When Sparky met Wilma

We are the worst bloggers ever! But, we have a Illiad-esque epic update soon to come.  Until then, we wish you a Merry Christmas and love you all!

-BG & JW

Last week was my Mom’s Bday!  With the Chi-Town trip, getting caught back up on school work, and getting sick in the middle of all of that I haven’t been able to post a happy birthday to my beautiful mother.

With that said, I am posting a list of the things that make me love being my Mom’s baby boy.  Let’s call it, “The 10 Best things about my Mom!”

10.  Earaches!  No, not the one’s I would give my mom, but the nasty SOB’s that have bugged me my whole life.  My mom always knew exactly where the ear drops were, even at 2am when I would just stare at her while she slept and I needed help.  Alright, that sounds creepy, but I literally wouldn’t say anything.  I would just hope she would wake up.  And… She did, always scared as hell.  But, she would find them and put the drops in my poor little ears.  This happened a few years ago over xmas vacation and she still found then in like 4 seconds (even though I swear they are never in the same place when I go and look for them).  Oh, and that time I actually woke her up properly.

9.  Our day or weekend trips to Cheyenne, Fort Collins, or Denver.  Just ask BG, I am really good at entertaining myself while others shop.  This came from years of practice with my Mom, but that’s not what I will always remember.  Instead, it’s time we spent talking about anything and everything, listening to music (which I will get to below), and laughing (again, I’ll get to below).

8.  Introducing me to Journey, Foreigner, Meatloaf, Led Zeppelin, The Grassroots, probably Cyndi Lauper (I can’t remember for sure on this one), etc.  This made me the leader in the 80s and older revolution that would come during my college years (until I met A-Jin).  I’m pretty sure my Mom knew that someday I would need to know the words and sax solo to “Cold as Ice”.  In addition, on these trips I would always buy a CD, or two, and be able to listen to anything I wanted during the ride. Well, until the second F-Bomb, then it was taken out.

7.  Making my Mom laugh.  Oh, I love it!  She has a great laugh and it is usually accompanied with tears.  I think being the baby boy and somewhat of a little shit helped me see more laughs.

6.  PB&J sandwiches.  Tell me, who makes a better one then your own Mom?  Accompanied with a tall glass of chocolate milk to dip in and heaven was made most weekend afternoons.  With that said….

5.  My addiction to peanut butter I have decided is all thanks to my Mom.  Thanks Mom, BG can’t even have it in the apartment.

4.  Always loving and supporting me!  Sounds sappy, but it’s so true.  W/out her and my family behind me 100% I wouldn’t be where I am today… a poor grad student. :)

3.  Waking up on the weekends and walking into my parents’ bedroom to find my mom reading in bed.  I would lie next to her and she would tickle/rub my back.  I still do this sometimes when I am back home, but I usually don’t get up in time.

2.  Her love (and now mine as well) for horror/scary movies!  I was probably the only ten-year-old watching Psycho, Candyman, and other classics.  Her and I can’t get enough of a great scary movie.  In fact, a lot of our drives to Cheyenne were to see the newest werewolf or vampire movie (our favorites!).  Unfortunately, this now binds me to going and seeing all the Twilight movies with her.

1.   That she’s my Mom!

-JW

I’ll totally admit it. I acted inappropriately when Rev Run came into the mall a couple months ago.  I couldn’t keep my cool.  All I wanted to do was go up to him and do the running man while singing “It’s Tricky.” I am still ashamed, to be quite honest.

But then Derek Jeter came in. And I played it so cool. Ice cold, actually.

He came in with his friends, being all, “I’m macho. I’m a big, famous baseball player, lah-de-dah!” Nonetheless, we were all fairly excited. I mean, he is Derek Jeter.  It’s pretty cool that he was right there in front of me.  If I wanted to be creepy I totally could have touched his hand when I gave him his triple grande nonfat cappuccino at the handoff bar.  (I didn’t, don’t worry.)  We were super slammed, line out the door, drink cups piling up at the bar, and we admittedly didn’t have our best barista on bar. So I stepped in to help relieve some of the pressure and get the rush taken care of.  All of a sudden, I look up and see Jeter making a stank-face.  Like he is too good to wait for a cappuccino like the rest of the store.  And my store manager is trying to talk to him (because we are supposed to talk to every customer) and he is acting like a total jerk!

Derek, you aren’t that hot. Up close you have mild acne and are way too skinny. Plus, I hate the Yankees.

Next, while touring the John Hancock Observatory last weekend, our audio-guide/MC was David Schwimmer.  I don’t know if he is that goofy for realsies, or if he just was playing up his Ross-like characteristics, but he cracks some fairly terrible jokes. All of a sudden, when our group is finishing up and getting ready to head back down, we look up and who do we see? Ross! I mean, David! Now I get that being famous is tough. I mean, your life becomes public entertainment, you can’t go anywhere without being recognized, and your compensation is mere millions. Totally not worth it, if you ask me.  But when you are somewhere highly populated with big cameras following you, and you are at work, not just trying to enjoy the day with your family, don’t even give people who look at you this face.  I mean, it’s not like we are running up to you, or pulling out our cameras and trying to get a quick snapshot.

