long long ago....

It certainly has been awhile since my last blog post. I think I had enough writing that I just didn't want to think about doing any more for awhile. I'll start with one that happened awhile back and work my way back to present day.

We went to a "light saber" battle in Washington Square Park, which by the way is now open. For those of you who don't know, Washington Square Park is the one by NYU with the big arch and they tore it all up and relandscaped and made a new fountain so that it wold line up with the arch and it's been closed for over a year. So now it's open again.

Anyway, this battle consisted of thousands of cardboard tubes, you know the kind that are in the center of wrapping paper that you used to use as swords when you were a kid? Well we got to flashback to the days of kid-dom. They painted these things with fluorescent paint, pointed some large black lights at us and waited for dusk. The battle was interesting, but I always think this group could use just a small amount of extra planning. They're the same ones that do the pillow fight. I think I made this comment before about them. For example, in this event everyone got all bunched up and stuck their "sword" in the air and wiggled it around. There wasn't enough room for proper fights. It would have been more fun if they'd made a line and had people stand on either side of it so actual "sword fights" could take place. Oh well, maybe I'm just too much of a planner. Everyone had fun anyway and so did I. Scott and Eric even had their pictures up on the Gothamist. Here are some of my shots, it was tough lighting conditions for photos so there aren't really any fantastic ones.

From lightsaber2009

From lightsaber2009

From lightsaber2009

Admirer?

It's that time of year again, when 5 lean creatures are leashed to a sled/cart and race through the streets of New York trying to avoid flying eggs, bananas, corn and mayonnaise while completing obstacle courses and looking team spirited. Last year we raced as a dodgeball team, but this year I'm not planning on racing. I did just find out about it and I decided to check out their forums. The "personals" section had an interesting post, there were two girls on our kickball team and there may have been other kickball teams, but I thought this post was entertaining anyways.


Attn: Girl from Kickball team

Post by timo more smiles » Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:02 pm
I hope your team is racing again this year. Or, to say it more specifically, I hope you race again this year.

Last year we talked briefly (I offered you a swig of whiskey, you politely declined). As stupid as it sounds, I've been thinking about that moment since.

Maybe this year, I can be more prepared to offer you a drink of your choosing. Without being too presumptuous, I'd say I bet you're a hot chocolate kind of lady. And without being too smug, I'd say I make a mean hot chocolate. From scratch. I buy a block of semi-sweet and grate it in to gently boiling milk (with a small pad of butter--don't tell anyone, it's my secret ingredient!). Then I add sugar, a little bit of maple syrup (the other secret ingredient--I'm just giving away the farm here!!), and a few dashes of nutmeg.

Mmmm. It sure is good!!

Maybe I'll make some today and sit by the window, sipping my hot chocolate as I watch the snow fall. Doesn't that sound romantic?

I tell you all of this in the hopes that, if you were on the fence about whether or not to do the race this year, I can help convince you that it's a good idea.

My team is going to be dressed as Fruit of the Loom this year. I'm not sure which fruit I'll be, but I'll let you know when I do!!

Last Halloween

There was a period in time where I was too busy to keep up with the blog and I didn't even post pictures from Halloween. So here they are. We had a Pride, Greed, Wrath, Sloth and Lust.

It's A Wedding!

Just wanted to share some of the Lauren and Donovan wedding photos. We had a ton of fun in AZ getting to see everybody. The free dinner at the wedding was really good too. I have this thing about free food, it always tastes better and I can never refuse it or stop eating it. I think I have a highly tuned survival instinct. I MUST eat when it doesn't cost me money, who knows where my next meal might come from? I might have to beat down a rhino or something. Anyway, I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Rat Race, but the guy who plays Mr. Bean was in it and his most memorable line was "It's a Race!" Guess you have to watch it to understand. Anyway, that's what the title of the blog post is about.

