Sunday, June 29

A limerick ... a dirty one

I remember when we visited Nantucket Island and Brian told Howie this entire limerick. Howie was in frickin' stitches about it, giggling for the longest time. And since I can't come up with a single G- or PG-13 rated topic to blog on, I've gotten B to say it nice and slow for me, so I can post it up here.
There once was a man from Nantucket,
whose d*ck was so long he could suck it.
As he said with a grin,
while he wiped off his chin,
"If my ear were a c**t, I could f*ck it."

Saturday, June 28

Where was Casey Jr.?

We went to a circus today.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was in Phoenix this week, and I had bought tickets for Brian, Sydney and I to attend today. It started out a bit shaky this morning when I heard Sydney stirring around 5 a.m. I knew that, if she was awake that early, she would not be interested, at all, in a late nap, which is what she was in for this afternoon. At any rate, we got dressed, got some money, and drove down to the U.S. Airways Arena downtown. We got a sweet parking spot, and didn't have to wait in the crazy ticket lines, so it really started out okay. And it was awesome, absolutely, until we got about 45 minutes into it, and Sydney started to get restless. This, I have found, is usually the beginning of the end. All it took was a couple slower acts in the midst of the opening half, and they had completely lost her. Suddenly, she wasn't content to sit ... she wasn't interested in snacking on anything ... she didn't want to be held, but also didn't want to not be on us ... and finally, she pitched a fit because we wouldn't let her go running amongst the seating row. So, at intermission, we left. Seriously. We got our picture taken on the circus elephant photo opportunity, and we left for home. So, that, in its entirety, was the joy of the family circus day.

Weird things that have plagued my head throughout the past several hours:
~ I couldn't look at the animals without thinking that they should probably be treated better than they are at the circus. You've seen the special reports on television, right? How do you not think of that when you see the elephants?
~ They were charging $12 for a bag of cotton candy and a cheesy paper hat to go with it. Huh? Who knew that spun sugar and paper could be so expensive?
~ I don't get how people are afraid of clowns.
~ I vaguely remember seeing a circus a hundred years ago. But I wonder if that was a figment of my imagination. It was probably dirtier than this one, but hopefully, more entertaining with less ringmaster singing. Seriously, the guy wouldn't shut up. We were like, "Dude! We came here to see circus acts and stuff! Get out of the ring!"
~ Carnies.
~ How do six motorbikes in a round steel cage not run into each other?
~ Thank the goddesses that this event was in an air-conditioned venue instead of an impossible-to-cool-entirely, three-ring, circus tent.
~ My goodness, am I going to have to do this again in a couple years when she'll really want to go?

Friday, June 27

HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

I like coming up with word associations for random things. It's a fun, mental challenge for me, and I dig that it tests my creativity. A couple examples: "dreadlocks look dreadful" (that one I came up with just for Mom), and "it's a Challenge to remember which butter I prefer," created because I came home one day with Land O' Lakes. The other day, I was tasked to find one to remind me that the mega-sized toilet paper rolls from Charmin will not fit in the standard holders for extra toilet paper in our bathrooms. (Jumbo-sized, though, fits just fine.) How many times have I bought the mega sized? I think only once before this. Clearly, I did not remember that. And because of that lapse, I've been watching the rolls for when they end, and installing the mega rolls for use before we're stuck in a situation where you have to use the spare rolls in the immediate area. Neurotic? Psycho? Ridiculous? Perhaps, but tonight, I've put out the last of my mega rolls. And I've come up with the word association to keep me from making that mistake again. It's really a no-brainer: "No-mega." "No mega rolls" said to sound more like "omega" with an "n" at the front. Not the most clever I've ever come up with, but I think it might win in a contest as the most obvious.

Thursday, June 26

11:31 p.m. on Thursday night

It's late; we watched The Bucket List tonight (very good!); and Sydney and I had a lovely dinner with Lisa and Katy. All in all, it was a fantastic Thursday.
But, again, it's late, and I'm tired.
Here's a picture of a fork sculpture.

