MBT shoes

I apologize for my weekend absence; Chris and I had a million things to do over the past two days which left me without computer access.

My knocked up twin rolled into town at the perfect time.  Carrie arrived Friday to lend a hand in our official moving/unpacking efforts.  Though overweight in the midsection and sporting stretch pants minus the stirrups, Carrie rocked-the-house.  Going above and beyond the call of duty, she was instrumental in cleaning the old house, acting as a temporary life coach and organizing the new crib.

FRIDAY DINNER
All I'm going to say is "questionable-looking Key Lime Pie."


Saturday was spent making several trips back and forth to the old house/new house.  Carrie and I were able to parlay a quick trip to IKEA for some crucial items.  Apparently it was "All Ugly People of the West Suburbs of Chicago Day" at the Bolingbrook IKEA.  Holy crap.  MBTs, stretch jeans that weren't suppose to be stretchy, vats of cinnamon rolls being ingested by the morbidly obese and toddlers with beer guts DOESN'T even COME CLOSE to what we witnessed.



Thankfully, Carrie and I were able to get out unscaithed without any apparent hives or broken shoe laces.

After Carrie left on Sunday morning, Chris and I packed up the last of the our things from the old house's basement, gestured our middle fingers and hit the road.  While on 63rd, just west of Cass Avenue the unthinkable happened:

We failed to strap the plastic shelving to the truck bed, so basically we were acting as a lovely 20-mph catapult for non-trajectory objects.  The picture is a bit dramatic and completely inaccurate, however very funny.  No car was damaged behind us, however we did have to pull over and pick up the shelves in the middle of the road.  Classic.  The only thing missing was Alabama's Greatest Hits playing in the background and some 2-Liters of Mountain Dew.

Several nights slept at our new digs, I've never been happier.  Though wedding planning is looming overhead, I feel like there is so much to look forward to:

1.)  Baby Greta Norton being born and having her first photographs taken while wearing lederhosen
2.)  Nate and Shortcake's Park City Wedding Extravaganza
3.)  The Kristy Luurs-Munch Spring Garage Sale Spectacular where Everything Must Go

Cleaning the ol' pipes

I'd like to dedicate today's post to my fiancee's mother, rightfully nicknamed "Busia" (Boo-sha).  The Busia (Polish for "grandmother") transformation happened when we adopted our Polish refugee puppy.  Being that Chris' mother is of Polish descent and so is Kasia, Patti went from being Mrs. Willis to Kasia's grandmother.

Busia has been readily available to lend a hand whenever we need her; rain or shine, morning, noon or night, in good times and in bad.  She taught me how to sew pillows, clean/sanitize a Whirlpool jacuzzi tub and man, can she make a mean pasta salad.  If it weren't for her, the move into our new home would've taken four additional months.  Hats off to Busia!  Also, Kasia loves her very much and makes Chewbacca noises whenever Busia comes over.

Swizzle Sticks
Having our everyday lives misplaced temporarily from changing addresses, we ran out of dog food.  Because Kasia is spoiled and practically human I made the choice early on to not feed her crappy dog food.  I absolutely associate my dog's good health and shiny coat to her awesome daily nourishment.  I am willing to spend a little more (against Chris' wishes) on quality dog food, so she eats this Duck/Apple concoction.

Smelling like a mixture of rotten apples and duck casserole, Kasia throws back her breakfast and dinner like a champ.  So, when we depleted our crap casserole stock, I had to hit up the local Eatz-N-Treatz for another 50-pounder.

While walking the dog food store, I came across an aisle of all-things-awesome:  "Swizzle Sticks."  Yes, that's right, cow dicks.  However, this time around they had a new product on the shelves--- bison dicks.  On sale for $6, I had to buy one for Kasia.


Perfectly hardened and seasoned with goodness, Kasia met her Swizzle Stick with a rapidly wagging tail and Chewbacca noises.  I can't really wrap my head around the thought of giving my dog a bison weiner, but I'm willing to try since my little four-legged-unicorn-princess likes them so much.

Night One

Chris, Kasia and I slept at the new house last night.  Amidst the boxes, excess wires (from old receivers, speakers, "kickers" and cordless phones) and misplaced furniture, our evening was perfect. 

