Zanadu

Mid Year Roundup?

2010-08-22T18:27:00.001-07:00

IT's been since, february? Yeah, i've fallen out of the blogging thing. I guess I spend my time idly making videos for youtube, and my latest hobby has been 'photoshopping', although ha-ha I don't actually own Photoshop. But another program gets the job done pretty good.

I suppose I don't have anything to add on on the jobfront, other than things have been changing and growing increasingly stressful. I don't let it bother me tho, I've learned to manage stress quite well. I have a job, and if anything job security.

In fact, I was asked to sit in on a meeting with some directors, supervisors and managers that were visiting from our headquarters in another state. I created a powerpoint (first time!) presentation and as only a Unit lead I briefly touched on what I did. When it was all said and done, the director was at the table and said "Well this is all really great, we've learned a lot and i don't want to downplay the importance of what we've all been discussing with the systems and flow, but what i'm REALLY excited about....is what YOU do." She leaned over the table, pointed at me..

and my manager began to catch flies with his mouth.

Yeah - take that ;-)

So a MONUMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT (alert alert). I've been bitching about this for years..eons, decades, centuries!
I have finally lost weight. How much you ask? Try 15lbs and going. Well, I'd only really go 7 more at the most, i don't want to blow away, or be mistaken for a cracker. ;-)

Diet? Lipo? Stomach stapling? Brain transplant?

By the gods no. But what I did do was I started walking. Walking! Imagine that. Back in March since we moved into our new headquarters, I decided to walk on the 2nd floor. 11 laps = 2.5 miles. So, I walk 4 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon. Soon that wasn't enough, and I found that I was excited after work to do more rounds - usually around 6-10 before I leave work. I"ll shut down my pc, put on my tennis shoes and do my laps, then sneak back up and grab my stuff and go. I have my MP3 on, it gives me a chance to escape from the stress of work. So, win-win!

Anywhoo, I started walking on lunches too, not everyday of course but at least twice a week. I'll do a few rounds (usually 4-6) and then grab a salad or meal from the cafeteria and eat at my desk. Now, my portions are smaller, I don't cook whole pizza's anymore at home and gorge on them in 2 days. But I'm eating chocolate, fast food, health food, salads, basically I'm eating whatever I want. So i'm not dieting.

I'm just walking.

And somehow, I managed to walk the pounds away. I am at a weight I haven't been since my 20's, and it took what seemed like forever to get here. But I'm thrilled, unfortunately ALL my clothes are too big now. Sighs.

I put in about 20 laps a day at work. Which is what, somewhere under 4 miles...round that? I don't do math. I feel healthier, I have more energy, and I am able to continue doing this every single day because now I like walking, and listening to my music, and geting out of my cubicle for a little cathardic stroll.

********************************************************
I'm sorry to say I won't be keeping up the blogging anymore. It had it's time, it was a lot of fun to share my life with everyone, until the real life clashed a little with this life and my old blog was shut down and this one came up and...well it just wans't the same anymore now was it?

How's Mia? Bad as ever. And my fish Frankie is still hanging in there. Barely. I also have a poltergeist in my apartment. Swear to god. I hear someone whistling a tune every night outside, but i never see anyone. Last nite there was a strange GONG noise (like in the changling) coming from my bedroom that got louder and louder and LOUDER. The cat's eyes turned to saucers and I stared into the room from the sofa thinking "Bedtime should be fun tonight."

I got a ticket from a cop a couple of months ago, you might have loved to hear my rant about that one. Or did you? I don't know what was in my last post.

I'm writing a book now, just for fun of course but somehow I'm already on page 80 in just a week. Why am I forever seeking creative outlets?

I had an author of a series of books I read leave me a wonderful comment on a fanmade picture I made on my editing software for two of her characters, a book in particular. She was completely thrilled by it. I mostly started doing it for friends, we all read some of the same books so I started making up pictures of the characters based on how i envisioned them in my head, everyone was thrilled so now I just do it because it's fun. Yeah, can you hook me up to do book jackets lady? I would so love to do that.

I got no mad skills. I just love the idea of creating, in any medium.

I miss you all, and hope you are well.

waking up is hard to do

2010-02-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

unless you have mia in your life. Mia did not let me sleep in, she was pouncing all over me for hours until i just gave in.

I moved my car last night to an open area because the carports in my complex are collapsing on the cars from the weight of the snow. They're using long wooden planks to try to hold some of them up but i didn't want to take the chance. The snow is still on the ground today albiet an inch less, the temp is just above freezing so it's a slow melt.

I watched a couple of movies last night that for the most part where...meh. Time travellers wife and something else i don't even remember so that's not a good sign. Nothing in theaters to see but i bet theaters are packed, people like going in cold weather. Kids are still building snowmen in my complex but it's quiet this morning.

Can someone explain why the men have something to prove and are wearing shorts? Also driving like maniacs. I took a shower and i'm relaxing on my sofa under a blanket.

Snowpocalypse!

2010-02-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

It's the end of the world, and the snowmen are taking over...

24 hours of snow

2010-02-12T11:50:00.000-08:00

This morning i measured 9.5" that fell in a 24 hour period. Many areas have up to or over a foot. Yeah, we broke records. This is texas ya know! Snow isn't common here and when we get it, it might be an inch.

Needless to say I played hooky from work. hehehe..lol The tree outside my patio is blocking the sidewalk so i made it out to the car wearing my tall boots. Whew, thank god I have those.

I went to my parents house and almost spun out on the overpass of the freeway. I slowed to a near hault on the sand and saw a car in front of me fishtail and then completely spin around and crash headfirst into the wall. I couldn't pull over to assist because it was too dangerous to do that with being on a freeway bridge but i saw she was on her cellphone. I just stayed at their house for a short while, drove mom around her neighborhood. Dad went outside shaking snow off the bushes, one of the crepe myrtles split which was my nephews favorite to climb.

Then dad started spraying water on the roof and bushes..LOL I couldn't figure it out. Kids were out everywhere, adults were out.

This morning i woke up and went to a nearby walking trail and a few others were there (mostly couples or people walking dogs). In fact two giant st. bernards that could stare at me in the face came bounding down the sidewalk as happy as loons and sniffed my hand and ran on through the snow. I got some nice shots at the park (the first one above) and it was just GORGEOUS.

I'm so glad this fell on a friday so now I can bundle up this weekend and watch movies. This is the most snow i've ever seen in my life, so i'm pretty stoked :)

SNOW SNOW SNOW!

2010-02-11T19:17:00.001-08:00

Not just snow, but record breaking snow for Dallas. So far there's 8.5" inches outside that's fallen since this morning, it's still going and area''s may get up to a foot.

I went to work today but tomorrow it's going to freeze so i'm not sure. Carports are collapsing due to the weight of the snow and obviously power outages. Hopefully it doesn't affect me so i got my radiator cranked on super high just in case. And there are giant snowmen taking over dallas!

The giant bush or small tree (eh?) outside my window weighted down by the snow finally gave way. I heard cracking noises for awhile and now it's lying across the sidewalk so now the only way to my car is to cut across the field of snow.

When i came home from work i pulled into my parking space and found myself starting at this.

My first reaction was that it was NOT a snowman.

I'm still not sure...

While at taco bell picking up my dnner i snapped a shot of how the snow is just settled on the bushes. The cars in the lots were completed smothered in just a matter of an hour as it's been heavy and fast falling.

Another shot through the window of my car when driving home. The snow was falling heavily at times visibility was not good, not really good photography weather for all the white out

lol

Apparently some people weren't just pumping gas at the gas station

Ramblings, just like the old days

2010-02-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ok maybe too much red dye. Ever seen a street cone? That's how it came out of the bottle, and because I sit in the sun all day at work my hair is A-BLAZE.

