Ladies and Gentlemen...

I present to you Daniel (I don't know his middle name) McCammon or McHammond.

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Obsessed... with the Living/Family Room (Day... oh we all know that plan didn't work)

Ok, so I know (and have been reminded by SEVERAL people) that I haven't updated my blog in a while. I am sorry... but I have been really busy. I will give the brief run down of the past week or so: work... work... work... fish picnic (I know... weird right??? I thought this sounded like a terrible idea, I think I actually said it was "food poisoning waiting to happen." But, actually eating salmon while sitting on the beach watching the sunset was kind of fun!)... work... dinner and watching 'Definitely, Maybe' for the 2nd time - I love that movie, work... work... chores/errands, Boomers for bowling and skee ball - I LOVE skee ball, Dan you still owe me... something... I can't remember what we bet, but I know I won, breakfast for dinner, work... work... hockey game... updating my blog (although I should be working, since I currently have 2 full-time jobs)... this one is mainly for you, Robin! - Hope you're having fun!

Oh, but wait! Somewhere in the middle of all that I got the couch!!! Yea, it was SO time to get it. And, even though it wasn't exactly right and Pottery Barn has to come trade out one of the sections, I don't even care! I am stoked. And, everyone that knows me and visits is stoked to not have to sit on the floor. And, to everyone who ever called me neurotic for rearranging all the pillows ON THE FLOOR everyday... I am done with that! And, you’re welcome.

Statistics: Well, it turns out this living/family room is NOT large enough to fit a 4-piece Pottery Barn sectional, but it IS large enough to fit a 3-piece sectional, and a few little tables and the HUGE 47" (I still maintain that Aaron and I are right on the dimensions, we picked it out, we should know!) LCD TV (thanks again Joe!) Oh and it has a fireplace which is SO cute! And, it's painted "Moonlight Dance" - Dizzy and I stayed up until 4 AM the day before we moved in for that!

Notice the camping chairs. We HAD to have them in the family room because we didn't have a couch for 10 weeks... It nearly killed me... the camping chairs that is.

Living/Family Room Shout Outs: Ok, let's see. Thanks to the delivery people at Pottery Barn for setting up my couch, but I sure wish you wouldn't have stepped on my rug with your shoes! - I almost had a heart attach. Thanks to the boys (but, mostly Aaron) for setting up the T.V. and showing me how to use it 18x or so. And, I am still trying to figure out how exactly "there are 3 remotes, what could be a bigger turn on than that" works. Thanks to Erik for hanging my shelf, it was small, but deadly. (With a special thanks to my mom, who had to coordinate way too much to get that stuff to me. I love you more than you'll ever know, and not even a little of it has to do with your discount.) Everything else Dizzy and I put up and together... because, OF COURSE, we are amazing!

Sponsors: Well, my most fabulous boss EVER, Joe was the BIG Sponsor on this one, because all the other sponsors I have mentioned only manufactured the items that I paid for, Joe actually bought the 47" 1080i HD LCD SONY Bravia TV with the surround sound system (that I have NO idea how to use) with an Ipod feature AND a 5-disc DVD player. It's RAD! He's awesome! Merry Christmas to me! Now for the stuff I paid for... TV stand, coffee tables, console table, most of the pillows, the lampshade, the lamp and the mercury apothecary jars - Pottery Barn. Clock, floor lamp, blanket basket, vase, curtain rods, little shelf and fireplace screen - Target. Curtains - Cost Plus. Plate??? is that what it is??? - Crate and Barrel. Floor vase - IKEA. Fabulous candlesticks by the TV - Miss Claire Manville, a women of GRAND taste. Orchid - Smith & Hawken. Oh, I think I am done...

Note: Amber, I promise to make Wendy clean her room this weekend so we can post it, I know you're still dying to see it and it's cute!

ReALLy?

I am kind of a news junkie. And, because I LOVE listening to and reading the news, I often get a dose of not-so-much-news news. Today, I got a big dose of it.

