Tricks or Treats

Linus: You've heard about the fury in a woman's scorn, haven't you?

Charlie Brown: Yes, I guess I have...

Linus: Well, that's nothing compared to the fury of a woman who has been cheated out of tricks or treats.

I know it's a little late, but I thought I would let everyone know that I got a call from Matthew over the weekend. It was so nice to hear his voice. Unfortunately, Matt sounds pretty miserable over there. First of all, he is sick. And second of all, the weather is wretched: it is mercilessly hot, and everytime he walks outside, he runs into a sandstorm. Matt says he feels like he is living (and I quote) "in the Devil's armpit." So keep him in your prayers and hope that by some random stroke of luck, he gets to come home sooner rather than later...

Guilty

I saw this in the paper this week. Apparently, this three-year-old climbed into one of those stuffed-animal vending-machine games with the crane-thingy (Do those things actually have a name?) How hilarious is that?! He sure does look guilty, doesn't he? What is even better: When I went to find the picture on the internet, I found many more news stories and pictures of little boys in the same situation. I guess stuffed animal theft among three-year-old boys seems to be on the rise.

This Time I Wish I Were A Loser

So maybe I have told you, maybe I haven't, but we are playing The Biggest Loser at work. You all know the rules: Everyone pitches $20 bucks into the pot, and every week we weigh ourselves and hope that we've lost weight or at least stayed the same, and if you gain weight, you add another dollar to the pot. So at this point in my life (Matt is gone, I have Holly's wedding coming up, I have to try on bride's maid dresses at Christmas...) I really REALLY want to loose about 20 pounds. So I'm all motivated: I started drinking the recommended 64 ounces of water a day, I eat smaller portions of everything, I only eat fruits, vegetables, or yogurt for snacks, I count my calories, and I go to the gym at LEAST four times a week. This has been the case for the past 3 weeks, and tell me how I am still at the same place I was when we started!

Boo this game; I want some cake!

Hallow's End

Well Halloween has come to a premature end in Casa de la Marie. The jack-o-lantern that Daddy carved for me last weekend spent two sad little nights on the porch, and now he is killed. Here are the before and afters...

.....This is NOT his happy face

Parents Weekend

So the parents came to visit this weekend. It was great to have them in town: we visited, we went sightseeing, we drank wine, we went out to dinner, and they bought me things! It was so much fun!

There was ALOT of cleaning to be done, so that is why my blog was abandoned for the majority of last week. And of course, Thursday night before their plane got in, I remebered that the parents are WORTHLESS without their coffee, so I went back to the school and stole the coffee pot from the teachers lounge. You know your in for a fun weekend when something gets stolen!

Friday: Mommy fixed me breakfast. We stopped by my work so that my parents can meet some of the crazies that I work with. Then we to the highly acclaimed Dessert Museum. For dinner, we ate at the best Mexican Restraunt in the world, La Parilla Suiza.

Saturday: Me and Mommy got a pedicure in the morning, while dad watched football. Then we drove to Mt. Lemmon and watched the sunset. For dinner, we grilled steaks.

Sunday: We had brunch, we watched some football, then we went to Sabino Canyon for more sunset.

Monday: Took the parents to the airport at 3AM, came home for a quick nap before I had to be at work at 6:45. Returned the stolen coffee pot to the teachers lounge.

Where are the homeless people when you need them?

This weekend, Matt and I went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse with another couple. And of course, we filled up on yummy appetizer before our meal came, and by that time we were full. Knowing that it is a sin for steak and shrimp to go to waste, Matt and I decided that we were going to give our leftovers to a homeless person. I was very excited about out little adventure! We drove from one side of town to the other scouting out all the empty parking lots, grocery store fronts, and back alleys looking for someone who might like a bite to eat, and what do you know.....We couldn't find a homeless person in the whole town. We did slow down for grungy looking teenager with salvation army clothes and a disheveled hair, but the ipod and cell phone totally ruined his homeless-person image. But let it be known that we tried to do a good deed, but the lack of homeless people ruined everything!

