Sep 29, 2007

oh irony - you heartless wench.

the Husband informed me this a.m. that he was going to study group for one of his classes today.

he wouldn't be home till later today.

i've got the whole house to myself, and a list of things i want/need to do: clean.scrap.create.cook.

what do i want to do right now? sleep.

a list of things to do and all i want to do is inspect the inside of my eyelids for cracks.

hmmmmm...think this is still catch-up from my sleepless Wednesday night?
naah. just another visit from the irony fairy.

in other news...
from our supervisors meeting on Thursday, filed under the 'i am SO pretensions' department.
one of the supervisors, who is an expert on all things healthy (she likes to give me crap about drinking diet Coke, losing weight, being healthy, taking assorted supplements, etc. ), says, for no apparent reason, "Bill went to the 99cents Store yesterday and got ketchup. i threw it out."

i looked at the big boss. she looked at me, then said "what, he can't have ketchup with his fries?"

Healthy Girl looked amazed we would even ask.

"noooo. commercial ketchup is made with high fructose corn syrup. Trader Joe's has one that's just tomatoes, vinegar..."

sorry. i stopped listening at that point.

i have no problem with healthy. but dammit, if my husband wants Heinz ketchup (which he doesn't - he doesn't like ketchup), i will buy him Heinz ketchup. high fructose corn syrup and all.

after all - there are limits. even in ketchup.

still here. still breathing. still crabby. still random.

ah, Gentle Reader, what a week.

things are weird around here - at work, at home at everywhere.

then i realized there was a full moon this week.

coincidence? i think not.

the Haunt has started...and last night the wind blew just right so i could hear their screaming.
it's weird to write that. probably just as weird to read.
"um, yeah - i heard the screaming, but just figured it was, y'know, none of my business."
one of the cool things about living so close to Knotts, is, early in the morning, when everything is so quiet, we can hear their train as they warm it up.

nothing has more memory stirring power than the song of a train whistle. it can signal welcome. goodbye. and the beginning of a million country songs.

the train reminds me of dating. weird? come on - you should now my tangents by now.

when the Husband and i started dating, he lived in La Mesa, in San Diego county, near San Diego State University. nice - especially when you consider that is where he graduated.
eventually he moved to the northern part of the country in a urban/rural town. it was close to Oceanside, the closest town to the Marine base Pendleton, which was also home to a huge train station.

then i found the commuter train went from the OC to Oceanside. after that, every Friday while a ton of businessmen...and women...were on their way home, checking their briefcases and laptops, finishing up work, i had my dufflebag, backpack and 'In Style' magazine, going to see my boyfriend.

ah, precious memories.

one of the best things i remember about those trips (besides the excitement of seeing my sweetie again) was the landscapes. the route eventually went out near the ocean - so i had coastal views before it turned slightly inland. one trip though, the train slowed down on a section of track where we usually would speed up.

there was a herd of sheep, meandering across the track.
sheesh. like they owned the place.

it was an amazing sight...especially for the uber urban chicky here.

and one of these days, i'm gonna make him take the train with me back down there. and with any luck, there will be more sheep.

in other news...
quotes. scrappers love 'em. they're usually inspirational, occasionally poignant.
my latest favorite is neither inspirational or poignant. and it comes from a magnet.

after all, isn't that where most of the great philosophies of the nation come from?

this one came from Alcatraz. yes, that Alcatraz. it comes from their Rules & Regulations for the prisoners.
"You are entitled to food, water and medical attention. Anything else is considered a privilege."

Paris? Lindsay? Britney? y'all paying attention?

maybe what i should do is head up to San Francisco, take the tour again and get a few of 'em. i could send them to those chickies.

but they probably wouldn't get it.
and i'm pretty sure Brit or Paris couldn't pronounce privilege.

Sep 25, 2007

i want a boring day.

Gentle Reader, i would give my eyetooth for a boring day at work.

just a day when i was yawning for lack of anything to do.

no drama.
no whining.
no crying.

but enough about me.

every day, it's really something new. it's never usually boring, which is actually OK, as i would rather be busy than not.

but man. today was the topper.

started out with a very grumpy manager, who had had it with a lot of the BS going on - people not turning work in when they should, not working things properly, blah, blah, blah. i don't blame her, because when the ad designers don't do their job right, it makes it difficult for Valerie to do her job right.

and kids, if it comes down to a Happy Val or a Grumpy Val, nine out of 10 will pick the Happy Val.

but really the Grumpy Val is FAR more interesting.

so the bar was set - 9:30 we're gonna have a meeting. everyone be there.

