Do I Sound Funny To You?

There is this meme traveling around the blogosphere that is right up my alley and a lot of fun. That's redundant, eh?  So what am I to do, but jump on that bandwagon?   Laugh with me, not at me and enjoy!

aunt, route, wash, oil, theater, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, New Orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught (I added coffee)

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV with?
• (the one I added) What are the things you put on your legs when wearing a dress?

This was bunches of fun and I have to give some link love to some of the other participants who's vlogs were great fun to watch and inspired me to play along.

Dawn of Dishing With Dawndi
Liz of This Full House
Patty of A Day in My NYC

I have a busy week ahead of me, but check back because all week I'll be filling you in on the cool stuff I've been up to lately.

Jump, Jive and Wail!

Okay people, this is cool.  Cool on two fronts!  I received an email yesterday that had great news that I want to share with all of you.  First off, free fun for the kids is being offered on Presidents Day at Chicago area Jump it Up locations!  Secondly, Chicago is finally getting a choice in energy providers!  Read on to get all of the details on these amazing developments.  Both of these things will have my kids and I, Jump, Jive and Wail!

Chicago-area residents now have the opportunity to CHOOSE an energy provider! Spark Energy is a multi-state provider of low-cost electric service offering significant long-term savings to current ComEd customers. Learn more at http://www.sparkenergy.com/ <http://www.sparkenergy.com/> .

To Celebrate, Spark Energy in Chicago Offers a FREE Session of Jumping Fun at Pump It Up!
This President’s Day – Monday, February 21st – many children will be off of school and moms will be searching for kid-friendly activities. Spark Energy in Chicago will be offering a downloadable coupon for a FREE session of jumping fun atdesignated Chicago-area Pump It Up locations.

How to download the coupon – available beginning at 5:00 p.m. CST on 2/19:
·      Like Spark Energy in Chicago on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/SparkEnergyChicago

·      Click on the Offers tab to download and print the Pump It Up coupon for ONE free session of jumping fun for Monday, February 21st – one coupon per adult – while supplies last!

·      Present the original printed coupon to one of the designated Pump It Up locations (see coupon for locations) and receive one free session of jumping fun.

I occasionally receive compensation in the form of gift cards and products for posts. However, the opinions I share are solely my own.

Seriously?

The title of this post is probably the most used word, complete with question mark, in my lexicon.

I mutter this incomplete sentence, usually to myself, all the dang time.  I used it even before it became the catch phrase of Grey's Anatomy.  If I had only had it copyrighted I could have been rich.

I say it when I open the dishwasher to find it completely overloaded, yet not run.

I say it when one of the cars refuses to start in sub zero temperatures.

I say it when the snow begins to fall for the umpteenth time in any given week.

I say it when I find clean clothes in the dirty laundry, still folded.

I say it when I find the kitchen trash can overflowing and know that I am not the first person to have this discovery, thanks to the visual knowledge that is trash dropped placed on the floor next to the can.  Because heaven forbid anyone else living in Weaselville take any kind of initiative without written orders and actually take the trash out and change the bag!

I say it after returning home from taking the Weasels to school to discover an orphaned lunch box sitting on the table in need of it's owner to be of any use.

Basically, I say it about a bajillion times a day accompanied by swear words head shaking, disbelief and muffled muttering reminiscent of Dick Dastardly's Dog, Muttley. 

I don't know why I say it.  It's not like I have enough short term memory loss that any of these things should come as any sort of surprise to me, yet they always seem to catch me off my guard.  Go Figure.

Seriously?, has become my catch phrase over the years, what's yours?

The Prequel

My life should be a reality show.  Seriously.  Life is never dull in Weaselville and odd things happen to me at an inordinately frequent rate.  Not only do I believe in Murphy's law, but I think that that guy really has it in for me some days.  It would make for absolute compelling programming, simply because people wouldn't be able to look away from their sets, for fear of missing what absurdity would happen next.

I mentioned yesterday that I went to a  media preview of the Chicago Auto Show and told you about the fun I had playing with some of the cars.  What I didn't tell you about was how my morning unfolded prior to my grand entrance in the conference room, because well, that morning warranted a post all it's own.

We'll call this The Prequel to the auto show.

I woke up on Thursday morning and readied myself to leave the house by 7:15am in order to catch the 7:48 am train into the city for a 10am working brunch.  Please note that this is the LAST express train into city of the morning and it's still an hour long trek.

Mr. Weasel was combating the lion's share of the morning mayhem that takes place daily in order to get the Weasels out to school on time.  The morning mayhem goes as smoothly as ever with Weasels not wanting to leave their cozy beds, panicking about homework that they 'forgot' to finish, meltdowns about what was being packed in the lunches, etc.

