you travel like a real Boo, you know that?

My travels, though somewhat limited, have always been quite smooth. Never a major delay, never a missed or cancelled flight, never a lost bag. The occasional shampoo bottle explosion sure, but I mean, come on...that's just physics. Not until I started travelling frequently with James did I discover that a black hole of shitty travel surrounds him, and when you travel with him there is no avoiding it. Not even time escapes.

So there we were, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed, at the Boise airport on our way to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the BSU game that evening. We should have known better really. We didn't even make it past the ticket counter this time before his travel voodoo started in with the pins.
"Ah, yes, looks like your flight out of Denver has been delayed 4 hours..."
"Awesome, so we'll get there around halftime...that's great because I started feeling like maybe the whole game would be too much football"
Cue James dropping the F bomb all the way to the security check point, cue me trying to distract him by making small talk about the Tulsa offense...no dice, he saw right through me. From his trusted utility belt James unleashes his Blackberry, conditioned to search for flights in but the raise of an eyebrow. While we mulled over the option of buying two more seats on another flight at $250 a pop we consulted some bloody marys. Mine didn't say a whole lot, probably because I didn't give her much of a chance but James' seemed to calm him right down. We decided to take our chances with the flight we had and left Boise (home of the $13 "but it's a double, sir" Bloody Mary) anxious and $26 lighter.
Lo and behold, upon arriving in Denver we discovered that our plane was just a smidge behind schedule and that the nice man working the Frontier counter in Boise struggles reading military time. 14:00 is 2 o'clock not 4...
We had a great time in Tulsa and Kansas City, despite the Broncos great attempts to cause otherwise. It was nice to see where James had run off to for half a year after graduating, always keeping in mind, however, how grateful I am that he was so unhappy there and came back to Boise to fall in love with me. I really owe him one. All in all, my whole take on the midwest: his friend Pat was funnier than I had anticipated, a whole lot more trees than I expected, it doesn't RAIN it MISTS on you, the food is fantastic and the portions are out of control.

**This tale is MILD in comparison to our adventure down the PCH and Baja Mexico last Spring...alas, I don't have the energy to get into that one right now. That and the pictures of me are terrible...let's just say I've got the fine wine thing going.

An Ode to the Chin-Strap

Iconic James: big Chevy truck, sleeveless shirts, tribal tattoos, Bud Light and the chin-strap...

James once vowed to me that I would never, EVER see his naked chin and jawline. He had convinced himself that without the definite border the chin-strap beard provided his neck would immediately annex his face. Like all good women I took this as a challenge; I would be the only one to ever see what lieth beneatheth the chin-strap. I think I pleaded with him for over a year to shave it off, the curiousity was consuming me. What's he hiding under there? I think he has a chin, I mean it looks like he has a chin...could he have lost his chin somehow?? How dare he tell me never, EVER...

Then, all of a sudden, last winter James had a fateful conversation with an electrician working at one of his installs and the chin-strap paid the ultimate price. Almost as quickly as it entered my life, it left and now James has vowed to never, EVER grow another. My man is smokin' hot regardless of facial hair configuration, I just wish I had gotten the chance to say goodbye. I fell in the love with that fantastically manicured beard and I just don't deal well with being told never, EVER...

O' chin-strap, O' chin-strap

I always knew where to find you,

the silver lining of my boyfriend's face

a beacon in the night, a comfort in the light

I know you're still there,

somewhere between the cheek and neck hair.

R.I.P. chin-strap

your guess is as good as mine...

So there I was...3 o'clock last Friday

**found this in my "drafts"... have zero recollection of writing it, obviously it was headed somewhere awesome.

MR. A-Z

We hit up the Jason Mraz concert in September (I'm such a responsible blogger). To bring the readers up to speed on my and Jason's relationship, we met in 2004 (?) and I've served as somewhat of a muse for him ever since. This was my fourth Jason show in Boise and although it's always hard to beat the first time, this outdoor show was amazing. I have had many good times here in Boise but I have to say that some of dearest, happiest memories have been in the crowd of a Jason show. The guy and his band put on a hell of show, I love his music, I have memories attached to all his songs...be them love, heartache, laughs at the Cadet House. I will say that Jason has definitely taken a turn for the crunchier side of life and this concert was no exception. On more than one occasion he asked us to send our good vibes out into the universe, to send a message of unity to any life forms that might be listening in. Our little foursome (fivesome actually) couldn't help but send a few eyerolls skyward but all dirty hippiness aside I'll never miss a Boise Mraz show and it was amazing to have the trio (plus two) in full force. Just like 2004...

