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04/29/2008
Banana-Nut Squared
So I have a sister blog now, only it's going to be strictly dedicated to food. That doesn't mean food won't make an appearance here anymore, it just means that's where everything is going to go.
I'm linking you up:
http://stock-pot.blogspot.com/
And remember that comments (i.e. sharing) is a good thing, so spread the love!
Later Days,
Arty
16:15 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
04/25/2008
Cumpliaños
Morning my lovelies! Well, it's my birthday today and I'm all caught up with my work, my boss is away, my partner in office criminology theory is out and I'm all alone in the office at work with the faint sounds of education drifting up to me through the open door.
There are some flowers on my desk, not for my birthday, but for Administrative Porfessionals Day, which is really just a PC way of saying I got flowers for Secretary's Day even though I'm not a secretary. I was really surprised to get them, actually, but pleased nonetheless. I like staring at them from time to time.
So, as you can probably guess, I made it home from Sedona safely. I'm not one to actually enjoy the experience of flying, but the journey was made more bearable when our plane taxi-ed up to the gate and I saw, emblazoned on it, a giant California state flag. Oh yeah. It was a Bear Flag Republic plane! It was the greatest thing I've ever seen on a plane. And it pleased me immensely. That and the fact that Matt and I had a whole row to ourselves.
What didn't please me was the fact that I had to pee for almost the entire flight and the lavatories were always...ALWAYS...occupado. Still, I was in a Bear Flag Republic plane.
Upon arriving to the airport, Matt and I had to manuever our way through an inslaught of airport phenomena people. By that, what I mean is this: have you ever noticed that in airports, people seem to be dazed and confused? They walk at irregular speeds, stop without warning right in front of you and stand to look at the flight information screens right where they'll be most in the way? Yeah. Those are airport phenomena people. They wander around elsewhere too, but there always seems to be the largest concentration of them at airports.
So yeah, running the gauntlet was fun. Especially considering I needed to pee.
Jeff picked up us and took us back to the apartment, which was very nice of him. Our place looked as though it had vomitted all over itself in our absence. There were unwrapped gifts lying about, half-opened ones on top of those, rubbish everywhere, clothing that didn't make the honeymoon packing cut...it was really bad. Like, really bad.
Still, it was good to be home with my fog and my bay and my husband.
Matt and I tried to make some sense of everything before our plans got going once again. To welcome us home, my mother and grandmother toiled over tomatillo sauce in order to make some enchiladas verdes. But oh man, was their toiling worth it. Those enchiladas were freaking and amazingly yummy. So much so that I had to go back for second helpings of them.
So that was that. I haven't been over to the house in Oaktown since then. But that's going to change tonight.
You see, the rule growing up was that when it was your birthday, you got to choose what you wanted for dinner. It's a rule that has pervaded our lives and made for some really rockin' memories. I was torn this year between a taco bar and barbeque.
A taco bar would have consisted of soft flour tortillas, crispy corn tortilla shells, meat, beans, Spanish rice, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro and queso cotijo. We would have filled the crispy shell with rice and meat and whatever other toppings we wanted. The flour tortillas, however, would have been spread with a thin layer of beans and then wrapped around the crispy shell. Oh man. That's some seriously good eats right there.
Still, I opted for a barbeque tonight. The weather here is beautiful today, so it'll make for some nice times around the dining room table with food, family and, as always, fun. I imagine the windows will be open for some nice breezes and the dining room table will be extended to accommodate the number of people in my family.
The food is gonna be great. We're having barbequed ribs with potato salad (grandma's homemade potato salad no less! *excited*), green salad, corn and maybe watermelon. It's still a bit early for watermelon, but my mom said she'd see what she could do about that. There's a chocolate cake with strawberries for dessert and in the midst of all that, margaritas will flow plentifully.
I'm heading over to the house right after work so I might pop into the backyard to see if there are lemons on the tree to make some lemonade. It's a shame Jeff won't be around for that part. He loves my lemonade. Maybe I'll freeze some in an ice cube tray for him.
