Jan 31, 2008
your quote for the day.
(side note - huh? February? wasn't it just Christmas? Thanksgiving?? and now i gotta think of Valentine's? sheesh.)
today's quote comes from a coworker, passing by myself and a supervisor.
supervisor: hey, Bobby - how are you today?
Bobby: i get paid the same either way.
oh yeah. mamma likes that one.
in other news....
no news for Brendan...he's been calling but hasn't heard yet. he does have an interview scheduled for next Tuesday....so get out your Official Goat Sacrificing Kits out.
i had to work today. bleah. and no, i don't want to talk about it, because apparently i 'have an attitude' today.
well, DUH. i have a stinking attitude EVERY.DANG.DAY. get used to it.
Disneyland tomorrow. and yes, Allison, you can stay during Spring Break. although hanging out with me might get you into more trouble than going to Florida.
happy belated 50th, Kenny!
Jan 30, 2008
all quiet on the Western Front.
no inebriated neighbors on my stoop today.
no yelling, no pounding on doors.
no calling the police.
no good blog material.
what i love (insert sarcastic babbling here) is...
* my supervisor telling me to do XYZ instead of ABC (which is what i usually do), then bitching me out because i did XYZ.
i guess it's a case of 'do what you do, not do what i say.'
*we have new contractors in my workgroup - four to be precise. one of them, a chick around my age, seems nice. until....
yesterday morning when she came in to her desk, complaining about our company, and how lame we are sometimes.
um, hello? you've been here four weeks and you're yapping how lame we are? you're dumb.
observant, but dumb.
*Monday was my supervisor's birthday, so as is our tradition, we brought in food. (my new favorite thing to bring is the deluxe veggie tray {dang, it should be for 19.99} and the sliced apple tray...it's Red Delicious and Granny Smith sliced apples with a container of caramel for dipping. the caramel is not WW sanctioned, but i had one, anyway).
and if you remember, one of our other supervisors, the one who likes to point out how much processed sugar is in everything, came by and says to me 'um, just so you know, that microwave caramel's first ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.'
killjoy.
today is my Friday. why? because Monday when i came home, i asked Brendan, 'hey! you're temporarily unemployed!! whatareya going to do now?!'
my answer was a puzzled look, and the beginning of a dissertation on what he had scheduled for the next day..and, missing the point of my joke, i naturally interrupted him.
'you're going to Disneyland!'
yes, Gentle Reader, we're going to Disneyland tomorrow.
we used to go on vacations every year, until i had my back surgery and then for whatever reason, we haven't done one since.
i got a small, unexpected bit of cash, and decided to buy 2fer tickets. silly? yes. frivolous? definitely. (BTW - a 2fer is a Disneyland promotion they usually run right after the New Year, when attendance drops off. it's for So. Cal. residents and for the price of a one day/one park ticket, you can visit Disneyland one day and California Adventure on the other.)
needed? oh youbetcha. i'm so excited i can't stand it.
i'm going to Disneyland!
Jan 28, 2008
damn 65 year old kids.
she's sitting on the steps leading up to our place.
i ask her how she's doing and she says something i don't understand, so i lean in to her.
she is beyond bombed.
please, i pray to myself, do not light up a cigarette.
and guess what - i still can't understand what she's saying.
she's waiting on our downstairs neighbor to come home.
she does not have a key.
it's cold. but hey, i'll bet she's warm (wink, nudge).
later, Brendan goes down to his truck, and she's still sitting there. still waiting. so, he decides to walk her over to the assistant manager's place to get the spare key.
meanwhile, we get to her her talk to herself and cry off and on. i don't want her up here (very unChristian of me, i realize). so she continues to sit.
then, i hear her pounding on the downstairs neighbor's door.
and yelling.
and crying.
and still sounds drunk.
so yes, i called the police.
it's quiet now. but, like i told the dispatcher, one's for sure drunk, the neighbor might bloody well be drunk, and someone's gonna get hurt.
man. what a great example these elders are.
in other news...
my bad. Brendan doesn't find out about the job until Wednesday. and yes, i will let you know. i appreciate all your good wishes.
as does he.
hey now.
i just don't know if i could spent oodles of time with him. he's so.....deep sometimes, i don't think he'd be even slightly interested in talking to me. not that i'm so egotistical to think that anyone else on my short list is chomping at the bit to hang with me.
i'm sure Alton is dying to talk cooking and scrapbooking and photography with me.
those of you that scrap, you know the importance of good photos. they don't have to be Ansel Adams good, but good enough to look good.
they probably shouldn't be copies of copies. that would be bad.
yep. it kills me to put some of those in there. one of them had that texture pattern on it. remember that from the 70s? well, make a copy of that, then make another copy of the copy and you've got something completely gross.
it goes against everything we go with as scrapbookers. and, with my ego in play, there's also the fact that i know her mom is pretty dang critical. (almost as critical as her daughter)
so back to yesterday...i decided to do something for me. for the first time this year.
i made two birthday cards and three layouts. and thanks to Maureen for allowing me to publish two of the three (sorry honey, i forgot to take a picture of the other layout. i'll do that tonight and send it to you).
these layouts were made with animal testing...Elvis kept jumping up on the table. at one point, he got a rub-on stuck to his paw and flicked it off before i could grab it.
i still don't know where it landed.

and the journaling:

holy freaking Batzoids. i love this photo.


