Le cours de français

Mistake: While talking with the lady behind me who is also taking the class for fun and plans to travel to Nice, loudly exclaim "this class is so fun and so EASY! I actually look forward to coming to class each time!". This will result in the rest of the class who is obviously not finding French to be fun or easy to turn around and glare at you.

My how much changes in just a week or so. I've been taking 2 weeks of French and already the cobwebs have begun evacuating my brain and making room for a new language. I have a job in which I am thinking/evaluating/analyzing 85% of the day yet the learning portion of my brain had obviously been ill used since college because on my first day of class the terms and phrases which were very basic were bouncing off me and falling on the floor. No matter how hard I listened I couldn't absorb any of what the teacher was trying to teach us and I began to worry that I was in over my head with this class. Since then I've studiously reviewed material and completed homework and have found that my brain has re-opened for business and is easily accepting all of the French vocabulary. I honestly do look forward to each class and the possibilities of what I will learn that day. I've always been naturally good in school (graduated from college with honors even though I spent half the time inebriated and in my pajamas) but have lacked the motivation to actually apply myself and study. I think I am finally at the age (and maturity) where the idea of cracking open a school book and reading isn't repulsive. If only I had this motivation back in college, imagine what I could have done with myself.

I'm sure French will become more complex as the semester passes but I am incredibly proud of myself for sticking with something that was out of my norm. I'm also really pleased that my brain is working again. Continuation of my studies for fun will definitely be on my calendar in the future. It was quite scary to see how little information I was able to retain on that first day. I can only imagine what my brain would have been like had I waited 10 years before I took another college course.

In slightly french related news, tomorrow night's dinner is Coq au Vin (pronounced coke ohe vah). YUM!


And in other slightly less french related news, I was re-watching the series finale of Sex and the City where Carrie goes to France. Holy cow, I had forgotten how hot Mr Big was. I think he made my loins flutter. YUM YUM!

I See London, I See Sam's Town

I've been listening a lot to The Killers' Sawdust CD. Typically The Killers would be too mainstream for my snobby musical tastes but I just can't ignore good music.

Abbey Road version of Sam's Town


Tranquilize


And to appease the indie rock gods, I've also been listening to San Diego's Pinback


As well as St Vincent (who sounds 10x better not live. Her voice is amazing when recorded properly)

Bonsoir! Je m'appelle Cori

One of my biggest regrets after living in the SF Bay Area was that I never took advantage of the nearby UC Berkeley and the extension classes offered. So after moving to San Diego (home to 8 major universities and dozens of smaller colleges) I promised myself that I would continue my education (for fun) and try to take a class every semester. I've lived here for almost two years and have yet to take one class (although in my defense I did register for a class last semester and it was canceled at the last minute). A few months ago I bit the bullet and signed up for a French class at a college that is 15 minutes away from my house. I wanted to take French because I've always been interested in the language and we might need it should we ever commit to a long stay in Switzerland (location of Hubby's International HQ).

My first class was last night and already I am feeling overwhelmed and debating whether I should quit. Maybe it's because I am feeling a little rusty and the book learning portion of my brain hasn't been used in 5 years. Maybe it's because the French language is much harder then I imagined and very few words are actually pronounced how they are spelled (example number 4 = quatre but pronounced like kat). Maybe it's because my bilingual mouth keeps confusing Spanish and French and what comes out is a Spanish French English hybrid (example: soy suis Cori y quero deux kittens). Maybe I am just burnt out after the fires and I need a few months where I can work til 4pm, go to the gym, come home and JUST VEG for the rest of the evening. Or maybe I am just being a big baby and if I keep at it for the next few weeks I will begin to really enjoy myself and the fact that I am becoming tri-lingual. What do you think? (see poll in side bar and VOTE! I really am confused as to what I should do and would love advice).

