Coolest hat ever

And yes its reversable.

I'm in an RV somewhere in Austin....

and everyone is singing along to ramstein and one hit is wearing rollerblades. .     

A tribute to Bodhi

In pumpkin form...










my friend actually knows the guy who carved this.

Wow

Here is a blurry pic of a lady walking her dog on a seguay. So technically she is not walking. Wow

devastation

i had hopped it wasn't true.. but wednesay it was confirmed that patrick swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.. i however am remaining optimistic - and think we should all say a big group prayer for the man - and hope for the best..

How convenient

My hotel has a radio with an iPod dock. That's nice. Its not nice that they screwed up my reservation but I got that fixed.

I'm in Austin

And its raining. That blows. And I'm stupid for leaving my light rain coat at home. But hopefully the weather will get better and sxsw will be fun.

You Know You're A Redneck If...

Your Wife Is Quoted In The Local Paper Saying...




Wow....just wow.

who likes to rock the party

today was our friend kyle's birthday.. he was turning the big 1-4.. so we all headed out to dinner to celebrate..

kyle and tom - hanging tuff...
 

kyle with his new cell phone - big thanks to mom and dad evans..
 

me with the birthday boy..
 

so a great big happy birthday to my 'little D' - thanks for letting us be a part of your special day..

it's half past four and I'm shifting gear

once all the morning drama was done - the boys spent the day shopping for car parts and such..
we had an awesome day hanging with the hobby's - and then headed over to the best bbq in town - phils..

the boys and their wagons..
 

ben finding some treasure..
 

jimmy inspecting a lathe.. a must have item..
 

Here is what I know

Part 2 of this saga

So we waited on the side of the road to get in. When they opened it up we went to start the truck to go and....nothing.  Dead battery. And no one stopped to help us. You know they all had jumper cables too. Now we wait some more for AAA. More good times.

Hurry up to wait

So we get up at the crack of dawn to get to the big swapmery early only to have them tell us they aren't opening til 8. Nice. So now there is a crazy line of cars parked on the road waiting to get in.  Great idea guys.

shout out

our friend keith works in the wonderful world of welding and sent ben a package of 'welding goodies'..
ben could not have been more excited..
thanks keith.. now ben loves you more then he loves me..

 

Rick Astley would never...

these things crack me up. This one was particularly good. Here are some more.

Time to retire the jersey?

Its a sad day at the Cote household. I think my Dew shirt has finally reached the point of non-wearable and must be retired. I'd frame it and hang it on the wall if Chara would let me, but alas i think she would not. So farewell oh great shirt of Mountain Dew. I've only had it maybe 16 or 17 years. They just don't make them like they used to.

Its a shame. its at that perfect point of super soft/will disintigrate if you try to put it on.

unwritten rule

there's a new rule in our house - i am not allowed to bug ben while he's watching 24..

date night..

finally got a chance to catch up with my sister and her family this week..
here are my two nuggets.. so very cute.. and growing so fast..
they drive me crazy - because i adore them so much - and ben doesn't even like them.. which they don't realize.. and they just think he's the best.. doesn't matter that i'm the one who tries to bribe them with presents..


uncle ben and deborah messing around..
 

such a big boy..
 

A wise man once said...

"Th-that that that don't kill me, Can only make me stronger (oh)"
-Kanye West: Stronger (lyrics)

Just got back from LA where i saw the premiere of Ultramarathon Man, the story of Dean Karnazes running 50 marathons in 50 days in al 50 states. Talk about inspiration. Hyper-inspirational is a more fitting description of this film. If you don't want to run out of the theater and immediately run a marathon the next day there is something wrong with you.

The film is a great triumph to show the human spirit and what it is capable of and Dean Karnazes is a man who's passion and determination is amazing to watch and is truly infectious to all aspects of life.

The film is not released yet, but if you ever get a chance to see it, i highly recommend it.

And i wanted to give a shout out to JB Benna the director. I met him a year ago at Sundance and not only did he capture this event wonderfully, he ran all of these races with a camera in hand. Often times he would have to sprint ahead to set up a shot, and then catch up to Dean to keep filming the race. Truly a work of passion in this film.

Ben...

