Deja Vu

I was sitting in these meetings today and had not 1 but 2 total deja vu moments. It kind of freaked me out. My crazy mother once took me to a psychic (before I moved from AZ to CA) and the psychic said that was extraordinarily perceptive. (Matty P would probably totally disagree with that statement). So, you know, with these deja vues (what the hell is the plural of that I wonder?) I may be one of Dionne Warwick's friends after all. :)

Of course that psychic did tell me that moving from AZ to CA would be disasterous and I shouldn't do it. I did it. It wasn't necessarily disasterous, in fact it probably saved me from alcoholism after living with my parents for any length of time.

Baby sister

My baby sister might come and visit again! My mom said that Mandy wants to come and visit. That would be so fun! I will even clean for her this time, unlike the last time she came and I did not clean for her. Yay!

Dammit

I did lose her. I'm down to 5 kids. I haven't heard too much from the other moms so I'm feeling a tiny bit concerned that we're going to be down to even fewer than that.

Irrational

I'm irrationally annoyed with Matthew today. It isn't PMS. I don't know what it is but every comment he has made to a post of mine on The Peevery has annoyed the crap out of me. Go check it out. You'll side with me I'm sure. :)

Girls

Fuck, I might be losing one of my Girl Scouts. One of the ones I actually like as opposed to one of the ones I don't. Dammit. That will make me sad if she goes. Especially because then I'd be down to either 6 or 5 depending... Yuck. :(

Weaveworld

My friend Jeffy (gay pothead bartending hubby) was not incorrect, Weaveworld was an amazing book. And I don't usually like science fantasy books. Ever. I don't usually like Clive Barker either. I doubted Jeffy, but damn he was right. I didn't want the book to end. I loved every minute of it. And now I don't want to read a new book because I'm sure it will disappoint. It's like having the best chocolate dessert ever and then the next day just having a bowl of ice cream. It's good, but now that you've seen the pinnacle, you don't want to go back.

Homebuying: the myth vs the reality

I've been thinking a lot over the weekend about my dream of homeownership. (Dream... nightmare... could be the same thing. :P) Although I'll wait to hear what the lender has to say, I think the reality is that I'm not going to be able to afford to do this right now. Currently I live almost paycheck to paycheck. (Like we get paid on Thursday night and there is $58.00 in my checking account at this moment.) When I look at places that I'm interested in, I notice several things... 1 - My mortgage will be more than I currently pay in rent. 2 - I will also have home owners dues. 3 - And I will now have property tax. One co-op that I like the look of was running 158k (and that's relatively cheap). Using a mortgage calculator I found online the payment would run me $909/mo. On top of that they have HOA dues of about 128 (I assume month) and then property tax running about 100/month. We are now almost $400.00 over what I normally pay in rent. Even with the tax break I would get for the write off of interest, I don't think it's enough. And yes I could move outside of the city, except I don't own a car and as much as I like the bus, if I had to rely on it to get me to work every day I may kill someone. So it seems as though this dream will have to be on hold for a little while at least.

Be envious

Oh my Voltaire!, sometimes I am a good cook. I went on a baking binge tonight and made 2 things, one of which I have tried. The first, brownies. I've made them before. They usually are good, I'm not expecting anything different. The batter was especially yummy. :) The other was to take the muffin mix I usually use and doctor it a little bit. This time I made it into a cake form, like a coffee cake. I used cinnamon apple sauce and then mixed in more cinnamon and walnuts and then baked it in a round cake pan instead of a bunch of muffin tins. I just had a slice of it. Hot damn is it yummy. Now if only I had a hubby to do the dishes for me... or to make enough money so that between us we can afford a dishwasher. :) Or best... a maid. :) (Except I think having a maid goes against my dirty hippie tendencies, but to never have to mop my floor again, I might suppress that tendency.)

In other random news, I was watching Best Week Ever on VH1. They claim that Wal-Mart will start selling sex toys. That's so creepy and weird. They don't let NC17 movies be sold there. They don't sell the rated M for Mature video games. They only carry edited musical CDs, yet somehow if I'm looking for the latest vibrator, I can pick it up there along with my shampoo and deoderant. Of course since I never shop at Wal-Mart, now that I live in a state with the blessed store known as Fred Meyer, this isn't a concern. Especially considering I can just go into any one of at least 4 shops near my house. (Which is in itself slightly weird to me.)

Estoy cansada!

