Pimp my Kitchen

Little is known about the minor Holiday that comes right after the attention-hog we know as Christmas. This special Holiday celebrates the whimsical little spirit that inhabits and protects a home's kitchen known as the Blender Fairy or "Mischmaschine-Fee" to its original German celebrants.

Yes, it's the Rodney Dangerfield of Holidays known as Mischmaschine-Fee Feierfest und Küchewunder or Blender Fairy Celebration Fest of the Kitchen Miracle, translated to English.

To partake in the miracle of Mischmaschine-Fee Feierfest und Küchewunder, we receiveded a wonderful Christmas gift allowing us to acquire Kitchen Appliances (thanks Aimee's Mom and Dad!). This post excites you I know. First, let's see the old Fridge and Oven:And another:

Now, let's Celebrate the magic of the Kitchen Miracle!

Oh joyous joy:

It's pure kitchen Magique'!

We close with the Gerätefreude Lied or "Appliance Joy-Song."

Christmas in Texas!

This Christmas, Aimee and I visited Aimee's home, Texas. Texas is near and dear to Aimee's heart. How do I know? Because she talks about Texas Ay-lot. Anyway, we had a great time. Many many thanks to Aimee's family for everything: the great food, the wonderful hospitality, and warm memories.

I won't go into how we made cracks while watching Little People Big World as it's not politically correct. Well, ohhkay, you're curious, so here are some of the impromptu dandies.

- At least when they have problems, they're little problems
- When they get angry, it's only a little angry.
- Instead of calling it "Finger Food," do they call it "Hand Food?"
- I wonder if she has to even squat to pee? (this one's Aimee's which was well elaborated upon)

I'll keep this post short..get it? Short? Here are some pics:

Aimee and Matt at her Uncle Chuck's ranch:















Aimee with Chuck's dogs, Mini and Red:



















A ranch without cows is like a Frenchman without a sour expression:















Silly Aimee and Dalton:















Tony Montana Santa, taking care of the Naughty:

















Many THANKS TO THE Stevenson and Davis families!

Your help needed with a decision.

Opinions needed on new "glass piece" in our home:

I need your help. Recently, we acquired a new glass piece to place in the North Wing of our home. I cannot decide whether to place a light behind it or facing it for the best possible vantage point in order to highlight the piece.

First, in front:

























Next, behind:

(Click on photo to get the full perspective, really..CLICK on it)













Wait Wait..Aimee had a better idea..The light should definitely be in front:

















So, what do you think????

Will the real Matt please stand up?

You CANNOT overlook Vincent's contribution!

Seeing Stars, waking up to RRD

OK, first let me start by saying I got this from a posting on another blog that I can't stop reading-beelog!
What you do is download a picture of yourself and you are profiled to see which celebrities you most resemble. It's totally ridiculous and I'm sure, in some way, tied to me ultimately having to purchase something or at least being harrassed by 1,000 emails from their sponsors.

You are given about 10 celebrities that you um, 'look like' but could only choose 8 to put in your collage-o-delusion. I opted out of Lisa Ling (just too gorgeous) and Rosanne Rosanna Danna (just a little too spot-on). **Matt, it's my christmas tree hair from middle school!



I guess this is what you take to the plastic surgeon?



I also profiled Matt--another picture of him rang up Zidane (yum!) I've always told him he looks like a young James Garner (what?!). Anyway, it was a fun way to waste an evening!

Mister Special II, Electric Boogalo

(by Matt)




















My adversary never sleeps.

To understand the following, one must backtrack a bit to this post.

There is news on the Mr. Special front. The Sinister Dark Frenchman Vincent has launched a new salvo in the saga of Mr. Special. They say the code of battle dictates that women and children are exempt from targeting. The maniacal Vincent knows no such rules.

On a crisp Winter afternoon one unsolicited email elicited a tremble of fear throughout Pebble Hill Lane. I present to you, Mrs. Special:

Does his fury know no end? Has he no heart?

Okay, enough with the drama...

Anyway, Aimee was so entertained by Vincent's fun with my nickname, Mr. Special, that she brought further life to Vincent's creation. She created a canvas poster...

Then, she hung it on a wall in the most prominent area of our house.

Oh, it gets better! She had him sign it!























Good Job Aimee!

