Um...

If I get anywhere near a humane society I'm going to adopt up the whole thing. Is it a mothering instinct or just because I love puppies?

Um...

Now we're all decorated to scare small children

What candy should we hand out to spoil the wee ones? The orange door really comes in handy for the fall holidays. 

Look at all the leaves falling on the front yard! I guess I can only put off raking for so much longer before the lawn is completely covered. :( Not to mention all the weeds in the front planter. Boo, I was hoping they would go away when it starts to freeze, but no luck yet.

Now we're all decorated to scare small children

A day at the Punkin Patch -- "You pick 'em!"

There is a great historical farm and open space just a few miles down the 287 and J and I decided to head on down to pick out some pumpkins on a beautiful Tuesday after I finished my midterms. It was a welcome reprieve from the stress of writing solid for a week. 

The farm is huge. It has to be at least 100 acres. They have fields upon fields of bright orange pumpkins just laying on the vines. You grab a pair of clippers and just clip off your favorites! Plus, they have a farm animal petting area and a corn and hay maze for the kiddies. We even took advantage of the sets to take our pictures. 

Happy pre-Halloween!

A day at the Punkin Patch -- "You pick 'em!"

Origins

Looking back, I forgot that this blog began as a play-by-play firsthand account of the October 2007 San Diego fire season. I can't believe it's only been a year of blogging. It's great to look back at origins every once in a while. See where you come from and where you are going. To experience the feelings of a time rewound. How very far I've traveled since last fall: geographically, emotionally, personally. And even so, I'd give a lot to go back, just for a few moments.

Origins

So many butterflies!

I don't know what it is, but there are thousands of butterflies floating around in Boulder right now. Just EVERYWHERE! It makes no sense because it's getting to be later fall and quite cold at night, but there they are, floating around in the flowers every morning and afternoon. I'll have to get a picture, but if there are any science geeks out there, I'd love to know where the heck they come from and if they appear every year...

So many butterflies!

Shhhh, he's hunting wabbits

This is where Dog goes every morning for about a half hour to watch the squirrelies and the wabbits. He knows how to spot 'em but he hasn't caught one yet.





Yesterday I thought I'd take him for a quick walk before I had to get on the bus and go to school. We got up to the lake and he took off into the brush. Usually I can call him back really easily but he would not COME. I was so annoyed so I started to stomp over there and realized he was rolling in something. Big, bad sign. By the time he reached me, I could smell him coming. It was like a mixture of rotten fish, skunk and poop. THE SMELL WAS HORRIBLE. He must have rolled in the carcass of a dead animal. I still can't figure out why dogs do that, but they do. Anyone know medically why they want the smell of dead things on them?!?!!! Anyway, he was very stinky and I wasn't about to hang around for that jazz, so I walked him home and handed him over to J to take to the dog bath. :)

He still smells and it's been two baths and more than 24 hours. Ick.

Shhhh, he's hunting wabbits

No comment.

I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm. I hate this midterm.

No comment.

At least you didn't fade away.

I miss you Garrett.

Out of the blue
and into the black
They give you this,
but you pay for that
And once you're gone,
you can never come back
When you're out of the blue
and into the black.

The king is gone
but he's not forgotten
This is the story
of a Johnny Rotten
It's better to burn out
than it is to rust
The king is gone
but he's not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.

(Neil Young)

At least you didn't fade away.

I'm all for civic involvement and all.

But I'm not sure what I think of a bunch of chicks writing "Obama!" or "McCain!" on their boobs for publicity. I don't know if they want that kind of "support." Huh. Ha huh. There was always bound to be a site like this.

I'm all for civic involvement and all.

Urgh.

There are four songs that I absolutely cannot stand -- HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE THEM!!!! (You know, a lot more that I don't like, but we're talking HATE HATE HATE.) They are, in chronological order:

- Sophie B. Hawkins "As I Lay Me Down"

- Donna Lewis "I Love You Always Forever"

- Silversun Pickups "Lazy Eye"

- "Handlebars" by Flobots

If I ever hear these songs, I want to explode and hit somewhere square in the face. URGH! Boo on these songs. 

Urgh.

Sooo...

Is the entire site going to be Ted Nugent?

Sooo...

Taking the "KFC Challenge"

There is a commercial running these days where a woman and her two kids take the "KFC Challenge". They try to shop at the store to make a seven-piece fried chicken meal for $10. When they can't make it happen, they run on over to KFC and grab a fried bucket.

Here's what I don't get: If it really is that hard to find store-bought chicken for that amount of money, why would I want to eat the cheap-ass chicken that KFC is offering for bargain bottom prices?! Why does that sound good?

Yuck. What parts of the chick-chick-chicken are they peddling?!

Taking the "KFC Challenge"

Hammy is on the loose

We have a squirrel friend who lives in the backyard. He travels from house to house in the neighborhood, pillaging apples from the neighbor's tree and generally screeching and making trouble whenever he can. Dog is particularly fond of Mr. Squirrelly, or Hammy, as he is sometimes known. So when Hammy tries to make it into Dog territory, he must do so balanced on the fence between yards. When Dog is particularly aggressive and chases him from the yard, Hammy will climb a tree and squawk at us for about a half hour. He little noises he makes sound like Donald Duck being pissed off. Weird little vibrato screams. I am relatively fond of him, so I grabbed a photo for posterity.

Hammy is on the loose

Fall is on fire in the Rockies

J, Dog and I took a late-morning drive this morning up to Jamestown, which is about 30 miles up into the hills. Just past Jamestown, the trees turned into aspens and other leafy reds and yellows. Dog ran his butt off on the trails and we got a little walk in before the weather set in. It's a beautiful time in the Rockies.

Fall is on fire in the Rockies

J thinks Gossip Girl is lame

Well he's lame, too. Glare into that camera, J!

J thinks Gossip Girl is lame

Who needs Palin?

McCain should just dump Palin and pick up Tina Fey. She's much smarter and more logical. Which is probably why she's in show business and not politics. God I hate politicians.

If Palin smiles and grins and giggles like a stupid goddamn school girl one more time I'm going to throw up. Electing McCain and Palin to rule the White House would be like hiring Yogi and BooBoo to guard the camp food supplies. Is this dumbing-down of policy and economics really acceptable to Americans? It shouldn't be.

Urgh. How frustrating.

Who needs Palin?

Zales is an irresponsible company of nitwits

When we got our wedding rings, J decided he wanted a Tungsten ring. It's a very heavy metal and doesn't ever ding or scratch, which is perfect for him. So we bought it and all was well until we got back from the heavy-eating honeymoon and J lost a bunch of weight. Since Tungsten rings can't be resized, he had to bring it back to Zales and ask for them to exchange it.

This was a long process. Zales said their Tungsten ring supplier was running low on supply so we had to wait for them to make a new one and ship it out. So we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. Three months later, they finally shipped a new one out to us. We were ecstatic! Finally, J could be "married" with a ring. 

All was well until today when we were driving home from the grocery. J just happened to take his ring off and glance at it in an interesting light. What was reflected from the inside of the ring was a partial inscription. We didn't order a ring with an inscription. 

Zales (or their provider) had tried to buff out what was there to make it look new. But they missed a word. The full inscription at the start was obviously: "Till Death." But they didn't get to the second word. So J has been walking around with a wedding ring that says "Death" on the inside. Unbelievable. 

Not exactly what we pictured when we giddily bought our wedding jewelry together.

Zales is an irresponsible company of nitwits