From Terry Wedding

Finders Keepers

Many of you have already heard this story, but it's such a good one I've got to tell it again. Scott and I were hanging out on campus at ASU on Wednesday and saw a little carnival set up on the lawn. So we went to check it out and play some of the games just to kill some time. As Scott was finishing a game of darts we turned around and he noticed a wallet on the ground. So of course we picked it up and looked at the ID hoping to see who it was in order to return it. The Florida license had a picture of The King as in The Burger King which I thought was kind of a funny joke on some college kid's part. But then we flipped it open and saw a little sticker that said "Attention Would Be Good Samaritan! Don't worry about lost & found. The King wants you to keep this wallet and everything in it." Inside was a dollar that at first glance I thought was play money because it had the King's face on it, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was actually just a sticker put on a dollar bill. Then we opened some more pockets and found a $5 Burger King gift card. Definitely the best marketing ploy I've ever seen. It's tough to describe how good it is just by telling the story. But just think of the emotions you feel when you find something valuable that someone has lost. Just for a second you hope that you might have gotten lucky, but then you start to resign yourself to spending some time trying to find the missing owner etc. Then imagine actually getting to keep the thing. Hey it's a nice leather wallet. It's also like winning the lottery without even entering. I decided I wanted one too so we went looking around and I hurriedly picked another one up that Scott spotted. One of the carnival operators saw me pick it up and tried to take it from me so she could put it in the lost and found. Very well done Burger King marketers. I felt compelled to blog about it and give them the extra marketing they were hoping for.

Sitings

Alright, I'm running low on my tank of interesting, so today's episode consists not of the mundane details of my life, but of web searching and random sites that you can visit too! Share the thrill as you discover whether your telephone number spells something as nifty as "5053 am a glut" Next time someone asks you for your number you could just smile and wink and make that great little gun hand motion and tell them, just dial "a 01 he is 1 to" and watch as their brows furrow in confusion, as you smile to yourself knowing that they will be hunting and pecking on their phone trying to figure how to type all those letters using the keypad without the aid of auto complete. You could even start your own website, or create a really awful infomercial where you shout from the top of your lungs for people to dial "it o a kink o" then spell it out for them real slow and repeat! Oh the fun you could have! All you've got to do is visit this website ! Of course you could be really lame, and have a number that doesn't spell anything even when you add the eleventh digit.

As if that wasn't enough self promotion for you, did you know that any gmail lovers out there can have their very own plethora of e-mail addresses all within one low low priced account!? Well you CAN! All you have to do is think positive!! soon MellowDaphne@gmail.com could become MellowDaphne+ScottEqualsLove@gmail.com. It would all go to the same place and you can sort it by incoming mail so that all your illicit liasonees think that you have a special e-mail just for them. MellowDaphne+BittyBear@gmail etc. The love is endless! Just be sure not to hit reply to the wrong e-mail. Texting the wrong person is also bad form, just FYI. Especially when you're saying something unflattering about the person you accidently texted to. But I digress.

In two easy steps and all for a low low low price you can be marketing yourself like the best used car salesman in town..town..town..town. This is a once in a lifetime, limited offer, get it while it lasts!!!!!!

3311 Reunion Tour

Back in my good ole college days the 4 girls in apartment 3311 were legendary for the fun and excitement that could always be found around them. Now that they've spread out over the globe from Joyanne in California and Sarah in Colorado to Valerie in Arizona and me New York it was time to take a break from the day jobs and hike on up to the final frontier.

From Roommate Reun...

Alaska was a fantastic place to vacation, made even better by the fact that Sarah's family took us in and fed and housed us like queens. Having a native Alaskan tour guide helped too. Sarah found us all sorts of Alaskan things, like moose, bald eagels, wild salmon and glaciers.

From Roommate Reun...

From Roommate Reun...

We hiked up mountains and walked and shopped and kayaked across the sea. I'm sure my lungs loved being away from the nasty New York air. One of my favorite wildlife sightings was watching the "combat fishermen" as they lined up along the bank of a river. If one person got a bite they'd have to yell "fish on!" so that everyone else would know not to get their lines tangled. We told the person at the tollbooth as we entered that we just wanted to come in and look at the fish, to which the park ranger gave us a raised eyebrow, shook her head and said 'ok, no charge if it's under half an hour.' With that time limit in mind, we wanted the fishermen to catch a big one more than some of them did. For awhile all was calm as the water rushed by tugging at one fisherman's beer bottles cooling in the water by his feet. Soon, you could see his pole dip sharply and he yelled, fish on! as he frantically grabbed to hold both his pole and keep the beers from floating away. Sadly his divided attention didn't pay off and that one got away. A few more lucky fish fought for and won their freedom as unlucky fishermen's poles bent nearly in two. Finally with just a few minutes left in our half hour, a nearby shout of 'fish on!' caught our attention. This man knew how to bring in a fish as he patiently reeled in and let the fish get tired as it swam closer and closer. The guy had a little boy with him who was just as excited as we were. He offered to help by suggesting that he could shoot the fish's eye out with a rubberband. Once the fish was on the ground the little boy offered to 'set a big rock on it'. The fisherman opted to pull out his knife and stab the fish in the brain, a pretty gruesome sight, but probably more humane than being rubberbanded or rocked to death. The fish was a big King Salmon, nearly as tall as the boy. Someday I think it would be fun to go fishing and cook one up straight out of the river. I think I might have to work out a little though, those things are huge! We certainly had our fill of seafood and just food in general. With the 5 Mapes women plus 3 more ladies, Sarah's dad was outnumbered, but at least he got some good meals out of the deal. I think we hiked and ate pretty much constantly. Since it didn't get dark until about midnight we didn't really stop or realize that it was getting late until then. It was certainly a relaxing vacation aside from the airport time where one plane's engine failed as we pulled away from the gate and another mad dash through the airport to a connecting flight left me facing a closed door just 5 minutes short of making it. Someday I may just have to go back.

