'little' brother and mom. Never a dull moment.
Recent Posts
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Taking pills
Here is another story about my family. There really haven't been as many of these as I had hoped because 1. I'm not home very many waking hours and 2.I'm terrible about writing them down and then they just fade into the general din of ridiculous that is living with my parents.
I found this story scribbled into the notebook I carry in my purse. The note was from mid-January. After January 12th, I'm pretty sure. I will try to reconstruct.
My dad had been coughing and my mother suggested cough medicine. Simple solution right? wrong. Despite the brevity of this story, I want to emphasize that I noted in my scribbles that the decision took over a half hour.
My mother comes out of the bedroom with cold and cough pills. She hands them to my father. He holds them at arms length dis-trustingly.
She returns to the bedroom and brings out liquid cough medicine. He does not reach for it. They both put on their spectacles, hold the medicine as far as possible away from their faces, and try to discern the expiration date. I assume that this is to make sure that we are not poisoning my dad.
We go through the 'is it a sell by date or an expiration date' debate and settle on sell by for the purposes of this exercise.
Mom exclaims "1/12!" and rushes back to her room to put the liquid medicine away.
My father and I look at each other and attempt to yell down the hall that 1/12 means January 2012 not January 12th of this year, silly mom. And besides, it's ridiculous that she's putting away the medicine that she believes is about to expire/just expired/has surpassed its shelf life instead of throwing it away. She doesn't hear us and comes back, stating authoritatively "you have to take the pills"
I explain, exasperated, the mix-up that she's made. She stares blankly at me.
"yeah, I KNOW what 1/12 means. That's why he has to take the pills. They expire sooner. The other stuff is good for a year. "
So, my dad wasn't allowed to take the liquid medicine- not because it was expired, but because it had way too much life left in it.
New Rule: You must consume whichever medicine expires sooner/has already expired. We don't want to waste the good stuff.
I found this story scribbled into the notebook I carry in my purse. The note was from mid-January. After January 12th, I'm pretty sure. I will try to reconstruct.
My dad had been coughing and my mother suggested cough medicine. Simple solution right? wrong. Despite the brevity of this story, I want to emphasize that I noted in my scribbles that the decision took over a half hour.
My mother comes out of the bedroom with cold and cough pills. She hands them to my father. He holds them at arms length dis-trustingly.
She returns to the bedroom and brings out liquid cough medicine. He does not reach for it. They both put on their spectacles, hold the medicine as far as possible away from their faces, and try to discern the expiration date. I assume that this is to make sure that we are not poisoning my dad.
We go through the 'is it a sell by date or an expiration date' debate and settle on sell by for the purposes of this exercise.
Mom exclaims "1/12!" and rushes back to her room to put the liquid medicine away.
My father and I look at each other and attempt to yell down the hall that 1/12 means January 2012 not January 12th of this year, silly mom. And besides, it's ridiculous that she's putting away the medicine that she believes is about to expire/just expired/has surpassed its shelf life instead of throwing it away. She doesn't hear us and comes back, stating authoritatively "you have to take the pills"
I explain, exasperated, the mix-up that she's made. She stares blankly at me.
"yeah, I KNOW what 1/12 means. That's why he has to take the pills. They expire sooner. The other stuff is good for a year. "
So, my dad wasn't allowed to take the liquid medicine- not because it was expired, but because it had way too much life left in it.
New Rule: You must consume whichever medicine expires sooner/has already expired. We don't want to waste the good stuff.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Red Lipstick
Givin it a whirl today. Have been gradually working up from the lipstain to the full on red lips. I think I like it.
Yes, this is in the bathroom at work. And please excuse the hair. I got caught in the rain on my way to subway and what WAS a good hair day is now just another bun on top of my head day.
Also, it's EVERYWHERE. On my glasses, straws, hands, etc.
Yes, this is in the bathroom at work. And please excuse the hair. I got caught in the rain on my way to subway and what WAS a good hair day is now just another bun on top of my head day.
Also, it's EVERYWHERE. On my glasses, straws, hands, etc.
Powells
All of these books are about the civil war. Yep, all of them. And they all belong to my boyfriend, Pat. Well, half of them now belong to Powells because they bought them from him. But, seriously, this is impressive. And also, incredibly attractive- ifidosaysomyself. Right, ladies?
