Mitzi making breakfast for Wacky and me, at 11am, after a LONG night of wedding shower shenanigans.

Jack and James "QT" Brown having a little quality nap time.

I really didn't take that many pics Mom. I promise more after the next trip.

Mitzi's bridal shower at Lavelle's in Fairbanks

"The Survivors" of the wedding shower. It should be noted that it was 3am Sunday morning. At this point I'd been awake for more than 24 hours! Not too shabby for an old lady. I was only shown up by Katz, who's in the middle, and her 6 month pregnant belly. Who knew prego's could be such rock stars!

Mitzi and Wacky got a plethra of great gifts. Wacky's comment about the camo nighty? "I think it's a little short." I love that guy.

The flight home was spectacular. Clear skies the entire trip led to these pictures, which were taken out of the airplane window. Stunning!

More on the shenanigans tomorrow. I'm exhausted after 3 days of early mornings and long nights. Going back to work might be easier than the weekend I just had!

Good clean fun in K-Falls. The Kinetic Sculpture Race. The rules? It has to be man-powered, and be able to race over land, in the water, and through the mud. Good times. Good times.










Powered by Soccer Moms











4 Easy Buttons didn't make the mud so easy for this one.








This lady was getting a serious workout with her arms. To stop she had to jump off!








There's also a costume contest. Very very strange.

Can you see him?
Can you see him now?

Kermit came to visit.

Of course, Oz tried to kill him. But like a superhero in a bathrobe, I saved him. Actually I thought he was dead, so I was going to throw him in the trash. Okay, maybe I was going to bury him under the tree with a little rose atop his grave. Don't you judge me. Anyway, as I walked solemnly toward the door, palm outstretched with a surely dead Kermit lying still as, well, death, he reached out with a front leg. A Rocky Balboa-like resurrection. I almost peed myself. I mean seriously, if you thought a frog was dead and it started to move in your hand, you'd pee yourself too. At least I didn't sling him into the door (which was my first impulse.) So instead of a burial, Kermit was gingerly placed under the plants in the garden where it was cool and damp. He took a little while to get going, but gone he is. And not in the celestial kind of way. He's hopped off into the sunset. Hopefully he won't try that again. The cat is a ninja.

I did NOT, I repeat, I did NOT, perform any sort of CPR on the frog. Though I may have breathed strongly in his direction.

True story.

Kick back

You might want to go to the bathroom, then grab a drink before you start this. It could be a long one. I'm on my second glass of wine. From a box. Props to Amanda's friend Heather, who understands the boxed wine thing. I think we were separated at birth.

First, I had some very funny conversations today. I'll give you snippets of a few:

Conversation 1:
(after hearing the story of "I'm usually way cooler than that.")

Kemper: You do realize, that I would give you a thousand cool points if you actually talk to him and ask him out.

TK: You do realize that I realized long ago that our friendship was not based on my cool points. That's the only reason we've lasted this long.

Conversation 2:
(with the lady that sold me my Craig Morgan, front row center ticket... after I told her I only needed 1 ticket, because I'm coming alone.)

Lady: Hey, I just saw the guy who's sitting next to you. He's really cute and young. It could be a good night for you.

TK: Is he single?

Lady: I'm not sure, but he's coming with his parents.

TK: Oh.

Conversation 3:
(with Mom, after I got the above ticket)

TK: FRONT ROW! FRONT ROW! FRONT ROW!

Mom: What?

TK: I'm sitting in the FRONT ROW! FRONT ROW! FRONT ROW! At the Craig Morgan concert in 45 minutes. Apparently I'm next to a single guy.

Mom: Oh. Maybe it will be McHottie.

TK: Oh. I hadn't though about that. I'll die of an aneurysm if I sit next to McHottie.

Mom: What a way to go.

TK: I'll let you know.

Conversation 4:
(sometime during the 2.5 hour gab-a-thon with Julie Dillon Cusano, aka Apple Crisp Girl)

TK: I swear, that's why I keep the blog, nobody who doesn't know me would believe this shit is real. I'm the only person some of this could happen to.

Julie: You have to keep the blog, it's my weekly relief from real life. I tried to tell David the "I'm usually way cooler than that" story, but I don't think he got it. He doesn't know you.

TK: True, but it only takes knowing me about 35 minutes to understand.

Conversation 5:
(Upon sitting down at the concert.)

Random people I don't know: Hi Tiffany!

TK: Hi. Who the hell are you?

Random people I don't know: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Jackie (the ticket sales lady) told us she sold the ticket to a girl named Tiffany who was coming alone. We just thought we'd mess with you.

TK: That's funny. Sort of.

Funny conversations people. Funny conversations.

So, I head to the Craig Morgan concert. Easy to get there, you'll remember, just take a right at the broken down heart hot tub and a left at the lawn jockey.

Let me tell you, Craig Morgan is HOT HOT HOT. There's just something about a man who can really really sing, and is obviously having such a fun time doing it, that is incredibly sexy. And he has a killer smile. He should smile and laugh and sing all the time. It would sell more records.

