No way

I've been trying (once again) to do the whole "get up at 5:30 am to work out thing," but some mornings (like this morning) I don't manage it. On mornings like this one, I only get out of bed when Evie wakes and groggily calls to me. She's not much of a morning person. I get some milk for her and bring her back to bed with me where I pathetically lie in bed, both of us awake (Justin out being hooah at PT), trying to eek out a few more horizontal minutes.

One of my tactics to lengthen this time has been to let Evie play with the ringtones on my phone. (Insert that pathetic part again...) She has thus began calling the phone "Bah bah bah bah bah!" after her favorite ringtone entitled "Sunny Day." The rhythm is something like three eighth notes, a dotted quarter, then another eighth, to give you the full context--E says the 'bah bahs' in rhythm. This is usually a very innocent activity in the early hours of the morning, but on occasion she has accidentally exited out of the ringtone menu and, before I have noticed, activated my speed dial (sorry Momma, Denise, and an apology in advance to Julia...it's bound to happen to you one of these days...).

Well, today, while excitedly dancing to the "bah bah bah bah bahs" Evie lost grip on the phone and it fell between the mattress and the wall behind the bed. In the dead center. I tried reaching for it, but it was no good, so I simply abandoned it there for most of the morning. (Suddenly it's WAY less cool since I got my ipod touch.)

Mid afternoon or so I decided I really needed to make an effort to get it back out. This was going to involve me finding something long to reach and poke with, and a lot of wiggling on my stomach, face in the carpet. So what did I do? I told Chokydar to go get it.

Now here's the crazy part. She made for going under the bed. I was like WHAAA??? No way!!! We've never trained her to do tricks really and, although I suspect her of speaking English fairly fluently, the response was so immediate and unexpected, it took me completely by surprise. I do this sort of thing all the time now with Evelyn (try new suggestions, not send her under the bed) because she is more and more capable every day. She often will surprise me by being able to do something I wasn't really sure that she could. It's almost as if Choky had been observing this phenomenon and was afraid that Evie was showing her up.

So I got the phone back. But no thanks to Chokydar. Apparently one of her toys was just under the edge of the bed, so she's not a super genius after all. She's still a Super Puli, though.

And I discovered Justin's missing ipod under the bed as well!! It had presumable suffered the same fate as my phone, but no one knew it. We've been looking for that thing for weeks!

Do you have tickets?

detail from "Tickets to the Gun Show" Collage by Katrina Cristobal

Last weekend we took a trip up to Tulsa with friends to go to the Tulsa Arms Show. The photo above, sadly, was not from the show. Cameras were not allowed at the show, which was a real pity, as the place was PACKED with priceless photo opportunities. I can only recount for you tales of the Cape Buffalo hoof ashtray (I'm not kidding; it was going for $50), the Tactical Girls selling calendars (of themselves--scantily clad, but with firearms of course), and innumerable old-timey mustaches that would make Yosemite Sam green with envy.

I have to say that when we first arrived on the scene, I felt maybe more than a bit uncomfortable by the line of people waiting to enter with their rifles slung over their shoulders. Once on the inside the fairgounds, however, I think the sheer number of weapons saturated and short circuited my senses, and I have to say that I had a really enjoyable time at the show. There were, as mentioned, many funny and amusing sites to see, but also lots of very interesting historical displays and collector items that I found really fascinating. I also was tickled by the handful of jewelry displays strategically placed near the exits, as if to remind a gun-laden fellow that he might want to bring something special home for the little lady as well. Either a diamond ring or perhaps a semi-automatic pistol with pink mother of pearl grips.

Have I mentioned lately how much I'm enjoying Oklahoma? God bless America.

When you say medium, do you mean small or large?

We have the amazing fortune to have a drive thru Starbucks here in town. We also have another little cafe style restaurant (similar to, although not quite as good as Panera) called Atlanta Bread Comapny. Well, when we were first settling in and without our cooking supplies, we frequented both of these establishments a bit more than...well, we'll just say 'normal' and leave it at that.

I've heard comedians do routines about Starbucks and their tall, grande, and venti versions of the standard small, medium, and large sizes. Personally I've never had a hard time keeping them straight, but low and behold, at Atlanta Bread their small is called short, their medium is called tall and their large is called grande. Okay, now this actually probably makes more sense than the system at Starbucks, but in reality what it does is get you a larger size than you intended. You go in wanting a small, order a tall out of habit and suddenly you have a medium. Confused yet? Wait for this...

