I'm now officially an Empty Nester. I've kicked my little ones out of the nest, and they are on their own. I wish them the best of luck.
No, I'm not talking about kids, I'm talking about my Poker Ladies!
Last fall, I took a Poker class. Texas Hold 'Em to be specifc. Loving Husband and I had gotten the bug like most people, from watching Celebrity Poker Showdown, where washed-up actors and actresses played Poker to (hopefully) get 10 more minutes of fame. We started up a home game with some folks and thought we were plenty good. I saw the class and thought, "Hmmm....a way to get an edge up on everyone. I'm in!" I'm sneaky that way...
The class was awesome. After the three weeks were over, some of the other ladies in the class and I exchanged phone numbers. I thought I would never hear from them again. I thought wrong. Now granted, I like to play Poker. I need practice. But these ladies were Bad (notice the capital "B"). But, being the closet teacher that I am, I took it as a challenge to myself to teach them well and make them bar-worthy*.
Let's just say it was an uphill battle. These ladies were Aggressive-Passive players. They would hold a Queen-seven down to the river, then wonder why they didn't win. Or they would hold pocket Jacks down to the river without betting. I began wondering if playing with these ladies would ruin my game. But, they got better! They actually started betting. They quit asking "who's first?". And tonight was my last night with them. I very politically-correctly weaseled out on them (I used the "quality time with my son" excuse).
And they are okay with it. They know I want to venture off and play in bar tournaments and beat the pants off macho assholes that think they know how to bluff. They even volunteered to come cheer me on (I quickly squelched this idea...I don't need that kind of pressure!).
So my little birdies have flown from the nest. They plan on getting together without me later this month. Someone will have to buy poker chips...and cards for that matter. It's a bittersweet moment, but I think we have just outgrown each other.
Fly, fly away...
*bar-worthy = able to play Texas Hold 'Em in a free bar tournament without looking foolish. Oh and did I mention that I was the youngest in this group by about 20 years (I'm 40)?. They are all single and really want an excuse to go to the bars and meet single men. Gotta love that!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
In a Holding Pattern...
I'm in a holding pattern in several facets of my life and it's starting to drive me crazy. I realized this earlier this week. I came home from work Monday in a sour mood and was trying to figure out why. I realized that it's because there are several things that have been "in a holding pattern" - not completed. Some of these items have follow-up tasks that just can't be done until the original item is done. Since I'm a child of the Franklin Planner, I love checking things off as "Done". Having these items pending for so long is making me crabby.
Investment House
I bought an investment house about six months ago. My partner/rehabber claimed that he could have it ready to sell in six weeks. Guess what? It was just completed last month. We've had some independent realtors trying to sell it, but they've done a crappy job. The latest idea is to list it on MLS. I just want to get it sold and see what the final revenue/expense breakout is. This is my first real estate deal and I want to see the entire process before I decide if it's something I want to do again. I know one thing. This partner/rehabber won't be involved next time.
Status: Waiting for Sale
Second Adoption
We have gotten almost all the paperwork done to apply for another adoption. The problem? We have one form - ONE FORM! - that needs to be completed before we can send everything off to the agency and go into wait mode. Right now the ball is still officially in our court and it's annoying. And the one form is measurements of our house. Not even anything exciting or interesting, like a criminal background check. This one especially sucks, because we went and told bunches of people about six months ago, so everyone (very nicely, I might add) asks us "what's the status?". And I have to tell them about the one form, and that we have no idea when we will be traveling. That seems so far away right now.
Status: Waiting on one fucking form.
Assignment at New Company
I've been working as a consultant at a large telcom firm. They are spinning off one of their divisions and I am going with it, as a consultant. This is highly exciting. However, at the present moment, we are still at the Mothership Headquarters, combined with all the mother company employees. Plus my new department is spread across two buildings and multiple floors. It's hard to "pop by" someone's cube when they are a 10 minute walk away in another building. The good news is that we are moving to our new building in less than two weeks. We will all be on the same floor, in close proximity. That will make the new assignment "real" and will make work so much easier.
Status: Waiting for building move.
Back Pain
To make matters all that more complicated, during all this stuff my lower back has started hurting. And hurting. And hurting. I say "lower back", which is the true problem (officially a sublaxation of my L5 disc, for the record), but it manifests itself in my hip. Which makes sitting for longer than, oh, 20 minutes, pretty unbearable. As mentioned above, I work at a desk, in a cube. Yes, I have occasional meetings where I get up from my desk and go into a conference room and... sit some more. And fidget, because my back/hip starts to hurt.
Lest you think I am whining over sore muscles, sublaxation means that a bone (in this case a disc) has moved from its normal position and is somewhere else. It's only a millimeter or so off, but that's enough to throw everything out of whack, and cause pain. The best way to describe the pain (when I forget to get up every 20 minutes and walk around) is that it feels like a white-hot pointy rod is being driven through my body, starting at the front, soft part of my groin, and continuing through to the back, just below my pelvic bone.
And so you don't think I'm just complaining and not doing anything about it, I have been going to my chiropractor for 9 months for this. And believe it or not, there's been progress. But it's getting old. I do 20 minutes of stretching every morning, I walk every night, and then do about 20 minutes of therapy exercises before going to bed. It's a lot of time and trouble and I'm sick of it. Also, there are some trips that I have been eyeing for this year that involve mountain biking, kayaking and/or camping. With how I feel now, this trips would just not be any fun.
Status: Still hurts. No end in sight.
In Summary
Thanks for letting me bitch about this. Hopefully by putting it down on paper (keyboard?), I will work to get these items out of "holding pattern" and in to the "complete" category.
Investment House
I bought an investment house about six months ago. My partner/rehabber claimed that he could have it ready to sell in six weeks. Guess what? It was just completed last month. We've had some independent realtors trying to sell it, but they've done a crappy job. The latest idea is to list it on MLS. I just want to get it sold and see what the final revenue/expense breakout is. This is my first real estate deal and I want to see the entire process before I decide if it's something I want to do again. I know one thing. This partner/rehabber won't be involved next time.
Status: Waiting for Sale
Second Adoption
We have gotten almost all the paperwork done to apply for another adoption. The problem? We have one form - ONE FORM! - that needs to be completed before we can send everything off to the agency and go into wait mode. Right now the ball is still officially in our court and it's annoying. And the one form is measurements of our house. Not even anything exciting or interesting, like a criminal background check. This one especially sucks, because we went and told bunches of people about six months ago, so everyone (very nicely, I might add) asks us "what's the status?". And I have to tell them about the one form, and that we have no idea when we will be traveling. That seems so far away right now.
Status: Waiting on one fucking form.
Assignment at New Company
I've been working as a consultant at a large telcom firm. They are spinning off one of their divisions and I am going with it, as a consultant. This is highly exciting. However, at the present moment, we are still at the Mothership Headquarters, combined with all the mother company employees. Plus my new department is spread across two buildings and multiple floors. It's hard to "pop by" someone's cube when they are a 10 minute walk away in another building. The good news is that we are moving to our new building in less than two weeks. We will all be on the same floor, in close proximity. That will make the new assignment "real" and will make work so much easier.
Status: Waiting for building move.
Back Pain
To make matters all that more complicated, during all this stuff my lower back has started hurting. And hurting. And hurting. I say "lower back", which is the true problem (officially a sublaxation of my L5 disc, for the record), but it manifests itself in my hip. Which makes sitting for longer than, oh, 20 minutes, pretty unbearable. As mentioned above, I work at a desk, in a cube. Yes, I have occasional meetings where I get up from my desk and go into a conference room and... sit some more. And fidget, because my back/hip starts to hurt.
Lest you think I am whining over sore muscles, sublaxation means that a bone (in this case a disc) has moved from its normal position and is somewhere else. It's only a millimeter or so off, but that's enough to throw everything out of whack, and cause pain. The best way to describe the pain (when I forget to get up every 20 minutes and walk around) is that it feels like a white-hot pointy rod is being driven through my body, starting at the front, soft part of my groin, and continuing through to the back, just below my pelvic bone.
And so you don't think I'm just complaining and not doing anything about it, I have been going to my chiropractor for 9 months for this. And believe it or not, there's been progress. But it's getting old. I do 20 minutes of stretching every morning, I walk every night, and then do about 20 minutes of therapy exercises before going to bed. It's a lot of time and trouble and I'm sick of it. Also, there are some trips that I have been eyeing for this year that involve mountain biking, kayaking and/or camping. With how I feel now, this trips would just not be any fun.
Status: Still hurts. No end in sight.
In Summary
Thanks for letting me bitch about this. Hopefully by putting it down on paper (keyboard?), I will work to get these items out of "holding pattern" and in to the "complete" category.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Happiness is...
Happiness is...
Your department moving to a brand-new building!
Unhappiness is...
Your cube is right outside the Director's office. No more blog surfing for me.
Happiness is...
Getting a company laptop!
