Check Out The Pie

Sure to fulfill your daily dose of nonsense.

http://pettuspie.blogspot.com/

Sirius-ly Annoying

About nine months ago, I succumbed to the temptation that is satellite radio. Honestly, I was just sick of the same 20 song set that they always play on the local FM stations, and became a commercial-free satellite radio junkie during the free "intro" period I got when we bought my car.

My favorite Sirius stations are Left of Center and Alt Nation. These aren't nearly as heavy/screaming/hard core stations as they might sound. Rather, they play more under-the-radar bands which are generally of a mellow but fun nature. I never knew I had so many favorite bands that I'd never heard before. I even considered buying Matt a radio for Christmas so I wouldn't miss out when we rode in one of his cars (plus, there's NO radio in the beamer).

In the last couple a months, it seems like they've begun playing several bands that have obscene names. The attraction to naming your band after a crude slang word for part of the human anatomy or a curse word is lost on me.

The biggest problem with all of this is that the names of the band show up on the radio screen. It's embarrassing when you have a friend riding with you and something like "f-you" lights up on the dash.

What's also odd is that the songs are actually pretty clean. Not even close to the obscenity in what you'd find on the local FM stations. So, what gives?

Can't they just stick with names like Spoon, Modest Mouse, The Shins, Coconut Records?? What's wrong with a band name that you aren't embarrassed to tell your grandmother?

Farmer Ken

My dad is a farmer. Not a full time farmer, but a gentleman farmer. He has a small tree farm in South Alabama, which provides an excellent cover for the purchase of all kinds of neat farm tools/toys (4-wheeler, deck mower, etc.).

Here's a photo of Matt helping him out on the farm last year. He loved getting to drive the tractor around!

Another thing you should know about my dad... his first two cars were Ford Fairlanes. In fact, he still had both of them until about 10 years ago when he finally had to get rid of them. He picked us up from school every day in his maroon Fairlane growing up. I loved that car. (Except for the time my finger got slammed in the door!)

Since getting rid of his first car, he's said he'd like to get another Fairlane, this time a convertible, that he can restore and make fuel-injected. (Matt loves it when I talk like this).

Matt's been on the look out for one with the right specifications. (I think he's hoping he can help out on the project.)

Well, now my dad's priorities have changed. I asked him over the weekend if he'd go ahead and buy a Fairlane if we found one for him. While he still wants the car, right now his focus is on a bulldozer. Every good farmer needs one of these, right?


(photos from sacautoshow and classroomart)

Martha Tours 3M

I'm not normally a big Martha fan (even before she went to jail), but she did a tour of some of the 3M labs recently and will be featuring it on one of her shows.

My mom works for 3M. She's one of those really important people that does really important work, but I have no idea what it is. :) All I know is that she's a Chem-E and manages a bunch of engineers. I know she loves her job (I imagine she'll work long after she is eligible to retire, whereas my dad is ready to retire now) and she's been offered a lot of neat opportunities.

I also know that 3M makes great stuff! They have quarterly employee returned-goods sales where they fill one of the warehouses full of palets of returned 3M products. Each employee can bring one family member, and you get to fill up your paper bags with as much as you can for $10. I love going to these sales with my mom. We use all kinds of things from blue painter's tape to spray adhesive, post-its, and bandages. If you need any Scotch Brite sponges, I have plenty to share!!

The show airs May 12th.

Office Party

My sister, Amanda, throws the best Office Parties. But, it's not during work hours. We don't even work together. Plus, I don't really have office parties - unless you count those mandatory lunches where they either tell us someone is getting fired or that we are doing G-R-E-A-T, parties.

No, no. Amanda throws great Office Parties for one of our favorite shows. The Office. We got hooked last season. I like letting her cook us dinner and then we come over to eat and watch the show together. It's a lot of fun.



My favorite quote from the night:

Michael Scott:	"Whatever I want." It's never whatever I want. When I wanted to see Stomp and you wanted to see Wicked, what did we see?
Jan:	We saw W-W--
Michael Scott:	When I said that I wanted to have kids and you said that you wanted me to have a vasectomy, what did I do? And then, when you said that you might want to have kids and I wasn't so sure? Who had the vasectomy reversed? And then when you said you definitely didn't wanna have kids? Who had is reversed back! Snip snap snip snap snip snap! I did! You have no idea the physical toll that three vasectomies have on a person. And I bought the condo to fill will children!

Chick Car, Shmick Car....

Matt tells me that my car is officially a "Chick Car". We had our suspicions, especially one Sunday when one of the tall, skinny door greeters at church told me my car was "cute" and that it probably works best as my car and not Matt's. ;)

I asked Matt if this means that he doesn't want to drive it anymore. His response: "Not at all."

