It Was Bound to Happen Eventually

Brett has a little bit of a reputation when it comes to accidentally spoiling gift surprises. It all began when he was a little kid, carrying a gift for his Grandma into the house, proudly handing it to her while announcing "It's a wallet!" Now it is a family joke to say "it's a wallet" before someone opens a gift, but that's not the point of this story. The first time that Brett inadvertently revealed a gift to me was around Christmas time. He wanted to tell me about something funny that happened while he was at Target, and he began the story by saying "When I was at Target today getting your game..." He had gotten me the classic edition of Clue for Christmas, and now I knew it.

Well, yesterday was my day to blow the surprise. Our 2nd anniversary is Monday, and we had agreed not to really exchange gifts this year, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to just get him a little something. I was few minutes early picking Brett up from his class this weekend, so I quickly went in to the Palmer bookstore to pick up a business card holder that I knew he has had his eye on. I managed to beat him back to the car and thought I was in the clear.

While I was in the bookstore I noticed that they had these cool spine keychains back in stock that they had been sold out of for some time. When Brett got into the car and we started talking I blurted out "OH! They have those cool spine keychains in the bookstore again!" But I managed not to blow my cover by quickly adding "....yeah, I noticed that a few days ago." Phew! That was close. It is very important that Brett not know that I went in to the bookstore because I have no reason to be in there and he will know that I am up to something.

I also noticed while I was in there that they had pink sweatpants back in stock, the very pink sweatpants that my friend April was looking for a while back. After I got back to the car I excitedly sent her a text message just to say 'hey, they have those pink sweatpants you wanted.' Naturally, a conversation ensues, and we text back and forth for a while while I was waiting for Brett to get out of class.

While in the car I got another text message from April. Since April is pretty much the only person that I text on a regular basis, out of curiosity Brett said "What did April say?" And like an idiot I say "Oh, not much. I just texted her to let her know that they had pink sweatpants in the bookstore." He looks at me and says "Oh, you went into the bookstore?!?!" And the look on his face says 'you are totally busted.' And the look on my face says 'yes, I AM totally busted."

That, my friends, is the story of how I finally blabbed a surprise to my husband. It was bound to happen eventually. :-)

Meet Eskimo Amy

BRRRRRR it's cold! As I passed a bank this morning on my way to work the sign outside it flashed -8º!!!!! That my friends is AIR TEMPERATURE and does not take in to account the wind chill, which in our area is currently anywhere from -25º to -40º. Not only is that the coldest it has been since we moved to Iowa, it is by far the coldest I have ever been in my entire life!!!!!

Nothing to Report

I don't have much to blog about this week, so I guess that means it's time for another funny:

Silly Google

I linked this new super-cool hit counter thing to my blog through Google Analytics. One of my favorite features of it is that it shows you a map of the United States that shows where in the country everyone is reading your blog from. Upon further inspection today, I noticed that Michigan was looking less mitten-shaped and more blob-shaped than usual. In addition, the Florida Keys are looking more peninsula-like than archipelago-esque.

(as always, click to enlarge)

Silly Google.

P.S. I have not had any hits from the greater San Diego area in quite some time. That means that all y'all are totally busted. :-P

My New Toy

I finally got the time to test drive one of my new toys I received for Christmas this year. It's a cool graphics tablet that allows me to use a special pen that acts like a mouse. I'm really quite excited about it. :)

Stand and be Counted

Yep. That's pretty much all there is to it. Brett & I both went and Caucused today, and it was quite an interesting experience. We silly Southern Californians had no idea how the whole process worked. I had assumed that it worked just like the primary elections that I am used to. You know, where you show up at your polling place sometime throughout the day, bubble in your little circles, and go on your merry way. Caucusing is nothing like that at all. Here's what happens:

Everyone shows up at your polling place at the same time. Yes, the street we live on was a zoo and there was NO PARKING whatsoever. So we parked several blocks away and walked in the sub zero temperatures. How's that for patriotism? :-P

Once you get inside you basically stand in the designated area for your candidate (or in the undecided area if you are undecided). After everyone is in (doors close at 7:00) one person from each campaign goes around and counts how many people are standing in each candidates area. Any candidate that does not have at least 15% of the people present in their area gets eliminated. The people who were supporting that candidate have 30 minutes to decide on another candidate. During this time the campaign people do their best to persuade these people as well as the undecided people to come to vote for their candidate.

Then, everyone gets counted again (if you're lucky, just one more time), and that determines how many delegates get sent to Des Moines for the state caucus. The numbers from our precinct were as follows: Obama 198, Hillary 80, Edwards 70. Biden, Dodd, and Richardson all did not meet the 15% requirement.

All in all it was a very interesting experience, and Brett & I are both glad to have had the opportunity to experience the Iowa Caucuses. What is interesting about it is that it takes the anonymity out of the voting process. Typically you go in to your little booth, fill in your bubbles and walk away and nobody knows who you voted for. This is quite different because you stand in a room with all of your neighbors and everyone sees who everyone is supporting. One thing I kind of like about the process is that if you do vote for someone who doesn't make the cut, you get the opportunity to go on and vote for someone who is still in the running. I like that because that way everyone's vote really matters, and you don't get the feeling like your vote didn't make a difference just because your first choice didn't have enough support.

We don't have any pictures from this adventure, mostly because we were crammed into the school gym like a herd of cattle, and picture taking was a little difficult to manage. That, and a picture of a room full of people just isn't all that interesting. :-)

Happy New Year!

Here is the story of our day, told with (lots of) pictures:

It was very snowy yesterday. The crazy weather people only called for "about an inch." Well, we got a little more than an inch. More like 3-6" depending on your area. The roads were snowy and icy, so we really didn't go out much. Here is a peek of our winter wonderland:


Here is my MooseCat doing what he does best by hanging out under the tree:

And here he is looking particularly handsome:


Around 3 o'clock I got a crazy craving for French Toast, so Brett made me some. :)


Later on, we hung out with our friends Dean & Michelle. We played Battle of the Sexes:


And then we rang in the new year:


Aren't they cute?


Then we tried to take a group picture using some of my new camera toys. Here's how that went:
Maybe a little too much flash?


Is it working? Hmmm, maybe if I point my remote directly at the camera....oops!


That's better. :)


Happy New Year!