10 things you probably didn't need to know, but I'm telling you anyways

10.  I haven't eaten a banana all week, so my body has started shutting down.  I went to the Chinese market to remedy the situation, and I bought a bushel (is that how you describe a group of bananas).  I have already eaten three of them...along with half a tub of peanut butter.

Side note: Every time we grocery shop at Haggen, we buy about 40 bananas, and every time the checker (the cute blonde one we always go to) says, "you guys and your bananas!"  Sometimes we will buy a bunch of another random fruit, just so we can see what she says.  Last week it was, "what?!  No bananas!"

9.  I went swimming (real lap swimming, not just dicking around in the pool swimming) two days ago, and I am still sore!

8. I am mad obsessed with Flo Rida right now.  As I am typing this I am listening to Run.  I can't stop cracking up at how dumb the video is.  Lowest budget video ever.

7.  I made a friend yesterday while I was sitting outside studying.  Her name is Ingrid and she is a little brown bird.  She was so freaking cute.  She was about 4 inches tall and she sat on the bench next to me for about 20 minutes before she moved down to the ground and sat next to my feet for another 20 minutes.  Every once in awhile she would cock her head to the side and peer into my soul. 

   

Side note: A year ago you would have never found me spending the afternoon sitting next to a bird.  I would have ran away screaming, but ever since we bought chickens I have a new-found love of birds.  I really want a pet bird...

6.  I am in love with this little boy.  I want ten just like him.

5.  I'm not drinking anymore.  I know 99.9% of the people reading this just started laughing, but I am serious.  I have been drinking for 9(+) years I still haven't learned that I shouldn't drink 5 beers and then wash them down with 2 shots of tequila.  I don't think I will ever learn.

4.  Do you need a new blog to read?  Read this one  crappypictures.com

3.  My X-men power is the ability to smell the change in season.  Fall is coming.  You have all been warned.

Side note: Mike's X-men power is the ability to injure your internal organs through hugging.  After you are wrapped in his cozy bear arms, he proceeds to push his belly out so far and so hard that it causes internal damage.  

2. Which one of these text messages is real:

"It is official...she poops giant rainbows and headbands with flowers. Barf"
"Remember when Duke was eating something in the bushes yesterday...that was where I puked"
"It's going clear!  Unz Unz Unz (butt pounding techno beat)"

Trick question, all three are real.  If we aren't texting friends yet, you are missing out.

1.  Here is a cat picture oozing with cuteness. You're welcome.

Eastbound and getting down

Our August travel plans included a teeny tiny road trip to Twisp to visit Mike's mom.  We packed the car with Monster Rehab energy drinks, sunscreen and wine and headed over the mountains.

We stopped in Winthrop and had lunch at Schoolhouse brewery.  Perfect lunch location!  We got a table under the shade of a tree next to the river, and started sampling the beer menu.  Apparently, there is three beer maximum because we were promptly brought our check after ordering the third.  Weak.  So, we snapped some photos and moved on.

Tina and Mike

We decided to "hike" to a waterfall.  After a 20 minute drive and a 3 minute walk up a paved path we arrived at our waterfall.

Mike decided to go for summit.

Work that booty

I stick to the important things...like practicing my glamor shots in front of boulders.

The weather was HOT that weekend!  To stay cool, we sat in the garden (with the sprinklers on) and sipped on margaritas.  That night we laid on the side of the road and watched the meteor shower.  So cool, the stars were so bright!  As soon as a meteor would streak across the sky we would all hoot with excitement.  Only one car drove by, and my immediate response was "they are probably going to murder us".  My next thought was, "no, they probably think we are going to murder them, because who in their right mind lays on the side of the road".
Unfortunately it was a short trip and we had to head home the next day.  We took a quick dip in the river, stopped for lunch at Sun Mountain Lodge (I so want to vacation there), and headed back to 'the coast'.

Weekend via iPhone

Seattle ferris wheel

We love tickets

Peaking Rainier

View from the top

Our fearless electric boat captain cruising Lake Union

Gasworks park from Lake Union

GIANT sunglasses and tiny sunglasses

After four bottles of wine, docking for a bathroom break was in order

Giant Zucchini!

Hot, hot and hot.  No I'm not talking about the 90 degree weather, I'm talking about my outfit.

It's not just the humans

Mike and I have a really big heart when it comes to animals, therefore we have a houseful of them.

Three Dogs: Duke, Rosie (sister's dog) and Buddy

Two cats: Skootz and Butters

Two chickens: Juice Box and Winnie

A school of fish (not pictured, due to their lack of names and inability to look cute in pictures).

Future plans include adding two goats, three more chickens and a pig to the mix.  Caring for animals is a giant pain in the ass, but try saying no to this face.

Baby Duke

I know, right?  I would have taken home the entire litter of twelve if I could.

I can say with confidence that Duke is more hardcore than the average dog.  When he was six months old he chased after me while I was riding on a bike and he bit at the spokes of the bike tire.  This "fun game" broke the roof of his mouth, resulting in a set of horizontal front teeth.  Duke stopped for a second, shook his head spraying blood everywhere, and then he ran across the yard to get his ball.  That dog loves his ball.

Buddy (the oldest member of the family) provides a special touch of awkwardness to the dog pack.  Here he is after submerging half of his body into a freshly dug up mole hill.  Buddy, like all members of our family, hates moles.

Their new best friend is Rosie.  She is not the smartest canine, but she has a big heart.  She has recently learned how to follow the big dogs when they play catch, and bark at everything that moves, including falling leaves.  I'm not looking forward to fall.     

Skootz is a hardcore hunter.  He is a fierce powerhouse that will hunt and catch anything that strikes his fancy.  The list includes, but is not limited to: birds, rabbits (full sized and baby), moles, rats, mice, shrews, snakes, moths, frogs and squirrels.  He is also hardcore lazy.  After a night of hunting and binging on rabbit, he crawled up to the top of his palace and slept for about 12 hours.  When he woke up, he was too lazy to go outside, so he just leaned over the side of the cat palace to purge.  He is also very conscious about his figure.  

When Tyra says fierce you give her fierce

Butters takes awkward to a whole new level.  That cat is just plain creepy, we are talking horror film kind of stuff.  I can't tell you how many times I have walked around the corner to find Butters just sitting in the middle of the room staring at me.

Case in point:

Mike and I walk out the backdoor and surveyed the yard, but something in the snowball tree made us stop and look closer.

What is that little orange spot in the tree you ask?  Oh yeah, that is our creepy-ass cat, awkwardly perched in the tree starring at us.

I WISH I had some awkward chicken pictures.  Like one of Juice Box pooping all over Mike when he tried to put her back in her yard (true story).  Instead I have an egg picture.  Can you tell which eggs were bought at the store, and which egg came from Juice Box?  

  

The difference isn't only in the color and size.  Juice Box and Winnie eggs also taste 1000 times better, but unfortunately those lazy bitches have only been laying about one egg per week.  Time to get more chickens!  

Lucky 13

In four weeks I will be starting my 13th year of college...

Some people would call this hardcore, I would call it having a fear of the real world.

When I stepped into Chemistry 121 twelve years ago, I never thought it would lead to this.  I thought I was going to be a medical doctor; diagnosing ear infections, prescribing Viagra and stitching up wounds.  That was until I had to help take care of a wounded cat.  The poor kitty had a puncture wound and it was my job to hold the flashlight.  One would think that  pre-med student could hold a flashlight...incorrect!  I passed out and hit the floor.  I left my dreams of being a doctor there on the floor.

This opened up opportunities for pursuing a new dream...to become a chemist.

I can still remember the day that I knew I wanted to become a chemist.  It was during second year organic chemistry lab.  We had a solid sample that had a mixture of an acidic compound and a neutral compound.  We had to figure out a way to separate the two compounds.  What a feeling of accomplishment!  I knew right then and there that I had to do this everyday.

When you ask a five year old, ten year old, or even a fifteen year old what they want to be when they grow up, the answer is rarely a chemist.  But, there are actually a lot of us out there; you can probably find one hiding behind a corner being socially awkward.

The first question I get from people when they find out I am studying organic chemistry is "what are you going to do with that?"  My response is always, "I am going to be an organic chemist".  "Yeah, but what does an organic chemist do?"

Good question!  I mix chemicals together, in a certain order, in a round flask full of organic solvent, stir for a couple of hours in the absence of oxygen, either heating or in an ice bath.  I stop the reaction (usually with water), separate the water from the organic solvent, wash the organic solvent with various water solutions, dry the organic solvent with salts, concentrate the solution down and purify the remaining oil/tar/solid.  Repeat, because chances are the reaction didn't work.

Super exciting!  Well, at least it was for the first 8 years.

Every chemist has a backup plan.  Common backup plans include: florist, baker, barista, interior decorator, party planner, party starter, bartender, caterer, and chef.  My first backup plan was to be a party planner/starter with L. Dett.  I now dream of leaving this hell hole of constant disappointment and opening up my own shop.  I would sell soaps, vegan baked good, and useful wood items that Mike has crafted, and I would probably make about zero dollars.  So chemistry is is!

I have a feeling though, that year thirteen is going to be lucky number 13, meaning that it will be my last year as a student, all of my reactions will work flawlessly, I will publish in an amazing journal.   One can dream!

Image from http://www.willandbeyond.com/chemistry-comics/