I Have A Tiny Ponytail!

I used to have short hair.






It's been growing out since August.


















This is how far we've gotten.

One of the Happiest Days of My Life

Seriously.

This one is just the rough draft. I still have cool stuff to vomit there. (hahaha...get it? instead of saying "throw up", I said, "vomit"...)

OH!! AND...before, when I said that "I DO love them. so much." ....when speaking of Cloudy Logic in previous *YAWN* post....

I REALLY did mean that.
I wasn't being sarcastic or anything.
Jeeeeez....paranoid much?

I would be a bottlenecked-ballooned-and-ripping-at-the-seams-full-bladder-of creative ideas without the appropriate outlet if not for them.

So, a VERY special THANK YOU to Willie & Ken.
When I think of the 2 of you, you're holding hands and skipping in slow-motion through a large, wide-open green field. Maybe there are wild flowers growing in it.
Depending on the season.

Weekend Cooking

these are dark chocolate brownies with chili powder & bacon/almond pralines.



This is my guac.
(2) or (3) avoacados with lime juice, tomato, cilantro, peppers, onion....

This is italian sausage with chicken and roasted peppers & cilantro with additional seasonings simmering in BEER!!!

we will not divulge any other culinary secrets moving forward.
hahahahahahahaha.

*YAWN*

SO its no wonder that people have other people do their web design.

I've tried for the past 24 hrs (roughly) to upload this crap we have for

(fanfare)

www.seriouslystephenson.com

which is great....when I have it roughly put together via iWeb but for whatever reason, isn't translating to the hosting site we're using.

which is via http://www.cloudylogic.com/v4a/
and I do love them.
so much.

anyway, at some point, me and Matthew's website will be up...and it'll be cool.
I promise.

Weekend Cooking

OK - Here's what we've got.

Red, Yellow, Orange Peppers
+Green Onions
+Roma Tomatoes
+avocados
+beer
+cilantro
+lime juice
+Everglades Seasonings
+Italian Sausages
+Chicken
+sharp shredded cheddar
----------------------
some damn good fajitas

AND THEN

Dark Chocolate
+Chili Powder
+Allspice
+eggs
+cocoa powder
+baking soda
+baking powder
+flour
+brown sugar
+regular sugar
+vanilla
+bacon
+almonds
----------------------
some damn good brownies


PICTURES POSTED SOON....

Cow Farts

So a while back....like maybe a good 5 yrs ago....I wrote something (on a friend's website) about cow farts and it's relation to global warming/the deterioration of the atmosphere.

Methane gas contributes to a big chunk of the crap that creates holes or whatever in the atmosphere.
You know - whatever those crazy ass liberal scientists are talkin' about via that dopey Al Gore puppet pulpit.

Anyway - My idea was to create a bubble to encompass cow farms (for McDonalds & Burger King beef) to filter and farm out the cowfartgas and use it for energy/power.

Bubble farming.

See? Solution to the problem.
Creating jobs AND maintaining those already there....
and it also works for those who love fast food and cheap filler beef and it still gives something for the vegetarians to hate....or loathe....

IT'S THE WAY OF THE FUTURE!!!

or whatever.

AH-CHOO!!!

While I'm not sure exactly when we implemented this in our daily routine, I do know it was within the past 2 months or so. Maybe around the holidays?
Maybe.

ANYWAY - Matthew and I have decided that instead of saying "bless you" or "gesundheit" when either of us sneezes, we say whatever random word pops into our heads at the time of said sneeze.

Examples:

Matthew: AHCHOO!!
Karen: "maniacal"

-or-

Matthew: AHCHOO!!
Karen: "rutabaga"

-or-

Matthew: AHCHOO!!
Karen: "xylophone"

-or-

Matthew: AHCHOO!!
Karen: "sweet potato"
Matthew: "You've used that one before."
Karen: "but that's what popped into my head. *sigh* ok....PERIWINKLE"
Matthew: "good one."

Try it at home. I'm pretty sure its good for your brain, too.

Late to the Game

hahaha - get it? cuz I'm about to talk about a superbowl commercial???
oh man.

So, I really liked this one because I want my own sock monkey suit. (pause at 0:19)

Maybe I'll make one for Halloween.
Or for anytime really. When would you NOT be able to use a sock monkey suit?

The only crappy part is trying to figure out where to find a sock that freakin' big.

Big Corp Training

During my day job, I had to take this corporate training thing about Export Regulations and crap.
This was the first question. And the correct answer was to select all of them. I only got it partially right because I missed the last one.
damn terrorists.
Does that mean I let them win??