Jeff is the only one who won't be there tonight. He's leaving for Sodom, which is to say he's leaving for Reno, the biggest little city in the world. Every year there's a jazz competition there for all the states west of the Mississippi River. Jazz bands from all around go and compete for top honors in the west coast division, so Jeff and his band are going to represent our Titans!
Good luck, guys!
That said, Uncle Arnie and Uncle Benny both will be at the house tonight. I haven't seen Uncle Benny since the wedding, so I'm excited to see him. I've been promised a night of games, so I reckon Trivial Pursuit might be pulled out as well as some other trivia-ish games. Have I mentioned that I come from a very competative family? Game night should be awesome.
So lately I've been having moments where I fondly remember something either right before the wedding or during the wedding. I don't know why, but each time I smile.
One memory is of Lisa. We were at the market two days before the wedding and she just disappeared for a minute only to return with a big box of Cheez-Its.
Another is of Liesl. We were all sitting in the bridal room at church the day of the wedding. All my girls were in their slips and sitting on the floor so that their skirts wouldn't get wrinkled. Liesl was regailing us with the story of how she had been walking around the church barefoot the day before and when she got home, the bottom of her feet were just black. We were all pretty grossed out.
Yet another is of Sara helping me and Lisa build the arch for the cake. Good times doing that! The three of us also decorated the birdcage. And for those of you who don't know, I used a Victorian birdcage and decorated it with flowers and leaves and ribbon so that people could slip their cards into it. It's an easy way of keeping all the cards contained as opposed to a basket, which is easily tipped over and spilled.
Another fond memory is all my uncles working together for the backdrop for the cake. Uncles Arnie, Ben and Kevin were amazing.
My aunts were amazing too. Aunt Barb and Aunt Becca were there helping with anything that they could. I can't imagine setting up for the wedding without them. They made it all possible.
There was also Eddie, who told me when he got into town Sunday night that he had been hoping all along I hadn't chosen anything pink for the guys to wear because he looks horrible in pink. I laughed when he told me that.
Well, the annual barrage of phone calls made on birthdays hasn't really happened this year. I suppose it's still kind of early for that. My mother called me first thing this morning, so she did her motherly duties. I'm looking for my uncles to call me, as well as my grandmother. Jeff better call me, the bum! He's leaving and he needs to call his only sister on her birthday.
Work has been pleasant so far. I had a couple cards waiting for me on my desk this morning. Room 101 and room 102 sang happy birthday to me when I went in to do my thing. It was great. Alex wished me a happy 21st birthday because he's wonderful like that. I laughed when he said that. And he got into my good books because although I'm not that far off from 21, he still made the effort to be charming.
I made some chocolate pistachio fudge and brought it in to work today. Two pieces have already gone away, but I look for the rest to disappear as the day progresses. I've learned today that apparently it's never too early for fudge. Okay...so scrap that first number. I just took a piece. Don't judge me.
Well, I have some actual work to do at the moment, so I think I'll go away. It's nice being back!
Later Days,
Arty
10:19 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
04/19/2008
Red Rock, Wildflower Bread and Lost Bets
Evening, kids! This will most likely be my last blog before I leave Sedona and go back home. In truth, I'm kind of looking forward to getting back home. I miss my family. My brothers especially and how they make me laugh. Plus, it'll be really good to get used to being in a new home, which will be the flat I have with my husband. It still sounds weird to say that. My husband.
Sedona has been wonderful. Lots of things have happened here and lots of things are going to continue happening here once we leave. Interstate 179 is going through a huge renovation to make it nicer. And it's working wonders on the parts that have already undergone the transformation. Sedona has decided to employ roundabouts here instead of stop signs. It's actually a brilliant idea for the area, but the problem will be educating all the tourists how they work. Seriously, it's insane how many drivers I've seen just barrel through without looking around to see what's happening. But then again, that's the story of drivers generally speaking no matter where you go.
