Pack Rat Hall of Fame: Summer Hats

Apparently my family has skeletons in the closet. Except they come in the form of an incredible amount of summer hats. A few days ago I was cleaning out my old shoes from the front hall closet. Those who know me well know that once I start cleaning, I can't stop; so on I went to discover hoods belonging to jackets we have already gotten rid of, hot gloves with fur around them, and a box of water bottles including a Flinstones one from Canada's Wonderland. Soon I was onto the mystery boxes on the top shelf. What did I find in the box my mother labeled in permanent marker "Female Summer Hats: HOT! HOT! HOT!"? Not just female hats...but a multitude of male and female summer hats, some so old that if there were a museum for summer hats they would be surrounded by glass and signs that say "please do not use flash photography". How many hats did I discover total? 52. Do we wear any of these? No...no we don't. Why do we have so many hats? I HAVE NO IDEA.

Top Ten Hats
In order from best to worst (worst to best?)

10) A bright fuscia hat with "Lorraine" written on in fabric paint. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of this since I threw it out the second I saw it.

9) Purple and pink plastic visors WITH foam glued on for extra comfort












8) Ancient (and I do mean ancient) Walt Disney World hat, modeled by our very own hallway statue, Caesar. (He is also wearing Darren's old tie from when he worked at Carmen's when he was 12)















7) Speaking of Darren's professions, here we have two lovely hats from Darren's former places of employment; Kentucky Fried Chicken (from when he was a teenager) and Utility Reading A. Billing Ltd. (from a few years ago).

















6) Not one...but TWO Doug Conley hats. I'm guessing this was from the political campaigning days.

















5) Softball hats from every single year I played softball (consecutive years since I was about 8)














4) Esso "No Trouble" Hats. Three of them. Clearly we are very supportive of our gas stations.










3) My mom's old Revlon make up hat. *shudder*

















2) My old pink shiny hat that Darren and Larissa were nice enough to model for me. When I was little (like, 7. Ok 10. 15. Move on) this hat had everything I ever wanted: ie it was pink and shiny. Before giving this away, I made sure to black out in permanent marker my name and phone number which was written on the inside. I don't want any phone calls from shoppers at Value Village asking me "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?"
















1) Last but CERTAINLY not least: Rainbow coloured tie dye Caribbean Chicken. 'Nuff said.

At long last, us Conleys have finally come out of the closet. We have nothing to be ashamed of anymore. Some poor fashion-blind person at Value Village will inherit that shame instead. To them, all I can say is: I'm sorry.

The Geekiness is Hereditary

Spending time with my brother Darren and his lovely wife Larissa at their apartment is always a fun experience. Between him nuzzling her and me gagging at his unabashed display of affection, we also find time to play some form of card/board game and watch a movie. In between THESE moments is usually when Darren sneaks off to the computer to play one of his nerd games. This time it was Zelda. Getting him away from his games is comparable to pulling a dog on a leash away from that one spot he just HAS to sniff and thoroughly investigate in the grass. Yes, it's darn near impossible, except Darren is a lot better at negotiating extra time. This - along with the usual banter of every day married life (making food, doing dishes, laundry) - makes for some interesting and often geeky conversation around their household. During my stay there this past Friday and Saturday, I diligently compiled the following quotes:

"Darren come eat." -Larissa

"Just let me get a fairy!" - Darren

"If you were anybody BUT my brother, I would CALL you a fairy right now." -Me
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"Darren why are you so complicated!? Just give me your pants!" -Larissa arguing with Darren about whether his jeans should be washed or not. Much funnier out of context.
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"There's just this one part I have to do right here! There's a big gigantic fire do hickey!" -Darren
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"Everyone thinks she's this delicate flower, but really she's the kind of flower that BITES you!" -Darren
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"My first cloister! Oh wait, I said that last time, didn't I?" -Larissa playing Carcassone
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"Darren, pause your game." -Larissa

"Ok, I just have to...ARGHHH!" -Darren getting beaten in his game
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Yes, we are a family of geeks, but we are not ashamed to admit it. Our movie choice for this visit was Ham and Cheese at my insistence, and games of choice were Five Crowns and Carcassone, WHICH, in our defense, the actress who plays Pam from The Office is addicted to as well! If a famous celebrity loves it too, you can't be all THAT uncool playing it. That's my reasoning and I'm sticking with it. I heartily look forward to my next visit.

Tubing With You

I've never done the posting of video clips on my blog before. Mainly 'cause I was too lazy to figure out how. UNTIL TONIGHT. Turns out I knew how to all along. I always suspected I was right. Anywho, here's some of my favourite youtube clips! And there are many more where these came from. (I know you're excited...so am I!)

Whose Line Is It Anyway - The first time I saw this I replayed it three times I thought it was so funny.



Darth Vader Prank - Yes it goes black for a few seconds, keep watching!


Cracked Lord of the Rings TBS commercial - "When Gandolf rides his white horse......watch out middle earth!"