Typing This While Watching Baby Story

I've never been the type to glorify in the fact that one day that I could be a mother. I've talked to some girls and when they think of motherhood they think about cute babies, being called mama, naming them, going to the park, having everyone ooh and aah over their bellies, etc. When I think of motherhood I think of sleepless nights, puke, poopy diapers, toddler tantrums, teens who talk back, stretch marks, and losing my "me" time that I cherish so much. I always thought that someday that Mommy Urge would click in my head one day and I would be like "yes! it's all worth it!!! bring on the babies". Now that I am approaching 28, I am realizing that the Mommy Urge may never turn on for me. Which kinda sucks because I am not looking forward to being 30 and making that decision to shit or get off the pot. (30 has always been the age that I have told myself that either babies happen or don't).

Tomorrow I am throwing an afternoon baby shower for one of my best friends. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding (she got preggo on my wedding night!) and I am really excited for her and this baby that she has always wanted. Yesterday, I went to Babies R Us for the first time ever to pick out a baby gift for her. Holy Cow! If there was ever a place to get me excited about the possibility of having a baby, this was the place!!! So much cute baby stuff and I all of a sudden wanted to get it all.


Pack N Play. Adorable!


Cribs. Must have!


Jumper things. Awwww!!!


Strollers. Tres chic!

Not to even mention all the really adorable baby clothes. That was just the icing on the cake.

More then ever I realized as I walked through Babies R Us, babies are expensive! I could have easily purchased $500 worth of stuff for my friend. (In the end my purchases totalled $200). The last reason to have a kid is just to be able to buy all the stuff but maybe this means that I am one step closer to finally catching Baby Lust.

Is This Serious???

As you might have heard, the San Diego Chargers are playing the Patriots this weekend in a shot at going to the Super Bowl. I hate the Chargers and think Tom Brady is hot so you can guess who I will be rooting for.

I saw this article in yesterday's newspaper. Is this REALLY how the rest of the US has to dress during the winter months??? I've never lived anywhere but Cali and complained this morning that the high was only going to be 66. Either this guy is joking or I am an incredibly big princess. To be honest if I had to go to a conference in Boston tomorrow I would never in a million years think of dressing like this. In fact I would probably come in yoga pants, hoodie, and flip flops (my standard flying attire).

John Gardner of Cambridge, Mass., e-mailed some sage – if scary – advice for San Diegans heading to New England for the game:

“Fans need to wear boots with at least 1000 grams of insulation, wool socks, thermal underwear with heavy-duty winter pants, a thick down parka, undershirt, wool shirt, sweat shirt and a fleece vest parka below the outer parka. And just as importantly, a thin coating of petroleum jelly on the face, a wool or Gore-Tex face mask, hand warmers and thick wool mittens! ... I would not want any human being to be underprepared for this game.”

Probably Not His Last ...

Problem: Fluff has a large matted piece of fur on his chest. Probably a result of me not brushing him out fully after taking him a bath.

My Solution: Take him to the groomers and have them shave off the matted piece of fur.
Cost: $30

Hubby's Solution: Go at it with a piece of scissors and take care of the problem ourselves.
Cost: $285 after a trip to the emergency vet where Fluff is put under and sewn back together with 7 metal stitches.

Big Bear Lake

One year ago Dave quit smoking. Having been a heavy smoker for 10 years I never thought I would see the day when I no longer had to wait in the car or in front of the restaurant while Dave took a quick smoke break. Saying that I am so VERY proud of him doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how I feel. To celebrate I surprised Dave with a mini-vacation to do one of his very favorite activities: playing in the snow.

This was our first time going to the Southern California snow. Lake Tahoe and Central Sierras are our usual locations for snow escapades. On the way up we hit gnarly traffic. It took us one hour to go ten miles up the mountain. Dave wasn't happy but luckily we had Sirius to keep us entertained.


We finally arrived in Big Bear and the first thing we did was hit up a local brewery and drink beer. We did a lot of beer drinking that weekend (hence the weight gain) but with the ski lifts packed, relaxing in the resort pub while watching the playoff game was the perfect activity.

After drinking beer, we checked into our hotel. Our room overlooked Big Bear Lake and was less then 50 feet from the shore.


This was our view. I can't think of a better image to wake up to each morning.


Second best part of our hotel was that it was stumbling distance to The Village. It was quite nice to never have to drive to eat, drink, or play.