I've been home for about 15 minutes. Long enough to grab a grape soda from the fridge and start icing my foot. I had such a good time volunteering tonight at the Fremont Oktoberfest. I always enjoy it though, pouring beer for the masses. I think if it were my job, I wouldn't like it so much, but it is so fun to play and flirt and just have a good time. I swear, pouring beer for these events is good for my esteem. I' m sure that the boys are just hoping they'll get some extra beer in the little cup, but I already fill it to the top so it isn't like there's anymore for them to have. (Completely random, who knew Daria was on at 1:00 AM on Noggin? I've always loved Daria!) Anyway, I get flirted with and winked at and that's just all sorts of fun, cuz some of them are hot. :) I got to turn someone away because they were too drunk. Seriously if I'm able to tell you are drunk, you are significantly drunk. She had to be held up by her friends, they tried to give me a token and her mug and I just said Oh no. Luckily they didn't create a scene. When we first got there, we had to turn away a guy too. His eyes were barely open and he was kind of swaying. I think I prefer to volunteer during the afternoon. At the Spring Brewfest, during the afternoon shift there were beer connoisseurs. You could tell they were just in it for good beer. Tonight, it was much more about the just drinking to drink. I had a lot of people say that they didn't care which one they got. (I was pouring an IPA and an ale.) It made me want to spit in the beer or pour them a weird combination of the 2.

Oh, I also got my yummy Baja Fresh tacos! Yay for Baja Fresh! I caught the bus home. As I expected, it was full of people from Oktoberfest. The whole bus reeked of alcohol. There were 2 young men on the bus in one of the sideways seats. One was barely able to hold himself up, he was so drunk. So as we're riding along in the bus, the one barely able to hold himself up, hurled. Now I AM one of those who if I hear it or see it, I tend to want to throw up too. The way MP is about sharp implements, I am about vomiting. Luckily I had my headphones on so I couldn't hear the noise and I averted my eyes the second I saw him start. He and his friends got off at the next stop. At that point there were only 4 of us left on the bus. Two stops later we all got off and I switched busses to the one that runs just past my apartment. I feel bad for the bus driver who has to deal with that, though. That's just yucky.

Today

I've spent most of today in my jammies. I didn't shower and get dressed until 4:00. I'm now trying to think of what I can do with my hair that will a) look cute and b) enable me to volunteer this evening and not have it annoying the crap out of me. This is difficult at best. One of the bonuses of today's adventure to Fremont. Baja Fresh. I LOVE Baja Fresh! I don't usually go there for my tacos because, well, it's in Fremont. There're none in my area. So as a treat to me (and I'm all about the treats to me) I'm getting tacos from there for dinner. yay! Which means I have to catch the bus in about 24 minutes so that I have enough time to get dinner and then to go and volunteer.

I'm wearing a fun red v-neck t-shirt that is long sleeved. As I was putting it on I discovered something in the sleeve. A blue ladybug sock. I've been searching for this sock for like 6 months. Who knew this is where it ended up.

Treats for me!

Mmm... As I sit here, the smell of roast beef cooking is wafting in from my kitchen. I LOVE roast beef. I'm also drinking a nice tall bottle of, you guessed it, black cherry soda.

I finally emailed the lender again yesterday since I hadn't heard anything about the loan process. I was emailed back today and he had a few questions. Namely, have I found a property and there was some concern on my debt to income ratio with the loan on top of what I already pay out to the blood suckers, Visa & Amex. I told him that I had no intention of actually using as much money as I was asking for, I just wanted to be sure I had some cushion. I have no desire to screw myself by doing this and not be able to pay my mortgage. Apparently, according to both my renters insurance and to the lender, I have excellent credit, so that's good. I've emailed the guy 3 times, though this afternoon. I just want to be sure he has all the info he needs. Some of the properties I've seen online are co-ops. I had to email him and ask them if the bank can finance co-ops. I also don't know if co-ops are difficult to sell, so that's a minor concern too.

I came home and judging from the poo in the tub, Rig fell in again. Frustrating since I had actually shut the bathroom door this morning before leaving. She apparently managed to get herself out, though since she wasn't in there when I got home. At least when she poos in the tub it is easy to clean up. Sigh.

I didn't talk to WC at all today.

Holy cow! How could I have forgotten the most important thing I was going to talk about?! My class. It was interesting, so far. I liked it. I was right in that it won't be terribly difficult. The other thing I discovered that I didn't know... the cr/f designation when I signed up for the class means credit/fail. So I won't get a grade for it anyway. BUT it still seems interesting. It is a non-math approach to learning about physics. The only thing I feel a minor concern about is that the prof seemed vaguely unsettled by my presence, at least I hope she was unsettled by my presence and not usually like this when she's teaching. She stared at me a lot. When we went around giving our names, she said that she thought she recognized me. She also moved around a lot until she ended up just behind me so that I would've been uncomfortable turning around. Oh I also have no tests and no final. I just have to write papers. Our final essay, only 1,000 words. I could probably do that in my sleep. Yay physics!

In other random news

I like the sound of the Irish Bodhran drum. I was just listening to Loreena McKennitt on my Launch. And she was being accompanied by one. The drum reminds me a lot of the drums played at the AFN convention up in Fairbanks for the Eskimo dancing, except played with a different, for lack of a better word, stick.

Dreams, do come true...

