Dirty Little Secret

Made ya click! Made ya click!

Just kidding. Actually I do have a dirty little secret to confess.

...

I've been watching a reality TV show. I know, I KNOW! Dirty, sinful, shameful! Especially given how much I rant about the stupidity of reality TV. However, in my defense, I think this is one of the more interesting shows. And the train wreck factor was just too much to ignore.

So what's the show? Rock of Love. Yes - the show where Bret Michaels of Poison is looking for the new love of his life. When I first saw the previews on VH1, I was all "NO WAY"! I'm not watching a bunch of trashy girls fawn all over some aging glam rocker. And I resisted for a good long time.

Until that one fateful Sunday afternoon.

I was at home and didn't feel like getting out of bed just yet. I was surfing the TV and nothing was on. So I decided to check the On Demand options and stumbled across VH1 and lo - this show was an option. So I decided to give it a shot just for shits and giggles. And wouldn't you know it, I got hooked. And I got Brian hooked. Shameful I know!!!

But I've been somewhat impressed. I've been cheering for fellow Chicagoan Jess the whole time and hating manipulative Lacey with full fury. And "getting to know" Bret has been a refreshing surprise. He really does seem like a decent and genuine guy who truly does want to find the right girl. He does like to party, but he also seems pretty down to earth and fairly intelligent. Nice to see that not all the celebs out there are total idiots.

So that's my confession. The next episode will be the series finale, and I'm a little sad to see it go. Oh, and the cd that's been on repeat in my car? Poison's Greatest Hits 1986-1996!!

Yay for Fall!

Fall is finally here, and in the NW that means the rains are starting. And yes, I am the resident weirdo that has actually been looking forward to this! I think I have finally decided that fall is officially my favorite season. I love the smell of cool crisp air and the feeling of new beginnings. I also love seeing the leaves change color and hearing the leaves crunch under my feet as I walk along the sidewalk. I don't feel guilty for staying indoors (as I do when the weather is nice), and the cool air makes for a good night's sleep. Yay for fall!

Last weekend (9.8-9.9), Carrie was in town so we spent Saturday night with her and her family out on Whidbey Island. Got to see how the cottage is transforming, had a lovely dinner and definitely enjoyed some quality time hanging out with Carrie. On the way out to Whidbey, B and I stopped to pick up a new game that Summer has been raving about - Apples to Apples. After playing the game and laughing ourselves silly, I totally agree that this game kicks some serious ass in the fun department! So easy to play and so much fun!! I can't wait to introduce the family to it during the holidays! Thanks for the recommendation Summer!

This past weekend, Rob joined us for a late dinner and brought over his Xbox 360. Never in my life did I think I'd utter the words "bring your Xbox over", but alas, it was for a game I've been seriously wanting to try out. Guitar Hero II. OMG. This game is SO much fun!!!! We alternated playing for about 4 hours straight and the time just flew by! I cannot wait until the game comes out on the Wii later this fall!! If you've never played, the basic premise is you have this guitar that is your controller. There are five buttons on the neck that act as your notes, and then there is a strum button and a whammy bar on the base of the guitar. You get to play various clubs and pick the songs you try to beat. If you can do a good enough job playing the song, you "beat" the song and continue on to the next one. Sounds goofy, I know, but once you try it you are hooked!!!

Not too much else to report here other than trying to find a way to get motivated about the upcoming work week. Ha. Yeah, right.

We spent labor day....laboring.

Hey lookie this!! It's an update to my blog about the weekend! And in a timely fashion even!!!

As always, the weekend was too short even with the bonus day off. Nevertheless it was a very productive weekend! It kicked off Friday with B surprising me with a new (and very much desired) kitchen gadget. The mixer now has a companion - a food processor! And it's red too! I can't wait to start using it!

On Saturday, we finished up a puzzle we started the night before. A full 500 pieces! I haven't done a puzzle in ages and we both had a blast working on this one together.

Later that evening we hung up some nifty new shelves that are taking the place of our curio cabinet. I think it's a great improvement, and hey - more floor space!! I can hardly believe that this 7ft. cabinet has been reduced to two cool shelves!

Sunday found us further inspired to tackle the garage - again. We started organizing it months ago and then promptly abandoned it. B was a hanging and moving machine while I got some more stuff sorted and sent to the donation pile. B and I were both quite pleased with how well it's turned out!!

On Monday, we took a break from the house laboring and drove out to Snoqualmie to visit the train museum. We saw lots of need old trains - some with cars that even originated in Chicago and St. Louis! You can even take a ride on a train that has vintage Pullman cars - first class cars in their day! Neat Snoqualmie factoid: at the turn of the century it took 2 DAYS to get from Snoqualmie to Seattle by horse and buggy. With the birth of the NW train lines, the trip was reduced to a mere 2 HOURS! Good grief!

Monday night we took one last stab at home organization with a trip to IKEA. I wanted to find some baskets for our front entry coat rack (The Container Store wanted us to pay $60 for 4 tiny baskets! Whatever!). We took our $60 down to IKEA and came home with about 200 tea lights, 4 baskets, 3 cushions and a junk mail recycle basket.

I don't have any "before" pictures, but suffice it to say the front entry is comfier and has less cluttered looking cubbies. And it's been Cailean approved!