Thank you

For those of you who haven't heard, our dear dog Lola was hit by a car tonight and died minutes after the accident. It was a blessing that she went so quickly, but that doesn't mean it hurts us any less to lose her. Heather, thank you for rushing over and I hope that Eliza understands how sad I am that we can't go to See Spot Walk on Saturday. Well, enough about that...it just makes me too sad to even think about.

So....now for the giant elephant in the room:

Thank you so much to all the family in Utah that are helping my mom through this insanely difficult time in her life. Heather, Levi and I are absolutely dying to get down there and help out and we appreciate everybody in Utah chipping in and helping her get her feet on the ground. There is nobody in this world that has supported me and loved me the way my mom has and I'm so grateful for her opportunity to find peace and happiness. Please know that your helping and kindness is very appreciated.

Now, only two things are going to cheer me up tonight: Watching Joe Biden kick Palin's butt and re-watching the Red Sox beat the Angels. I think I'll attend to both now.




R.I.P. LOLA. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. WE WERE SO BLESSED TO HAVE YOU IN OUR LIVES. TRIPS TO HOME DEPOT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

DIY Demotivational posters!!

How excited am I?!?! I found a website that lets you create your own demotivational posters! The web address is www.diy.despair.com

Here are a couple that I did all by myself :)


(Actually, Levi kicks butt at barbecuing and I'm lucky to have him!)


(C'mon Laurie, you know you love it!)


(No, I don't know who this guy is. I got the pic off mulletsgalore.com)

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL0EDhpGOosdeP7PODrtqiWtioGk8aYOfcmG7idQlo-kSY2EfbPyRarDOFLJTYF_ZxQHvkA7uJxyslMmrfAbDplGGR6Ri2leojRSGM3TheX2oV9zW5oIS1CFMMbHKwSpz0Tn1JJsKFP8/s1600-h/poster14792209.jpg">
(I think I was a pretty cute baby!)

Hilarious!

I recently bought the comedy issue of Rolling Stone magazine and it talks about how humor has evolved to be more about awkwardness and subtlety than punchlines (as demonstrated in The Office or Arrested Development). The article talks about a website called garfieldminusgarfield.net. As the name of the website says, it's Garfield comics that have had Garfield removed to show how pathetic Jon is. Here's the message on the website:
"Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb."

The funniest thing is that it's TRUE! Jon Arbuckle is totally awkward and angst filled! Check some of them out!

What an emo kid!

Exactly.

Book Survey!!

OK, I REALLY want other people to do this survey on their blog page. Heather, Laurie, Sevy, Michelle and Scott I'm looking at you! Don't let me be the only one that does this one!!

1. What book are you reading now?
I just finished Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and I'm just starting two by Tom Perrotta, Little Children (which was such a fantastic movie and I can't wait to read the book) and The Abstinence Teacher. I'm also reading The Monster of Florence for my bookclub but I'm really not liking it :(

2. What are your favorite books? (You can put specific books or genres or both.)
I'm not picky....ok I am, but I like just about all genres, except romance and sci-fi. My bookshelves are pretty random. Not a lot of rhyme or reason to them.

3. How did you learn to read?
My mom read to me every single night as early as I can remember. By the time I hit kindergarten I read fairly well. Thanks mom!!

4. What foreign languages do you read?
Unfortunately I can only read bits and pieces from some languages, but I hope to change that one day.

5. What 's the funniest book you ever read?
Wow, there are so many. The ones that laughed out loud the hardest at were Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (I was on a break at my old job and I was reading the scene where they're rushing to the airport and crash through the fence and I was laughing out loud like a lunatic! Everybody was staring at me!) Definitely anything by David Sedaris and parts of A Prayer for Owen Meany

6. What books have changed the way you look at the world?
Not to be cliche, but Catcher in the Rye was such an eye-opener for me. If we ever have a boy we'll probably name him Holden. Also, Female Chauvinist Pigs is a real wake-up call to the plague of our "girls-gone-wild-paris-hilton-society."

7. What books have you changed your mind about?
It took me until recently to warm up to Cormac McCarthy, but now I can't get enough of him.

8. What are some of the scariest books you've ever read?
I have a bunch of scary story collections (I absolutely love scaring myself through reading) and surprisingly enough the scariest stories are the ones written in the early 1900s. The descriptions are just so creepy. Also, the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a terrifying look at post-partum depression.