akward!
~~~~~~

Ugh my hand just woke up, didn't realize it was asleep. It's that awful tingling that makes you nausious. You know i've lived on this planet for over 30 years and i STILL cannot spell natious. lol

diahhrea. nope can't spell that either according to the blogger spellcheck.

Well now that i've gotten this post off to a good start. While I have a bajillion things to complain about work I'm going to leave that out. I was very good today and ate a salad and power bar, unfortunately all my money is going back into my company in the cafeteria. Ah the irony of pouring all my hard earned cash back into my employers pocket. Or maybe that's stupidity. Probably the latter since my drawer is filled with food I bought at the store. It's hard to resist tho.

I have fans.
Did I mention I have fans?
It's a surreal thing that I make these youtube videos and have actual fans, who send me personal messages like i'm some celeb. I guess i made their day with my videos but jesus..lol I remember when I used to log on daily to find the only hits to my videos were my own. It's a weird world we live in to know you don't even have to leave your own house and you can let the world into your life. Well the blog never took off but then it's always been sort of a personal diary/venting/garbage disposal. I think blogging has gone by the wayside since now everyone is 'twittering', which I kind of hate.

And the reason why is because we have evolved into a society that does not really communicate, which is ironic because we have all these 'communication tools'. But the way we communicate is not really what I consider conversation that matter. They're abbreviated texting 'ltr'.
They're sharing a short snippet of your thoughts. THe art of communication is dead. I used to think it died with email as writing a handwritten letter is no longer done anymore but at least with emails and blogs we are more detailed and considerate (to some extent) of what we write.

THink about how many teens you know who will sit in a room full of their own friends even, and not talk to a one while they sit there texting. I wonder if in 50 years the presidental address to the nation will be a text message.

And this morning I saw the oscar nominees. Ok I'm really not liking how they change things. First it's the date it airs and then it's making MORE categories for nominees. I don't want 8 best picture nominees when we all know half of them are a joke and will never win. "District 9", really? I saw that movie and it was pretty good, fairly original, but no way in hell it even stands a chance so why bother? God if Avatar wins I just may never watch the Oscars again

PS: LOST was 3 hours.
Thanks ABC for FINALLY bringing LOST back on the air after almost a year, sticking it on a random Tuesday night slot and postponing my shower as well as making me shout out loud "WTH, they didn't crash?!"

Who needs a handyman

2010-01-31T18:09:00.000-08:00

When you got a handywoman. For over a month my bathtub drain has been clogged. I tweezed out what i could but every time i took a shower i ended up taking a bath simultaneously. So today I sat in there looking at the situation and then i glanced over at the plunger. Hey, why not?

After 5 minutes of violent suction noises eminating from my bathtub, probably to the confusion of my neighbors, I realized that maybe it wasn't such a great idea. Nothing came up. I turned the water off and saw what appeared to be a tiny whirlpool over the drain. What?! My god the water is moving and it's going DOWN!

It worked! lol, so boys and girls if you have a clog in your drain you don't need a snake or chemicals or even a plumber. Just get yourself a plunger. I'm glad i finally got to use it! lol

TO DO

2010-01-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

My Weekend list

1. Clean apt (omg that is always on my to do list, so sad)
2. Dye my hair (check)
3. donate clothes to charity
4. watch a movie (hopefully in theaters)
5. adore my cat (check)
6. clean the fishtank
7. not think about work at ALL (although by typing this i've already broken it)
8. Eat or drink something i've never had before
9. buy batteries for my watches
10. clean out the fridge

everyday is a beautiful sunset

2010-01-29T22:53:00.001-08:00

view from my new cubicle on different days. I could get used to this...

Well the first couple of weeks at the new building went ok. We have 2 main buildings and the one I'm in has 15 floors. If you can believe it they actually have the 13th floor elevator button. I was a little lost on the first day, it was like going into a hotel and an airport all at once. I may upload video sometime (my shaky cam because security likely would have shackled me if they say me taking all that footage because i'd look suspicious)

My daily routine begins by parking on level 2 of the garage and taking the garage elevator to 3...where I then swipe my security badge to access the skywalk which connects the garage to the main building. I then ride down a giant escelator and walk to an open lobby that has tree's and wood plank high ceilings. I cross through the security walkways, swiping my badge and down a corredor. I go to elevators 8-15 because elevators 1-8 take you to the lower levels only. It's a quick ride up, and the elevators talk in addition to have LCD screens inside. My ears pop and i end up on floor 12. I walk into the hallway, swipe my badge to access the office areas and walk down a long hallway to my desk.

The cafeteria is large and has a wide selection of food. The seating area has track lighting, tables and booths and wraps around the cafeteria. Everything smells new and we often remark how it feels like a hotel. So far the only food vending machine is on floor 6 so to get to it we have to ride down to 1 and get on the 1-8 elevator up to 6 and then go back down to 1 and get on the 8-15 elevators..LOL so it's quite a carnival ride

My desk faces south so unfortunately i'm in the sun all day and the screens don't help because the idiot who designed them left a gap between them so a stripe of light goes across my desk and onto my head all afternoon. Eventually at sunset it seems worth it. I can see the horizon far off and it's an amazing view. The other day we saw lighting and storm clouds and I thought it would be neat to have a 'pic a day' from my desk but then that would require taking my camera to work.

There's a lot of changes going on at work and i've been working late nights as well as saturdays. But tomorrow i'm not going in, probably to the dismay of my supervisor but a girl has to rest.

My fantabulous Holiday

2010-01-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

I love not working. I love it so much that I could probably do it for the rest of my life! So drop me an offer..lol

Anyhow, I started off my 'holiday' by taking Friday off. I slept in (about an hour more than usual, and went to see a movie. I had a few choices but between you and me I have no urge to see AVATAR. I don't feel like wearing 3d glasses during a movie that stars computer generated images...it's kinda like cartoons for adults
So i settled for "Leap Year", a complete forgettable and yet one of those charming romantic comedies that every woman needs to refuel on. It's got it's flaws, for instance the score didn't quite fit as they seemed to be going for the quirky classic feel. But it was still a sweet movie. I briefly went shopping at Kohl's and found a shirt.

After which I went to eat at Chili's were I was sadly dissapointed by the service. With hardly any patrons in there, the waitress took forever. She was friendly, but not quite on it. I asked for a Strawberry Mojito which i've never tried before so thought it would be fun. When she brought out a beer mug with pink juice that looked and tasted like a warm watered down daquari I realized I'd been swindled. I looked at the picture again and it displayed a glass (GLASS!) with a slightly pink tinted drink filled with ice cubes, a lime wedge and mint leaves. Not only that but there was no rum in it, i can drink about 3 sips and feel any alcohol despite the quantity and i can tell you they gave me a warm watered down virgin daquari. So I ordered a beer. There was confusion when she kept asking what size glass to put it in and I just wanted a bottle. Then taking the check, well how long does it take to come back and pick up the payment? 30 minutes apparently.

Maybe someday i'll know what a mojito tastes like.

Saturday I spent all day cleaning, putting up all the christmas stuff i'd been procrastinating about. Whew, it literally took the whole day to get my place in order. I briefly went to Tom Thumb to pick up some groceries and the shopping cart guy was a jerk to me. Customer service isn't what it used to be.

Tonight i'll be tuning in to the GOLDEN GLOBES. It's not like my younger days when i had actually seen all the nominees, even the obscure indie films. But i've seen a couple and I like watching all the stars.

Something is in my attic. Usually it's toenails scratching around but now it's over my kitchen and it sounds like...very loud wood noises. I think he's up there building a fort. I suspect one day someone will go into the attic to route wires or something and see some huge fortress and a mote.

Today I have resolved not getting dressed. I will stay in my pajamas all day. So let it be written, so let it be done. And so help me god if anyone knocks on my door..lol Tomorrow I plan to see a movie.

Any suggestions? Here are my choices:
DAYBREAKERS
BOOK OF ELI
SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE BLIND SIDE
INVICTUS

2010-01-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

This has been some week. My team at work is already short 2 people so we're down to 4 just trying to get by. We FINALLY got to a point where the work is up to date and then the manager wants to pull 2 people on my team to help another that is basically drowning in work and raising hell amongst other departments and external clients. They're receiving such a backlash about it that they have people from at least 3 departments trying to help them get their shit together. So now MY team has to suffer with only 2 people (really 1 because one of those people is the crazy lady who doesn't do her work) to manage ALL Of our workload.

IMPOSSIBLE! Now we're going to feel the wrath of the clients and sales because our work is going to suffer trying to help out this other area. Ugh, useless

Meanwhile my ex supervisor is yet again trying to solicit me for a job in his office but i don't want to do that job because it seems so boring to me. HE acts all insulted like he's doing me a favor and it gets so tiresome everytime i go out drinking with him and it's brought up.

Let it go people. I'm a grown woman. Let me make my own decisions and just deal with it.

I took today off work..woooHOO. I'm sure they hate me because they're working overtime this saturday but i refused. The lsat time i took friday off I also came in saturday and it makes you wonder what the point of taking a day off is. So, since i have monday off as well i'm going to enjoy my 4 days of worklessness. I know that's not a word but it is now.

Today, i slept in.
Later, I'm probably going to see "Leap Year". I need a sappy romance. After that I'm not sure, I really want to go spend some of my christmas gift cards and buy some new clothes.

This weekends agenda also involves putting my christmas stuff up because as of last night I am still coming home every night, closing the drapes so the world cannot see the fact that I still light my tree up. Sue me.

I also want to see another movie, there's a few out there I wouldn't mind going to. Basically I just want to hang out and piddle around town. I am going to have a stressful week next week with the changes at work and also our move to the new headquarters so I want to just forget all about it.

I want to bubble bath.

I want to paint my toenails

I want a clean apartment

I want new clothes

I want to watch movies

I want to continue eating fresh healthy dinners because last night i (cough) went to pizza hut. I had the bad news laid on my yesterday at work so i was having a moment that required immediate intake of fat and grease

Grease is the word...

I AM ALSO SO psyched that I have monday off....why? Because the Golden Globes comes on Sunday. And I absolutely Love movie award shows, unfortunately I don't have access to any stations that have red carpet pre-show events..boo boo. But I can stay up late watching them, make some drinks and who knows, maybe see some of the nominees this weekend.

Well time to put my clothes on and start my day!

Saying Goodbye

2010-01-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

7 years ago I started working for my job. And the first day I was there I sat in a waiting room with another girl. We started together and saw a lot of changes and plenty of drama and had lots of laughs. We shared stories about our pets and bought eachother gifts for our pets..lol Tomorrow is her last day of work, she decided to quit and start a new life in Florida.

Just "Chill"

2010-01-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

It's going to be a COLD night, so much for all this talk about global warming. Someone forgot to tell that to old man winter who plans to send us the coldest temperatures that we've had in years. The record low temperature for Dallas is 6F set in 1918. While our low will be in the teens, the wind chill will make it feel like single digits.

I just hope I have all my digits left. I don't have a warm coat! I meant to go coat shopping and forgot.

I have "Sassy coat" - fur lined and warm but my sassy suede Guess coat cannot get wet (somewhat like a gremlin) and leaves hairs all over my clothes. I have a few rain jackets, a leather jacket that is what i wear a lot but is not warm. Yep, that's about it. I LOVE jackets, but i don't have one for freezing cold because..well, it never usually gets that cold enough here.

It's going to suck tomorrow for me. I keep wishing for rain so i have an excuse not to go to work. I'm so sick of my coworker, she refused to do something i told her today and I had to do it for her because it was an urgent priority have to do thing. I wish I could write her up for insubordination but i'm not her supervisor. She's the crappiest excuse for an employee i've ever known.

Did I mention before in another post how she was dead seriously accusing mcdonalds of putting rat poison in her food and saying they would all go to hell? She's delusionally paranoid, talks to herself out loud and to other people indirectly and sometimes to jesus, and thinks every single person is out to sabotage her. LIterally. She's made the accusations, she even indirectly accused my supervisor of erasing her vacation request from a system that nobody can "erase" it on..lol

arghh!

I Loved "The Hunger Games", it was a great read and I went online and ordered Book 2. I want to see "LEap Year". I refuse to see "Avatar", i'm sorry but it looks so cheesy and james cameron hasn't made anything decent since Terminator 2, and even that had it's cheesy moments.

Silly toilets

2010-01-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago, I used to stay up to the wee hours of the morning with my good friend Monty typing away on the internet with our ridiculous banter. This was before I had a job that required me to get up pre-dawn.

Yes monty, i'm calling us out because some of the chats we had...far out there. Lest we forget the funerals to remember? ;-)

Well i was just surfing the net and found this pic. SOMEONE STOLE MY IDEA!!!

I'm posting this because i know you're reading and can totally appreciate this

The Fish Pump Fiasco

2010-01-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

So last nite, I blew a fuse. And out went my fish tank pump. So today I checked at 2 petstores and found no replacement.

I decided to buy a new tank. When I got home I realized the pump was the same, so vs setting up the new tank I swapped out the pumps. The new pump was LOUD and the fish was going bananas. He looked like a little torpedo in there. So I got irritated and decided that I'd use it until I got a new pump ordered on the net. So i placed my order.

After an hour of trying to watch tv and listening to the buzzing I went into the kitchen to take it apart. Then I got my broke pump and took it apart, trying to swap parts. I cleaned the broke pump, and it was dirty. After a few checks, I fixed it.

Can you believe that? I fixed my pump.
1 tank and 1 fish pump purchase later.

What am I going to do with all these tanks and pumps? LOL

Blow a Fuse

2010-01-03T20:59:00.001-08:00

Literally?

While drying my hair the lights went out so I had to reset the breakers. When i went into the living room I realized my fishtank pump broke. Poor little guy is swimming in there without a filter and he NOTICES. he keeps going to the waterfall part looking at the empty holes and then he looks at me

