Dichotomy

A dichotomy is two seemingly contradictory things thrown together for your Monday blog amusement.
Just because I pack a Coach bag, don't assume that I'm not comfortable around guns. (Thanks Dad!) I'm fairly sure that me owning a 9mm Beretta was one of the deciding factors in whether Daron proposed marriage or not. The charming personality and quick wit were just bonuses!

At the Barnes household, we have a bit of a squirrel problem. We happen to own a dog bred for squirrel hunting. One little backyard, 65 taunting squirrels, and no way to catch one has turned our dog into a frustrated mess. Here's where the GAMO Air Rifle comes in... Believe me, I've done some research, and this is going to be fun as well as effective. Will I feel badly about blasting those poor squirrels? Maybe, but I'm sure it will pass soon enough. Besides, squirrel season starts on Thursday, and that makes us totally legit!!

We haven't really thought as far as disposal yet. I really think the minute squirrels start falling from the sky like manna from heaven, Skip will make sure disposal isn't an issue. (Are squirrels fattening? They're all natural, right? I'll have to ask the vet...)

Happy Hunting Everyone!!!

*Disclaimer: if you belong to PETA, think hunting is wrong, hate guns, love squirrels, or any combination thereof... please know that I'm a big fan of the 2nd Amendment (Bill of Rights). We may just have to agree to disagree. Besides everyone knows that girls that shoot guns are totally hot.

Seattle or Bust

Dear Readers,
This post finds me in better spirits. Approximately 24 hours after I started, I finally arrived in Seattle. The weather here is gorgeous, and I'm going to see one of my favorite bands tonight!!! My luggage arrived without incident (I was right to be worried, though, right?) and I'm in clean clothes for the first time since yesterday morning. Pee-ewww. My friends were kind enough not to comment on my uncharacteristicly disheveled state. I'm going to have some great fun this week!! I miss my boys (Hi Daron, Hi Skip!), but I've been looking forward to this week for a while.... See you all when I get back!!!
Elisa

Beantown

So after leaving my house about 9 hours ago, I'm no closer to Seattle than when I started. I'm in lovely Saugus, Massachusetts (slums of Boston) after an airline debacle of epic and Xanax worthy porportions. Here's the day in numbers:

Hours sat on Raleigh runway: 1.5
Runways operating at Boston airport: 1
Connections missed: 1
Number of gate agents spoken to in Boston: 16
Number of helpful gate agents: 0
Terminals directed and redirected to: 3
Pairs of sensible traveling shoes worn: 0
Pairs of cute, non-sensible shoes worn: 1
Hurt Feet: 2
Bag missing: 1
Hotel paid for with my hard earned $$ because delay was deemed "non-mechanical"... :1
Hours spent at overpriced hotel before 4am shuttle comes to retrieve me: 6
Chance of me flying with a Boston connection again: ZERO!!!
Chance of this ruining my excellent Seattle vacation: ZERO!!

That is, unless they fail to locate my bag. Then I'm totally screwed..... :(

Birthday!

Ok, so I feel a little guilty posting about MY birthday, when I so conveniently skipped over Daron's birthday. I just had so much to post at that time, that it sort of slipped by. So yeah, yesterday was my birthday. I'm not going to tell you how old I am, because I feel practically decrepit. Here's a hint for you: My senior year of High School, the #1 song was "More Than Words" by Extreme. Yeah, go Google that. No, no... I'll wait...... So now that you know how old I am, I'll tell you that the birthday day was nothing special. Why? Because I did the grown-up thing, and went to work. Now, I know people that don't work on their birthday, and that's a personal choice. I just know that I need to save my days for really important things, like cross-country concerts, vacations, etc. I will tell you one thing that surprised me, and made me feel really good- the SHEER NUMBER of people that posted Birthday messages on my Facebook page. If you don't believe me, go check it out. But only if you're my friend and can see my page. If you're not my facebook friend, then it's a little awkward that you're reading this.

Here is a picture of my two very most favorite North Carolina nieces. The awesome Alexis, and the darling Olivia. See Olivia's face? She's still a little bummed because her campaign for an IPOD touch was (again) an epic failure. Her disappointment was apparent to everyone; even the soft red glow of the Target sign couldn't hide it. I tried to make her feel better by telling her that even with a full-time job, I couldn't afford the IPOD touch that I want, but it fell on deaf ears. I may not have gotten an IPOD touch, but that IS a fabulous new Coach bag on my arm. (Thanks for noticing!) My very generous husband and BFF/SIL Sherri, made sure that my birthday was a great one by giving me this lovely gem of a bag. Jealous much? You should be.

To cap off a lovely day, we met our friends at Coldstone for some birthday ice cream. Coldstone is as delicious as it is overpriced. Sort of like Coach bags, but whatever. Sarah and Jon, Rebecca and Mark, Daron, Sherri, Jenny, and Sofia were all there. It was a lovely night to sit out on the patio, and have a bunch of laughs with some really great friends. They even sang loudly enough to embarrass the crud out of me. Thanks for that, guys.

I guess the bottom line is this: Birthdays come and go. We get older, we get a little slower, the clothes fit a little tighter. But I've discovered that the friendships are sweeter, the laughs are deeper, and the memories are more precious. We appreciate more, we forgive easier, we love deeper. My 20's were more fun than I can ever tell you. My 30's have surpassed them, with fun to spare. Thank you to everyone, my friends and family, that have made each year better than the next!

Global Warming? ...Naaa, it's just the Barnes Family

Global warming has a devastating effect on marine life. But global warming is nothing compared to the crimes against nature that were committed at Shucker's Oyster Bar last night. The Barnes family descended on aforementioned oyster bar, and proceeded to decimate entire populations of shrimp, crabs, oysters, and calamari. (If there's a mini-corndog population out there, then the Barnes boys probably took care of that one as well...)

Daron and I had our 7th wedding anniversary yesterday, and the whole family helped us celebrate. People were surprised that we would have our entire family come eat dinner with us, but I think it's oddly appropriate. These are the people (along with MY family) that I will be spending eternity with, so I better like hanging out with them. When I married Daron, I married into the whole Barnes experience, and all the madness and calamity that comes with it. Needless to say, it's been the best (and most fun) 7 years of my whole life.

Let's get back to my favorite part: CRAB LEGS. I spend the better part of yesterday dreaming of crab legs, and waffling back and forth- should I get 1 lb? 1.5lbs? Start with two orders of .5lbs? Ask for another .5lb if I still have room? These are the important questions you MUST have ironed out ahead of time. Plus, I've got to support my boys on the Northwestern, so that they will continue to provide me many more seasons of Deadliest Catch entertainment.

If you don't think that I'm serious, this IS a photo of the Northwestern from one of my trips to Seattle. Yes, I saw it in person. And YES, it was awesome.

Ok, let's get back to the reason for this post. Our anniversary. We're not big on public displays, or general shmoopyness. But I will say this: Daron has made me laugh every single day of the last 7 years. He's my best friend, and the first one I want to tell everything to. Thanks for picking me out of a crowd of very lovely girls. As my old hairdresser "Big Rose" used to say... "you gotta take a CHANCE on love!" We sure did, and man did we hit the jackpot!