With the help of Burt and Mikey, Chris was able to move all of our furniture while I was at work.  When I came home (the new house), I could not believe my eyes-- all of our things were there!  What a relief.  The only stuff that remains at the old house are random clothes, a few tools in the basement and lots of dust bunnies (Kasia hairs mixed with dust).

To celebrate Night One in the new digs I offered up my most cherished film for our viewing pleasure: "Youngblood" starring God-rest-his-soul Patrick Swayze, stupid Keanu Reaves and Rob Lowe.


Please take note of the CD cover for the movie soundtrack.  Gotta love hockey montage music.  I highly recommend renting this movie in VHS form.

Youngblood embodies all things great about the 80's and hockey: Rob Lowe shirtless, Patrick Sawyze pumping iron with foam-covered headphones (connected to a tape player) and a cameo appearance by Jim Youngs ("Chuck Cranston" from the blockbuster hit "Footloose").  The villain in this movie is characterized by "Carl Rakki," a bad-ass Canadian with a nasty right hook. 

Dreams Do Come True

Kasia Lokelani Willis

Kasia Lokelani Willis was brought to this world by Jesus and a stork on January 13th, 2010.  She was one of several in the litter; her mother was the Global Director of a Polish brothel, so confirmed sibling amount is unavailable.


We discovered her at Jim's Pet World, a bait shop in Villa Park.  Buying her was a split second decision while dining over breakfast at Juicy-O.  Chris had been talking about getting a dog but I didn't realize how serious he was until he whipped out the back page of the newspaper = where you find puppies.

Jim's Pet World was the only place selling mut puppies; the Humane Societies in the area had nothing stocked under 1 year old.  So, after finishing up our french toast and corn beef hash skillet, we ventured north. 

Walking into the store, all I could smell was woodchips.  There were faint noises coming from the back of the store; high pitched yet soft yelps.  PUPPIES.

There before our eyes were four "koi fish ponds" filled with puppies.  (by koi fish ponds I mean hard shelled pools which people use to build ponds in their backyards.)

Padded by soft hay, the puppies bounced around, while some were sleeping.  I immediately went for the first koi pond.  Filled with what appeared to be shepherd/Great Pyrenees puppies, I picked up the largest one.  She had thick, soft grey hair with one floppy ear.  She told me her name was Luna and that she wanted me to be her mommy.


Chris told me to put her down.  "Too much hair" he said.  As I placed her back with the rest of the litter, Chris said, "What about her?"

Holding her up like a newly won trophy, Kasia had the sweetest face.


How could I turn down such a cute smooshy chub chub?  So there we were, new parents and not a clue how to train a puppy.



We named her Kasia after my friend Katie Whorf, doctor-in-training to the stars.  Kasia is the Polish way of spelling it-- KOSH-AH.  Not KOSH-ee like the cereal.

She is now a year old and quite awesome.  She LOVES peanut butter, going to kindergarten (at Paws in Paradise) and playing with her crew: Sadie Luurs-Munch, LeRoy Sennstrom and Rudy Salerno.  And for the record, she does know how to sit, shake, lay down and eat underpants.

The Jennie Show, installment 1.0

So, here we go...... my first attempt at "blogging."  Completely and utterly behind the curve when it comes to flux capacitance,  I will do my best to deliver a solid message several times throughout the week.  Balanced with trying to figure out how my company-owned iPad works, blogging may take me from 1984 to 1995 in figuring out social media.

My Morning Commute
This section of my blog will be dedicated solely to the jerk-off drivers I share the road with each and every morning (en route to work.)  You know who you are-- "Mr.-cigarette-in-one-hand-newspaper-in-the-other-while-trying-to-shift-from-3rd-to-4th-simultaneously-trying-to-change-lanes." 

The whole multi-tasking while operating a vehicle completely baffles me.  While I am guilty of drinking coffee while driving, or talking on the phone and driving, I NEVER apply makeup, read the paper, do homework or get dressed while steering.

Don't be surprised when your mascara gets smudged because of my right shoe being rifled across I-355 Northbound from my window to yours.
 

Let the Wedding Planning Commence
So Chris, my awesome domestic partner and baby daddy to our 4-legged-daughter, and I got engaged while vacationing in Maui last month.  He proposed while on a hike at La Perouse Bay on the east side of the island.


I of course said yes and couldn't be more pumped to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.  Enter-- WEDDING PLANNING.