You Supply the Caption

My mother in law sent me an email with a lot of funny photos in it. This was one of my favorites.

I think I've seen this kid in some of the Sunday School classes.

All I Want for Christmas...

...is a new camera!

Over the years, my sister Amanda has claimed the title of the spawn of my father in the gotta-have-gadget arena. I wasn't really interested in the palm pilots, expensive video or photo cameras, etc. In fact, I only got an iPod when I found one really cheap (and used) at the Unclaimed Baggage store.

But since starting the blog, I've decided that I need a new camera. The one I have is pretty old. I think it's from high school, but I couldn't really tell you. Matt and I almost never take photos, so it wasn't really a big deal before. However, I've since changed my mind.

I want a camera that is small enough that I can take it with me wherever I go, can withstand being dropped... a LOT, takes video clips with sound, and is also preferably waterproof or water resistant.

I love my dad's Olympus Stylus. Like the newer 790/850 versions that I like, it's waterproof (to 10 ft), shock proof (for falls up to 5 ft), and freeze proof (14 deg. F). It's perfect for taking on the river, and is the camera he's used to capture the gang doing kayak rolls and spraying snow on the slopes. You can even get a clear silicone skin to go with it and protect it from scratches. (hint hint)

Maybe I can get it as an early anniversary gift before we go paddle with the old Community gang...

Honey, if you're reading, I like the black one!! :)

Kitty Wigs

Two weird posts in one week - but only at Amanda's request.

I prefer the bashful blonde.

There are some strange people out there. Even I know that my "boys" aren't really human.

Here are the dogs being tortured.

It's Definitely Spring!

I had no sooner complained of my flower fever before the azaleas in my front bed took off. They didn't bloom at all last year due to the late freeze and severe drought, even though they're "encore azaleas" and are supposed to repeat bloom several times a year. Three out of the four in the front bed are just covered with blooms.

Once the hydgrangeas are in bloom, I'm going to have to invite myself over to the Adams' house. They have a newly-landscaped yard that is going to be just gorgeous in bloom!

The downside to this time of year is allergies. That and having to wash the daily green coating of pollen on our cars!

I tried to take a photo of how green my normally white car is, but it didn't really show up in the pictures. Here's a shot of some of the pollen on my windshield.

Fallout

Boy am I glad that the school board and church leaders had the foresight to close on the sale of the property ASAP. The fallout over the rescue mission's move is just beginning. This could turn into a very sticky situation.

Matt and I began to worry because it was all over the news last night, and now it's on the front page of the Huntsville Times. See the whole story here.


UPDATE: Looks like the city councilmen were simply paying lip service. The sales were final a week ago - which they all knew when they told a group of people at St. Luke's that they'd try to find another location or rescind the sale. See full story here. Looks like you may want to reconsider re-electing some of these guys if you're in their district!!

Puppy Love

Recently, the Adams and Shipman families expanded their broods.

Meet Otis My Man, a 6 week old English Bulldog. You may remember Otis as the lead singer (shouter) from Otis Day and the Knights. He prefers pink tulips, toga parties, and long naps on the couch.




Maddie Madkins is one sassy little lady. She's a 4 month old red dapple dachshund and loves her tennis ball and bossing all of the big dogs around!

Sweet Home Alabama

This is weird.

Soviets singing about Alabama is not too common.

The Leningrad Cowboys & the Red Army Choir, compliments of Ken and Scooter. Enjoy! :)

Wade Has Lowest Rating

I love watching the You Tube videos my dad puts up of the group kayaking. After our ski trip in December, he posted several new videos. My favorite is of Wade showing off his madd skillz, but apparently some other You Tube viewers didn't enjoy it quite as much... they gave him the lowest rating possible. To be fair, a few other videos of the group were also rated one star.

Wade, I still think you have madd skillz, and I think the video is hilarious!

What Would You Do?

I've already asked some of my dog-loving friends, and I think we'd all do this (probably before we had time to think about it!). I know it's pretty gross, but I'm very attached to my dogs!

What would you do??

Minnesota Woman Bites Pit Bull to Save Her Dog

Thursday, April 03, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS — Amy Rice feared for her dog's life when a pit bull jumped over a fence into her yard and attacked her pooch. So she took matters into her own mouth.

Rice says she bit the pit bull on the nose Friday after trying to pull the dog's jaws off her Labrador retriever, Ella. The dog had jumped a fence to get into Rice's northeast Minneapolis yard, and Rice says she feared the pit bull would kill Ella.

