Fabulous Compromises

I love going to the hardware store. Maybe it is because I went so many times as a little girl and it was always a pleasant experience that usually ended with going home and doing a project as a family. Maybe it is because the smell of wood reminds me of my dad. Maybe it is the abundance of beautiful flowers that make me feel like I am so totally NOT in a desert. Who knows! The hubby hates the hardware store. Whether it is the past bad experiences from his childhood, the price of all the items, or the lack of knowledge concerning the various tools I know not. As you can imagine, trips to the hardware store are no longer as pleasant as they once were. Enter behr.com or glidden.com. Both offer a virtual room painted in colors of your choice (much more variety than The Sims). The result is a friend and I going to the hardware store after the Hubby, sitting in the comfort of his own home, picks the colors he would like his “man cave” to be. Ah, Saturday trips to the hardware store with friends. Fabulous!

Fabulous Moments

Have you ever been too excited for the phone? I have. I received an unexpected call from a friend who had some very good news. After she shared her very exciting news, I was overcome with joy and the phone just wasn’t BIG enough for me to convey my excitement. Sometimes you just want to grab the person, give them a HUGE hug and maybe even cry a little. But sometimes that person in on the beach in California with her new fiance, enjoying the sand in her toes, the surf on her face, the diamond on her finger and the love of her life by her side. Fabulous!

Fabulous Outdoors

This summer my family experienced the Best Camping Trip EVER! I say “my family” because while I was there with them, it was NOT my best camping experience. I was super excited for this trip. I had waited a whole year to revisit the splendor that is Strawberry, AZ. After researching online, the hubby and I bought our first tent (from Target, Wal-Mart doesn’t honor the price listed online). Through a very long chain of emails, Mom, Sister and I put together a menu. Later, Sister, Hubby and I went on a tense shopping spree at the more-than-you-could-ever-need store for food and supplies. My very intelligent Hubby thought it a bad idea to bring our furbabies camping. But as I had already made sure the tent could fit a kennel for them to sleep in and bought the 50 feet of rope each to secure them to a tree, I felt they should join us. After all, if they were fur-less-babies we would bring them, right? (Not to mention we didn’t have any trust worthy furbabysitters.) After driving two and a half hours to the campsite, I was able to enjoy the perfect weather (for about five minutes). Just as we were finishing set-up of the last tent, it began to rain. The rain soon ended and the forest was left feeling refreshed and alive. The furbabies were left feeling “alive” as well, unfortunately! Apparently 50 feet is not enough room for our dogs. If we were near them they complained; if we were away from them they complained; if we let them run wild and free the Hubby was an anxious mess. There was no solution. The next day an Aunt drove up and took us all to Fossil Creek, nearby. Absolutely beautiful water scenes. The furbabies have differing opinions of water. Penny LOVES the water, like any normal chocolate lab. Rita HATES that water, what a freak, right? So I held Penny back from jumping in and having a good time while the Hubby tried to console Rita and assure her that my Sister was not drowning and there was no need to for her barking concern. Miserable! The Hubby finally took both girls and sat in the car. Well I couldn’t enjoy myself knowing that the Hubby (who didn’t want to bring the furbabies in the first place) was sitting in a hot van with barking girls. When we arrived back at camp we had wonderful family friends join us. I also had a massive migraine join me. The hubby and I decided that it was not worth it to stay another night. So we, uhem, I (with the migraine) drove home early. Fabulous!

(DOGS RUIN EVERYTHING!!)

Fabulously Weird

The hubby and I have been together for over five years now and just went to our first concert together. We do not share a love of Rush, Dream Theater, Lady Gaga or Pink. We do share a love of the Beatles, that's about it. Considering their situation, I don't think we will be seeing them live any time soon. So who did we go see? Weird Al at Celebrity Theatre. Very tiny venue with a rotating stage mean not a bad seat in the house! Alfred Matthew Yankovic, the three time Grammy Award winner, puts on one heck of a show!

Before the show the hubby and I enjoyed an amazing dinner at Humble Pie (thank you Lori for introducing me to their phenomenal French fries!). In short, my night was Fabulous!

Fabulous Sneak Peeks!

Oh how many hours I have spent playing The Sims! Creating layouts of my dream home. Rearranging the furniture. Choosing the colors on the walls. Picking out and caring for the landscaping. What a waste to guide a virtual person through virtual career development and virtual relationship building while sitting in my home on my computer alone. A much better use of my time would include advancing my own actual career and building actual relationships. I have learned this lesson and instructed the hubby to NOT fix the issues my computer is having with running this game. Before, however, my computer starting having an issue with the virtual world I spent so much time in, I was able to put the game to some very real use. Using The Sims to create the layout of your home and then rearranging the furniture in that home to convince your husband that a red kitchen is a good idea, Fabulous!