Coming soon... yet another new vehicle

Last week I came home to a surprise from Marc. He'd put our Land Rover up for sale. As we always expected, we're gonna take a huge hit on it. No one except for another serious wheeler will appreciate the true value of all the modifications. It's sad to think of it going away; it has taken us a lot of places and been a big part of our lives these past five years. The sale of the Rover also led to the sale of the (hindsight is 20/20) Scion we just got over the summer. We've had several bites on the Rover, including a few guys from out of state that are willing, possibly, to fly in, buy it, and drive it home. We also have interest in the Scion.

You might be thinking, "But, wait. If you sell those, you'll only have one car. And you won't have anything for wheeling and camping!" Rest assured. Our initial list of possible replacements included the new four door Wrangler, FJ Cruiser, and a new Xterra. It didn't take long before we ruled out the Wrangler, mostly due to the fact that it's a Jeep. Let me just say that I LOVE the FJ Cruiser. I think it sparks something like I felt when the Xterras were new. They look kinda funky, are still pretty rare, and garner a sense of community with other owners. We test drove one. I liked it. Marc liked it. But it didn't reach out and grab us.

Today we drove a 2007 Xterra. We've been in new model Xterras and even driven them before, but this was somehow different. When we got out, Marc had a perma-grin plastered on his face. I liked it a lot, too. So... we've found our next vehicle. Now if at least one of the others would sell, we could go ahead and get it.

Spider monkey

One morning in Hawaii, Marc and I were at the beach when a family with a thick southern accent (I'm guessing Alabama or Georgia) showed up. Their kids were running around and one little boy in particular was being pretty ornery. My attempt at a paraphrase:
Boy: Why do I have to carry this towel? I don't want to carry the towel. Why can't dad carry the towel?
Mom: Boy, you can carry your own towel. Be a man!
Boy: (Runs around like little boys do making some noise)
Mom: Boy, quit that! You're being a spider monkey!

Two interesting things came from this tidbit of conversation we overheard:
1. The mom calling the boy a spider monkey. I'm not sure why, but this was hilarious to us. We're now using that phrase for anything or anyone that's acting silly or crazy. We call Max a spider monkey quite often.
2. The amazing ability of southerners to turn one syllable words into multiple syllable words. Watching My Name Is Earl tonight reminded me of this when Joy did the same thing. Examples: man = ma-yan (like mayo but "an" at the end instead of "o") and boy = bo-woy.

We're easily amused.

A new sister for Oatmeal

Two years ago, we got two rat sisters. Since Cookie's unfortunate passing last week, Oatmeal was acting unusual. She stopped eating and wasn't too active. We figured that she was probably lonely since her sister was gone. So we got her a new sister. Obviously, the new rat isn't her real blood sister like Cookie was, but Oatmeal seems to appreciate the company. The new baby's name is Raisin. :)

Today Marc did something really nice. He put up Christmas lights outside. The first year we lived in the house, we bought lights and put them up. The next couple of years, we just never got around to it. There are actually quite a few houses decorated in our neighborhood this year, and it's nice to join them.

The other good news today was confirmation that we're receiving bonuses at work. Score! Gotta pay off the credit card for our first-class ticket upgrades somehow!

Home from paradise

We are home from Maui. Coming home from a nice vacation like this is always bittersweet. We had a great time in Hawaii, though by most standards we might have seemed pretty boring. When Marc and I vacation, we generally do it for relaxation, and we don't concern ourselves with packing every day and night full of activities. There's a lot of "going with the flow" and doing whatever we feel like doing when we feel like doing it. We spent most mornings at the Kamaole beaches right across from our condo. Snorkeling was great at Ulua the first couple days we were there, but then it got pretty murky after that. We ate at the condo pretty often to save money, but we did go out for dinner most of the time. Lulu's became our new favorite restaurant for this trip--if you're ever there, try the Magnum P.I. burger. When we weren't snorkeling or playing in the waves, we were ususally basking in the sun. With the exception of my chest, which ALWAYS burns no matter what I do, I didn't get burnt this trip. Amazing.

