St. Patrick's Day

Last night we headed to Kati and Nate's house for St. Patrick's Day Couples Bunko. Obviously, she went with the green theme (complete with green beer) and we all dressed up. Her mint chocolate cupcakes (on the right below) had pudding in them... I've had two today and there is one more sitting on my kitchen counter. Marathon shmarathon. Also, dead center were those dang "Drunk Gummies" - gummy bears soaked in vodka. This time, instead of the marshmallow vodka that Jamie used, Kati tried cake vodka. Also fabulously delicious!

Kati's Snack Table

Kristen won the costume contest - there was no competing with her awesome green wig!

Ruth, Kristen, & I.

I even got Mike to dress up - his "Irish You Were Beer" shirt is bound to become a classic. I was rocking my Kermit the Frog "Kiss Me" shirt, a jean skirt and some really great Ireland knee socks. Alas, there's not one picture of the socks. So sad.

He Really Loves It When I Make Him Pose For Pictures!

Mike and I actually both won - he for the most bunkos and me for the 50/50 (meaning I won the same amount of games that I lost). It was a really fun night! The lovely ladies:

Bunko Girls!

And finally, a shout out to Ruth Mackwood! I discovered last night that there are more people reading my blog than I thought! Thanks for being my third reader (beyond my Mom and Aunt Eva)! I also discovered that I gross some of them out with my nasty foot pictures. Hey, at least my toenails aren't falling off... yet.

Today we woke up to about three inches of snow... and it continued to snow off and on throughout the day. It was a super mellow, relaxing day for us and was very much needed!

Happy Leap Day!

I did some research into what people who are born on February 29th do to celebrate their birthday for the three years between leap years. Apparently, these people are called "leaplings". Wikipedia says that leaplings celebrate their birthday either on February 28th or March 1st. In the United States, a person legally turns a year older the day before their birthday, therefore a lot of them will choose the 28th instead of the 1st. You learn something new every day.

As it turns out, I don't personally know anyone that was born on February 29th. However, there are some pretty famous people who were born that day: Gioachino Rossini (composed "The Barber of Seville"), Ja Rule, and Antonio Sabato, Jr.

There's also the tradition of marriage proposal. According to folk tradition, a woman may propose to a man on February 29th.
Today has been a pretty mellow day - we had a big storm roll in that was supposed to bring tons of snow. I woke up this morning to rain that changed to snow as I laid in bed and then changed back to rain. So basically all I got was just enough slush to make me slip if I dared to venture outside. So I didn't go outside. See how that works? Fortunately, I had a work from home day planned anyway and stayed hunkered down inside.

June? Is That You?

Welcome to the December 2, 2011 post, I mean June 2nd. Holy cow, the weather has been so crazy lately! Yesterday (June 1st, mind you) we had 3/4 inch hail, rain and even funnel clouds! I seriously can't believe how weird the weather has been... it seems like winter lasts longer and longer every year! I can't believe Northern California is actually getting funnel clouds... I honestly don't ever remember that happening before this year!

I am super stoked... only a few more hours of work and then I'm off for the weekend. Why, you ask? Well, my sister is getting married!!! After a year of planning, it's finally here! I'm so excited to go hang out and have fun with them! Tonight is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner... it's bound to be fun! Tomorrow we're going to have a day of pampering and hanging out (the boys are playing golf). I seriously can't wait!

Shadow Eats Snow

We took Shadow for a walk through the neighborhood and it continued to snow. By the time we got back, we had about two inches of snow on our deck. I took Shadow out on it and leaned over to scoop some up to eat (yes, I'm like a kid). Shadow looked at me, looked at the snow and started eating it... he's such a hilarious dog!!!

I love this dog.

Unexpected Snow!

Well, we got quite a nice surprise this afternoon! What was supposed to just be a big  storm turned out to be a snow storm! I'm happy I was working from home today and I got to get some video of Shadow exploring the deck!

Here's a picture from the upstairs deck as well:

Snow on the Upstairs Deck

About 1/2 an inch has actually stuck... I hope it keeps up all night long! It's seriously coming down now! Maybe Shadow and I will go out and play in it a little later! It's still really new for me... I feel all giddy like a little kid! Until I moved up here, I don't know that I'd ever actually seen snow fall... if I did, it was only one or two times and nothing like this!

Snow Day

The last couple of days have been awesome from a weather perspective! We got a nice little cold front that brought us our first snow of the season! We had some snow yesterday that led to a power outage... that lasted for several hours. It was a bummer because I was supposed to have my first work from home day in a while. I ended up at the Starbucks in Jackson, where it was noisy and caffeinated. Thank God, my future sister in law, Nicki called and invited me to come work from her office!