Sunday, March 20, 2011
This is quite long.
A couple of weeks ago I went to California with Pat to attend a wedding of one of his high school friends and while we were there, I met his family and the guys he grew up with. We drove 17 hours each way which actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Especially because he pumped all the gas. (I'm from Oregon and I just don't do that.)
The weather was, of course, lovely. It had been freezing or below in Portland for the last couple weeks so we were pretty pumped about 70 degree weather when we hit Chico for lunch on the first day at the Sierra Nevada Brewery. I failed to take pictures of this place but its really beautiful. Copper everywhere and of course, really tasty beer. Pat got the sampler, which looks like this
Yep, that's 16 different beers. Pretty impressive.
Our first full day we went to Newport beach with Pat's friend Dorian and two of his chihuahuas. His family has a herd of them. It's mildly terrifying. But I did, against my wishes, kinda like the old one named Oz. He likes to be crushed, according to Dorian, which is why he was hanging out between my back and the seat
Pat has not one, but two friends with chihuahuas. And if you remember, Pat has a pomchi (pomeranian and chihuahua mix). It's pretty ridiculous.
After some strolling down the beach and beers and lunch by the pier we headed back to spend some time with the parents and then to LA for dinner with Pat's brother who took us to this awesome vegan place called Pure Luck which I highly recommend for vegans and non-vegans alike. They have a decent beer selection (including sours which are my fave) and the food was SO good. Their 'meat' is a jackfruit pulled pork/carnitas concoction that is so meaty it freaked me out a little. Sounds crazy, but it is actually crazy awesome. Also, Pat's brother was extremely cool. He works as an editor for reality TV shows and was just generally great. He took us across the street after dinner for gelato at this place called Scoops. I am not usually a lover of frozen treats. However, pat and I shared some apricot pale ale gelato and oh sweet baby jesus. Even better, they had the good kind of sprinkles-the colored sugar that sorta looks like glitter.
So, LA was fun. And the part of town we were in reminded me of Portland, which made me really happy.
The next day was Pat's friend's wedding. After getting ready and a photoshoot in his back yard we made our way to Dorian's house so that we could all drive together. Pat had been receiving bizarre texts from Dorian all morning and we suspected he might already be drunk. We arrived at his place at 2pm. The ceremony was at 3. We walked into Dorian's room to find him passed out and in his underwear. After waking from his drunken slumber, he offered us Mai Tais that he had bought for the 'babe' that was over the night before. We accepted and about an hour later we were out the door. If you happen to be following closely, you will be noticing that we are leaving Dorian's house at the time that we are supposed to be at the ceremony. Dorian tells us that Hector (the one getting married) said we didn't need to attend the ceremony. I mean, that part's not really crucial.
Pat and I spiffed up for the wedding:
We get on the road and it turns out that Dorian doesn't know where we are going. None of us do. By the time we arrive, everyone is sitting down eating appetizers and there is one table left. The only two people sitting there happen to be the only other white people at the wedding. So, we take our seats at the white kid table and then congratulate Hector. Hector has gathered that Dorian is completely tanked. The couple sitting at our table are mostly keeping to themselves. The girl gets up and Dorian immediately starts asking her boyfriend her name and other strange questions. He gets a little peeved and he too eventually gets up. We think we've scared them off completely.
The evening progresses, usual wedding things happen. There is a mariachi band. They are exceptionally loud and have awesome pants. This is characteristic of all mariachi bands, I believe. I eat potato salad and bread for dinner because everything has meat in it. We had plans to go out with Pat's friends that night so around 7 we start making preparations to leave. Dorian has the keys. He is grinding on the girl from our table, whose boyfriend has disappeared. Shots are being taken. The shitshow train has pulled into the station. Dorian does not want to leave. I don't remember how it happened but Pat retrieves the keys from Dorian's pocket and he finally gives in, saying "eh, I got babes in Huntington Beach too. Babes everywhere."
We go back to Dorian's house to change our clothes, and then go back out to the car. Dorian stops in the middle of the lawn, vomits pretty impressively, and then gets in the car. Pat questions him about the probability that he will also vomit in Pat's car. Dorian explains that he just brushed his teeth, which obviously makes you vomit. With this new information, we proceed to meet up with Pat's friends.