We did a little shopping, but didn't really buy many souveniers for ourselves or others. We spent most of our time in Kihei, where we lived for the 11 days. One day we flew over to Oahu to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Missouri. I hadn't been there before. It was really neat to see the memorial, but we didn't have enough time to really explore the Missouri before we had to get back to airport. We also spent a morning up in Lahaina--though I wish we could have made a day out of that trip (about 45 minute drive from Kihei) spending a morning at a different beach, eating lunch up there, doing some shopping, and maybe catching dinner there, too. Instead we just window shopped and went back home. We went to the Maui Ocean Center and aquarium, where they have tons of local aquatic life, including a big tiger shark. That's another place I hadn't been to, so that was cool.

And the cherry on top of the sundae: flying first class. No, we didn't shell out the big bucks to buy first class tickets when we made reservations, but when all the first class seats don't sell, you can upgrade to them cheaper. So we splurged on the way down and on the way back. It was NICE. And it will be hard not to do that in the future. Now we can plan ahead and budget for such things before next year's trip.

So, to recap: we flew in style, I read three books, we got nice tans, we completely relaxed, we ate well, we had fun. All in all, it was a good trip. Unfortunately, we came home to some bad news. While we were away, one of our rats, Cookie, died. Her sister Oatmeal is okay; we're not sure what happened to Cookie. Our friend who was checking in on all our animals while we were away found her and kindly wrapped her up and preserved her in the freezer so that we can have a proper burial. This is the first pet Marc and I have lost together, and even though I ended up being allergic to the rats and can't really hold or play with them, it was very sad to lose our sweet little girl. We'll miss you and the funny little clicking noises you made, Cookie!

Aloha!

We leave for Maui tomorrow morning. Hopefully all of the Turkey Day traffic will have already moved through the airport by then. I think I'm all packed, but I always have that sinking feeling that I'm forgetting something really important. I figure as long as I have a swim suit, I'm in good shape. :) I'll have a full report on how we spent our days laying on the beach and snorkeling when we get back on the 4th. See ya!

Visited by a Ho

Our friends Dr. Ho (Joe) and his fiancee (Carrie Ann) came to Portland for a visit this weekend. Joe arrived Thursday night before a job interview here in town on Friday. Then Carrie Ann rode the train down on Friday night. We had some good experimentation with root beer and kahlua that night. And the next night. Satuday, we saw the new Bond flick (which was really good) and then we wandered around Saturday Market until we got too cold. Ben came over later, and we all went to Rock Creek Tavern for dinner before the really loud and not so awesome live band chased us away. Joe and Carrie Ann had to get up REALLY early today to get Joe to the airport to fly to Tennessee for another interview, so we just chilled out at home the rest of the evening. All in all, it was a good weekend!

Today we went to the spa. I got waxed; Marc got a massage. I think his experience was more enjoyable than mine. We should be starting to pack for Maui, but that hasn't happened yet. There's still time, though not much... just four more days!!

I'm behind on my blogging

Wow. I didn't realize it's been so long. Let's see what's happened since my last post...

Jury Duty - I had to go, but they only called one jury (14 people) out of the 100+ of us who were there. Eventually they decided that they didn't need anyone else, and I was released. Very unproductive.

More Baby Action - I went to my friend Denise's baby shower on Saturday. She and Leo are having a little boy in January. Denise looks great, and Leo's always completely chill.

Crappy Sunday - We went to Grandpa's old house, which is now Mom and Rory's house, to help throw out a bunch of stuff and make Goodwill runs. Though we didn't fill the dumpster they rented, we sure did make a dent in it. Note to others who may rent a dumpster: don't do it on a day that's cold, windy, and rainy.

New Schedule - After much begging and pleading, I got a temporary (until Laura goes away for maternity leave) 4 day/10 hour schedule at work. AWESOME. Wednesday is my "day off" and every other day I work from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Getting to work at 6:00 isn't a big deal--I did that for a year while Marc worked with me--but I've never had a permanent schedule that kept me at work until 5:00. It makes for a long day, but I think I'll like it as long as I go to bed early enough.