Unhappiness is...
Laptop is used, weighs ten pounds and has a battery life of 20 minutes.
Happiness is...
Having a half-day off from work to spend with Goofy Junior because daycare is closed for President's Day!
Unhappiness is...
Having to put a full day's work into 4 hours in the afternoon.
Happiness is...
Going to the chiropractor's office and having her adjust your aching back. Ah!
Unhappiness is...
Having your 2-1/2 year old running around the chiropractor's office while you are trying to relax and get adjusted. Then he's quiet as a lamb once you get to the car.
Happiness is...
Taking Goofy Junior to the library on President's Day. Where there are paper and glue activities (make Lincoln's log cabin, trace Washington's face, etc.) * Score!
Unhappiness is...
The two Dora the Explorer videos that you put on hold last week for Junior are still not ready for pickup. And you just returned the ones you had checked out. Doh!
* I'm not kidding. These were the actual activities. I don't think I could have made up something funnier!
Your department moving to a brand-new building!
Unhappiness is...
Your cube is right outside the Director's office. No more blog surfing for me.
Happiness is...
Getting a company laptop!
Unhappiness is...
Laptop is used, weighs ten pounds and has a battery life of 20 minutes.
Happiness is...
Having a half-day off from work to spend with Goofy Junior because daycare is closed for President's Day!
Unhappiness is...
Having to put a full day's work into 4 hours in the afternoon.
Happiness is...
Going to the chiropractor's office and having her adjust your aching back. Ah!
Unhappiness is...
Having your 2-1/2 year old running around the chiropractor's office while you are trying to relax and get adjusted. Then he's quiet as a lamb once you get to the car.
Happiness is...
Taking Goofy Junior to the library on President's Day. Where there are paper and glue activities (make Lincoln's log cabin, trace Washington's face, etc.) * Score!
Unhappiness is...
The two Dora the Explorer videos that you put on hold last week for Junior are still not ready for pickup. And you just returned the ones you had checked out. Doh!
* I'm not kidding. These were the actual activities. I don't think I could have made up something funnier!
Sunday, February 19, 2006
It's Fun to Travel - Final Part (I promise!)
Okay, I've drug this out enough. This last part is not even all that exciting. But here goes...
So we get a foot of snow overnight Saturday in Virginia. We are diligently checking the United flight schedule online. No change. Still scheduled to leave on-time at 8:30am. Either they don't update their site or they are unconcerned with the weather. At this point, after calculating how early we would have to get up to make an 8:30am flight (after snowy drive to airport, rental car return, checking bags, etc.), I was actually rooting for a delay. To no avail. At 5:30am on Sunday, things still showed "on-time".
So we packed up and went out to the rental car. Which was covered in a foot of snow! Doh! We forgot to allow time to scrape the car off. This took a while! As we headed out onto the roads to the airport, we noticed hardly another car in sight. As we got closer to the airport, there was a bit more traffic, but it was extremely light.
We got to the airport, expecting to see a delay. No delay! I was starting to get very impressed with Dulles Airport...that they could look a foot of snow in the face and say, "no problemo". We checked in and went to our gate. Once at our gate, there was a slight delay. Our plane was coming in from New York, who had gotten two feet of snow. This made sense, and it was only a twenty minute delay. No problemo. We had time to grab some greasy McDonald's breakfast.
After our plane arrived, there was a slight problem. They had shoveled snow up against the jetway and could not move it. And the airplane could not get close enough to dock with the jetway. They moved us down a gate.
Then another problem. I don't remember what it was this time...maybe the baggage dudes couldn't get the carts out to the plane. Something like that. They decided to move us to another terminal. At least we are still progressing towards getting on the plane. No problemo.
We grabed our carry-ons and strolled over to the other terminal. Here we were told that another gate change was needed. We moved several gates down and actually were able to get on the plane. We had to walk down stairs onto the tarmack and walk to the plane, but hey, no problemo! We had a plane and we were on it. It was about 9:30am at this point.
Then we waited darn near an hour for the de-icing crew to come and spray us down. We gladly waited, though, as this was a more safety-oriented delay. We took to the air around 11:00am, to some cheers and clapping from the passengers. We were on our way!
Unforunately, our baggage wasn't. Once we all got back to KC, the normally-bored-on-a-Sunday-morning baggage claim lady was met with an entire plane of passengers missing their checked baggage. We got in line, filled out the requisite form and were told that someone "would call us". We racked our brains thinking of what we needed for work the next day that was in our bags. We came up with 1)contact solution and 2)mascara. Both easily replaceable with a trip to the drugstore. No worries. But I felt sorry for the business folks that were arriving in KC for work meetings. Most the travelers that Sunday were wearing jeans and tennis shoes or boots, and had checked their suits and skirts. These were the folks that were most up in arms about the delay. I tried to put myself in their situation. I was painful. They were probably looking at a shopping trip in a foreign city on short notice. Ugh.
Our baggage finally showed up on our doorstep Monday night. It was nice to have it show up one day late, as we didn't feel the "push" to unpack and do laundry Sunday night. We couldn't! Not that I want to lose my baggage ever again, but it was a nice break.
So that's my trip report. I'm back into the daily grind now. I actually matched two numbers on the Powerball drawing yesterday. This nets me absolutely zero. But that's my excitement for today. Yawn.
So we get a foot of snow overnight Saturday in Virginia. We are diligently checking the United flight schedule online. No change. Still scheduled to leave on-time at 8:30am. Either they don't update their site or they are unconcerned with the weather. At this point, after calculating how early we would have to get up to make an 8:30am flight (after snowy drive to airport, rental car return, checking bags, etc.), I was actually rooting for a delay. To no avail. At 5:30am on Sunday, things still showed "on-time".
So we packed up and went out to the rental car. Which was covered in a foot of snow! Doh! We forgot to allow time to scrape the car off. This took a while! As we headed out onto the roads to the airport, we noticed hardly another car in sight. As we got closer to the airport, there was a bit more traffic, but it was extremely light.
We got to the airport, expecting to see a delay. No delay! I was starting to get very impressed with Dulles Airport...that they could look a foot of snow in the face and say, "no problemo". We checked in and went to our gate. Once at our gate, there was a slight delay. Our plane was coming in from New York, who had gotten two feet of snow. This made sense, and it was only a twenty minute delay. No problemo. We had time to grab some greasy McDonald's breakfast.
After our plane arrived, there was a slight problem. They had shoveled snow up against the jetway and could not move it. And the airplane could not get close enough to dock with the jetway. They moved us down a gate.
Then another problem. I don't remember what it was this time...maybe the baggage dudes couldn't get the carts out to the plane. Something like that. They decided to move us to another terminal. At least we are still progressing towards getting on the plane. No problemo.
We grabed our carry-ons and strolled over to the other terminal. Here we were told that another gate change was needed. We moved several gates down and actually were able to get on the plane. We had to walk down stairs onto the tarmack and walk to the plane, but hey, no problemo! We had a plane and we were on it. It was about 9:30am at this point.
Then we waited darn near an hour for the de-icing crew to come and spray us down. We gladly waited, though, as this was a more safety-oriented delay. We took to the air around 11:00am, to some cheers and clapping from the passengers. We were on our way!
Unforunately, our baggage wasn't. Once we all got back to KC, the normally-bored-on-a-Sunday-morning baggage claim lady was met with an entire plane of passengers missing their checked baggage. We got in line, filled out the requisite form and were told that someone "would call us". We racked our brains thinking of what we needed for work the next day that was in our bags. We came up with 1)contact solution and 2)mascara. Both easily replaceable with a trip to the drugstore. No worries. But I felt sorry for the business folks that were arriving in KC for work meetings. Most the travelers that Sunday were wearing jeans and tennis shoes or boots, and had checked their suits and skirts. These were the folks that were most up in arms about the delay. I tried to put myself in their situation. I was painful. They were probably looking at a shopping trip in a foreign city on short notice. Ugh.
Our baggage finally showed up on our doorstep Monday night. It was nice to have it show up one day late, as we didn't feel the "push" to unpack and do laundry Sunday night. We couldn't! Not that I want to lose my baggage ever again, but it was a nice break.
So that's my trip report. I'm back into the daily grind now. I actually matched two numbers on the Powerball drawing yesterday. This nets me absolutely zero. But that's my excitement for today. Yawn.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
It's Fun to Travel! Part Two
Okay, finally I can finish posting about my trip. My entire experience was tainted by the fact that, after we all got back from this "fire up the troops" company meeting - complete with new CEO - a key person from our company was fired. A good friend no less. For no apparent reason. And officially, not actually fired. Sort of the "go find some other work to do in the company and if you can't, then look for another company". How rude! Needless to say, this has sent some ripples of uncertainty through the company and definitely put out our troop's "fire".
So, with that off my chest, here's the rest of my trip report...
