y'all won't like this, but...

how come the story about Obama and his supposed mob ties and ties to slum lords in chicago are not bigger news? i know the man gives a good speech, but let's be honest, if this were hillary, the media would be all over this. i was thinking, too, how did he rise so fast without these ties? i know he is a good speaker, but to clean up this mess our country is in, it is gonna take more than speeches. sure we need to be united, but we need to be united for a cause. where is his action. what has he done? a few terms in his state government, and two as a senator. but the way he talks. and don't get me wrong, he says some wonderful things, but he is for things like " no child left behind." think about it. every kid has to be on the same level at the same age. and they have to pass the test to prove they are at that level. this is ridiculous. some kids are never going to read or do math on their grade level. and some kids are going to blow these tests out of the water. but school funding is based on these tests as well. that is scary. don't the kids who fall behind need more funding to get them up to par? and who sets par? probably someone who would have had no problem passing these milestone tests. it just seems silly. i just wonder if some people aren't taken in by his speeches and how charismatic he is. but issues.
i heard darlin' bill talk not too long ago. saying glorious things about his wife, of course. and he said that being president is a tough job because at the end of the day, you are still human. and you are going to fail at some things. he went on to say that it is how the president handles failure that determines what kind of president they are. in the late 1990's he let hillary chair a board on health care reform. she took a lot of flack for her position (it was looked at like a spoils of victory position). she took so much flack, the reform she was working on failed. FAILED. but she picked herself up, and started working on better health care for kids. and our country now has better benefits for more kids than it ever had. all because of her failure. she has made huge changes in our country. and most have been positive. but it just seems to me that she may lose to rhetoric. i'm sick of "empty words". GeeDub promised to unite us, too. you 'member? personally, i do think we need some unity, but unite us with a cause and the cause should be greater than furthering our political party, or our own career, or how great we were in the past. this is now. let's get some real changes going. that would be better.
it is not a race issue, and i don't think i am a racist for not supporting the black guy. i think he will get his time, but let's do something. for once. this is my soap box.

look at the big brain on this one...

well. guess who set a new record in online chemistry. that is right. me. i took my last test (before the final) last night/this morning. and i got a 90! that is unheard of! i almost called my parents just to brag, but it would have been 4 am their time. so i waited. now all i have to do is study really hard for the final and pass it. then i am done with this leg of online organic chem. i hope to never have to do another on line course again. these things are murder. today i start my solo world tour in rock band. i think i am ready. watch out gwen stefani. cortneylangford is coming! we get to go see built to spill tomorrow night. yippee! and i have a job interview at a cactus store tomorrow afternoon. then tuesday i interview at a chiropractic office. i don't see why they would hire me. i am going to be honest about leaving in two months and starting school when i get back. i don't want to go burning any bridges, you know, but i do want to see them and talk to them. who knows. maybe they are crazy. and we don't have a place to live yet so i could be out here in the summer. who knows. but i think honesty is the best policy with them. as for the cactus store.... that is a different story. a girl has to work. and, like i told laura, what if rare cacti are my new passion. who knows. :) i'll get to learn to prune cactus, learn about rare cactus, et c . could be good. dust starts work at the farmers market on tuesday. i think he is excited. so that is good his new work's logo is a picture of penny eating corn. only it is not penny. (penny is dustin's family's dog. she is pretty cute. and she eats corn just like this dog). so he was happy. he will be doing what i do in the stand. retocking and selling veggies. he'll be a natural. i told him to get ready to see how dumb people can be. while he was talking to the guy, the woman next to me picked up dark red kale and said, "i bet this is that infamous red cabbage i've heard about." no joke. i told her she had a bunch of kale. and pointed to the "infamous" red cabbage. she was not impressed. but i thought it was pretty funny. is red cabbage "infamous?" i just figure i always knew what it was. i mean, come on! get ready dust. that is all i am gonna say. get ready. people will amaze you!
the rain didn't miss us, but we only lost power for about 30 seconds (as opposed to last time and losing power for 8+ hours), and the rain made for good study weather. we also got to eat chili and cornbread for dinner. i love that dinner.
i need to give a shout out to laura. she got accepted to nursing school. so if you see her give her a big squeeze for me. i am so happy for her. don't you think she will make a fabulous nurse? i do. i think that is the news from here for now. i'll keep y'all posted on the chemistry class. i will be so pumped to have it be done. soon. finally the end is in sight. and WAY TO GO, LAURA!!!!