So one day at the Chick-fil-a drive thru window a few weeks back while I was sick, I wanted a chocolate shake. The voice from the box asked what size I wanted. "Small, please," I replied, but then added, "well, what size is your small?" You know how different places have different size cups sometimes, right? This was her response:

"Oh, it's a small size cup."

Brilliant. Very informative and helpful. Being sick and guessing that was as good an answer as I was going to get, I just went with the mystery sized small and moved on.

Now today I was back at Chick-fil-a again (please, no judging...), this time to get the seasonally offered peppermint chocolate chip shake (oh. yes.) When I asked for a medium (I'm judging myself) the girl came back over the box and said that they only come in large or small. Really? Okay. She proceeds to follow that statement up with, "But the large comes in the medium size cup, so do you want that?" I was so confused that I just said "yes" and got a milkshake the size of a small cat.

So to sum up, small is either short or tall, medium is non-existent, tall or grande, and large is one of three: venti, grande, or a small cat.

Happy Halloween!

For a few months now Evie's nickname of the moment has been "B," so when I came across this fantastic costume I knew what she had to be this year. We went to three houses trick or treating this year--four including our own. Evie can say a version of "boo," although she would only say it to me as we walked between houses, and not to the neighbors. That's probably for the best, as that much cuteness might have been overwhelming for someone caught unprepared.



We drove three and a half hours down to Frisco, near Lake Dallas today, specifically to go to IKEA. I've been craving a desk they have, and it had begun to be kind of unhealthy how much I longed for it. After a failed attempt earlier this week to get down there, we finally made it and got the desk, although we came close to leaving without it.

If you've been to IKEA, you know how they have the warehouse section where you pick up furniture. Well, for whatever reason, this desk has to be picked up from a seperate area, after check out, in the "furniture pick up" area. NO clue why. I had to request a slip for it from the information guy in the regular warehouse section. I very clearly said that I wanted the Besta Burs desk in high gloss white. He confirmed the color and printed out my paper. I glanced at it fleetingly--the price matched, yada yada yada, okay off to the check out. We made our way over to the special furniture pick up area, turned in the paper and waited about 10 minutes for them to wheel out the boxes. We signed for them and rolled all our goodies out to the car.

Now this sounds like a fairly easy process, but let me tell you, after a 3.5 hr drive with a one year old, your stress level simply stays at an elevated level. We got out to the car to pack the boxes in--I'd measured from the dimensions given online to see if they'd fit in the Tiguan with the car seat there--supposedly they would. It was at this time that I looked more closely at the boxes that held my beloved desk. Oddly, the boxes had pictures of a tv stand on them--not a desk at all. Huh...that's weird I thought I wonder why they would put pictures of a tv stand on the box of a desk. When I pointed this out to Justin he looked at me blankly and suggested, "It's probably not the desk. It's probably a tv stand."

I guess I was in denial about this possibility because in my mind "DESK" and "TV STAND" do not sound very similar at all, and I wondered how the clerk in the warehouse could have misunderstood--we are afterall back in America, where I can speak English and get things I want. Sure enough, however, after carting the heavy thing back inside with my receipt, it was confirmed that the boxes marked "tv stand" were in fact, a tv stand and not a desk. I am sooooooooooo glad that we caught this in the parking lot and not back at home, after a 7 hour roundtrip journey, nay, quest to get this desk.

The house is still a mess--slightly more put together than an explosion, but I'm making small progress daily. I hope to have pictures to share soon.

Cockadoodledoo

Hahahaha I have to share this video...I was searching for a childrens' song my sister had introduced us to while in Houston--it had a rooster and a character named Stingyman and his son Tightwad, but alas I could not find it. I did however find this clip. I was amused. I hope you are as well.

I'd give them points for honesty.

Fake customer service really cracks me up. Sometimes I wish they'd just fess up and admit they suck at doing whatever it is they're claiming to do. For instance, if you try to call the clinic for an appointment here, you'd better be prepared to wait 10 minutes on hold before ever talking to a real person--and that's on a good day. Sometimes they'll never answer at all. Are they on another line for half an hour straight? Out to lunch? Left work early? Who knows! But while you're waiting the horrible elevator music will occasionally be interrupted by a cheery recorded voice proclaiming, "Thank you for your patience! Your call is important to us; please stay on the line and a representative will be with you shortly." Personally I think I'd appreciate a little honesty in this circumstance. Maybe something like this...