So Friday night, Loving Husband flew into Virginia, as did male-friend-who-is-too-mature-to-call-boyfriend of co-worker, and we headed down to Georgetown. Based on the advice from a co-worker who lives in Virginia (hereafter known as "Idiot") , we avoided the parking headache and took the Metro. Now I love the Metro - don't get me wrong. But it's not the fastest way to get anywhere. Since by the time we left the hotel we were starving, this was not a good thing. Also, the Metro stop that aforementioned Idiot said was supposed to be "a few blocks" away from the pizza place (Pizza Paradiso, if you're curious), was not. Twenty minutes and a potty stop later, we decided to hail a cab. It was TWELVE blocks away. To me, twelve does not equal "a few". Idiot.
So we get there and guess what? Thirty minute wait. Gads! The dudes diligently waited while co-worker C. and I rushed down to H&M to do some quick shoppping. What a wonderful store! Vintage-looking clothing at fractions of the price of real. Anyway, once we got a table, and got gourmet pizza and beer, and we were happy. They had some wonderful beer on the menu, and I got to try an Old Rasputin Imperial Russian Stout. I like dark beer. The more opaque, coffee and chocolately-tasting, the better. And this one did not disappoint.
The next day, Saturday, we decided to head to downtown D.C. C. wanted to see the Smithsonian stuff and we wanted to take in the Holocaust Museum. Loving Husband's folks lived in D.C. for about five years while we were in college, so we have seen everything in the Smithsonian. Most places more than once. Along with assorted childhood homes of presidents and battlefields. The only stuff we haven't seen is the new stuff (new meaning "within the last fifteen years"), which included the Holocaust Museum and the Spy Museum. We intended to take in both.
We decided on the Holocaust Museum first, due to its somber nature. We figured we'd be horrified first, then go to the Spy Museum and see the lighter "James Bond" stuff. Well, due to the above-mentioned slowness of Metro travel, as well as impending weather, as well as stopping at Kohl's on the way to buy hats and scarfes for the impending weather, we didn't make it to the Spy Museum. We just ran out of time. And steam.
So, the Holocaust Museum. How can I describe it? I was actually a bit frightened to go through it. There's some horrible stuff that happened, and they don't pull any punches in describing and showing it to you. But I felt like it was my civic (human?) duty to see the horror, to appreciate the magnitude of what happened. The Holocaust Museum is not something someone can say they "enjoyed", but I'm definitely glad I endured it. It was enlightening, if nothing else. I can say that I've never been in a more quiet museum. Even with the ocassional sobbing from some visitors.
So we rolled out of the Museum around 4:00pm and decided to head back to the hotel. At this point it was raining and starting to get colder. I still didn't think it looked like it would snow. Silly girl! We had reservations at Two Quail at 8:30pm that night for our anniversary, so we wanted to get back, rest up and clean up before heading there.
On the way back to the hotel, the snow started. Big, fluffy flakes that quickly accumulated. By the time we got to the car (parked in the Metro parking lot), it was covered. By the time we got back to the hotel, there was enough snow to make it slippery to drive. While I still wanted to brave the elements and go to Two Quail (being a December baby, I learned to drive in the snow, and don't mind it), I conceded that we could probably find someplace equally nice out in the Fairfax area. And it probably wouldn't be crowded since Virginians get the hell off the roads when it snows. The streets were eerily empty! We chose M&S Grill at Reston Town Center. It was a short drive to it, there was indeed hardly anyone there, and the dinner was wonderful. As a bonus, they sat us near the bar, so we got to peek at the Olympics on the multiple TVs. Then back at the hotel, we went outside and made snowballs with the nice sticky snow. A perfect anniversary celebration, if you ask me.
This is a lot already, so I guess there will be a Part Three. Stay tuned!
So, with that off my chest, here's the rest of my trip report...
So Friday night, Loving Husband flew into Virginia, as did male-friend-who-is-too-mature-to-call-boyfriend of co-worker, and we headed down to Georgetown. Based on the advice from a co-worker who lives in Virginia (hereafter known as "Idiot") , we avoided the parking headache and took the Metro. Now I love the Metro - don't get me wrong. But it's not the fastest way to get anywhere. Since by the time we left the hotel we were starving, this was not a good thing. Also, the Metro stop that aforementioned Idiot said was supposed to be "a few blocks" away from the pizza place (Pizza Paradiso, if you're curious), was not. Twenty minutes and a potty stop later, we decided to hail a cab. It was TWELVE blocks away. To me, twelve does not equal "a few". Idiot.
So we get there and guess what? Thirty minute wait. Gads! The dudes diligently waited while co-worker C. and I rushed down to H&M to do some quick shoppping. What a wonderful store! Vintage-looking clothing at fractions of the price of real. Anyway, once we got a table, and got gourmet pizza and beer, and we were happy. They had some wonderful beer on the menu, and I got to try an Old Rasputin Imperial Russian Stout. I like dark beer. The more opaque, coffee and chocolately-tasting, the better. And this one did not disappoint.
The next day, Saturday, we decided to head to downtown D.C. C. wanted to see the Smithsonian stuff and we wanted to take in the Holocaust Museum. Loving Husband's folks lived in D.C. for about five years while we were in college, so we have seen everything in the Smithsonian. Most places more than once. Along with assorted childhood homes of presidents and battlefields. The only stuff we haven't seen is the new stuff (new meaning "within the last fifteen years"), which included the Holocaust Museum and the Spy Museum. We intended to take in both.
We decided on the Holocaust Museum first, due to its somber nature. We figured we'd be horrified first, then go to the Spy Museum and see the lighter "James Bond" stuff. Well, due to the above-mentioned slowness of Metro travel, as well as impending weather, as well as stopping at Kohl's on the way to buy hats and scarfes for the impending weather, we didn't make it to the Spy Museum. We just ran out of time. And steam.
So, the Holocaust Museum. How can I describe it? I was actually a bit frightened to go through it. There's some horrible stuff that happened, and they don't pull any punches in describing and showing it to you. But I felt like it was my civic (human?) duty to see the horror, to appreciate the magnitude of what happened. The Holocaust Museum is not something someone can say they "enjoyed", but I'm definitely glad I endured it. It was enlightening, if nothing else. I can say that I've never been in a more quiet museum. Even with the ocassional sobbing from some visitors.
So we rolled out of the Museum around 4:00pm and decided to head back to the hotel. At this point it was raining and starting to get colder. I still didn't think it looked like it would snow. Silly girl! We had reservations at Two Quail at 8:30pm that night for our anniversary, so we wanted to get back, rest up and clean up before heading there.
On the way back to the hotel, the snow started. Big, fluffy flakes that quickly accumulated. By the time we got to the car (parked in the Metro parking lot), it was covered. By the time we got back to the hotel, there was enough snow to make it slippery to drive. While I still wanted to brave the elements and go to Two Quail (being a December baby, I learned to drive in the snow, and don't mind it), I conceded that we could probably find someplace equally nice out in the Fairfax area. And it probably wouldn't be crowded since Virginians get the hell off the roads when it snows. The streets were eerily empty! We chose M&S Grill at Reston Town Center. It was a short drive to it, there was indeed hardly anyone there, and the dinner was wonderful. As a bonus, they sat us near the bar, so we got to peek at the Olympics on the multiple TVs. Then back at the hotel, we went outside and made snowballs with the nice sticky snow. A perfect anniversary celebration, if you ask me.
This is a lot already, so I guess there will be a Part Three. Stay tuned!
Goofy's Latest Reads
I promise I will continue my trip report, but since I have limited time this morning, I’ll do a quick book review.
Here’s what I’ve been reading/listening to lately:
NOTE: As an afterthought, I have ranked these books in 1, 2, 3 order. If you decide to pick one of these books up, pick up #1 first, etc.
“Shadow Divers” by Robert Kurson
I borrowed this audiotape from Cagey, oh about 6 months ago. It’s about a group of shipwreck divers that discover a sunken German U-boat off the coast of New Jersey. It sounded good, but I kept thinking, “it’s going to be a dry story about scuba divers and WWII history...yawn”. After finishing it, I was kicking myself for now listening sooner. This story grabbed me from the very first line and held me until the end. I can’t remember a boring part, even with bits of history sprinkled in (not my favorite topic). I actually learned something from this book, and it’s a true story, so the guys in the story are still around, discovering new sunken bits of history. Very cool!
Rank: #1
“S is for Silence” by Sue Grafton
This was a great book! The Kinsey Milhone “ABC” series has gotten a little dry lately, and I’m thinking Grafton knew that. With this book, she departed from the story revolving around Kinsey (the main character – a female private eye). While Kinsey is still in the book, Grafton uses the scenario of a cold case, and flashbacks to show the reader what really happened as Kinsey uncovers it, many years later. Even if you’ve never picked up a Grafton book, you will understand what’s going on, and will probably enjoy this book (if you enjoy a good mystery, with lots of red herrings).
