We stopped by the Woodfield mall, which is pretty awesome. It’s big and there are tons of stores we don’t have around here. I finally got to check out LUSH, which I’ve heard great things about from lots of girlfriends. I bought a bar of the Caca Brun henna for my hair, and I’m really excited (and a little nervous!) to give it a go. I will definitely let all of you know how that turns out. I was very anxious to check out Dick Blick, an art supply store. I could have spent HOURS in there. It was so amazingly cool, and the staff there is so helpful! I asked a question about what types & weights of paper are best for watercolors and the guy talked to me for 15 minutes about how to prevent paper from warping and all sorts of stuff. Very very cool. They happened to be having a big sale on sketchbooks, so I picked up a couple of drawing pads and a watercolor pad. I have been using my Purple Rain sketchbook and it’s awesome, except that the paper is lavender (which is awesome for a Purple Rain pad, no?) and I’d prefer white. Especially when doing colored pencil, because the colored paper distorts the colors of the pencils. Also, there was some water damage, because I’m a big doofus. I also got some extra HB pencils and a few erasers. Anyway, what I’m trying to say here is that Dick Blick RULES. I wish wish wish they would open a store in Kalamazoo.

We also hit the outlet mall in Michigan City, and I went to Bare Escentuals. Oh, how I love this store. They had a really nice kit that had a lip gloss, 2 eyeshadows, a liner shadow, and a blush and I loved it. The eyeshadows were in the purple family with an eggplant liner and neutral gloss and blush. PERFECT! I have been wanting to try more colrful eyeshadows, and with my green eyes I knew purple was a good choice. I even had the girl try all the colors from the kit on me so I could see how to use them and make sure I liked them. Once I got home, I busted open the box so I could paw through my shiny new stuff. Apparently, another customer had opened this box and taken out some of the stuff inside and replaced it with other stuff. The lipgloss was unsealed and used, and the eggplant liner I was so excited about was replaced with a bright teal liner! Ugggh, I was so frustrated. I called the store and explained what happened and asked them what I could do since I live so far away and the liklihood that I will get any use out of bright teal liner is slim. I offered to send this back to them, and also to pay for them to ship me the right stuff. The girl told me that the kits were sold out, so that wasn’t an option. She took my number and said she would figure something out and call me back. She called yesterday and told me she was able to find all of the pieces that were part of the kit and she was going to mail them all to me free of charge, and I could also keep the original kit with the mixed up colors as well. Best. Customer. Service. Ever. I’m so excited to get my eggplant liner!

Mike scored a few goodies too. He got a couple of really cool new t-shirts, and he also finally was able to get a new band for his favorite watch at the Fossil outlet. He also spent some time drooling over the iPad at the Apple store, but we decided to wait on that purchase.

Ironically, right next to our hotel was the RAM Brewery, so we walked over there on Saturday night to try the local brews. It was a pretty cool place, and I tried the flagship beer, the Buttface Amber Ale. It was very good, I actually liked it better than Bell’s Amber. I also tried the Total Disorder Porter, which I also enjoyed. It had kind of a bacon coffee aftertaste, which I really dug. I also had a small taste of the Big Red IPA, uggh, not my favorite. It reminded me of Founder’s Red’s Rye. Hard to drink. I desperately wanted to try the summer brew, Summer of George, but alas, they were all out, so no dice.

We had a stellar time, and enjoyed ourselves a great deal. We loved Schaumburg and would definitely like to visit there again. Good Times.

We got to Canada, and the University of Windsor was literally about 30 feet across the border. We were quite early because we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time for border crossing, which turned out to be very smooth. We found great parking right across from the arena  gym, and decided we should keep our spot and explore this foreign land on foot. Hark! A bar about a block away!  It was our lucky day.

They even had “Welcome U Kentucky” on the sign! We were pretty excited, but tempered by the fact that we missed the Friday Halibut. You win some, you lose some. As you can see, Dawn is so excited, she is making some kind of hand gesture. I’m pretty sure she isn’t in any street gangs, so this might be a UK thing.

