Well, what happens at your dinner parties?

Saturday night, Markel Farkel (of Markel Farkel Friday) and his lovely wife, Special K, invited us and three other couples over for a delicious chile dinner.

MF and Special K know how to cook some food. Whenever we get invited for dinner, we do whatever possible because we know we're going to be treated to some seriously fine cuisine.

I took some pictures Saturday night, so others can see what fine dining among those in our circle looking like:







Yes Randy, Kristen is taller than you.

When I had to put my puffy-headed Persian, Bing, two years Christmas, we decided that two cats were enough for us.

Then promptly went out and brought home Frida.

Now, our Frida Nut-Nut is gone.

Again we decided that two cats are plenty.

So today I went to Animal Control on my lunch hour to see the kittens.

Yes, it makes no sense, but that's how it is with me and pets. I don't make any sense. (OK that's how I am in most things.)

Oh, they have so many lovely cats and kittens. If it were just for me, I'd totally take home one of the older cats as they were all so friendly and beautiful. But we want to get Mar a kitten — kittens are the most delightful creatures.

Living with a kitten tempers the sadness of losing a pet. And we only got the privilege of living with our whacky Frida for two years ... not nearly enough. She was the neatest cat.

Now, we've got to move. Luckily it looks like we'll be doing our "moving on" with one of these faces brightening our day:

No more Nut-Nut

Saturday a woman came to our door and asked if we had a cat with a yellow collar.

A young man was crouched down at the corner of our yard petting our dear Frida Nut-Nut.

He said a white truck hit her. She ran to our yard and collapsed.

And just like that our crazy, evil, curious, delightful kitty was gone.

We miss you, Frida Nut-Nut. Rest in peace.

Markel Farkel Friday

Oh how I look forward to Markel Farkel Friday for oh so many reasons.





And the grand finale is the Bush Shocker:

Benefits are awesome

For no other reason than we have a vision plan as part of our benefits plan at work, I got myself some new specs.

For those of you with fine vision, you miss out on getting to pick out fancy new glasses. But then again, you get to see well all of the time. So I guess it all evens out, no?

Two and a half years ago, I got myself red Cynthia Rowley frames a la Sally Jessie Raphael.

This time, I got me some Calvin Klein.

Watch out, Rivetergirl's getting all cute.

Wordless Wednesday

Why having an understanding pregnant neighbor rocks

Saturday night, Bill and I along with our rambunctious posse attended a birthday soirée for a dear friend of ours.

I guess I should stipulate that it was a nice soirée until we showed up, then it turned into a frat party.

We can't help ourselves, I guess.

All the nice people left and we remained being loud and dancing like fools.



Luckily for us, we saved ourselves cab fare as just as our baby sitter was about to expire, our lovely neighbor agreed to drive us all home. Sarah is in a family way and therefore sober.

Of course, we never agreed to act right, so I'm sure we owe her a grand apology and a huge thank you.

So thanks, Sarah, for getting knocked up and for driving our stupid asses home. We appreciate you!

Disapproving Kelley

With thanks to the Disapproving Rabbits.

New Rivetergirl banner

My dear friend, Tracee, told me that the cookie I lovingly decorated for myself would make a good blog banner.



Being that I often like the ideas of others and hate my own, I did just as she said.

I think she's right.

Markel Farkel Friday

"Fresh Fucking Pineapples" Oh yeah!

I can't believe that "cat" is not housebroken.

King of the Whoa.

The Dark Knight meets Hancock? Or is CineMagic not your everyday movie theater?



Because bacon is always better than fries.

What exactly did I mean, anyway?

Me: Do you want to have lunch with me at Garden of Eaten (a salad bar restaurant).

Bill: Sure, but by "Garden of Eaten" you mean "Grand International Buffet," right. (Yeah, the buffet with all the deep fried stuff that I can't resist.)

Me: No, I mean let's have salad.

Bill: What? We haven't pigged out in a week.

Me: (incredulously) Uh, we haven't stopped pigging out in more than a week.

Bill: Then it's settled, I meet you at Grand International Buffet at 11.

It's hard to argue with that a man of no logic.

Exercising is dangerous

Just another reason why you won't see my flabby ass out jogging:

Jogger runs mile with rabid fox locked on her arm

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Authorities in Arizona say a jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran a mile with the animal's jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to a hospital. The Yavapai County sheriff's office said the woman told deputies she was on a trail near Prescott on Monday when the fox attacked and bit her foot.

She said she grabbed the fox by the neck when it went for her leg but it bit her arm.

The woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital.

The sheriff's office says the fox later bit an animal control officer. He and the woman are both receiving rabies vaccinations.

Halloween in D.C.

Did you know that kids trick-or-treat in Washington, D.C., just like we do here?

Yeah, we weren't certain, but when Margaret and her traveling companion, Hannah, knocked on doors, strangers gave them candy ... just like they do every where else in the country. Awesome.

Mar and Hannah spend their Halloween in costume at the Zoo, on canal barge tour, trick-or-treating at the lovely boutiques in Georgetown (that was really fun) and doing some traditional trick-or-treating in our hotel's neighborhood — which was probably the most awesome neighborhood ever. All the houses were decorated and everybody was out enjoying the gorgeous fall weather.

Definitely a great place to celebrate Halloween.

Margaret and Hannah (a princess and a witch) in the lobby of our hotel, the Omni Shoreham.

In the elephant house of the National Zoo.

If you look very carefully, there's a giant panda at the back of that exhibit.

On the C&O Canal barge tour.

Despite Margaret's look of utter boredom, this was really an interesting and relaxing tour on a mule-drawn barge.

Trick-or-treating in the Woodley Park neighborhood near our hotel.



Mar enjoying some of her Halloween bounty after a long and fun day.

I need a beer

T.G.I.E.D,* or my head just might explode.

But at least I got a sticker.

*Thank goodness it's Election Day.

Introducing the Giant Pencil

Giant Pencil!

Giant Pencil!

I used to have the wee pencil. Now I have the a giant pencil.



My mom bought me my giant pencil at the National Archives right after we saw the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

I know! We're so patriotic.

And because of that I'm going to chronicle the life and ever-shrinking times of my giant pencil.

Today the giant pencil is 16 inches (for reference the wee pencil is 1-3/4").

Long live the giant pencil!

Markel Farkel Friday on Monday!

Oh my, Markel Farkel Friday on Monday? Isn't that so typical of Rivetergirl — she makes a plan and then throws it out the window ... but not really.

Since I was out of town most of last week, I missed the second installment of Markel Farkel Friday and since he was gracious enough to send these gems along, I thought I'd share them with you.

I'm hoping to start my D.C. recap soon, but I'm still playing catch up and I've got a classfull of exams to grade.

Where is the world is Rivetergirl

I'll give you one guess:

Rockin' our CD release party

Saturday night, my band, Riveter, had our CD release party for our new EP "Snatch."

Man, oh, man, what a great show. The place was packed ... packed I tell ya! And the crowd was awesome.

We had a great time playing and the whole night kicked a huge assortment of ass.

My mom, aunt and uncle had a good time, too. They said that watching the crowd was just as entertaining as watching us play and I have to agree. There is nothing like the nightlife at the Quincy Bar.

Introducing Markel Farkel Friday

Today, I'm excited to announce a new feature here on 'the Hell.

Dah, da, da, dahhhhh ... It's MARKEL FARKEL FRIDAY!!!

Yay!

Each Friday I will be showcasing a bit of Internet pop culture funniness found out there in the cyber world by my dear friend Markel Farkel.

Markel is one funny dude and he's been sending me the best of the crazy Internets for a while. And now I'm going to share some of those things with y'all on Fridays, so we start our weekends out right.

So without further ado ...

Now there's some good advice!