"Thank you for holding. As if you have much of a choice."

"Your call is an annoyance to us. Please hang up now and save us both the trouble."

"While you're waiting, please feel free to calculate exactly how much this call is costing you."

My favorite is when you've been trying on and off all day to get through to the operator and make an appointment, only to have them FINALLY answer the line, and then they transfer you for a bogus reason to another line--which of course isn't answered, and suddenly you're right back where you began, dazed at how close you came to reaching your goal, only to have your hopes and dreams dashed.

I'm not bitter, though.

Regrets, I Have a Few by Merrin Dungey

I read this article in Parents magazine and got a real kick out of it. It's quite funny, I think mostly because I know exactly what she's talking about. For those of you who are sharing in this crazy trip of motherhood, I think you'll enjoy it too. I don't know if it will hit home with you "not-children-having" types, but if you feel like clicking through, by all means, do. If nothing else, it will provide you an opportunity to sigh and shake your head in an exasperated but amused way, "Oh, those people with babies. It can't be like they make it out to be..."

If in the future you then make the transition from being a "not-children-having type" to one of us, maybe you'll think back on this article, look it up in the archives and go, "OH!!!"

In the meantime, fill your houses with dangerously sharp objects, appreciate your body, take a leisurely shower and a ridiculously long time getting ready in the morning, and sleep in until 10 am for me. Or even 8. Gee, I'd even kill for 7:30...

Still, I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Unorthodox, yet effective.

There are certainly stylistic differences in our child care techniques we've discovered over the last week, as illustrated by this short video clip...




Also, though completely unrelated, Evelyn was STANDING in her crib this morning when I went to get her out of bed! STANDING!!!!

March 2008- Normandy

I know--it's May not March. I'm behind. I never got up my past travel pics from March or April. I'm trying to play catch up, because some of these are really lovely pictures and I want to revist them myself and also share them with you.

Last year--wow, it seems crazy that it was last year; it seems a lifetime ago--before the guys deployed we went on a trip to Normandy with our very good friends the Blythes. Justin and I had been to Normandy with my parents the previous October, but on that trip we traveled more widely in the area and thus did not spend as much time focusing on the WWII aspects of the region. I am so glad we got to take two trips there. I would definitely go again. I love France and that region is so full of history and beauty.

The morning we left for the trip last year, we were hit with a snow storm. We sat in traffic trying to get to the autobahn for a good while. Cars were stuck in the snow trying to get up hill and traffic was seriously backed up. Thankfully, once we got to the autobahn things cleared up considerably, and we didn't have to deal with snow again until we made our way back into Baumholder on the return end.

I was pregnant during this trip (6 months along or so) and thus I just looked enviously as the guys raved about a local rose wine at a restaurant we stumbled upon, Le Crabe Vert. We bought a bottle actually, now that I'm remembering...I think we'll have to break that out to celebrate their return in the coming weeks!

The Blythes are adorable. We love them.

Le Crabe Vert was actually SO good (they had all kinds of AMAZING specialty pizzas) that we visited it two nights we were in the area. It was that good.

It stood out in stark contrast to another restaurant we stumbled upon one afternoon when we were taking a break from a long stretch of driving and were all starving. I was the "French speaker" of the group. I took two years of French in highschool and one brush up semester in college, but that's all starting to be very long ago now, and while I can get by, we've had some funny experiences that definitely prove I am no where near fluent. (I don't think I've told the story on here about accidentally ordering 6 orders of escargot at 12 euros a plate...) The escargot story and this experience, forever remembered as The Cold Duck Pate place are two of the funniest (and most costly) errors. This restaurant, as you can see from the linens and decor, was nicer than just a pop in lunch place and should have tipped us off that we might not be in for a bargain. Most restaurants in Europe have a "fixed price" menu, where, for a flat rate you get to choose an appetizer, main course, and usually a desert. This restaurant had the option, but no prices were listed on the menu, and we got nervous that we'd be way out of our price range to go that route. Plus, many of the choices listed were beyond my limited vocabulary. I don't like seafood, and typically recognize and stick to chicken, rabbit, or duck from French restaurants.

