I'm over here. For good. (I think!)

New feed.

J.P. and I returned from Minnesota on Sunday night, after two long days of driving. We had a good, relaxing vacation, and Maggie couldn't have been better with the kids, dogs, and birds, or as a passenger in the car.

I won't say I was looking forward to going back to work today—that would really be a stretch. But somehow it did seem almost like the first day of school and the fresh start it brings. After I got to the office, that feeling lasted for all of 20 minutes. It took me nearly all day to slog through my 200+ emails in between conference calls. So maybe tomorrow I can do some actual work!

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When I put away the Easter decorations three weeks ago (Shut up! They weren't still sitting out—they were in "temporary storage" in the butler's pantry.), I found an unopened bag of Starburst jellybeans. I threw them into my bag for a road trip treat.

As we drove and I munched, I realized that I have a Jellybean Consumption Method. In each handful, I separate them by color. I eat my least favorite flavor first, then proceed with the next least favorite, and so on. Here's my order, from least favorite to most favorite:

1. Yellow/lemon
2. Orange/orange (duh!)
3. Red/cherry
4. Green/apple(?)
5. Purple/grape
6. Pink/strawberry

Note: This list applies only to Starburst jellybeans. The order may differ for Brach's or other run-of-the-mill brands. However, when black beans are in the mix they always top the least-favorite list, and they never see the inside of my mouth.

What's your JCM?

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Wow, that butler's pantry pic (link above) really blew me away:

Can you believe how BAD the photo is??? Wow—my photography and Photoshop skills have really improved in the last year, if I do say so myself. My cleaning and organizational skills, however, have not. The pantry looks pretty much like this today. Hmm . . . maybe it just has a seasonal rotation . . . you know, like department store displays. This is its Summer Look.

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How's that for a random post? Please bear with me as I recover from our trip and too many 3:00 AM bedtimes. I hope to be back to my regular (1:00 AM) bedtime and schedule soon. Of course, that means I'll probably go back to once-a-week posts too. Hey, less frequent posts—something for you to look forward to! :)

Would you believe we went back to the fair? Yep, tonight after Character Builder got home from work, we all headed out. The kids rode the rides and played games. And of course, we had a few more things to eat. I think we're pretty much "faired out."

I took a bunch of kid pics in the hopes of getting one good enough to put this free photo canvas coupon to good use. But alas, it seems all I got out of it was a little learning about my new umbrella and light stand.





I also learned a bit about creating triptychs in Photoshop. Like it would be a good idea to have the same "top margin" in all three shots since they're so similar. But that's experience I'll put to good use next time, because I need to get to bed (it's 2:15!). Good night!

Today's diet (in order of consumption) included:

1. A corn dog.
2. Southwest chorizo egg burrito from Tejas.
3. Ribs from Famous Dave's.
4. Chocolate chip cookies from Sweet Martha's.
5. Milk to go with the cookies.
6. Cheese curds . . . of course!
7. Hotdish (that's casserole, if you live outside the Midwest) on a stick with cream of mushroom dipping sauce.
8. Famous Dave's ribs . . . again.
9. Deep-fried Snickers bar.

Dashababy commented the other day when I referenced Ricky Ricardo in my post, so I thought of her when I saw this crop art today:



The portrait is made entirely of seeds, which is why it's called crop art. I'm amazed by how much detail and subtle shading it has. And here's a bonus pic for you Lucy fans:

Well, we made it to Minnesota safe and sound. And it seems like we've been stuffing our faces ever since we got here. Ham, potato salad, unbelievably awesome coconut cake, baked French toast, hamburgers on the grill, Chinese from Leeann Chin, and awesome toasted macaroni and cheese from this place:



After we returned from Florida last month, a gift card for Lettuce Entertain You restaurants arrived in our mailbox. It was a gift from Suzie and the Hubs, and we were quite surprised and very excited—she had emailed my sister to find out what Twin Cities restaurants we like. One of our favorites is Big Bowl. Both Big Bowl and Twin City Grill are owned by this company, so we used some of the gift today and we'll hit Big Bowl before we leave town. Thanks, Suzie and Hubs!

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Character Builder's youngest, Lauren, is quite a pistol. Somehow we got on the subject of where we live.

Sharkey: I live in Pennsylvania. Where do you live?
Lauren: Falicornia.

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Alex is growing like a weed. I was playing around with off-camera flash in my parents' backyard yesterday and managed to get a decent shot of him.



I should've asked him to put down the stick and get rid of the Tomagotchi (sp?) around his neck, but oh well . . . he's a 10 year-old boy. And I guess that's why God invented Photoshop.

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Finally, this is what greeted us in the guest room at Character Builder's today:



I think it's Catherine's handiwork. I'm not sure what P.H.T.F.P. stands for (any guesses?). I was impressed that she could spell Presbyterian, and that she got the accent (what's that thing really called?) right over the e in Pokemon. Not bad for a seven year-old, huh?