We went inside, and I really wasn’t prepared for what we found. The place was PACKED at 4 PM on a Sunday, but even stranger is that everyone inside was wearing matching clothes. It was a sea of blue with small patches of white here and there. Oh, and then me – I wore an orange shirt, and everyone was staring at me like I had 2 heads. I didn’t really think this whole thing through, although in fairness, even if I had, I might not have done anything differently. I don’t know anything about sports culture, so I still don’t think I would have figured out that matching clothes was a prerequisite. The other thing is that while Dawn & I trekked a couple hours to Windsor, the rest of these people trekked 5 or 6 from Kentucky to see this game. I did not expect that at all.

We found a table, and Dawn was already giddy to be around so many of her peeps. I was giddy too, but for different reasons. I got a Bloody Caesar! I can’t believe that 30 feet across the border you can get a Bloody Caesar, but they are impossible to procure at an American bar. Anyway, it was so delish! It had a pickle & everything. Dreamy.

We got a bite to eat, had a couple of brews, and mingled with the fans. At one point, a guy decided to lead a UK cheer of  “C-A-T-S, Cats Cats Cats” or something similar. Dawn joined right in (as did everyone else), but I didn’t know what to do. She told me I looked terrified, but I’m not used to people spelling out words as a group. Also, I honestly thought a fight was breaking out, because when people are yelling in a bar, that’s my first conclusion. In all seriousness, though, the Cats fans were super pleasant and the nicest people I’ve met in a while.

We went out on the patio and were chatting up some of the fans. Dawn fit right in and knew all the lingo to hold an intelligent UK basketball conversation. But I was also ready. I had been practicing some one liners to use as my fall back catchphrases if anyone asked me anything about the Cats. I practiced them on Dawn and she approved, so I gave them a whirl on the nice fans. For full disclosure, I did come up with these completely on my own. I gleaned this info from Dawn’s tweets and from watching the basketball draft thingy with her at the bar. I’m pretty proud of that fact.

• Catchphrase #1: “Coach Cal is so great, right?”  This was my go to. I was hoping that this would get the other person talking and I could smile & nod and say “Yeah, he really is great” when they paused.
• Catchphrase #2: “I sure hope that this year’s recruiting class is awesome since we lost John Wall and Boogie.” This one was far riskier because I had no follow up if they questioned me further. This is pretty much the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

We were hanging out with these 3 guys and Dawn told them I wasn’t a sports person, and this was my first time around UK fans. I threw out my phrases and they were super impressed. One of them even asked a follow up question – “What do you think of Louisville?” I quickly responded, “You mean Little Brother?” I was a rockstar and everyone knew it. It was lucky that Dawn had schooled me on the Little Brother thing about 5 minutes before.

We had a ball at this bar with the rest of the Cats fans. I think what really surprised me is the experience of being with a big group of people who are all completely different, but have this one big common interest that binds them together in a way I didn’t expect. It was like a family reunion. We could easily chat up anyone and have something to talk about. And more than that, everyone shared the excitement that the game would be starting soon. It was a roomful of giddy people in matching clothes that were all BFFs. And it was kind of awesome.

It was almost game time, so we headed out and got to the College. We got pretty good seats and watched the guys warm up and do the fancy stretches. To my surprise, the game was really exciting. Dawn explained the new kid, Jarrod Polson to me. He is a freshman, and was good enough to get a basketball scholarship to play at another school. But he is from Kentucky, and always wanted to play for the Cats. So he actually chose to go to UK and pay for his own tuition so that he could play for this team. Not having a scholarship and making the team is called a walk-on. With about 10 minutes left in the second half, the Cats were killing the Lancers, so Cal put Jarrod in. This kid is about as cute as cute can get. The program said he is 6″2′, but next to the rest of the team he looks like a 12 year old. As soon as Cal put him in, the crowd was on it’s feet. This kid definitely has the support of the fans. He was a little tentative, and was just passing the ball to other players when he got it, but finally, he took a shot and sunk a basket. The crowd went crazy with excitement, and it was easy to get caught up in it and root for the hometown boy. That was my favorite part of the game, but of course, I am biased by sports indifference.

