Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Sweating the Small Stuff

Last Christmas my dear mother gave me one of those little "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" inspirational calendars. I find most of the daily thoughts to be helpful ("Whatever you practice most is what you will become.") and occasionally I will even pin one to my office wall. However, I find the whole idea of not sweating the small stuff to be much easier said than done.

Most of the things that get to me are ridiculously insignificant (like people who take advantage of free food), and I tend to get overly sensitive and defensive at the smallest things. Whenever I'm feeling particularly crabby, my husband always know the right thing to say to put everything into perspective. I also think that the world has a way of slapping you in the face with perspective (like when you're feeling sorry for yourself and then you see someone obviously less fortunate with a smile on their face). Well, I had something like this happen to me yesterday evening.

As I was driving home last night, not feeling particularly sorry for myself, but stressing none the less (it's the end of the month, which means lots of business bills) I heard a story on NPR (my dad is so proud, but wishes I would also watch Fox news - yuckola). All the stories last night had something to do with Bernie Madoff (I think what he did is tantamount to mass murder), and this story in particular was about a man named Willard Foxton. He is the 28-year-old son of a British war veteran who committed suicide after loosing everything to the Madoff swindle. In order to avenge his father's death, Willard came to the US to make a documentary ("The Madoff Hustle") about how Bernie Madoff got away with everything for so long and to interview other victims. While his story is inspiring and certainly puts my air conditioning problem into perspective (even though it is 105 and our AC barely works), it was actually the brief story he told about a man in California (another BM victim . . .I don't think it's a coincidence that his initials mean the same thing as poop) he interviewed for the documentary.

I don't remember many of the details, but this California man is 90 something years old. His family lost everything in the Great Depression and he and his wife have now lost everything again in the BM Ponzi scheme. For the past 20 or 30 years - he was enjoying retirement, but has now come out of retirement to work at a grocery store for $10/hour. Before he retired, this man owned a small business (I believe) and was the very definition of a self-made, salt of the Earth kind of man. When Mr. Foxton asked him how he felt about having to go back to work after loosing all his savings - he just stated plainly that he remembers having nothing before and that at the end of the week his $10/hour starts to add up. He also said (and this is the best part) that he doesn't plan to work at the grocery store forever - his goal is to save $10,000 and then start a new business!

It kind of puts everything into perspective, doesn't it? If this 90 year old man can be this positive after everything that he's been through, certainly anything in my life (including paying the bills and having an only semi-functional air conditioning) is a breeze and unworthy of my sweat!

Things I Need To Do Now

I'm not preggers yet, but I figured I would start looking around at all the things that I won't be able to do or eat - just so that I can be prepared. I have oodles of friends who have recently had children, so some of these aren't that surprising to me - but some came as quite a shock (like hotdogs, really ?!!!?).

Here's a list of some things that I found:
  1. No smoking or being around people who smoke - generally not a problem for me.
  2. No drinking alcohol - not too big of an issue, but I do like the occasional box of wine.
  3. No illegal drugs - what? How will I cope with pregnancy?
  4. No taking some prescription drugs and some OTC drugs - what? Again, how will I cope with pregnancy AND work (the misfits)?
  5. No eating hotdogs - finally, an excuse not to eat my MIL's cooking (just kidding dear MIL).
  6. Avoid caffeine - this will be difficult.
  7. Avoid reptiles - honestly, how many people (pregnant or otherwise) do you really have to give this instruction to?
  8. Avoid fish - this will be even more difficult than (#6). Seafood (especially sushi) is at least a weekly meal for me.
  9. Avoid vitamin A supplements - ok, whatever.
  10. Avoid x-rays - generally not a problem for me - I hate the dentist and most other things medical.
  11. Avoid VDTs - I'm scared of this one, because I don't know what it is.
  12. Avoid microwaves - but I like my microwave.
  13. Do not use an electric blanket - not much of a risk living in Texas.
  14. Do not use a water bed - not much of a water bed person.
  15. Avoid drinking tap water - was this one started by the bottled water lobbyist?
  16. Avoid stress - HAH!! HAH!! HAH!!
  17. Avoid pesticides - sure, sounds like a good plan.
  18. Avoid fumes from paint, paint thinner and household cleaners - as though I need another excuse not to clean.
  19. Avoid raising body temperature - ok, so no getting sick.
  20. Avoid using sauna, hot tubs or taking long baths - now I understand why certain friends of mine don't want kids.
  21. Avoid cleaning a cat litter box - either Buttin will have to learn how to do this or our house will turn into a cat poop farm.
  22. No eating soft cheese - this sucks. I love soft cheese. Does the "cheese" in macaroni and cheese count as soft cheese?
  23. Raw eggs - a pretty big issue considering I eat my weight in cookie dough about twice a month.
  24. Avoid deli meats - not a problem for me, but it would be horrible for Buttin if men were the ones who got pregnant.
  25. Avoid Artificial Sweeteners - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! This will be most difficult of all - even more than sushi. Everyone knows that I have more than a slight addiction to Splenda. I'm quite certain when/if I get pregnant Splenda sales will drop by at least 42%.
Well, while I still can - I'm off to eat sushi, cheese and cookie dough at the reptile zoo and then I'm going to drink nothing but microwaved coffee, with splenda and Kahlua while hanging out with my drug addict smoker friends at the sauna.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Spider Webs