Savory Molecules, Pain Bouilli & Self-Consumed Academics

(Aimee) Yesterday Anne-Laure invited Julie and me to a seminar series at the French Embassy-Savory Science . It included a variety of topics from the physiology of taste and smell to an age-old tradition of bread making in the French Alps to a roundtable discussion regarding the protection of taste--that is to say, should we be regionally possessive (to preserve authenticity) of local cuisine/production methods/raw products? It was a discussion that trailed off topic, as these normally do, because of audience members not so much asking questions as much as offering rambling commentaries to display their own knowledge of some esoteric, narrow subject. Regardless, the series was extremely interesting and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon with friends!

The ultimate pleasure came at the end of the day in the form a reception that included wine, cheese, quiches, and pain bouilli from Villar d’Aréne.

Thanks, Anne-Laure, for a lovely day!

Phone on the Fritz

(Aimee here)

So, whenever you are offered insurance for your cell phone, for god's sake, take it. You never know when your phone will fall 6 floors down an elevator shaft.














However, when you receive your new phone ($50 later), know that 'new' is a critically relative term. It will be new to you. It will not be new in the universally accepted sense of newness (i.e. meaning recently assembled, possessed or used by no one else). The (Sprint's) definition of 'new' now includes the synonym 'refurbised' which, is by its own definition, NOT NEW.
















When your phone is lightly dropped again and you find that it is much less durable than a NEW phone (and apparently more

slippery), you will find yourself again at the phone counter paying for yet another replacement phone. I only say that to say this: if I do not respond to your call/vmail/text in the next few days it is because I am waiting on my 3rd NEW phone to arrive. . .slippery bastard.

Chile Photos

Here are some photos from our big Trip to Chile...












This is Matt at a Winery. Is it me does the guy over Matt's left shoulder look like he's tinkling?













Hey Mom, cheer up, you are on vacation with your son and daughter-in-law. (Location: Plaza de Armas, Santiago)

Here's Matt and Aimee in a small little place on the ocean where you can drink wine. The owners, an elderly couple, were too shy to have their pic taken.

















Here's a shot of the Wine Region outside of Santiago, Chile. Woooaaow right?



















Aimee, Matt and Fransisco, in Pomaire Chile. All that vacationing and touring around makes you hungry. Mmmm - Pastel de Choclo!

Mr. Special

I don't know how to begin this post. Really. I guess the first question is "What are we looking at above?" Allow me to fill you in. You can also click on the image to see it even larger. Great.

Back story: Aimee and I seldom use each other's real names. Among the names she usually calls me are the following: Mr. Pickles, Pickles, MisterDaddy, Stinky, Mister, DaddyMister, MattDaddy, Squiggles, Nippy, Sprinkles, or Sprunkles (see the name of our Blog).

I am not the only one for which she uses creative names. For our dog Ginny, she uses the following: Lulu, Luliekins, Ginny Lou, Ginny Lou Weidawalker (her Debutante name), etc.











Darla (yes, we have two dogs): Darlalicious, Darla Jean Stevenson Rogers (her Debutante name), etc.








It doesn't end with just Aimee using nicknames for me. I have some for her too: Momma, Wife, Spouse, Schmoo (see title of Blog), KippleKedder, Monkey, Monkeyface, and Monkey Sniffer.













Anyway, I digress. One of Aimee's preferred names she calls me over IM, is "Mister Special." While I am at work, she checks in to see if I am at my desk by sending a greeting. For example, I'll see an IM box appear on my screen with the following:

"Mister?"

Well, unfortunately for me and fortunately for co-worker/friend/Frenchman, Dark Vincent, she contacted me recently with the following greeting:

"Mister Special?"

The moment I saw the IM pop up on my screen, I felt the brimming storm coming over the horizon. Vincent saw it too. I initially pretended NOT to see it of course...sort of like a Jedi:

(me, sending Subliminal Suggestion to Vincent, a la Obi Wan)

"That's not the silly nickname you are looking for."

Rather than seeing Vincent fall for my Jedi Mind Trick, I saw a sort of light come across his French face. It was like the first ray of sunshine after a dark storm. It was the expression of sheer and utter GLEE.

(Vincent, in a thick French accent [because he's French, don't ask])
"Meestere Special? are YOU Meestere Special?"

Then, laughter....

"Ha ha ha ha..Meeestere Special! Ha haha haa.."

Vincent looked as if he just learned Santa Claus was real. He looked as if he had just won an Oscar, or was the first person to set foot on the moon.

"Halloooo Meestere Special!..Hello! haaaaaa."

