I'm ok with this:

I was afraid of this . . .

WHICH FAMOUS QUEEN WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE?

You were Queen Victoria. Ascending to the throne in the tumultuous Industrial Revolution in England, Victoria ruled in a time where progress was at its highest pace. She was the first English monarch to have her picture taken by the revolutionary camera and she strategically married off all of her children and grandchildren to secure alliances within and outside of Europe. She was also a great believer in morality and family and was keen to uphold an image of purity and of a close knit family. When her much loved husband died, she remained in deep mourning for the rest of her life, always wearing black even many years after his death. She was a very stable and sensible woman who went on to become the longest serving ever English monarch and one of the most popular.

When I saw this quiz, and started answering the questions, I knew I was going to get crazy Queen Victoria. The only thing that I am willing to admit that I agree with is that she was the first one to make white wedding dresses fashionable. And I love my wedding dress!! BTW, ever seen a picture of Queen Victoria?

As I look for pictures to horrify all my readers, I found some that show her in a different light. She was quite beautiful when she was young. Either that, or the artists were afraid she'd order their heads cut off if they made an ugly portrait of her!

I'm getting angry at these quizzes!

What in the heck is Hanukkah gelt?!

Really?

Famous bassists I might consider:

Stefan Lessard
Adam Clayton
Paul McCartney (then and now)

I KNEW IT!!!!

'Nuff said:

It's Quiz time again!

I'm not so sure that this is completely fitting, bit at least I could be an episode of "Supernatural"

Last one, I promise

Ok, those who know me know of my weird obsession with vampires, although it's been waning lately (thank you Brian). So, I take this quiz, and am even less interested in vampires. Stupid quizzes

Seriously! I've got to stop

Might as well

Ok, while I'm at it . . . .


You Are Aurora! (A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty.)

Thoughtful and loving. Authority figures probably have been sheltering you all of your life. Thankfully you're a very tranquil person who is content with what life has given you, but secretly you want to know how the outside world works.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

I'm Bugged!

Ok, just a quick note. There are a million things on the internet for people to play with and then post on their blog. Normally, I would avoid these things, but I'm bored. So I took the "What Flavor are You?" quiz. And I'm not happy with my result



I hate vanilla ice cream

Happy Birthday Chris!

Today is our friend Chris' birthday. As I type, he and Brian are playing Wii. We went out to dinner tonight and got fabulous food at Mimi's. It's a shame that the service at Mimi's is so terrible, because the food is so good. Maybe that is why the servers are so lazy--they know we'll be back for the food.
Anyway, Brian and I made a cake for Chris for his birthday. Chris has a Vespa, and he loves his Vespa. So, we made him a Vespa themed cake. We're quite proud of it. Happy Birthday Chris!!

Ok, I know I'm in trouble

I know that I'm in trouble when I hear from more than one of my family members that I need to blog. First of all, I find this ironical, because it's not like I don't talk to them, usual with some frequency. Secondly, why would reading my ramblings online be more appealing than spending an evening in the chaos I call my home? Maybe it is that innate fear of my home that makes reading these words on the vast interweb a safe experience. Who knows.

Anyway, it's been a while since I blogged and not a whole lot has changed. Brian is still working for the University, I'm still working for a lawyer. We both like our jobs, mostly because they keep us busy and our days go by quickly. The down side to this is that the days keep going by. I can hardly believe that it's mid-November. Oh, well. Such is life.

Gwen is still spectacular. She's actually perched next to me right now, breathing her wheezy little breathes right in my ear. Her lioness cut is starting to fade, so I think I need to get the clippers out. Howie is still stupid. He latest thing is to roll all over the floor. If he sees you coming toward him down the hall, he drops to his side and wiggles back and forth. He's really waiting for you to rub his belly with your foot, and I usually indulge him.

