A Roll of the Dice

On Friday of last week, Seaman came by the house to get the extra key. He is going to rent my third bedroom for a while so he can get away from his parents' house. (I don't blame him - I'm much more fun than his parents!!) So we sat in my kitchen and visited for a while and figured out that we were going to be enjoying some happy hour beverages at the same location later in the evening.

Flash forward to happy hour - which was more like a high school reunion, but enjoyable none the less. Seaman invites Rocket Scientist Barbie*, and Mustang* tries to have a conversation with her. Unfortunately, she isn't very friendly. Nor is she very smart. Mustang was not impressed. I left soon after she arrived so, sadly, I have no stories to share.

I assumed that Seaman was going to move in on Saturday, and when he didn't I figured he would do it on Sunday. Wrong again. However, yesterday, he decided, was the day to begin his transfer of things to my house.

So he arrives around 4 with nothing in his hands. We chat for a while as I finish my packing spreadsheet (don't laugh) for California. Then his phone rings. He mutters something about crazy girls and walks out the door. While he is outside my mom calls me and we are in the middle of a conversation when he returns with a duffel bag. After putting it in his room he goes back outside. I assume that he is going to get another load of things. I was wrong. He comes back in with Rocket Scientist Barbie behind him, both of them carrying cups from Sonic. I am still on the phone with my mom when I hear bags rustling and cupboards opening. Wanting him to feel at home, I just go on with my conversation. After I hang up the phone, RSB asks if I want some cottage cheese and pineapple. WHAT?? I politely decline, but join them in the kitchen. (Sometimes I try to be friendly - it doesn't happen often, but I do make an effort every now and again.)

So we're sitting in the kitchen at the bar and I'm writing myself a note when Seaman asks, "Do you want to go to the gym tonight?" I assume he's talking to his female companion and don't answer. After 45 seconds of silence, I look up and ask, "Were you talking to me?" RSB informs me that she doesn't go to the gym, so that leaves only me. We discuss the gym plans for a couple of minutes while she finishes up her after-school snack. I then commence packing and the two of them head for Seaman's room and close the door.

I'll take the time right now to let you know that the only things in that room are a bed, a trash can, and now a duffel bag. I continue to pack and every once in a while I hear her giggle. I wanted to go ahead and tell her that Seaman isn't that funny, but I let it slide.

I go back into the kitchen and realize that her purse is still sitting on the counter. My first thought is, This girl doesn't even know me - it probably isn't smart to leave her purse sitting on my counter. That thought is quickly erased when I realize that this isn't any ordinary purse we are dealing with. This is a metallic purple, Apple Bottom purse. (Apparently this purse was last year's style because I couldn't find it on the website. However, imagine the purse below in a metallic dark purple - with a more bowling ball bag style - got it? Good.)

But wait, it gets better. I had to drop some stuff off at my mom's house before I left for California, so I decided that now would be the time to do it. I open the garage, pull out in my very stylish car, and almost run into the neighbors' house because I'm laughing so hard. Not only does this girl carry a metallic purple, Apple Bottom purse - she drives a car the color of the purse pictured above, with hot pink polka dot fuzzy dice in the mirror. Are you kidding me??? I can not make this shit up!

As a random side note: I landed in Sacramento today for my never-ending tour of Cali and I found myself looking around for my Swisher-Sweet-smoking-boyfriend. I didn't find him. Sad.

Diddy and the Snake...

On Wednesday afternoon Diddy, Banana, and I headed out to M-town to visit Sissy. We were in separate cars coming from Casa Grande and I arrived first. I walked up to the door with my bags in my hands, but the kitchen door was locked, so I proceeded to the side door. As I got closer to the door I noticed a weird circle thing right in front of the door. I got pretty close to it before I realized that it was a snake. It was coiled up and sleeping. I jumped about 7 feet before I ran around to the front door to get Sissy. I grabbed her and we went to check it out. We really couldn't tell anything through the glass on the door, so we called Banana and Diddy and told them to be careful when they got there.