Amazon sells the pump but charges 77 bucks for 1 day shipment and i don't want to wait 5 days. So, either a new tank or a scavenger hunt to find the pump at one of our local stores. Hmm

I'm sitting here in the dark staring at my lit xmas tree, somewhat ashamed i didn't take it down this weekend. Also avoiding the bed, which is the final promise of another day to come, this time one that wakes me up with a jolting alarm

another week of work awaits. oh joy

Sunday Reading

2010-01-03T13:14:00.001-08:00

Today's reading: "The Hunger Games". I've already managed to devour half of the book since I started this morning. It's a quite unique storyline. Future world where there are the really wealthy and extremely poor and starving. They gather 2 children from various districts each year to basically fight to the death in order to punish the districts for having rebelled years ago.

Told first person from a 17 year old girl. It's got me hooked because I keep wondering what will happen, it's not that predictable so far. But I love it when I read a book and I can visualize characters in my head. I think women writers can sometimes be more detailed in this respect, even tho overall I tend to read books from male writers.

You know a book is good when you have to make yourself stop so you can do things like eat, and pee..lol It's a gloomy cold day, nothing better to do. I'm enjoying my last day off

Mr no Name

2010-01-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

I got quite a few Xmas things on sale today, wrapping paper, bows, etc. So i had a full morning of shopping. By afternoon I felt the urge to go pick up another fish.

And I did actually look at other types of fish but they all said 20+ gallon aquariums or required special doses of salt..ugh. I'll stick with what I know, and what seems to have a short lifespan in my care...lol

Most of the fish were dead, sickly or old. Pickin's were slim. Probably the post Christmas crop, all the leftover fish that weren't chosen for all the little kiddos on xmas morning. Man they had some awesome aquariums tho. If I had a house and knowhow on taking care of fish I'd get one. But right now 5 is probably more than I need..lol

The lil guy is paddling around, i put a magazine behind the tank. I have a hex 5 so you can't really get that backing on it. He seems to like it, I catch him reading inbetween the times he's attacking the plastic plants. I also bought a florescent bulb that is uber bright. One thing I really need is a proper aquarium shelf, the one I'm using is a nice end table and I'm afraid it's going to break

No name yet.

And now a few words from our sponsor

2010-01-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, I got received a gift that was much needed.

Months ago my cat, Mia, lept onto the dresser and my jewelry box came crashing down into many pieces. It wasn't the best constructed thing, but it was all I had. Since then my jewelry has been a tangled mess scattered across the apartment.

Until I got a large jewelry stand. I love it. I love it.

It has so many drawers to hold all my things that I haven't even used them up!

Unlike the flowers and ginseng/honey label, the tea inside is probably not all that healthy. But I loves it.

What to call 2010

2010-01-01T15:53:00.001-08:00

Seriously, there is a raging debate about this?

Clearly the media has nothing better to do. There is only one thing to call it
Twenty Ten.

Why?

You didn't see them calling it "Nineteen hundred and Ten" or "Nineteen Hundred and thirty five". We sort of skipped out calling it "Twenty O-Five" and opted for "Two thousand and five".

Jesus. Twenty Ten. Twenty Twenty. You say tomato, I say tomAHto

:-p

My resolution is to keep daily Resolutions

2010-01-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

Proof is always in the pudding

BEFORE AFTER

What does that even mean? Proof means evidence. What kind of evidence would be in pudding, poison? Note to self: avoid pudding

The only thing I need to do is wash down the mirror. And if you are wondering what that thing is in my sink well, anyone have advice on how to get rid of calcium deposits? I have a drippy sink and it just builds up like barnicles

My dirty Little Secret

2010-01-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

Fact: I cannot keep house.

I suspect if I didn't work and had the time to be IN the house more, I would. But the truth is, I'm a working girl, and lately my hours have been 12 a day of mentally exhausting work that has left me a complete sloth by the time I get home.

So as I sit here, literally in my pajamas at 2pm on New years of 2010, I started thinking to myself...is THIS how I want to bring in a new year? The same way I went through yesterday, last year?

So, I could sit here and watch movies all day and maybe break my diet with all the chocolate christmas goodies...

or

I could do something about it.

Exhibit A: The bedroom

There is no question here that I was never destined to become a housekeeper. I pulled my radiator in the room, so I had to turn the rug up. I haven't made my bed, my socks are skew and my treadmill has been converted into a robe rack.

EXHIBIT B: The Christmas Aftermath

Traditionally, New years weekend is when all the christmas decorations get put up. I actually considered last nite leaving it out until February..lol I enjoy looking at it and I don't want to pack it. I also have not completely gone through all my Christmas gifts and removed them from the boxes.

And finally, tragically, Exhibit C: The bathroom

Neat freaks, look away. This might send you into a few rounds of therapy. A real womans bathroom will likely have more bottles in it of mysterious potions and scented liquids than a person can fathom.

So today I'm not going to get dressed, as previously planned, and venture out to go waste my money on things I probably don't need. Well, I do need some Christmas wrappings for next year but I can live without them, for now.

What I WILL do is get up and CLEAN. Long overdue. And by clean I don't mean just put things away but I'm about to break out the rags, comet and scrubbers. I am going to town with the cleansers. I will send myself into a state of semi-conciousness by the quantity of chemicals and products with bleach that I will be using. I will be unclogging drains and mopping floors.

This post, is the before. This is the embarrassing truth. This is why I fear popins. Of course i've seen people with far worse kept houses. But I absolutely refuse to start off this year sitting on my sofa eating chocolates. I will be busy the rest of the afternoon making my life clean and livable again.

And I will be forced to do this or else you people will think that I am still living in squalor by the pictures that I have put up. This year, 2010, I will try to maintain a Nike attitude

just do it

2010

2009-12-31T17:05:00.000-08:00

Well thank god it's over...LOL Another year

Everyone at work kept asking what I was doing. The irony is they would seem disappointed when I said (happily) i was going to go home, put on my pjs, sit on the sofa watching tv and snacking on some chocolates and snack mix. And yet when I asked what they were doing, it was much of the same. So why judge me?

Then I leave to a coworker telling me I need a boyfriend. Why do people say stuff like that? IT's one thing if I was hanging over the cube wall, depressed, about ringing in the new year. But I was quite smiling and happy about my plans given the hell i've had this month at work. I seriously need a break, and xmas vacation was NOT the break I was hoping for. Bah

boyfriend shmoyfriend

So my plans this weekend? I do want to see if I can find anything on sale one day, but the other days..absolutely NADA

My mom is great - she came over today and picked up a few things in my apt while I was at work. She also cooked a meal which has become somewhat of a tradition for new years eve: Meatballs and smokey links with potato salad. Don't ask, it's our thing..lol So I had a very hearty dinner and made the portions small as tempting as it was to go back for seconds, i'm still eating good.

Except tonight..i don't mind cheating on chocolates and a few munchies. It's new years eve after all.

Last night I buried gizmo in a flowerpot on my back patio. Later I'll dispose properly of the remains but you really aren't supposed to flush fish down the toilet...plus that just doesn't seem right. maybe it's me.

So, if you happen to be spending your new years at home too, shoot me a comment. I'll be checking in off and on.

Summary of Events

2009-12-29T21:16:00.000-08:00

I'm lying in bed, wondering why I'm not sleeping. After all, working until 7 or 8pm each night can wear you out. But I have to share all the little stories going on in my life.

MY COWORKER IS SERIOUSLY NUTS
You know the lady, who is on my team and seriously tries to avoid work and complain all the time. I've always suspected she was crazy but today was the cake topper. She stands up, dead serious, telling me she thinks that she's been poisoned. "Huh?" i replied, wishing I had taken my MP3 to work. Apparently she thinks mcdonalds purposely gave her rat poison. I was tempted to ask her when she begins bleeding out of every orafice of her body to give me a heads up but I resisted. Then she started babbling on to herself about how those evildoers and their accomplices would burn in hell

SNOW!
Yes today I saw my first snow for the winter season. They made a big whoop out of it so by that i knew it wouldn't pan out to much. And of course, I was right. It was pretty to watch for awhile but it was wet snow. My car looked like a snowball, smothered in snow from door to door. I cautiously stepped out into the night, somewhat brightened by the pretty large flakes falling with apprehension. Because....

COYOTE!
When leaving work last nite I pulled out of the lot onto the street and something ran in front of my car. IT was more of a quick stride than a run. But it was a large coyote, unmistakably. Great, coyotes lingering around my work. Maybe i need to find a parking spot closer to the door. It wouldn't be so bad had the security guard not told me about the bobcat sightings and how one of them was twice as large as a regular bobcat and was feeding off the leftover pizza from the dumpsters in our lot. well hopefully they like pizza more than ME

NEW YEARS PLANS
Zero. I never made a big deal out of new years. It's no big deal for me

MY RESOLUTION: DIET
Maybe you're wondering how i've been doing on my diet I started early. Great! homemade fajita one night, then last night I had bruschetta again with a small bit of ham. Breakfasts have been fruit (pineapple, chilian grapes? blueberries, strawberries), snacking on almonds in the day and today a high fiber lunch. I still had a couple bits of chocolate today but found i didn't want more. Seems like my body didn't really crave the sugar. Hopefully it will work, obviously exercise helps but who has time when i go to work at 7 and get home by 8? I barely have time to cook

thank god its a short week..rah!

and PS thank god oprah is off the air. Sorry but that went on too long, the woman is simply in love with the idea of herself. Somehow in the past 10 years or so she just began to get the worst god complex

Goodbye Friend

2009-12-29T21:12:00.001-08:00

I only had you since July and I thought i'd have you much longer because you were such a little fry

But with Christmas you grew ill and soon you couldn't see. Today it snowed, and you went to sea

ok i'm no poet. But RIP lil' gizmo

Resolutions Begin TODAY

2009-12-27T12:24:00.000-08:00

I still have a little pie and cookies to finish off, but i'm not going to wait until the New Year to start eating healthy. Effective Today: I am officially off fast food and junk food. I went to Target and spent the money to prove it. I proudly checked out with my cart loaded with vegitables, fruits, multigrain breads, nuts and nothing that was bad. Not a single thing.

I got home and wasn't sure what to do for lunch. Sure I could fall back into an old habit of eating a heavy lunch on sunday, trust me it was quite tempting to pick up Taco bell on the way home. Ah the irony of that..lol I ended up making something I've not only never made, but never eaten - Bruschetta.

I had to quickly thumb through some recipe books and search online to figure out what was in it. A lot of the recipes called for Vinegrette which I didn't have. So after glancing at the different recipes I made one with what I had. I don't have fresh basil leaves and cloves of garlic. So I took the multigrain bread, thinly sliced, and layed it out on a pan with the oven on broil. I took some Compari tomatoes diced up and mixed them with splashes of olive oil, crushed basil leaves, garlic powder, thinly sliced onion and topped on the bread with mozerella cheese. It was SO good! I had slices of raddish, cucumber and a couple of whole organic almonds seasoned in sea salt.

I'm proud of myself! Of course I still have a couple of handfuls of fudge sitting on my coffee table ;-/

I also got my fish, Gizmo, some medicine. I doubt it will work. By the sad looks of him he's not going to make it through New Years. He can't see, therefore he hasn't eaten in days. He's a sad sight and I wish I could do something for him. But you can't really comfort a fish can you?

LET YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS BEGIN TODAY!
We spend our lives setting dates and putting things off as an excuse to continue our bad habits. Join me in the New Years Resolution Revolution! lol

And now i must go so I can lay down on my sofa for the next several hours and completely veg while watching "District 9" and other dvd's. Toodles!

Forever dreaming of a White Christmas

2009-12-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Let me preface this by saying that my entire life I have always dreamed of a white Christmas. I bought one musical box that plays "Dreaming of a White Christmas" and I used to wish for it every year, even as an adult.

This year, as previously blogged, I was to go out of town to visit my grandma. The night before I was to leave, the weathermen were all saying that Christmas Eve would bring snow. That's a big deal, because I don't think Dallas has had snow in 85 years at Christmas. And they were predicting "Blizzard like conditions". SO when I woke up that morning, I packed my bags with a sigh and left Mia piles of food and water. I got to my parents house before they were even up and ready and after an hour we hit the road. The rain was miserable on my drive there so I was expecting a gloomy day. But the further east we drove the more the rain seem to let up.

That is, until we got to Arkansas.

Apparently unbeknownst to us they were having serious flooding conditions and had 9 inches of rainfall in the past 2 days and record rainfall for the year. It became apparent, however, the further into the state we drove. As we looked nervously on both sides of the highway at what appeared to be lakes but was the flooding of woodlands, my uncle called and warned us that the highway was shut down ahead. Oh now, flashbacks of a previous christmas we spent stranded on the road. We jumped off the interstate as soon as we saw the traffic was bumper to bumper, so close! And the service roads and side streets were just as bad. We sat on one road for about an hour and moved likely no more than 100 feet. My dad turned around and took the only other route which was a long circle around that would take another couple of hours if the roads were ok.

But roads weren't really ok. On one street the water was raging and there were no railings because it wasn't a bridge. I joked "I can't swim", but up ahead the water had rushed over the road and cars had no choice but to cross because it was a one lane. So there we were driving across an overspill, what they tell you not to do after reporting stories about cars being swept away. The city truck was there about to close the road and we saw an ambulance race by. I've never seen that much water in my entire life, i was totally amazed how much was underwater...everywhere.

Except for this house..lol We were stuck in traffic and sat in front of this house for a spell so i started snapping pics of their beautiful yard.

When we arrived at my grandmas house her street was even flooded over and closed right on the corner so cars for the next 2 days were driving by and having to turn around.

You know those FAIL pictures on the net? At grandma's house she had this santa hanging on the door....

My uncle and his new wife and step daughter were there. She really didn't talk at all and didn't smile much either. Her daughter was friendly tho. And my cousin had grown up, now he's 15 and going through the same phase I did as a teen. Rock. So i got him a cool guys link bracelet and he put it right on

They left after a bit, having waited for us all day. Oh, btw did I mention our normally 5 hour drive turned out to be 9 hours long? And trust me spending 1 hour of that in the paper mill down with the horrid stench of the factories was enough to send anyone over the edge

Mia went shopping and bought me a gift.