Speaking of indulging, Brian had a birthday about a month ago. He got Rock Band for the Wii. Yes, I swore it would never happen. I gave in and got it for him for two reasons: 1-I love him and I know he really wanted it; and B-he kept bugging me about it. My favorite was when he "conceded" and said he would be ok if we kept some of the equipment in our shed in Lake Shore. A couple of days before his birthday he called me at work and I listened to a 20 minute speech he had prepared about how he could make it work to have Rock Band. By the time he was done with his speech, he had actually talked himself out of it. The box was sitting in my trunk as I had purchased the dumb thing about 2 hours before this phone call. He's funny. We have a good time playing and our friends have thoroughly enjoyed it as well. I'm at the point where I need to open up some new songs, cause I'm getting bored!

I had an appointment with my favorite oncologist, Dr. Prystas. I mention this only because it was a momentous occasion. In August, I hit the 5 year anniversary of my diagnosis. So, seeing Dr. Prystas this last time was my graduation from seeing her every six months to only once a year. It's bittersweet. I love all the great people at that office and enjoy a chance to see them. But it's also nice to think that I'm healthy (relatively). I think the three people that will read this blog knew me through that horrible time. ( Yes, Mel, you are one of those three.) So, for all your support, then and now, I will be eternally grateful. I feel so blessed to have so many great people in my life that were there to take care of me when I was so sick. Sometimes I wonder how we got through it. (Mom, you really are the best!)

Ok, well that's the big update. Sorry that this wasn't funnier.

Gwen's Big Haircut

We have shared our past fun in giving Gwen the haircuts that she so desperately needs. This time, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do and and as we kept putting it off, she got more and more hairy. Just so you know, more hairy for Gwen equals more clumps of fur on my carpet. It drives me crazy and they scare Howie. Yes, he will attack the fur balls that she leaves behind her. We have never claimed that he's smart. Anyway, like I said, we couldn't seem to muster the energy to tackler her with the trimmers. So . . . Gwen went to the groomer. We made the appointment and off we went. By now she's learned that a ride in the car never has a good ending for her. I wrapped her up in a towel and held her tight.
When we got to the groomer's, she saw the dogs and kind of freaked out. They took her to the back because the girl who grooms cats was busy. I let her know that Gwen has been very good in the past about holding still and that she really shouldn't be much trouble. She said she would call when she was done and we headed for home.
So, time passes and the phone call comes. She girl, slightly out of breathe, says "We're done cutting her fur, but she won't let us bathe her." I said ok and we left to go and get her. When we got there, the groomer told me that Gwen totally freaked out and wouldn't hold still. She had to have someone help her hold Gwen. I think it must have been the dogs around her, cause most of them were bigger than her. Whatever the reason, she was cut but not washed. We wrapped her up and headed back home.
If I'm going to give my cat a haircut that costs more than I would ever spend on my own hair, she's getting a bath. In the bathtub Gwen went. It was obvious that she was tired and didn't want to be bothered anymore, so we gave her a quick bath and called it good enough.
There are perks to Gwen getting a good clean cut. Her fur is ridiculously soft, so she gets a lot more attention from us. She also has less maintenance of her fur. And I think that when it's long and it gets tangled, it hurts her skin. So that problem is solved as well. We did a bit of trimming around her face and along the scruff of her neck and she looks great. She's my little lioness now. Enjoy the pictures!

Forgive me for I have not blogged . . .

It has been a month and half since my last blog. There is so much to share! I'm sorry to all of you who faithfully check my blog for new postings. It has been a long 6 weeks of disappointment. I hope to make it up to you.

Let's see, lots has happened since I last posted. It was unfortunate that my employer decided to hand out paychecks when there was no money in the bank, but fortunately that I was able to find a new job and smoothly transition. Well, the transition was smooth for me. I felt really bad to leave CI as quickly as I did and I miss my many friends there. I hope that things are going well for the company and that the changes that need to be made will be carried out. I learned a lot from that job and will always be grateful for that.

In discussion of my new employment, I say to all who have ever thought of becoming or has become a lawyer: YOU ARE CRAZY! I work for a great guy who has a general law practice. He is very smart and very kind, and exceptionally good at his job. The paper I have gone through in the last three weeks is mind-boggling. It is a great chance to learn new things and I feel like I am getting very good experience. I'm kind of the office manager/assistant/receptionist/accounts payable/anything else you wanna throw at me. I work with good people and there is ZERO drama, which is so refreshing. I am very happy to be where I'm at.

