Tuesday, October 31, 2006

What a Difference a Week Makes

I try to keep this blog lighthearted but this post will be anything but. Read only if you want to be sad.

I went to California to attend my nephew's wedding. We got there Friday and had a very nice time visiting my sister and her family. I was looking forward to Saturday at the rehearsal dinner when I would see my brother and my niece and her family. On Saturday morning my brother went to the hospital coughing up blood. We were all worried but continued with the rehearsal dinner which was at an Italian restaurant with 50 people attending. On Sunday, since it was going to be an evening wedding, my sister and I drove down to Monterey to see my brother in the hospital, where we were informed that he has esophageal cancer. Then we went back to San Jose and got ready and went to the wedding and reception which lasted till very late. Then my kids and I got up early in the morning to leave, and it was at the airport that I learned that the doctors give him a year to live.

It is very hard to be at a happy occasion and get devastating news and have to continue to smile and be happy, but I did. I cried at the wedding and everyone thought they were happy tears but they weren't. The full horror of the situation didn't hit me until last night at bedtime when I finally fell apart to the point where I couldn't go to work today.

I feel bad that I am so far away but I am doing everything over the phone that I can and we are taking it one day at a time. We're going back down at Thanksgiving, that will be good. And I am grateful that I happened to be down there when this all hit the fan. So that's it for now.

I do not intend to change to tone of my blog because of this. I probably will not write much more about this. But just because I write about trivial crap doesn't mean that I'm not going through it over here. I just wanted to let everyone know.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Goin' To California With An Achin' In My Heart

Not really, but one should never miss an opportunity to quote a Led Zeppelin song if they can. But I am going to California this weekend for my
nephew Jason's wedding. It will be good to see my family again. I'm sorry I won't be able to make it down to Monterey this time, but I have high hopes for a Thanksgiving weekend visit. I am looking forward to seeing my sister's house since she has totally redecorated it. Also I want a cheeseburger from In-N-Out, I miss that almost as much as I miss my family. I know that sounds bad, but if I miss my brother I can just call him, I can't just call a cheeseburger.
I know these next few days will fly by and before you know it we will be back here. I wonder how I'll feel about that. I wonder if I will get down there and not want to come back. Should be interesting.
Have a good weekend everyone.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Operation Boyfriend

I'm not sure how to begin writing this one. It has to do with my thoughts and feelings on, of all things, boyfriends. So here goes.
I think I would like to have a boyfriend for several reasons. One is that I would like to go out to dinner or to a movie without my kids for a change. I am tired of seeing preteen movies or the Jackass movie. I would like to go to adult places with an adult.
Another good reason to have a boyfriend is that they are better at feigning interest about whatever it is I have to say than my kids are.
Also, boyfriends are good to have around part time. I have children to raise and a full time job and cannot spend a bunch of time every day tending to a relationship.
I realize that a lot of men my age would rather persue girls who are half my age and half my size and that lowers my chances of having a boyfriend to practically nil. So I guess it's a good thing that I don't need a boyfriend, I just want one.
So, if you want to go to the movies and dinner once in a while, and if you have a life of your own (I said Life not Wife) and if you want to laugh alot, then you can apply to be my boyfriend! I promise to pretend to be interested about your day. Here is my spam email address: spokarla@yahoo.com Tell your friends!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Fall Pictures Inside and Out

Here are some pictures I took yesterday.


I just liked the way the Dum Dums looked in the bowl.


Blossom is posing with my eyeball candles. I have had these for years, I just put tealights in them so the eyeballs don't melt any more. They look cool when they're lit.

These next pictures are from my neighborhood. The streets are a mess with leaves, but it is a very beautiful mess.







There are tons of squirrels in my neighborhood. And they act just like the squirrels in the Geico commercial, sitting in the street until the last minute and then running. This one was all business though.




Happy Fall Everybody!

Friday, October 20, 2006

I'm Karla Mellinger, and I Approve This Post

I am not really a political person. in the past I have voted for people based on their occupations and who supports them. I try to read up on the issues most of the time before I vote, and if I don't understand it I just vote No. I ask people who I trust and who share my values and views who they are voting for. That's how I do it.

