Brother Marmalade

There's nothing quite like calling The Dude and hearing him answer the phone singing "Lady Marmalade" with modified lyics:

"Hey sister, soul sister, [redacted] sister, [redacted] sister."  

I had to take some names out for the sake of quasi-anonymity and also because one of his nicknames for me sounds filthy.

You little girl

Alec Baldwin dominates little girls

"I know you got R'd by a priest or something."

Snack Attack

I had a conversation with The Boss last night that started out extolling the deliciousness of Ring Dings and became a discussion of the various chocolate/cream cakes on the market.  We agreed that Ring Dings are the best snack in this category and Devil Dogs are the worst but we had some trouble recalling the treats that corresponded with the other names we managed to recall.  After doing a little investigating, I realize that the reason for our confusion is that Drakes Cakes and Hostess have their own versions of several different chocolate cakes.  Little Debbie has a version of most of these too, but I lost interest by the time I started looking at a third brand.  So here's a quick (and obviously very important) primer:

Ring Dings (Drakes Cakes ) / Ding Dongs (Hostess)

Not only are these products pretty much identical, they also have the match-y rhyming names.  Little cream-filled chocolate cakes coated in chocolate.  They are super delicious, and this is coming from someone who isn't a big chocolate enthusiast.  

Yodels (Drakes Cakes) / Ho Hos (Hostess)

Strange that we forgot about the Swiss rolls when Hostess named theirs after The Boss's paternal grandmother.  Although they contain the exact same three components as Ring Dings/Ding Dongs, I prefer the hockey pucks above to these cylinders.  

Devil Dogs (Drakes Cakes) / Suzie Q’s (Hostess)

These treats lack the crucial chocolate coating and suffer mightily for it.  I never made the connection, but The Boss pointed out that these are garbage whoopie pies-- chocolate cake and frosting sandwiches.  Real whoopie pies are so much better.  (Especially pumpkin whoopie pies.  Mmmm.)

 

And while I'm strolling down fat kid memory lane, here are two treats that remind me of my grandparents' homes.  

The first are wafer cookies that The Boss's maternal grandparents (my great-grandparents) used to serve.  You don't see a lot of these nowadays, but I enjoyed them.  The pinks were the best.

And then there are Lemon Coolers, which my mum used to buy when we visited her parents.  I don't know if they were easier to find in Western Massachusetts or if being home reminded her to look for them.  Our cousins' dachshund got his head stuck in a box of these once.  Neither the dog nor the cookies have been seen since the mid '90s.  (RIP Pogo.)

Anything to Report?

How do I know when The Dude isn't feeling a phone call?  He keeps going to his default question, "Anything to report?"

What the what?!

Adult Macaulay Culkin looks like what would happen if Dennis Leary and Willem Dafoe had a baby... and then gave that baby heroin.

More reasons not to have kids these days

The new age parenting is overall pretty disgusting, albeit, humorous as times.  2 articles below outline a few of the many reasons why having children does not interest me.

I don't own my child's body

"She's 4. Her parents could get a hug or a kiss, but many people who know her cannot, at least right now. And I won't make her.

"I would like you to hug Grandma, but I won't make you do it," I told her recently."

What happened to the days of not even questioning hugging an older relative?  It is a sign of respect and not a big deal.

College grads and their families learn to live together 

So the kids are gone most of the year for 4 years in a row that has to come back home and live in the basement after you've dropped $160K on their education.  That possibility is a swift kick in the gonads that would have most people rethinking a family.  

"More than half of college graduates move back home"

"Overall, 39% of adults ages 18 to 34 say they either live with their parents or moved back in at some point in recent years, according the report. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 53% said they live at home or moved in temporarily, compared with 41% among adults ages 25 to 29, and 17% among those ages 30 to 34."

No thanks.

Awesome

A Bit of Advice

I am a fan of advice columns.  My favorite, Dear Prudence, is written by a Wellesley alum.  For some reason reading Emily Yoffe's advice often reminds me of my Wellesley friend C.  Maybe that is part of the reason I read Dear Prudence twice a week.  Another contributing factor to my appreciation of the column is that Yoffe is a stickler for thank you notes*:

"My mail would indicate that many people who receive gifts think the thank you note is passe.  Which I think allows the gift giver to decide that as far as future gifts are concerned, you'll pass."

Although it is unrelated to dispensing advice, I really like this article Yoffe wrote about her husband's first wife.



*I have received three thank you notes from three cousins in the past month.  My family is batting 1000.