Brian finally got a job. What a relief! I know that he has been nervous about it and is still feeling somewhat overwhelmed, but he will do well. Let's be honest, he's pretty good at pretty much everything he does. He's a good one that way! :D He is working as a University of Utah employee so the benefits are awesome. He likes his co-workers and will get used to the large case load. I feel very blessed that we are both in positions that we like.

Let's see . . . what else . . . well, I guess that is pretty much it. We have just been adjusting to new routines. I'll repent of my slothful ways and try to be more diligent about blogging. I know that my adoring fans (all three of you) are always anxious for news. I'll try harder, I promise.

I hate sappy postings but . . .

It's true, I really do have the best husband. I feel very blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. Not only does he have a wicked sense of humor, he is sweet, kind and caring. I am not the easiest person to live with, as my family knows, but he is patient with me. I do not know the words to describe how much I love my Brian. I adore him, and feel so blessed to have someone who loves me the way he does. Last weekend we had a "get away" weekend for our third anniversary. While we were out, Brian surprised me with a very special gift. It was a combination of an anniversary present and a thank you gift for helping him get his Master's degree. I want to share it with you all. And I want to thank Brian for loving me. I'll always be your Ju-monster. ;)

Let me tell you a story . . . .

As Brian and I were planning our wedding three years ago, he had issue with the fact that would could not take our wedding cake with us when we left the reception. So, my mother and I plotted in our usual fashion and got him a groom's cake which rocked Brian's socks. We packed it up after the reception and loaded it in the car to take with us on our honeymoon so that Brian could eat all the cake he wanted. Just for the record, the cake was chocolate with raspberry filling, which I wouldn't allow for our actual wedding cake because I was afraid of getting chocolate on my dress. Anyway, the groom's cake was AWESOME-made by my awesome friend Erica who is a professional decorator. She also make our wedding cake. She's the best! So, happily married, we head off in to the sunset with our chocolate cake in tow. We arrive at the loverly cottage where we stayed the first couple of days and the cake went in to the fridge for safe keeping.
Flash forward two days, we're driving to Park City to enjoy the rest of our long weekend honeymoon when we see a billboard for Gandolfo's chocolate cake and Brian says, "Mmm, chocolate cake, I want some of that." We turn to each other and say, Did you get the cake? No, did you get the cake? Yeah, it was still safe in the fridge back in downtown Salt Lake City. So, since we didn't want to turn around and drive all the way back, I called the nice lady who owns the cottage and told her that her cute little family could enjoy the untouched chocolate cake that we left in the fridge.
Now, flash forward two years. It is our second anniversary and I have gone to the friendly neighborhood Albertson's to have Erica make a replica cake to give to Brian on our anniversary. Well, little did I know that she had transferred stores. I put my trust in the new cake decorator there and that was a HUGE mistake. When Mom and I went to pick up the cake, it was nothing like I had asked for and looked sort of like a 3 year old had decorated it. (No offense to any 3 year olds.) I broke down in to tears. I couldn't take the cake, I talked with the store manager and told her my frustrations and she apologized, but I was still without cake as I had planned. So, we ran to Sam's club and bought a super decadent chocolate cake. It still wasn't what I wanted though.
One more flash, (you tired of time travel yet?) to Friday afternoon. I take off from work early so that I can get some things done as we are planning on "going out of town" for our third anniversary. After tracking down Erica at the friendly neighborhood Albertson's in Provo, I had her make a smaller version of our groom's cake to surprise Brian with. I drive down and pick it up and it's exactly what I wanted. She really is the best! I drive all the way home with cake in hand and I'm very excited that I finally got it right! Now, I should know better. But apparently I don't. My thought process went like this: I should take the cake in to the house first because it's hot out here. I have lots of bags to carry in too. I'll just grab the bags first and maybe I can get everything inside in one trip.
Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. I have thrown my messenger bag over my neck and shoulders, have about 4 grocery bags and my purse in my left hand, and I lean down to the passenger side floor to pick up the cake. I had it firmly in my grip for a least a moment, I'm sure of it. Then, all goes awry. Somehow, I lost grip on the cake box, break a nail low enough to cause significant pain, and the cake ends up upside down on the floor of my car. Luckily, it's still in the box. I quickly grab it, close and lock up my car and run in to the house. I drop all the bags on the floor and set the cake box gently on the table. I just stood and stared at it. Finally, I get up the nerve to open the box. Granted, it could have been worse, but I was devastated. I started to cry as I took my phone out of my pocket. I called Brian and all I can manage to say is, "That's it, I'm not trying anymore." (This was probably not the best thing to say to someone who tends to take these kind of statements to the extreme. He begins thinking about whether or not he's done something bad enough to make me leave him. Silly Brian.) He's quiet while I try to get the rest of the words out, but at this point, I'm crying pretty forcefully. So, then I recount the events of the afternoon. My drive to Provo, my excitement in getting the perfect surprise, and my disappointment in dropping the cake on it's head. "I give up, I'm not trying anymore." This is all I can manage to say at this point. Over and over, in fact. Brian, bless his sweet heart, is trying not to laugh. I realize the humor in the situation, but am currently too distraught to recognize that fact. He calmly says, "Honey, it's ok. We'll just make a new tradition. Every year for our anniversary, we'll destroy a cake." This makes me smile, whilst the tears are still streaming, and I say, "Fine, but next year, it's your turn."
The cake was still edible. It made it's way to our little destination spot for the weekend and we dove in with forks and milk. The remainder of the cake is in my fridge and we'll slowly finish it throughout the week. But I'm not trying to surprise Brian like that for our anniversary ever again. Like I said, "I give up!"

