I grew tomatoes!!! TADA!

I know, I know. Big deal right? Well, YES! It is a big deal! Because I’ve been trying to grow them for THREE SEASONS and this is the first time I’ve had a plant ACTUALLY produce a tomato.

In the past everybody told me to use Miracle Grow but I kinda feel like that’s cheating. I mean, do they genetically alter these fuckers to ONLY produce fruit if you chemically force them to? Maybe it’s some conspiracy that Miracle Grow has going on to up sales. But I dunno, I can see using it on flowering plants to balloon the bloom size to unnatural proportions but not something I’m going to eventually let Cassidy eat. I don’t need whatever chemical it is that causes the monster blooms to get into her system and somehow make her feet grow any bigger than they already are because they are already pushing the ‘unnatural’ envelope as it is.

I got some great news about a friend yesterday. And even though it wasn’t MY news I was so excited for them because I remember what it felt like to be in the spot they are in now and how wonderful it can feel and hearing THEIR good news actually put ME in a great mood! Funny how that can happen. Anyway, you know who you are and, YAY! Happy for your great news!

Ben was supposed to go to the track this weekend but money (it would be over $500 MORE then the $300+ he’s already spent on it AND he was at the track last week anyway which was probably another $500) and his head has started being a bastard again. He gets these headaches that come on randomly and literally floor him. He instantly gets hot (I’m sure his temperature goes up because he actually feels hot to the touch), feels nauseated, lays down and tries to sleep it off. He lays there and moans. That kills me. Two weeks ago when he was helping me with my exhaust he practically drove a screwdriver THROUGH his hand, washed it off and kept working like it was no big deal. So when he’s in so much pain that he’s on the couch groaning, I get worried. Really worried.

They have given him migraine medicine and so far it’s basically done: NOTHING. They are still coming and the medicine doesn’t seem to help AT ALL to get rid of them, or even help with the symptoms. Then for the entire following day he has what he describes as a ‘headache hangover’. Anybody else have these? Idea’s what it might be? I’m wondering if maybe some more drastic testing should be done…

Anyway, that was my Full of Randomness post for the week!

Holy shit!! Hell finally froze over (and boo to that because I hate the idea of spending eternity IN THE COLD) and Ben FINALLY registered a flickr account! I’ve only been hinting that he do this for about… 2 years now!

People ask me why he never comments on my pictures and hardly ever on my blog posts and the answer is: Because his computer desk is directly next to mine. He doesn’t need to type things out because he can use his actual voice and mouth and stuff. Crazy, right?! Ben is my biggest critic and I don’t say that in a bad way. He often praises me highly for things that I’ve done well, or right, or just don’t totally fuck up. But he also gives me honest opinions when I ask for them, and sometimes when I don’t.

This is how it usually goes:

Me: What do you think of this so far?
Me: *points to Photoshop mock up of theme for Wordpress*
Ben: Ummm.
Me: Be honest. I’m serious, I want your honest opinion. What do you think?
Ben: It’s too pink.
Me: To PINK!? How is that even possible?
Ben: *looks at monitor, then back at me, then back at monitor*
Me: I’m serious, I want an HONEST opinion.
Ben: I gave you one!
Me: You said it was too PINK! It’s not even DONE yet how could you know how PINK it’s going to be!? Maybe I’ll just change all the pink to YELLOW, THEN WHAT?!
Ben: It will be too yellow?
Me: WHATEVER!
Ben: You are fucking crazy.
Me: Okay, maybe I’ll take some of the pink out.

About two weeks ago we kind of “got into it” because he left me a comment here that I thought was a bit on the harsh side. But I needed it. It was because I mentioned something here that I don’t normally talk about ever and made a comment along the lines of “nobody will ever understand” when I should have prefaced or finished the sentence with “because I don’t talk about it ever and don’t give them the chance”. Because if there’s one thing that Ben WILL do, it’s listen and understand. Even if it ends with him kicking me in the ass and telling me to GET OVER IT, he will listen and understand first. This is kind of my way of publicly telling him I’m sorry I was such an asshole about that situation.

