happy mardi gras!

clockwise order... somewhat:

1. Pollie & Manny
2. SBW
3. BA
4. HM & Manny "doin' the butt"
5. Pollie
6. BA
7. Me & HM
8. Aly & frendz
9. sexiest man alive!

shower pics

1. Woz
2. Pollie & Manny
3. Baby Leah
4. Pollie, Addie & Frisky
5. opening gifts
6. Me, HM, and Baby Will
7. Mardi Gras parade!

holidaze

last weekend we had friends over for "island" Thanksgiving. it was a good turnout. not as many folks as usual, but still good. i mean, we did move it from the island and a lot of folks are still misplaced, unfortunately.

we had a really good dinner and S1 helped me with the cornbread stuffing and it wasn't all mushy like hers is. HM liked it better. he smoked a turkey and everybody brought a side and we had bananas foster cheesecake for dessert. YUM! well, for some people. i don't really care for bananas foster myself.


after dinner, everyone helped decorate the tree. the main tree. we still have the Star Wars tree we haven't put up yet. and there are a couple of ornaments i couldn't find. i need to look around a bit.

since the storm, everyone's kinda spread out. also, since i'm not working on the island anymore, it's even harder to see everyone who's still there. it was good to have our friends around. it was something i really needed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADDIE!

loonychic part 2-electric boogaloo

so last nite i went to meet Loonachic at her hotel. i'm still alive. she wasn't a traveling serial killer or anything. she's a pretty cool chick. i gave her the lowdown on the NYC meet up and she clued me in on the Chicago meet up. we had similiar thoughts on the meet up's as a whole.

i took her to a hometown landmark, Mission Burrito. YUM! a while back there was a little project going on where vimeo users would "eat something for Buck". Buck Flashroy lives in London and well, his food sucks. so, he wanted everyone to show him what we were eating everywhere else. Loona and i decided to eat a burrito for Buck. she put together a video of our burrito adventure.


Islebehere & Loonachic Eating Burritos for Buck Flashroy from Loonachic on Vimeo.

some things never go out of style

Andrea: I'm searching for sweater vests

me: uhm... WHY

Andrea: to work
I am wearing one now and really like it
button shirts under sweater vest
classic

me: yeah, like 1980's classic

conversations

Addie: what are you doing tonite?

me: i have to find something to wear to the shower tomorrow. i'm making S1 go to the mall with me. i hate going to the mall.

Addie: yeah, i know... cuz you don't like your weight right now and feel uncomfortable trying on clothes.

me: uhm.. no, actually. it's cuz i just really hate the mall, but thanks for getting my low self esteem back in check, Dr. Addie!

Addie: free of charge!

_____________
we were both cracking up for the next 20 minutes, just thinking about that over and over again.

Rest In Peace

Brian George 1973-2008

For those of us who knew him, we are all deeply saddened. For those who did not have the opportunity to meet him, he was a great man, friend, brother and son. He will be missed but in his memory we shall celebrate the joyous life that he lived and remember to smile as he always did! We all have some funny, ridiculous or touching memory with Brian, whether they were out on the slopes, hitting the trails on the bike, tubing down the river or just sitting on a patio with a margarita. Like many of you I will cherish these memories and be thankful that I had the opportunity to share in some of his adventures during his life.

~words from his best friend, Albert

_____________________

i met Brian a few years ago. he was always with Albert. at Mardi Gras or the Lone Star Rally, and The Shack on occasion. we even saw him once, without Albert (during Albert's engagement stint). he was a good guy. he was always fun, ready for a good time.

to know how much he meant to Albert, it saddens me that he is going through this right now. i talked to him last nite. he said he was doing better, but he wasn't sure if it was because he was still in shock or if he was in denial. not only was he Albert's best friend, but he was also his traveling buddy and roommate. i hope he gets through this okay. we're definitely going to do our part and be there for him tonite and for as long as he needs us.

do me a favor and say a prayer for Albert, please?

_____________________

for story and visitation/funeral information, click here.

big girls don't cry

so, on the side over there (to the right) i added some tuneage. just in case anyone wants to get ready for the BIG SHOW this weekend!! i'm super excited about it!! Addie's taking me to see JERSEY BOYS on Sunday. S1 and i are taking the mom. hey, guess what... she wants to go to Red Lobster for lunch first. HA!! S1, don't cry. why you cryin? (we had a bet).

if you click on the 'daily tunes' it should stream music "like" Franki Valli and the Four Seasons. i couldn't find a station with just Franki Valli. i think you can "pop it out", too, so you don't have to keep the blog page open.

did i mention i was excited? now, i just have to figure out a way to sit Addie by my mom. or at least at the furthest end from me. seriously people, she makes up her own lyrics. it ain't pretty.