"I didn't plan it, that's what happened. I broke the skin and had pit bull blood in my mouth," said Rice, 38. "I knew what happened, and I knew that it wasn't good."

The pit bull was quarantined Wednesday by Minneapolis Animal Control officers while rabies tests are being completed. Rice's doctor will determine whether she needs shots for rabies.

"I was sure that my dog was dying in my arms; it was horrible," Rice said.

Ella is recovering with staples and stitches to her head and a crushed ear canal, but she is afraid to go for walks, Rice said.

Customer Service Bugging Customer

About a year ago, we bought our first new car (my dream car), a hard top convertible. Right after we bought it, the corporate office hounded us with surveys on our satisfaction - which was understandable and moderately appreciated considering it was such a big decision/purchase.

Last weekend, we took my car into the dealer to have a software patch installed. There's a problem with the way the radio works where when it receives signals it thinks are noisy, it goes through an incorrect conversion algorithm that results in the bass boosting.

Now I know that having a ghetto fabulous pimp-ride sound system is supposed to be cool, but I HATE IT when it does that. I get so embarrassed when I'm at a stop light and the bass starts rocking the car.

Since the bass boost was a known problem (plus my car is still under warranty), the fix was free. We just dropped it off at the dealer while we ran errands and then picked it up a little later. It was literally no big deal.

But here's the annoying part... the car manufacturer's corporate office and the dealer both called Matt (on his cell phone) to make sure we were happy with our service, and then they email me today again bugging me about the service. I know another survey is coming in the mail too. And on top of that, if you don't give the dealer the highest possible rating, they call you again asking what they can do to make it better. (What's wrong with "good" anyway?)

It was a 10-minute fix, what's the big deal? Maybe everyone else likes being harassed to rate their service experiences, but I don't. If there was a problem, rest assured, they'd know about it. Since they haven't heard from me, they should consider the service satisfactory and leave me alone.

Flower Fever

Okay, so yesterday I made it sound like Matt only talks about cars. This isn't really true (I might've exaggerated just a little bit), so today I figured I'd bore you all with what I talk to him about the most.

Lately I've been really anxious. I can't say I've been feeling Spring Fever since it's already Spring. Maybe it's later-spring fever, or even summer fever. Let's just call it what it really is... Flower Fever.

Since the first hard frost back around Novemeber, I have been flower-less. Back when we bought our house almost three years ago, Matt helped me (well, I helped him) put in my first real flower bed. Since then, we've added 4 more beds and about 8 trees to the yard. It's been a learning experience, and I've killed many things in the process (Ace has killed the most though). Anyway, I love having flowers in the yard and also having a selection that I can cut and bring inside as well. I've had to live without fresh flowers for the last several months and am itching for the weather to warm up so it can all start again.

Here are a few of the things I've already bought and added to my collection this year...

We have two climbing roses on a pergola over our back patio. One red climbing rose and one white. I researched and found two clematis (flowering vines) that should have long bloom periods and go well with the roses. The white clematis goes with the red rose, and vice versa.

I bought some begonias, dahlias, and oxalis from Brent & Becky's Bulbs to put together in the 3 large pots on the back patio. Hopefully I can keep reusing these every year instead of buying new annuals every spring.

I had also been thinking about starting a small rose collection. After almost killing my white Climbing Iceberg rose last summer, I finally figured out (with the help of the Nicols) how to take care of it. I now felt confident enough to buy a few more roses... especially since they're all disease resistant and supposed to be easy-care cultivars. Two of them are AARS winners (All American Rose Society), which rates roses for performing well with little-to-no care.

The first two are Jackson & Perkin roses that I found at Costco. ("Dream Come True" and "Mardi Gras") The third is a David Austen English Rose ("Tamora") that I ordered from Park's.

The plant I'm most excited about (wow, am I really excited over a plant?!) is the pink "ever-blooming" daylily, "Rosy Returns", that I ordered several of last fall from Bloomin' Designs. I'm ready to have another color besides the orange Stella d'Oros. (I've added several more types as well, but they just don't bloom as often).

Oh, and last weekend, Matt took me to Lowe's and let me buy three new cultivars of Calla Lilies to add to the back bed. (He really is patient with me!)

My parents joke that my favorite stores are Lowe's and Bennett's Nursery (and probably Costco too). It's true though; I could spend hours walking through Bennett's, sipping on their glass bottle Cokes, or find something new in Lowe's that I just have to have every time I go. Matt jokes that he doesn't know any other girl who would WANT to buy cow manure for her birthday present.

To anyone who couldn't care less about plants, I'm sure this is quite a boring post. (Matt, thanks for listening!) However, I'd be happy to share some fresh flowers with you once they all start blooming!