So that was my super fun experience with basketball. It was a really good time, and I would totally do it again. Dawn says I need to see a real game with dance teams and cheerleaders and all that, and I am in agreement. I also need a UK shirt and a blue wig for next time. Go Cats!!

Yesterday morning, we hit the road bright & early for the Michigan Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti. Of course, we had to make a stop at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor for lunch, which was fabulous as always. I had a great sandwich, but the highlight for me was the Burnt Sugar Gelato. It was so good! Like the top of a creme brulee. Mike bought some fancy cheese and then we pressed on to Ypsi.

When we got to the park, it seemed like there weren’t many people there. I assumed the turnout was weak because it was supposed to thunderstorm all day. Good thing I brought umbrellas & towels. We got a decent parking spot, then headed to the gate. Oops, somehow we went to the back of the park and were at the employee entrance. We had to walk all the way around the park and down a couple of city blocks to reach the front gate. HOLY SMOKES there were about 568975568 waiting to get inside!! We waited in line for a while, marvelling at the assortment of pretzel necklaces people were wearing. At first we thought this was just a sustenance thing, as drinking on an empty stomach is not a good idea, but much later we figured out that the salty pretzels actually cleanse the palate between samples. Next time we will know better and have our own pretzel necklaces. We also saw a few people with Cheeze-Its and pretzels, and even a dude with various types of beef jerky and cheeses on a necklace!!

About the time we were halfway through the line the sun came out and started blazing. It did not stop all day long!! So much for my umbrellas and towels! Since it had rained so much before the fest, the whole park was a grody mud pit. But nobody, including us, really seemed to care that it was hot and muddy and humid and gross. There was beer beyond the gates, and we had work to do. Here’s a pic of us waiting in line. Mikey took the photo, so he’s not pictured.

Once we got inside, Dawn, Peach Pit & I got our cups & tokens. Mike & Peach Fuzz don’t drink beer, so they decided to camp out in the shady food tent while the 3 of us decided to check out our first brewery. The festival was HUGE, with 54 breweries and over 400 beers available to sample. Where to start was a pretty big challenge. Dawn & I diligently checked off the samples we tried on the beer list included in the program. Peach Pit doesn’t even like beer, and was really only there because he heard there was drinking. We even heard him say things like “Give me the lightest beer you have.” Contrarily, Dawn & I studied our list of options carefully before we got into the lines so that we knew what we wanted before getting to the taps.

There were some standouts for me. I loved Olde Peninsula’s Stout Chocula. It’s a little sad that I had to go all the way to Ypsi to sample a beer that is brewed 5 minutes from my house, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles I suppose. I really really enjoyed the Oak Aged Hatter IPA from New Holland. I didn’t even choose that one, Peach Pit did. I got The Poet Oatmeal Stout from New Holland and it wasn’t my fave so we traded. It was so good, though. Smooth, yet still rich. I also really enjoyed Pickle Tink, a strawberry wheat brew from Schmoz in Grand Rapids. It tasted like fresh strawberries. it was very good. I hope I get the chance to try this again sometime when my palate isn’t hosed by drinking 100 different flavors in one sitting. The big winner for me was Old Hat’s Peanut Butter Stout. It was absolutely delightful, and I have fantasies of an Olde Peninsula Stout Chocula/Old Hat Peanut Butter Stout float with vanilla ice cream. I think I need to make that happen this summer.

There were also a few brews that made it into the “Interesting” catergory. We tried a Margarita Shandy from Big Buck that was not bad. It was different than anything else I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. One of these would be good on a hot day, but I don’t think I’d want more than 1 at a time under any circumstance. I also tried the Short’s Imperial Spruce India Pilsner. This one was definitely different – it tasted very pine-y, sort of like a beer-gin hybrid. I didn’t hate it, but I don’t think I’d get that one again. One thing we were really excited about was the Beer Popsicles at the Big Buck booth. We waited in the line 20 minutes only to find out they were all out! They did have Stout ice cream, so I got one. It was really good and chocolate-y, but I realized dairy was maybe not the best choice so I tossed it after a few bites. They also had a beer Slip N’ Slide towards the end of the day!!

