grandmother whistle

one of the doctors i work with came in with a whistle around her neck today.  i commented on it and she told me the little story behind her necklace, which instanly made me think of a story of my own. 

once upon a time my mom got tickets to love for my birthday.  my grandmother went along with our little group that consisted of my mom, brother, and friend amerest.  from what i can remember this is how it went down.  my brother was driving, my grandmother in the passenger seat, and the rest of us in back.

all the sudden a whistle blares in the truck and practically deafens us.  i yell along with a couple others and my grandmother laughs.  she said the reason she wore her bright orange whistle was to warn the person driving if they were about to do something they shouldn't.  in actuality the deafening sound caused more of a distraction than anything.  i think what motivated her to wear the whistle was the fact that a week prior when i was picking her up from the vegas airport i ran a stop sign.  a simple mistake which was followed up with a lecture about how i should be wearing glasses.  luckily it didn't cause any harm, just frightened us.

so safety motivated her, but i'd say the fact that it matched her bright outfit also played a huge part in her accessory choice that evening.  i mean we are talking about the woman who made a necklace out of an old thermostat, so wearing a neon whistle is actually quite normal.  i made her promise that regardless of how my brother drove the rest of the trip she would not use her warning device, and she didn't.

so this is the story of how my grandma received the name grandmother whistle.  to this day people laugh when i tell the story and i can't help but laugh myself.

p.s. love was an amazing show that i highly recommend, especially if you are a beatles fan.  i would see it again for sure. 

monies...stolen and birthday

we had decided to visit a different antique shop downtown this afternoon.  it was too hot in there to really enjoy looking at anything but we managed to still find a few treasures.

my mom had given will some money for his birthday and she made a point to tell him that he needed to use in on something fun for himself rather than something for me.  that mother of mine...i can't believe her.  all i have to say is mom you did not win, because he did actually use it to get me my treasures from the antique store considering we were without a debit card and could be for the next 5 days.  apparently some random person out in the world thought it would be really cool to steal our debit card number and spend over a thousand dollars at zappos.com.  to that person, i must say......not cool!  luckily zappos is really smart and they figured something was up when the thief ordered 4 watches without the correct billing information.  the order was canceled, a claim was filed and hopefully the money comes back to our account within a day or two.  nothing that couldn't be fixed after some frustration and a couple phone calls.  now i'm wondering how i'll make it without a debit card for a few days.  it seems so foreign to write checks or even use cash.  

the best pedicure & a stroll

i asked za husband if he would give me a pedicure because i needed one and it seemed like fun to let him give it a whirl.  i didn't think he would actually end up doing it, but because he is such a great sport he totally did.  i offered to return the favor and maybe paint his toenails a lovely shade of blue but unfortunately he declined.

za husband thought it might be a good idea to put houndstooth in the tub while i was soaking my feet.....not such a good idea.  she calmly stood in the water for about a second then completely flipped out and scratched us up while trying to escape.  we felt so bad for the poor girl.   

will did a great job on my pedicure minus a couple minor polishing issues that i had to fix.

it was actually really adorable to watch him be all serious about it.

pellegrino considered helping out for a few minutes.

after that we met up with will's mom and her boyfriend for dinner then we took it upon ourselves to go for a little stroll downtown afterwards. 

the finished product

♥ 

he is seriously the best and sometimes i think he deserves a medal for putting up with me.

za husband and birthday cake

happy 29th birthday to the one i love....

the one who almost single-handedly ate his entire birthday cake in one day.

mister blue eyes and miss green eyes

this is what the mornings look like nowadays at our house.  houndstooth and pellegrino are waiting for me at the bedroom door every morning.



i ♥ cuddling with these little lovers.

the lamborghini encounter

 to say that za husband is a car enthusiast might be a bit of an understatement.  he is pretty obsessed with cars.  he could tell you all sorts of facts about all sorts of vehicles.  he has a hard time remembering what he did yesterday, but when it comes to cars he remembers every little detail.  it's actually quite impressive.  when we are out and about he admires certain vehicles and tells me about his dreams of owning them.  last friday as i turned the corner to our quiet little subdivision that is away from the heart of town i see something shocking.  in the middle of the road there are 4 lamborghini's along with a couple other high end vehicles.  it didn't quite register that i was seeing a group of exotic cars right near our house, all i remember was feeling annoyed that one guy was in the middle of the road preventing me from getting home.  i waited a minute for them to move then instantly called will to tell him what i just saw.  he flipped out!  he asked if i took a picture but of course i hadn't because i was just trying to figure out what those people could possibly be doing in our neighborhood.  i felt like a failure for not getting pictures of something that was so exciting to za husband so what did i do?  flipped around super fast and literally raced down the road to catch them and take crappy pictures on my phone since i didn't have my camera.  it must have been quite comical to see my fj cruiser trying to catch up to cars that go over 200 mph.  i will not disclose how fast i was going to catch up but lets just say it was a little insane.  i was thrilled to catch them and snap a few pictures.  i even ended up right next to the green one at a stop light and realized that his license plate said "hulk" which was extra neat since it just happens to be will's favorite.  i sent him the pictures and then we discussed everything in detail later.  he wanted to know every bit about my encounter and considering that this is something he is so passionate about, i can see why.  za husband told me how he was so extremely jealous that it wasn't him who saw all those cars close up.  i reminded him that he has a really cool wife because who else would know as many details about the cars at a glance and who else would race down the road to take pictures.  he did agree that it was extremely cool of me to appreciate something he loves that much.  will was so curious about why the cars would be in a group like they were.  he said it must have been some sort of rally. 

