Sponge Hands

Luke calls me a "borderline germaphobe." According to dictionary.com, a phobia is "a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it."


I don't know where my sudden love of cleanliness came from. (For the purposes of this blog, please note that there is a clear distinction between cleanliness and clutter.) Maybe it stems from the microbiology class I took last year. Or the fact that now the appearance on our apartment is a reflection on me. But since we've moved in, I religiously scrub every bleachable surface every Saturday. And I use Clorox wipes during the week in between. I find these behaviors to be totally reasonable. I am not afraid of germs...I just don't want them in my kitchen. Very rational, you see?

The only thing that makes me put any weight in Luke's accusations is my feeling on sponges. I hate sponges! They are just a germ reproduction center! And they stink! Despite my best efforts to run them through the dishwasher, I can smell them from a mile away. If one of us uses the sponge, I smell it on our hands and refer to this condition as "Sponge Hands."

Last week was the first time that my fear of getting Sponge Hands prevented me from doing the dishes. Very ridiculous, I know. Perhaps I'm not a germaphobe, rather a Spongaphobe. I don't know, you decide.

San Diego

Memorial Day weekend was absolutely glorious! Firstly, I got to be away from work for 3 days which is just a wonderful thing. But most importantly we got to get away to San Diego to visit my bestie, Crystal and meet her boyfriend, Will (now fiance.) Congrats you two!

Views of San Diego from the USS Nimitz

We started our journey south by stopping for a visit with Mike and Tina Erickson to partake in some California Cafe Rio goodness. Delicious! We then stayed in our 4 star hotel for a steal of a deal thanks to Luke's Priceline negotiating skills.

We had an amazing time in beautiful San Diego eating at the Broken Yolk (a breakfast joint that we loved so much we went to both mornings,) walking around downtown, touring the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, and going on a fun and romantic dinner cruise.

Photos from the dinner cruise:

I just want to say thank you to all the service men and women in this country. Having a best friend in the Navy and a brother in law in the Army has really given me some perspective on what sacrifices they go through to serve. I could never do it. And Luke informed me that he could never join the Navy because he can't stand up straight in the ships (he was in a continual ducking position during our tour!) We enjoyed the tour, and even got to go to the flight deck! Although, my favorite part was making a FREE peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the dining area.

We had quite the adventure trying to locate where in the harbor our dinner cruise was leaving from. We arrived late, of course and were scrambling around trying to find it before the boat was scheduled to leave. Will ran off to the ticket booth while the rest of us waited where we thought we should be. The next thing we know, Will in aboard a pedi-cab being cycled by a hippie! We had only minutes to go a half mile before our ship left. So all 4 of us piled into the pedi-cab while the hippie pedaled at full speed. He honked his horned and yelled "VIPs coming through" as he plowed through the crowd. We barely made it to the ship in time and we owe it to the hippie who huffed and puffed to get us there. Thank you for getting kicked out of the 10th grade so you could drive our pedi-cab! What a hilarious and memorable experience.

All four of us on the dinner cruise

Why can't long weekends come around more often?