Happy Friday!

Whew. It's been a BUSY month! The hubs and I took the boat out to Seldovia for the 4th of July, on the 6th, we flew to Colorado Springs for a friends wedding, we got a chance to visit with my sister before we flew home (butt crack early) on the 11th (also our 1 year anniversary). On the morn of the 18th Lil Bit deployed and that evening I had the semi-finals for kickball (we are currently ranked 2nd-w00t!). Last wedding of the summer is this Saturday.


 Double whew. I need a break...and a beer. Maybe two and a nice lawn chair with fancy superstar sunglasses.

 I might go into detail of the Seldovia/Colorado trip later. Depends if I pull pictures off the drive because I'm lazy (ahem...too busy) that way.

 So onto today's play list.

"Dive Right In" - Story of the Year- Just heard them on the radio last week and had to check them out on itunes. Good lyric/rage/growl ratio.

"Manifesto No. 1"- Shooter Jennings-the son of Waylon Jennings. One of my top five favorite musicians. One of his tunes is actually "our song".

"Butterfly" - Mason Jennings - Laid back style. Puts on a good concert. Dropped out of high school and and is successful. My favorite of his tunes is "Adrien".

"Banditos"- The Refreshments- LOVE! I heard they had a new cd come out in February but haven't given it a listen yet.

"Shake That" - Eminem - Yea I love Eminem. This song makes my feminist principals toss a fit...while I'm bouncing along to the words and tune. I used to dance to this at a club named Eden in the Springs. It's great to get everyone ready for club hopping. Eminem is... yeah. I get mocked but I really admire him for his music and how hard he's worked.


 Time for me to get back to work.
Happy weekend everyone!

In Recovery

Whew...still in recovery from Tuesday. Got home from work Wednesday and went straight to bed and it's been like that since. Looks like I'm losing the battle as I picked up the family's cold.

They say "fish and house guests stink after three days" I totally agree, especially when they leave you with a summer cold. I actually had a nice time visiting with R. After his trip to the ER he might never come back to visit.

 My boss decided to reward those of us who came into work prior to the long weekend.

Lookie what I got!

Yea I got no idea what it is either.



 Japanese soda pop that's lychee flavored. It also has operating instructions.

 1. Remove seal from top

2. Detach the plunger from the center of the cap

3. Place the plunger on top of the bottle

4. Press down firmly with the base of your palm to release the marble

5. Throw away the seal cap and plunger

6. Have fun drinking!

 Entirely complicated and strangely tasty.  Who knew!?



Lychee Tree

On to my play list!

Besoin De Rien- The Hellboys - French Rock/punk- I came across this band via author Stephanie Perkins

It Takes Two- Rob Base &DJ EZ Rock - I totally thought up until this moment that one of the rappers  was  Marky Mark.  Whoops!

Hey Ya! - OutKast- Know for being the front runners of the Southern hip hop movement. Sued by Rosa Parks in 1999.

Crazy Beautiful Child - Anne McCue- Australian and great in concert.

Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer

 Ænima - Tool - Buell Theatre, Denver, CO May 10, 2006- One of craziest nights of my life. Sometimes all you need is a little Tool to get your through the day...or rush hour.



Go Team!

We had our third game last night at 9:00 p.m. While we lost, 5:7 it was much fun. We might have played better if half of our team had not spent the previous hour(s) at the dubious Crossroads Lounge getting their Pabst on.

We lost a man due to a facial/sliding/nailed in the face injury and I never made it to second base.
The team we played were lousy base blockers but had cute girlies in short shorts so the Ref missed more than a few calls.

Shucks, half my team was mesmerized as well.


Long night = a long day here at work. Must nap soon.

Adventures at the E.R.

My weekend started off quite nicely. It was Friday, I'd just gotten off of work, returned some books to the library, it was 70 degrees outside and I had the windows down listening to my ipod on my way home.



Then I notice my husband running down the street with dog in tow. Not a normal occurrence...the running. He flags me down and tells me to drive down to the bog immediately. That R. (his cousin-our visiting house guest) is having some sort of reaction and we need to go pick him up asap.

As I'm tearing thorough the neighborhood driving 50mph, hubby is telling me about the large white welts that just started appearing all over R's body and that he was having dizzy spells. Being a man however, R. tells hubby that he's ok-just needs to sit for a few and a ride back to the house.


We arrive at the park entrance and I see R. laying on the park bench. He is non responsive and has laboured breathing. Thank the Gods I had my epi-pen in my purse! I hit him with the pen and called 911. It took about five min for the ambulance and fire truck to arrive and we spent about six hours at the emergency room.
The ER doc said I probably saved R's life.