Me missing mia.

We walked down to the lobby of my grandmas apartment and took some christmas photos.

Of course, I have always been a big of a clown. Mom wanted me to pose in front of santa.

So I obliged

And took it a step further

My grnamda was just cracking up and couldn't resist getting a silly pic herself

Isn't silliness contagious? My mom even got a shot.

I guess santa was happy and decided we had been good after all that year. Of course one of the tenants who walked by didn't seem amused.

My brother meanwhile, was being snowed in at his house in Oklahoma. We later found out Dallas did get snow after all and had their first rare white christmas in years. But what can you do. Maybe in another 85 I'll get lucky. There's little snow left on the ground, mostly in drifts on the roof and a few patches

We drove home today and I was anxiously wanting to get home. As it turns out my fish is not doing well at all. I think he's blind now and stays closed to the top of the tank so he knows where to breath air (he's a betta). I have no idea what happened to him or how to help him.

Mia missed me tremendously. She's been on my lap off and on through the day,, snuggling and kneading the bread, giving me sweet looks and I've been spoiling her. I am overloaded with sweets and food.

And I am also making it a point to get it over with. Enjoy it now. Because I am, for sure, going to lose weight for the new year. I'm not going to let the stress of work and sheer lazyness on my part get the best of me. It won't be an empty new years resolution, I WILL do this.

Now it's all over. My family seems happy with what I got them. Maybe in another post I share what I got. I'm staring at some of the items under the tree, which I will keep lit at least through new years to enjoy it a little longer before packing it all away for 2010. I'm glad it will be a short week as I have friday off.

So for now I'll close this post, wishing you all the best and hoping that you had a memorable holiday..and maybe some of you at least, got to enjoy a white christmas

because i'm still dreaming of one

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T18:18:00.003-08:00

I'll be gone for a couple of days. So, Happy holidays everyone

Myspace Glitter Graphics

Christmas Meme

2009-12-22T19:44:00.001-08:00

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

I am so into gift bags. If my mom hadn't whisked away my presents tonight I might have taken a picture of how hideous my wrapping truly is. It's like a blind man with one arm went to town with the wrapping paper and tape.

2. Real tree or Artificial?

Artificial baby! Sure we love the smell of the real thing, but seriously I can't think that i'd want one in my tiny living room for a number of reasons which include: Pine needles all over the floor, my cat losing her ever-loving mind climbing through it, sap, having to water it (let's face it i barely keep my plants alive), fire hazard, allergies, bugs, and of course having to drag it out and dump the sad little thing on the curb when it's all over. Like the corpse of christmas those tree's lay on the side of the road.

3. When do you put up the tree?

The day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down?

Typically on new years day, or the weekend following.

5. Do you like eggnog?

Haven't figured out what a nog is, I know what egg is.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

My bike. With streamers, a glitter blue banana seat and a giant orange flag to alert everyone in the neighborhood that I was a nerd. The flag was so a car wouldn't hit me, even though i was never allowed to ride it on a public street.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

My dad. This year i bought him paper. PAPER!

8. Easiest person to buy for?

Me? I always know what i want

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

Nope. Wouldn't mind one but they all look so cheezy or gawdy. My mom has the best one, they're tiny little figures in a nativity scene made of wood that has a lantern that lights up. They probably got it in the 60s

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

ugh, i didn't mail out a single christmas card this year. I am shamed. Maybe next year email?

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

One year I got a pair of extra tight white leggings. about 3 sizes too small and hugged every inch of cellulite. And with it was a vest, that was made of oven mitt material and was red plaid like a hunters jacket. Holy lord i still have me modeling that on video

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

A christmas story. I like to watch Rudolph but somewhere in the middle it always depresses me how they banished rudolph and other toys that didn't 'fit in' and only befriended him when they wanted something from him. So the message was "It's ok for everyone including santa to make fun of and shun those that are different UNLESS they have something useful to offer"

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

All year, i collect things. It's when I finish that's always the big question mark.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Recycled? Like for the planet? lol Regifting, i've likely done. I think some people don't put much thought into the gifts they give you, they might just be getting something on sale or whatever. But if I can give it to someone who would adore it isn't it worth it? I don't really do this often and it would only be from distant relatives..lol BUt a lot of times they buy me clothes that don't fit me at all. Apparently my extended family thinks I am a leprachan.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Christmas dinner. I also like apple pie. I have a set of christmas cookie cutters i've never used, someday i'd love to make homemade sugar cookies and ice/decorate them myself. I did that as a kid and loved it. sigh..mostly nostalgia speaking there. It's not like i need another 5lbs of sugar. On the other hand....going to my grandmas house produces a whole different answer entirely. Her famous chocolate dinner rolls..omg i can't even explain how good they are

16. Lights on the tree?

Yep

17. Favorite Christmas song?

Let it snow. But my favorite line from a song is from Nat King Cole
Tiny tots..
with their eyes all aglow
will find it hard to sleep tonight
they know that saaaanta's on his way!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Stay home. I SO wish people would come see us more often than we have to go see them.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

yep..lol

20. Angel on the tree-top or a star?
Star. I'm a fan of a traditional star. I don't like the idea of shoving branches up an angels...

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas Eve. This is the ONLY way anyone over the believing of Santa age should do it..lol I have a firm believe christmas morning is for kids who believe in santa. Once you grow up it's so much easier to do things on Christmas eve. Open gifts, sit around watching movies talking and drinking wine and retiring to bed after picking up wrappings. Then on christmas day you can cook the dinner and just relax and enjoy yourself. Everyone i know who does the xmas day thing always talks about how chaotic it is. It takes them 4 hours to get through gifts and then they're too tired to cook. Although, i think it's great to save one gift for xmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

The fact that everyone is out shopping and acting like a complete ass in the store? Well HO HO HO to you for stealing my parking space and nearly clipping my bumper! lol

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

Birds. Not sure why but i love red birds on a christmas tree. I have 3..lol

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner?

Ham

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

A gift basket. Someday I'm going to buy myself a basket and fill it with things I've always wanted...LOL I'd love gourmet chocolate or candy, sausage, cheese, mustards, wine, snacks, that kind of thing. I absolutely adore going to World Market and other stores and collecting items to make gift baskets at CHristmas. I only hope the recipients love them as much as I do..lol

2009: The year of Youtube

2009-12-22T19:31:00.001-08:00

I guess if I could say anything about the past year it would be that I put a lot of work into videos for youtube upload. The trials and tribulations of editing, and also disputing copyright claims.

In the end i made 35 videos which have, since April, gained over 1 million views collectively.
Wow, I always wanted to make a video with a million hits but it kind of feels worth it knowing that at least a million views watched MY videos.

I guess it's therapeutic...like any hobby. And overall I have about 95% positive reviews and 5% idiots who just want to tear down anything they see. I especially love comments about how they may hate the tv show or movie. Then why did you specifically search for and watch it? lol

Now i've found myself making fake trailers for tv shows that won't even come out until next june..lol In fact they haven't started filming the show yet let alone have footage so I got all impatient and put together my own deal of what I think season 3 holds (at least having read the books) for "True Blood".

Yeah, "True blood", that awesomely campy HBO show that i have to watch online because I don't have cable. But strangely i've established this very loyal fanbase..lol

The question is, exactly when will HBO hire me? :-)

What is a humbug?

2009-12-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

yeah, i'm feeling it. The totally merry feeling of scroogeness. Bahhhhhhhh! LOL
Today at work our supervisor catered Olive Garden. I wish we could have had individual plates as I love the capallini pomodoro, but they ordered Lasagna and Beef Tortellini.

1. The lasagna was cheese, not beef. ;-/ Who likes cheese lasagna?! I can't stand all that ricotta
2. The tortellini had giant mushrooms in it and i couldn't tell the difference between them at the beef. Hint: I can't stand mushrooms

So i nibbled on those and then stuffed myself with cookies and cupcakes. Dammit, it's impossible. Then a coworker wanted me to help her paste a santa hat on her head in a picture so she could sent it to some coworkers from her old office. Of course that just won't do.

So I went to faceinahole.com and stuck her face on an elf. Cuz that's how I roll.

The last of my presents went out the door with my mom as they're getting the car packed for our trip. I'll be gone 2.5 days and poor Mia will be home alone. I should get one of those food dispensers someday but i'll just have to pour out her food in some bowls and hope she doesn't pig out the first night. You know what's sad is i have this wonderful little christmas tree that doesn't ever have any presents under it. They're always under someone elses tree.

Ok, here are the final results of my crafty attempts at painting. Not half bad if i say so myself. Although their eyes look a little soulless and remind me of those kids in Children of the Damned.

"screw you for leaving me at christmas!"

Yes people, I haven't lost my touch at posting disgustingly horrid pics of myself on the internet for the world to see with my hair all wild, in my robe and exhausted from a long day at work. I also came to realize in taking pics of myself my face has gotten disproportionately huge. So apparently when you gain weight you gain it ALL over. Another reason I'm going to lose weight after the holidays, my head is big enough.

The ol' living room. Not much different from the year before, really. But maybe next year when i'm in a new apt i'll have something more exciting to post.

My cousin sent out her annual christmas card. But she's one of those people who doesn't just send a card but writes a letter. The annual update of all their accomplishments through the year. Does this seem like a good idea or am I the only one who takes it as braggery? This year I won a scholorship while helping less fortunate, meanwhile my husband was donating tons of charitable time and won tickets to all these sporting events and my daughter is gifted and then we won the nobel peace prize

I got to thinking If i sent out an annual letter, what would I have to say?
nothing! I would literally have to make shit up to sound like my life is worth living..lol

Then maybe i could a pissed off mia on the front of the card chewing on my tree

Abandoned, Alone

2009-12-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

A couple of my virtual friends blogs I'm locked out of. When did this happen? Have I been shunned?

Since I changed my blog to hide from a snoopy coworker, nobody reads anymore. Not my regular readers and new readers don't find me. I'm not out there. I'm just this floating echo in the great void.

It feels quite lonely to log on each day, hoping to see a comment. Or to see through my tracking log that more than 2 people logged on to see how I was doing.

Does nobody care how I'm doing? I guess why should they, I'm just a stranger sitting here with assumptions that the things I say are witty or interesting and somehow reach out to people. Who am I kidding. I'm not seeking sympathy comments of reassurance...I'm just wondering at what point did I lose that piece of me that could capture someones attention? It's likely the content of what I write, but then the past several years did not document me traveling to distant lands or having coctails with Harrison Ford...and yet people tuned in.

Goodnight

That's what it's all about

2009-12-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

Creeping up on Christmas

2009-12-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here it is again, yet another Christmas creeping up on me. I'm not sure if this is the case for other singletons out there, but during the holidays I find that I do not get to make the choice of what to do. This seems to always be decided for me, wherever my parents go....I go. You really can't say no, do they expect to just let their daughter sit at home alone on Christmas?

So with that, I'll be packing my bags and heading to Arkansas...like it or not. and i'll have to leave behind my poor little Mia with an overloaded bowl of food and the fish who will not have his light flipped on when it gets cold at night.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand I'll be seeing my Grandma that I don't get a chance to see very often. On the other hand, I've been so tired from work that I really don't want to go anywhere. Yet there's this pressure on me not to ruin christmas by being a scrooge. Mom came over and scooped up some of my packages, as if holding them hostage. When you're married you don't have to deal with this, not really. You could always tell the family that you're staying home, you've got the kids or the spouse has to work. Nobody feels obligated to argue, after all why bother, you won't be alone?

I'm really thinking of making some serious new years resolutions this year, and typically I avoid resolutions like the plague. I mean, what's the point? On one day you make all these promises that You know you'll never keep and spend the rest of the year feeling bad about it. We set ourselves up for failure. But there are some things I must do, I need to do. So why not.

And if I don't blog anything before the holidays, I wish you a wonderful Christmas. And I wonder, just what will it be that 2010 has in store for us?

friggin tired!

2009-12-17T20:05:00.001-08:00

10 hours every day, and i don't get paid overtime. I'm also working saturday even though i'm taking friday off. Then i begin to wonder what's the point of taking a day off if i have to come in on the weekend? lol

I can't believe next week is christmas and i haven't even sent out my xmas cards. I'm wondering if it's too late now. I usually get them out the first week of december. Sigh. I'm just not with it these days.

My paranoid coworker is driving me bananas with her complaining, and thankfully my new supervisor see's how ridiculous she is. Instead of spend time today doing real work, she wasted time modifying a document that is MY job to update and then distributes it to the team without my having reviewed what changes she made. Ugh

I want to see "LEAP YEAR". I'm so in the mood for a feel food romance that will make me depressed about my life..lol

Especially since tonight i went through the taco bell drive through and the guy looked and me and said...

"you come here a lot don't you?"

Save the child

2009-12-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

i hope someone finds him

2009-12-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

I'm totally not happy with my blog layout, and it's too much trouble to change. Oh if only I had saved the previous layout. bah