Add on top of that that I was literally sitting about 12 feet in front of him. Row B, seat 106, is dead center front row at the Ross Ragland theater. Row A, apparently, is the stage. So, the one time I don't sneak in my camera, the first announcement made is "Ladies and gentlemen, you may take as many flash pictures as you'd like. And by the way, Tiffany, we only did this because we know you didn't sneak yours in." I made the last part up, but the first part is true. They played for an hour and a half with no intermission, so I couldn't even run past the lawn jockey to grab the camera during the break. But, he did throw me a pick, and I'm pretty sure he winked. Of course, his wife was sitting behind me, so maybe I just intercepted it. He did throw me a pick. I didn't even have to wrestle for it. Since he was only about 10 feet away (oh curses, not having the camer!!!) he threw it right to me. So hot. And then there was the mandolin/keyboard/banjo player. You have to give props to a man with such talented fingers. It was such a fun concert, and that man can sing his butt off, so I highly recommend that if you get the chance, you go see him live. What a fun time.

So that brings us to single-guy-I'm-sitting-next-to-at-the-concert, or as I'd like to refer to him, McNottie. First off, just not my type physically. I'm sure his coiffed hair and geeky glasses would appeal to some, but the too short jeans and boat shoes just didn't do it for me. And he really did come with his parents (not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean really, I came alone.) The biggest problem I had was that his mother kept caressing his inner thigh. In the creepy, no wonder you're single, eeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww, kind of way. Didn't even bother getting his name.

It was a funny day all around!

My Hero

Happy Father's Day Poppy!!!

To my girlfriends

I have the most amazing girlfriends. A host of truly incredible women that I am honored to call my friends. Sometimes I don't know how I got so lucky.

We are raised in a society that teaches us to compete. Compete with other women. Be prettier, be smarter, be thinner, be funnier, have better hair, bigger eyes, a better looking boyfriend... so on and so on.

It's not always easy to find girlfriends. Real girlfriends. The kind that will listen to your stories, laugh at your jokes, sympathize with your tears, and have your back at every turn. All without competition, without jealousy. The kind of girlfriends who you can talk about anything and everything with. And I do mean anything and everything. I am lucky to have some tremendous girlfriends.

So, for one of them, I am flying to Alaska next weekend. That's right, next weekend. Here's the story...

Mitzi/Michelle/Girl Wacky/Goose (by the way, I am also Goose), is one of my best girlfriends. We met in Alaska, and she is tremendous. Her bridal shower is Saturday. Bobbi-o (another tremendous Alaskan girlfriend) called the other night and offered, as a surprise to Mitzi, to pay half of the cost of a plane ticket to get me to Alaska for the shower. The problem? The ticket costs $1280. That's a lot of pesos. We both agreed that we couldn't afford that ticket, even half of it, and chalked it up to being a great, but not-doable idea. I'll be at the wedding in 3 weeks anyway.

So today, I'm talking to Mitzi on the phone and tell her what Bobbi-o and I had tried to do. She was excited that we had even thought about it and tried to pull it off. Then she said "hmmmm" a few times, then "hold, please". After a minute she came back on and asked if I wanted to use frequent flyer miles to get up there. "Sorry Goose, I only have 3,111. That's roughly 17,000 miles short of a ticket." That's not what she was getting at. During that minute, she and Mike had decided that they couldn't do without me being at the shower. They used their own frequent flyer miles to buy me a ticket to Fairbanks. So I can be at their shower. "There," she said, "now it feels right."

When my itinerary came, it had a message from Mike. "Goose is coming! Goose is coming! Goose has made Mitzi's day!" They spent their miles for my ticket, and it was me coming to her shower that made her day.

Having girlfriends is an amazing gift.

Too tired. Must sleep.

Saw Nacho Libre.

More later.

I made McHottie blush today. I don't know if this is good or bad.

And, by the way WP Amy, you DID sell me my fabulous shoes. They're red. You know the ones!

Our new favorite camping spot...

Water running to the lake. Diamond Lake.
















My favorite view... from my favorite camp spot.













Shouldn't there be a deer here?























Oh, what could live in such a tree?















Pooh King approves... and would like to go back next weekend!

One of the best things I got out of my adventures with Patrick?

My love for Sister Hazel. I'm a Hazel Nut.

Don't you judge me!

"I'm usually way cooler than that."

Okay, I've met him. Well, I know who he is on a professional level. The one really, really good-looking man in K Falls. And he is hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. I'll be referring to him as McHottie. Not quite McDreamy (as in, I don't know if he's dreamy) but he sure is HOT! Definitely bringing up the pretty-quotient at the hospital. I have a patient who is trying to set me up with him. She figures she doesn't have anything better to do but lay in bed and watch men go by, so why not pick out one or two for me? I love my patients.