My morning shower was intruded upon no less than 3 times by Weasels who realize that I am cornered and thus a captive listening audience for their morning mayhem emergency situations such as, "----- is using my hairbrush!" and "I can't find the lint roller!". 

Just as I am finishing up my preparations to actually leave the house on time, for once, Eldest Weasel rushes into the bedroom, all prepped to go out the door to school herself, with the announcement, "My Car Won't Start!".

First of all, it's not her car, but Mr. Weasel's car that she uses to drive back and forth to school.  This is a regular back and forth subject of contention in Weaselville.  She has taken to calling the car Keith in order to prevent my regular reminders and dirty looks every time she says, "My car".

Secondly, it is now that it comes to my attention that it is -10º F outside, not factoring in the wind chill.  Cars don't always enjoy starting in these temps.  No problem, I will drive her to school in the Chevy Cruze that I currently have on loan from GM that BTW, started perfectly on the first try, before I head to the train, myself.  I will miss the last express train and that alone will extend my commute by 30 minutes, but I can get on the 8:17am and still get to McCormick Place on time.

Only, by the time I get to the later train, all of the parking had been sucked up by rush hour commuters and I have to park 4 blocks away.  Remember when I mentioned that it was -10º F?  Yeah.  

I trek it up to the train station by foot from parking lot Siberia just in time to hear the announcement that the 8:17 train is running 25 minutes late.  So much for my being on time, but that was not nearly as big a concern in my life as the fact that the only sensation I could feel in my feet was burning and pain - thanks to the joys of Chicago in February.  I feared taking off my shoes to find little blackened stubs of frostbitten toes.

The train finally came into the station and the ride itself was fairly uneventful.  That is until I realized that I had everything that I needed, except my crendentials to get into the event.  Yay Me!  Thanks to a phone call and the Awesomeness that is GM's blogger babysitter social media coordinator for the Midwest, Connie Burke who doesn't mind or doesn't show it if she does, that I am a complete putz.  Follow her on twitter, she's cool.

Once off the train, I needed to catch a cab to my destination.  No problem there.  I am in a cab less that a minute after stepping outside.  The ride was only about a 15 minute trip.  At one point, while stopped at a light, the driver opened his door and emptied a cup onto the asphalt.  No big deal.  We start moving again and I'm just mere moments from my destination when I hear a sound.  An unmistakable sound.

The unmistakable sound of the driver urinating into his recently emptied cup!

Shock.  Awe.  Jaw dropping astonishment.  Un-be-flippin-lievable!  That is except if you are me.  I seem to be a magnet for this kind of crazy sh*t.

All I could think was, 'get me the hell out of this stinking cab!' and then, 'OMG!, How long has that guy been sitting there exposed!'.

Lucky for me, my view had been completely obstructed by the cab partition.  I was so flustered and flabbergasted that all I could focus on was being seconds from my destination and wanting to run.  I didn't even think to get his name, number, cab number, not phone number, or cab company.

Who else do you know that this would happen to?  You wish I had video of this entire episode, don't you?

Yeah, compelling reality television, alright.

Style Fit For A Weasel

Anyone who knows me would tell you that I have style.  A style all of my own.  I like to travel in style and I like to enter a room with style.

That is why last Thursday, when I attended a brunch sponsored by GM and special media preview of the Chicago Auto Show, I decided to make an entrance so grand that all eyes would be on me and my name would not easily be forgotten.

I confidently strode through the marble laden corridors of pristinely waxed and polished grandeur toward the conference room, rocking a sleek business casual  ensemble, complete with black leather boots.

Having navigated my way through McCormick Place, and turning the last corner toward the event room, I slipped.  Then I tripped, stumbled, shadow danced, fell to my knees and slid across across the floor straight into the entrance way of the meeting room as if I were an air hockey puck.

A grand entrance indeed.

Lucky for me, GM has a style and class that makes even I look good.  After helping me up from my knees and offering me some sustenance in the form of hot coffee, a beautiful breakfast buffet and the company of fellow bloggers that had also taken part in the Driving the Midwest Chicago photo challenge, I was given the opportunity to take the Chevy Volt out for a cruise down Lakeshore Drive.

Now, electric cars aren't my usual preference.  I'm not "green", except when I have  stomach flu or if I am seasick, but the Volt was pretty impressive and fun to drive.  It runs so quietly and has so many informational displays that it feels like your driving something right out of the Jetson's.  It also doesn't lack in pick up.  It has some sweet torque. There is no doubt that the Volt is a glimpse into future travel and the future starts now.