Or I hope they don't actually. I had a dream last night that I was evacuating the city. I was on foot, and I vaguely remember walking with a lot of other people. I think I was trying to help some too. There was a flood coming, but hadn't reached us yet. At one point I was walking on my street but I think I eventually ended up on the freeway in a car but we were all stopped. Now every logical fiber in my body says, well duh, the last thing you watched before going to bed last night was... the news which had a thing about all the people stuck in their cars in Texas trying to evacuate and running out of gas while stuck on the freeways, so obviously this is just your mind working that stuff out. But just for kicks, I checked with the dream dictionary. Usually I use Dreammoods.com, but after a particularly disappointing interpretation from them when I thought the dream was really positive, Matty suggested I try another source. I did but none of them had the word evacuation so back to dreammoods I go.

Evacuation: To dream of an evacuation, suggests that you are isolating yourself and holding back your emotions.
To dream that you are in a town that has been evacuated, indicates that you are feeling rejected by those around you. You are feeling unaccepted.

Flood: To see a raging flood with its muddy debris, signifies that you will have much unsettling occurrences and tribulations in life. Your repressed emotions may be overwhelming you.

In case you care, the dream that I had that I thought was positive was about my wedding. I was dreaming that I was having my hair done and getting ready to be married.

Wedding: To see a wedding in your dream, symbolizes a new beginning or transition in your current life. Dreams involving weddings are generally negative and highlight some anxiety or fear. It often refers to feelings of bitterness, sorrow, or death. Alternatively, wedding dreams reflect your issues about commitment and independence.

Giddy

I've been feeling rather giddy the past day or so. I don't know that I have a reason. There's nothing superfantabulous to report in my world. I've just been feeling rather silly and goofy.

Things to be giddy about:

• Tomorrow is Friday. And I get to wear jeans. I LOVE jeans.
• Saturday I'm volunteering at the Fremont Oktoberfest. I will be pouring beer. Which I LOVE to do! Here's the one dumb thing I've done and didn't think about not doing. I'm working the 7 PM - 11:30 PM shift. With no car. Although I can imagine the busses will probably be full of Oktoberfest revelers so not quite as frightening as it could be on just a random night. I volunteer for the spring brewfest too. That one I can almost walk home from since it is down at the Seattle Center.
• I've been home since 5:00. I haven't been home at 5 in the past 2 weeks because of work.
• I'm almost done meeting with new faculty.
• I had Chinese food for dinner. I LOVE chinese food!
• I've also been in my jammies since about 5:00. I LOVE jammies.
• I will say that thanks to working late I've managed to talk to WC several times over the past week. He's stopped in at least once per evening. :) They may be progressing slowly, but with any luck maybe I'll make Michelle's Jan 1 deadline. maybe...
• It is fall so it isn't too hot.
• It is fall so new shows are on. I LOVE new shows!
• My class starts tomorrow. I LOVE class! :)

I think that's all there is to be giddy about right now.

Random thoughts for a random morning

About a week or 2 ago, Michelle sent me a link (I have it bookmarked at home but I'm not there right now) that had the TV schedule for the fall and when the new shows would start. I have been so excited for the past week or 2 because it said Veronica Mars would be starting on 9/21. My excitement had been building and building. Gah! I was so disappointed when I discovered that the show was not actually on. The new episode isn't starting until 9/28. I was heartbroken.

I'm about 1/2 way through Weaveworld, and I'm totally sucked in. I laid in bed reading this morning instead of showering. That's never a good thing. :)

I watched Martha's new Apprentice show last night. I liked it and I even liked her catch phrase "You're just not a fit" (or something like that). Since I have to stop watching the Donald since he competes with Everwood. (Yes I do not have Tivo nor will I get it at this point. At some time in the future I may spring for it and then Michelle can I told you so all the way to the bank. Yes I plan some of my life around TV get over it.)

Yesterday I actually heard a person utter out loud "WTF." Just the letters and not the phrase it really means. It sounded weird.

I'm tired this morning and I don't know why, I was even in bed early last night. Although I was up at 5:30 because I had to pee and then I couldn't get back to sleep so I read from then until 7.


Matty don't read the next part because you're a sissy pants... And don't say I didn't warn you if you do foolishly read it!
Yesterday while I was walking home I was thinking about the bread knife that cut my finger and the book Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume. I read it years and years ago (it had a much better cover a way back when), and it might have actually been one of my favorites at the time. (Short synopsis: Girl's father gets killed in a hold up at his convenience store. Girl's family goes off the deep end and moves to New Mexico. Girl and family learns to cope.) Because girl is so scared she starts keeping a bread knife under her pillow in case she needs it. I never understood this part. Our bread knives at home were dull and didn't have pointy ends so how was this a useful weapon, I would wonder. After receiving bread knife cut, I knew. Ok it could be useful, except you'd really have to like slit an invader's throat with it because it still doesn't have a pointy end to stab into someone. Sometimes I have too much time on my hands while I'm walking home. :)

A comedy of errors

Criminy, I couldn't get out of the house this morning.