Wednesday, June 25

"A chance to win a $5,000 Target gift card"

A couple things:
~ Brian, Sydney and I took a quick trip through Cost Plus World Market the other day so Brian could pick up some of his favorite flavored gummies. The normal grape flavor wasn't available, so he picked up this other random grape variety flavor. Once in the car, he opened the bag and handed me one. The instant I bit into it, I recognized the flavor, and it totally took me back to my very early youth. These are the exact same grapes that my Grandma Smith grew in her backyard. I remember Daddy and I picking these little grapes about the size of peas, popping them out of their purple skins and eating them up until we were so full. It was so weird how the entire memory just came screaming back into my head the moment I bit into that random muscat grape gummy. Now, they're like an obsession. I can't get enough of them.
~ A neighbor that I liked has moved out. And it's odd how this seems to have bummed me. This neighbor, Sven, was always super nice, and a pleasure to talk to. He's a tour guide who travels throughout the Southwest and Midwest taking groups on different trips, ranging from camping in northern Arizona to ski trips in Colorado. I was fascinated because, during the winter, he didn't have any work, and was always home. During the spring and summer, he was always gone, being away for weeks at a time. He has an ugly, Nissan truck that was parked right outside my kitchen window, and every time the truck was gone, I knew he was home from a trip. Just an idle curiosity, I always took notice of the truck whenever I was in the kitchen. Now it's gone, and I've got nothing vaguely interesting to see out my window.
~ I wonder if I'll ever win one of those $5,000 gift cards from Target that the store gives away in a sweepstakes whenever you fill out one of their service surveys. In fact, right now, I declare shenanigans that they give it to anyone. Nope, I don't think they do it. It's just a tease, really, to see if we'll keep filling the damn things out. I also think that they connect the purchase information, and personal shopping information, with the survey invitation. I have no evidence to support such a claim; I'm just saying it. Target totally knows how often I shop there, so knows how much money they'll lose if they give me the gift card, and so won't do it.

Monday, June 23

"Faith," "Too Funky," and "Freedom 90"

Do you see that guy right there? Right over there to the left of what you're reading right now? That, my friends, is George Michael, performing the shit out of an awesome concert last night. It's been a while since I've been knocked over by a performer, but last night's event certainly qualifies as a show that did that. Seriously, his voice sounded perfect; the song selection was very well done (except for the second half, before the encores, because it was all the new, dance-y tunes that I didn't know); he looked fantastic; and he even seemed pleased to be performing for us. And that last makes any concert worth the money, doesn't it? Katy and I had a great time! I simply love, love, love hanging out with her! We had a good dinner, drank a few drinks, and got somewhat lost walking from Arizona Center to US Airways Center (yay, pedicab!). And while I knew that the people-watching would be the best, I was truly a bit unprepared for some of the fantastic people we saw walking around that venue. Every single demographic category was represented, as well as gnomes!
Right now, as I sit here, my legs are a bit sore from all the dancing, my throat's aching from all the singing, my ears are lightly ringing from the woman behind us that screamed, "I love you," as well as other blood-curdling phrases all night, and, if I had the chance, I would go again tonight in a frickin' heartbeat.

It's like they squirreled their stuff away

Okay, so it's been a while since I've written anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that happens.
So, what's the what? Well, Mom was here over the weekend. And that means a lot of food, fun and time with the family. Did we do anything specifically cool? Not really, but it was a good time anyway! We had lunch with Roberta on Saturday; enjoyed Starbucks beverages five times in four days (much more than my diet usually allows); hung out at Grandma's house; ate at two restaurants in one day with my kid (who decided to cooperate even less than normal); and thoroughly enjoyed the services of a babysitter on Friday. I say, Huzzah!
On another extremely cool note, my downstairs neighbors moved out of their apartment in the middle of the night, we think. Well, we know that they're not there anymore, and that the apartment is mostly empty, and that we've slept well the last weekend, but I find myself happily distracted by when they got all their stuff out of the place. All I ever saw was one of the tenants moving handfuls of belongings into a car one afternoon. Then, suddenly, there was nothing in the apartment. And it's not like they had only little stuff. There was a big fish tank, a huge television and sound system, and even furniture, but I never saw any large trucks or even any of the stuff being toted out. I like the mystery, of course, because in the end, they're still not living below us anymore.