Rank: #2
“The Pleasure of My Own Company” by Steve Martin (in process)
I’ve read all of Steve Martin’s books. Yes, I’m talking about the “King Tut”/”Cheaper by the Dozen” comedian. He is actually an awesome writer, although his books tend to be rather dark. I personally think this is cool. If he wrote comedy ala Dave Barry…yawn. Anyway, I’m on disc 1 of 4 of this audiobook, but it’s very good so far. It’s about a single guy who has some sort of obsessive/compulsive disorder, although he’s very smart and knows about his OCD. Martin puts you inside this guy’s mind as he tries to meet a girl he’s attracted to. She’s a realtor that is selling an apartment across the street. Since he can’t step off curbs, he must travel around the block, to a driveway, then back again, in order to “nonchalantly” run into the gal. He foreshadows that he will tell us what happened in this guy’s life to put him in this state, but for now, you have to accept this guy as he is. And you actually start to like him and understand him. Stay tuned on this one, but it’s looking good so far.
Rank: #3
Next up:
“Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal” by Christopher Moore
If you haven’t read a Christopher Moore book, you need to. “Fluke” and “The Stupidest Angel” are especially good. They are laugh-out-loud funny and clever all at the same time. This is Moore’s latest book, and promises to lampoon religion. This book promises to be controversial and funny…what more could you ask?
So, what had YOU been reading lately? Was it good? Bad? So-so?
Here’s what I’ve been reading/listening to lately:
NOTE: As an afterthought, I have ranked these books in 1, 2, 3 order. If you decide to pick one of these books up, pick up #1 first, etc.
“Shadow Divers” by Robert Kurson
I borrowed this audiotape from Cagey, oh about 6 months ago. It’s about a group of shipwreck divers that discover a sunken German U-boat off the coast of New Jersey. It sounded good, but I kept thinking, “it’s going to be a dry story about scuba divers and WWII history...yawn”. After finishing it, I was kicking myself for now listening sooner. This story grabbed me from the very first line and held me until the end. I can’t remember a boring part, even with bits of history sprinkled in (not my favorite topic). I actually learned something from this book, and it’s a true story, so the guys in the story are still around, discovering new sunken bits of history. Very cool!
Rank: #1
“S is for Silence” by Sue Grafton
This was a great book! The Kinsey Milhone “ABC” series has gotten a little dry lately, and I’m thinking Grafton knew that. With this book, she departed from the story revolving around Kinsey (the main character – a female private eye). While Kinsey is still in the book, Grafton uses the scenario of a cold case, and flashbacks to show the reader what really happened as Kinsey uncovers it, many years later. Even if you’ve never picked up a Grafton book, you will understand what’s going on, and will probably enjoy this book (if you enjoy a good mystery, with lots of red herrings).
Rank: #2
“The Pleasure of My Own Company” by Steve Martin (in process)
I’ve read all of Steve Martin’s books. Yes, I’m talking about the “King Tut”/”Cheaper by the Dozen” comedian. He is actually an awesome writer, although his books tend to be rather dark. I personally think this is cool. If he wrote comedy ala Dave Barry…yawn. Anyway, I’m on disc 1 of 4 of this audiobook, but it’s very good so far. It’s about a single guy who has some sort of obsessive/compulsive disorder, although he’s very smart and knows about his OCD. Martin puts you inside this guy’s mind as he tries to meet a girl he’s attracted to. She’s a realtor that is selling an apartment across the street. Since he can’t step off curbs, he must travel around the block, to a driveway, then back again, in order to “nonchalantly” run into the gal. He foreshadows that he will tell us what happened in this guy’s life to put him in this state, but for now, you have to accept this guy as he is. And you actually start to like him and understand him. Stay tuned on this one, but it’s looking good so far.
Rank: #3
Next up:
“Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal” by Christopher Moore
If you haven’t read a Christopher Moore book, you need to. “Fluke” and “The Stupidest Angel” are especially good. They are laugh-out-loud funny and clever all at the same time. This is Moore’s latest book, and promises to lampoon religion. This book promises to be controversial and funny…what more could you ask?
So, what had YOU been reading lately? Was it good? Bad? So-so?
Monday, February 13, 2006
Tagged!
I'm calling a "timeout" from the travel post to do this meme. I thought it was a fun one. Thanks, Average Jane!
What were you doing 10 years ago?
Unfortunately, my Palm doesn't go back this far, so I'm relying on mind power (never a good thing). Ten years ago, I would have just completed my 30th birthday. If I remember right, I played volleyball the night of my birthday, then we went out with my team (and the team that beat us!) and I successfully downed 7 shots. I say successfully because I did not thrown them back up and I remember the majority of the night. Success! Also, Loving Husband and I would have completed our 5th wedding anniversary. I don't think we did anything special. For 10th, we had a big party, invited lots of friends, watched our wedding video and laughed until we cried. I also would have been working at an Internet training company. Yes, folks, I actually taught people how to use the Internet. Seems laughable now. That company ended up running out of money and closing, but it was fun while it lasted.
What were you doing 1 year ago?
I went back to my Palm on this one. One year ago, this week, I was:
1. Looking forward to the Survivor premiere
2. Taking Goofy Junior to tumbling class (which I HIGHLY recommend for tots - he is SO coordinated, and I give credit to the tumbling class)
3. Playing racquetball (badly) with my friend Eric
4. Preparing for Wino Book Club (a book-club-slash-wine-tasting...big fun! I think the book was "Time Traveler's Wife")
5. Playing volleyball (something I don't do anymore and miss horribly!)
Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Krispy Kreme - Raspberry Filled Donuts
2) Lamar's - Chocolate Longjohn Donuts (unfilled)
3) Whole Foods - Pain au Chocolat
4) Caramel apples with additional topping (heath bar, nuts, chocolate, etc.)
5) Panera - Cinnamon Crunch bagel
Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
PLEASE NOTE: I know lots of songs by heart, but would cause mass public deafness if ever sang them in public. These are the ones I like the most.
1) Every Step of the Way, Steve Walsh
2) Kiss Me Deadly, Lita Ford
3) One Week, Bare Naked Ladies
4) American Idiot, Green Day (and just about every other GD song)
5) Cowboy, Kid Rock
Five things you would do if you were a millionaire :
1) travel
2) invest
3) travel more
4) have a huge party and invite all friends (and have Average Jane's band play!)
5) give to charities that I support
Five bad habits:
1) Eating until I can't move
2) Avoiding things that I don't want to deal with
3) Wasting time surfing blogs
4) Not paying attention to my checking account balance
5) Checking email obsessively (thank God I don't own a Blackberry!)
Five things you like doing:
1) playing computer games
2) playing sports
3) reading
4) exploring
5) doing something I've never done before
Five things you would never wear again:
1) my husband's jeans
2) my dark purple boots (with fringe!) from high school
3) my entire purple wardrobe from high school (no, I'm not kidding)
4) my gold and black lame short-short skirt and short jacket with fur trim (impulse purchase for New Year's several years ago)
5) anything lace
Five favorite toys:
1) Mountain bike
2) iPod Shuffle
3) Rollerblades
4) Xbox
5) Magic 8 ball (even though it's more of an advisor sometimes than a toy)
So now you know a little more about me. Anything surprise you???
What were you doing 10 years ago?
Unfortunately, my Palm doesn't go back this far, so I'm relying on mind power (never a good thing). Ten years ago, I would have just completed my 30th birthday. If I remember right, I played volleyball the night of my birthday, then we went out with my team (and the team that beat us!) and I successfully downed 7 shots. I say successfully because I did not thrown them back up and I remember the majority of the night. Success! Also, Loving Husband and I would have completed our 5th wedding anniversary. I don't think we did anything special. For 10th, we had a big party, invited lots of friends, watched our wedding video and laughed until we cried. I also would have been working at an Internet training company. Yes, folks, I actually taught people how to use the Internet. Seems laughable now. That company ended up running out of money and closing, but it was fun while it lasted.
What were you doing 1 year ago?
I went back to my Palm on this one. One year ago, this week, I was:
1. Looking forward to the Survivor premiere
2. Taking Goofy Junior to tumbling class (which I HIGHLY recommend for tots - he is SO coordinated, and I give credit to the tumbling class)
3. Playing racquetball (badly) with my friend Eric
4. Preparing for Wino Book Club (a book-club-slash-wine-tasting...big fun! I think the book was "Time Traveler's Wife")
5. Playing volleyball (something I don't do anymore and miss horribly!)
Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Krispy Kreme - Raspberry Filled Donuts
2) Lamar's - Chocolate Longjohn Donuts (unfilled)
3) Whole Foods - Pain au Chocolat
4) Caramel apples with additional topping (heath bar, nuts, chocolate, etc.)
5) Panera - Cinnamon Crunch bagel
Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
PLEASE NOTE: I know lots of songs by heart, but would cause mass public deafness if ever sang them in public. These are the ones I like the most.
