An Ode 2 The Flowbee

Do you remember the Flowbee? Perhaps if you were a tireless child in the 90's that was awake at 6:00AM on Saturday morning watching infomercials you know all about it (and of course the classic ' Scewdriver').

In a nutshell the Flowbee was a set of clippers that hooked up to a vacuum. You attached the necessary number of 1/2 inch extensions to the clipper head, hooked it to the vacuum turned all systems on and (insert earplugs as required) suck away at your hair, magically it will get shorter!

Would you believe the the Flowbee is still available online? I always thought it was the COOLEST thing ever! I was amazed at how simple it would be to cut ones own hair in a clean and refreshing fashion. No itching afterwards, and to a very precise length.

Of course now that I'm an adult I realize it has got to among the most ridiculous contraptions ever. Oh how I wish I could find a picture of the beautiful blond they on the TV spot using like 10 inches of extensions giving herself a 'trim,' absurd I tell ya!

This picture is of the individual responsible for this little engineering marvel, and I suspect the person below him might be his ever supportive Mother, although I'm not certain!

Oh the funniness of it all! The Flowbee indeed, I need to add for those of you thinking of making a discreet purchase of the Flowbee -- it's not possible, as you can see from the picture below the Flowbee comes in a VERY NON-discreet box. Everyone from your mailman to your neighbors will get a good chuckle out of your little parcel!
I've had some interesting haircut experiences. There was the time I went to an 'Ethnic' Barbershop, where I didn't really understand the 'lingo' and ended up with a 'Low' as they called it. Lets not forget the more recent experience where I was blown off with an industrial air compressor at the conclusion of my trim.

Or my all time favorite, when my local trim shop was destroyed by the hurricane I had to go to a new place. One thing led to another and I was eventually asked (mind you) what I had been paying for haircuts. When I responded with my proud "Five dollars" the lady FLIPPED OUT. She exclaimed "Five dollars! if you think I'm gonna charge five dollars you need to go back to 1978" LOL. Fun times, even funnier I actually went back to her once!

Amy and Claire are having a splendid time in Tulsa, I'm working, and Maggie is worried she is going to have to stay in Tulsa when we all come home with weekend, that's not the case she is moving back to Texas as it turns out a possessive, ankle biting dog is a touch of a hindrance when trying to show a house that is for sale.

Flaberghasting!

Perhaps you will recall my recent post entitled 'A Jungle I Tell Ya'. I find myself back at this same hotel tonight, and you will be happy to know that most likely as a result of my public assault the city has mowed the 'Field of Dreams' and cut down some of the jungle. There actually is a barely navigable trail that leads to the moat that still requires a run and a jump but none-the-less I'm pleased to have a more direct route to my cure for my famished state.

Now on to the classic bit of litter I found along my trek today. I didn't happen to have a camera handy (well I think there is one on my phone, but considering I'm still impressed in has a color screen I'm sure I would never get the picture off of it). What I saw was a Koozie! On this Koozie was written "THIS WAS STOLEN FROM Lars & Rhonda's WEDDING..." It also included the date, but seriously it doesn't matter what day it is -- DON'T GIVE OUT KOOZIE'S FOR WEDDING FAVORS!

I thought this might be a fluke, perhaps these are the only people who would do such a absurd thing -- but no, please humor me -- Google 'Koozie' -- I'll do it for you, here are the results!

Did you notice that the VERY FIRST link is for wedding favor koozies?

So it turns out Lars and Rhonda aren't the only ones who mistakenly think that kozzie favors are a good idea. I'm afraid if I attended a wedding where there were koozies for favors I might have to excuse myself to have a good laugh before I can play Mr. Serious, congrats on your marriage!

Claire's Big Adventure

The girls and I had a wonderful frolic these past two weeks taking in the sights of western North America. Claire got to meet all kinds of fun relatives and other strangers. It's pretty amazing how she can draw an audience with the smallest little fit that she might occasionally throw in public places. But we love it!

As mentioned on Claire's blog she has taken to rotating herself; she can go from front to back and back to front at will these days. Sometimes it takes a touch of anger to get the roll going, but more often she will just roll over for no apparent reason. This is great but requires a tad more supervision than we Nortons were accustomed to. Claire also likes to make a fun new noise from the back of her throat that is difficult to explain but easy to imitate. She loves it when we make it back to her.

Our trip started out visiting my Mother, her parents and my sisters. This was great fun and lasted for two days.

