Sunday, Fun Day?

The plan to lead more exciting lives has already hit a stall. On Saturday we did go out to an Argentine restaurant and take in a little Tango dancing, but that is where the fun stopped.

The next morning it was discovered that my lovely little auto was sporting a super flat.

I wanted to call AAA, Rob said 'Absolutely not! We will change this ourselves.'

OK, no big deal, right? Well, to my astonishment, all the tire places are closed on Sunday. I thought stuff like this only happened in Utah. Guess not.

Mid-afternoon we wandered outside in the freezing cold to switch out flatie with a spare since we'd unable to acquire a new tire until the next day. I was silently cursing myself for not parking in the garage. It would have been SO much warmer to change the tire inside...but that wouldn't have made for a very memorable experience, now would it?

Rob threatened to have me change the tire myself while he supervised, just to make sure that I had the skill under my belt should I be tested on it in the future, but lucky for me, he's too chivalrous to make me lift heavy dirty things by myself.

He's my hero.

Turns out I have some ridiculous kind of theft resistant tires, which means there is a special little key/bolt-type thing required to change my tires...which we didn't know about...and the service department at the dealership was closed so there was no help to be found. I tore my car apart and finally ended up locating it in a little velcro hidey-pocket. Handy.

We I looked so stupid out there. Rob was on the ground unscrewing the lug nuts and there I was...standing there reading the owner's manual...like a total dork. The missionaries saw us, took pity on us and offered their assistance. We, being the independent people we are (ha!) passed, and finished the job ourselves. Er, I mean Rob did all the heavy lifting and I stood there...with the book.

Like I said, hero.

And this took up our entire Sunday. So, how's that for exciting? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Gators!

After we left the cruise ship we picked up a rental car then made a quick stop in the Everglades to check out the gators at Gator Park.

We arrived there with enough time to check out the baby alligators before the feeding show started. These little gator babies were so still that they seriously looked like little toy alligators all thrown in together.

There were coin operated food dispensers near their enclosure, so we bought some, tossed it in and they went absolutely wild. It was really a strange sight to see! They had them separated into the different ages...these two were the smallest two sizes, I believe. The ones on the left were probably a foot long, the others were maybe eight or nine inches.

On our way to the feeding show we came across this huge alligator skin that was on display. Yeah, it looks big in the first picture, but in the second picture you can compare it to Rob and then it seems even bigger! Seriously, that was a big ol' gator! His name was Grandpa.

We came across another stuffed gator or two along the way. Oh, and there was a live alligator that they'd restrained his chompers and you could have your picture taken while sitting on his back. Crazy, I know...but there were plenty of people doing it. I have to admit, I was a little tempted (just a little), but Rob was looking out for me and kept me safe...you know, on the other side of the fence, with all the other sane people. ☺

We got to the feeding area/breeding pond just in time for the show. All the gators knew what was going to happen so they were all slowly creeping up out of the water. It was surprising how many of them there were! They would just walk all over each other too...stepping on the bodies, tails and faces of the other alligators without any hesitation.

The feeding was really neat to see, but I only caught about 23% of it. You see, the feeder guy had big buckets of rats that he was feeding them. And me, I don't do so well with vermin of any nature. I just kept my eyes elsewhere and relied on Rob to tell me when it was okay to look. Big baby, I know.

The feeder guy was luring the alligators up on the fence and even got a few to climb up it with all feet. He had them jumping for their snacks too. It's amazing how much air they can catch! There were several alligators that were missing partial or full limbs as well as tails. Apparently things get pretty violent out there!

As we were heading towards the exit we saw a few geese (or maybe they were swan?? I am glad that my brothers don't really read this blog. They'd be ashamed that I cannot differentiate between a goose or a swan!) and I foolishly thought that they'd be safer than the alligators we'd just observed. Well, they weren't. One of those vicious little birds attacked me. Seriously, it did. It reached it's long neck through the fence and bit my leg...then it kept following me around and taunting me until we left. Good thing Jordan wasn't around or that little birdie would have been dinner to someone. ☺

Opening Day

Yesterday was opening day at Safeco Field, Mariners v. A's and I was not there.

Nope, Rob and his brother Marc went (to celebrate Marc's BD!) and left me at home to attend to my boring, yet oh-so-responsible life.

M's lost anyways. Maybe if I was there?? Better luck next time. ☺

Good in the bad

Me and my bad teeth were lucky enough to have a surprise but necessary visit to an oral surgeon or two.

While it's easier for me to sit home in pain, being ornery and looking swollen, I decided that there are actually a good thing or two that come from the experience...

• I have awesome insurance that paid for all the visits
• I get to (or is it have to??) eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next day or two.
• Since I'm 'sick' the calories from the ice cream don't count, right?
• I have a job that is flexible and allows me to work from home
• I now have time to watch the last five episodes of Grey's Anatomy that my DVR has been saving for me
• Percocet!

So,the silver lining is turning out to be pretty nice. Back to the couch and my scoop of ice cream!

We're Melting

It is hot up here.

Like 100* hot.

I know this doesn't sound that bad to a lot of you, but up here in the Pacific Northwest central air or even air conditioning isn't standard for most residences. So yes, it is stinking HOT!!

