HVAC and Hobbes

Okay. Picture time! This is our air conditioner. Isn't it beautiful? This is our furnace. There's a Honeywell electronic air cleaner set up between the furnace and the duct that's there. I'm pretty stoked about that. This is Hobbes. A man and his dog. This is basically what Hobbes does all day. He's so stinkin' cute . . . He did pretty well on my parents' boat this weekend. He actually fell off of the dock at one point, which scared the crap out of us, but he swam right to the shore as if he'd done it before. He's also pretty cuddly. Here's Mom and Dad's boat. That's Dad. That's my Mom and Dad. Side view of the boat. Hank is feelin' a bit jealous these days, I think, but we're doin' what we can to make him feel just as loved as always. He is a huge cat. But . . . he's pretty stinkin' cute. Hobbes is pretty cool. Amanda called us last week and told us that there was a guy that she works with who was trying to get rid of some puppies. All we know about them is that their mother is a beagle, and the father is a mystery. We saw some photos of the dogs, and we picked Hobbes out of a photo of several puppies. Amanda went to pick him up for us. I guess that was a pretty sad event—he cried pretty hard when he got separated from his family. I'm so glad I wasn't there to see that. I just know I'd have come home with two dogs instead of one, and it's already a lot of work having just one . . . We met Amanda in Lafayette on Thursday evening to get the pup. He was so good in the car. Willis ended up sleeping on the floor with the pup the first night. Hobbes was scared of absolutely everything. He'd never really been indoors before, so he was terrified of everything in our house: the cat, the stairs, the fact that there were walls everywhere, you name it. We wondered how Hank would handle this intruder, but he's been great so far. I think he's excited to have someone to play with while we're gone. He does his crazy flip stuff around the dog, and now, they've gotten comfortable enough with each other to chase each other around the house. It's pretty stinking hilarious. I'm hoping to catch some photos of that sometime soon. Hank is a little jealous, I think. Last night, he hid under a bed for about an hour until I went to find him. After petting him and talking to him for awhile, he finally came out from under there to let me pet him. So . . . I think we're handling it as well as we can—we try to hold him and pet him as much as the dog (and maybe more in some cases since the dog is probably more forgiving). We had to leave Hobbes at home when we went to work on Friday, and we were quite nervous about leaving him and the cat in the kitchen/basement area of the house (better there than the rest of the house). When I came home to pick him up to go to the boat, I was sure I'd find a mess somewhere. Amazingly enough, he didn't go to the bathroom anywhere, and when I took him outside, he went in the grass just like he was supposed to. We didn't even have to teach 'im. I think it's because he's been raised outside so far, and the idea of going to the bathroom anywhere but grass is kind-of foreign to him. So . . . that's pretty awesome. His nose is gonna get him into trouble a lot, I think. When I take him for walks, he wants to stop and sniff everything. He is, however, learning quickly about the leash. I think we can train him yet! He's a good dog. It was good to see Mom and Dad this weekend. It's too bad we were so tired the whole time . . . that was a long drive. It all went so fast, too. We didn't sail for long, but that was probably for the best since I think the dog probably didn't want to wait anymore to pee. The pup was so good on the boat. I was impressed with him. Plus, I think Mom and Dad really liked him. Dad thinks that maybe Hobbes has beagle and blue tick in him. He might just be right about that . . . Mom and Dad took us to Nagoya—a Japanese restaurant. I ate sushi (with chopsticks), and Dad made fun of me for that. It's cool, though, 'cause I love sushi. It was one of those places where the cooks entertain you and cook your food right there in front of your face. I think that's so stinkin' cool. This weekend, the plan is to get some stuff done on the house. Scott and Mary are comin' up to help us, and we're gonna get some stuff done . . . finally. I'm just glad we're getting to stay home! We're never there anymore, it seems. That's all for now. I hope everyone is stayin' happy.

Mom and Dad Cheat Death

I got a call from my sister (Julie) while I was at work today. She goes, "Have you heard from Mom and Dad?"

I said, "No. In fact, I've emailed Mom today, and I'm surprised she hasn't gotten back to me yet."

She says, "Well, okay. Here's what happened. Mom and Dad were in an accident yesterday, but they're okay. Apparently, some 16-year-old girl (driving with several friends in the car) blew a stop light in Monticello and T-boned them. She was going so fast (about 35-40 mph) that she knocked them several feet into a light pole."

"Wow. I had no idea," I said.

"I guess Dad was pretty freaked out when they came to a stop because he was trying to get Mom to talk to him, and she wasn't responsive. After awhile, I guess Mom came to and turned to him and asked, 'What happened? Did I run a red light or something?'"

Ma got taken to the emergency room and got examined, X-rays, and a CAT scan. She whacked her head pretty hard in the car a couple of times (once at each hit). The doctor told my dad to wake her up every two hours last night to make sure she was alright. She's staying home from school today and tomorrow—doctor's orders.

Wow.

It amazes me that my sister in Texas knew about that before I did. How does that happen?

Regardless, I feel terrible about being frustrated that my mom hadn't emailed me back. I'll never do that again . . .

It's pretty scary—hearing bad news like that. I don't like it . . .

Weekend at Culver

Okay. I'll go ahead and share a few good pictures from the weekend at Culver.


Sarah and Tony are enjoying the boat ride.


Oh, Captain, my Captain. El Capitano. It's Jarsh, and if you look closely, you can see his lovely Mary Kay sunglasses.


I'm not sure, but I think Paige is laughing at Jarsh's sunglasses here.


As McGee says, it's, "WILLOW!"


McGoo. 'Nough said.


A little proof that I do, indeed, waterski.


A little proof that Jeffrey waterskis on one ski.