9. About how many books do you think you have you read in your life?Way too many to count.

10. About how many books do you own?
Same answer as above. The benefit/curse of working at a bookstore.

11. How many books per month do you usually borrow from the library? It used to be a lot, but now I just buy them. Bad habit.

12. Do you read in bed?
Yep. Can't go to sleep unless I do.

13. Do you ever read while walking or driving?
Driving?? No. I can read if someone else is driving. And if I read while I walk I WILL trip.

14. Where is the strangest place you've read a book?
I'm not sure. I'm sure when I was a kid I found some interesting places to get away and read. I always thought the kid in Neverending Story was so cool for sneaking away in school to read. Too bad that movie gives me serious heebie jeebies now. How did I ever enjoy it as a kid??

15. Do you listen to audio books?
When I can. I listened to A Clockwork Orange on audio when I drove to Utah and that was cool because the language in it is so unique and hearing it outloud was interesting.

16. Has anyone ever read aloud to you or you to them? Tell us more.
My wonderful mom. I can't remember a single time in my childhood that she didn't read to me. She was the best at it. She had the perfect tempo and didn't mind if I asked questions.

17. What book was the most difficult to read?
If it's too difficult, I'll usually just give up. I've started and stopped a thousand books in this lifetime.

18. Do you read every word of a book, or skip parts that don't hold your interest?
Both. If I'm really into it I'll read every single word, but if I just want to get the basic idea I can skim quickly through it.

19. What books do you keep intending to read but put off?
*sigh* The classics of course. Tolstoy, Bronte (both of them), Dostoevsky, etc. It's not that I don't want to read them, I just end up reading modern American fiction first.

20. Do you buy new or used books, paperbacks or hardbacks, leather or collector's items?
If I had the money I'd buy leather and collector's books, but I usually buy paperbacks and occasionally hardcovers. Someone I knew bought me a used copy of Still Life with Woodpecker and I thought that was so cool. Too bad the guy ended up being a tool.

21. How do you feel about writing in books, dog earing, etc.
I dog ear paperbacks, but if it's a hardcover I use the book jacket to mark my place. Writing in books can be scary because later I'll look at it and think, "Oh, I must have thought I was really smart to underline that sentence and write a quote from Kant in the margin." So embarrassing.

22. What is the worst book you remember reading?
The Host by Stephenie Meyer is atrocious. I honestly tried my hardest and got 30 pages in. Horrible book.

23. Do you lend your books?
Usually only to family members. They always treat the books with respect. I have a hard time loaning them out to anybody else. Probably because I've spent a small fortune on all of them.

24. What were your favorite books when you were a child?
Wow, too many to name! I loved The Boxcar Children and The Great Brain series. Beverly Cleary books were also my favorite. They still are as a matter of fact.

25. What books would you especially recommend to young people?
It depends on their interests. Harry Potter books are honestly amazing and any child that hasn't read them should start. So magical and fun. I didn't want to like them, but I finally gave in after the second book had come out and I've been hooked ever since.

26. Do you ever read the ending first?
Only if it's a book that I don't really want to read and I just want to see how it ends. Otherwise it takes a large amount of restraint not to peek.

27. Have you ever read a book more than once? If so, mention them and
why you read them more than once.
Too many to name. I re-read short story collections like The Best American Short Stories series because it's easy to forget short stories so re-reading them is like reading them for the first time.

28. What frequently recommended books have you been unable to finish?
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I don't know what it is, but I can't finish that thing.

29. List some of your favorite authors.
Wow, here's just a few: Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, David Sedaris, Truman Capote, John Steinbeck, JD Salinger, Joyce Carol Oates, James Ellroy, Poe, Dennis Lehane, Cormac Mccarthy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Denis Johnson, Tim O'Brien, Ian McEwan. Just a few LOL!

30. You're stranded on a desert island and you can only have one book. What is it?
Probably a heavy classic so I can FINALLY get through it and pat myself on the back.

This will be a great movie!