So tonight Matt and I went out on a hot date. We dressed up and everything to go to Cucina Rustica, which is owned and operated by Dahl and DiLuca, not to be confused with Dean and Deluca...which is what I lost a bet on. That's right. Matt and I bet on whether or not Dahl and DiLuca was in Napa Valley, but I was wrong because what's in Napa is a Dean and Deluca, not a Dahl and DiLuca like I thought. Yeah. It sucks. And he's totally rubbing it in.
Meh.
On another note, I'm in love with Wildflower Bread Co. and it's eats. Oh man. It's seriously good eats. We got some pastries for breakfast tomorrow morning instead of fighting the onslaught of douche-bag tourists that came here as of yesterday. They take up all the parking spaces and make the place noisy. Heh heh heh.
So yeah, the rest of the evening will probably be a continuation of the hot date with plans to watch Iron Chef America, battle coffee. I know. We really know how to have a good time on honeymoon. As Matt said, we've been married a week and with the 'fire' we have going, we're still going strong.
Also, Matt and I have decided to employ a butler. He has to be named Eves.
And with that lovely thought, I'm off!
Later Days,
Arty
22:08 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
04/17/2008
Sizzlin' Southwest
So Matt and I are back at the suite. Housekeeping has been in, so the bed is all nice and laundered and he's next to me taking a nap. There's a good reason for it too, and no, you dirty minded people, it's not because of that! Allow me to elaborate a little for you.
Last night Matt and I went to dinner at someplace called The Cowboy Club. We had made reservations there, only in the Silver Saddleroom, which is part and parcel of the same place, but anti-children. And I'm all for anti-children in a restaurant.
Our reservation was for 7pm. We weren't seated until half past, which left us both peeved and me just generally very cranky due to low levels of blood sugar. To make up for having us wait so long, the manager person comp-ed us an appetizer platter, which had some pretty out there foods.
In fact, I think I one-upped my brother last night in the bizarre foods category. You see, for a while there he was top dog because he had gone to Louisiana and eaten alligator. Before then I had been the winner with ostrich and jellyfish. But now, after a period in the shadows, I have once again emerged victorious. And I think I'll keep the title for quite some time.
On this platter were the following items. I've included how I liked them as well.
1) Buffalo skewers - I love buffalo. It's delicious.
2) Cilantro fry bread - Now, I know most of my readers aren't familiar with fry bread and that's okay because it's a regional delicacy that's specific to the southwestern United States. It's basically tortilla dough that's flattened out just a little and thrown into some hot oil until it puffs up, gets all crispy on the outside and stays all soft and chewy on the inside.
This too, is delicious, but add to it the divine leafy cilantro leaf and man, is there a feast going on!
3) And this is where I start to one-up my brother: Chicken and rattlesnake tamale - It's a tamale. What's not to love?
4) Rattlesnake skewers - Supreme one-upsmanship with Jeff. I can't say I really care for rattlesnake, but the point is I ate it, thus the victoriousness.
5) Cactus fries - That's right. Real cactus cut up into strips and flash fried. I actually liked them. Matt wasn't so sure what to think of them. They're definitely a different taste and texture to anything else I've ever eaten, but overall, I think they work as an edible item.
So there you have it. The last three things gave me the boost I needed to pass my brother and his alligator from the south. I have dined on the exotic meats that Sedona has to offer and I have won.
It should also be noted that along with that stuff there were three dipping sauces on the plate too. There was a tomato sauce that I didn't care for at all. It tasted like tomato soup that had been watered down with vinegar and water. Yeah. Not so nice.
Second was a southwest peanut sauce that was served up with the buffalo and man was it tasty! So much so that I asked our waitress for the recipe, which she gladly obliged to give to me.
Lastly was a prickly pear and tequila dipping sauce that I also got the recipe for. Oh man, we're having some tasty eats when I get back to California.
I've also been buying things whilst here:
- Blue corn meal
- Prickly Pear syrup
- Southwest cornbread mix
- A cookbook dedicated to nothing but salsas
- Presents for my mother and grandmother
In other news, there's a place called The Wildflower Bread Co. and it's better than Panera Bread. That's right. I said it. It's BETTER than Panera Bread. http://www.wildflowerbread.com
Go there. Be amazed. It's my new favorite thing.