After much diliberation, we--did we all?--I think maybe just Julia and I--I can't remember...well, we got duck something or other with pears in a sauce. If I remember correctly it was 17 euro, and thus we assumed it was a main course. Wrong. It was an appetizer. They brought out the plates with this cold miniscule lump of duck pate stuck artistically on top of a pear soaked in liquor and drizzled with sauce. As you can see, we were less than thrilled:

We went back to the car afterwards and dove into a box of Cheese-Its.

Gulp

Who knew I was this funny...

Puli Conversations

Chokydar: Hey. Evie's asleep. Did you know that?
Me: Yep.
C: Are you sure she's asleep though?
Me: What do you mean?
C: I don't know...she's awfully quiet and still...
Me: Chokday, that's what you look like when you're asleep. She's fine.
C:...Okay....

[she shakes her collar loudly *JINGLEJINGLEJINGLE*...Evie stirs]

Me: What did you do that for??
C: Just checking!

[she lies down]

...................................................

C: YAWN!!!!!!!!!!
Me: You're being loud again.
C: Sorry. [SNEEZE!!!!...Evie stirs again, grunting a little]
Me: *sigh*

...................................................

C: No, but really...are you sure she's okay? She's been 'sleeping' for a while now.
Me: YES, Chokydar, she's FINE!
C: Okay.... [she stretches, moving first to the hard wood floor where she reaches out and clicks her nails loudly as she stretches]
Me: I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!
C: What?? [with mock innocence]

..................................................

[Choky starts walking toward the swing, slowly, looking over her shoulder at me as she goes]
Me: DO NOT GO OVER THERE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THE SWING AND WAKE HER UP BY LICKING HER FEET.
C: That wasn't what I was going to do...[she turns around]

..................................................

C: [looking desperate, feverish]..............WOOF!
Me: [turning clowly to stare at her angrily with a cocked head]
Evie: [eyes wide] *gasp*
Chokydar: Ah! Okay, you're right. She was just asleep.
[she turns and promptly throws herself sideways on the floor, closing her eyes as I go to pick up Evelyn]

Next time I'll just use perfume...

So, funny story; true story--

Whew, I thought to myself, as a plopped down in my chair.

We'd just gotten back from the day's errands--checking the mail and going to the Arts and Crafts Center. It was a beautiful day out today; the sun is (mostly) shining and the temperature slightly on the cool side of perfect. As we were driving to the crafts center I couldn't help but be overcome with joy. The first of many 'welcome home' signs have begun to pop up outside the post gates and the reality of it all filled me with glee. The breeze carried blossoms from nearby trees across our path, swirling in the wind in their own sort of celebratory dance.

Evie did really well at the store, even though it took me a few minutes to get everything necessary for my newest project. We headed back by way of the mailroom where I found a new pair of shoes waiting for me. Huzzah!

Evelyn had been yawning in the car and rubbing her eyes--we all know what that means, and as we came inside I found myself holding my breath to see if she would be agreeable to taking a nap in the swing. Lately she's been hurling anything I give her (intended to distract and calm her) off the edge in disgust. As I lowered her into the swing, her hand shot out and she grabbed onto the upper part of the swing arm. Both of my hands were full holding her and we both laughed hysterically as I tried to shake her loose so she could be lowered the rest of the way. The girl's got a grip.

She settled reasonably well, and so I headed for the kitchen to grab a snack. I pulled out one of those bottled frappuccinos you can buy from the grocery store and shook it up vigorously, then popped the lid and set it on my desk. Oops! I'd forgotten to shut the living room door. If it stays open, Chokydar will bark at noises from the street and destroy any chance of a nap.

Whew, I thought to myself, as a plopped down in my chair. I reached out for my drink and gave it another hardy shake for good measure...

Yeah, did you catch that part where I'd already opened the bottle??? I had just set the open cap back on top of the bottle, booby trapping myself who couldn't remember a mere 15 seconds later that I'd already opened it. I stood for maybe 10 seconds, covered from head to foot in vanilla frappuccino, dripping on the carpet in total shock.

I cleaned everything up as best I could--nothing got really damaged and I got a good laugh.

I know later I'm going to wonder why Chokydar is obsessively licking that section of the carpet.

The same thing we do every night, Pinky

Okay, not try to take over the world...take Evelyn's multivitamins.