today is a new day

thank goodness today is a new day. i couldn't have redone yesterday. it seems that dust is feeling better. he even got a mini job at the farmer's market on three days a week. he starts tuesday. i talked to quinn and she thinks there might be a place for us right under their apt that is month to month, and claudia said she may have nice place for us. we went to the open house at my school tonight. it was a one hour drive to get there. yesh! that could be my daily commute, but that is another story. the open house was pretty cool. we got the token tour (complete with cadaver display) and the speeches about how great life west chiropractic college is. by the end of the first speech, even dust was ready to sign up. then we heard what had happened to the school that was going to teach me organic chemistry. turns out they lost their accreditation. so they can no longer teach science. they do have a pretty fancy law school and a few other branches that are successful, but no the one i need. so last night i was worried. but i think that may have been a little premature because my school is already planning a way to offer both the chemistry classes in the same place at the same time, and they may even try to employ the same teachers. so that is somewhat of a breath of fresh air. and just listening to the president of the school talk about his beliefs in chiropractic lets me know that i am not only in good hands, but i am in the right place--despite the potential hour long commute.
also thanks claudia and quinn for coming to the rescue. i am amazed at the speed you guys are capable of coming through for me. and even if nothing comes from either situation, just knowing i have friends who will jump to it when i need them means the world to me. now don't think i am slighting the rest of you. i know dust and i are being watched out for by all of you. so those nice words are to all of you. i could not have made it through a lot of the times in my life without you. nor would i want to. so thank you.
now it is supposed to really start raining on saturday. they are talking that we may lose our power for hours again. in which case, could we start a vigil early in the power loss--age to focus our energy on getting the power back on? otherwise, i may just have dust drive me to the bar and drink like an old country and western singer. not really, we could never afford that now. hopefully, work will turn up on my end, too. i don't really care to be supported financially. so i hit the streets looking for work (not street work, just work). i am going to go to the shops around the house and ask there. that way i would not have to drive. and they might be more open to part time or what not. but i could walk. that is nice. and we have a cute little neighborhood. so it could be fun. so keep us in your thoughts and prayers and whatever you believe. we still need it. but there is a little silver on the lining of our cloud #9. let's just get more of this and less of those pesky "nope days".
love to all

here comes the rain again...

man, i love annie lennox, but i hate when she plays the soundtrack to my life, you know. she is not notorious for the most uplifting music. claudia left yesterday. it rained yesterday, too. the first time in weeks (maybe just two, but that constitutes weeks, right). today was sunny, but more rain is on the way (both metaporically and weatherwise). we went to bed last night to dust not feeling so well. i hoped he could sleep it off, but mona had another agenda. one loud cry every 20 minutes does not help dustin get well. so little sleep was had. he woke up before 10 ready to face the world. not me. i had spent the whole night trying to shhush the cat. but he was up--so i was up. i made him a nest on the couch and let him read his book while i did my morning phone calls to schools and what not. i even applied to a few temp agencies in hopes of finding work. someone has to support my hasband's video game habit. then when he started making everyone we know as wii characters, i knew it was time to take a shower so i could also face the day. i checked the email to find that we can not live in kristina and vytas's house this summer because tom will still be there. this is not a bad thing. i am so glad someone is living there. that little trailer makes me so happy, i would be heart broken if someone happy weren't in it. so i am glad he is and will be there. i am just worried because i don't know where we will live when we get there. for the first time since we got here, we had to seriously talk about what would happen if he went back and i stayed here. i know 4 months is not that long to go without dust, but it also means i miss all of you, too. and with the ammount of time i spend with the big oaf, i've gotten used to just having him there. and 4 months without him reading my silly little mind and laughing at my jokes and foiling my plots to take over the universe--really, what am i to do? so i called home while i was at the laundrymat. after a quick lecture from my mom about how financially irresponsible keeping the wii is (and i know she is right, but...it is so fun), she and my dad both told me that not only is 4 months (in the grand scheme of things) not soooo long, but that we still have at least two months to find a way for this to work out. so keep your fingers crossed. i also just got an email from my potential teacher saying that my class (org chem I--starting april 1) may have to be postponed by three weeks. this would make it impossible for me to take the second class out here because it would start one week after the first--or three weeks later, and ideally we would be back in vermont. so i just don't know what is happening. i guess my vacation is over. i am looking for a job, and may need to start looking for an apartment for the summer. i just guess i am scared. i feel (for the first time in a long time--thankfully) that things are out of my control. you all know what a control freak i am secretly, so you know how this is hard for me. the good news is: i believe bad news happens in 3's. so i am done for a while. count 'em:
1. dust is sick.
2. we have no where to live for the summer.
3. my silly class is postponed or cancelled.
and looking at them that way, they seem pretty meager. so i know we will be ok. but i just needed to vent, and what better way than to blog. that is why these things are here. am i right?
on the flip side we go to my chiropractic college tomorrow night for an open house. i feel like a silly kid on the first day of school. i did laundry today so we would be clean. i am a little nervous, but i think it will be a boring/ good time. i think it might be good for dust to go with me, i want him to know and feel at home where i will be spending so much time, you know.
and i got to talk to both of my parents. that was fun. it seems like when i call, one of them is gone or something. so it was nice to get their perspective on the situation. my mom always says what needs to be said, and my dad makes me feel like everything will be ok. so it is a nice combo. i may not hear what i want to hear, but i know what is up and have a new outlook when all is said and done.
i printed out a resume. i really have to start looking for work. the vacation is over. sad, but it was nice while it lasted. keep your fingers crossed for us. we need all the luck we can get.