My Wednesday Off - My day off today wasn't too thrilling. We started cleaning the house because our friend Joe is coming up from San Francisco for a job interview at OHSU, and he's staying with us. We also went to a luncheon for a remodeler's group. Marc's starting to get out and network with builders and remodelers to help market his new company and product. After that, we spent most of the afternoon lounging around the house. It's really windy out there, so it's cool listening to it from inside.

Test-Taking - I couldn't help but check my work e-mail today. You never know when something's gonna blow up. Fortunately, nothing did while I was away today, but I got an e-mail from my Six Sigma instructor (why I was in Santa Monica last month) letting me know my score on the exam. 96%! Yeah, baby! I was always a good test-taker in school, and it looks like I haven't lost that touch. Yet.

Stupidness - And now, for your reading pleasure, my stupid paraphrased quote of the day. We were watching the local news earlier tonight, and they were doing a story about a man who bought a used SUV that had been totalled and had a fake title. He didn't find this out until his 16 year old daughter flipped it and killed one of her passengers. Turns out the passenger seat belt had been sliced and then sewn back together with normal thread instead of being replaced. That's the seatbelt that failed, leading to the passenger being ejected from the SUV and dying. So here comes some investigator or professional of some sort, and the news reporter asks him, "If the seatbelt had been replaced, would she (the victim) have lived?" This guy responds with something along the lines of, "I can't say that she would have survived, but she most certainly would have been saved." What does that mean? Is it just me, or is that a bit contradictory? Stupid.

Jury Duty take two

I escaped my federal jury duty a couple months ago, but I didn't get so lucky with the county. How is it that I live for 11 years registered to vote, and get called for jury duty twice in two months? Bizarre. Anyway, I get to sleep in a few minutes later than usual tomorrow, then I'll be off to the courthouse with my trusty Nintendo DS Lite and newly acquired Dr. Mario game to waste the time away.

My former boss Heather Sharfeddin (offical site, blog) has another novel out now. Though not usually the types of books that I read (contempory western/mystery), I really enjoyed her first novel, Blackbelly. I just got Mineral Spirits today, so I can't comment on it yet, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it. The funny thing about the new book is that they misspelled Heather's last name on the binding. I think this is only an issue with the first edition, but I think it's a fun quirk.

Gettin' Crafty

I tried something new on Friday evening. A group of us from work got together at a Stampin' Up demonstrator's house to make 20 holiday cards. I dabbled briefly in scrapbooking when I first moved out to Oregon, but I never learned anything formally, and I've never done much else in the way of paper crafts. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, and it was nice to do this with a group of people I know. Mary's house was set up with a large classroom downstairs. We all rotated around 6 tables to make 6 different-designed cards. It was really fun! Of course, this opens up another new door for me--sending Christmas cards. I've never done it. It always seemed like one of those things people do just because they think they have to do it. If I'm not doing something that has a real meaning, I generally don't do it. Now that I have cards that I made myself, I'm looking forward to sending them out.

Saturday we did some preparatory shopping for our trip to Maui. I got my own fins, mask, and snorkel so that I won't have to rent them. It's one of those things where if you snorkel often enough, it's fiscally advantageous to take the plunge and buy your own gear. Thanksgiving Day, our departure date, won't come soon enough, but it sure is getting close!

Sunday has turned into a "neaten up the house" day. We aren't doing full-fledged cleaning since that just happened a few weeks ago (and if you've ever been to our house, you know that we don't really clean it that often). But it is nice to pick things up every once in awhile so that we can at least see the tabletop, counters, and closet floor. :)

Happy Halloween! (one day late)

Halloween was awesome at work. My dead/corpse/ghoul bride costume was a hit. There were a few people who didn't even recognize me. Haha! Laura helped tons with my makeup and hair, and she contributed my bouquet. It was wonderful when the fire alarm went off for a drill and I had to tromp out to the parking lot all decked out like that.

Otherwise, things are pretty uneventful around here. We didn't get any trick-or-treaters last night because we forgot to turn on our porch light. Of course, even if they had tried to ring the doorbell, we wouldn't know. We disconnected it after it tried to set our house on fire.