• While in the shower, Rigby fell in. I left her there for a little while until she started jumping around like a crazed squirrel. Then I had to rescue her. My apartment building is OLD and the bathroom door doesn't shut so well. If I were to shut it hard enough to lock it, there is a chance (and it's happened before) I could get stuck in there, so it doesn't get shut tightly and hence, Rig & Tess can push the door open.
• While cutting my English muffin this morning, I happily cut open my index finger with the bread knife.
• While racing to the bathroom to get a band-aid, I stumbled. Over Rigby, who has this uncanny ability to put her body exactly where I am about to put my foot down. I didn't fall, but she did get kicked. (Accidentally, people, accidentally)
• My cheese was moldy.
• As I was leaving, I remembered that I had a chiropractor appointment. My cute little skirt is not appropriate for chiropractor office, so I had to go back and get jeans to change into after work.
• As I was trying to leave, I stepped wrong and found myself about to fall. I was trying to put my other foot down without falling, when who should be under other foot. Tess. I manage to find another place to put my foot, without falling.

If I didn't have 2 important meetings this morning I would've totally called in today. :)

I am a big ol' baby.

I've taken to watching Supernatural on the WB. Ok it's been only 2 episodes, but I'm really digging it. However, it scares the fuck out of me. I can't watch it at home alone on a Tuesday night. I'm going to have to watch it on "Easy View" which is when the WB reruns some of its shows on Sunday afternoons. I don't generally love things that scare the fuck out of me. But I do love that they are using myths and legends that really exist and not just making up a bunch of bullshit.

Baby steps

Yay! I've been cleared to ride a stationary bike at the gym. Of course, I hate to ride the stationary bike at the gym, but what can you do? And I can only ride for 10 minutes, but still. I can go back to the gym! (Damn, now to actually get up and go. :P)

Joanne is not so clever sometimes

The problem with having a lot of male friends, even if they are all gay, is that when talking to WC, I seem to only mention men. I need to find an organic way to point out that they are all gay without saying, my gay friend Matty or my gay pothead bartending husband or my gay good friend from college who I rarely talk to anymore. You know, I want it to be more natural. :) This comes up because MP & I had plans to go to dinner. WC stopped by twice (this working late is working out very well for me. I'm getting shit done and WC stops by after hours to chat with me). I had mentioned earlier in the evening I was going to go to dinner with a friend, but was very careful to avoid pronouning Matty. (What? Pronoun is not a verb?) So the 2nd convo it just got too weird to avoid using he, so I did, but couldn't find a way to slip in the gay part. I think if I run into him tomorrow I'll have to say something about Matty spending the whole evening talking about his potential new boyfriend. But WC and I did have a pretty good talk about books and reading. He's read Weaveworld and recommended it highly. He writes. He's funny, and made me laugh. blah blah blah. :)

Worker's comp!

My right index finger sometimes has a mind of its own. Like sometimes it moves all by its lonseome, with no prompting from me. I'm sure this is a sign of something terrible. I'm sure I'm dying. I demand financial retribution for this. Now whose pockets do I hit? ;)

Engrossing new book

About a week and a half ago, I was out at the bar and my gay pothead bartending hubby suggested a book to read. He said it was amazing and he had never read anything like it and on and on recommending it. Now I'll admit, my first thought was the incredibly unkind 'you read?' But then he & I started talking about Wicked which is also a really good book and I realized he does and he likes to talk about books. Rock on. (And yes I misjudged him.) So I go to the library to check out the book he recommended. Weaveworld by Clive Barker. Sometime in my past I went through the typical love of horror books that most everyone goes through. I read Stephen King, and a couple by Clive Barker, but I didn't usually like his. Too graphic. I am also, in general, not a fan of science fantasy books. Usually because I need a lot of definition right at the beginning, when I read, I don't like a lot of ambiguity and science fantasy books tend to build their worlds and mythology slowly and let the reader experience as though she were experiencing the world for the first time. And I think I tend to gloss over the large paragraphs of description, which makes science fantasy difficult for me to read because the authors tend to put a lot of important information in those large descriptive passages.

But I digress, I went to the library a few days ago to find this book and searched the shelves. It wasn't there. I tried the other shelves of 'we recommend' and all that, not there. I go to the librarian, and apparently I did more to find the book than she would've since she just went to the shelf where the book should have been and said, it isn't here. Well, duh, I had already figured that part out. So I put it on hold and picked it up on Sunday and started it on Sunday. Now I'm sucked in. I'm barely in the first few chapters but I just want to keep reading. I read much of Sunday evening and some again this morning. I brought it with me to work so I could read at lunch. I'm hooked. It is rich in description. I'm just enjoying every minute of it. And now I have to go tell gay, pothead, bartending husband that he was right. Dammit! :)

Day of caring

Two thoughts...

1 - I have a motherfuckingspyware on my computer that I can't get rid of. This is worse than when Mysearch hijaked my browser. Stupid motherfucking cocksuckers who create this bullshit winfixer.

2 - In happier and more cheerful news, today was the day of caring at my college. I volunteered to go with a group of incoming new students again. I did this last year too. Today we went to an elementary school and did a bunch of improvement projects. We painted in the cafeteria, did some cutting and pasting, did some sewing if pillows.... and stuff like that. It was a fun day. Much better than last year's project where we shoveled rotten food.

Cracking open a cold one...

