Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World

Some Spooky Thoughts on Halloween...

In just a short time, it will be official. We close the door on the month of October and put an end to Halloween spookiness.

I mailed the last of my "13 Days of Spooky" cards to Nick & Natasha last week:

 

We are almost finished devouring Angela's Halloween cupcakes:

 
I wore my Halloween T-shirts when we were out & about this weekend:

 
I look like a ghost in front of Pier 1:

 
I'll have to redecorate my sliding glass doors tomorrow:

 
I think I will keep my Rodgers pumpkins out a bit longer (look at those cute curly tendrils):

 

And these girls were the cutest trick-or-treaters we had tonight:

 

 Halloween 2010 seemed a bit subdued, compared to last year. On a happier note, at least I am not cleaning up (fake) zombie blood from my bathroom counter! :)

 

The Rodgers Do "The Matrix"

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OMG Project Runway!

I have confessed multiple times that I have a secret love of reality TV shows. But I am picky. I added Lifetime's "Project Runway" to my list last year...  the sewing, the creativity, the drama...Oh my! I honestly don't know why I didn't watch the first six seasons. Because I think I am a fashion designer in a parallel universe.

So here are the contenders for Project Runway, Season 8:

 
I watched 6 or 7 episodes before I made my predictions for the final three. I thought that Gretchen, Mondo and Ivy would wow the judges with their skill level and amazing potential. Ivy lost her mojo near the end and Andy edged ahead with some beautiful detail-work. In my head, I was cheering for Mondo to become the grand prize winner:

 
This was my favorite of Mondo's creations, inspired by Jackie Kennedy:

 

Here are some of the gorgeous looks that he presented at Fashion Week:

 
and

 
and

 

and

 
Terrific! Fabulous! Incredible!

So the judges picked their Project Runway winner last night and it was....

 
Gretchen! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Mondo placed second. If Bill wasn't already asleep while I watched TV in our bedroom, I would have screamed out loud. AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHH.

Oh well. I hope Mondo wins some big designer contracts and makes some $$$ with his talent. He deserves it.
 

I {Heart} Red Leaves

I LOVE color.

 
When I was a child, I loved crayons and coloring books. It became a back-to-school treat to get a fresh box of Crayola 64 crayons (with the built-in crayon sharpener!):

 
My secret favorite color is purple.

 
I love blue because it is the hardest color to find in beach glass:

 

I think green eyes are mysterious:

 

I think yellow baby chicks are the cutest things ever:

 

I love black dogs named Shadow:

 And of all of the colors of fall, my favorite is when leaves turn red:

 
and

 

and
 
(sigh!) The colors of nature take my breath away.

Halloween Fun With The Rodgers!

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Only In October...

Only in the month of October would you see someone driving around with this in their trunk:

 
Don't worry-- I not only followed this car most of my way home today, but I got a REAL good look at it while I was waiting at a red light. They are plastic (hand & foot). Ah ha ha ha ha!

Practice Balloons

So I collected all of those balloons in my office (see last post) and they filled 5 jumbo garbage bags. I stuffed these bags into my car and trunk and came up with a great idea on the way home. I decided to take some of them to Elijah's house so he could practice with balloons for his upcoming first birthday.

Wait! I KNOW you are not supposed to let babies "have" balloons. They can be a health hazard if the baby bites the latex and inhales a piece when the balloon is popped. BUT.... I thought it would be okay with adult supervision. And Elijah is about to turn one. And he is sooooo smart.

So, with Angela's approval, I emptied a couple of these bags of balloons onto their living room floor so Elijah could play.  Elijah was immediately drawn to the long, wavy balloons:

 

He waved it in the air like a sword! He inspected it:
 
He stood up with his new balloon light saber and walked around the house with it:

 
We bounced balloons in the air. We kicked them around. We laughed to show him that balloons are fun & whimsical to play with. Finally, he caught on:

 
Silly Elijah!

I stopped by to see them on my way home from work yesterday. There were some balloons leftover in the living room, grouped together in a playhouse. Angela said that Elijah has learned to turn the balloons around in order to find the tied ends-- he can hold them better that way. :) What a smart boy!

Boss's Day 2010

National Boss's Day was officially last Saturday. However, when I went in to work on Friday-- there were a few surprises awaiting me...

