Junk Drawer Tape

A couple weeks ago, I baked some cute dog cookies for the nieces of my coworker and shipped them to Michigan. All of my cookie packing stuff was in the car, so I pretty much packaged them at my desk when I got to work. Of course, when I got there, I couldn't find my nice roll of clear packaging tape. So I asked our wonderful admin assistant if she had some tape to borrow. What she brought me reminded me instantly of something from my childhood: junk drawer tape.

When I was younger and asked my mom or dad for tape, I was directed to the junk drawer in the kitchen. In the drawer lived a roll of 3" wide packaging tape that should have been thrown out looooong ago. It was yellowed, brittle, and the cardboard core was warped, rippling the tape. The handy-dandy dispenser and razor cutter had long since disappeared. Every time you used it, you had to find the end (because none of us were smart enough to fold it under making a tab) and hope that you could peel off the length you needed without it somehow shredding. Then, since it was packaging tape and therefore tough, you had to make sure you had scissors handy to cut it. If you were wrapping a gift and wanted neat little strips, you had to make your own by cutting the strip lengthwise. God forbid we just buy some scotch tape on a nice neat little roll with a dispenser. If my parents had any of that glorious stuff, they kept it hidden.

Now that I'm on my own and can buy my own tape, I'm kind of nutso about it. I keep multiple rolls in various places - the junk drawer, my craft drawer, hidden in my desk at work. I spend good money on 3M brand Scotch tape (no generics!!), and if one should lose it's dispenser and razor, it finds a new home in the trash. My packaging tape is the same. My days of fighting with packaging tape and struggling to get a 3" strip without tears are over. I even buy those cute little pop-up, pre-cut dispensers for Christmas wrapping. Tape is now one of my "things," along with good ol' name brand 27-ply toilet paper, which is also a result of being deprived of the quality stuff at my parents' house. My mom is so cringing right now.

So when Shannon sweetly handed me her tape at the office and I burst into laughter and called it junk drawer tape, she just looked at me completely baffled. I'm pretty sure if I ever ask to use it again, she'll ask if her tape meets my standards. As long as she tries to give me junk drawer tape, that answer is 'no.'

Do you have something silly that you're now obsessive about because you were deprived when you were younger?

Wedding cake: check

Holy crazy weekend, Batman! It was a fun one though, as expected. Friday night, Dan and I went out with David and Alex and Dan's parents to the guys' favorite neighborhood bar to kick off the weekend.

In the morning, I went home (we stayed over) and packed up cake stuff, dog stuff, and my stuff. I headed over to Mrs. ESPN's house and finished the cake while Dan and his brother went and picked up the dogs and their accessories. Honestly, Mrs. ESPN saved my butt. The ganache was a mess and she helped me fix it. I really don't know if things would have gone over very well without her help. The drive to deliver the cake was the most nerve-racking 10 minutes of my life, but I got it there in one piece and the bride was very pleased. I think I'm done with melted chocolate products for a while though. Here it is all set for it's trip to the church.

We spent Saturday and Sunday swimming in the pool, eating good food, visiting with great friends, and drinking yummy beer. My parents came up Saturday night and it was really nice to see them. I'm really glad they came and had a chance to get to know my parents-in-law better and meet all the friends we talk about. Now it's back to the grind and I'm not quite prepared for the work week. Today is my dentist appointment to get my first of what will probably be 4 crowns and I'm feeling really anxious. I just hope it's not as bad as it is in my head.

How was your weekend?

Row, row, row your boat not so gently 'round the lake...

This weekend for Father's Day, we decided to go boating on one of the lovely lakes here in Arizona. And when I say "boating" what I mean is "rowing." A few years ago, we took my dad kayaking for Father's Day. He liked it so much, he acquired a kayak and then a canoe of his own. Since then, it's kind of become our family tradition, though I think we missed last year. Two years ago, Paisley was only 5 months old and she went with us. This year, we have two active puggles to come along and it was quite the adventure.

My parents tow their kayak and canoe in a modified trailer that my dad also uses for hauling landscaping debris and anything else that won't fit under his truck's camper shell. For this lake trip, between the 4 humans and 3 dogs, we needed to take two cars. When we got to the lake, parking was sparse and we had to get parking passes. We discovered that only one lot allowed parking for both trucks with trailers and regular cars. Of course, that one lot was full. By the time we found parking for the Murano in the regular parking lot, smashed ourselves into the truck, drove to the lot for trailers and got it parked and the boats in the water, it was after noon and over 100 degrees.

While my mom and I were waiting for The Men to bring the boats and equipment down, we played fetch with the dogs at the small beach near the boat launch. My parents' lab, Emmy, looooves to fetch, and she also loves to swim, so it was perfect. As we were playing, Clover and Paisley got very interested in Emmy's fetching and started walking farther and farther out into the lake. And then, all of a sudden, Clover and Paisley both swam out after Emmy! Now, both our pups have been in the pool - we put them in to show them how to get out - but neither seemed to like it. We were completely amazed to see them both swim out into the lake over and over again. And I must say, they are both the cutest little swimmers I've seen in quite a while.