9:15, i'm heading back to my desk after getting a bottle of water from our cafeteria, when my supervisor waves me over and is mouthing something.
(note: i do not have any deaf relatives. i am not deaf myself. i cannot read lips. do not try to mouth words to me because i don't know what the freak you're saying. so if you're trying to warn me that a psycho is standing behind you with a bloody knife in his hand, dude, you're screwed. and probably so am i, because then the psycho will dispatch me after he's done with you.)

i have no idea where that came from. too much Dexter.

walking over to my boss, he says, quietly, "dial 911"

hole-lee crap.

my boss is holding on to one of the guys in our group. his eyes are closed but damn he does NOT look good. so, i call our secretary and ask her to phone 911, calmly, then head over to my boss.

hey! i get to use my first aid training!! woo-hoo!!!

our dear dizzy lad says he was reading email then things got fuzzy, then spinning.
he has not eaten breakfast.
he is diabetic.
i am now pissed.

after dealing with a Husband AND a Mother who are both diabetic (not to mention my late mother in law and my late grandma), nothing irritates me more than knowing what you need to do to take care of yourself, and not doing it.
drives.me.nuts.

so, since my diabetic friend is in good hands and the paramedics are on their way, i scoot downstairs to get some OJ (the beverage, not the murderer. ooops. did i say that out loud?) and a straw.

and after he starts drinking it, everyone is amazed to see how much better he looks and how the color is coming back to his face.

holy crap! i could be a faith healer!!

paramedics came, along with the firemen. then, unfortunately the ever so cute firemen departed and left the ever so ordinary paramedics. dagnabbit.
because even in the face of crisis, i appreciate a fine looking man.

Diabetic Boy came back later this afternoon - the hospital pumped him full of unpronounceable stuff and asked him to follow up with his own doctor. and my prescription was for food. eaten. regularly.

but what made me laugh was, later this afternoon, my supervisor and another supervisor couldn't believe i was so calm. apparently they're both married to wiggers.

i've never been a wigger. one of the better ideas we had one April Fool's was, when the current manager (at the time my direct supervisor) called on her way in, i was to answer the phone and freak out because two people called in sick (wink, nudge), someone else had car trouble (nudge, nudge) and the other one had a sick kid (snicker) so it was just me by myself in the department.

i did my best acting. there was silence for a moment, then she said "liar. you don't panic."

i don't fall apart during a crisis. afterwards, i can be found in a closet rocking back and forth plucking petals off daisies like poor psycho Ophelia. and i don't tell you this story to say "ta-da!!! ain't i great?"

but for once this month...just once...i'd like to not have to be the strong one. the rock. the go-to girl. i'd like it to be about me.
i want to be bored. i want to be Ophelia. i'd like to have someone calm me down, for a change.

or i could become a faith healer.
demon, come out!!
and send me $20. PayPal is fine.

Sep 24, 2007

it's an obsession.

i believe i have already established that i am, shall we say, different.

as a kid, i lived for horror flicks.

now, not so much.

but as a kid, one of my worst experienced happened while watching "Carrie" on TV. edited up the wazoo, mostly because this was in the days before cable, before dish, before HBO or even ONTV (remember that?).

and, as always, i watched it with all the lights off.

so at the very end, when Carrie's hand reached up through the grave and grabbed the other girl by the arm, i dang near peed my pants.

and of course, i did the logical thing. i headed in the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife we had, and, slowly walking through the house, turned on every.bloody.light.

we lived in a big house.

after i got them all on, i sat down again to calm myself down...by watching the news. and the minute my bum touched the chair...

the phone rang.

there could still be the poo stain on the chair i was sitting in, as well as a dent in the ceiling, shaped like me.

fast forward some 30 years.

last year, during a Showtime preview, i watched Dexter, a show about a serial killer who now works for the police department as a forensic expert on blood splatter.

and, in his spare time, kills people. bad people.




dude is almost charming.

at Blockbuster yesterday, i picked up the first disc of season one.

then proceeded to watch all four hours yesterday afternoon.

and spent most of today obsessing on when i could watch the rest of it. so, on the way home from work today, i picked up the remaining discs. currently i'm half way through disc number two.

it's really a good show. nothing gory...which is good. a few more eff-bombs than even i like. but i'm am completely obsessed with it right now. i'm even willing to shell out more cash so we can get Showtime and i can watch season two, when it starts in a few weeks.

ah...my inner kid. still in there. still hanging out and occasionally takes over. right now, she's still in love with Donny Osmond. occasionally longs for cherry Slurpees, bubble gum. and Halloween Haunt.

watching obsessions of charming serial killer on TV.