i am officially BEAT. I've been working late everyday for weeks, and no i don't get paid for it. Today I tried to do xmas shopping and I put my earphones in and even that didn't block out the misery of it all. Normally it's nice but sometimes i have moments where you have rude people and the madness of screaming kids and annoyingly loud music and i said too loudly "I can't take this anymore!" LOL My mom was with me and said "Shhhh", but i had my earphones in and didn't know how loud i had said it.

But does it matter? I'm probably just stating what everyone else is feeling.

Sorry, the only version of this song i could find was one someone made to the Sims game..lol

Photos - woot!

2009-12-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

i found an editing program online to use, at least for now. Of course now that I have it I realize i didn't transfer all of my pics over from my old computer

I can never win. OK so after spending about a half hour fixing that problem (still need to hook up my old keyboard cause this new one sucks)..here are some pics that I took on my last outing (god..whenever THAT was)

I miss using familiar software..grr! So nothing special in the editing here because i couldn't even preview them in large mode to tell if they were worth shots to edit and i have a TON of pics

These i just made look old. It's interesting to see how both me and my mom make the other pose. I wanted her behind the fence and she always has to sit me on top of steps so she can take shots below me looking up (and i hate that angle)

No touchup. Just a b&w flower shot

I got a little snap happy with the B&W mode on the camera, it was a very bright time of day and the contrast of green plants never looks good

a walkway through some gardens

reflections on the water

I'm attracted to things people would normally not even look at. Like a chopped up stump

Under Construction

2009-12-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

Just playing with a new layout

Snowflakes in December

2009-12-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Snow in december seems to be unusual in Texas. Typically it comes after January. But this wednesday I woke up quite suprised. I went about my usual routine in the morning getting ready for work and ripped open the drapes. I turned to feed the fish and had to double back. Snow? Not just snow but Colorado snow showers...it was a blizzard outside! Big beautiful flakes, white ground. More towards work it was wet snow and not so much on the ground and by noon all of it was gone. But it was a great sneak peek of winter.

Tonight it's freezing, in the 20's? Maybe teens. I'm curled on the sofa, with swollen eyes. Because I watched "My sisters keeper", definately not a movie you want to see if you hate to cry. And I don't cry. It's about a girl who has cancer. I guess maybe it was more personal for me since i had friend who died of cancer when we were just teens. It's sad to think all these years have gone by and she never had a chance to grow up.

I took today off. I shopped a little for Christmas.

Today I tried on hats for my sister in law. Lots of hats. I couldn't really figure out which one would look good on her. Because all the tags said "One size fits most"

And apparently, i'm not most.

Squirrels in the Attic

2009-11-30T17:35:00.001-08:00

There is scurrying about in the attic these days. Scratching, clawing, thumping and thunderous roars of feet. I guess the squirrels are bedding for winter as the first official cold wind has blown in.

I went to my brothers for Thanksgiving and had dinner there. My nephew went to his room after awhile as he wasn't feeling well and we headed home at dusk. The funny part is because we didn't take any leftovers it didn't feel like thanksgiving. So when we got back mom came over and together we cooked yet another thanksgiving dinner the next day..LOL

I made the BEST pie
Upside down apple pie. It is so sweet, so rich. I put pecans, brown sugar, butter on the bottom of the pan and put the crust, pie, crust over it. You flip it over when its done and drizzle powdered sugar and orange juice glaze over the top. I can't even explain how much I loved it..lol

So now begins the holiday shopping. I got one part of the family done this weekend. I also managed to get all my xmas decorations up too. So I'm sitting here on the sofa wrapped in a throw, glancing over at my softly lit tree in the corner all decorated. I have ornaments from childhood and given to me over the years. Each one I know where I got it. And every year I buy myself 1 ornament. This year it was rudolph :)

And I finally finished painting those little holiday children. Woohoo..LOL Only months later.
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and there have been no pics posted because, i can't remember if i mentioned this, when I got my new PC hooked up i couldn't find my camera installation software. While i can drag, drop i don't have a program to edit so when I get time i need to find one.

Next on my agenda: Christmas Cards

THis year i'm sorta in love with fingerless mittens and arm warmers. I like the warm warmers with the thumbhole and open fingers,

and also the fingerless gloves with individual finger holes and a mitten cover that is attached by a button that you can pull over. Makes it convenient when you need to get things out of your wallet and so forth, no need to take your gloves off.

i can't believe this year is almost over

Things I did This Week

2009-11-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

1. Forgot to pay my rent
2. Went to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens and did photography
3. Had my first red Sangria
4. Took a day off of work
5. Almost watched my mother and $1000 go into a pond

Let me tell you that story. So today me and my mom drive to fort worth so i can take some photographs at the fort worth gardens. We walked around the japanese gardens, lovely. Then we decided to stroll around the other surrounding gardens. We walked through the rose garden which had scented jasmine and long stone walkways and found pathways that wound into some tree's. So I led the way walking on these paved trails where one went over a pond as a bridge..basically some stone rocks making a pathway over the water.

I stood there taking some shots and i have no idea why, I truly have to watch and yell at my my sometimes..lol She comes right up to me (sort of a peeve when i'm photographing) and I turn around and she..well I don't know what happened. I saw her lean forward, do the "oh oh woahhh" moah going forward into the murky pond.

Then she grabs my arm to save herself. Actually she grabbed my Canon camera..LOL then to compensate her balance she leaned backwards and whirled around to realize that there was a giant pond BEHIND her too. Clutching my arm and making the oh god noises one would expect before you tumble into a lagoon I started grappling her arm and balancing myself because she was taking me down with her!

Finally, composure regained. I glanced around wondering if anyone saw, and kind of wish they had.

You know whenever me and her go out, it's always something

I also learned a valuable lesson when going to a park.
1. Take shoes you dont mind getting dirty
2. never cross a field when there are paved walkways

That's all She wrote

2009-11-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

Well i wish i had some pics to upload. I will this weekend. I'm taking friday off work and I want to go back to the Japanese gardens in ft worth. My goal is to get a few good shots in this year and have some new stuff for calendars that i can gift to family.

I just wish I could get that new PC hooked up. lol

I thought I killed Gizmo last nite, I did a partial water change and he acted as if I shot him full of crack. But I"m glad to report Gizmo is alive and well. I may not be, my supervisor has me doing some of the dirty work in instructing that problem lady on my team critical deadlines she has to meet tomorrow and when she gets in she's not gonna like it. IF she talks smack to me i'm supposed to report it, I just have so much difficulty with this woman sometimes because when she's falling behind she refuses to do what I ask when i'm trying to be suggestive and helpful as to what she can focus on.

I'm really looking forward to having friday off

OMG time to xmas shop already? My regular playlist is up, scroll down to the bottom of this blog to see it and the bottom of the playlist shows my most recently added songs

Turning Back the Clock

2009-11-01T06:16:00.000-08:00

Finally Daylight savings is OVER! LOL Real time. I got up early this morning pre-dawn so I went out to take pictures. First time in ages that I forgot how..omg that is sad.

I actually went out to take pics of this glass building, it looks amazing at sunset but not so great at dawn as I found out. When I was drivin around the building i came across their manmade little park. So i got out and took some shots. It was a nice little area, people walking dogs and the tree's are changing color so made great reflections on the water.

I decided to go when i saw a homeless man crossing the field. I have to keep my senses when going out alone, i was so busy scanning for wild coyotes or other animals I forgot about people. On the way home i stopped by Grandy's for some sausage gravy and biscuits and now I'm relaxing on my sofa in a sunny living room halfway watching "City of Ember". After awhile I'll review my shots and hopefully something turned out good.

Paranormal Activity

2009-10-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, I saw the movie. Lots of it had to do with strange noises, in the walls..footsteps banging. And I realized I could have made a movie about my apartment!!

Especially the time not too long ago where behind the wall was the worst kind of banging noise it sounded like someone was kicking through the wall and my downstairs neighbor came up and we just stared blankly at eachother.

The movie was different, felt like a home movie. Very low budget, no effects. Just a few good jumps in your chair and something to think about when you switch off the light that night.

Now I did see another trailer for 2012
woohoo!!!!!!

I've been so psyched to see this movie for months now and it's going to be amazing because whether the plot stinks or not I love big disaster films. And the effects look superb! Looks like a big huge budget film with lots of explosions, some corny comedic moments...oh so hollywood. Gotta love it

Take a look for yourself

Almost Halloween

2009-10-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

are you sick of my halloween playlist already? LOL

Um, except you graham. Who can't even hear it. If you click "URL" on the player can you at least hear on the the main site?

I was thinking of all the things I've dressed up as on Halloween that I can "remember"
1. Wonder Woman
2. Princess
3. angel
4. Pirate
5. Vampire

and that's all I can remember. My clothes were ALL homemade. Either home sewn or just assembled. Usually the items were recycled. Like my princess homemade dress was my 'angel' dress the next year and mom made my cardboard wings. Because that's the way we rolled in 1980

That was back in the day when people gave you homemade cookies, caramel apples, popcorn balls, and other things and nobody worried about poisoning. Then again I don't think there's ever been one documented case of the poison/razor blade thing, it's all urban legend.

I so need to get my butt off this sofa and get in the shower before 10pm.

What FUN i had this week!!
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My apt office came by to inspect my apt. This meant I had to get the cat out. So mia went to my parents house. Then my car failed inspection because of the emergency break, so I had to get that fixed. I've been working late every night. So where is #3? It always comes in 3's. The apt thing was an ordeal, i had to schedule it and hide all the cat stuff. Trust me hiding a 4 foot cat tree is NOT easy...LOL

I also got this new alarm clock and it's quite cool. Except that the actual alarm is very...alarming. It's a progressively louder and louder beeping melody that will jolt me right out of the bed to shut it off. what they need to invent is a bed that literally tilts to the side and dumps you onto the floor.

Horror movies Don't Scare Me

2009-10-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

But I am DYING to see Paranormal Activity. I'm hearing the buzz and I love terror movies (The kind that are more terrifying because they don't show much and the buildup of anticipation makes it even more)

Im sure you've seen the trailer with the audience reaction. Here's an audio someone took in the theater when they went to see it

SO, yep. I'm really hoping this movie lives up to the hype.

BFF....E?

2009-10-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in going to my parents neighborhood for lunch i ran into my best friend i've known since 9 putting up 'found dog' signs. She may have been embarassed she was in sweatpants and looking grungy but then all our lives we've never cared about that kind of thing or impressing eachother. She just seemed strangly stand offish, she still invited me to a bbq this weekend and we talked for awhile. She's one of those friends when you start talking to them you fall right into place, you've known eachother so long you're like family. Conversations are never forced. But why so distant.

She also told me the huge massive black cross tattoo on her back was jacked up because she had an apprentice do it (who has an apprentice work on them?) And to fix it the guy has to make it bigger. omg her entire back is going to be black..ugh Why did she do that

I'm sitting here putting on makeup for work and listening to music on my laptop. Bored yep, but thrilled i no longer have to 'punch in' at work so there's no racing around managing my time. that is the one luxery

All hell is breaking loose at work btw, just system issues and stopping production and procedural miscommunications. IT's a nightmare. Is it friday yet? UGH

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Muggy, cloudy, foggy. Last nite i woke up in the middle of the night and saw Mia on the pillow next to me upside down, belly up and her front paws stretched all the way out. It was a funny sight.

October Already

2009-10-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

I just realized it's October! Wow, time flies. I normally put up my halloween playlist and theme but not sure i'll do that on the blog this year...like i did with my previous blog. Well, i might later in the month but it just doesn't seem like it should be halloween already!

As i sit here i'm watching SNL with drew barrymore hosting. Seems like the show is getting funnier these days. It only went through a decade or two of bad shows and actors..lol

It's been raining all week. And it got really cold yesterday so at lunch I went to the chinese hole in the wall place i mentioned before and lined up against the wall with a bunch of strangers waiting for my food as the cook tossed his wok on their 1 burner stove. What's sad is i left the leftovers in the fridge at work when I left for the day and i went to have dinner at my folks. When i left their house around 8pm i drove back to my work just to get the leftovers..LOL

HA HA HA

2009-10-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

My new blog needs a sense of humor. So here are some images that I made up years ago. And I bring them out every so often

because they amuse me

And someday....somewhere....somehow

someone...

Will get my sense of humor

My neighbors are disgusting pigs

2009-10-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Someone threw a happy meal box all over the lower ground entrance of my apt. So i had to step over french fries and napkins and all kinds of trash. I don't know who's doing it, it's either the new neighbor downstairs or local kids.

ARGH! UGH! I sure don't wanna clean it but it's MY apt and I don't like seeing garbage everywhere. Makes me want to go dump my cat litter out there just to make a point.

I wanted to eat out less because of H1n1. So what did I do for lunch? Went to Wendy's! What is wrong with me? Am I asking for it?

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My youtube fans keep sending me messages asking me when my next video is coming out. OMG i haven't even started one because my new PC is not yet hooked up and I need to install software and move data. My fans...haha. That's funny to say out loud. I can't live up to those high expectations.

Can i Just be thankful today? I Complain too much. So i'm going to try to think of things that happened today that I'm thankful for. What a HUGE change for me! LOL

I'M THANKFUL THAT:

...I could fit into my slacks this morning
...I was officially promoted and saw my new salary today
...nobody mentioned my bad hair day
...I had an unopened jar of Jam in the pantry I didn't know about
...Mia wasn't mad at me even tho i came home at 6:30
...I've completed most of my big projects
...I had cat litter in the trunk of my car (whew! u have no idea..lol)
...my fish loves me even though he only see's me a couple of hours a day
...it's thundering but not raining