My New Friend

While Matt's year-long vacay to the Middle East comes as the biggest bummer of 2006, there is one positive thing that has come from this situation: Matt gave me his TiVo!! Now I can pause and rewind live TV; nothing more exciting than that, folks. Especially since tonight is The Office and Grey's Anatomy. SO...I baked cookies and watched my shows without missing a beat. AND I successfully recorded my first show. I think it's safe to say that I am a genius.

ESPN?!

Whoa. So I was just flipping through the channels looking for the news, and I came across this story(apparently there is nothing note worthy going on in the WORLD this evening). And I quote,

"Leann Real promised her husband, an avid sports fan, that if they ever had a son he'd get to pick the name. ESPN Montana Real was born this week at Biloxi Regional Medical Center."

ESPN??!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!! Unfortunatly for this kid, his parents forgot to consider the fact that he might actually grow up and go to school and be pointed and laughted at by his peers. Matt, I love you, but MMORPG is out of the question!

Club Crawl 2006

So this was Matt's last weekend in Tucson ( /cry). We went out and had some fun Saturday night at Club Crawl. Basically, it was a mini Beal Street, with lots of clubs and bands and beer. Now, all the bands sucks, but we still had so much fun, just the two of us. The last time we actually went out to hear some good music and have a few drinks was about New Years, so it is safe to say this one was long over due.

Making New Friends Everyday

So today at work, I built a new raport with two students. And it turns out that we bonded over, of all things, The World of Warcraft. There are these two brothers who I have butted heads with in the past, either because I have to get on to them for sleeping in class, or talking, etc... This morning they walk in, and the older brother looks as if he has not slept in days. One of his friends is like, "Dude, late night?' and the younger brother says, "Haha, this looser was up all night playing Warcraft!" My ears perk up and I'm like, "What did you say?" And he's like, "Oh, its this game..." And they kinda shake their heads and roll their eyes as if to say, "Don't worry about it; You wouldn't understand." Let's just say I suprised the hell out of them when I said, "Oh, really, I play W.o.W" After a few seconds of wide-eyes, staring at me as if I spoke in tounges, they got really excited. So we spent a few minutes talking about our characters and professions and horde vs. alliance. And I think my shining moment came when I said, "Yeah, I have a level 60 Warlock and a level 16 Rogue...." The younger brother was immidiately like, "Dude! Teacher is kicking your ASS!!! This guy is only at level 24 and he has been playing FOREVER!!!" And the kid was like, "Shut up! I've only been playing for four months!" And I said, "That's just pathetic, I made it to 60 in five months; you need to quit being a slacker and pick up the pace!" And that is when I crossed over to the land of respected teachers. It was great. And I noticed that for the rest of the day both brothers stopped sleeping, got more work done, they asked me for help more often, and actually started getting somewhere with their classes. The younger brother finished up two classes today and earned a credit. I was proud. And it was all because of the World of Warcraft: Bringing the most unlikely people together one day at a time.

Movies in Review

Another weekend spent at the wonderful Drive-In Movie. First up: School for Scoundrels, staring Jon Heder and Billy Bob Thornton. This romantic comedy promises a few good laughs. And unlike every other movie of this genre, this ending defiantly throws you for a loop. However, Jon Heder in this movie reminded me of my good friend Josh Foreman for some reason. Especially when he asks his date, "Do I remind you of a lion, because I totally want to be a lion..." Don't get me wrong Josh, you are the best, and I mean this as a compliment :)

Next up: The Covenant. Basically, teenage boys, who all happen to be witches, fighting over their powers in the vein of a typical scary movie. Very cheesy-AKA-the electricity was out, it rained every day, and the girl was ALWAYS walking home through the woods. The best line of the movie was, "I'm going to make you my WI-ATCH." Hahahaha, man, that still cracks me up. I think you know better than to waste your time on this one.