1) Every Step of the Way, Steve Walsh
2) Kiss Me Deadly, Lita Ford
3) One Week, Bare Naked Ladies
4) American Idiot, Green Day (and just about every other GD song)
5) Cowboy, Kid Rock
Five things you would do if you were a millionaire :
1) travel
2) invest
3) travel more
4) have a huge party and invite all friends (and have Average Jane's band play!)
5) give to charities that I support
Five bad habits:
1) Eating until I can't move
2) Avoiding things that I don't want to deal with
3) Wasting time surfing blogs
4) Not paying attention to my checking account balance
5) Checking email obsessively (thank God I don't own a Blackberry!)
Five things you like doing:
1) playing computer games
2) playing sports
3) reading
4) exploring
5) doing something I've never done before
Five things you would never wear again:
1) my husband's jeans
2) my dark purple boots (with fringe!) from high school
3) my entire purple wardrobe from high school (no, I'm not kidding)
4) my gold and black lame short-short skirt and short jacket with fur trim (impulse purchase for New Year's several years ago)
5) anything lace
Five favorite toys:
1) Mountain bike
2) iPod Shuffle
3) Rollerblades
4) Xbox
5) Magic 8 ball (even though it's more of an advisor sometimes than a toy)
So now you know a little more about me. Anything surprise you???
It's Fun to Travel! Part One
As mentioned previously, I headed out Wednesday night for Virginia for business. The flight out was easy. Through pure luck, I ended up sitting next to Dorothy on the plane, who evily tempted me with an Us gossip rag, rather than my more uptight Fortune magazine. I caved in quickly and we discussed how much money celebrities pay to be stay in shape (the lowest figure was $35K a year). We landed, met up with C. and V., our other travel buds, and headed to the rental car lot. At Dulles, all the rental car lots are off-site, which means a long, tedious ride on the shuttle. I managed to somehow get TWO upgrades instead of ONE and was prompted accused of "batting my eyelashes" at the rental car dude. I'll never tell...although it did come in handy to have the full-size car when we got the foot of snow. And it made some awesome donuts in the hotel parking lot! But I'm getting ahead of myself now.
We had a co-worker with us, V., that we agreed to drop at his sister's house in Centreville - not too far away. I figured we could small talk for a few minutes, then head out to the interesting bar I had found in close proximity to the airport for some (late) dinner and some well-deserved adult bevs. I didn't count on a 30 minute conversation, then another 20 minutes of everyone getting on shoes and coats to join us. We didn't mind them joining us, but at this point, stomach-time was 9:00PM and we were starving. We finally made it to the Irish bar where the "LIVE MUSIC" was a bad mix of Pearl Jam and Talking Heads, all so loud that we had to wait between sets to get any sort of visiting in. The bar food was good and the Guiness was on tap, so all was not lost.
Then the first of many navigational adventures began. As we headed out from the bar, V.'s brother-in-law said "follow us until you get to 66 Hwy, then you can take that to your hotel". Good plan! Unfortunately, we never found 66, even with three sets (albeit very TIRED sets) of eyes looking. When we again reached Centreville, we turned around and tried to improvise. Having assured my traveling companions that I was very comfortable driving and navigating, I felt my pride take a hit. Virginia is a bitch to navigate in! Seems like they assume that no one drives at night and all the street signs are in tiny print, with no warning signs like "Goofy Street Ahead 1 Mile". They might have been there, but it was too dark to see them. It had also been, oh, at least fifteen years since I'd been to that part of Virginia. Anyway, after about 45 minutes, we managed to find the Fair Oaks Mall (something I DID remember) and called the hotel and a very nice lady talked us in. I swore I heard some giggling on her end, though.
Here's where things get goofy - when I got to my hotel room, I scoped it out (very nice!), then started unpacking and took a pee. The toilet didn't flush! Uh-oh. I pulled open the tank...no water! Not a drop. Having had some experience with fussy toilets, I decided to fill up the tank with water from the ice bucket. Then I flushed again. You guessed it...nothing. So no more peeing until morning. I then noticed that the room was a bit chilly, so I punched the button to turn up the heat. Then again. And again. You guessed it...nothing. No heat. It was chilly, but not too bad. I wasn't changing rooms at 2AM, nor did I want to give up my room on the top floor (wonderful view!). I put on sweats and long undershirt and jumped into bed. It was like camping at 14 stories.
The next morning I saw my two traveling companions off to the office (they had meetings) and decided to get the lay of the land. I grabbed a map from the hotel and drove in a big square and got my bearings. Or so I thought. I ended up getting lost several more times over the weekend. Drat! I've driven in Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and found tiny off-the-beaten-path wineries in Napa Valley, but Virginia just had my number. I managed to find the largest wine store I have ever seen and went in and browsed for a while before deciding on a wine. Then I got back, changed into my business costume, and went to the office.
I went in and got the office tour. As I popped in to say "hi" to our new CEO, he said, "well, there's our employee of the month". He's a funny jokester, so I laughed heartily and said, "yeah, right..that's me!" and blew it off. Come to find out that instead of walking through wine stores, I should been checking my email. Doh! I WAS the employee of the month. I told him later and he had a good laugh, but I'm sure he thought I was nuts at the time. Anyway, no boring blogging about business, but I will say that the next year for our little company should be very, very interesting. We just got some venture capital funding, new leadership, and we are putting on the gas for growth. I hope I can keep up!
That night we all met at a pool hall (seems wrong to call it that, it was a very nice, large place with excellent food) and did some "team building" (aka drinking, eating, playing pool, being obnoxious). It was fun. I showed one of my co-workers wives how to play pool and she promptly kicked our asses. "Those that can't do, teach" came into play here. My friend Cagey (who happens to be our company President's wife) showed up and we got to visit a bit, but she had to "meet and greet" and do the social thing. This time, we had WRITTEN DIRECTIONS that we used to get to the place, that when reversed, took us somewhere else. Fucking Virginia.
More later...
We had a co-worker with us, V., that we agreed to drop at his sister's house in Centreville - not too far away. I figured we could small talk for a few minutes, then head out to the interesting bar I had found in close proximity to the airport for some (late) dinner and some well-deserved adult bevs. I didn't count on a 30 minute conversation, then another 20 minutes of everyone getting on shoes and coats to join us. We didn't mind them joining us, but at this point, stomach-time was 9:00PM and we were starving. We finally made it to the Irish bar where the "LIVE MUSIC" was a bad mix of Pearl Jam and Talking Heads, all so loud that we had to wait between sets to get any sort of visiting in. The bar food was good and the Guiness was on tap, so all was not lost.
Then the first of many navigational adventures began. As we headed out from the bar, V.'s brother-in-law said "follow us until you get to 66 Hwy, then you can take that to your hotel". Good plan! Unfortunately, we never found 66, even with three sets (albeit very TIRED sets) of eyes looking. When we again reached Centreville, we turned around and tried to improvise. Having assured my traveling companions that I was very comfortable driving and navigating, I felt my pride take a hit. Virginia is a bitch to navigate in! Seems like they assume that no one drives at night and all the street signs are in tiny print, with no warning signs like "Goofy Street Ahead 1 Mile". They might have been there, but it was too dark to see them. It had also been, oh, at least fifteen years since I'd been to that part of Virginia. Anyway, after about 45 minutes, we managed to find the Fair Oaks Mall (something I DID remember) and called the hotel and a very nice lady talked us in. I swore I heard some giggling on her end, though.
Here's where things get goofy - when I got to my hotel room, I scoped it out (very nice!), then started unpacking and took a pee. The toilet didn't flush! Uh-oh. I pulled open the tank...no water! Not a drop. Having had some experience with fussy toilets, I decided to fill up the tank with water from the ice bucket. Then I flushed again. You guessed it...nothing. So no more peeing until morning. I then noticed that the room was a bit chilly, so I punched the button to turn up the heat. Then again. And again. You guessed it...nothing. No heat. It was chilly, but not too bad. I wasn't changing rooms at 2AM, nor did I want to give up my room on the top floor (wonderful view!). I put on sweats and long undershirt and jumped into bed. It was like camping at 14 stories.
The next morning I saw my two traveling companions off to the office (they had meetings) and decided to get the lay of the land. I grabbed a map from the hotel and drove in a big square and got my bearings. Or so I thought. I ended up getting lost several more times over the weekend. Drat! I've driven in Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and found tiny off-the-beaten-path wineries in Napa Valley, but Virginia just had my number. I managed to find the largest wine store I have ever seen and went in and browsed for a while before deciding on a wine. Then I got back, changed into my business costume, and went to the office.
I went in and got the office tour. As I popped in to say "hi" to our new CEO, he said, "well, there's our employee of the month". He's a funny jokester, so I laughed heartily and said, "yeah, right..that's me!" and blew it off. Come to find out that instead of walking through wine stores, I should been checking my email. Doh! I WAS the employee of the month. I told him later and he had a good laugh, but I'm sure he thought I was nuts at the time. Anyway, no boring blogging about business, but I will say that the next year for our little company should be very, very interesting. We just got some venture capital funding, new leadership, and we are putting on the gas for growth. I hope I can keep up!
