Ahoy Mateys!

We had so much fun dressing up for Halloween this year. Not to mention visiting the giant pirate ship Kevin's neighbor built in his front yard.

Interesting Combination

Am I the only one who thinks this is funny?

Is it Raining?

Hail yes.

Looky What I Found

See him?

Here's a better look. He's in the sun now, moving fast.

Yep. It's a three-foot long Bull snake. The fire department caught him once round the middle, then let him go and caught him near the head so I could get a better picture. (I swear, I did not ask them to do that.)



The guy decided to just hold him, but the snake was mad after so much handling and gave him a nice bite.

But they're harmless.

Mmm-hmmm.

Good for eating rattlers too, they said. Good for having around. I considered that for about ten seconds. Afterall, if a rattler decided to come into my yard, it'd be handy having something nearby that wasn't scared, just hungry. Still, even though my boys would've LOVED having this guy, I would just be too freaked out having him in my yard.

So, the nice fireman who wasn't afraid of a bitty snake bite walked him to the foot of the mountain one house down and let him go.

It was fun having Bull for a visit, but I hope he likes the mountain better. Maybe he'll find a nice, tasty rattler to snack on.

Thanks guys!

An Unprecedented Event

I just have to share this, as a footnote to my aunt and uncle's visit. My husband does not like cats. Like, at all. He's not cruel to animals of course, but he manages to communicate to the cats he knows that he'd prefer they just stay away. And they do.

For some reason, he's been very tolerant of mom's new kitty, Socks. For those of you who know my husband, you'll understand how shocked I was to see this:

A cat curled up next to my husband, sound asleep, and my husband allowing it. In our 17 years of marriage, I've never seen this.
.

This is more the Brian I know:

LOL!

Why Didn't I Think of That?

This ranks right up there with the pet rock. Except this guy is WAY funnier!

http://origamiboulder.com/

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

(I totally forgot this was sitting in my drafts folder - I'd tried to upload these pictures a few days ago but kept getting errors from Blogger. So I guess I'm posting pictures today afterall!)

I did get a picture of pink ponytail man, but I wasn't sure if I should post it or not. Since you asked though...

Bushy mountain man beard:

And dainty pink bow:

Voila.

100 Days of Gratitude: Day 11

Today I'm grateful for random acts of friendship. Tuesday night was full of unexpectedly seeing people I don't normally get to see or visit with, and two days later it still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. :)

100 Days of Gratitude: Day 10

Okay, this is a big one!!! Oh my gosh! I was wondering what I could blog about today, but now I know!

We haven't exactly been telling people this because we thought it'd never really happen and didn't want to start a rumor going, but... for some time now we've been talking about moving to Texas. Brian even looked into a transfer to Dallas and last week was offered a position at a branch there. We didn't think it'd be that easy (or fast!), and started getting cold feet. We didn't know if we should take it because we weren't sure if we'd be able to sell our house in this crazy market. But a realtor friend of ours had a client he thought might be interested, so he brought them over last night. This morning he called to tell us they made a cash offer, for just a little less than we were asking, but it's a cash offer and close enough and we're taking it!!! I can't even believe it! Freaking Dallas!!! Well, we won't be living in Dallas itself, but one of the burbs. We're going to start by looking close to Brian's brother. How cool is that???

I'm excited but nervous too. I'm going to miss everybody! But you don't need to worry about missing us, because I'm totally kidding.

Heh heh.

You do realize what day this is, don't you?

Which brings me to my real item of gratitude for the day: Google. Where else can I take two seconds of my life to find the top April Fool's jokes of all time, and get inspired to try a little practical joke of my own? I've pasted a couple of my favorites below, but if you want to see more you can go to the link here. Happy April Fool's Day!!

#5: San Serriffe

1977: The British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic said to consist of several semi-colon-shaped islands located in the Indian Ocean. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Only a few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades.

#8: The Left-Handed Whopper

1998: Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity

1976: The British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

Hilarious

Oh man, this is too funny...

Everything is Amazing, Nobody is Happy

Dark Doodad Nebula

"Dark Doodad Nebula." Three words I'd never expect to go together.




Normally, I go to the APOD site looking for something breathtaking. This isn't exactly breathtaking. Interesting maybe, and it has a funny name. But what really got me was NASA's commentary (below is just an excerpt, click here if you want to read the whole thing).

"What is that strange dark ribbon on the sky? When observing the great globular cluster NGC 4372, observers frequently take note of a strange dark streak nearly three degrees in length running near it. Unnamed, the streak, actually a long molecular cloud, has become known as the Dark Doodad Nebula. (Doodad is slang for a thingy or a whatchamacallit.) Pictured above in a rich and colorful star-field, the Dark Doodad Nebula can be found sweeping across the image center."

Now NASA's commentary is always peppered with links, so if you want to know more about "globular clusters" or "molecular clouds", that tantilizing information is just a click away. What struck me as funny was not just their inclination to further clarify "doodad" as a "thingy" or "whatchamacallit" (LOL), but the fact that "thingy" and "whatchamacallit" were both links.

Where on earth are THOSE links going to take me? I wondered.