Now I am voting in a new state so I have been watching all the commercials closely and trying to familiarize myself with the candidates. Before the primary, all the candidates commercials were positive ones about themselves, not vicious slams against their opponent. I thought that was great, quite a change from the way California does things. But as the election nears, the tone of the commercials have changed. I'm not surprised really. But I have noticed something sneaky about them.
Here is what's happening:

--If the commercial is a positive one about the candidate, the candidate will come on at one point and say "I'm Joe Candidate, and I approve this message".

BUT...

--If it is a nasty attack on Joe's opponant, Joe doesn't approve the message, instead it will say "paid for by Republicans for a Brighter Future". Now, just because Joe Candidate doesn't say he approves the message, it doesn't mean that he disapproves of it. Joe Candidate wants the voters to think he is distancing himself from the mudslinging but he really isn't, and we know it! Why not just come out and say it! This is just another way that politicians are sneaky.

At this point if I made my decision based on commercials, I would vote for the Asian guy whose mom comes on and says what a good boy her son is. I wish she were running, at this point I'd vote for her!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Old Friends and XM

I heard 2 songs on XM this morning on the way to work and they both reminded me of people.
1) "Nathan Jones" by the Supremes. This is my favorite post-Diana Ross Supremes song. It instantly reminded me of my friend Ray. We became fast friends our junior year of high school and have remained that way ever since. He is my Motown buddy. I remember in the early 80's he talked me into buying a 5 record set called Motown 50 off of a tv commercial. It was the first thing I ever bought off the tv. I still have it. Ray and I lived next door to each other in buildings separated by a driveway. There was a old fashioned pulley type clothesline between my balcony and his and we would always "send things over on the line". Those were fun days. We do this thing where we call each other and don't talk but just play music over the phone and then hang up without saying anything. The songs are usually from Blondie or the Supremes, but not always. He left a song message on my machine just the other day, but he broke tradition and spoke at the end. He said "miss you". I miss him too and I have to find "Nathan Jones" on the internet to play for him.

2) "Fire" by the Ohio Players. This song totally reminds me of my friend Elizabeth. We both had the 45 single of this song in seventh or eighth grade, and we used to be on the phone and each of us try to play our records in sync so we could hear "Fire" in stereo. We would spend hours trying to sync up our records but it never worked and we would just end up laughing, always laughing. Lately when she calls it's because she heard a song on the radio and had to tell me about it. And today if I hadn't been flying down the interstate during a rainstorm, I would have called her and we could have sang "Fiiiii-yuh!" together.

I love my friends and my XM!

Got me burnin' got me burnin'...


Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Spendy

The first time I heard the word Spendy, it came out of the mouth of Dana's aunt Linda, who lives in Ellensburg. It was used like this--"Portland is a nice place but it is pretty Spendy down there." I just thought that was Aunt Linda's way of saying Portland is expensive. I was wrong. Apparently it is the Northwest's way of saying things are expensive. The other word they use up here is Pop, they say it instead of saying soda. At Rosauer's you can get warm pop, or cold pop, whichever you like, but they don't have soda, only Pop.
Applying the principle of When in Rome, I have been trying to incorporate these words into my vocabulary. Spendy has been a pretty easy transition, but I am having trouble with Pop, as I grew up drinking soda. But I am trying. It drives my kids crazy when I say Spendy, but I don't care, I'm trying to fit in! So the next time we are in a store I am going to find the most expensive soda and say loudly "That Pop is Spendy!" and watch my kids (mainly Max) cringe.

I just Google Imaged the word Spendy and here is one of the things that came up.



A picture of Morrissey, who, in case you are my sister, was the singer for the Smiths, which was a band that I like very much. I'm not sure why he is Spendy, but he definitely is Pop, not the soda kind but the music kind.

This ends the language lesson for tonight.

Friday, October 13, 2006

My First Hockey Game



and boy was it fun! We went to see the Spokane Chiefs play the Everett Silvertips. The Chiefs won 5-2. Of course they would, their team is named after mighty warriors, and Everett's team is named after trees. Trees can't play hockey! Anyway, here are my observations, numbered as usual but in no particular order.

