I'm Still Here

No, this is not a review of crazy Joaquin Phoenix's new flick.

Just letting you, our fan, know that the shrinking betties are still here. Not shrinking as much as we'd like, but still two "betties", that's for sure!

So... like you (I know you're like this because you're reading our blog), I was perusing random blogs and found what I am deeming

The Worst Kid Name Ideas of today

These are real names that "real" people gave to their kids. Either that, or for protection of their privacy, these are the aliases of real kids that parents are posting on their public blogs.

1. Avri
   (I'm assuming this is supposed to be Avery, though it just looks like Avril forgot the L.)
2. Logyn
   (The mother was inspired with this name while waiting for her ObGYN.)
3. Maddax
   (Let's keep the family united and make sure even Maddox's name can't be spelled right by anyone outside the family.)
4. Kamber
   (Now, see, this is clever because it's like Amber, but with a K. You could do the same with any other letter! Mamber, Bamber... Banana Fana Fo Famber...)
5. Teancum
   (I'm not going to make fun of this name. I cannot say the same for his peers... But I consider him a awesome Book of Mormon hero and an altogether amazing man! ... But how do you say it? Te-an-cum? Tean-cum? Better refer people to the Pronunciation Guide... Great idea on how to share the Book of Mormon!!)
6. Tillman
   (The boy was given this name because... A. His dad is a big football fan and reveres Pat Tillman., B. Someone in their family once had this as their surname... because that's what it is - a last name., or C. His occupation as a farmer was predestined. Till, man. You just can't fight that.)

Now, if any of these names happen to be your kids' names, or your own name -- I'm sorry. Did the parents not consider these kinds of things beforehand? Clearly, no. And for that, we will all be sorry.

Grood news.

This is my last Wednesday at work. While I'm sad to leave my kick-a job and amazing work group I'm pretty stoked about moving. Yipee!

And, as if I needed things to be more amazing, I finally get to see Jeramie. I haven't seen her in ages. She and hubby Nick are letting the Deetz clan stay with them overnight on our cross-country trip. Hooray for Jeramie! (Oh, and Nick.)

Sick and Tired

Those of you who know me, know I like to drive -- fast.

I know, I know. Life is about the journey, not the destination, right? Well, I think that since the "journey" (as they call it) is so short, we might as well get to as many destinations as we can while we're still here!

I've noticed, however, that when I'm really tired, or not feeling well, I tend to drive at exactly the speed limit. Or lower. Why? Well, I'm sure I don't know. But I've noticed that it is, indeed, a factual occurrence.

I used to live in the city. Not a big one, but one where everyone cruised down the freeway at at least 7 over the speed limit. Now I live in a town. (People in the valley call it a city, but let's face it. There's one Main Street where all the shops are. It's a town.)

I've decided that everyone in this town must be either sick, or tired. Why? Because besides being filled with inconvenient 4-way stops (see older post), it's also filled with insanely SLOW DRIVERS.

Being such a small town, there's not much of a chance to find a street over 35 mph. But there are a couple. A few in particular that I frequent. You can actually go 40. On one, even 45. And my favorite? You can go 55!! WooHOO!! ... That is, you can if there's no one else on the road.

For some reason, in this town, the few streets where you're actually allowed to cruise up to 45-50 mph, everyone in front of me is driving 30 mph. 30!! That's a sad 15 mph UNDER the speed limit. It. Drives. Me. Crazy.

They must be really tired. Or chronically ill. Anyone know any cures?

Be sure to ... drink your Ovaltine?!

A few weeks ago Coupons.com had a coupon for $2.00 off Ovaltine. I'd never tried it, but for $.88 (after coupon) and no sales tax on food it was worth a shot.

I love it! Delicious. If you have not tried it please do so.

I do suggest staying away from the malt-y variety. It was gross.

Questions? Observations? Complaints?

I just recently finished my first college class after a 10-year... um, sabbatical. Yes, that's it.
My professor would always begin class with three questions above. To which I would emphatically raise my hand and say, "Yes! I have a complaint!" Every. Day.

But only in my head. Surprisingly, the complaints didn't have anything to do with the class. At least not most of the time.

Anyway, I know most people don't want to read complaints on people's blogs. I also know most bloggers end up complaining about something, sometime. I may post some now and again. But hopefully you find these more funny than annoying.

First - Four-Way Stops
What a waste of time! And what a waste of gasoline (all this stopping and accelerating)! I live in the land of four-way stops. Seriously, because it's such a small town, every neighborhood intersection, and some main ones, seem to be four-way stops. Nevermind the fact that all the college students can't drive properly because they're texting, or all the old-timers can't drive because they're ... cautious. NO ONE knows how to handle these things! So we all end up waiting, start/stopping, waiting, start/stopping, and waiting because people just don't know who's turn it is. Most importantly, they don't know that I stopped first or I'm on their right, and it's my turn!!
Have you ever been to a European country? There's these lovely little inventions called ROUNDABOUTS. There's one here. In the north end of town on a street no one drives on. It's for the best, really, because only the well-traveled know how to do those too. But really, they're lovely! Here's how it works.
You approach an intersection (which may or may not consist of four roads coming together in a square), look for oncoming traffic, and if there's no one there, keep going! If there is someone coming, but you're way ahead of them in reaching the crossroads, you still keep going! If someone has reached it before you and is turning, you can still keep going! Even then! Traffic just keeps moving; no stops required!
If there does happen to be a car coming on your left then you wait until he glides past you, then go on your merry way. It's such a nice smooth traffic flow. If only we could have more of that here. /sigh/

My dream guy.

Jeremy just said the dreamiest thing.

"Is it ok if I do dishes now or would you like me to do them later?"

Is is possible for a man to say anything sexier?

The breakfast of ... runners-up.

Each morning I take my vitamins while I eat Pop Tarts.

The irony of this is not lost on me.