All Glory To The Hypnotoad

Halloween Party, Halloween Hospital Fun and Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

Long time since our last blog.. but here we are.

Halloween Party
Tak and Jacob had a costume party the weekend before Halloween... right in the middle of my packing for the move. When I agreed to go, I didnt know I'd be moving the next weekend... so I told Jacob that I wouldn't be able to make it. I could tell he was let down, but right after I hung up the phone, Tak called me back and threatened my manhood if I didn't attend. I talked it over with Katie and we both agreed that it was too important of an event to miss out on.

We scrambled for costumes, but did a pretty good job. We went with a blue collar job theme; Katie was a 7-11 worker and I was a Ralphs worker. The party was a pretty good time. We met many new people and Jacob & Tak's apartment looked awesome. Moe showed up as a Czech rocket troop... always nice to see teammates at social events.

Halloween Hospital Fun
So I was moving in 4 days and was packing at a fever pace. When I got home from work on the 31st, I layed down for a 2hr nap before opening a can of packing whoop ass. When I woke up.. I was felt terribly sick. Fever, nausea, chills... all the symptoms of... CELLULITUS! I had Katie come right over and she made an executive decision to take me to the ER.

Now, the Henry Mayo ER has never been a smooth process. Always over crowded and long wait times. This time, once I signed in we only waited 5 minutes before we saw the triage nurse... and another 30 minutes before I saw a doctor. While I was on the bed waiting, Katie was by my side, comforting me while I was in agonizing pain and having a terrible anxiety attack. I don't think I could have made it without her there.

The Doctor gave me the final call.. be admitted or do out-patient treatment. I told him he is the pro and needs to make the call. Right? I mean.. what kind of doc asks the patient on treatment? The doc strongly reccommend that I stay so I gave him the call. I was admitted at 9p on the 31st and let out on the 2nd. Fisch was the only one to come visit me other than Katie. Fisch has always made it in every time I have been in the hospital... and that really says something. Granted this stay was short, but still... Fisch really is a life-friend and I am very thankful to have him in my corner.

Thanksgiving
We are at my Dad's place and guests are starting to arrive... will post more later.

Birthdays, Disneyland, and Gretta the Jetta

2007-10-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was my 28th birthday...sad but true. Its amazing how close 30 is approaching, but oh well...can't do much about it. The day started out good Josh had left me a message on my chalk board wishing me a happy birthday with a drawing of a little cake with candles on it....aww so cute! Then that night he called me saying "I found the perfect gift...will you get mad at me for spending money on you?". To which I answered "of course not" (what girl would say yes?). So, about an hour later he picked me up to take me out for a birthday dinner. In the car he was so excited and gave me my birthday present as soon as I sat down. It was a bag from Bath and Bodyworks with a candle, crazy nice lotion in my favorite scent and a back massager. It was perfect...all my favorite scents and everything. That being said I was a little confused because of the phone call asking for expensive gift permission. When we got the the restraunt (Macaroni Grill one of our favorites)...he asked me to hand him his bluetooth out of the glove box...when I opened it there was a black box from a jewelry store in it. I was so excited!!!!!!!!!!! I opened it up and inside was a diamond journey necklace. It is soooooo amazing...He couldn't have picked out a more perfect gift. I adore it. We had a lovely dinner and then home where Josh made me a cake with a big 28 on the top. All in all it was a perfect birthday.

The next day as part of my birthday present Josh took thursday off and we went to DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!! We got our season passes and started out in the park. Josh hadn't been there in over ten years so it was like going with somebody who had never been. Later in the day Jacob and Tak joined us and we ran the park! We had an AMAZING time. We even got neck straps for our passes and are going to start collecting a new pin for every visit. My first pin is one that says "my boyfriend is a pirate"...which is true...he is the only person I know who knows all the words to the Pirates song. He also bought me a medallion from the pirates ride...we are going to have it engraved with our names and the date...something to remember the day forever. I'm excited to go back after the move. We had the best time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night we had a great night...Josh's brother Joel came over and had dinner and hung out with us. We had a great time talking and joking and playing the Wii of course. Joel is a lot of fun and the two of them together is hilarious!!!!!! Hopefully he will move back soon so we can hang out more.

