Signs of the times.

The economy must be bad. I'm searching through a stock photography site for some real estate related photos and I've found more than one photo stamped "Foreclosure". Apparently there is a market for this now. Weird.

Anyways, on a different topic I've discovered that I love dried mangos. I dream about them.

Q and A.

My brother sent my these questions and I thought I'd share the answers.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?	My grandpa wanted my mom's middle name to be Colleen, so they gave it to me instead.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?	Saturday when I found out I wouldn't be having lunch with my sister and niece.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?	Yes, when it's not too rushed.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?	Ham.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?	No.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?	Probably not, because I'd be too jealous of my boyfriend.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?	No never. ;)
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?	Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?	Yes.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?	Cinnamon Life.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?	No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?	I used to.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?	Anything with cookie dough.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?	Face.
15. RED OR PINK?	Both.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?	Once I heard that you should never tell people what you dislike about yourself because it will just draw it to their attention.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?	My brothers and friends in Bemidji.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?	Khaki pants, black shoes.
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?	Pasta and Salad last night.
20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?	A coworker talking on the phone. In my car it's Hole though. How moody right?
21. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
22. FAVORITE SMELLS?	Citrus, honeysuckle, clean laundry.
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?	Dad.
24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?	Basketball.
25. HAIR COLOR?	Naturally? Some sort of dark ash blond. Physically it's a nice dark brown.
26. EYE COLOR?	Brown.
27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?	Sometimes.
28. FAVORITE FOOD?	Pizza and tacos.
29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?	Happy Endings.
30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?	Cloverfield.
31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?	Blue and brown striped.
32. SUMMER OR WINTER?	Summer.
33. HUGS OR KISSES?	Hugs from most people...kisses from a few.
34. FAVORITE DESSERT?	Cheesecake.
35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?	Fahrenheit 451.
36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?	Kittens.
37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?	Nothing, but it should have been "Jericho". It's just recently been added to our favorites list and we are still catching up on season 1.
38. FAVORITE SOUND?	All of Pene's little "talking" sounds.
39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?	Very good question. "Wild Horses" by the RS is one of my all-time favorites, but the Beatles have lots of amazing songs. I'll have to go with the Beatles.
40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?	Valdez, AK.
41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?	Many.
42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?	Fairbanks, AK.
43. WHAT TIME IS IT NOW?	10:38.

Caturday Afternoon.

This weekend Chris and I went out to run some errands and when we got home this is what I found. Dahlia managed to pivot the chair in such a way that she could look out the window. She also curled herself up with this blanket and pillow. She is the queen of finding comfortable spots around the apartment. Warm laundry is probably her favorite.







And then Pene came over to see what all the fuss was about. Oh and this coming Saturday will be Dahlia's 1st birthday. We wanted to have a kitty party and invite their friends over....well, the cats of our friends....but unfortunately cats aren't social like dogs and we would just end up with a hissing party. So instead we are going to make her a cheeseburger (sans bun and toppings...so just a burger patty with cheese). Apparently cats like cheeseburgers.

ICanHasCheezBurger

Why wouldn't they?

Labyrinth Guards.

Bird poops in mouth.

So my good friend Laura asks:

"My parents recently got a kitten. Any advice on what to do about their wild nighttime behavior?"

Well, I guess for the most part we've been lucky. They tend to curl up and sleep with us most of the time. That in it's self can be inconvenient though. Dahlia sleeps on me. Mostly on my tummy or side, but if I'm on my side facing outward from the bed she'll spoon herself up in front of my face, so that I need to reposition just so I can breath. Pene spends the first part of her night laying on Chris' chest gazing into his face and then at some point in the night she sleeps on my pillow and wraps herself around my head. Sometimes I wake up and she's sleeping in the middle of the pillow and my head is on a few inches of the bottom corner.

On most occasions when they feel like late night antics they take it out to the living room. There are better things out there to climb on, play with, and run through I guess. But occasionally they start tearing through our room playing "who's chasing who?"

Or Pene likes to wake Chris up when he sleeps in on weekends. (Pene by the way is in love with Chris. She has been from the time we got her. We used to joke that she was constantly trying to get rid of me so that she could have him all to herself. ) It's very humorous to watch her work. She'll start purring and come up to his face to give him some kisses. He usually grumbles and pulls the covers over his head. She will scout all around looking for some sort of opening in the blanket she can stick her nose into.

