Are there Spiders in Hawaii?

It's six am. No I didn't get up early...I'm still awake from last night! I thought these nights were over in college, but no. I still have these long nights every once in a while as a business owner. Now's when I wish I had hired someone already and could make them do this work. However, I shouldn't complain. I am working late now, so that I don't have to work this week because...I'll be in Hawaii on my honeymoon! Woo Hoo! Although I'll be doing a little bit of work, hopefully to be finished on the plane. But who cares if I have to work a little, I'll be in Hawaii!

In other news, Mario killed spiders today. 2 black widows outside, a little guy running around inside, and some other I'm sure very threatening bug thing outside. I'm very proud of him. However, I'd be more than happy if he'd just get the ones I need him to get, rather than going on some bug killing spree. Can't complain, he did good.

Anyways, as I finished typing this, I finished the work I needed to finish before we leave for HAWAII! I'm going to sleep until 10, then quick shower and we're off to LAX(hate lax but if it will take me to hawaii I'll go). Depending how lazy or vacationed out I am, I'll be posting some photos. Crap it's light out. I don't like going to bed when it's light out, but I'll take any sleep at this point. Talk to you all later!

Missed again...

This time I gave him the swiffer to use. And do you know what...the spider got away...AGAIN. I walked in the kitchen to feed the cats and there was a monster of a spider on the wall. The thing is I knew I should have done it myself, but I thought Mario would want to vindicate himself after I told everyone that he sucks at killing spiders. Well freaking spider got away.

So after all that drama, I went on the interweb to find out how to keep them out! Natural ways of course because I have two cats and well because I'm going to hose this place down with whatever will keep those spiders away. So I read a million sites. I found that if you have spiders inside your house, it obviously means you have a dirty house and have lots of bugs around. Not sure I like being judged by a website and I don't think that's why I have the random spider. I think that the stray spider comes in our house because it's pleasant here and well we are fun people. As understandable as that is, I don't want them here. I don't want there to be a chance they will come in. Besides us being dirty, I found that spiders don't like cloves, lemon and lemon pledge. We'll we don't have cloves, no lemons, but do I remember Mario coming home from an old job with a bottle of pledge? Yes, because what else would you steal on your last day of work. So I made him go check under the kitchen sink...because I couldn't go back in the kitchen with that wild spider running around. Oh there was a bottle of pledge in there. However, it's citrus not lemon. It's all the same to me! I sprayed down all the door frames, windows and odd piece of furniture. I maybe went a little crazy. I don't remember spraying down the little hall to the bathroom, but I might have because I've seen Mario slip walking into the bathroom three times now.

We'll see how this all goes...

I heart Beets

I have really come to love beets in the last year. I like them on salads. I like them roasted. There were even some roasted and fresh beets on the salad at our wedding reception. I really love the beets.

Thanks to those fantastic roasted beets that I had for dinner Sunday night...I had the opportunity to turn in a really pretty pink pee-pee sample to my doctor on Monday morning...

Spiders, Spiders, and soon even more Spiders

I hate spiders. Hate spiders. I get the heebie geebies, I know they are crawling on me and my gag reflex really kicks in. I know some people are nice and will kindly move them outside, not me. I have to kill them or I will not be able sleep knowing they are walking around. I have even taken measures in hopes of not having to even have to kill them. Have someone else do it for me. I have been known to add spider killing to the list of requirements for new roommates. They laugh, and completely seriously I say "I'm not joking here. It will be your responsibility to kill any spiders". It was on my match.com profile and I made Mario agree to the spider killing in our house. Here's the problem...he's not that good at it. There's a 50% escape rate. I don't understand this. I have mastered the use of many tools in spider killing. I have found that swiffers work well. There is a nice flat area to squish and there is a long handle to keep your distance. Shoes work. Books, a broom, I've even used a plunger. This man gets toilet paper, then plays dodge and jump with the spider. Most often and effectively letting the little bastard get away.

