What??? It's March Already?

Where did February go?

OK... so February is the shortest month of the year but still... I do, however, have lots and lots of excuses.

I did find the time to change the profile picture. I mean if your spouse got you a Lebowski Fest Urban Achiever t-shirt for Valentine's Day you would take a picture of yourself in it and be all proud and stuff. I like how my built in camera reversed the the word "Achiever." Seriously... that shirt is always in the dirty clothes. I get so much done when I wear it. I am wearing it now.

Our Celebrity Waiters Dinner and Art Auction went really well despite the economy. We cut back on the number of pieces we auctioned off and had fewer tables but overall none of the works were undersold or without the usual bidding war. The Rita Blanco (*coughs*) Virgen de Guadalupe piece I (*clears throat*) donated for the silent auction had a few bids and ended up going to the same gentleman who has purchased her work before. He even gave me his card and asked that I keep him up to speed on her other work. Rita is so unpredictable though.


The very next day I was off to the far north of the Valley and up a long a ridge in the high desert for a long overdue visit with my friends, Julie, Mary Jane and Diana. We first came together back in 1992 at Arizona State University in the Office of Communication and Marketing. Despite going on our different paths we have always stayed in touch and I treasure these women as some of my dearest friends. (Notice the shirt I am wearing?)

Last week I received an email from my marvelous friend, the artist, Marv. He has been experimenting with portraiture (see my earlier posts of his aluminum can portraits.) When I helped him resin his portrait of his son he asked to take my photo. I was more than happy to oblige... what an honor to be the subject of one of his works. So... he used my photo to experiment in a new medium... This is made from 4d 1 1/2" finishing nails.
I am absolutely thrilled! I wrote back to say that I believe he has "nailed" my likeness [insert sound of wah wah pedal.] For a brief moment I became only slightly disturbed at the thought of someone looking at my photo and them hammering nails into a board but that feeling has passed.

On a more serious note my son the sailor called Saturday evening. He was just back from going around in circles in the Atlantic testing operations with the Marines attached to his ship. Oh... he sounded so tired... he had been up for nearly 22 hours when he called. He let us know that his fireman skills had been put to the test. (!!!) It seems some numskull on another shift could not walk thirty feet to the designated smoking area and lit up in a workspace that has a powerful exhaust system. Yup, the lit cigarette got sucked up into the exhaust and landed on a paper filter. My poor baby led a crew that fought a nine hour fire on board, his first real test. I nearly cried as he told me, "My adrenaline kept me going the first two hours but after that I got really scared. The flames were over our heads."

Fortunately no one got seriously hurt although one crew member suffered smoke inhalation. Of the fifteen sailors on duty in that area, not one if confessing to the violation. The incident is under investigation and I hope they make an example of that idiot. Millions of dollars of damage and putting my son at risk... I wish I could get my hands on that person myself...

Back to the lighter side of life... my silly husband loves to go shopping at the Oriental market in our neighborhood. For some reason they have the widest selection of beers and wines and he loves to peruse that aisle.There are so many varieties and I love to look at the various label designs as well. He also has a penchant for buying weird cookies. Last night he broke open his latest acquisition and was munching on them as we watched TV. I noticed a horrendous smell but figured he had removed his shoes or let one rip (not unusual.) But no, the gagerific smell was coming from those cookies! "I thought they were lemon wafers," he says.

NOT!!! They were Durian flavored wafers. In case you are not familiar with this exotic fruit, please watch the following video:

Most disturbing of all is that he vows to eat them all. I woke up this morning and I could smell them! (I had a Gagtasm--I seriously couldn't tell if it was the cookies or one of the litter boxes.) He will NOT be eating them in our house.

At least he came home with a wine that now tops my favorite label of all time. I think I will just sit back and have a glass right after I put those cookies outside.