The snow lifts were still packed on Sunday so Dave and I decided to do a little hiking. Dave got us lost quite a bit and had to consult the map to find our way back on the trail.


Luckily, I am an expert navigator and was able to find the trail again.


Since everyone else was on the lifts, we were pretty much the only ones in the forest. I kept trying to convince Dave to write his name in the snow with pee but evidently Dave is much more mature then I and prefers to use his finger.


The view was gorgeous and I really didn't mind getting lost.


The most important thing is that I was spending time with the love of my life and really life doesn't get any better then that.


I am one lucky girl.

Clothes, Woes, Boys, and Toys

Weight Loss
When Dave and I first began our healthier lifestyle resolution we elevated the challenge by adding weekly goals and rewards/punishments. Going in to this I though "no problem!" since I am the Queen of Weight Loss and Dave is Mr Never Touched a Gym in His Life as well as the Baron of Taco Bell. Dave has always been athletically built and good at sports but beyond that has never had to try to stay fit therefore I thought I had an advantage to this whole challenge. I was born from the womb short and round and I've had to battle my figure my whole life.

Well, I greatly underestimated the competitive nature of my spouse. Had I known that all I had to do was issue a challenge I would have done this much sooner in order to motivate Dave to work out daily. Not only has he joined my gym and gone daily for 45 minutes but he has also completely revamped his eating habits (gone is fast food) as well as given up soda! This is huge coming from the man who used to drink 5-6 cans of coca cola a day. As of Week 1 Dave had lost 7 pounds and I had lost 3. Week 2 was tampered when we took a mini-vacation to a local snow resort and I re-gained the 3 from week 1 plus one I had lost in week 2 (total of 4 pounds). Dave regained 2 pounds. I'm really trying to make this healthy lifestyle something that I can do everyday for the rest of my life and evidently the vacation eating part of my lifestyle needs some tweaking.

Dreams of Our Fathers
Sunday night I had numerous dreams about boys I had dated in the past. Last night I dreamt of several scary wars in which I was forced to do battle. The boy dreams I enjoyed mostly because they involved lots of necking and heavy petting. The war dreams not so much. In one dream a tank was firing rapid succession at me and the ammo was oranges. It is citrus season here in Cali and obviously I have eaten one too many oranges.

Working Girl
I'm still insanely busy and working 12 hour days plus weekends. Luckily Dave is gone for work this week which allows me to work late into the night without feeling guilty. Now that it has been 3 months since the fires I am starting to get real tired of this schedule. Taking this past Monday off for our mini-vacay was refreshing but I can't keep doing this same schedule. Starting next week I am going to focus more on me and work only 9 hour days plus Saturdays. Dave is super motivated to do the gym thing and I'm going to make time to go to the gym with him as soon as my day has ended (4pm).

In other news, a National news crew is coming out next week to film our fire recovery work. I really would have liked to be much thinner but am trying not to stress over it too much. What am I saying? I am stressing over it big time! (to further clarify I am stressing over my weight not the national news part).

Shiny Toys
I got the new Sirius Stiletto 2 last week and I LOVE it. I'm already a big fan of Sirius but now I can take my Sirius with my when I go to the gym or out hiking! It's super small (about the size of a video IPOD) and light weight too. Now I am just waiting for the arm strap that I ordered to come so that I can stop treating it like a delicate flower.

Suddenly a Tennassee Titans Fan

Note to Self: When attending a NFL football playoff game, it might help if you are actually a fan of the home team. Otherwise you will spend a majority of the game fuming at the drunken douche bagginess of the home team fans. It didn't help that 95% of the fans in attendance were Chargers fans and only 5% of the rest were Titans fans. This meant that the drunken (and winning) Chargers fans felt it was their duty to yell insensitive slurs at the cowering Titans fans who were just trying to enjoy the game. It was worse then a Raiders versus Chargers game (at least then even when the game is played in San Diego a majority of the fans are wearing black and besides no one dares mess with the Raider Nation). Dave and I are neither Chargers not Titans fans but we had free tickets in the club level which meant great seats under cover from the rain and free food and booze. I would go again for the chance to watch a playoff game but after experiencing 3 hours of drunk asswhats I almost declared that alcohol and tailgating should be banned at games (this coming from me who is a huge fan of the beer in all situations and lovingly remembers tailgating from many Fresno State football games). Yet, you too would have immediately proclaimed that all games should be alcohol free after watching drunk idiots stumbling around trying to pick fights (unless you were a drunken idiot picking fights then you would have thought it to be a great time for all). Astonishingly enough we were in the club level where seats were $300-400 each and those in the cheaper seats on field level and in the higher decks encountered even more douche bagery and crowd fighting.