It is now that time of year when the spiders really start coming out. I love fall with all my heart! However, there is this little part of me that dreads the arrival of fall and it's massive spiders. Being from the San Fransisco Bay Area, we had spiders. Mostly daddy long legs, black widows, and random little guys running around. I can handle them...I don't like them but am accustom to them. Well moving to Burbank introduced me to these huge colorful spiders that will spin a huge web in front of your doorway in an hour. I call them man eating spiders, because why would they have such huge webs unless they were hunting for humans. These guys don't come inside(thank god!), but getting from the front door to the garage is always a test of my will. You don't know where they've set up since you've been inside. Last fall I dodged the webs in the front yard and got into the house. An hour later Mario came home and a huge three foot web covered our door, with one of those huge spiders sitting right in the middle waiting for Mario to walk in. One hour was all it took to build this enormous web.

We live in a four-plex so instead of the house facing the street. The house is in a long line and we face the neighbor. From our door there is about ten feet of grass and a fence covered with ivy(and more spiders) separating us from the neighbors yard. Early one morning Mario called me from outside just after walking out. He was waiting for a carpool friend to pull up. So he walked to the front gate, turned around to see the web he had just walked under. This bitch had spun a web ten feet tall and ten feet across from the house across to the fence. The spider was nice enough to have made an nice archway over the walkway for Mario to walk through. But why is a web that big necessary?! What are you hunting!? It's people, that's what! There is a two year old child in the apartment next door to us. I worry for him. He's small. Those spiders can carry him right off when his mother turns her head.

With the impending spiders, I'm going to find a big spider stick. It will need to be long enough to clear the way and thick enough for defensive reasons. I hope I can survive it...can you tell I'm already dreading this?

(I tried to find a photo to post but freaked out and the gagging started...sorry no photo)

My Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer Product Review

I figured because I went on and on about the Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer love, I should tell you how it went. I got over the fear, as that bottle was sitting on my desk daring me to use it. Let me tell you one of the main benefits of working from home... being able to randomly decided that right now is the time to clean the shower. I grabbed that bottle of Mega Foamer and walked straight into the shower and started foaming.

First let me veer off a little and tell you one of the best pieces of advice that I received from my father. The man didn't have lots and lots of advice, but the few pieces he threw out there were right on target and are now held close to my heart. This one is probably very very common. If you're going to clean the bath or shower, the easiest way to clean it is to get naked and get in. You are going to get wet and soapy anyway. So his thinking was get naked, clean the shower, and then just finish with your regular shower. I always clean the shower like this. It's just easier. And do you know, his advice was reinforced as I stepped fully clothed into the shower and started coating the shower and me in Mega Foam.

I coated the shower and waited the two minutes suggested. Here is where I'll start my pros and cons. First, this shit smells so good! Sweet and lemony goodness. That good smell by itself sold it to Colleen. Now I know about gravity and such, but I kinda thought the foam would stay up on the wall a little longer. However, it's a thick foam and it started making it's way down the wall pretty quickly. One thing I did notice, how stinking loud those bubbles were. It made me think it was really working. By the end of the two minutes I jumped in quick to rinse off. I was a little bummed because as the foam slid down the wall, the top of the shower was drying quickly and it actually looked more soap scummy. I rinsed and started feeling a little better. The soap that had dried at the top rinsed right off. I left for a while to let the shower dry a little before I gave it a full look-over.

My conclusion...it's pretty decent. I was initially a little disappointed when I went back in to check the dry shower. There was more soap scum there then I wanted. However, once I got past thinking of the Scrubbing Bubbles as super heroes, I thought more realistically about it. Really, it did pretty well considering that I sprayed the shit on, waited two minutes, no scrubbing, then rinsed it off. I'm not making excuses here but, I hadn't cleaned the shower for a few weeks. So there was a pretty nice layer of soap scum on there. Colleen suggested spraying it again to see how it does with a second hit. One major con, there really is only one use in that bottle. However, there was enough in there for a quick second hit on one spot. When I checked that second spot it looked pretty good. So assuming I did this weekly, I'd have a pretty good looking shower.

At $3, the one time use bottle is more expensive than my regular $1.50 bottle of bleachy shower cleaner. However, how much is your time worth? It was a five minute time investment and no real work. I would definitely use it again. If anything keep a bottle around for those last minute shower hit when you have guests coming over and the shower is a mess.

Crack Pot Cooking Recipe II

Mario is very proud of his cooking and isn't intimidated by any food product. I can throw anything at him to cook up. Having cooked it before or not, he'll make something great from it. And while he loves cooking and creating, nothing makes Mario happier than feeding people. I know that while he's cooking he's calling everyone around to come over for the feast. The man doesn't cook in small quantities and we routinely have people over for diner a couple of times a week.

That being said, last night was round two cooking with our lovely new "crack pot". After so much bragging and detailing of the last meal we made with the crack pot, we decided to invite our friends over to join. We had thought about this all week and came up with BBQ pork spareribs. We hit Costco yesterday to do a tiny bit of shopping for this week...not too much because we are headed to Hawaii next weekend! Woo Hoo! However, we knew we could get a good amount of ribs for a decent price. This was necessary because we knew that we would have a couple of bottomless pits over for dinner.

We came home and Mars got right to work. He kosher salt, pepper, Pappy's BBQ seasoning rubbed the ribs. He sliced a couple of large onions for the ribs to sit on in the pot. He then spiraled the two racks of ribs around in the crack pot until they fit in. They were all standing up in there. He then poured a full bottle of BBQ sauce on top. Mars turned the pot on high for 6 hours and we went about our day. He then called everyone and told them to be at the apartment between 7:30 and 8.

They came, we ate and ate and ate. Then complained about getting full. Because doesn't it suck when you want more ribs but are too full to eat any more. Round two was a complete success. Although next time Mario would like to throw the ribs on the BBQ for a few minutes to get a little char and BBQ flavor on there before he puts them in the cooker. Next time I think we also need step by step photos for instruction...or maybe bragging.

This is for Colleen!

The commercial totally sucked me in. I've always been a fan of those scrubbing bubbles. One of my all time favorite commercials as a child was one of the scrubbing bubbles commercials where they are racing through the bathtub. So it's only natural that the new commercial for the Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer totally sucked me in. It made me want that foamer bad! I just knew that it would change my shower cleaning forever. Turns out I'm not the only one. My friend Colleen expressed the same crazed excitement I felt for the commercial...It only makes me like you more Colleen! We both want that Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer bad!

Well today while I was in the shower, I decided that I needed that Mega Foamer and dammit today it would be mine! Funny enough, it wasn't the shower itself that made me want to buy it..that damn commercial planted a seed in my head and once that shower water hit that seed, it grew into a big plant of Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Foamer obsession! I had to have that Mega Foamer! I planned my day around getting to Target so I could get that Foamer! It went exactly as planned. I told Mario that we needed shampoo, toilet paper, Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Foamer, and some other shit. Well I got the foamer and some shampoo. Screw that other shit...I had to get that foamer home.

Alas, I now have a brand new bottle of Mega Foamer in my possession! Now it sits on my desk waiting to be put to work. And you know what? I'm scared to try it...I want nothing more than to spray that thick foam all over the shower and watch those fabulous Scrubbing Bubbles go to work. But I've built it up so much...I don't want to be disappointed. What have I done?!

Babies

Now if you know me, you know that I go though bouts of "baby mania". I'd say it's mild to mediocre most of the time, but about every other month I get the "I want a baby now" feeling. Well it seems that getting married has eased the baby need. I'm easing into the married life very well and that seems to be very happy place for us right now. I like this stage and I want to enjoy it for a while.