There's nothing like kicking back after a long day at the office. I ended up working late, until about 6:45. I got a lot of work done, though, so that's good. I then stopped off and picked up some Chile Colorado from Tacos Guyamos. I love Chile Colorado. I also love love corn tortillas. Yum! Now I'm sitting here, chilling, watching What I Like About You (Don't ask...), and drinking down a nice, cold bottle of... black cherry soda pop. :)

Yikes!

Wow, I never realized how much the extraneous physical activity that I do actually does for me. Since I've been injured I've all but eliminated my Sunday meanderings and I have cut back significantly on the extra walking. And my weight at the doctor's office shows it. :( I just emailed her to find out what I can do, besides swimming... there's no time people. If I can do the bikes or (probably only the bikes but really I'm hoping for elliptical trainer) I'm going to have to head back on Monday. I had been doing so well, damn ankle.

Rigby's bad day part 2

Well, Rigby is obviously not so smart. I came home at about 6:00 (Not working late this afternoon, I had to stop at the grocery store and went and got teriyaki) I put away the groceries in the kitchen and headed into the bathroom to drop off the toilet paper. And what did I see... Rigby stuck in the tub. I'm going to have to remember to pull the door shut. Currently sometimes I forget. Unfortunately I can't move the trash can because bathroom is so tiny that's about the only place it fits. Poor dumb Rigby. Of course I'm a little bit pissy since she was giving me kisses on my cheek and decided to bite it, so I may be a tiny bit inclined to let her sleep with the fishes. :)

I may vomit...

Out of anxiety. I've put in the home loan paperwork to start the approval process. Nothing has to come of it. I don't have to take out the loan if I don't find anything, or if I can't find anything or if I freak the fuck out and must back away very quickly and return to my noncommital, don't own anything life. Already every cell in my body is screaming call them and say nevermind!

Edit: Well, apparently I'm not so easy that they can do the stuff online and let the computer make the decision. A real person has to decide. So, I didn't get like an insta-approval. However, I have been looking at little places online and the part of me that isn't completely freaking out is a little intrigued. But mostly I'm freaking out.

How soon is now?

Crikey I'm tired. I have 21 more new faculty to meet with in the next 3 or so days. They're killing me. I had one guy show up right at 4:30. I met with him even though technically my office was supposed to be closing because I seriously need to get all these people done. However, the gods of karma were smiling upon me for this and I was rewarded (only minorly nothing too fabulous and exciting) for my sticking around. While the guy & I were talking WC walked by and popped in then went to his office. So then faculty member leaves and I think, hmm I'll stick around a tiny bit longer and return some calls etc. So at a few min after 6 WC comes back out of his office and stops in again. And we have a nice little chat for the next 30 minutes. So that was nice and continues my incredibly slow progress. Maybe by the time I'm 60 I'll have a date with him? :P

Dream drama

This morning I had a fairly vivid dream. I haven't been writing them down lately because I haven't really been remembering them that well.

I dreamt that my sister was still alive but sick. I spent the whole dream searching for the cure. It was very distinctly a quest. I was just searching around this house and there were originally just one or 2 ferrets but then they kept multiplying. They kept trying to escape the house and I kept trying to keep them all together. Somehow they were connected to the cure. And one in particular was white.

Ferret: To see a ferret in your dream, symbolizes distrust and suspicion of others. The dream may also be a pun on searching. (That makes me laugh because Matty always accuses me of not trusting anyone.)

White: White represents purity, perfection, peace, innocence, dignity, cleanliness, awareness, and new beginnings. You may be experiencing a reawakening or have a fresh outlook on life. However, in Eastern cultures, white is associated with death and mourning.

Search: To dream that you are searching for something, signifies the need to find something that is missing or needed in your life. You may be searching for a solution to a problem.

Sick: To dream that you or others are sick, denotes discordance and trouble in your life. It may also signal a part of yourself that needs to be healed, either physically or mentally. Perhaps you are wallowing in your own self-pity. You need to quit feeling sorry for yourself.

Ringtones

I'm not a big fan of all the variety of ringtones out there. I hate the ones that are actually pieces of music played tinnily over the cellphone. However, I have heard one twice now that I want. It's the opening notes of Harry Potter. I'm not at all sure my no frills cell phone can accept ringtones, but if it could I would want that.

Hockey!

Yay! I just got the info in the mail from the Seattle Thunderbirds. I have bought tickets in the past for their games so now I'm on their mailing list. I briefly thought of season tickets, but can't commit to that kind of cash up front. BUT I'm ever so excited hockey is about to start again. Hockey allows all my aggressions to get out in a 'safe environment.' I'm pretty much against violence, but when it is two testosterone filled 18 year olds beating each other senseless, it is kind of fun. I can channel all my frustrations at yelling at the ref and the other team and cheering. I love it! I definitely want to see an Everett game or 2, since they are our rivals. I think I want to see Moose Jaw, just because c'mon... Moose Jaw. That's a funny city name! I think that I want to see at least one against Portland too. Now to find someone to drag along with me. :)

Do you ever think of doing something destructive, but of course you don't? Like today I was walking home from work and I had my keys in my hand since the stupid pockets on these pants are useless, and I just kept thinking 'I could reach over and key this car in an instant.' Of course I don't because the Catholic guilt would kill me, but sometimes just the thought of the satisfying noise just makes me happy. I suppose that's another reason I need hockey. :)

September and October just kill me at work. Damn new faculty. I just keep repeating the exact same speil over and over and over to explain benefits until I feel like my head is going to explode. And every year (so far) we get promised things will be better and every year they aren't. I have 7 days to meet with 20 something more faculty, get their benefit elections and get them entered into the payroll system. I don't think it is going to happen. Especially when contract lady hadn't entered their payroll records yet so I can't enter their benefits deductions. Sigh.

