The Answer is "No"

• D-Man: "I thought you said you were going to keep Flanders off the new couch. Remember?"
  Gropius: "No. Don't you remember that the poor thing lived on the streets?"
  (It's been nearly 12 years since she lived on the streets, but I still hate the thought of her starting her life in that fashion. Therefore, every possible convenience should be granted to her, at the expense of people and furniture.)
• Husband: "Can this be our next bedspread?" (showing me a picture of a Guy Harvey ocean scene that's been sewn into a honky bedspread)
  Gropius: "No."
  (No further explanation required.)
  
• Gropius: "Hmmm....can I actually take a vacation day in which I stay in town and do not think about work?"
  Gropius: "No. Obviously."
  (Honestly, what the hell is wrong with me? I did go to the beach today, but I still checked work e-mail several times and will probably end up working for at least 2 hours when it's all said and done.)
  
• Gropius: "Really? Do you really have to change the channel and watch bits and pieces of 2 other shows during the commercials? Can't you just keep it on this channel while we watch the entire 30 minute episode?"
  Husband: "No. Obviously."
  (The remote is a sign of power. Silent and powerful power. Power power. It will never be relinquished by the male members of this family...and it must be clutched at all times. And when they give me the remote and say, "Here, put it on what you want to see," it really means, "You'll be asleep in a few minutes so I'll give you this one pretend act of compromise.")
• Husband: "I bet I can convince you to like football...hmm? Just like you learned to love baseball?"
  Gropius: "No. A million times no. Sorry, love. Also, no to hockey, golf and basically any sport.
  
  (I made my leap with baseball, but you know, just when I got to really love the team and appreciate all of the players, know them by name, etc.--the Rays went and traded everyone I especially cared about. Nice. I might retract my baseball hots.)

What have you said "no" to recently? Is it firm, or indecisive, like a weak handshake?

A Startling Discovery

This weekend as we were loading groceries in my car, Husband discovered what used to be pasta, mushroom wraps and salad in the hatch area. It was one of those "ohhhh yeah" moments.

I'm just glad these expired culinary delights were packaged in the good, industrial strength Ziploc bags. That would be the reason the smell hadn't hit the crowd, so to speak.  The soupy remains were a horrific sight and your guess about the aroma would be as good as mine. I don't want to go there.

Texting while driving is one thing, and having your nostrils fill with 2 week old leftovers from an event is another. It could be dangerous. You get it.

I'm glad the two of us found the remains before they were discovered during my work day. My car might inherit the namesake of my very first Honda Civic from high school--Skunky. After leaving some mushroom poppers from El Adobe on a hot summer's day and evening, my car quickly soaked up some grossness. I was reminded of this daily for half a year by the friend I used to take to school.

I'm still the worst about leaving stuff in my car. These used-to-be-leftovers weren't even good enough for the chickens across the street.