thursday is the new friday.

So it's official: starting the week of August 18th I'll be working 4-10s and will have every Friday off work. An extra day for the weekend? I'm a very happy girl. Here's what I'll be doing with my soon-to-be-free Friday:

• Sleeping in.
• Sleeping in some more.
• Actually having a real breakfast instead of boring Quaker To Go oatmeal squares.
• Finally finishing the collage wall in my room.
• Taking care of any necessary Walmart stops. The store on 13th is too ridiculously busy to brave at night. Not to mention frightening when it's dark.
• Finally finishing the 2007 Venable family DVD cover for Marme.
• Completing my workout before noon.
• Blog stalking.
• Trying to convince people to take the day off and go to Lagoon with me.
• Doing everything I can to not be sucked into Project Runway marathons. Maybe I'll have one of the girls hide the remote.
• Bragging to friends who actually have to work that day.
• Reading.
• Garage-saleing (sp? I don't even think that's a word) while the weather is good.

The possibilities are endless. I'll just need to remind myself of those wonderful things as I'm getting up earlier and staying later Monday through Thursday.
Also, I do have a birthday post to put up. However I'm having some technical difficulties with my personal laptop and don't have the pictures on my work laptop. So stay tuned. Cause I'm sure you're all losing sleep at night wondering what my something was. HINT: worth $10 in anticipation, not worth $10 in product.

i like somethings.

The Something Store - Send them $10 and they send you something. Recent delivered items include the above-pictured runaway alarm clock as well as a flying alarm clock. So strange and yet I'm so interested.

$10 of my birthday money has gone towards this. I'll let you know what I get. (Thanks Marme and Dad!)

oops :(

I accidentally hit a bird on my way home from work this afternoon. I feel terrible about it. Aren't birds supposed to have the good sense to fly away before the car gets that close? Maybe it was the glorious red color of my car that hypnotized him. Or maybe he was feeling a bit slower because of the heat. Whatever the reason, he just wasn't fast enough and hit the front of my car with a surprisingly loud thud. I think he was a pretty big bird? Not sure. It all happened pretty quickly. Startled me quite a bit because I expected him to be quick enough. Feathers went everywhere - and when I say that I'm not kidding. They were still floating around in the air when I looked in my rear view mirror. I did go back to see if he was hurt or possibly dead, but couldn't find him. So either he's a fairly resilient feller or he was scared of me and hid himself.

This is almost as bad as when my dad discovered a dead bird in the front grille of my Chevy Cavalier. Maybe the problem isn't the birds. Maybe I just don't give them enough time to get out of my way. I'm a jerk.

i heart cake: part two.

Awhile back I posted this. I didn't do it and actually kind of wondered if they had really taken the time to animate him being tickled, etc etc. Recently I was told that yup - they sure did. If you really want, check it out here. I feel bad for the poor kid. Which makes me wonder why I keep posting about him.

#19 ~ the drive-in.

Cross one more thing off the Summer To-Do list. Drive-ins are always great and it was my first time at the Tooele one so that was something new. All the elements of a good drive-in experience were there:

Treats (Sixlets!)

A cute boy to sit by

And the classic intermission entertainment

Oh, and by the way: we saw What Happens in Vegas and Don't Mess With the Zohan. Vegas: pretty funny. Zohan: never again. Don't say I didn't warn you.

i spy two sets of ears.

I'm a practicing girlfriend. As part of this, I like to keep a picture of the two of us displayed as a happy little reminder of just how great Beau really is. Imagine my surprise upon discovering that Beau turned into Rhett while I was in Vegas.

thus far.

Lately I've become concerned about summer slipping past and not having done some of the things on my "Summer To-Do" list. I realize it just started, but see that's how it tricks you. You think you've got lots of time to do all this fun stuff and next thing you know it's mid-August, long-sleeves show up in stores, and the list still doesn't have much crossed off.

Here's my attempt at crossing a couple things off. The last two weekends have been fun, yet complete opposites of each other. Two weekends ago we went camping up at Lefthand Fork. It was only for Saturday and Sunday, but that was still enough time to enjoy it.

a -- Narlee by the fire. Everyone take note - Nate has his eyes open in a picture!
b -- Taylor family minus Jen (she's the photographer) walking in the river

a -- Jill by the fire with a zonked out Kambri
b -- A helmeted Marme and her 4-wheeler
c -- Sweet Kambri sporting a completely natural smile. I think she gets it from her dad.

a -- Dad and Trace
b -- Jen and Trace
(Trace really likes 4-wheeling. Can you tell?)

a -- Wanna know what stings a bit? Being shot in the back with an airsoft gun.
b -- The genius who apparently steered a bit too far to the right. Not in our group.
c -- Me gracefully avoiding being thrown in the water. Beau is no match for me.

Then last weekend we went down to Las Vegas. We did the same trip about this time last year and got to see an awesome firework show. No fireworks this year, but it was great all the same.

At the hotel. That pretty well sums up these three pictures.

At the pool. See those drinks we're holding? $7 each. And that was for the virgin edition -- regular price was $12. I'll be honest, it did taste really good. And the strawberry was huge. But next time I pay that much for a drink it'd better be taking the place of an entire meal.

a -- Right after shopping at H&M. What you're not seeing here is the extreme buyer's remorse I'm feeling. That one small bag cost me more than I had anticipated. I can only blame myself. And H&M for having such a great sale.
b -- Treasure Island. Pirate, pirate, wench. Someday I'll be able to make a good enough face to be a pirate.

a -- A classic random Vegas sighting. This woman's nails were unbelievable. I don't know how she functions in everyday life. Get used to using your knuckles, I suppose.
b -- Shanna's crab impression of the woman's nails. Love this one.

