Mr. Palm

Mr. Palm is my only explanation for what happened to us this past weekend in Seattle...We were overjoyed to hear the news that Van Camp would be coming to Seattle for work and we could go up and visit. We had no idea what was in store for us but would soon come to find out.

We got to Seattle at 9:30 on Friday night and got right on a ferry to take us into Seattle. That's when we met him...Mr. Palm. He is a co-worker of Van Camp's. We went to an Irish bar and had a few drinks. Things were going well. We were well on our way by the time we hit the streets to find our next destination which would be another Irish bar. A few more shots and a couple drinks were had by all and it was time to catch the ferry home. The night ended with a goole search for nugget porn, trying to register our air pump as a penis pump with the front desk, and Abbie impersonating a call girl during a phone call to another co-worker of Van Camp's. It was a great night, but a lot more was yet to come.

We woke up feeling rough and all of the showers and antacids in the world didn't make us feel any better. We decided to leave Bainbridge Island and head into the city on Saturday night.

We reserved 2 rooms at the Crown "Royal" Plaza and received an upgrade from Van Camp's previous stays with the Holiday Inn. This upgrade put us on the Executive level of the hotel where we enjoyed access to the Executive lounge and free breakfast. Still not feeling the best we wanted to take a nap and prepare for the night ahead. Van Camp, Mr. Palm, and Dolf headed to the liquor store to get some booze and about 20 minutes later we got a knock on the door. A waiter enters bearing gin and tonics courtesy of "Mr. Daniel"..."Mr. Palm". These were just what we needed to make our comeback. We drank our gifts and headed to the executive lounge to meet Mr. Palm and Van Camp.

After several drinks we decided to head out for dinner. We wanted to go to the Crab Pot. A restaurant featured on the Man v Food. We were in quite the predicament. We definitely did not want to walk the "6" blocks to the restaurant and the cab company told us that there weren't any van cabs available. The next thing we know Mr. Palm is on the phone ordering limos for the night. We went downstairs to wait for our ride and were greeted by the concierge who was looking for Mr. Palm. We were expecting an SUV limo but were surprised when an A-team van arrived. It was decked out with lights on the ceiling and a U-shaped leather bench. Perfect for the 6 of us. The creepy van dropped us off at the restaurant where we had an hour and a half wait at the bar. Being that Mr. Palm had been drinking since 9 a.m.he was well on his way by the time we sat down. He proceeded to fall out of his chair, lure Van Camp into hitting his hand with the crab mallet, and scare the host and hostess so bad I thought they messed themselves....A complete success.

We called for the limo, but had two town cars and the van show up. Apparently there was a mistake and too many limos were ordered. Abbie, Dolf and I rode in one and the other boys rode in the other. Abbie and I had the luxury of enjoying Rhianna videos that went to the music that was playing over the speakers in the town car.The driver told us to sit back, relax, and enjoy Seattle.

The next day, we had to get up at 6 and get going so the guys could catch their plane. Abbie and Nick were still intoxicated. We got into an elevator and joined another gentleman "going down" on the elevator. The man was dressed in trendy clothes with 90s sunglasses. The man was short and looked familiar. We told him to avoid touching the used condom in the corner of the elevator. This elevator was "used" last night Nick states. "Used and abused...buh buh bud uh"the man replies. We arrive at the breakfast floor and get out. At that moment Nick and Abbie yurn to eachother..."Was that Kanye?" they say at the same time. None of us are sure...but the facts speak for themselves. The man was coming down. Being that we were on the executive level the only other floor would have to be the penthouse. he resembled Kanye in every way even the height matched. The sunglasses were the same...the little song he added to his statement, and the icing on the cake...Kanye's your kicked off in Seattle that week!! Yep pretty sure we met him. The perfect random ending to a perfect random weekend with Mr. Palm. For those who yearn to meet Mr. Palm for yourselves...he may make an appearance at the wedding of the year in July!

Side Note on "Appropriate"

President Barack Obama appeared on the Tonight Show and made me proud to be an American. He compared his bowling score to that of a Special Olympian! Slowly but surely, people are becoming less and less PC. I LOVE IT!

What's Mine Is...Nick's?

