-jabbered about all sorts of subjects, some that we had never conversed about before!! All was fun until Chris got a little bit sick. Poor thing. After he went to bed Jenn, Lyz and I stayed up quite late playing a card came called Phase 10. It was quite fun!

The cabin has no central air so we went back out on the deck to gibber-jabber some more and cool off in the lovely middle of the night air. While sitting out there we all of the sudden heard a very strange noise. Jenn had been swearing all day she heard a bear growling, but this wasn’t a bear. We decided it was a coyote. Hey, it was 2am, and we were quite toasty. Jenn started mimicking the sound and all the sudden it sounded like it was standing feet away from us. We all huddled in the doorway listening quietly (or as quietly as three semi-drunk 30somethings who are giggly can) wondering when the monster was going to come eat us. Then the monster made an awful noise and we decided something bigger had eaten it. That ended our night!!

Wednesday
Lyz, Avery and I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast, including a special Mickey Mouse pancake for Avery:


We spent the morning taking turns taking naps. The afternoon was spent trying not to burn down the cabin!! Avery and Lyz started a beautiful fire:

Then Chris, Lyz and Jenn started an inferno:

Avery, Jenn and I made Quick Lasagna for dinner (use raviolis instead of buying noodles, cheese etc).


I burned the garlic bread: (But Lyz and Chris rescued it)

Even Delaney had some Lasagna!!:


Dessert was of course S’Mores!!

Delaney started crawling last week and has been zooming away! She was absolutely loving the freedom!
(sorry about the diaper only pic Lyz!! It was the cutest floor picture I had!)

Lyz, Avery and Jenn had gone on a hike, and Lyz ended up with something going through the bottom of her shoe and straight into her foot. Jenn got to preform minor surgery.

We again stayed up very late playing cards. This time Chris was able to join us!!

Thursday:
Jenn and Lyz made breakfast (eggs and hashbrowns). We spent the morning and early afternoon slowly packing up. Chris played with a magic 8 ball and was asking it silly questions. One was “Will we run into another terrible storm on the way home? All signs point to yes. Then Chris made a wonderful lunch of bbq chicken. Then, we went home 😦

As we got about an hour from home we get a text from The Weather Channel that Lancaster County is under Toronado Warning for the next two hours. Joni and Dennis had to go down into the basement. The clouds were amazing looking. We were all fine, no tornado’s hit any of our homes, but we are looking at the same type of forecast tonight!!

Thank you for such a wonderful trip Chris, Lyz, Avery and Delaney! The cabin is absolutley amazing! Chris’s dad, Delmar, has built the entire thing by himself, with his hands. It is so beautiful!!!!!!

We’re leaving on a jet plane..

Or, in a Nissan Pathfinder, whichever.

We are headed up to Chris’s dad’s cabin after I get off work today. We shall be back Thursday evening. I am not taking my laptop. My cell phone will not work. I just know I am going to be in withdraw for the first few hours. But I am totally looking forward to just hanging out with Jenn and CLAD and the peace and fresh mountain air.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Mingo Monday

The other night laying in bed trying to fall asleep Jenn mentioned that I am such a flamingo freak that I even sleep like one.  I was sleeping with my legs in the shape of the number 4.  You know, like the legs on the flamingo.  I often draw a quickie flamingo by just writing the number 2 on top of a backwards number 4.  You can’t see it can you?  Here…

Better?

Anywho, the other day I got an email from Keely at Schroedinger’s Womb. She was so kind to think of me!!! Have you ever wondered why flamingos stand on one leg?? I know I have!! She came across an article talking all about it!! Click here to learn all about them!

Thank you Keely for the very important lesson!!!

“It is weird driving around with a box of vampire food in your backseat.”

A text I sent to Lyz yesterday.

Just some back story:  I’ve been a little vampire obsessed lately. It started with the Twilight books. Read them all, reallllly fast. Hard to put down. You just have to know what happens next!! Then I grew up and started reading the Sookie Stackhouse series. Almost done with those.  The Sookie’s are like the adult version of Twilight and there is a series on HBO called TrueBlook that is based (ever so loosely) on the books.  So…I’ve been a bit vampire obsessed, like I said.

Several years ago I signed up for the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry.  I got a cool little box in the mail full of information and the cell collection kit.  Two realllllly big q-tippy things.  I swabbed the inside of my cheek with each q-tip and packaged them off and mailed it back.