In more uplifting news, I've lost 45 pounds on three different occasions only to regain most of the weight back within one year. The latest time I lost the weight was for my wedding and already 25 pounds of that has crept back up on me. I am realizing that I am good at the losing but not so good at the keeping off. In the past I will practically starve myself for 6 months, drop tons of weight, and then become tired of the restrictions and go hog wild in the opposite direction. I really need to find a sensible eating plan that I can easily adopt as part of my everyday lifestyle so that I don't have to keep yo-yo'ing. Easier said then done. At the football game I was rather proud of myself, usually I will consume a bratwurst, garlic fries and lotsa beer (remember free beer in club level). This time I ordered a veggie burger and diet coke and I even held myself back when they brought out the mojitos (I will write a sonnet of my love for mojitos one day). One of my biggest problems in the past is that I splurge on special occasions and soon everyday becomes a special occasion for one reason or another. Lunch out with coworkers? Splurge! Hard day at work? Spurge! Finally Friday? Splurge! After a lot of thinking I have decided that the only days that count as splurge worthy are my birthday, fancy dinners paid by Dave's work, and holiday parties.

Other news, I am trying to convince Dave to let us extend our Lake Las Vegas vacation to encompass a night's stay at the Venetian since evidently 4 nights at the Ritz Carlton is not enough for me. I am having a hard time justifying my cause.

New Year, New Healthy Me

I'm a big fan of New Year's resolutions. No one is perfect so why not begin the new year with the goal of becoming a better person in one or two different ways. This year my goal is to become a healthier person. As I've said, since the fires my daily diet has consisted of whatever easy food I can grab and stuff in my mouth and my daily exercise has gone by the wayside. My resolution is to get back in the habit of exercising (5am!), eating healthy, taking a daily multi-vitamin (prenatal vitamins make my hair so shiny), brushing my teeth before bed (I'm not so good on this), and moisturizing every bit of my body after taking a shower (no wrinkles yet and I'd like to keep it that way).

To motivate myself even further, Dave and I have a small bet to see who can lose the most weight in ten weeks. Since Dave quit smoking a year ago, he has gained 20 pounds and has lacked the motivation to begin exercising. I've also gained weight since our wedding (10 pounds during our Honeymoon and then 15 pounds since the fires). I would really like to get back to my wedding weight before I continue to gain even more and things get out of control. In 10 weeks we plan on going to Lake Las Vegas and if I win Dave will pay for a day at the spa. I love messages and facials more then everything but sex and sushi so I am VERY excited to win.

I plan on blogging my progress once a week to keep myself motivated and accountable. Today was Day 1 of the challenge and I became winded after jogging for 40 minutes around the country club golf course. I am starving and sweaty and already realizing that getting back in shape is going to be a much bigger challenge then I had bargained.

A healthier looking me at our rehearsel dinner.

Didn't want it didn't need it but we knew that we could see it ...

I expected to come home from the car show with a long list of cars that I wanted to buy TOMORROW unfortunately that wasn't so. The good news is that Dave and I both found one vehicle we loved (and it was the same vehicle!) but the bad news is that for now the purchase price is not in our budget. For the $48,000 Lexus 400h we would need to put a down payment of $15k in order for our monthly payments to be $550 per month. With our income this is easily do-able but we're about to begin a kitchen remodel and the kitchen is more important then the SUV. *whine* Why can't I have both the new kitchen the 400h AND the Lexus IS250? Yes, I am a spoiled brat and yes the fact that I will have to wait to buy the 400h makes me extremely pouty and yes you can feel free to hate me for my pissy princess thoughts.

