how can one contain this end of november?!?

highlights from the past week:
1. baking pumpkin pies :)
2. surprising my mom w/ said pies before we headed out of town
3. roadtrip wednesday to walnut creek
4. thanksgiving at the freeman's
a) ben (cousin, not husband) and i jinxing on regalia
(and laughing for like an hour after that..it's still funny)
b) belzer fam v freeman fam disco bowling
(and i sucked. so me sucking was an anti-highlight. just fyi.)
5. getting some gorgeous pics in napa
6. falling in love with my husby all over again
(not much different from any other week)
7. tasting a sweet wine w/ 29.2% resid. sugar (YUM)
8. ipod djing
9. quality time with pops & lesley
10. solvang!!!
11. getting home to our boys
12. petting and cuddling with our boys
13. havin some quiet sunday time
14. finally getting online to write this blog!

love and thanks to any/everyone reading this. i hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving and are as excited about the ensuing holiday season as i am :)

coming up next...
all kinds of holiday love

go COLTS!!!

i will not mask my obvious distress over a 10-6 colts win over the browns (come ON!). but, as benny pointed out to me as i was hemming and hawing, it's a W.

if anyone reads this and knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows peyton, send him here. tell him i am busy writing him letters every sunday. they are short, this is true, but i mean every word of them. and so...

dear peyton,
you are better than a 4 point win over the browns.
you are better than a 3 point win over the chargers.
you are GOOD.
and the colts are SUPER BOWL GOOD.
or they should be.
so, no more interceptions.
no more sacks.
only touchdowns.
only wins.
only playoff-happiness for you and your team.

love, emily

yayyayyayyayyay!!!

well thank goodness the colts pulled that one out today!
i feel like i say that same thing every week...
seems this year they are incapable of a blowout.
well, i'll take a win however it may come.
but still...
perhaps i need to write peyton again..

dear mr. manning,
sure my heart skips a beat when i see you stomp your foot for the ball.
sure i cheer when it's first and 10 for the colts.
but please, put a few more points between you and your opponent.
i see your disapproving looks.
and overall disappointment.
but we both know how great you are,
how great your team is.
show us, mr. manning.
show us how great you are.
the season is almost over...we are running out of time.
see you next sunday.

your friend,
emily b

*it's friday...i'm in love* vol. 2

i just realized i didn't really talk about
anything having to do with being in love.

well, if you know me, and if you're reading this you probably know me,

you know i am just absolutely bonkers about my husband.
i mean, seriously bonkers.
the other day he wrote me an email that made me laugh today.
all over again.
at the end of the day when one or the other of us gets home from work, it is like all the love in the world is between us.

so, although my week was hectic/stressful/etc.,
i made it through without losing it because of my man.
(and the cats, of course)
(and our house that i am still in lust with)

ok, now i am going to bed...

*it's friday...i'm in love*

1. one of my favorite things about blogging is picking the font color.

2. tonight benny and i went on a bowling date. i bowled the worst three games of my life. (i'm pretty sure i was under 50 each round)

3. we had so much fun anyway :)

4. i have changed this post's font color three times now.

5. i am so so so glad that this week is behind me. it was frustrating, slow, and full of small disappointments that mostly had to do with my sister:
a) my sister has the crappiest work ethic of all time. no joke.
b) we work together. so her work ethic is all up in my face.
c) she seriously chats online all day at work. all. day. long.
d) my sister is back with her boyfriend who treats her like crap.
e) said boyfriend refuses to be her boyfriend as he only wants to be friends.
f) she still hasn't made things right after stealing from me and being banished from my home last april. that's 7 months, people!!

6. are you feeling my awesomeness now?

7. our new bed is now the most comfortable bed on earth. (see previous post, "if only friday felt like..")

8. it is bedtime :)

goodnight my loyal readers, whoever and where ever you may be. i promise some poetry soon. pinky promise.