Sep 21, 2007

how old am i again?

'cuz right now i'm back to my 15 year old, Shaun Cassidy/Donny Osmond loving, earth-shoe & Dittos wearing, Tiger Beat reading self.
man. i am not right.

there's a reason why i'm chunkified.

bow before me.

i rule the world.

the average size worn by women in this country is a14.
so it's about freaking time that stores are getting way cuter clothes in larger sizes.
i know i should care about myself more. Melissa is doing soooooo well. Weight Watchers is good, i have had success with it. i'm just not motivated enough.

and, like a lot of people, when i'm not happy, i eat.

but before i eat...i so gotta buy the food to eat.

and that's why i so love Costco. especially the samples.

yumyumyumyumyum.

so imagine my delight when these lovely items found their way to my home.


let's start our little tour from left to right, shall we?

that would be Starbucks Frappiccinos. dark.chocolate.peppermint.frappiccinos. then, lucky me, they had the sample table right next to the displays.

i almost wept with joy. dang that was goooood. so they came home with me.

next - Harris Ranch pot roast. fully cooked. heat and eat. and yes, samples were available. i body checked a nine year old to avoid getting a fatty piece.

because we chunky chicks will NOT let anything get in the way of our food.

lastly - courtesy of LaBrea Bakery, Rosemary & Olive Oil bread.

and it was still warm. holy moley, kids, NOTHING in this world makes me happier than fresh baked goodies. i would sell my own mother for some fresh baked still warm bread and cookies.

sorry mom. but you would do the same thing. it's how i ended up in a Wonder Bakery for about six months, working off a debt.

but that's another post.

and it smells freaking amazing. cannot WAIT to rip some off and dip in a lovely mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. yum.

*sigh* grocery shopping. it's why my bum is the size of Texas.

praise Costco from whom all blessings flow. into my cart.

Sep 20, 2007

confirming my geekiness...

or my total white trashiness. either one is good.

have you seen the movies that are coming out lately?

Elizabeth - The Golden Age.
The Kingdom.
In the Shadow of the Moon.

and i want to see this.

i.am.a.freak.

still not too old to play with dolls, dontchaknow.

you MUST see this.

and this.

so stinking funny.

i want to be this funny!

Sep 17, 2007

30 second job application.

OK. so it takes longer than 30 seconds. and HA! it's something i actually made up meself!

who are you: valerie
where you live: mostly smoggy so. cal.
how old: none of your business...OK, 45.
your favorite -
job: i've had some good ones here at the current work location. i pretty much like what i'm doing right now. and i like it even more when they keep paying me to do it.
food: my crazy auntie kay's fried chicken. the woman was from Missouri and could cooooook. but would never EVER share recipes. wrong, wrong, wrong. my second favorite is Kristie's chicken fingers. they SO rock.
tv: CSI. cannot get enough.
song: torn between 'Without Love' from Hairspray (Jax knows what i mean!) and 'Everything' by Michael Buble.
meal: breakfast. i LOVE breakfast.
memory from childhood: being Queen of the Circus and meeting Mel Torme.
good student? oh no. got enough to be a low B average. i always did well in english and history. PE and math - not so much.
bike or rollerskate - bike. i SO cannot rollerskate. but i can push myself along the wall of a roller rink. i push a mean wall.
would you rather...
travel or stay home: travel. everywhere. the Husband has been to a ton of places. i want to do that, too.
paper or plastic: paper. it's the PC thing to say. but plastic fits better in my trash cans. then i fill the landfills. man. cannot win.
fly or drive: fly. as much as i HATE flying, it's way faster. i'd rather get there and spend my time there. i know everyone says getting there is half the fun, blah, blah, blah. i want to spend my time exploring.
snow or surf: surf is all i've ever known. snow is nice when i'm in for the day, or i'm going home.
what you're good at: writing. well, i may not be good at it, but i love doing it.
what you wanna be good at: photography. man, i so wanna be Tara Whitney's lovechild. just a 16th of her talent would make me happy.

your turn. feel free to help yourself, and have fun. change around. make it your own.

fun things to do on a vacation day.