1) At the start of the game when they showed pictures of the team, they all looked like high-schoolers! But I soon realized that hockey, at least the kind of hockey they were playing, is a young man's sport. You have to be fast and scrappy to be a good hockey player I think.
2) During the game one of the tree team players pissed off one of our players and before you could say Jerry Springer the helmets came off and they were punching each other in the face. The crowd went wild! I felt kind of bad that the crowd was so entertained by it. Anyway, the referees let the fight go on for a while before they broke it up, I don't think they wanted to get in there while the fists were flying.
3) Every time the Chiefs score a goal they play this Italian music and everyone claps and yells "Chiefs" and pumps their fist into the air. The first time it happened we didn't know what to do, but we figured it out pretty quickly for the next four times. Evan Max did it, it was so much fun.
4) It was the mascot's birthday (I think he is a bear), so to celebrate they had all the local team mascots there and they played broom ball during the break. It was pretty funny. I liked the bulldog mascot from Gonzaga University the best, but the eagle from Eastern Washington University was pretty cool too. I'm not sure why they had the Arby's mascot there, but he was a giant oven mitt and looked pretty funny holding a broom, I think he was Max's favorite.
5) Leo yelled so much during the game that he has lost his voice. He had a great time too. Max declared hockey to be cool, and wants to go to another game soon. I think it would be fun with more people next time. Any takers?

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Small Stuff

1) I really enjoy the fact that I can be in another state in about 30 minutes if I feel like it. Where I used to live it was a 9 hour drive to the Oregon border and a 9 hour drive to the Mexican border. And you couldn't go straight east, you had to go north or south first if you wanted to go east(not counting Salinas). And I think it's really cool to have Interstate 90 running through my town. I can get on the freeway in 2 minutes and take it all the way to Boston if I want. (You know I will one day.) Oh how I love options!

2) This week shall go down in our family history as the week we bought winter clothes for the first time ever! Before this month is over we will also be buying snow tires. Snow Tires!! I can hardly believe it myself.

3) The trees in my neighborhood are really beautiful right now. All the yellows, oranges and reds, it's amazing. Tomorrow after work I'm going to take a walk and crunch through the leaves.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

My Mom doesn't know I'm doing this.

So please don't tell her.

In the spirit of October (and me getting in trouble), please watch this video and post a comment. I'm going to go hide now.



MAX.MELLINGER@GMAIL.COM

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Mission Accomplished

When I had my kids I looked at parenthood like, oh boy, little minds to mold and warp. So instead of singing them lullabyes I sang TV show theme songs to them, and instead of listening to Barney we listened to disco and soul music. And instead of trying to pass myself off as a dignified adult I was just my goofy immature self. Now here we are many years later and this conversation takes place today as we were driving down Division toward home:

Karla: "So tonight I thought I'd make some tacos, and then I have to (screams) OH MY GOD THERE'S LITTLE CAESAR!!"

Max:(rolls down window and leans out with arms flailing in the air screaming) YEAH!! LITTLE CAESAR!! WOOOHOOO!! YEAH!! (leans back into car) So yeah mom, tacos sound good.

Well, the weird little apple did not fall far from the big weird tree.


Pizza Pizza!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Attention Bargain Hunters!

The hobo at the corner of 4th and Maple has lowered his adoption rate from $1.50 to only fifty cents. This means you can now adopt three hoboes for the price of one! Hurry, before prices go back up!

You're welcome.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Dollar Demons


It's Halloween at Value Village too!


Yesterday Max and I hit the local Dollar Tree. Now, you all know about Max and me and the Dollar Tree, every visit usually ends up with hysterical laughter. Well, not yesterday. You see, it is Halloween season at the Dollar Tree, and we found an aisle that was far scarier than anything in the Halloween aisle: The Demon-Possessed Collectibles Aisle!
I am so not kidding. Every figurine had these black Children-of-the-Corn eyes and blank zombie-like expressions and there were armies of them!









Once we saw the clowns we had to get out of there. We went over to the kitchenware aisle and found plastic dishes from the Disinterested Wildlife Collection:



They look a little demonic themselves. I think the lesson learned was, if it has normal eyes, it doesn't belong in the Dollar Tree! Even with all the scary stuff, we still had a good time:




Thank you for bringing your camera, Max!