The Blonde Leading the Blind

My brother and his wife spent their Memorial Day weekend in landscaping bliss, too.

This is their first summer in their house.  They’re still in that soon-will-pass honeymoon phase where working in the yard is actually fun.  It’s very sweet.

Ah, I remember those days, but that was before Jimmy Hosta.

Sunday night they invited my Mom, the Disaster Twins, and the Blonde family over for a cookout.  My brother is quite the chef and made us hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled sweet corn, strawberry shortcake, and more.  It was delicious, especially the corn, which I even ate full well knowing that stomach distress was likely to ensue later that night.

After dinner, we took a walk with the dogs, including the Disaster Twins cousin, Noah.

Noah is hilarious.  He’s still a puppy and has way more energy than Miss Halas or Miss Lombardi have expended in months.  They love to play with him, but tend to retreat in terror when he tries to play back.

Seriously, ladies, you’re scared of this? 

Noah, you rock.

The Disaster Twins got to chill with their “Aunt” Bailey for several hours today when the Blonde family made a trip to my mom’s house to help her clean out the garage and do some yard work.

Every year when Mother’s Day rolls around, my brother and I ask my mom what she would like to do, and every year we get the same response:

“All I want is for you to come over and help me work in the yard for a day.”

Can do.

Mom told us to bring the Disaster Twins this year since her dog, Bailey, likes to run amok with them now that they’ve outgrown their rambunctious puppy stage.

Bailey greeted us at the door, and the trio spent the next six hours running in circles, leaping over furniture, barking at neighbors out the window, and sniffing each other’s rear ends while mom, SpiderHusband, and I reorganized the garage, trimmed bushes, created a planter box, and planted flowers in the yard.

Halas and Lombardi, who, I suspect, usually spend the same six hours of their day sleeping, crashed when we got back home.  In fact, Lombardi is sacked out underneath the computer desk as I sit here typing while Halas and SpiderHusband are knocked out in the bed.

Playing with Aunt Bailey is hard.

With May Sales Conference madness and Mother’s Day mayhem behind us, SpiderHusband invited my family over to partake of Pizza King goodness and Dairy Queen cake deliciousness on Saturday to celebrate my birthday.

I got a gift card to my favorite of all favorite stores, Aveda, from my brother, Michael, and his wife, Kendra.

And if that isn’t enough of a sweet deal, my mom, who was not supposed to get me another gift since she already bought me a ton of clothes for my birthday, bestowed me with another Aveda card.

Just so you know, Mom, it is only my love for Aveda and the fear of you taking back my gift card that prevent me from posting your picture in this entry.  I’ll be spending the gift card shortly, then all bets are off.  : )

This gathering signaled the end to what seemed like a month of birthday celebrating with gifts, gifts, and more gifts, like these presents that I got earlier in the week:

A winning scratch-off lottery ticket from my sister-in-law, her Bucket-to-be, and their crew.  You’ve provided SpiderHusband hours of amusement as I basked in the glow of my good fortune and riches…all $1 of them.  Hey, a winning ticket is a winning ticket, right?

Two new shirts from Old Navy…in, wait for it…colors other than black and white…thanks to some birthday cash from my awesome mom-in-law, Connie.

Aveda skin care products from Cathy.  Did I mention I like Aveda?

Whoo-hoo!

Yes.  SpiderHusband and I are those kind of people who make up ridiculous names for their dogs.

Halas goes by many names in the Blonde household…

Halitosis

SuperHALifragilisticexpialidocious

Halas Montgomery Shepherd (for those of you Grey’s Anatomy fans out there)

Halibu’s Most Wanted

But, today, Halas earned her latest nickname after SpiderHusband spotted the two giant claw marks running down my leg courtesy of Thing Number One and heard my latest theory that she is, indeed, part cougar.  And, I give you…Halas Cougar Mellencamp.

This is an all new low, even for SpiderHusband.

And, I thought my shout out to Fergie Ferg with “Bardilicious” was as low as you could go.

But, let’s be honest, Lombardi DOES put them chows on rock, rock.

SpiderHusband:  ”Do you want to snog?”

Me:  ”Do you even know what snogging is?”

SpiderHusband: “It’s a kiss and a cuddle.”

I stand corrected.

Very cool things were waiting for me when I returned from my business trip last night.  Um, can you say presents?

A birthday card from Gramma’ B.

A birthday card from SpiderHusband and the hounds.

Two new Jodi Picoult books - Nineteen Minutes and Salem Falls - courtesy of my friend Jill and the Zany family.

An Amazon.com gift card from Judi and Glen.

And, the last of several new dresses and skirts that my Mom bought for me, even though we were at the mall to shop for her instead.

Rock on.

Well, it’s my birthday, too.

As luck would have it, my birthday happens to fall right in the middle of my company’s annual May Sales Meeting, so I’m spending the big day with a handful of my coworkers in Sarasota.  Fortunately, my coworkers are a pretty thoughtful bunch, which made it much easier to be away from home.

SpiderHusband and the Disaster Twins kicked off my day with a “Happy Birthday” phone call - what a lovely way to start the morning.

Throughout the day, I received e-cards from my family and friends, a very amusing rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song on my voice mail from one of my San Francisco colleagues, an “Aloha” greeting from another colleague in Phoenix, a super cool birthday card from the Sybex and Tech Marketing teams (see pic below), another equally kooky “Happy Birthday” song courtesy of my friend Jill, several Facebook birthday wishes, and two delightful Amaretto Sours courtesy of my publisher.  And, that was just before dinner.

My team went out to a local Italian restaurant, Mediterraneo, and I spent most of the evening laughing my head off.  Dinner was not the same sans my other Tech Marketing partners in crime - Alison, Ashley, and Colleen - but I was glad I got to chat with them online and via phone anyway.

Not a bad way to spend a birthday away from home.

So, thanks guys.

SpiderHusband surprised me Sunday with this sparkly frog box before dropping me off at the Indianapolis airport for my business trip to Sarasota.

I am not a frog collector, and neither is my Aunt Donna.  But, that didn’t stop her older brother, my Dad, from buying her countless frogs in their younger days.  It seems he somehow got the impression that she had a thing for amphibians, so birthdays, Christmas, you name it, frogs were his gifts of choice.

So, frogs have sort of become an inside family joke, especially since my Dad passed away several years ago.  Every now and then, I’ll see a frog that catches my eye and makes me giggle thinking about him.

I spotted this one while waiting to be seated at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, but decided I was too cheap to shell out the $20 listed on the price tag.  In a rare instance of reckless abandon, my ordinarily very economical SpiderHusband indulged and managed to snag the final frog on the shelf before leaving.

What a prince.

I’m happy to report that SpiderHusband survived his first Mini Marathon with only minor wear and tear.

He ran the majority of the course - around 11 of the 13+ miles - with a time of just over 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Well played, SpiderHusband.

The hounds and I are aglow with pride.  You rock.