That night we all met at a pool hall (seems wrong to call it that, it was a very nice, large place with excellent food) and did some "team building" (aka drinking, eating, playing pool, being obnoxious). It was fun. I showed one of my co-workers wives how to play pool and she promptly kicked our asses. "Those that can't do, teach" came into play here. My friend Cagey (who happens to be our company President's wife) showed up and we got to visit a bit, but she had to "meet and greet" and do the social thing. This time, we had WRITTEN DIRECTIONS that we used to get to the place, that when reversed, took us somewhere else. Fucking Virginia.
More later...
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Goofy Travel
I'm leaving for a business trip today at 5:00pm. This is a totally weird time to leave on a trip. I am used to leaving either first thing in the morning on a weekday, or on a Sunday afternoon - not on a Wednesday afternoon. As such, I promptly forgot to say "goodbye" to Loving Husband this morning as he left for work (in all fairness, he forgot too), and didn't really mention it to Goofy Junior until driving him to school.
I'm going to Virginia for a business trip. Have I mentioned that I love, love, love, love to travel? And I love, love, love traveling for business (just 1 less "love" there). Sick, I know, but I love exploring new areas, meeting new people, discovering the little "quirks" of each part of the country.
Also, since I'm obsessive about being organized, I have a folder with: maps, directions to office in VA, directions to hotel, directions to tourist spots that I want to visit, along with hours of operation, cost, etc. Let's just say I have information about more places that I could get to in a week!
You'd think I was organized, right? Ha! Think again...
My schedule today is: work until noon, leave the office, grab lunch to eat on the way home, get maps copied, and buy a suitcase, get home, hope that tile guy has finished work so I can pay him and make him leave, change clothes, pack, rush frantically to airport. This is typical Goofy travel, of course. LH is coming up Friday night to meet me for the weekend. A few days ago, we realized that we have one small suitcase and one mondo-large suitcase. Since he's just coming up for Fri/Sat/Sun, he doesn't need the mondo suitcase. Nor do I, since I am freakishly obsessed with packing light. Plus that mondo suitcase would give me a hernia.
So...buying a new suitcase. Three hours before my flight leaves. I'll probably end up with some hot pink off-brand piece of crap.
I'm going to Virginia for a business trip. Have I mentioned that I love, love, love, love to travel? And I love, love, love traveling for business (just 1 less "love" there). Sick, I know, but I love exploring new areas, meeting new people, discovering the little "quirks" of each part of the country.
Also, since I'm obsessive about being organized, I have a folder with: maps, directions to office in VA, directions to hotel, directions to tourist spots that I want to visit, along with hours of operation, cost, etc. Let's just say I have information about more places that I could get to in a week!
You'd think I was organized, right? Ha! Think again...
My schedule today is: work until noon, leave the office, grab lunch to eat on the way home, get maps copied, and buy a suitcase, get home, hope that tile guy has finished work so I can pay him and make him leave, change clothes, pack, rush frantically to airport. This is typical Goofy travel, of course. LH is coming up Friday night to meet me for the weekend. A few days ago, we realized that we have one small suitcase and one mondo-large suitcase. Since he's just coming up for Fri/Sat/Sun, he doesn't need the mondo suitcase. Nor do I, since I am freakishly obsessed with packing light. Plus that mondo suitcase would give me a hernia.
So...buying a new suitcase. Three hours before my flight leaves. I'll probably end up with some hot pink off-brand piece of crap.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Car Seat Conversations - Part Two
Tonight, we were driving home from an event where Goofy Junior decided that the stage was his and his alone, and climbed up and started running in circles, while the main speaker was speaking. He was totally hamming it up. I was embarrassed and proud at the same time. Weird feeling. Anyway...
Junior: Turn on the light!
Me: Why do you want the light on?
Junior: TURN ON THE LIGHT! I WANNA SEE.
Me: What do you want to see???
Junior: I WANNA SEE THE LIGHT!
Reads like a bad joke, eh? All true, my friends...all true. We turned on the light and tried not to giggle too loud.
Junior: Turn on the light!
Me: Why do you want the light on?
Junior: TURN ON THE LIGHT! I WANNA SEE.
Me: What do you want to see???
Junior: I WANNA SEE THE LIGHT!
Reads like a bad joke, eh? All true, my friends...all true. We turned on the light and tried not to giggle too loud.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Car Seat Conversations
Goofy Junior (holding up tiny stuffed bear): This is my Bay-bee.
Me: Yes, it's your baby bear.
GJ: No, it's not a BEAR, it's a Bay-bee.
Me: It's a baby AND a bear....a baby bear!
GJ (more whiny now): No, it's not a BEAR. It's a Bay-bee.
Me: Well, okay. I guess the tail threw me off.
GJ (turns bear over and examines its butt): That's a tail?
Me: Yes, your baby has a tail.
(I hold up my thumb and wiggle it around like a tail wagging.)
GJ: I have a tail.
Me: You do?! Where?
GJ (shaking his head "no"): I don't have a tail right now.
Me: Oh, so you'll have one later on?
GJ: Yeah, I'll have a tail later.
Me: Oh, okay, thanks for clearing that up.
GJ: (holding up tiny stuffed bear): This is my Bay-bee.
Me: (sigh)
Me: Yes, it's your baby bear.
GJ: No, it's not a BEAR, it's a Bay-bee.
Me: It's a baby AND a bear....a baby bear!
GJ (more whiny now): No, it's not a BEAR. It's a Bay-bee.
Me: Well, okay. I guess the tail threw me off.
GJ (turns bear over and examines its butt): That's a tail?
Me: Yes, your baby has a tail.
(I hold up my thumb and wiggle it around like a tail wagging.)
GJ: I have a tail.
Me: You do?! Where?
GJ (shaking his head "no"): I don't have a tail right now.
Me: Oh, so you'll have one later on?
GJ: Yeah, I'll have a tail later.
Me: Oh, okay, thanks for clearing that up.
GJ: (holding up tiny stuffed bear): This is my Bay-bee.
Me: (sigh)
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Life is Too Short...
Maybe it's the fact that it's the New Year and I've been in 2006 Goal-Setting Mode. (since I'm a Capricorn, this is serious stuff for me, folks!) Or maybe it's the fact that 4 days before the New Year, I had a milestone birthday that begins with '4' and ends in '0'. I've morphed into this new attitude where life is just too short for a lot of things.
Oh and look...I've made a list!
Life is too short for....
Bad Books
I'm stealing Cagey's wonderful "Theory of 100 Pages". If you don't care what happens after the first 100 pages, put the book down and step away. There are too many good books out there waiting for my attention.
Bad Food
Not that I eat at McDonald's anyway, but I'm going to start not eating anything that isn't great. I'm talking 'bout you, Sonic! You and your fucking soggy tator tots!
Stupid People
They're fucking everywhere, aren't they?! Just say no to the Schmoes.
Housework
I'm hiring a housecleaner this year. I just wish I could find one that did laundry - that's my least favorite thing. I'd rather clean a toilet than do the laundry. Yes, I'm a Lazy Ass, what about it?
House Improvement Projects
I'm hiring a painter. I just painted my entryway and realized two things - 1) I don't get as much satisfaction painting as I do doing other things; and 2) It takes way longer than I thought to get a room painted.
Lack of Focus
When I focus on goals, they get done. When I don't, they don't. Duh! It took me 40 years to figure this out? What a dope I am.
People with No Sense of Humor
What happened to these people to make them so serious?! Give them a hearty dose of Leno and make them snap out of it! Please!
OCD Moms
Moms that want to control every aspect of their kid's existance. No TV, no candy, no junk food, no processed food....NO FUN! I shudder to think what will happen to these kids when the apron strings loosen and they are out on their own. Lindsey Lohan, anyone?
Not Showing the Love
Kiss your husband and your kidlings every night. Every night, people. I don't care if you are furious at them. Shit happens and life is short.
Oh and look...I've made a list!
Life is too short for....
Bad Books
I'm stealing Cagey's wonderful "Theory of 100 Pages". If you don't care what happens after the first 100 pages, put the book down and step away. There are too many good books out there waiting for my attention.
Bad Food
Not that I eat at McDonald's anyway, but I'm going to start not eating anything that isn't great. I'm talking 'bout you, Sonic! You and your fucking soggy tator tots!
Stupid People
They're fucking everywhere, aren't they?! Just say no to the Schmoes.
Housework
I'm hiring a housecleaner this year. I just wish I could find one that did laundry - that's my least favorite thing. I'd rather clean a toilet than do the laundry. Yes, I'm a Lazy Ass, what about it?
