Roughly 6 months after I met Mike, he confessed to me that he had made up his own holiday. He even named it after himself. He named it Mikukkah. If you're thinking that sounds a lot like Hanukkah, that's because Mike stole the menorah from Hanukkah, and put it to use in his own fake holiday.
He says he made up Mikukkah when he was dirt poor in college, as a way of making time to spend with friends. the dirt poor part is accommodated by the convenient Mikukkah tradition of giving extremely inexpensive gifts to those you celebrate with. Mike lights the stolen menorah (all of the candles), and says that you hang out with friends until the candles burn themselves out.
So every year since then, we've gotten some friend to humor Mike and come hang out for the fake holiday. This year, we invited our new Iraqi friends, Moog & Marwa, to come over and celebrate Mikukkah with us. We made dinner and hung out with them for a while - of course we had to explain Mike's fake holiday across a language barrier. (it's a good thing Moog's English is soooooo good!)
As we were getting ready for dinner, Mike turns to me and tells me I should look up online to see if we're missing any Mikukkah traditions. That's right - Mike actually asked me to Google his fake holiday and see if we were forgetting anything. when I pointed this fact out to him, he claimed that his fake holiday could easily be spreading and evolving, and i better check Wikipedia in case something new had evolved and become part of the holiday that he wasn't aware of.
Later that night I asked him what he was doing - then asked if he was Googling Mikukkah. He wasn't, but that immediately reminded him that he hadn't done it yet, and so (of course) he set out to Google his own fake holiday. Of course he didn't find any hidden secret sect of people planning out special new Mikukkah traditions. But he DID find some guy on Facebook named Mikaka (or something like that). He said he was going to try to friend the guy and tell him all about Mikukkah.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
The Mike Stories, Pt. 35
just now...
Chrissy: What are you doing?
Mike: I was going out to the garage.
Chrissy: Why?
Mike: I was going out there to do more organizing.
Chrissy: What?!! That's obviously a lie. I know how you "organize" - you're like the anti-organizer. you're probably going out there to make a mess!
Mike: yeah!
Chrissy: I knew it!
Chrissy: What are you doing?
Mike: I was going out to the garage.
Chrissy: Why?
Mike: I was going out there to do more organizing.
Chrissy: What?!! That's obviously a lie. I know how you "organize" - you're like the anti-organizer. you're probably going out there to make a mess!
Mike: yeah!
Chrissy: I knew it!
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Mike Stories, Pt. 34
This evening I went in to do some laundry. I got the machine going, dumped in a few pieces of dirty laundry, then reached up into the cupboard for the laundry detergent.... and found none. Instead I found two big jugs of liquid fabric softener (which we don't use)...
so I called Mike and asked if he could pick up some laundry detergent on the way home. He says: "why?! we have tons of it!"... um, no we don't. we have tons of liquid fabric softener, mister.
(guess who gets to stay up late to make sure my clothes get into the dryer, so i have something to wear tomorrow?)
so I called Mike and asked if he could pick up some laundry detergent on the way home. He says: "why?! we have tons of it!"... um, no we don't. we have tons of liquid fabric softener, mister.
(guess who gets to stay up late to make sure my clothes get into the dryer, so i have something to wear tomorrow?)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The Mike Stories, Pt. 33
A conversation from this evening:
Chrissy: I think I might go draw again in the morning.
Mike: You're going jogging in the morning?
Chrissy: ha! If I ever say anything like that, you should question my sanity!
Mike: What did you say then?
Chrissy: that I might go drawing again in the morning!
Mike: jogging sounded like more fun.
Chrissy: no it didn't, and that's not going to happen!
Mike: yeah, you could get like a '70's jogging suit!
Chrissy: that's not going to happen unless it's for Halloween!
Mike: and you should get a headband!
Chrissy: I am not jogging!
Chrissy: I think I might go draw again in the morning.
Mike: You're going jogging in the morning?
Chrissy: ha! If I ever say anything like that, you should question my sanity!
Mike: What did you say then?
Chrissy: that I might go drawing again in the morning!
Mike: jogging sounded like more fun.
Chrissy: no it didn't, and that's not going to happen!
Mike: yeah, you could get like a '70's jogging suit!
Chrissy: that's not going to happen unless it's for Halloween!
Mike: and you should get a headband!
Chrissy: I am not jogging!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Mike Stories, Pt. 32
Mexican Edition: Spanish Mike & the Quest for Tequila
-miércoles-
on Wednesday, we planned to go to the tequila distillery and then the Pacifico brewery. What better than a day of alcoholic beverages on vacation in Mexico, right? We didn't know what to expect, except that relying on Mike's Spanish was likely to take us on a tour of the bars of Mazatlan before landing us at the tequila factory.
so after breakfast, Mike asked our waiter if he knew how we could get to the tequila factory. He appeared to know, and flagged down a taxi for us, and told the taxi driver where we wanted to go. all seemed to be going considerably easier than we could have imagined... then the taxi driver pulled over in front of a building right downtown, right across the street from the beach. Mike and I exchanged a wary glance, we paid the taxi fare, and headed into the building. Turns out Mike's Spanish had gotten us to a liquor store!