On his face was the expression of pure joy. Pure joy in knowing that in during any future ribbing I dealt him, he now had the ability to reach in his pocket, and pull out this wonderful gift that never loses its novelty: Until the end of days, I will always be, whenever the moment strikes Vincent, MISTER SPECIAL.

Case in point: Today, I was giving Vincent a hard time. Later on in the day, I see an email message from Vincent. It contained only this image. Not only can Vincent call me Mister Special, he can use his Dark Gift of Web Design to remind me of who I am.

Thanks Vincent. But understand this: Today's battle is lost, but the war is far from over. Be keen and alert, young man, for Mister Special is coming. And hell is coming with him!

Passing Time at a Business Meeting

Location: Conference Room

Occasion: Business Meeting

Level Of Comfort: Moderate

Level Of Interest: Less than Moderate

Objective: Find Something Interesting to maintain mental well-being

Motivation (for objective): HIGH

Result:

The above image contains ACTUAL fake names I came up with, thanks to my brain. Listed again for your enjoyment:

Danny Blase'
Vic Cartero
Fenton Price
Jan Rotundo (pronounced Yan)
Chase Mac
Lalo Perez
Brody Fire
Bryce Sanders
Vic Rooter
Chase Packer
Reggie Fender
Lyle Laroke

These were created with a tool known as "free association."

Objective ACHIEVED

Summer is Almost Over

Summer is almost over. Goodbye Summer. You couldn't leave any sooner. I am happy you are leaving. Happy enough, that I could do this.......

Aimee and I are TV Stars

Aimee and I were recently on National TV. It was Aimee's acting debut and she was just great and she looked even greater. She played a CSI type Detective, on Court TV's Psychic Detective. The name of the episode was Little Boy Lost.

I played a cop surveying the scene for evidence. If there was an Emmy Award for "Police Officer Handling Flashlight" I am a lock. Watching myself on TV in a pensive, athoritative way, was refreshing. I looked really police-like. If I encounter any riff-raff around town, I think this skill will come into good use. I'm thinking of carrying..a flashlight. If a ruffian menaces me, all I have to do is pull out the flashlight( even if it's daytime), make it look like I am searching for evidence, and I am sure the evil-doer will cower in fright .

The other night I held up a flashlight in the bathroom mirror and proceeded to drop it because I was so alarmed by my own reflection that I thought I was looking at a real police officer and proceeded to raise my hands up, causing flashlight droppage. I'm just that good.

I too, looked just great on TV. I just have that certain "I don't know what." Some people just "have it." So, if my fake Police Officer career doesn't pan out, I can always be a professional TV appearer.

Aimee will appear again soon on Court TV's Psychic Detective. This time she'll be a hairdresser.

Ghost Dog! (more like nosy dog)

I am reading my next door neighbor's Real Estate Listing for his home for sale (talk about nosy) and notice a strange, otherworldly presence in the home next door (ours) in the main photo. Since it is a townhome, a portion of the next door townhomes shows up in the picture. Now, if I had been some casual observer of the listing, and not a nosy neighbor, I would not have noticed that one of our pooches had insterted herself into the MLS.

Our Dogs like to observe. They observe everything while gazing out the window: chipmunks, neighbors walking by, rabbits, cars, workmen, and in this instance, a Real Estate Agent taking photos of the home next door. Darla tends to a affix a stare to humans that says "I notice you, I am not really fascinated by you, yet I will continue to observe. You amuse me, but not dramatically..Carry on."

Animals are Different. Below is Chippy, one of our dogs' chief antagonists. The other is Robby Rabbit.

Here's how the progession of my discovery presented itself. First we see a general listing of our neighbor's home along with a photo:








Fairly mundane, right? Well, I clicked on the option that shows a larger version of the same photo:






A closer look at the larger version yeilds a ghostly vision of who else but Darla. But am I sure? Only way to find out is to brighten the photo:








Yes yes..that is in fact Darla. I can tell that unenthusiastic gaze anywhere. So there you have it: Mystery Solved. If you ever do happen by our home, you'll see what I mean.

To demonstrate that the above story did not involve ghosts, below is a picture of BOTH of our young ladies.




Okay, one more of Darla (more on Ginny later)..

Montgomery County Agricultural Fair

We went to the Agricultural Fair with our friends Anne Laure and Vincent.

We rode a yellow schoolbus:

We saw pigs:

It was great and we liked it.