I should've guessed Wikipedia. They have a whole article on placeholder names, a LONG article, listing everything from "doohickey" to "thingamajig".

Maybe I'm a word nerd, but this article cracked me up. Where else are you going to see these ridiculous words so carefully categorized? The placeholder names for things (as above) are in a different section from placeholder names for people ("Joe Shmoe", "Frick and Frack"), places ("Boonies", "Timbucktoo"), and times ("oh-dark-thirty", "half past a freckle").

There were words I'd never heard before ("Joe Snuffy"), and words I thought were missing (shouldn't "dingle-hopper" have a place?).

I regret I'll probably never have a reason to use is this one: "A wigwam for a goose's bridle" which is an Australian answer to a naïve "What is that?" Too funny.

So if you ever hear me utter the words "Up the Boohai hunting pukekos with a long handled shovel", now you'll know the reason why.

I blame it on NASA.

John's Pen Pal

I still haven't had time to catch up on my blog; that's still coming. And the case of the mystery foot will be solved (I know you've all been biting your nails on that one!). But today John brought home a letter from his new pen pal and showed me the rough draft of the letter he's writing in reply. I these were too cute, so I'm sharing them here (pen pal's name has been changed).

Dear John,

Hi! I'm Hal. I'm a collector of army men. There are three boxes in my room. I have so many army men, it takes one hour to pick up. I'm also a collector of mini army men.

Your pen pal,

Hal

Dear Hal,

I am 9 years old. I like soccer as my favorite sport. What is your favorite sport? I have 2 little brothers. In my spare time I pick on them. Do you have any brothers or sisters? What do you do in your spare time? I have a friend named Brad. Who are your friends? I love to read books. Do you like to read books?

From your friend,

John

Boy Did THIS Bring Back Memories...

The other day, Chris walks into the office with a pair of scissors in his hand and, proud as punch, announces that he cut his hair.

Oh joy.

At least it can be somewhat covered up:

I did not scold or overreact, I'm proud to say. But he now understands that he is NOT to cut his own hair. Does he look sufficiently contrite?

Checking to make sure I'm not too mad:

Little stinker. Hee hee.

Oh yeah, this is why it brings back memories:

Don't my bangs look fabulous? But when I did it, I got into huge trouble. I couldn't use scissors (one of my favorite things to do) for a whole week! My mom was so unfair! LOL.

It's Okay... I Like the Rain Anyway

Last Thursday, we had a big electrical storm here in the Valley. I missed most of it because I was in a restaurant with Rachel, Staci and Becky, talking till the wee hours of the morning. When I got home, I discovered my internet wasn't working. It took us a few days of troubleshooting to figure out why, but it turns out the modem got zapped in the storm. Know what that meant? I was without the internet for a week.


A week, people.


Cut off my leg, why don't ya? I went down to the library a couple of times to check my email and do some speedy blogging, so I wasn't completely cut off. But close enough. I was oh so happy when the new modem arrived.


But that ain't all. The morning after the storm, I came out and saw something a little unusual in my yard.

This is the top of my palm tree:


This is the bottom:




All I could think was, "What in the?" LOL. I mean really. What in the???

I Found Another One...

Ha ha ha ha!

My foot is famous!

Okay, this is just too funny. Click here to see Anna's pic of my foot, that I didn't even know she took!

And while I'm on the topic of feet, here's some blogging feet that don't belong to me. Click here for exotic feet and here for a foot that will make you cringe.




Lastly, with Amy's permission, I post the pic she emailed me after visiting Chase Field. This cracked me up too!



It's a trend set to sweep the nation! LOL.

This is For You Deb

What with the recent conversations about comparing ourselves to others, I couldn't help but think about Deb when I was frosting Ben's cake the morning of his birthday. In case you didn't know, Deb is the reigning cake decorator extraordinaire (seriously, click on the link to see her fab cakes, if you haven't already).

Deb, I hope my cake (made from cake mix, thankyouverymuch) and it's mediocre styling makes for happy comparing. ;)

I'm not saying it's terrible. It's fine and colorful and the boys like it, which is all that matters. But this close up clearly shows that my lettering is a tad on the sloppy side.

Little did I know it would get even better. Since this cake was on a plate and not still in the pan, I wasn't able to cover it with foil without ruining it. I didn't want it sitting out all day either, so I put it inside a big round tupperware container. After I picked the boys up from school and they were all out playing, I decided to go ahead and take it out. This is what I saw:




Apparently, cake + sealed tupperware container + hot Arizona kitchen = melted mess. Sheesh. I'm so glad I didn't wait until the last minute to take it out or I would have been in a panic. I just scraped it off and redid it, and it actually turned out better than the first. Not Deb better, but you know, better. :)

"Mom, R2-D2 looks funny."

That's what Ben said to me upon seeing this:






I said, "No honey, that's Artoo-Potatoo."

Something about the way that sounded outloud just cracked me up!

Chuck on the Loose

I just had to let everyone know that there are several more Chuck Norris jokes in the comments section of that post. My favorite is "Chuck Norris has never won an Academy Award for acting... because he's not acting."