Most Saturday mornings I can be found running on the Brushy Creek Trail. It is a welcomed break from the normal street jogging (not to be confused with street walking - where did that term even come from?) I do during the week. Brushy Creek is a well manicured trail and it's difficult for me to go off trail and get into trouble (I once got into BIG trouble going off trail in New York).

Well this morning I decided to be adventurous and try a trail close to my home for a Monday morning run. I looked on the trusty interweb and read about a trail approximately 2 miles from my house. It's actually very close to our friends Mick & Tara's house (Tara actually saw me running this morning, so see, I don't just pretend) around the Duval/Amherst intersection.

I felt a little dumb because I spend the first couple of minutes in the area just running around the parking lot, trying to find the trail. Nothing seemed very well marked. When I finally did find something that resembled a pathway - it was full of rocks and (gasp, Buttin) SPIDER WEBS. I forgot that if you're the first person on a wooded trail in the morning, you get to take down all the spider webs with your face. Not pleasant.

Even with all the potential of spider bites and sprained ankles (due to the rocky terrain), I still managed to run almost 7 miles. Of course, 4 of those miles were done going there and back. Tara (my friend who lives close to this trail) told me that she often runs the trail with her dog. She gave me more specific directions on finding the trail, so I may try it again on Wednesday morning - provided I can find a way to avoid the spider webs.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

A Reason To Run

I enjoy running, but I LOVE eating. Last night we went out to Eddy V's for my belated birthday dinner with my fabulous friend Liz and her husband Jonathan. I ate, perhaps, the best meal EVER.

I started out sharing a fried lobster tail with Liz. It was light and melt in your mouthy with the most delicious sauce. If I wasn't at such a nice place - I may have actually tried to distract Liz by screaming and pointing "Matthew McConaughey without a shirt" (she's easily fooled) so that I could have eaten the entire thing. Next I ate a delicious caesar salad, with extra anchovies. I did love this salad, but Jonathan makes a better one. Maybe it's all the little croutons he makes - I love toasted, garlic, buttery bread and I only got four croutons on my salad at Eddy V's.

Liz & Jonathan are frequent patrons of Eddy V's. Liz is always talking about the Truffled Mac and Cheese side dish. The sides at Eddy V's are served family style, but she suggested (rather forcefully) that we order two TMACs. It's a good thing we did -if we had only ordered one, she would have been trying to distract me by screaming and pointing "Big fluffy pillow bed" (I too, am easily fooled). We all ordered steak - I had a bone-in-filet, and it was phenomenal.

For dessert, we all shared blackberry cobbler (complete with candle) and creme brulee. It was a delicious ending to the most tasty meal. Shockingly, we even had some leftovers (technically, Liz and Jonathan did not have any leftover mac n cheese, but Buttin and I shared) - which I just ate for dinner tonight.

Hopefully, I'll run well tomorrow morning powered by steak and truffled mac and cheese because I could really eat that meal again.

Yarbot

Travelers Insurance really went all out. While my husband's truck is getting hail damage repaired, he's in a Toyota Yaris. Here he is loving on the Yaris with its manual locks and windows (apparently, he has to drink a lot so as not to be embarrassed while driving it). My poor Buttin has had to endure numerous jokes throughout the week from friends and co-workers. I think he even threatened our misfits with termination to the next one who said anything about the awesome mobile.

In honor of Transformers, I fondly refer to his rental as the - Yarbot or (Yaris-Bot). I'm quite sure if we were ever in any real danger the Yarbot would morph into a very tough weapon, like a ladybug, glass of water or Splenda packet (at least this would be useful).

We saw Transformers this weekend - it was better than Terminator (not saying much) but no where near as good as Star Trek. I had more fun with the first movie; however, if you were born in the late 70s - it's really hard to stop smiling while watching the movie as you remember the cartoon from childhood. I think some of the dialogue from the cartoon was reused in the movie.

Buttin and I see quite a few movies - most Friday nights we can be found at Alamo Drafthouse with our friends Liz and Jonathan.

Here are just a few of the movies we've seen since the beginning of Summer (May 1st) as well as my three second review:
  • Wolverine - just ok
  • Adoration - had some good moments, but was inconsistent
  • Star Trek - fun, especially considering I've never seen an Star Trek episode or movie
  • Terminator Salvation - not good
  • Drag Me To Hell - AWESOME
  • Pontypool - very good
  • The Brothers Bloom - wonderful
  • Up - my favorite so far this summer
  • The Hangover - AWESOME
  • The Taking of Pelham 123 - pretty good
  • The Proposal - cute
  • Year One - some funny parts, but overall not so great
  • Transformers - long, with some good parts and lame dialogue
We see lots of movies. Although, surprisingly none of them feature a Yaris as a get away car.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

To Eleven

Since about April, I haven't been able to go further than 10 miles on my long runs. I experimented with lots of water, just a little water, no food and lots of food - but every Saturday morning around mile 8 I would begin to get the chills and feel really weak. One morning, I was so weak I almost peed my pants and collapsed when I stopped. This was incredibly frustrating because I was going about 15 to 16 miles without much of an issue in February and March.

This morning, I finally figured out the key - speed and my heart rate. Recently I read an article about heat and humidity and their effect on your heart rate. Prior to early June (when I received my Garmin as a birthday present), I honestly hadn't pay much attention to my heart rate and never owned a heart rate monitor. Well - as it turns out, one symptom of maintaining an extremely high heart rate is the chills and weakness. I learned that I need to keep my heart rate below 170 if I want to go more than 7 miles. The heat and humidity actually cause your heart rate to increase while working out even if you're going the same pace as you do in the winter (my winter pace is about 10 minute miles). Obviously, this now makes a lot of sense, even though it means running much slower (about 12 minute miles).

This morning I made it to 11 miles without any problems. I could have run longer but the book I was listening to on my ipod (The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman - AWESOME children's story) was over and I wasn't really wanting to start something new. I'm so relieved - I thought I would never get over the 10 mile barrier again.

Here's my run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7618918

Friday, June 26, 2009

Lame TV Show Names

Is it just me or does there seem to be a plethora of two word TV show titles - with the first word being "The"? This just seems a little lazy to me - "The Mentalist" (a show I love), "The Ghost Whisper" (I know, it's three words), The Cleaner, The Unusuals (I like this one, but heard it's already been cancelled), The Closer (another show I actually enjoy), The Philanthropist, The Listener . . . seriously, The Listener? The Listener sounds quite possibly like the most boring TV show ever - a show about someone Listening????!!! Is anyone actually watching this show? It at least gives me hope that they could create a TV show based upon some of my favorite activities, here are some ideas:

  1. The Sleeper - Procedural Crime Drama: I would fight crime by sleeping - solving the case in my dreams.
  2. The Eater - Comedy: I'm a sassy food critic with a group of 30-something friends.
  3. The Breather - Quirky Crime Drama: I'm an asthmatic detective who disarms possible suspects in the interrogation room whenever I have an asthma attack.
  4. The Jogger - Travel Show: I travel to fabulous cities showing people awesome places to jog while on vacation.
  5. The Misfits - Realty Show: Cameras would document all of my misfits at work. I think they actually have a show called "The Exterminators" - so why not a show about people selling carpet?
I cannot believe that shows like "The Listener" exist, while shows like "Pushing Daisies" are cancelled. People (at ABC, NBC, CBS & FOX) should really consult me before green lighting or cancelling a show. Of course, watch "The Listener" become the next "The Sopranos".

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Cartman - Torture For Terrorists

We have four pets. They are all loved dearly and all have a unique personality and many quirks. However, one of them far outshines the others with regard to disgusting behavior.

Cartman is an eleven year old - 7 lbs of filth - chihuahua.


Here is a small list of his talents:
  1. Eating cat poo. This is a relatively new talent (we just got our first cat two years ago). He actually runs towards the litter box as soon as he hears one of the cats scratching in the litter. It's like his dinner bell.
  2. Blowing pee bubbles. Molly and Cartman can't be inside at the same time, so when we bring Molly inside - Cartman goes outside in the garage. To demonstrate his pleasure in being in the garage, he pees next to the door, lays in it and starts huffing pee. He makes this snorting noise that can be heard from any room in the house - we call him "Dragon Puppy" when he makes this noise.
  3. Red pee beard & feet. As a result of talent number two, whenever we allow him back into the house, he has a little red pee beard and red pee feet. This in it of itself is horrible, but he loves to jump all over you and give kisses when he comes in the door. These are the types of kisses I would use to torture terrorists.
  4. Pee licking. This no longer happens because we replaced all our carpet with hardwood, but it's so gross that it's worth mentioning. He used to pee on the carpet and then lick the carpet fibers where he peed. I would like to think that he was trying to clean up after himself, but that's just wishful thinking.
  5. Licking everything. Cartman has retired from the licking his own pee event, but he still licks everything else - including us. I'd like to say it's not as bad because he no longer licks pee, but he's replaced pee licking with cat poo eating, so I think it's gotten worse.
  6. Throwing up in bed. This combines a trifecta of Cartman talents. He begins out in the garage by blowing pee bubbles. When he comes in from the garage he drinks massive amounts of water (even though there is plenty in the garage for him). He then hops into bed and makes a pleasant reverse sneeze noise as he barfs all the water (and whatever he's been eating - probably cat poo) in our bed. He then licks up the barf and then tries to lick me. It's wonderful - especially because it leaves a nice barfy wet spot.
I love this puppy, really I do - even though he doesn't make it easy to love him. (He's kind of like a drug addict with hygiene problems in that way. ) If anyone wants to puppy-sit him and experience his vast array of talents - just let me know.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Why Not Elect Me?

This idea is actually one from my fabulous friend Liz.

It seems like every day there is a news story about a politician and some scandal. Currently, the governor of South Carolina has been in the news about some hike he took in Argentina with his mistress named Maria. Honestly, I couldn't care less about the private lives of politicians (except for the extremely hypocritical ones - the ones who ordain themselves supreme moral being and then get caught soliciting in a men's bathroom) - but it does make me think that some of them are more than just a little dumb for how they get caught. Seriously - when I first read about Mr. Sanford - I thought maybe he got murdered on the Appalachian trail. What governor thinks they can just disappear for seven days on a "hike"? Some of these huge missteps in something seemingly so simple make me wonder what other sorts of decisions they're making on larger issues like war and healthcare. I figure if some of these stupid-heads can be elected to office - maybe I could too, and I'd run with a very honest campaign slogan:

"Elect Stephanie - she won't have time to get involved in a scandal - she'll be busy napping."

My platform would include:
  1. Naps - I think we'd all be happier if we had mandatory siestas, I'd call it the "Universal Napcare Bill"
  2. No Meanies (or Dummies) - All meanies (and dummies) would be tortured by mouth to mouth kisses from my dog Cartman (he eats cat poop and blows pee bubbles), I'd call it the "Torture Memo For Meanies "
  3. TARP - Stands for "Troubled Animal Relief Program" - all animal shelters would be converted to "no-kill" shelters and anyone convicted of dog (cock, rabbit, fish, etc.) fighting would be punished by means worse than the Torture Memo.
  4. Chocolate - In addition to naps all people should have chocolate, I'd call it the "Snickers Package"
I'm thinking that I might have a few more planks in my platform, but it's amazing how many people/issues are covered by item number two (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - yes, I had to look up the spelling, Kim Jong-il, Paris Hilton).

Right now, I have to demonstrate plank number one to my many followers (or two animals who are currently in the bed with me).

Nite-Nite!

It's a Molly-Day

It's a Wednesday, which means many things to me (like an intervention tonight at Liz's house), but to Molly it means only one thing - coming to work at Carpet Warehouse.