----------------------

What is the purpose of U.S. export regulations?

Select all that apply, then select "SUBMIT".

	A)	To protect U.S. national security
	B)	To protect our technological edge
	C)	To enforce U.S. foreign policy
	D)	To promote U.S. economic interests
	E)	To deter terrorist activities

A Grand Birthday Celebration with Elvis

My father-in-law's 70th birthday event was this past Saturday. Considering that he's the oldest living man on that side of the family, with most of the previous men kicking the bucket in their 60s, 70 is a pretty big milestone.

Plus, my father-in-law loves the attention.

So, Friday afternoon, we jetted out for a 6:30pm flight which was delayed until about 8:30pm with a stop in Atlanta.

Since the Atlanta airport has never experienced snow before, they were only operating on one runway.

Which left us sitting on our connecting flight for about 3 or 4 hours before we were finally able to take off. (did you know that 'de-icing' is just another term for 'hosing off'??- being a florida girl, I'm not aware of these snowywinterweather words)

Which put us getting to the In-Law's house at about 4a.m.

Ugh.

So we got about 5hrs of sleep, did party set up stuff, (napped) and got ready for the grand event which went off without any snags.

It really was a great party. About 100 people there along with an Elvis Impersonator who was really quite good (not being big Elvis fans and even smaller Elvis Impersonator fans, Matt & I were dubious as to how that part of the night's entertainment would go).

It was super fun and we got great pictures and some video to put something together for everyone to remember it by.

Then Sunday we hung out and had breakfast with the fam, packed up and were on our way home.

A Valentime's Day spent on an airplane for about 5 hrs.

We got home by about 10pm, ate chinese, and played video games until we fell asleep.

What could be better??

Geek Barbie - seriously

You can read the full story here.

I really don't even have the words....

Saturday in Arizona

Those 3 Little Words

So tomorrow is Valentime's Day (makes me laugh when I hear it pronounced that way)...

I was recently going through some old photos and was reminded of an old beau I had preMatt.
We'll call him *Mike.

We'd been dating for a while (5+ months) - quite comfortably, I might add. And by "comfortably", I mean he took me to meet his parents first.
And after taking him to meet mine and having a pretty awesome day, on the drive back to my place, I'd gathered the balls (shut up, I was 20) to say Those Three Little Words.

"Man, I'm just gonna say it.....I Love You."
................(not-so-dramatic-but-more-of-an-awkward pause).............
"awwwww, thank you", Mike replied.

That was the most ridiculous 45 min. drive home EVER.

Needless to say, we broke up shortly after that and I was completely heartbroken.

After that, my Valentime's Day tradition was to stay home and watch Hellraiser movies, usually by myself. This made me happy.

It was when Matt came into my life that Valentime's Day turned into something without so much blood & guts. We don't do anything big, sometimes we'll go out to dinner but no chocolates, no flowers, no fake romance, no porn viewings equipped with a tarp and tubs of lube purchased from Costco (although, that sounds like a really good idea....).

We both figure, if you're married to your BFF and you really truly love them no matter what, everyday should be sort of like Valentime's Day. You should be sweet all (most of) the time and not taking that person for granted. Notice and appreciate the little things you do for each other every day (or atleast once a week). Break that tarp and tub o'lube out when the mood strikes....Not just one day a year.

Stupid Hallmark holidays piss me off.

What's YOUR favorite (or least favorite) VDay memory??

______
*names only slightly** changed to protect whatever identity they might have at this time.

**not really

Chia Obama - 14 Days

These were taken last week at the 14 day mark. I'm gonna let this layer die off and start over again in a few weeks. It got all stuck and patchy in areas and didn't sprout so he has weird bald spots in places.

.....to be continued....

Does my foot kick back that far?

Ever had a situation present itself and you walked past it and later, gave yourself a swift kick in the pants for walking past it?

A few weeks ago, I went to visit my BFF April up in Ocala. I don't see her very often, she gets busy with the kids, I get busy with friends and stuff, so we only see each other a couple times a year.
We'd hung out and played video games with the kids and made waffles and just chilled mostly. It was a really nice time. Usually when I go, she puts me to work painting rooms in her house - which is cool since I've run out of rooms to paint in my house.

