Logoless in Ikealand

My Poor husband has been legoless for years (har har har har har). He had a box of Lego parts when we were married. He touched it once. So, when we moved outta Wymount, I convinced him to get rid of it.

Jerky wife.

Well, our puzzle collection has gotten out of control.... enter LEGOs, the real man's puzzle. Especially the technics with gears. Real men have gears on their legos.  I dared get Brett a little crane set for his birthday.

Well the little crane i got him started something, and used birthday money from parents, work, etc to buy the most complicated lego kit lego has yet made. A bigger crane that is WAYYYY cooler than the one his wife got him. 

So this Gargantuas crane set took up our entire table. He worked on it when he watched the boys while I got my hair cut ( makes babies seam like easy work, he does), worked on it while I walked the dog, worked on it 'till 1 am. At least I had him do some dishes before he started it.

Here is the kit when I woke up this morning (with my little crane ridding on top)

Halfway done. The thing only came with 6 instruction books. 300-something pages, Brett tells me. I'm pretty sure it is the l
ongest thing he's read in 5 years that wasn't a programing book.

This brings me to my theory on IKEA. Everyone is always poking fun at Ikea furniture like it takes a devil and his minion of fleas to understand the instructions. 

You'd be surprised how many images come up when you google "IKEA DEVIL."

We have NEVER EVER had an issue with that. I've put stuff together no prob. Brett, granted, has always done the more complicated stuff while I engaged in domestic stereotypes, but he made it look so easy. So, naturally, I assumed that people who claimed to be confused by IKEA furnature were lazy idiots who never figured out that setting a desktop  computer was as easy as trying all the cables until they fit somewhere (Yup, that's how I set up all my computers before I had my own Brett). Totally works.

And then I get it. LEGO was designed as a training program for IKEA purchasers. They couldn't have been more blatant. The company names and logos are both all caps and only 4 letters. They boldly use primary colors in their logos. They tell us one is from Denmark and the other from Sweden, but lets face it. the countries are the same. Denmark is just Sweden's little training subsidiary, separated by a little bit of water. Just look at the instruction/assembly manuals. the only difference is that one is in color. You have an illustration of a placed peice, and then an expanded view of the smaller part with an arrow going to where it is in the assembly.

So, the moral of the story is that if you think your kids might only be able to afford IKEA furnature when they grow up, you best train them in the ways of the LEGO.

Hair hair hair

I never intended my hair to get this long. My hair cutter moved out of walking distance, so a combination of no car and two babies kept me from going. Last night I decided to do it an Brett could handle the babies. 

It's the longest my hair has been, so I took many before pictures hoping one would be good, but I liked them all.  

I couldn't decide how short to go. I'm not obsessed with my hair, but it's kind of become part of my identity now. People recognize me and remember me better because its freekin' long. When we move I figured it would help people get to remember me faster

On the other hand, I don't shower enough, I only blow dry for special occasions (funeral/baptism), and I often go more than a day without combing it. Those kinda people don't do well with long hair, and babies don't pull that hair, they get stuck in it

Well, I had decided that when I poop on my hair, it is too long. It didn't come to that, fortunately, but  like I said, I'm a certified baby trap; you could use my head for baby hunting. Can take 5 minutes to untangle a strangled baby hand.

 I debated between a few inches and a foot... Then even considered really short—even though my no maintenance hair tendencies have oft taught me that short hair is worse than long.  In the end I let Geneva, my hair cutting guru, pick my length. SHe chose to take just a few inches off, so I didn't take an after picture. Technically it is still long (just below the milk makers), but to me it looks dramatically shorter. Weird. 

itunes is conspiring against me

Today itunes lured me in, by shuffling in old songs that just hit the spot.


Then it decided to be mean by using those old favorites against me, the day after fathers day. And I was doing so well. 


And to top it all off, I went into the office to do my work today, and the only open space I could find was in the room with the big glass walls. So um, ya. a few people noticed. I HATE being vulnerable in front of people. Hate HATE hate HATE. 


Until Tomorrow— Juliana Hatfield
"...I knew it would end but I'm not ready
To lose you 

Heaven can wait 
until tomorrow
Give us this day
Just let me borrow some time
So we can say goodbye 

I know that you've gotta go
There are so many things I want you to know
But I don't have to say it
I don't have to explain because you know 

And maybe you wouldn't even care
But I feel the need to be there
To thank you for understanding
When I was scared 

Heaven can wait 
until tomorrow
Give us this day
Just let me borrow some time
So we can say goodbye "





Hear you me—Jimmy Eat World

There's no one in town I know

You gave us someplace to go

I never said thank you for that

Thought I might get one more chance

What would you think of me now?

So lucky

So strong

So proud

Never said thank you for that

Now I'll never have a chance

If you were with me tonight

I'd sing to you just one more time

A song for a heart so big, 

God wouldn't let it live

May angels lead you in

Hear you me, my friends

On sleepless roads the sleepless go

May angels lead you in"

Wishbone—Simon and Garfunkle

"How many people hold the ones they love

Like there's no tomorrow.

