Windfall

Recently I watched all 12 episodes of Big Love on In-Demand HBO. I watched all 12 hours over like 4 days. I don't know that it's even that good, I just had to finish the season because I started it. Anyway, if you aren't already aware, its about a polygamist family. The dude has 3 wives, and therefore a zillion kids. He bought the two houses next to him on his street and took down the fences so they have like a communal backyard.

This got me thinking. I have decided if I ever win the lottery, I am going to buy the house directly behind us and take down the fence. We'd have a huge killer backyard which we hang out in all weekend, but more importantly - Mike could live in it. He could even get a dog, I don't care. He can have his shoes and socks everywhere in his own house, not mine. No more salty coffee table. No more lemon slices left on the chopping block. No more clothes on the bedroom floor. Me and Kitty XL will live in our current house - and it'll be spotless. We can play music as loud as we want at all hours of the night. No one will spin my globe and leave it showing South America instead of Africa. No one will break my glasswear, or touch the walls with dirty hands. It'll be a musuem of Mandy muaah haha. OMG I just thought of something...more closet space! See, the more I fantasize about it the better it gets. Oh see another one - no more fighting about the A/C temp setting.

It's not that I want to completely get rid of him. We'd still have dinner together and stuff, but then we go home to our own spaces. He can go to sleep at 9, me at 1, and I won't wake him up. He can sleep over on weekends. Another benefit - our neighbors don't have a pool so we can convert their yard into a putting green. As it is now we just chip golf balls into the jacuzzi from the opposite end of the pool. Put in a killer outdoor kitchen, too. You see? This is a must-do. Oh, but when people get out of the pool to use the restroom, they have to go in Mike's house so they don't drip water and wreck-up my wood floors. Ooh, I can't wait.

Oh Chasey-boy

At this moment, both the kids are on a plane to Montana - alone. No kids for 2 weeks - woo hoo LOL. I gave Chase a talk about looking out for Jessie because she's only 14, and I know he would anyway. I also gave her her cell phone back for sercurity purposes - even tho it's going right back in the drawer when she gets home. But just when I think Chase is *really* maturing and gettin it together, he goes and loses his wallet 3 hours before he's getting on the plane. He thought it was in his friends car, but turns out he has no idea where it is. I have a feeling it might be in his suitcase and couldn't see it because everything he owns is black, but I had to cancel his bankcard anyway. He's DAMN lucky that he's still a minor. If this was 3 weeks from now, he'd be 18 and you know he ain't gettin on a plane without ID.

My Sunburn Don't Lie

That was an awesome trip to Lake Havasu with the Lopez and Cross families. I've go the sunburn, bruises and cuts to prove it. I knew it was going to be a good trip on Friday when we started off making the trip in record time of 2 and a half hours, instead of the usual 3. I remember that night promising the boys us girls wouldn't stay up past midnight - but we called it a night a 1:30, and still were out on the lake by 10. I think that might have been a record, too.

We stayed out ALL day. I only remember re-applying sunscreen a couple of times the whole day. Normally I always have my cowboy hat on, but this time I didn't use it. No hat and 10+ hours in the sun create a bright shade of red on ones shoulders. My nephew tried many a times to get up on his ski, but just couldn't quite get his buns up. He wasn't very happy about that, and to make it worse for him, Austin was up no problem. He got a little miffed at me for rooting for Austi, which was kinda cute.

We pulled off the lake at 8:30 because it was getting dark. After showering and barbequing for a few hours, everyone went to bed. But Stacey and I stayed up to clean the entire boat. We were cracking each other up and singing to Ozzy the whole time. She did the inside, I did the outside - all 24' of it. Normally this is solely George's job. He was impressed, but I could tell a little worried that we may have done something we weren't supposed to. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were saying "aye, what did these broads do!". We bumped our heads on the garage ceiling and few times and I sprayed myself in the eye with the boat cleaner, but turns out we did a good job on the actual cleaning, and didn't ruin anything.

Didn't matter anyway - we were going right back out on the lake the next day. We all intended on going home that evening, but ended up staying out all day Sunday, too. Nik got right up on his ski. George taught me how to drive the boat. We kinda got stuck in a monsoon when we docked at The Channel to get the kids air-brushed tattoos. We saw some people we knew there and made the best of getting stuck. We actually just by-chance docked next to the same boat we docked next to at Sandbar two weeks earlier. Such a huge lake, what are the chances?

We cleaned up and left for home Monday morning, and I went straight to work. My shoulders are on fire, I kicked a boulder in the lake and cut the top of one foot, cut my other foot when I stepped on something on the shore jumping off the boat to get the Cross' car for them, got boat cleaner in my eye...all that and I think the thing that hurts the most is my cheeks...from cracking ourselves up for 72 hours. Can't wait till next time. Havasu weekends are the dictionary definition of "good times".

Chase's Graduation

June 8, 2006

The event: Very hot - somewhat miserable, and not organized
The Kid: eyeliner smudged, glad to be outta there
The Stepmom: very proud, a little teary eyed

Qwerty phones

The Motorola Q has finally been released yesterday. Verizon is selling it exclusively for 6 months. Verizon also has the same 6-month exclusive with the Treo 700w. They now have released a Treo 700p (which has the Palm OS, as opposed to the 700w OS = Windows).

How wonderful for Verizon customers and other CDMA carriers. I'm still sitting here under Cingular contract with a non-camera/mp3 Blackberry, and a crappy Treo 650. If the Treo had any stability, I'd be all about it. If the Blackberry had a camera and an expansion slot, I'd never carry anything else! I've been hoping the Q would be the Treo-berry I've been yearning for (it's actually sorta cheezy-looking).

Hopefully the GSM Treo 700 will be released next month so I can try it out. The thing is, I gotta use it for a while to ultimately make a judgement on the usability. That would be qwerty phone purchase #3. I have a funny little feeling I'll be buying the GSM Q when it debuts in 6+ months. And I complain about the husband and his golf club purchases.