Come back Hugh!

One of my favorite comic strips Crimes Against Hugh's Manatees is going on hiatus and now I feel a void in my morning.  That might be a little dramatic, but you should still go over there and check out the archives.  I can always find something that gives me a good chuckle.  Here are a few of my favorites.

 

 

What is your favorite comic?

This and That

What's been going on?

Bobaloo made a trip to Minnesota last Friday and got back into town yesterday.  Whenever he leaves I make a big proclamation about the keggers and raves I am going to throw and the stripper pole I am going to have installed.

In reality, I sit on the couch with my afghan and watch a lot of movies.  And I eat a lot of salad and triscuits because the idea of making a meal just for myself seems rather motivated.

I did get out and about a couple of the days.

On Friday night I went over to my neighbor's house and we solved all of the world's problems.

On Saturday I painted fingernails, Raspberry Rush seemed to be the color of the day.

And on Sunday I put on my fancy kicks and went "dancing" with some girlfriends.  And by "dancing" I mean I sat on the patio and drank a lot of beer.

Nik kept me company and amused me with her goofy dog-face.

I am still trying to shake off the summer bummers by being positive and trying to keep busy.  Positivity is a lot of work sometimes, but I'm holding it together.  Well, let's be honest.  There were some tears this morning, but mornings are hard.  Things always look sunnier after lunch.  Speaking of things sunny, Sonny and company (Widespread Panic) are happening on Thursday. And it is impossible to be bummed at a Panic show, at Red Rocks, while hangin' out with my favorite dude.  Good things.

Oh, I also turned my hair and interesting shade of orange over the weekend.  Obligatory pic...

I look like a psychotic cartoon character, too funny not to share.

June 20

well bobaloo...

it's your birthday.

so this post is for you.

 

i now present to you,

your life in the last year according to my facebook page...

 

 

1. greek fest 2. wilco 3. string cheese incident 4. pridefest

5. golden train museum 6. goofy/creepy faces at coors 7. dave's visit 8. wyoming

9. pikes peak 10. rockies vs. cubs 11. nik addition 12. ten years

13. brewery tours 14. ncar tornadoes 15. glenwood springs 16. ed sharpe

 

what can we gather from this? i make you do a lot of really touristy things.

 you are a good sport.

 

anyhoo...

 

happy birthday you wild and crazy guy!

 



If you hurry and call our operators right now...

I have a small addiction to infomercials.  I do not especially care to watch the infomercials that promise abs, hair removal, or a clean house (although I desperately want a Roomba).  No, I have a strange fascination with infomercial kitchen gadgets!  This is particularly odd because I am not the cook in the family.  At all.  Ever.

It all started with the Magic Bullet, which is a blender/chopper/pulser/whipper/whatever.  I have to admit I used to watch the infomercial quite often when I was plagued with a hangover because it was so hilarious and featured this gem of a character named Hazel.

 

Thoughts: The Magic Bullet is nice and dishwasher friendly. Outside of making a few initial smoothies, it’s been in storage ever since.

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Have you read the Amazon reviews for the Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer?  They are hysterical!  I ended up buying one at King Soopers for 79 cents.

Thoughts: Effective, I guess.  I don't really slice bananas on a regular basis.

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My absolute favorite kitchen gadget is the Presto Pizzazz Plus rotating oven.  My mom gave it to me for Christmas and I am in love.

Thoughts: Love at first pizza.

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I was inspired to write this post because earlier in the week I was about to dice some potatoes the old-fashioned way until I remembered we had a Veg-O-Matic that Bobaloo got as a white elephant gift last Christmas.  In a word...Amazing.  It took minutes off the laborious task of potato slicing and dicing.



Thoughts: This puppy is staying out on the counter.

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This brings me to another thought.  Perhaps I missed my calling?  Infomercial actress!  With my clumsiness and ability to spill, I'd be a natural.

 

 

 

Weekend

With the change of the seasons, I became a little bummed out and generally irritated with everything over the weekend.  So, I took it easy and luckily Bobaloo had plans that involved him leaving the house so he didn't have to endure my sniveling and crankiness too much.  I stayed in, watched movies, picked up the house, and just tried to mellow the heck out.  I kept my contact with outside humans to a minimum.  Just like December, June seems to be a difficult and moody month for me.  I think it's the heat and all of the hustle and bustle of summer.  Along with all of the fun comes a lot of people and a lot of stimulation.  Yikes.  Too much.  Just not in the mood for that business.

On a brighter note, almost every day I have been sticking to some small goals:

• drink a lot of water
• get out into the sunshine
• walk and listen to music
• eat fruits and vegetables
• get 3 things done around the house each day

Small things, I know.  But small things are helping this cantankerous soul out.

I did end the weekend happily by having some delicious grilled foods with Bobaloo and Aaron in the backyard last night.  I tried making barbecue tofu skewers for the first time and they were a hit (with me, the men ate meat).

So there we have it.

Still moving, just needed to slow down for a minute.

Past and Present

One of my favorite things in life is sitting on the porch and listening to tunes.  Add a couple of beers on a nice evening and you've got yourself a happy camper.