So now would be a good time to elaborate as to why Matt is napping and why I'll shortly be joining him. It's called the Grand Canyon. Oh yes, cyberspace. I have seen it. I have touched it. I did it all this morning. And I hated it.
Don't get me wrong. It's breathtakingly beautiful there, but when we decided to come to the Grand Canyon State for honeymoon, I wasn't prepared for a visit to the tundra. It was effing freezing at the Grand Canyon and this was manifested and made worse by the fact that we were there for sunrise.
That's right. I said that too. Sunrise.
This involved getting up at 3:30am and driving for two hours north to see this spectacular wonder and then coming back to Sedona. All before 10am.
There was still snow along the south rim of the canyon. Snow. That's how cold it was. In fact it was so cold I had to call my tios to complain about it. And you want to know what they did? They laughed. They laughed at me. How I hate them both.
So yeah, Grand Canyon, rattlesnake, recipes, shopping...not a bad way to spend a honeymoon so far. But you know what would make this honeymoon even better right now?
That's right.
A nap.
Later Days,
Arty
12:56 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
04/14/2008
Sedona
So the wedding bells chimed, the bouquet was tossed, the garter came off (and surprisingly went onto Zach's head), the rings are on our fingers and the absolute mad-house craziness of my wedding is finally over with.
That's right all you cool cats, this is Arty comin' at you from Sedona.
It's just a note, really, to let you know that we made it to Phoenix in one piece (almost!). It was a bit rough on landing, which was not (I repeat...NOT) okay with me. But thankfully it was just as we were getting within two thousand feet of the runway. We got our rental car with a free upgrade to a Nissan Murano. I know. Even I can't believe I'm driving an SUV. To be fair, though, it does ride like a dream.
The drive north to Sedona was absolutely beautiful. And you knew when you got to red rock country. Oh man, was it breathtaking. I love me some red rock country. It reminds me of Colorado.
So, a few things I've noticed whilst here today:
1) Arizona has lovely roads.
2) Arizona has it together when it comes to speed limits. It's generally 55 mph through the cities and then it gets bumped up to 75 mph in the country. We were rocking and rolling.
3) Red rock is even prettier at sunset. We're going to see what it looks like during sunrise while we're here.
4) There are strange birds wandering around.
5) Same as above, only with giant insect life (NOT okay!).
6) The desert, although hot during the day (it was a toasty 94 degrees upon our arrival to Phoenix), it rocks at night. And I mean, ROCKS. It's cold outside and the stars are everywhere.
7) Most of Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time. I know. Weird. So although we're technically an hour ahead of California, we're still the same time right now because California lapsed into a spring forward mode.
And now, even though it's only 9pm, I'm exhausted, so over and out from Sedona. More tomorrow.
Later Days,
Arty
21:08 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this
04/09/2008
News Break
So let's all take a good long look at the last week and a half in the aviation world. It's all very interesting and I have several things to say about it all.
Sunday, March 30th - News is sent out that Aloha Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will no longer be flying after Monday, March 31st. Aloha ticket holders were told that their tickets would be honored by United Airlines and Hawaiian Air. but only a stand-by basis.
Now, Matt and I were supposed to go on honeymoon in Hawaii and we booked with Aloha Airlines, those bastard people!
Long story short, we tried several scenarios, all of them ending in not having enough of this or not having enough of that, so we scrapped Hawaii (it'll still be there a year from now) and decided on something entirely different. Instead of sand and water, we'll have rock and desert. High plateau desert to be precise. More on that later.
Wednesday, April 2nd - ATA announces that it too has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It's last flight is April 3rd from Honolulu to Phoenix.
Uncle Benny, Diana and Alf booked with ATA to go to Hawaii in May. I have no idea when, how and if their tickets will be honored or by whom.
Again, bastard people.