So, apparently UC Davis conducted a study, the results of which gave us this gem of knowledge.

Drum roll please...

Women are far more likely to cry in the workplace than men.

Hello?!? Really? This is news... TO WHO???

Dear UC Davis, you wasted a good amount of grant money on something 99.9% of all people already knew... and the other .1% only don't know because they have no mental abilities.

Now, I like UC Davis, and I don't want to take away ALL their grant money for conducting such a lame study, but the only part I want to let them keep is the part that pays Colby Weeks' (my former roommate's husband) salary, I would hate for him to lose his job. But, maybe he could talk to someone about this.

Bittersweet...

It's a miracle. Seriously! Jonny McKee came over tonight! Anyone who knows him KNOWS how miraculous that is especially since none of us are actually related to him.

And the best/worst part of his visit was this...

Sprinkles cupcakes!!! Aaaahhhhh....

Robin was stoked that Dizzy and I have this stupid ridiculous no-sugar-related bet that neither of us will ever win!

We tried to show our sadness...

For the blog...

But, something went terribly wrong...

Because neither Dizzy or I are posers.

Thanks Jonny... we loved the visit (and the cupcakes... they were pretty and we SERIOUSLY hope they make Robin real fat)!

Dear Brooke... this one's for you!

Dearest Pot! Your wish is my command!

My friend Brooke is constantly counting on me to a.) Blog WAY more often than I do; and b.) "be funny".

The pressure to be funny is overwhelming... sometimes I am tired, sometimes I am boring, sometimes I run, sometimes I hide, sometimes I am scared... (Oh wait that's not me, that's Britney Spears, sometimes I get confused).

Basically, I can not always be prevailed upon to be funny! Sometimes I need help.

Today I am assisted by Aaron (who will most definitely kick my butt for posting these photos publically, but, I'll take my chances, since Brooke needs to laugh).

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful! BEAUTIFUL! So, we went on a bike ride to the beach and we brought a picnic. (I was sufficiently poked fun at for cutting all the sandwiches in half, wrapping them in napkins and putting names and hearts on the bags - WHATEVER, I am going to be a fabulous mom). So, there were 5 of us, 3 boys and 2 girls. However, we only had 2 boy bikes... so Aaron VOLUNTEERED to ride the pink bike (which was BY FAR the girliest of the girl bikes we had) AND wear my sweatshirt! But, he said "no" when I wanted to put make-up on him. Oh man... I am still laughing about this one!

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a 27-year-old, straight (I presume) guy! Isn't this fantastic?!? No one makes me smile more these days...

Miss Brookie, I hope that made you laugh!

Love, Kettle

RaNdOm ThOUghTs...

So, I am sitting in my office, ridiculously tired for some reason, which is making me think of ALL sorts of strange things. Mostly REALLY random thoughts and questions. So, I am going to start spilling them...

1. How long does it take to make a bloody couch? I mean, I ordered this couch in January and it's March... REALLY... 4 weeks to ship? From where, Africa? I don't get it, I really don't get it, but I am so over being couchless... what is taking so long???

2. Is it odd that my roommate and I LOVE to watch the biggest loser while shoveling cereal into our mouths? A few weeks ago we woke up to go running and then came back and watched it for 3 hours... on the floor... SINCE WE DON'T HAVE A COUCH... while eating obscene amounts of Golden Grahams and Lucky Charms and we came to a few conclusions: 1) We both kind of want to go on the Biggest Loser (but, just for the boot camp aspects); 2)"fluffy" people must be more emotional, right? Why are they always crying? 3.) It is really NOT flattering to put overweight people in REALLY small shorts and a jog bra... I mean, come on! They already have to see their weight broadcast in shining lights AND use a truck scale instead of a normal one, it all seems a bit inhumane! 4.) All of the guys on that show have bigger boobs then me... I mean A LOT bigger.

3. I decided this weekend (while I was babysitting Isaac Moore - age 2) that guys are really quite darling when they are 2. They like to cuddle, they smile a lot, they say very little... so, 3 is when they go downhill?!? - Just wondering...

