Karen, Erik and Jack

Hey everyone,

We just finished changing hosting companies.  After the last hosting company “upgraded” our web server and their website manager, I decided moving to a cheaper hosting company was worth the effort.  We may have lost some comments on the blog, but I think we have most of the posts migrated (excluding the 3 months worth of posts we lost when our last hosting company “upgraded” us).

Hopefully, your RSS feeds won’t need to be updated, as I tried to set up the structure of the blog the exact same way.

In other news, surgery went well on Thursday.  I got the best news out of the situation as possible in that they didn’t need to repair my rotator cuff or labrum.  After they removed some bone spurs and widened the pathway around my tendons, they determined the rotator cuff should heal on its own.  This will make rehab a few months, instead of 6-8, so I’m really pleased about that.

I’ll update more later.

Last night, Erik reacted to SOMETHING on TV, and I said, “Can I post a ‘How I Know My Husband Is A Dork’ entry?” Erik said, “No! I would never do that to you, I don’t post embarrassing posts about you.” (Side note: OH REALLY, FOOL ??? ). SO today during my lunch break, I went through the blog to find out if it was true. (IT’S NOT) In reviewing 3 years of blog history, I learned the following:

1. Erik needs to post more.
2. I always say I am going to post something, and I don’t.
3. I really insisted that Tony Almeda was dead.And I STILL insist it. Obviously when he returns to 24, it will be as ZOMBIE SOULPATCH.
4. I USE CAPS A LOT, FOR EMPHASIS.

It had to happen sooner or later.

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I get sick. A lot. With weird things. In fact, at a previous job I held the nickname “Outbreak Monkey”, as all outbreaks of disease around the office could usually be traced back to me.

However.

I’ve been doing pretty well lately. I haven’t been truly sick with a cold or flu in a while. At least, not that I can remember. Erik will surely correct me in the comments if I am wrong.

But as I sit here on the sofa, watching football and wondering when it’s time for me to take Dayquil again, I have to admit that I am sick again. It’s very possible my immune system is down because it had a lot invested in hedge funds, and now it just can’t find the will to go on.

So instead, I post pictures.

OK, sweaty sick nap time.

…we’re just busy. So busy that posts have had to fall by the wayside. The House of Garrett has been dealing with:

• Erik’s usually busy work schedule
• Karen’s busy work schedule and an additional work project
• Erik got a new truck… and it’s been in the shop twice
• Stanley got sick, the dirty poop eater
• Planning for the Halloween party (more later)
• Trying to make this house not smell like dog pee
• Landscaping the yard (Erik’s working on this for the next two days straight)
• 3-day prep. I’m only $150 from reaching my fundraising goal!
• My blood pressure spiked yesterday and I had to convince others that I was not having a heart attack
• The Neatery. It’s become a real passion for the girls and I, and it’s been keeping us very busy. Just ask Erik. “Sorry honey, I gotta go SEW!”

What’s been new with everyone else?

Craigslist ad for someone selling a piece of children’s furniture. Please view the ad and tell me if that’s something you’d want your daughter lying on.

Hiya, everyone. How are you? How is your family? Hope you’re all well.

I just got back from a long and busy work trip, and now find myself two episodes behind in ANTM. In addition, we are vastly behind in our VERY! IMPORTANT! TASK! of TV watching. In the upcoming weeks and months, I’ll be busy with work and 3-Day training and various house tasks (we’ve just started working on landscaping the back yard, for example). And since Erik just got a PS3, I may never gain control of the television again. While this means I’ll have the time to do more projects for The Neatery, it does mean that… well…

Remember that time I said I was going to recap the entire season of ANTM? Yeah, about that… not going to happen.

Sorry, kids. I’ll still watch the show and comment when I feel that commenting is necessary (for example: resurrection of meat panties). I still promise I will recap an episode of each of the other shows (I think I’ll be doing House next). And I’ll still update this blog, especially with photos like this.

Plus, no one commented on the ANTM posts except Becky, to ask if it was over the top this year. To which I reply – as opposed to all of the other “cycles”? Although it does get more bananas every time I watch it.

So, what can I blog about if I’m not making comments about Tyra’s weave and how if you look closely, you can see where she hides her chicken nuggets? (Hint: behind the ears.) Well, Erik doesn’t want me to blog about Stanley’s poop. Which has been normal lately, thank you very much. He’d probably also be upset if I blogged about the HORRIFIC dog farts Stanley has been dropping.

I don’t like blogging about work, so I don’t want to talk much about the trip I was just on. But I will say that it was in Hollywood, and I can say that FINALLY, after years of traveling to the Greater Los Angeles area, I have seen a celebrity. Several, in fact:

In order of appearance:

Fantasia Barrino

Patti LaBelle

Brian McKnight

Jennifer Hudson

Brad Pitt

Three guesses on who I was the MOST excited about seeing. Hint: It is not the one that I emailed everyone/wrote on Facebook about.
And met:

Shane West

The Donnas (who were TOTALLY AWESOME)
I also enjoyed some beautiful California weather, a well-timed In-N-Out burger and had a lovely time. As usual, my body clock adjusted to the time difference on the last day of the trip.