I enjoyed all of them immensely and we had a fantastic time. We went to a bar where there was dancing which isn't something I do much these days but I really enjoyed it. Ladies, I love ya. But a night out with the guys is a wonderful thing indeed. We stayed there till they closed and then went back to a house shared by a few of them and it became obvious that I could not keep up. There was more dancing, and wrestling. We made a Del Taco run, ordering an embarrassing amount of food at the drive through. After that I believe I went to bed (or floor, as it were).
Sleep happened around 3 or 4 am. Pat and I got up at 8am to go back to his parents, pack up, and drive to San Francisco. The morning was a little rough.
Pat's other brother lives in Oakland (not the scary part) with his wife and new baby girl Claire- Pat's first niece. Again, I really liked him. He is a police officer and had some pretty interesting stories to tell us. We met Claire and she was pretty cute for a baby. I actually did okay with her, asamatteroffact. Some people may have been worried that I don't like babies and therefore would fail this test miserably. Not true. I can play stare-at-the-baby with the best of them. Plus, in a cruel twist of fate, babies love me.
That evening we met up with my wonderful friend Carolyn who is in Oakland doing Teach for America. She's one of the smartest and most interesting people I know and I was so happy to be able to see her while we were there. We were at a really cute cafe and I tried to get Pat to drink coffee by presenting it in Mocha Blanc form. No dice. We'll be sticking to beer.
The next morning we ate breakfast with Pat's brother and family and then got back on the road..or at least we tried. His car started making noises and we had to take it to a mechanic. This ate about 3 hours. The only good part was that we got to take a nice walk up through the residential areas and the weather was great. After the car was fixed, 10 hours and we were home.
k that's my story.
The weather was, of course, lovely. It had been freezing or below in Portland for the last couple weeks so we were pretty pumped about 70 degree weather when we hit Chico for lunch on the first day at the Sierra Nevada Brewery. I failed to take pictures of this place but its really beautiful. Copper everywhere and of course, really tasty beer. Pat got the sampler, which looks like this
Yep, that's 16 different beers. Pretty impressive.
Our first full day we went to Newport beach with Pat's friend Dorian and two of his chihuahuas. His family has a herd of them. It's mildly terrifying. But I did, against my wishes, kinda like the old one named Oz. He likes to be crushed, according to Dorian, which is why he was hanging out between my back and the seat
Pat has not one, but two friends with chihuahuas. And if you remember, Pat has a pomchi (pomeranian and chihuahua mix). It's pretty ridiculous.
After some strolling down the beach and beers and lunch by the pier we headed back to spend some time with the parents and then to LA for dinner with Pat's brother who took us to this awesome vegan place called Pure Luck which I highly recommend for vegans and non-vegans alike. They have a decent beer selection (including sours which are my fave) and the food was SO good. Their 'meat' is a jackfruit pulled pork/carnitas concoction that is so meaty it freaked me out a little. Sounds crazy, but it is actually crazy awesome. Also, Pat's brother was extremely cool. He works as an editor for reality TV shows and was just generally great. He took us across the street after dinner for gelato at this place called Scoops. I am not usually a lover of frozen treats. However, pat and I shared some apricot pale ale gelato and oh sweet baby jesus. Even better, they had the good kind of sprinkles-the colored sugar that sorta looks like glitter.
So, LA was fun. And the part of town we were in reminded me of Portland, which made me really happy.The next day was Pat's friend's wedding. After getting ready and a photoshoot in his back yard we made our way to Dorian's house so that we could all drive together. Pat had been receiving bizarre texts from Dorian all morning and we suspected he might already be drunk. We arrived at his place at 2pm. The ceremony was at 3. We walked into Dorian's room to find him passed out and in his underwear. After waking from his drunken slumber, he offered us Mai Tais that he had bought for the 'babe' that was over the night before. We accepted and about an hour later we were out the door. If you happen to be following closely, you will be noticing that we are leaving Dorian's house at the time that we are supposed to be at the ceremony. Dorian tells us that Hector (the one getting married) said we didn't need to attend the ceremony. I mean, that part's not really crucial.
