Saturday, January 31, 2009

Striker's on a Roll!!!

Today Striker bowled 8 games in the 2009 Ebonite Barry Asher Open (aka PBA Regional Tournament). Sadly, he was not bowling on the same pair as Danny Wiseman and he was on a different squad than Vince Wood, but I along with his parents and Lil Dahl showed up to sit on our rear ends for several hours. (Okay, so Lil Dahl and I missed the first two games...that's a story for another day.)

It gotta kinda close around the 6th game, but STRIKER QUALIFIED for the next round (that's at least 5 more games). That means he's bowling at 8:00 AM on Super Bowl Sunday. I will begin caffeinating sometime around 7:00 AM. Wish him luck!!!



Oh and by the way...Striker is bowling with Vince this morning. :)

Friday, January 30, 2009

Jenn Ann, Conformist

Kim, Rachel, and Janine badger me to start watching 24. I start watching 24. (Good move by the way).

Queen B tells all of us to "Follow" her blog. I follow her blog. (Even though it was already on my Reader).

Kim tells me to call her. I call her. (She wanted to find out how many episodes of 24 I'd watched.)

Striker asks what I want for dinner. I don't care. He asks if I'll pick up CPK if her orders it. Ok.

Sigh. I swear I have opinions and can make decisions for myself! :)

Football Cupcakes

It was only while driving to work today that I had the moment of brilliance that I should have had end zone decorations and goal posts. Sigh. I might be on to something though...Crap, Valentines Day is only 2 weeks away - oh wait, I won't be at work, I'll be on vacation!

And feel free to make fun of the wavy lines...I blame it on the pre-game celebration ;)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Cupcake Factory

I'm not sure how I became the favorite cupcake baker at work. I willingly give away my secret (ONLY use Pilsbury mix and frosting) and encourage others that they too can be master cupcake bakers - after all, if I can do it, ANYONE can. The problem? They don't make them!

We are having a Super Bowl Tailgate Potluck Extravaganza at lunch tomorrow and somehow Pickle talked me into making cupcakes. Since the crew planning the festivities is going all out, I thought I might try making this batch a little more festive than traditional birthday cupcakes.

They are chocolate cupcakes (dirt)with green frosting (first time I used food coloring in frosting....kinda fun!) and sprinkles for texture (grass). I am going to lay them all out on the table like a football field and draw yard lines. Hopefully it works out and I remember to take a picture!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

It's Kim's Fault

Well, Rachel and Janine's fault too. 24 has completely consumed my life!
I'm either working, sleeping, or watching season 1 of 24. (hence the lack of blogs).

I have a crush on Jack Bauer.

When Striker grows up he wants to be Jack Bauer - don't tell Chuck Norris!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

On the Road Again....

As most of you are aware, I love a good car nap! Because of this, and the fact that he doesn't mind driving, Striker drives 99.9% of the time that we are together. (The 0.1% is when he gets to drink and I drive.)

Don't tell Striker, but I actually like driving on open highways. If you tell him, it will mean that I might have to forfeit my nap on our upcoming trip to Vegas :(

Yesterday, I drove up to Palmdale for Kellie's baby shower and was cruising along enjoying my good road trip music (which also doubles as my gym music) when I got stuck behind this guy. Needless to say, I was no longer cruising. And yes, I photo'd while driving!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

LAX Adventures

I made three trips to LAX this weekend.

The first was to pick up Queen B at terminal 4. It was a very uneventful trip and my arrival was timed perfectly as it coincided with the Queen exiting the door to the baggage claim as I pulled up to the curb.

My second trip was to pick up ABBA at terminal 1. After much debate, I left for the airport earlier than I had for my first trip since it was Friday during rush hour. When I arrived I was stopped by airport security to have my car searched. Of course, this is the first time in all of my airport trips that this has ever happened! Good thing I was early! Unfortunately, their "thorough" search took less than a minute and I was still SUPER early. I made several laps and waited for ABBA's arrival. And then I saw ABBA holding her HCBC sign and all was right in the world!

My third trip was to return the Queen and ABBA, with their synchronized departure times. Of course I made the mistake of taking the "Arrivals" ramp, so they also got a bonus scenic tour of LAX. : )

Miss y'all!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

When Rule Following Backfires (for me)

My sister sent an Edible Arrangement to my work with this note on the card. Apparently she knew that my rule following would guarantee that I'd share. Luckily for Striker I did! BTW, have I mentioned how much I LOVE chocolate covered bananas?!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Sunday, January 18, 2009

TWD Poll Results

Last week I posted 2 polls, and now for the results, drum roll please...

Question #1: How long will Jenn go without a Texting While Driving ticket?
< 7 days - 2 votes...oh ye of little faith!
< 1 month - 2 votes...if it's gonna happen this is the most likely window
< 6 months - 6 votes...we shall see
Never in 2009 - 4 votes...thank you for your confidence

Question #2: Who will be the first to get a TWD ticket?
Jenn Ann - 2
Kim1Champ - 6...snicker
Striker - 0...what, accountants aren't rebels?
Kfuj - 4

Friday, January 16, 2009

Home....Max?

What happens when it's 7:15 AM and the Queen and I see sitting in the parking lot of Downtown Disney....

QB: Which came first: Office Depot or Office Max? Because they are very inter-changeable names.

JA: Depot

QB: That's like having Home Depot and Home....Max.


It was the pause that made it funny.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Minnie Mouse Knows Her Hockey!

The hubby got us super good seats for tonight's Kings vs Lightning game at the Staples Center! They were cheap too, thanks to an after Christmas sale of only $11.50 each!

This picture was taken without any zooming at all...impressive huh?