Once Diddy and Banana arrived, we all armed ourselves with a garden tool in preparation to kill the snake. (Really in preparation for Diddy to kill the snake - Banana and I were just back up.) So us two girls have shovels and Diddy has the hoe. As he starts to move furniture to get a good swing with the hoe, the snake wakes up and starts hissing at him. Diddy freaks out and Banana has to coach him to kill the snake.

Diddy takes his first swing at the snake and it tries to get away. This is when we realize that it was a rattlesnake. So he began swinging furiously! Sparks were flying every time the hoe hits the concrete, Banana and I were cheering, it was utter chaos! As Diddy hits the snake the last time, the head breaks off of the hoe and flies into the air. Luckily it didn't hit anyone and the snake was dead.

Turns out Diddy is more afraid of snakes than us girls. But he manned up and saved us last week! I am so proud!

WARNING: Graphic pictures below.

Reckless Motorcars

About a month ago, I ran into a guy that I went to high school with (we'll call him Doc*) that I hadn't seen in a couple of years. It was good to see him and we caught up over the weekend and have kept in touch ever since. So a couple of weeks ago, Doc joined my family in a trip up to our ranch to process cattle.

While we were at the ranch, we thought it would be fun to go through our senior yearbook and reminisce about old times. (Ok, so we wanted to go person by person and tell each other what we knew/had heard about them.) It was good fun and we laughed until we couldn't laugh anymore.

Well, I'm pretty sure that activity cursed me... Since that time on the porch of the ranch house, I have randomly seen people that we went to high school with everywhere. I bet I've seen more people in the past couple of weeks than I have since we graduated. Not just normal people, the most random people in the most random places. He, of course, thinks this is hilarious - I am not quite as amused.

Flash forward to the present: last night Banana and I were going to a concert of two bands that we enjoy a lot! They are not well known bands (or so we thought), but their music rocks and it's always fun to see them live. We pull in to the parking lot of the club where they will be playing and there are a ton of people on the patio smoking and drinking so I look over and see a girl that I graduated high school with. I'm not the biggest fan of this girl - she's gone a little crazy since high school and we really have nothing to talk about - so I pretty much spent the first part of the night trying to avoid her.

As if this wasn't enough, Banana (who hails from a small town about 2 hours north of where we were standing) looks over at the bar and sees two people that she went to high school with. Then our other friend (from a small town 3 hours south of where we were standing) runs into two girls that she grew up with. What are the chances?

After we had successfully dodged all of our old high school "buddies" we were standing near the stage enjoying the show when a large guy came up behind me and literally invaded my personal space. It was totally uncomfortable! He stood there for a while and then moved and somehow ended up next to me. I'm enjoying the concert, but can see him out of the corner of my eye. Every thirty seconds or so he would turn and basically stare at me. (I was kind of getting freaked out...) After about 10 minutes of this he leans over to me and the following conversation ensues:

Large Guy*: Do you have a sister named SuperFan?

Me: Yes.

LG: You look identical.

Me: I know, but we're not.

LG: I thought you were her.

Me: I'm not.

Essentially he thought that him knowing SuperFan made he and I friends. He was wrong.

In other random, concert news Banana ran into her hometown vet and his family and Honker's hand twin was there. Quite hilarious. I'm still laughing at how much the guy reminded me of Honker - uncanny resemblance really. Uncanny.

Brilliant!!!

IT and I had lunch today at Postino - which is super delish - I recommend it to everyone! It was IT's first time there so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then sauntered over to LGO to check it out and perhaps get some dessert. And what did we find there??

That's right - a shot of frosting. How brilliant is that?? Banana will be soooo excited!!!

You Had To Be There...

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...

I wasn't on the USS Minnow, but it probably would have helped me last week as I drove from Globe to the airport to pick up RedShirt* so he could speak at our meeting on Friday.