4. If you have a garage sale at 11:36 AM, not very many normal people will come... but, if you have a garage sale WAY earlier... A LOT of not very normal people will come.

5. SNA and SAN are very close airports, in that if you transcribe the letters wrong one becomes the other... but not so much in proximity to one another or to my house. So, try to double check your airline tickets if you are coming to visit me. But, if I love you enough, I will still take you to SAN at 4 AM, if you mess up.

6. I see kids (mostly kids that belong to my friends) and I want to take them home FOREVER! I KNOW... it's no good! But, I can't help it. The thing is, I am pretty sure their moms would just come get them and then think I am REALLY crazy.

7. My roommate, Wendy, is RAD! Want to know why? She snorts... I mean often and loud. AND I LOVE IT. She runs! (This may seem like a stupid thing, but in the 58 years I've lived on my own, none of my roommates ever went running with me... most of them wouldn't even walk with me... but Wendy will go running with me at 9:30 PM on the back back, when I have too much energy.) She's AMAZING! She has very bendy toenails, but they don't break easily. She's LOVES cereal, I mean L-O-V-E-S! She's totally fine sitting in the camping chairs, SINCE WE STILL DON'T HAVE A COUCH... plus, she volunteered to go to Kenya and run the couch over to our house by herself so it would get there faster!- Now that's love. She can't understand anything our Landlord says either (which makes me feel brighter). She's SO easy-going - what a blessing! Sometimes she has crushes on guys and then she can't remember who they are!

8. Most people do not get as excited about things as I do... except maybe Claire. I think that's one of the things I like most about her. Plus, she'll jump on the bed with me.

9. One out of five times I try to figure out my TV/DVD/IPOD-hybrid surround sound home theater system, I can't. So, I give up and try again later.

10. Paula Abdul is on drugs frequently, especially when she is judging American Idol. And, she has had SOOOOO much plastic surgery, she is starting to look an awful lot like one of the Jackson 5... maybe all of the Jackson 5.

Ok, I think I should actually get back to work... it's not like I don't have a ton to do!

My Monday Miracle...

This post may not seem noteworthy to some, but all who know me well will definitely agree, this is totally post worthy!

So, at this point in my life, after much introspection, I am pretty honest about what I am good at and what I am definitely no good at. And, I'll have you know, one list is MUCH longer than the other!

So, on the long list I have promptness... which I am CLEARLY no good at. I mean, to the point of ridiculousness. It's not that I mean to be late (and I mean LATE)... I just can't say no to ANYTHING or ANYONE... it's pathetic, I know. (I TOTALLY loved that part in 27 dresses where the dreamy guy makes the girl practice – who wants to try that with me?) So, I say yes to WAY more than I ever can get done in the time allotted for me and therefore, I am ALWAYS late, to everything.

My friends have wised up, now when I tell them that I am on my way and they ask exactly where I am, I can no longer pull of the 'in the parking lot' reply without a quick 'yea, but WHAT parking lot? In what city?'

I KNOW, it's bad! But, can I get away with calling it charming?!?

It's not my fault. It's a 'charm' I picked up from my mom! One time she picked my brother Mark and I up at 5:15 PM from Jr. High. (We got out at 3!) It wasn't that she overcommitted, it was that something fabulous was on Oprah - and this was before TiVo (and she never was really good with the VCR)... so we waited... on the curb... WITH THE PRINCIPAL... oh, and did I mention, it was the first day of school. Let me repeat – O.P.R.A.H.

I admit, I am scarred! So, you think I'd be better myself… ummm, not so much. I swear, I am trying.

Which brings me to the miracle of this post! - Today I arrived at work at 7:52 AM!

My boss asked who died! The Director of Operations asked if everything was OK at home. And, the V.P., well I think I scared the *$%# out of him, (oops)!

You never know, the lists might even out one day! - Stranger things have happened.