But alas I have a confession. I have taken back up a very bad habit. I've been drinking coffee. I swore it off after I had my incident last year that ended up me being in the E.R. I have to focus on cutting back stress and caffiene, or at least learning to manage it. But there I go ahead with 2 cups in the morning, likely because i've been stressed. Sigh. I must take care of my health, but it's so hard

So tomorrow i'm going to make an effort to remember to drink cocoa or apple cider instead.

....although

I don't know that a cup full of sugar is all that much better.
3.

I was just thinking...

2009-10-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

My blog is going through labor pains. The birth of a new blog is always hard. How to start over. And i've been trying to work on the layout but I'm not entirely happy with it. The format is clean but the colors clash. I love the background (red..you can see more of it at the very bottom by my playlist)

But one question: Am i the only one who can't hear the music when I log onto my blog? I have to scroll TO the playlist for it to activate?

I don't like that. Because I love music and I want to assault my readers with my music..LOL
So let me know. Seriously.

I'll have to post some pics soon. Show you my progress i cleaning - uh...my dining room.
Maybe it's time to show you some fashion shots of clothes I've bought recently. Seems like lately all the shirts i've bought have pink or purple in them. Not sure what that's about. Getting in touch with my "my little pony" 9 year old self I guess.

We are expecting rain all week. My ceiling is already leaking and yellow again. People are starting to wonder about me. My coworker was laughing because the interior lining around my car doors was bowed and hanging..due to the heat of having to park my car outside in the blazing sun. I plan to get a box cutter and cut it off, nobody needs that lining anyhow it's just decorative. But I guess i'm not one to dwell on things like that. I live in the real world where not everything is shiny and new and perfect.

I Do not Tweet

2009-10-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

Twitter.

What is the point? I'm guessing it's one step up from a blog where you can give your subscribers immediate "Breaking news" updates of what you're eating, where you are going and why you hate traffic.

So if to use twitter is to tweet, is a person who tweets a twit?

PANDEMIC

2009-10-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

As I predicted last spring, we're in the middle of a pandemic. Everyone seemed to blow it off early this year when not as many people caught the flu as expected. But I am fairly knowledgeable in this area simply because in previous years i've done some reading and have been following the avian flu with the expectation it was only a matter of time before the next pandemic would hit.

I live in Texas. Right now we're #5 for confirmed deaths. According to an article:
105,287 people in Texas may need to be hospitalized, if 35 percent of Americans get sick from the H1N1 virus as predicted.

All tolled, roughly 8.5 million people in Texas could contract the flu this season.

That would mean 66 percent of the state's hospital beds could be filled during the height of the outbreak, based on estimates from the FluSurge model developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An estimated 15 states could run out of their available hospital beds during the outbreak, the report said. Twelve additional states could reach or exceed 75 percent of their hospital bed capacity, based on estimates.

"Health departments and communities around the country are racing against the clock as the pandemic unfolds," said Jeff Levi, executive director of TFAH.

I can say in my city we've been seeing a number of outbreaks and deaths of children, who are the most suceptable to this strain as they have no immunities to this new virus. In 1918 the Spanish flu hit and people literally drowned in their own fluids, that strain mutated where some were bleeding out of every orifice. While the numbers are probably not solid I can calculate based on wikipedia the mortality rate is somewhere in the 1% range....up significantly from spring. That doesn't seem like much, but keep in mind the Spanish influenza mortality was only 3-6% and as the flu circulated the world over 2 rounds (not just one flu season) it increased, spiked. That small percentage roughly equates between 50 to 100 million dead.

Woops, did I just scare you?

Good. So don't feel paranoid about carrying hand sanitizer with you everywhere, covering your mouth, wiping down your shopping cart handles with satiziing wipes or even wearing a mask and i pray to god that the schools make it mandatory before it gets worse.

My company just installed germ hand santizer dispensers at key locations through every facility in all the states..i'm glad to see people using it. I have. I santize using my stuff but it helps to have those whenever i have to touch the door handles.

I'm also glad to see that now i'm not the only one who has a giant tub of germ-X hand sanitizer on my desk. People used to make fun of my gigantic bottle. Since when is practicing hand washing and being clean negative or paranoid? I've had it for over a year (i swear it's the biggest thing you've ever seen)

It's quite scary. A lady on my team's daughter goes to the same school a girl just died of H1n1 went to. It's so easy to transport viruses. My uncle works at a childrens' hospital and says they're just slammed with flu cases. how it could impact the economy is significant. Viruses travel faster now than ever due to air travel.

be safe. wash hands, maybe we should do a little more of our xmas shopping at home on the internet this year.

Here's the latest death in dallas. What's scary? The fact one girl diagnosed was turned away from Tamiflu stating she did not fall within the high risk of those who need it. wtf? Any child under 18 should get it if they're diagnosed.

It's my cat in a box!

2009-09-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

Mia has small pleasures in life. One of them is her love of boxes. The smaller the box the better. I have a big gigantic box my PC came in she wants nothing to do with.

But give her the box the ozarka bottles came in and she's a happy camper. Everytime I see her in one I start singing "It's my cat in a box", to the theme of that infamous Justin timberlake song from SNL

There's a bit of irony in it but i won't go there.

Her favorite is when I scooch her around the floor in the box so it's like she's sledding. I thought she was too fat for the box, so I cut the side edge off so she could stretch out. She wanted NOTHING to do with the box after that. So I had to give her a fresh box with all 4 sides so she could wedge her little but in there.

good times

FAIL

2009-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday, thought these were funny

Ikea Rules again

2009-09-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

There is one thing that is truly great- and that is walking in Ikea. I never buy the furniture, but i LOVE walking through all the displays. They have everything so well layed out you could imagine it as a room in your house.

Now here's my favorite part of the store - and that's towards the end. It's the lamp section. I am a lamp fiend, I think. I love lamps, I love light. I love the way a lamp can completely change the mood and ambiance in a room. It is very hard for me not to buy all of the lamps in that store because I for one live in a tiny apt and have no room and second my electric bill would be to the moon..lol

Todays purchase was a $20 glass etched lamp. They came in all colors including white but I loved the red with the etching of leaves. The pictur emakes it seem more light but it's actually a pretty deep red...and i love the way the etchings add depth and shadows to the wall. OMG i totally am tempted to buy more of them!! I have no idea where i'm going to put this but for now I want it in my bedroom to enjoy at night.

And for those of you who were curious what ever became of the two figurines that i vowed to paint for xmas. Well, i finished the boy but I procrastinate so much that i haven't gotten around to finishing up the girl.

mia sleeps in her carrier all the time, so I just keep it out. It will make taking her to the vet really easy if she's already in there. The funny thing is she won't let me PUT her in there..so i have to wait if i want to take her somewhere until she's in there and i just lean over and zip her in. muahaha

Today the temp was gorgeous but i had an ordeal at Ikea that involved a lot of walking, an exchange and standing in a hot line. afterwards i stopped by wendy's for their famous frosty and it's in my freezer waiting for me later ;-)

I just love my new lamp! Ikea has some great lamps out this year so if you live near one or can shop online do so, the prices are super cheap. Also their bulbs seem to last a long time. I have a grundig i bought over 2 years ago and have never had to change that lightbulb (the lightbulbs are not the ones you buy at walmart, i guess you can only buy their specialty ones)

Tonight i'm going to watch "Ghosts of girlfriends past"...woohoo..lol I haven't contemplated dinner. I went to applebees for lunch and had a Fiesta Lime Chicken. The girl who seated us was rude, sometimes i wish teens didn't work in resturants. Many of them are upbeat and give great service but far too many of them don't really give a flip.

The sun just went down, i can't believe it's almost October. I'm not sure when the first day of my new position is, and not really sure what all will be entailed with that position. They created it to move me up but they seem to have ideas of making it something more than what i'm doing so i'm a bit worried what they have in mind. it's all so very undercover...

Dyeing

2009-09-26T08:09:00.001-07:00

Today is hair dye day. I've put it off long enough..lol I was going to come on and bring up my playlist so i could listen to music while i inhaled toxic fumes...but alas project playlist appears to be down at the moment.

So i will suffer in silence

I saw the movie SURROGATE with Bruce Willis
Didn't care for it. Didn't hate it but didn't really like it either. Seriously, in a world where you can live through a robot and be anyone, do anything, go anywhere, you're seriously just going to get up and go to work? I highly doubt it. But that was a fact, crime rates dropped..etc. Seriously? People would act like they would in a video game, bank robberies and robot identify theft...leaping off of tall buildings in a single bound, that kind of stuff. Big let down.

It's so sad..my vacation is coming to a close. I can never enjoy sunday because it's tainted, being the day before work. So today is really my last enjoyable vacation day.

sniff

Win Win Win!

2009-09-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation this week! One day I bought me a new MP3 which I kind of hate because the new MP3's are not user friendly and come with all kinds of crappy software. I went to a dvd resale store one day to buy movies and I was so put off when after an hour I heard one of the workers say to another "She's still here?". Omg not everyone just runs in there knowing they're going to buy "independence day". some of us like to browse and kill time.

I have done a little shopping, just looking around at the fact the xmas stuff is already out. I did grocery shopping and ate out a couple of times. This morning I woke up and wanted to go gambling. So I called mom to see what her plans were and she was up for it.

Conveniently, Choctaw casino's are just over an hour away...much closer than Shreveport which is about 3. I had never been and just wanted to check it out. It's on the indian reservations and most of the casino's up there don't serve alcohol which is fine considering people drive like maniacs on that highway. I got $200 out of the ATM, which is what i was willing to lose.

The casino is a nice size (I hear it's bigger than winstar), I don't play the tables only the slots so I scoped the place out for the cheap machines. The best way to really enjoy your time in a casino is to play the penny or nickle slots for an hour or two because if you go right to the quarter or dollar machines you're going to end up losing your money fast and be ready to leave in an hour.

Anyhow I hit a few slots and lost $20 before finding the "Wheel of Fortune". My machine was so lucky I kept getting spins where it would multiply my winnings up to 450x. woohoo! I cashed out around $60 so I was ahead. Then I went to a dollar machine and I won! I was then at about $140. I decided to keep playing until mom wanted me to help her find those penny slots so at around $120 I cashed out and went to play the wheel of fortune again. I was down to $100 and decided to go BACK to the dollar machine i was having so much luck at.

Which then I ended up down to $60. Nooooooooooooooooo!!!! I cashed out and went to another dollar machine, and at that point decided i'd been there 2 hours already so who cares if I lost it because i was only down $40. Away went the money until I cashed out less than a dollar. I went to find mom and couldn't find her so I passed by a nickle machine and decided to put my ticket in there and just spend the remaining change i had left since there's no point in going to the cashier with an embarassing ticket of 85 cents...lol

i was betting 20 cents per spin and i was down to my last spin and when I hit the jackpot. The bell was clanging and I watched my change go to $10, $14, $17...and seriously I thought it would stop at about this point.

IT kept going.

I sat back waiting for it to hurry up so I could go find mom before she wandered off too far. But it kept going!! It was up to $60!! Mom found me and sat down, I showed her the machine and she was excited, it was still going! We sat there and watched it go to $143 and it stopped. Woohoo! I was way ahead. So i decided I would spin just a few more times until I hit $140..LOL Mom said "nooooo don't do it!".

Good thing I didn't listen to her. I won again and finally cashed out of the machine at $193 and change. all in all it was a fun trip and i got home before the sun came down.

The downside is i smell like an ashtray, i wish they would have a non smoking casino..lol

A long Thursday Night Post

2009-09-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

Today was uneventful. The usual drama at work, my manager coming too many too many times for favors and things for me to do. Isn't my supervisor supposed to do that? Tommorrow is the first of 3 interviews I have to do for my promotion. Ah the humility. Guess this means i can't enjoy the only day i'm allowed to wear jeans to work.

Dammit

I drove home in a black thunderstorm with lighting flickering across the skies. I ran across the wet grassy area in front of my apt and came in to a suprise. My parents had stopped by earlier to drop off some laundry and my dad had installed a water filter in the kitchen and also new faucet fixtures in the bathroom. IF i could even tell you what a sorry and embarassing state my previous fixtures were in. I have hard water and the mineral deposits build up and turn green and are impossible to remove. I wonder if when I move i should leave them or take them, they're cheap but still.

Isn't it funny how small things can really make your day.

I've been wasting some hours on the net tonight wathing movie trailers and trying to find some new music. You can always check out the bottom of my playlist to see my recent additions. I'm quite annoyed I can't locate Depeche mode's "Corrupt", it's awesome.
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Gizmo my fish is so funny. They say fish have no feelings, don't know what's going on. He totally watches me all the time, follows my finger around, and does a big happy dance when he see's me pick up the worm container.

Which is kind of gross I keep dried worms but he loves em. He's lookin at me now trying to find a way to break through the glass and swim to me.

I LOVE HIM! lol

Mia on the other hand, i don't know what's gotten into her. Perhaps too much solitude, i know how that feels. I've got no weekend plans, but i'm glad it's finally here. I have one more week and then my weeklong vacation. I keep trying to extend an offer to my best friend to go hang out but i don't know what's gotten into her lately. She'd oesn't really try to keep in touch. I don't know if she's going through some kind of identity crisis or what. She's been getting lots of tatoos and her latest is a gigantic black cross on her back that makes her look like an ex convict. And she bleached her hair, i don't even know her anymore. We were always wild back in the day but you're supposed to grow out of that, right?

I'm so sad true blood will be ending and i have to wait until next June for season 3. There's not many shows i'm really into. I used to get all exicted about watching LOST until they had so many months inbetween seasons that i don't even know what the hell is going on anymore.

