all hallows eve eve

today i got ready for halloween. this involved painting my fingernails:




and making scotcharoos to take into work in the morning. thank goodness mom sent me some halloween cookie cutters! i also wanted to make roll-out cookies and use the cute sprinkles she sent, but i thought these would be easier (and they were).

tomorrow, i am going to wear my halloween socks to work and watch scary movies on tv and eat all the halloween candy that i got from mamsis.

candy corn soda

i finally got my halloween package last friday. hooray!
it was jam-packed with goodies, some more appetizing than others. there were oreos and pay-day mix, and sour worms (i only got one, josh ate all the rest) and peeps. there was also these severed gummy body parts and brains. mamsis also put in candy-corn flavored cola. i put one in the fridge and tonight i drank it. it wasn't as nasty as i thought, and taste suprisingly like candy corn-but i think it might put me in a diabetic coma.

Death to DST

i'm going to get on my soapbox for this post since today is the end of dst. i hate daylight savings time. its not only that i don't want the hassle of changing all the clocks in my house and my car. i don't think that you should be able to lose and gain time in the blink of an eye. other than changing time zones when crossing state lines, time should be constant. that's why it's always on the x axis. i can't believe that indiana is now on DST; mitch daniels, you will never escape my place of hate.

on a more positive note, when i was driving to work this morning, the woman that was being interviewed was part of an organization that was trying to educate the public on why antibiotics shouldn't be used for colds and the flu. i thought that this was a good use of time and money and the posters that they give to doctors offices really put superinfections in perspective. the guy interviewing her asked her where she got her funding, and then said, "but you don't get tax dollars, because that's what everyone asks." and he said it in a way implying that she shouldn't get any. i guess that just means that his tax dollars will go toward paying thousands of dollars for expensive hospital treatment for the poor. i'd rather mine went toward education, but i don't get a choice in the matter.

good morning snowfall

last night as i left work, i was warned of the impending "blizzard" that was going to hit. i forgot about it this morning until josh opened the blinds and i saw a world of white. sorry this isn't a scenic view of the mountains. i couldn't see them for all the snow.

josh scraped off my car after he scraped off his own, but it was a pretty scary drive to work. i would have thought that in CO, people would know how to drive in snow, and also the snow plows would have had most of the roads cleared by 11 am. i was severely disappointed in both. as though dealing with the idiots weren't bad enough, the traffic light were covered with snow. it was hard to see what color the light was, but fortunately i didn't get into any accidents. work was pretty easy, most people didn't want to go out in the snow. hopefully this snow melts before halloween, or else i will have to eat all the candy myself.

sticky situation

one of the things on my list of things to do while i was home was to harvest honey. my dad put in the bee escapes a few weeks ago, so all we had to do was pull off the top supers since the bees were trapped in the bottom (this cut down on the stings 100%).

the extraction went fairly slowly because the extractor only holds four frames at a time, and i think we had about 100 to do. it took us about 2 days (we didn't work on it the entire time) to extract all the honey, and then we started straining. this takes a really long time because it has to go through a 600, 400, and 200 micron filter and they clog up fairly quickly and have to be cleaned often. this leads to honey all over everything. the counter, the floor, and the workers were all coated in sticky sweetness. i even got some in my hair.

i think dad said he got about 10 gallons in the end, and i was able to bring back some jars to my co-workers. mom even got some wax to use in candles or soap or maybe just to carry around and smell the waxy scent. i think that she will send some to anyone that wants it, just remember to send back your empty jars.

grilled cheese and chocolate

i have the best husband. i was being very bratty this morning because the apartment is a mess. we have both been too tired from our journey to clean anything up or put away anything, and i of course took this out on him.
but i asked him to bring me home some caramels from work, and he said he would as long as i was nice when i got home.
i called when i was on my way, and when i got home he had a grilled cheese sandwich waiting for me. he really does make the best, the cheese is nice and melty and the bread is just slightly toasted.
and for dessert, he didn't just bring home a few caramels, but a whole box of my favorite chocolates. i wonder how long this box will last me. probably not long.

a tale of two weddings

as posted just a few moments ago i journeyed home to see my dear friend courtney get married. she was getting married on the same day as my brother-in-law got married. this made it convinient because we only had to make one trip home, but josh and i had to go our separate ways because they were only half an hour apart.
after the 18 hour car trip i had enough time to beautify myself and take swipes with me to the rehearsal. this was pretty uneventful, just like all the other rehearsal that i've done. we had a very nice meal at the trails where courtney showered everyone with prezzies. i got flip-flops and lip gloss, a little massager and beautiful earrings (i was told by courtney's neice that i should wear these to the wedding the next day).