OH MY CUTENESS!!

Say hello to Ashby. He just keeps growing. I snapped this a couple weeks ago when we were riding in the car. He is constantly playing with his tongue. Jandi is great at letting me hold him, especially during church. I even got to watch him all through Relief Society last week while she taught her class. It was AWESOME!! He's a little angel.

Shoes=Bed

For some crazy reason, Gwen likes to sit on top of things. It really doesn't matter what's on the floor, she will wiggle her way in to being comfortable on it. Often, it is our shoes. We have a little spot right by the door where we dump our shoes when we get home. It's her favorite napping spot, or at least one of her favs. When I went to snap this pic, her little head was actually tucked inside the heel of my shoe. She's funny, and I love her.

The Root of our "Soul" Problems

So, I was looking online today . . . and I figured out what killed Julie's eternal soul (see yesterday's post) . . .



Buyer beware!

In condolences . . .

Apparently you can send e-cards through the mormon.org website. How do I know this? Let me tell you the story:

I was beckoned in to my boss' office today with some random task he needed me to do. When I returned with task in hand, he was looking at the LDS temples website, particularly the Dallas, Texas temple. So, tongue in cheek, I said, "planning a session?" (He was once LDS and is no longer active, great guy though.) He looked and me and said, "No, I was looking for the nearest Beehive Clothing." This was further evidence that he is no longer purchasing products of that nature as they now only sell that through Church Distribution. I told him that I could find it and then stopped and said, "Wait, who needs to buy underwear in Texas?!" Knowing that most of our Road Team are not LDS, I used my keen powers of deduction to figure out who was having an issue. Yeah, the only LDS person in Texas right now is none other than the president and CEO! My response to my boss: "Did he forget to pack underwear?" My boss would not confirm that it was in fact the CEO but I know that there was no one else it could be. So, my boss just said, "He doesn't want to do laundry." I'm thinking he forgot to pack g's.

ANYWAY, long road to a small house . . .
while I was looking for the page on LDS.org that had the Distribution center locations, I asked Brian to help me find it. I beat him to the punch, but he did send me this loverly e-card. I laughed out loud. Enjoy!

Bahahahaha!