Special Guests

I had a lovely surprise visit this weekend. My parents called to let me know that their flight home from a much needed vacation had been cancelled. So I got to have them at least overnight before their plane left in the morning. It was great to see them, and I definitely made out well. I got some Blueberry Scone mix from Maine. I can't wait to try it. I have been really liking scones lately. They make some good ones at work.

I know I've been awful at keeping up with the blog posts lately. Work has been crazy busy and by the time I get home I don't want to look at a computer screen anymore. I'm headed to Alaksa soon though and i'm sure there will be many many pictures and good times. I can't wait!

Birthday Brunch

We had a wonderful birthday brunch on Saturday. About 17 of us made it out to Essex for a fairly early brunch. Yes 11:30 is early for brunch in NYC.

From Birthday Brunch

From Birthday Brunch

I had a tasty eggs benedict and Scott had some eggs and salmon along with unimited mimosas. Very tasty. Sky and Anna brought us some very sweet birthday presents by bringing a couple of disposable cameras for the table to take pictures with. They also provided cupcakes with candles. Afterwards we made our way to Sky and Anna's place for some SingStar and sushi dinner. I'm pretty sure all we did all day was eat.

From Birthday Brunch

From Birthday Brunch

Easter Parade

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter or a lovely Sunday if you don't celebrate that particular holiday. We've been having a wonderful time with Sarah and her boyfriend Corey in town. I will have to post about it all later because I'm too busy having fun for now. Just thought I'd share some pictures from the Easter Parade. It's not really a parade with floats, it's more of a thing where the street is blocked off and everyone wanders up and down it wearing hats, some crazy some more normal. It was fun to see. my favorite was the Peeps Statue of Liberty.

Luck O' The Irish

From 2008_03_17

I started out the day in my usual haze of morning fog. I didn't really pay attention to what shirt I had put on until I heard someone on the news say Happy St. Patrick's Day. When I looked down and saw that I chose my green shirt to wear I thought, huh that's pretty lucky. I got my annual review today and it was super good, which made me very excited so Scott and I went out to dinner to celebrate. We had some really good guacamole and drinks and when the bill came I checked it and the waitress took my card. When she came back I saw that for some reason she had only put half the correct amount on the card so of course I told her right away so she could fix it. For some reason that seems to happen to me every once in awhile and I'm always honest about it, which usually pays off. One time the manager gave me a complimentary bottle of wine. This time our waitress just said thank you. Scott and I wandered over to our train station and tried to sprint down the stairs and only managed to get there just as our train was pulling away. When the trains pull into and out of the tunnel they create a wind tunnel effect and everthing blows everywhere. I thought I heard a shout and looked in the direction of it and saw a bill floating away. I hurried to stomp on it thinking someone's dollar was about to blow on to the train tracks where it would be irretrievable. When I picked it up I saw it was a 20 dollar bill. I looked around and asked the guy if it was his and he said no. There were some other gentlemen around dressed up in old Union Civil War gear from the parade. Apparently they'd been imbibing a decent amount because I asked one of them if the money was theirs and he shouted at his friends who didn't seem to know/care if they had lost any money. So the guy said "it's your lucky day." I guess it was. It's nice when the Karma train comes back around.

Count Down

Very soon Sarah and her man Corey will be coming to visit! I can't wait to see them. I've never met Corey, but I've heard good things :) It's been a little warmer lately which makes me so excited for spring. That is until all the pollen starts making me cry. Apparently in New York they plant male trees which have less root structure to tear up the sidewalks, but that also means a higher pollen count. Allergies in the city aren't very fun, but warmer weather is definitely welcome. I'm counting the days till flip flops and beach time.