Wednesday, June 18

Free and at-home bang trim

What a lovely day! Fun at music class, yummy lunch, pedicure, grocery store and fantastic dinner with Chris and Katy! Huzzah! Now, that's the kind of Wednesday I could really go for more often! And the best part of my day today? Mom coming out tomorrow! We've got a weekend full of great activities, and I'm really excited about being busy over the next few days.
Random giggle: It's so hot here recently (excessive heat warnings over the last couple, and next few, days), that my fun, 4 p.m. newscast has taken it into their heads that what we all need is a reason to laugh at this ridiculous weather. Today, they invited people in the area to e-mail their best and favorite "Arizona heat" jokes into the station, where producers would read and select the best to be broadcast on the show. This afternoon's jokes were too stupid to remember, but I look forward to the next few days, or until the segment reaches its end. I think this is a great idea to encourage viewer participation, but also to do exactly what they aim to do: give us a reason to laugh at how f*cking hot it is here.
You know, one of the best reasons to be excited to have a husband who works in any industry that depends on his hands is that he's got an incredibly steady hand. And this works out best when one has bangs that have grown too long to tolerate. Yay me!
Also, celebration upon celebration, I think my downstairs neighbors are moving out. I saw one of them taking stuff from the apartment into their car this afternoon. Can I say, hot damn?! How much nicer will life be without these people living below me? As discussed today, we'd have a tough time finding someone as bad, so we may have a comfortable final nine months here!

Tuesday, June 17

Microwaved mac and cheese is an art, you know

There are so many wives who might feel guilty about staying home all day and not having a lovely, gourmet meal, if not waiting for, planned for, their husbands when they come home. I am not one of those wives. In fact, I rarely have anything planned for when Brian gets home except a stop on the sofa and a few minutes of rest. But tonight, I am feeling proud of my wifery. I asked him what he wanted for dinner, and I cooked it for him.
I microwaved the best dinner for my husband tonight: chicken wings and macaroni and cheese! No, it wasn't gourmet, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was exactly what he wanted, and made to perfection in a short 15 minutes. How many dinners can match that pedigree? And I got a nice thank you out of it, too.
So even though I don't feel guilty about not cooking for my husband (he's always been the real cook in this family anyway), I'm quite pleased at creating a yummy dinner for him tonight. And for that, I feel even less guilty about getting a pedicure tomorrow!

Monday, June 16

Nose hurt; baby and zebra suspected

The bridge of my nose is more than a little sore tonight. I wish I could say it was because I kicked someone's ass in a bar fight, but that's so far from the case, it's crazy. No, this afternoon, I got clocked in the nose by a little plastic zebra toy propelled by the blunt force of a 19-month-old toddler who doesn't know her own arm strength yet. And she smacked me with it really hard, too. Unfortunately, there is no bruising or anything (yet); if there was, you know I'd take a picture of it for you all. There is still tomorrow though, so if it shows up, I'll snap a pic and post it. But as it is right now, every time I accidentally rub against my nose, or even breathing through it, it aches and throbs a bit. You know how I love ridiculous injuries -- the foot bruise from the soap and the butt bruise from the stairs come to mind; and I can tell you that this one definitely gets listed among those.

Also, yay to California for allowing gay people to marry each other! I love that I'm a card-carrying member of the state's voting population, and that finally, people of any sexual orientation are invited to legally spend the rest of their lives together! And I will definitely vote to keep that the way of it! Some day, my friends, maybe the whole country will finally wake up and let same-sex couples marry. I hope I live to see it.

Saturday, June 14

I'm actually laughing at my own suggestion

ITEM!: Hey, my peeps, guess what! I'm reading a book! Yes, I have taken a selection from my Summer Reading List 2008 and began to actually read it yesterday afternoon while the kid slept. And then, last night, I read some more of it! And during today's naptime, I read even more! Now, I'm more than halfway through it! Huzzah! Look at me! I've once again joined the literate! I LOVE READING! I should do it more often!
ITEM!: Oh my gosh, have you seen this picture? It's of one of the tornadoes that touched down in the middle some time last week. This person had the absolute nuts to stand right where she did, and snap this incredible photograph, and still get away with her life and the camera. Amazing. It really looks like something straight out of Twister, or some other natural disaster film. I'm so impressed with this. I love the beauty of it, you know? The swirling clouds, the ultimate danger of it. Very impressive.
ITEM!: Because of our "member" status, Brian, Sydney and I were invited to take part in an "exclusive" preview of the new Children's Museum here in Phoenix today. And let me say, it was awesome! We had such a great time! Of course, there is quite a bit of work to be done in the museum -- there were still wood stairs, empty exhibit spaces and stark concrete floors -- but I think it'll be an amazing place once it's finished. I can't wait to take Sydney in once more activities are available! (AUNTIE DONNA ROCKS!)
ITEM!: We have no babysitter tomorrow, so I'm to entertain, not only Sydney, but her father all day on this Father's Day. And the best part? It's supposed to be about 111 degrees tomorrow. What the hell am I going to come up with for a good time? (Hell, of course, being the appropriate wording for the weather we're dealing with this weekend and into the week.) I'm at a loss. Wait a tick ... do any of you think Sydney would sit and chill while we watch The Incredible Hulk?