So it’s not because he doesn’t read, he does. And sometimes he tells me, “Wow, that was a really great post.” And sometimes he tells me, “You SERIOUSLY think that?” And I welcome both forms of criticism. I just welcome one with open arms and the other with a drop kick to the head… and that’s something I’ve tried to work on for a long time and will continue to have to work on. I know that Ben is honest with me because he knows that it will make me a better writer, a better communicator and a better PERSON. I just need to work on remembering that in the moment when the words are first spoken.

And I could be totally wrong about why he doesn’t comment more, but I’m sure if I am, he’ll clear it up for me in a comment.

And now for a tomboy post. If you aren’t into total tomboyishness you might want to just skip to paragraph three.

Saturday morning Ben and I got up bright and early to install my new TSE exhaust on the M3. I’ve put off getting an exhaust on the car for a long time because I really love the sound the Conforti intake makes when you mash down on the accelerator. But Ben promised me that this exhaust was The Best Exhaust and I trust him so I told him to go ahead and get it. And I’m SO GLAD that I got it now. It’s throaty and mean when you really want it to but at idle it’s just a nice quiet rumble and hardly noticeable. It’s just, awesome.

Then, this morning we got up and put the Rogue Engineering short shift kit on and GOOD LORD!! It’s like I’m driving a whole new car. I swear it feels like the shift throw is MAYBE an inch. I can slam between gears so fast and I’m REALLY happy now to have the clutch stop on the car or there’s no way my feet could keep up. The process between clutch in, shift, back on gas is one fluid motion that’s over a second after it’s started. It’s just… amazing.

AMAZING!

And as exhausted as I am, I decided that I’d make a flourless chocolate cake at 10:00PM. heh. So that comes out of the oven in about 20 minutes and them I an SO CRASHING OUT. I’m hoping that Cassidy and I can pick up a letterbox or two tomorrow and start the process of getting our own plated. AAAANNNNDD. She want’s her website back. So I need to do something about that. Eventually.

So I will be able to reference this when I need to here are the specs on the M3 to date:

Specs:
1995 Alpine White M3 with black interior.
5 speed, sunroof, power windows, Vader seats.
107,650 miles

Engine:
Intake: Conforti
Software: Conforti

Drivetrain:
Clutch Stop: UUC v3 Bigboy
Shifter: Rogue Engineering Short Shift Kit

Exhaust:
Cat-back: Twin Silenser Exhaust

Wheels: 17″ BBS RGR W/Diamond black finish
Tires: Kumho Ecsta PSX 255/40/17
Stud Kit: Motor-force 60mm

Suspension:
Front Caster/camber adjustment: Ground Control Race
Front Shocks/Springs: Ground-Control Shortened Struts / GC Custom Valved Koni SA / Eibach 450lb - 2.5″
Rear Shock Mount: Ground-Control
Rear Shocks/Springs: Externally adjustable custom valved Koni SA / Eibach 525LB - 2.5″ / Ground-Control Ride Height Adjuster
Rear Trailing Arm Bushings: Stock w/limiters

Aesthetics / Body:
Spoiler: REMOVED (hopefully replaced soon)
Shift knob: UUC Motorwerks RK5
E-brake: UUC Motorwerks RK5
Headlights: HELLA Angel Eyes HID lights

GOODNIGNT!

After Ben explains to me his want need for some 5 gallon fuel tanks to put on the trailer full of 100 octane fuel. Keep in mind these are NOT the EPA regulated one’s because those one’s “flow to slow”…

Ben: I mean, you’ve heard me complain about having to pump gas and Laguna Seca because of how slow the pumps go.
Me: MmmHmm. So, if you get pulled over and they get taken away FULL OF FUEL, I don’t want to hear you complain.
Ben: PFFT!
Me: What?! That’s what you’d say to me!
Ben: Okay, I’m going to get 20 of them.
Me: What?! Why?!
Ben: I’m going to decorate the entire trailer with them.
Me: You’re going to wake up one day and see that I’ve painted your trailer pink.

