Hi. You probably know me as hellohahanarf from my years of commenting around the world wide internetz, yet never having a blog. Well my friends, that has changed. Welcome to MY site.
I found a really cool program on the Food Network that doesn’t tell me to turn on that big boxy thing that sometimes burns my leftover pizza in the kitchen. “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” is a wonderful show hosted by my new boyfriend, Guy Fieri. Normally I am partial to dark haired guys and really don’t like the bleached hair, but for Guy? I would SO make an exception. *swoon* The man gets so into the food that he is tasting that it doesn’t matter if he is eating pancakes or pork chops, he enjoys it. Moaning a bit, saying he needs a moment alone, absolutely savoring and enjoying every mouthful. When I watch him eat a new dish, all I can think of is how fun he would be in bed. Gotta love a passionate, vocal guy.
Mmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmm, mmmmm!
Hehe, I just found a list of some of the crap he says on TV…
* I could put this on a flip-flop and it would taste good.
* Holy-moley, Stromboli!
* The sauce is money.
* Holy clam, Batman!
* Egg-foo fun!
* Hot tub in Flavor Town.
* Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
* I need a nap and a hose
* I’m driving the bus to Flavor Town.
* That burger is in it to win it.
* I could put down six or fifteen of these.
* Thanksgiving in a bowl.
* ‘Cuz the 95 Habanero peppers in there don’t count. (in reference to a spicy chili)
* That’s bodacious.
* That’s an angry burger.
* Aces are wild; pick a cheddar. (fanning out a “deck” of cheese slices)
* I cut those onions so thin, they only have one side.
* Like talking in the middle of an opera — can’t you hear it singing?
* You can’t knock the wurst.
* I’ve never taken my smoked fish for a walk before. (moving fish from a smoker to the oven)
* It’s like liquid Life Saver! (doing a soda syrup “shooter”)
* I can get that by the bucket.
* That’s Holy Hash.
* I’m getting a fried freak-on.
* That’s a hot Frisbee of fun.
* You could convert non-breakfasters. (Is “non-breakfasters” a word?)
* I’ve got so much in my mouth I can’t tell you how good it is.
* Give me a stool and a bib.
* I wanna be the ambassador to Chimichanga Flavor Town.
* This is bananas, and bananas is good.
* Do you have a garden hose; something I can clean up with?
* Dude, I’ve been stricken by chicken!
* Wrong day to wear flip-flops. (stirring a vat of noodles)
* There’s a lot of fun on the bun.
* I didn’t say “no way,” so you can’t say “yes way!”
* I wanna go home, I want my mom.
* This could be the only thing on the menu and I’d move here.
How could I have omitted a good dog from my list of things that help keep me happy? Also didn’t mention a glass of a cool, tasty beverage with the company of friends. Wow, I certainly was slacking on that one!
There is no way I would be who I am without my dogs. Fortunately my Reilly is one of the happiest little boys I know, even if he doesn’t really know that he’s not human. My favorite thing about him is that so long as he is snuggling and being petted, he is perfectly content.
After his annual check up at the vet’s on Thursday, we stopped over Doodle’s house. She has about 162 indoor cats so we stayed outside. The heat of the day had subsided, leaving a rather pleasant evening for us to enjoy, even if Reilly did scare a few of the two dozen outdoor cats and raccoons upon our arrival. Doodle poured me a glass of chardonnay (J Lohr!!) and proceeded to encourage my Reillymonster onto her lap. All 43 pounds of his little self.
Her husband arrived home right around the same time the pizza showed up so I was able to FINALLY give him his birthday present (a bottle of Ferrari Merlot and a Blogography.com t-shirt – pump up your monkey!). Good conversation, tasty food and drink plus terrific friends. All and all an excellent, relaxing night out.
Before someone gets all pissy and says that I favor Reilly, you are right. I so do. Of course I also love Ludo very much. He was even named after a character in one of my all time favorite movies, The Labyrinth. Louie certainly adds entertainment to my life and I can’t imagine not living with his 90 pound self. So here is happy boy Lou:
How could I possibly be cranky when looking at this:
I really need to remember some of these again because I thrive on happiness. Not sure where I originally saw this list, but I deleted some and added some. Without further adieu, here are some tips that help me live a Happy Life…
Smile while you walk. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
Buy a lock if you have to.
Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
Play more games and read more books than you did in 2007.
Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of six.
Dream more while you are awake.
Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
Try to make at least three people smile each day.
Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let new, flowing energy into your life.
Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a college kid with a maxed-out charge card.
Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words: In five years, will this matter?
What other people think of you is none of your business.
God heals almost everything.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
Do the right thing!