There is usually only one method of stopping playful kittens while you are trying to sleep. It involves placing them about 4 inches outside of your bedroom door and then swiftly closing it. :)

Seriously though, I think it does get better with age just like real babies. When we first got them they did a lot of that playful pouncing on your feet under the blanket and whatnot, but eventually they calm down.

Other News:

I tried to make the Verde Chili last night, so that it could sit in the crock pot today. Well it didn't go very well. The concoction sitting at home sort of resembles barf, so I've received a great deal of advice and coaching from my coworkers today. My chili rescue plan involves beans (both regular and refried), sour cream, and cheese. /cross my fingers

Today while scouring Reddit.com I found a couple of particularly interesting articles.

This first one was particularly entertaining being a web designer, but I think that anyone can appreciate the author's commentary. I will warn you though that there is a little bit of foul language.

Internet '96

This next one is just...well...random.

Bird poops in mouth

Enjoy. And everybody have a great weekend!

Plastic, rubber, ribbon, string, hair, melon.

Well, not a lot is new. So I'll just bore you with things that are of mild interest.

We're looking forward to the weekend. Last weekend my Dad and brother Michael came to visit, which is always fun, but busy, busy, busy. The Winter Carnival starts Wednesday today and lasts until the 3rd. I'm excited to see the ice sculptures. We are also going to this cool little hamburger place we saw featured on the Food Network. I can't remember the name right now.

Speaking of Food Network. Chris and I have become addicts. So I finally have the desire to cook for us. So tonight I'm making some baked chicken and potatoes. Tomorrow night we are having this Chili Verde stuff. Well maybe modified a little. It needs to simmer forever, though. So I'm actually going to put it all together tonight and then let it simmer on low tomorrow while we are at work.

Kitty News:

If there is one thing I know about kitties...it's they like an Omega Paw Whirly Mouse Jr. The first day I gave it to them I came home that night and couldn't even find it. It took me all weekend to realize that in a fit of playful excitement they shoved it clear under Chris' recliner. Then a couple of days later they actually managed to pull the ball out of it's track! So I put the ball back in and now everyday they play with it until it tips upside-down (which must make it unusable :) ) and then I fix it for them and it starts again.

Most of you already know that Dahlia loves to eat weird stuff. You know...plastic, rubber, ribbon, string, hair, melon, whatever. So yesterday morning I'm getting ready for work and I walk by and notice there are some socks laying in her vicinity. She's very nonchalantly laying there acting innocent. But the long piece of sock string hanging from her whiskers gave her away. I'm very curious how many inedible things she eats everyday.

Turkeys in Eden Prairie?

So today I saw the local turkeys for the first time. I've heard of these mythical creatures for months now and finally I've seen them with my own eyes. They are really big and really ugly. They went for a little stroll around our building and unfortunately I didn't get a picture. Just imagine a turkey...and then bigger and uglier.

Car shopping.

So last Saturday Chris and I decided to go looking at cars. I had received an emailing advertising all of the post-Christmas specials and so it sparked our interest. After driving around a couple of lots we gave up. It was cold and snowing and gross out. The biggest problem being that all the cars are covered in snow...so it puts a little damper on the selection process. Anyways, we ended up just driving to a new area of the cities that we haven't explored and grabbed some lunch at Dairy Queen. While we were eating and reading the paper I found some more ads for cars. Grand Prixs particularly (which is what I've been admiring for over a month now). So we fell victim to their advertising and headed up to Brooklyn Park to see what they had.

We drove home in a 2007 Grand Prix GT. It's slightly used which is good, because it drops the price quite a bit. In fact, when I test drove a Grand Prix for the first time it was in Bemidji and it was very similar to the one we got. It was new but didn't have any of the special features that ours does (leather, sunroof, remote start) and they wanted $9,000 more dollars for it! Can you believe that? I'm sure the market in Bemidji is less competitive so they can charge more but wow what a difference.

Anyways, I love it, love it, love it. Until we get a second "new" car we are sharing this one. So Chris drives it to work most days, because he drives about 10 times as far to work. Lame. :) We need to take some pictures to post and I'll try to do it this weekend.

We are just going to lay low and get some more cleaning done. Last night we got into one of those moods and cleaned until 11:30.

Oh, and we are also going to see "Enchanted". I'm such a dork. Up until last night I thought it was strictly a little girl's movie, but it actually looks really funny.

Have a great weekend everyone!