  • cleaning house. why yes, i DID hit my head this morning. how did you know?
  • grocery shopping (i do love grocery shopping. it's a sickness).
  • getting dishes washed.
  • talking to my sister in law AND my niece in one fun filled, animal impression (courtesy of the four year old) conversation.
  • baking banana bread. i love that it's cool enough to have the oven on.
  • renting Blades of Glory. dumb. sometimes funny, but mostly dumb.
  • thinking of napping. yum, yum, yum.
  • watching CSI season three on DVD.
  • looking again at the airline tickets for Thanksgiving in Reno.
  • having the Niece ask when you're coming to see her, and, after telling her it's in November, hearing her gasp of delight as she says, "Mommy!! she's coming in November!"

and some not-so-fun things to do on a vacation day:

  • sneeze so hard your ear pops.
  • putting freshly washed dishes away.
  • realizing after you've gone grocery shopping that you FORGOT MUSHROOMS. THAT WERE ON YOUR GROCERY LIST. THAT YOU READ WHILE HAVING YOUR TRIFOCALS ON. apparently i need a brain scan.
  • realize that your vacation day is almost over and tomorrow is back to reality. uggh.
  • my ear aches now. dagnabbit.

and one final thought...

as i left today for the grocery store, the plumbers were visiting the complex, replacing a toilet. they had to move their truck so i could get out. and this is what i saw stenciled on the back of their truck -

"Your S**t is our Bread and Butter."

ya gotta admit, it's catchy. you just can't make this crap up.

pun fully intended.

Sep 15, 2007

something's in the air.

it's warm, but not a trip to Sweatingville.

the sun is coming up and going down later.

i'm thinking sweaters, stews and scarves. (ok. so there's really no need for scarves in Mostly Smoggy So. Cal. not when we have a really good shot of being able to still wear flip-flops on Christmas day. stop hating me. it just that scarves built a much better literary picture)

i'm feeling brisker mornings. cooler evenings.

Halloween costumes are out. and have been since August.

Knott's has started advertising the Haunt.

the irrefutable signs that Fall is here.

goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Fall!

Sep 14, 2007

see what stalking can do?

so, after months of stalking, stalking and more stalking, Jax and i finally met.

i had ditched, er...taken a vacation day from work today, and so although my original plan got completely rearranged (laundry, Downtown Disney for benignes, coffee, photo ops and then Hairspray the movie) to laundry, movie. bloody Downtown Disney changed their movies today, and Hairspray wasn't playing.

so off we went to Tustin...a few more miles on the freeway.

and i was almost late, thanks to the unpredictable traffic on the freeway.

but - i got there. and had Icees...one with extra cherry...spillage. pretzles.

and laughs. lotsa laughs. and lots of walking. bwa!

thanks so much, honey. it was a ton of fun and i'm bummed we didn't do it sooner.



you see the strangest things at TJ Maxx...

is there any other kind?

ah - theivery. where would the blog be without thee?

from Susie Q. gracias, mi amiga!


1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car), Skeezix Colt (tell me my rock career isn't already in the crapper.)
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie), Vanilla Oatmeal Raisin (yo-YO - Raisin in da hoooo-ussssse)
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name), V-Oma
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal), Blue Dog
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born), Lynn Long Beach (actually - that could work...)
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first), Omava
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink), The Green Diet Coke
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers), well, i have no idea about my paternal side. but going on the basis of what his son was like, i'll say James Schmuck. bitter? noooo.
9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ), Jean Lawrence.
10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter), Hurt Hesperia
11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower). Christmas Daisy
12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Grape Teeshirtie
13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree), Nothing Eucalyptus (haven't had breakfast yet...)
14. YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”), The Scrapbook Rain Tour - 2007!

next?

Sep 13, 2007

c'mon baby, i'm taking you back to school...

Tuesday was my first night back to school in, oh...at least 10+ years.

and yes, i was a little nervous.

but there was no need, after all, this class is apparently the best kept secret in the entire city of Los Alamitos.
there were only six people in class.

i was the youngest.

yes, i said i was the youngest. babygirl. the only member of the class who hadn't joined AARP.

and &*%$#@*&%$!!!! they were all smarter than me.

when i say smarter, i don't mean that they have Gained the Wisdom that Only Age Can Bestow. i mean that dammit, every flipping one of these grandparents knew more about Photoshop AND InDesign than i did.

teacher? may i go potty then play with the See & Say? because dang it, i'd be better at that than i was in Photoshop.

of course, i must say in my own defense (because i got nothing else), that they were inputting everyone into the server, so we could grab the lessons online to work.

like that matters. the seniors were still light years ahead of me.

