rude.

allison's husband ted has the funniest way of saying the word "rude," in this deep and petulant voice. in fact, hearing it said is one of the things we miss most about the syphus-riries, besides their biting wit and fantastic desserts of course. anyway, b and i have taken to saying it at appropriate times and always laugh about it. but this week i used it a bit more than usual.

first of all, i sent an email to a fellow stationery blogger who shall not be named, because i was doing this feature about crane & co stationery on my paper blog and wanted to publicize it a bit. [you already know this if you subscribe to my stationery blog, which if you don't -- seriously, why don't you? i have some sweet giveaways coming up, you better pay attention.] she is definitely a more successful blogger than i am with a way bigger following, but we virtually know each other and i thought maybe she'd post about it to toss me a couple new viewers. you know, because the internet is free and it would take her like five seconds to do, and besides it's not like she's design sponge or something. she wrote back -- four days later -- and said something to the effect of "thanks for your note! i don't write about giveaways on my blog, so i won't post this. but i do love crane, especially after i toured their factory last year." wow, thank you. not only did you reject my request -- four days later! -- you insulted me and reminded me that you're a waaay bigger blogger than me who gets to tour stationery studios. rude.

next, yesterday i ran to the grocery store to get a few things. in the checkout line, the checker eyed me and then instructed, with a look of disdain, me on where to place my little basket -- so i guess i got on her bad side early [since leaving your basket at the front of the line is such a horrible sin]. then, i had a postcard-sized coupon for a free bag of fstg chips [which i'd signed up for online & gotten in the mail] so i handed it to her after she'd finished ringing up my stuff. she looked at the coupon, looked at me, sighed, ripped the tiny coupon off one corner of the postcard and said "next time....can you please CLIP the coupon before you hand it in." uh, i've worked retail before sweetheart [holla at the BYU bookstore, among other places] and in all my experience it has never mattered if the coupon was a certain size or shape -- they just wanted to know that you'd gotten it before they tallied it up. so you and your little "faith" wrist tattoo and blue eye shadow can just calm down and stop giving me attitude in the checkout line. rude.

and while i'm commentating on funny things in my life, here's another one for you. our apartment complex has become the projects or something because just about EVERY night [despite the freezing temperatures and frequent snow] there is a group of 2 - 5 hoodlums out smoking on the corner entrance to our community. i see them every time i go to the gym in their hoodies and pajama pants, puffing away like they're really hiding out from the world right there on the highly-trafficked corner. a month ago b and i took jack for a walk in his stroller and passed by them; b had brought along a box of crackers to eat as a snack while we walked. when we passed the smokers, one of them said "hey man! are those chicken in a biskit?!? awesome!" we nodded and kept walking and thought it was so funny that the hoodlums gave us a shout out over some free crackers leftover from one of b's school activities. so, chicken in a biskit fans, we salute you and your snack fetishes. and i'm pretty sure i know why you have the munchies...just sayin.

and now, to end the post on a high note, here's a recent pic of the boy because there haven't been nearly enough of these lately on the blog. he went to bed tonight at 6 p.m. because he was completely wiped out after church, and i'm terrified he's going to wake up at 11 p.m. and think it's morning or something.