Monday, April 7th - United Airlines announces that it has not filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but has grounded hundreds of flights for 'safety' reasons.
Wednesday, April 9th - American Airlines joins the club, grouding well over 800 flights today alone. The reason: loose bundles of wiring in the wheel wells of their fleet planes. Sources within the airline stated that grounding the flights was the best and most logical way to prevent any 'mishaps.'
Well, yes and no, you idiots.
Yes, grounding the planes is the best way to prevent 'mishaps' as you call them. Why wouldn't you ground them?
Still, it begs this question: Why would say it's the most logical way of handling things? Clearly you aren't very well educated as a truly educated person would not be judged for worth based on the degree they hold from MIT. A truly educated person has common sense instilled in them by their parents, mentors, friends and relatives. So then the conclusion we can all draw from that, having just heard you say it's the most 'logical' way to handle things, points to your relatives, friends, co-workers, etc. being a bunch of idiots too.
Surely the most LOGICAL way to handle this is to ensure that your planes are in remarkable condition in the first place. If a plane in your fleet breaks, you fix it. Plain and simple. I mean, that part of the job isn't rocket science.
And no, don't you dare throw the financial strain into the equation. You're literally taking the lives of hundreds, no...of thousands of people into your hands each and every day to cart them around the country. What gives you the right, let alone the sheer lack of moral aptitude to take those lives and say, 'oh, we don't have the money to fix wiring bundles in the wheel wells of our planes?' What?
Nothing gives you that right. Not your money (or 'lack' thereof). Not your higher ups. If anything, you should be calling your supervisors on the carpet and calling into question their moral and ethical fortitude for making the decision to let things slide. That's your prerogative. It's your job, first and foremost to keep us safe.
I don't care about finances. Either you ensure my safety or you cut down on the number of planes in your fleet to make sure each aircraft is kept to impeccable standards. That's the way you play this game. Yeah, I know...your blithe poker face just twitched and I noticed. So bite me, American Airlines. You too, United. And Hawaiian? Don't think you can escape my observation either. You can bite me too for jacking up the prices of your tickets just because you can. Just because now you have a corner on the market.
It has also come to my attention that there are some planes somewhere with cracked wings. WTF?! If there's a crack in the plane, you bolt its tires to the tarmac and fix the damn thing before sending it anywhere. ANYWHERE! Bottom line.
So to you, my dear and beloved airlines, I give you this message on behalf of all the people in the country that have been hoodwinked, swindled and outright stolen from us: get it, the flip, together. We pay you premium money to be kept safe. Do your jobs. And do them well.
And while I'm going on in a ranting mood, I think I'll say my peace about the Olympic torch that's being run through San Francisco today.
To the protesters: get over it.
The Olympic torch is a symbol of kinsmanship and honor that has yet to be attained. The symbol of antiquity to remind us where we came from, where we have ended up and all the right and wrong choices we made to get there.
It isn't about politics. It's about sport. And because it's about sport, it comes with the territory of sportsmanship. Assaulting a torch bearer is shameful. There is no honor in that. Nor is there anything to be gained. Yes, you'll be remembered, but only for a moment. The propensity that the Olympic torch moves with, the symbols of what it bears, are far bigger than you. Than your protesting.
So do me a favor. Stop wasting the time of our police and other law enforcement agencies. They're time is much more worthy when spent tackling drug kingpins, or as the case may be in my opinion, hauling your ass to jail to spend the night in crowded, misguided proud solidarity.
Stop scaling the Golden Gate Bridge. What's the matter with you? Is there a doctor somewhere in the states that prescribes pills to induce idiocy? If so, he should be called in for questioning by the FBI and electro-shocked for his own good.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I have just discovered that perhaps my crankiness is hunger induced. It doesn't mean I'm not right about airlines or idiots. I'm going away to eat.
Later Days,Arty
12:14 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
04/05/2008
A Long-Lived and Long-Awaited Saga
Hello darlings! I trust you're all doing well in your respective places of habitat and employment. It's good to be back to the blogging pages. It really is. It's like coming home in many senses.