House Improvement Projects
I'm hiring a painter. I just painted my entryway and realized two things - 1) I don't get as much satisfaction painting as I do doing other things; and 2) It takes way longer than I thought to get a room painted.
Lack of Focus
When I focus on goals, they get done. When I don't, they don't. Duh! It took me 40 years to figure this out? What a dope I am.
People with No Sense of Humor
What happened to these people to make them so serious?! Give them a hearty dose of Leno and make them snap out of it! Please!
OCD Moms
Moms that want to control every aspect of their kid's existance. No TV, no candy, no junk food, no processed food....NO FUN! I shudder to think what will happen to these kids when the apron strings loosen and they are out on their own. Lindsey Lohan, anyone?
Not Showing the Love
Kiss your husband and your kidlings every night. Every night, people. I don't care if you are furious at them. Shit happens and life is short.
Monday, January 23, 2006
More Dreamin'...
Since this topic has generated more comments than I've had in a long time, (plus it's fun) I'm going to roll with the dream theme some more.
There's a funny thing I like to do when I'm at a party or get-together that involved both men and women. First, get the topic to turn to dreams. Then ask:
Are you ever NOT yourself in a dream?
Then sit back and watch all the women nod "yes" while most the men look confused. I've done this many times, with the same result. I can't explain it! Women are often not themselves in dreams...men rarely are. The exceptions to this that I've found are very right-brained men (graphic designers, artists, etc.).
Of course, I'm stereotyping horribly with this "finding", so forgive me if you are a male science teacher that often dreams he is a dog. If so...My bad.
I am actually rarely myself in my dreams. I am often animals, clouds, birds, and even men. I'm often just omnipotent and watching as the story occurs. I've always thought this was because I had low self-confidence, and that I could just not picture myself doing some things as myself. As I've gotten older (and gained some chutzpa!) I actually am myself more in my dreams. It's still only 1 out of about 12 dreams.
The best dream I've ever had was one in which I was a large, person-sized bird. And I was flying. It was extremely real and it felt so good. I could feel my wing-muscles pump as I flew, then glided through the sky. I looked down at the ground beneath me and was not scared a bit of the height. Because I was a bird, of course. Birds aren't scared of heights. It was an amazing feeling. I imagine the only thing that might come close would be hang-gliding, which I hope to do someday, to compare of course.
Are you ever NOT yourself in a dream? Who are you? What do you make of all this? Am I full of shit, or do I have some book material here?
There's a funny thing I like to do when I'm at a party or get-together that involved both men and women. First, get the topic to turn to dreams. Then ask:
Are you ever NOT yourself in a dream?
Then sit back and watch all the women nod "yes" while most the men look confused. I've done this many times, with the same result. I can't explain it! Women are often not themselves in dreams...men rarely are. The exceptions to this that I've found are very right-brained men (graphic designers, artists, etc.).
Of course, I'm stereotyping horribly with this "finding", so forgive me if you are a male science teacher that often dreams he is a dog. If so...My bad.
I am actually rarely myself in my dreams. I am often animals, clouds, birds, and even men. I'm often just omnipotent and watching as the story occurs. I've always thought this was because I had low self-confidence, and that I could just not picture myself doing some things as myself. As I've gotten older (and gained some chutzpa!) I actually am myself more in my dreams. It's still only 1 out of about 12 dreams.
The best dream I've ever had was one in which I was a large, person-sized bird. And I was flying. It was extremely real and it felt so good. I could feel my wing-muscles pump as I flew, then glided through the sky. I looked down at the ground beneath me and was not scared a bit of the height. Because I was a bird, of course. Birds aren't scared of heights. It was an amazing feeling. I imagine the only thing that might come close would be hang-gliding, which I hope to do someday, to compare of course.
Are you ever NOT yourself in a dream? Who are you? What do you make of all this? Am I full of shit, or do I have some book material here?
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Goofy Dreams
Okay, enough class participation. Now I'm depressed that I'm stuck in the boring midwest, with sleet and snow looming.
So here's a random goofy thought - the absolute worst dream I've ever had. It was three years ago and I can still remember the entire dream vividly. It shook me up for about a week.
So here it is...
I'm sleeping. Some noise wakes me up. I get up and walk over to our bedroom windows to look out. We have three bedroom windows and all the shades are open, so I can get a good view. It's somewhat light outside and a weird grey color. Off in the distance, I see a large mushroom cloud gradually rising towards the sky. Then I see that there is a flurry of destructive activity on the ground, starting from the mushroom cloud and headed towards our house. Headed very fast towards our house. I stand there in awe, thinking, "So this is the end" and "I wonder who the hell started THIS". I want to turn around and tell my husband (who is now standing behind me) goodbye, as well as take one last look at my dogs, but I cannot tear my eyes away from the ballooning cloud and the destruction racing towards me. I feel fear in my heart.
Then I wake up.
So here's a random goofy thought - the absolute worst dream I've ever had. It was three years ago and I can still remember the entire dream vividly. It shook me up for about a week.
So here it is...
I'm sleeping. Some noise wakes me up. I get up and walk over to our bedroom windows to look out. We have three bedroom windows and all the shades are open, so I can get a good view. It's somewhat light outside and a weird grey color. Off in the distance, I see a large mushroom cloud gradually rising towards the sky. Then I see that there is a flurry of destructive activity on the ground, starting from the mushroom cloud and headed towards our house. Headed very fast towards our house. I stand there in awe, thinking, "So this is the end" and "I wonder who the hell started THIS". I want to turn around and tell my husband (who is now standing behind me) goodbye, as well as take one last look at my dogs, but I cannot tear my eyes away from the ballooning cloud and the destruction racing towards me. I feel fear in my heart.
Then I wake up.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
More Class Participation
I had so much fun with yesterday's post, I'm going to do blogger laziness class participation again.
Here's today's question (not so cerebral, more emotional this time):
If you could go anywhere in the world for a 7-day vacation (all-expenses-paid and trustworthy babysitter included) where would you go? What would you do? Who would you bring?
My answer:
I don't have one yet. I'm currently trying to plan my adventure trip for 2006 and I'm still deciding. Of course, money is an object right now, so that limits me within North America.
I have always wanted to go to Alaska, so that might win this year. There's also the Grand Canyon, which, believe it or not, I've never seen. And British Columbia is supposed to be beautiful.
And if you're curious, if money were no object, hands-down I would go to New Zealand. No contest there.
So think about it and weigh in. Then ask yourself: What's keeping me from going?
Dinner note: Today's supper was Honey-Pineapple Pork Chops with Cranberry Walnut Cous Cous. The pork chops were yummy, but just not big enough. The cous cous was good in spirit, but too dry after being frozen, then reheated.
I am getting so many great ideas for recipes from my Social Supper experiment.
Here's today's question (not so cerebral, more emotional this time):
If you could go anywhere in the world for a 7-day vacation (all-expenses-paid and trustworthy babysitter included) where would you go? What would you do? Who would you bring?
My answer:
I don't have one yet. I'm currently trying to plan my adventure trip for 2006 and I'm still deciding. Of course, money is an object right now, so that limits me within North America.
I have always wanted to go to Alaska, so that might win this year. There's also the Grand Canyon, which, believe it or not, I've never seen. And British Columbia is supposed to be beautiful.
And if you're curious, if money were no object, hands-down I would go to New Zealand. No contest there.
So think about it and weigh in. Then ask yourself: What's keeping me from going?
Dinner note: Today's supper was Honey-Pineapple Pork Chops with Cranberry Walnut Cous Cous. The pork chops were yummy, but just not big enough. The cous cous was good in spirit, but too dry after being frozen, then reheated.
I am getting so many great ideas for recipes from my Social Supper experiment.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
It's Class Participation Time!
While I finish up the last of my first Social Suppers (Cheese Ravoili with Artichoke Tomato Sauce - so far so good!), it's time to hear from the peanut gallery my devoted readers.
Here's your question (reply via comment) :
If you could learn the answer to one secret (i.e. What killed the dinosaurs; Who killed JFK; Are Britney Spears' boobs real, etc.) what would it be?
To start you off, here's my answer:
What the fuck is Stonehenge? What is its purpose? Is it a temple? A sports stadium? Maybe just a pretty stone sculpture? A domino set for gigantic aliens? And while we're at it, how the hell was it built? And who did the building? (Okay, okay, so that's like twelve questions. So shoot me.)
I just saw a documentary tonight on a dude that built his own re-creation of Stonehenge, based on his interpretation of where the stones originally were. It's very pretty, all symmetrical and shit, but it didn't shed an eon of light on its purpose. I've heard speculation that it has something to do with the equinox. Why did early man care about that? Why go to so much trouble?
...now it's your turn!
Here's your question (reply via comment) :
If you could learn the answer to one secret (i.e. What killed the dinosaurs; Who killed JFK; Are Britney Spears' boobs real, etc.) what would it be?