next thing you know while we are out running errands he spots a vehicle with the same kind of decals parked in the del taco parking lot.  he whips his truck around like our lives depend on it and pulls up to the two guys standing outside their very modified camaro.  i don't think i've seen him so enthusiastic about something in a long time and it was adorable.  he reminded me of a little kid getting a much loved toy on christmas morning.  i couldn't help but laugh and smile about his pure joy over such a thing.  he of course got out and talked to the guys and found out all the details about the rally race.  he told the guys about my encounter with the lamborghini's and how i raced to catch them and take pictures, they thought that was pretty hilarious.

  i am so glad will got to live in a dream world for a little bit that day....it was precious to witness. 

flashback friday #21

circa 1992.  i guess will was a clarinet master.  i am in love with this picture.

there are a few things i have to say about this.....

1. will kind of begged me not to post it but i couldn't help myself.

2.  do you see the ninja turtle in the background?  true story, i thought ninja turtles were pretty cool back then too so i guess we had that in common.   not really the girly sort of thing to like at that age, i blame it on my brother.  we played with the action figures together quite a bit.

3.  when i first found this picture i laughed for probably ten minutes straight.  i think he looks so adorable and just the whole scene is hilarious.  i really truly am in love with this picture and whenever i need to smile or laugh, i reach for it.  za husband is precious!   

broken a/c = wonderful

8am i walk through the door at work i'm instantly aware of how hot the office is.  it felt hotter inside than outside, which is remarkable since it was already pretty toasty outside.  turns out the air conditioner was broken and it would be near the end of the day before it could be fixed.  we toughed out the sweltering conditions for about 4 hours and then closed up to go home for the day.  this might be bad to say but i'm actually really glad it broke.

the watch vs. hunger

the 27th is za husband's birthday.  i have been asking him for weeks what he wanted.  of course he had to be difficult and say nothing each time i asked.  then all the sudden there was a watch.  a watch he couldn't live without.  unfortunately someone he works with overheard the conversation about this amazing watch and actually had the nerve to snatch it up before i could get to the computer and buy it.  i could have punched that person in the face.  i was really frustrated because it was the one item za husband really wanted.  i finally ended up getting him a few other items that seemed cool but certainly would never compare.  all the sudden today he sends me a link for a similar but even better watch that he would love to have.  knowing i had already bought him presents he felt kind of guilty even telling me about it but still it was the.magical.gift.  i instantly bought the watch to avoid a repeat situation and even paid for expedited shipping so it would be here in time.  i then emailed za husband back and said something like yeah that watch is really cool but just trust that i already have spectacular things planned for your birthday.  you know trying to throw him off the trail.  next thing i know i get a call from him....here is a summary of our conversation....

him:  honey how much do you love me?  in a begging/apologetic sort of tone.
me:  oh great what? 
him:  well you know that watch i sent you the link to?
me:  yeah.  in a cranky tone.
him:  well i didn't want someone else to get it before me so i went ahead and bought it and now i feel bad.
me:  you (insert expletive here)!!!  i bought it too.  why couldn't you have just trusted that i was going to make your birthday special, now you've ruined the surprise.
him:  did you just call me a (.........)?
me:  yes i'm hungry
i totally didn't mean to call him the bad name.  it slipped out because i was frustrated with work and hungry plus devastated that he ruined the surprise.
he feels bad about the situation and agrees to cancel his order right away.  obviously he didn't feel bad enough though because he went ahead and decided to make me look like a jerk in front of the guys he works with.  he calls me on speaker phone but of course i don't know this and tells me that they can't cancel his order because it's already processed and blah blah blah.  he was really convincing, usually he can't get one past me.  i start freaking out so he laughs and tells me he is joking.  then he says....i can't believe you called me a (........) earlier.  i respond...well you should know better than to push me when i'm really hungry.  next thing i know the guys he works with start cracking up in the background.
it's a good thing i really love him. 
oh and just curious.....does anyone else get cranky when they are hungry?

watermelon is the best

it seems houndstooth, pellegrino, and i have the right idea when it comes to battling this ridiculous heat....

survival  requires lots and lots of watermelon.

oh and

i like to pretend that in this shot houndstooth is saying isn't this stuff delicious?

and pellegrino is furiously shaking his head yes in absolute agreement.

could be true right?

family hike

it is rather amazing to think that this is practically in our back yard, just minutes away. 

this is the hiking trail we frequent and i'm sad to say we haven't taken advantage of it like we did in the past.  za husband was working over the weekend so i ran away with a few other favorite people and took an invigorating/somewhat grueling hike on one of my most favorite trails.  hikers included my mom, my brother, and our adopted family member heather. 

*can you spot the bear? oh wait that's just brandon.

*i tried to catch this little buddy but he was way too fast which made me kind of sad.

it is interesting to go hiking here during all seasons.  right now the trail is incredibly green and lush which is beautiful but i'm partial to hiking it during fall because it is absolutely gorgeous.  some of the more adventurous times we've had were during the winter months when snow was knee deep.

this is going to be our go to spot during the summer. 

who wants to hike with us next time?