In the next few weeks, the House of Garrett/Office of FNUR will be looking forward to:

• Baseball playoffs (both MLB and Erik’s league – his team is in the finals!)
• Fall weather
• Landscaping
• Stanley getting his nuts chopped off
• THE RETURN OF THE GARRETT HALLOWEEN PARTY (dunh dunh dunh)
• The 3-Day
• Thanksgiving dinner which we are seriously trying to find attendees for. PEOPLE! I slather my turkey in BACON before roasting it! LET ME FEED YOU.

Ya wanna be on top? Does Tyra’s weave smell like Slim-Fast and hot sauce? (YES!)

GOOD LORD before I even finish typing that, the J(ay)s are greeting the semi-finalists in silver lame to better show off their moose knuckles. The girls run in the warehouse screaming and start with the “body scan” – hightlighting CGI on the cutting edge of 1986. Next up – runway! Seriously, this “Model Institute of Technology” or whatever looks EXACTLY like Mugatu’s studio in Zoolander. If Milla Jovovich came out of the “Glaminator 11.1″ and spanked these bitches, I would die of happiness. Instead, it’s Tyra with a new weave and powdered donuts on her lip. They make it seem like she’s trying to talk like a robot but I’m guessing the editors had it UP TO HERE with her and neglected to edit out her “idiot-ness”, as she would probably say. PS I totally had Miss Jay’s haircut.. when I was 4 and my mom went through a Dorothy Hamill phase.

The interviews!

Ignorant girl hands Miss Jay her panties (like he wants them!), one girl is named after cheese, one girl was sold into an Arabian sex ring, one’s a bitch, one says white girls don’t understand her hair, one is not really French, one is Mormon, one has a penis.

(Cue the ignorant girls gossiping with OMG SHE GOT A DING DONG, Y’ALL, WHAT IF POSING NEXT TO IT MAKES ME GAY? )

Token non-black minority, Token poor and ignorant girl in the house! Cue for break while Tyra literally runs around like a moose… FIERCELY. Annoying voice girl, Miss Jay screaming WHAAAAAT needs to be my new ringtone. Militant lesbian vegan with a stumpy body, ANOTHER Ivy League horse-faced girl who never read a book, dumb blonde who walks like she has a traffic cone up her ass. I bet you anything that Tyra kept Cool Ranch Doritos in those puffy sleeves.

First round of cuts: goodbye losers!

First photo shoot: stirrup pants and balls. Sounds like Miss Jay’s Tuesday Night.

AW NAW, look at Toccara! HOT!

Is this warehouse out in the middle of that field in Se7en where Kevin Spacey sent Gwyneth Paltrow’s head? Oops, I mean, spoiler alert.

Judges review the photos – this is where Tyra does her impersonation of the girls and  only looks like more of an idiot. Also, she’s fingering those buttons so hard I can only hope she bought them dinner first. “Let us beam… FIERCELY.” Oh my goodness Tyra, you complete me.

Time to name who’s in the show – token non-black minority, arabian sex girl, some girl with a horrible haircut not really French girl, militant lesbian vegan, diversity girl, ultimate fighting girl, panties girl, poor ignorant girl, penis, high-pitched voice, etc etc.

The next hour is getting posted tomorrow… Erik just got home and CAN NOT TAKE any more.

So, like you I’m sure I hope, I’ve decided I don’t want to read any more Stanley poop stories on the internets. So I did something about it. Meet the Stanley Stopper ^TM:

Hopefully, this little diddy keeps Stanley the Stink-O-Man out of the laundry room, where Fred’s litter box is.

In other news, Fred has been channeling his inner ceiling cat, constantly observing and judging Stanley and the rest of us from on high.

You see, a couple of weeks ago, we had another leak show up in our kitchen. Not knowing where it sourced from, and since the ceiling was ruined anyway, I cut a big hole in it to let the water drain and try to determine where it was coming from. Figured it out, leak is fixed, but meanwhile I’ve still got a big frakkin’ hole in the ceiling that I can’t fix cause my shoulder is still messed up. So Fred has found a new hang out.

Amber, Pizza and I are craft dorks. Between the three of us, we cover almost every kind of crafting that’s out there except for fake flower arranging and knitting. (Because fake flowers suck and none of us know how to knit – including me, who learned it in college but since forgot.) Since dorks of a feather craft together, we decided to start a blog about the handmade things we make, like, and are inspired by.

The Neatery

Visit it if you:

- like to look at pretty things

- like to learn about stuff

- like to make funny comments

- like us, as people
- married/are dating us and are obligated to think everything we do is fascinating

Word. ANTM up this weekend. Was going to watch it last night but decided to order pizza and watch the season 2 finale of Dexter instead. Can you blame me?