Undaunted (and a little humored), Mike asked the lady working at the liquor store about the tequila factory. She gave us a sad little nod and told us that there was no tequila factory in Mazatlan. Confused and disappointed, we decided to head over to the Pacifico brewery. This time the taxi ride was easy, and uneventful. We arrived at the Pacifico brewery without any trouble. Once there, however, we learned that we had to schedule a tour in advance, and that the next time available would be on Friday. So we booked a tour for Friday, and headed back to the beach where we started. We hit up one of our favorite little restaurants for a cerveza. We thought we might as well end the adventure with a beer.
While at the restaurant, I convinced Mike that I was sure I had seen online that you could visit a tequila distillery in Mazatlan, and had him ask our friendly waiter about it. (visiting the friendly waiter was actually why we liked that particular restaurant - he was a really nice guy!)... so Mike asked, and our waiter told us that we could indeed visit Los Osuna, a tequila distillery to the north. I believe it is a bit outside of Mazatlan, which perhaps explains why the liquor store worker didn't think to tell us about it. Our waiter proceeded to tell us that we could go down the street a couple of doors to a travel agency and book a tour. He told us that would be the best/cheapest way to get there. We thanked him, and did exactly that after the our afternoon cerveza.
-jueves-
our tour for the tequila distillery was set for Thursday, however, when Mike woke up that morning he wasn't feeling well. He had eaten something the previous day that gave him stomach trouble. We had both really been looking forward to seeing how tequila is made, and so I didn't want to go without him. I went downstairs to try to phone the tour company to reschedule our tour, but the office wasn't open yet. Our wonderful hotel host offered to continue calling for us, and to reschedule the tour for us so I wouldn't have to spend my morning on the phone. I asked him to try to reschedule it for Saturday for us. It was really very sweet of him. Mike spent the day recovering at the hotel, and I wandered around exploring the old section of Mazatlan, and relaxed by the pool with a good book.
-viernes-
After a late breakfast on Friday, we headed back over to the Pacifico brewery for our tour. Another group was scheduled to take the tour with us, but didn't show up. We ended up taking a private tour of the brewery! The tour was awesome! I've been on brewery tours in the US before, but it was a whole different experience in Mexico. They allow you to get a lot closer to the factory workers (close enough to touch the bottles on the conveyer belts if you really felt like it!). I highly recommend trying to take a brewery tour if you find yourself in Mexico!
-sábado-
After breakfast on Saturday, we headed back over to the travel agency to make sure we were in the right spot to meet our tour guide. The travel agent informed us that our tour had been canceled for that day, and that we could reschedule for Monday if we wanted (except we were scheduled to fly home on Sunday). Totally disappointed, we went to do a little shopping. Then Mike flagged down a taxi driver and asked him if he knew where we could do a zipline canopy tour. He sure did! He told us we could do one out of the city a bit, to the north - AT THE TEQUILA FACTORY! Jose was one crazy driver, but we were happy to hire him for the day. Not only did we finally get to do the tour of the tequila factory, but we also got to do another great zipline canopy tour!
Spanish Mike's quest for tequila really did turn out to be an adventure!
-miércoles-
on Wednesday, we planned to go to the tequila distillery and then the Pacifico brewery. What better than a day of alcoholic beverages on vacation in Mexico, right? We didn't know what to expect, except that relying on Mike's Spanish was likely to take us on a tour of the bars of Mazatlan before landing us at the tequila factory.
so after breakfast, Mike asked our waiter if he knew how we could get to the tequila factory. He appeared to know, and flagged down a taxi for us, and told the taxi driver where we wanted to go. all seemed to be going considerably easier than we could have imagined... then the taxi driver pulled over in front of a building right downtown, right across the street from the beach. Mike and I exchanged a wary glance, we paid the taxi fare, and headed into the building. Turns out Mike's Spanish had gotten us to a liquor store!
Undaunted (and a little humored), Mike asked the lady working at the liquor store about the tequila factory. She gave us a sad little nod and told us that there was no tequila factory in Mazatlan. Confused and disappointed, we decided to head over to the Pacifico brewery. This time the taxi ride was easy, and uneventful. We arrived at the Pacifico brewery without any trouble. Once there, however, we learned that we had to schedule a tour in advance, and that the next time available would be on Friday. So we booked a tour for Friday, and headed back to the beach where we started. We hit up one of our favorite little restaurants for a cerveza. We thought we might as well end the adventure with a beer.
