oh christmas tree...

It's hard enough to get into the Christmas spirit when its 80 degrees outside, but its even harder when there's no tree in the house. We didn't want to get a real tree, especially since we don't have any ornaments :) We had to get creative.

Long story short, I dressed our dress form (Norma Jean) in my long green dress, green sweater and big red belt, placed her in the bay window and surrounded her with presents! ta-dah! It doesn't smell like pine needles, or light up, but it is kind of pretty :)

Graden gets his kicks

Oh Graden, you are just too cute. Swing those legs, little man!

Tank Check!

A lot of drama has gone down since we last updated you all on the fish tank. Fish have come, fish have "disappeared," babies popped up out of nowhere and Buster busted out of his shell 4 more times.

Here are some photos of the action:

We finally decked out the tank with some new decor. Now the fish have a place to hide and bubbles to play with.

This cute little guy is Teg (short for Integra). He was my favorite...unfortunately he only lasted a few hours in the tank, falling victim to Buster's claws and massive appetite. Here he is shown doing his circus seal impression.

Speaking of Buster, here he is looking particularly evil while pinching bubbles from the new rock formation. Poor guy doesn't even realize his efforts are for nothing...we should tell him the bubbles are never-ending.

Here are the babies which miraculously appeared one day! Their mom must have died during fish birth. At first there were 8 (Ich, Ni, San, Chi, Go, Roku, Chichi and Hachi)...then there were 5...then 4....then 2....then 1....and now none :( They were all either buried under rocks or eaten by tank-mates despite our efforts to keep them segregated. We did, however, find another baby in the tank. He's a real survivor and hides out in the plant.

Here are Fuego Diego (light orange w/ black tail...still alive), Taco (black w/ yellow nose and belly...disappeared) and hmm...i guess we never did name that orange one w/ the black tail...

Buster rockin out in his cave.

Here's our newest addition, Walt...named for his Mickey Mouse-like markings.

Here's Chauncey...he doesn't move from this spot....ever! I think he's traumatized from witnessing what happened to his buddy, Teg.

Sucka is the workhorse of the tank...tirelessly sucking all the algae from every surface.

We also took Buster out of the tank for the first time. He had his first photoshoot this weekend. He DID NOT want to come out of the tank, and you can tell from this shot he was not a happy camper. Congratulations, Buster, you're still in the running to become America's Next Top Lobster.

You could eat the fog with a spoon!

So I got to work this morning, and realized I couldnt see the river from our balcony. The fog was so thick I could barely see down the street! Check it:

Rally Time

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!
Mark & Dan decided to rent the Lotus again this weekend, spurring a spontaneous car rally Sunday afternoon–makes sense considering we're in the South and Sunday is officially "Race Day"

The Participants:Vehicle: 2005 Lotus Elise 111S
Driver: Mark Lubbers, aka Lark Mubbers
Navigator: Emily Lubbers, aka The Lovely Sister


Vehicle: 2003 John Cooper Edition Mini Cooper S
Driver: Heather Eades, aka Heater

Vehicle: 91 3000GT VR4 Twin Turbo
Driver: Dan Augustine aka, Ze German
Navigator: Miss Stephanie Westrate

Vehicle: 99 Honda EK Hatchback, B20swap, Integra Type-R Transmission
Driver: Matt Espinoza, aka Matix
Navigator: Bridgit Horvay, aka the chick w/ the camera

The Action:

The starting line– at this point, only the neighborhood watch mascot knows what we're up to.

Vrroomm


Someone's happy to be driving a Lotus :)


...and the black speck zooms past the yellow speck over the bridge!


Pay no mind to the check engine light.....

If you're facing right, put your hands on your hips.

"I had the Lotus painted yellow to match my favorite note on Guitar Hero"

The line-up...

...and again.

Can't you see the twinkle in their eyes?

How to make a Mini look huge: Step 1, park it next to a Lotus

Paparazzi for a Day

Sunday afternoon Matt & I are hanging out at home...cleaning, doing laundry, etc. when all of a sudden there's a commotion outside. We look out our bedroom windown to find the aftermath of of a police take-down. This was no normal arrest, however. The suspect was lying facedown in only his boxers! He had been tackled onto the concrete sidewalk–pretty much naked–by a police officer. Ouch!

Lucky for all of us, I had the camera handy:

Busted!

"I didn't do anything! What's he gonna do with that glove??!"

A few days later, the mystery of the Boxer Bandit is revealed in the local Police Blotter, "Robbery Suspect Arrested in his Skivvies"

INCOMING!!

3 days until Matt & I come home...woo hoo! Get excited :)

Gray's Anatomy

My godson sent me an email the other day and it was so cute, I just have to share. Here's what I found in my inbox:


I love my feet. Whenever I am bored, suddenly there they are, just waiting to play. I can kick them and grab them, one time I sucked them, but that was not much fun...yuck. Miss you. Sloppy XXX. Love Gray

Operation: Mexican Hat Dance Successful!

I know...its been forever since our last post. There's been so much going on...we'll make up for it!

Since we last posted someone celebrated a birthday...Matt turned 27! The actual birthday was Wednesday, Sept 19th. I gave him his presents at midnight because I couldn't wait until the morning: houndstooth Osiris' sneaks & hat, Matix t-shirt, and a dart board. The partners of his company took him out to lunch for the standard Blue Lime get-drunk-on-your-bday event. Matt & I went to dinner w/ our friend Dan downtown later that night. It was a good birthday, nothing TOO crazy. I sensed the slightest bit of "what else" from Matt...seeing as though the past two birthdays consisted of a trip to NYC for a concert one year and a surprise bowling party the next–its just not like me to not do something big to celebrate him. Little did Matt know, the real celebration was taking place two days later.

You see, his sister, Carolyn, is also a huge fan of surprises and making a big deal out of birthdays. The two of us had been scheming for months to put together what we called Operation: Mexican Hat Dance. Carolyn had contacted Matt's friends from all over the country and I took care of the locals. She was able to get Dimitri, our old roommate, to fly in from L.A. and Nate, a fellow SCAD grad, to fly in from Minneapolis. We planned the event so well, Matt invited me to his own surprise! (special thanks to Dan & Mark for that one)

Let me set the scene for you...its Friday, Matt's had a rough day at work. He's stuck working late at Blue Lime. Dan asks him to dinner to celebrate a new business venture. Matt, being the gentleman he is, asks me if I'd like to go before making final plans. Meanwhile, I've been talking to Carolyn all day, checking in to see if Dimitri landed, checking to see if Nate's here, finalizing plans with Dan, etc. I get off work and head downtown to wait for Matt to finish working. At this point, my hands are shaking, I'm so excited...but I blame it on the fact I didn't eat lunch that day and am starving! At this point, Matt still has no idea what's going on. We walk over to the restaurant, which is packed...oh man I hope Dan made reservations....wink. Matt doesn't hear me tell the hostess, "we're all set–we're in the back room." We get to the back of the restaurant, I pull back the curtain which hides the back room and ta-da!! SURPRISE! Matt's sister, Mom & Dad, Dimitri, Nate and 22 other friends are all there! It took a good 10 mintures for Matt to figure out what was going on, but it finally sank in. The Mexican Hat dance played, they made him wear a giant sombrero and take a shot of tequila...it was awesome. It's pretty safe to say he'll remember his 27th birthday.

The invite:

The shots:
The crowd: