appetizer: flowers

This look clearly says to me, "leave me the F#$% alone."

Ever since the rain has come back to the city, flowers and little splashes of colour have been sprouting up everywhere. So much so that I, who loves flowers, have been stopping into little flower shops lately and deciding if it is worth buying a little potted friend. Of course, the answer is always "no" because firstly I have a black thumb (it's inherited) and will kill any plant, guaranteed, within 4-6 weeks. Secondly, Milo eats flowers...and occasionally even leafy plants. All that time we lived in the Villa (our apartment in Davis), and we thought our plants were just dying or something, but no: we found a flower-less bouquet that one of us had received, sitting in its vase still, almost untouched except for the lack of blooms...and Milo sitting nearby, giving us a look that was supposed to say, "Wow. Look at that. Your flowers just...disappeared!", but not realizing he hadn't wiped his filthy little pie-hole, and there was a single mutilated petal clinging to his whiskers (sorry Noemma). Nolan didn't know this quality/flaw about the creature when we first moved here, and brought me some daffodils he had picked/stolen from someone's yard...only to find a gnawed-on petal remaining by the time I got home from work. Hhhhh. So: as long as this beast lives, I can never have flowers.

Last night, the Longs came over to play Settlers and have wine and angel food cake and of course pepperidge farm cookies. I mean it's implied that the Caldwells dominated ;), but: the company was fantastic and that is what the focus of this statement should be. Not our victory. Heh. Also I think things would have been different if Nolan hadn't royally screwed up the last game for Natalie (she did a good job controlling herself but I think it was getting close to blood-shed in Catan).

Yesterday I went to Trader Joe's for the first time in my life (I KNOW), and it was fantastic. Not only did I stock up on Oregon Chai mix, but I got a bunch of random foodie things that Nolan is already eyeing excitedly. While there, I stopped by Borders next door and got some stupid stuff for my desk. Everyone keeps telling me my cube looks uninhabited, to which I say, "I KNOW. HHHH." So I thought I'd spice it up with some colour...pink mainly :) So they are cute, but they are also stupid and I can't believe I paid for such things.
Like a little sparkly pink ball for which I have no purpose:

And some little magnets:

And you know, some other stuff like a flowery pencil sharpener and a purple paper-holder, but seriously, how DEPRESSING is that.