I've never used a pen before..I've got one because I have a oh-shit-that's-a-crazy-allergy! The pen I used actually would have expired in July 2011.


Black Pepper- my personal kryptonite



After that it was a fairly quiet weekend. R. was recovering from the experience so that nixed all of our guest plans. I spend some time with my circle celebrating the solstice and managed to wash a houseful of clothes.

 Hope you all had a more cheerful few days than I did.

Things That Make My World Go Round

# 1- The maintenance crew is out cutting grass and I am happily sniffing in my office.

If I could find a perfume that mixed the smell of fresh cut grass and rosemary I would be olfactory set for life.

Via http://pmtips.net/project-smell-fresh-cut-grass/

Hm...going to have to google and see if I can come up with that mix. It's a quiet day here in Alaska land, the clouds are hanging low and we rocked a 5.2 earthquake about two hours ago. Not that I noticed, I was too busy at the P&E desk sweet talking a Sgt. into making photo copies for me.

# 2 - Beer. Specifically dark beer. Three of my favorites are Laughing Lab out of Bristol Brewing Co. in Colorado (I'm shipping some back to AK)

Rapture, made by the Kodiak Island Brewing Co. It's a chocolaty-coffee porter and I asked for an off island delivery come birthday time and Black Butte Porter.

# 3 - Dessert. I rate restaurants by the strength of their desserts. Give me a good creme brulee, bread pudding, chocolate pizza or mud pie and I am puddy in your hands.

# 4- Books and bookstores. Really this should be number one but I've run out of room! Four bookcases full and piles leaning against the wall (This is after I purged my collection) sad or scary...you decide.

#5- A good road trip. I once spent two months driving from AK to Co. I visited every natl. park, vomited through Hwy 1, slept under the redwoods, camped on the beach and climbed the Rockies.

#6- Natural hot springs. Hanging out under the stars watching the milky way with a beer in hand + warm water? Yea, my idea of heaven. I plan on driving out to Mt. Princeton while I'm in CO for a soak.



Rainy Day Music

"Everything's Not Lost" - Coldplay- So the only song I know of Coldplay's is "Yellow" It's on every mix-cd  any guy has ever made me. Seriously, every SINGLE cd. Best memorie of this song was dancing out in the pouring rain under a pavilion at night next to the ocean. The dater in secured himself another date and set a high bar for spontaneous romantic gesture. Neat bit's o'fact regarding Coldplay- the band has rules!

 Inspired by bands like U2 and R.E.M., Coldplay decided that they would operate as democracy, and that profits would be shared equally. Additionally, the band determined they would fire anyone who used hard drugs.During the early years, Coldplay became widely known in the media for giving 10 percent of the band's profits to charity, which they continue to do. Practices I could get behind.

"Mushaboom"- by singer Feist. Hey look it's another Canadian! (Just found that out) I first heard this song while watching 500 Days Of Summer.  I love the lyrics- It's how I feel.

 But in the meantime I've got it hard
Second floor living without a yard
It may be years until the day
My dreams will match up with my pay

Old dirt road
Knee deep snow
Watching the fire as we grow old

I got a man to stick it out
And make a home from a rented house
And we'll collect the moments one by one
I guess that's how the future's done

"Never Forget You"- Noisettes - I hear they put on a rowdy show. No idea where I picked this song up but my ipod loves it.

"In My Time of Need"- Ryan Adams-  Adams has produced albums by Jesse Malin and Willie Nelson and worked with artists including Counting Crows, Weezer, Norah Jones, America, Minnie Driver, Cowboy Junkies, Leona Naess, Toots & the Maytals, Beth Orton and Krista Polvere. He's married to singer and actress Mandy Moore who I girl crush on.

"A Day Without Rain" - Enya- The title seemed fitting as I sit here starting out at grey sky's. Everyone knows her music-she lives in Ireland, in a castle and loves cats. Hm. Well, I wouldn't mind the living in Ireland bit.

Summertime

I've got such a craving for popsicles lately but am too cheap to buy them at the store.
Besides I want a blood orange-sicle and who makes those?

It's starting to warm up around here and I'm kicking around the idea of hosting our first BBQ...Hubby finished building the fence gate and we are planning on seeding the lawn  this weekend. Maybe if I get my act in gear we could party down. I'd love to host something Martha style...all matchy with vintage flair.

Week/end plans include

 Bachlorette party tonight
 Staining and assembling a side table
 Painting trim
 Shopping trip with best bud- in search for a summer dress to wear to two  three weddings
 Seed lawn
 Yoga class
 Attend local renaissance fair with co-worker