*leave a little window*

*get off of my stack*

are you feelin it people?? this is a seriously sexy song.

i don't know why. but give it a listen. and try to deny it.

rogue wave is my fav band of this week.

p.s. "get off of my stack" apparently means "get your hands off of my money," which makes me smile every time i think about it. like when you're a kid and you're told you can't do something. which means you have to do it. so basically when i hear this song i'm like, "i am so up on your stack it's ridiculous."

and then i laugh so hard i can't keep singing along.

it makes for a good time.

also sexy, the tv show life. again, not sure why but it just is.

leave comments and let me know how you feel about either rogue wave or life or a bit of both. don't be afraid to admit to their respective sexinesses.

a work in progress

what i was hoping for today was to copy and paste.
in my last semester as a grad student i wrote prose poems.
short. short. prose poems.
they were my attempt at imitating gary young.
who(m?) i greatly admire.
(read: find his book somewhere, anywhere! and read it a few times over.)
alas,
i can't find the poems anywhere.
so i am forgoing my usual panicky routine
and will sort through my big ol' box of writings
and will hopefully post something poetic later this evening.
hopefully.
(read: if i don't find those poems in said box, said panicky routine will ensue.)

things that are making me happy today:

• the new forest fire prevention ads that have a picture of smokey the bear and say, "get your smokey on" (SO funny!!)
  
• the colts won!!! yay yay yay!!!
• i woke up this morning at 4 am to find that i had moved my pillow to on top of my stomach and was using my sham pillow to sleep on. how could i be so active and not even know it??
• during said awakeness (which lasted until just before 5 am...yikes) benny turned onto my side of the bed and snuggled up. i fell asleep almost immediately after that.
• the only reason i knew my pillow was on top of me was because i could hear sammy chewing on the tag. and had to laugh.
  
• i get to have the yummiest spaghetti lunch because my husband is an amazing cook :)
• i 'refused' a package that came in the mail so now i should get my rewards points back. phew.
• our house is clean. and beautiful. and i can't wait to be home later, cuddling up with my boy and our boys. watching jon & kate plus 8. and little people, big world. and chuck. this is the life.
  

happy birthday, grandma

today is my grandma's birthday. she is 88. her favorite color is blue hence the color choice for today's post.

88 years ago my grandma was born in washington, d.c. i can only imagine her parents' excitement at their first born daughter. i know she was doted upon her entire childhood. even after, 8 years later, her brother was born.

my grandma loved drawing and art and even went to a school that offered a special art program. i have a feeling she was a spoiled brat. she was the golden child.

today i am choosing to think of the day she was born instead of last year or this coming year. she is struggling with dementia and, over the course of the past 5 or 6 years, has lost herself. she just isn't who she used to be.

but i love her very much, regardless of her dressing like a crazy old lady, regardless of her fighting with us every time she has to take her pills, regardless of her forgetting my birthday. it is possible my grandma loves me more than anyone else in the world. possibly even more than ben does. possibly even more than my mom does. i don't know why this is.

we even have the exact same feet right down to the toes. (albeit hers are 60 years older than mine...)

happy birthday, grandma. i love you through and through.

hump day? more like slump day...

it is only 10:16 in the morning. i haven't even been up 3 hours yet. and yet...
all i have been saying all morning is "ugh."
i feel like i am having the blahs so badly today.
and i'm trying not to!
i am trying to be happy!
glad, even!!
but
my problems that are small (and i know they're small! incomparable even to others' small problems!)
are looming the size of texas.
or russia.
or mars.
ok, not mars. that was an exaggeration.
so i will try to be in love with all things today.
i will try to find happiness in each small victory.
like how i DID get my earring out of my ear this morning.*
(yikes)
or how i DID get my problem resolved with my credit card co.
(huge sigh of relief)
but i am thinking that today is a day that needs to be restarted.
perhaps if i just take a small nap at my desk...
i will wake up and everything will be like new.