Today...I bought a sweet little girl named Gretta...she is my new Jetta. I had been hemming and hawing over getting her for a long time and had been trying to sell my car...and today was the day. We went the dealership and got good deals all around and tonight we drove home in her. She is graphite blue and oh so pretty. She is my first car purchase and I'm so stoke about it! Who wants a ride?

Now that we have had a week of fun we have to buckle down as Josh moves into our new apartment in two weeks and I move in two weeks later. So we have a lot to do.

Happy Birthday Katie!, Disneyland and Apartment Found,

2007-10-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Katie!
Today is Katie's birthday... I wish I could spend the day with her, but duty calls. I hope she treats herself to something special in the day-time so I can spoil her tonight after work!

Disneyland
Katie and I have been wanting to go forever... and now we are... tomorrow no less! We plan to take 1000 photos and ride "Pirates" many times.. possibly even get Micky ears. "[We're] too excited to sleep!"

The Great Apartment Hunt is Over!
After a month of searching and walking through endless models, Katie and I have finally found a place for us to live! Initially we were looking for a place in the SFV, Burbank or Pasadena but nothing panned out. Finally, we looked where I used to live, Parc Chateaux in Stevenson Ranch. Online we saw a 2 bedroom that we fell in love with so I called the leasing office to check the availability. It was 6:03p, after office hours, but the leasing staff was still in the office & picking up! The woman on the phone gave me an available unit number to do a drive-by inspection... and it was perfect. The next morning, I called Katie and we decided to go with this one.

Katie, being on "vacation", zipped the 3 miles down the road and asked to see/reserve the unit for mid November... when the leasing agent informed her that the unit was rented yesterday at around 4p! ARGH *expletive deleted*!!! Katie, heartbroken and upset called me back and let me know. She also said that the leasing agent had mentioned a 829sq ft 1-bed/bath available for only $300 more than I pay for my place now. I asked her to have a look at it... I mean, Katie's current place is 780sqft and it fits us well... so in theory, this 829 should be fine... and it was. Katie fell in love with it and put down a holding fee. After work I zipped by and saw it... loved it.. and filled out the application. The funny part is my previous address... is the same address with only a change to the apt number! The leasing agent remembered me and we were approved almost on the spot to move in.

After all that is said and done, we found a great spacious place that we both love in a great location. My brother Gary and his girlfriend live about 1/4 mile away in another unit and we gave him the referral so he can collect the $300 reward. I didn't tell him about it, but I did tell him there is something at the office for him to pick up... he should be pleasantly surprised!

Now, we will be breaking my lease (yay penalties) and my move-in date is November 3rd... so I get to pack up my house. Again. Katie's lease is up on December 8th, but she will be moving on the 16th of November.. leaving us almost 3 weeks to clean her old place... not that it needs it, but a little extra time isn't too bad.

Illness, Handguns, iPhone, The TV and Apartments

2007-10-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Illness
The stomach flu destroyed us! About 3 weeks ago, Katie got really sick after a slightly undercooked chicken dinner. We threw it back in the oven for an hour.. I didn't eat it, but Katie nibbled on the chicken while packing my lunch. That night, she was sick. I mean really sick. When I left in the morning, she looked like death on a stick. Like the good guy I try so hard to be, I took care of her for 3 days... walking the puppy, picking up groceries, etc. We thought it was just food poisoning.. but after 2 days, I had a hunch it might be something else. Well, on day 3 I slept over as it was just too late to get a parking spot at my place... and I caught what she had! Needless to say I was bed ridden for 3 days myself. All this, plus Katie's pneumonia and other little sicknesses, this has been a trying few months. Thankfully we are on the mend and getting back to our usual selves.