i'm trying not to go into my sad funk. I feel it always on the the outside of me like a thin little shell closing in. Life's too short to be sad about it

So instead i'll give gizmo a kissy face and watch him paddle his little behind all over the tank with glee

Call off the Dogs

2009-09-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

My parents have had more excitement than they can stand in their neighborhood. Last weekend late at night there was an accident on the corner and my dad called the cops, let them in and the person was taken away in cuffs.

Then mom calls this morning and says last night she heard helicopters circling. She looked out the window (it was past midnight) and saw cops across the street in the alley with bright flashlights and search dogs. If that wasn't enough drama, the doorbell rings and someone is banging saying "Open up, police!"

Mom opens the door to find two cops saying that they are looking for someone and their search dogs led them to their porch twice. They wanted to come in and search the backyard, so mom let them in and I guess at this point dad woke up. The funny thing is I almost spent the night there last nite, I missed out..lol

I've been hanging around the house. I did a little shopping this weekend and ate out once but mostly just been lazing around the apt, especially today where I didn't even really get dressed. I love being a lazy bum! It's what I live for.

I watched a total of 4 movies:
- THE UNBORN - Watchable but..meh
- SUNSHINE CLEANING - I loved this movie! Quirky offbeat indy film
- LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT - I made the mistake of watching the unrated version, I do not recommend this film. I was really disturbed by the long rape scene which i didn't think was necessary
- GARDEN STATE - Watchable but a little full of itself

Last weekend after my hangover (which i swear last a week) subsided I worked on my resume which was full of cobwebs and looked like crap. It went on for two full pages and a supervisor told me it was too wordy. Anyhow it's stupid but I have to apply for my promotion. We'll see if I get the job..LOL

At least i get tomorrow off, i love holidays! I have a week off this month and I thought that one day I'd drive up to one of the casino's in Oklahoma just to see if they're worth going to. They're close than Shreveport, the big ones like Choctaw and Windstar, with just over an hours drive. Not bad. Can't say i've been up to much else

Happy Hour & A Serial Killer

2009-08-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Last night after work we went out to eat to celebrate someone getting a promotion. It was about 30 of us at a table, drinking and eating. A coworker ordered this giant gator bowl which is a huge bowl of alcohol mix and 3 giant straws. Naturally i sat by her so..lol It was fun

Afterwards the remaining few of us went to a bowling entertainment place up the road. I had already had too much to drink and had one more beer at this place. Me and my former supervisor went outside to talk and some random guy walked up and just joined our conversation. It was quite..odd. He started going on about einstein and computer science and anxiety attacks and i think he was on drugs. A girl in my office came out and I started giving her odd looks, i left and went back inside.

This guy came back inside and joined our table. He was going on about smoking drugs and the whole conversation revolved around him. I turned my back to him, something about him gave me the creeps. He said something about how the place was a meatmarket and wanted to show one of my coworkers how excited he was. HE stood up and walked toward him and my corowker back up. I left the table for a minute and when I got back i went to the bar to pay out my tab. My coworker came up and told me when I was gone the guy was talking about how he made dead bodies out of laytex. WTH?

At that point i wanted to go. It was getting too weird, I was too tired and this guy was too creepy. I think today I'm just going to hang out around the house.

I have to work on my resume because I'm posting for the promotion that i was told was mine. I can't believe I have to apply for it.

And maybe that's why I just don't go out anymore these days. I like my life of normalcy. I don't want to run into ted bundy's.

PSA - Texting

2009-08-25T19:59:00.001-07:00

I don't text.

At all. I have a cheap pay as you go trackphone, so if i could text it would cost me a lot.

But all too often we're hearing stories about near plane accidents, train accidents, car accidents, all kinds of things going on because people are too busy texting. I see people at work texting, standing in line texting. In fact one of my coworkers whenever we go out to lunch is so busy texting on her phone I don't know why she even wants to go out and "socialize"

I thought this (while graphic), should be shown in every high school to give the younger generations a message of how a split second will change everything

SHOPPING & DEAFNESS

2009-08-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should start off by saying today was a strange day.

I woke up promptly around 4:30am to crashing thunder so loud and back to back that it sounded like a giant baseball bat slamming into a metal garbage can over and over. On top of that my neighbors car alarm kept going off and after awhile he got tired of turning it off and just left it going. My power went out as a result and the rest of the morning I had little sleep.

I met some coworkers at a seafood restaurant, and yet again got into the whole "Why don't you like seafood" discussion. People seem truly bewildered, as if they don't believe me. As if they could convert me like it were a religion. As if me saying that i can't stand the taste or smell of it wasn't enough. I expected any moment they would pin me to the floor and shovel it down my throat.

After my chicken salad me and another girl who also had the day off went back to her apt and hung out there for a bit before going out shopping. Then the strangest thing happened. I'm in the store and out of the blue I get really hot all of a sudden, and feel dizzy. I go to the bathroom and as I walk in i go deaf. I can hear someone faintly talking in the distance but i touch my ears and have the sensation of deafness. I took some deep breaths and waited for a few minutes. It slowly came back and I told my friend I was going to have to go home. I felt my heart go a little slow but it wasn't the type of sensation or episode i've had before so it almost didn't seem related. I thought maybe my blood pressure was too low as i felt really lethargic most of the day and it was very hot outside.

As a side note i should mention that while all this is going on and my friend is looking a little panicked i actually waited to buy my bracelet..LOL Sorry but it was too cute

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Later for dinner i ran to Chipotle to get a nice salty dinner of a chicken rice bowl and chips/guacamole in hopes of getting food in my system. My internet wasn't working when i got home, i went through the trouble of calling Verizon. Then halfway through the call the automated voice said "make sure your router is plugged in"...DOH!

God WTH it's always something! I think that was the closest i've ever felt to fainting, thank god i didn't go headfirst into the public toilet..lol

I have a few new clothes i got yesterday, yay! I always get excited over new clothes. :)

Taking the day off

2009-08-20T20:41:00.001-07:00

Finally, some TIME OFF.

Today I went shopping and squeezed my butt into some jeans I have no business wearing. Well, i should be ashamed of myself for having earned myself a donut ring around my hips that makes it impossible to wear all these trendy clothes and look good in them. :-(

And meanwhile I grab a size 0 off the rack (I know i always like to mention this elusive size 0) and held it up realizing that by god this truly IS a childs size!! My arm couldn't go through the leg of the pants...and mind you this was in the misses section.

I have tomorrow off too and a coworker wants to go out to lunch and knowing her she'll probably want to go do some other stuff. She wants to see Inglorious basterds, i'm not sure what to make of that movie even though i love tarantino. Anyhow maybe i can just talk her into drinks or bowling or something that doesn't involve sitting in a dark room for 3 hours wasting my day and my money..lol

And on my day off today there were protesters picketing outside of our main office, which I don't work at but i was curious to drive by it. It was on the news later. Idiots.

Only 3 more episodes of "True Blood"

Promotion?

2009-08-18T05:02:00.000-07:00

Well I just got my raise and they gave me the max. Then today my supervisor says she thinks they have good news for me, that they would be promotinjg me to a higher grade level. Right now i'm at the top, as high as I can go in my grade level but they are creating a position for me to move me up. I think they want me to stay

Either that or they want me to do more work

The Axe

2009-08-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

My job just had massive layoffs over a span of several states. Luckily nobody in my immediate dept but I do know a couple who were rifted. They didn't have time to even get their purse, it was quite a shock, it was one of those things where i'm on the phone with people in IT in another state and they're receiving IM's in shock of people, excellent workers, cut.

Now one project I'm on is finally over. Well, sorta. My manager wanted piece of mind by checking out the code they put into the production system so he says "are you available saturday? Cause i'm not..i have commitments"

Of COURSE you do. All you do is golf and take vacations! So dammit, i'm going to be in the office at 7am..earlier than i usually get up out of the bed.

What am I gonna say, no? Not while the axe is swinigng....
It just ticks me off to no end tho. My manager had the nerve to say something like "I don't remember approving this change". Of course you don't, you were on vacation every other week and are delegating job duties to me that are not in my job description! Not to mention most of our conversations are verbal so i can find no written proof. But i KNOW he did. duh, like i'm going to leap in the fire on ANY decision with the projects i've been on lately.

I considered going out on friday with some friends to dinner but now i just dont think i have it in me to go out and have fun knowing i have to get up at 5am. No way in hell i'm missing my 2 days off next week. Oh and some sr. director volunteered me up for some HUGE project that is enterprisewide. Gee, thanks. Even my manager didn't know about it, but he couldn't say no.

sometimes i wonder if i should just act stupid and skate by with a paycheck
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So this weekend i'm totally excited about the next "TRUE BLOOD" episode. Yes my friends, i'm obsessed. And it's going to be GOOD, because i kind of know what happens based on the books..lol Last sunday i watched it live online, i was lucky enough to find a site hosting it that wasn't shut down during the airing.

Health care reform. If you have any sense, please do not support this. This is a very BAD thing.

Channeling Martha Stewart

2009-08-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Last nite I arrived at the said location and was the only one there. I opened a tab at the bar and waited. Eventually some people from work trickled in and me and a coworker played the most hideous display of pool ever seen. Later on that night I played my very first game of shuffleboard. I sucked. Apparently I am not good at any type of sport. We had several drinks, being half-off night, and after I had enough of the hooplah I came home. We never did bowl. Probably just as well considering how much the girl we threw the party for had to drink.

Today i went to have Chinese buffet but it's too hot to do anything. I walked around HObby Lobby and decided to buy a hobby.

So of course they already have the Christmas stuff out. There is no shame in holiday commercialism.

I bought thse two children and wandered around the store to search for paint and brushes.

Be afraid. I've NEVER painted anything that wasn't on paper outside of my moms bathroom scale once..lol

I have no clue what color I should make their clothing, this I found especially frustrating because mentally i'm not creative enough to envision which colors would look right.

I have this fear they're going to look like something out of a Nightmare before Christmas.

This could be the most hillarious thing that i've done yet.

*****************************************************

Speaking of random comedy, yesterday at Wendy's we were laughing at some guy outside that was doing the most peculiar things. He was wearing a navy blue jacket with giant gold buttons like a ship captain and shorts that looked more like boxers and white tennies. He was in the trunk of his car doing something, stirring, pouring, smelling, opening stuff with a can opener, drinking. Then he came into chili's with two empty containers marked "chili". Ordered. Sat down, started eating. Then he walked outside with those two containers and went into his trunk again...pouring stuff, it was the most insane thing i've ever seen.

Party Time

2009-08-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well if I manage to get through tomorrow without setting my desk on fire (work issues) I'm going out tomorrow night with coworkers to say farewell to one who is leaving.

Instead of the usual restaurant drinking we'll be gathering at a place that has booze, bowling, and god knows what else. Me and bowling don't get along, but put a drink in my hand and I'm liable to put someone in the hospital.

I'm afraid I may get smashed. I'll try not to but i've had such a stressful week and I really need to just let loose. Whatever that means.

Oh, yeah. It means "Make an ass out of yourself". Well I do that anyhow right?

Um, not always such a good idea with coworkers...which is why i really don't hang out with them outside of work unless it's a work related function like a celebration for someone.

I'm so tired. My alarm clock hasn't been working right.

Taking the Day off

2009-07-31T09:11:00.000-07:00

And so yeah, I took off work today

The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and I'm lying on my sofa in my robe watching Jeopardy..LOL I wish there was a movie out that was worth seeing, I'd go. Today is payday, I feel like I should spend a little something.

Ok that's it i'm getting dressed

10 Things I think Parents Do Wrong, From a Childless Gal

2009-07-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

It's my turn to rant. I'm not one of those people who goes around telling people what they "need to do". But sometimes they need to be told.

I think it's really annoying when advice is given to a parent and their first reaction is "Do you have kids? Then you just don't understand".

Nobody wants to hear advice from a person who has no children.

Period.

But guess what? I Don't care. I'm going to give it anyhow. Because I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out some things. I've done my fair share of shared child rearing with my godson and I can tell you I know what works and what doesn't.

1. ALL YEAR ROUND CHRISTMAS.

When Did kids begin getting toys all year round, everytime they went to Target? I'm always amazed at how many kids whine "I want it" in the toy aisle 2 weeks before Christmas and guess what? Mom and dad buy it! Can't wait for Santa? I'm not saying kids shouldn't get anything, but where is the line drawn? Seriously, when the bedroom begins to look like a toys R us store it's time to look at how just much money your spending on something the kid probably doesn't even play with for half a second anyhow.

2. SIPPY CUPS

Sippy cups are evil. If my mom gave me a sippy cup then i would learn to run all over the house with my drink and who cares if i drop it. I would never have learned how to carefully hold a glass, set it down and only drink it in designated areas that were allowed. Then you got sippy cups at bedtime, sure let's put a cup full of milk and sugary juice in there for kids to slurp on and let pool in their mouth so they can rot those teeth out. Dentists must love those

3. BOTTLES OVER THE AGE OF 3

WTF? Basically my rule of thumb is when the child is old enough to hold a glass, the bottle goes. Then you create a bottle dependency and try weaning a 5 year old off a bottle.

4. SCREAMING I PUBLIC

How fun is it going in public and seeing a child old enough to know better pitching a fit and yelling? Only to see the parent glancing at the bedspreads in aisle 4 rolling along casually in the cart as if they are completely deaf to the monstrous noise eminating from their cart. Had I ever done that in public it would have been a stern look, maybe a spanking but a sure threat that i was going to get it when we got back to the car. We learned not to act out in public.

