Confessions of a Car Thief

Not once, not twice, but on three occasions I have gotten into the wrong rental car.

It's the strangest thing. It's not so much that I've forgotten what I'm driving. It's that people in the same make and model keep parking next to mine.

The first two incidents happened pretty quickly and I think it was mostly unnoticed by anyone. As soon as I sat inside the vehicle it was very apparent that I was in the wrong place.

The last time it happened was a whole different story.

I had to go to a fabric store to pick up something for one of my stores. I parked in front of the store front which was all glass, of course. As I was leaving the store I hit the unlock button on my key fob and I heard the "beep beep" of the car unlocking. I got into the car and placed my purchase in the passenger seat, then I proceeded to check my Blackberry for new emails. After I was done responding, I started to put my phone in the cup holder, where I always keep it when I'm driving. Lo and behold, there was a McDonald's cup there. I thought to myself, "Did I go to McDonald's today?" No, I hadn't.

In typical Angie fashion, it took several minutes to process this information.
Car. Phone. Cup..... Car. Phone. Cup.....
Wait a second!

I looked around and sure enough, there was my car two parking spaces down.

I got out of the impostor car as quickly as I could manage. I felt quite certain that there was a lady inside the store calling the cops because I was stealing her car.

I watched for them in my rear view mirror the whole way back to the store.

I Miss You Sugar

Dear Sugar,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but we can't be together anymore. Although I still love you, I find that you aren't very good for me. It all started about 3 years ago when we got acquainted out of vending-machine-dinner necessity, and I have loved every minute with you.

But then you started becoming abusive. You made me change for the worse.

I have joined an organization called Weight Watchers to help me get over you. They're nice, but they don't make me as happy as you always did. Remember when you used to melt on my fingers and I would lick you off of them, or how I used to eat you along side our friends Doritos or Funyuns? Those were good times.

I will miss you Sugar. I hope we can still be friends.

Memorial Weekend

Today was just a perfect day in the Northwest. It was sunny, but not too hot and not too cold.

We spent the entire day oustide. I spent too much time in the sun and now my arms are burned, but it was worth it.

I was pretty productive today, too.

Let's see, I planted some ivy, Jim and I rigged a water sprinkler system for the front yard, I spray painted a bunch of stuff for a craft project (that I probably won't get around to posting any time soon), and I cut some flowers off of my white lilac tree. Then we grilled lobster tails so delicious they make me weep with joy.



Where was little Liesl during all this?

She can perpetually be found at Jim's feet. No matter where he is, or what he's doing. She wants to be next to, in between of, or on top of his feet.






It's becoming difficult for him to walk anywhere.

And contrary to popular belief, Jim does wear other colors besides black, but since today's post has him featured in black yet again, I'm throwing in this extra picture in case you don't believe me.

Aren't they precious?

Grilled Lobster Tails

Ingredients:
2 8oz lobster tails
2 sticks of butter
lemon
garlic

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Smash a large clove of garlic and place in the melting butter to fuse the flavors.



After the butter is completely melted, add 2 Tbsp of lemon juice. Pour into a measuring cup and allow to cool. Skim the solid fat from the top. The rest of the fat will sink to the bottom.



Pour the clarified butter back into the pan to keep warm, being careful not to pour the fat in.

If your lobster tails were frozen, place in a bowl of cool water for 45 minutes.

Cut the length of the top side of the tail with kitchen shears.



Cut the meat with a knife the length of the tail, but be careful not to cut all the way through.



Place the tail on heavy duty aluminum foil (or double up on regular foil). Spread the shell apart and spoon a good amount of the clarified butter onto the meat.



Seal up the foil tightly and grill over medium high heat for 18 minutes.



Tell me this doesn't look delicious!



Sometimes you just have to splurge.

Completely Oblivious

I've parked next to this handicap spot once a month for probably 2 years. Just this month I noticed that it was uniquely Montana.

Our Little Girl

We brought our new puppy home tonight.




We named her Liesl (rhymes with diesel) a la The Sound of Music.

She is 7 weeks old.



She and Jim have become fast friends. She cries when he walks away. He checks on her every 2 minutes.


It's all very cute.



And I'm very proud of her for pooping on the grass.

Turtles and Sweeties

Ingredients for Turtles:
pretzels
Rolo candy
pecan halves

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Sweeties:
1/2 cup peanut butter
4 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used semi sweet)
1 Tbsp shortening
pretzels

The turtles are way easy. Just place a rolo on top of a mini pretzel. Melt in the microwave for 20-30 seconds then push a pecan on the top. Allow chocolate to set up again.

For the Sweeties, cream the peanut butter and butter until smooth.



Add the powdered sugar and mix until it forms a crumbly mixture.



Roll into small balls and push onto a pretzel. Refrigerate for 1 hour.



In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and shortening for 30 seconds. Stir and continue melting in 20 second intervals until smooth.

Dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Sharing My Flowers

I took these pictures the other day while I was admiring these flowers growing in my backyard.



I wish I could take credit for them, but they were left behind in the beautiful Chinese garden that the previous owners had created.



Does anyone know what this flower is? It's pretty, but it's driving me crazy because they are showing up everywhere that I don't want them to (ie, my fruit and vegetable gardens).



Well Hello little Honeybee!

You seem to like my little purple flowers.

It looks as though you have been successfully collecting pollen today.

I'll leave you alone if you'll do the same.

Otherwise I will squish you.

Neighborhood Activities

For the last week one of our neighbors has had some interesting yard activity.

We couldn't figure it out at first.

We thought maybe they were going to add a shop building. Why else would they be digging up their yard?



I found out today that the rumor in the 'hood is that they're digging up their yard so they can bring in top soil and plant a new, better yard. Is this something normal people do?

I told Jim he should go ask if we can have their old yard. Their old yard had less weeds than our current yard. They must hate us if meticulous yards are that important to them.




And while I was in the backyard, I was able to get a quick shot of Crazy Lady (I was hiding behind the grapevines).

She sits in that chair all the time, smoking and staring at our deck. It got so bad we had to put a screen up to block her from staring at us every time we were out there.



She intimidates me.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I have traveled approximately 3100 miles in the last 4 days courtesy of this private jet. I have been in 9 cities in 5 states and acquired a cold along the way.

So, here's the thing about me flying in a private jet...

It feels ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, it's way cool. And it's extremely nice to avoid airport security, and lines, and masses of grumpy people, crazy people, and stinky people.

But I totally don't belong there. I mean, come on! It's me! Angie.

I think I have morphed into two distinct Angies. There's Work-Angie and Angie-Angie. Either this, or I have a mild case of Schizophrenia.

Work-Angie is the one they know.

Work-Angie tries to act nonchalant about the private jet traveling, but Angie-Angie hopes she doesn't fall down the stairs when she gets out.

Work-Angie tries to walk tall and act classy, but Angie-Angie walks into walls and tables more than she avoids them.

Work-Angie is amiable when they want to eat Mexican food, Angie-Angie hates Mexican food.

Work-Angie says a polite goodnight, then Angie-Angie goes to her room and Googles celebrity gossip and plays on her cartoon Facebook farm.

I'm involved in a sham and someday they're going to catch on.