but i'm not bitter. noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

so i read the book. i tried downloading photos from the ever-present camera to play with. all to no avail. so at 7:30, i bolted for the door. headed over to my friend's house with my other friends from work for a little get together. at least then i could relax and not feel quite so dumb.

oh wait. they all know Photoshop, too.

the class is very unstructured. which means the teacher wanders around to our little stations seeing what we're doing. honestly, while i crave structure, i still appreciate the freedom to move at my own pace.

the only problem was that my pace was stuck in the mud.

no worries. i will go next week. heaven knows that while i subscribe to the theory that 'age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill,' i just wasn't expecting to be the youth and skill portion of the formula.

and i don't want them pointing their canes at me and laughing.

my happy place.

what is it the mattress merchants are always saying? that we spend a third of our lives in bed.

sleeping, if we're lucky.
at any rate, for those of us who work outside the home, i gotta think we spend that much time at least at our offices.

oy.

so let's see...8 hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year, minus time for vacation and illness, carry the four and divide by the square root of 12, and you get...

ah fergettit. i suck at math anyway.

so i figure, if i'm spending that much time there, i so need to have things that are important to me and things that make me feel better about the crappy days i'm having lately.

so come with me to the home-away-from-home-happy-place.



ah, happy snaps. where would we be without 'em? and that lovely old fashioned photo of a woman with a glass of vino? that would be a greeting card. the caption?? ''if drinks aren't involved, neither am i.''
just one more reason why my mom thinks...oh, never mind.

see that? that rock that looks like candy corn? that's because it's a stone that looks like candy corn. my favorite candy of all time. my dear friend picked that up for me on her last vacation. and yes, that's Secret Squirrel right above it with Magella Gorilla. next to him is Marvin the Martian (are you seeing a trend here?) and next to that is one of my favorite toys. don't remember what they were called, but they all had roller skates. i would take my cousin's discarded Hot Wheel tracks, put 'em together, then roll 'em down the hill. just to see how often i could make 'em crash and burn.


and yes, that is the Oscar Mayer Hot Wheel Weinermobile. the photo is the Husband on our wedding day being smooched by my bridesmaids. next to that, one of my two favorite quotes: 'talk doesn't cook rice.' my other favorite work quote? 'out of confusion comes kaos. out of kaos comes anarchy and fear. then comes lunch.'

amen that.
moving on our little tour....

so...are you a good witch, or a bad witch? honey, if you have to ask the question...and right behind Glinda's hat? that would be Garth Brooks autograph. yep. i met him backstage at the Tonight Show. yep, yep, yep, yep. i'm a big shot...hobnobbing with celebrities.


the last stop on our little tour is this clipboard. one of my favorite pictures of the Husband nabbing a runaway niece at Seal Beach pier. and yes, that IS a spinal column keychain next to it. one of my work friends gave that to me when i came back from back surgery. dang thing still makes me laugh, but generally grosses everyone else out. heck, i even marked the problem disc with a Sharpie. well, i think we all know i'm not right.

well, that concludes the self-guided tour. thanks for coming by and please deposit your headsets in the basket on your way out. oh, and if you're interested, the gift shop is just to the left of the exit...right next to the ATM machine.

convenient, huh?

Sep 12, 2007

damn.

just when i think there's hope for humanity, this comes along.

once again i tried to return my membership card for the human race. once again, they sent it back.

*caution - this is a disturbing story. don't let your kids obviously read it. and once you do, if you do, say a prayer for these people. and this planet. *

Sep 10, 2007

35 more things that you probably already knew.

stolen with permission from my sweet Soooze.