Call your family often.
Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for_______.
Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed. And too anointed to be disappointed.
Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don’t want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
You guys tired of coming up with fantastic ideas for any and every question that I throw at you? What? Speak up! You like giving me your opinion? You live for it? Sa-weet! Then this one will probably be an easy one for ya. Don’t be shy, either…speak up with your thoughts. You are some of the smartest and funniest people I have ever met in my life.
I drive Chevy’s extended version of their Trail Blazer. Big ole seven passenger SUV for just little ole me. And two not small dogs. I love it. Seriously, there are no words to properly express how much I love my vehicle. Not that you would know from the lack of baths and all, but I really do love him.
So I was thinking of giving him a personalized license plate. Here in PA they are easily purchased for under fifty bucks. Granted I should probably keep my cash so that I can purchase (much less than) a tank of gas, but I seem to be in a mood.
Which bring me to yinz. What should I put on my customized just for me plate? Seven letters and / or numbers. No periods, slashes, etc. Just letters and numbers, with one space or one hyphen, if desired (but not both).
Yes, I have already thought of “HELLO.” Don’t you think someone would have already grabbed that happy little greeting, though? And please don’t say anything exceptionally female because I hate when you can tell the sex of the driver from the place. Not safe. (I am a cop’s daughter and can’t help but think of things like that. Sure, I drove to Philly to meet 60 bloggers from the internet and room with two people I had never met before, but that to me is much safer than parking a vehicle in a dark lot that has the plate “SCHNOOKIE” or “SUZIE” or “ILUVDICK” or some such shit.)
An awesome friend that I met in Vegas at a trade show last fall (I call him Fabio because of a photo he had done for me) suggested “NO MOSS” because he says I am always on the go and therefore like a rolling stone, gathering no moss. Personally I thought that was pretty fucking awesome, so if you have a suggestion…well, you know…no pressure or anything.
Why does it always seem that when I have a ton to tell you the calendar says it is Thursday and I know that all you want is pictures? Then when I finally get a chance to tell you stuff I either forget what I wanted to say or can’t quite express it as eloquently as I could have when it was fresh in my head.
Dammit.
Should I go for bullet Thursdays before the photos or quit HNT or write a post and end it with pictures? Hmmmmm. This place is certainly for me, but part of it being for me is me being here for you. (Did that make sense to anyone other than me? Stupid mojitos, messin with the brain. Sorry. xoxo)
Ok, back to HNT. I had some help with this week’s photos…the dogs, who aren’t wearing collars, wanted to ensure they were in the photos of my legs that I took this weekend in the backyard baby pool and you may remember that both my cousin (Twinkle Twat) and our aunt (Tinkle Twat) helped me back in April when we attended the Maker’s Mark Mile in Kentucky. Not a word about how silly it is that my female relatives played photographer and artistic director for HNT while we were on a drunken mini vacation, k? Thanks!
Don’t forget to head over to the the land of os and check out his comments section where you can find the other HNT participants. Enjoy!
In Monday’s post I mentioned that if I wasn’t around it was because I bought a computer game. Not so much. Just got a little busy and then experienced some technical difficulties. Busy is good, I enjoy when my life is rushing along, full of fun. Technical shit, however, ain’t my thing.
Looks like I am back up, due to nothing that I did myself. Believe it or not the machine might have fixed itself. I call that proof positive that the power of prayer works!
I have a meeting at 8 AM, but I do promise that if the machine promises to not fight with me, I will be back to normal with a post tomorrow. And replies to comments over the last few days. Oh. And a Half Nekkid Thursday post tomorrow.
My favorite movieEVER has been made into a computer game. Yet I am not into gaming! Uggggh, what is a girl to do? If I buy the game and start playing, you know I will never again leave the house, right? (Hell, it is probably a gateway game to harder games the way marijuana is labeled a gateway drug to the bad stuff.)
Ok, so it isn’t Guitar Hero. Or any of the other popular games these days. It does, however, have allure for…gulp…this girl. (Sometimes it surprises me when I have such feminine longings. I mean it is about a princess for crying out loud. “Inconceivable!” hehe.)
But how can I possibly be expected to escape the calling of Tru Wuv…
“Help the Princess and her True Love manage life on the farm, defeat dastardly villains, survive the Fire Swamp, concoct miracle remedies, and vanquish the evil prince in order to live happily ever after. Along the way you play as and interact with a cast of your favorite characters including Buttercup, Westley, Inigo, Fezzik, Vizzini and Miracle Max.”
“Compete for high scores and advance through dozens of levels that are simple to start, addictive to play and challenging to master. Enjoy casual and narrative play modes with 5 games in 1 download!