Friday, June 13

He had me at "Arrgghhh"

I promised myself I wouldn't fall for it: all the pretty words, the snappy sequences and the fancy editing, but I guess I wasn't as strong as I thought. Don't judge me too harshly, but I think I want to see The Incredible Hulk. I was so disappointed and hurt by the last Hulk movie. I swore that, when I heard about a new one being made, I would not, not, not see it. This new film was just a blatant robbery of my movie-going money, and I would not fall prey to it, I said to myself.
But then, they cast Edward Norton, who is always an interesting choice for pretty much any movie he's ever been in. And then, the previews and trailers looked kinda nifty. And then, I heard that there's a cameo by Iron Man Robert Downey, Jr. And then, I saw a "making of" piece this afternoon on HBO. And now, it's in my friendly neighborhood cineplex.
Help! I've been seduced by The Incredible Hulk! I am itching to go see this film, which I promised, swore, mandated and stomped my feet that I would not pay to see! [Fists held up in the air and slightly waving.] Why, summer movies?! Why?! Why do you do this to me?! I'm but a pawn in your marketing game! I'm your piece of clay to mold! I'm ... I'm ... I'm EASY!

Thursday, June 12

Next high school reunion: 2011

I'm fascinated recently by high school marriages gone sour, and how that affects the participants in every high school reunion for the rest of their lives. Really, I look forward to my high school reunions, and seeing people I haven't seen in years. Could you feature knowing that if you went to your reunion, more than likely, you would run into your ex in a hallway? And what if you both had a lot of the same friends? I'm intrigued. I know that there were a few relationships in my high school that resulted in marriage. I also know that a couple of those have resulted in divorce. And what if the divorce was a particularly nasty one? Do these people now avoid anything to do with their high school? I'm just intrigued by the feeling of dread that may or may not fall upon someone when they know that their ex will probably be at the next reunion. I'm looking forward to our next reunion (Lisa, I'm going to be your third wheel again! It was too much fun last time!). I'd be bummed to be not excited about it. I guess I'll just be happy that I don't have anyone to make me uncomfortable about being there.

I love Strawberry Shortcake

First of all, just look at what they've done to our beloved Strawberry Shortcake. Oh yes, the Shortcake has been updated for Sydney's generation, and it's bothersome. According to the marketing information, this Strawberry Shortcake will spend more time on her cell phone and chilling with friends than she will petting and playing with her cat, Custard. Oh yeah, and the company has filtered through her friends too, cutting them down to only those with real fruity names. I'm thinking Blueberry Muffin may have made the cut, and did Apricot, Apple Dumpling, Lemon Meringue and Orange Blossom. Actually, as I just verified her friends' names online, I came across the American Greetings page on Strawberry, and ... well ... the last incarnation of the gang is cute enough, why change it again? (Here's the link: Shortcake.) Argh! Why must everything change? Thank goodness I've still got all my Strawberry Shortcake dolls from all those years ago. Not that Sydney will want to play with them (she'll want the cool, new ones with cell phones and iPods), but at least I've got them.

Tuesday, June 10

Barenaked Ladies doing it for the kids

No matter how noble my intentions, I'm never, ever done with my computer by 10 p.m. You know, I sat down this evening at 9:25 p.m., and said to myself, "Okay, check your e-mail, blog about something, shut the computer by 10." And yet here I sit, at 10:01 p.m., just starting to compose tonight's blog post. Grr. Why do I get so caught up in the ridiculous stuff online?
Today's news: I bought CDs at Target this morning. Really ... CDs! While it's always my preference to buy stuff on iTunes, some things just need to be in the car at all times. While the iPod is not, some musical selections must be (among those: U2, Madonna, Britney, Maroon 5, and Traveling Melodies by Baby Einstein). So what did I buy? I got the new Alanis Morissette album, Flavors of Entanglement, and, to my utter pleasure, Snacktime!, a new kids' album by Barenaked Ladies. And let me say, the kids' CD is the most awesomest thing I've listened to in a long time. The first song, "7 8 9," is a bit of brilliance on plastic, going on about how the numbers 1 through 10 are short one number because ... wait for it ... seven ate nine! Incredible! I mean, I've heard that play on words before, but to turn it into a song? Terrific. Here, just a taste of the song titles for you: "The Ninjas," "Raisins," "Eraser," "Allergies," "Humungous Tree," and "Crazy ABCs." I love it, and am currently, as I write this, uploading it into my iPod under the "Sydney's Stuff" playlist. I highly recommend it to anyone with a little person in their car. In just the first few tunes, Sydney was clapping along and doing her little arm dance.