I don't think dogs can really tell time or days. Most of the time, I don't think Molly knows what is and what is not edible (if you blow your nose in a kleenex she comes running to eat it). However, Molly always seems to know when it's Wednesday because Wednesday is the day I bring her to work.

Molly isn't the most disgusting member of our animal kingdom (Cartman wins that title on a daily basis), but she does some pretty icky things here at work. Currently, she's laying on the couch here in my office licking her scabby butt. Every summer she seems to get these "hot spots" on her back and it turns into a big scrabby thing. I got some spray from the vet last week, but it only seems to make the area more appetizing to her (like I said, she doesn't always know what's edible). She's also decided on two occassions to relieve herself (#2) here at work, once in someone's office and another time in the warehouse. I figure, at least it wasn't an employee making poop furniture (see Island of Misfit Toys post).

Molly does some very helpful things at work too. She's a vicious hobo-hunter, well actually, she's only found one in our alley way, but I know she would defend us - so long as it didn't interfer with her napping or butt chewing. Molly has also become our "spokespuppy". We've started to feature her carpet cleaning ads:I think she's adorable although I'm not sure how much she's increasing sales.

Right now, she's laying at my feet being sweet (she knows it's almost lunch time). I think she makes all of us here at work happy when she's here & I know it makes her happy too. Wednesdays are great days because they're Molly-Days!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Just One Of My Goals

As my friend Liz says, "It's Good To Have A Goal." I have lots of goals. One of them is to not murder any of our employees - another is to try to nap as much as possible - another is to find a place that sells Cadbury Eggs in June (I've eaten all my post-Easter supply). I also have more serious goals, and this year - I even have a running goal! My mother and me are planning to run (or slow jog) the San Antonio Rock N Roll Marathon on November 15th.

In the past year, I have completed several 5Ks, three 10Ks and two half marathons. My first half marathon was the inaugural San Antonio Rock N Roll race last year. It was absolutely freezing and I finished in about the middle of the pack of marathoners, even though I was only doing the half marathon. The goal of that race was just to finish. I completed my second half marathon this year at the Austin Marathon. This race was much better and I beat all of the female marathon finishers - quite an accomplishment, right?


I have lots of little goals for my race on November 15th - here are just a few:
  • Finishing alive
  • Not injuring myself or other runners (these other runners are more likely to be walkers or marathoners running the race a second time - for fun)
  • Finding my mother at the end of the race - this could be difficult with 40K other people, my hope is that we come in 39,997th & 39,998th place.
I have a lot of work to do if I'm going to accomplish these little goals and finish the race. Last March, my longest weekend run was about 16 miles, but I haven't been able to go any further with all this heat and humidity. I'm now lucky if I can run 10 miles for my long run. I also have to find something that I can eat during the race without feeling the need to throw up or worse (yes, there is a much worse - I think this should be added to my goal list). I tried a Twix bar this past Saturday and that proved to be yummy and without side effects.

Ok - enough about my running goal today. I'm off to complete one of my other goals, napping.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Our Island of Misfit Toys

My husband and I own a small flooring business in Austin , Texas . It’ll probably be a frequent topic on this blog.

Being a small business owner brings out the best and worst in me; however, it’s our employees who do my heart the most good and also make me want to spit nickels on a daily basis. We fondly refer to them as our “ Island of Misfit Toys ”. Everyone knows these characters from the popular stop motion animation Christmas special, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. (Because I love Christmas so much, I actually own the entire set.). These characters (much like our employees) are very lovable, but also defective.

In the movie, most of the misfit toys are unable to do what most toys of their type are built to do. For example, there’s a train (“Trainer”) who can’t move because the wheels on his caboose are square. We can apply the same misfit principle to our employees. We have inventory controllers who can’t count, we have sales people who can’t solve problems, and we have managers that can’t say no.

In addition to not always being able to complete the tasks they were hired to do; some of them make the most dunder-headed decisions possible. Please allow me to give you an example. One very fine day, some of our installers were at a job site. At this particular job site all of the toilets were ripped out in order to install tile flooring (can you see where this is going?). Well, one of the installers had to use the restroom and there was no toilet available; however, there was a bucket. So, he pooped in the bucket and left it at the job site. You can probably imagine the wonderful phone call that we received the next day.