So, it's Friday, for which I'm supremely thankful for. The kids have just left the campus which means a few things will happen within the next hour. Bren, Alex, Jason, Jeremy, Ron, Mike and Allan will gather in Bren's classroom and play some poker. It's like a ritual for them on Friday afternoons. I've been invited, but I've declined, stating that I wouldn't like to see grown men cry with my shark-like poker playing abilities. It would be sad on many levels.
Nothing much apart from gearing up for the wedding has been happening as of late. It's consumed all my time outside of work and continues to demand that I pay homage to it, even now as I write. The RSVP list is up to more than 350 people that have said they're coming, so my mom and I are getting ready for the madness that will be my wedding. Still, even with all the people there, I'll enjoy myself. All of them are people I know and love dearly and I couldn't imagine sharing my wedding day without them there to be witness to it.
Matt's friend, Steve, was here for a week. He stopped here on his way to New Zealand to see his girlfriend, Andrea. Now, Steve was a little skeptical about coming here for holiday. For years he's been moaning about how rude Americans are because once he had the great misfortune of having to take a stop-over in LAX. That's Los Angeles for those of you not up to snuff on your airport codes.
I told Steve that I hate America too, having shared his misfortune of having to fly into LAX for a lay-over. It's a nasty, nasty place.
Biut as fortune smiled upon Steve, he was able to fly into SFO (San Francisco International) and experience the joys of northern California. He arrived week before this last one and stayed at the apartment with Matt. I didn't get to spend that much time with the boys, but last weekend I did.
Saturday the three of us drove north into Napa Valley and did a circuit of wine tasting there. I was the des, so I didn't drink. It was interesting, however, how quiet the car ride home was. Meh heh heh.
We started out as Groth Winery, which we couldn't get into because they only took reservations for wine tasting. They lost our business.
Second was the Robert Mondavi Winery. There were statues of naked women who looked like they were melting all over the place, but despite that there was also a very cute sculpture of an elephant out of one solid piece of soapstone. He was adorable and received all my attentions.
Anyway, Matt and Steve did a three wine sampler there and Steve bought a book about the various wineries and history in the Napa Valley for us. I was secretly thrilled, book lover that I am, to get some new reading material.
Next on the list was some winery I don't remember the name of because I wasn't that interested in it. Apparently, however, Matt and Steve were treated rudely there. I wasn't witness to it because I was off in some corner buried in a book about the Napa Valley and it's history. Big surprise, eh?
After that shunning, the three of us headed on over to V. Sattui for some lunch. V. Sattui is an exclusive little winery that only sells its wines on site in the Napa Valley along route 29. For Matt and Steve, the wine was too sweet there, but what it lacked in palatable wines, it more than made up for with the little deli there.
Matt and I split a few things whereas Steve went for a bad-ass grilled salmon sandwich from the barbeque outside. Matt and I split some pasta pesto, a delicious ham sandwich and a couple helpings of heaven balled up and breaded. Okay, so that last item is actually called arrancini balls. They're delicious! They're like thick risotto balls with a piece of cheese stuffed into the middle before being breaded and fried.
I kid you not, they tasted like asopao in ball form. They're amazing. I totally want to go back for more.
So, sufficiently fat and sassy, the three of us went on our way to Twelve Vintners, which is like a co-op of smaller, still local, wine makers. Matt and Steve each picked up a bottle of something called Watermark, which smelled really good. Hey, I said I didn't drink anything, but that didn't stop me from smelling or buying.
Last on the list was Beringer Brothers, which is the oldest, continuously operating winery in the valley. The Beringer brothers came here from Germany in the 1800s and decided to stay. They built something called the Rhine House, which has every element of it imported from Germany and their old home near the Rhine River. Of course, when the brothers bought the land, the Hudson House was already there, which was the home of David Hudson, a revolutionary from Sonoma that was key in California winning its independence from Mexico.
That last part I have many things to say about, but that's another blog and another time. Suffice it to say that Beringer takes pride in having the Hudson house on property because of its part in the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846.