After the test drive I hobbled wandered around the car show with Tracy to have some fun and check out some of the newest eye candy that the 2011 model year has to offer.

The New 2001 Camaro Convertible makes me look good!

 

 

The 2011 Corvette definitely fits my style!

  Can't you just imagine me yourself cruising around this summer in one of these sweet rides?

 

 

 

This car is so HOT, they had to write a song about it!

So head down to the Chicago Auto Show this week and check out the sweet rides, new technology and extreme eye candy that awaits.

Don't Blame The Beer

Okay, so we have all heard stories or watched cliched movie scenes or lived the sad reality of men and women over imbibing on distilled goodness and then waking up the next morning next to someone who is coyote ugly.  Someone, who only a few hours before they would have sworn was somewhere between an 8 and a 10.  This phenomena is often referred to as wearing beer goggles.

I have chosen to stand up before you today and defend the good name of beer and all of it's fermented relations of joyous libation.

Alcohol may indeed lower inhibitions, slow reflexes and have a negative effect on fine and gross motor skills alike, but it does not make someone grow less attractive as your blood alcohol level returns to normal levels.

Lunar Cycles Are The Real Culprit!  

Hear me out here.  The moon has control of the tides, werewolves, expectant mothers, emergency rooms and mental health facilities. Well, it makes people ugly too!

I witness this happen in my own home every night and I'm willing to bet that it happens in your home too.

Each and every evening in Weaselville, I kiss a dapper, distinguished, silver haired Prince Charming goodnight.  He's so good looking that even the Russian judge gives him an 8.75.

Then, through the course of the evening the moonlight starts the transformation. Not unlike what we all witnessed happen to Dr. David Banner once a week.

It causes glands of the body to go into hyperactivity; growing hair and releasing toxic oils and saline-like secretions to ooze from Prince Charming in a manner reminiscent of an iguana.

The gravitational pull of the lunar cycle strangles the bodily organs encased in the torso with such ferocity that odorous green gasses are forced out of his abdomen with hurricane force wind. Simultaneously,  equal force pushes through his diaphragm and airway like a tidal wave of constantly cresting and crashing storm surge.

After surviving the overnight hours of lunar torment, the transformation is complete and instead of the Prince that I kissed goodnight, I wake up to what looks grunts and smells like cro-magnon man.  After all, the poor guy has just been through the ringer!

And no, I don't wake up in the morning looking like sleeping beauty either.  It's much more like Brunhilda.  After all, the stress of knowing the torment that my Prince has suffered all night will wear and tear on a girl.

In conclusion, there is a decent chance that the 4 1/2 that you woke up next to this morning, was indeed a 9 last night.

Just remember, don't blame the beer.

~Now if this made you laugh, I'm going to ask you to CLICK RIGHT HERE and vote for me in the GM Driving The Midwest Photo challenge.  (It's easy one click voting at the bottom of the page.  NO REGISTRATION!)

Random Ramblings

~ We survived the blizzard just fine and wound up with about 2 feet of snow.  Snow is nothing new around here.  The scary part of the storm had to do with the insane winds that accompanied it.  Our storm door was bent from it's hinges and it's a wonder that we didn't lose any shingles.

~ It's February in Chicago any everywhere else too which means that it is bitter cold, slushy, windy and just plain old messy.  The only promising thing about March is St. Patrick's Day it gets us that much closer to summer on the calendar.  I am certain that global warning is just as real as unicorns, leprechauns and government spending cuts.  If only I could summon it up with a jumbo can of aqua net, I would.  I need warmth and sunshine, now.

~ While I am basking in fantasyland anyway, I have decided to get back to a regular workout routine my muffin top has grown into a jumbo cupcake  and shape up a bit before I have to trade in my 501's for 60542's shorts and swimsuit season is upon us.

~ I'm rolling in my 1.4!  This week a am crusin' around Chicagoland in a Chevy Cruze as part of a promotion for the Chicago Auto Show and a GM photo contest where I got to take a pic with my Cruze slush and falling snow in front of a Chicago landmark and I had fun with this one, thinking outside the box tell how that landmark inspires me with out getting as long winded as I normally do a short blurb.  Photos from 10 bloggers will be posted on a special GM website.  You get to go vote for your favorite snapshot, and I hope that you decide to vote for mine.  Polls open at 4pm.  Now please click this hyperlink and go vote for me?????
*UPDATE: The polls are now open.  It's one click voting with NO registration necessary!  I am the 1st entry, vote with 1 click at the bottom of the page.

~ You should be hearing from me again very soon as February is promising to be a very exciting and happily busy month in Weaselville and I'm hoping to get back into a regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting routine.

~ Have a great one!