Thank you Katie for sharing this little funny with me. I laughed out loud.

Squirrel Does Tribute to "Say Anything"

Being that Julie loves the movie, Say Anything, I thought this was appropriate for her blog . . .

Taken from http://icanhascheezburger.com/page/43/

Eat your heart out, John Cusack!!

Gwen's Big Haircut

As many of you know, we have two cats. Our inherited cat, Gwen, is a hairy beast. She's part Persian and part wild animal. No, literally, she's part wild animal. Anyway, she's very furry. I like it when her fur gets long, because she's a very pretty cat. The problem is, she molts. I can always tell when it's time for Gwen to get a haircut because she leaves clumps of fur all over my carpet. That's when I get frustrated, so we break out the trimmers and the fun begins! Usually we pad the bathtub with towels and go to town. With the weather finally warming up, we opted to get a big ol' extension cord and go outside. Luckily, our cute neighbor was walking by and agreed to take a couple of pictures so I could share the experience with ya'll. Brian holds her tight, and I go after her with the trimmers. Most of the time, she's pretty tolerant. Once in a while, she's squirmy. I think the noise and excitement of being outside made her a little uneasy. Once she got used to the new surroundings, she put up with us. We carefully have to trim away the thick parts, mostly on her sides, and then we trim her up with clippers. When she's had enough, she lets us know. So, even if there are still some long spots, they stay put. Until, that is, Brian can't stand it anymore and trims her up.





After that adventure comes the fun part! Gwen gets a BATH!!! Most cats hate water, and ours are no exception. Gwen is more tolerant than Howie. It's like she knows that were are bigger than she is, and if she just puts up with it, we'll be done soon. She sure looks funny when we're done! This time, Howie got a bath too. Boy was he mad at us!!!

A Glimpse . . .

Preface:
Usually while working, Brian and I have occasional conversation via Gmail chat. Today, while doing a mind-numbing task, we conversed. It was as follows: (click on links for full effect)
me: ok, seriously, what was the other thing you needed from wal-mart

i'm going there on my lunch

Brian: i can only think of shaving cream

we couldn't find salsa last time we were there

is that what you're thinking of?

cause i don't really need the salsa

it was just a craving

me: no, there was something else that you told me about last night or this morning

prolly last night

Brian: valtrex?

me: nope

Brian: weapons of mass destruction?

a new brain for Howie

me: nope

and nope

you need to go to specialty stores for that stuff!

Brian: howie's brain is on backorder

me: so is mine

Brian: some guy ate mine

me: ew

http://www.reelingreviews.com/shaunofthedeadpic.jpg

http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/pixel_vision/images/shaun1.jpg

Brian: why are you sending me these?

me: some guy ate your brain

that's what zombies do!

Brian: oh

me: duh

Brian: hehe

me: now i want to watch that movie again!

Brian: i was thinking hannible
me: and hot fuzz!!

oh

could have gone that way, i suppose

http://thomaswilson.intheteam.com/site/images/6376/hannibal.jpg

Brian: do you think they make those masks for babies?

that would be SO cute

me: lol

i'm gonna fall out of my chair!

So, I'm sitting at my desk, giggling like CRAZY, when my boss walks out of his office, holding his "Binkie" and just stands there and looks at me. He wanted to make sure I was ok. Then he turned and walked back in to his office.

Epilogue: Now that my boss thinks I'm off my rocker I will have to behave a bit more at work. Although, my boss isn't much of an example. (Proof to come later.)

