The Adventures of Sock and Sock

New Year, New Adventures

2009-03-03T18:30:00.016-05:00

It may seem like Liz has been keeping us shut up in the sock drawer for the last two months but the truth is that we just haven't been finding anything that we consider to be blog-worthy. Sure, Liz has a new job, which we'll report on eventually, and we have been accompanying her to work and such on an almost weekly basis, but nothing was compelling enough for us to share...until now.

Today we all set off on an adventure nine and a half years in the making - don't get too excited - a trip to the famous Maple Tree Inn. Nine and a half years before we could experience the ooey gooey goodness of fresh buckwheat pancakes smothered in real maple syrup? Yes. Every year until now, Liz has been holed up at "that other place" doing maple sugaring programs and listening to people talk about their annual pilgrimages to the Maple Tree Inn. The one day that Liz ever had off during the sugaring season - Monday - is the one day of the week that the Inn is closed.

After an hour and a half in the car - it would have been less if they had remembered that this sign goes OUTSIDE - we arrived to throngs of senior citizens and the smells of syrup, pancakes, and great coffee. The menu boasted more maple delights than any mere mortal could partake of in just one afternoon, too bad. Had we not stuffed ourselves with buckwheat pancakes and maybe the best sausage we've ever had, we might have found some room left over for a bite of Coconut Maple Crunch Pie, a Maple Milkshake, or the homemade Maple Walnut Ice Cream Sandwiches. Mmmmmmmm...

Here we are in the basement of the Inn stealing a quick shot in front of the giant evaporator.

Stuffed to the gills we decided not to go home and to instead continue our travels towards Amish country. The Amish have quite a settlement in the Southern Tier and many of their homes have small shops attached where they sell their handiwork. We only stopped at one, a quilt shop, but were very impressed by the sheer volume of work. Liz said if she spent the rest of her life quilting she could never produce half as much as what we saw today. One bed in the shop was literally covered more than a foot deep in quilts. Whoa.

Sorry, no pictures. We did pass several horse and buggies and even saw more than a dozen men busy building a barn as we traveled.

We continued on and as the hours passed our tummies began to rumble again so we headed for a locally famous restaurant called Earl's. Along the way we saw the most amazing things pop up from behind a hill - Giant whirlygigs! We wanted to get out and get a better look but somebody refused to stop the car.

After getting turned around a bit we made it to Earl's.

People think we are sometimes a little weird but you should see the tables at Earl's! Notice anything strange? All of the table have legs - with pants and cowboy boots on them!

Once we got some food in us and warmed up a little, Right started getting fresh with the table. I guess we need some more socializing.

Aside from the great food (rootbeer, grilled cheese, homemade curly fries) and unique decor, Earl's also boasts a Country Music Museum. (It's over there, in the corner). A modest museum - more modest than the Jell-o museum, yes) - it consists of several glass-fronted display cases containing country music memoribilia. Our favorites were the sparkly ones like this outfit that belonged to Little Jimmy Dickens, and the dress that was once worn by Tammy Wynette. (The Jimmy Dickens link takes you to a lovely little tune...)

So, our trip to get pancakes, with many diversions, took us nine hours in all. We barely made it to class but at least we have something to show for it! :)

Our First Christmas

2008-12-26T18:23:00.010-05:00

Christmas was quite a day for two easy going socks like us. We started with a drive to Liz's parent's house. We took in the holiday sights along the way (and were "treated" to Liz's renditions of holiday classics like "Happy Holidays," "Winter Wonderland," and the entire Elvis Christmas album. The girl really likes her Christmas music!)

This is the famous "bear on the fountain" that marks the center of the town where Liz grew up and where her parents still live. A little further on we easily found her street by the festive sign that marked its start...

Apparently at night it is lit from top to bottom.

Once we arrived the feasting and tearing began. Food was everywhere and boy did it smell great! Before we could really dig in and enjoy all of the goodies the presents had to be opened. Box after box was filled with things only someone like Liz could enjoy until, as the very last package was ripped open, finally something we could enjoy, too...

They say Christmas is about family, well ours just got a lot bigger! Now that we aren't the "new socks in the drawer" anymore we will have to take these new members of our family under our careful guidance.

We chatted with the new socks and told them that Liz was okay as long as you didn't mind the singing and the rampant bunny that was unusually attracted to chewing anything in its path.

After everyone stuffed themselves to the point of groaning we set out through the cold night to enjoy some of the local holiday displays. One in particular dwarfed all of the rest. For what had to be at least a quarter of a mile we were blinded by holiday lights and deafened by cheerful Christmas music projecting from hidden speakers around the most incredible house we have ever seen.

After so much excitement we were glad to be home and tuck in for a well-deserved night's sleep.

Merry Sock Christmas!

2008-12-24T12:37:00.005-05:00

What would Christmas be without a pair of beautiful stripey socks hanging from the mantle?

We were very excited to be included in the holiday happenings but what's up with the "goodies" we were stuffed with? A spider and a bat?! The bat is kinda cute but that spider is huge! We guess Santa knows best...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Lending a Toe

2008-12-19T13:57:00.007-05:00

Seeing as Liz works at a nature center and we go there a lot, we thought maybe we would be able to lend a toe and help with some of the work. Liz thought long and hard and finally came up with something quite fun: Project FeederWatch.