Ross, you are a washed up actor. Your career has been reduced to Hancock tours and Madagascar. Get ova’ yo self.

The last famous person that I have ran into lately I would have expected to be the douchy-ist.  Have you heard of Buckcherry?  How about this lovely gem of a “song?“  The lead singer Josh Todd and back-up man Stevie D. came into my store last week.  I was totally expecting the worst.  Their music is fairly terrible, to say the least, and the image they portray is hard, rocker-boys.

I can’t describe how cool they were when they came in!  Perhaps it is because they aren’t the same level of “famous” as the other guys I’ve met lately, but they were so laid back, completely humble and the lead singer Josh even ordered a hot green tea with one honey!  I won’t go on and on, but I was impressed. The guys were nice, they chatted with us while we made their drinks, and they even came back the next day, still just as friendly.

Maybe singing about “Crazy B*tches” isn’t such a character flaw after all.

-BG

As some of you may know, last weekend JW and I visited my family in Chi-Town.  I figured it would be a great time for a reunion of sorts and to see the city and fall colors.  My brother KG and my Bestie met us there, coming in from PHX.  When we got on the plane in Tampa on Thursday, it was 85 degrees.  When we got off the plane in Chicago it was 40 degrees and raining!  All weekend long I was shivering, and JW wouldn’t stop teasing me about it.  What can I say? When you live in a warm climate your blood thins!!   (I have no clue if this is a scientific fact, but I do know that I am definitely a wimp when it comes to temperatures below 60.  Christmastime is going to be rough.)

The second we got off the plane, JW settled a debt from our visit in May.  Since he was robbed of his chance to eat White Castle then, he had been giving me a hard time all summer long.  So even though my grandma was at home cooking a roast and slaving over a hot oven for us, we got him some freaking White Castle.  (He thankfully refrained from what he wanted to get, which is the White Castle Crave Case, and settled for just a few sliders, okay 9)  When we got home a few hours later to eat our real dinner though, Grandma busted JW SO HARD!  As he was struggling to eat his meal, Grandma says, “Have more JW, I made a second roast just for you guys!”  And then as JW is guffawing and trying to talk his way out of eating more, Grandma says, “Oh, I see, so how was White Castle?”  All 9 of us at the table went silent and started laughing guiltily.  And that was JW’s first fall from grace with the G-Ma.  If I could accurately describe in words how well my grandma lays on the guilt, this would be such a funnier anecdote, but it seems that gene will not set in with me until I have my own children.

While we were in town we saw everything I wanted to see;  my lil’ sissy cheered for a football game Friday night (we only embarrassed her a little bit), the whole gang went downtown on Saturday, and Sunday we hiked through Starved Rock State Park (which happened to be the only day the weather was above 50 and sunny.)  Seeing the city through the eyes of Bestie and JW was so much fun, especially because we told them all about things we used to do as children and shared our experiences in the city growing up.  We drove by a few places that I used to live as a child and reminisced on being poor and living in “the ghetto.”

There were a few themes that carried through the weekend, my least favorite being the subject of JW and I’s marriage.  What’s that you say? JW and I aren’t even engaged?? I KNOW!! But my grandma is very invested in the future of my ovaries.  My mom and uncle probably won’t be having any more children, so she has, unfortunately, set her eyes on me.  My grandma LOVES babies, they are totally her forte.  The only two jobs she has had in her life are being a NICU nurse and a nanny for sets of triplets.  So, needless to say, since her youngest grandchild is five, she is growing slightly impatient and praying every day for my future children.  (Don’t worry everyone! JW and I won’t be having little ones any time soon!!)

For those of you who haven’t been to Chicago, you are missing out man!  There are so many fun things to do and see.  Since we had such a large group of people, we didn’t cover as much ground as I would have liked to.  However, we still managed to see Water Tower Place, the Hancock building, Grant Park, “the bean,” and Lower Wacker.  I bought my new favorite hat in Water Tower Place, and I am very excited since I have wanted it since October 4.  I also got a few new Christmas ornaments that will remind us of our trip. I was so sad to say goodbye to everyone. Overall, it was a wonderful time had by all, and I can’t wait until December when we get to see both sides of the family on our crazy, three week long vacation to WY and IL.

-BG

BG and I need Halloween costume ideas!  We want something awesometastic, semi-cheap, and possibly coupled.  So, to all 1000+ reads (I rounded down) what should we be?  Comment us!