courtney told us to be at the church at noon for pictures. to me this meant be ready and here at noon. catherine and i had to go to the mall for some last minute things, so we were running a little late. i thought it would be terrible to be both late and wearing jeans, so catherine helped me into my dress while i drove down the highway. we arrived at 12:10 and went into the church to discover- no one else was ready! i couldn't believe it. oh well, i guess that just meant i was able to help with other things.

courtney's dress was beautiful and she looked lovely in it. i'll post some pictures when i get my film from catherine. the bridal party was in light brown and we carried orange roses (they smelled heavenly). other than me "booking it" down the aisle and some of the flower girls losing a few buds the ceremony didn't have any mishaps. i did a good job fluffing courtney's train, although i wasn't sure if i should do it while we were supposed to be praying, hopefully it still looks good in the pics.

we got to drive around in a hummer limo before the reception. courtney had pretty branch and leaf candle holders for center pieces and leaf cookie cutter for favors. she managed to have a very simple yet elegant affair and look fabulous during the whole thing.

josh will have to write about his brother's wedding, including his musical toast.

incredible journey

i went home to indiana last week for my friend courtney's wedding. since josh and i had a few things to take home and several wedding gifts to bring back we decided to drive home. we wanted to bring home some yummy chocolate for everyone. so josh and i went to godiva to pick some things out. the girl that helped us asked me a silly question though.
"are these chocolates for something special?"
"yes, eating"

we packed everything that we wanted to take with us, table and chairs, CPU, dog stuff, bridesmaid dress, and chocolates and still managed room for a dog and a cooler. josh picked me up from work to save time and we were on our way. shortly after we were on 76 the stinks began. i think the first one was hogs, then sulfur, then some sort of reek that i couldn't identify. it was very pungent, and stung my nostrils. the smells continued into most of nebraska, and i of course made a point of covering my nose with the blanket and exclaiming "what is that smell?"

josh and i traded off driving and luckily for me zelda (our dog) only really bothered josh when he was trying to sleep, and didn't bother me too much. we stopped at a gas station in lincoln, NE where some creepy guy was hitting on me. luckily josh came in to rescue me. (unfortunately for me josh stopped at this same gas station on the way back and the same guy was working! i decided that i didn't have to pee until the next stop)
mom called me on my phone just as the sun was coming up to say that i might have to pick up catherine in iowa city because her car was still broken. so we made a detour and picked up catherine and dropped off the table and chairs (i broke her table so it would match her car).
poor swipes had to endure five hours of zelda crawling all over her. i suppose it didn't help that zelda had taken off the lid of a cup of coffee and was taking sips of it as she wanted.
it was fun to have a road trip with her, including a few rounds of the animal guessing game. josh i fear did not have fun, too much giggling i think.

the return journey was a little less fun. josh was very sleepy and even though i let him sleep for four hours, after two hours of josh driving, i was awoken by a poke and "can you drive? i'm sleepy." we also drove through rain and snow before arriving back in denver. i also resolved not to go into gas stations late a night without josh. i went into one where three guys were standing around, and the guy at the counter looked at my credit card (it has a fox on it), and said "do you have a fox on there because you are a fox? the picture certainly fits you" UGH!!!
i'm just glad that i didn't get kidnapped, josh didn't fall asleep at the wheel, and i didn't kill the dog for trying to snuggle with me.

i hate olivia newton-john

okay, i don't really hate her, i just hate her new album "grace and gratitude" it is sold exclusively at my pharmacy chain, and since she had breast cancer, she is donating 10% of the profits to research. it wouldn't be so bad if i just has to hear the promo every hour, but then they play the song right after it. and the song isn't even that good! it seems like i have to hear that song about 15 times a day, and it wouldn't be that bad if i had good tunes to listen to on either side of it, but usually it is other stinky songs like "solitaire." some days the music is good, but since olivia started, it's gotten decidely worse.

i have ringworm

today, there was a mother and her two young sons, (maybe 3 and 6 years old) that came to the counter for some advice. the older boy had ringwork on his neck and his mother was trying to save a trip to the doctor. as i was telling her what to use, her younger son yelled "i have ringworm!" and his brother retorted "no you don't". i tried not to laugh, but it couldn't be helped and the mom just said, "okay let's go" and thanked me. little kids are so cute.

today we finally went shopping for groceries which means i can have cereal and diet coke again. we usually try to make a list and stick to it, but as usual josh finds something that he simply must have, like chocolate pop-tarts and reese's cups. but when i try to get something that i forgot to put on the list like salami or cheese, he says "is that on the list?" but at least he goes shopping with me and sometimes even by himself (which is my favorite!). he does a good job when there's a list, but there's usually a few junk food items in the pantry when i get home.


Here is a picture from Hawaii, this is in the beginning of Raiders of the lost Ark when Indy is being chased by natives.