Number 47

I Googled myself today and found that this blog now shows up. It must have something to do with the fact that I linked to someone else's picture, because it never showed up before. Now it's the number 1 link. It used to just be junk that had no relation to me, so maybe Google is just getting better at figuring out people's every online move. Anyway, I also found this fun article. Apparently my good name is no longer good. Check out number 47 on Colorado's top 50 most wanted list. I'll change my name officially one of these days when I get all those forms filled out. I felt like this was too good not to pass along, since though I have been to Colorado, obviously I am a crime free individual. Evidenced by the fact that I won't even "borrow" a shopping cart from anywhere for the shopping cart race next Saturday. Well I'm off to play soccer outside in the snow.

Sky's the limit

From Sky and Anna'...

It's been awhile, but I had a nasty cold and now I'm feeling much better. We were also busy getting ready to host Sky and Anna's Birthday party at our house. We had a fun night with Sing Star, a game for the PlayStation 2 where you get scored for how well you karaoke. It tells you if you hit the right note, which is fun even if you're not usually a karaoke fan.

From Sky and Anna'...

We also had a few other kinds of party games. I made them a rum cake and got them the nice trick candles, but unfortunately Sky knew the trick of how to blow them out just right so it didn't last as long as I'd hoped :) It was a bit of a sleepover party since we live out in Jersey and it's a bit of a trek for people to have to go back to the city at night. In the end we had 8 people in our little house. I was pretty impressed that only one person had to have a sleeping bag on the floor. Poor Scott had to get up early and go to work because they were having a neuroscience symposium, but by the time he got back we'd all finally woken up and he was able to join us for a brunch at IHOP.

From Sky and Anna'...

From Sky and Anna'...

Happy New Year!

From 2008_01_01

Scott and I have Lucas, Scott's best man visiting us for the week. After we returned from our travels we picked Lucas up on Sunday. Everyone went out for a NYC New Years. It was nice since usually we're travelling on New Years Eve. I think I'm usually on a plane or train or at home in bed. This year we went to Uncle Ming's. We got there and looked around and asked aloud where it was and the people standing near the door said "it's right here." It was one of those clubs that you have to know about to go into. They seem to have a lot of those in New York, I think they think it makes them seem exclusive. We had fun. I hope everyone else had a good one!

From 2008_01_01

Last post of 2007

The last weeks of 2007 have been busy ones. Scott and I flew to Des Moines Iowa the weekend before Christmas. We had good timing since they had a storm the day before we flew in. The runways were snow covered and the wind made the snow blow along the ground, either the snowflakes were very small or it was just pieces of snowflakes being blown along like dust along the ground. I tried to get a picture but it wasn't really possible.

From Christmas

Scott's mom picked us up and we decided that we'd need to stop at Walgreens since Scott's bag hadn't arrived with us despite the 3 hour layover and the fact that my bag made it there. We made the hour long drive to Toledo where Scott's Mom, Susan tried to drop off some stuff in a storage unit. Of course we realized once we pulled into the driveway that it was a solid sheet of ice and that we'd have to do some major manuvering to get back out. Scott and I got out and pushed and we managed to skate our way back out again. Later that night Scott's bag got delivered too, so everything worked out.

From Christmas

From Christmas

We opened presents at Scott's grandparent's house on Christmas eve since we'd have to head back to Des Moines on Christmas day to catch our flight to New Mexico. We had a nice time playing cards with his family and even managed to go for a walk out into the cornfields for a mini photo shoot.

From Christmas

From Christmas

We got to New Mexico with no problem and my Aunt Luella and Uncle Diego picked us up for the 3 hour drive to Farmington. We got to have another Christmas dinner and presents there.

From Christmas

From Christmas

It snowed enough to make the roads slick, but as ususal for NM snow it melted before noon.

From Christmas

My sister Erin will be graduating soon, so she wanted to try taking some senior pictures, but it was so freezing and windy that we didn't get much done. When the snow is outracing the car then you know it's windy. Hair blowing straight up in the air doesn't make for the most attractive pictures.

From Erin's Senior...

It was a short visit, but we also got to have some coffee with Chris and Tammie Billey of Largo Photography. We also got to meet their son Treston who is even more adorable in person than in pictures :) Scott got a mentos and coke rocket launcher in his stocking, but we didn't want to carry the soda so we launched it before we left.

From Christmas

From Christmas

From Christmas

Afterwards we headed back to Albuquerque so we could catch our flight the next day back to New York. I took some pictures of the NM scenery along the way.

From Christmas

From Christmas

From Christmas

Again we got lucky since we flew through Chicago and they'd just had a very large snowstorm the day before. We got home all in one piece and with lots of extra goodies. It was very nice to see everyone. It may have been a whirlwind trip, but it was definitely worth it!

From Christmas