Last night as Rob and I laid on the floor downstairs with three fans blowing on us we realized we'd be much better off to

a.) be sitting in a cool movie theater

b.) drive around in the car with the air on high

c.) be anywhere but where we were

Since we've seen nearly every movie in the theaters we decided it best to put on our shorts and tanks and head over to Alki Beach.

It was SO much cooler by the water! We took a nice stroll and then had an amazing dinner at Cactus. It used to be a grocery store that was recently transformed into this funky Tex Mex restaurant.

We had a great table *bonus point* that gave us a perfect view of the beach *another bonus point*. Since it was our first time there they gave us some yummy appetizers on the house *that deserves two more bonus points* and the dinner was delish *yep, another bonus point*, so all in all, looks like Cactus has made it was into our regular rotation of restaurants.

We decided to head back home around 9:30, certain that our place would have cooled down to a much more tolerable temperature by then. We walked in the door and felt like we were hit by a heatwave. Ugh!

I've already decided that I will be putting in some time at the mall and then catching a movie after work today so that I don't have to endure any more time that necessary at our residence, which appears to have relocated to the Sun.

Camping vs."Camping"

This is how normal people camp...

...tents, fire pit, outdoors, the whole thing.

This is how Rob and I camp...

...spending the days being outdoorsy with the family and then drive down the canyon to the Econo Lodge for the evenings.

At least for the first night. We wussed out and moved to a nicer hotel after the first night.

Hey, we tried!

Fun camping pictures to come soon...

Word to the wise

When you find yourself in your pajamas and needing to run out to your snow enveloped car, heels may seem the best option to keep your warm feet from sinking into the snowy ground (which they certainly do), but they don't do much in the traction department. That is how you end up sliding around and eventually landing on your keister...along with being wet and cold. Opt for putting on your boyfriends boots instead. Your bum will thank you. Not that I would ever do anything like this...I'm just saying.

Grossest thing EVER!

I stopped by Petco yesterday to look at a heated tank for my fish. As I headed down the main aisle my eyes caught sight of the most disturbing of all disturbing sights (as far as pet shops go). There was an entire rack full of animal themed calendars. But wait, that's not the bad part. Right front and center was a calendar of...R-A-T-S...yes, Rats! I barely glimpsed at it and felt a shudder run through my body. I had to fight back the urge run out crying (or convulsing). Who buys a calendar of rats!?! Rodents are my biggest fear/disgustment/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. They absolutely unnerve me!

I am struggling just to type out these words, they get to me that bad. Needless to say, I didn't stick around and buy a tank (what a wuss, I know) for my little guy. That will have to be another trip...maybe I can get Rob to do it?? I will never again enter a pet store without this awful memory resurfacing. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but that is just how big of a baby I am...and I am not going to work on it. :)

This post has gotten to be too much for me. I had better go and lie down.

Quite the tragedy

My beloved laptop has given up on me. I step away for a couple hours and when I come back her wireless ability is non-existent. An hour and forty seven minutes on the phone with tech support left me with only two choices: mark her DNR and buy another one or send her in for an attempted revival. Me, being the sentimental person I am have decided to ship her off to some strange land for repair and I won't get her back for weeks. She probably won't even recognize me when she returns. Bummer!

Feeling like a teenager again

I have grown a third eye. Right between my existing two. In the form of a pimple. Ugh! I shuddered as I typed that...I am so embarrassed. Aren't I past the age of this!?! I think it might look more inconspicuous if I were to plaster on one of these and attempt to pass it off as a 'sports' injury.

I told Rob I felt like a unicorn. Instead of reassuring me, he laughed. Guess it really is that bad. I am traumatized. Do Dermatologists make office visits? I am too horrified to step out of mine.

Happy Monday.

Illegally Blonde

On my recent journey from a brunette back to a red head I hit a major roadblock. It all started yesterday morning at 9 AM. The first step in my transformation was to bleach, yes, I said bleach the entirety of my tresses. Since my hair was so dark, the process took two applications and several hours. After the bleach came the color - yay! This also took hours. Apparently my hair is a little bit stubborn. When the colorist was happy with the hue of my hair she washed the dye out and began blow drying. I was so excited to see my red hair again!! It has been so long since I have had red hair, I hardly remembered what I looked like with it. But as she continued blowing out my hair, the color I was seeing was anything but familiar. I know my memory couldn't be that bad...my hair had never been this color. The color I am referring to...BLONDE. Immediately my smile turned into a frown, and she tried to convince me that it was a lovely shade of strawberry blonde. Um, no...it is just blonde, no strawberry in sight! My stubborn hair just didn't take to the color as she thought it would. By this time the salon had already been closed for 90 minutes, so there was nothing further she could do for me yesterday. My eyes are pricking up with tears as I am reliving this.

The kicker of this is the salon cannot fit me in to fix it until Tuesday afternoon! I have to walk around looking like a blonde wannabe faker until then. Although, I have hid out at home ever since the incident. I am tempted to buy a box of red hair dye from the store a fix it myself. I know this would probably only create more problems for my hair, so I am showing restraint...so far. As soon as Rob saw my hair he expressed his disinterest in it, but now says that the color has grown on him. I think he is just trying to make me feel better. I am going through my scarves and hats and trying to pull together a decent, but not overly obvious look to disguise the mess. No winners as of yet. I could sport a ski mask...