For Karna

As i mentioned in a previous post, things have gotten pretty busy 'round here. Resulting in a lack of posts. But i can't have karna annoyed, especially when its her finals week. She must stay focused. So here are some tales from my life recently:

Last week on thursday i came home from work to find a white grocery bag sitting on the front porch. I thought some generous person must have dropped off some seafood or something. I picked up the bag and started to feel it, massaging its contents to try and decipher what was inside. Well, a big whiff to the bag confirmed that is was not seafood, but catfood. Digested and dispensed catfood. Zieak had cleaned the litter box earlier, stuck it outside to bring to the bin later, and forgotten about it. Gag.

Oh, but the grossness doesnt stop there. Friday morning i popped my handful of vitamins into my mouth and lifted my nalgene water bottle up to my mouth to wash them down. Luckily i glanced into the bottle, for there was a curled-up spider carcass floating in my water. I am shuddering just typing about it. I started this weird low shrieking, my vitamins sitting on my damp tongue creating an odious sludge. I ran into the bathroom where zieak stood, all concerned and confused. I showed him the bottle quickly before thrusting the contents into the sink. Sick.

Oh yeah, my alcohol-induced friendliness resulted in us spending $2000 this weekend. Wow, that sentence should be followed with a way better story, but alas, here is the truth. I introduced myself to a young hip guy i'd never seen before in kitos, and it turned out that he was a kirby vacuum salesman. I gave him my cell number and the next day we were the proud owners of one of the most amazing inventions i've ever witnessed. Really, if you can afford it and care about your carpets being clean, it truly is amazing. And i'm not going to get any commission for referring any of y'all if thats what you're thinkin.

A week from today we leave for fairbanks, yay yay! Time for some mcdonalds, movie theater popcorn, and people-watching. For some reason that activity isnt as much fun when you know everyone in town.

This little toon always brightens my day

Scary stuff

So we ran into a guy at the hardware store today who i had a rather strange experience with recently, and zieak reminded me i needed to blog it.

A few weeks ago i was on a delivery run to the hospital. Upon pulling up and parking in front of the building, i see a small child wandering down the street about a block away. This toddler is wearing a tank-top and shorts, and it was one of the coldest weeks in february. I run over to her and scoop her up, and she is not able to speak yet except for some vowel sounds. I say "where's your mommy?" and she just says "aa ee oo," no pointing or anything to give me a clue. I begin to walk with her in the direction she was waddling from, and the street is bare. She looks to be native to me, but i was in a neighborhood where i wasnt that familar with what residents lived in what house. I've made it about a block, the little girl doesnt seem scared or frightened (luckily, if she had freaked out i may have also.) A car slowly approaches, and i flag down the female driver. "Do you know whose child this is?" She says "i think that is kara, she lives just there." I am standing directly in front of the house she motions to. So i go up the stairs, knock on the door while saying "hello?" at a decible i consider loud. No answer. At this point i start getting scared, and some horrible thoughts enter my head. What if the babysitter is dead? What am i going to find in this house? What if someone is being held hostage and i end up as well? Of course they were all just silly, unbelievable situations. The tv was on - playing a cartoon. By this point i am saying hello as loud as i can without screaming it. Finally, i am at the bottom of the stairs, about to ascend them, still thinking i'm going to come across a body. A man comes around the corner at the top of the stairs, hands full of papers, head down reading whatever words are printed on them. Totally oblivious that i am standing there with his cold daughter in my arms. I recognize him, and well, lets just say it seemed he was not concerned in the least that his daughter was wandering the streets barely dressed. He took her from my arms and walked me to the door mumbling about this being the first time he's had to watch her all winter, and how his wife was supposed to have locked the door when she left for work. Ok dude, why were you upstairs leaving her in the charge of the television? Leaving i was relieved that an irresponsible father was all that i found.

When i saw him today, he apologized, saying he was so embarrassed at the time that he forgot to say thank you. Man, there's something a lot more important i hope you never forget again.

Mmmmm..........beer

I am a beer drinker. I love beer. I really only drink wine if there is no beer available within a block radius. But while zieak was back home in new york he visited a vineyard and purchased some delectable choice wines. The four bottles were packaged up nicely in a cardboard carrier, and i guess there was a certain whino from petersburg eyeing him in the seattle airport, ready to tackle him for his goods. Our friend seth just returned from a four month trip overseas where he picked up some tasty treats, and he just loves throwing wine-tasting pre-funks at his place. So i have been partaking of the beverage that the french swear by a lot lately, and i havent minded it at all. Today we had planned on hiking crystal mountain to go sledding, but instead rented a carpet-cleaner and brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr'd the whole downstairs. To relax after all the brrrrrring, we sat down with a glass of Salmon Creek merlot, a bottle left over from a shindig we threw a while back. I opened up an email asking if i'd like to participate in a wine survey, and two minutes into the survey UB40's "red red wine" comes on the stereo from a random mixed cd i'd put in. Huh. What are the odds, really.

I love my nomadic sister

Where does the time go

Recently it has come up a number of times just how busy i am all the time. Even though i have no children. I dont know how real parents do it. Between search and rescue, 4th of july committee, social obligations, work, friends' weddings, book-keeping for zieak, thrift-store shopping, and trying to make it to the weight room, this spring is bound to get worse. And continue into summer. I'm not complaining by any means, most of the commitments are volunteer, but it is slowly beginning to wear on me. Falling into bed at 10 completely exhausted helps with a good nights sleep, thats for sure. Traveling the few times i have planned will help break it up too - i am accompanying zieak on a work trip to fairbanks in the beginning of april, and then my work is sending me to vegas (again!) in june for some CE classes. It is the week before the 4th of july, which means we will really have to hustle to have everything in order before we even leave. For that reason, i doubted going at first, but only for about half a second.

Three years ago i would never have thought i could survive without cable television. Nowadays, i may not be able to participate in some pop culture-referencing conversations, but i dont mind - not at all.

Linky dinky

I've played this game before, but it didn't involve plastic cups.

Just kidding of course, i just want some cash-money.

Why

Can someone please tell me why there is such a god-awful sound when you accidentally dial a fax number on the telephone? Or someone accidentally gives you a fax number to call? My ears have been violated.