So, you want to know the real story? He is hot. And he does work at the hospital. And I have sort of been pseudo-stalking him but in the not-scary-from-a-distance way. It's not my fault he has cause to see a lot of my patients. So today, after having engaged him in witty banter on multiple occassions, he ran into me. For real. As I was leaving work, he came blowing through the door in the stairwell just as I was pulling it open. Nearly knocked me over. I screamed like a little girl and ended the encounter by yelling "Sweet jesus!" He promptly apologized and asked if I was okay. My response? "I'm usually way cooler than that."

I carried a watermelon.

True story.

I have a plan!!!

I can't even remember the last time I had a plan for my life. I think it included moving to Alaska. That was circa 2001.

I've been feeling out of sorts for a while now... well, since Denver... about what I'm doing with my life. Where's it going? What am I doing? When am I going to settle down? Where? It's a lot to think about. Especially when you're OCD about it and obsess on it 24/7.

But now I have a plan. This week I decided that I'm going to travel for about another year. But now I'm chasing big money. BIG MONEY. I don't care where I go, just that I'm making phat cash. That way, when I'm done, I have enough money to get furniture for an apartment in a place I'm going to stay for at least a year. I don't want to buy a couch from a yardsale. I want to invest in quality stuff that I'm going to keep for quite a while.

Of course, this is a very flexible and open-ended plan. It's the only kind of plan I can make. I don't know where I'm going to end up. But I know that for Christmas 2007, I'm going to have a christmas tree and lights. In my own place. Where I don't have to move in 3 months.

To get there, I'm chasing the big money. I told my recruiter to go find it for us. Because he gets more money too. It's a win-win situation.

Show me the money.

In a year, I'll show you my home.

A rose by any other name...

If you know me well, you know I don't especially love roses. Much to the chagrin of a particular former boyfriend, I never really loved them as much as I was supposed to. He never picked up on that. Really. You wonder why it didn't work out. I'd rather have just about any other flower. Except carnations. I don't like carnations either. My Dad does a wonderful job (with or without the help of Mom, we'll never know) of sending me flowers on Single's Awareness Day... which happens to fall on Feb. 14th, along with another holiday I really don't like.

Well, it turns out that all that rose animosity is just about roses from the florist. If I go out to the rose bush and pick them myself, I quite like roses. They're rich and fragrant, perfectly bloomed, effortlessly beautiful.

Yes, I quite like roses.

And now, Oz contemplates her next feat of gravity...

Jumping on top of the stacked washer/dryer.

Nuts.

Wishin' we had a boat...

but enjoying the lake anyway.

I'm loving the return of summer, for with it comes the return of my freckles. I love my freckles. They are scattered over my forehead and nose, perfect in their randomness. I find myself walking around outside (in town, in the parking lot, at the lake, anywhere really) with my face turned toward the sun, willing the freckles to multiply and darken. To me they are perfect. Evidence of being kissed by nature, loved by the sun.

They are a sign that the universe digs me too.

Check this out... I think it's one of the funniest bits going right now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u46e4bKEm0

31 things to do on Saturday...

1. Walk dog. Feed cat.
2. Get oil changed a mere 1000 miles late. C'mon, that's practically on time.
3. Spend an hour browsing Wal-Mart while said oil gets changed.
4. Spend another half-hour putting back things in your cart that you've changed your mind about. Hey, that's how I do it.
5. Hit the clearance rack at Gottschalks in an effort to have more than plain colored t-shirts in the summer wardrobe.
6. Spend half hour putting back half of the things you've picked up so you don't look like you've joined the Senior Citizen cruise group.
7. Walk dog.
8. Start laundry.
9. Watch "Wit" (outstanding movie version of an extraordinary play... stars Emma Thompson... very serious) while doing laundry.
10. Walk dog.
11. Sing "Happy Late Pepe Birdlegs" to Carey Dill Knapper.
12. Take things out of the closet to give to charities so you can accomodate the new shirts obtained in 5.
13. Walk dog.
14. Vaccum apartment.
15. Talk cat out from under the bed.
16. Catch up with some friends on the phone.
17. Think about things you should have gotten at Wal-Mart but didn't.
18. Think about things you put back on the rack on Gottschalks.
19. Decide it's better you don't go back and try to find any of it.
20. Be excited that tomorrow is Sunday and there will be a new PostSecret post.
21. Be excited the cloud cover broke and you can walk in the sunshine. Walk dog.
22. Think about planning trip with the dog to lake, and wish you had a boat.
23. Wonder if you could have bought a boat while doing 3-6.
24. Like your new way of wearing your hair... slightly curly in the perfectly messy kind of way.
25. Wonder what to have for dinner.
26. Decide not to go to the Shady McGrady Safeway that's in your neighborhood.
27. Sit in the sunshine.
28. Check in on your favorite bloggers... some who you know and love, and some you just stalk.
29. Do the happy dance that you are enjoying your life.
30. Stop blogging to go walk around town with the dog.
31. Celebrate Amanda's purchase of a '72 VW Vanagon. The girl got her bus and lived happily ever after!