Handguns
So on Sunday, Katie and I went to Turner's in Van Nuys and passed our CA handgun owners safety test. She beat me by 1 question, but even coming out of it, I knew I missed at least 3. We looked at many pistols, but in the end, She was sold on the .40 Baby Eagle. I am 99% sold on the .45 Springfield XD, but I don't know. Later we called her Grandfather who owns a gun shop and he seemed pretty confident that we could get better prices through his shop. So.. win for cheaper prices... and drag for waiting until Christmas.

iPhone
I took the plunge and got rid of my LG C2000! It was starting to crap out big time... the volume would go all wacky and the battery life was only 20 minutes at best. I was so ticked on the way home from the gun store that we went right to the AT&T store by my place. While Katie talked to her Grandfather, I ran inside and picked up an iPhone. Katie was a little ticked that I didn't consult her first on such a big purchase and that the hacking of iPhones was in the news... and she's right. But.. I have a new toy/phone... so... yea. She's just concerned for my safety and I really love the fact that she can play devil's advocate and make quality points. Katie really wants one and I want her to have one too. I hope she switches to AT&T so she can.. hint hint!

The TV
After the AT&T store, we zipped over to the Costco to get a roast for dinner. Now, the way our Costco is layed out, the TV's are right at the entrance of the store. We passed by the massive TVs and sure enough... we started talking about getting a new one. Her coworkers even asked if she was going to get a new TV. We called up Gary because he was doing alot of research a few weeks earlier. He helped us go through the brands/models and in the end, we chose a 47" Vizio LCD. Gary helped me get it to Katie's and even helped getting it up the stairs & setup. It's massive. Probably too much TV for the likes of us, but it is beautiful and the weather people are life-sized. So.. wow. We need to do a proper HD test when I can get my surround sound set up... but still... OMG is it amazing.

Apartments
The great apartment hunt has begun. Katie and I have started looking for a place of our own. Didn't I just do this? No matter, we are looking for a bigger place and that's that. If we do not find one in 6 weeks, we have a "plan B". Basically it's just staying in my apt complex but upgrading to a spacious 2 bedroom. It's only $2-300 more a month and we would save alot of money, but Katie's job is sooo far away that the commute costs would counter any savings. I have a few more places to look at and I'm confident we can find a good place in Burbank or Pasadena. Just have to stay positive and remain diligent.

My amazing Joshy

2007-09-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

You know I know this sounds cheesy but everyday with Josh is a good day. Even the bad days or the mundane tasks are better when he is there, but there are times when he out does himself and I am again reminded of how lucky I am to have him. I had THE MOST fabulous morning yesturday morning!! Josh woke up crazy early for an airsoft game that ended up getting canceled due to rain, and if you know Josh you know that once he wakes up....hes up. So, being the sleeper that I am I stayed in bed and he got up at a horrifying 5am. Sick I know....but he's my sicko so what are you going to do.

At about 8am I woke up again to the sound of my front door shutting, I got up to see if he was still here or what was going on to find that he had cleaned my kitchen and done all the dishes AND took the trash out while walking the dog. Now this alone qualifies him for "Best Boyfriend of the Year" award, but of course he upped himself. He gave me a kiss and sent my tired self back to bed. So again, being the sleeper that I am I follwed orders and went promptly back to sleep. About an hour later my amazing Joshy came walking the room with a plate of blueberry pancakes and syrup with a nice cold bottle of water. I don't know if any of you have ever had a true breakfasts in bed, but I hadn't. Its awesome!!!!!!

Thanks for making my weekend Josh!!!

