Halloween Eve

Raise your hand if you've ever heard of 'doorbell night'.

Raise your hand if you've ever quietly tip-toed up to someone's front porch, rang their door bell, then run like hell behind the nearest bush/tree/car.

Raise your hand if you're 2 rather strong beers in while writing this blog post.

Still only me?

Well, then.

I remember being in grade school, sixth grade, to be exact. I was at my BFF's house on Doorbell Night. A few months earlier, at the end of summer, a new family had moved in next door to her. They had a daughter who was a year older than we were, in her first year of junior high. So when she came outside on Halloween Eve to find us jumping in a pile of freshly raked leaves (could we have been more lame????) and asked us if we wanted to ring doorbells with her, we were like "Heck, yeah!" (again, totally lame)

Our first target? My BFF's neighbor, who were a couple in their eighties. Wrong target? Yes. Did we care? No. We had a SEVENTH GRADER hanging out with us. What we didn't know was that in 4 years this seventh grader would be expelled for doing drugs during study hall. While we earned all A's in AP math.

The future Courtney Love dared us, and who could say no to a dare? So my BFF and I ran up to their lit doorstep, rang the doorbell, then high-tailed it behind the nearest tree.

And then we heard it.

A frail, little voice, calling out in the darkness, "Hello? Who's there? Hello?"

When she was safely inside, we regrouped behind the big oak.

"Do it again," Courtney Love urged us. "One more time."

Like Kurt Cobain, we couldn't say no to Courtney.

Once again we snuck up to the doorstep, pressed on the bell BZZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZZT!

And there she was, in her pink bathrobe, calling out the screen door. "Whoever this is, can you please stop ringing our bell? It's late. I'm going to turn off the lights now. This isn't funny."

I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I imagined my grandparents getting pranked on Doorbell Night, and I wanted to strangle their pranksters. I looked over at the future drug addict's wild mane of red hair, and I wanted to strangle her too. Why couldn't she leave us alone? Jumping in our pile of leaves.

I whispered to my BFF "LET'S GO", knowing her mother would have hot chocolate and mini marshmallows waiting for us.

We ran inside, unzipped our Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bags, and played with My Little Pony, while Courtney Love snuck cigarettes on the back porch.

like an iVirgin

This is my very first blog post from my new iMac!

Mr. KK caved! And it only took 16 months! (My negotiating skills are getting better!)

And we got it just in time - NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are just around the corner!

That's right, I'm signing up again to blog every day for a month. Two years ago, I did it, and I have to say, it felt pretty good.

A few years ago I also tried NaNo, and failed miserably. But, being fresh off of the BlogHer Writer's Conference (total rundown to come soon...perfect NaBlo post!), I'm inspired to get this novel out of me.

Let the iWriting begin!

Apparently, Siri can't write blog posts for you.

But she can do just about everything else! I was BEYOND thrilled when the day came that I traded in my crackberry for the sleek iPhone 4S...no more phone resetting itself 6 times a day, or re-sending me emails from 3 months ago, or giving me error messages.

So to have not only this fantastically sleek new phone, but it came with a teeny tiny personal assistant inside? Sign me up!
(rest in peace, Steve Jobs, you were a true innovator)

Besides ooing and aaahing over my new phone, I've been struggling with a pressing question:

Are there any dish towels out there that actually DRY dishes? I don't mean 'move the water around' or 'leave lint behind'. I mean, truly dry the dishes, so that I could just put them in the cabinet instead of "drying" them, then setting them out to actually dry over night.

Other thoughts of note:

I'm taking the day Friday to head to NYC for the BlogHer Writer's Conference. I'm hoping to find my inspiration to get the old novel written and published. I'm supposed to go with an 'elevator pitch'. Funny thing is, I've been literally living the story for the last8 years, yet I don't even know how to begin to describe it. Perhaps I'll take the one-liner from this blog - "you can't make this shit up" - and run with it.

I don't want to jinx it, but we are FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY going to buy a new Mac for KK! Seriously, between that and the iPhone, it's a wonder I can sleep at night!

That's all for now, I'm hungry.

Siri! Make Mama some dinner!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

where i've been.

Being an only child means a few things: you probably got what you wanted for Christmas growing up, you're not awesome at sharing, and you go on vacation with your parents.

The latter is true for us. (Some say all 3 are true, but they're just jealous!) Each year we go on a family vacation - just us and both sets of parents. I have to say, it's nice that our parents get along, and we're all so close. Really close.

This year, we took our family vacation across the country to Napa Valley. In a word: paradise. Mr. KK and I went on our honeymoon 6 years ago (or 5 years ago if you ask him), and we fell in love then. I spent WEEKS researching and putting together a kick-ass itinerary (which, I have to say, worked out marvelously. If you're planning a trip, I'm happy to share it!).

The sign of a good vacation is when you come home saying things like, "I want to move to Napa", "We could totally afford a $2MM winery" and "How hard could picking grapes be??".

We took almost 700 photos on our trip (caution: nerds with a new-ish camera!). Instead of boring you with the details, I've randomly selected 5 photos to share. I'm happy to say, the photo of both sets of parents in the shower together did NOT make the cut (don't ask).

Vacation would not have been fun if we were in 2 cars! Instead, we cruised the valley in one big car, which called for the "tush push" to get the unlucky traveler into the WAAAY back.

One of my favorite photos from the trip. Look how happy we look! I never look like that at work!

Did I mention the part about wanting to move to Napa? I could deal with this view every day.

We visited Mr. KK's aunt and uncle while in Cali. These are actual lemons that grow on their tree. No joke - they are the size of grapefruit!

We went on a hot air balloon ride! When in Napa, right?