Lake Bottolfini

Last week we had terrible storms on the Central Coast. We took a poll to see what the trees on base thought of the storm. Here are the results:





I'm surprised anyone noticed at all.

This is why you DO NOT plant tall trees in sand (says my mother). These trees were up all over base, and when they fell, they took power lines and cars down with them! If you look closely, you'll see how tall these roots are in comparison with the houses and fences (about 14 feet in the air!) Cool, huh?

Not so cool is our backyard.

We got a little rain on our porch. Carl tried to dig a trench in the mud/sand mix to help (don't ask) but it didn't go well. Now we're asking for a french drain. Oh, I mean a freedom drain. Whatever. I understand before they can do any work on the drains we'll be required to gather animals two-by-two, just in case.

Lompoc Hospital, Rm 127

So it took exactly 4 months for me to need an emergency room visit. Not bad by my record. A small headache led to loss of vision and my husband's first real scare of living alone forever! I thought it was funny. Carl was not amused. It really wasn't that big of a deal.

My day started off normal (imending migraine as usual) when I noticed that my vision was blurring. I passed it off and worked until I couldn't see enough to type anymore. I called Carl at work to ask if he could drive me up to the Urgent Care to get a shot of Toradol. I'm not sure what happened between the first shot of Morphine and the MRI at the hospital but a couple days later when I'm finally back to "normal" Carl tells me I was HILARIOUS! The drugs worked. Either way, I'm fine. No brain tumors. No anurism. Just a bad migraine from sharing a small space with my husband at night and my boss all day. I'll be okay.

Speaking of sharing space with a man - We've almost made it to our first Year. Celebration will be in order. One year is a LONG TIME! I hope one year is diamonds. I love diamonds.

Barkley Bottolfson 1994-2008

Man's Best Friend.

Britney? Be serious.

One of the guys at work has been calling me Britney for a few weeks. Today, when I saw him in the tech area and he said, "hey, Brit" I wondered 1) why aren't any of the other techs correcting him and 2) do they all think my name is Britney? Let me tell you, if someone has been calling you by the wrong name for over a month, you really should consider a legal name change. That way no one feels awkward or so what I'm about to tell you never repeats itself. Okay, it goes something like this:

Fernando says: "I have a confession to make. I've been calling you Britney since I started working here. "


I think: Okay, no big deal.


Then he says: "Not because I think your name is Britney"


I make a weird face that I'm sure looked like: huh?


He finishes: "but because you look like Britney Spears."


Me: Dead Silence.


Now, I'm not the shy type and I usually am not at a loss for words, but I'm pretty sure I didn't say much after that confession. Just in case you've been living in a cave with Bin Laden lately, Britney isn't hosting her "A" game right now. I really don't care to be her "twin". He tried to rescue his confession by telling me that he meant before she went crazy but I'm pretty sure she was white trash then too. Either way, I can't find the resemblance. What do you think?

In case you are having a hard time telling the difference, the one over here is Britney (Looks to me like Pre Mental Breakdown)





And this one here. This is me. Breakdown Pending.

Oh, and it should be noted that if I was Britney Spears or even knew her I would suggest that she find a better hairstylist. Apparently no one in her posse is brave enough to tell her that her extensions look cheap.

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome 2008! 2008 is here and it's going to be a great year for advertising. I just know it. Think of all the words that rhyme with eight. Go ahead, I'll wait.

To ring in the New Year we stayed up until 3am (we weren't even sure we would make it until midnight) playing wii and Cranium. We had a blast. I included photographic evidence in case you think I wasn't really up - or that I wasn't having fun. See if you can guess what this is:

That's a tri-athlete. I'm surprised you didn't get it right away. Okay, here's another one:

It's an umbilical cord-duh. The legs in the stirrups (Matt has wicked attention to detail) should have given it away. Here is Carl's reaction when he found out what stirrups were. That's a vivid image coupled with too much Vodka. It equals nausea!

NOTE: Carl dressed himself that evening. He is allowed to dress on his own anytime we will be in the company of close friends. I did not select the Chuck Norris shirt for his wardrobe. He picked it out on his own.

Here is more about the New Year. I made the following resolutions - because I felt some pressure to do so. I wanted to make sure they were resolutions I could stick to so they are pretty easy. Here goes:

1) I WILL NOT fail on a diet this year. To avoid doing so, my resolution this year is to NOT GO ON A DIET.

2) I will go to book club one month this year for something other than the snacks. Maybe I'll go in February when we see a play.

3) I will be on time to work every single day this year. Since I live less than a block from the office and I shower pretty fast I'm certain this is a resolution I can keep. I can always eat breakfast and put my make up on when I get here.

4) I will learn how to correctly pronounce the name of the new guy at work without laughing. I'll let you know how that goes.

Is that enough? 4? How long is the typical list of resolutions? I better keep them all. One failure will seriously lower my success percentage.