In slightly less shallow thoughts, when we bought this house 8 months ago we were convinced that we would be eating budget meals for the rest of our lives while we stretched our budget to afford a $450,000 house. Never did we think that in less then a year we'd be able to afford a contractor to remodel the kitchen but also be able to contemplate buying a new car soon after. It's amazing how things just have a way of working themselves out.

The Lexus IS250 which I love even more then the 400h but unfortunately is not as practical

Greed is the New "It" Sin

I want a new purse. I have a really cute deep red purse that I have been using that is somewhat small but super adorable. I really want a Coach purse in brown or deep red but I know that I will tire of it much too soon.

I want a new car. I am loving the Lexus Hybrid 400h SUV but not liking the $48,000 price tag. I am also loving the Range Rover but not loving the fact that it only comes in gas engine. Right now Dave and I are sharing one vehicle (my 2006 ford focus) which is fine since he works from home most days and I only work 5 miles from home. I'm just so bored with the safe blah-blah focus and want something much more exciting that also has navigation and Sirius satellite radio built in (ooo! also leather seats). We have a portable Garmin Nuvi as well as a handheld Sirius radio but trying to juggle both of them for car trips is frustrating. We are going to the auto show on Friday so expect me to come back with a long list of DINK cars that I have drooled over.

I want to go on a vacation but really don't have a specific location that I would like to visit. We are going on a mini-holiday to a mountain lodge resort to play in the snow in mid-January as well as a longer vacation to Lake Las Vegas in March. I just want to go someplace right this second (and never come back).

I really want to lose weight. Since late October when the fires happened, I have lived on a steady diet of ho-hos and late night McDonalds combined with root beer and zero exercise. Needless to say I have gained 15 pounds as well as become flabby. I hate flab. Now that things have slowed down (or seem like the will be slowing in the next few weeks) I need to get back in the grove of eating healthy and exercising daily. I'm actually looking forward to not feeling so yucky and unhealthy. Now talk to me in 2 months when I complain about not being able to eat the cake in the break room ...

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Good News: I am finally in the Christmas spirit and ready to decorate my house!
Bad News: The holidays are over.

Good News: I braved the crowds and did some after Christmas bargain shopping.
Bad News: I spent tons of money.

Good News: I have so many cute things to use as Christmas decorations.
Bad News: I have to store them in our attic until next year.

Good News: Christmas went well and we had a nice time.
Bad News: Now I have to go back to work. I am not in the mood to work.

The End.

He Makes Me Laugh

Scene - He is preparing dinner and I have just arrived home after a long day at work.
Him: How about angel hair pasta with mushroom spaghetti sauce?
Me: Ummm ... no.
Him: Por que?
Me: I just don't feel like mushroom spaghetti sauce. Is there any garlic spaghetti sauce?
Him: pero tu quires mushrooms.
Me: ehhh ...
Him: No comprende.
Me: No necessita comprende. Idiota!
Him: I give up.
Me: Wait! Did you just go from English to Spanish to spanglish and I didn't even notice until I answered you back in Spanish.
Him: I guess.
Me: Only in San Diego County (aka Northern Mexico) would it be so common place to hear Spanish everywhere you go and begin incorporating it into your everyday language.
Him: haha!
________________________________________________________________________

Scene - We have just arrived back at our hotel room after attending his work holiday party. I am very drunk and we are in the middle of doing what married couples do.

Us: kiss, kiss, smooch, smooch ...
Him: Look there are crumbs in the bed!
Me: ummm ... yeah, crumbs.
Him: *stops doing what he was doing and begins brushing the crumbs off the bed*
Me: Holy Hell! What are you doing?
Him: Brushing crumbs off the bed.
Me: I think not! Get your head back in the game and Man Up!
Him: *blank stare*

12 Days of Christmas

I was reading this blog and this blog which did a 12 things about Christmas meme and it made me think how differently the holidays are celebrated by each family. Since I'm not into tagging and I don't care to wait until I am tagged, I thought I would do my own 12 things about Christmas.

1. I hate gaudy xmas decorations! The type I am talking about is the snowman snow globe, tacky multi-colored lights, and other garish cartoon like decorations. I much prefer something like the picture above; classy, simple, and yet still festive.

