Friday, September 14, 2007

draftacular

In place of a lovingly crafted post, you, lucky you, reader of The Creamery, you get this madness. To add further explanation (obviously this is the Infamous Slug Photo): this is after the spiral formation had fallen off the wall and was holding on by what can only be described as a single slug toenail - stretched to capacity. And that gelatinous substance? Chip investigated for y'all at the time - and found it to be full of tiny slug babies. And he even went so far as to say, "You know, they're kinda... cute." But NO. A WORLD OF NO. NOT CUTE. THEY ARE GROSS. DISGUSTING. AND THEY DID IT ON THE WALL OF MY HOUSE. (The dark water splash mark is where Chip's first glass of water hit - missing his mark widely, as you can see.)

Enjoy it while it lasts, kiddos.


And yes, I know exactly what it looks like. I didn't want to mention it.
Posted by Whimsy 7 comments

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

a little bit of grateful

I’m sure you’re just checking in to see if I’ve posted THE SLUG PHOTO yet. But yesterday was a bit of a rough day around The Creamery, and I’ve decided to hold out on the photo posting for a few more possible votes (read: a few more days). Sad, but true. Actually my observation of the voting has been something of a slug race – IN SLOW MOTION. At last count, we were running 3-2 in favor of slugs.

In place of Slugapalooza 2007, I give you some of the small things for which I am grateful on a tough day (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER). Help yourself to my list – and please, if you’d like, add a few of your own. A little bit of Grateful is never a bad thing.


Of the Good
  • Emails from friends - simple, but oh so wonderful, and oh so welcome

  • The Magic Salad

  • Sunflower seeds

  • The Office recaps I read recently on Television Without Pity

  • The unexpected bag of maternity wear leant to me by one Helen at Workplace - what a nice gesture

  • The Bean

  • The offer my boss made to me today, to pelt me with tiny little wrapped Tic Tac mints (called "Silvers" - if you haven't had them, you should - because the orange flavor is fantastic). This offer was truly an act of kindness, as he has been known to show his affection and appreciation in some odd, brotherly ways (I'm throwing these mints at you because I think you're great! Let's put this maraca in Kristy's desk because it will be funny!)

  • An impended trip to see my parents. I'm really looking forward to spending time with them, and also laying around. A lot. Because I haven't done enough of that here at home.

  • The orange scarf I decided to knit this weekend

  • Having the ability to knit an orange scarf (me: Aren't I cool, Chip? Isn't this great, Chip? Doesn't this look fantastic, Chip? Huh? HUH?)

  • The Bers - I read this post on Cupcakes for Clara the other day, that excitedly announced the arrival of the BERS (as in, SeptemBER, OctoBER, etc.) I, too, love me some Bers!

  • Paintings by Sam Toft

  • Fergus nose kisses

  • The errant Fergus Whisker that had somehow been imbedded in the soft pudge of my stuffed Ugly Doll, Herp. When I went to lay my head on him two nights ago, I got poked. Discovering that little gem was weird - and also really funny. Like Fergus put it there for safe keeping.

  • Watching Phoebe try to sleep as I tickled her feet with the newly discovered Fergus Whisker

  • This post by the lovely and luminous The Wife, my dear friend. She's such a beautiful writer, and can put things in such a way... this is a day that I am ill-equipped to encapsulate in words. My friend does it beautifully.

  • The knowledge that You're out there - all of you

  • Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip - I wouldn't want to spend a moment of my life without him in it


Posted by Whimsy 1 comments
Labels:

Friday, September 7, 2007

wild kingdom

Please understand, though daily posts would indicate otherwise, my life does not, in fact, revolve around the following: food aversions, food cravings, or critters in our garden. With that said, however, HAVE I GOT A WEIRD ONE FOR YOU.

I came home last night after a really nice evening with Angela. We don’t frequently use our front door, because there is a wonderfully handy-dandy doorway leading from the garage into the house – and seeing as how we’re normally the ones doing the driving, we enter and leave through that door almost exclusively. However, last night Angela was my driver, so I had the rare pleasure of actually using the front doorway. As I walked up the pathway, I realized two things: 1) our front porch light was burnt out and 2) WHAT THE LIVING HECK IS THAT THING ON THE WALL?!?!