 

When I was a kid, these folks were my favorites.

 

Petula Clark, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Tiffany, Guns'n'Roses, Soundtrack to Follow that Bird

My favorites of all time.

 

Neil Young, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Widespread Panic, and Big Wu

and it goes with out saying, but these fellas....

 

 

Here's some stuff I have been enjoying lately.

 

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic 0s, Regina Spektor, Wilco, Wishbone Ash, The Lumineers

So...

 

listenin' to any good tunes lately?

 

Weekend

In the summer my work slows down and offers a different schedule which means 3-day weekends for me for the next couple of months.  Awesome!

 

Friday

The weekend kicked off with happy hour and boy, did I get happy.  We've met some awesome people at one of the local watering holes, one of whom reads this blog.

 

 

He is holding an RTD EcoPass for the bus.  The slogan on it is, "Get it.  Tap it.  Love it." because the marketing department is apparently run by a frat boy.  High five Eric and I am glad your Blackhawks won.

 

Saturday

Bobaloo and I kicked it at home on Saturday just hanging out in the yard and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Our neighbor invited me over to feed his chickens again which was awesome.  Bobaloo has been sprucing up the backyard so now we have a cool little hangout area back there.

 

 

Sunday

Sunday was another mellow day, we woke up and went out for breakfast.  We lucked out being heathens and all because there was no wait to be seated.

 

Later in the afternoon, we walked over to our buddy Aaron's house for a delightful Sunday barbecue that included corn on the cob and watermelon.

 

Monday

I didn't realize that my 3-day schedule started yesterday so I went to work for 45 minutes before heading home.  Bobaloo and I took the train into Denver and went out to lunch at the Tilted Kilt where I enjoyed watching a monster truck show on TV in air conditioning.  The evening was capped off with a few episodes of The League.

 

 

A good time was had.

 

 

Midweek Shuffle

I was over at Coffee Lady's blog this morning and her post got me thinking about the days of the week.

I have worked a lot of customer service jobs.  A lot.

My first full-time job was being a cashier in an office lunchroom (lunch lady!).  I got to see my friend Adam everyday because he was a security guard at the front desk.  After a while we noticed all of the workers would have the same responses to the dreaded yet expected question, "how are you?"

Here are the responses:

Monday  "Ugh.  It's Monday." or "Pretty good for a Monday, I guess."

Tuesday  ...

Wednesday  "It's hump day!" or "We're halfway through the week!"

Thursday  "Well, tomorrow's Friday!"

Friday  "It's Friday!  The weekend's almost here!"

Day after day.  Week after week.  Person after person.

The only day nothing was said was Tuesday.  So when we'd see each other on Tuesday mornings we'd look at each other and say "It's Tuesday" and crack up.

Adam, his wife, and I would go to Denny's every Tuesday as a celebration of sorts.

Now I am hungry for a Moons Over My Hammy.

3-pack

I was lucky to grow up right next door to a family that had three daughters around the same age as me.  They sort of adopted me as their fourth which was nice because I got stuck with two brothers.

Here's a pic of us at Halloween:

I'm the runty mouse on the left.

My brother and us four girls went trick-or-treating together every year until we became teenagers.  And every single year, Amy (redheaded spiderweb) would trip in front of the same house on the same crack in the sidewalk.  Every single year. 

When I was about five I was oddly obsessed with tape and destruction (construction) paper.  It was weird, but my parents kept the tape and paper coming because it kept me entertained and quiet for hours.

Around this age my family was introduced to the concept of birthday parties.  I don't think my parents grew up having them so the idea of inviting a bunch of kids over was a bit foreign.  So when I turned five, my parents invited the family next door over for cake and ice cream and they brought me a present.  I tore through the wrapping paper and what had they got me?

A three-pack of Scotch!

I am sure there were some other things too, but the joy of a three-pack all to myself is what I remember.



Friday

Friday evening was pretty mellow, I just sat on the patio with Nik and finished my book.

 

Saturday

Bobaloo and I took the lightrail to Larimer Square in Denver to see the Chalk Art festival.  It was a beautiful day out and the artwork was spectacular.  I wish I would have gone back yesterday to see the finished pieces, but here are some pictures of the works in progress:

I love the Bob Ross on the right.

Later that evening I went over to my buddy Aaron's house for a rousing game of Monopoly that of course, went unfinished.  Has anyone in the history of Monopoly ever finished a whole game?

 

Sunday

Sunday started as kind of a lazy day around the house.  My EFT class ended up being cancelled, so I listened to some Dolly and Willie records and took Nik for a long walk. We also had a new flower pop up.  Anyone have any idea what kind it is?

 

I had been looking forward to yesterday evening for a while because I got to see my first show of the season at Red Rocks.  Bobaloo, Aaron, and I went to go see Alabama Shakes and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

Alabama Shakes

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

 

 

We had so much fun in the parking lot and at the show.  Both bands had a lot of energy and we sure did do some dancing.  If you ever get to Colorado, go see a show at Red Rocks.  It's life-changing, I promise.

 

I hope the weekend was well to all of you!