Once a week we stare through binoculars at the bird feeders outside the nature center. We figure out what birds are visiting and then we count how many of each species come on each day.

We've never really spent much time appreciating the birds so we were surprised at how lovely many of them really are. And the equipment is cool, too! It's like those binoculars were made just for us...two sides so we can be comfortably next to each other and don't have to wait our turn to look at the birds.

This one is called a red-breasted nuthatch. Weird name but we kind of like it. It is very fast when coming to the feeder for seeds. It grabs one and then woosh! it's off again. If you stare at it long enough it even looks a little bit like us. Notice the stripey head and the colors are very close to our own.

Something New

2008-11-26T17:36:00.006-05:00

We have been good and loyal socks to Liz. We know how much she appreciates our company and we look forward to all of our adventures with her. Now that the weather has turned cooler she wears us out a lot more, even though most of our trips couldn't really be thought of as adventures. She's been a little busy lately but really, everything has been fine. That is, until IT came...

IT came from our maker half-way across the country in Kansas. Like us, IT is home made. Unlike us, IT is merely decorative (rather than decorative and useful). Liz would argue that it has very real and practical uses. Whatever.

Just look at IT! How are we supposed to compete with that?! Not only is it new, but it is also woven from hand-spun wool. As if that weren't enough, while it doesn't have happy stripes like we do, it has something that produces a little squeal of delight every time Liz looks at it. Freakin' bats! How are we supposed to compete with bats?! Ugh.

Not only do we have to compete with the fact that it has bats but, on it's first night in town - the very day it arrived in the mail - she took it to the theater and left us sitting at home in the drawer! Apparently we aren't classy enough for the theater. We'll see about that...

That was all a month ago...we've been pretty busy since then. No adventures to speak of but we know there are some in our future. Liz did pay us the honor of wearing us on her birthday. Liz is going back to work at the place where all of the pumpkins were only now they are selling trees. We heard Liz telling someone that there would be real live reindeer there so we are looking forward to seeing them. Maybe we can get them to pass a note to Santa...

Sock the Vote!

2008-11-04T09:23:00.006-05:00

Today is a very important day! So important that Liz made us stay in the sock drawer right through Halloween so we would be ready for it. Today is Election Day.

As soon as we finished breakfast we headed for the polls:

It wasn't long to get to the polls. In fact, it's right across the street! You may notice the lack of line in front of the door. We saw lines running around corners on the news this morning but the gentle folks of Avon don't seem to be in a hurry to vote. We hope they understand how important it is!

Once we found our way inside we signed in (well, Liz did) and learned that we were number 163 to vote today. That doesn't feel like very many, although it was just 9 a.m. when we got there. We did have to wait a few minutes for our turn - there was only one voting machine in the room. Finally, our turn came.

There is a fancy curtain thing that gives voters privacy - human voters, that is. The curtain only covered Liz from the top of her head to her waist. What about our privacy? Fortunately Liz was able to do the voting for us:

Fingers and toes crossed! Now that we have done our duties as citizens we can spend the rest of the day having fun. As we travel we will proudly sport the fact that we voted. (We decided we need to take turns - Right gets the morning, Left gets the afternoon.)

Sock the Vote!

Fun on the Farm

2008-10-01T16:02:00.011-04:00

With another season comes yet another seasonal job. This time Liz is working at a farm. We don't think it's an ordinary kind of farm. They have animals and pumpkins and everything you would expect...but then there's all of the extra stuff.

For example:

The Hillbilly Hen House. The hens you see actually talk. They tell bad chicken jokes and sing farmer songs. When school groups come they tell all about what it takes for a chicken to make an egg.

"Why did the chicken cross the road, roll in the dirt, and then cross the road again?"

"Because he was a dirty double crosser!"

There are also lots of fun things for kids to do like climb a fort made of hay, jump in a pit full of hay, slide down giant slides, pick pumpkins, and play in a giant box full of corn.

You know we had to have our turn! Liz said she was aching to get in it since the first time she saw it. Some corn snuck into her pants while we were rollin' around. Fortunately it just shakes right out. We thought the corn would be hard and uncomfortable but it was great! It felt so good. Probably the closest we will ever get to swimming with Liz.

One of Liz's jobs is to drive the train. It's really just a tractor disguised as a train. The "cars" are barrels made to look like animals. Our favorite is the turkey even though we didn't get to ride in that one. The train isn't so bad - it's smelly but about the warmest spot on the farm when the days are cold.

After we took school kids for a ride on the train today, it was our job to show them the animals in the petting zoo area. We started with the easiest ones to catch. In fact, Liz put some of them in her pockets! each kid got a chance to hold one (carefully, of course).

The kids were given small handfuls of food to feed the animals in the petting zoo. Some animals were hungrier than others...

This is Baby, she's huge (and always hungry). She makes all sorts of funny little grunting noises and her tiny little tail wags vigorously while she eats.

And then there is Suzette, the llama.