Pat and I spiffed up for the wedding:
We get on the road and it turns out that Dorian doesn't know where we are going. None of us do. By the time we arrive, everyone is sitting down eating appetizers and there is one table left. The only two people sitting there happen to be the only other white people at the wedding. So, we take our seats at the white kid table and then congratulate Hector. Hector has gathered that Dorian is completely tanked. The couple sitting at our table are mostly keeping to themselves. The girl gets up and Dorian immediately starts asking her boyfriend her name and other strange questions. He gets a little peeved and he too eventually gets up. We think we've scared them off completely.The evening progresses, usual wedding things happen. There is a mariachi band. They are exceptionally loud and have awesome pants. This is characteristic of all mariachi bands, I believe. I eat potato salad and bread for dinner because everything has meat in it. We had plans to go out with Pat's friends that night so around 7 we start making preparations to leave. Dorian has the keys. He is grinding on the girl from our table, whose boyfriend has disappeared. Shots are being taken. The shitshow train has pulled into the station. Dorian does not want to leave. I don't remember how it happened but Pat retrieves the keys from Dorian's pocket and he finally gives in, saying "eh, I got babes in Huntington Beach too. Babes everywhere."
We go back to Dorian's house to change our clothes, and then go back out to the car. Dorian stops in the middle of the lawn, vomits pretty impressively, and then gets in the car. Pat questions him about the probability that he will also vomit in Pat's car. Dorian explains that he just brushed his teeth, which obviously makes you vomit. With this new information, we proceed to meet up with Pat's friends.
I enjoyed all of them immensely and we had a fantastic time. We went to a bar where there was dancing which isn't something I do much these days but I really enjoyed it. Ladies, I love ya. But a night out with the guys is a wonderful thing indeed. We stayed there till they closed and then went back to a house shared by a few of them and it became obvious that I could not keep up. There was more dancing, and wrestling. We made a Del Taco run, ordering an embarrassing amount of food at the drive through. After that I believe I went to bed (or floor, as it were).
Sleep happened around 3 or 4 am. Pat and I got up at 8am to go back to his parents, pack up, and drive to San Francisco. The morning was a little rough.
Pat's other brother lives in Oakland (not the scary part) with his wife and new baby girl Claire- Pat's first niece. Again, I really liked him. He is a police officer and had some pretty interesting stories to tell us. We met Claire and she was pretty cute for a baby. I actually did okay with her, asamatteroffact. Some people may have been worried that I don't like babies and therefore would fail this test miserably. Not true. I can play stare-at-the-baby with the best of them. Plus, in a cruel twist of fate, babies love me.
That evening we met up with my wonderful friend Carolyn who is in Oakland doing Teach for America. She's one of the smartest and most interesting people I know and I was so happy to be able to see her while we were there. We were at a really cute cafe and I tried to get Pat to drink coffee by presenting it in Mocha Blanc form. No dice. We'll be sticking to beer.
The next morning we ate breakfast with Pat's brother and family and then got back on the road..or at least we tried. His car started making noises and we had to take it to a mechanic. This ate about 3 hours. The only good part was that we got to take a nice walk up through the residential areas and the weather was great. After the car was fixed, 10 hours and we were home.
k that's my story.
Monday, March 14, 2011
loooove...
...this post of Michelle's.
Date a girl who reads.
Really, though.
Of all the Disney princesses, I always wanted to be Belle. I mean, he gave her a LIBRARY. Favorite scene is when they open the giant drapes in said library. swoooon.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Good days and bad days
I realize I've been failing on the blog front lately. It always happens that way. I'll write a ton and then disappear for a lil bit. But I've actually been pretty busy. Two weekends ago I was in Waldport with friends celebrating multiple birthdays in a pretty great beach house. Last weekend I was in California for a wedding and to meet the parents. Photos and posts on both of those weekends coming.
In the mean time,
I had a shitty day yesterday. It was my first day back at work after 5 days in California with Pat. I was not pleased to be off vacation, away from him, back at work, and in the rain. My mother was making me feel violent (nothing new, really. That's what we do. But it was really the shit filled cherry on top of my day). I also found out that I owe an obscene amount of money on my taxes. So I hid out in my room and read Lauren's blog and Green Wedding Shoes and browsed craigslist for houses that won't be available to me because I'm not moving for another 3-4 months and edited cute pictures of Pat and I that were taken on our trip until I fell asleep, spooning Joey.