Thanks,

BG and JW

The past couple of weeks a mother has been leaving her two kids (a 5-year-old boy and 8ish-year-old girl) on the third floor of Psych building while she goes to class.  The first time it happened I figured it was a babysitting issue, but it now happens every Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours.  The first night, the two hung out playing with my Turtles (see below a weak version of a TMNT set, I totally would have ruled this person’s collection) and other random toys I have in the office for over 45 minutes.  (Side note 1: My lab mate, RBurn, said I have more patience than she does because she closed the door to her office.)

The next time I wasn’t in the office TCass said the little boy, we’ll call him JD, came looking for the “guy with the toys.”  Again, I figured it was just a week of no babysitter.  Not. The. Case.  JD comes and finds me every time they are chilling in the hall to hang out with me.  If I don’t have anything to do, fine, JD and I chat about what happens in the day to a five-year-old boy.  (Side note 2: Lots of awesome shit happens!  Like Karate… umm, I mean, Taekwondo.  JD, doesn’t “F around!”  He’s in the red getup below.

Other things include, in no particular order: Getting in random fights with your older sister and fake crying about it, which is quite nice when you are trying to analysis data.  The computer not working, making X-Men watching almost impossible.  Pretending you are Wolverine with pushpins in-between your fingers.  Playing your Nintendo DS, PSP, or whatever cool handheld gaming system he has, but I don’t.  Liking recess way more than reading time, which is totally understandable.  Running everywhere you can in your personal playground that is the Psych building.  And, chatting with a 25-year-old grad student about your daily routine and trying to figure out how to earn your next belt in Karate Taekwondo.  BTW, JD is concerned because he can’t break wood planks yet, which means he can’t move up from his white belt status.  How BA would it be to watch a 5-year-old break some planks?!?!?!?  I know JD would wipe the floor with the kids in the pictures below and this four-year-old punk!  He’s got one year of life experience on him!)

Whoa!  I digress, where was I?  Oh yeah, if I’m busy I feel like a jerk because I have to tell JD that I need to work and try to send him on his way with a car toy to roll up and down the halls.  He gives me that disappointment face and leaves…. then comes back in two minutes.  The other day I had to tell him three times that I couldn’t play. (Side note 3: I wish my mom could stand at the lab door and say, “JW can’t play today.”)  He finally stood facing out of the door and said, “I see you just want to kick me out, come and do it,” and did this ‘pretend to get kicked in the butt’ move as he was talking.  Feeling bad I then told him I was leaving and he accepted that.  I then walked to my door and checked for the clear and closed my door.  I was soooo scared of hurting his feelings that I didn’t walk out my door until I knew he was long gone (Side note 3: I think I did some damage to my kidneys because I really had to use the baño.)

I guess the question is:  How do I go about breaking up with a 5-year-old boy?  (Side note 4: That sounds SO bad that I almost deleted it, but I was laughing so hard after I wrote it that I had to keep it in.)

-JW

About once a month, JW and I have a date night, just to keep the magic alive. :D (JW side note 1: Being with me is magical). Usually it involves dinner and a movie, or a trip to the Florida Aquarium since we are members (JW side note 2: Playing with Penguins = AWESOME!). My favorite part of these dates is when we discover new areas in Tampa, since I’ve only been living here since January. We’ve been talking about driving up and down Bayshore Drive lately, so Saturday night after dinner we decided to finally see what it was all about. After finally finding our way to the road, which involved several shenanigans including JW driving the wrong way down a one-way-street (JW side note 3: I asked Brittany while I was turning if it was a one-way-street and mid-turn she tells me that it was. So, she has some blame too. Either way, we only got horned blasted for a few seconds), we finally made it to the historically beautiful drive with homes that look like THIS and THIS. Before Saturday night, my impression of Tampa had been based around the pretty sketchy Ybor City, which is crawling with homeless people and drunks. USF’s campus is a pretty, but is surrounded by ugly areas (like most schools) and the last two neighborhoods we have lived in have been surrounded by older/boring homes. Downtown, which I have been to only a few times, has some interesting architecture and things to do. BUT, never have I been so impressed with Tampa as I was when we drove Bayshore Drive. The north side of the street is lined with beautiful mansions and turning to the south you see the glittering Bay. It refreshed my view of Tampa.

-BG

This blog is my recital, I think it’s very vital

To not scare away, Rev Run next time he wants to buy a latte.  It’s Tricky!!

Yep, you heard me.  The other day Rev Run and his wife Justine came into the mall where I work and the baristas and I freaked out and were like, OMG it’s Rev Run!! Then, when they were leaving the mall with their freakishly large bodyguard, they stopped as if to say, “Is the coffee worth having to deal with those really dorky kids?” and decided, “Nah!”  Then they left us high and dry, feeling a little lame.  In case you were wondering, he left carrying a bag from Finish Line.  I wonder what he bought??

-BG