Can you see the little boy with the red hair and the camouflage coat? In about five minutes only me, him, and another farm worker will be with the llama and Suzette is going to sneeze right on his head! It was so gross! He didn't seem upset about it though - just thought it was funny. That's because he couldn't see the top of his head like we could!

There are also sheep, a calf named Frank, and a mini-pasture full of naughty bunnies who keep escaping.

"No naughty bunny here. Nope. No, sir. Don't know what you could be talkin' about."

We are sure we will be going back before the season is over. There is just so much to do there!

Stony Brook Ramblings

2008-09-19T17:52:00.014-04:00

Oh, fall is upon us and we are loving it! The days are much cooler but still bright and sunny (an added benefit of this glorious weather is a major reduction in sweat production as far as Liz's feet are concerned). This week Liz had a mini vacation - the first since May - and took us on an adventure with her friend Karen.

Liz and Karen began the day with donuts. It started innocently enough as a need for a restroom after the long drive but quickly degenerated into a carb/calorie fest. After we loaded our bellies we headed for a strange place that looked like a library inside except the books were all really big and none of them had words on the spine. Turns out it was a fabric store - um, quilt shop, that is (Yes, I fixed it Liz! Geez!)

After Liz and Karen spent money they shouldn't have on strange pieces of fabric we all piled back in the car and headed for Stony Brook State Park.

As state parks go, it's kinda smallish but well worth the drive. Since it was Tuesday and getting into the off-season parts of the year, there was no entrance fee and almost no people to run into on the trails. Did we mention the trails? Now, we've been on trails with Liz before but these ones seemed to only go in one direction - up. The stony brook runs through a gorge with very steep sides (I suppose it wouldn't be a gorge if the sides weren't steep, hmm).

Fortunately both Liz and Karen, while able to go the entire trail up one side of the gorge and back down the other, were not in the best shape of their lives and stopped frequently on the steep inclines to wheeze and chug water.

We know it looks bad but Liz really was okay, she just needed a serious rest before continuing up the neverending stairs. All of the height we gained while hiking the east rim provided some beautiful views of the gorge below.

Check out the rad waterfall. There were more once we reached the other side and the hiking was finally more down then up. On the west rim we got right down next to the water. It was very beautiful.

Here is one of our favorite shots from the trip. Check out the lone maple tree that is already red - it's as ready for fall as we are!

After we all had a hearty (and inhaled) lunch we found time for a little fun on the swings. One of these days Liz is going to kill us all trying to get these crazy action shots!

Wheeeee!!!!

A Sweet Ride

2008-08-20T10:50:00.007-04:00

What a month we're having! Our latest adventure took us to the busy metropolis of Caledonia, NY. We were attending a graduation party for the son of one of our favorite people (who also happens to be the education director where we work). Parties at her house are always interesting because her husband is, shall we say, a bit eccentric. His hobbies include model trains, army vehicles, and anything he can tinker with pretty much.

This house was also the site of the party where we were attacked by the gang of vicious kitties.

For some time we have been hearing about the most famous member of the army vehicle collection (don't spoil the surprise!) and were delighted to learn that rides on this vehicle were going to be part of the graduation festivities. We believe that Liz washed clothes a day early just so we could go with her.

After a hearty meal and pleasant conversation with the gang from the museum, it was announced that the time for rides had come. Hooray!

We have to admit that we were a little apprehensive but we figured a vehicle like that could only go so fast. Boy, were we wrong!

Here we are pre-ride:

This is called a half track. It is half truck, half tank. Who could've imagined it would go so fast?

This shot is of us rocketing down routes 5 and 20 towards the monument at the heart of Caledonia. Notice the quizzical looks from people on the street. What are a group of people doing driving the streets of Caledonia, whooping and hollering and waving, on a half track?

The ride was thrilling. And the vibrations that came from the floor of the half track were compared by many to the vibrating foot massagers found at the state fair. One rider said her feet were actually vibrated right to sleep!

After our ride, the owner proudly displayed pictures of the vehicle in its prime.

After so much excitement in one month we are predicting some serious downtime in September. School is starting up again and Liz needs to find another job so she can afford to keep us clean!

Sock Olympics

2008-08-17T22:29:00.009-04:00

We’ve been watching quite a bit of the Olympics lately. It’s all very exciting! We have seen some pretty impressive feet at work but, sadly, not many socks are involved in the winning of medals. It’s kind of hard to imagine when we think of all of the adventures we’ve had with Liz that definitely were enhanced by the presence of socks – (especially socks as wonderful as us!)

We have become so inspired by the Olympic Games that we decided we needed to do something more with ourselves and take up a sport. We’ve enjoyed watching the swimming the most so far but, unfortunately, swimmers don’t wear socks. Maybe someday they will have magic swimming socks like their special swimsuits! Either way, as much as we’ve begged, Liz still refuses to take us to the pool with her when she goes early in the morning. Watching swimming on TV and then seeing Liz when she returns and smelling the chlorine odors that drift from her swimsuit as it hangs on the rack…someday, someday.

Well, we still had a problem – what sport would we really excel in? Finally, we found the answer…

Oh, yes. Rhythmic gymnastics! Sadly rhythmic gymnastics is a sport not widely followed. It is often overshadowed by, well, I guess we would call it regular gymnastics. Now, we’ve tried some of those fancy moves with the help of our trusty trampoline but, living in an attic, with peaked ceilings, running and jumping and tumbling is NOT recommended.

Now that we mention it, there is a trampoline category in the Olympics but again, our living arrangements prevent us from pursuing that.
To begin our rhythmic gymnastics training we had to find a way to move gracefully with a ball. I think maybe we need a smaller ball before we can make it to the Olympics though.

Next we pestered Liz until she made us the famous ribbon-on-a-stick thing. We experimented with several different ways of holding on to it. We finally settled with…

It is very graceful, no? (Didn’t know we could do a French accent, did you?)

After hours and hours of practice one thing became very clear – we need better equipment. To get better equipment, like all sports stars, we need a sponsor. Liz suggested Oliver’s. I don’t think that Oliver’s sponsorship will make us more graceful – bigger maybe, but not more graceful.

Watch for us in four years…2012 Olympics, here we come!

We Thought We'd Seen It All...

2008-08-14T19:30:00.007-04:00

Just when we thought we'd seen it all, Liz has taken us on yet another adventure. A few days ago we went to the Wyoming County Fair in picturesque Pike, New York.

The fair was noisy and smelly (in both good and bad ways). Liz OD'd on maple candy and sugar waffles - there may even be some powdered sugar still on Left's ankle. As we were perusing some of the local livestock (a little too closely for our safety, if you ask us) there was an announcement for a livestock show about to begin. The first category was to be "Most Beautiful." All of the animals seemed equally attractive to us but we were curious to see how beauty was ranked according to official fair judges. So we headed around the corner and to the sawdust-covered bleachers to get a good view. What we saw once we were seated just about blew our little socky minds...

It was a 4H Animal Costume Show. We had hit the jackpot. Not only were the animals and their owners costumed but, as each made their way around the ring, the announcer told a story based on their outfits and recounting their adventures which ultimately led them to the fair.

Liz was in awe and took far more pictures than were needed but, she was convinced that her story would not be believed without hard evidence. Some of our favorite entries included:

The Olympics-inspired soccer player and referee. How big is that whistle?!

The teenage mutant ninja turtle pig who squealed in displeasure throughout the event.

The entomologist (from the Matrix, apparently) who finally found a nine-spotted lady beetle. (Check out the cow's antennae.)

How about a sheep in scrubs?

Of all of the places we've been, it's kind of funny that Liz got self-conscious and didn't want to risk the embarrassment of exposing our stripes to the locals around us. Although we still got to appreciate all of the sights and smells of the day. Looking back, it may have been in our best interest not to come out too far - there was more mud, poop, and beer around than we could've imagined. It's plenty dirty hangin' out inside Liz's shoes, thank you very much!

After so much sugar and entertainment we headed home and sacked out in front of the Olympics.

The Best $5 We Ever Spent

2008-08-03T20:13:00.004-04:00

Whoopee!!!

Yahoo!!!

Yeehaa!!!

Sorry, we are a little preoccupied with our latest purchase. A few days ago Liz stopped by a yard sale on the way to work and we saw something we just had to have. She took some convincing. We new she was sold once the people let us all try it out! Check it out...isn't it beautiful!?!

We'd show you pics of us jumping but that is pretty much impossible. It doesn't mean we didn't try though - here's the best we were able to do.

Note the slightly blurry, actiony-feel of the photo and the barely pressing down quality of our footprints on the surface. Thank goodness the neighbors couldn't see us!

Christmas came early this year.

Code One - Animal Escape!

2008-07-14T19:25:00.005-04:00

Today we enjoyed yet another lovely day at the zoo with Liz. We've been so thankful for the rare cool days when she decides it isn't too hot for real socks! You wouldn't believe the pathetic little things she puts on her feet when it's hot. They don't even deserve the name sock! How can something with only a foot, and no ankle at all, be considered a sock? They're footies - and about as exciting as, well, something really boring!

Sorry, anyway. Today at lunch we were sitting behind the animal stage as usual and decided it was time we introduced ourselves to Minnow - the African grey parrot who's a bit of a diva (what's the male version of diva?) because he has the only speaking part in the show.

We thought Minnow was having a good day - Liz had already fed him about 20 blueberries from her lunch - so we crawled out of the sneakers and stretched up to say hello. Well! Before we barely got our toes out of the shoes his wings went up and he became very agitated. Helen warned that he would gladly take our toes off if given the chance, so we had to say our hellos from a safe distance.

Since we were already out of the shoes, and it was such a beautiful day, we decided to rest ourselves on the cooler that Bodacious (Boa constrictor) is kept in (and which doubles as a lunch table). Barely two minutes had passed when we had some excitement - Code One - Animal Escape! Junior, the thick-tailed bushbaby, was out of his cage and on us in a flash!

Bushbabies are well known for their ability to jump distances of eight feet or more when traveling in the branches of trees. Apparently, in his haste to escape, we had to double for branches.