karaoke anyone

we took claudia to the booths where you get to sing karaoke. like in lost in translation. we picked so many great songs: shot through the heart, two journey songs (they are the bay area's finest), don't go chasing waterfalls, ice ice baby, and many more! here are the photos of our fabulous adventure:

that is right. we rock!

y'all ready for this?

the much anticipated cosby sweater photos.


we're they better than you expected? i thought so. i really had complete strangers telling me "hers is the worst. just look at it. " good thing i am not more sensitive about how i look or what others think of me. but we do look pretty good, right. we went for ice cream after the party. there were some high school girls with no sense of humor--which made their gawking that much better for us. so there you have it. us as the real goons we are.

oops i forgot!

i forgot to tell you about the party we went to while we were at melissa and andy's house. it was their friend's birthday, and in keeping with dustin and my tradtion (where if we know we don't know anyone at the party, we go in costume)... we wore cosby sweaters. you ready for this. i had people i did not know telling me mine was the worst and i looked horrible. it is refreshing to know "i still got it!" "it" being the ability to turn complete strangers against me with only one sweater and a side ponytail. think it over whilst i have dust resize the picture and i'll put it on tomorrow. see if i measure up to what you expected, or if it wasn't as bad as you thought. and just wait till you see dust. think shades of brown. melissa opted for the hot pink sweater, leaving poor andy in the purple with roses sweater. just you wait... this one is good.

we got claudia

for valentine's day some people get flowers or candy, but everyone who knows us, knows how unconventional we are. we got claudia for valentine's day, and we couldn't be happier.

today we went wine tasting up in my brother's area. it was a lot of fun, but i don't think i need anymore wine for a while.


our first stop was meredith's work (ben's wife), envy. there we learned that wine tastes better if you hold your pinky out from the glass.



the second winery had a lot of plastic ducks outside, but the wine was good and they fed us. so we liked them most of all.

no wine tour would be complete without stopping at clos pegase because that is where my brother works. here we have the girls at his winery:

and ben, too.

it was a fun day. and we made it to our fabulous dinner at tayor's refresher. nothing like a hamburger and shake for a great valentine's meal. we were all very happy on the way home.

"we're in the money"

if you haven't heard, dust and i have gotten into the lucrative dealings of ebay. we hope to make a small fortune selling wii's. we have two that we are planning to sell. hopefully they go for a lot of money. we were really excited to actually get the wii's on our first few hours of looking. it was almost like dealing with the mafia to get one, though, because the gaming store was very secretive about even having wii's to sell. first dustin went in. and asked. one guy said he would "go look" to see if they had any wii's--while the other dude went and got the wii and put it in a bag in the back room of the store. coming back with a bag, dust's day was made. then we went and got cash and i went in. my transaction was not nearly as smooth or as quick. i go in and follow dustin's protocal. asking quietly for the wii. they go in the back and package it up for me. i tell them i am buying it for my nephew in arkansas. nice use of the accent, i know. so as i am paying for the wii, their computers completely crash and i am left not only not holding my $340, but also not holding my wii in a bag. so i wait for what seems like an eternity, but is probably only slightly less than an hour. then i emerge with my wii. nice. we follow up the wii purchases with in and out burger. what a celebration. one wii is on sale now--so happy bidding. :) only kidding. but if this goes well, we know when another shipment of them comes in at target. so if you need a wii, we are in the know.