Well then I read my little cousin's blog(she's in her mid 20s but I still think of her as my little cousin). My cousin Melissa has the cutest cutest little girl named Ella. I check that blog daily for new Ella photos and stories. Sunday I Check Melissa's blog for new stuff and what do I find out? Baby #2 is on the way. I am so excited! Firstly, I am excited for my cousin and her husband. They have made a happy little family and I'm very excited for more cute babies from them. Secondly, I found out family gossip before the family gossip train(my mother, aunt and cousin) passed it down here. That's a pretty impressive feat being the family member the farthest south. This train starts in Northern Oregon and will finally find it's way to me in Southern California. Well this newest bit of news has sparked the Baby Mania big time. I actually yelled at Mario "MY LITTLE COUSIN WILL HAVE TWO KIDS AND WE HAVE NONE!" Yeah I was a little embarrassed at that outburst afterwords. However, the man was completely unfazed. He says fine, but we are bursting at the seams in this little apartment, we have to find a bigger place before we have a baby. All that's standing between us and a baby is a new apartment? That's all? So we can start trying now cause we are looking for a bigger place to live anyway. The man is ready any time. Well the reality that we could add to our newly made family any time we want scareded me a little and now Baby Mania is back in check for now. We'll see how long that lasts!

Monday Monday

Yup it's Monday. I'm sitting here waiting for someone to come fix our water heater. Saturday night I was taking a shower and thought the hot water ran out quicker than usual. However, it didn't occur there might be a problem until Mario was complaining about how washing the dishes with cold water sucks...um yeah. We have no idea what the problem is but it no work. So I'm sitting here still waiting around. We were told they'd be here sometime in the afternoon. It's still early afternoon so I have no right to feel complainy about waiting around yet...it's still early! And because they didn't give us a specific time frame, I have a feeling it will be later in the evening before we hear from anyone.

I'm also waiting around for a nice fat check from a client. Supposed to be cut on the 10th of the month. Every month I have to call and find out where that check is...it's a pain. My problem is more with the fact that the person who this goes through doesn't return emails or phone calls...pisses me off. No matter how blatant I am saying that I want a response...no response from her. Unprofessional. I just can't imagine running a business without returning calls or emails. Somehow I think it would be a problem after a while.

One good thing...this is one of the first nice days that no air conditioning was required! It's nice and even more, it's quiet in here. I love it. There's been a nice breeze the last few days. I love nothing more than having all the windows open and feeling the breeze come through. Must open more windows.

Any even more more better...Mario got paid today and promised me sushi! Woo hoo. It's been a couple of weeks. How could I have gone that long!

Wedding Benefits

One of the benefits of getting married, besides the great party, is the weird housewares that you receive. My mother-in-law got us a fancy crock pot. Yes wanted it, but I still think they are weird...not sure why. This one is fancy, lots of buttons and in a sleek black. Prettiest thing in our kitchen.

Last night we decided that today would be the maiden voyage for this crock pot. Since we are up in Big Bear once a week for photo shoots and today was a Big Bear day, how great would it be to come home to a fully cooked meal?! So last night I cut up tons of veggies, cabbage, carrots, leeks, celery, and fennel(don't like licorice but I love oven roasted fennel. Slice it up, salt, pepper, a little olive oil. Roast it until it's soft. So good and not licorice-y). I put everything in a bowl and in the fridge. This morning Mars loaded up the crock pot with the veggies and pork shoulder(sounds gross to me but I trust the man with the meats).

I was a little apprehensive of leaving for the day with a heat source going at home all day, but a little excited at the potential all the same. I was telling Mario as we were driving around, "if this crack pot works out tonight, this is going to be awesome. Especially when it gets cold. Coming home to a nice cooked meal" Well the "crack pot" slip killed Mario. Totally unintentional, but he thought it was funny and little did we know how telling it would be. Cause this wonder that is the crock pot...like crack. I don't think we'll be able to stop using. We came home to the best meal EVER! Two hours up to Big Bear, photographed all day, drove two hours home, exhausted, to a wonderful dinner. It was so great to be able to walk in, think I'm hungry, and there is a fully cooked meal on the counter...I think I'll have some.

The best part...I turned it off, let it cool, put it in the fridge for tomorrow. No clean-up and there are LEFTOVERS! I loves me leftovers! This was the best wedding gift...almost as good as getting the husband!