This is Jeffrey's lady, Christy.


I think this is just before we ran over Christy with our huge tube.


This is us actually going.


The boys are suiting up for their ride. Check out Tony's supermodel pose.


The boys are riding.


The whole crew. Yes. We are playing dominoes.

That was a good weekend. The company was good, the food was good, and we had some good fun.

In other news, I had a Charlie horse this morning at about 4:30. It was lovely. I think I scared the crap outta Willi.

Also: we're getting our stuff installed on Tuesday.

That's about it. CUT!

Freshman Year at Purdue - Photo

Check out this photo that I just found of Lena and me during our freshman year at Purdue.


Man . . . I don't look like that anymore. Look at us. We're so . . . what's the word? Innocent-looking. Wow.

And where the crap did I get my schnoz?

Lena's Wedding, Official Photos

Lena sent me some photos from her wedding! These are way better than my photos—as they were taken by a photographer with a stinking sweet camera and a more keen eye. Check 'em out:


The bridesmaids with Lena.


The wedding party.


Brett and Lena.


We got caught peekin' at the crowd.


This doesn't even look real, does it?


It was still pretty even though it was raining and wet and ucky.


This was taken right after Lena and Brett had dedicated our wedding song to us for our anniversary. Note that Willis is laughing at me while I'm trying to choke back the tears. That punk.

Oh yeah . . . good stuff. Happy times.

Tonight: we're headed to Cellular Field for some Burnham thing. It should be interesting as there's not actually going to be any real baseball happening. I'm okay with that, though. I'm not much of a "watcher" of baseball. Heck . . . it's boring even playing it, usually.

I'm nearly done with book three of Harry Potter! *pat myself on the back*

Lena and Brett's Wedding

Wow . . . that went fast. Wow . . .

Lena's wedding was absolutely beautiful. She looked amazing (as if there was any doubt that she would). I was totally nervous when I did all the readings involved with the ceremony, but only she and Willis could tell ('cause they know me best). I got lots of compliments from Catholics. One lady stopped me in the bathroom at the reception and said, "You must read at masses all the time! Where do you go to church?"

She was a little surprised when I was like, "Whooooooo!"

I had no idea how well I'd done because . . . well . . . I've never seen it done before (nor heard it). So . . . I was pretty afraid that I was terrible.

I saw a lot of people at the reception that I'd not seen in a long time. It was good to see those familiar faces.

Willis and I ended up not staying very long at the reception. I was feeling bad that he didn't know anybody there. Plus, the DJ wasn't suitin' my fancy a whole lot with his choices (until Melissa got in there and made some requests, and then I think the guy turned around a bit). I ended up dancing to one song with Melissa, Dessa, and the Craig mini-me (Craig is Lena's brother--married to Melissa, Dessa is Lena's sister, and Craig's mini-me is his son, Ethan). Then, I decided I should be nice to Willi and get him back to where he knew people, so we took off. I felt pretty guilty about leaving (as I was a bridesmaid and everything), but . . . it's also our anniversary weekend. So, we kind-of wanted to start thinking about that, too.

Anyway, I have some really horrible photos (quality-wise, not content-wise) that I took during the weekend (and some Willi took for me):


Lena's gettin' her hair did in this one.


Craig's mini-me. He is soooo cute . . .


This is quite possibly the best photo of me of the day, and it still looks pretty bad.


That's my hair.


Me and Lena.


That's the best shot I've got of her dress, unfortunately. I didn't get much time to be a real photographer . . .


Me dancin' with Craig's mini-me to "Don't Cha." He liked it.

One thing I forgot to mention: after Lena and Brett danced together and then with their respective parents, the DJ asked, "Are Willis and Jenny Brown here?"

We were like, "Right here."

Then, he said that Lena and Brett had dedicated our wedding song to us for our anniversary.

I then became irreconcilable for about ten minutes or so while we were dancing to our song. I'm such an emotional mess now! When did this happen to me!? I remember pointing and laughing at my mom when we were watching movies and she'd cry. Now, I might actually be worse than she is. What the crap?

We woke up at the Brown house on our anniversary, and after Mary Brown made us some scrumptrilescent food for breakfast (a warm, rice pudding and biscuits and gravy), we headed back North (in two separate cars). My hair was still up from the day before (it barely moved). We got back to the house, hung out for a few minutes, and then, we decided to head to New Buffalo to see what it's like over there.

While we were there (it's an amazing-looking resort town, really), we found a neat restaurant near the lake called The Stray Dog. So, we stopped in to eat, and it was awesome. Nobody will believe this, but while we were sitting there, someone I knew came up to our table to get my attention. It was Lyndi Haverstock--one of my old U. Choir friends. Man . . . it was good to see her. She looks great--especially with her hair long like she has it now. I'm hoping she and I will be able to hang out and catch up before she has to move to Indy in August.

Then, Willi and I came home, we sat and watched TV for awhile, he helped me take my hair down (which took awhile), ate some of our wedding cake (still good), drank the bottle of wine Nic and Jason bought for us (and told us which to drink and when--thanks, guys!), watched Old School (still funny), and that was basically all she wrote!

It's amazing how an unplanned anniversary still turned out to be pretty stinkin' great. I've been trying to think of something for us to do that day for months, and I couldn't think of anything (especially based on the amount of time we'd have).
Well . . . one wedding down, one to go for the summer. For now, it's back to work. Oy . . .

Funny thing about the previous statement: we were sitting in our living room, and I said to Willis, "Well . . . one down, and one to go."

He nervously goes, "Do you mean anniversaries?"

Hilarious.

Liam is 5

I can't believe it, man . . . this kid is five today.


Is this not the most hilarious picture you've ever seen?