wiiiiiiiii

we are at melissa and andy's house in blue lake, california. they have a wii. so in honor of the paquette's we decided to take the wii fitness test as often as possible. the first time i took it i was 36. i was pumped. everyone else was in their 50's at least. i was so proud. then the next morning, i was 80. and at night 52. so i am convinced i am a night person, and not meant for morning competition. we have been here since thursday, and they have convinced us to stay until monday. we are also trying to get them to come down to our area next weekend because they have to get to know claudia. that way we all have friends. it is good. either way we have to leave by monday. dust is having trouble sleeping on an air mattress, and the kitties are getting tired of being in one room. oh. i should tell you too, on the way here, albert got car sick that was pretty bad. we were weaving through the red woods to get here and he was crying. it made me feel so bad. but we got that cleaned up.
also today we rented a game for the wii, wario smooth moves. seriously, you (paquette's) must play this game. rent it. then you will want to buy it. it is the best. in fact, it is almost my turn so i should go.

you take the good, you take the bad

so as the coverage of super tuesday was winding down here in the state that now calls themselves "the prize", i was happy to see my girl was winning. i grew up, my mom managing a law firm in little rock, and hillary was a lawyer at a rival firm (one that my aunt ended up working at). only one time of year did all the rivals come together--the christmas party. now i was stuck with the kids at these parties, so i only heard the gossip as people were coming to get their kids and what not. but one thing that was ingrained in all of us was that hillary was called the ice princess. they said she had no personality, and was hideous (really ugly--not personality wise--side note: she is the only arkansas first lady to have her portrait painted from behind--true story). but they also dreaded coming up against her in the court room. they said she was a fierce competitor and they said she was smart. now i take in to account that i was young, but i still believe all of these things. ice princess, fierce, smart. these things are important to me because our country has been run into the ground by stupidity for 8 years. we need someone who doesn't care what others think of them (her), and is willing to fight hard for us, and do so with intelligence instead of a gun. so this princess supports every princess, regarless of their domain. ice--y palaces or my own sunny shores. i believe there are no smarter candidates out there. don't get me wrong, i like obama, and i would vote a clinton--obama ticket in a heart beat (regardless of what chris rock says about a black man being elected vp). i think that would be smart. and in 8 years, i would not hesitate to vote for obama to be my president.
but while california was coming in for hillary, and she was winning so many delegates in so many big states (obama campers take stock in the fact your candidate won not only more states, but also most of these little states are battle ground states), dust was on the computer checking more delegate info for me (as i watched KRON 4-the local news). we learned that six--count them six--tornadoes had struck arkansas, tennessee, and kentucky killing 22 people. i assumed it was eastern arkansas (a less populated area)where the tornado hit, but no. it was in a town that near where my aunt lives. it also said that horses were involved (statistics we never get--the animals hurt or killed). so reading about these two horses that wouldn't look up until light was in their eyes--they only "whined in distress" until that point. it just sounded so sad. so while i was so happy that my home state had gone to my girl (and my evil nemisis, mike huckabee never to be mentioned again), i was really sad to hear that people had died, and people were being searched for. i know people from this town from my tri delta days. and i remember when this same thing happened when i was in college in a town called arkadelphia (the town was destroyed to the point where the national guard was called in to guard from looting and disney offered to buy the town to rebuild it for movie sets...it was crazy). but it all just struck a terrible cord. so i feel alittle sad right now. and worried for the people in atkins. i hope they will be ok, and i hope it will be a big news story, and not overshadowed by "super" tuesday. i guess the word "super" can take on a lot of meanings, too--eh?

