Summer Photo Dump

Thank you SO much for the baby love! I have much to share but wanted to quick dump some photos from our recent travels… obviously I needed to explain the big old tumm-a-lumm first! We just got back from a lake trip with my family (lakes… not as lame as they sound!) and some Jersey time with Jeff’s family.  After a crazy summer I’m feeling a little more recharged after having spent a week and a half off the radar.  Very lucky.

Gracie at the helm… is my sister hot or what? I told her she looked like a Bond girl here…

Have I introduced you to my family’s goofball lab Bruce? Bruuuuce!

Doggie butts…

I should get a girl scout patch or something for jumping in nasty lake water… very happy I seem to have come out parasite free! It was just too tempting to resist…

Preggies can have fun too!

Aww the fam… PRECIOUS

Meanwhile, a little further south…

Omg more gratuitous beach belly pictures forgive me….

Insert Sir-Mix-a-Lot Lyrics

A few more (uhh, 14) pictures from the road.  All of Mallard butts.  Nothing like feather-tufted-tocks and splayed-out-orange-leggies to get your week off on the right foot! (webbed foot)

Back in the USSR

HIIIIIII!

Home sweet home! Work event was successful but most importantly… done!  Each time I am in the depths of pre-event stress, I always envision myself as being hyper, giddy, beside myself with joy when everything’s over.  In reality, I am just pooped, and out of it, and mostly just relieved.  I’m now enjoying a delightful long weekend, and it feels strange to go from so much frenzy and activity to sleeping in and hanging around a quiet house.

Let’s see.  Everything started with me dropping Choocheroo at the Petsmart Hotel, which if you read my Twitter, you know went UN-good.  Umm, you know that moment when you’re so stressed but holding it all together, until something TOTALLY DUMB comes along, shatters your facade, and sends you crumpling to an emotional breakdown? For me that was parting with my dog.  I couldn’t stop crying. SO PATHETIC.

Oh Chooch, bless his heart.  We get there and he is crying, splaying out all 4 limbs while I try to drag him in… then I scooped him up and nuzzled him and he is still crying and shaking.  YOU WOULD HAVE LOST IT TOO.  Then I consented to an extra $20 a day for him to get the deluxe playtime option.  Then an extra $5 for daily frozen yogurt treats and peanut butter kongs.  I REPEAT.  PATHETIC.

Anyway, our office was transported to the greater Phoenix-Scottsdale area for a week and everything went well.

First, Chooch helped me pack…

I love him with his little elephant cuddly tucked under his arm.  All is forgiven.

Frontier is officially my new airline of choice since each jet is branded with a different adorably-named animal.  Did you know this?!

Sherman!

Kinda hard to see but this bird was hanging out under this bush every morning…

This was a quail on top of this building… Don’t know that I’d ever seen one in the wild…

 

Pretty resort, huh? Unfortunately our stomping grounds for the week was our windowless “staff office”…

Would it be weird to pin a grainy blackberry picture? This was pink lemonade with jalepeno! Oddly yummy.

NOM…

Kay I’m going outside.  Be back later.

Photo Dump

Once upon a time in 2007 I was walking down the street and discovered a hot dog laying discarded on the sidewalk.  No bun.  No hot dog accoutrements in sight.  Just… a lone frank.  I don’t know why things like this crack me up, but if I had to define my sense of humor with one example, it would be that I find things like hot dogs on the sidewalk to be massively lol-worthy.

I took a picture of it with my awesome Samsung flip phone and up it went on my old blog.  I marveled at my ability to capture this magical processed meat moment with cell phone camera technology, which if you recall was just starting to get decent at that point.  Today, I am no less in awe of this amazing novelty that allows you to document life’s small and hilarious moments as they happen.

So following in the proud footsteps of Hot Dog on H Street I bring you…. Pineapple Top at Metro Station:

On that same note, check out this purdy sky from last night…

US Air shuttle + moon…

Check out this sandwich special action from one of my lunch places…

Who wrote this sign? I want to high five them! Loving the exclamation point action… omg yes FRENCH ROLL I share your excitement! WOO!

I already “tweeted” this so sorry for the dup but wanted to make sure errrrryone saw this hot mess driving down the street.

Whatever… the other week the Occupy-ers blockaded our office building and we had to walk up a ramp in the loading dock in the pouring rain…. If you know how clumsy I am, you know how close I was that day to breaking a femur.  So the crazies from the other side can have their day too.  Sigh.