California Kings, United States Marines, and dogs who poo

2007-09-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Today Josh and I went to Ducky's (a guy he plays airsoft with) US Marine Corps graduation party. The neighborhood was a little dodgy but his family had a cute little house at the end of a street and it was a nice party. They had the back yard all set up with USMC colors and Ducky was in his uniform (it has a name but I can't remember what it is and Josh is asleep so I can't ask). Josh and Ducky talked for quite awhile about bootcamp and all the fun things that you have to go through in boot camp. I think that Ducky was happy to have somebody who knew what he had just gone through other than the guys who had gone through it with them. I have the utmost respect for the military, but in all honesty I will never understand why somebody would voluntarily join up. Being in the military means giving up so much of yourself and putting it in somebody elses hands. I just dont' know how you can do this. But I guess maybe its not for me to understand. I am thankful that there are people who can do it....I am just not one of them and I'm ok with that.

On the way home Josh and I stopped and picked up the season DVD's of Futurama at his house, grabbed some dinner and headed home. When I first started dating him I was like OMG he watches cartoons...this is not good. But now I'm the one who is always like "ohhhhhhh Futurama is on". Its a good show...and if you haven't seen it, you need to.

After dinner and a half episode of Futurama Josh decided he was too tired to be awake. Personally I think he was crashing after having covered the airsoft game all day and then drinking and energy drink on the way to Ducky's. So he is sound asleep in the big bed as we speak..ummm type. I stayed with him for a few minutes while he was passing out and when I got up and on my way back to the living room I found a nice not so little package that my dog left me in the hallway. How does a dog so little lay such a HUGE crap? I mean COME ON!

OK so while I have you all on here (nobody is actually reading this are they) does anybody else have a california king size bed? This thing is just too big. Becuase of the radio show and just needing a night at his house Josh hasn't been here in a couple days and I gotta tell you...a california king size bed...alone...not so much. This thing is huge and lonely and borders on rediculous when alone in it. Maybe I just have to get used to it, but right now I hate it. He keeps telling me that I will be happy when I an roll over and not hit him or kick him, or whenI can sleep with my leg curled up without kicking him off the other side of the bed, but this remains to be seen. Right now...I hate this thing and I think I made a big mistake in getting it. Oh well....I'll deal.

I hope you all had a great day!!!
Katie

Speaking of the bed.

Oh my Joshy =)

2007-09-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday I went to lunch with a woman I work with and her new boyfriend. While we were waiting for our food I noticed that everytime she went to grab his hand he would pull it away, finally saying "not in public". He then proceeded to send her to get everything he needed throughout the meal, putting her down at several points in the conversation. The hole time all I could think about was how lucky I was to be with Josh. He is so good to me and I never have to question how he feels about me. He is just an amazing person and I'm so lucky to have him!!!

What's That Big Lump?

2007-09-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie... last night while we were falling asleep, I felt a large bump on Katie's wrist. I asked her "What's that big lump?" and she replied... "It's me." We laughed for a good 5+ minutes. Sometimes she's just too damn cute!

Men and shoes....My rebuttal to Josh's "New Duds for the Dud"

2007-09-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

So if you saw Josh's "new duds for the dud" post then you saw that Joshy got some new shoes!!! He thinks of shopping for himself the biggest chore EVER! I will never understand this but whatever...he did it anyways =). We even got him two pairs of shoes. One Steve Madden dress casual shoe for work because they went well with his uniform (no he doesn't wear a uniform to work, he just wears the same thing all the time thus making it seem like uniform) Dickies and with his new jeans. OH...and I would like to add that Josh is CRAZY cute in jeans!!!!! We also got him a pair of Converse because for some reason the "Boy who doesn't shop" (his indian name) think that you can wear the same pair of shoes for work, going out, and just chilling. I on the other hand was not raised in a barn and know that cannot be. Ok ok he wasn't raised in a barn...he just doesn't understand the joys of new clothes and shoes. But he's learning.

I know he says they are more for me than for him, but everybody feels better and more confident when they look good...its a fact of life. If that wasn't true I wouldn't have a job right now.