After this little adventure we took Claire to meet my father and my other two sisters.
She loved meeting all of her aunts and finds them very entertaining!

After all of this excitment we went to the beach for the annual Rice Family Renunion. (Rice is my paternal grandmother's maiden name.) We have missed the last two of these reunions due to scheduling conflicts, so it was fun to get to see everyone for the first time in a few years. Then it was off to Camano Island, WA to visit some of Claire's great aunts, great uncles and second cousins!
Whew! This was a lot for Claire to take in, so the next morning we decided to take a break pool-side for some R&R. To make it more fun, we invited seven cousins, an aunt and an uncle to join us. It made for an exciting and fun-filled morning before we departed for Canada!

Next on the agenda was Whistler Mountain Resort. This is the site of a number of events for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and I really wanted to go check it out as I haven't been in nine years and never during the summer. It was really neat to enjoy the scenery from the comfort of shorts and flip-flops. We tried to go on a tour of the top of the moutain, but Claire protested. So instead we just did our own little tour and really had a wonderful time!

The newest Gondola system at Whistler is pretty amazing. It goes from the top of Whister Mountain to the top of Blackcomb Mountain. Each car can hold 28 people, and the views are spectacular!

For our Hell's Kitchen fans, we did make an impromptu stop at Araxi. While the prices at Araxi were not as out of control as I expected, I got the distinct feeling we weren't welcome with a three-month-old.

Instead we opted for fondu at Bavaria. This was probably the only time we will ever eat at a fondu restaraunt, as it did not exactly knock our socks off (note the 'Bavarian Fries' served as our side!), but we had a great time!

One more stop to see Grandma & Granapa Wines and then off to Portland. We spent our last night there with Uncle Clay and Aunt Lori. We had a wonderful time with them, and we weren't quite ready to leave. But alas it was time, and we journeyed home on Friday.

More pics, and perhaps a video coming soon!

The Answer

Thank you to my one faithful reader for your quick and possibly correct answer to the little puzzle I presented.

I challenge you to watch the video again, this time don't try to count anything -- perhaps you will notice a large gorilla in the room!

Isn't that just like life, we so often get focused on the task at hand, meanwhile we miss everything else happening around us. I challenge everyone to take time this week to look at the big picture; don't get caught up in the details.

This will be easy for Amy, Claire and me this week as we are embarking on the Norton family summer vacation. Fun destinations in store, and we will try to share pictures along the way!

Have a great two weeks, and we will chat latter!

Fun Test

Oh do try it --

Try to count the number of bounce passes among the white team. Leave your answer in the comments -- you may only watch the video once. No cheating!

Click on THIS link

The surprising answer coming soon!

Fabulous Birthday

I (Amy) had a FABULOUS birthday this year. It started with a celebration with my brother and his wife when they visited us over the Fourth of July weekend. Then my husband and daughter took me to Outback for dinner on my birthday to celebrate; and I celebrated with the rest of my family last week while in Tulsa. Here are the pics of my wonderful gifts:

From Matt and Randi - a beautiful picture frame that says "Together we have it all" - it's going to look perfect in my bedroom. Thanks, Matt and Randi. I love it! (Now I just need to get my act together and get my pictures printed.)

My parents gave me the cart cover / high chair cover that matches all of Claire's things - black and white toile. It's just what I wanted! Thanks Mom and Dad!
My friend, Valerie, gave me this beautiful piece of "I love New York" artwork that I have proudly hung in my living room. It's a perfect addition. Thanks, Val! I love it!And my wonderful, thoughtful husband gave me the perfect gift - a pocket-sized video camera! It's pink, of course! He also gave me an SD card that holds 4 hours of HD movies! I have been taking lots of videos of our daughter and her great accomplishments. We have now ordered more memory for our computer so that we can upload them, edit them and post them for your viewing pleasure. Look for those soon.My parents, grandparents, aunt, brother, sister-in-law and niece gave me money so that I can go shopping for some new clothes. Nothing in my closet seems to fit right since I have lost so much weight. A very good problem to have, I might add! Thanks, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Nanny, Fran, Adam, Shannon and Analise.

And Steve's Aunt Lori gave me a gift card to Cold Stone Creamery - one of my very favorite places! Birthday Cake Remix, here I come! Thanks, Aunt Lori!

I had a wonderful birthday! Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate! Let's do it again next year!