The Implication

As a 30 year old in an economy where real estate is a solid buyer's market, I literally get harassed weekly from a friend or family member about buying a place.  I agree, time to invest and not rent anymore.  Always Sunny In Philadelphia is one of the most under-rated shows right now that not many people I know watch.  I've seen every episode and was catching a repeat tonight and realized that I am going to buy a boat and live on it due to the philosophy outlined in the video below (The Implication):

Herself Runs on Dunkin'

I've been getting Dunkin' Donuts iced coffees most afternoons for the past couple of months, and I am starting to feel very Nancy Botwin-esque when I sip on my bev with the ice noisily swirling around the disposable cup.  Caffeine is clearly a gateway drug and it is only a matter of time before I'm involved with the Mexican cartel.  (Note: I do not hold my D&D cups from the top like Nancy does.  But I do hold my tea cups from the bottom like Jack Holden/Ted Danson in Three Men and a Little Lady.  Not really, but how have I gone nearly two months without referencing Three Men and a Little Lady in a blog post?)

Boston is way too hot

Unit A/Cs installed in windows are better than nothing, but those with Central AC in the Northeast, let alone Boston area, must be pumped to not be stuck in 1 room the last 3 days.  Especially if the place you live in is older than John McCain's balls and despite having multiple AC units, you can only run 1 at a time due to overloading the circuit breaker.  Awesome.

Speaking of the Heat, big win by Lebron and D.Wade last night.  I knew and called that they would win last night and they did deserve it.  That fact still doesn't change my opinion of Lebron and my general dislike for him and his theatrics, but he is an incredible athlete and player.  Lebron takes a lot of crap from people, but he played well this whole playoff series and proved folks wrong who didn't think he was a clutch player.  I've never doubted Lebron as a player - great skill:  can drive, rip the 3, steal, block, get rebounds, etc.  If he would 100% later flopping/acting, I would have no issue with him.  Unlike a ton of folks, I had no problem with him leaving Cleveland for the Heat.  Like any professional athlete, this is a business and a job for them.  People in real life change jobs to make more $$ or to improve their career track, which is exactly what Lebron did.  Perhaps he should not have held an ESPN special to announce/talk about it, but it was the right move for him career-wise.

Speaking of professional athletes and business/jobs - as much as I like Durant I don't agree with crying after losing.  Pro athletes get paid millions of dollars to play a game, a game kids play for fun and a game grown-ups like myself pay to play to relax, have fun and alleviate stress.  At the end of the day it is just a game they are playing.  People pay a lot of money to go to professional sporting events to be entertained.  People that argue, "these guys worked so hard all season and work hard in the off-season." doesn't cut it for me.  They are doing something for a living that they love, have been doing since a kid and have dreamed of doing.  As a white Irish kid from Central Maine I told my parents for years growing up I was going to be in the NBA.  Not once did I tell them I wanted to work 60 to 60+ hours a week as a Project Manager for a software company.  Go out and ask the next 5 people you know if their current job is something they love doing, have been doing since they were a kid and have dreamed of doing....then ask if they make $20 million a year doing so.  This picture is horrible and embarrassing: 

I wise man once said, "There's no crying in baseball."  That also applies to basketball, or any professional sport or professional athlete for that matter (the only potential exception being Olympic athletes who don't make much, if any $$ and get 1 shot every 4 years).  During an interview yesterday Dave Ortiz from the Sox told a reporter to leave him and the Sox alone with all the drama and crap questions.  He said to the guy this is just a game, they want to go out there and have fun and entertain the fans.  Best quote I've heard from a pro athlete in a while.

This Is How You Do It

Crushing my day off so far:

1. Fed the cats
2. Cleaned the litter box
3. Hefted a large grocery order up to the third floor and unpacked everything
4. Made an appointment to have a plumber fix my garbage disposal next Wednesday
5. Took out the garbage
6. Brought a few boxes down to the basement
7. Am currently running my second load of linens in the wash
8. Closed all of my windows and turned on my brand spankin' new central air conditioning.  Yessssssssss.

Rough days ahead

Herself and The Dude will literally be baking like toasted cheesers the next 2 days.  Currently it is 78 degrees with 68% humidity where Herself is located...with an expected high of 95.  The Dude is currently at 79 degrees with 74% humidity and an expected high of 94.  There is no reason for me to leave my A/C'd office building until 6:30pm to 7pm, which is the only good thing about today.