Tonight I decided I wanted Fried Chicken, but I didn't want it fried so I baked it. Last time I soaked the chicken in milk then coated it with the coating and tossed it in the oven. Unfortunately this left a lot of dry coating that was like I took a spoonful of the stuff and just put it in my mouth. I hit upon a great idea though. I mixed the milk and the coating in a little bowl and then coated the chicken. I'm hoping this works well. :D

Oh the burn!

I've been craving beef stew lately. It is all I can focus on... beef stew... beef stew... beef stew... But I haven't wanted to make it because it is a 'winter' food. But today I decided to make it for dinner. I followed my happy little recipe (kinda, I tend to delete any of the ingredients I don't like or want to use). I just went in to check in on it... it's been cooking for about 45 minutes... to discover. Dum dum dum. It is burning to the bottom of the pan. But somehow, I think thanks to the rice flour, the meat isn't actually burned. There was this burnt layer attached to the bottom of the pan, that when I threw in more water and scraped it off the bottom actually floated to the top and I managed to get it out of the pan. So I'm hoping the stew is salvaged. It smells yummy. I LOVE the smell.

Edit: I need to learn not to fear the salt when cooking. I almost always eliminate it from my recipes and in some cases it kind of needs the salt. Like I can put it in later when eating, but I think it needs to cook into it.

What an interesting flavor.

I don't know if I like it, I think I will. I'm cooking dinner. Sometimes I do random cooking and just throw food into a pan and see what happens. Tonight's creative cooking recipe: chicken, hoisin sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger, pepper, soy sauce, a bit of water and just cook it in the pan. Then I threw in some left over rice to make it a chicken & rice dish. And I must say it is good. :)

When I used to live in Alaska, my friends, Kate & Dave, lived about 5 apartments down from me. Periodically Dave would eat what I cooked because Kate was a vegetarian and sometimes the boy just needed protein. He would ask me for the recipe and I would say some of this and some of that, but I was never able to say I used 1/2 teaspoon of garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper or whatever. It was just random stuff around.

Happiness is...

A warm fresh from the dryer polar fleece blanket when your apartment is FREEZING and an old 80's movie on the TV.

Familial Communication Challenge

Yesterday evening a fuse blew in my apartment. The fuse box is in my apartment so I could see the one I needed to replace. This morning I decided to pick up a new fuse at a hardware store up on 12th. BGQ called to pick me up because I had his stuff from his office in my office and he was going to get it. While I was waiting for him, I called my dad to see if there was anything I needed to worry about when replacing the fuse. Here's the conversation I had with the person who picked up the phone.

Me: Hey, pop around?
Answerer: Huh?
Me: (a bit confused now) Our dad, is he around?
Her: Mmm... I think you have the wrong number.
Me: Hmm... Is this Mandy's house?
Her: Ooohh Yes. You must be her sister, this is Katrina, her friend.
Me: Ooohhh, you sounded just like my sister. So are my parents around?
Her: No. They went back to Arizona.
Me: Oh. Okay.
Her: I'm sorry, they didn't tell you... they went home. That's so weird.
Me: Not really actually.
Her: So weird... they went back Tuesday they definitely should be there by now.
Me: Okay thanks. I'll try them at home.
Her: That's so weird that they didn't tell you, I'm sorry...
Me: No probl. Thanks.
*click*
Heh. So I guess my mother is done hiding from the lawyers. I like how I get to know these things.

Irma & her daddy

On my way home from the doctor today, I came across Irma and her daddy out for a walk. Irma is a little bit pudgy and I know they've been working hard to get her weight down, so when I saw them today I complimented her pop on the fact that Irma is looking slimmer and trimmer. Irma just stood looking tense, yet a little smug. A few weeks ago (months?) I ran into them and another woman came up while the dad and I were talking and commented that Irma was too fat and he really should make her lose weight. When the nosy old bitty left, Irma's dad commented that he felt really badly when people say that to him. He's trying very hard and he knows she's overweight. He pointed out that they've been working and she's down 4 whole ounces. Of course since Irma is the tiniest little chocolate chihuahua 4 ounces is a big deal. Irma's daddy is this nice older guy who chats with me when he gets a chance. We started talking when I would be out walking Minka & Baxter. He has an incredible memory for stuff, and remembered that one had passed away (I hadn't seen him since Bax died). I kind of dig him. Today he was with his girlfriend, a nice older Asian lady. She paid me two of the nicest compliments that I've ever gotten. First she said that I don't look 30 (I know, I'm 31, shut up!). Then when we were talking about the adoption of Tess & Rigby she said that I must look so young because I have such a good heart. That was sweet.