I guess it's to scare off vampires

Let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time, I was married to a very sweet man named Brian. (I am in fact still married to him, just for the record. But this is story time, so . . . ) Brian was very good about helping around the house, whether it was the usual chores or to clean up a mess that was made by his wife or his cats. Well, one day, a rather large bottle of garlic powder threw itself off of the kitchen counter and made a HUGE mess. In an effort to help me out, he grabbed the vacuum to clean it up. I very much appreciated his willingness to get right to the task. It was cleaned up within moments! He's a good cleaner-upper.
Fast-forward to a few days later. Again, he's being a good husband and doing chores. Having cats requires regular carpet vacuuming. So, he gets out the vacuum and gets to work. And suddenly I feel like I'm in a dark, seedy Italian restaurant. One filled with greasy guidos (and I don't mean my cat). Turns out, he had forgotten to clean out the filter in the vacuum so garlic powder was getting thrown out in to the air of our little apartment. I started the fan and hoped the Wallflower would help the smell.
It wasn't until the third or fourth time of going through this that we thought to clean the filter. Sometimes we struggle. I think we were just trying a new method of keeping the vampires away. Now that the filter is clean, we will have to come up with alternative methods for keeping the vampires out, even though the whole idea is a sick interest of mine. I realize I'm weird.

Meet Ashby Carter!

Let me introduce the newest resident of the condos on Redwood. Ashby was born earlier this week and he is a sweet, well-behaved little boy. I know that Momma Jandi will be a great mother! And even though Daddy Josh is nervous about just about everything, he's a great dad! If you come to my house to visit, and I'm not there, chances are I'm downstairs at their place. I say that I'm "helping out" when really I'm playing with the baby!! I'm very happy for the Carter's and even though Jandi went through a lot in delivering him, Ashby was more than worth the trouble.

Give Gwen some love!

OK, so now that you have heard about the trouble maker in our house, it's time to give the Queen some attention. Anyone who has met the Queen knows that she has some attitude. Well, I do love her. She is needy, and always craving attention, and will whine and whine until she gets the attention that she wants. Brian always gets mad at me at night when I call her name in response to her cries from the bathroom. Bottom line, she's a fatcat. She rules the roost. In a different life, maybe her third or fourth, she was a royal pet in some Egyptian princesses court. Anyway, just wanted to show you all how cute she is. I love my Gwenie.

Cat for Sale - CHEAP

I would like to use Julie's post from April 21 as the backdrop to mine . . .

Cat for Sale:

For sale, 2005 House Cat (Felis catus). Two-tone white and orange coloring with Hitler-esque trim. Upgrades include, claw-less braking and removal of internal male sex organs (these posed to be detrimental to this model). Answers to the name "Howie" (but also answers to "Retard", "Monster", and sometimes even "Tweedle Dumb" - so I don't think it matters much). Loves dry cat food, but appears to not know when to stop eating. Has an irrational fear of water (ok, maybe that's rational for a cat) but for some stupid reason won't stop splashing around in the water dish. Also loves to watch the "DVD" logo bounce around on the TV while movies are paused - and to chase the cursor on computers. Selling because he's too stupid to stop throwing water around the bathroom and knocking things over even though he's been threatened several times. Please make offer.

Kitty Dress-up?

So, I'm getting ready for bed on a peaceful Sunday night, when there is a crash from the bathroom!! OH NO!!!! What has Howie done now?! (It's almost always Howie, Gwen's too lazy.) So I walk to the bathroom, as Brian asks me what that noise was, and I come upon an interesting sight. I should know better than to leave things sitting on the counter. Upon the floor, I find a broken glass bottle of Clinique foundation. Just for the record, this was the infamous missing bottle that got misplaced when we moved. I purchased a new one, so losing this one was not that big of a deal to me. What was a big deal was the fact that I now had foundation in the lovely shade of "Petal" all over my bathroom. It did not just spill on the floor, but at impact splattered all over the place. I had some on the walls, all over my bathroom rug, and all over the front of my cabinet.
But more important, and to add humor to the mix, Howie knew he was in trouble. So he darted out of the bathroom, right past me . . . and right through the puddle of foundation. Now, I don't know if he wanted to try and hide a break-out, or if he was just testing the shade before he went to purchase his own, but it was all over his paws.
Enter Brian, and begin the screaming. Brian has little patience for the animals. Growing up in the sticks, he never had indoor animals, especially cats. I have had to remain calm as I try to explain why they do the random things they do. They are animals, they don't know any better. This was the icing on the cake for Brian. We have been trying to get Howie to stop spilling the water all over the bathroom, and this mess was just making Bri mad, whereas I thought it kind of silly.
It was my own fault. I left the make-up out where it could be tampered with. I just wish Howie had asked me first. It's like the time I decided I was old enough to shave my legs and I took a big section off the front of my shin (still have the scar). Sometimes we think we are big enough to do it on our own, when really we need our mother's help.
Howie has decided that he didn't like the make-up experience. I think it's probably because we had to hold him down and wash his paws to get out what we could (after he had run through the house leaving spots of "Petal" in his wake). Today, he is much happier, even though his little paws are still slightly tinted.
And where was Gwen through all of this? Sitting quietly on a perch, enjoying the antics and chaos, just like always.