I don't know how I could ever write down how much I love both these girls. It is no exaggeration when I say that they made college for me. I can't believe that we've all three graduated, two are married and one is preggers (hence the trio plus two). Oh god, here I go: I cherish our yesterdays, our todays kick ass and I look forward to cougaring with you ladies and being the weird aunt to your kids.

things I hate

this will be posted in chapters...
CHAPTER 1
Those decals you see on the back windows of family cars which depict how many family members belong to that car, their respective sexes and ages. How any parent would want to advertise this to every creep they could possibly pass on their way to the mall is beyond me. This is sure to offend people but it's like a menu for pedophiles. Please, prove me wrong. Convince me that those stickers are a good idea.

CHAPTER 2
Few things make my heart sink faster or deeper than the sound of grocery bags in the back seat tumbling over when I make a turn over 5 mph. It only gets worse when the sound of rolling oranges follows. I once opened my car door to find that my freshly purchased gallon of milk had dramatically shifted angles, only to commit lacticide on my driveway. Have you ever hosed milk off your driveway? It's definitely a "what-am-I-doing-with-my-life" moment.

Home Repairs

We needed to replace some light bulbs but we didn't have a ladder SOOO...I got on James' shoulders and he stood on an a 5 gallon bucket. It was a trust exercise if I've ever seen one. A couple days later James awoke to the sweet sounds of a fire alarm chirping in the office at 2 AM. The office has 14' ceilings so James gathered the kitchen table, sofa table, the cooler and a milk crate and engineered them in a vertical manner so as to give his eyewitness father heart palpatations and replace the 9 volt battery. Awesome.

home sweet Raul Street

WTF blogspot?? You post the pictures in the exact reverse order that you're given them? Do you have any idea how busy I am blogspot? What am I supposed to do with this? Tell my story backwards?

Damnit. Scroll down to the picture of the cute blonde in the uhaul and follow the story upwards...

When we removed the oven knobs and handles to squeak the fridge by, we somehow compromised the entire oven's stability. I mean obviously the screws for the handles should run the entire length of the heavy door and also secure it to the frame of the actual oven. Absolutely. Nothing a little scotch tape couldn't tackle. Stay tuned for the afters!

James and I hit a real relationship milestone whilst moving in the fridge he found on craigslist. Together we engineered the hell out of this mammoth fridge, negotiating backyards, patio doors, tile floors, kitchen islands, counter tops, cabinet doors, oven knobs, doors and drawers, James' ego and my inappropriate laughter. I believe the whole ordeal clocked in just over 3 hours, ending in a lovely ceremony in which James married the fridge and house, aka they shall never be parted by man or nature. I asked James how he knew he didn't just perform a gay appliance/house ceremony and lets just say he definitely kept his laughter on the inside.

The living room (noun, place of ACTION). There was no time to get a shot of the room empty as time was of the essence while unloading the truck. James didn't want to give the house any time to change its mind. Now it would be too much work for the house to break up with us, what with our crap spread out to every available square foot. Plans for the living room? New couch, paint, a pack of pomeranians under foot and a bigger, thinner, brighter, sharper, HDier TV. James and I are prioritizing the list differently but I'm confident we can work something out.

I apologize for no photo of the outside of the house. Huge oversight on my part, I'd run outside right now but I know my flash isn't strong enough for 8:30 dawkness. But just take a look at that kitchen folks! The kitchen, living room and dining area are all one giant room at the front of the house. This kitchen makes washing dishes tolerable since one can still feel included in the ACTION instead of banished to some kind of hot, greasy dungeon where one is made to wash dishes. I made sure to take a few before shots so as to make the afters look that much better. I'm not what one would call decorationally-gifted...but I do know what looks crazy.

In the beginning, the house we had been courting (stalking) for two months finally called back. We were both excited and stunned as we both had tried to keep the house in the back of our minds. Trying to get through the day to day without daydreaming about french drains, seized disposals and furnace fans, missing pieces of rain gutter or spending $100 at Home Depot every single time we go...all the magic that occupanies home-ownership. But I'm getting side-tracked here, once the house called back things took off pretty quickly, real hot and heavy like. We all pretty much moved in together the second time I saw the house. Do I believe in love at first sight? I can't say for sure but I will tell you that I've never jumped up and down for any other front door, ever. On a sidenote, James handled the 26' Uhaul like a real pro. I have this wonderful idea that should we ever be unemployed at the same time that we'll drive truck as a couple for one year. See the USA in our Chevrolet as they say...