2. This year I haven't even decorated a single bit for the holidays. No tree, no stockings, no outside lights. I've just been way too busy the past few months and to be honest we don't have little ones nor do we have family in the area. What point is there in decorating when no one besides ourselves will see it?

3. Growing up we always opened presents on xmas eve. We'd travel to my Grandparent's house, visit with extended family, eat tamales, then open presents after everyone but immediate family had left. Xmas day was spent being lazy and eating breakfast at Denny's.

4. I really hate that the holidays have become an over commercialized affair. I would much prefer to go sans presents (except for the kiddos) but this idea is never appreciated by our families. I would really like to do some type of charity work as a family since in my eyes this is what xmas should be about. At the very most I would do a secret santa exchange but even this idea is never liked by anyone but me.

5. I REALLY hate opening presents in front of others. For starters I think it sucks to have to pretend to love your gifts when the gift giver is staring at you from across the room. But I also think it sucks to have to sit there for a long period of time while I watch each and every family member "ooh" and "aah" while they open their gifts.

6. I never send holiday cards and I never will!

7. I love holiday parties. I look forward to them for days. I love dressing up, seeing friends, drinking, eating good food (usually), and the festive spirit.

8. Even though it may sound like it, I'm really not a Grinch. Each year I look forward to the holidays but I just sometimes think that the reason for the season has been forgotten.

9. Dave and I alternate where we spend the holidays. One year we do Thanksgiving with my family and xmas with his. The next is t-day with his family and xmas with mine.

10. Dave and are I doing stockings this year as our presents to each other. I do love waking up on xmas day and digging through a stocking full of goodies. I always think the little presents are the best (mmmm ... chocolate candies!).

11. My perfect holiday would be xmas eve spent at a holiday party (at my house or at a relatives) during which we eat, drink, and catch up. Everyone would then exchange presents and take them home to be opened later that night or the next morning. On xmas day the hubby and I would wake up in our own home. We would cook a good homemade breakfast and then open our stockings and spend the rest of the day lounging around the house. Xmas dinner would be spent with immediate family.

12. Next Saturday Dave and I are going to my grandparent's house to learn how to make tamales. I am so excited since tamale making is something you can't learn at your local culinary school. It's a weird association but more then anything, tamales remind me of the holidays.

How do you spend your holidays?

Snippets of Vacations Past

1) Glamis, December 2001 - We've driven for over 10 hours and have finally arrived at our destination. We're dirty and extremely tired but at the moment all we can think of is how excited we are to finally be here. We jump out of the truck and immediately I am blinded by the bright sun, white sand, and blue sky. It is December but in the middle of the desert it feels more like July. That night the opportunity arises for us to sleep together in the same bed. I will attempt to touch his penis but he will shy away each time. Two years later he comes out as gay.


2) Las Vegas, February 1990 - I am ten years old and we have just arrived at our hotel. While my Mom checks in I stay in the lobby and stare at the carpet. At that moment the gaudy, brightly colored designs look like the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I vow to never forget the carpet and focus all my attention on remembering each feathery loop.


3) Vancouver BC, December 2002 - We are walking through downtown after visiting a local wine bar in search of more ice wine. Between giggles we talk about our futures and what we want our life to be like someday. A few girls express their wish to live in the country on a farm. I look up at the high rises and realize with a sudden clarity that a thriving city is where I need to be. Our conversation turns and we begin talking about what to eat for lunch and someone suggests sushi. Three of us have never had raw seafood and politely refuse. A few years later on one of the rare occasions when we are all together we devour sushi.

That's what I'm waiting for

I'm really not gonna shut up about Modest Mouse.

Someone posted a clip from last night's show. This was actually one of their more sedate songs that they played and while it was good I didn't love, LOVE it but it still shows their awesome rock starness.


Even better, they recently released a video for their kick ass song Little Motel. Watch this video from start to end and be prepared to cry.