Heat won last night in a close game because:

• The refs don't respect Kevin Durant as a player yet
• Westbrook played the game of his life, but made a stupid mental error in the final seconds of the game
• Lebron is a baby and the refs love to S his D

Time To Say Goodbye

. . . to my Yahoo email account.  I probably won't follow through on this, but I need to start using my Gmail account as my primary email.  Every so often Yahoo "experiences technical difficulty" and I am unable to access my email for hours at a time.  I can see that I have six unread emails, but I can't see who they are from and of course I can't read them.  Frustrating.  Five of the six are probably garbage, which means that the sixth email, whoever it is from, is really going to have to deliver when I am finally able to read it. 

I've been catching up on season four of "Breaking Bad" and a freak out in the style of Jesse Pinkman is bubbling up in me.  (It would heavily feature "yo"s and b-words-- directed at Yahoo.)  Aaron Paul blows me away with his performance as Jesse.  What a talented actor.  Here's some of his finest work.  (Warning: Heavy on profanity.)

It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I know the weather isn't the most thrilling topic, but there aren't many perfect weather days in New England, and we've been having a series of them in the last week.  I have been feeling genuinely appreciative to be outside on my way to and from work-- and that never happens.  I spent Saturday at my uncle and aunt's phenomenal new lake house.  Then I came home, looked out my windows, didn't have a waterfront view, and cursed the world.  I've settled into acceptance today.  I'm chilling with my roommates/the cats and thinking about adding to the collection.  I wonder what the tipping point is for felines in a tiny living space-- what's the magic number that makes a home have perma-stank.  I'll probably find out the hard way.

What else?  I've been notified that I have jury duty in August.  So even though I don't have an ocean/lake vacation lined up this summer for the first time since the year 2000, I still have something to look forward to.  I think I'll wait until jury duty to start reading Fifty Shades of Grey.  I've heard it is super filthy.  Maybe I can get some sort of jury book club going.

Glad I don't have younger cousins like these kids

Background:  couple of 15-17 year old kids skateboarding across from the homeless Vet shelter in downtown Boston.  These kids were trying to grind the bench the older Vet was smoking a cigarette on and they got righteous and decided to tape it.  The Vet gets a bit upset and goes and reports these kids to the police.  One of the first times I agree with Boston PD in my time here.  The shocking part to me is how odd some kids these days are in terms of getting ballsy in the presence of a cop.  Yelling/swearing at a cop, wow.  Not sure if what the cop is saying/doing is legal, but I agree with him.  This is a video by the kids, so the title is from them and is the opposite of my thoughts on the issue.  I'd say after living in Boston for 8 years that there are at least 15 better places to skateboard that in front of the homeless Vet shelter. 

Strike the article below, my weekend wasn't that bad

At least I wasn't attacked by a crazy guy with sausage links. 

Dude attacked by guy with sausage links as weapon

BROCKTON —

A Holbrook man was charged after police said he attacked and robbed a Brockton man using stolen sausage links and a wrench at West Street and Forest Avenue Sunday morning.
The victim told police he was riding his bike about 8 a.m. Sunday when Michael A. Baker, whom he does not know, came up to him “and started swinging sausage links at him,” Lt. David Dickinson said Sunday.
“He said he was trying to hit him with that. The victim had no idea why,” Dickinson said.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x1222856805/Brockton-police-Holbrook-man-charged-in-attack-using-sausage-links-and-wrench#ixzz1yA4fM3ht

Weekend round up/I'm old

I had a soccer tournament on Saturday morning and afternoon in Waltham at PMan's old stomping ground - Brandeis.  Brandeis has some good facilities and a nice artificial turf field, plus it is just outside of Boston.  Weather was low to mid 60s and it was overcast with a slight amount of wind, which is perfect soccer weather.