We finally got the boats ready and pushed off. Oy, that's when the fun began. We were in the canoe with P&C, and poor Dan felt every movement and had to shift his weight to compensate. And they weren't just moving a little, they were all over the place. They completely scratched up my poor bare legs. At one point, Clover decided she wanted to be in the kayak with Emmy and jumped ship, literally. Thankfully, we weren't moving too fast and Dan plucked her up out of the water and plopped her back in the boat. We rowed over to a nice shaded spot and got out and had some lunch, chatted, and played more fetch before rowing back. It was quite a bit of work for a short trip to the lake, but it was a fun day.

We didn't bring cameras on the water with us, because we all know my luck with electronics and water, but I did snap this one of Paisley and Clover asleep on the back seat on the way home.


We spent the rest of the weekend with my parents as well. We cooked dinner Saturday night and we spent yesterday making breakfast, playing Wii Golf, watching Date Night at the theater, practicing ganache (finally), and going out to dinner. It was a wonderful Father's Day weekend.

What did you do this weekend?

Happy Father's Day, Dad

Today celebrates great men in our lives - our fathers. My dad is awesome. I'm truly lucky to be blessed with amazing parents. I think for most little girls, our daddies are our heroes, and mine most certainly is. He's patient, kind, funny, and genuine. He fought the monsters, brushed off scraped knees, bought us ponies, and wore the proudest smile possible whenever we accomplished something. He's truly a great man, and I'm so blessed to call him 'Dad.'

One of my earliest memories with my dad was playing baseball. He was the batter no matter who the pitcher was. When I was at bat, he'd try throw me a soft lob that I could still never hit. When I gave up, he'd toss the ball in the air and hit it as far as he could. When I was really little, we had a huge yard separated into three sections, and he could hit it from one end of the yard to the other. So anyway, he'd hit it and then I'd race around my bases as fast as I could while he ran for the ball. When he was at bat, he'd again hit it far and then he had to crawl around the bases while I went for the ball. He always let me win.

He also taught me to play poker. We had a bag of pennies and then a bag of macaroni that we played with. He taught me 5 card draw and 7 card stud. He played with me for what seemed like hours while I learned the hierarchy from a pair to a straight flush. We played WAR and Go Fish, too.

When I was about 9 or 10, my mom went on a trip for a work conference. While she was gone, my dad painted the living room yellow and let us eat whatever we wanted. We had Yellow Food Day, where we ate corn, macaroni and cheese, and hot dogs with yellow mustard. He also surprised my mom with the purchase of a pair of horses, Splinter and Jake. Dad grew up in Blackwood, New Jersey and had horses when he was young. He wanted that for us, too. He'd take us every day to our family friend's stable to feed the horses. He let us help brush and feed them. I don't remember how much we rode, but it was fun, as well as intimidating. Still, it was pretty cool to have horses.

When I was 11, I started synchronized swimming. Megan started the year after. For years, Dad attended every meet. He cheered and clapped, encouraged and congratulated. He and my mom came to every meet when we swam in high school, too, if I remember correctly. No matter what we tried, Megan and I were very fortunate to have incredibly supportive parents. If we wanted to try tennis, he bought rackets. He bought golf clubs, basketballs, and swim goggles.

My dad has moved my furniture at least 10 times, between moves in and out of dorms and apartments. Each time, he moves my bed, couch, and that awful heavy and awkward old TV stand up and down stairs. Each time, he does it gladly, and thanks ME for the opportunity to spend time with me.

I'm truly lucky that I have the parents I do. Spending this weekend with them reminded me of that. We went kayaking/canoeing, played Wii Golf, went to a movie and out for dinner. It was great to spend time with them. I think we'll all look back on this weekend with fond and funny memories for a long time.

Dad, I love you so much. Thank you for always being the greatest daddy a girl could ask for. I feel so blessed to have such a selfless, loving, and patient man as a father. Thanks for always having faith in me, and encouraging me to be the best woman I can be.

Congrats, Megan and Daniel!

Quadruple doh!! How could I forget the most exciting thing about my weekend? There was a reason I went off on my tangent about my new phone. I was phoneless all day on Saturday, which was highly inconvenient because my sister had some great news she was dying to share:

Megan is engaged!! I'm so happy for her. She and Daniel have a lot in common and have so many things they like to do together. They're just 2 outdoorsy peas in a pod. I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with Daniel because I lived in Phoenix when they lived in Tucson and they both moved to Seattle, but he's a very sweet guy who makes my little sister very happy.

My little sister is getting married, y'all. I can hardly believe it. Yay!