How many people know the turning hands of time

are stronger than us all."

My Lover's Gone— Dido

"...Returns no more

I will not watch the ocean

My lover's gone

no earthly ships will ever bring him home again

bring him home again"

Making Brett's Life miserable.

When Brett programs the user interface for his web projects, he is always wanting my help with layout, font sizes, etc. 

I am a jerk, and I hate giving it to him. I don't know why. It's not that hard, it saves him time, takes me only minutes to at least help is aesthetics somewhat, and yet, for me it is a huge chore.

And then, every once in a while (like ever 3 years) I get this idea for a webpage I want Brett to make for me, and since I am picky a bit about design (though no pro with web), and because he struggles with it, I design the layout exactly how I want it.... and Brett looks at it, and thinks "seriously, you know what a tangle that would be to program?" And I, of course, don't want to compromise my visual logic for his programing logic.

But atlas, thus far I have never gotten past sketching up the home page, so it doesn't matter, because he never has to program my crazy ideas anyways. 

What fun. You know, He's a programing genius and together we could probably make a super team, you know... if I were a nice helpful wife.

Well, I've had this idea for an adoption-prospective-parents web page for a while, and considering how involved and interactive I've envisioned it, I finally decided that if I really want it to be more than a blog, I really need to get this idea nailed down soon, because it might take a while to program (we might cheat and just put clear buttons over the "image" of my design, because, surprise,  my husband needs to work). Oh, and we should probably get a moving on this child rearing thing, seeing as I'm getting past my prime here.

So, I haven't really looked through that many prospective-parent blogs/sites to see what is out there, mostly because some hopeful adopting couples annoy me with their sad sob stories or their overzealous cheerfulness, but nevertheless, this is the sketch up of how I want my homepage to work. I want mouseoves for every one with a super short bio, and for a little picture/about page to come up when you click on their name.  For B and me, of course, their would be a lot more going on in our page.

It's missing something, but overall, I like it for trying to be custom without overextending myself (after all, I do want to actually get around to designing the other pages and collecting all the info for them).

Conversation after I showed B my design
"I'd rather just do Clomid than program all this"
"Oh YOU'd rather just go on Clomid would you? Besides, you still haven't brought your sample in. Would you rather bring a sample in than program this?"


Now taking votes. Will Brett  bring in a sample, or will he program my dream page?

I Know what I did this summer 5

I'm afraid I've lost all sense chronology at this point... I'm skipping around a lot. This one is in September  and I still have photos from July and such, but this one was small, so why not.

B went to present at a software user group, and since they decided a week  before that he should be there both days instead of  just one, they couldn't get him a room, and put him up next door in a condo with  2 bedroom (both queen beds), plus a hide-a-bed couch,  3 full baths plus 2 vanities, full kitchen, living room, laundry,  and a balcony with a private hot tub.

So, even though I had a ton of work to do, Brett insisted I come. I worked in the hotel a lot, but in the evenings I got great food at the conference, and for the first time in years I got Brett into the hot tub with me.

I wasn't a fan of the hybrid native american/hunter's lodge/ aztec decour as a whole, but I loved this storage bench.

And there were two of these pig benches I adored. 

I still know what I did this summer 4

This summer, we wen't to Lake Arrowhead where B's Family has a timeshare.

and, of course, the shoes had to come. 

Carrisa and I went on hikes most mornings

I stood kinda funny near a rock

 

I wore the same tank top that I wear in almost every hiking photo I take

Though my sunglasses do change

Carrisa and I found a pretty Meadow at the top of a dirty, neglected, steep trail.

We played a few games of Aquire... which, to my surprise, Carrisa enjoyed. 

I found the the most innovative car wash ever, but no one else was as amused as I. 

Carrisa and I perused some antique stores. 

I found my favorite door ever.

And a funky birdcage

And another cute door

We tried out the Newsprint transfers on our nails.

I bought and returned 2 pairs of sunglasses  4 or so times. 

Predictably, Brett bought another puzzle at the toy shop. 

The cousins played some video games. 

In true Valantine family form, we played a lot of card games. 

  

I <3 playing Michigan!

We got Tracey hooked on Bambuu (and found out how long a 5 player game can last)

Trump family+ double pinochle+ marriage+ King in every suit+ 9 of trumps=most amazing meld ever (only one card not worth points)

It was awesome.

The END. 

I still know what I did this summer, 3.5

In July, when we we hiked the slot canyons, we camped in Goblin Valley— Another place I'd been wanting to visit for a while. 

That was the hardest ground I have ever slept on. The dirt was so packed it was like  concrete, I swear it. 

B loves the idea of making jiffy pop  over fire... something about fond memories I suppose, but in the end, he didn't even like it that much.

I love that you can actually walk into the Goblin Valley. Then you can really see the scale. 

I like the one to the right of Brett