1. Where is your mobile phone? in my purse. but it (always) needs to be plugged in, charging.
2. Relationship? with what? oh. yeah. married. happily so, most days. isn't most marriages that way?
3. Your hair? shortish, brown with plenty of product. ahhhh, product. where would my couffier be without thee?
4. Work? oh yeah. the bills have a way of wanting to be paid.
5. Your sister(s)? there could be some siblings somewhere. but for all intents and purposes, i would be an only child. and stop with the spoiled ca-ca. believe me, i have some cousins that were WAY more spoiled. hey - they got Jordache jeans and i got Toughskins.
6. Your favorite thing? Of all??? rainy days. pedicures. beer. scrapbooking. reading. yeah, i know - it's more than one.
7. Your dream last night? i kinda remember one about a youth pastor and me and camp. weird.
8. Your favorite drink? diet coke. plenty of cold. fresh lime.
9. Your dream car? BMW 325i convertible. that's paid for. including insurance.
10. The room you’re in? der living room, watching Family Guy. listening to Brendan snore.
11. Your shoes? as usual - barefoot.
12. Your fears? death of people i love. Alzheimer's. (it does run in my family)
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? making the interview rounds for my latest best seller, and taking our kids around the world.
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? the Husband.
15. What are you not good at? math. art. keeping my mouth shut when angry.
16. Muffin? our former cafeteria staff used to make an orange muffin with a cream cheese filling. holy.freaking.crap. it was goooooood.
17. Wish list items? a family of my own. beachfront property - with plenty of parking. plenty of money to be a stay-at-home mom...for the kids we don't have. oh well.
18. Where you grew up? Long Beach, CA. sheesh. i've lived two places my whole life.
19. The last thing you did? made the most faboo goulash EVER.
20. What are you wearing? t-shirt and pee-yama bottoms.
21. What are you not wearing? makeup and a bra. what? too much information?
22. Your pet? Elvis the WunderKat.
23. Your computer? laptop. i love laptops.
24. Your life? really good most days.
25. Your mood? a bit frazzled. it takes a lot of work to be this funny. wait...i'm not? crap.
26. Missing? one gallbladder, part of a disk. other than that, still with the original parts.
27. What are you thinking about? i'm trying to not listen to the brownie mix that's calling me to make it and top it with ice cream and hot fudge. YEAH, SHADDUP ALREADY, I HEAR YOU!
28. Your car? Blazer. SO not a Beemer.
29. Your kitchen? smelling like goulash. just told me it wants to smell like brownies.
30. Your summer? hot.
31. Your favorite color? the delicate shade of blue formed on the ice crystals on a lake in the northern part of Switzerland. no? OK. cobalt blue.
32. Last time you laughed? earlier today at work. work makes me laugh. a lot.
33. Last time you cried? Friday. Friday was not a good day - for a LOT of reasons.
34. School? almost all the way. released from juvie hall, er...high school on good behavior. some college. graduated Magna cum Loud-ee from the School of Rock.
35. Love? God. the Husband. the Cat. both our families. my nieces and nephews. scrapbooking. makeup. writing. reading. and, like Susie, pedicures, facials and being a chick.

i tag you. have fun!

Sep 9, 2007

hmmmm...

You are the sort of person that needs a peaceful environment. You seek release from stress and freedom from conflicts and disagreements, of which you seem to have had more than your fair share. But you are taking pains to control the situation by proceeding cautiously and you are right in doing so as you are a very sensitive person.

You are looking for excitement and stimulation and you are ready to try anything - but be careful not to take too many risks.You need a friend - a close friend - and you are willing to become emotionally involved with the right person, but you are very demanding and particular in your choice of partners. You are constantly looking for reassurance and it is perhaps because of this that you tend to be somewhat argumentative, but you try to hold back - careful to avoid open conflict - since this might reduce your prospects of realising your hopes of establishing a warm caring relationship.

You are an emotional, sincere and impressionable individual experiencing frustration and unnecessary stress. You vehemently resist any form of pressure from outside sources, insisting on your independence as an individual. You want to be a decision maker - to make up your own mind without interference. You wish to be able to draw your own conclusions and arrive at your own decisions. You detest uniformity and mediocrity as you want to be regarded as one who gives authoritative opinions. Your favourite expression could well be that 'I may not always be right but I am never wrong'.

You're a perfectionist and even though you may feel that the other person's point of view may be right, you find it extremely difficult to admit that you could be wrong.You would like to be respected and valued for yourself and this can only be achieved from within a close and harmonious relationship.

wait. i thought i was wrong once.
it's a good giggle. if you want to try it, go here.

one more thing.

thank you so much for coming over to the Husband's corner of the 'net. he's digging the response, loving the comments, and the fact that so far it's mostly been girls commenting, well....let's just say StudBoy is feelin' his oats.

so thank you. again.

come Saturday morning...

growing up, my favorite day of the week was Saturday. Saturdays as a kid, for me anyway, involved cartoons, cartoons and more cartoons. oh, and liberal bowls of Lucky Charms, Sugar Corn Pops or Pink Panther Flakes...which were nothing more than Frosted Flakes, frosted pink.

and while i liked Sundays, it did make for a long, long morning with Sunday School and church..that i really was too young to be expected to sit through without wiggling myself into a furor.

lately, though...Sundays are becoming my favorite day.

it's the silence.

i know i've talked about it before here. but this place we live, urban as it is, has a totally different vibe on early Sunday mornings. i'm reminded of it again, today.