I'M SUPER EXCITED!!

i hope yours was as fun as mine

5G worth of pics and vids downloaded from my cards. here are the pics from that.


the holidays 2007 from islebehere on Vimeo.

happy new year!

it's been forever since i posted, i know. i hope everyone had a very merry christmas.

i was finally able to take off this year, for the christmas holiday. well, i worked half days, but it was from home. i now realize i can not be a telecommuter. i have no self-control. i need structure. i need to be in an office. with less food!

the holidays were crazy. lots of family. lots of friends. lots of food! we got to see Parker Boy & Topher and HM's step-brother Mark & his family. cutest kids. loud, but way cute. i got to read them a story. i couldn't believe they were all listening. that was, until Little C came in and got me with Death From Above! he's bony, too, so that didn't feel too hot. then he hid the book, so no more stories. i had a lot of fun with them, tho. they're all really awesome kids.

christmas shopping was not so much a nightmare this year. so that was a plus. i actually got some things done early this year. i had everything finished by the 21st! yay me! i think that was also the same nite we went to look at christmas lights. way too much fun! i'm never really all that psyched to look at christmas lights (Woz insists we go every year), but once you add a little alcohol (with a designated driver, of course) and a really funny dude (Albert), it's so much fun! i think i nearly peed my pants at least three times. Woz, too. i wasn't the only one this time.

christmas eve was at mom's. i got some pretty cool stuff. we drew names this year. i got hurricane candle holders. Woz and i are going to experiment on them, with some etching stuff. we also got a grill/griddle that will be going to the "new" shack with us. my favorite gifts from Handyman include the AUTOGRAPHED GODFATHER MOVIE POSTER signed by six key cast members & Francis Ford Coppola and the scale model 1963 Cadillac from Scarface. awesome! i also got some really cool Hallmark Christmas Ornaments: cookie cutter set, the perfect afternoon, and my personal fave, Wonder Woman's closet. love them!

new year's eve came in with good friends and some family. HM, BA, Woz, S1, BIL1 and myself brought in the new year playing Name That Tune-80's edition. girls against guys. we totally won. duh!

today was spent gorging on way too much food from yesterday. for the planned four people being here, we had 7-layer dip, turkey rolls with avocado dipping sauce, turkey and chicken empanadas, fiery ranch dipping sauce, corn & black bean dip. i'm sure there was more that i just can't remember. then today, HM made a turkey and BA made greens, black eyed peas, and cornbread. it was all so good. and way too much.

Woz and i also got to create a few things today. i finished a necklace & earring set and i helped her with a gem stone watch band (very cool) and a few bracelets. i also wrapped and ribboned up all the gifts for work. i had some metallic pipe cleaners in the office that i shaped into their first initials. too cute.

i head back into the office tomorrow. i could have used another day to upload pictures and video from the holiday period. seeing as we have a TON of leftovers, neither one of us will have to cook. i think i'll have time to work on that.

until next time, i'm sweet t and you're not.

p.s. dad, your gifts are still upstairs because i still haven't sent them off. sorry. =(

just to tide you over

mission: organization

so... my goal was to clean out Johnny's Room so that there would only be kitchen-type stuff in there. since it's closest to the kitchen, it made sense. until we get the hutch built, that is. everything that was non-kitchen went upstairs to the "Mother-In-Law" room. that's the room that was built behind the movie wall. it's all upstairs now, but not yet in the room.

Woz came over again, last nite, so we tackled more office. everything was cleared off the kitchen table and side stoop and put in the office\craft room. we built a desk to put the pc on and everything had a place. well, pretty much everything. i have to find boxes to put all my pictures in. tonite, we tackle the office closet! which is really more of HM's stuff. which is all going into yet another closet or the MIL room if he can't find a place for it.

i am super excited about getting it all done. no more clutter downstairs. no more boxes in the office. no more crap on the kitchen stoop. i feel like a big load has been lifted... aaahhhhhh. all thanks to Woz!

oh, and to drive the point home about decluttering and all, this is how OCD i got:

i took a picture of everything we put Johnny's room. this contact sheet is going in a recipe binder, in the kitchen, and also going on the inside of the door of Johnny's room. this is so we don't have to go digging for something that isn't there. i know... super gay, but i know it will come in handy some day!

my girl's back

but now she's leaking transmission fluid. i gotta take her in tomorrow or saturday. i'm hoping they'll say i'm okay until Monday. i've got plans this weekend that i really don't want to postpone.

i really want to go fishing with PoPo Larry on Saturday. i've been wanting to interview him and Grandma for a while, in their natural habitats. his is definitely fishing! i just want to hear their stories. i got the idea at our annual mother's day brunch. they were telling stories about his days in the service, overseas. stories about stealing corn and how my PPL had to drink 6 pints of german beer so my grandma could have a matching set of steins! also, when and how he stopped drinking. i want these stories. i want them all. to watch and smile at later. i'm hoping the weather holds out for us.

saturday nite, i'm supposed to be going to see "Once Upon A Mattress" with LilBit. for some reason, the weekend show is supposed to be more risque' than the matinee. uhm, i don't remember any version of this play warranting any reason to be risque', but okay. of course, this will only happen if we get comp'd tickets.

sweet home chicago

happy birthday, frisky!




chicago from islebehere and Vimeo.