I like a lot of Short’s beers, so I bought a T-shirt, and I got a brewfest T as well. All in all, it was a super fun day. I would absolutely do this again, but I think I’d do the bus tour next time, because poor Mike & Peach Fuzz were pretty bored most of the day. I know they had fun at Zingerman’s, but the Beer Fest itself didn’t have much that was of interest to them, sadly.

Here’s my faorite picture from the day. Dawn took this pic of the 2 of us, but Peach Pit was feeling left out so he had to make his presence known, too. The end result is just adorable.

We are planning a multi-pronged attack angaint the criiters. First, we bought a squirrel dome that will go over the feeder to keep fat critters off of it. We are also going to lube the pole with vegetable oil or maybe Vaseline so tiny paws will have a hard time scaling it. We also mixed cayenne pepper in with the bird seed. I read online that squirrels hate cayenne, but that birds can’t taste it. We are going to get our new (hopefully) squirrel-proof feeder set up this weekend. I’ll keep you posted on the results.

Everything else has been pretty good. George was gone camping last weekend, so Mike & I had the house to ourselves, and didn’t really do a whole lot. On Saturday my mom & I went out garage sale scouting, and my big find was a beer drinking board game called Chug-A-Lug from the early 80’s. The box cover photo is priceless and it even says “Beverages Not Included” just so there’s no confusion. I’m pretty sure this was a steal for 50 cents. Can’t wait to give it a whirl soon. We also went to Milham Park for the big craft show. Truthfully, it was a little disappointing. I didn’t see too much of interest, and all I bought was some fudge and some jerky for Mike.

We did have Crappy Movie Sunday, and this week we watched Twilight. It turned into a spirited debate of why Twilight’s vamps aren’t “real” vamps because Stepenie Meyer didn’t go along with the established vampire lore. The dudes are just really mad that Edward glitters in the sun and they don’t. Dawn & I tried to stand behind the actual story and the books (not necessarily the movie, which we know is crap), but the dudes are adamant that Twilight is lame and all vamps are made way lamer because of it’s existence. Or something. Jacob didn’t even take his shirt off in this movie, so I don’t know why the boys were feeling so threatened anyway. PS – can’t wait for Eclipse! It looks like it might actually be good! Dawn & I are going to see it next weekend in an effort to avoid the (other) screaming fangirls. We really want to be the only screaming fangirls, and that just won’t be possible on opening weekend.

Last Friday we went to Grand Rapids to help Alexis celebrate her graduation. I made her the sweet afghan, of course, and I think she liked it. I didn’t really see her open it as we were on our way out the door, but I am pretty sure it was a hit. Besides that, both of her sets of grandparents, Mike & I, and another Aunt & Uncle went together and got her a laptop and a digital camera of her own. She was super stoked about that. She is leaving for Texas in September and will be gone for 3 months as part of a mission trip, so she really needed those things, and she was extremely happy to get them. The party turned out great, and it was good to see everyone.

On Sunday we hooked up with Bill & Deb and headed to Indiana because Bill needed to procure some illegal (in MI) fireworks. We had a blast! We started at the outlet mall and looked around there for a while, then hit the fireworks store. I’m not big on fireworks, so I settled for some morning glory sparklers and some of those popper thingies that you throw at the ground.  After that we decided to hit the Four Winds, but since it was a school night, we only stayed for about an hour. Bill was the big winner – he managed to wrangle $30 out of the place playing video poker!!