He clearly ignored me when I said that which lead to…

Ben: Today is Jason’s birthday.
Me: Nobody told me!
Ben: I didn’t now either!
Me: We didn’t get him anything!
Ben: I asked him what he wanted and he said, “Something small.” He said something like the mirror I have for the track car so I asked him, “Anything more expensive than that”? So he said, “SURE! Rear control arms!!” So I said, “I gotta go!”
Me: HA! HA! We should totally get him a Chinese bride!
Ben: Okay, I’m getting off the phone now.
Me: You can get them online now!
Him: That’s not new, you’ve been able to do that for awhile.
Me: She can do his laundry for him. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving!
Ben: Ooookay, BYE!
Me: Bye!
*click*

Ben and Lisa were chatting and decided that the four of us (Lisa, Stuart, Me, Ben) should all go hike Half Dome. Remember I referenced Half Dome in that one post where I mentioned Ben tried to KILL ME by making me hike up a volcano in Maui. It’s titled I am not a hiker. I used hiking Half Dome to reference how he is all Hiking God, and I’m like, a Hiking Pussy. Yeah, THAT Half Dome.

So in three weeks we are going to hike it.

me: Hike half dome in ONE DAY?
*hurts already*
Benjamin: well, I told lisa we’d need at least two weeks to get in shape
that’s around 3 weeks out
me: We better start TONIGHT
Benjamin: with emphasis on aerobics and legs
yep
tonight
Me: Okay!
…

me: I might die.
On the hike.
Will you carry my body back to civilization.
Not leave me behind with an ice axe in my head?
Benjamin: Baby, you’re going to LOVE the axe

Yep, I’m totally going to DIE. So, this is my official written notice that when I die everything goes to Cassidy. Except the chair in the living room which I leave to Hans Stuck the WOnder Catâ„¢ since he’s the only one ‘allowed’ to sit on it. And the alcohol because she’s too young to enjoy it. I leave that to Cameron who is 18 and it’s high time he start drinking it in volume.

Speaking of alcohol:

me: It looks nice
And they have an elopement package for small weddings
Lisa: it does, i’d be game for a road trip there too
wedding reconn is MAD FUN
me: HAHAH
Lisa: because everyone’s trying to woo you
“come get married at my place so i get bank commission!”
me: Do you get lots of free alcohol? If so, we should TOTALLY do that
Lisa: woo woo woo
LOL
we should ask for a bar tasting
HA
me: hjahah
Lisa: be like “we don’t really care what you feed us”
me: “No, we need to tast ALL the alcohol”
Lisa: “but beverages are TRES important”
me: “Does this martini go with my dress?”
Lisa: HAHAHA

Yesterday Ben said we should go look at bedroom furniture. OKAY LETS GO RIGHT NOW YOU DON’T NEED SHOES!! LETS JUST GO! This man does NOT like to shop. At all. I think I got him into IKEA once and he had hives for the next four days. As a matter of fact, he might STILL have them! I’m kidding of course, but he might as well have because he’s flat out refused to go back since then. So when he said that it was like he wanted to fulfill some dirty fantasy and, really, who was I to not let him do that for me?

We went to Levitz first and the reason that we have only gone furniture shopping once before came back to me. We have TOTALLY different taste. I am all modern and clean lines and BLACK and light metal. “Industrial” is the word I’d used. Ben is very into light wood, soft lines… like contemporary class. I’m not really sure how to describe it and when I asked him he was no help. (HA! *winks at Ben*) So we really didn’t agree on anything there. But it wasn’t so much that we didn’t agree, but neither one of us saw something that really blew us away. Ben suggested going to Ethan Allen.

ETHAN ALLEN! I almost died. Not only is Ethan Allen at the MALL(!!) and he WANTED to go, but it’s ETHAN ALLEN. I can’t tell you how many years I’ve thumbed through the pages of Ethan Allen and in my head decorated my ENTIRE HOUSE in the furniture than hermetically sealed it so that nobody could ever touch its perfect perfectness. It’s like, just perfect.

