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!