5. MANNERS

God I love a child with manners who says excuse me and please without being prompted? THey only learn if you do it yourself and praise them, but I think it helps them discover a level of respect for other people and showing your appreciation.

6. KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES'S

When I was five I had a pair of metal roller skates, stuffed animals and some books. The average 5 year old today has thousands of dollars worth of toys, a television and DVD player in their bedroom and game system. When i get sent to my room it was a punishment. Where do parents send their kids as punishment now I wonder....outside? ;-)

7. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

If you are always pointing out the negative in a childs behavior or activities, they will become frustrated and negative themself. I think you can aknowledge the negative piece by also reinforcing with positive. That also includes giving them praise when it's due. Not just the "Good job" i hear people say like they're saying "Bless you" after a sneeze, but a real "Hey, I am so impressed with you putting that back where it goes. You are such a smart little guy!" I learned this with my godson who hated cleaing, hated everything when he was 3. He was SO difficult. His mother had no bounderies and let him do basically, whatever. With me I learned how to spin the negative around to positive, also if you give them attention whenever they do bad things they learn thats the way to get attention so they do it more.

8. DON'T BELITTLE YOUR CHILD IN PUBLIC

Some of the things i hear parents say that are humiliating amaze me. Sure your child may be acting rotten, tell them they'll receive punishment of some kind for it. BUt don't go around in public telling your child they're acting stupid and nobody wants to be around them and all that. Public humiliation doesn't not exactly drive a point to a 6 year old.

9. SAY NO TO BIRTHDAY PARTIES

LOL..i know. I don't mean that but I kinda do. I have a friend who every year she had a part at chuckee cheese or some place that she had to pay ALL this money to reserve and plan. IT costed over $100 to throw the thing let alone the cost of the toys. Year after year, are these parties gonna really stick out in that kids mind? No. Once in awhile, yes. The one birthday party I remember was one my mom had at the house and she made up games for us to do and had party favors . But birthdays were just designated as a special day. I got to pick what I wanted to eat for dinner, or if I wanted to bowl or play miniature golf or go to a movie. It was my choice, but it just involved family. (under the age of 12 anyhow)

10. ALLOWANCES

Are they earning it? Cleaning a room is a given, kids shouldn't be paid to do that. The allowance should be for extra chores they do. Yeah it's another "When I was a kid moment", but I practically laid roof on the house and got a quarter a week..lol As a result I'm an adult who puts money into savings and thinks twice before spending, because i learned early that money does not come easy and once its earned you don't want to just blow it. Teaches responsibility

Suprisingly things you'd think most people know but everytime someone i know gets pregnant and ends up raising kids, they fall into the traps of doing whats easier cause they don't have the time or want a struggle, or keeping up with the jones's.

Also going into teens: CREDIT CARDS ARE EVIL. They do not teach financial responsibility. A bank account does.

Eventually they'll have to get one, but their life can be ruined by it so quickly

Lesson Learned

2009-07-27T20:24:00.001-07:00

Today I learned something.

Before you get out of your car in the rain to go to work, make sure ALL your windows are rolled completely up

It's been raining all day since yesterday, and I enjoy it. I believe it will continue through the rest of the week if we're so lucky. Rain always makes me feel more calm. Last night a storm rolled in and it smelled like rain, really strong. That isn't very common here...the smell. But that is one of the most lovely smells every that I wish I could bottle it sometimes. The heavy perfume before a rain. I'm not sure the reason why it isn't always there, but when it is it's like a scratch and sniff version of a thunderstorm.

This morning I woke up abruptly with the sensation that I was being strangled. I opened my eyes to find my fat cat standing on my throat.

I'm not sure if it was premeditated, but I'm definately making a mental note of it as exhibit A....

1st Meme

2009-07-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

Pun intended. I'm rather bored and tired at the moment after hauling about a zillion bags of groceries up 2 flights of stairs in the roaring southern heat. While it's mid afternoon I put on my nightshirt so I could stay cool. Had myself a bratwurst sandwhich which was ok but I prefer hot links (they didn't sell them). I had it on a toasted baguette with some new mustard i tried called Smokey Onion. Again, ok but i should have gotten the jalopeno one. I like it spicey

Anyhow I'm rather zonked. I've been reading off and on and keep debating on when I want to pop in "The Watchmen" DVD, wondering if it will just waste 2 hours of my life. But then, isn't that what the net is for?

So here's my contribution to wasted time

1. Who was your FIRST date?
The strange thing is I have to struggle to remember his name was Jeff. He was also my first kiss

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
NO, but he still keeps trying to talk to me

3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
I sincerely have no clue. I know I used to drink when I was a teen so god onl knows

4. What was your FIRST job?
Nanny

5. What was your FIRST car?
Nissan Maxima, circa 1984 model

6. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
I can't say for sure. I think Germany but i was baby so it could have been somewhere in the states.

7. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
Dawn. We don't talk because I have no idea where she is or if she's even alive. I've tried every so often to find her on the internet but she could have married, change names, god only knows.

8. Whose wedding did you attend the FIRST time?
My bro . And it was the only wedding i've ever attended if you can believe that.

9. Tell us about your FIRST roommate.
Does my cat count? Because I don't do the roomie thing

10. If you had one wish, what would it be (other than more wishes)?
Love or money, hmm...which one will last longer?

11. What is something you would learn if you had the chance?
How to fluently speak another language...preferably german tho i don't know why

12. Did you marry the FIRST person you were in love with?
NO

13. What were the first lessons you ever took and why?
Gymnastics, because it's what everyone did where I grew yp.
Guitar Lessons, because I thought I was going to be a famous rock and roll star.

14. What is the first thing you do when you get home?
Put my keys and sunglasses on the bar and pet Mia

One more reason I Want to get Married

2009-07-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Decided and Done

2009-07-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

Xanadana. That is the new blog name. Love it or leave it. My brain seriously hurts from trying to come up wtih clever names. I seriously considered 'Supernova Imposter"..

But Xanadana (zannaDanna) reminds me of a nickname i was called as a child and also it reminds me of my former blog name :)

I"m tempted to change my blog address to match, however i don't want to lose all you new followers.

And onto my obsession where all the men will now tune out. I'm really into these Sookie Stackhouse books..LOL Nothing like good trashy romance vampire novels with plenty of humor. Funny how I buy acclaimed books and can't get past the first page and i've already read 6 from this series in 5 days. Of course it's nice to be able to match the characters to the show actors because I like the cast.

mmm..i kind of love the cast. Well, I like one in particular...the balding viking..lol Sorry but I love his character in the book and hope the show doesn't focus around the other vampire, Bill. I want to see more of Eric. Hey i'm what you call a red blooded american so sue me. Let me have my viking ;-)

After work I stopped to eat at a Mexican restaurant and there was some creepy guy behind me on a "date" with some girl. He was so loud people were turning around and of course the moment i slide into my booth I had to hear him discussing stomach bile and how people put fat from their ass in their lips. You could tell it was a 1st or 2nd date but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how many beers she must have had to be able to stand it. He was loud, obnoxious, very unfunny with a forced laugh and kept trying to continue the date by talking her into going to the mall or bookstore or whatever. I remember him saying "let's go to starbucks, it's buy the bookstore. Do you want to go to the bookstore? I know you read.."

Given she looked a homely 19 and he was older, they probably met on the net or something. At one point she said "I'm hot" and he said "yeah you are..HA HA HA. Oh you mean temperature" (as if he had to explain his meaning). And as they were discussing the drive to wherever they were going he said "You think you can make it?" Then he got out of his seat and slid next to her in the booth. Mind you this was all directly behind me by a couple of inches. And then his big mouth fell silent. I kept wondering if he put rohypnol in her drink.

But I dunno, once in a blue moon I hear someone talking about it just feels like i'm slipping into a nightmare, like they're a serial killer and my subconsious knows it. That same creepy feeling when you're reading a Stephen King novel and you as the reader knows about the monster but the others don't yet see it.

Then as the room filled with a table full of old people a 80 year old man waltzed in with a cake singing happy birthday to his friend Leonard. When he finished one of his party, a middle aged woman, said "You aren't supposed to sing happy birthday in public"

And once again I wondered what is happening in this world. Pretty soon elementary schools will not be allowed to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star without paying royalties.

I resolve to Name it

2009-07-24T05:21:00.001-07:00

Ok, last blog I kept my blog and blogname for 4 years because I couldn't think of anything better. Yeah, 4 years, nothing.

I am not clever with names or concepts. So ignore if you see the blog title change a few times over the next few days. I want to have it out of the way and just finalized already by Monday.

Currently Xanadana is kind of a spinoff off a nickname i was called as a child..lol But we'll see, maybe when I get home from work something will come to me. I want it to be easy to remember and not pretentious.

Given it took me a week to name my fish gizmo...we'll see how this goes..lol

Fortune

2009-07-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

We don't believe in fortune cookies. But why oh why do we torment ourselves with getting them? I would love to see "real" fortune cookies with hillarious and rude comments..lol

Today I went to a chinese hole in the wall place that has pretty good food. I got myself a cookie and when we returned to work and I cracked it open it the paper read: "Try something new. You might realize you like it".

I laughed it off until my coworker opened hers and it said "Tomorrow you'll receive some news that will make you happy!" She is applying for another position in the company and went on her third interview. IF they offer her the job tomorrow then I'm going to wonder if this happy chinese restaurant isn't dabbling in the dark arts...

Is it in the Cards?

2009-07-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

"DATING IN THE DARK"

OMG, how I love the idea of this show. It's on ABC, and they have 3 male and 3 females. They put them in rooms, set them up on actual dates. All in the dark. They have to talk to eachother, smell eachother, feel eachother and figure out who they like without ever seeing them. Pheramones, chemistry, can you get a spark in the dark?

And what will happen when they actually see the person that they end up liking?

The show even has the remove the shirts off their back (separate rooms of course) to offer over to the other gender to visually look at and smell.

This is how all dates should be! Talk about a blind date....I really hope that there is a match and that they aren't put off by eachothers looks. I mean in the end when we're all 80 we're going to look like a raisin anyhow...

Were made for TV movies always this bad?

2009-07-19T18:44:00.001-07:00

Tonight I'm flipping and catch part of this miniseries on NBC about meteors or asteroids or comets. Not sure which and I don't think the people on tv do either since they keep referring to all of them. Then i see one heading towards earth. Looks like the size of a car. "INCOMING!" yells the military guy and it hits their compound.

WIth the same impact as a car would have that was tossed into the compound. A guy lies on the floor with ketchup on his mouth which is supposed to be blood. And there's a small part of me that in these moments of bad tv movies, that misses Joe Bob Briggs.

Years ago, sometime in the 80's, Joe Bob Briggs hosted Monstervision. I went to the site weekly to submit in the caption contest. I never won, but I loved reading everyones entries. He read viewer letters, he made fun of the movie, tallied up the number of zombies, explosions, body counts, etc. He made watching insufferable late night movies, bearable. He truly refined my love of b-movies. I always knew I liked bad movies, before him I did my own version of MST3K when i'd put on a bad movie with my friend, and mute it and make fun of it.

Monstervision was the bomb. IT was back in the day when not everyone had cable and those who did, well you didn't get much. Usually late night movies sucked. They used to scrap up obscure flicks from the 70's if they weren't running the Soloflex infomercial.

I'm nostalgic about the 80's for many reasons, even a large share of bad movies...but I could always count on Joe Bob to see me through it.

From the Ashes

2009-07-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

As I was saying on my previous blog, it's quite a coincidence at the beginning of this year I created a music playlist and titled it "2009: A new Start". Usually I just title them by theme or whatever. But how prophetic as I've said goodbye to 2 blogs, one which i've had for 4 years and the other was a novel idea I did on a whim but i couldn't keep up with the vlogging.

And, since the vlog thing never really took off, which I'm sure i can imagine why...this was my last post on that site as I thought it might give you something to watch until I can get this site officially off the ground.

Oh yeah and for you newbies to my blog (WELCOME) You'll need to scroll down to the very bottom of this page and pause/mute the music player before watching.

I'm going to miss it, eventually I stopped making videos of myself because
A. Nobody wants to see me..lol
B. I don't have anything to talk about!
C. I'm just not as "animated" as some of those vloggers are out there that capture peoples attention
D. Lack of time that i started pouring into other hobbies.

I still like the idea of it, i'd probably be more inclined to make videos on movies or tv shows i watch but again, is there any interest? I doubt it.

Today "Agent red" is undercover. Literally. I'm not moving from this sofa all day. The heat is blazing through the windows and i'm lying here in my PJ's as it's moving into the noon hour. Surfing the net, flipping tv stations...this is the life.

Starting Over

2009-07-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

WELCOME (back kotter)
Welcome to the official sequel of my previous blog. If you have found yourself here, please add me to your favorites! I am trying to sift through the ashes of my old blog and start new. Those friends who came from the old one will know why.

AND SERIOUSLY!
I spent an hour trying to come up with a blogsite address. Everything is taken..even the word 'hideyhole' which was one of those WTF moments..lol So just in case you were asking how I came to choose my website, it was for lack of patience and choices. :)

CONSTRUCTION AHEAD
Slow down, fines are doubled in a construction zone. It's going to take me a little time to get this size as snazzy as my last one but I kind of like this layout. I just need to add content.

NAME?
Yes I'll likely change my blog title and my name (of course that's what i said on my last one..lol). I just to temporarily get something up.

IN the meantime, check out my playlist because my taste in music is very diverse.

And please subscribe, MIA demands it