It rained and its over a shooting star
Landed directly on our broke down little car
We fold and we had made a wish
That we would be missed
If one another just did not exist

Right wing, left wing, chicken wing

You know that feeling you get after you've just had a fantastically fun time? A bit of the ho-hum blues when you realize that the moment you just had will.never.happen.again. *sigh* Last night Dave and I went to the Modest Mouse concert. Easily it was the 2nd best concert that I have ever attended (1st is the Dave & Friends concert at Oakland Coliseum which was a once in a lifetime opportunity where I was just the right amount of inebriated and had 8th row seats).

I was hesitant about going to the concert as it was held at an open seating concert hall and Modest Mouse is notorious for being too drunk to perform which is why I've never seen MM in the past even though I have loved their music since 2003. Dave and I got there 30 minutes before the opening act because I wanted a good spot and Matt Costa was the opener (Me + Matt Costa = Forever). As soon as I found out that Matt Costa was the opener I should have realized that the stars were aligned and this concert was made especially for me. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Matt Costa is more like Jack Johnson (he makes me want to surf, smoke some up, then eat a breakfast burrito) while MM is just so spastic (they make me want to take a long drive while singing at the top of my lungs). Two great styles (in my book) but not exactly two types of bands that you expect to support each other.

Matt Costa was fantastic. His voice was pure loveliness and the crowd was very polite even though Matt is still relatively unknown and I think I was the only one in the crowd who could actually sing along to his songs. MM began to perform after an obscenely long set change during which 2 drum kits and a stand up bass were brought out. For once Isaac Brock (the lead singer) wasn't doped out of his mind and could actually sing the songs well and with understandable lyrics. The two drummers (who were beating their little hearts out) combined with the guitar god Johnny Marr and a on-top-of-his game Brock made for a spectacular concert. The set list was just the right combo of classics from their early days combined with songs off their new album. They jammed out and funked up some of their songs but didn't spend half the concert going off on some musical tangent *cough* DMB *cough*. It was just the perfect type of concert where the music infuses your soul and makes you dance and sing without consciously realizing what you are doing. *sigh* All in all it was a perfect evening and I am so sad that no recording was made of the concert because I would love listen to it and over and over while reliving the concert.

If you haven't done so already: fall in love with Modest Mouse.

Pain (Invaded)

When Dave first graduated college he worked for Makita Tools in their marketing division and as a result he became the proud owner of almost all the top of the line tools Makita has to offer. This is great now that we are first time home owners and need to do some type of home improvement on a regular basis.

We're getting ready to remodel our kitchen so this weekend I've been playing around on Ikea's on-line planner tool trying to lay out the kitchen cabinets. I was stomping around in the garage trying to find a tape measure and getting progressively pissy that no tape measures were to be found when I threw open one of the garage cabinets and discovered that it was empty. Bare. The cabinet we use to store all the Makita tools. Barren. We have lots of bright teal Makita tools and for all of them to be missing from the cabinet is a bit jaw dropping to see. I keep our garage very clean so I took a quick spin around the garage to make sure they weren't sitting on top of the washing machine. Nope. Missing.

Dave and I searched the house and garage again and sure enough they were no where to be found which means that someone came into our garage and burglarized us most likely when we were home. This thought has been so unsettling to me. Not only because we live in a private country club and you just assume that you are safe but also to think that someone might have invaded our personal property (regardless if we were home at the time). Even scarier is the thought that since only our Makita tools were taken that likely someone "cased" our home and had watched us for awhile to determine where the good stuff was. Creepy.

I've been so busy at work so we haven't done any home improvement projects in some time so Dave and I were trying to rack our brains to determine when the tools might have been stolen. Luckily, I took pics of the entire house during the fire (in case it burned down) and in those pictures I found many of the garage and the tools. That means that the person who stole from us targeted us within the last 6 weeks. Scary.

Luckily, we have a home alarm and plan on using it a lot more in the future. Still I find myself in a very sad mood to think that there are people out there who invade others and take things that aren't theirs. Errr ....

Vacation

I saw this picture on dooce.com and it immediately made me want to run away to someplace cold and curl up near a fireplace. The high here today is 77 and it's sunny. I'm so ready for winter-like weather and a vacation.

PS - Tammy, don't suggest Iowa!