But that's not the point. The point is the Beringer brothers picked up the Hudson House and moved it so that they could build the Rhine House in a prime location. Granted, it is a beautiful house.
Lastly, an interesting fact I like about this particular winery is that there is an old oak tree on property known as 'The Leaning Oak' of the valley. It's been declared a bicentennial tree because it's well over two hundred years old and was there, in the Napa Valley, when the signing of the Declaration of Independence took place 3,000 miles away on the opposite coastline.
To honor the lifespan of this tree, Beringer produces a line of wines called 'Leaning Oak' that are only sold exclusively at the winery.
See what happens when you cross my path with some history? I freaking love history.
So that was Saturday. Sunday was much more laid back. In the morning, Matt and I went to church, leaving Steve at the apartment to do some running. After church, we picked him up (showered already!) and headed over to my house for lunch. My dad and Steve chatted happily in the kitchen while I dosed against Matt in the living room.
The afternoon consisted of going back to Mills, my alma mater, for some bocce ball and lounging. The boys played bocce ball while I dosed, yet again, on a blanket in the sun. It was glorious.
That afternoon also involved some kite flying, meeting up with Jeff at the Cascades and making some Greek food for dinner. It may also have included some Guitar Hero showdowns, but I'd rather not talk about that.
Steve was off on Wednesday, which left Matt and myself glad he had come, but utterly exhausted.
Now, something that overlapped the time Steve had here was the great plane debacle. Let me explain a few things before telling the story.
1) Matt and I had plans to go to Hawaii for honeymoon.
2) We were all booked up at a five star resort on North Shore on the island of Oahu.
3) We were both really looking forward to it as we've had enough drama the last year to last us a lifetime.
4) Aloha Airlines, which is who we booked with, are utter bastard people.
Okay, so this story goes something like this:
Once upon a time, Matt and Arty planned a honeymoon. They chose Hawaii. Matt bought the plane tickets and Arty bought the stay at the resort. Everything was in place and great. They were excited about going there.
But two weeks before they were to leave, Arty awakes to read news that Aloha Airlines has filed for chapter II bankruptcy. Arty checks the websites to see if it's true. It is. Arty then reads that United and Hawaiian Air are picking up the slack and honoring Aloha ticket holders. Arty is somewhat relieved until she finds out that her ticket will only be honored with a stand-by basis.
This means that Arty and Matt can go to the airport the day they're supposed to fly out and simply hope for the best. If the plane is filled to capacity, Arty and Matt forgo their five star resort and waste their hard-earned money on the whim of a chance.
Arty curses the island airline and then hears three days later that ATA, which is another airline, has followed suit in declaring bankruptcy.
Again, Arty declare them and Aloha bastard people.
So yeah, needless to say Hawaii isn't on the options list anymore. Instead, Matt and I are heading to Arizona. Don't ask me why. Just know that Red Rock country is God's vacation country when He's not in California. Okay, so that's not true. I'm just horribly and unashamedly biased about California. Northern California, that is. Southern California can pretty much bite me, save for a few places like Woodland Hills and San Diego.
But I digress. And I have to because there are things to do here at home, so just a few more things before I go.
1) Uncle Arnie went to pay off the remaining balance for my wedding cake today. Woo!
2) I was told to enjoy my last weekend of 'singleness' by Esther (a co-worker who has a PhD in psychology).
3) Allan told me not to get too crazy at the bachelorette party. If you're wondering about that, I'd prefer to tell you individually about rather than broadcast it here.
4) My mother is an amazing woman. She's single-handedly made all the bridesmaids dresses, my grandmothers outfit and her own as well. Not to mention she mended a button on Matt's shirt and is going to catch some loose beads on my wedding dress.
Which nicely brings me to point number five:
5) I brought my wedding dress home yesterday afternoon!!
And now, if you'll be so kind as to excuse me, I have favors to make which involved a tremendous level of self control considering I'm going with chocolate for my favors.
Later Days,
Arty
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