He Said...She Said

Last night, Wil and I each had a nightmare, simultaneously...

Here are our accounts:

He Said:

Let me just say that I have a history of very vivid dreams. One example is when I was driving to Utah with my mom and older sister and my two nieces. I was asleep in the passenger seat while my mom was driving and my sister and the girls slept in the back seat. It was about five in the morning. My mom was on the phone talking to my dad back home. When I awoke screaming and tried to grab the steering wheel. I was dreaming that we were on that same trip but my mom had fallen asleep at the wheel and we were running off the road. All my mom could do is drop the phone, scream, and hold on to the wheel as hard as she could long enough to realize I was having a nightmare. At the same time my dad is freaking out on the phone not knowing what is going on. It's not something I'm proud of.

That being said:

There I was on our bed sound asleep, when I saw a huge scary looking robotic bug crawling on Jessica's hair. It looked pretty dangerous and I could see that it was nothing but trouble so I tried to swat it away from her hair. That's about the time Jessica woke up. Let me remind you that I was still half asleep and in life saving mode. Her moving around could only make it worse. So I tried to kill the bug before it stung her. That's when I realized there was a bug on me too and that's when I shifted into Kung Fu mode.

We had gone to bed at nine since my starting time at work had shifted to 5a.m. Let me just say I wasn't too excited about that but was excited about getting off at 1. By the time I realized it was all just a dream I looked at my phone and saw that it was only a little after ten. I was so mad that we had only been asleep an hour and that I was going to have to prepare myself for a really long sleepness night.

She Said:

I was asleep in my bed, minding my own business and dreaming away. I barely remember the dream. I have no idea what it was about; I just know how it ended. I was dreaming that I was in my bed and wild animals (deer, raccoons, etc.) were jumping up onto our bed, landing on me and jumping off of me to wherever they were going. I was freaked out - wouldn't you be freaked out, if wild animals were jumping on you in your bed? There was much screaming and thrashing about because I could literally feel them touching me.

At some point I woke up to Wil yelling, it's just me...it's ok, it's me...at least I think that's what he was yelling. It was hard to tell with all the thrashing about because the animals were jumping on me (actually Wil was just swatting me because apparently in his nightmare there were bugs crawling on me). I was actually shaking when I woke up I was so scared.

It felt like the middle of the night when we woke up, turns out it was only 10 (we went to bed early last night). Wil said he didn't know if he'd be able to fall back to sleep. HA! He was asleep and snoring happily in no time. I on the other hand was awake for quite a while listening to him snore and cursing him for falling asleep so easily and leaving me awake!

Call Me Butter Baby, Cause I'm on a Roll!

I made homemade bread this morning.

***Editor's note: Before you start thinking that this was an act of domestication, please note it was actually an act of desperation. We have been out of bread all weekend and I didn't make it to the store yesterday. We're out of eggs too, so the menu for today was cereal, again, and I really could not take cereal for breakfast and lunch. We had the ingredients for quick bread in the bread maker...all I had to do was pour in the water, salt, sugar, flour and yeast and wait for the machine to beep saying it was done...like I said, not domestic at all, just desperate because I didn't go grocery shopping this weekend.

It tasted great, but was a bit dry so we got out a brand new stick of butter (we're all out of the tub kind for bread, like I mentioned before, I really need to go grocery shopping). We had warm bread with butter and honey on it, and it was delicious! Then we got ready for church...only while I was brushing my teeth and Wil was showering, Elvis was up to no good. I walked out of our bedroom to find him with the entire stick of butter - wrapper and all sticking out of both sides of his mouth! EWW! I scolded and said NO and tried to forcefully remove the stick of butter from his mouth, but somehow he managed to get a better grasp of it each time I tried to pry his jaws apart. I drug him over to where Wil was getting ready and asked him to get the stick of butter out of HIS dog's mouth. Nope...too late. Elvis swallowed the entire stick of butter - wrapper and all. Also, the last bit of our bread is missing (I can only assume it has taken up residence in Elvis's stomach).

Once he got outside to where his water dish is, he drank and drank and drank and drank. Yep, I would be thirsty too if I had just eaten a big chunk of break and topped it off with an entire stick of butter! GROSS!

Wait, Pretend You're at Disneyland

We went over to Wil's parents house tonight for dinner and to visit. His cousins and aunt are in town this weekend and it's been fun to get to know them a little better (it was all kind of a blur at our wedding!).

Xujey walked past me crying about something. While trying to cheer her up, I asked, "what would be tons of fun that we could do right now?"

Her answer: "Disneyland!"

Me: "Disneyland?"

Xujey: "Ummm, the beach!"