I finished season 5 of Lost, and that’s about as far as I can go right now, since season 6 isn’t available (legally anyway) on DVD yet. It got SO much better. When I said it was horrible, I was only about 2 episodes in, and once I got over the hump it was much more interesting. Also, I must say, I’m a big fan of Sawliet. Did Sawyer totally grow up working for the Dharma Initiative, or what? I was pretty much over Juliet as a character, but her hooking up with Sawyer totally reinvigorated her. And then there’s Locke. Alive! Dead! Alive! But not really? Anyway, I am eagerly awaiting the final season to see how this twisted story ends.

Mike & I also finished season 3 of Buffy, and it was quite awesome. I miss Spike though. I’m hoping he’ll be back pretty soon. I’m sad to see Angel go, but hey, if a dude can get his own show, he should jump at the chance. We are planning to watch the Angel episodes that crossover with Buffy as needed, with the help of our friend Dawn, who is an expert in all things Buffy/Angel. In the absence of Lost, I have been filling that hole with the first season of Bones. It’s a really good show, and I’m liking it very much. I just watched the Christmas episode where they are all trapped in the lab, and it made me weepy.

That’s all for today. I’m off to meet my mom for lunch. Toodles!

I finished this scarf recently, and it is for sale at Fuzzy Paws Knits. It took me forever to finish this thing because I used the tiniest little bits of yarn to create my own yarn for this. It took along time to collect all the yarn bits and then tie them together and then knit them., Whew. I think the result is worth the effort though. I call it “Fluffy Fingers”.

And just for giggles, here’s Dawn & I boozing it up at Gallagher’s last week. We are making a dent in the beer list. Distinguished status, here we come!

We also continued Crappy Movie Sunday this week with Conan the Barbarian. Dawn & I were less than thrilled, but Mike, George & Clovis thought it was delightful. It is definitely a guy movie. As Dawn put it, it’s “Twilight for dudes”. I guess so, but I can freely admit that Twilight (the movie) sucked. These guys can’t seem to come to terms with that reality about Conan.

I also took a break from Percy Jackson after I finished Book 3, and I decided to give the Sookie Stackhouse (TrueBlood) books a whirl. I have just started the third, and they are pretty good. I find Sookie just as annoying a character in the books as I did in the show (which I admittedly only watched the pilot episode of), but somehow in the books she is a tad bit more relate-able. Anyway, I am enjoying them, and I burned right through the first 2 books in just a couple of days.

I also came to the conclusion that I needed to use up the last pack of i-Zone film instead of hoarding it up. It’s been expired since 2006, and the quality will only go downhill. So I’ve taken a few shots, and plan to use them up very soon. You can see there is definitely already some loss of quality, so this was the right decision. Even though it breaks my heart.

They are so awesome, and I love this little camera! I will never get rid of it, just in case they decide to make film for it EVER again.

Last but not least, I started a new knitting project. I am making a Sock Yarn Binky. Basically, a blanket made from scrap sock yarn. For the non-knitters out there, this is a big deal because sock yarn is very thin, and you have to knit it with very small needles – so basically, I could be working on this for a long long time. Like years. I decided to do a log cabin style blanket because it will give me a chance to kind of free form this thing a little and really play with color and pattern. Also, I took the log cabin knitting class at Stitches Midwest last August, and haven’t had a real opportunity to put it into practice. Here’s a picture of what I have so far. I numbered the blocks so you can see where I started. Oddly enough, 3 of the 4 blocks so far are a solid color. This will not continue to be the case as almost all of the sock yarn scraps I have are some sort of self striping or self patterning colorway. It’s also important to note that I am only using machine washable sock yarns, because I think a blanket that needs to be hand washed is a little ridonkulous. So here’s the first pic, I will update whenever I feel there is decent progress.

On Wednesday last week I was hanging around on the patio and basking in the lovely weather, when I got a call from my BFF-OMG Amber. She had just rolled in to town from Florida. What a lovely surprise! I knew that she and my BFF Becky had plans to come visit, but I had no idea it would be that particular day. I guess that’s what I get for neglecting Facebook. Anyway, they were here!! They settled in a bit and then came over to hang out with me on my patio. SO great to see them. We hung out for a bit, then decided to hit Center Ice for dinner & drinks. We also ran into some other friends, so our little posse grew!  I even got everyone to relocate to Gallagher’s so I could knock a couple of brews off of my list! Fun fun fun!

