I'm Sailing!!!!!

wow. mom and i just had a most entertaining lunch. we headed to Tempe Town Lake to enjoy In-n-Out and fly kites! its a beautiful day, winds are blowing 4 mph, it should be delightful. first of all, i forgot my camera, so i brought the work camera, and no sooner had i opened it up to take the first picture, than the battery died. lame. lame. lame. and oh, that i had been able to chronicle the next 45 minute's events...

once we got to the park and i topped the hill i said 'mom, look at the water. there's not a ripple.' it was calm and glassy as firm jell-o. flags were limp. trees were statuesque. We weren't the only ones disappointed by the lack of wind. Mom and I sat and laughed, for about 20 minutes, at two stranded sailboats in the middle of the lake. They weren't going anywhere. really pathetic. 4 kids, 2 kids, and 2 grandparents had to laze there forEVER, until they were finally inches away from the dock. Streeetch, mom and i said. then, with our collective willpower, blew the boats to the landing. poor people. those kids will never want to get on a sailboat again. then we tried our kites. pretty pathetic. they probably had a total fly time (together) of 1 minute.

anyway, we headed back, only to see two ambulances and one fire truck all cross the same intersection, going different directions. what is going on today? its madness! then we saw a truck flat out pull into the oncoming lane of traffic to get up to the stoplight faster. theeeen, the light turned green and this idiot on a skateboard went diagonal across the crosswalk, almost killing himself. i'm so glad to be sitting safe and sound back in my little office. THANKS MOM! lunch was great! let's do it next week!

We're gonna DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my BFF Angie was in town this weekend (she's been teaching English in S. Korea for the past year) and we decided to do a super quick visit to California, to enjoy one of its glorious natural wonders---Knottsberry Farm. :) Which is not a farm, by the way, but a wondrous oasis of rollercoasters and other adrenaline-inducing fare. The weather was beautiful and the crowds were small, and we got to do all the rides we wanted to, which include some pretty out-of-control, death-defying rollercoasters.

We laughed ourselves sick and were exhausted by the end of the day. Angie took some pics and even videotaped us on one of the rides (it was a tamer one that ensured the camera wouldn't go flying into space). Glorious. I'll post those as soon as she sends 'em to me. here's a simulated video of the Xcelerator on Youtube. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jpui2wmkI2w&feature=related

Oh, and, yall know how there are those Toll Lanes on the California freeway? Well...Angie, who wasn't exactly paying attention to the road accidentally drove in there, and we had a major freak-out moment, thinking Holy Cow--we've crossed the barrier--surely there will be cops waiting for us at the end when we can't produce a card or something. Oh, the disappointment. It was like wanting to pull the fire alarm in school, then finally doing it and having nothing happen. Nothing happened! There was never a toll booth, or a check point--we just breezed by the crowded freeway at a goodly pace and nothing ever happened. Strange. Nice. But slightly disappointing. :)

Anyway, that was my weekend. Happy Monday all!

love birds...

Here's the bouquet daddy gave mama for Valentine's Day. The man's got taste!

mirror mirror on the wall, who's got the greatest daddy of all?

So dad started this tradition, oh i don't know, at least 8 years ago, where he started giving his girls flowers for valentine's day. they were usually accompanied by a card that said something like "Until your own prince charming comes along..." holy tar--who's got the sweetest dad ever? the stoddard girls, that's who. anyway, haha!--kathryn and heidi bit the dust, so its up to THEIR prince charmings to spoil them on V-Day...and until i decide to throw down with just one boy, i still get bouquets once a year from the most important guy in my life. So...here's the sweet treat i got delivered to work today. THANKS DADDY! xoxo

Restless apartment

I rearranged my bedroom (yes, i've only been in the apartment a little over a month-but Wow-did it make a world of difference....) OCD OCD OCD. and i hung up my little comedy/tragedy masks, and i got a slammin' red leather chair off of good old Craigslist. Oh! And the first time i did my laundry after kathryn left i was pulling things out of the dryer and a cute little present fell at my feet! A memento of Caleb! awwwwwww

Beware...chinese waitress baring the fortune cookeh......

Okay Heidi, here's my blog. Prepare for gloriousness.