Meet Abbey!

This is Abbey.  (Yes like Abbey Road.  Patrick picked it.)

They said she was calm, but I'm pretty sure she's going to give  Yellow Dog from Funny Farm a run for it's money...

I tried to get some shots of her while she was exploring, but everytime I got the camera out, she thought I was supposed to be petting her and stuck her nose in it.  Maybe tomorrow.

And I'm hooked!

Thank YOU Google Suggest!

I would like to thank Google Suggest (you know, where you start typing your search words, and it trys to guess what you're going to type) for making my evening with this little suggestion...

Please note the very first suggestion:

But really, who doesn't want to know that?!?!?

You just can't make this stuff up!

Patrick: 1, Amanda: 4

I just beat Patterick 4 games to 1 in 301.

I just wanted that to be recorded somewhere.

Seriously an awesome night here at the Broughton house though!  Ridiculously nice weather.  Lots of wine time.  Met some fun new neighbors.  Short ribs and asparagus on the grill.  Lots of Patrick time (my most favorite!).  Good stuff!

Also, we bought a lawnmover - and yes it's electric - but we seriously have like 40 square feet of grass until the back grows, and it was only $75, so it'll do for now.  No making fun of the extension cord though.  I'll beat you up.



Now we just need a weed eater! 

Did I mentioned I kicked Patrick's dart-throwing butt?!?!?

For mom/mommy/mother/momma/JoNell/mom/mom/mommy/mom...hi!

I love this time of year!  Everything is pretty and bloomy.  It smells like fresh cut grass.  You can drive everywhere and sleep with the windows open.  Everyone is friendly and cheerful and just glad to be outside after hibernation.  Everything's just so fresh!!!  Love love love it!

Mom: I told you you should've come to see me now!  You're going to miss all the pretty trees...

Patrick won't let me have any of these trees because they are 'messy and smelly'.  He's probably right, but these two weeks a year would make it totally worth it.  For sure.

Also, what is this yellow stuff that everyone has called??  These are things I need to know.

Patrick's mad at me...

...because I just told him not to use the last box of Kleenexes (Kleenexi?  Kleenex?) in the house.  

Why can't my poor, little, sick Patrick use those Kleenex (I think it's like deer and fish, so we're going with Kleenex) you ask?  Well, I bought them because they match the bathroom...and I'm afraid they won't have that design anymore if he uses them all - which is a definite possibility.  And then I'd be sad that the Kleneex box in the bathroom doesn't match for our guests.  Plus, that's why we buy the soft TP...


I'm pretty sure he's not speaking to me at the moment...


Side note:   If you come to our house, please don't be afraid to use the Kleenex!

The following conversation just occurred:

I'm just calmly sitting on my end of the couch, getting a little work in, and then...

P:  Are you kidding me?!?!?!?
A:  what's wrong!?!?
P:  This is RIDICULOUS!  <gesturing wildly at the onscreen cable guide>  DAREDEVIL gets 3 STARS?!?!?!?  Who is in charge of this?  Are you trying to tell me DAREDEVIL WITH BEN AFFLECK IS BETTER THAT O' BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?!?!?!?
A: <remembers the horror expressed last week after he noticed the info only showed O' Brother as two stars >
P:  <scrolls through the guide mumbling absurdities>  ARE THEY SERIOUS?!?!?  THEY'RE SERIOUSLY TRYING TO SAY THAT DR. DOLITTLE 2 IS ON THE SAME LEVEL AS O' BROTHER WHERE ART THOU AND THE SANDLOT?!?!?
A:  <not looking up from work> ooooh!  The Sandlot's on???
P:  no!  Dr. Dolittle 2 is.
A:  Then how do you know Sandlot only has two stars...?
P:  I've been noting these things lately.  <scrolls back to daredevil in disbelief>  THIS IS JUST RIDICULOUS!  WHO does their ratings??  I'm calling Comcast.

...so much hostility for a rating system...

Things that Annoy Me...

Does anyone else watch Food Network?  Of course you do!!!  It's (mostly) awesome.

I watch listen to a lot of Food Network.  I'm a light noise person - no thinking happens for me when things are too quiet - well actually, lots of thinking happens, but it's more of the wandering kind of thinking, and not whatever I need to be focusing on at that moment, so when I work from home, which is like 90% of the time, I have to have background noise.  And since I don't really want to pay attention to the background noise, it's usually one of four things - Pandora, Law and Order/CSI/insert-any-random-cop-show-here, Dave Ramsey, or Food Network - all of which require no focus from me.

And, I love listening to Food Network.  I never hear a whole recipe, usually I'll just hear some particular food or technique mentioned, and that's what gets stuck in my head, and then I decide that's what I have to have for dinner, and then a grocery run ensues because I never have everything that I absolutely need, and then Patrick gets upset because I didn't stick to the pre-planned menu we crafted and shopped for and I spent more money.  But then he eats whatever deliciousness I made and loves me again.  It's a vicious cycle, people.

All this said - if I hear "And now we need to get the <insert-type-of-nut-here>s from the freezer because I keep nuts in the freezer so they'll a longer shelf-life blah blah blah!!!!!!!!!!  ♪♫ Because nuts have oil, and oil can spoil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ♫♪ " (insert RR peppiness here) one more time, I think I'll put my TV in the freezer.  And you may be thinking "Just change the channel when she comes on, Amanda."  But the point of background noise is that I don't even register what's on until I hear this ridiculousness, again - and by then, it's too late.

Seriously Rachael - we get it.  All nuts should always be kept in the freezer.  If there is anyone left in the world who would ever watch your show that doesn't know this by now or can't catch on from one of your many many many re-runs, then well, their nuts deserve to spoil!!!!!!!