For example, my office was filled with ~50 balloons of all colors, shapes & sizes:

 
There was a prominent note on my chair telling me to look around the corner, where I found two of my coworkers-- Judie and Estefania! Estefania said I should return to my office, as there was work to do:

 

I bounced a few balloons at them. Estefania said I should stop playing with my balloons and look for three of them with "surprises" inside. I found the three balloons and popped them one at a time. Inside were giant blobs of shaving cream which I had to feel through to find a piece of rolled up paper that served as a clue for a scavenger hunt:

 
One clue led me to a batch of delicious cupcakes: 

 

Another clue led me to a giant bag of mini York Peppemint Patties:

 

Another clue led me to a card and gift, featuring "Michael Scott" from "The Office": (Yes! I am a huge fan of "The Office" and Yes! That is a Michael Scott bobblehead) (tee hee!)

 

But wait! There was more! Beneath the balloons on the desk in my office was my favorite Starbucks beverage-- a tall, peppermint hot chocolate-- and a marshmallow dream bar:

 

We were all giggling along the way. Judie was taking pictures like an internal paparazzi. I squealed at each of the hidden surprises. I was soooo happy! I quoted Jim Carrey (in the movie, "The Mask") when I clasped my hands together and said, "You LOVE ME! You REALLY LOVE ME!!":

 
 So I thanked them for all of their efforts and gave them an A+ for maintaining a perfect level of secrecy throughout the week. I thanked each and every one of my work crew for their kind words and thoughtfulness. And I hugged Judie and Estefania for their roles as the unofficial, yet official, "Party Planning Committee" at Hallmarkland:

 

They both know where that reference comes from.... of course! "The Office". heh heh heh

"Life As We Know It"- A Review

On Saturday, I kidnapped Angela to take her to a movie. We went to see:

 
We are both Katherine Heigl fans (from her role on "Grey's Anatomy") and we both love babies!

 
The movie played out just like the trailers hinted; two good-looking single people are named as godparents for the baby of mutual friends. An unfortunate accident leaves the baby without parents and they are both brought together to provide for the baby girl ... unless they can come up with a better plan. Of course they hated each other in the beginning and ... fell in love at the end. {Sorry if I blew the movie for you!} Although the movie plot was quite predictable it was fun to see how a baby can turn someone's live upside-down.

 

I didn't ask Angela what she would rate it (on the Rodgers movie rating scale)-- but I give it a solid "6". 

 I actually had a lot of FUN watching the previews before the movie!! For example, there is a really cute animated film coming out before the holidays called "Gnomeo & Juliet". Who could have guessed that there is a back-story for the garden gnomes people put in their yards???
  
And then we saw the preview for one of my favorite comedies with Ben Stiller... that's right, the second sequel to the original "Meet The Parents":

 
Natasha Rodgers swears that she has never seen a sequel as good as the original. BUT sometimes you just have to let go of any high expectations and let the movie fun unfold... like the classic Robert DeNiro line, "Remember, Jack, you are in my house and... I'll be WATCHING YOU." (insert two fingers waving from your eyeballs to him here). It looks like they are bringing back all of the same cast from the sequel "Meet the Fockers" (where everyone meets Jack's parents) except for Dustin Hoffman as Jack's happy-go-lucky dad. Now it is our turn to meet Jack's kids... otherwise known as "Little Fockers". It is funny just to say it outloud, don't you think?? hahaha

I am HOPING this next movie delivers some GREAT COMEDY right before Thanksgiving:

 
It is by the same director as "The Hangover" -- which tied with "Zombieland" as my TWO FAVORITE MOVIES of 2009! I have seen three trailers for it and I am already planning on dragging Bill to see it with me next month. It better be good...

You can bet that I'll be taking Angela to another chick movie...  :) She didn't even bat an eyelash when I stopped next to the movie poster on our way out and pulled out my camera:

 
After all, she is a Rodgers. Boooooooyaaaaaaah!

Dwight K. Schrute

It was another event weekend at Hallmarkland...This time we were releasing 150+ new Christmas ornaments! So I asked each of my workers to dress up as their favorite ornament.

It occurred to me last Monday that I had not taken my own advice-- I had forgotten to look for a costume that looked like an ornament! So I went to Party City to check out their Halloween costume selection and maybe find a match. I stood in front of their picture wall, with a Dream Book in hand. [Note: The Dream Book is a mini-catalog that shows 300+ ornaments that make up the 2010 collection.] So I flipped pages, whispering to myself, "No... No....No... Maybe (Minnie Mouse but it was $49.99) No... No... No... Maybe (Tinkerbell but also $49.99)...." No to slutty gangster. No to sexy nurse. No to slinky vampire. No, no, no! I left 30 minutes later... empty-handed and frustrated for not having a costume.