Mystere - my very first Cirque du Soleil show. We wanted an entire group picture, but the others went out a different door and we lost them so this'll have to do. I've decided that Mystere is a visual mix between a Salvador Dali painting and the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Entertaining, yet so very strange.

And to top it all off, I got a pretty new phone. She's small and sleek and I love her.


My "Summer To-Do" list just keeps growing. Right now it includes everything from the beach to hiking to Ben Lomond Peak. Here's hoping time and money will allow for it.

my 'stache.

Now I don't have to wonder what I'd look like with a mustache. It's clearly not my thing. Although ... maybe I should have given it more of a handlebar flair. That could make all the difference.

Try it for yourself.

So very happy to be a girl. Today and every day.

kids these days.

People can be so strange. Nearly every week I get the same prank phone call at work: the caller says "Boo on you!" and is then silent. Doesn't hang up, just waits. Is the caller anticipating some sort of reaction? Am I supposed to get flustered and retort with a "No, boo on YOU! AND YOUR MOM!"?

From the sounds of it, I'm guessing that my cute 'lil pranker is female, approximately 13 or 14 years old, and clearly has some unsupervised free time on her hands. I suppose if she really wants to waste her time (and feels good about) prank calling a non-profit children's organization, then so be it. But this blog entry will be the only reaction she gets from me. The least she could do is mix it up a bit for future calls. I'm getting bored with her generic "BOO."

And now shifting gears .... how great is this shirt? I want one so I can stand next to a mirror and amaze people.

the bandwagon.

I jumped on the Coldplay one yesterday and bought Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. (On sale for $9.99. And after applying my leftover $6 gift card from Hilda, I paid roughly $4 for it! I feel real good about that).

When I can't decide whether or not to buy an album, I just lurk on iTunes until I decide which songs are worth my hard earned 99 cents. Hopefully I'm not alone in this. So for all you iTunes lurkers out there, here are my top picks. For what it's worth.

Cemeteries of London
Lost!
Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love
Viva la Vida
Violet Hill
Strawberry Swing

My least favorite: Yes. It kind of makes my heard hurt. No offense, Chris Martin. Your other stuff is great.

introducing --

I won’t lie - Cactus Succulentus has been looking pretty amazing lately. So much so that I made the decision to transfer it from the office to my house. Now my 8 hour a day, 5 day a week attention will be focused on my newest endeavor – mystery plant.

Also from Ikea, mystery plant cost a mere $1.50 and had no identification or care instructions attached. Nothing. With no direction whatsoever, I figure I’ll just focus on water and sunlight. From now on it shall be known as “Jess’s Cool Plant.”


And a closeup of its maroonish lined leaves (the selling point for me).

P.S. If anyone happens to know what type of plant Jess’s Cool Plant is that’d be great.

yeondoo jung.

I realize this is a bit strange, but hear me out. This Korean artist named Yeondoo Jung takes children’s drawings and turns them into photos. They’re so …. whimsical and odd. And for some reason I love the idea. I’ll bet kids are so excited to see their creations “brought to life” like this.

yes, please.

Um, today is National Donut Day. As if I need another excuse. Why Donut Day, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. After a quick Google search I learned that Donut Day is celebrated because (drum roll, please) “In 1917, Salvation Army female volunteers known as “lassies” prepared thousands of fresh donuts to the homesick soldiers that served in France during World War I. National Donut Day was officially established in 1938 by the Chicago Salvation Army to raise much-needed funds during the Great Depression.”

There you have it. Do you know what the Guinness Book world record is for donut eating? 26 donuts in 6 minutes. Anyone else feeling sick to their stomach?

I wonder if Donut Day is like 7-11 Day where you get free stuff. I like free.

the one, the only ...

Important news, everyone. Today is June 4th. Which means it's Karlee's birthday! (Better known in the Venable household as Curlie. Please see the above picture. Isn't she cute?) As her husband says, Curlie is a "firecracker" - she has more energy and spunk than the average person. Here are somethings about Curlie that always make me smile:

• First off, her patience with my never-ending birthday promises over the years. Thus far, she's entitled to a homemade apron and a specially designed Lemon & Lime cookbook. (In my defense, I've already purchased the apron pattern and the cookbook just needs to be taken to the printer. So there.)
• Her obsession with pickles and lemons.
• She used to be in love with Tom Cruise. He looks young in this picture so I assume he's in the pre-crazy stage. You're welcome, Curlie.
  

• Our agenda whenever we spent time together: Dollar Store, Arctic Circle (with an ice cream cone afterwards), and the D.I. We rarely deviate.
• Her disdain for "the burn." Doesn't matter what she's doing - biking, hiking, or just walking - that annoying burn takes all enjoyment out of it for her.
• She makes for a pretty cute kitty.

• Her movie taste. She likes everything from The Fifth Element to Annie.
• She is a remodeler extraordinaire!
• She and her husband: bicker, bicker. Kiss, kiss kiss. Bicker. Kiss. Kiss more. (You get the idea)

• Her willingness to foster parent my fish when I moved up to Logan. It was good to know that Hans and Sven were in her capable hands.
• Her not-at-all-scary fishing skills :)

• Her cute freckles.
• Her excitement at being the proud owner of a new puppy. I'll be honest - Fern really is a cute 'lil thing.

• The creative ways she has of changing the subject from Toyota Tacomas.
• Lime green!
• And most of all, Michael Jackson. Curlie is truly scared of him. Of course, I think we can all agree to feeling the same way. Seems to worsen each year.

And on that note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CURLIE!

i couldn't agree more.