sorry. not the best shot ever.
Jan 27, 2008
try not to read anything into it.
we had a good list going. Jimmy Stewart. George Clooney. Husband even said Matthew McConaughey. and as we talked about it, i realized something.
my list was all guys.
Alton Brown, Tom Hanks, Garth Brooks.
hmmmm.
so. what does that mean?
well, growing up, i always hung out with the adults. my best friends were generally guys. (and yes, that did get me in a lot of trouble in high school with some chicks)
and yes, i still want to meet them.
it is well with my soul.
add the rain to it, and well...i might as well be on drugs.
the good kind, not the icky ones that make everyone looks like zombies have had their way with 'em.
it's such a wonderful time of day. and add some rain to that equation and well...i'm happiern a pig in slop.
eww.
let's just say it's cool.
oh - and let's add my new Sunday morning obsession. an Oldies station here plays 'American Top 40' reruns from the 70s early Sunday. give me the occasional Donny, DeFrancos or even Shaft (shut yor mouth!), well...how could it get better?
we've had a lot of rain in the last few weeks. which, although is totally needed, also blows, because we've also had fires. and whether or not you're smarter than a 5th grader, it doesn't take much to know that without grass or trees to hold the dirt, rain turns dirt to mud.
and mud, like all other inhabitents on this earth, must obey the laws of gravity.
so if the fires don't getcha, the mud might bloody well will.
add to that the fun of a freaking tornado watch in Long Beach last week, and well...it's no wonder the rest of the nation looks at us Southern Californians as a crazy family member.
we complain because there's smog. we complain when the rain comes. we complain when we get no rain. we wait for the Big One as patiently as a grandmother rocking a child.
but dude. when the rain does come, we lose our freaking minds.
it's kinda funny to watch.
yesterday, though...Husband and i were out when we cast our eyes north. we do have mountains here, and since it rained here, most of the smog has been blown away. so we have a perfect view of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains.
with snow on top.
dang it. it was beautiful. and a total novelty for us. being urbanites AND Southern Californians, we don't see much snow. and again, we lose our freaking minds.
last April, we were up in Reno. it snowed. not a light dusting but a couple of feets worth (and please do not email or comment on my poor English. it's early and i'm not a morning person, with or without caffeine and so the laws of proper English usage do not apply. pfffffttttttt.).
my sister in law was trying have me committed. i was running outside with the camera trying to take a picture of it snowing. something she's seen during the many years she's lived up there.
meantime, there's this geek trying to get a photo of it.
and no, i didn't get a good picture of it.
so back to yesterday. we were both admiring the mountains, wondering if Kristie was up to her butt in snow up in Hesperia when i said:
"dang it. i didn't bring my camera. i could get a good shot with my telephoto lens."
"want me to go home so you can get it?"
"naaaah. what would i do with it? if i posted it on the blog, half of the nation would be saying 'big whoop. happens here all the time.' "
Jan 25, 2008
and so it goes.
thanks so much for your well wishes, prayers, candles and offerings to Buddah. he was there for over an hour, got a tour of the facility and all the other stuff you do when you court a fellah.
this place is just starting up their direct mail processes, so it would be a great challenge for him to be at the ground level of something like this.
they said they'd contact him early next week.
it's gonna be a long, wet weekend.
get your mind outta the gutter. it's supposed to rain all this weekend. and what's really insane, is that Southern California has gotten more rain lately than Seattle.
duuuude.
that's just wrong.
Jan 24, 2008
whatever it takes.
- say a prayer
- light a candle
- offer oranges to a deity
- kill a goat
on second thought, don't kill a goat.
anyway, if you could, do one for the Husband today...he has an interview for a job @ 10am today.
(and for me, that i don't kill anyone at work.)
thanks.
yep. we actually GOT weather here.
actual weather. in Southern California.
yesterday we got a buttload of rain. at times, frogchoker rain. big fat drops that totally freak Southern California drivers out.
freaks.us.out.
we have no idea how to drive in rain. i think on the average we get 340 sunny days (stop sticking pins in your ValerieVooDooDoll). so when it rains, well....
people go nuts. they either drive like idiots or...like idiots.
personally, i like the rain. i like cloudy days. maybe it's the latent Oregon genes in me. maybe it's the dark, Kurt Cobain side of me.
maybe i'm just weird.
bingo!
i like the rain. i'd rather be at home, staring out the window, watching us get weather.
weirdo.
Jan 19, 2008
more stuff going on...
- have i mentioned how much i'm loving this show? it's silly. i like silly.
- we rejoined Weight Watchers two weeks ago. weighed in last week - i lost 1.5 lbs. HE lost 8.2 lbs. nope. not a typo. being a girl sometimes really sucks.
- i'm finding, the major weight loss on his part notwithstanding, that i dig finding new recipes. here's one we had last week that rocked:
Pork Chops w/ Caramelized Onions (points value - 5 for 1 chop and about 1/2 cup onion mixture, in case you are on WW, too)
4 - 4oz boneless center cut pork loin chops
1/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp olive oil
1 large onion halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbs brown sugar
place pork chops between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap and pound slightly to an even thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Sprinkle chops with salt & pepper, add to pan and cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and wrap in foil to keep warm.
Add onions to pan, cover and cook over medium high heat 6 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar, cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with brown sugar, cook for a minute, still stirring constantly. Spoon over chops and serve. yum-o!
other than that...oh and a weigh in tomorrow...which will be interesting since i ate quite the amount of spinach dip at Maureen's. (but dang it was goooooood) and the Husband joining the ranks of the unemployed yesterday (and kids, i was FAR more upset than he was), well...it's been an interesting year.
to say the least. can't wait to see what's next.