Hancock

I was seriously excited to see this movie, and we were (unfortunately) even more excited to leave it.

Wait for it on TBS! (yes I am implying that it isn't even worth the rental fee...not even if you can get it in one of those new red boxes where the movie is only a dollar!)

Surprise!!

Last night we held a surprise 30th birthday party for our good friend. She's always giving to others, so it was great to finally give back. Amazingly enough, all of her friends were able to keep the secret. I think we pulled it off because when she walked in (crochet bag in hand, ready for a quiet evening) and everyone shouted suprise, she started backing out the door in shock. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pix.

Montezuma's Revenge

Here are a few pix from our trip to Cozumel. We had a good time while on the island, but out stomachs have been feeling the effects ever since. We are both on a very bland diet, coupled with antibiotics and pepto tablets daily. We can't wait to begin eating real foods again...in the meantime, back to my ricecakes....ugh!

Hasta luego! Albondigas en la casa del Mexico!

We are heading off to Mexico tomorrow morning, but before we do, I want to share a story with you about our last trip to Georgia --- hopefully this won't happen again.

As you may or may not know we bought a new car this past month and one of the true pleasures of buying a new car is the new car smell. About a week before we drove down to Georgia, however, the Versa lost its new car smell to an odd, rotten kind of scent. I asked P, since she drives it most often, whether something smelt amuck. "Nope," she said "smells like new car to me." So I let it go thinking I was maybe smelling the garbage or something.

As we started driving down to Georgia, around Indiana, I started to smell the rotten scent again. I asked our friend M who was travelling with us, "do you smell that?" She replied, "kinda, what do you think it is?" I didn't know so I asked P again. . ."new car smell!"

Then, we get down to Georgia (in the Southern heat, mind you) and the smell grows into a serious problem. So we stop at a local outlet mall and grab some car freshener: Lily of the Valley to be exact. And for a day, the smell started to improve. It didn't kill the smell, it masked it...

So then we get to Indianapolis and the smell has kicked Lily of the Valley's @$$. By this time our friend M is rolling down the back window, applying and reapplying scented lotion. Meanwhile P's nose finally gets the newsflash and she says "oh, is that the smell you were talking about?"

Two and a half hours later, I am determined to find what is going on in our new car. So we unpack, and I start smelling: everywhere! I make it to the back seat, and under the front side passenger seat is an empty bottle of Pepsi. So I pick it up to throw it away, and a little purple box is smiling at me. My eyes get huge, and I pick it up. Opening it, I find a carton full of *black rotten noodles* that had been sitting in the car (through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and back) since P had eaten there for her birthday lunch...I snatch them up, and run them into the house to ask P why she had left them in there for so long. She gives me a sheepish grin, "oops, forgot about those!" Seriously?

Keep in mind, had I done this, I would have been slaughtered. I would have not only been "irresponsible" and "disgusting," but "clearly less hygenic" than my counterpart and "committed to keeping a dirty car." She gets off the hook though because it "only happened this once." When have I ever left rotten noodles in the car, I ask?

Still waiting on the answer...

The smoke detector conspiracy

Following last night's--or rather this wee hour morning's--shenanigans, I am beginning to think that there is a smoke detector conspiracy. A conspiracy, K? Really? Yep, I am serious.

Here's what happens: our smoke detectors have *always* run out of batteries at 3am or earlier in *every* house we have ever lived in; as a result of having low batteries, the fire alarm chirps (incessantly), knowing full well that we do not have the kind that will stop the chirping; I, in turn, stumble out of bed and wander through the house trying to find the low batteried smoke detector; once I find it, I try to pull it down without tools (which never works); then I go and get tools and nearly break the thing (which wouldn't stop it from chirping anyway); I always forget that disconnecting the smoke detector will not make it stop chirping, and since I do not have the right batteries, I subsequently wrap it up into about four quilts and hide it somewhere (the freezer) until morning; I roll back into bed and end up thinking about my work for the next two hours (until the birds start chirping); then, once I finally get back to sleep the alarm goes off...

So, here's my relatively simple question: why can't the batteries run out in the daytime? They never have in our house, and I am beginning to think they never will. Hence, smoke detector conspiracy...

Impressive logic, I know, but seriously, what is happening here? Does this happen other places as well?

For further proof that this could, in fact, be a conspiracy -- see the Friends episode where Phoebe experiences a similar scenario. Yes, of course I am implying that Friends represents reality...

Happy Birthday!!!

It's P's birthday today, and how are we going to celebrate it? Well! P is going to be teaching from 8-4 and then once she gets back she has an hour before she has to go to night class. You had better believe that hour is going to be awesome, though! Plus, I am bringing her lunch, so that'll be fun too. Bru and I will eat some cake and enjoy her flowers for her this evening in her absence.

We are heading down to Georgia at the end of the week and will be driving through Louisville and Nashville. We'll celebrate in each of those cities, I think. Lil' barbeque and jazz at the Bluebird cafe, maybe. Maybe a lil' shopping at the Grand Ole Opry Factory Stores? Who knows, we won't be in Normal, that's fo sho.

Pictures to come!

A Spiraling Spring

At our cinco de mayo celebration last night, it was brought to our attention that we have not blogged in a LONG time. Perhaps this is because our Spring has been absolutely exhausting with non-stop school work. Since the last post....
-K found out that he successfully passed his doctoral exams
-P's tulips have bloomed...finally!
-Bruchi received a toy (a wubba) that he loved for about 3 days before he destroyed it
-K has turned in his dissertation proposal and is revising prior to his defense hearing
-P completed her 2nd semester of PhD coursework
-Bruchi continues to mimic the tornado siren during the tornado drills every Tuesday at 10 am
-K and P traded the truck in for a more gas efficient car -- we figured we would do our part in boosting the economy by putting our government rebate checks right back out there.

Coming up...
P goes to Oregon. K and P go to Georgia. P's bro returns from his 2 month backpacking Euro trip. Punjab and The Panther head to Europe. Lovebirds leave for a London wedding...not their own--but maybe they'll surprise us! Wow...it looks like we got the short end of the stick for travel destinations!