Me: "Well, Disneyland and the beach are a little far away, but we can go to pretend Disneyland and the pretend beach."

And off we went, by the time we made it to the backdoor (for you see our pretend Disneyland and beach were in the backyard), Xujey, Clarisa, Karina, Adaly and Giovanni (Wil's cousin's son) had joined us. The swings, slide and barbie jeep were Disneyland...I think we decided the Jeep was Autopia although it would have made a good Indiana Jones ride too. There was a small patch of dirt where the grass seems to stubbornly be refusing to grow...that was the beach. We even found seashells (rocks) at the beach. I had so much fun! I forget how much fun it can be to play pretend!

Strawberry Tacos

Yesterday, we celebrated my brother-in-law Waldo's birthday. At some point during dinner, we noticed Karina making her taco...first was the beans, then the guacamole...then the strawberry slices. I laughed out loud I thought it was so cute and funny. By the time I realized I should take a picture for this very blog post her taco was gone...I got my phone ready while she made her next taco. She was out of beans, so first the added the guacamole...then she folded it and ate it. She must not have liked the flavor the strawberries added to her taco! :-)

No Parking

I HATE being told what to do, especially if it does not make sense to me. For instance, when I was young and my great grandma would tell me to do something...even if I just was about to go do it before she told me to...I would wait a good 15 or 20 minutes before doing it, just so she would know I wasn't doing it because she told me to.

Apparently, Wil has this same stubborn, "don't tell me what to do" streak in him. Today, we got a newsletter from our homeowners association. It says, and I quote:

"There has been an increase in complaints regarding homeowners parking their vehicles on the street overnight. The Board would like to remind everyone that there is no overnight parking on the street allowed. Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated."

First of all, allow me to pontificate about what a STUPID rule this is...why does it matter if someone parks in the street overnight? Second of all, WHO is calling to complain about their neighbor's car parked in the street overnight...mind you we're allowed to park in the street, just not overnight. Do people really not have anything better to do than stare out their window to see if their neighbor is leaving their car on the street overnight???

There's a house down the street that actually goes to the extreme to follow this rule. They have two large work vans and an SUV. They park the two vans in the driveway as close to the garage as humanly possible and then park their SUV sideways behind the two vans in the driveway...so as not to be in the street overnight...I think this actually bugs me more than if they would just leave the SUV on the street. Yes, I realize that's irrational and no I don't know why it bugs me, but it does just a little bit because I think it looks weird.

We received our reminder in the mail today...this is where Wil parked when he got home tonight...


I realize it's a bit hard to see, but that is his car in the street...with an empty space in our driveway...just because he can and because NO ONE is going to tell him he can't park in the street in front of his own house! I might just be rubbing off on him...I'm so proud!

Wil also asked that I point out his car is facing the wrong way on the street - he's really being rebellious now!

Tupperware

Last night, we returned all of my grandma's tupperware that we have slowly accumulated over the past few months.


I'm almost embarassed we had so many of my grandma's dishes...at least we've been well fed!

Vegetarian Vampire Cookies

Twilight comes out at midnight tonight on DVD at Walmart. Although I love the books and saw the movie on opening weekend, the DVD release is not generally something that would excite me - I mean, it's not The Office. However, Walmart has been doing huge promotions for it, so welcome to my life for the last two weeks.

This morning, we had our first Twilight segment on Channel 15's Sonoran Living. An associate and her daughter were our spokespeople and she seemed so nervous before she did her segment that my stomach was actually tying in knots for her. Once the host started asking her questions, however, she did GREAT! I was like a proud mom backstage grinning from ear to ear.

The segment was based on ideas for viewing parties because Walmart did some research and found that many teenage girls and their moms were planning Twilight viewing parties once the DVD came out. One of our ideas was to make cookies in the shapes of animals - the good vampires in Twilight drink the blood of animals so they will not harm humans. They call themselves vegetarians, because they don't eat humans like other vampires. I made and decorated the cookies myself. I think they're cute - so here they are...


Please hold your applause until after the acceptance speech...I would like to thank Aunt Jody for letting me borrow the cookie cutters (she has the most amazing supply of cookie cutters I think I have ever seen) and my cake decorating class teacher for teaching me techniques that I applied to these cookies...but mostly I would like to thank my husband for not leaving me and going to bed while I was decorating cookies at 10:30 last night...I can't tell you how much I appreciated that!


