International Man of Mystery

He is the International Man of Mystery. Men fear him, women can't resist him, and children respect him. The Agency knows him as Waldorf Salad, we civilians know him as Brown, Ryan Brown. Never without his cigarillo, bourbon, and a sophisticated button down Western shirt, Mr. Brown is class.

He has fought everything from a Russian to Sasquatch to a baby. Yes, he fought a baby; Waldorf Salad does not fear societies qualms about hitting babies, he lives by his own laws.

He invented the dessert Bourbon Balls, he coined the phrase "Live free or die young", and he was Daniel Craig's inspiration for his 007 films.

A man to be adored, admired, and any other words that start with "a", but never to be crossed- that was a "c" word but we are working with a limited vocabulary so if you take any offense you can take it up with Waldorf Salad.

Cup Pies

We had friends over tonight and I thought up a delightful dessert. I took pie crust and created mini pies in a cupcake pan. I put frozen mangos tossed in salt, sugar, and cinnamon in the pie crust and baked for 15 minutes at 375. While that was going on I put some ricotta cheese in a bowl and added sugar, dash of salt, and vanilla to sweeten it up. Pretty tasty.

Mud Room Work

Last night Ryan started the insulation. Hopefully on Saturday we should be able to start the drywall!

What I saw between 6:30-7:30 in the morning

1) Guy carrying 12pack of Busch Beer- right on, Brotha!
2) Woman working out in 1999 concert T-shirt of N-Sync- time to let it go, Sista!
3) A shooting star

We took the stairs today...

Smelly Cat

We are working heavily on the mud room this fine 3 day weekend, which meant we had to clear out the contents. I don't have many places to move Binx's kitty litter and food, so unfortunately it had to go by the dining room table, which is fine because on the weekends we really only have bfast and lunch there and during the week we don't eat there at all.
Today we were sitting at the table enjoying our steaming bowls of beef and veggie soup listening to Binx try and drown herself in the water bowl. After a considerable amount of time of Binx's heavy slurping she jumped in the kitty litter box. Not long after Ryan is disgusted at the smell wafting from the box. He looks at me, "Can you smell that?! It's DISGUSTING!!!" Binx , on cue, jumps out of the kitty litter box and makes a mad dash for the living room. Dashing between the couch and the coffee table and zipping behind the couch and wall. At this point she is out of sight but we can hear the pounding as she shoots like a torpedo up the stairs.
I accused Ryan of embarrassing her, but he insist it was an energy charge of her feeling so good from dropping off some toxic cargo.
This one goes out to you Binx!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNXIZuIBJKs

Not Much...

It doesn't seem like we have been up to a lot, but then again the year is still fresh. We went to a holiday dinner for the job site Ryan is working on. It was nice dinner with some really awesome guests. There was approximately 25 people with a $6,000 bill! It was a lot of fun.
We went to a hot pot party last night with a few of our co-workers. The food was pretty awesome. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the squid balls. After dinner we played Kinec for a few hours- it was so fun! I finally convinced them to play the dancing game. I played 3 people, playing easy, medium and hard- I won every time- oh yeah!
Today we slept in, Ry went for a run, worked on the electrical for the mud room and just had a relaxing day. We watched "The Other Guys" tonight, it was totally awesome! Seriously...
Ryan has been working on reformatting the vintage bed frame we have, it now holds our bed. Unfortunately, it is a little out of kitty's reach. This morning she tried to jump on the bed and was just hanging there meowing furiously. I put the bench to my vanity at the end of the bed. She uses it majority of the time, but when Dad is around she likes to do it on her own to make Dad proud of her.

Return Process from Hell

My manager brought me this box of Wheat Thins this morning asking me to return them because they were puffy and had no salt. Side note: once a month I order snacks for elite of the office. I finally get around to calling the Costco customer service after checking out the website and having a few questions on the return process. I was on hold for 21 minutes! After finding out I needed to go to a "special" division I was transferred to an automated system, which then put me on hold again!!! My boss called me and I then proceeded to inform her that the company was paying more money for me to return this defected product then the product itself. During which they hung up on me! Can you believe that?! BAHHHH! Needless to say, I gave away the questionable snacks to the bottomless pits of the office.
Update: A little while later my boss stops by my desk and says, "I will grab that box from you when I get back from the bathroom". Crap! I have 2 minutes to collected the two bags, retape the box, shove the bags back in there like nothing ever happened. I grab the box out of the recycling bin and grab the one bag. I then have to run down the hallway to grab the other bag. The box wouldn't tape up so I had to get assistance. I zoom back down the hallway with my reconstructed box, but alas it wasn't enough time. I was caught red-handed with my pathetic excuses of a Wheat Thins box. She looked at me and at the box and asked me what I had been up to, which of course I then felt obligated to explain that I didn't think she would want them so I gave them away. She agreed and said I could give them away- after all that work!

Ender's Game

Ryan has started reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. He has been meaning to read this book for quite some time but had never had the opportunity for purchase till stumbling across it at a used book store in Emmett. He is thoroughly enjoying his read to the point that I felt curious. I read about 8 pages in yesterday and have to say it's pretty good. I think I shall read it when he is done. What is even more exciting is that while looking for the book cover to post I found previews for the movie which looks pretty spectacular.

New Year's Eve 2010

Dad & Michael throwing ice into a frozen pond.

Michael, Dad, Kathy, Phoi

New Christmas Youtube posts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuVeC7xc8do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rG7_m3DpGk