It was going to be a long trip and EID agreed to ride with me to keep me company. Prior to leaving Globe, I got a call from my mom - she had forgotten her clothes at home and needed me to drive to her house (about an hour out of the way) before picking RedShirt up so that she wouldn't have to wear the same thing for the next three days.

So, off EID and I went on our adventure. Keep in mind that everyone else at the convention was going to have a steak dinner and then watch the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in concert while we spent hours on the road. We were not excited.

As we drove through Superior it started raining pretty hard, which wouldn't normally be a problem, but Tyler* is due for some new wiper blades and I haven't had the time to get them yet. But we manage through the storm and continue down the road. About 15 miles outside of Apache Junction the sky got dark and the monsoon began. There was lightening everywhere and every ten minutes or so one would strike really close and practically blind us. Then all of the sudden we came to a complete stop. Literally - no one was moving. EID was freaking out - being from California she had never seen a monsoon before and she thought we were going to get struck by lightening.

It starts to become clear that we are not going to be able to make it to my parents' house to get the clothes - we may not even make it to the airport on time. So I call my mom to tell her that she needs to find someone to pick them up and bring them to me near the airport.

After about 30 minutes of sitting there, traffic begins to move again. Five minutes after that - the sky opens up and we are in a torrential downpour! Literally, even if I had wiper blades that worked, they wouldn't have been able to keep up with the rain.

My cousin, Clarendon*, had agreed to pick up the clothes and meet me near the airport. As EID and I make our way to the meeting location, we are wishing that we had a Go-Go-Gadget car that turned into a boat because the highway was literally beginning to flood.

To make a long story short, we get the clothes and head to the airport. Turns out RedShirt's plane can't land in Phoenix because of the storm so they have been diverted to Las Vegas. We decide to rent him a car and head back to Globe before we get stuck in a flash flood.

It rained on us all the way back to Globe, but we survived - barely.

The greatest part of this story is that on the way back to Globe my mom called to tell us about their night. They all walk over to the arena for the concert and get settled in. The band begins to play and then it begins to rain - really hard. (Apparently whoever built the arena didn't plan for it to ever rain because at one point my mom went to the bathroom and there was water coming out of the light fixtures. ) In the middle of the concert, the lights go out and water starts rushing into the arena, flooding the place. (Word on the street is that lightening struck, which caused the power outage.) The band decides not to go back on - you know that whole water-and-electricity-don't-mix thing - but no one can leave the arena because it is raining so hard outside. So they sit there in the dark with water running from one end of the place to the other. Gives a whole new meaning to "Fishin' in the Dark..."

Running, Running, Running

Ok - I ran while I was in Globe this week, but I didn't open my computer once while I was there so you'll have to miss out on the stats. Just know that I'm increasing my longest running time and I'll be back in business this week as I'm home all week!

Go World!

Have you seen the Olympic Commercials that NBC is running? The ones with the inspirational stories from years past? The one with Kerri Strug sticking the vault on two torn tendons to win the Gold for the USA?!?!?!

Yeah, I'm so freaking excited for the Olympics to start - I've already set my DVR to record every minute of it!! (Well, not the part on the Spanish Channel - although I thought it would be kind of fun to listen to it in Spanish...)

Runaround Sue...

Day 1 of my running blog:

Total Time: 30 minutes (alternate run/walk)

Longest Run Sequence: 4 minutes

Total Calories: 307*

*My heart rate monitor wigged out a little in the middle of the run, so I'm not sure how accurate that count is.

It was quite humid outside this morning, and I think I need new running shoes. But it was a successful run.

I Was Running...

Ok, readers, we're going to take this blog in a slightly different direction for a bit. That's not to say that you are going to miss out on the crazy, random happenings in my life - when they happen, I will definitely post about them. However, in the interim, you will all be able to track my training progress for my half marathon in January. Starting tomorrow, I will post each day on the training regimen. Tune in to follow the fun...