And now, here it is, 10:19 p.m. I've been interrupted by the kid, by my husband, and by a phone call, so it's still been a bit more time than I'd like. And I still have to check out Facebook.

Monday, June 9

Must have more cow bells

Am I the first person to think that maybe, just maybe, Will Ferrell is getting a bit overexposed? I've got to tell you, we watched Semi-Pro tonight, and it was pretty much unwatchable. In fact, Brian hid my magazines and catalogs so that I would be forced to watch the movie without purposefully distracting myself from its ridiculousness. And that really happened. From the very beginning, with the "Love Me Sexy," singing, to the end, and all the afro and idiocy in between, I was in mental anguish. As to that, what's even worse is that we actually bought this awful movie, so confident were we in its inevitable humor and clever brilliance. How disappointed were we? Very.
But beyond how bad the movie was, I saw in it the same character that Ferrell has been playing in the last several movies: the "sexy," stupid, leader of the pack who, somehow, wins despite these virtues. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was new, different, funny. But then, along came Blades of Glory, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Kicking and Screaming. All the same, all less funny than the one before it. Really, I'm over him. Except for Anchorman, and Elf, of course, and Old School. Oh yeah, and cow bells.

Sunday, June 8

Big Brown, you rock!

While I would have thoroughly enjoyed watching a bit of history be made yesterday, I am filled with giggles over the fact that, well, Big Brown just didn't feel like running. You know, it's the same with dog shows, really: No matter how well they're trained, or primped, or whatever, if they need to scratch their ear in the middle of the judging, they will, because they're dogs. And the fact that this horse, who, according to most everyone, had the ability and temperament to win the first Triple Crown in however many years, just didn't want to run faster than the other horses is awesome. Probably not-so-awesome to the people who bet on him, but to me, he's a frickin' horse hero. My goodness, he's gorgeous, isn't he? I appreciate that there's some real disappointment associated with this, but on the whole, you can't blame the horse, because he doesn't understand what was riding on this race. He just knew that he was feeling a bit icky, and didn't really want to do what they all wanted him to do that day.

Saturday, June 7

Robert Downey Jr. is still awesome

What do you with the information that your kid is so much easier on the babysitter than she is on you? Come to find out that when Megan told Sydney it was "night-night" time and that she needed a fresh diaper, Sydney walked back to her room, pulled out the diaper pad, and actually laid down on it. ... Um, huh? Laid down on it? Is this the same frickin' kid who goes into kicking fits every time I lay her down for a change? What the f*ck am I doing wrong when it comes to changing the diaper? How is Megan doing it that it becomes a much better situation? Of course, I'm a bit put out by this information. Rest assured that I will ask these questions next time Megan is here.
But to the evening's activities. Brian and I went on a nighttime movie date. We enjoyed some yummy dinner and saw Iron Man. First of all, I will say that Iron Man is easily the coolest movie we've seen so far this year. Yes, best movie so far this year. But with that experience comes the crashing realization that we really enjoy our morning movie matinees. I don't think it's an "old" thing. I think it's more like just that we don't like a whole lot of people in the theater. We got squeezed into the second to last row, and sat on the aisle. We prefer the middle of the row, and I prefer closer to the middle of the theater. We arrived too late to make any of those decisions. Now, here's where we get old. We were surrounded by teenagers, and swore that they would ruin the movie. They didn't, and we had to admit to a sway into age discrimination. Ugh. At any rate, we thoroughly enjoyed our night out, and I'm super glad that Sydney was easy on Megan ... even if, every day, she manages to make the simplest tasks pure hell for me.