it's been a long time since i woke up before my Husband. i totally dig my own time. i love listening to...nothing. just sitting here - me, the cat and the laptop.

occasionally i hear a car drive by. but that's it. the occasional bird chirping. no kids. no neighbors up. no TVs. just the sounds of the urban outdoors and whatever ramblings my brain concocts.

after this, i head into the crap room, er...office slash craft room, attempt to scrap and listen to reruns of American Top 40 on the local oldies radio. kinda cool listening to what what hot, hip and happening back in, oh - say 1975.

i don't know what has happened to me, but there was a time, not that long ago, when i hated being alone. h-a-t-e-d it. in the last few years, i have totally been digging it. loving the solitude. and then, add to it a cloudy, overcast morning, like it is right now, well...i couldn't be more giddy than if i won the lottery.

wait. i would be more giddy if i won the lottery. what am i thinking?

but i digress. which i am really good at.

today involves a Starbucks run and breakfast out. i have taken a hiatus from laundry today, a rare treat. i shall not do a dang thing that won't make me giddy. i therefore, decree this day to be Random Thoughts Day. a day to go on a whim. enjoy the spur of the moment.

be the dandelion pouf on the breeze.
and carpe your day. however it makes you happiest.

Sep 8, 2007

oh dear moggly-oggly.

he's done it.

where would i be without stealing?

new material, that is. shamelessly stolen from my girlie Linda, who i still love, even though she won't take my money for postage.

HA!

Five Bad Habits (and i agree, sweetie...only five? dang. i could keep y'all here all.dang.day.)

1)being sarcastic. now i realize it may not be that bad, but amusing as it can be, it's probably not the best way to be.

2)money. i probably spend more than i should on silly things, but i notice lately i'm a stress spender.

3) scrapbooking collecting. a lot like #2, but i'm really trying to USE more and BUY less. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

4) Wicked Wednesday. my friend at work and i have this habit of being, well, not nice on Wednesdays. it just started and now i'm really trying hard to stop it. because although we laugh our bums off sometimes, it's not part of the Gentler/Kinder me i'm working on.

5) being lazy. i'm trying to not put off things i need to do - for myself. wait. that could be construed as being selfish. maybe i could make that #6.

in other news...

i got my nose pierced yesterday.

wait...what? i already did? you think i've lost my mind?

that would be right. on both counts.

seems that yesterday, after showering, i was blotting my hair, then wiped my face. and yes, i managed to pull the stud out almost all the way.

once a klutz, always a klutz.

spent almost 20 minutes trying to get it back in. because it's in an 'L' shape, i couldn't get it past the bend.

the Husband wouldn't touch it. grosses him out.

so finally, frustrated and yes, crying (not because it hurt, because i was SO FREAKING FRUSTRATED), i pulled it out. and later that day, called the tattoo parlor that fixed my stud last time, and found that yes, the piercer was in and would be till closing.

which is 2am. i ain't a-getting a piercing @ 2am. i'm either sleeping or...sleeping.

so, after work, i took the stinking horrible nasty 91 freeway down to their establishment. not that the freeway is in bad shape, it's just that it's one of the major freeways in Mostly Smoggy So. Cal. that is ALWAYS messed up. either traffic-wise, or accidents or sleeping bags in the lanes.

yes. it really happened.

i got there, picked out the stud i wanted (blue. again)and filled out the release form. again.
told him i'd like to have it in the same hole, but when he looked at it, he got 'the look' on his face. the look that says - well, i could try to reinsert it but it ain't gonna be fun and i think this'll really hurt. a lot.

so i said, go for the other side.

(see - even though it had only been 8 hours, he has told me before that nose piercings close up really quickly. and although i could've kept the stud where it was, it wasn't pretty, hanging half way out of my nose, and i'm not into grossing out people.)

kids. it.didn't.hurt. seriously. i was bracing for it, because it hurt when i first got it pierced. it hurt even more when he replaced my stud. but this...not an owie, or a tear was shed.
and this place is quite specific on their after-care. wash 3 times a day with anti-bacterial soap and water on a Q-tip. follow with Bactine on the Q-tip and make sure to rotate the stud to ensure the Bactine gets in the hole.

man. my original place told me to wash it. these guys are serious. i like that.

so , now i have a matching set. a red owie on the left side. a new blue stone on the right side.

fun.

carpe Saturday, everyone!