And then I woke up and said to myself 'hey knock it off asshole'
And then I had a good day. I wore a basset hound broach and took my time getting ready-which means that I was late to the train so I had to drive to work. But that meant I all of a sudden had some extra time. So I got an egg mcmuffin(no ham) and some of those bomb diggity hashbrowns. And orange juice. I know it's terrible for you, but I am rarely able to be unhappy following mcdonalds breakfast.
So then I drove to work and I was busy all day so it went pretty fast. The twigs that were in the arrangement Pat sent me on Valentine's Day are still growing more leaves so I changed their water and placed them where they could get more sun. I like that they're still alive so that I can look at them and be reminded of that lovely surprise.
I went running at lunch with two girls from my office. Our pace was slow for them, but much faster than I usually go. It pushed me (and nearly killed me) but it was good. Shamrock run is Sunday and I will at least be able to finish it. I will be red and splotchy and sweaty and probably quite wheezy but it will be pretty awesome to check that off of my list. Azmacort inhaler, I couldn't have done it without you.
I went to Fred Meyer after work and stocked up on travel sized toiletries. I am back and forth so much to Pat's that I carry a full arsenal of miniature beauty products with me. And now I keep a bag at work too for showering after I run so that must be stocked. I love travel-sized things though. They're adorable.
Tonight my mom made cheese and garlic biscuits and also brownies. So I was in fat kid heaven. And then I sat on her lap and watched American Idol and she put lots of little braids in my hair that I'm currently trying to untangle.
We also talked about my grandma Ivalee at dinner (mom's mom.). Isn't Ivalee a wonderful name? She collected owls before it was cool and she called me Mary Muffin. Here we are :)
So I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes I'm all...
But then I get my shit together and I'm all...
In the mean time,
I had a shitty day yesterday. It was my first day back at work after 5 days in California with Pat. I was not pleased to be off vacation, away from him, back at work, and in the rain. My mother was making me feel violent (nothing new, really. That's what we do. But it was really the shit filled cherry on top of my day). I also found out that I owe an obscene amount of money on my taxes. So I hid out in my room and read Lauren's blog and Green Wedding Shoes and browsed craigslist for houses that won't be available to me because I'm not moving for another 3-4 months and edited cute pictures of Pat and I that were taken on our trip until I fell asleep, spooning Joey.
And then I woke up and said to myself 'hey knock it off asshole'
And then I had a good day. I wore a basset hound broach and took my time getting ready-which means that I was late to the train so I had to drive to work. But that meant I all of a sudden had some extra time. So I got an egg mcmuffin(no ham) and some of those bomb diggity hashbrowns. And orange juice. I know it's terrible for you, but I am rarely able to be unhappy following mcdonalds breakfast.
So then I drove to work and I was busy all day so it went pretty fast. The twigs that were in the arrangement Pat sent me on Valentine's Day are still growing more leaves so I changed their water and placed them where they could get more sun. I like that they're still alive so that I can look at them and be reminded of that lovely surprise.
I went running at lunch with two girls from my office. Our pace was slow for them, but much faster than I usually go. It pushed me (and nearly killed me) but it was good. Shamrock run is Sunday and I will at least be able to finish it. I will be red and splotchy and sweaty and probably quite wheezy but it will be pretty awesome to check that off of my list. Azmacort inhaler, I couldn't have done it without you.
I went to Fred Meyer after work and stocked up on travel sized toiletries. I am back and forth so much to Pat's that I carry a full arsenal of miniature beauty products with me. And now I keep a bag at work too for showering after I run so that must be stocked. I love travel-sized things though. They're adorable.
Tonight my mom made cheese and garlic biscuits and also brownies. So I was in fat kid heaven. And then I sat on her lap and watched American Idol and she put lots of little braids in my hair that I'm currently trying to untangle.
We also talked about my grandma Ivalee at dinner (mom's mom.). Isn't Ivalee a wonderful name? She collected owls before it was cool and she called me Mary Muffin. Here we are :)
So I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes I'm all...
But then I get my shit together and I'm all...