Friday, June 6

Actually, the movie was punishment

How is it possible for that many magazines to accumulate over a relatively short period of time? I just leafed through a hefty stack of InStyle, Entertainment Weekly, Raising Arizona Kids, and Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn catalogs, which have, apparently, been multiplying while I've been occupied with other things. Of the stack of 18 magazines, only five periodicals remain in my reading stack. I like it better like that.
Of course, since I can't concentrate on only one thing at a time, I also watched The Punisher while going through this pile of paper. This is not a good movie. But sometimes, I just absolutely have to watch the Netflix movie, whether I think it'll be good or not. I had low expectations for this one, if only because John Travolta plays the bad guy. Did you ever notice how ridiculously over the top Travolta's acting is when he's playing the bad guy? Face-Off and Broken Arrow spring immediately to mind. Frightening. Actually, there were a lot of random actors in this movie, including Samantha Mathis, Roy Scheider, Rebecca Romijn, that guy from Gone in 60 Seconds, Livingston from the Ocean's movies, and the skinny creepy guy in a ton of other movies, but here he's a good guy.

Thursday, June 5

Apples are bad for other fruit

I've got nothing for you tonight. Except to say that I'm glad the Celtics won. Beyond that, well, the kid and I did little to nothing today, and that there is a definite difference between blueberries bought at AJ's and blueberries bought at Albertson's. Also, did you know that keeping apples in the same space with your other fruit in the refrigerator makes the other fruit ripen and get older quicker? I read that in a magazine, then asked my smart guy, and yes, that's the truth. I will spare you the incredibly ... incredibly ... detailed explanation I received upon asking the question. Simplified: apples give off a chemical while ripening that causes other fruit to ripen faster than it normally would, thus, it goes bad faster. Keeping the apples in a separate area, or in a plastic bag will help. Can you really believe that I found myself obsessed with this information and have thereby rearranged my refrigerator and added some of those produce-friendly storage bags to my grocery store list? It's the truth; I'm now absolutely positive that this must be taken care of in my own kitchen ... as soon as possible. You knows it'll be done this weekend, right?
I've got issues, my friends, I really do.

Wednesday, June 4

Now that's a happy rhino

Have you all seen video of this little rhinoceros running around her home at the Dublin Zoo? I caught it on the news tonight, and I'll tell you, it's the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. If you have the opportunity, you should really find it and take a look. I just dig her feet. Look how big they are! And compare that to all the big-footed puppies we see and say, "See those feet? That's going to be a big dog." Same here, but on a much larger scale. But still, she's just so cute.

Raise your hand to be v.p.

I can't stand the political machine. Sometimes more than others, which is to say, today. Why should Barack Obama pick Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate? Why is that something he needs to do? Political pundits all over the place are saying that he must. I mean, these two have just spent months and months tearing each other apart, disagreeing on a ton of stuff, and just generally hating the stuffing out of each other. And now so many people want them to simply make up and be happy on a ticket together? You know what, I don't think so. There's no place for Clinton on Obama's presidential ticket. Frankly, I wouldn't trust them on a ticket together simply because they did spend so much time hating each other this year. I like my president and vice president to get along, or at give the impression that they get along. I don't believe that the Obamas and the Clintons would mesh well in the White House. Certainly not after the Clintons had actually lived there for eight years, and now would be shacking up in the v.p's less-luxurious digs. There's just too much going on there for this kind of election. I'm very intrigued to see who Obama and his committee do decide on, but I'll bet you anything it's not Clinton.

Monday, June 2

Baby likes mint ice cream

So it's the second day of June already, and I haven't written to you a thing about the last few days. Not that all that much has happened, but you know, I like to talk about what's going on.
First though, today, Sydney and my grandma and I took a trek down to the Arizona State Capitol building for the proclamation and launch of the state quarter for Arizona. Thankfully, it was early enough in the morning so we didn't roast, but the entire event was pleasantly surprising. Upon arrival, we got a kick-ass parking spot in a structure close by; the event was in a tented, shaded area of a park; there was free water and fruit for anyone who wanted some; we got minimal chitchat from the politicians and directors; free ice cream was on hand; and finally, any child younger than 18 received a free quarter. (Sydney got two: one for our collection at home and one for Grandma. We went to two different lines. Shh. Don't tell anyone.) You know, this morning, I had no idea what Sydney and I were going to do this morning. This afternoon, we're happy and content with our spontaneous activities, and even more pleased that Grandma was able to accompany us!
What else? Brian and I finally got to catch a new movie this past weekend: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! I love going to the movies on a weekend morning with my hubby. There were only about 15 people in the theater, too, so it was nice, cool and quiet ... as well as childless. As for the movie, we totally dug it. Brian usually doesn't get super excited about movies, so when he tells me that it was a good movie right as we're leaving it, I know he enjoyed it.
Anything else? How about our lovely ASU softball team making into the World Series?! Awesome! Brian's watching softball! Go Sun Devils!