Sep 6, 2007

cure for mojo loss found!

yes, that's what i'd be writing if i had discovered one.
which i haven't.

sorry to be such a tease.

but! i do have a cure for the blues...it's this:


and this:















and a little of this:

sorry it's blurry. but it's the soundtrack for Hairspray, and two Michael Buble cds.
i SO love that song 'Everything.' love-love-love it. more than even fresh baked cookies or Birthday Cake Remix from Coldstone Creamery.
and a little happy injection would be a good...no, a great thing.
in other news...
i was visiting bloggerland today, as i try to every day, when April's post for today caught my eye. not only because of what she said, but where she linked to.
i agree. i couldn't have said or written it better. it's exactly how i'm feeling.
and the weekend is right around the corner. rejoice and be happy. i've got a date with Michael.

Sep 4, 2007

if you were me...

and thank your lucky stars that you ain't, but if you were...what would you do here?

like you may know, i play bunco each month. on Tuesdays. once a month.

and...

i found a class to learn Photoshop. for free.

zip. nada. nuttin'.

only problem: it's every Tuesday night.

so i make a commitment to bunco, and i feel bound to it. but i also know that if the worst should ever happen, and my job and i part ways, well, bunco ain't a-gonna be paying my bills.

but hey - if i learn photoshop, then InDesign, those skills could get me a job.

so if it were you...would you blow off bunco?
help a sister out, 'K?

and as quickly as she comes...


she goes.
mojo is a fickle mistress. she comes, then she leaves.
cranky old broad.
there really is the potential for a layout under that Michael's bag.
but the heat notwithstanding, it's just not in me.
maybe it's the layout...maybe it's me.
or maybe...just maybe...that mojo is slutting around at someone else's house.
if you see her, can you please send her back just for a visit? i'd really like to finish this one.

Sep 3, 2007

now THIS is cute.

i like the title.
i like her style.
heck, the fact that she's giving stuff away ain't too bad, neither.
thanks, Melissa, for sharing!

celebrate A/C, c'mon!

holy freaking crap.

it is stinking hotttttttttttttt.

unusually hot for mostly smoggy so. cal.

and i would celebrate the A/C, except that we don't have it.

well, we do, but the main cooling vent bounces off a wall. therefore, it ain't worth it. not to mention the fact that it's at least a 20+ year old unit and well...

most 20 year olds are hot and this one is no exception. except it runs hot.

too hot to laugh at my own weak joke.

so....i have two (count 'em) fans running in the living room, and eventually i'll move the one osculating fan back into the bedroom (both bedrooms cool off really nicely. this living room however... well, we're calling it Satan's Veranda.).

last night, we tripped on over to the P's for a little BBQ action. a quick stop @ Costco for some beef and since we were there, hey! let's check on our glasses!

the Husband had one of his sets there. mine are still being worked on.
after all, any doof off the street can make single vision lenses, but trifocals? that takes skill.

so he now has a super cool new pair of square framed brown glasses. think tortose shell. and he sits next to me, in the middle of a bevy of fans, doing homework for ground school.

ground school?
yep. he's going to try and get his flying license. which would be cool; his dad had one. his brother has one. he wants to take me flying.

hell, as long as the dang thing has A/C, baby, you can hijack me to Cuba for all i care.

back to the BBQ.

my parents live in Long Beach and while their house is super small, they have a HUGE backyard. and usually, a killer breeze, which makes it the place to be.
add to that, my mom bought a 'dog pool,' which really is nothing more than a really small wading pool for really small kids, to dip her heated toesies in, and...not to shabby.

unfortunately, the Husband is now the King of the Grill, so no cooling tooties for him. and by the time he realized my step-pop had moved the BBQ so that the smoke and heat would hit him in the face every.dang.time. he opened the lid, well...

let's just say he was hating life. but he does flame broil a killer steak.

after dinner, he sat with us, feet in pond like some communal pedicure.

in other news...

we were off to BigLots today for some school supplies for the Husband, when...my eye was caught by a wipe off message board and a cork board. instantly, the spirit of Donna Downey possessed me, and i knew i had to have 'em...to alter. it's a sickness, i tells ya.

my sister in law, Maureen, can sew. i can only take crap and try to make nicer crap.
pictures later. if my camera doesn't melt.

just one more day of the heat. tomorrow it's supposed to cool down to 91 (from 101 today). and i know for places like Arizona and Texas, that would be a balmy spring day.

but we're babies here in California. anything over 82 sends us hyperventilating.

and rushing for our bottled designer water. oh, and A/C. if you have it.

peace out.