Grocery store and a body shop

The other day we stopped at Safeway before going to work. As we pulled into the parking spot, a man in a silver SUV pulled behind us and started yelling at Tyler.

When I got out of the car, all I could hear was the man talking fast and pointing at the dent in the side of the truck. He asked how it happened, and I guiltily replied "The wife happened."

Flashback: Last summer, I pulled the truck out of Tyler's parking spot at work. I took the corner too closely, and dented our new-to-us truck. The evidence was streaked across the side in yellow paint — the same hue of the pillars in his parking garage.

Back to present day: The guy points to my destruction and says for $250 he can fix it in 15 minutes while we are shopping. Tyler said we can't afford that, and attempts to walk away. In desperation, the guy comes back with his final offer.

"$100, please I need the work," he says.

Sold! The body shop we had went to before had told us it would be a $1,200 fix (to make it look like nothing happened of course). So Tyler agreed. When we got done shopping, the guy had made the dent 84% better, and thanked us for the work. He drove away trolling for his next customer, with his SUV that had an On the Spot Body Shop sign magnetized to the door.

I never knew you could be randomly descended upon by auto body specialist.

Adapting to orchids

Recently I’ve become obsessed with orchids. In February, Tyler bought me an orchid (shown above) as a not-a-Valentine’s-Day-gift. I debated getting one for a long time, just because of how temperamental they are. Also, many orchids are intergeneric, meaning they are products of cross-breeding by man. The theory is cross-breeding will make it easier for people like me to keep them alive by making the orchids stronger. But through my research, this makes it hard to figure out how to make them bloom again. So far, I think the above picture is a odontoglossum/oncindium hybrid.
Whatever that means.

We then decided it was a good idea to get another orchid (look to your right). This one I've identified as a brassia/odontoglossum hybrid. I think this one might not make it. It stopped blooming right away, and I found out it might take up to 10 months for it to bloom again. Yeah.

I know I must be sounding like Meryl Streep from Adaptation right about now, and I am aware of it. Don't worry — I have no desire to see a Ghost Orchid, become addicted to the drugs you can harvest from it, or have an affair with an orchid thief. That would take entirely too much effort, plus I'd end up killing the orchids I already have.

And if two orchids weren't enough, we got a third (below)! But I love this one. My phalaenopsis — the moth orchid. This one is supposed to be the perfect first-orchid. So far, this one likes me the best, whereas the other two act like rebelling teenagers. 

Now I know why all the Web sites recommended it for people like me. It's still blooming, and very forgiving of my ignorance. I still am planning on getting a book on orchids, and possibly becoming a crazy orchid lady as I grow older. At least the weird habit will smell a lot better than collecting all the stray cats in the neighborhood. And because life imitates art — or is it art imitates life? I will leave you with my favorite clip for Adaptation:

Yellowstone

Steve taking a picture of a bison grazing.

We went to Yellowstone with the Hansen/Dickinson/Smith/Sheldon clans for a few days in May. It's one thing to take Geology 101 in college, but it's quite another to see it in action. The area is fascinating and quite hard to put into words. Here are a few visual aids to help explain my experience.

Also, I am currently working on a horror movie about Yellowstone that could possible be a made for Chiller or SyFy Channel movie. Nothing too fancy — just some low-budget special effects and a few terribly enthusiastic actors. I'll let you know when auditions start...

Altering my course

It happened at The Willows — we were sitting around enjoying our cocktails before the dinner started and CJ asked the question:

“Have you been doing any writing?”

I felt my cheeks turn into apples, signifying a mixture of embarrassment and shame overtaking my face. I managed to respond with a quick, curt “no” and directed the conversation away from me.

I haven’t had anything published in nearly three years — I’m only 27 but three years is a long time to be out of game, especially one that I desperately wanted to be in since I was little.

And why did I give it up? I can make up a million excuses, point my finger at different people, but it all comes down to me. I benched myself.  All of the reasons I had seem stupid and childish now. Instead of saying what I didn’t like, or didn’t want, I should have been searching for something that I liked and wanted to do.

So hopefully it’s not to late. I am throwing my hat back into the ring. One of these applications is bound to stick.

Right?

Whenever Tyler and Eric get together, they can’t but help start giggling like school girls at some point. I'm happy that some things never change…