I'm so excited! Christian the hugging lion's story is going to be made into a movie! Here's the article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26556641/

I love this story. Two guys from swinging 1969 Chelsea London raise a lion cub named Christan until he becomes too big and they have to introduce him into the wild. They met up with George Adamson (whom the movie Born Free was about) and he helps them let Christian go. After a year they go back to Africa with George and find Christian's lion pride. They were told he wouldn't recognize them and that he was now a wild lion that wouldn't be like the playful cub they had raised. As you can see in the video below that wasn't the case :)



Because Christian was the leader of his pride, the other lions also accepted the three men and didn't tear them to shreds!

New Haircut

I just hope I can actually do it myself! I hate when I get a haircut that only a trained stylist can do.

Lame, lame, lame.

Stupidity and ignorance has struck again. Yesterday somebody stole our Obama yard sign and then tried to destroy our mailbox, which is not directly in front of our house, but about thirty or forty feet away. They had to have looked at our house number and then found our mailbox.
I don't get it. Is this really the only way some people handle election season? Really?? I think I'm going to order a new sign and put it exactly where the old one was and put a note on it that says, "You are currently being recorded by a camera in one of our windows. If you do even touch this sign we will be reporting you to the police. If you don't like Obama and have the intelligence to carry on a conversation about politics, please feel free to talk to us. Otherwise, bugger off."
I don't care about the sign thing, (I can always order another one, the newer ones even have Biden's name on them) but I'm actually more worried about the mailbox thing. What if this idiot decides to go through my mail or steal my out-going mail? I wonder if I can contact the post office and let them know that I want my mail picked up and delivered at my house. I can get one of those mailboxes that you fix to your house near your front door. Hopefully the post office is understanding of the situation.
Anyways...I have to go to work now. I hope everybody is having a great day and has a wonderful weekend.
If you're in Utah, please check on my mom. She just had surgery and I'm sad I can't be there to take care of her. Love you mom!

What's in a name?

1. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Lester Mirl. Ha ha!

2. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Gatca I think that sounds like a spacey name.

3. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Black Kitty

4. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Jennings Roosevelt. I could see that for a guy soap opera name.

5. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Red Dew.

6. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Caes. Huh?

7. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Half Baked Chocolate Chip. I love it!

8. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pets name, current street name)
Lola Boise

9. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Innocent Chocolate. Perfect!!

10. B-MOVIE ACTOR NAME: (1st pet, 1st Car)
Biff Accent.

11. AMERICAN GLADIATOR NAME (model name of your current car)
Elantra. Oooohhh!

Now I want everyone else to do this and post it to their blog. C'mon, it's fun!

Ikea project done

I finally figured out what to do with those Ikea frames that I bought about six months ago (there's a picture of me holding one of them in an older post.) Well, we figured it out. I bought some great fabric from Joanne's (Ryan and Wilson's favorite place, ha ha!) and then printed off a couple of pictures at Fred Meyer. The whole project, not including the cost of the frames, was only $15. Not bad! Here's the final result:

My new obsession:

THIS SONG!! Amy MacDonald is the cutest thing to come out of Scotland. She has an extremely thick accent and I just love the folkiness of her music. Listening to her reminds me of The Cranberries and I don't know a single person that didn't love The Cranberries when they first came out.
Luckily we have her cd (which doesn't come out until 8.19.08) as an in-story play at Barnes & Noble so I get to listen to her all the time.
Check out her video to listen to her amazing voice!

Mad Men

Mad Men is our favorite show since debuting last summer. If you haven't been watching it, do yourself a favor and either borrow our season 1 DVDs or rent them ASAP. Season two is only three episodes in and AMC always shows repeats of episodes. The plot is simple: It's 1960 New York City and Madison Avenue advertising executives are seen as some of the most powerful men out there. Don Draper is the head honcho at his office and is well respected (and even worshiped) by those who work below him. Don isn't always faithful to his wife, as most of the men in the office aren't, and in this clip he realizes that he probably should be. He's meeting with the suits from Kodak, who have just come up with a wheel that let's you see slides. Don sells them on what they should name the product and makes a powerful presentation.

Ahhhhh.

This picture sums up my trip to Redfish Lake. I've never been that relaxed in my life.