It’s so perfect in fact, that we walked in and in less than 10 minutes we found a set that we BOTH LIKED. And not just a little. Or, one of us gave in because we could live with it. We both REALLY liked the set. And it was funny because it was separated into two different rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs, and we liked BOTH of them without realizing they all matched! It was like our entire relationship was confirmed to me in the middle of Ethan Allen. Ben and I are really meant together because we actually LIKE the same furniture. TWICE. At different altitudes.

So we bought it. And it’s going to take 5-8 weeks to get here. And I’m not sure I’ve told you all this before (yes I have, about 10,000 times) that I am NOT a patient person. I want it NOW! Right NOW. I’m going to try and not dwell on it but it’s kinda hard to not focus on the fact that PERFECT will be upstairs in my bedroom soon and I’ll be sleeping on it and putting all my clothes in it and it will BE SO PERFECT.

Tonight we went and bought a new matress. We have a queen now and the bed we got is a California King to better suit Ben’s being taller than the house. And it is soft and wonderful and like laying on a cloud. And it will be so big that Ben and I will have our own zip codes. Which I had to kinda laugh at because us at night? Like this *crosses fingers*.

So we have the bed, two night stands, a chest (for me), and a double dresser for Ben from the New Impressions line. (EA.com uses frames *shudder* so you just have to search the site for it).

And then we sat down tonight and realized that holy crap, we just spent the entire cost of a wedding on furniture and the word “elope” was used. And actually, I was way more into the idea than I would have thought I’d have been. But that’s a whole other post entirely…

Last week for about 24 hours I lived one long perpetual blond moment. It felt like everything I touched turned to ripe pile of dog poo. The biggest offenses?

1) I went to McDonalds for dinner. I really don’t like McDonalds but neither Ben nor myself could figure out what we wanted and Cassidy was standing 10 feet away practically hyperventilating chanting MCDONLDS!! MCDONALDS!! MCDONALDS!! So I gave in and we went… and they completely SCREWED up the order. Well, Ben’s order. So after having to fix it TWICE I was just REALLY frustrated and wasn’t thinking and threw the bank card into the spot where I keep receipts. I had PROMISED Ben I’d not do this anymore since a month ago we had to cancel all the bank cards and have them reissued because I lost mine. heh heh.

2) The next morning Ben was taking my M3 in to have new tires mounted and put on the car. So I got up early and took the tires out of the Range Rover, into the M3 and took the Rover to work. When I got there I sat down and realized… where the heck was Cassidy going to sit to get to school!? The night before Ben had told me to put one of the tires in the spare spot and I completely forgot and the car was filled to the brim with tire in every spot EXCEPT the drivers seat… and the spare tire compartment. And the bank card still in the car.

See!? Those where just a few things. Imagine stuff like that, all. day. long.

So, to make up for it (or start) I cooked. For the first time in probably two months I cooked dinner. We live in the Silicon Valley and there’s always 60 restaurants with 5 miles of every home so it’s hard to convince myself to actually turn on the oven at night. heh As a matter of fact, the last thing I cooked was lasagna for Ben’s birthday.

The End.

P.S. - I didn’t get to robbing the bank. I figured that if things kept going the way they were, the bank I went into would run out of money just before I got there and I’d not even come out with enough to cover bail. But we are meeting up with Stuart and Lisa tonight for mini golf, Cambodian food and Spiderman 3! So I’m sure there will be SOMETHING to blog about tomorrow. Like how I totally kicked Ben’s ass at golf.

So, HI! How have you been? I’m great. Just swell, thanks for asking!

We ended up going to the track this weekend. After Cassidy got up Friday around 10ish her fever was back to normal and she was STARVING which usually means she’s better and lets get this show on the road, people!

The car did amazingly well with the new Functional Blingâ„¢ (carbon fibre wing) and Fantastic Sticky Rubberâ„¢ (Hankook slicks tires). I didn’t ride along with Ben at all because 1) my tummy has been consistently upset for about two weeks now and even with a DOUBLE dose of Dramamine I get nauseated after 20 minutes on the track, and 2) Ben was racking up REALLY fast times and I’d have just slowed him down.