The only downside is that the chick sitting behind Striker sounded like Minnie Mouse and would NOT stop talking. As he pointed out, at least she knew what she was talking about! Unfortunately the guy she brought with her did not, AND he was a Lightning fan.

Kings lost, but there was a good fight, a lot of aggressive playing, and I developed a new crush on Mike Smith (the goalie for the Lightning) - he does cool stuff!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Online Pizza Ordering

Striker refuses to phone in our order for pizza. He's been ordering online for years, but has run into a problem since we moved to a new development almost 2 years ago-our address is not found when he types it in.

A few months ago he emailed a complaint to Papa John's and they promptly added our address to their database. Success!

Friday night Papa John's website was down - crisis! Striker headed over to Pizza Hut's site, which of course, was not able to locate our address. He then wrote the following email:

I have lived in my home for two years and your website still cannot locate me. I only do online ordering because most people I call don't understand English well enough to take my order correctly. How long do I have to wait to get my location online so I can order on the website?
 
Will Kolbow, CPA

We ended up ordering from Dominos...but that's a post for another day....

Why Didn't I Think of This?

You can put whatever you want on either a bowling ball or pin. I told Striker that I wanted a ball with his face on it. :) www.ontheballbowling.com

Friday, January 9, 2009

Question of the Day

Do you like your oatmeal thicker (less water) or soupy (more water)? I like mine thicker.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Quaking and Shaking Part Deux

Do not be alarmed! Yes, there was a 4.5 magnitude earthquake this evening and a 3.3 aftershock, but if I hadn't been lying in bed watching TV, I probably wouldn't have noticed.

For those of you visiting So Cal next week, the odds are in your favor that we won't have another quake while you're here. After all, our last one of significant size was in July, and that was pretty uneventful.

For those of you who obsess about such things, you can get regular updates on all the things shakin' here. And don't let me know if you're really freaked out by earthquakes, because I might accidentally shake your chair or something. :)

Sydney's Mom Strikes Again!

I was lucky enough to get a phone call from KT today (and Queen B, but that's another post). By the end of our conversation, she knew it would end up as a post - and who am I to disappoint? :)

KT: My phone is almost dead.
JA: Where is your spare battery?
KT: I lost it.
JA: It's probably in your purse, I mean, diaper bag.
KT: You know, that's EXACTLY where it is!

Nope, that wasn't the part that warranted this post, it was just a bonus :)

KT: So I accidentally deleted 2 posts that I emailed to myself while on the plane today.
JA (thinks to herself): Why didn't she just mobiley post them?
KT: I selected "delete from desktop and handheld", so they're gone.
JA: Aren't they in your Sent folder?
KT: Oh yeah...this is going to be a blog right?
JA: Totally!

Let's just say that only one of us works in IT ;)

Monday, January 5, 2009

Mommy, Keep Us Warm!

When the alarm clock went off at 5:30 this morning (and I reached over to hit snooze), I saw that it was only 36 degrees outside and that Oskar and Felix were cold!

In case you can't identify my shape under the covers, I am laying on my left side and Felix (the cat) is snuggled behind my knees. Oskar of course is warming my ankles - he got warm when the heater kicked on and moved out from under the covers.

Prior to the heater kicking it up a notch (it's the only way I will actually get out from under the covers, and yes it's timed to match the alarm clock) Oskar was curled against my belly under the covers.

This is their standard sleeping position - Oskar on my left and Felix on my right. Depending on the temperature, Felix is either touching me or at the foot of the bed (love my Cal King!) and Oskar is either over/under the covers.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Fuggs

As recently discussed on Kim1Champ, Uggs and Fuggs are apparently not only a So Cal thing, but a Disneyland thing.

Here are two examples from my recent trip to the Magic Kingdom of odd footwear:
I'm getting a pair of these for the Queen for her birthday...














When your fuggs aren't warm enough, add leg warmers!


Please note that both were tucked...I think this makes my non-tucking okay? I don't want to be grouped in with these trendsetters ;)

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Stuck on Pirates!

Stuck on Pirates of the Caribbean....staring at the dog with the key. Been sitting here for several minutes now and will most likely miss the snow, which is the whole reason we are at Disneyland again today in the first place. At least we got to ride Space Mountain and Small World!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Kim Made Me Do This

After 5 hours of freezing (seriously, it was in the 50s and we'd expected it to be in the 70s again), negotiations with Kim1Champ via BBM, and a carb loaded lunch, I am now a Disneyland Premium Annual Passport holder. Consider it a resolution to be happy! :)

My List

Since just about everyone has made a list in the last day or two, I feel that it's my turn. Call it peer pressure :)

1) Everything happens for a reason.
2) Sometimes the toughest things have the greatest rewards.
3) Just because something is hard, doesn't mean I shouldn't do it.
4) I don't need to understand how everything works, just believe in the results.
5) Believe in miracles.
6) Persistence does pay off...I hope.
7) Sometimes I need others to be strong for me...
8) ...Other times I need to be strong for others.
9) Tough times just make me stronger.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

NoTexting While Driving

Just saw coverage on the news...texting while stopped at a red light is also illegal.

It's $20 for the first offense, $50 for each subsequent offense.

When factoring in the odds of getting caught, you're more likely to get caught at a red light than while going 65 on the freeway.

I have promised not to text while driving. ; )

Striker, Rule Breaker

This is the only picture of us from last night. Mr Pearl's battery was so low at midnight that the flash wouldn't work.

This, however, is not the reason for this post. The fact that Striker BBM'd me while driving today and therefore broke that law before I could will now be on permanent record and is the reason for this post. I hope I don't need to refer back to this post, but just in case, here it is :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!