An open letter to a small-minded idiot:

Dear Muddy-Handed Redneck,

Today is a huge day for me (I'm hosting the Breaking Dawn party at my work, which will probably bring in 800 people) and I'm already stressed out enough about that, plus other things going on in my world, and I walk out to my car and find that both my car and Levi's car have been the victim of your small-minded redneckness. You took it upon yourself to scatch up the two Obama stickers on my car and the one on Levi's car and then cover the stickers with mud. Seriously, who does that?? It is my earned constitutional right to put whatever sticker I want on my car and it is everybody else's right to have an opinion about it, but you DO NOT have the right to vandalize my property. This country was founded on the belief that every single citizen has the right to their own opinion, but we also founded laws that prevent harm to those citizen's property if someone disagrees.
Believe me, the stickers were completely harmless, just the regular campaign stickers. I have seen lots of antagonizing bumper stickers around town (things like 'Republicans for Voldemort', which I happen to think is kinda funny) but I've always prided myself in not displaying antagonizing things, knowing that I have friends and family that support different issues and candidates than I do. And that's ok! I like that I have friends and family on both sides, I like that not everybody is doing what I'm doing. That's what makes this country great! I'm just upset that our harmless campaign stickers were ruined. Should I be afraid to put up the yard sign that I ordered? I'm worried you or your other idiot comrades will try to burn it and end up burning down my house.
At least there are two good things that come out of this:
1. You, like the moron you are, had to walk around with muddy hands until you got home, which I assume is a classy single-wide trailer with the undeniable stench of Liggett cigarettes and old Macaroni and Cheese.
2. Almost every other car in Boise has an Obama sticker on it, so you've got a lot of ground to cover, not to mention a lot of mud to carry around, to make a dent.

In closing, you half-witted coward, next time you have an issue with my politics, come TALK with me, maybe even debate with me about what you believe. But do not EVER think you can vandalize my personal property again without facing legal consequences.

Yours truly,
Carly and Levi Gates.

He's still got it!

Glad to see that Chris Isaak's voice (and looks!) are still just as great as they were almost 20 years ago.

Random ramblings

I haven't posted in a bit because I didn't think that anything very important happened, but I suppose that's the point of blogs isn't it? To report the mundane to the people that care about you :)
Levi had his surgery last Wednesday and has been healing great. He has been getting around on crutches since the bike accident and has a doctor's appointment tomorrow to see when he'll be able to start putting some weight on that leg. I hope soon...I don't like doing ALL the chores! Luckily Heather and Zane and Levi's dad and stepmom have been helping us with our yard. Thanks guys!
Levi's mom Maria flew in from Texas last week and spent a few days before flying to Sweden to see Sevy and then she'll be back here next week before flying back home to Texas. I love having her here and it's so fun listening to her stories. You're the best Maria! While she was here we saw The Dark Knight and it was EPIC!! If you haven't seen it yet drop what you're doing and get to your nearest theater. It's a crime drama on par with The Godfather and anyone who knows me knows that I don't joke about The Godfather.
Last week I was offered a promotion with Barnes and Noble, but we'd have to move to Seattle for the position. I love Seattle so much, but with the housing market in the toilet there is no way we'd be able to sell our house, plus I don't know if I could ever move away from Heather and Zane and the kids. I hate it when they go out of town for five days so I don't know how I'd ever handle only seeing them a couple of times a year. I hope that by passing this chance up there will be a better opportunity down the road.
Speaking of Barnes & Noble, I've been giving them lots of my money this year with my book habit. Normally I read one to two books a month, if I'm lucky, but this summer I've been burning through them! Sitting by a pool while reading a good book is my idea of heaven. I can't get enough of it. I've blown through a couple of Dennis Lehane novels, the new David Sedaris book (which I highly recommend!) and about six others. Thank heavens for my discount!
Yesterday I lucked out and got a great bistro set for our front porch at JoAnns for 40% off! Woo hoo! Here's a picture of the darling thing:

Yes, that is a shattered vase on the chair. I thought it would be cute to put a vase with flowers on the table and today we had 30 mph winds. So much for that idea. The rocks on the ground are the rocks I put in the bottom of the vase to weigh it down. Stupid lightweight rocks :(

I'm so excited for our family trip to Redfish Lake! I know I don't post a lot of pictures on this blog, but hopefully I'll get a few nice snapshots while there. The place truly is breathtaking. Here's a picture I found on the interwebs of Redfish:


Lets see, what else is new....Oh yeah! I bought my first ever lawn sign for my presidential candidate! I feel so grown up! This will be the third election I've voted in, but the first time I've displayed any yard-signage. (Although, the previous two elections didn't give me a candidate to be jazzed about) Now you'll know which one my house is on Boise Avenue without having to look for the ketchup and mustard color scheme of our house (which will hopefully be repainted by next summer. Fingers crossed)
Well, I guess that's about all that's new, unless you count the untimely (*sarcasm*) death of Estelle Getty, Sophia from the Golden Girls. God bless you, Sophia Petrillo, and all your wisdom. Here's one of the best examples of why the Golden Girls rock:

Dorothy: Oh Ma, why did I ever marry that man?
Sophia: Because he knocked you up.
Dorothy: Why did I ever let that happen?
Sophia: Because he got you drunk.
Dorothy: Why am I having this conversation with you?!
Sophia: Beats the hell out of me!

Here's another gem: (push pause on my music player to hear the video)


RIP

This is very funny

If you haven't seen it yet, the new issue of Entertainment Weekly has Edward and Bella from Twilight on the cover and Edward is NOT looking hot. Now I am not the biggest fan of these books, I don't think they're written that well and I feel like Stephenie Meyer is still probably discovering herself as a writer, but I will probably see the movie and this cover is totally disappointing! Use this link to see the cover and read a hilarious critique of it:

Entertainment Weekly Twilight Cast

Move Quote Quiz

Scott and Heather have both posted movie quote quizzes and I'm the next to challenge the family to guessing what movies these quotes came from. No cheating!!! Just be honest if you don't know the answer and I'll post some hints.

1. "There is no Hans, there is only me, Fritz."
2. "Are you gonna eat your fat?"
3. "I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy."
4. "Many girls want to be carnal with me because I'm such a premium dancer." (Ok, so only Heather will probably know that one...the rest of you should rent that movie!)
5. "I'm gonna get out of the car and drop you like third period French."
6. "It's about time Benny, my clothes are going outta style."
7. "Maybe it's a bowling alley!"
8. "By the way, I loved you in the Wizard of Oz"
9. ""Ditto?" "Ditto," you provincial putz?"
10."I almost killed you right then! You do not even realize!"

Leggy Weggy

For those of you hadn't heard (I know news travels fast in this familiy), Levi broke his leg on Sunday afternoon. Scott, I did get your message and I'm so sorry I didn't call you right back. Everything is fine, I've just been insanely busy and haven't had time to do anything. I appreciated your message though, you're such a good brother!
Here's how it happened: Levi went downhill mountain biking at Tamarack (kinda like Sundance to all you Utah readers) and on the last curve of his final ride he lost control of the bike and put his leg down get a little more control, but this just caused his leg to bend inward and then outward very quickly. He broke his tibia at the inner right ankle and broke the fibula on the outside, near his calf. Luckily they were closed fractures, so no bones poking through his skin or anything :)
He will be going in for surgery next Wednesday to repair the tendons in his ankle that stretched out. They say it's a non-invasive, easy same-day surgery and total heal time should be about six weeks.
Levi is super bummed that he can't go riding with Justin and Zane at Redfish. Now he'll be stuck with me! I'm still going to make him jump off the dock at least once. You can't go to Redfish without making that jump :)
Anyway, I wanted to thank you all for your concern and all your calls.
Heather, a special thanks to you and Zane and the kids for cleaning up my yard and planting all those beautiful plants. I really don't know how to thank you!

I think it may be time to lose weight....

I went to Ross Dress for Less today and I was making my way to the dressing rooms when I saw a cute pair of black capris hanging up in the go-back rack. I'm always on the lookout for a good pair of black capris because I destroy so many of them at my job. Anyways, I tried them on and was amazed at how well they fit and how comfortable they were. It was like wearing a soft, smooth blanket around my legs. They were a stretch cotton material with no buttons or zippers. I loved them! I decided to double check the tag to see how much they cost and that's when I made my discovery:

Yep, I was trying on maternity pants.

I almost started crying in the dressing room! How could I have let myself go like this! How could I fit snuggly into a pair of pants made for a person with a growing human in their STOMACH!? I thought back to all the Mountain Dews I've had over the past 5 years (the number has to be in the thousands) and all the bags of M&Ms and slices of pizza. Was it worth it?? Was eating all those calories, all the carbs, all the grease and all the gravy really worth it?

The answer? YES. Not only have I enjoyed lots of yummy food these past few years, I am now the proud owner of the most comfortable pants in Boise.