*said earring was not stuck in my ear for any gross reason. i am a clean person. with clean ears. and earrings. but for some reason, the serrated posts did not agree with my ear-holes. and it was scary. although it did end without pain or blood being shed. amen.

five and four

dear god,
thank you for the colts' win. (although,
i feel badly for big ben.)
it was nice to see peyton looking more like his old self.
and i couldn't be happier about that.
(even though i forgot to wear my jersey..)
(forgive me.)
love, emily

sunday morning...

...there is so much of the day ahead of me. my to-do list consists of laundry, some light cleaning, relaxing, and possibly taking a trip to somewhere nearby to take pictures of lovely things.

of course i will also be lovin on my boys today. they have become so cuddly now that we have the new bed :) ok, ok...and when i bribe them with treats.

my man has had a stressful week

*goodnight, my someone,
goodnight, my love,
sleep tight, my someone,
sleep tight, my love,
our star is shining its brightest light...
for goodnight, my love, for goodnight*



my husband works incredibly hard. everyday. he works at work. and he works at home. there have been times i have forced him to stop doing work and relax. and not because i am selfish and want him all to myself (even though i do). but because he works incredibly hard. and there is only so much a body, and mind, can take.

so tonight, he passed out at about quarter to 10. i did whine a bit (but...but...it's friday night!) but i know he needs it.

i felt like a great wife today (aside from aforementioned whining). this happens occasionally. i worked all day, bought groceries for dinner during my lunch hour, came home, cleaned the kitchen and the dining room table, and had dinner ready 5 minutes after ben came in the door from work. AND i wore an apron. i know. serious wifery.

now on to more serious wifery. aka cuddling up with my husby :)

g'night!

if only friday felt like...well...friday

because today feels like a really bad monday. the kind of monday that was preceded by a really FUN sunday. only last night was thursday and it was fun (we got our new bed, it is enormous and gigantic-note earlier post/rant about word combos-and there is plenty of room for both of us and both of our 15 lb boys) but seriously.

sleeping on said new bed was exhausting. and i'm sore in all kinds of crazy places. like my back. shoulders. etc. so not quite the heavenly morning we were hoping for. ben is also sore. perhaps there are very small creatures living in the mattress who beat us up all night? i'm hoping not but one never knows...

i am sure this is just a period of adjustment. but in the meantime, i am thinking i need a nap. and a massage. and a caramel macchiato (except it's frickin hot outside...see post 'hello november' for my thoughts on it being sweltering this time of year). c'mon so cal, let's stop feeling like july. no really. no. really.

zzzzz

i heart my boys

my favorite new word that i have come up with is "adoraboy." plural = adoraboys. this is a term i use when one of my cats (or both) is/are being ridiculously adorable. and it is a noun. it goes a little something like this: "they are being such adoraboys tonight!" (do i think this word is awesome? of course. do i think this belongs in the dictionary? no.)*

*side note: i DO NOT like words like ginormous being in the dictionary. that is not what this post is about because i am vehemently against that kind of rampant stupidity in our society. (p.s. ginormous is not a word. it is gigantic and enormous, both meaning approx. the same thing, combined into one word that exacerbates the meaning. that's it. only exacerbates it. because sometimes gigantic just isn't big enough?? come on people.)

anywho...

this morning, tiggy (aka tiger karate, robby, rocky, gray boy, etc.) sat with me on the bed before i had to leave for work. this is something we often do as sammy (aka orange boy and other nicknames i'm sure he has but cannot think of at this hour) is sleeping and we get in some good bonding time. so tiggy rests his head and front paws on my leg and falls asleep. this is basically him being "such an adoraboy." i realize that 'such' often precedes 'adoraboy.' i will look into this.

in parting, i leave you with two recent and favorite pics of my adoraboys. at this very moment, tiggy is sleeping on ben's legs in a position almost identical to the one in this picture. and if it is possible, he is fluffier and softer than he looks.and my sweet sammy boy. he is always so busy. tonight he was getting into everything. seriously. he is an eternal toddler stuck in the body of a cat. he kept me up all night last night with his shananigans. but right now he is fast asleep on top of the hamper. thank goodness! and just look at that face :)

and let me mention that this is not an animal-specific term. ben has been known to be an adoraboy too (although it's just different with the cats...). it also works well with children who are boys as they are often adorable. at the moment, i am the only one awake in a room full of sleeping, snoring adoraboys. and i love every second of it :)

