happy birthday steve!

it's steves birthday today. we had planned to go to das essenhaus for lunch however they aren't open on sundays. so, we postponed that and went to hacienda in mishawaka. my older brother is THIRTY-TWO which means my older sister is THIRTY-FIVE and i am still enjoying my twenties. good times. so, here are some pictures from todays lunch. pretty entertaining.

i LOVE it

i love rain. it barely rained in california. and if it had rained there like it did here this morning the news at 6pm tonight would have been "storm watch '08" no kidding. so i was THRILLED to see rain on my way to work this morning. i even got to use my frog umbrella today. it was great!!!

then it snowed.

so close

these are a few of the moments i'm glad that i have an iphone. funny random pictures.


my dog cali


bob dole, the cat. you can tell it's getting nice out. cat prints on the windshield. dumb cat prints.


doesn't it look like my niece tori is being bitten by the psycho looking bunny. creepy.


kitty. watching me cook through the kitchen window while perched on the hot tub.


this is what happens when mom leaves steve and i to our own boredness. we knew that bailey - moms dog - needed a hair cut and the best we could come up with to not let her run away... or bite us... was to rig a couple leashes from the balcony that would hold her in place like they have on the fancy tables at the doggy place. don't worry, she lived. she doesn't look all that bad either... kinda

one for the books

my job right now is working with students one on one. so today i went and picked up one of my students and we're walking back to my classroom and we catch up to this little boy out of my students class. and this is the conversation:

me: hi
him: hi
me: how are you?
him: good, i'm going to the bathroom.
me: okay, cool (what do you say to a third grader? congrats???)
him: i don't want to go to the bathroom but my teacher told me i have to because i kept farting.
me: huh. well, then it sounds like a good idea.
him: i don't know why i kept farting
me: (silent trying not to laugh hysterically)
him: oh, i know why i couldn't stop farting, it's because i ate that burrito at lunch

NO JOKE. man, some of this stuff is priceless!

i miss the wrangler

i miss the wrangler. it was nice out the other day and i passed a couple girls in a jeep wrangler with the top down and i realized that i missed it. i don't miss having to wear my hair up all the time. i don't miss sitting on the freeway with no air. i don't miss sitting in the 'martini shaker' that was that car. i don't miss not being able to take anything with me because whatever i owned would be stolen out of that car. i don't miss the fear of being crushed on the freeway. i don't miss the fear of breaking down on the freeway.

i do miss riding to the beach with the dog in the back. i miss spending my days off going for rides down the coast and picking up mexican food or sushi at my favorite place. i miss driving east on the 133 in the summer and smelling strawberries. i miss sitting at the stop light at gateway and irvine center and have my coworkers throw random trash in my car because the top was down. i miss parking in valet and having them be nice and put the top back up when it rains randomly. i miss leaving work after a really hard day and finding little surprises in my car. a little pink dinosaur. a little green frog. a little crab pin. i miss the notes that rees would leave me. i miss my friends.

i get to see them in three/four months!! woo hoo!!

FYI, read the label carefully

well, it's that time again, i'm sick. i've been sick since last tuesday and it's the pits. also, i have no insurance right now so i am kinda medicating myself. i know i know, it's not good. but when you're in this much pain, it's either medication or i have to pick up drinking. so, from the last time i was sick - and had insurance - i have cough syrup with codeine. this happens to be exactly what my paramedic friend told me i need to be taking so i grab the bottle and take a sip. typically i would measure out the amount i should take but i was in a venue without a device with which to measure. so, i took a sip. a small sip but a sip. so, i'm going on about my day - pain and worry free i will tell you - and i think, i should see when i need to take this again, so i look at the label and to my surprise i see that you're meant to take one TEASPOON. all along, i have been thinking it said tablespoon and there is quite the difference. and this my friend, is why you should read the label carefully.

(psst hey amber, don't tell your husband or your mother that i medicate myself. i am aware that medical professionals do not care for this and they may not let you be my friend)

here's an odd question. when you have a fever, do you actually go about 98.6 on the thermometer? my temp never goes about 98.3, in fact right now, i'm coughing, sneezing, sleeping like hibernation is my job and my temp went down to 97.7. i believe i may be a medical mystery.