Jessi Day

Today (well, yesterday, but I couldn't make it to my computer in time), is Jessi Day. She is officially 18! She can vote, gamble, buy tobacco products (better not), sign her own paperwork at the doctor's office, enlist in the military, call racy 1-900 numbers, and get married without parental permission (better not). Jessi is my cousin, but we like to say that we're sisters.

Meet Jessi!

Love you little sis and hope 18 is the best year yet! :)

Side note - Paw Paw and Jessi, sorry the only pics I can find are 17 months old. This just means more family time and pics need to happen SOON.

Paw Paw Day

Today is my Paw Paw's birthday. He is 70-something. It's ok that I don't know exactly how old he is because neither does he.

Meet Paw Paw!

Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Happy birthday to the best Paw Paw in the world! :)

Discontinued

There have been many things over the years that I have grown to love and become attached to, only to find they are discontinued. The thing about it is that when something is discontinued, it's not like they put a big sign where it used to be in the store that says DISCONTINUED. You go, expecting to find what you want, and it's not there. So you think, I'll just pick it up next time. You go back a few days later with your hopes up, and still no luck. There's really no closure. You just have to one day accept the fact that you never got to say goodbye to one of your favorite products. Here are a few examples of my experience with this:

1. Morningstar Farms breakfast sandwich. It had a veggie sausage patty, egg substitute, and low fat cheese on an English muffin. It was healthy with lots of protein and I used to stock my freezer with them and eat one every morning, sometimes for lunch too.

2. Spree Hearts at Valentine's Day. That was my favorite candy, and I would always rush to Walgreens in mid-January when the Valentine's stuff went out. The little boxes of pink and white Nerds are a close second though.

3. Brummel & Brown Apple Cinnamon yogurt spread.

4. Skintimate Bikini and Underarm shaving gel. I thought I was so clever to use it on my legs.

5. Navy Glitter TOMS. They can pass as dark silver so I could wear them with anything. After over a year, they are finally wearing out and I can't find a replacement. Not even at Northgate Vintage, the ultimate source of TOMS.

6. S'mores lip gloss. They still make it but the texture and scent are different so it's just not the same.

7. Coming soon: Gossip Girl. I read that this is the last season. Does this mean that I have to get my own life instead of being wrapped up in those of Blair, Serena, and Little Jenny?

8. Sandlewood & Rose at Bath & Body Works. I loved anything in this scent - candles, shower gel, you name it. It doesn't come back when they bring back the old favorites once or twice a year, and they don't have some stored in a warehouse somewhere. I asked. Ranger loved this one too, and not even his mad e-bay skills could get some more for me.

9. HEB Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee. It may be a little premature to say it's discontinued, but the last two times we've looked for it, we couldn't find it. We shall see.

10. Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. I got on a kick last winter and looked forward to it this year when the red cups came out, but they didn't have the salt. A close substitute is regular hot chocolate with toffee nut syrup and whipped cream.

11. Fra Guerau 2004 red wine. We got it at Specs from our favorite wine advisor and loved it. We went to buy more, only to find out it was a one-time shipment and they will probably not be getting any more. We'll keep checking though just in case!

So... my advice is that if you really really like something, keep your pantry, fridge, or shelves stocked with at least 10 of them. That way if it becomes discontinued, you'll have some time to wean yourself off before having to find the next best thing. ;)

My Squid - Part 2

Well, Ranger is officially 30 as of yesterday. I am so thankful to have him as my husband, best friend, and partner in life (and crime!). Some bday boy pics from the big night:

Before I met him, I was becoming settled on the idea that "the one" didn't really exist, that God has a moral will but that within that moral will, we can choose what we do, including who we spend our life with. I still believe that, but with throwing out the idea of "the one," I also believed that when it came to finding a husband, I should lower my expectations of finding a good fit. I figured that I probably wouldn't be naturally attracted to him AND have fun with him AND have the same belief system, etc.

All my life, I've liked really bright things and things that sparkle. I wore different color neon socks, and anything neon for that matter, in elementary school when all the other little girls were wearing pastel shirts with pictures of cats on them. Instead of coloring a picture, I'd make designs out of glue and shake different colors of glitter on it. When I was a cheerleader, I saw every game as an opportunity to sparkly purple pixie dust on my eyes and bright pink blush and lipstick. And I LOVE the night sky away from the city when there are tons of stars.

I guess the best way to describe Ranger is that he's sparkly glitter to me. God totally exceeded my expectations and prayers when He brought him into my life. He's not just a van Gogh painting, he's Starry Night with silver and blue glitter sprinkled all over it. But in the manliest way possible, of course. :)

My Squid - Part 1

This week is special. It's Ranger Week! Let's get the subject of nicknames out of the way before I go any further.

When I first met James Ryan Ewing, he was working on the grill at Pita Pit. Mallory called over to him from the register, "Hey Ranger, come here, I want you to meet someone." So to me, he was Ranger. A year went by and we didn't see each other, and after Mal married and moved to NJ, I didn't hear about him or talk about him. So when I went in for a pita a year later, I said, "Ranger, right?" and he said, "Yeah. Megan, right?" So those were our names. My receipt said Host: Ranger. So clearly, that was his name!

Then we became Facebook friends, and I discovered his name is really JR Ewing. But some people called him Ryan on his wall (I'm past the point of pretending I didn't do a little stalking in the early days!). So I just went with what I first knew him as, and continued to call him Ranger. He said he liked it, and I did to.

But then as the relationship progressed and I talked about him to friends and family, the questions came. "Ranger? That's his name?" or "Wait... The dog's Norman and your boyfriend's Ranger, or the other way around?" So then I had to explain that he got the name Ranger when he created his first e-mail address. His family used to call him Ryno, and he liked Nolan Ryan from the Rangers, so his first e-mail address was rynoranger@juno.com. So people somehow started calling him Ranger and it stuck.

Then they'd ask, "Do you call him Ryan or Ranger? Do you feel weird calling him Ranger? Other people call him Ryan... but you call him Ranger?" So then I DID kind of feel weird calling him Ranger, but I felt even more weird starting to call him Ryan or JR when that's not how I met and got to know him.

So I was never really comfortable calling him anything, when one day I called him Ranger Cake. That lasted a few days, then the Ranger part dropped, and it was just Cake. Eventually the same thing happened and the shortened progression is this: Cake Diddly, Cake Diddly Squiddly, Diddly Squiddly, Squidda, Squid.

So here's to the beginning of a few days of posts in honor of my LOML, my Squid.