Fanny packs: Rebuttal

Here is my sister's response to the previous fanny pack post.

p.s. I think she voted on the poll twice

Taking Jiffy Lube down

The clutch went out in our car, lame, right? We took it into the shop and it turns our our transmission is shot too. Some fun. The mechanic told us the cause was lack of transmission fluid. There was only a couple ounces of transmission fluid when there should be two quarts. hmmm. That's funny, we just had the transmission fluid checked and filled a few months ago by Jiffy Lube. Maybe there was a leak? Not according to the mechanic, no leak evidence whatsoever.
So we've been talking with the Jiffy Lube manager and he's trying to claim there was a leak anyway. Even though a couple times he said, maybe we checked the fluids, maybe we didn't. He said if they didn't check it all they would reimburse us for was the service that wasn't performed. Is it just me, or does that sound ridiculous? They didn't put any transmission fluid in the car, therefore the transmission goes out, and it's not their fault? I've never been to court before, but this seems like a good time to try it out.

Fanny packs, seriously?

My sister (who can name herself if she chooses) came over the other day and was browsing on our computer and calling everywhere because she was so anxious to buy a fanny pack. She picked out a blue plaid one and asked what I thought. I figured laughing would communicate sufficiently everything I needed to say. She claims they are coming back, along with other 80's trends like neon colors. Am I out of it? Or is she? see poll on the side for voting options -->

Competition Update: 22!

Our competition officially has a title now. (thank you Brandon) And a logo. And we have 18 participants so far. We're hoping to have 20 by the end of the week so the prize would be $100. (another update: we now have more than 20) If you want to join in the fun... just read the directions again below.

Weight Competition

I think losing weight is a great idea for me. Anyone else with me on this? Who would like to compete for cash? This is the deal:

1. Monday June 1st - Tuesday June 30th Whoever loses the largest percentage of weight wins.
2. Entry fee is $5, winner take all. Email me (theillustrator at gmail) to let me know you're in and I'll send you my address. The money must be received by June 1st to participate.
3. Email me your current weight on June 1st and your final weight on the 30th.
4. I won't share any info except how many people enter, and who wins with their weight loss percentage.

I think it would be great if 10 people or so enter. I am very motivated by money and I could use $50 and less flab. So if you're thinking about it, pull out an envelope, throw in a handful of ones and make it happen. Feel free to throw in more money if you feel inclined to do so : ) Tell your friends, just let me know you know them so I'm not mailing my address to random blog stalkers.
If delivering a baby is going to be part of your weight loss plan, you do not qualify to participate. May the person who sweats the most win.

Swim time

I just signed Calvin up for a parent/ baby swim class with 2 of his baby buddies. His swim shorts are a little big, but I think they'll work just fine. Maybe next summer too since they almost go to his ankles.

Purse wearing

Calvin has recently shown an interest in wearing my purse, although it turned out to be trickier than he thought to put on:first many tries to get it over the head:
lot's of twisting and pulling...
I think I got it Mom.

First ER visit

Calvin had his first trip to the ER last week. So sad. He was cruising around in our bedroom when he fell and hit his head on our metal bed frame. He screamed at first but he must not have been in that much pain because we were at the ER for 5 hours and the first hour he spent walking around the waiting room smiling at everyone. Apparently he was oblivious that he had a decent size gash in his head. Luckily the picture is a little blurry so you can't see how gross it really looked.
Then next 4 hours he just slept since it was pretty late. As much as I wanted to tell someone he is only 10 months old and should be a priority, it's hard to say that there is any hurry when he is happily playing or sleeping. So eventually the doctor had time for us and sedated Calvin for his 4 stitches.
Here he is the next day with the Camp Rock band aids we got for him. It was either that or Disney Princesses, the High School Musical ones cost more.

Vacation

We had a great time on our vacation. It couldn't have been better. It's nice planning a last minute vacation because you even know the weather forecast while you're booking your flights. We love our friends for letting us stay with them and run around DC & NY with us. We saw a lot of impressive sights, those cities are stocked. Although we saw so many amazing places, I'm pretty sure Calvin's favorite part was chasing around Battle, our friend's cat.Calvin also loved meeting strangers everywhere we went. Whenever we got onto a subway, the ferry, the plane, the bus, many more subways, he would stare at someone and smile at them until they would smile back. We talked to a lot strangers on our trip because of him, it was very entertaining.
(many many more pictures featured on the picture blog)

Graduation!

I almost think I'm more excited for Brandon to graduate than I was for me to graduate. I'm so proud that he has worked so hard, that he has a job, and that he was able to be a men's basketball intramural champion before he finished. It was a great day and we're ready to celebrate.

The Green Corduroy Book

I just received some copies of a books I illustrated in the mail today and I love the way it turned out! It is a book to record funny things that kids say and there are hilarious samples from the author's kids, which is what I illustrated. You can get more info at: greencorduroybook.com

D.C. here we come!

For graduation I was going to surprise Brandon by taking him to NY, which would have been awesome. However, it worked out to be cheaper and easier for us to go to DC and we are so excited! We have a 3 1/2 hour lay over in NY though, so I think that will give us enough time to ride on the subway, eat a slice of pizza, and maybe even snap a quick picture or two. If you only had time for one stop in NY, and it was even during rush hour, and you had a baby, where would you go? And would you bring a stroller?

*trip update*
Actually, it turns out we are going to have a whole day in NY after all. We won't get to see everything, but enough. I can't wait!

Finally!!

Tonight was the top division championship for BYU basketball intramurals and after years of coming close - Brandon's team won!! What a great way to finish his BYU career.

Frames & Earrings... so far

My friend Staci just opened an Etsy shop with some cool stuff for sale. She is very creative and talented. You can check out her stuff here.

our helpful baby

Sometimes Calvin will smoosh his lips together suspiciously like he's got something in his mouth. Sometimes it's nothing, but the things we have found in there so far are:

lint
peanut
leaf
kleenex
bolt

I think he is trying to encourage us to clean more - where does he find this stuff?? He is also good at encouraging us to eat smaller portions by offering to eat anything on our plate. What a considerate little baby.

Breakfast

I was taking some pictures off our camera and I found this video clip. Apparently while I was at aerobics this morning Brandon decided to try a new method of feeding Calvin breakfast:

ipod dream come true...

I accidentally washed my ipod in the washing machine. You might be thinking, it seems like that happened before? It did. But this time, the ipod still works! What a relief. I have gone through way too many ipods in my lifetime.

Business & Technology Expo

This week Brandon got tickets from work for us to go to this Expo thing going on. Big-D probably had the coolest booth there. They had a machine where you could ride a bike upside down. It was really fun and a little scary:


I ended up finding a couple places to hand out business cards, which I didn't expect. And it turns out I'm very talented at roulette and I won a pack of cards. ok - so I had no idea what I was doing. And someone gave Calvin a couple of golf balls while Heather pretended like he was her son. He loved the golf balls and gripped them so tightly in his little fists. Then he fell asleep in the car holding onto them.

New pet?

They were .12 each, why not buy some fish? (yes, there were 3 at first) I know they don't live that long, but it cost $1 to feed them their whole lives. I guess fish are considered pets because you buy them at the pet store, but I kind of think of them as a really interesting decoration. They are so fun to watch swim around.

First Five

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!

my choice. for you. this offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. what I create will be just for you.
3. it’ll be done this year.
4. you have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, a poem, a bookmark, something yummy or a complete surprise to you (and me) … who knows? not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
6. most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog (or if you do not have a blog, facebook) get something made by YOU! the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me …