As a matter of fact! He has a new personal best for Thunderhill. Prior to this weekend his best time was 2:07.18 and this weekend he turned SEVERAL 2:05’s with the lowest a 2:05.09. SO CLOSE to a 2:04 and the last session he wasn’t going to go out but a lot of cars had left and I was like, “Dude, you’re gonna have clean, clear track and it’s not that hot.” So he went, and was flying around the track and I just KNEW he’d gotten the 2:04 and… the Hot Lap Timer failed and no times were recorded. DOH!

Now I’m trying to talk him into running some Time Trial races. Looking at the times they are running, I think that he’ll do well.

It was great to see Stuart, Andrew, Ivan, Raza, Walter and Florian on the track too. I love it when the NorCalBMW crew makes it to a track day too because you get to make fun of people all day and nobody gets upset and your belly hurts from laughing and your cheeks are sore from smiling. I have big Reid cheeks so it’s a LOT of sore.

I also had the chance to hang out with Lisa quite a bit and away from the party scene for the first time. She’s a pretty cool chick with a wicked sense of humor. And! Cassidy took to her RIGHT AWAY.

Speaking of Cassidy… Ben got a hotel room with a hot tub because it wasn’t much more and thought it would be cool to relax after a long track day. He dropped us off at the hotel and headed to the track right away to unload the trailor and secure a spot under the awning. When Cassidy walked in the room and saw the hot tub she immediately started ripping off her clothes. It was funny. “I HAVE TO GET IN, MOM! I CAN SWIM IN THERE! IT WILL BE SO MUCH FUN! WHERE’S MY SWIMSUIT?! ARE THERE TOYS TO PLAY WITH?! MOM DON’T SIT DOWN WE HAVE TO FILL IT UP RIGHT NOW!!!” I grabbed the mini bottle of shampoo out of the bathroom and dumped the whole thing in and GOOD LORD the bubbles! It was crazy. She was happy and fever free and didn’t bother me for almost 45 minutes.

The next night Ben got in and put in some bubble bath I’d bought at The Black Bear cafe that afternoon when Cassidy, Lisa and I had lunch. When I went to turn the jets on for him, I had forgotten that the bubbles got really bad AFTER the jets were on when Cassidy was in so I added more to the water. By the time I looked over at him again there was about THREE FEET of bubble over the top of the water. I’m not kidding, it was HILARIOUS and I snapped a picture that I’ve been banned from posting online even though all you can see is bubbles and Ben’s head. The picture didn’t turn out all that well anyway because I was laughing so hard I couldn’t hold still enough.

And that’s about it. I wish I had more, or something TOTALLY FANTASTIC to share but that’s really…about it. Really. Before my next blog I’ll rob a bank or something that will make for a more interesting post.

Timeline:

Last Saturday - I lay on couch all day trying to fight back vomit. Have headache also.

Tuesday - Up till 2AM with Ben who has headache so bad he’s actually laying in bed moaning. Never seen him in so much pain before. Not even when the local pain medicine we didn’t know he’d been given wore off the day after meniscus surgery… and that pain was pretty bad.

Wednesday - After school Cassidy complains of a headache. Notice the rosy cheeks at about 8:00PM, fever already at 102.4 degrees. Give Tylenol, water, bed.

Thursday - Stay home. Cassidy’s fever bounces between 100 and 102.6 degrees. Clean, laundry, cater to Princess. My head starts hurting. Suck it up, kid sick. No time for me to be sick too.

Today - Up at 4:30AM. Cassidy’s fever is 101.3 degrees. *sigh* Have to call in sick again. Boss is probably pissed, I’ve lost 16 hours of PTO. Suck. Sit at computer to check email, flickr, etc. notice it hurts head to look at screen. Take temperature, 99.9. Great. Supposed to leave in 6.5 hours to spend weekend at track with Ben.

Right now - Going back to bed. Getting up @ 8:00AM to take us to Urgent Care. Crossing fingers. Sorry there’s no blog/flickr updates. Check back next week with The World isn’t crumbling around me.

…to The Love of my Life. My rock, my hero, my friend, my fiance and He Who Puts Up With All My Shit.

Happy Birthday, Ben. (k)