Chara and i are going to running now...

Keaton likes to snuggle

just because..

the last few days the weather has been awesome here in southern ca - warm and 70's - everyone has been running to the beaches..
i realize how lucky i am because i get to hang out here every day..

 

gotta love those california winters..

mostly finished..

today was my final in 'saturday school'
the final went well.. and now it's over.. now on to more classes and more tests, and more finals.. this will all be over soon right?

Best Craigslist find of the day

Carton Of Irregular Cat Hats

---

Date: 2008-02-07, 11:02AM PST

Hello. I have a big box of used cat and kitten hats that I have collected over the years for various occasions. As of recently my cat, Snowman, is no longer living and thus I am forced to get rid of these precious memories. I would not feel right asking money for them so I am offering the whole box for free. There are many styles from formal to cute and funny.

There is a variety of 14 different hats total. I just hope you and your pet can find as much joy in these hats as me and Snowman once did.

E-mail me if you are interested and I will give you my address where you can pick them up. I can also arrange for a free delivery if you are not too far away.

Thank you, Patty

seriously, who isn't interested in that?

Ben...

super tuesday

keaton proudly showing off her 'i voted' sticker - reminding those who can - to go out and vote..

 

Tempest Fugit

big thanks to jax for this pretty little piece of information -

110 days till graduation..

i cannot wait..

chicken soup for the soul

despite my best efforts to avoid my super sick husband ben - i caught his lovely little 'sundance bug' -
i went from not feeling too well this morning - to feeling awful by this afternoon..

as i was coming home i ran into my super cute neighbor don - who saw that i wasn't feeling to well.. a couple of hours later don came over to drop off some homemade chicken soup that his lovely wife lou had made for me..

honestly - is anyone else lucky enough to have such great neighbors..

i just had to say a big thanks to don and lou.. the tasty chicken soup made me feel tons better... it was just what i needed..

the breakfast club..

it might not be saturday detention - but it feels like it..

yesterday - and for the next two saturdays the nursing school is holding an EKG course on saturdays.. this class is an intense letcure/ workshop that lasts eight hours - and exhausts us.. by the end of the day were are bleary eyed and frightened at the amount of work that needs to be completed for the next week..

thank goodness this class only lasts two more weeks.. i don't know if i could handle a whole semester of saturday classes..

I got the Sundance flu

Everyone is getting sick here. I got it. It sucks....a lot.

I should stop making out with random girls in the hottub. (joking chara)

I get to come home tomorrow. its nice being sick in your own house vs some strange place.

Best sushi ever. Round 1.

Brandon and I went to get some sushi last night. it was so good.

Here is round one. a rainbow roll and a playboy roll. yummy

Round 2

Here is round 2.

Viva Vegas roll and a Rock and Roll... these were amazing

Round 3

And round 3. A Matok roll and Luxury roll. so freaking amazing.

we ate a little too much, but it was the best sushi ever.

Utah makes me smile

Brandon has passed out

Sushi food coma.

Brandon says hi chara

Skiing is done

Time to relax

Wow

So nice out.

Best day to ski ever

Brandon and I are skiing at deer valley. Its beatiful out today.

Best ski food ever.

muy excited

through the miracle of clinicals and nursing school i don't start my wednesday class till next week..
so.. to celebrate that, and to celebrate our last, first day of nursing school - some of my friends are coming over for a get together..
tonight i am looking forward to enjoying this:

 

this is a bottle of plum wine made with love and sent to us by our friend keith mccoy up in WA -
so tonight - i open and enjoy, and we celebrate..

thanks for the wine keith.. i'm sure it will be fabulous..

back to life, back to reality..

today as of 0700 i went back to school..
part of me was so sad to be going back today -
but then another part of me was so happy to realize that exactly four months from today i will be graduating from nursing school - the count down begins..

johnny utah

There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents ... and only one for birthday presents, you know.
- Lewis Carroll

happy birthday my dear ben..

two thumbs up..

cloverfield did not disappoint.. it was a great movie - totally genius..
- of course if you watch the movie you have to be prepared for classic jj abrams, meaning don't expect everything to be answered..the man has a serious problem with commitment and refuses to actually commit to a real definite ending of anything..
despite the obscure nature of the movie, i was impressed and glad i saw it on the big screen..