Car Talk

About three weeks ago, Matt and I went to Atlanta for the weekend. He went for an HPDE (High Performance Drivers Education) at Road Atlanta, and I went to see my old roommates from college to have a girls weekend of shopping and hanging out.

Back in September, Matt got his "play car", and I spent a lot of time complaining about being a car widow while he spent all of his time getting it running and upgrading several things on it. (I have to admit, though, it really is a cool toy)

He's always been into cars. In college, his friends even started their own AU-sanctioned car club. So, I knew what I was getting into.

The Wednesday before we went to Atlanta, the car broke down on the way home from Wed. night Bible study. Thankfully, we were in separate cars, so I went home to get the 4Runner and towed Matt's broken best friend home. Then he had to spend the rest of the time before our trip replacing the alternator and I watched our Netflix movies alone.

Here he is driving it on the track in Atlanta:

I told him that after the weekend, I needed a week that was car-speak-free. Then the other night, on the way home from dinner, he stopped mid-story to say, "Oh wait, that's car related, nevermind, I'm not allowed to talk about it." I felt horrible.

I don't want him to feel like he can't talk to me about what's on his mind (which, unfortunately for me, is 99% car-related), but sometimes I do need a break from it. I don't understand what he's talking about most of the time anyway, and it's hard to stay interested in the conversation. This is probably how he feels when I go off about planning my flower beds, but he's always very patient with me.

So, I apologize and try to make a compromise. When we only talk about cars, we're not talking about me (here lies the root of the problem). Sometimes I get tired of talking about the car because I like to feel more important. (boy, do I sound selfish!) Matt tells me that we can spend more time talking about planning trips and other things we can do together, and I tell him that we (he) can talk cars.

Of course, I would never ask him to cut back on listening to "Car Talk". I love that radio show, and enjoy listening to it with him on Saturday mornings. The best part is watching him try to figure out the problem before they say it. He's so smart!

Vacation Envy

Matt's dad and his wife are in Japan this week. They're getting to do an organized tour that stretches from Tokyo to Osaka. I am SO JEALOUS!

When I was in high school, my mom's job sent her to Japan for a year. My dad took a leave of absence and brought the three of us with him to meet her after she got settled in. We went to an international school for the rest of the school year and despite my heavy resistance to the move, I loved it. I wish I could go back.

We've often talked of taking a vacation in Japan and bringing my mother as our translator (I've lost the little Japanese I learned from the years of lessons she dragged us to while we were little and the semester of Japanese I took at Osaka International School). I never made it to Mt. Fuji, and I'd also like to visit Hiroshima, plus take a few days to visit our old home and school.

We had some great times in Japan. Like when our cousin, PJ, got attacked by the wild monkeys in Minoh, or when the three of us girls were flashed on our walk home from church....wait, did I say great times? The Post Office ladies all loved my dad - he always wrote in his travel logs that it was because he was so handsome! (and blonde/blue-eyed) He made a great Mr. Mom for 9 months, riding home from the store on his pink bike with a big set of t.p. in the basket every week. :)

I'm trying to plan a vacation for the Harnation to take this year. We'd been talking about going to D.C. or Savannah - two very different places - for our anniversary, and to see Matt's dad in California around Christmas time. Now I think we'll try to do Savannah in the fall because we've already got some stuff planned around our anniversary. I'd like to do D.C. next spring, partly because it takes longer to see and also because I need more time to save up/plan in order to do it properly. We stayed in a B&B last year in Asheville, and will probably try to do that again (or in a historic inn) when we go to Savannah. If you have any suggestions on where to stay or what to see, let me know!!

Let's Get on the River!!

Okay, so the whole extended family started back when my parents were in college...

They all basically met through the UAH Baptist Student Union. Scooter worked there and he and Tom were roommates. Tom married Ellise, Scooter dated and later married Angie. Angie's sister, Frances, married Ken... and they all had beautiful babies!

The Adams boys are close in age to us Shipman girls, and the Johnson boys are the cute little cousins we kissed and harassed growing up. We've had our Sunday lunch traditions going back for as long as I can remember and have shared our joy and sadness with each other over the years. (And especially lots of laughter and great stories).

This summer, it's time for another group trip! We're trying to figure out the logistics of getting everyone together, possibly for a weekend in the mountains for some river time. This time, we know to bring our ear plugs to avoid those campground bears (snoring Ken and Tom)!

Here's a picture of (almost) everyone from the Pettus wedding last spring. I need a new group photo with Holly and Ryan!!


Update: Here's Amanda's "even better" photo: