Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World

While The Boss Is Away??

Meet Keiko and Estefania. They are both young, beautiful and intelligent. They are both going to be high school seniors this fall, but at different schools.  They are both witty and pretty social. They wear cute clothes.  What else do they have in common? They both work for me at Hallmarkland. 

 
So I was preparing to leave work the other day and I always chat with my gals 1) to see what they have been up to, 2) to see if they have any comments, concerns or questions (sometimes this turns into something funny), and 3) to let them know I appreciate them (because that is what I would want if I was their age).  As I walked around the corner I heard one of them say something sassy to the other, followed by an even sassier retort. GASP! I thought they were "work BFFs"! I thought they got along great... Apparently, I was WRONG!  I witnessed braid-pulling:

 

Followed by more hair-pulling and acts of chick dominance:

 
I asked myself, "Should I get involved??" or "Should I just walk away??"

Hmmmm....Truthfully, I did get involved (at the early sassy-remark level). I said if THIS is what happens when their boss (me) is away-- then we had better talk it out. They were REALLY just joking around. So I checked to see if we had any customers in the store. (Nope.) Then we staged the girl-fight-club pics. And we all laughed. So, in the end:

Silly Hallmark girls!
 

 

More stories coming! We are headed to Las Vegas! Woooooo hoooo!

"Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" - A Movie Review

Bill & I just returned from a mini-vacation on the peninsula. We had SUCH a great time! We tooks gobs of photos (which means a few blog stories are on their way). Let's just say that it involved many of my favorite things: a ride on a ferry, a rustic cabin with a waterfront view, walks on the beach, a trek through a wildlife game reserve, good food, good books, and even a trip to the movies!

So let me start with the easiest one to blog about... the movie! We drove into Port Angeles to find their local movie theater:

 

Bill let me choose.... So I picked this one:

We settled into our seats and waited for the movie to unfold:

I loved it! It was about a 22 year old nerd (played by Michael Cera) who plays his guitar in a band and has a crush on a girl he met at a party. Little does he know that in order to date her, he will have to fight her seven evil exes (as in ex-boyfriends). It was witty, it was artistic, and very unique. I loved the graphic design of several key movie scenes (like when he kisses her, there are graphic hearts exploding from the kiss). I loved the fight scenes that were depicted as arcade games, showing Scott Pilgrim's point totals and when & where he "leveled up". I loved little pop-up boxes that listed weird and funny facts about his friends. I loved the loud music in the battle of the bands and his crazy 17-year old Asian girlfriend (that he hadn't quite broken up with after he met the cool girl). This movie is QUIRKY, full of EYE CANDY, and lots of FUN!!!  On the Rodgers movie rating scale, I give it a solid "8.5" for pure cinematic originality.

If you take your son or daughter to see it, your "coolness factor" will go WAY UP. Trust me.
 
 

Bill the Blogger

Meet Bill Rodgers.

He is my best friend, the love of my life, my partner in crime, my favorite person to share adventures with and all of the other things I have blogged about. But wait! There is something new about Bill... maybe a new twinkle in his eye? Nope, he always has a mischievous twinkle there. Maybe a little extra bounce in his step? Nope, he is irritated by the hot weather and that means no bouncing around. Aha! He has been spending extra time on his computer ....and it is not running around the amazing World of Warcraft.

He is blogging. He actually had this on his summer "things to do" list.... 17. Start a blog. He has been a huge fan of my blog and has been joking around with me for a year that SOMEDAY he is going to have a blog of his own. His blog will be the OPPOSITE of my blog:

1) it will be opinionated (Hey! Mine is opinionated!)

2) it will be political (I have political views, but I am careful who I share these with)

3) there will be swearing (yes, that sounds like Bill)  (I am usually too polite to swear on my blog)

4) and he will write WHATEVER is on his mind, without caring if he offends anyone!

5) AND he said there could be some chicken-bashing involved (since I love my chickens) (but I don't think he will REALLY do that)

So I invite everyone to visit Bill's new blog. His title is not coming up yet -- Bill's (most excellent) world .

But you can Google "rodgers62.typepad.com" and you will find his brand new blog. It is less than a week old and already there are posts that are passionately opinionated, political, there are already a few "f" bombs, and mention of my chickens (but not in a bashing way).

 I love it! But then, I love Bill. :)

 

Farewell, Biologists...

Yesterday was the last day of Biology 100 for summer quarter. I knew it would be intense... cramming 10 weeks of intro biology into 8 weeks of summer! But we did it! Though a couple of students disappeared near the end of the quarter... most students showed up faithfully for class each day, including my last lecture on "SHARKS!".

I snapped some pics last week when we did our last lab exercise. It is a fun one called "Predators vs. Prey".  The students are randomly assigned to be one of 4 different "predators", all with different "mouth parts". Their mouth parts could be a pair of tweezers, a plastic fork, plastic knive or plastic spoon  all paired with a single dixie cup. The "prey" of the day are different colored beans; white, black, red, & pinto beans. We went outside to our "hunting ground" and all of my predators had to turn around while I gave the prey a chance to "hide". Then all predators had five minutes to capture as many prey as they could:

Some predators tried to steal food from other predators -- some hunted in pairs or packs...

We calculated all of the stats and found out that the Spoon Predators were most successful at capturing prey. Of the prey, the white beans were either endangered or went extinct and the black beans were best at hiding from predators!

We took a "nice" picture first, followed by a "not-so-nice" picture...

Ahhhhhhh. Biology. I LOVE IT!!!
 
 
 

A Perfect Day {Part 2}

We also had plans to spend the evening together with our friends, Kris & Darin:

We met for dinner at one of Bill's favorite restaurants, Asian 1. It is this classy sushi bar with an open, airy floor plan and lovely lighting...

Then we headed to the local movie theater to see "The Other Guys":

Darin smuggled in some Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and Jr Mints (come on, doesn't everyone do this??) and we settled in to check out this summer comedy with Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg...

 

Will Farrell is a cop who prefers doing crime scene reports and paperwork over hitting the streets. Eva Mendez plays his lovely, seductive wife (that Mark Wahlberg can't believe is married to his anal partner). And Mark Wahlberg is the opposite of Will Farrell-- he is loud, frustrated, wants to see some police action and would do anything to get out of the office.

 

It was funny. Darin loved the car chases because they had muscle cars (Chevys & a Camaro), Kris loved the one-liners that Michael Keaton kept dropping that were TLC songs.  Bill liked this one sequence that showed what Will & Mark's characters did on an after-hours bender (followed by hangovers the next morning). And I think my favorite part was the flashbacks Will Farrell had remembering his college days as a pimp (a.k.a. his "dark" period). I give it a Rodgers rating of "6"--because they showed most of the funny parts of this movie in the movie trailers. (I think Bill will rate it higher.)

As I was getting ready for bed, I spotted this object on my pillow. [insert squeal of joy here]  It was a ring that I had oohed and aahed over at the street fair earlier in the day... with a little note tucked inside that read:

"Sometimes love does mean getting what you really want.... Me"

(Sigh) He really loves me and I love him right back. What a perfect day. :)

 

A Perfect Day {Part 1}

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of summer...

It was time for the annual Anacortes Arts & Crafts Festival!

I saw this mirror and fell in love... but I had to walk away as it was over $300 (Olvera Design):

Dog and Pup Studios were back-- I stopped at their booth last summer and loved all of their blown glass creations:

Last year I bought a beautiful mobile; this year I bought a glass ball filled with sand and beach treasures (see lower right of photo):

 

Someone caught me playing with it before I bought it:

I met this handsome man and asked him to join me for lunch...

We chatted over chips & salsa at El Jinete:

I ordered a "Margarita Solo" with cranberry and lime... it was divine!  We continued to walk through the street vendors and I spotted this octopus! I absolutely HAD to have it...

It was a creation from Wugbug Clothing Company. It was simply meant to be.... mine.

We passed my favorite shop corner (I love the artwork):

And we stopped to watch the activities at the kid's craft area:

 

I stopped at the face painting table... (you can bet that I will bring Elijah here in a couple of summers)

 

(sigh!) I had the best time! I am already looking forward to next year's festival. :)

Baby E

Baby Elijah is almost 9 months old now. Sometimes I just make up a reason to stop by his house so I can see what he is up to...

He loves to go outside, so his cute mama carried him around while we walked & talked in the backyard.

Along came his daddy who tried to eat him up!

Elijah: "My daddy is CRAZY!" (Can you see his 2 new teeth? So cute!)

"Can I see your silver toy (camera), Honey?"

Then Elijah's Daddy took him and swung him upside down...

Here is the happy little Rodgers family together... Elijah is working on his baby wave.

Silly Elijah! We love you sooooooooo much!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Babies

I started reading "Eat Pray Love" last night by Elizabeth Gilbert. I noticed this book about a year ago but was not drawn to it enough to buy it. Now that it is coming out as a movie with Julia Roberts, I thought maybe I would reconsider the book before I invest in a movie ticket. You know the cliche' that "the book is always better than the movie"? I happen to believe it is true.

So, this is a biography of a woman in her 40s (check! I am in my 40s) who likes to travel (check! I like to travel) and is trying to find herself (check! I think I have been trying to find myself for the last couple of decades).  In the first chapter of the book, Elizabeth (the author) is explaining what led to her "search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia". She hints of a breakdown in her marriage and how she had the self-realization that she did not want to have a baby or be a mother (which may or may not have contributed to the end of the marriage). I put the book down for a moment to consider her statement. I IMMEDIATELY felt the opposite. I could not imagine myself NOT wanting to have a baby or to be a mother. Regardless of the fact that I married my high school boyfriend and had three babies before I was 25--if I had the chance to reconsider my life and/or the timing of events, I would do it the same ALL OVER AGAIN. I would want babies and I would want to be a mother. It is innate for me to love and care for something. [And I LOVE my 'somethings'.]

Today, I think I was subliminally continuing this thread throughout my day. Though I am very happy that my own kids are grown up and out of the house... I am in love with another baby. His name is Elijah and he is my son's baby: (P.S. I stole this picture from Angela)

 
  
This spring, an independent movie called "Babies" was showing at select movie theaters. I missed it here but I am patiently waiting for it to come out on DVD. It compares the early lives of four babies on different continents: (Tell me who can resist  the faces of babies??)

 

And I recently stumbled across the blog of a new mother who is on maternity leave from her career. She is not only in love with her new baby, but she wonders what her baby girl is dreaming about while she naps. She (the mother) creates these wonderful scenes with fabric and props around her sleeping baby, photographs them, and then posts them on her blog as  Mila's Daydreams . I adore her imagination and her photography! These images will be priceless in their future... (Of course, I wish I had thought of doing this with my babies!)

What exactly do I love about babies? Well, for starters-- how babies smell right after a bath. A baby's face while it is sleeping. The toothless grin of a baby. The wiggliness of a baby when you are trying to change a diaper. A baby laughing. A baby playing with toys. A baby that holds its hands out to you when you reach for it. A baby's hands holding onto your fingers when it learns how to walk on its tippy-toes. A baby holding a teddy bear. The way a baby rests its head on your shoulder when it is sleeping. A baby sucking its thumb. All of those things are priceless moments when it is YOUR BABY.

(sigh!) I [heart] babies.