The Big DumpTruck

Sorry I forgot to wish you a Merry Christmas. It isn't that I didn't want to wish you a merry Christmas, it's just that I did not get around to sending you that message. So instead, I'm going to say "Merry Monday Night, you should have some pizza." I think that covers all of the important things I want for you. And while you are eating your pizza you should order yourself a t-shirt off the internet, and pay for it yourself, and write "from Jody" if there is a spot to send a message. Because I only wish the best for you.

Labels: gifts, holidays

I'll let you all get together and make the decision as a group. I wouldn't want to receive multiple copies. So I added one to my amazon wish list so that if someone does buy it the rest of you will know because it won't be listed there any more.

I told Mr. Dump that I was going to try to be good this year and not buy any Dept. 56 houses (which I suspect he thought was a nice try on my part, but did not believe me). And then, I was searching for one of the houses on Google and unfortunately clicked a link to a site that showed me this:



[Click the link to see a larger picture of the item in all its glory!] As you can see, there is no way I will be able to live a long and happy life without this house. I'm almost depressed because I don't have it yet, and I've known about it since this morning!

I'll let you all go meet now, so you can decide who will get to buy it. Don't worry, I won't peek. Oh, and if you get one for yourself, because you are a fan of the Big DumpTruck, do let us know, okay?

Labels: gifts, Xmas

Yesterday was Mother's Day here in the United States. (Hey, I have at least one international reader that will admit to it, so let me just pretend I'm I web sensation the world over, would you?) I got my mother's day present earlier (some high quality headphones for my iPod to do a better job of blocking out stray conversations at work) and certainly wasn't expecting anything on Sunday.

But Junior wrote me a poem (I will share it tomorrow, because I don't remember it verbatim and I want to make sure I don't miss a thing) and gave me a little pot with seeds planted in it. I believe the flowers will be marigolds, but he was calling it something else, so we'll see.

We packed up and headed out to Newport to meet up with my brother-in-law and his wife who were up here taking their belated honeymoon. And my new sister-in-law presented me with my "other" Mothers Day Present: salt. I got salt for mother's day! I'll bet nobody else out there can say that!!! I got salt hand-carried all the way from Houston! And I'm beside myself thrilled!

You see, we eat at Bertucci's a lot, and they have Cefalu Sea Salt grinders on the table, and I love this salt more than many many things in my life. Every time we go there (a couple of times a month) I threaten to steal the salt off the table, because we have never been able to find it for sale anywhere. Apparently, Mr. Dump wrote down the name and phone number of the import company and did a ton of footwork to try to track it down. The company would only sell it by the case but apparently there's a liquor store chain in Houston that carries it, and he somehow convinced my SIL to wait in line for 40 minutes (!) to buy me 5 shakers of Cefalu salt (she also bought one for herself). And they gave it to me yesterday and I was bouncing with happiness! No longer do I need to fight the urge to steal!

This is darned tasty salt. It's hard to explain how salt can taste good, but it just tastes, well, salty. It's 100x better than anything you pour out of a round box into a shaker, and you grind it yourself with the built in grinder-top. The bottle says it's imported from Sicily, 100% natural, made only by the Sea and the Sun. Maybe it's the sun that makes it extra good. I recommend that you all go to Bertucci's and try some.

So yes, I got salt for mother's day. And I couldn't be happier.

Labels: food, gifts, happy, holidays

I am the only person who eats peanut butter toast by dipping it in coffee. This strange breakfast treat comes courtesy of my dad, who is also the person responsible for my sister and I calling Kool-Aid "Bug Juice" our entire childhood. I believe we have the United States Navy to thank for both of those.

I think I'm going to have peanut butter toast for breakfast, because I've been thinking about it. Yesterday we set up the coffee maker we received as a Christmas present from Mr. Dump's business partner. This thing is what every home should own - you put coffee beans in a thing at the top and it grinds them into the basket as part of the brewing process. There is a water filter built in to take out the yuckies. And it drips into a caraf so it will stay hot for hours without being on a burner. I think today's peanut butter toast is going to ROCK!

Labels: food, gifts