The girls were here to clean out their MI house so they could get it on the market. George & I headed over there on Thursday to try to help them out. They had some rather large, heavy pieces that needed moved, as well as lots of small miscellaneous stuff. There was plenty to be done and we ended up helping them on Friday and Saturday as well. They were able to get everything done and the house is now for sale, so that is AWESOME. Except for the fact that they are definitely Florida residents now. Man, I miss those chicks. Anyway, we were so happy to get to spend time with them while they were here, and I hope to see them again soon!

As they were going through everything, Mike & I just happened to score some awesome stuff that they didn’t want anymore. First, a water cooler that does hot & cold (although the hot isn’t working right now and we are trying to figure out why), a super sweet floor lamp, a new leather office chair for Mikey, a BOMB upright carpet shampooer, and an art/drafting table with stool and light. The water cooler is so awesome. I have always wanted one. Even if we are never able to get the hot working, it is still the greatest. We even took an empty 5 gallon jug to Harding’s across the street and they refill for only $1.95. Quite a bargain! I also tried out the shampooer yesterday and it is really nice. It is very easy to use, feels lightweight, and makes the floor look totally sweet.  

On Easter Sunday we headed up to Grand Rapids to hang out with Mike’s family. The weather was so nice, and I am glad we got to do the Easter egg hunt. I got paired with Mr. Jesse, which means I was in charge of hiding his eggs and then helping him find them. He did awesome, he was only a little stumped by 2 of my egg hiding places – other wise I think I underestimated him. It was really fun! I am pretty sure that all the kids had a blast, along with all of the adults. If you missed the slideshow, pics are here.

Yesterday the UPS man brought my new juicer! It is so shiny. I can’t wait to try it out this afternoon. I might actually do fruit juice to christen it. I typically do veggie juices exclusively. But I have some lovely strawberries and apples that I think will taste super yummy. We’ll see.

We bought a grill (FINALLY!!) on Thursday, so on Friday Mike put it together. Then we hit the grocery and bought an assortment of smoked sausages and buns. We came home and Mike made magic happen. Well, actually, he just grilled some smoked sausages, but it seemed a little magical since we didn’t have a grill for so long.

After we finished eating, we heard from Clovis, who decided to stop over. He & I ended up MST3K-ing the original Clash of the Titans while Mike slept on the couch. It was fun!We also made plans to hit up Marmalade Dog the next day and see Hot Tub Time Machine.

OK, Marmalade Dog is a gaming con that happens at WMU every year. We heard about it a few weeks ago and decided this would be the year that we check it out. So Mike, George, Clovis and I headed ver there. First of all, there was a costume contest, which is always sure to make it entertaining for non-cosplayers like ourselves. Since we weren’t actually playing any games, and just wanting to look around and check out the vendors, we got in free. SCORE! We were there for about an hour just checking things out, and it was pretty cool. There were lots of cool things to see, and plenty of costumes for us to gawk at. As soon as we rolled into the Bronco Mall there was a Guy dressed up in a long red cloak and a pimp looking hat waiting in line at Subway, so we knew we were in good hands. Anyway, I met a Jedi! Yes, really. Look!! And the second pic is a dude called Pyramid Head or something from a video game. Mike knew who it was supposed to be. To me, it was just weird. 

After Marmalade Dog, we decided to grab some lunch before the movie started. At the theatre, my homegirl Dawn joined our little posse, and we went in to see the movie. It was AWESOME. If you have not seen Hot Tub Time Machine, you totally should. It is so worth it. Excellent movie. Right up there with Old School in my opinion.

