This is a Travesty

It has come to my attention that there is an entire group of people who have missed out on a wonderous creation called gravy fries. I thought it was weird that Justin had a. never tried them and b. never HEARD of them, but when we went to his Grandma Jackie's yesterday for dinner and were amongst six other native San Diegans, I realized it's not just one ignorant man. It's a whole ignorant city! An ignorant state or, worse, coast! How is it that these poor, poor people NEVER HAD GRAVY FRIES? Is it because they don't have diners? And if that's the case, does that mean they've never had country fried steak or malt milkshakes or challah bread french toast? Where does the travesty end?! And when will these people realize that not only do they need to try gravy fries, but they need to demand that Governor Schwartzeneger build diners so that they, too, can have gravy fries at 2am? Bring the gravy fries, A'nold, or it's hasta la vista, bebe.

We Look Cute, but We're Double Trouble

These two adorable creatures--Crew, aka Crewbiedoobies, on the left and Rawley, aka Mr. Pants, on the right--have been creating quite the stir in the Summers household recently. Apparently they like to create mayhem when those annoying humans have left the house (and the bedroom doors ajar). Justin thinks it's because they're so wrestless, others think it's because they aren't getting enough attention. Either way, every morning we leave the boys out on the back patio with the doggie door locked. And every evening when we return home they're waiting anxiously inside the front door. They like to break through the locked doggie door and find something to attack. I think Mr. Pants is the brains behind the mayhem. Look at that face; it says "Look at my face. I DARE you to yell at me." While Crewbie's says "Did you see me jump? Did you see me get the ball? Did you see it? Did you?" That's clearly not the face of a killer. They've eaten the loveseat a couple times. They stole our chicken off the counter one night. And now, they've done this:

That USED to be a bedroom pillow. Made out of cotton. You can sort of see the end of it on the far left. What you can't see is that they somehow managed to leave the pillowcase on while ripping it to shreds. I guess they wanted a challenge. You can also see the blue duct tape on the sofa where they've emptied the stuffing twice now. Justin had to use a rake to clean up the sofa stuffing and I presume he'll be doing the same thing tonight. A rake. In the living room. Should I say rake again to hone in on the point of rediculousness? They're quite incorrigable.

I heard Justin last night when he finally let them back into the house. He said "Daddy doesn't like when you mess up the house. He has to clean it up after you and he doesn't like that. Be good boys." It was super cute, a bit delusional, but cute nonetheless.

Toolan's Visit

Jen came to visit San Diego this past weekend on a girls' trip. It was looking like we weren't going to meet up with all the stuff planned, but finally I got to see her and her sisters Monday night at the PB Shore Club. It was so much fun!

We just spent the night catching up on our lives. I think I haven't seen her in over a year. A lot has happened in that time :) Marriages, boyfriends, new jobs, new schools. Crazy stuff. I think we're becoming (gasp!) adults!

She assured me she'd start reading my blog, so here's a shout out to Toolan, aka Jen Judy! I think I'm going to start vacationing like you...more of an active rest like the good ol' days on the crew team. No more of this lazy crap. It's kayaks and hikes for me on my future vacations! What a way to see a city.

Summertime

And the living's easy. I'm not sure how often I'll be living two blocks from the beach, but while I'm here, I'm loving it. Not in a let's-go-surfing-at-Tormaline way like Annie and Sam. I have more of a passive maybe-I'll-bring-a-book-down-to-the-water sort of way.

Since it's still technically spring, which means May Gray and June Gloom, the "Marine Layer" (aka FOG, to the non San Diego natives) sticks around until noon. It's not all sunny San Diego, people :) Noon used to also mean that magical hour when alcohol miraculously appeared from the heavens (or our coolers), but now that the city has banned alcohol from the beaches there won't be any more of that...or will there? The entire beach used to count down the last ten seconds before noon hit. You could hear the beers pop open all along the Pacific shoreline, but nowadays it'll have to be a more subtle affair. A more cultured affair, some might say, but I'm from Preakness country and we do things the right way: flying cans full of beer, portapotty-top races, and Thai buckets. What more could a girl ask for?

I suspect this summer will be more of a BBQ and poolside sort of life. Either way, it's more sunshine that I ever saw in Pittsburgh so bring it on!

Pre Running Water Scenario

Last night I arrived at Justin's house to find a ticket at his front door stating that the water had been turned off. It also said that if you tried to get water out of the pipes, you could be taken to court. OK, so what that means to me is: a. we have no water, and b. if i even TRY to turn the faucet on, I could go to jail. Needless to say, I didn't touch anything that might produce water...no faucets, no toilets, no dishwasher, nothing.

So how, in fact, do you live without running water, you ask? I recommend you try it for a few hours like I did. It's a lot harder than you might think.

First I had to figure out how to supply drinks for myself and Justin's menagerie of pets. I decided I could just settle with Diet Coke instead of water, but that wouldn't do for the dogs and cat. For them I dropped as many ice cubs as I could fit into their water bowls--big chunks for the boys and little ones for the girl.

Drinking water. Check! All animals accounted for.

Next I had to figure out how the whole bathroom thing would work. I'd managed to hold it during my TV dinner (Jack in the Box has stellar salads, for anyone on the West Coast, by the way), but when Justin's friend Sean came over to play some pool, I'd reached my limit. As Grandma Martin used to say, "my teeth were floating." I decided rather than leave a puddle of yellow in the toilet for Justin's grandma to see the next day, I'd use the natural toilet out back. Unfortunately, grabbing toilet paper was a bit beyond my plan. A little shake (something I learned in Girl Scouts) and I was on my way. Crew, Mr. Pants, and Olivia could use their regular toilets, of course.

Bathroom. Check! All animals accounted for.

Eventually Justin came home from his softball game. Apparently the water issue was a big mix-up with the direct deposit, but it couldn't be dealt with until the next day. We'd just have to continue playing camp until the next morning. So, after a night of Diet Coke and un-brushed teeth, we woke up and drove to my house for showers.

Hot showers. Check!

And that, my friends, is what it's like these days to live a night without running water.

And So The Season of Visitors Begins...

Will and Scida dropped into town this week for a work trip up in Fullerton, but made it down to SD to meet up with me for dinner on Wednesday. It wasn't the rockstar night like I think they may have expected, but it was a lot of fun to catch up and talk about poop. Man, I've missed the innocent times of college when poop was a regular topic of conversation :) We had some oysters, some ice cream, and some laughs. Good clean American fun!

Trouble flew back east on Thursday and today in comes Jen Toolan aka Jen Judy with her sisters. I was worried we'd have a crappy May Gray weekend for them, but it's ending up as one of the best weekends so far to date this year. Today alone is supposed to be 95 degrees. There are a ton of beer fests going on so I'm thinking some alcohol may be consumed in the near future. Plus, I've seen Jen with a keg :)

I'm supposed to go to Ian's welcome home from Iraq BBQ tomorrow evening and then Justin and I are going boating with Sean and Marissa. Hopefully I'll get to see Jen at least one night this weekend!

I'm sorry I'll be missing Michelleyness at Preakness this year. It's my first year missing it :( But, I had to cut my losses. With flying home in April for work and then again in June for my birthday, I just can't rationalize going home AGAIN in May. Besides, last year I didn't get a chance to really get into things with my jet-lag and all.

So, giddy-up, Michelle!

Laura's coming into town June 25-July 2--right before I move out of my apartment--so for anyone else considering visiting in the near future, pretty soon you may get your very own bed in the guest room of Justin's house. On that note: the house hunt continues!

PS. I could barely walk this morning. That jump rope is the DE-vil!

False Alarm

Last night at midnight, the smoke alarm went off on the second floor of my apartment. I'm not sure if you've ever had a soke alarm wake you up outside of college (where there really wasn't much of a fear of burning alive from a drunken boy reheating french fries), but it was terrifying. I threw back my comforter, lept over my bed, and ran upstairs. I didn't see any smoke, although I can't see much of anything without my contacts. Ginny joined me a second later and confirmed the lack of fire. Annie and Adam--the other two roommates--were clearly not concerned by the alarm. Either they were dreaming they were back in college where you ignore the constant noises at 3AM or they were so drugged out on nightquil that they just didn't hear it. Either way, the noises stopped and we went back to sleep. Try setting off the smoke alarm on your roommate. I guarantee it will be fun to watch them scramble.

PS. My left calf is sore from jumping rope last night. I'm a rope jumping super star :)

Jump for Life?

What was that fundraiser in elementary school where your jump rope team pledges a certain amount of time to jump? Like a jump-a-thon? Anyway, I bought a jump rope today from Target for $5! I'm hoping that I'll be able to take it with me to Justin's to use. I've been feeling really guilty lately watching him run around the softball bases and then I do nothing. So, maybe while he's making dinner (wink wink) I'll put on my tennies and jump around! on the patio out back. We shall see. At least if I lose interest I'll only have wasted a few bucks.

Weekend Update

I was right. The weekend was a blur. Justin and I looked at about 20 houses on Saturday, finding three that were pretty damn perfect. We're waiting to hear back about the status on them (whether they have any bids or not), but I'm starting to get excited. I love the idea of checking out a new neighborhood and finding the coffee shop and deli. We're going to take a day trip up to Oceanside this weekend to check it since I expressed some reservations regarding the distance to the city. I am excited, though!

We also went to Justin's mom's family celebration Sunday morning for Mother's Day. It was intense, but I'm getting to know his family little by little so each event I know more and more of them. About 3/4 were of Mexican heritage so we had the salsa that "will kill you" as his Auntie Ellie warned, and of course the white people salsa too for the German relatives. They made omlettes on the grill, waffles on the griddle, enchiladas and burritos on the side. They had a chocolate fountain--which had to be removed after blowing chocolate on the side of the house--and an orange juice fountain for mamosas. I love me some mamosas. After we listened to his uncle Art and aunt Nan play the guitar, we left for his dad's.

As opposed to the forty people at his mom's, the barbecue in Carmel Valley was much tamer. We'll just say if Justin and I were in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," he's from the Greek family and I'm from the white one. Smaller is more my style :) After stuffing myself silly--AGAIN--we sat around the fire pit and chatted. One thing's for sure: I need to work my stomach up to this eating all day thing if we're going to continue to hit up multiple functions for every holiday. I do NOT know how people do this!

So, the weekend went well, we got a lot done, and now the work week begins! We're going through Proof's Two and Three this week of my official first magazine, which means that in no time it'll be out on "news stands!" Should be interesting :)

Mother's Day Weekend

I have a pretty busy weekend ahead of me. They seem to fill up quicker and quicker each week. I missed my friend Teresa's birthday a month ago so Justin and I are going to dinner with her and her new fiance tonight at a little French restaurant called Blue Boheme. I'm really excited for some crepes (please use appropriate French accent here) and mussles.

On Saturday, Justin and I are heading to Oceanside to look at houses. I've been told it will be an all-day event so I may pack trail mix and waters for the dusty trail ahead. Hopefully we find some things we like. I'm moving out of my apartment at the end July and don't want to be homeless! :)

And then Sunday, of course is Mother's Day. I won't get to spend it with my mom, but Justin has a few to share. We're having brunch with his mom's side of the family and then going to a barbecue afterwards. I guess this is what it's like to have a big family, huh? I would like to put a "hi, Mom!" here for my fabulous mother. I wish I could be there to spend it with you. Kick your shoes off and have a cocktail for yourself! I insist.

Thanks, Ron Burgandy, Thanks

I walked by the marquee for my office building and noticed that on the third floor of my building there's a business by the name of: Stay Classy, Inc. I wonder what they're selling...

New Blog Addition

I added a new element to my page called "Price You Pay for Living in a Democracy" whereby I'll be listing the price of gas that I've experienced that day. I feel as though the rest of the country should experience--along with me--in the horrors that are California gas prices. This morning I went to the Shell off of Grand Ave. in PB and refused to fill up on $3.80/gallon of 89 octane. I charged $15 and added a desperately needed car wash. (I nearly hit a woman yesterday turning onto Mission Bay Drive because I couldn't see her through the grit on my driver's side window. No bueno.) Anyways, gas prices suck, but they're only going to get worse. So eat your heart out New Jerseyites! You're state may smell like poo, but your gas rocks!

A Few Updates

Today marks the first official day of San Diego's crappy spring months. It's rainy and dark outside. Today starts May Gray and next we'll have June Gloom, both of which are kept a secret until you've already decided to visit or move out here (myself included). Luckily, I live a mere seven minutes from my office, so the weather doesn't affect me too much. If I had to hop on a freeway, I'd be stuck in traffic behind people who don't know how to:
a. pump the breaks when stopping;
b. turn their headlights on when using the windshield wipers;
c. drive at a reasonable speed on slick roads;
d. use turn signals when changing lanes.
I swear, you'd think these SoCal natives had never seen WATER!

But I am in fact back at work from a long weekend at my first conference. Ironically, I was sent to Baltimore. "You moved to San Diego to get flown back to Baltimore?" Yes, Mom and Dad, it's true. I had to move across the country to get a free ticket back home :)

So thanks for everyone who came out to dinner on Thursday at James Joyce. The Irish Coffee was delectable. And paid for by the magazine. Which reminds me: thank you dearly for listening to my speal about spray foam. Never in your life did you think you'd know so much about something so random, did you? Well, I appreciate you listening. I've certainly absorbed a lot of information from this job and will probably be regurgitating it for the next few years.

I think I'm headed to Las Vegas for my next trip. Let's see who I can talk to about foam down there!

And, happy belated Cinco de Mayo. I'm not sure what we're celebrating, but I'm a big fan of taquila and Mexican food so bring on the Hispanic Holidays!