Pictures speak a thousand words...

Too early Tuesday morning I woke Carl's hung-over ass up and drug him to Pismo Beach. Yes, we spent Xmas at the beach. Apparently this is the California thing to do. It felt really "tourist-y". I had a kidney infection so I was feeling quite lovely myself. We wrote in the sand with our toes and watched idiots try to surf in 50 degree water. When we got home we opened presents. We were all in bed by 8:30. A special thanks to our friends Matt & Erica for providing the cheap boxed wine the night before. It lead to our 1st Annual Christmas Demise. We've never had so much fun...cheers to Franzia!! Erica and I spent an entire evening at Wal-Mart preparing our "Smart Holiday Attire" for the Xmas eve party. Here we pose to show you how even a cheap Wal-Mart holiday sweater manages to make you feel fancy by adding flare to the rear.

What do you think about this one? It has all the makings of a wonderful holiday photo. I'll just have to photoshop the red blur out of his eyes. Well and his face, since he seems to think he was a pimp that night.

Every year I do a themed Christmas. You know, one gift that I get for family from a theme. This year it was T-Shirts. Well, cause some of them are just so darned funny. This one was added to Carl's wardrobe on Xmas day. I have a good sense of humor, don't I?

Especially since this is what I got. Yep, it's a vacuum.

Oh and did I mention we also got a wii? Carl seems to think it's his, but he's wrong. It's mine. I just let him open it for effect. Just like the vacuum is his. I opened it for effect.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas in California?

When you live in a place with more palm trees than snow shovels, stereotypical images of Christmas just don't work. It's awfully hard to go on a sleigh ride at the beach, after all. Hot Cocoa and ear muffs lose their appeal when paired with shorts. Yesterday, when my girlfriend invited us over for Christmas Eve cocktails I thought, "wow, she's planning ahead this year" but then I realized, it's only 5 days away. I bet I know what's throwing me off. I didn't put up a Christmas Tree or Holiday Lights this year. The tree huggers here are worried my lights will fry up the planet with global warming even though I only turn them to simmer. I don't know if you picked up on my sarcasm, but I'm just not in the holiday mood this year. I think as long as we live in Cali we're going to need to start some new traditions. You know, something to get us enjoying the constant 65-70 degree weather so that when we move again in a few years we'll be really miserable and cold. I'll run it by the family for suggestions.

Watch for upcoming pictures from our first family Christmas...outside.

Squadron Officer School Graduate!

Carl is officially a S.O.S. graduate! Look at Mr. Handsome in his official photo.

Now, for Proud Military Wife Brag Time: My husband graduated in the top 1/3 of his class while managing a full time college master's degree schedule and calling me daily. (He tells me it was pure Hell) Also, it was announced last night at the Commander's Call that Carl will be (drum roll please) a Flight Commander in February 2008!!! Yah! I can honestly say his stamina and commitment to perfection can be directly related to my excellent cooking and other domestic skills. (lol) Hands off ladies, he's all mine!

2007 - A year in review

I looked back on the year but this is all I could come up with. In chronological order:



January - Had an ear infection.

February - Another ear infection Got Married in Vegas. Pics at www.freewebs.com/weddinginvegas

March - Attempted to add a spare bathroom to our basement in Minot, ND. After the laughs, spiraled into debt.

April - Saw the revival of big hair bands in concert. Scored a drum stick.

May - Took in a four legger from hubby. ANOTHER ear infection.

June - Turned 30, had fondue. Got ear tubes.

July - Sold the house in one hour. Vita was dx with Addisons causing all moving plans to screech to a halt.

August - Clearly did nothing memorable for an entire month.

September - Drove for days to end up here.

October - After living together for a blissful month, hubby is called to SOS.

November - All alone for days on end I decide to stop shopping 24/7 and find a J O B.

December - Nothing yet but I'll let you know if anything worthwhile transpires.



Man, broad strokes are almost depressing. Not that I was hoping for much more, because honestly it was a pretty good year, and the fun parts are in the details.

A few of my favorite things

Our friends, the Picchi's, invited us to see the Sound of Music at the Santa Maria theatre. Since I'm game for anything that involves singing (and by that I mean singing along) I'm there. Hubby isn't sure but that's okay, I'm sure they'll have beer there. Anyway, it got me thinking, what are my favorite things? Here is my list in no particular order. Order requires planning.

1) My furkids whiskers. I love furkid kisses and snuggles. They make EVERYTHING better.

2) Good friends. The kind that share their entire soul with you. Genuine and passionate people. You know who you are.

3) Pink. No caveats. It's pink? Its good with me.

4) Airport Hugs. They are the best ever. The smell of jet fuel, the cold tears, agh. I love airport hugs.

5) Short nails. Long ones get dirty.

6) Grandma's squash and potatoes. There is nothing they can't fix. Seriously.

Don't worry. I'll do a recap of the year soon. It promises to be much more entertaining.