Once the movie was over, Dawn needed to watch the Kentucky game going on with this March Madness thing. They were in the Elite 8, so she was nervous and thought it would be better not to watch it alone. We went to Gallagher’s and she waved her foam finger. Sadly, the Cats did not win, and Dawn was very sad. We decided to ply her with booze to make her forget her troubles. We all went over to our place and played Would You Rather for a little while, but then ended up in deep discussion about life and love until the wee hours. I think Dawn DID forget her sad loss, but then the next morning it all came crashing back to her – along with a bad headache and a deep resentment of beer.

We all went out for brekkie, sans Clovis who decided to sleep in (good man).  Sunday afternoon, we decided to start a new tradition – Crappy Movie Sunday. Basically we will all get together and watch an awesomely bad movie. We decided to start huge, with the mother of all awesomely bad movies – Flash Gordon. Dawn had never seen it! I know, I was shocked, too. She was in awe of it’s awfulness, of course, but you can’t help but love the rockin’ Queen soundtrack, glittery, shimmery, sequin-rich costumes, and the Hawkmen. So this one was a winner. Next time, we are screening Conan. Clovis totally sold Dawn and I when he mentioned James Earl Jones with Rick James hair turning into a snakeman.

So that was our kind of crazy weekend. I am sort of hoping this weekend will be a little more low key. Sidenote – I am all finished with all 5 seasons of Weeds, and I just started watching Lost (thanks Clovis!). I’ve seen the firt couple of seasons before but then I stopped watching. Re-wtching season 1 is kind o a chore so far. It’s really boring. I’m not sure why, maybe just because I’ve seen it before. However, I watch the same stuff over & over with zero issues, and this is exceptionally boring. I am trying to stick with it. Wish me luck!

For dinner, Mike took me out to Carrabas, and we had a great meal. I love the food there, it’s so good. After dinner, I wanted to hit Gallagher’s so I could get a Guinness and have it listed on 3/17. It was kind of a trainwreck! The place was totally crowded, plus they weren’t doing lists because it was too busy! I tipped the server a couple of extra bucks and she promised to add my Guinness for St. Patty’s Day for me. Plus, they were so busy that they served my Guinness in a plastic cup!! EWWW! So mission accomplished! After that we headed home. I have had so much cookies, cake & cupcakes this week that I am pretty much sweating frosting at this point. Life is good.

Today I had a lovely lunch with my mom & sister at Center Ice, and afterwards we colored Easter eggs with Noah. We did 3 dozen! Noah and I do eggs together every year, and I was thinking earlier this week that we probably don’t have too many years left before he is too cool for eggs with Aunt Kitty. He is 7 this year! Anyway, one of our traditions is that we always wear bunny ears when we do our eggs. This year, he wouldn’t wear them because he said he was too embarrassed! I convinced him to wear them for a few minutes so I could take some pictures, but he made me promise that Uncle Mike wouldn’t see him wearing them. Oh my goodness, we probably don’t even have a few years. We had a blast, but I was a little sad, too, realizing these days are almost over. Here’s some pics. In the first one, he was trying to hide his face because of the ears, but still wanted to make sure I got the egg in.

Noah is also staying over tonight, so I made chicken nuggets, tater tots (Noah calls them teeter totters), and broccoli (trees). After dinner, George & Noah were playing around and Noah said “Curse you George! I will have my revenge!” It was kind of awesome. Now we are all in our PJs, watching Star Wars The Clone Wars. Well I am writing this, and the boys are watching the movie. Oh, we are also nomming cotton candy. It’s been a fun day.

As a side note, Noah told me today that he watched a Star Trek show once when his mom fell asleep. He told me all about it, and it was a Next Generation episode. He liked it! He was a little scared of some parts, but he had a million questions. Mike & I immediately dragged him downstairs and introduced him to Star Trek the Animated Series. He liked that too! I think I may be able to make him a trekkie yet! WOOT!

Oh, I got New Moon! Mike picked it up for me today at Toys R Us, and it even came with a free little New Moon trunk to hold my Twilight Saga Blu-ray discs. I am hoping to watch it tomorrow night right after a lovely bath.