To start you off, here's my answer:
What the fuck is Stonehenge? What is its purpose? Is it a temple? A sports stadium? Maybe just a pretty stone sculpture? A domino set for gigantic aliens? And while we're at it, how the hell was it built? And who did the building? (Okay, okay, so that's like twelve questions. So shoot me.)
I just saw a documentary tonight on a dude that built his own re-creation of Stonehenge, based on his interpretation of where the stones originally were. It's very pretty, all symmetrical and shit, but it didn't shed an eon of light on its purpose. I've heard speculation that it has something to do with the equinox. Why did early man care about that? Why go to so much trouble?
...now it's your turn!
Friday, January 13, 2006
Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
Quite literally, in fact...
My last post was about these "supper clubs". In a meeting THE NEXT DAY, a co-worker gave me a flyer about one of these places. It wasn't one of the ones that I had mentioned before, it was a locally-owned place, and their prices were slightly cheaper than the other two, and they offered the option of assembling the dinners for you.
Now we are talkin'! I signed up. I got 8 dinners and got them split into two (since they feed 6 people as one). So it's really like 16 dinners.
Here's what I got:
Now...I need to get someone to come do the dishes afterwards!
My last post was about these "supper clubs". In a meeting THE NEXT DAY, a co-worker gave me a flyer about one of these places. It wasn't one of the ones that I had mentioned before, it was a locally-owned place, and their prices were slightly cheaper than the other two, and they offered the option of assembling the dinners for you.
Now we are talkin'! I signed up. I got 8 dinners and got them split into two (since they feed 6 people as one). So it's really like 16 dinners.
Here's what I got:
- Beef & Black Bean Burritos
- Cheese Ravioli w/ Tomato and Artichoke Sauce
- Chicken Mirabella
- Cranberry Walnut Cous Cous
- Grilled Raspberry Chicken w/ Coconut Rice
- Honey Pineapple Pork Chops
- Salmon Fillets with Mustard-Chive Butter
- You're Gonna Love These Big Dawg Ribs
Now...I need to get someone to come do the dishes afterwards!
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Stress..It's What's for Dinner
Dinner is one of my favorite, and also unfavorite things. When there is time to spare, it is a wonderful thing. Pour a glass of wine, start a few side items, assign Loving Husband to the grill to lovingly rub and grill some nice thick steaks. Then eventually everything is done and you sit down to a yummy, relaxing meal.
This almost never happens on a weekday.
Weekdays are more like this:
Me (looking in the fridge): What's for dinner?
Loving Husband: I dunno. How about peanut butter?
NOTE: I hate peanut butter. He knows this.
Junior: Peanut butter!!
Me: (looking in pantry): No way. What else do we have?
Junior: Cookies!!
Me: No, we don't eat cookies for dinner, silly!
Junior: (grins)
LH: How about tuna?
NOTE: I hate tuna. I know, I'm a picky little shit. Get over it.
Me: Try again. How about Sonic?
LH: Uh, okay.
Junior: Tator tots!! Yeah!
And we pile in the car and go to Sonic.
So I was more than a tiny bit interested when I started seeing these 'gourmet dinner' places that claim to provide you with 6 - 12 meals that feed 6 people each. Doing some quick math, I figured that since there are only three of us (me, Loving Husband and Junior), this could actually last us 12 - 24 meals...almost a whole month!
I checked out some of the websites. They had cheesy names like Dream Dinners and Super Suppers. Their dinners included items like Sweet Cider BBQ Chicken, Mango-Glazed Pork Chops and Sirloin Steak with Garlic & Herb Butter. Yum! I was getting excited about this. And only about $100 for 6 meals. That's like $3 a meal per person. Economical, too.
Then I figured out the 'catch'. You gotta cook the meals yourself! What?! They provide the kitchen, the ingredients, etc., but you have to find the time to go to their store, read the recipes, make the stuff, then carry it all home and plop it into your freezer. The very thought made me feel tired.
If one of these places would offer to make the food for me, deliver it to my home and put it in my freezer for me, now that would be something!
Any entrepreneurs out there looking for a good idea? Hello? Hello?
This almost never happens on a weekday.
Weekdays are more like this:
Me (looking in the fridge): What's for dinner?
Loving Husband: I dunno. How about peanut butter?
NOTE: I hate peanut butter. He knows this.
Junior: Peanut butter!!
Me: (looking in pantry): No way. What else do we have?
Junior: Cookies!!
Me: No, we don't eat cookies for dinner, silly!
Junior: (grins)
LH: How about tuna?
NOTE: I hate tuna. I know, I'm a picky little shit. Get over it.
Me: Try again. How about Sonic?
LH: Uh, okay.
Junior: Tator tots!! Yeah!
And we pile in the car and go to Sonic.
So I was more than a tiny bit interested when I started seeing these 'gourmet dinner' places that claim to provide you with 6 - 12 meals that feed 6 people each. Doing some quick math, I figured that since there are only three of us (me, Loving Husband and Junior), this could actually last us 12 - 24 meals...almost a whole month!
I checked out some of the websites. They had cheesy names like Dream Dinners and Super Suppers. Their dinners included items like Sweet Cider BBQ Chicken, Mango-Glazed Pork Chops and Sirloin Steak with Garlic & Herb Butter. Yum! I was getting excited about this. And only about $100 for 6 meals. That's like $3 a meal per person. Economical, too.
Then I figured out the 'catch'. You gotta cook the meals yourself! What?! They provide the kitchen, the ingredients, etc., but you have to find the time to go to their store, read the recipes, make the stuff, then carry it all home and plop it into your freezer. The very thought made me feel tired.
If one of these places would offer to make the food for me, deliver it to my home and put it in my freezer for me, now that would be something!
Any entrepreneurs out there looking for a good idea? Hello? Hello?
Monday, January 09, 2006
Goofy...Now with Less Filter!
It's performance review time in Goofyville. Big fun! This time 'round, I got real brave and asked my on-site bosses for some feedback. This, as opposed to my off-site bosses, who actually do the review and bestow the raises on me. Don't ask. It's a strange deal.
Anyway... one of the on-site dudes said something that hit home. You know when someone tells you something about yourself and you do a big mental head slap, like DOH! I can't believe I hadn't realized that, yet it's so obvious. Well I had one of those moments.
What did he say? He said that I filter myself too much.
Since I had to ask him what he meant, let me explain....
I'm a pretty tactful person. Some folks (including readers of this blog) would call me "protected" or even "introverted". You'd never guess it by meeting me at first, since I'm a sociable kinda gal, but I have this knack of not really sharing anything very personal with folks until I know them really, really well.
So back to the "filter"...
He said that it was great that I had tact, yada, yada, good with the clients, blah, blah, blah... but with the current situation at our place of employment, there are some shakeups going on, and "being squeaky" (his words, not mine) would help me more than being tactful.
So his advice? Take off some of the filters! In other words, speak my mind! be squeaky! if my shorts are in a bunch, scream about it!
So look out! Who knows what will come outta my mouth now! (you've been warned!)
Anyway... one of the on-site dudes said something that hit home. You know when someone tells you something about yourself and you do a big mental head slap, like DOH! I can't believe I hadn't realized that, yet it's so obvious. Well I had one of those moments.
What did he say? He said that I filter myself too much.
Since I had to ask him what he meant, let me explain....
I'm a pretty tactful person. Some folks (including readers of this blog) would call me "protected" or even "introverted". You'd never guess it by meeting me at first, since I'm a sociable kinda gal, but I have this knack of not really sharing anything very personal with folks until I know them really, really well.
So back to the "filter"...
He said that it was great that I had tact, yada, yada, good with the clients, blah, blah, blah... but with the current situation at our place of employment, there are some shakeups going on, and "being squeaky" (his words, not mine) would help me more than being tactful.
So his advice? Take off some of the filters! In other words, speak my mind! be squeaky! if my shorts are in a bunch, scream about it!
So look out! Who knows what will come outta my mouth now! (you've been warned!)
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Einstein...Baby Einstein
We all know it and love it. It's like crack for babies and toddlers. They just can't get enough of that Einstein stuff. And there seems to be a Baby [Fill in the Blank] for every possible topic: Baby Shakespeare (poetry), Baby Noah (animals), Baby Picasso (art), ad nausem.
I started thinking of Einstein titles that you would never see. Here are some:
Baby Darwin
I started thinking of Einstein titles that you would never see. Here are some:
Baby Darwin
- Exposes your baby to the wonder of evolution through Darwin's theories
(not available in Kansas)
- Long-hair main character introduces the birds and bees with color and sound
- Visually stimulating real-world objects
Baby Bush
- Grammar can be fun!
- Exposes your baby to sounds of foreign languages
Baby P. Diddy
- Baby's first introduction to rap!
- Features many of P. Diddy's favorite compositions, like Shiny Suit Man and If You Want This Money*
Baby Paris
- Baby learns the value of money and power...and good shoes
...Are there any titles I've forgotten?
*These are real P. Diddy song titles...honest!
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