I consider myself a pretty good sharer. There have been times when I have been called selfish (eating all of the corner pieces of a Harris pizza before technically reaching the corners) is the example that comes to mind. Nick and I are great at sharing money, razors, and our undying love...Trying to make healthier choices we purchased organic sodas(eight of them to be exact). I drank one the first day and a few days later decided I wanted another. Nick grabbed one out of the fridge and I went to grab one as well. Nick informs me at this moment that they are gone. At first I didn't believe him. He has been known to tell me things like this, make me angry, and then pull whatever it was that was "gone" out from the place he hid it. I figured this time was no different. To my astonishment, he wasn't kidding. He had drank all 7 sodas!! I felt so cheated! The audacity! The only pleasure I got out of this was the opportunity to call Nick selfish for once. However, I don't think it made a difference. He got to enjoy every last drop.

Appropriate

This year for Lent I decided to give up being inappropriate at work for Lent. I decided on this after a meeting was called and we were asked what we thought "professional" meant. They asked everyone to come...but they could have just asked me to go. I am pretty sure I was the reason this meeting was called in the first place. To sum it up basically we came to the following conclusions: Don't talk loud, eat in your own cube or at the lunch table, no swearing, no pet stories, and no bashing the new system. I do ALL of these things ALL of the time. So instead of saying I chose to give up being inappropriate, what I really should have said is that I was indirectly asked to stop. Lent was just the answer!

To kick things off I wore pearls which showed I was in this for the long hall. The first day I was so appropriate that some said they didn't know I was there while others came in just to check on me. That's right...when something went wrong I held my tongue. No Hellen Keller comparisons, baby jokes, or mention of AIDS for this girl I was 100% committed. I smile politely, sip some coffee and move on.

Now it is constant complaints on how boring I am. "Come on Amy say something," is just one of the comments made daily. Even the IT guy noticed and he doesn't even work with me. He said it has been a let down. Others are trying to take my place with the swearing, inappropriate jokes and constant yelling. IT IS AWESOME! I didn't think they had it in them. I guess the moral to this story is, "You never know what you've got until it's gone."

33 days and counting...

Tiddles and Tips

During the delicious dinner Nick made tonight, the subject of my weird food phobias came up in conversation. I do not believe I have a problem. There are just some things that I do NOT eat. Here is the list:
Ends of bananas
Ends of hot dogs
Ends of brats
Tips of pickles
Tips of carrots(baby carrots included)
Chaza (the white squiggly thing on raw eggs)
The tips of square cheese that hangs over the edge of anything (McDonalds egg and cheese bisquit is my example)
Tiddly tips on Chicken
Anything pokey
Octupus tiddlers
I don't really like touching ketchup unless sealed in packet form

I think it is a pretty short list and it doesn't put anyone out so I don't see anything wrong with this. Nick said it is "ok" that I do this (although he does want me to see someone about it) as long as our future children don't have the same habits. Everyone has their food quirks and mine happen to be tips and tiddlers.

KIVU ME ASAP

Sticking with the wedding diet I have cut out my a.m. Dutch Bros coffee and try to drink tea during the week. There are just those days when I NEED COFFEE. I believe it makes me a more productive employee. I type faster, talk faster, and do office work faster when I am hyped up on the "good stuff". Nick and I found our new favorite. KIVU Caramel Drizzle. It doesn't require a thing! I am now back on coffee 3 days a week and loving every minute of it! To keep it healthy I drink it black.

Sunday Morning Play Dates

This week Nick found a new off-leash park to take Ditka to in McMinnville. We had to try it out since we drive 25 minutes to take him to the other one. He made such a great impression he was invited to Sunday Morning Play Dates there with 15 other dogs. We took him today, and it was a huge success. No attacks to speak of or dominant dog issues for him here... just a nice group of dogs with friendly owners. There are fields for them to run in and we all walk around a nice size trail that takes a little over an hour to get around. There was one dog who took off and ran into a soccer game, popped a ball and got spanked. It was funny until the spanking part. It is one of those things where you thank God it wasn't your dog! Ditka is D-O-N-E by the time we get back to the car and sleeps the rest of the day. I LOVE DOG PARKS! The only problem we have now is fitting church into this routine since it is one of our Lenten promises. I think we will try out the church in McMinnville and see how that goes.

Self Control

Keeper of the Noodles

First Batch of Noodles Ever!

Noodle Night

We decided to put our culinary skills to the test this weekend and try our hand at Jonna's Chicken and Noodles. We had all of the ingredients and nothing else to do. The noodles were more difficult make than we expected, but after a few phone calls to the master and a few tablespoons of water we were on our way. Nick rolled out the dough and I sliced them up. We left them to sit overnight and this afternoon we enjoyed the fruits of our labor. I think I would like some insider tips on the noodles when we are at home for the wedding.