* Episode 1 – As You WishTime / Click Management
* Episode 2 – Battle of WitsInconceivable Trivia Challenge
* Episode 3 – The Fire SwampTeamwork Puzzle Platformer
* Episode 4 – Miracle MaxHidden Objects & Potion Mixing
* Episode 5 – Storming the CastleCollect & Assemble Inventory”
That battle of wits part had better mention never getting involved in a land war in Asia. And there had better be fun storming the castle. Sigh. If you never hear from me again, I might have purchased it.
Although I am trying VERY hard not to.
Perhaps I will just go watch the movie instead…
Westley: Hear this now: I will always come for you.
Buttercup: But how can you be sure?
Westley: This is true love – you think this happens every day?
Hate is a strong word, but in this case it is true. I hate lies. Which is why it always surprises me when someone accuses me of lying. For the most part I will do everything possible to avoid lying.
I love movies. Something so special about going to the theater, sitting in the dark with a group of strangers and all experiencing the same thing at the same time. Knowing that it wasn’t really all that long ago that movies didn’t even exist or didn’t even have sound, I truly appreciate the technology that allows such amazing images and sounds to entertain me, to fully immerse me in the story being presented. I love the escapism that movies offer.
Unfortunately I don’t go to nearly as many movies as I would like. And watching them at home just isn’t the same. Don’t get me wrong, I pay the cable company for just about every movie channel they have to offer, but I definitely prefer actually going to the theater. Last movie I saw out was the latest Indy. Before that was Iron Man. And I can’t even remember what was before that…too long ago.
So this weekend I decided that I would without a doubt get my butt to the movies. I am torn between going on Saturday to avoid the heat and enjoy their air conditioning or going on Sunday to get outta the rain. Guess I will see who is free to join me and what works for them.
And of course, it will also depend on fighting over which movie. I am feeling the need to look at my Rock, which means Get Smart. Even if he isn’t the headliner in a movie, I will gladly see anything he is a part of. *swoon*
My little cousin Sarah got married to her Marine on June 25th. Unfortunately he had to head to the Mojave Desert for training on July 5th so the young bride is left at home, missing her new husband. He won’t be returning until after his (second) tour in Iraq, maybe April? Spring is a long way away for a new, and pregnant, wife.
And then my inbox alerts me to a new message from Sarah. Which is now a guest post. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a problem that needs your solutions:
So I’ve just realized that when I can’t come up with a good enough answer to something (usually something that can take multiple answers, like, hmm, wedding music) the next place I head is your blog… hah.
So here’s my thing this time -
Matt will be going to Iraq in mid-August. I plan to write – a lot. Email is nice, but I think letter are better for a few reasons… first, I’ve always loved getting mail. It’s like mini Christmas presents. Second, he can take letters with him since he’s not going to be on base all the time. I don’t know if they have access to a printer, at least not for personal stuff, so I’m cutting that step out. Third, I just think letters are really heartfelt. You can see emotion in handwriting and, at least for me, it seems like there’s more feeling behind it. So while I’ll be emailing too, I plan to be writing my butt off.
Here’s the catch. While letters are great to get and send, I want to keep them interesting. With all the stuff going on in our lives right now, I’m sure there’s not going to be a shortage of material. I’m looking for more creative mediums though. For example, when dad was in Germany, mom would write all the time. So she started doing things like writing around the border of the paper and spiraling in, writing backwards, writing in different colors. Silly stuff. Anyone have any nifty ideas to jazz up a regular letter?
Next thing – I’d like to try to send “stuff” about once a week. I’ve got 25 flat rate boxes on the way – these things are ingenious. For $10.95, you can send as much as you can cram into this box any where in the world. But the boxes aren’t huge – think, maybe shoe box on steroids? I’m trying to come up with some things to send over. Beyond the normal stuff that he would need like bug spray and snacks and stuff like that, I’d like to send stuff that he and the guys he’s with can have some fun with. The one thing I’ve heard so far is mini squirt guns. Apparently, they have a blast with them… :-) So, any ideas on that too? I mean think of it this way – if you were stuck in the middle of the desert with a group of guys and not exactly having fun, what would you want?
I’m feeling a little stumped on this – like I’ve got ‘creativity block’. I can think of a bunch of really regular stuff, but I think it would be cool to put the extra time and effort in to make it more personal.
Let me know whatcha think…
Sarah
Personally, I think Sarah is rather brave asking the big, bad Internetz for suggestions, but she loves you guys (I do, too!). Take it easy on her and leave a comment with your ideas. Thanks!
xoxo