The bad news about the power going out is that not only do we lose our electricity, but we lose our water. That means we basically only have what's left in the pipes & toilet tanks. So no showers and only as many flushes as there is water in the tank. While that doesn't sound horrible, it does get annoying after a while. Mike is currently researching generators... we think it might be a really nice investment for us. We're looking for something that is going to power pretty much the whole house. One of the neighbors has one, and every time the power goes out, their house is like a beacon on the hillside.

This morning we woke up to some more snow... a good solid inch of fresh powder. I took Shadow down to the pen to play in it and he had a fantastic time frolicking around. I took some awesome pictures of the views we have and, of course, the pup playing.

The View of The Valley From Our Deck

Pretty Shot of The Trees

Shadow With Snow on His Nose

Later in the morning, I met up with Nicki, Skyler, Mike's mom, Mike's aunt and Nicki's dogs for a walk along the Mokelumne River. I took Shadow along for the adventure and was pleasantly surprised... he does really well with Molly and Ruby (Nicki's dogs). We walked for about an hour and a half. The river was absolutely raging and it was beautiful to see!

I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and napping. I picked up another cold and I'm really hoping that this one doesn't get as bad as the last one. At least I have a three day weekend to try to rest up!

The Thunder Rolls

Ladies and gentlemen, it's officially fall. Thank goodness. I am normally very much a spring/summer kind of girl, but since last year winter was so spectacular, I was sort of left wanting more.

I went to bed early last night (way too much fun and relaxation was had this weekend!) and woke up at about 2am (way too much water before bed!). I looked out our bedroom slider and saw one of the better California thunderstorms that I've ever seen... I laid in bed for about 20 minutes watching and listening to it. About that time, I began to wonder what Shadow was up to... he sleeps downstairs in his crate and hadn't made a peep. In case you didn't know it, the one thing that Shadow most fears on this planet is a good thunderstorm, specifically the lightning. I know, that seems odd, but he really seems to be bothered more by the flashing lights than by the noise (although I'm sure he doesn't love that either, judging by his hatred of motorcycles).

I had closed all of the blinds in his room before he went to bed (good thinking, right?) on the assumption that it would keep most of the flashing out. Apparently it would have been fine except for that one pesky extra loud thunder clap.

Then the real show began.

He barked and barked and barked. I had the fantastic idea that I would go turn on the lights and music in his room, to drown out the noise and lights from the storm... that worked as long as I was curled up in the bed with him. I honestly gave it some thought (this had been going on for about an hour and I was pretty tired), but I realized that while he was falling asleep with the lights and music on, I could not. So, I did what every good dog mom does... tough love. I  put him back in the crate with the music and lights on, covered him up and closed the door.

Then Mike and I laid in bed for the next 1/2 hour listening to Shadow bark. The good news is that the storm passed and eventually everyone fell asleep.

The bad news is that another storm is predicted for tonight... and tomorrow night... and probably a good portion of the winter.

Does anyone have any good suggestions?

TGIF

I'm sure this is not new to anyone reading this blog, but dang, it's HOT. I went for a run at 7:30am this morning and it was already "back East muggy". Yuck. Even poor Shadow came in from playing in the yard to lay on air conditioning vent. Apparently summer is finally here in full force!

In honor of it being Friday, I thought I'd share an email I got... it has some pretty short but funny jokes! TGIF!

I was in the six item express lane at the store quietly fuming. Completely ignoring the sign, the woman ahead of me had slipped into the check-out line pushing a cart piled high with groceries. Imagine my delight when the cashier beckoned the woman to come forward looked into the cart and asked sweetly, 'So which six items would you like to buy?'
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Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly neighbor and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for a table. 'Young man, we're both 90 years old, ' the husband said ..'We may not have 45 minutes.' They were seated immediately.
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The reason Politicians try so hard to get re-elected is that they would 'hate' to have to make a living under the laws they've passed.
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All eyes were on the radiant bride as her father escorted her down the aisle. They reached the altar and the waiting groom; the bride kissed her father and placed something in his hand. The guests in the front pews responded with ripples of laughter. Even the priest smiled broadly. As her father gave her away in marriage, the bride gave him back his credit card.
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Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
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Three friends from the local congregation were asked, 'When you're in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?'

Artie said: ' I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man.'

Eugene commented: 'I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people's lives.'

