stuffed to the gills

This holiday season is killing me. Around every corner is another tasty temptation and each one comes with it's own set of excuses: it's a holiday party! it's free! i've never had a real Philly cheesesteak before! Taco Time is only in Oregon! it's Christmas! these are the best fish and chips EVER! Anyway I'm nursing a cold and an enternally full belly and looking foward to rolling myself down Mt.Hood tomorrow (Meadows). The trip to Oregon (so far) has been great. Stegret and I have done so much, some things that I usually do and also a bunch of things that are new to me as well. Whenever I come here I am usually alone so I do a bunch of family stuff and forget that there is a whole big beautiful state surrounding me and just begging for me to explore it.

Christmas was a good time except for when my parent's 10' noble fir fell over smashing ornaments and spreading needles everywhere. And of course it happened an hour before we were having our big Christmas party/brunch. With a bunch of string and a bit of work we were able to get things back to semi-normal and if you didn't look to closely at the tree you'd never know what happened!

Pugs are enjoying their trip as usual, with so many laps around it's rare that they can't find a willing one. Carmen (the most spoiled chihuahua on earth) has been pretty good. Usually she barks non-stop, but this time she's managed to keep it under control and it has made for a much more quite and enjoyable time.

I hope everyone's chirstmas went well...I've got a bunch of pictures to post, but my motivation has been low since computer screens don't have as much draw when the ocean is just steps away.

Oh and just the other day when we were here a guy got bit by a shark! First time around here in 26 years. Nutty since I was right at the spot where it happened that same day. But I was in the car/walking around on the shore so no sharks were able to nibble on me!

Kyle (the snail) is dead

He died. It's my fault. I knew the pH was too low and I should fix it before getting a new fish/fish like animal. I was just hoping he'd help eat up some organic matter that was causing the problem, but he was small and the task was big. I also thought he was sturdy because he has that hard shell, but I forgot about his squishy soft body. Bad me. I will now fix the tank pH on my own through a series of water changes/pH drops and then when it is back to 7.0 I will buy Kyle II and try again.

"Someday you are going to get hungry and eat most of the words you just said." - Ani DiFranco

Weekend Whirl

This past weekend was a fun one. I managed to squeeze in a great dinner at Espisiotos with friends, a night of bowling, the ICF Holiday Party (see flickr for pictures), spend a night in the Wardman Park Marriot, work on pottery, get the majority of my christmas shopping done (Tysons was a MAD HOUSE!), have brunch at the Luna Cafe and work on my fish tank (The sucker fish I bought a long time ago has not been doing his job of cleaning since he learned he can just eat the pellets I put in so I bought a snail to take over - his name is Kyle). And now I'm at work and wishing we had nap time. :)

Ratner Holiday Party

Limo Group
Originally uploaded by margejames.

I hope everyone doesn't mind, but as the Holiday Season rolls over us with its big meals, late nights and vacations the number of pictures I take (and consequently the number of subsequent blog entries I write) is going to increase. I just love taking pictures because it helps keep all the memories fresh. If all I had to go on was the pictures in my head I know things would get all muddled up. But with an actual physical (or digital) record I do much better!

So on to the most recent picture worthy event - Stegret's Holiday Party! Last year his company took us to a swanky bowling alley. This year they followed up that fun event with a dinner cruise on the Potomac. After the limo ride/tour through NOVA traffic ride my first stop on the boat was the bathroom. This picture was taken right outside the bathroom since it was also the first stop for everyone else in the limo. :) Anyway the boat set sail and despite forgetting my sea bands I didn't have any problems with sea sickness. At one point Stegret one a CSI board game and everyone got some fancy pen/highlighter thing that looked so much cooler before you knew what it was*.

Next on the list of Holiday Events is the ICF Party....bring it on!

*Do I have a couple more stories about this night that are more entertaining than a CSI board game or a pen/highlighter? Why of course!! Will I tell you on my blog? Why of course NOT!!

Oh how I love the Banana Phone

bananaphone
Originally uploaded by margejames.

I love the Banana Phone song and you know what? After some quick googling I have determined that I am not alone in my obsession because many other people feel the same way and actually many other people love it EVEN more than I do. It has even been dubbed by some as the "World's Most Addictive Song". Which to some extent I must agree with. TThis thing will bore into your head like a happy little bug and lay banana shaped eggs that even weeks after you think they have gone hatch at the most inopportune times... So please join me in celebrating the pure awesomeness of the Banana Phone.

Badgers singing it

South Park kids singing it

The orginal version (for purchase on amazon)

The Lyrics