Now that I've hit the big 3-0 and I'm the 3rd oldest dude on our team, I've had to move back from midfield (outside right) to defense due to not being as fast and not having as much gas in the tank.  Our team plays a 4-4-2, which means 4 defenders (sweeper, left full, right full, stopper), 4 midfielders (outside left, inside left, inside right, outside right) and 2 forwards (strikers).  Our first game we tied the team and our second game we lost.  By the time the second game rolled around most of my team was spent and some of the guys had to leave, so we were down to 2 subs.  Our opponent during our 2nd game was a fresh out of college group of rugby players who decided to play soccer.  These guys had little to no skill, but were much faster, bigger and in better shape than our team.  Plus that was their first game of the day, whereas my team was on our 2nd game in 4 hours.  The game was pretty rough and physical overall and finally someone on my team snapped.  A scrum ensued and a guy on my team and a guy on their team started to throw punches.  People on both teams came running in to break it up and unfortunately I was one of the first guys in there.  Never again will I attempt to break up a fight since both parties involved are too fixated on the fight to see/care what is going on.  The guy on my team elbowed me in the ear pretty hard when cocking back to throw a punch.  The other guy missed throwing a punch at my teammate and hit me on the shoulder.  4 seconds later a guy from their team tried to tackle me because he thought I was the 3^rd man in and my ankle rolled big time.  You’d think a rugby player could perform a clean tackle that would just take me off my feet and onto the ground, but this d-bag must’ve been a bench player as his running start tackle to me quasi took me down and was awkward enough for me to twist/turn my ankle. I'd like to thank the Brad-Man for teaching me how to use a Rear Naked Choke move, which I lightly employed on this dude until the whole thing broke up and calmed down. 

The sad part of the whole story is that 6 of their guys were tossed from the game and my team played the last 8 minutes 11 guys versus 9 of their guys (2 man Power-play, basically).  We only lost the 1 guy who was throwing punches in the original scrap since the refs knew our team and could tell we were mostly legit soccer players, smaller dudes who were interested in fighting.  Me personally, I was done for the day due to the ankle and just left the game early heated.  Today my ankle is swollen and black and blue.  Saturday and Sunday I had a headache/earache from the elbow to the ear and my right arm has a giant old woman bruise on it now.  Needless to say I’m not going to join the team for the fall league and emailed one of my buddies today about joining the 30 and over league.  Time to admit I’m too old for this crap.  Who knew soccer could get so rugged?  Obviously none of these guys have been watching the UEFA Euro 2012 matches on ESPN where a guy farts and another guy 5 feet away from him falls over like he has just been shot. I  need to start playing soccer with Europeans.  

Backsliding

I used to watch Big Daddy just about every day in college.  Well, I didn't WATCH it, but I had it on in my dorm room almost daily-- sometimes on a loop.  When the movie ended, I would occasionally just rewind the VHS tape and start it over.  I could get several viewings in during all-night paper-writing sessions.  (Oddly, my celebratory "I finished!" movie was Weird Science.  I always played it early in the morning when I was practically drunk off sleep deprivation.)  Anyhow, it has been years since I've owned a VCR, so my VHS copy of Big Daddy is long gone.  Just this week I realized that Big Daddy is available on Netflix Watch Instantly.  And obviously I can't stop watching it at bedtime.

Like The Boss

Dad's Day is coming up and there are lists of great TV fathers floating around the net.  Without checking any lists, I thought of The OC's Sandy Cohen, Roseanne's Dan Conner, Modern Family's Phil Dunphy, The Cosby Show's Cliff Huxtable, Little House on the Prairie's Charles Ingalls, and Friday Night Light's Eric Taylor.  How do these dads compare to my father, The Boss?  Sandy has a magnificent set of eyebrows like The Boss, Eric is both emotionally buttoned up and smokin' hot like the Boss, and Dan, Phil, and Cliff are super funny like The Boss.  (Pa Ingalls weeps way too frequently to draw any real comparisons with The Boss.)

Then I thought of a TV dad who raised an outrageously adorable ginger child and whose Aunt Bee has always reminded me of The Boss's grandmother, Nana Luke.  Happy Father's Day weekend, Dad!

Andy & Opie Taylor

Too old?

I went into the local Whole Foods this evening to pick up some food and was questioned on my age for my credit card.  I paid for the bill using AMEX Gold card and the woman asked me how old I was.  I told her 30 and she seemed shocked and thought I was in grad school and 25.  I told her age doesn't matter for a credit card and it was odd for her to question my age based on that.  Somehow I was heated for her thinking I was younger, which is a first.  I had just shaven last night, was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, sandals and a backwards hat.  I think the clean shaven look and backwards hat threw her off, which begs the question - how old is too old to wear a hat backwards?  Some family and friends would say any age, since only d-bags wear their hat backwards (mostly a few family members would say/think this), but I've always rocked the reverse style throughout the years and still want to for a few more years.  I think  I'm cutting myself off the backwards hat at age 33.  

Speaking of reverse style and backwards hat........

(Don't worry, that's just my Uncle so its not weird.)

Would You Rather

Busy day at work followed by a non-enjoyable commitment this evening. 