Al said: 'I'd like them to say, 'Look, he's moving!'
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Smith climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai to get close enough to talk to God. Looking up, he asks t he Lord... 'God, what does a million years mean to you?' The Lord replies, 'A minute.' Smith asks, 'And what does a million dollars mean to you?' The Lord replies, 'A penny.' 'Smith asks, 'Can I have a penny?' 'The Lord replies, 'In a minute.'
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A man goes to a shrink and says, 'Doctor, my wife is unfaithful to me. Every evening, she goes to Larry's bar and picks up men. In fact, she sleeps with anybody who asks her! I'm going crazy. What do you think I
should do?' 'Relax,' says the Doctor, 'take a deep breath and calm down. Now, tell me, exactly where is Larry's bar?'
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John was on his deathbed and gasped pitifully. 'Give me one last request, dear,'he said.

'Of course, John,' his wife said softly.

'Six months after I die,' he said, 'I want you to marry Bob.'

'But I thought you hated Bob,' she said.

With his last breath John said, 'I do!'
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A man goes to see the Rabbi. 'Rabbi, something terrible is happening and I have to talk to you about it.' The Rabbi asked, 'What's wrong?' The man replied, 'My wife is poisoning me.' The Rabbi, very surprised by this, asks, 'How can that be?' The man then pleads, 'I'm telling you, I'm certain she's poisoning me, what should I do?' The Rabbi then offers, 'Tell you what. Let me talk to her, I'll see what I can find out and I'll let you know.' A week later the Rabbi calls the man and says, "I spoke to her on the phone for three hours. You want my advice?' The man said yes and the Rabbi replied, 'Take the poison'

Father's Day Part One

Today we celebrated Father's Day Part One. Mom, Dad, Mike, Kati, Nate and I went out to Folsom Lake for a day of boating. It was beautiful, if not a little chilly. Shocking for the way this "spring" has gone. For those of you not living in beautiful California, apparently we skipped spring this year and are going to yo-yo back and forth between winter and summer. Just when you think it's starting to get hot, it starts to rain and gets all windy. Trust me, it's killing those of us with crazy allergies. But, I digress. The day was beautiful and we had snacks and got some sun (translation: I sunburned through 70 sunblock).

After that, we headed back to Mom and Dad's house for a little BBQ... but not until Dad opened his gifts! Kati and Nate got him a great racing game for the Wii. Mom gave him an all expenses paid excursion to his favorite winery. Mike and I got him the Beatles Rock Band for his Xbox. We ended up spending a good portion of the afternoon singing, strumming and drumming along to the Beatles. Whoever created that game is a genius. It's totally fun for non-musical people and it's deliciously frustrating for musical people who suddenly suck at things like playing the fake drums. I love it. I might need to get one for our Wii. The cool thing about the Beatles version is that rather than coming with a white plastic guitar, it comes with a replica of one of Paul McCartney's guitars. I can't wait to go back and play some more!

Dinner was delicious! Mom and Dad made steak, ribs, potato salad, garlic bread and peach cobbler! Now that I'm stuffed and home, I'm definitely ready to curl up on the sofa... full belly + too much sun = very sleepy Anna!

Sunshine, I Miss You

I have never been one of those people that complains much about the weather because, typically, when it's winter, I'm digging the rain and when it's summer, I'm all about the lake. Today is one of those exceptions. It has been doing nothing but raining for the last week. Yes, just about seven straight days. At first, I was super excited... I mean, we've had some serious rain storms. Mike put out a little jug on Sunday to make our own little rain gauge... as of last night, we had about four to five inches of water in it. I woke up today to snow. Yeah, honest to God snow. Even the news didn't see this one coming (and come on, they're always correct with the weather, right?). I fell asleep listening to the lovely pitter patter of rain and woke to a frosty blanket. Normally, this would not bother me (I'm like a two year old kid with snow...), but I had a meeting to get to this morning, so it would have been a bad day to get stranded. Fortunately, someone out there thought ahead and the snow plow dude came by at like 5am.

Before I go any further, let me state for the record that the only shoes I had with me were boots with three inch heels.

Mike was sweet enough to realize that in three inch boots, there's no way I could wrangle my dog up an icy driveway, so he grabbed Shadow and held my hand all the way up. I made it all the way up to my car, where Mike let go of my hand.

I promptly wiped out.

Completely bit it.

Flat on my butt.

Well, my hip and elbow. Apparently, there's some built in mechanism in me that makes me twist mid-air to save my Coach purse from hitting the icy ground. It's all about priorities, people. If you remember back to my blogs from Europe and the "Great Fall in Greece", you'll remember that when I fall, I laugh my head off. So this morning, it's 6am, I'm lying in the mushy, icy wet, laughing my head off. Poor Mike laughed right along with me.

I think I'm gonna live (my left hip and elbow disagree), but it was definitely not my favorite start to a Friday. Thank God tomorrow is Saturday!!!

Sunshine, I really do miss you. I can't wait for summer!