Every night Evie gets her liquid multivitamins, and as you can see, she LOVES them. When she first began taking them she was only a few weeks old, and she did NOT like them. We'd wait until she was inconsolably screaming anyway, and then we'd sneak them in, figuring we might as well combine fits. Somewhere along the way, however, (I can't really recall when--I think it was fairly early on) she really began liking them, so every night she gets SUPER excited when I bring out the little bottle and the dropper.

One can only hope she maintains such an attitude about her health as she grows older.

"The dentist? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Well-Woman visit? SCORE!!!!!!!!!!"

Just another dinner...

For those of you who enjoy watching Evie eat:




She's started doing this thing where she "blubber lips" the food right back at me as soon as it's in her mouth. It's hilarious, but it gets old REALLY quick. I know it's not food specific because she's done it with foods she really likes, and I KNOW that she's hungry, so it's not because she's full. Sigh. We actually took a 5 minute break from dinner because there just wasn't any point to keep trying--every spoonful kept flying back at me. I got the camera out, partially hoping that it would distract her enough to STOP DOING IT and eat some!

A Conversation

Girl: Wow! She's so cute!

Me: Thanks! [smiles]

Girl: How old is she?

Me: [thinking] ...a bit over 8.5 months now. She'll be 9 months on the 15th.

Girl: ....Wow. She's small.

Me: [stares...forced smile] Oh yeah?

Girl: Yeah! My friend has a baby and he was, like, bigger than her when he was FIVE months old.

Me: [Well, he's a MONSTER baby, isn't he, then? FATTY FAT FATTY] She's actually about average weight for her age. [still smiling]

Girl: Oh yeah? Weird. Yeah, cause she just looks SMALL.

Me: [Oh no! You've caught me! I actually am trying to stunt her growth because I'm hoping to put her in overalls, a red hat and glue a beard on her and stand her in the garden to save money on buying a garden gnome. Darn! I thought no one would notice!] I guess every kid is different. Well, it's nice to see you again! Have a good weekend! [SMILES!!!!]


----------------------

In other news...I forgot to mention one of Evie's new tricks. We've both adjusted to her new car seat and like it just fine...most of the time. Evie had stopped screaming in agony when I put her in, but now she has a new game. As soon as I set her down, before I can grab the straps and bring her arms through, she arches her back and starts writhing like a little inch worm down trying to scoot out of the end of the chair. She's surprisingly quick at this, so usually what happens is this: I set her down. She writhes and wiggles toward the end. I scoot her back up to the proper position. She writhes down again, super inch worm that she is. I scoot her up once again and get one arm through, thus distracting her from the wiggle and am able to buckle the base in before she gets her bearings and attempts another escape.

I have to say, I have this funny mental image of me trying to close the zipper on a REALLY overstuffed suitcase--one of those with two zippers on either end, you know? The minute you make progess with one zipper, the other one slides back because all of the stuff has begun oozing out of that side instead. So what do you do? You dig your knee in hard or SIT on it to keep all the stuff jammed in really good so you can close the thing. Only...I think that sort of thing is frowned upon with babies...

In which Evelyn decides it's time to step things up a notch

It's a good thing Justin's coming home soon. This is true for many many reasons, but today's reason is because some of my single-handed tactics are beginning to become obselete.

Issue No. 1: Evelyn is getting BIG and WIGGLY.

This is the least bothersome of the three issues I'm highlighting today. There are pros to this issue as well, i.e. ready made upper body workout, but all in all, it sure would be handy to be able to save some tasks for when I have back up. Carrying Evelyn tummy to tummy is pretty much out of the question now. She will contort herself backwards and upside down to try and see where we are going, and it TOTALLY negates the convenience of this carry position. Sideways resting on my hip is pretty good, but still, she will twist and turn unexpectedly if something intriguing catches her eye. I often will carry her facing out, but this requires both hands to hold her securely, and the obvious draw back here is...no hands left for anything else.

Issue No. 2: Evelyn is starting to REALLY mess with stuff.

Evie: "That's a great necklace, mom! What happens if I pull on it LIKE THIS!!!???"
Me: [choke]

Evie: "What are these on your face again, mom? What? You need them to see? Weird."
Me: [bumping into things]

Evie: "What's that your reading, mom? A magazine? Cool. Hey look, if I rip it like THIS we can both read it!"
Me: [sigh]

Evie: "This is a neat sweater, mom. What are these things again? Buttons? Do you think if I pulled hard enough they might come off?"
Me: [trying not to be undressed in public]

Granted, I thwart her tiny hands most of the time because I know her tricks...but she is QUICK!