Wowzers!

A bug that does the cleaning? This 1-meter (39-inch) tall, 1.35-meter (53-inch) long prototype robot ‘ named “Lady Bird” ‘ is designed to clean public restrooms at highway rest areas. It is equipped with water tanks, brushes and other tools needed for heavy-duty scrubbing. Obstacle detection sensors allow the robot to safely perform its duties without running into people.

In addition to cleaning, Lady Bird can engage in simple conversation with restroom users, thanks to microphones in its “antennae,” speech recognition capabilities and a voice synthesizer. The robot has access to the latest information about traffic conditions on nearby roads, which it can relay to anyone comfortable enough to ask.

The developers, who are building Lady Bird for West Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO), aim to complete the machine by March 2009, and they hope to one day see it cleaning toilets at hotels and other institutions. Lady Bird robots are expected to sell for about 3.5 million yen ($30,000) each.

Scottie, this one's for you . . .

I bet you get really REALLY bad heartburn after you listen to track #2.

Meet Gwen and Howie

Gwen has this weird thing where she has to be sitting on top of whatever is on the floor. Doesn't matter what it is: newspaper, blanket, Laurel's backpack. She will sit right on top of it. Notice her attempt at the end of this video.

No Brian, I will not gestate a monkey for you!

These are Albino Pygmy Twin Monkeys.

Three's a Crowd?

I'm giving in . . . .

Generally speaking, I hate blogs. I hate blogging, bloggers, bloggest, blogfigknutten, and anything remotely related to the word "blog." But, I'm giving up. That's right, the stubborn Julie is throwing in the towel. All my will power is gone, and I'm sitting at my computer, listening to my fabulous itunes collection, and blogging (in my pajamas no less). I never thought the day would come.

I'm blaming all of you! I go to my sister's blog to see what antics she's up to, and to my surprise, I find that everyone and their dog has a blog now! What has the world come to?! And now
I'm adding to the chaos of the interweb. Oh, the shame! So, I've given in to peer pressure. I'm going to post comments on some random website that people can simply navigate to. I'm going to tell you all about the strange life we live, with our two cats (who you will hear all about), the altima (Brian's other love), and Pebbles. (Pebbles is my new car. See Brian's blog for details.)

I will apologize in advance if the things posted here don't make much sense. Frankly, what goes on in my head doesn't make much sense, and that is exactly what you are going to get here. You will also find that I live with a very funny, very handsome man who keeps me in stitches 99.44% of the time. I plan to share that part of my life with all of you, because I'm pretty darn sure that you all can't begin to understand what I go through every day. (And I love every minute of it!)

I will also apologize because Brian has full rights to post on this blog. After all, it is Monkeys and ladybugs. If you are wondering why it's titled that, you should not be reading this, it's none of your business, so go away. If you do get the title, then you are one of the lucky few. We welcome any post regarding either monkeys, ladybugs, or monkeys and ladybugs. We're not picky!

So, we hope you enjoy your time here. Check back often, and if we haven't added to it soon enough, please email me and I'll happily add one of my many hilarious stories. (I've been told I have the best stories.) I also take requests. If you know one of my hilarious antics, I'll be more than happy to document it for ever on the fabulous invention of Al Gore. Just send me an email and you'll get your post. (I sound like a bad karaoke singer begging for suggestions. Gosh!)

And lastly, I may have given in to the blogging monster, but I'll die before I create a myspace page!