Anyway, I was on my way back to Orlando to meet up with another friend and I made a pit stop for something to drink.
Sitting outside the jiffy store, there was a girl (looked to be mid20s) holding a sign that simply said, "Going South". There was a dog sitting next to her. It wasn't apparent if the dog (which was quite large) was hers or not. After running inside to grab a water, I came back out and was about 5 seconds away from sayin', "Hey, I'm going to Orlando, wanna hop in?"

But then that cynical/non-trusting switch turned on and, instead, this is what went through my head:

"If that's her dog, it won't fit in my backseat."
"What if she's a crack head that's gonna slit my throat and steal my car?"
"What if she's running some scam and has a midget partner in that bag she's got with her."
"I'm going to South Orlando....not exactly the greatest spot for someone to say 'You can drop me off here.'"
"That bag is totally big enough to hide a midget."
"I really don't feel like chatting it up for the next 1.5 hrs."
"What if she's really annoying?"
"What if she's in really big trouble with the law - could I be considered an accomplice if I give her a ride?"

While all of that was running through my head, I quietly walked past her, smiled when we met eyes, and hopped in my car.

So, since then, I've been wondering, "What if all of that crap running through my head was just total and utter crap? That girl might've ended up having a really great story about why she ended up sitting in front of a jiffy store, and I could've been that one nice person that helped her out with a quick ride to Orlando."

This cynical head garbage has also popped up again since that time.

Matthew and I went to Chili's one night with my mom. We ate dinner at the bar and there was a woman sitting next to us, enjoying her dinner and a glass of wine or two. She had what looked to me like a home made cast on her right arm. It was a layer of cotton (like she yanked it out of a throw pillow) wrapped with an ace bandage. I noticed she wasn't favoring this arm at all. Not holding it to her side or showing any sign of limited use. When she got her tab, her card declined, and she had no other form of payment. The manager came out and spoke to her and she said she'd be back to pay for it the next day. My mom leaned over and asked me if I wanted to be nice and split this woman's bill. I'd had the same thought a few seconds before mom mentioned it and then watched as she downed her remaining wine, wrote down her contact info and then grabbed her large bag - all using her right arm that was swaddled up with her SusieHomeMakerPillow cast. And who the hell carries only one form of payment - IN A BIG ASS BAG WITH A BIG ASS WALLET IN IT??
So, I said, "I was going to but I think she came in here for a free meal."
Then Matthew watched her walk out to the parking lot, hop into her Escalade, and drive off.
Matthew and I proceeded to point out all the flags we'd observed to my mother who said, "Jeez, you guys are more cynical than I am."

When did this happen?
When did I stop trusting the general population?
Do I watch too much news? No, that can't be it....I watch a total of about 20mins of it a day. That's not near enough to be fear mongered.
Is it just something that happens as you get older?

I do wish I could go back and give that jiffy store girl a ride south.
I don't really care about going back to Chili's and splitting that woman's bill 50/50 with my mom. C'mon, that lady was driving an ESCALADE.

When was the last time you missed an opportunity to help someone out? Or better yet, tell me about an interaction with a stranger that left you warm and fuzzy inside?

In Your FACE

February Focus

Today is a new month and I'm thinking of continuing a sort of "February Focus" that I sort of started last year, sort of.

Remember when I went veggie for the month of February? I think it might've started the first weekend and lasted for 30 days. I don't feel like going back and looking through that post again.
Anyway...
I've lost focus.
haha...get it? Cuz I'm talking about...
nevermind.

So, a couple weeks ago, we were out with some friends and Matt (not mine) mentioned that Scottish people drink more vodka on a monthly basis.
Which got me thinking about how much Matthew and I drink on a monthly basis.
So now I want to keep track of the alcohol we buy in stores and make note of what we drink while we're out.
How awesome will all that look in a CHART!!??

So, that's what I'll be doing this month.
So I can build pretty charts and graphs for lushes.
Should it last longer than a month?

I was also thinking of doing a Black History Month report on RuPaul.

POST IT if you have a better idea for who to do a report on or tell me who you'll be writing YOURS about!!

Suspension Saturday

This kid was a badass. His buddy had asked him just the day before if he wanted to check out the show. Kind of whim-like.
He'd never done anything like this before - no tats, no piercings.
Why the hell not!?!?
Dude with a mic came around and was asking people if they wanted to be next and when he got to me, I said, "Mmmmaaaybe...."
And Matt & Anna immediately said no.
Maybe if I weren't so bottom-heavy....
Plus, it might stretch out my shoulder ink.
Cuz I'm 30 and not 20 like this kid.
____________________
What's the craziest thing you did in your 20s??