the redcoats are coming! the redcoats are coming!

but by "the redcoats" i actually mean my mom and john. so...
MY MOM AND JOHN are coming! MY MOM AND JOHN are coming!
they're supposed to arrive in town this evening after a long, hot, sweaty, exhilarating harley ride out here. time number two for these folks making the cross-country trip. this time, with the specific intentions of hanging out with me and mine (ie hubs). for FIVE ENTIRE DAYS! WAHOO!!!
now, if you'll excuse-moi (a la yvette in "clue"--i LOVE that movie) i am in the midst of a cleaning rampage. and don't you just know, penny is trying her darnedest to help; i mean, she is licking up every last speck of dust and chewing up every last what-did-that-belong-to? piece of plastic. she's helping so much i'm going to give her a really truly edible treat--a puppy-breath breath mint--and throw her in jail (ie her kennel).
oh and did i mention...
MY MOM AND JOHN are coming!!! MY MOM AND JOHN are coming!!!

question of the day #5

is this not the cutest little murph you've ever seen?!

*picture kiped from my big sister's bloggeroo
*expand picture to get better view

numerology

things we saw while driving and going about our other daily bidnesses:
0 cancun grilled shrimp tacos with mango salsa mor was able to get from steven wood's gay mexican lookalike at rio (he made up for it by the tres leches cake--blech--he ordered and ate in two bites)
0 other white people--out of the 13 in line--at t-t-t-tj maxx
1 electric blue dodge neon with the license plate "b funk"
2 girls with matching haircuts, bleach blonde sporty euro mullets (something similar to this guy's 'do at the moment, and yes i actually do like it. a. lot.)

3 dykes on bikes (or honda ruckus scooters, whatever)
27 things the lady in front of us at target put down on the "10 items or less" checkout
52 "realistic" bronze animal statues, like a 4ft tall giraffe and 6ft tall eagle on a globe

4kazillion ants mor killed with outdoor raid (these are the same ants i have doused with bleach and windex and pledge; they keep coming back for more. not this time, suckas!)

...our little painy lady

she turned 4 today! i remember the day she was born. e and matty went to the dr in the morning to see how the baby was doing; she had stopped growing in-utero and the dr decided to induce early. so, after stopping by the then-open sonic in indy and returing home to grab the hospital overnight bag, e and matty were on their way to have a baby. i got to stay home with coopy and snuggle him to my heart's content, which was practically all day long. mom came down and may headed over with miss em. we took turns at the hospital and home. i switched off with jason that night and sped to the hospital. i was so upset when i got there because, as i opened the door, i saw a very teeny tiny little pink baby all swaddled up. what the...?! erica had her even before i left their house, but everyone had decided not to tell me because they didn't want me driving erratically. little did they know, that's exactly how i drove thinking she hadn't been born yet. e and matty shooed mom and may out of the room when i got there. they were still on the fence about names--alexandra or ainsley--and they were letting me help them choose. i was getting to name a baby that wasn't mine. how cool is that?! we concluded she was much more an ainsley than an alexandra, and that was that. so there she was, ainsley ellisen wall. my third niece/nephew in less than 15months, second niece in less than a year. (coop came in april 03; em in august 03; ains in july 04.) i couldn't love any newly-turned 4yr old any better than i love my little painy lady!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAINER!!!

please excuse the picture of a picture. this one is just too cute to not put up.

happy days

our 4th of july started too early for our own good; people were allowed to set up shop in front of our house beginning at 5am. 5am! ridiculous. we finally pulled ourselves out of bed around 7:15a. olea and adam rang, said they were circling the block for a place to park. rachelle and ashley popped by a little after that, bearing patriotic treats from the bakery. as mor says, "nothing says 'i love america' like red, white and blue iced sugar cookies." the singers weren't far behind, taking the majority of their 5min drive over in search of, you guessed it, a place to park. we brought the dining room chairs out to the porch and began enjoying the festivities and treats. chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and bacon, quiche a la debbie and dave (the neighbors downstairs), lots of sugary juice, strawberries, piña coladas of the virgin persuasion, puppy chow/monkey munch/muddy buddies. in the words of rachael ray, "yumO!" we indulged our sweet tooth and ooh-ed and aah-ed at all the spectacular floats and mini horses and star wars characters. i mean really, what 4th of july parade is complete without mini horses and luke skywalker? exactly. my favorite parts of the parade were the balloons: curious george who was curiously missing his pantaloons, underdog who was resplendent with his unmistakable U ring and babar who...well...um...not sure what french babar was doing in our american parade. anyone? no? no one? moving on then...we retired inside after the parade to watch some "conchords" with the mills and singers. always a good time with jemaine and brett. then mor and i took in a show, "kung fu panda," and just chillaxed at home with the swamp on full-blast.
saturday brought us pm singer's 25th birthday, dinner at happy sumo, a show by monkey grinder and two new radical recliners. la-z-boys to be precise. i haggled duane down from $300 apiece to $480 for two. yeah, i'm that good. actually i just had mor bat his pretty lashes and duane was a goner. as were the ladies at the cashiers' desk. they couldn't get enough of them; it's so unfair that the boys always get the eyelashes, make sure when we procreate that our girls get my eyes with mor's lashes (because we have control over that, of course), does mor have trouble finding sunglasses yadda yadda yadda. by the time we were able to walk away from the cashier ladies, we were starving. haggling (moi) and accepting compliments (mor) has a way of working up appetites. phil and jen helped us home with our new purchases and then on we went to happy sumo. i told mor as we were leaving i felt like we should be getting a happy ending massage with all the dim lights and dark sheer curtains at each booth and scantily clad waitresses. we perused borders for a few before returning a la nuestro casa. we got back just in time to meet rich wood and venture down to the freedom festival for monkey grinder. visit them here.

the new setup. on the right side of the front door. they will be moved during football season. we will not be having people over from august-february. unless they don't mind copping a squat on the floor.

no, that is not a trashbag hanging on the front door. okay. maybe it is.

not flattering mugshots. the only person i know as hairy as mor is richard. no wonder they're such good friends. they can give each other chest shaving hints and how-tos.

the singers and yours truly. let me catch the flash for you two. there we go.
and i cannot possibly forget to mention...