Did you think I’d go this whole time and not put up Chooch pictures?! PSSHH! Here he is loving the Yoga mat…

And performing a beautiful interpretation of a seated twist (with model for perspective)

Thursday-Sunday Stuff

On Thursday my chick-buddy emailed me at, like, 4:00pm saying that due to a flake-out she had an extra ticket to OAR at 7:00, did I want to go.  Boring Debbie Downer Sarah was all “AHEM you know our policy on weeknight concerts” but Your-Days-to-be-Spontaneous-Are-Numbered Sarah was all “WOOOOO OAR!!!!!”.  Guess who won!

OAR.  What a fun 2005 throw back!

Sunset as seen from the Metro tracks…

This weekend we were back to PA again… Jeff’s side this time. We went to the Preview Party for the Philadelphia Flower Show and it was really cool.  I mean, it was no Farm Show, but pretty cool.

And only one giant curling iron burn was required to make me black tie appropriate… Yay!

OK, I was lol-ing at the judges’ criticisms of the arrangements.  What jerks!

And pretti-tude from the drive home…

The end…

 

Photo Dump Potpourri

We haven’t been home all night due to visiting some visiting family in Maryland… including the newest addition, a wee one born just 2 months and 2 days ago on Christmas! It was our first time meeting him and I am in luuuurve.

So instead tonight I present you with: 1) this photo of a baby on rollerskates from a cooler at CVS…

2) this photo from Pinterest which I have been laughing at all day long…

Aaaaand 3) Jeff in a Rick Santorum sweater vest (do NOT ask)

Photo Dump: Outgoing Blackberry Edition

We’re switching over to new Blackberries at work tomorrow (Holla) so I had to pull off the few photos that were saved onto my current device.  Its memory maxed out at, like, 7 of them so I’m hoping our upgrade might offer more storage in that department.  It’s very frustrating to not be able to photograph a magical, fleeting moment because of the darned “File System Full” error…

So without further a-doo-doo…

Big Choochin, spendin’ Gs, it’s just that jigga man Chooch and…. AHEM HEM I’m stopping I’m stopping. 

Chooch’s favorite activity is lounging on the bed and snatching things off our night stands when we’re distracted while getting ready in the mornings.  I actually think he is being belligerent because he knows showers+hair dryers+closets opening=Impending Abandonment.  Poor baby.  Breaks my heart.

Umm, see what I mean…

I probably should have stopped him here but I was too busy cracking up! love his little eyebrows stuck on the rim. 

This was me as “Panda Claws” at the Zoo back over Christmas…. a proud moment.

Oh hai…. Just reading a text book….. with my blinged out headphones….. Don’t hate the player hate the game. 

Where do you GET headphones like this!? I can only assume they are the result of these things mating…

OH and to make matters worse… I was standing immediately over this guy on the metro and of course was trying to discretely take this picture… I guess I had some stupid “loud” profile enabled, because when I pressed the button it made the little ker-CHUNK! fake shutter sound.  OMG I was mortified and thought this gangster was going to turn around, narrow his eyes, and take me down to Chinatown.  I mean normally you wouldn’t fear that from a gentleman of his demographic but WITH THOSE HEADPHONES WHO KNOWS.  Guy is NOT messing around.

OK one last dumb story that I just have to document for eternity.  UMM remember, like, yesterday when I acknowledged that it was probably irrational for me to fear the blender? (If I didn’t believe it to be irrational then, the act of typing in “…for me to fear the blender?” just sealed the deal).  Dudes I can’t help, the thing is so loud and powerful it sounds like a freaking Airbus in engine distress and all I can think is that it’s going to explode, or take off, or attack me, or just combust in some way.  So to make another Home Alone reference, blender=terrorizing, bullying furnace.  ANYWAY apparently it was not in fact irrational, and was actually a deep, subconscious self-defense mechanism, cause today…………JEFFREY EARMUFFS……….. I freaking turned the blender on WITH A SPOON IN IT.  I thought I was gonna die. 

I’m happy to report that all involved in the incident (appliance, utensil, and moronic human operator) survived unscathed.  A good fortune I most certainly do not deserve.

Photo Dump: Farm Show Edition (Moo)

I finally made it home this year for the PA Farm Show… which is kind of a big deal for our state, and also happens to be the largest indoor agricultural event in the country.  Be impressed.  So big, that we have an entire 24 acre building dedicated to it, aptly named The Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex.  Our state’s crown jewel exposition venue=The Farm Show Complex.  You get invited to the Governor’s Inaugural Ball? It’s at the Farm Show Complex.  It smells like livestock year-round.

Here they were growing corn right in the exhibit hall…

Me and Mama testing the tractors!!!

Umm, did you know tractors cost $126,835?!

This exhibit was supposed to be state of the art animal housing but it kind of made me want to be a vegetarian

PEEGIES! Squee! They were born on Christmas.  (Don’t they look huge?!). The farmers assured us they were happy little pigs in there…. hrmmph…..

Chickies! Umm, ditto on the hugeness here.  The nice farmer man said “Yea, they’ll be five pounds in 30 days” and when my eyes got huge added “Yea it’s, like, just genetic”.  Gack….. genetically freaking modified maybe…. Gahh!!

Om nom nom I almost justified getting these… for the Dairymen’s Association! Support local ag! A good cause!

The milking demo was very conveniently broadcast for us while we waited in the milkshake line…

YUM… and I appreciated that I was allowed a half-and-half one! (Choosing between vanilla and chocolate=not possible).

Loved this guy with his sheep hat… Too funny!

Going on the last day always has its advantages…

Livestock Association… Respect…

Alpacas, suckahs!

Baby alpacas! These guys are a year… (the brunette in the preceding pic is Mom)

What is the difference between alpacas and llamas?!

“Inquire of me…. Now. Thanks”

The PA Cattlemen’s Assoc will judge you…

Yeeeeaaaa……

Hee

Emblazoned on the floor!

Butter sculpture! (We also heard someone get paged to report to the butter sculpture)

These sheepies had just been sheared and were rocking some sweaters! Too cute!

Well hi there!

Bah…

This guy killed me.  So funny…

Umm, dairy cows are huge…

I wanna be a farm kid.  This girl was like 11 and escorting this thousand pound cow around.  Jealous…

The end… smell ya later!

Photo Dump: Yoga School Edition!

Our super talented co-yogi Cheri is also a fledgling photographer and was sort of our official historian throughout teacher training.  Because she is super awesome she shared all these with us and I am going to post some highlights.  I feel awkward posting a bunch of pictures of myself but it’s my blog and I’ll _____ if I want to.  The blank in this instance being “post gratuitous Yoga pictures.”  Kind of a critical piece of my biography at this point.  Plus I think people I know are probably wondering what we did all that time…

Our very first night! Remember I said it felt like yesterday!? The tans remind me it was a whiiiile ago…

Snazzy Down Dog assists…

Guest Instructor Jamie analyzed our stances/posture/gait… so fascinating!

 

Snazzy plank pyramids! Spotting is our intrepid teacher and Guru, Padma… My only hope is that someday I will have deltoids like hers

Sugar Canes (thanks Jenn!)

Y’all we even learned Tai Chi! So cool…

Partner Yoga day was so cool… (with guest apperance by Mr. Padma!)

Guest Instructor Indeira came all the way from her home in Costa Rica where she runs a Yoga retreat center (be jealous!!)

In November we went off to rural Virginia for a weekend retreat…

One morning we were sent separate ways on the “grounds” for individual walking meditations… it was so gorgeous and relaxing and a memorable moment of the experience.  I stood watching a mom and baby deer for like 20 minutes.  Oh gawd did I really just say that? No I really did, but I’d like to think it didn’t come across as that idyllic and sappy in real life?!

See that sky!?

We made energy balls…

My poor husband started dating a Republican campaign staffer six years ago, and now has on his hands a nutbag wifey who makes energy balls, reads Deepak Chopra, and has public freak outs in the produce aisle about pesticides.  It’s kinda funny. 

This was the morning we started at 6:00 and watched the sun rise… Adore this shot!

And we graduated!

Our group shot again (Cheri’s came out far superior to the Droid’s)

October Photo Challenge…Catch Up!

With everything on I couldn’t believe I was stressing myself out over taking pictures for a silly internet thing.  But, guess what, it was fun and it feels good to finish things you started, silly as they may be.

OK, I’m totally stealing this picture Kim took last weekend (Thanks Kimmy!), and using it to fulfill both the Eyes and Animal assignment.  Seriously the goog-ly eyes crack me up here.

Technology.  Jeff’s gangsta noise cancelling headphones.  More on these later.

Something orange! The fridge has killer light by the way.

Something blue! (The light elsewhere in the house seems to turn everything orange.  Strange.)

Shoes! (See what I mean?)

OK.  This was a magic moment.  The assignment here was faceless self portrait.  Ironically, we were just learning at yoga class that people automatically go straight to their faces when making a self portrait, forgetting about the whole rest of their selves!  Comically, the trend for the rest of the challenge participants seemed to just be heads with people holding the camera in front of their facial features.  Too funny! Anyhoo, I tried to set the timer and do a snazzy yoga pose here, but Chooch walked in front of it.  (In another extremely handsome knit sweater). Awesome!

Assignment here was Childhood Memory.  My kitty Pinky! (Yes he still lives in my adult home.  Withhold your judgment).

BONUS CHOOCH SWEATER IMAGE:

Thanks for the gift, auntie Marshall!