The situation didn't last too long and, with the aid of a bit of Liz's granola bar, Helen was able to wrangle Junior back into his cage and settle everyone down before the second show began. It was a close call though. We only hope that if there is ever an animal escape again while we are at the zoo, that it isn't Annie who gets out...

You can just imagine the kind of fun she would have with us if she did.

Work is Hard

2008-06-21T16:18:00.013-04:00

Due to an absence of adventure, Liz has worn us to work instead. We thought it would be hard - dragging kids through the woods, dealing with reptile poop, staring at a power strip under her desk for the afternoon... Boy, were we wrong. This is how our day at work went...

First, we had to spend some quality time thinking about what to do with the kids who come for camp. Apparently the blood flows better if the feet are propped up on the desk. We usually refer to this posture as "chillin'" but Liz seems to think it is a more productive pose.

After some thoughtful minutes spent on camp planning we shifted to more important things - like how to kill the two hours that were left until we could leave...

Who knew that staring at large cows on a computer could be so illuminating? After reflecting on the state of funds in our pockets, and how much chocolate we would be able to procure with said funds, we decided to go for a walk, ahem, we mean we went to the main offices on important work-related business (business that just happened to take us past the gift shop...where, oddly enough, we met several of our co-workers engaged in similar activities.)

At the main offices we met Robin, the museum receptionist. Robin admired us and asked whether our maker "took orders." Liz said "no." (We are becoming quite famous around the museum!)

After such a long hard day Liz felt the need to unwind so we headed for her parents house and found a peaceful patch of grass to relax on. We took a short shoeless romp around the backyard and wound up lounging next to a lovely little garden that was watched over by a stone turtle.

Changes

2008-06-03T20:27:00.005-04:00

Well! We have been experiencing so much over the last few weeks that we haven't had time to report on all the goings on! The two biggest things that have happened are: we moved, and Liz got a second job.

Moving was very stressful. Liz kept crying all of the time because of all the problems that seemed to come with her new apartment. Finally, we have all begun settling in and things have gotten much better. We knew it for sure when she stopped on her way to set her clothes out for today, turned around, and brought us out of the drawer. Whoopee! Adventure was on its way!

Our adventure turned out to be a bit of a surprise as Liz took us somewhere we had already been - the Zoo. Seems Liz has gotten a summer job there and spends almost as much time there as she does at the museum. Our trip to the zoo was not like our last. We got to go in areas we weren't allowed to see before (some of that was a blessing - yuck!) and met all kinds of interesting animals and people.

We started the day introducing zoo visitors to the Black-footed penguins. It would have been totally cool if it hadn't been during their morning feeding...pee-yew!!! Penguins only eat fish and there was no getting away from the smell.

Next we had to do a show about frogs. There were many people in the audience - most of whom seemed to be only slightly taller than the penguins we saw at the start of the day! They were very enthusiastic about the frogs but at the end things got a little dicey. When Liz invited them to meet the frogs up close they all rushed the stage, yelling and pushing and trampling each other. We were sure we were going to be hurt - or at least muddied a little. Fortunately the adults in charge of the kids managed to break-up the mob and get them in a nice line to look at the frogs. Whew! It sure seemed like a close call.

Later we got to meet the lady who takes care of the wolves and explain to the public why she was training them and how she was doing it. They were very cool (and not at all smelly!) Our last stop of the day was at the elephants. Their trainers came out and Liz talked about them for the public. Whenever Liz would mention something cool about elephants they would do something, like, when she mentioned their trunks, they both raised them in the air. And when she told the audience how to tell them apart, they each got up and waggled their ears when she said their names. Now if only we could get the darn rabbit to follow commands like that...

On our way back to the education trailer we discovered strange tracks in the mud along the road. They turned out to be elephant tracks! Liz gave us a chance to see how we measured up but even Liz's feet were small in comparison to an elephant's!

We know that Liz will be busy this summer, but we are looking forward to our next trip to the zoo!

PAR-TAY!

2008-05-14T14:30:00.011-04:00

We went to our first party last night! There were all sorts of new things to see, and smell, and touch. We were very excited to make some new sock friends but to our chagrin most of the feet we met were naked! Liz didn't tell us it was that kind of party.

The party was at the house of a woman that Liz works with. The theme was kitchens - and there were shiny metal tools spread throughout the place. A woman dressed all in pink was explaining how each tool could be used while everyone else watched and stuffed their faces.

Besides people, there were several animals in the house: one rabbit, several fish, and...

a gang of very naughty kitties.

When we first met the kitties, they seemed very interested in Left. Especially the boy kitty they called Fuzzy Boy.

Liz took their picture and the flash scared them away. Apparently kitties, even naughty ones, are not made of the same mettle as stripey socks. All was well after they left and Liz settled down with the others to enjoy the kitchen show and food. But then suddenly, unprovoked, from out of nowhere...

ATTACK!!!

In a moment's time a maelstrom of teeth and claws descended upon an unsuspecting Left. It was Fuzzy Boy - obsessed with whatever special enticements Left unknowingly posessed. The attack raged on...

and on...

...while I, Right, struggled in vain to draw the attention away from Left. Eventually it was Left who saved herself with a well-placed poke to the creature's nose.