Issue No. 3: Evelyn is a big Bear McCreary fan, and is practicing her drumming skills...on my latte.

We sometimes go to the Java Cafe...everyday and up until now, carrying Evie in one hand and the chai in the other haven't been an issue. The doors to the mail room are motion sensitive and when I get to the car I set the cup on the roof while I get her buckled in. When we get to the door to our building, however, it gets a little complicated. There are two doors, the outside one, and then the inner door to our apartment. They are both VERY VERY heavy and weighted, so that they close automatically. Up until now, I've been momentarily shifting Evie on one hip so that I can support her in the crook of my arm and hold the cup in that hand while I pull the door open. Once we step inside I transfer the cup back over to the hand on the Evie-free side. Again, at our door: transfer cup, unlock door, open door and get inside without being hit by said heavy swinging door, transfer cup back. Now for the fun part. The past couple of days have seen a new development. Whereas before, Evie would only look at the cup, now she excitedly wants to PLAY the cup. It makes lovely music if you BEAT on it apparently (you know, the sound of the latte sloshing wildly against the lid, then spewing out and spilling down my pants.) Now, before you get worried, they don't actually make the drink that hot--it's not going to burn her, but this method is obviously no longer a viable one...

Back to the drawing board...

It's Not Funny

It's April Fool's Day today and I have to admit that while I think I have a really good sense of humor, I don't really take jokes well, or perhaps better put--I don't take well to being the butt of a joke.

I don't actually know how true the following story is, but it's the way I recall the ordeal and for the purposes of my therapy sessions, that's what matters, right?

One year, when my sister and I were elementary school age (I don't think that my brother had started school yet), my parents decided to play an April Fool's Day joke on us. It must have been the end of a grading period or coincided with the beginning of spring break, or something, but for whatever reason, April Fool's Day fell on a school holiday that year. Denise and I were sitting on the floor in our pajamas playing on dad's (waaaaay old school) computer. The way I remember it, it might have been PacMan. Anyway, there we were, enjoying our day off, when the phone rang. I don't remember which of our parents answered the phone, only that the one sided conversation on our end sounded something like this:

"Hello?"

"Ah yes! How are you?"

"Really?? Oh no..."

"Of course! They're right here..."

And then the phone was passed to one of us, maybe both of us in turn. The voice on the other end said something like this:

"Hello. This is Mr. Davis, principle at Moore Elementary. I'm wondering why you aren't at school today. This is a school day, and everyone else is here..."

From this point things get a bit fuzzy, as I may have blacked out from panic and fear. You have to understand that my sister and I were model students, and I guess, pretty gullible too. I seem to remember bursting into tears and streaking frantically into the other room to try and dress for school. Life was over.

Like I said, I'm not really sure how much of that story is actually true. I'm pretty sure that one April Fool's Day, a friend of the family called pretending to be the school principal--as for the accuracy of the rest, we're going to have to check with my sister and parents. I'm not sure if it was something my parents thought up or not. I have to wonder, if it was, at what point they realized that they may have gone too far and had to try and talk us down from the tearful and terrified frenzy in which found ourselves. If that part was even as bad as I remember.

So, I've never much liked April Fool's Day. It always seems to me to be a very mean spirited day. That being said, looking back, after all the tears were dried, I can't help but wonder if my parents got a good laugh out of the whole thing. I mean, come on, it must have been pretty funny. We were so serious and studious. Who would have thought we'd take it so dramatically? It's something I sometimes ponder now as a parent myself--how can I avoid (as much as possible) being insensitive to my child's sensitivities? To some extent, it will be unavoidable, and I suppose that's just part of life.

Thinking about this today, I remembered this video I saw a long time ago on You Tube. You may have seen it already, but I thought it tied in perfectly today, what with laughing at a child's obvious heartfelt concern. Terrible, right? I know. Just try not to laugh though...

As promised...

Here's a quick mock up of the banner hanging outside the commissary:

I laughed hysterically the first time I saw this. "It's Worth the Trip"??? I have this mental imagine of someone trying to give away crap on the side of the street, their banner exclaiming "You Get What You Paid For!" The commissary is maybe 3 minutes away from anywhere on post, so it being "worth the trip" doesn't say much.

I started thinking that if this was the winning slogan, what might the alternatives have been? Hmmmm...

Suddenly peas don't look so bad...

Cuteness like you've never seen.