*goodnight*

why november 4th will always be a bit somber in our humble home...

this morning, ben and i walked to the house on our corner and voted in their enclosed patio. this deserves some qualifying...
1) they had a yes on 8 sign on their lawn all days preceding the election. yuck.
2) their enclosed patio smelled. bad.
3) said enclosed patio was covered in odd and old family pictures. both oil painted portraits and prints. but none that were nostalgic or lovely.

as we walked away ben and i fived over the fact that we just canceled out each others vote. see, it is easy to five at 8a.m. when there are no results. and no one has been crowned victorious. it is another, 12 or so hours later, when one of us is relieved/happy/excited about the future and the other is frustrated/angry/convinced that the next four years are lost. and it is always one or the other of us. so had tonight been different, so too our respective moods.

so, i celebrated very quietly tonight. as in, silently. with the exception of getting the good news from my little bro (who also shared even better news that he and his soon-to-be-mrs. were celebrating with me. so awesome!) it has been very quiet here tonight.

oh well, i will save my celebratory spirit for tomorrow when i see my mom (btw, you can take your "stop bush" sign out of your front window any day now...her poor neighbors have had to see that every day for 8 years) and the rest of the fam who will be happy to celebrate with me.

as shakespeare would say, "huzzah!"

that last part was just for me...i have been looking for a good reason to bring that word back into circulation :)

let's go COLTS!!

yay yay yay!!!
let me just take a moment to thank the sports gods for allowing such a beautiful (although slim) victory for our favorite quarterback,
peyton manning,
and his glorious colts :)

i will admit i was a bit worried as i have noticed #18 looking a bit defeated since the beginning of the season. there has been much head-shaking and brow-knitting. it seems that at some time during his knee surgery they nicked a bit of his confidence. so let me say this:

dear peyton,
i think you are an awesome quarterback.
stop worrying so much and start utilizing that laser rocket arm.
i believe in you.
and your team.
now go out there and make me proud!
love, emily

p.s. there is a good chance i will be in indianapolis next october. i'm thinkin maybe we could meet up for dinner, maybe drinks?
have your people call my people.

p.s.s. i am a happily married woman...so don't get the wrong idea!

hello november!

last night was our first halloween in our new home. we had a good number of kids...not the tons i was expecting (as is evidenced by our still heaping bowl of candy) but a very nice bunch. only a couple of kids too old to be trick-or-treating. but even they said thank you. so all in all, it was a great success!

and here it is november already. only two months before the year changes again and i still don't quite know where this year has gone to...it was almost 9 months ago we stumbled on this house, out of pure chance (or fate) and 8 months ago we had the keys in our hands. magical and scary and perfect...
i hope my in-lustness with our house never goes away. the very first time we walked in the door i looked at ben and said, "this is the house." and so it is :)

(and in a lot of ways that was how it was when ben and i first met. which is another post entirely. and i can see i have veered off on a dangerous tangent the likes this world has yet to have seen! back to revelling in fall...)

fall, which it is finally starting to feel like here in so cal, has been much anticipated. it is hard to be cozy and cuddly when it's 90 outside. hard to order hot chocolate. hard to wear my new peacoat. a couple of weeks ago i wore a scarf, in the sweltering weather, just in case it decided to be fall-like at any given moment. so finally finally finally, there are clouds and gentle breezes and a certain crispness. it even rained the other night!! which is just plain crazy. and we are lucky enough to have lots of leaf-dropping trees in our yard so there is much color-changing going on and all kinds of lovely crunchy noises underfoot.

i am loving every minute of it. happy november, everybody! (which i think is just benny..my most faithful reader thus far) :)

p.s. just poured buckets of rain down from the sky. this. very. minute. LOVE IT!!