Later, having recovered from the attack, we took advantage of the party's theme to begin plotting our revenge...

Career aspirations

2008-05-05T13:46:00.003-04:00

For many months we have been witness to Liz's dizzying attempts to find a new job. We've been on interviews, traveled to the Adirondacks, and kept her toes toasty as she drowned her job searching misery in countless pints of ice cream. Today, we had a revelation - we must guide her (we are attached to her feet, after all) towards a new career path. One that will be beneficial not only to her but to us as well. But what career would suit all of our collective needs? And then it came to us - a memory of something we saw while relaxing in the car outside of Red Lobster a few weeks ago...

It's genius!!! The continental school of beauty culture! We can't believe we didn't think of it before. Not only would attendance at the school help solve Liz's employment issues, but it would also make her more aesthetically appealing to the opposite sex. As to helping us? It's a no brainer - PEDICURES. Not only would we be happier wrapping ourselves around manicured toes, but also we would undoubtedly live longer thanks to the alleviation of such blights as rough heels and too-long toenails.

Sadly, we are no fools. We have been with Liz long enough to know that the odds of getting her to even approach such a place are slim to none. A sock (or two) can dream...

Stopping to Smell the Flowers

2008-04-21T19:10:00.007-04:00

Today we visited Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. What a place!

Liz and her friend Karen try to go at least once a year to hike the trails, birdwatch, and look for wildflowers. Today there wasn't much in the way of birdwatching - mostly robins, red-winged blackbirds, and turkey vultures. Oh, yeah, and GEESE! Canada geese were just everywhere. We got pretty close to a few and it got a little scary. They are really big birds! We're sure that two stripey socks from Kansas would be no match for them.

Karen was disappointed at the lack of decent birdwatching - Liz was o.k. with it though. She was more interested in looking for spring wildflowers and just getting out in the trees to hike. As a group we hiked three different trails today. We really put in some miles! We think we went farther today than when we went snowshoeing!

After our first trail we went to a scenic overlook and had our first ever picnic. It's the closest we've ever been to food. Left seems to be a bit of a junky and wanted the doritos mix, while Right (who has become concerned over Liz's increasing weight - ahem) went for the carrots and broccoli. As we enjoyed the fresh breezes and listened to Liz and Karen crunching down their lunches, Karen spotted the Bald Eagle nest far across the pools at the overlook. Even though it was very far away, Liz and Karen could see an eagle sitting on the nest when they used their binoculars. We couldn't see for ourselves, but we've decided to take their word for it.

We spotted many spring wildflowers in our travels...

hepatica

trillium (not open yet, darn!)

and the biggest field of bloodroot Liz has ever seen! (This is only a very small portion!)

We also saw six snakes today! They were all garter snakes, and quite small. And we heard many birds and frogs - toads, green frog, gray tree frog, and spring peepers. We did have one exciting bird sighting. We saw the biggest woodpecker in the area - the pileated woodpecker.

We didn't actually smell any flowers today. Most of the flowers blooming now are of the non-stinky variety. Still, we did smell many other things like the soft scent of pine while we hiked through a stand of evergreens, the mild stink from the swampy wetlands, and the fresh green smell that kept reminding us of just how wonderful spring can be.

Whoa-a-o, take 'em to the zoo...

2008-04-16T14:27:00.005-04:00

This morning Liz was singing a peculiar song as she slipped us on her feet. She was headed for an interview that would prove to be another exciting field trip for us - the zoo!

We know about animals and all, living with a precocious rabbit who seems to be constantly shedding and spreading her hair over every inch of the apartment - including us! But the animals at the zoo were a little different than the rabbit. During Liz's interview some fancy gray parrot-like bird was giving us the eye and rudely squaking whenever the impulse struck. We heard the lady doing the interview talk about how this bird had thrown up on her only a short time earlier and then Liz had to wait to take a seat because of the poop on one of the chairs (also from the bird).

We know it isn't PC but, we like animals better in cages. Behind bars we don't have to worry about stepping in poop, becoming covered with hair, or being used as nesting material.

Liz spent the morning promising us exciting adventures like climbing on the giant rope spiderweb and getting out-of-shoe peeks at the animals but, she forgot one very important thing about this week - spring break. The zoo was overrun with moms, strollers, and drooling, whining, screaming children. We prefer small children in small numbers. And since Liz was by herself, and carrying a camera, she received many suspicious looks from the mothers. (Apparently it is a crime to be single in this state.) In light of all of this, she thought it best that we stay safely tucked in the Merrells.

We did our best to stir up some adventure - beyond navigating hordes of small children and "enjoying" the best the zoo had to offer in animal odors. We saw a chance near the polar bear exhibit and Right jumped up on the railing, determined to get a better look at the bears. Liz caught on to us before Left had a chance to follow and our plot was foiled. She gave us some lecture about how no matter how deep the moat seperating the edge from the bears looked, it still wasn't safe to cross the fence. Whatever. We'll catch her napping soon and then - look out!

Our favorite animals were the meerkats and the rhinos. The meerkats were very alert and kept staring out of their glass enclosure like they had spotted something exciting. No matter how many times we looked, we couldn't see what the excitement was about. Maybe they missed the rhinos now that they were in their outside enclosure instead of inside across from the meerkats.