feeling nostalgic

i was looking thru some pics today. trying to find some for a project i'm helping a friend with.

i've taken A LOT of pictures!

anyhoo, i was looking thru pics of the team and all the rides we've done together and supported together. and then i started thinking... this will be our last ride, together, as a team. our cycling team is disbanding. =(

it's not like i ride anymore or even see everybody all the time, but i do see some of them. and we all keep in contact with our email group. we've been to each others weddings and seen each other thru births. well, i've seen them go thru births. have i talked about this before? cuz i feel like i have. anyway... we're doing our last team ride in may. the ms-150 Frisco to Fort Worth. we had enough money in the account that the CORE (me included) members were invited to join in and the team would put the money up for it. for lodging and the entry fee and the funds needed to raise for the ms society. how cool is that?

i'll be supporting this ride. as i do most rides. this one is new for us. we usually do the Houston to Austin ride. of course, it's gotten way too corporate so we stopped riding that one as a team. when it stopped being fun, we stopped supporting it. crabby directors meant no more midnite kickball and shenanigans. i mean, come on, they left the golf cart JUST SITTING THERE! like we weren't gonna take it? ah, good times.

i can't wait for this ride! The Flaming Goat is coming in from Cambodia for this! he's bringing his wife and his new baby with him, too. too bad Sharky couldn't make it, but she'll be here next year, at this time (well, in May)... Cinco de Sharky! they've brought CORE people out of retirement for this ride and i can't wait to see everyone. it'll be like old times. like our first ms-150 when there were only 13 of us. who would have ever known that by year four, our team would grow to over 300??? everybody wanted to ride with us. we were the fun team. we had tattoos and pacifiers (for virgins) and themes and cool jerseys and team spirit and we actually had fun!

i know i'm still going to see the people i want to see and i know it's not like we're just going to end 10 year old friendships because the team is disbanding. it's just that now... we're actually going to have to make an effort.

ms-150 circa 2002, old west theme

svd ikea

so i don't have a pic, but here's a self video! no?? okay, i'll work on the self portraits. just not taking many pics of myself as of late.






ikea on Vimeo

christmas???

apparently, WMM has an AutoMovie feature i never noticed before. since i had so much footage from christmas, i decided to let AutoMovie do the editing. you put the video and the song, choose your editing genre (sports, music video, old time, etc...) and let it rip.

some of the footage, you've seen before, in previous christmas videos. apparently, WMM likes some of the same footage i do. it also likes JohnnyBowls a whole lot. he's in ALOT of the footage you'll see on both videos. it also repeats some. and it's blurry in a lot of spots. i did no editing. be prepared.

they are password protected *i don't want all the vimeonites making fun of me cuz i'm just now putting christmas video up*. password is christmas. i think the new AutoMovie thing is cool and i may adopt just cuz i'm lazy... and maybe do a little editing afterwards. maybe.

here are the links:

christmas eve - http://www.vimeo.com/clip:157850

christmas day - http://www.vimeo.com/clip:157869

enjoy!

what makes a BFF?

what makes a person your best friend? i wonder, when people say things like "she's my best friend" or "he's my best friend", what are they talking about? and are they really being truthful about who their BFF is? do they know what being a BFF means?

some people say that their significant other is their best friend. i call BS on that. in most cases. there are people who claim they found their best friend in their husband or wife or boyfriend/girlfriend and though that may seem true. is it only because you're completely consumed with them and don't have any other friends? or is it because you really share common interests and goals... and secrets? do you really tell him your deepest darkest secrets? i think not.

i have run into this "best friend" phenomenon as of late. the whole, "we're best friends more than anything else". so, if you're best friends, why not just break up and come clean? instead of sneaking around and using your friends to do it!?!?!? as discussed last nite, with my BFF, i've become more judgemental in my years. i don't wanna be, but it's there. it really sucks, because you don't want to judge your friends. they're your friends! but when they're doing such stUpid things.... it's really hard.

i have one person i can tell those secret things to. at least one person i can trust to not run and tell her husband (*cough* S1 *cough*). i'm pretty sure she knows everything there is to know about me. heh, and she still wants to hang out with me! your true best friend is the one that will slap you around when you need it, who will roll her eyes when you've just met someone last week and say you're in love, who will actually laugh at the ludicrousness of coffee farts! and who will invite you to an Aretha Franklin show only to tell you it's in the middle of the week when you can't make it, and take her mother instead. now, THAT'S a true best friend!

spd ryan b

tonite, i'm going to hang out with Ryan B again. he's a kool kat! we're going to the g.love & special sauce show tonite. the opening band is redeye, who i've been listening to all week. they're kind of a cross between g.love and sublime. i think they're pretty good. i'm pretty excited about the show and getting to hang out with Ryan. i've been seeing more of him lately for some odd reason. either he has no friends or he knows my friends are flakes, so he's available. KIDDING *cough* Anika *cough* =)

here's a picture i took of us, i think, three years ago. we were watching Better Than Ezra at Mardi Gras, freezing our booties off but still having a blast!


p.s. i'm doing a little experimentation in photoshop