Oct. 8: Who decided this?

That jackass liar Senator Craig is being inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame? Huh? They say, "Larry Craig has made a great contribution to Idaho over the period of 20-some years. At the time it was considered, this other matter had not come up." I don't care how great the guy is/was, he's a jackass and a liar. Is it really too late NOT to do this?

Deanna and Debi (my Boise gals), I'm curious to hear what you think of the whole thing.

Oct. 8: Humorous-ness

Here are some misc images, mostly from stickers or t-shirts, I've been collecting from around the 'net. Let hilarity ensue.

What, you know of a better pair?

Um, best SNL digital short EVER???

Lori, this one's just for you,
in case you don't already have it

Yup.

I can't decide if I like this or the "sushi" one best

Oct. 8: Mac & Cheese Ho

Some people are nice. I like them.

Take my neighbor, Dawn (please! ha ha ha! no really, don't touch her, she's mine). I was bragging on her macaroni and cheese recently. It's the homemade kind, not the orange (albeit a different sort of deeeeelicious) stuff. It's the kind with three pounds of butter and eight pounds of cheese and a handful of noodles. The really, really, really good kind.

Dawn didn't remember that I'd tried it before, or that I'd taken fourths. Geez, if I wasn't so worried someone would have thought I was a pig, I'd have taken the whole pan into the corner and growled if anyone came near me. Yes, it was that good.

Anyway, Dawn e-mailed me last week to say she was making a batch and was going to bring some to me the next day. I could barely sleep that night! And sure enough, Saturday there was a casserole dish on the table next to my front door. Although I had just stuffed myself on Darlene's mushroom lasagna for lunch, I couldn't help sneaking a little bite of Dawn's gourmet wonder. Even uncooked, it was scrump-diddly-umptious. How does she do it? The woman is a goddess!

A few hours later I baked the whole pan. Victor took one bite and said, "We are soooo not wasting this on Katie and Jack." They ate orange stuff.

I am one lucky girl. But if I didn't know better, I'd wonder why Dawn was being so nice. I would wonder if she was planning to deliver the mac & cheese and then bonk me on the head with it and steal my car. But she really is just generous and lovely. And she's super-duper nice when she's been drinking. In fact, she scared the living crap out of me when she tried to kiss me once, just before she passed out in her front yard. I didn't really know her then. I know her better now, and she still tries to kiss me sometimes but I'm pretty sure she's not going to steal anyone's car.

I stopped being afraid of Dawn a long time ago, but after her kind gesture, she better be prepared for me to lay a big smooch on her the next time we've had too many flaming Sambuca shots. How sad is it that I'll do just about anything for mac & cheese? Yikes.

Oct. 6: First, last, current

First things

• First job: reader for an English teacher in high school


• First screen name: JenPDX


• First funeral: my grandma's


• First pet: Skipper, a pekingese/pomeranian/chihuahua


• First piercing: ears


• First tattoo: none


• First credit card: Nordstrom


• First kiss: some guy at my eighth grade graduation that was kissing all the girls. Memorable because I didn't know him but he totally French-kissed me. Also memorable because he was totally cute; otherwise I woulda forced the memory out of my brain looooong ago.


• First enemy: my sister

Last things

• Last car ride: home from Jack's soccer game


• Last kiss: Katie


• Last movie watched: Star Wars Episode III


• Last beverage drank: coffee


• Last food consumed: handful of almonds


• Last phone call: Jack's birthday party place called to confirm reservation


• Last time showered: this morning


• Last CD played: Spamalot soundtrack


• Last web site visited: kgw.com

Now things

• Single or taken: married but looking


• Gender: mostly female


• Birthday: Sept. 18


• Sign: yield


• Siblings: my former enemy, Kathy


• Hair color: brown/gray


• Eye color: blue


• Shoe size: 8


• Height: 5'8"


• Wearing: jeans and a muddy hoodie (mushy soccer fields suck)


• Drinking: nothing


• Thinking about: taking a nap


• Listening to: the washer

Now you go.