When I was pregnant with Blue I got a phone call that I was a possible match for someone.  Unfortunately I was pregnant and they don’t allow pregnant donors.  I was sad.  I really wanted to help!

Two weeks ago I got the phone call again.  I am not pregnant.  I may have lied a little to the woman who called, she asked if there was any chance I could be pregnant right then and I said no.  But, I’m glad I did lie since I am in fact not pregnant.

There is an 8% chance that I could be a match for someone who needs marrow.  To find out if I am a true, or acceptable match they needed my blood to run some tests.  So last week I got a big old box full of tubes and coolers and ice packs so I could get my blood collected and send it back to John Hopkins.

Yesterday, we went to the testing center with letter in hand to ask for a phlebotomist(sp?) to help us.  They were very helpful.  Cindy is my favorite blood drawer.  She always listens when I tell her the best place to draw from, she knows that I have been labeled a “passer outer” and she is very no-nonsense.

We unpacked all the vials and she set to work.  Oh my goodness.  Lots of blood.  I swear I must not have any left inside of me.  9 vials total, some little, some very big!  All color coded so that we would know how to pack them back up.  Jenn was in charge of handling the filled vials while I sat back and tried to put some color back into my cheeks.  She kept going on and on about how warm the blood was.  Um, hello, quesy here!

In the end we got everything packed up in the proper boxes with or without ice packs, taped up, labled and dropped off at the FedEx office for overnight delivery.  And while driving I texted Lyz…”It is weird driving around with a box of vampire food in your backseat.”  Because it is weird.  Very weird.  Your blood should be inside of your body, not packed up in bubblewrap in your backseat.  But, since it is for a good cause, I made an exception.

I need a smile please.

I shall share a funny story with you. I hope it makes you smile. In return if you could please share a funny story with me so I can find my smile?? Thank you in advance!!

Several years ago Lyz and Chris and Joni and Jenn and I were working on a project. It is a long story, and not mine to tell, so that is all the background information you can have. At the house that Lyz grew up in, there was a big beautiful pool in the back yard. Summer was wonderful. Joni was always a wonderful hostess serving up sherbet when we would get to hot while swimming.

But this story takes place in the winter time. We were standing outside around the pool taking a break from the project. If my memory serves me correctly Chris and I had just gotten into an argument about how to do something. We both thought our way was better…I don’t remember who won, but that part of the project was over.

Being the smart-ass I am I was playing with the frozen pool. I had on my favorite pair of denim-blue nikes and was poking my toes at the ice. Then I started putting more weight on it. Jenn and Lyz warned me that I was going to fall in. As I turned around to snap at them that I was NOT GOING TO FALL IN, I broke the ice. Lyz and Jenn had a grand old time laughing at me, wet up to my knee with frozen icky winter pool water.

They laughed, they snorted, they cried. But I would like to point out that I was right. I did not fall in. I may have gotten a little wet, but I didn’t fall in.

Mingo Monday

I have cursed you all. I think I’ve mentioned it several times before. You are all now cursed to think of me everytime you see a flamingo. You’ve noticed that yes??

I have also mentioned that I am quite tacky. It is where my love of flamingos comes from. I like things that are considered to be tacky or odd to most people. I feel bad for the tacky or odd things. Tacky and odd things need love too you know!!!

So…one day while shopping, I came across a magnet that should be my catchphrase. There could not be a more perfect description of me.

Summer=Baseball

Did you know that?  If it isn’t Jenn, it is Chris, or in last nights case the local super-minor leauge team the Lancaster Barnstormers.  My high school mascot was a Thunderbird.  I used to think that was silly.  But now I live in a place where the nicknames are thinks like the Buckskins and Barnstormers.  The Barnstormers mascot is Cylo.  You know, like a silo??


This place I live…it is pretty odd.

Anyway, Lyz, Avery, Delaney, Jenn and I headed to a game last night thanks to Lyz’s work. As soon as we got there Lyz, Avery and Jenn headed over to get our peanuts and cracker jacks. And I sat with Delaney to watch the beginning of the game. Delaney was bored by the game.

We have actual seats, and in a good spot too, but we prefer to sit in the outfield. There is more room for Avery to run around…and we have a better chance of catching balls!
Once Delaney woke up she really enjoyed herself:


Avery had fun too!:


While Lyz got some work done:


We had fun!! Thank you for inviting us out for a lovely girls night Lyz!!!