And yes...I did end up going back and buying the first bed we liked...but its a big purchase I'm allowed to re-think my decisions right? I think it irritated him a little but he was a good sport and I also think he will love it when its all said and done with our new bedding. At least thats what I'm going to tell myself...haha.

All and all it was a fun day. Even the crap chores are more fun when he is around. =)

Ok folks....Have the best day ever!

Katie

New Duds for the Dud

2007-09-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, the 9th, started out with a late breakfast of crackers and a list of errands... the most important to get a bed for the California King mattresses we have coming on Wednesday. Now, Katie has ALWAYS hated the fact that I wear nothing but military boots. She tried to buy me shoes online, but something went all quagmire and the transaction didn't go through. I dodged the shoe bullet for a little while... but now... sigh... it's come to this. Now, I don't receive gifts well... at all. I fought her for a while, but in the end, she was right and I caved. It's those eyes... who could say no?

We left the house at about 11:15a and started about town. Our 1st stop was to the fat-man store to look at some work shirts. Yea... I shop at the fat-man store. It's the only place that I can buy off the rack and being a tubby kid.. it feels pretty good to buy anything off the rack. Now, we found about 4 shirts that were posh, but the jeans section caught her eye. For those that don't know, I wear Dickies just about everywhere at all times when out. She saw a photo of me from 2002 where I was in Levi's and Doc's and has been wanting to get me into jeans ever since. When I tried on the jeans and came out the dressing room, I thought she was going to jump me! Needless to say, we got the jeans and a few shirts... but I think the clothes are more for her than for me!

Our next stop was one of the massive furniture places next to the Home Depot on Soledad Cyn Road. The 1st one was very flash.. themed and everything. The prices reflected all that bling... upwards to $3k for almost every bed. Katie saw a Wick's on the way in, so we decided to give it a shot. On the way, we saw a little shop and pulled in real quick... mostly looking for a bathroom! We browsed the show room and out of the 4 beds in the final running, she fell in love with one of our 1st choices. With the purchase made, we were wisked off to Macy's for shoe shopping.

On the way to the mall, I stopped at Fosters and we picked up 2 dipped cones. Katie had never been to a Fosters Freeze and to see her eat that cone was comedy gold. Not that I was a pro, but that girl was a mess!

Once in the Macy's we burned through about 6 styles before the pair were found. The look like black duck bills on my feet, but Katie swears they are amazing on me. It's no mystery that I have no taste, so I went with her call. Now one pair wouldn't be enough.. heavens no. I needed a weekend/casual shoe... apparently. So I opted for Converse All-Star Chuck Taylors. You know... chuck's. They are very flat but comfortable. I imagine they will be even better once I get quality in-souls. From the mall to Target for "Manties" and socks.. then home. What a long day!

When we got back, Katie went into laundry mode! She knocked out a few loads... then we went to the Macaroni Grill for dinner. Our waiter was a soft talker and our table was between the hostess kiosk and the kitchen. Not the most romantic of spots.. but the company made up for the location. We both got the same thing... Mama's Trio. It's 3 small items on a hot plate slathered with cheese. Amazing meal and enough for lunch the next day. After dinner, Katie knocked out 3 more loads.. but I had to go to bed at 11:30p as I have to be up at 4:45a for work. When I left this morning, I asked when she got to bed... 2a! Ugh.. poor girl.

Overall, Sunday was busy day, but spending it with Katie makes it seem like a relaxing walk in the park.

Oh what a day we have had!

2007-09-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hola Folks,

Today was quite the day for Josh and me. First we started with a lovely pancake breakfast...most of you probably don't know this but almost every weekend Josh makes me pancakes for breakfast. He has a special pancake skill that makes them taste like restraunt pancakes...not the brick like ones from home. Super delicious!!!!!!!