Our other party ideas included:

• blood red punch
• spaghetti with blood red sauce
• apples - they're on the cover of the book
• vegetable platter - because the vampires are vegetarians
• Twilight trivia
• t-shirts, jewelry, tote bags and posters that are all sold at Walmart

Now, I am off to the store at the US 60 and Signal Butte to make sure their release party goes smoothly and to snap some photos. Then, tomorrow I will attend a Channel 12 segment at 7:45 a.m. - look for my famous cookies, if you're awake that early and in Phoenix. And then, I will be pretty much done with Twilight, except for any follow up pitching we need to do.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I LOVE St. Patrick's Day! My love for this color-themed holiday began my freshman year of college when my roommates suggested we get up early and make a green breakfast before everyone went to class and work. It was fun, and has been a tradition ever since.


Today, I woke up early and made Wil a green breakfast - green eggs, green pancakes, green milk and green organge juice. After he got over how weird everything looked, I think he enjoyed himself - I'm working on converting him to being a St. Patrick's Day lover as well! Now it's time to pick out a green shirt and head off to work, where most other people will be wearing green. It's the one day of the year everyone seems compelled to wear a certain color and it makes me happy that wherever you look people match - it makes you feel like you're part of something bigger - even if it is just a simple holiday that doesn't even merit a day off of work.

You Can't Come In

Since Elvis so lovingly peed on our bed, he has not only NOT been allowed in our bed, he is NOT even allowed in our room. Every time he walks in, we are mean and kick him out. Then we say stay and walk back into our room.

This is Elvis waiting patiently by our bedroom door for me to come out, because he will get yelled at if he comes in.


Random side note: I'm pretty sure that if I were a dog stay would be the most awful trick I'd ever learned. The only time people say stay and ask you to show off your cool trick is when they don't want you to do whatever it is you want to do. So the only reward you ever get for staying - once you've learned to stay - is not getting whatever you wanted in the first place! If you had never learned your stay trick, you would have whatever it is you wanted.

I H8 Laundry

It's laundry day at the Gonzalez house...


Since we got married, laundry has become one of my very LEAST favorite chores! It's taken me forever to come up with a system for doing the laundry that works for me and that allows us to have clean clothes for work (what would work best for me would be not to do the laundry, but I've tried that and it does not allow us to have clean clothes for work!).

While Wil's at school on Saturday mornings, I'm generally able to get all or almost all of the laundry done. It's great, just a couple hours and its done and I finish all my other chores while I'm waiting. And then, he can help me fold when he gets home. This is a great system for me. In fact, it's made doing laundry tolerable...I might even go so far as to say it's made doing laundry not that bad! However, we went on vacation last weekend...so this is the pile I've been left with today. Please keep in mind that this is after one load has already been placed in the washer and does not include the sheets that I desperately need to wash because I wasn't home last weekend to wash them. URGH! I HATE laundry, today!

Also, before you comment, I do realize that laundry must be MUCH worse with children. I can only imagine how much I will hate it at that point in my life!

Got Gas?

My car was born in 1996. It is 12 years old. It hit its 100,000 mile milestone months ago. So, I admit, that sometimes I lust after newer models I see on the road. But then, I realize how much I LOVE my car! And the top reason I love my car is this...


I drove more than 352 miles...


...and only used 9 gallons of gas. For those of you who are not mathematicians or do not have a calculator handy, that's 39 miles to the gallon - and quite possibly a record for my car! You KNOW you're jealous that you don't have a really cool 1996 Toyota Corolla!

Ewww...Gross...

We hit a bug with our windshield on our way to California. This was no ordinary bug...in fact, it might have been the largest splattering of bug guts I've ever seen from one bug. It looked like someone egged our window.


It's almost the size of Wil's Costco card. EWW! Gross!!!

Dancing with Dolphins

Before the dolphin show started, the dolphin show guy came out and asked for two adult volunteers to be in the show and meet the dolphins. ME, ME, PICK ME!!!

He picked me! He told the other volunteer and me that we had to do karaoke, dance and get wet in exchange for our chance to meet the dolphin. That doesn't sound too bad, I thought - I couldn't wait to meet a dolphin!

First, I sang Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts, and then the dolphins sang. Next, I danced in circles, forward and back while the dolphins danced in circles, forward and back. Then, I shook my bum and the dolphin shook his bum...see...


Then it was time to get wet, and by wet, I mean WET! The trainer told me to brace myself because there would be a lot of water coming at me. The other volunteer got wet first, but it didn't look too bad. I can handle that, I thought. Then, the dolphins spit at me - how cool, kind of, that I got spit at by a dolphin! How funny, I thought. They're going to get the guy volunteer all wet and then just barely get the girl wet. That's great! Yeah, not so much!

After spitting on me, the dolphins did this...


TWICE!

That's a LOT of water! My whole self was wet! Finally, after being drenched, I got to meet the dolphins and pet their tails.