(The pic is not Irma, but damn looks just like her freakin' cute.)

The Amazing Montessori School

I've been watching The Amazing Race on Game Show Network. They're rerunning all the seasons, one per night, until the season premiere. I've also been reading the recaps on TWOP. There was one episode (I can't remember which season) where some racers were upset with some of the other racers because they weren't sharing info or 'being fair.' The recapper comments that it is the Amazing Race not Amazing Montessori School.

Anyway that just makes me laugh because I think I kind of want to live my life in the Amazing Montessori School style. Why can't we all just share? I think it represents some of my worse dirty hippie tendencies. Michelle & I were discussing them today while talking about me getting to pick one of the new peevers. I'm a wee bit stressed about it because I don't want anyone to feel bad if I don't pick them. And I made the comment that we should just be like Montessori school and all share. She then replied with "Are you fucking kidding me?" Michelle is not so much on the Montessori method. (Yes I realize I'm totally simplifying the Montessori methods and theories and that there's a ton more to it.) Sometimes I'm amazed Michelle & I are friends at all. :)

No catchy title I'm tired.

For a change of pace, I went out to drink with V and some of his buddies. We went to the usual bar. There is a new bartender there. You want to know who it is? You really want to know? It IS someone some of you may be familiar with. Those who love the Reality TV drum roll please... Danny the gay one from Real World New Orleans. He's actually really nice. He's also a realtor during the day so he may be the one who helps me find a condo if I decide to buy. He gave me his card and claimed to be knowledgable about the other side of Cap Hill and the Central District. He agreed with Michelle about this being a good time to buy one. :) And that 4 years would be a good time to sell. And he knows the lending company I'm thinking of and he says they're good. My job has a deal with them where they have some specials like waiving closing costs I think.

Anyway, we played darts with a straight guy that he knows. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but straight guys V knows tend to be 'curious' and I tend to be leery of that.

Now having had my required water and alleve to hypothetically ease my potential hangover, I'm off to bed.

(Mrs. Langdinham God! I don't watch West Wing but it happens to be on and in the TWOP recaps of Joan of Arcadia, they'd refer to Mrs.LangdinghamGod and now I see her on the show. Ok I might be sobering up from being on the drunker side of tipsy.)

A peeve (because The Peevery is down)

Dear lesbians,

T - E - R - I - Y - A - K - I spells teriyaki. It does not spell coffee shop or cafe or Starbucks. So why would you walk in and order 2 lattes, iced. And then when the Asian guy looks at you blankly, don't speak more slowly in case the language was a barrier. Because the teriyaki restaurant does not have lattes. They have teriyaki. Hence the name. Then, once it dawns on you that you are in the wrong place, and you think about ordering food, you should at least have the courtesy to wait until the guy is free before you start shouting an order to him. Then don't storm out in a huff because he isn't dropping what he is doing and he can't help you right that second. I don't think decent behavior is too much to ask for.

Thanks,
Fellow teriyaki diner.

Where in the world is Joanndiego?

create your own personalized map of the USA
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Thanks to MP who got it from Mishka who got it from Ian. :)

Ellen

I'm not a regular watcher of the Ellen show, but I don't get 2 things. What's with the dancing? And what's with the purse 'stealing'?

Indecision

I've started a post about 4 times today and just keep deleting what I wrote. I'm not having a successful writing day.

I've spent the past 3 evenings watching parts of Ever After on Oxygen. My absolute favorite part is the very end of the movie from about the part where Drew is taken in by Mr. LePew to the end. That look of recognition when they see Drew as the princess is just fab. Plus when Jacqueline, the dark haire done who was also in But I'm a Cheerleader, says "No, mother, I'm only here for the food" I always laugh my ass off. Karma's a bitch Angelica. (I know I go from character name to actress name, I don't know all the names of the actresses.)

I made kick ass enchiladas tonight. Every time I make them I do something a little different. Today I added colby and jack shredded cheese along with the regular cheddar I usually use. It was cheesetastic! :) Then I also made chicken stock. It's becoming a thing. Every time I make enchiladas I make stock too. Except I don't use that much stock in regular cooking so I have a bunch of it in the freezer. The littlest gladware tubs are perfect to put it in.

Some time last year, I took a homebuyer class that qualifies me for various state homeowner programs. Off and on since then I've done some generic searches for homes. I keep thinking I want to buy a cute little condo somewhere in my current area. Maybe back towards the central district because I think they'll be less expensive than directly on the hill. But now I'm thinking that if in 4 years I go through with my current plan of (hopefully) being able to start taking in a foster kid or two I would need a bigger place than a 1 bedroom condo. Now, Michelle would say buy now, then use the equity I build up and all that to buy the next place in 3 - 4 years when I need the bigger space. Which I guess I could do, but at the same time I kind of have the opinion that when I buy a place and move in, I don't want to have to move again for a long time. Although I know she's right about the whole buy up concept. Sigh. And although I don't THINK I'm waiting because I'm still single blah blah blah, maybe I am in my subconscious. Eh, it's too much to think about at 11:30 on Monday night when I have to work tomorrow.

