Number Five

Well, this is it! The big number five.

This picture was taken in Monterey, the weekend we got engaged.

We've both gained a few pounds since then, and are definitely not as tan, but we're still as disgustingly lovey as a couple of teenagers. Not like we make out in front of everyone, but we do hold hands a lot.

My relatives refer to us as "the lovebirds". Which is sweet.

Happy Anniversary, my love!
As you put it, five down, ninety-five more to go.

Love, Jenna

Retail Therapy

I may not have mentioned this...

I am a ho for the CD's.

I still love them, and I keep them even when I have burned the songs to MP3.

Since I was once a DJ, and The Man had an odd obsession with female pop singers (although he thankfully seems to have abandoned Mariah Carey) we have TONS of CD's. And I always want more.

Which was why it was such a dangerous thing when I realized that Fresno now has a Rasputin Music. It's taken over the old Tower Records spot.

The Man and I went out for dinner (Thai Foooooooooood!) and we saw it on the way home and decided to take a peek.

Yeah. We were lucky that we didn't have a credit card with us. The Man had to drag me out, because I easily could have spent eight times as much, and spent a few days there digging through their used stock. They had new stuff from about 8-13 bucks, used CD's for 1.99 to 3.99 a pop. I am a ho to the CD's, and I LOVES a bargain, so I was hooked.

The Man got Pat Benatar, ZZ Top, Loverboy, and Warren Zevon CD's. Yeah, I know.

Here's what I got:



Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box

Aaaaah...this takes me back to Goth Night in the old college days.









Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Soundtrack

Cool Cajun music and a nice mix of other stuff.











The Groovy Sixties Set (Vol. 2) (This was actually something both of us would enjoy.)

The Good songs. The Man initially didn't want me to get it, and now he loves it in a "you'll have to pry this from my cold, dead fingers" kind of way.




Weezer- Maladroit

I love Weezer. Who doesn't? Plus, having the earlier CD's gives you street cred. If I cared about street cred. I have to admit, this is one of the few bands that I would buy the entire discography, no questions asked. They're that good.










Ain't I'm A Dog! 25 Rockabilly Rave-ups

(Check out the badonkadonk on that girl! Holy Crap!)

I lurves me some rockabilly.









Violent Femmes- Why Do Birds Sing?

This one takes me right back to high school. American Music is my fave song on the CD, but the whole thing is pretty good.

And yes, I had VF lyrics etched into my binder. I am guessing this is the reason that the football player who sat next to me asked if I was satanic. (ooookay, dude. )



Yeah, I know I went a little nuts. The sick thing is, all those CD's were under a hundred bucks. (OK, barely. But still under.) Yeah for cheapo cool stuff!

***All pictures used are from Amazon.com

Grab Bag

So, the Farmer's Market outing was a success!

We got flowers, and radishes, and broccolini, and green beans, and asparagus, and fresh bread, and honeycomb. Then we stopped on the way home to get steaks and goat cheese.

If you've never had fresh wholegrain bread with goat cheese and honeycomb? You are missing out.

The best part? The Man cooked the steaks and the asparagus on the grill. I handled the salad and the couscous and the aforementioned bread. And we ate it out in the courtyard, which should be getting completed sometime in the next couple of weeks. We finally selected a fountain, and we need to get more sand, pavers, and trellis. but it's looking pretty good so far.
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Work has been nuts, but satisfying. I did meet with my headhunter and he is slightly manic, but I get to come up with my own lesson plans. I start teaching a unit about reptiles in a couple of weeks. I only am going to teach one class, because I want to see how things go.
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The big news: I called the doctor and made the appointment. Bloodwork on Sunday. Potential crazy-making pills will be issued on Monday. So if I start to sound insane in the next few weeks, you can blame it on the hormones. This weekend, it's go time to get the house in shape. Because I can't be psycho in a messy house...it will just make me more psycho. Does that make sense?
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If you have cats...you will thank me for this for the rest of your life. Get a ScoopFree litterbox. Then instead of buying the refill packs, find a "forever" insert on ebay. Your nose, and your cats, will thank you. It's seriously the best $119 I have ever spent.

From "FUGE" to "REFUGEE" in three easy letters

Anyone who knows me well will tell you not to play Scrabble with me.

It's not that I am an avid player- far from it. But I always bring my A game, and I tend to win a lot. The problem is that everyone wants to play me and BEAT me, so I get challenged a lot, and then when I win, they get sort of petulant and onery and I get sort of sick of Scrabble.

It's not all about spelling, it's about vocab and craftiness and playing for the max amount of points on any given word. I tend to be pretty good at all of those.

What has happened in my immediate household is that The Man is determined to win a game of Scrabble with me. Just one. (It hasn't happened yet.)

We headed up to Carmel this last weekend, just the two of us, which was sublime. Lots of "top down, music up" time in the convertible. He did most of the packing.

There's no TV or online access at my parent's place. I don't know why I was surprised when The Man busted out the Scrabble board. And a dictionary. I groaned.

"Come on Jenna...play with me! I just want to win ONE game. Come on...."

"You mean, if I lose a game, the madness will end?"

"Yes....but you can't THROW the game!" He said this quickly, because he can evidently read my mind.

We played twice. Both games lasted over an hour, and since he guilted me into the second one, I was a little merciless. I beat him by about 200 points. Although, I only commented on one misspelled word, long after he'd laid it down.

It's been several days, and he is still talking about it.

"WHY didn't you tell me?!!!!"

That's right. Scrabble Drama. Our lives are incredibly exciting!
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Another feature of trips to Carmel is our new favorite restaurant, Giovanni's Bistro.

We went on our first night there. The food is reliably amazing, although we seem to have traumatized the staff. The last time we were in there, there was a couple seated behind us who were making out the entire time. Evidently, that is acceptable on some level. However...

Waitress: (laughing) Every time I come over here, you guys are holding hands. Knock it off! Seriously, let go of each other so you can eat dessert.

Yes. It's official- we are puke-inducing!
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In other news, we are going to try out a new "date night" idea. We're going to go to the Farmer's Market together, and then bring it home to cook dinner together.

We'll see. I predict carnage, but who know? It could be fun.

Get Lucky.

So I was cruising around online Monday night, and I thought I would check in to see how some of my fave modern swing bands are doing.

Just for kicks, I took a gander at the Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums tour schedule. They usually play SF, but I have been there a lot recently, and The Man has expressed a desire to see them.

So imagine what a pleasant surprise it was when I saw the listing for 10/11/06- The Big Fresno Fair. I love love love their music, they are fantastic live, and they're actually playing Fresno. Who doesn't love a band who has a double-entendre-packed song about gravy?



Here they are on Amazon, if you're curious.

OK, the drawback is that *cough* it's THE BIG FRESNO FAIR. But for Steve Lucky et al, I will brave the wilds of the Thug Life crowd and all eight bajillion babymammas. Well, plus the big musical act is The Black Crowes, so I am guessing that might have some affect on the usual suspects in attendance. Hopefully, I can convince The Man to make an evening of it.

So- great music, a night out with the hubby, and maybe an old fashioned cinnamon roll.

And then tonight is the first part of the finale of Project Runway.

My cup runneth over!