Look at the unnatural shine of my jeans - that's definitely all water. About 30 minute after the dolphin show, we sat down and Wil rung out my socks for me. Look at all the water from just my socks!


I wished he could have rung out my pants, but that might have been a bit awkward for the people walking by. After several hours, I finally changed out of my tank top and long sleeved shirt (neither of which had dried yet) into Wil's light jacket. It was not the most fashionable look, but at least it was a bit more dry! I was still wet when we got back to the hotel five hours later...but, it was TOTALLY worth it!

Discovery Kingdom

Six Flags has a park in Vallejo near San Francisco called Discovery Kingdom. It's one of the coolest places ever!!! It was the zoo meets Sea World meets Six Flags and I LOVED it! Look at this cute little guy - he's the baby dolphin. They had a viewing pane so you could see the dolphins swimming around under water and he was so cute!


The elephant show was one of my favorite parts of the day! Look how close we were and I didn't even use the zoom on the camera!!!


I didn't realize their trunks stretched quite so far!


Her name was Tava, and she even did tricks for us! How cool is this elephant?!?


At the end, they even let us pet the elephant!!! Have you ever pet an elephant? It was the COOLEST!!! Although, our hands smelled like butt after we pet her...Eww, GROSS!



In addition to the elephant show, they had a sea lion show, dolphin show, bird show, tiger show and killer whale show.


We missed the Walrus show, but went and saw the Walrus later in the day. He was the COOLEST walrus I have ever met...ok, maybe he's the only Walrus I have ever met, but I never knew walruses were SO COOL (have you noticed yet that cool is the word of the day)!!!

He was super friendly and would swim up to the glass to look at you. He kept making this happy clacking sound (I assume it was a happy sound) with his mouth and he even had taught himself how to clap. If you stood in front of the glass and clapped while he looked at you, he would start clapping his front to flippers together. It was SO cute!


I look like a total dork in this picture, but it's a cool picture of the walrus, so I'm posting it anyway. In fact, it almost looks like we're making the same face! :)

ROAD TRIP!!!

Three days + 1,600 miles = ROAD TRIP!!!

Wil and I went on a road trip to Six Flags this weekend. HOORAY! It is one of the best things we have done in a very long time! There is absolutely NO ONE at Six Flags in March...we were both pleasantly surprised. The picture above is of us "waiting in line." I think the longest line we waited in all weekend was two roller coaster cars deep - much better than the two hours from this point signs we breezed past while walking quickly to get on the roller coaster.

We went to two different Six Flags parks. On Saturday, we went to Magic Mountain in L.A. and on Sunday we went to Discovery Kingdom near San Francisco. It was a lot of driving, but totally worth it! We had SO SO SO MUCH FUN!!!

Tweet, tweet, tweet

Our neighborhood has a very loud array of birds. In fact, one of the first things we noticed when we moved in was how much chirping you would hear in the morning - it's actually a great way to wake up after a good night's rest.

But, did you know there are birds that sing in the middle of the night? We have a bird in our neighborhood that sings all night long, well at least until after I fall asleep. Last night, I was awake in my bed well past 11 p.m. listening to the serenade of a bird outside my window. I've heard this singer several times before and Wil and I have had a couple discussions about what kind of a bird sings at night. Apparently, there are several...for instance, the whipporwill, owl, and nightingale (which is actually why it's appropriately named the nightingale).

According to an Arizona web site, a Northern Mockingbird is most likely our new neighbor (No, I have not investigated to see what the bird looks like to make sure this is what it is - I'm scared of birds, remember? I just Googled "Arizona birds that sing at night" and that's what came up). Apparently, the singing is hormonally driven in the Springtime, so it should stop soon - I can't decide if I'm excited for it to stop because it will be easier to fall asleep, or kind of bummed because it really is cool to listen to a bird sing at night.

Sit, Stay, Shake, Lay

We were reading through our goals last night and one of them was to "teach Elvis something." HOORAY! I think it's the first goal we've been able to check off so far this year. Elvis officially knows how to sit, stay, shake and lay. He's known sit for quite a while, but stay, shake and lay are all relatively new. Next on our list is roll over, but we might wait a bit before we start working on that one to make sure all of these new tricks have had time to sink in.

My grandma let us borrow her camera to take movies of Elvis showing off his new tricks, so without further ado...

Elvis laying.

Elvis shaking.

Our dog is a GENIUS!

How Old Are We?

A quick glimpse into my life right now... I'm sitting on the couch, typing on the computer while Wil lays on the floor trying to stick a rolled up napkin up Elvis's nose. For the record, he's giggling like a school girl while he does it...he cracks me up!!!