While at the restaurant, I convinced Mike that I was sure I had seen online that you could visit a tequila distillery in Mazatlan, and had him ask our friendly waiter about it. (visiting the friendly waiter was actually why we liked that particular restaurant - he was a really nice guy!)... so Mike asked, and our waiter told us that we could indeed visit Los Osuna, a tequila distillery to the north. I believe it is a bit outside of Mazatlan, which perhaps explains why the liquor store worker didn't think to tell us about it. Our waiter proceeded to tell us that we could go down the street a couple of doors to a travel agency and book a tour. He told us that would be the best/cheapest way to get there. We thanked him, and did exactly that after the our afternoon cerveza.
-jueves-
our tour for the tequila distillery was set for Thursday, however, when Mike woke up that morning he wasn't feeling well. He had eaten something the previous day that gave him stomach trouble. We had both really been looking forward to seeing how tequila is made, and so I didn't want to go without him. I went downstairs to try to phone the tour company to reschedule our tour, but the office wasn't open yet. Our wonderful hotel host offered to continue calling for us, and to reschedule the tour for us so I wouldn't have to spend my morning on the phone. I asked him to try to reschedule it for Saturday for us. It was really very sweet of him. Mike spent the day recovering at the hotel, and I wandered around exploring the old section of Mazatlan, and relaxed by the pool with a good book.
-viernes-
After a late breakfast on Friday, we headed back over to the Pacifico brewery for our tour. Another group was scheduled to take the tour with us, but didn't show up. We ended up taking a private tour of the brewery! The tour was awesome! I've been on brewery tours in the US before, but it was a whole different experience in Mexico. They allow you to get a lot closer to the factory workers (close enough to touch the bottles on the conveyer belts if you really felt like it!). I highly recommend trying to take a brewery tour if you find yourself in Mexico!
-sábado-
After breakfast on Saturday, we headed back over to the travel agency to make sure we were in the right spot to meet our tour guide. The travel agent informed us that our tour had been canceled for that day, and that we could reschedule for Monday if we wanted (except we were scheduled to fly home on Sunday). Totally disappointed, we went to do a little shopping. Then Mike flagged down a taxi driver and asked him if he knew where we could do a zipline canopy tour. He sure did! He told us we could do one out of the city a bit, to the north - AT THE TEQUILA FACTORY! Jose was one crazy driver, but we were happy to hire him for the day. Not only did we finally get to do the tour of the tequila factory, but we also got to do another great zipline canopy tour!
Spanish Mike's quest for tequila really did turn out to be an adventure!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Mike Stories, Pt. 31
The following is an example of a recurring conversation that happens a lot at our house. (substitute the olives in this case for just about anything you can imagine that I might be using)
Mike (taking one of my olives): "See? I'm sharing!"
Chrissy: "Sharing doesn't mean what you think it means."
Mike: "Yes it does. I'm a good sharer!"
Chrissy: "you're thinking of 'taking'"
Mike: "no, I'm sharing"
Chrissy: "no, you're stealing"
Mike: "but I'm a good sharer"
Chrissy: "no, you're a thief"
Mike: "but I'm sharing"
Chrissy: "that's not sharing."
Mike: "no... it's sharing"
Mike (taking one of my olives): "See? I'm sharing!"
Chrissy: "Sharing doesn't mean what you think it means."
Mike: "Yes it does. I'm a good sharer!"
Chrissy: "you're thinking of 'taking'"
Mike: "no, I'm sharing"
Chrissy: "no, you're stealing"
Mike: "but I'm a good sharer"
Chrissy: "no, you're a thief"
Mike: "but I'm sharing"
Chrissy: "that's not sharing."
Mike: "no... it's sharing"
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Mike Stories, Pt. 30
Last night I came into the bedroom, ready for bed... and found the bed completely missing sheets, blankets, and pillows. I asked Mike if he was changing the sheets, and he comes wandering out of the bathroom saying "maybe - you don't know!" After reminding him that's why I was asking (duh), he muttered something about going to get sheets, and left the room. He returned 5 minutes later with a package of new socks, stuck them on the dresser, and started wandering around the room.
At that point, I told him "Hey! those aren't sheets!"
he said "oh yeah" and left the room again. Then he came back with sheets from the dryer that weren't actually dry yet, and tried to put those on the bed. After telling he I wanted DRY sheets, he left the room again, and finally came back with an acceptable set of sheets. Third time's the charm, I guess!
At that point, I told him "Hey! those aren't sheets!"
he said "oh yeah" and left the room again. Then he came back with sheets from the dryer that weren't actually dry yet, and tried to put those on the bed. After telling he I wanted DRY sheets, he left the room again, and finally came back with an acceptable set of sheets. Third time's the charm, I guess!
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