So I went to Value Village. They also have a Halloween costume section! I flipped through the racks, once again whispering, "No... No... No... Never....No.... I don't think so".I tried on hats. I looked at their wigs. I started to roam the aisles looking for inspiration. Then I had an idea! I was in the men's section, looking for a potential cowboy shirt to look like Jessie, the cowgirl, from "Toy Story". I found a brown tweed suit, size Small. I found a mustard-colored men's short-sleeve button-up shirt. I went back to wigs and found a man's haircut wig. This is who I was going to be:

 
That's right. Dwight K. Schrute, Assistant (to the) Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin-- from "The Office"!

We happen to have a 2010 Hallmark Keepsake ornament of an accessory on Dwight's desk-- the Dwight Schrute Bobblehead:

 
So I gave my new wig a makeover last night. I laid out my accessories. And I left the house this morning satisfied with my appearance (which Bill thought was HYSTERICAL).  I had several visitors throughout the day. First, my mom came to see me. She has no idea who Dwight Schrute is but she wanted to see me dressed up as a man:

 
Then, Bill came to see me (and was still laughing as he straightened my tie):

 
Then the other Rodgers came to see me... Angela thought I was so funny! Elijah looked and looked at me. I thought for sure he would start crying (from stranger anxiety), but I told him, "Look! It's me, Honey! Honey has funny hair today!!"

He figured it out (hooray!) and he reached for me! So I took Elijah around the store, looking at toys and introducing my cute grandson to people. However, Jeremiah didn't like it one bit (but then, he is the only Rodgers that doesn't LOVE "The Office").   He said, "Mom, take off that wig. You are FREAKING ME OUT!" I said, "Come on! Let's take a picture together!" He said, "NO WAY. Go back to looking like my mother again. I will NOT call you "Dad"!"

I took a picture of myself frowning and sent it to Nick as a text message (who also LOVES "The Office")-- he texted me back and said I looked AWESOME. I leaked my idea earlier this week to Natasha (who also LOVES "The Office") and she emailed back that she could hardly wait to see it!

As for my other gals, Linnea dressed up as Peanuts' Lucy with her psychiatric booth:

 
Keiko was Scarlet, from "Gone With The Wind":

 
Pat was dressed as Frosty the Snowman:

 
I think we were FABULOUS...

 
You might be thinking, "Why the smirk, Sherri? Why do you have to have such ATTITUDE?" Because that is Dwight:

 
And that's how we roll... heh heh heh

Sleepy Kitty

While I was typing my last post, Mysty Rodgers was taking a catnap on my laptop. Literally:

 l
Though she is 12, she is a very petite kitty which makes her look really young. She is more loveable than Sierra (our other kitty) -- she likes to sit in laps, sleep on my pillow, and likes to cuddle during good TV nights. She doesn't know she is a kitty. She can't kill anything, she does not get along with Sierra and always hung out with Shadow instead. I think she thinks she is a dog. However, she does like my chickens.... very much. She does not stalk them, instead she babysits them. I often find her near anywhere my chickens are hanging out... just watching. She goes with me when I tuck them in at night, as if she is tucking them in, too. She is a funny kitty and I think it is adorable when she wants to be with me so much that she falls asleep while I am blogging on my laptop.

Oh, and the laptop fan blows warm air there. Both of my kitties love my laptop.

Science Can Be FUN...

I am teaching Biology 100 again... an introduction to biology and a reminder of how biology shows up in our daily lives. I lectured yesterday on "The Scientific Method" ...or in other words, "How To Think Like A Scientist".  After class, I set up for a lab activity that I was going to run today. I created a fake crime scene for the students to observe, take notes, and then develop hypotheses on what they think happened in the lab across the hall.

There was an outline of a dead body (which I drew around myself laying weird on the floor):

 
There was a bloody lab coat draped across a chair (I used ketchup) ...

 
The nearby desk looked like Chemistry gone bad (don't worry, more ketchup):

 
There was a mysterious black glove pinned underneath an overturned chair (a la OJ Simpson-style):

 
There was a white powder-substance in a baggy (not cocaine, baking soda!), fake money, a map with a destination on it and a lighter:

 
There were shoeprints on the floor, running through spilled white powder:

 
But wait! There's more!! There was a bloody knife (more ketchup):

 And a mysterious girl, hiding in the corner (cardboard cutout from an old Hallmark campaign):

 
All behind police crime scene tape:

 
The room was locked and untouched by janitors until this afternoon. I took groups of my students to the crime scene room for 5-minute sessions of quiet observation. Some students missed the girl in the corner. Some students missed the bullet casings on the floor (I added those today). Some students were analysing the splatter pattern of blood (a.k.a. ketchup) which was not only on the lab coat and the floor, but I had accidentally squirted on the wall too (oops!). Some students went back a second time to examine the evidence; they were allowed to talk to each other this time.