Liz mumbled something under her breath about the "darn glass in the way" as we left the building. She seemed to think thier excited glances were due to the warm weather and the yummy crunchy insects that such weather brings. And then she told us a naughty story about her adventures at a zoo in Wichita...

The rhinos were very exciting. They spent a lot of time challenging each other and having what we guess were the rhino version of wrestling matches. They would face each other and knock horns (what a sound!). One seemed to be in control and would stalk the other until it was backed into a corner. It just seemed like rough-housing though, nothing mean really. When their heads would slide against each other the sound of their skin meeting was like giant sheets of sand paper being rubbed together. It was easy to imagine what that skin felt like.

Our First Easter!

2008-03-23T17:20:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter everyone! We weren't sure what to expect, this being our first Easter and all. But, this afternoon, while we were snuggling up to the warmth from the baseboard heater under Liz's desk, what should we see?! The Easter Bunny!

She left Liz a rabbit made out of chocolate and some fancy cream candies from that sweet smelling candy store we visited in February. Liz got her some carrots from the fridge and an Easter feast ensued!

Adirondack Adventure

2008-03-16T16:35:00.008-04:00

What a week! We haven't been out much lately but the wait was worth it! Liz took us to Lake Placid in the Adirondacks. We stayed at the Adirondack Loj which is owned and operated by the Adirondack Mountain Club as part of the Heart Lake Program Center. The property includes access to trails leading to all of the high peaks in the Adirondacks. It is a very busy place.

Liz was there for a job interview but it was sort of like a mini-vacation as well. We arrived Monday night and set up our stuff in the bunkroom of the lodge. At dinner, we made some new friends who were vacationing at the lodge to ski and snowshoe the high peaks. After dinner we sat with our new friends around the Loj fireplace and Liz worked on her quilt while one of her new friends was working on knitting an afghan (it made us think of our roots!). Check out the Moose over the fireplace!

In the morning we took a moment to enjoy the view from our loft window before going down to breakfast.

Since the interview wasn't until 2 p.m. Liz got us all geared up for an Adirondack adventure. We went snowhoeing! We snowshoed with some of our new friends. We took the trail towards Marcy Dam (about 2.1 miles one way). We arrived at the Marcy Dam lean-to before our friends and sat down to have a rest and wait for them. As we waited we were accosted by greedy chickadees hoping for a handout. A few moments later Liz spied something brown and furry scurrying across the nearby snow - it was a marten! We startled it and it wrapped itself around a small tree trunk and stared at us. We learned later that he is a regular visitor to the lean-to and that, like the chickadees, he stays close hoping for human handouts.

We made our way back to the Loj by 1 p.m. and had a rest before Liz's interview began. What nice people! We really hope that Liz gets the job so we can become 46ers (people who have climbed all 46 peaks in the Adirondacks). Sadly, we had to leave after the interview was over and head home.

Liz said she wore us for luck, we hope it all works out.

Our Latest Adventure

2008-02-19T18:06:00.008-05:00

Today we went to the Jell-O Museum. I know it sounds like a strange choice, at least we thought so, but Liz explained that she needed to visit a museum in order to complete her latest homework assignment. She wanted to go somewhere she had never been so she could get an honest first impression. The Jell-O Museum is reasonably close, and somewhere she had been curious about for a long time. http://www.jellomuseum.com/

Well, let us just tell you - the Jell-O Museum totally rocked! What a great place! Did you know that Jell-O has brain waves?! It's true! Years ago some scientist hooked a plate of Lime Jell-O up to a brain reading machine thingy and voila - brainwaves almost the same as a human would read. I wonder what would happen if we were hooked up to one of those things? Hmmm.....

In this first picture you see us in one of our favorite positions - we call it "just chillin'." This section of the museum is where you can sit and watch historic Jell-O commercials. Did you know that Lindsay Lohan was in a commercial for Jell-O Jigglers? Maybe if she'd stuck to jigglers instead of shooters she would be in better shape now. He he.

In this picture we are hanging out in the sock's, er, children's play area. Want to buy some Jell-O?

Later we headed downstairs to another awesome exhibit about transportation. We found it particularly interesting since we play a key role in transportation ourselves. After some groveling Liz finally consented to letting us get a closer look at the crazy bike on display. Maybe when the weather gets warmer she will take us out for a bike ride...

Our final destination for the day was someplace Liz called the most important stop of all. It smelled really good and Liz spent a lot of time walking slowly and deliberately through the aisles. Before we left she paused and lifted her pant legs up just enough so we could get a good whiff and see what all of the fuss was about.

Liz would like us to apologize on her behalf for the crazy messed up nature of this post. She says it was a miracle she got more than one picture posted at all and knows that what she is looking at now will not look the same once it is published.

Special Delivery

2008-02-19T17:56:00.003-05:00

We couldn't be more excited! Even before we arrived in New York, Liz had been working hard on a special project to send back to where we came from - Newton, Kansas. We've been watching her incredibly slow process but having to keep mum so as not to spoil the surprise. Finally, Liz finished and packaged "it" up to ship to our home state. As you can see in the picture, we made sure to take the time to give it a few pointers before it began its journey. We told it how wonderful Kansas was and how much fun it would have once it arrived. We even took it for a test-run and had a little nap. In other words - we bonded.