Oct. 6: Why do I bother?

A conversation with Jack last night on the way home from his friend Jayson's birthday party:

Me: OK, you're going to stay at Grandma & Grandpa's tonight and we'll pick you up in the morning to go to your soccer game.

Jack: I HATE SOCCER!

Me: Jack, I don't want to hear that.

Jack: It's boring.

Me, proving that stupid "mom" sayings are something we're born knowing: If you think it's boring, it'll be boring. If you want it to be fun, you can make it fun. It's up to you.

Jack: I hate it.

Me: (silently disowning the boy)

Jack: I want to give up.

Me: You're not quitting soccer. You need to finish the season.

Jack: Aughkkpst! (or something like that)

Me: You only have four games left.

Jack: I want to do three games. Or two.

Me: Do you want a trophy like Katie got?

Jack: Yes! Yes! A trophy! With my name on it!

Me: You need to play all the games so you can go to the party when the season is over. Then you'll be done with soccer and you don't have to play again if you don't want to.

Jack: I want TWO trophies. Katie has two trophies.

Me: That's because she played for two seasons.

Jack: I want two trophies but I don't want to play soccer anymore ever ever ever again.

Me: (banging my head on the steering wheel)

Why does he have to argue with me about soccer? If he hates it so much why can't he just shut up and do it half-assed, like the rest of us?

By the way, April, when Trevor is ready to play soccer, we've got cleats and shin guards that have barely (and very reluctantly) been used...

Oct. 5: Five for Friday the 5th

1. Name five things in your purse
   wallet, lipstick, nail file, business cards, USB drive
   
2. Name five things you need to do today
   take kids to school, deliver a project, shop for a birthday gift, take Jack to a party, make Halloween party invitations
   
3. Name five TV shows you love to watch
   The Office, 30 Rock, CSI, Psych, Dirty Jobs
   
4. Name five stores you love to shop at
   Target, Ikea, Disney, A Joy Forever (scrapbook store), Gymboree
   
5. Name five favorite meals
   Darlene's mushroom lasagna, dinner at Morton's, whatever Sonya's making, Bellagios Pizza, my tortilla soup

Your turn!

Oct. 4: Who's stupid?

I hate talking or even thinking about Ann Coulter because she makes me so angry, but I just have to share this. Here's what that shrew has to say about women in a recent interview with the New York Observer:

If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women.

It also makes the point, it is kind of embarrassing, the Democratic Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that it has so much difficulty getting men to vote for it. I mean, you do see it’s the party of women and 'We’ll pay for health care and tuition and day care -- and here, what else can we give you, soccer moms?'

What is her deal? Does she really think these things, or just say them for shock value and publicity? Because I don't like her one bit. (I know that's irrelevant but I just can't say it enough).

Oct. 4: Beer me

Yesterday Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams announced he's running for mayor. I don't know much about him--and I'm not going to apologize for my ignorance, since I'm a suburbanite and can't vote for him anyway--but I hope he gets elected because then Portland's mayor would have the same name as beeeeeeer. That would really get some people's unders in a bunch.

Heh heh ... it's fun to irritate the uptight.

Oct. 3: HSM3 on SNL

From Saturday Night Live this past weekend, here's a High School Musical 3 sketch. Andy Samberg may not be as cute as Zac Efron, but he's way funnier. And yes, I'm probably old enough to be his mother too, dammit.

Oct. 3: SATC spoiler

You may have heard that filming of the new Sex and the City movie has started. This picture taken during a shoot yesterday makes me oh-so-happy. Click it to see a nice big version. (What's with the feather?) There have also been photos of Charlotte very pregnant—though rumored to be a dream sequence—and Jennifer Hudson as Carrie's assistant.

And we're supposed to wait until May 2008 for this movie to be released? That's just cruel.