this one's for quinn

now i will admit that it has been a loooooong time since i lived in the city. but i have always fancied myself as fashionable. WRONG. moving to the bay area has shown me that my style is not only haggard, but also cheap. usually i like the cheap aspect. i like to get clothes off of ebay. but here, that is just not enough. i have yet to find some outfit or accessory that was not at least 98$. the only bargains i have seen have been in trader joe's, the cheap, but good grocery store. also skinny jeans seem to have taken over the bay area. all colors of skinny jeans and all sizes (not so good) and on males and females. also the fresh prince colored hoodies (think neon prints), as have hoodies that zip Over the face and have mesh eye coverings. these hoodies are usually printed with a skeleton or spiderman or chainsaw yielding jason. i am always amazed when i see the kids in these things. amazed mostly to see who actually buys them, but still...
all of those flowing shirts have almost been replaced with fitting shirts and little sweaters. also knee high boots and skirts. boots in black or brown--just not too shiney. now i priced these boots in dsw in san fran--any place called a warehouse should be assumed discount as well--WRONG again. these boots were cute and pricey. 200-500$. also heels--not as big in the city if you are planning on walking. so most places also sell a lot of flats. you would think the flats would be cheaper than heels--nope. but flats are huge here. these people would laugh at the vermont fashion. no carharts have been seen here. also no real flannel shirts. so vermonters--it is time to step it up. so we don't look like vermonters when we go out of the state.
i put my foot down on the skinny jeans. i just don't think that is a look that needs supporting. but i could try the skirts with boots (given that i could find boots under 50$). sweaters, i am not opposed to. and i love fitted shirts. i am hoping this signals the end of the drapery/maternity wear that has flooded stores for so long as i do not think it is a good look for anyone under the size 22-- or non maternity. oh yes, pea coats--invest in pea coats--all the rage. and if your jeans are not designer, (and/or skinny) don't wear them. wear pants. i know it is crazy, but the bay area has no "dress jeans". also they dress up more for a saturday afternoon than we do for a month of nights going out combined.
one other funny thing--i saw a boy in keds on the bart the other day. no, he wasn't gay--he was some sort of wanksta. i thought it was hilarious.
i do see alot of designer handbags here. all over the place--coach, gucci, hobo--on people you would not expect to have a designer bag. i even thought about making a purchase of one instead of my dream shoes. a "cheap" hobo bag is only 98$. and it could be my "treat" for finishing organic chemistry. but then i thought, what kind of treat do i think i deserve? if we lived here full time, i think i could make us broke as jokes in no time. but we would look good.

whirlygigs and water spouts

well. it all started thursday morning when we went to visit my brother, his wife and baby. it was a good day--really rainy, but good. we got to talk to my parents on skype. that was fun because they haven't really seen baby emma yet, so that was a big deal. none of us could quiet that baby for most of the afternoon. both dust and myself asked why people actually wanted and looked forward to having such crying machines. my brother assured us it was the best thing that had happened to him. so i know all is well. we also could not get that baby to take a bottle. so ben drove up to meredith's work in the middle of the afternoon so the wee one could eat. we even got to hang out with meredith this visit. so that was good. last time we left too early. we got to babysit while ben picked meredith up from work. we got the baby quiet ( for the most part) see......i think both of them are tired beyond belief. but i sarcastically told them to give it a year or so and they would all be sleeping through the night with little memory of all of this. it was made extra funny because my brother nearly got drenched while trying to change baby emma's diaper.

we left there about 8pm. we were worried that melissa and andy would beat us back to the house. they accidently took the golden gate bridge in to san franciso and had to drive through the city to cross the bay bridge to our house. their turn was actually a few exits before the golden gate, and had they made that exit, they would have not only made it here about 45 minutes faster, they would have avoided a $5 toll. so that was stinky. we took them to our local bar and had a great time. friday we explored oakland. we found two inviting area of that city (so far i had been put off by oakland). we even saw rob's pots in an upscale shop's windowso i was reassured. we also went across to the island of alameda. a quiet little area. and then we showed them berkeley. it was fun. i think we all could own this part of the country if we were all here together. we managed to make it to the pyramid brewing tour (if it weren't free, i think it would be very dissapointing). we made it home in time to introduce them to rock band. they were sold. i forget how fun it is to have a room full of people playing that thing. it is nice. we even got shy little andy to sing several songs. now, there is one bad thing you guys should know, one of our guitars broke again so we've been playing in a band of three. not quite as much fun, but it is still fun.

saturday we went to san fran because there was a flower show in china town. it was the start of chinese new year and part of getting ready for the celebration involves buying flowers, fruit and candy. (my kind of celebration!) dustin was by far the tallest one there. it was a hoot. but it was nice to walk through all the vendors and see their flowers. i had read that if you have flowers blooming in your home on chinese new year, it is said that it will be a profitable year. and if you have oranges with the leaves still attatched, it will be a good year for newlyweds (fruit attatched to leaf, bride and groom attatched). and who doesn't celebrate with candy? so we walked around and saw it all before the rain came. we got a cab to the haight area, and then went back downtown and ate curry and naan (my favorite fast food indian food) and shopped like nothing else. we didn't really buy anything, but we did go in our fair share of stores.

it was nice to have people who are so excited we are on the west coast. it was also nice to hear them say that we should all live in the same town. i agree. we had so much fun just laughing with them. so we both were sad to see them go. but we did get the excited invite to come up to visit them (with the cats) next weekend. so barring any new best friends inviting us to something more amazing we will probably do that. it will be fun. maybe i can get them to start packing for their move. :) if not, maybe we can play rock band into the wee hours. they have a house so we would not be a nuisance to the neighbors. ahh. houses. one day. but for now we have friends!