After breakfast we decided to take on the task getting a new a mattress, mainly due to the fact that my mattress has a very large divet in the middle and when we sleep we end up rolling in on eachother. Not so much fun. So we went and got this scan thing done at the Sit n Sleep. Its kinda wierd. You go in and lay on this mattress thing they have that scans your body and tells you what sort of mattress you need...its pretty rad really because it allows you to not have to lay on five thousand mattresses to find what you need. We tried out like ten and then found "the one" and bought it....WOO HOO!!!! But heres the thing...in the purchasing of a new mattress we decided to get the California King. Thing thing is HUGE!! Its going to be soooooooooooooo nice! SO...the upgrade in size of the bed means NEW BEDDING!!!! Which leads us to our next adventure of the day.......

THE MALL!!! Yup you got it...I got Josh to go to a mall. Of course this meant we had to go to the Sears tool department first and buy him some new fun things, but soon after we were rocking the Macy's bedding department with full force. We picked out the most awesome green bedding set. Now to Josh bedding means a "bed in a bag" from Walmart, and to me it means paying lots of money for everything individually. So when Sparky over here realized that just a fitted sheet alone cost around $80 on sale he about wet himself. Once he got over that and the sales woman and I explained to him how much more comfortable he will be in the end (aka 600 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets) he got over it. So, after we piled up everything we needed and wanted to make up the bed (sheets, pillow cases, shams, dust ruffles...none of which he has any idea what it is) went to pay for it and ooops card is declined....well shit! So I call the bank to find out whats happend because I knew full well that the money was in there. They told me that my account was coming up has being flagged as "fraud" so I verified who I was and that the purchases were approved and they popped back saying "sorry you have money but you can't use it due to a limit on your debit card" to which I replied "if your going to impose a new limit on my spending don't you think you should INFORM your customers" uh yeah...what a douche! OH and did I mention that this was all AFTER I had waited for a half hour in line with people hating me for taking up the register. You know I have made a million purchases when there was no money in my account and now that I can actual cover a bedding purchase they won't let me!!!! So Josh and I run back to the house to get a checkbook and when we return she runs the check through and wait...wait....wait....DECLINED! HOLY MOTHER OF BANKING GOD!! Josh and I call the company who declined the check...turns out that it was declined because I had never written a check to Macys before.....uh seriously! I was SO SO SO angry by this point. I have the money and these bastards won't let me spend it. I finally decided to apply for the credit card which thankfully was approved and now we have all kinds of fun bedding....but Good god what and ordeal.

Then we decided to drive out to Thousand Oaks to look at Jetta's. I'm getting a new car soon and the Jetta was a front runner....now after the amazing test drive...I'm sold! This car is so so so rad. I will go back in a couple weeks and get it....YAY!!!!

On the way back home we stopped at a restraunt called Famous Daves. Its a BBQ place somewhere in the middle of TO and here. I had never had BBQ before and man was I missing out. This place is AMAZING!!! Ribs and catfish on the same plate.....soooooooooooo delicious.

More importantly than anything else today though was the conversation that Josh and I had on the way to TO. We have officially decided to move in with eachother. I'm so excited. I hope he is too.

Well I suppose I have bored you all to tears with our day...it may read boring, but it was anything but. I have to go play with my new bedding now :)

Katie

Date Night on the Sofa

2007-09-07T23:27:00.000-07:00

So it's Friday night, our date night... and we are on the sofa. No deep conversations or constructive projects.. just creating a Blog about our nerdy existence. We ended up watching "Love Stinks", a guys version of a chick flick. Katie liked it... I REALLY liked it as it puts all men's fear of marriage in one tall blonde package. During "Blades of Glory", I showed her Jacob and Tak's Blog... and her we are. I made her promise to tell everyone it was her idea, but in reality, it was mine. So sue me.

Tomorrow, we have a mess of errands. VW dealership in TO, Lowes/Home Depot, Sit-n-Sleep ("where your mattress is freeeeeee!") for a new mattress. Oh, the mattress... Katie's sags to the middle and we end up head butting all night. Thank jebus she is down to get a new one.

That's it for a 1st post. Oh, and btw, best. blog. description. ever.