I'd rather be here:

Tooling around on one of these:

1 year ago today

Last year at this time I was sitting inside "The Hairy Monk" down on 25th and 3rd in NYC.  The Hairy Monk is a Boston fan-based sports bar that plays all Boston sporting events, which is more rare than you would think in NYC.

To set the stage - the Boston Bruins were down 3-2 against the Canucks and this was a crucial Game 6 in Boston.  Easily one of the best games I've ever watched, across all sports.  Even if you don't watch hockey or even like hockey, if you take the time to view this clip below you will realize you missed one of the most intense and exciting games ever played.

I brought down and wore my 'Rugged' #69 jersey, courtesy of UStefon Axelrod during Game 6 in NYC.  This last season I went to 14 Bruins games and wore my jersey to 11 of the 14 games.  Once in November and once in February 2 different people came up to me and asked if I had been to The Hairy Monk in NYC last year for the playoffs.  They were both there the same night (pub probably had 200 people there) and remember my jersey.  Awesome.

Two Clips

Having the day off today reaffirmed my selection of pets, as cats are absolutely perfect companions for a nap enthusiast such as myself.  Caught up on a couple Daily Shows and Colbert Reports and Colbert busted out this old clip, which always makes me feel like I have a small crush on the POTUS.

And because I've watched this a dozen times in the past few days, here's the video that finally made me into a "Call Me Maybe" fan.  I heart Jimmy and The Roots.

Caffeine

I think I'm addicted to caffeine.  I had a redbull this morning and I'm pounding diet coke right now.  I feel tired and sluggish if I don't drink anything with caffeine in it during the week.  I'm not at the point of getting headaches if I go without it, but I can't get through a work day without a bit of it.  It really should be a drug based on its addictive qualities.  Caffeine...a drug?!  Bob Saget would disagree. 

Now is the time to watch the movie Newsies

Herself posted a blog regarding Newsies turning into a Broadway show.  At first I was intrigued, then watched the clip and was disappointed.  Too much ballet/dancing and not enough singing, plus the singing isn't as good as the movie.

Here is the original - classic. 

Now Is the Time to Seize the Day

Quick question:

How have The Dude and I not seen this yet?

YOU ARE SO DUMB, YOU ARE REALLY DUMB...FOR REAL

Herself's post on Freddy R's autotuned and remixed song reminds me of an old classic, Antoine Dobson.  This got a lot of mileage a few years ago.  Classic.

Autotuning Mr. Rogers

Mr. Rogers has always been a favorite of mine.  I remember being at the age when it was uncool to like Mr. Rogers and feeling very uncomfortable when other kids took shots at him.  I think I liked him so much because my parents liked him.  My dad rarely comments about such things, but more than once he mentioned that Fred Rogers was a good and admirable person.  When Mr. Rogers died, I cried watching the memorial clips on the news.  He seemed to be a kind, gentle, and genuine person and I haven't heard any stories to the contrary.

Check out Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor.  His mother knitted the sweaters he changed into at the start of the show.  He was married to his college sweetheart for 50 years.  Koko the gorilla loved him and his show.  He was a vegetarian!  Here's a story about Mr. Rogers from CNN:

"Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec's house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host).  On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver's home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life-- the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further. . . Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life."

Here is the new Mr. Rogers remix video that I got a kick out of:

E.T. Phone Home

I have no doubt that iPhones and other other smart phones are entertaining and handy, but I'm still surprised by the number of folks who have them.  Last weekend I was with nine ladies and I was the only one without a smart phone.  My group wasn't representative of the general population of cell phone users, about 50% of whom have smart phones, but smart phone proliferation is undeniable. So what is my deal?  Am a a troglodyte, a tightwad, all of the above?

If I could get an iPhone with my current plan, I might consider it.  I love my iMac and iPod-- Apple hasn't let me down yet.  But smart phones require more expensive cell phone plans, which is where they lose me.  Being able to check email, Facebook, and generally dink around online at all times is not worth doubling my cell bill each month.  And what's worse, I have come to associate smart phones with their sometimes loathsome owners, who are often unable to focus on face-to-face interactions.  People playing on their phones when they are with a group of people has skyrocketed to the top of my list of pet peeves.  In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "How Rude!"

I am in favor of having a cell phone.  I lived with a cell and no house phone for eight years.  They are great for emergencies.  I think my parents should invest in a couple of cell phones.  I just haven't been sold on smart phones yet.  I'm riding the old school, my phone is just a phone, wave for a while longer.  I'm also riding the tube (non-flat screen) TV wave.  Here I am surfing on my awesome technology decisions.