It was roundish. It was about 4 inches in circumference. It was black. And it appeared to be a snake. Upon vaguely closer inspection (meaning I had to squeeze past THE BEAST to get into the front door), I confirmed that it wasn’t, in fact, a snake – but rather, TWO OF THE BIGGEST SLUGS I’D EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE – HAVING THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES ON THE SIDE OF OUR HOUSE, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN – HUBBA HUBBA, I THINK YOU DO.

Being a chicken about any kind of goo-related creature, I pulled open the door, locked it firmly behind me, and then SCREECHED for Chip. HAVE YOU SEEN THE THING THAT’S ON THE OUTSIDE OF OUR HOUSE! IT’S ALIVE – AND IT’S DOING… SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE DONE IN PRIVATE, BEHIND CLOSED-DOORS! So Chip comes down and grabs a glass of water to wash the obscene little buggers from the siding. I’m cowering behind him, figuring that at least if the slimy offenders leap out and grab someone, they’ll grab Chip first. I’M THINKING OF MY UNBORN CHILD, HERE, PEOPLE. I MUST PROTECT THE FUTURE! So we creep outside, to the darkened (and apparently, extremely seductive) porch – and find that the slug mating has now progressed to …. something else entirely. There is some kind of slug spiral formation – jutting about three inches from the house as well as a gooey, whitish liquid dripping off the couple in a single gelatinous mass.

As soon as we see what is happening I run into the house, screeching and wailing like Phoebe on Friends, MY EYES! MY EYES! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT STUFF! WE DON’T WANT TO KNOW! And Chip stumbles in after me, glass still in hand – DUDE! YOU HAVE TO GO GET THE CAMERA! THAT’S SOME WICKED STUFF HAPPENING THERE! GET THE CAMERA! HURRY! FAST!

So yes, I caught it all on film. And I felt pretty disgusted with myself to even think of sharing it with all of you. Should I have respected the slugs in their private moments, creating yet more slugs? Should Chip have NOT washed them away away away (the SEA would not be far enough away away away)? My retinas are burned with that image. So I give you a choice – we’ll put it to a vote (and those few and brave souls who leave comments): do you want to see the slugs? Majority rules at this moment at The Creamery, my friends, and I’d hate to burn that image into your retinas unless you really truly WANTED it. For those who have never posted, now is your chance: either to vote for continued Slug Privacy, or to Lay It All Out There. (Comments at bottom.)

Have a great weekend. Please don’t go thinking that our house is really that creature-infested. I share because I care. And, in Chip’s words: WE SURE DO GROW ‘EM BIG UP HERE IN THE NORTHWEST.
Posted by Whimsy 6 comments

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

our friend eddie



As promised – a VERITABLE CORNUCOPIA OF WEEKEND RECAP FANTASTICNESS (I dare you to say that three times fast). My lovely husband works. A lot. And also, often. So we don’t get a lot of weekends ‘round here. The last Saturday afternoon he spent home was with Fred, the behemoth spider. Having him home all weekend long was sheer and utter bliss. We tried our best to take advantage of it by having some fun.

Saturday we spent a good majority of the day at Bumbershoot, the annual Seattle music festival. If you’re a modern music fan (or heck, just a music fan), it’s a thing not to miss, though I have been woefully underrepresented the past few years. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown even more wary of large crowds of scantily clad strangers – making fairs and fests and gatherings of any kind pretty low on my priority list. This was a special occasion, however, what with Chip being HOME and all. Plus – both Crowded House (reunited for a new album this year) and The Shins were playing.

Bumbershoot is held on the grounds of Seattle Center – that’s where the Space Needle lives, y’all out-of-towners – which has a nice collection of various venues and stages to host the ‘fest. I guess the best way to describe it is this:

MANY, MANY PEOPLE, OF ALL AGES AND TAX BRACKETS, WEARING A LOT OF SKIN (AND ACCORDING TO CHIP, NOT A LOT OF DEORDORANT)
+
MANY DIFFERENT BANDS, MUSICIANS, COMEDIANS, AUTHORS, AND POETS, ALSO OF ALL AGES AND TAX BRACKETS AND VARYING DEGREES OF FAME
+
LABOR DAY WEEKEND
+
A TON OF FAIR-TYPE FOOD
+
SEATTLE CENTER
=
BUMBERSHOOT

The best part for us, of course, was Crowded House and The Shins playing in the same venue (Memorial Stadium – the largest space), back to back. We got there in plenty of time, and found a nice shady spot to sit and people-watch. The music was fan-flipping-tastic. The company (lovely husband) was also of the good. We ate some fair-food (Kettle corn! Gyros!). We enjoyed the weather. Perhaps the strangest part of the day was when, toward the end of their set, Neil Finn of Crowded House introduced their friend Eddie, from nearby Portland, who was going to sit in with them for a couple of songs. And no lie: out walks Eddie Vedder. I’m not all star-struck by the guy himself – he’s a regular guy, doing his thing. But with Crowded House? To sing World Where You Live? Okay – odd. But weirdly cool. Like one of those moments when I look around at the sky, bluer than cerulean ever ought to be – and then the strange amalgam of people that make up this wonderfully kooky city and I feel so gosh-darn fortunate to live here, like, man, only in Seattle. We left the stadium later that afternoon, awed and inspired by some terrific music (if you haven’t yet listened to James Mercer cover Pink Floyd’s Breathe – duuuuuude), and feeling all floaty and happy. A great afternoon, only marred by the HORRENDOUSLY TEEMING MASS OF HUMANITY ATTEMPTING TO EXIT THROUGH WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS THE WORST BOTTLE NECK OF FOLKS I’VE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE TO WALK THROUGH. So glad Chip is a nice, solid, tall thing – because otherwise I would have been trampled.



Saturday concluded with some DVD-watching, and extremely early turning in (we are OLD OLD OLD – we are not ashamed that we went to bed at 9pm).

Sunday was church and yet more resting. The night was capped off with a surprise visit by Chip’s folks, who were in the neighborhood, returning from a recent trip out of town. It’s been AGES since we’ve seen them – so it was awesome to catch up and chat.

Monday was more of the same, with some errands thrown in for good measure – and the previously mentioned book store visit. It was such a nice time, I hated to see Tuesday arrive.

Posted by Whimsy 3 comments

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

huevos verdes con jamon

We had a pretty great Labor Day weekend. Chip took time off! We attempted to sleep in! We went to Bumbershoot, the annual Seattle music festival (where we saw Crowded House and The Shins)! We ate a lot! And – we went to a bookstore. Tomorrow I’m going to bring you the gritty details of the weekend of leisure, but for today, I’m going to let you in on a little experiment that we’re trying.

We’d like The Bean to learn to speak Spanish. Chip is fluent in it. I, ever the gringo white girl, am not. Yes, I grew up in the Southern California, where the Spanish language is quite literally spoken on every corner. Being my contrary self, of course I took French—four years of it! And a couple semesters in college. I can sort of say a few words of this beautiful language, and sadly, nothing else. I am a pathetic American who speaks the English good. (HA!) We’re hoping we can spare The Bean from my ugly state by starting him or her off early. Obviously, I’m no help in this endeavor. Chip spends time talking to The Bean each day, having these great conversations that I can’t understand. In the early weeks, it was cool – and I’d just lay there, thinking my own thoughts, listening to the rumbling familiarity of Chip’s voice. Now I’ve started to get a little …nervous. I’m giving my husband and child an opportunity TO TALK ABOUT ME – WHEN I’M IN THE SAME ROOM. BECAUSE I WON’T UNDERSTAND A BLINKING WORD.

I don’t quite have grand plans of enrolling in a language course quite yet. However, I took the first step yesterday when we were at the bookstore. I bought a book in Spanish. Of which I will read. To The Bean. And hopefully (through osmosis?) learn some of the language my own self. I had about five books to choose from – one of them a dictionary (no, not quite there yet), El Gato En El Sombrero, and Donde Viven Los Monstruos. (Look them up – I DARE YOU.) After some deliberation, I chose Huevos Verdes Con Jamon.

The entire way home, I was shuffling through the book, me and Juan Ramon. With the repetition and my horrible pronunciation, I’m surprised Chip could even drive the car, he was laughing so hard. I trust, if nothing else, that this book will enable me to clearly explain to my waiter, the next time we're in a mexican restaurant, that I clearly don't want huevos verdes - regardless of where or how they'd like to serve them to me.
Posted by Whimsy 1 comments
Labels:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)