23/94: Forty Things We Love About You

Jul 13, 2010 | 94 Days of Summer

izbirthday40

Day Twenty-three: IZ turns 40. And is still telling people he’s younger than me.

In honor of IZ’s 40th birthday, Boy Wonder and I decided to write a birthday tribute in the form of a list. Because, IZ likes lists. A lot. More than you can imagine. He’s a list kind of guy. I think you get the idea.

So, without much introduction beyond this. . . here is our list.

Forty Things We Love About You:

  1. You are funny. Not funny looking.
  2. Ok, you might be funny looking when you are arching your eyebrows because I’m not in bed on time, but Mom loves that part about you. So, it counts as number two.
  3. You are technologically advanced and have saved our bacon on more counts than one. Mom says it’s cool to sleep with the IT guy. um, EWWW
  4. Wow… this is really hard. Not because there aren’t lots of things to love about you, but because there are. Oh wait, that’s another one, you’re complex.
  5. We love that you can cook. I’ve had mom’s food. Um, not cool.
  6. You’re a curmudgeon. Which means that mom and I can mock you and you get kinda flustered. Which is kinda funny. Please see number one.
  7. You are a caring person. That’s cool.
  8. You walk Sophie when I’ve overslept. You walk Sophie when it’s too cold at night. Ok, basically, you’re the dog walker.
  9. You’re the kind of parent who thinks servers make good allowances. Even when I forget to take out the trash.
  10. You like to hold hands and have really big hands good for that! (Some of us really like holding your hand and other things, but we’ve been told we shouldn’t say that!)
  11. You throw a mean snow ball.
  12. You make a great teacher.
  13. You can read minds and always seem to know when one of us needs a mocha.
  14. You’re tall. Which comes in handy in crowds. Like, at Disneyland. We  can always find you.
  15. You’re anal. Oh, admit it, you are. But someone in this family has to be, and neither of us are, so YAY!!
  16. You’re a good listener. No, a GREAT listener.
  17. You’re patient. Your endurance for the endless monologues is astounding.
  18. You have Geek appeal. Mom says Geeks are sexy.
  19. You don’t have traditional ideas about being “manly” and that means other people are free to be themselves without having to play football. Thanks for that.
  20. You are in touch with your inner child. Which makes you fun to be around.
  21. Despite what mom says, you have excellent taste in movies and television. Live long and prosper, man.
  22. Um, you do NOT have good taste in movies but you do have great taste in movie dates. Ok, wait… that’s not exactly about you.
  23. Where were we? Oh yeah, another  thing we like about you is that you can groove out  to really bad music. Where you lack rhythm you make up with soul.
  24. You have a HUGE vocabulary. Words are good. We like wordy people.
  25. You can fix just about anything. Which is a good thing because we have a tendency to break things.
  26. You have an infectious laugh and know how to use it.
  27. Your eyes twinkle when you’re up to something. Which is great, because we always know when you’re up to something.
  28. You are generous.
  29. You’re smart. Like, scary smart. As opposed to fortune cookie smart.
  30. You’re aging gracefully. Although, telling mom she’s robbing the cradle is pushing it. (OK, I said that not the boy, but seriously, that joke is getting OLD… kinda like YOU. hahaha)
  31. You faux swear. It’s endearing.
  32. You’re a bit obsessed with our cholesterol. Our future selves thank you.
  33. You’re really neat and tidy. Except for your office. What’s that about?
  34. You’re always game for a road-trip and a terrific driver. That’s probably because you’re a terrible passenger. Seriously, Mom’s driving isn’t that bad!
  35. You’re a hard worker. Which is code for Workaholic. We learned re-languaging from you.
  36. You’re an amazing father.
  37. You’re a wonderful husband.
  38. You’re the best friend a person could have
  39. The invention of sliced bread has nothing on you.
  40. We love that you love us. So brilliantly and selflessly and utterly. And we can’t begin to tell you just how much you are treasured and adored. Thank you for being YOU. XOXO ~~ Boy Wonder and Wende

Happy Birthday, IZ.

22/94: Kitty Slug

Jul 12, 2010 | 94 Days of Summer

kittyslug

Day Twenty-two: Kitty Slug strikes again.  I woke up to the sound of IZ steam cleaning up the green goo Snickers left on the carpet after her sin of gluttony the night before. That cat and I need to have a “come  to Jesus” talk about the house-plants.

21/94: Farewell South Africa

Jul 11, 2010 | 94 Days of Summer

worldcup

Day Twenty-one: One last game in an amazing month of fútbol.*

Today’s final wasn’t nearly as thrilling as yesterday’s spoilers game. Although, I’m sure Spain fans would disagree. While Uruguay did not manage  a podium finish, taking 4th against Germany— the amazing Diego Forlán walked away with World Cup’s equivalency of the MVP: The Golden Ball Award. And if you watched him play, you’d understand why this award comes as no surprise. Gracias, La Celeste for an amazing month of fútbol!

20/94: Outside

Jul 10, 2010 | 94 Days of Summer

snickerswindowout

Day Twenty: Snickers spends a good part of the day trying to persuade us to let her outside. Perching in the window to make her move on the door is a favorite past-time for this cat.

19/94: Cheating

Jul 9, 2010 | 94 Days of Summer

housefourth3

Day Nineteen: I lounged around and read books all day, so I’m cheating by putting up a photo my sister-in-law took of our house on the 4th of July. I’m amazed at how much the greenery has grown in just a year!

16/94: Sprinklers!

Jul 6, 2010 | 94 Days of Summer

sprinkler

Day Sixteen: Miss Sophie thinks we put on the sprinkler just so she can attack the water. I’ll confess, we support her delusions and she lets us dress her up in cute clothes.

15/94: Change on the Air

Jul 5, 2010 | 94 Days of Summer

peaceflags

Day Fifteen: Peace flags and a view of the river through my window.

Rumor has it, there’s a change in the air. And let’s face it, when we’re talking weather forecasts, it’s all conjecture. If you’re to believe those well-paid liars at 11 pm, tomorrow is the start of a sun streak bringing temps that are definitely summer-like. Not the nearly frigid 60’s that North Coast Oregonians are resigned to call warm— but hand-to-god steamy, yummy, let’s strip naked and streak through the streets balmy 80’s. And not just the random, isolated day of lovely, but a whole darn week of loveliness. Well, five days anyhow.

And while I remain completely skeptical, I also remain resolutely optimistic. Should we actually get a string of  real summer days, the weather might not be the only thing making the 11 o’clock news.