Another Ferret Tale

Bax & Mink were nothing like Tess & Rigby. Tess & Rigby seem to have cornered the market on getting into stuff. This morning, I was sitting on the sofa watching Tess. There was a box of extra juice pouches from the Brownies sitting by a chair. Tess climbed up onto the chair. Leaned over digging her head into the box. Grabbed one of the pouches which pierced the bottom of the pouch. She dragged it up on the chair with her and proceeded to lap at the juice that squirted out. Until I took it away from her. I feel like I should've left it for her, after all she did all that work, but all that sugar in the juice isn't good for her. How did she know to do this? Little clever one.

Buddha says

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

Physics yay!

So I know I've been talking about this class for awhile now. But now it is actually starting to be real. Because I have my booklist. It's just one book, but it is by Steven Hawking. Am I going to be in over my head? Ah, we'll find out. The book is The Universe in a Nutshell. I have to see the one in the bookstore of my college to be sure it is the same as the one I can get from someone other than the bookstore of my college. :) I know I should support them, the college is my employer after all, but the Amazon list price is only 25 bucks, the bookstore - 32. Yay! I just read some of the review. The other reviews are also pretty good for it so it shouldn't be too difficult! Now I'm getting excited. (MP is this an interesting story? :P)

But Hawking has simplified the origin of the universe, the nature of space
and time, and what holds it all together to an unprecedented degree, inviting
nonscientists to share his obvious awe and love of the unseen forces that shape
it all. (Amazon's review)

Why I can't do a back bend.

• I'm 31 years old. I haven't done one in about 20 years. What was I thinking?
• I was laying on my bed when I tried it. My mattress (and bed actually) came from Ikea back in 99 I think. It was the cheapest mattress Ikea offers so is this something that'll stand the test of time? Not so much. I was laying upside down with my head at the foot and because that's where I sit all the time to put shoes on, it is kind of sagging there so I was already kind of upside down.
• Plus since I was on the bed there wasn't the necessary solid base to push up from.
• So I tried and failed and then just lay on the bed laughing. Which for some reason struck me as totally absurd so I just kept laughing. For about 15 minutes. I am sure if the neighbors could hear me they must've thought I was just nuts. And maybe for a minute or two I was. :)

I feel I should edit, because it seems like I injured myself trying. I didn't hurt myself at all. Just flopped back on the bed laughing my ass off.

I forgot

I had a whole post formulating in my head as I was on the bus coming back from the chiropractor's office and then the walk home, but much of it seems to have fled my pretty little head. :) I'll just make it up as I go along. Although who am I kidding, that's what I usually do. :)

Chiropractor -
I'm still going. I THINK she helped me with my back. It got better. Did it get better as a result of her manipulation or as a result of time, hard to say. She pointed out that I walk on the outside of my feet and that may be contributing to why my heel won't heal. So she did a massage thing and recommended exercises to encourage my muscles to want to adjust the way I walk. I've been doing them and discovering that it kills both my legs and back because they're used to walking the 'wrong' way. I told her that today and she did some pushing adjusting thing that seems like it made my lower back and legs feel better. She moved around my hips. And mentioned 'enlongating' my muscles. She commented on the tightness of my right calf. It is always tight and lately we've added leg cramps into the mix. I've woken up twice this week with these massive leg cramps, unable to move my leg. I need her to tell me what she should do, though. I'm not into this whole holistic thing. I say I have pain here, she says ok let's do this. Not, what do you think I should do? I pay you to know this crap. :) I'm going again next week. We'll see if I keep going.

Greek food
Yum! I had Greek food for dinner. I didn't realize no one else I knew was as huge a fan of Greek as I was. It was just Greek take-out, but it made me happy.

Cute boy
A cute boy smiled at me as I was on my way home. And then he said hi. Ok so it wasn't earth shattering. There was no hand holding. It was a casual smile and hello, but it made my evening.

Work crush
WC waved at me today. Across the food getting area in the caf. (this first part is important in my neurotic world because HE initiated the greeting, not me...) Then I was in line waiting on food, and he stood with me and we chatted while he too waited for his food. A very small portion of it was witty repartee, the rest of it was awkward small talk*. But we expressed a mutual love of bacon. And a desire to eat weird foods when we were children. Yeah, I've broken through 1 wall but now we have the harder normal conversation wall.

*Ok I'm a girl and one who thinks too much so what I translate to awkward small talk may not in fact be awkward small talk but we did discuss getting salmonella poisoning from undercooked caf chicken which is how it segued into weird things we ate as children. I also need to work on responding to the things said and not having the conversation pieces in my head so that I sometimes say disjointed things because I'm mapping out the convo and it isn't going where I mapped it to go. Darn that. :)