Liz was worried that it was too "girly" for a baby boy but we assured her that with all of the frogs, snails, and bugs all over it, it was plenty masculine for "Bubba." He isn't really old enough to know the difference anyway!

A Typical Day

2008-02-12T14:33:00.000-05:00

Just look at us. Hanging here between common socks. We are so bored. Liz has this idea that socks have to be hung out to dry - it seems she had a terrible incident a few years ago where she shrunk several pairs of expensive socks to the point that they wouldn't fit over her big feet. I suppose if hanging out to dry will keep us healthy and beautiful, we can live with it.

We just wish she would put us in the drawer once we are dry! In the drawer we are safe and cozy and can just hang out with the other socks. If we move, she'll never know. It's not like she folds us all neatly and arranges us in the drawer in a sensible manner. At least she manages to keep us together when we go in the drawer, but beyond that she seems unconcerned with keeping her socks tidy. Hanging out in the open like this, though, means we have to stay glued to our spot like soft little statues or she'll notice something is up.

And waiting out in the open like this. Watching other socks get chosen before us. Seeing her come in and out of the room in preparation for all sorts of adventures. Seeing her eyes hesitate on us and then move on as she chooses socks for her next outfit. Half of her clothes are blue! We go with almost everything! Come on already! Let's go! It's like waiting to be picked for Dodgeball. She keeps telling us that we are special and the only reason we can't go out today is because she is saving us for a unique adventure. Heck, going almost anywhere would be a unique adventure - we've only been out of the house twice! (On adventures, that is. We're already over the "excitement" of the laudromat.)

Butterfly Pics from Super Tuesday

2008-02-06T15:53:00.001-05:00

Super Tuesday

2008-02-06T15:31:00.000-05:00

February 5 turned out to be a super Tuesday indeed as we headed out on our second big adventure. Today Liz took us to the Strong National Museum of Play http://www.strongmuseum.org/

Although the museum was geared towards younger kids we had fun exploring. Here we are stepping out of Cinderella's pumpkin coach - It's hard to really appreciate our stripes from this far away but we wanted to get the coach in the shot. We tried to convince Liz to get a shot of us admiring Dorothy's ruby slippers but she said there were just too many people around for her to take her shoes off, get on the floor, and raise her legs in the air high enough so we could see them. We plan to spend some time in the future working with her to get over these silly inhibitions.

The museum was showcasing a new exhibit called Grossology. We explored a skin climbing wall where the hand and foot holds were moles, pimples, scabs, and warts. There was a machine all about farts that had ways for us to see who could make the best farting sounds. Liz really had fun with this part but her mother seemed to be getting a little embarassed by her childish enthusiasm and delight over the flatulent fun.

The exhibit was interesting, gross, and also a little anti-sock. There was a large poster exclaming that if humans simply stopped wearing socks and shoes, their feet wouldn't smell anymore.

The coolest part of the place was the butterfly exhibit. We went into a very hot and humid room that was just full of butterflies. They were flying everywhere! Liz took some pictures: (which she will post right after this because the blog isn't cooperating!)

Once we left the museum we drove home and participated in our very first Presidential Primary. It was very exciting. Apparently we are Democrats. Liz says we are really Independents who are too lazy to fix our standing with the board of voters.

All in all it was a great but tiring day. We are looking forward to joining the other socks in the hamper so we can all share our recent adventures.

Welcome!

2008-02-05T09:22:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Adventures of Sock and Sock!

We were born in Newton, Kansas (near Wichita - the Air Capital of the World). This is a picture of us on our very first adventure after arriving in New York. Notice how lovely and stripey we are. We went to see a movie called "27 Dresses." It was nice, well, it sounded nice. Once the movie began we had to go back in the shoes.

A little about us - We have very different personalities. Left is the arty one, which sort of makes sense since she is on the leg with the tattoo (pictures to come). Left looks pointier at the toe than Right does. Right is more practical and does most of the real work and decision making. Since arriving in New York in early January we have made good friends with some of the other socks in the drawer. We would like to be able to say we were Liz's favorites but we are no competition with the speleosocks - they are a beautiful bright blue and have bats on the soles. Even though they are her favorites, we get to go on all of the really cool adventures.

Our LEAST favorite season: Summer (no need for socks!)

Our favorite activity: Dancing (Liz has some really varied musical tastes - but she likes to move!)

One of our favorite places is the hamper. We know it seems odd but when we get to the hamper it is because we have just had another adventure. Once we are thrown in we can compare and share with the other socks that were out recently. Sometimes, we can even still smell some of the scents they picked up on their adventures.

The best part about the hamper is that it is always followed by a trip to the waterpark. We get to swish and spin and tumble all around with our friends for almost 30 minutes. The only bad thing about the waterpark is the music. It's country, and we sure don't hear any of that when we are at home. Thank goodness!

Well, we are off on a new adventure today...we'll report back soon!