They compared notes:

 
These three were FASCINATED by my fake crime scene, running scenario after scenario by each other to explain how the VIC (that's slang for "victim") died. They wanted to know why the silent girl was still in the corner.... I said she was waiting for her lawyer to arrive before she answered any questions:

 

Krista wanted to know why so many chairs were overturned, was there a fight? Elizabeth wished she had a fingerprint kit and wanted to interrogate the mystery girl. And Trevor was the most curious of them all. He even laid down on the floor to figure out whether the dead body outline was face-down or face up and why were the arms & legs so crazy?

 
We all agreed that dead bodies slump over in funny ways when falling on the floor...

Long story short... Seriously! Science CAN be FUN!!!

[Note: It took me about 1/2 an hour to pick all of that yellow tape off of the floor, clean up the desks, and scrub dried ketchup off the wall, table and floor. As for the lab coat, I just shoved it in a bag to bleach later. heh heh heh]

 

 

TV Commercial

I have a new favorite TV commercial for fall.... 

It features NFL's Troy Polamula and Head & Shoulders Shampoo

 
Remember, I am not a sporty kind of girl. I really don't pay attention to professional sports, not even our home teams. I am a Rodgers anomaly as I am the only one in my family who does not have a favorite NFL football team. I told you, I am unbiased and completely neutral-- like Switzerland.

However, this commercial cracks me  up! As Troy (of course, Bill had to tell me it is a real player) denies that he is using his teammate's shampoo-- his hair grows in volume. It gets BIGGER and BIGGER.  I only wish the end of the commercial showed Troy TRYING to put his football helmut on over his completely volumized-hair. THAT would be FUNNY!!!

A Touch Of Fall...

I really don't know what happened to summer...

We had a chilly spring, which stretched into June and made our summer months feel very short. Usually September in the Pacific Northwest is gorgeous with bright, sunny days and an extension of warm weather which stretches out our summer gardens. Not so this year. September was rainy, rainy, rainy. My garden tomatoes didn't stand a chance for getting ripe in this crazy weather-- instead they all just turned black and died. My only garden successes were a handful of zucchinis, lots of green beans, onions & garlic turned out well, and my pumpkin patch is HUGE.

Now, it feels officially like fall. I picked a handful of Rodgers pumpkins for my front porch:

I changed out my banner so we can get a little excited about Halloween:

Elijah is modeling a new pumpkin fleece hat that I gave him this morning:

I changed my kitchen table for the season, which includes an octopus sporting fall colors (remember, I am a marine biologist) (even my kitchen is "fishy"):

And I remembered to change out my dishes, too. This may sound weird, but I have a secret "thing" for seasonal dishes. (Remember, I get bored easily.) So here is my fall collection:

And who can resist a trio of Rodgers chickens, showing off their pretty feathers? I know I can't...

This is Sugar, Oreo and a Blondie wishing they all could come inside for awhile... Silly chickens!

Though I do LOVE summer, I happen to LIKE fall. And the colors of fall are my favorite. :)

About Last Weekend...

Last weekend, I went to Goldbar for a scrapbooking retreat. It was hosted by my lovely friend, Linda, who spoils us with goodie bags at our scrap tables and treats in our lodge bedrooms... ( I love that)

We stayed at the rustic Wallace Falls Lodge, which has been a wonderful location for these twice-a-year weekend getaways:

 
My favorite scrapbooking friends were there.... Melanie, Jennifer & Kris:

 
All of the ACTION took place in this building, called "The Cabana House":

 
Amidst the jokes, the music, the story-telling-- we all worked on a variety of crafty projects. Jennifer made this cool page where she used beads to represent bird seeds:

Kris was scrapbooking photos from their first visit to Boston, where Darin ran the legendary Boston Marathon:

 Melanie was making a mini-album to feature events from 2009 (which turned out awesome!):

 
I packed several scrapbooking projects to work on during the weekend to 1) keep from getting bored and 2) match my energy level to the craft project. I made a couple dozen homemade Halloween cards, some with a Peanuts theme:

 
And others that were spooky or cute:

 
I made a bunch of new magnets for my metal magnetic calendar. Here is my new look for October:

And then I switched to scrapbooking pages from either our Las Vegas trip or pages for Natasha's album. Here are pages from visiting "The Bodies" exhibit at the Luxor Hotel:

 
Here is part of my spread on the C.S.I. Experience from the MGM Grand Hotel (if you look closely, you can see my fingerprints using green ink):

 
I added extra bling to my pages from the "KA" Cirque Del Soleil show:

 

I had fun with my girlfriends and I felt really productive! By the time I packed up to go home on Sunday afternoon, I had finished almost 20 scrapbook pages. Hooray!

Long story short: I'm already looking forward to the next scrap weekend in March 2011. :)