however - going to the movie theater on a friday night - and being forced to hang out with a bunch of jr. highers whose parents apparently did not teach them movie theater etiquette - made me realize that we here in the oside are in desperate need of an archlight theater.. the thought of enjoying a glass of wine while watching a movie in a quite theater is almost too good to be true..

movie night..

normally i am not the biggest fan of movies -
but tonight is the premier of 'cloverfield' - which i'm pretty excited about..
cloverfield was produced by jj abrams - who is also in charge of lost - this is what gives me my doubts.. truly i think jj abrams is a genius - but three seasons into lost and we still have more questions than answers - and we have yet to see a real monster..
so i am very excited about tonight - but i fear that when we actually see the monster - it will be a disappointment similar to the time i saw the lame ass giant spider at the end of IT.. please don't disappoint me mr abrams.. i'm counting on you..

a little bit addicted

so as you saw in the previous post i have a new project. (thank you Chara for calling it junk)

anyway, i've been scouring craigslist and ebay for parts and tools and such for the project and i might be a little bit addicted. but i'm getting really good deals so its all good for now. i can stop whenever i want.

t-minus one week

a week from today i start school again..
i am not ready.. break went by too fast..
i'm just not ready..
this week i will be drinking wine every night, and sleeping in till noon - just because i can.. i will be taking full advantage of the very last bit of my free time..

obsession

as ben blogged about a month ago - he bought an old car to restore.. i thought this was a good thing, that was going to keep him busy, and away from me while i'm studying..
here's what i didn't know - it was going to cost money.. lots and lots o' money.. he has one - junky old car sitting in my garage taking up space, and today he tells me he's going to buy another car - this one for parts...
he explains to me that - in the long run this will save me money - the old 'you've got to spend money to make money' argument - but i'm not having it.. i feel the need to remind my husband that he is not jay leno - and is not going to start collecting cars.. stay tuned to see who wins this argument..
as it is - the project seems to be underway and out of my hands..

ben putting together his new toy
 

all finished - and ready to help restore cars..
 

back from Vegas

Vegas is exhausting. CES is the culprit.

that show is insane. I'm hoping to skip it next year. I was sick going to Vegas and that did not help things. It kicked my ass.

anyway, we are home and i am tired and happy to be home.

Chara came out to join me there for our 9 year anniversary. how crazy is that? 9 years. its hard to fathom. we saw Spamalot. it was fun.

Our friends in WA

ok finally here are some pictures of our friends in WA. We had a lot of good times with them on our trip up there.

but seriously folks

usually being on the side of most conspiracy theorists i found this article interesting

the article is about pseudoephedrine vs. phenylephrine -

it's a very interesting read for those of you who have been disappointed in all the over the counter nonsense cold medicine companies have been offering.
i now go straight to the pharmacy counter and ask for the good stuff - good old pseudoephedrine.. i do this despite the fact that every time i have to show my ID, and every time i have to sign a piece of paper swearing that i will not make meth with my nyquil.

this is all very frustrating knowing that meth is still being made at a steady rate - which makes me think that 1) banning pseudoephedrine was a stupid idea and isn't working or 2) having people sign a piece of paper swearing they will not make meth is an even stupider idea and also (big surprise) is not working (right - like there's a code of conduct among meth makers which prohibits them from making an illegal product once they've signed a contract that they wouldn't)

this article explores the notion that this anti-pseudoephedrine law might have been less about americans safety, and more about profit for Boehringer-Ingelheim which is the worlds largest manufacturer of phenylephrine (the useless drug that took the place of pseudoephedrine)... i know - i know - total conspiracy - blame in on my lack of faith in congress and the pharmaceutical companies

homeward bound

as of yesterday we are home.. we had a fantastic trip up to WA - but - arriving at home, and not even being able to leave the airplane before the sunshine forced us to put some sunglasses on.. it was amazing.. the sunshine instantly brightened my mood..

in washington we have amazing family, awesome friends - but our hearts are here in california..

i promise to post some pictures later - we really did have a great time..

...but tonight i drink wine and relax..

pictures coming soon..