I have many stories like this one. Sometimes I feel more like I’m managing a daycare than running a business. I’m sure the heroic tales of our Island of Misfit Toys will be a staple of this blog.

Our employees are not unlike most people - genuinely good, but hopelessly flawed. I think I just notice all their flaws more in a small business than I would in the corporate world because we are in such close quarters. The good news is that I also notice and appreciate all their strengths too. I think they appreciate me, flaws and all, too. I love our little Island of Misfit Toys , and as much as none one else would have them; I wouldn’t want any of them to go anywhere.

Drinking the Kool Aid

You know when you're an expert at something and you see someone who has obviously just started doing what you are already an expert at - and you laugh at them? I'm sure that's what real runners do when they see me coming. As an example, let's say you're great at golf and you see someone on the course with brand new clubs,shirt (you know with the fold lines from the store still visible), shorts, hat, special vision goggles for finding the ball,wind direction meter and whatever other golf junk people who are new at golf buy to help them look like an expert golfer or at least play better - that's me with running! I have been drinking the running Kool Aid (just as a point of clarification when I say "I run", I really mean "I slowly jog" - I have been in races where people pushing strollers and walking 3-legged dogs pass me) and I can't stop. I have sunk a small fortune into running attire and gadgetry. I actually have to wake up 45 minutes before I begin my run, just so that I can get dressed and put on all of my gadgets.

Here is my list:

1. Attire:
  • Two sports bras - help me feel secure.
  • Running skirt - keeps the thighs from rubbing together, doesn't seem like it would, but it does.
  • Running top - with dry fit and UV protection.
  • Running socks - that are left/right foot specific.
  • Running shoes - with Nike foot pod in the left shoe.
2. Gadgets/Other:
  • Ipod - with Nike receiver.
  • Garmin Forerunner 405 CX - my new addiction and truth be told I can stop using the Nike/Ipod thingy because this is much more awesomer.
  • Heart Rate Monitor - which must be placed in between my two sports bras.
  • Water Fanny Pack - only for my longer weekend run, but man is it attractive.
  • Sunglasses - with holes in the top to prevent them from fogging up.
After getting all this stuff on, I'm exhausted even before I start my run. I'm sure when real runners see me coming (or more likely pass me quickly) on the trail they think, "Wow, she put some Runtex employee's kid through college." I can fully admit that I have been drinking the running Kool Aid, but I only started a little over a year ago. I figure I've got quite a few years and dollars left in me.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

A New Blog

It's Father's Day & I'm starting a new blog.

For all two fans of the much beloved, but short lived Pufatufniks blog: http://pufatufniks.blogspot.com/ - I have returned!

I'm sure that my fabulous friend Liz will make her presence known on this blog too. I think both of our Pufatufniks fans were actually her fans.

I first thought "Running With Lumpy" would be great to start when I got pregnant. "Lumpy" is the name my husband (Buttin - my name for him, not his real name) and I call our as yet to be conceived child. But then I thought, if I wait till I actually get pregnant to start sharing all my thoughts on running, life and other fabulous and not so fabulous things - all of my fans (which right now is probably just Liz) would miss out! For Liz's sake I'm starting the blog now because even though I talk to her all the time, it's just not the same unless you put it in writing!

On to the real topic of the day . . .Happy Father's Day!

I'm a very fortunate girl - I have two loving fathers. (Just a quick point of clarification - my two dads are married to my two moms, but I love families of every combination.) My two dads (remember that show???!!) have taught me many valuable life lessons, here are just a few:
  1. Eat the most expensive item on your plate first.
  2. Stale bread can be sold to neighbors for $1.
  3. You can have an ice cream cone in a new car if you don't spill it.
  4. Don't be a pill on a vacation to the Grand Canyon.
  5. If you're 13 years old, pretend to be 12 so that you can get the children's discount.
  6. Why fly when you can drive?
(One day, I know my wonderful husband will be a wonderful father and will teach Lumpy many valuable lessons too.)

I could write a story everyday on this blog for the rest of my life and never run out of stories about my two dads. Fortunately, most of the stories contain laughter and even better there are still many, many m
ore stories to be made.


Thanks Fred & Max for always loving me and always teaching me no matter how much I protested or how horrible I was at the Grand Canyon.