Zack Morris and I have the same cell phone.

Title town

I'm sitting in my hotel room watching the Devils/Kings game, hoping the Kings grab the cup tonight with a sweep of the Devils in LA.  I'll be swapping back and forth between this game and the Thunder/Spurs, which starts soon.  I hope the Thunder take it tonight because that would make for a great series against the Celts.  The Celts pulled out an incredible and shocking victory last night down in South Beach.  I did not expect them to win, let alone to be up 3-2 in this series and coming back to Boston tomorrow night.  All of these games made me think about last year at this time and how I was watching the Bruins destroy the Canucks 8-1 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.  That was a great summer with the Stanley Cup victory, the parade and general good times around town.  I really hope the Celts can bring that magic back to the city.

Best part of today was our fearless mayor, Mumbles Menino, saying that he can't wait until "Hondo and KJ dominate tomorrow night."  JHC.

2011 Bruins Stanley Cup Final Parade in downtown Boston.  

 

Hadn't shaved or gotten a haircut since Day 1 of playoffs

Toasted Cheeser = Me

I really need more material.  I can't talk about work and my personal life consists mostly of chores around the house and playing with my cats.  I was just folding laundry while watching The Colbert Report.  So that was pretty awesome.  I should probably enjoy my final moments of television freedom, as it will be constant HGTV once my mum gets here tomorrow night.  I'm pretty jazzed to show her that I have kept the air plant that she gave me alive for two whole weeks now.  I practically have a little greenhouse in my living room window with the air plant and the orchid that I brought back to life (after first nearly killing it.)

One of my main concerns in the last few days has been that my sunburn is not fading at all.  After five days, the burn has become maybe 6% less intense.  And that is a generous estimate.  On top of the purpley-red coloring on my face and lower arms, I have also been peeling.  The only silver lining is that I would be a shoe in to replace the late John Candy in a re-make of Summer Rental.

Good effort, indeed

Call Paul Pierce Peter North because he delivered a MONSTER facial to Lebron.

Uh oh, bad news

Lefty or Righty?

I've heard from a few folks that there is always one pit that sweats more than the other.  For me today, I am getting dominated by lefty.  I'm 0% warm/hot, but definitely rocking a pit stain, even with an undershirt on.  WTF!  I can't take a picture to show it because luckily I am wearing a light colored button-up shirt so it doesn't really show, but it's getting nerve-racking.  The odd thing is the smell isn't there, thanks to deodorant + cologne.  Just an awkward wet feeling and stain.  If I had to raise my hands or play bball defense in a zone right now, I'd be toast.  Pic below is a dramatization.

That guys biggest mistake is wearing a shirt that color plus raising his hand up that high.  Guess he has never heard of speakerphone, a bluetooth or a regular headset.

If anyone at work notices and says anything, I'll just let them know that I am working really hard to improve efficiency within their organization and I'm sweating the details.

Oh well, I'm rocking this pit stain with pride.  If my boy Rob can pull it off, I can too.

Back in Business

No vomiting and minimal crying at our rental house this past weekend, so yeah, the bachelorette celebration was a success.  The only downside to the weekend was that I got a serious sunburn on the ferry ride to the Vineyard and therefore I have a shockingly red mug in all of the photos.  That's what happens when a ginger is in direct sunlight for longer than 30 seconds.  (I had packed sunscreen but thought it was in a different bag.  It was in a backpack I checked for the ride rather than the handbag I had with me.  Oops.)

I'm a huge game fan and we played some solid rounds of Catch Phrase, Celebrity, and Thumper.  It seems that only my family calls it "Thumper." (How do you play? T with a humper!)  We also managed to have a late night street dance party in the rain-- involving a luggage cart as a rotating stage.  There was a decent amount of yelling, "Car! . . . .  Game on!" during that portion of the weekend.  Plus we took a pyramid photo around midnight on the beach.  I heart pyramid photos and the beach, so you combine them and, come on, does it get any better?

I'm back home now and my roommates were jazzed about my return.  I like referring to my cats as my roommates because it reminds me of Nick Swardson calling his parents his "roommates" in Grandma's Boy.

Weekend without The Dude or Herself

This weekend will be lacking in blogs as Herself is away from technology and I'm headed home for some family events and good times.  My first trip back since Christmas, so I'm sure the family and town and state itself are soiling themselves with excitement.  I don't blame them - cue the fireworks, parade and music: